Again this
year, the Spirit of Speyside unofficial chronicler, Bruce Crichton, delivers
his report from this years festival with tasting notes and a visit to Speyside
Distillery. All pictures by Bruce Crichton
Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2015
Report by Bruce Crichton
 |
| Moist Von Lipwig aka Bruce Crichton |
After hiding my money offshore, I headed to Dufftown. Having fallen out
of my boat many times, the Spirit of Speyside Whisky festival was just what I
needed and after days of great whisky, food, music, kiwis, wallabies, Doctor
Who, Captain Slow and a squad from Craigellachie, here is my account of it.
The report aims to give a rough guide and may contain factual errors, for which
I apologize in advance. Tasting notes are subjective and comment is added from
experts present during note taking. To shorten the report, I refer the reader
to past reports and tastings if a whisky re-appears. I also assume the reader
is familiar with widely available bottlings mentioned. Cask samples and
discontinued releases tasted are described briefly, as these may not be
available to buy. Water was added to most drams, given their alcoholic strength
and readers are invited to judge for themselves how much a particular whisky
requires, if any. The whisky is 40%abv, if the strength is not otherwise
indicated and chronological order is broken, where appropriate, to provide a
comparison for the reader, along with possible serving suggestions.
A
big dram at the Whiskyshop Dufftown
The
festival began on Thursday afternoon as Whiskyshop Dufftown (WSD) owner Mike
Lord poured a big charity dram of Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve, a non-age
statement (NAS) whisky that will replace the 12 year old standard bottling.
This was a cheery dram with fruit salad chew bars on the nose and the taste of
banana foam sweets giving way to wine and oak on the finish, reminiscent of the
12 year old. The money raised from this went to Fibromyalgia UK. (Rumour has it that thrill-seeking sharks get into
cages to get close to Mike and see what he is like in his natural habitat.)
The
first whisky from the informal ‘It all started with a big dram’ tasting was a
1993 Gordon and MacPhail (G&M) ‘exclusive’ Mannochmore, at 48.8%abv, that
had been matured in a refill bourbon cask that yielded 195 bottles. Bottled for
the WSD the day before, the tasting notes had been prepared very quickly and
consisted mostly of types of orange so my suggestion of Fry’s orange cream was
probably more useful than the possible alternatives of Dale Winton or men in
bowler hats and sashes, playing the flute. The distillery was built in 1971,
becoming the backbone of the Haig’s blends and was later refitted to make it
bigger than sister distillery Glen Lossie. The finish to the whisky was very long
and spicy.
Glenfarclas
17, at 43%abv, smelled sweet with notes of chewy highland toffee. Mike finds
this more subtle than others from the distillery’s core range while I found the
taste of blood orange chocolate. The first release of Tamdhu ‘Batch Strength’,
at 58.8%abv, was the most thought-provoking whisky of the session, prompting
discussions about NAS whisky and questions about how it compares to Glengoyne
cask strength, also owned by Ian Macleod. Mike does not find any young whisky
notes in this and found no real nose from the very oily spirit. Brown sugar
was, perhaps, the most obvious taste present and the reader is invited to
compare Tamdhu and Glengoyne back to back.
Benromach
10 year old ‘100 proof’, at 57%abv, is the popular 10 year old before it is
diluted from near cask strength. Lots of smoke is present on the nose and is
well balance by the bourbon and sherry casks used for maturation. This was a
great whisky, well worthy of careful study in the reader’s home with no obvious
need to add water. To end, there was a bonus dram of the WSD exclusive Caol
Ila, reviewed last spring and described in more detail later.
I was there with Berry
Brothers and Rudd
Presenting whisky at 46%abv, if not
otherwise indicated, for Berry Brothers and Rudd (BBR) was Jonny MacMillan who
managed to adapt his act to cope with the absence of Boisterous Aberdonian, his
regular foil. He began with a slide comparing a 1974 single cask Glen Grant to
a thinly disguised bottle of Haig grain whisky with the former being
unchilfiltered and coloured
and the latter not. Not merely that, but the Haig has had lashings of David
Beckham added. Another comparison was Led Zeppelin and 1 Direction, with one
member crossed out and Jonny is hopeful that more members of 1D will be crossed
out soon.
I found a 1999 Dufftown absolutely
enchanting, surprisingly so, given that I’d never previously had a great
Dufftown younger than I am. Sherbet, shortbread and vanilla were present on the
nose with the taste being sweet and chewy. Best with 1 drop of water, the
finish was warm and long. A 1996
Auchentoshan prompted Jonny to remind us that the
distillery’s name is Gaelic for ‘made from Glasgow tap water’ and pointed out
that this is not his style of whisky. I added to this that there seems to be a
fine margin separating great whisky from merely good whisky with this
distillery and, perhaps, choice of cask is of paramount importance as I find
the ‘Valinch’ bottling to be terrific. All the same, this was still a pleasant
dram with cream, vanilla and spice notes.
As an interesting aside, Jonny showed a
slide of 1909 prices and drew particular attention to the 1885 Talisker. Moving
on, the next whisky was a 43 year old, 1970 Ben Nevis ‘Single blend’, at
44.7%abv, so called because it was made from a single malt and single grain
whisky from the same distillery complex and blended at birth. The rarity value
price of this whisky did cause a twit in the audience to balk at the price but,
really, this was the first ‘I was there’ moment of the festival and it was soft
on the nose with notes of fruit syrup and banana and custard yoghurt and some
slight bourbon on the finish.
As we tasted a 1991 Strathmill, at 51.2%abv, serendipitously, in the audience,
there was Stuart Robertson, currently manager of Dalmore distillery and
previously manager of that distillery, in Keith. This had fizzy sherbet and
Parma violet notes with delicious sweetness throughout.
Our fourth dram was a 1997 Deanston, at 54.1%abv, and I must admit to being
surprised that Jonny did not say this was Gaelic for ‘Monty Python filmed
nearby’. Jonny did say that this is his favourite from the newly released
single casks. Oily and viscous, this had slight bourbon on the nose and was
very chewy.
The eleventh release of ‘Blue Hanger’, at
45.6%abv, had minty toffee on the nose and taste, along with vanilla with a
light smoke that grew at the end. BBR endeavour to make each batch taste
different and this one may well have had some peated Bunnahabhain as a component. It paved the
way ideally for a 1987 Bunnahabhain, effervescent as it was, being light and
sweet with a spicy finish.
The
Doctor and the Captain of Douglas Laing
With
his regular assistant Romana away with the Tardis and K9, Jan Beckers brought
Graham Dunnet of Douglas Laing with him to the tasting and began with a 1994
‘Clan Denny’ North British grain whisky, at 51%abv. This had Jan and I
recounting a previous tasting encounter with a nincompoop who, despite being
English, did not appear to comprehend the English language. No matter, this
tasted of both vanilla and syrup and led Jan to say that he finds grain a
whisky a dessert on its own. He found lemons on the taste and, proving that it
was not just his Strepsils giving him that taste, I found lemon cheesecake.
This one is best rolled on the tongue to achieve striking results.
A
2004 Provenance Benrinnes, at 46%abv, did not taste like a Johnnie Walker
whisky to this writer, with notes of cream crackers, spice and light pepper.
Jan believes this is a breakfast dram and found fresh green apples. Unwisely,
he said that his body was a temple and a whisky festival report writer present
quipped that it had clearly been sacked by Mongol hordes long ago.
A
15 year old ‘Old Particular’ Glenallachie, at 48.4%abv, had been matured in a
refill sherry butt that Jan believes was made from American oak, explaining the
relative lack of colour in the whisky. Interestingly, Jan remembers the days
when this distillery’s whisky was bottled exclusively for his native Belgium.
Dry and crisp, the whisky had both malt and cereal flavours followed by apples
and shortbread on the finish.
Old
Particular Speyside 18 year old had also been matured in a refill sherry cask
and was darker in colour than the Glenallachie. I found spice and oak with some
dried fruit and that it went nicely with blood orange chocolate, something Ulf,
Swedish whisky fan sitting beside me, went along with. Jan said that the
chocolate transformed the whisky and the combination tasted like Crepe Suzette.
However, after discussion, Jan drew the conclusion that he would probably have
preferred the whisky paired with Maya Gold, dark chocolate with orange so the
reader is invited to purchase the bottle and the chocolates and see which of
the two match up the best.
‘Rock Oyster’, at 46.8%abv, is a new release, the latest in the company’s
series of what would have, in more sensible times, been called a vatted malt.
Graeme took over as captain at this point to tell us that this whisky consists
of malts from the islands of Orkney, Jura, Arran and Islay. The dominant taste
was of soft, creamy cheese and, again, the reader is recommended to roll this
on the tongue for the best experience. Graeme gets some gentle peat from this
while Yorkshire’s Phil Yorke got great complexity and Jan was put in mind of a
walk on the beach with salty air. Another of this series, the ‘Scallywag’ will
soon be bottled at cask strength, just as the ‘Big Peat, from the same range,
is bottled at cask strength, for the Christmas market. To end, Old Particular
Bowmore 16 year old, demonstrated, with time, classic Murray Mint notes while
Graham got butterscotch. The nose was slightly salty with a little peat and
more smoke on the taste before a subtle finish.
Whisky
fair and in-store tasting highlights in no particular order
A new release from the Speyside distillery
at Drumguish, ‘Beinn Dubh’, pronounced ‘Bee and Doo and meaning ‘Black
Mountain’’, at 43%abv, was fruity and smooth. Unlike the ‘Cu Dubh’ that
contained whisky from the same distillery, this has only a slight addition of
caramel and the taste is real, not synthetic like the ‘Black Dog’. Most of the
whisky’s colour comes from maturation in port pipes. Interestingly, the 18
distillery’s 18 year old expression sold out in under a year. More about the
company later.
‘Dream Drams’ Longmorn 12 year old, at 57.3%abv, from a refill bourbon cask,
was particularly creamy and tasted of digestive biscuits. Their latest bottling
was a 20 year old Tobermory, at 55.2%abv, that was both salty and coastal on
the nose and taste and gave a tremendous sense of luxuriousness.
MacPhail’s Collection 8 year old
Glenrothes, at 43%abv, replaces the old 40%abv bottling. Chewy and fresh, it
was soft and creamy and ideal for a session, as are whiskies from this range in
general. From the same company, Connoisseur’s Choice 2000 Aultmore, at 46%abvm,
was light with cereal and grassy notes while Neil Simpson detect a slight touch
of peat.
At the Glencadam stall, the Brechin distillery’s 14 year old Oloroso finish, at
a standard 46%abv, tasted mostly of Turkish Delight and was awesomely easy to
drink. The 15 year old had malt and cereal notes while a bonus dram of the 21
year old in celebration of the birth of Princess Charlotte had cream cheese and
spice flavours with a long finish. Also, the distillery has launched a handy
collection pack of miniatures.
Adelphi’s ‘Private Stock’ blended whisky
was like a light Christmas cake in a glass with brandy butter added. A 17 year
old Benrinnes, at 57.2%abv, proved to be the wildfire hit of the fair, with
word spreading very quickly. There was light vanilla and hints of salt.
Interestingly, the writer Charles MacLean gets ‘Parma Negra Ham’ on the taste
and so do I, except for the ‘Parma Negra’, obviously.
Benriach 10 year old, just released at
43%abv and not to be confused with the ‘Curiositas’ did need a single drop of
water but this revealed thick green apples of the kind that needs the bite
strength of an alligator to actually eat but was delicious in liquid form,
something that is apparently characteristic of Benriach at a relatively young
age. Glendronach 15, at 46%abv, had subtle and warm sherry notes and would be
interesting to taste, back to back, with the aforementioned Glenfarclas 17.
This whisky has won many awards recently and deservedly so, on this evidence.
Wemyss have re-released their range of blended malts
at 46% and with no age statement. ‘The Hive’ was particularly sweet with honey
and wine while the ‘Peat Chimney’ was slightly misnamed with the taste of
highland and island peat, rather than Islay peat and was sweeter than the name
would indicate. A 1995 ‘Stem Ginger’ from Mortlach, at 46%abv, sold out quickly
that weekend but comes recommended to the reader who comes across a straggler
of this or of the ‘Pastille Bouquet’ from the same company and same distillery.
The taste is self-explanatory, given Wemyss method of naming the whisky after
the dominant tasting note and I add only that the nose revealed the taste of soft,
melt-in-the-mouth fruit pastilles.
Adelphi
Tasting with Antonia Bruce
Introducing
Antonia, Mike Lord noted that Adelphi have been at every one of the whisky
festivals he has presented as WSD owner and we began with a 1990 Bladnoch, at
55.3%abv. The distillery is currently mothballed and has been since about 2009.
As Antonia said she found it ‘farmyardy’, I detected fruit salad chew bars and,
as she did the bead test, I took a photo that she described as ‘artistic’.
Suddenly perplexed, I wondered who was I and what had I done with the real
Moist Von Lipwig, Albert Spangler and Ethel Snake? Having slipped into the pyjamas of perplexity, I avoided the dressing gown
of despair and changed into the jeans of jubilation to destroy the reader’s
sense of time and knowledge of the correct tense before moving on to an
excellent 19 year old Glen Grant, at 55.7%abv. This had buttery sponge and Pink
Lady apples on the nose with vanilla and buttered toast and/or crumpets to
taste. The finish was warm, long and delicate with coconuts detectable.
A
1992 Longmorn, at 51.8%abv, had apparently given the best bead test results
from all the casks the company had and Antonia noted that this distillery
survived the infamous Pattison crash by maturing quickly, hitting the ground
running, as it were, and becoming highly prized by blenders. Antonia found
spices and ginger on this while I tasted raspberry ripple and cream sponge with
sherbet. There was also chewiness and raisins while water revealed strawberry
refresher chew bars.
A
2007 Glenrothes, at 67%abv, was the latest in a series of young whiskies from
this distillery that Adelphi have released. The aim of this bottling was to
achieve ‘young jolly whisky’ and Antonia got the smell of erasers, fruitcake
and dark treacle. I found Bovril, as I so often have done with Adelphi
Glenrothes, and water quelled the fire to reveal fruitcake, syrup and toffee
sauce with a dry finish. This one is best to sip, rather than roll on the
tongue, unlike others mentioned earlier.
1996 Bowmore, at 57.2%abv, had been matured in an
American oak sherry cask and had salted fish together with Murray mints on the
nose. Antonia thought it was like a Caol Ila and finishes like a Springbank, in
its oiliness, while I found it reminiscent of Longrow, distilled, of course, at
Springbank. The addition of water revealed vanilla and smoke.
Unconventionality
from Cadenheads.
3
generations of the Watt family arrived in Dufftown and, since one of them was
Mark Watt, we decided to have a Cadenhead’s tasting with some cask samples and
‘Small batch’ releases that have sold out.
A
work-in-progress sample of a 12 year old blend, at 46%abv, had fruit syrup and
cereal notes. A solera system is planned for this blend and Mark intends to
create an everyday whisky with this. In this sample was 14 year old Glen Scotia
and 2001 Auchroisk. A future batch will have 14 year old Mortlach.
An
entertaining theme emerged as Mark played music and film clips from the year
that his chosen whiskies had been distilled. A 1996 Arran, at 50.9%abv,
prompted Mark to wish all new distilleries well, especially those that would
sell him casks. There was fruit salad, syrup and honey on the nose with Mark describing
it as ‘clearic and Ribena’, similar to my description of it as tasting like
blackcurrant Fruitella. Mark has apparently worked in a bar in Japan that had
27 Arrans and this was surprising to me as I and the other members of the
audience had no idea he had ever been to Japan, let alone been in a bar there.
A
1978 ‘Authentic Collection’ Miltonduff, at 45.6%abv, was sweet and delicate
with a little smoke and soft vanilla with refreshers. This was a very ‘Ballantine’s’
dram and, hence, is recommended to the reader to be drunk along with Minstrels
while watching a Hammer horror film or possibly a spaghetti western.
Interestingly, Mark believes he is responsible alone for the so-called ‘Angel’s
Share’ in Campbeltown and this indicates that he has scaled back his whisky
consumption recently.
1988
Dufftown, at 52.1%abv, should be released as part of the ‘Authentic Collection’
in July. Mark found woodiness and quoted me as saying ‘not often you get a
Dufftown that is very Bell’s’. This, however, had peach syrup notes and some
juicy fruitiness. 1990 Glenrothes-Glenlivet, at 55.7%abv, was introduced by
Elton John’s ‘Sacrifice’ which Mark commented on, saying that it was one of the
few Top of the Pops 2 clips you can still show. A ‘Small Batch’ release, this
had ‘huge sherry’ on the nose and ‘more massive sherry’ on the taste followed
by ‘huge sherry’ on the finish. There was, however, no Bovril character on
this, something prevalent in young sherry-matured whisky from this distillery.
From 1984, Lionel Richie’s ‘Hello’ is a ‘pulling song’
and was used to introduce a Caol Ila, at 54.1%abv. ‘Footloose’ was also
mentioned as Mark believes he drinks better than he dances. This was
Bowmore-like on the nose with mints and salted fish. The taste was rich and
soft followed by smoke and sweetness with chewy fruit sweets.
A sumptuous feast was served at the Tannochbrae
restaurant, ideal for connoisseurs of fine food and enormous gannets alike, which
was handy. Each course was paired with a whisky from ‘Malts of Scotland’ and
there was an enchanting selection of music played by Robin Laing and described
later, including ‘Magic Ship of Dreams’ for the company’s Thomas Ewers who
could not be with us, that evening.
An 11 year old Miltonduff, at 53.6%abv, from a
sherry hogshead was fresh, sweet and very thick, almost A’Bunadh-like. Water
lightened it considerably. A mystery ‘Images of Dufftown’ malt, at 53.2%abv,
was possibly a Pittyvaich, making it very rare indeed.
‘Images of Islay’, at
53.2%abv, was very clean, with a Bowmore-like nose but with hints of bacon and
a south Islay taste. A 12 year old Bruichladdich, at 58.4%abv, from a sherry
hogshead brought to mind Benriach’s 12 year old Sherry matured bottling and
tasted of Turkish Delight.
A 1990 Bladnoch, at 52.1%abv, had been matured in a
refill sherry hogshead and Robin described it as ‘history in a glass’. It was
heartening to know that I was not the only one present who thought of ‘The
Wicker Man’ when tasting this and I found strawberry chewits on the nose with
the addition of water softening it to make ideal to accompany a desert. ‘Fruit
crumble in a glass’ was the way I described it.
The final dram was a 24 year
old Imperial, at 48.1%abv, matured in a bourbon barrel. A classic ‘Ballantine’s
Dram’, there were lemon curd and banana custard yoghurt notes with vanilla and
refreshers. Robin found pears and honey and the words ‘stuff of legend’ were
highly appropriate, on this occasion.
Speyside
distillery tour
Sunday
morning brought a trip to the Cairngorm Hotel in Aviemore where a bus picked us
up and took us to the Speyside distillery at Drumguish, near Kingussie, one of
several tours hosted that weekend.
The
‘Spey’ whiskies had been making a big impact on the festival that weekend and
the distillery is now owned by John Harvey McDonough, known for the ‘Chairman’s
Choice’ series and CEO of Harvey’s of Edinburgh. Speyside was opened by George
Christie in 1990, having been built by hand by a dry stane dyker over the
course of many years.
Speyside has no warehouse on site with the spirit filled into tankers,
transported to Rutherglen, in Glasgow, and filled into casks at 63.5%abv. Each
mash uses 4.16 tons of barley and the distillery operates 5.5 days per week
with 2 shifts per day producing 600,000 litres of alcohol, an impressive feat
for an apparently small operation.
As we walked round, there was a story from Sandy
Jamieson, distillery manager, about old workers drinking
wash with disastrous trouser consequences. Fermentation lasts an average of 60
hours and the spirit produced is floral. Around the site were some remade
Octave casks and a small still, made in Rothes and used in Sark to distill gin which will
be used for making spirit again. As an aside, Speyside also appeared in BBC’s
television series ‘Monarch of the Glen’ as the fictional ‘Lagganmore’
distillery. Also, the manager’s office had originally been a mill that closed
in 1965.
We
were joined for the tasting by John McDonough and Patricia Dillon, managing
director of Speyside distillers. From Country Durham, John is a fascinating
character with many stories, stories I decided to enjoy and listen to while
tasting my whisky, rather than scribble them down in a frenzied fashion. The
original John Harvey, of Harvey’s Bristol Cream fame, had traded sherry and
whisky but was nearly wiped out by the infamous Pattison crash and later proved
much more successful in the sherry business.
At
46%abv, the ‘Tenne’ had spent 8 years in bourbon casks then 6 months in Tawny
port casks. Tenne is the Latin for Tawny and this name has been used since
Tawny Port has a monopoly on the name. A very moreish dram, Patricia thinks
this is a good introduction to whisky in general and I found that a spot of
water opened it to reveal delicious fruits and sweetness. Always first fill
port casks are chosen for this as there is nothing left in the cask after that.
The
12 year old had refill bourbon characteristics and some lemon cheesecake on the
nose. I found vanilla, almonds and some slight pepper to taste with the finish
being delicate. With this, for the first time ever, I found myself being able
to describe something as a breakfast whisky.
On Christmas day, the ‘Chairman’s Choice’ whiskies are
chosen and they last until about May.
This session’s Chairman’s Choice had a
high proportion of 17 year old whisky matured in both bourbon and sherry casks,
giving it the taste of shortcake and caramel. The ‘Royal Choice’ was first
bottled at 40%abv but is now bottled at 46% and comes from vintage sherry
casks. Patricia found toffee notes on this and I tasted the sauce from a great
sticky toffee pudding, drawing the conclusion that it is Speyside’s after
dinner luxury dram and is probably best tasted then, even though it is excellent
before lunch.
No bristling
from Morrison and Mackay
Introduced
by Mike Lord as ‘probably the next James Bond, suave and debonair’, Peter
Mackay wasted no time in presenting a ‘Strictly Limited’ 2006 Craigellachie, at
the standard 46%abv, that had been matured in 2 bourbon casks. With excellent
timing, a squad from the village of Craigellachie joined our table and later
posed for a picture with Peter. The nose had lemon curd with light, golden
syrup with lemon and vanilla on the taste, plus a little sharpness perhaps
indicating that this whisky is a component of the popular Dewar’s blends.
Dewar’s is a Perth-based blend and Peter told us that he had just been at the
Perth whisky festival that had lived up to the reputation of Perth and said it
was best to leave it at that. Peter is pleased that Dewar’s have launched their
own series of single malts, including Craigellachie, and believes that the
distillery’s spirit has a light, grassy character.
As
an aside, Peter told the audience that his father had launched the now
legendary collector’s item ‘Black Bowmore’ and was told at the time that £90
for a bottle was too expensive, something he is no doubt laughing up his sleeve
about and the interested reader will do well to get a nip of it in a pub for
that amount. His father also said that
he could kick rugby drop goals from his own half of the pitch so Danny Maguire added
that New Zealand’s Zinzan Brooke can do that as well. (Some reader may
recognize Danny, who was in the original series of Star Trek as a tribble).
Moving
on to the next Strictly Limited bottling, a 1998 Ben Nevis, matured in a Fino
sherry butt had the characteristic strawberry chewits on the nose, with a
creamy taste and a very soft finish. Peter is a big fan of Ben Nevis but I
think this is because he is a secret alchemist. At any rate, he and his company
have consistently bottled the best whiskies available from this by no means
reliable distillery.
Returning
to Perth blended whisky, Peter talked of Matthew Gloag, of Famous Grouse, and
his ‘Pintail’ sherry casks used to mature whisky. He recommends this particular
sherry to be served at 8C and pointed out that the Palomino grape is used for
both Fino and Oloroso sherry. (This grape probably gives better results than
using a horse or a Mexican-American boxer who appeared in ‘Taxi’ with Tony
Danza). A further story about a ‘sherry condom’ caused this writer to dissolve
with laughter. Peter wondered if he should copy the showmanship of a famous
master blender by using a water pistol but I said that he doesn’t have a
moustache and doesn’t look like he holidays on the face of the sun so it
wouldn’t work.
A 2000 Strictly Limited Fettercairn offered a rare chance to taste whisky from
this distillery not saturated with caramel. Even allowing for that, it had been
matured in casks stamped ‘organic’ making it most unlike any other Fettercairn
ever produced. The nose had fruit gums and fruit salad chew bars with peached,
syrup, vanilla and coconut notes. At the finish, vanilla burst through and
lingered.
A
Celebration of the Cask (COC) 1996 Arran, at 52.6%abv, had been bottled a
fortnight before, having been matured in a refill sherry puncheon. Peter and I
agreed that a first fill cask would have overpowered this one with the nose
having light fruitcake and soft toffee. Rolling on the tongue gave the best
results and the reader who obtains a bottle is invited to compare it to the
distillery’s official cask strength bottling. Apparently, even the people of
Perth can tell the finer qualities of this so this should be considered praise.
In a historical context, Peter drew our attention to the fact that Arran
distillery was built at a time of very low confidence in the Scotch whisky
industry, 1995, a year when Bowmore was selling 35,000 cases per year, as
opposed to the 200,000 they sell now.
A 1988 North British COC, at 60.7%abv, smelled of
golden honey and syrup. Very light, there was soft, delicate bourbon on the
taste while Peter found butterscotch. Water revealed vanilla on the nose and
there was creamy toffee to finish with. A final dram of 1988 COC Longmorn, at
57.4%abv, had fruit cream sweets on the nose while Danny got fudge on the taste
and Peter got buttered shortbread. I found that a single drop of water unlocked
the taste of millionaire shortbread on the finish.
Music night with Robin Laing
To
accompany his music, Robin had chosen BBR Clynelish, reviewed in the Autumn
2014 report, Malts of Scotland Bruichladdich, reviewed earlier, Benriach 18
year old peated ‘Dunder’ Dark Rum finish and Glendronach 18 year old Tawny
Port, both at 46%abv, a Glen Moray ‘Santa’s Christmas Stocking’ from the Scotch
Malt Whisky Society and the WSD Caol Ila.
The ‘Dunder’ had subtle smoke, peat
and chocolate on the nose with rum and raisin ice cream and rolling it on the
tongue revealed smoked fish. There was treacle and smoked bacon to finish with.
The Glendronach tasted of stewed fruits and many
other kinds of fruit although, by this time, my palate had virtually collapsed.
The Caol Ila is still surprisingly sweet and light, ideal for a nightcap, and
may win over those who otherwise do not like peat in their whisky.
Between
songs, Robin recounted singing a song about Burke and Hare to TV’s Hairy Bikers
and was annoyed he was not allowed to sing about Deacon Brodie. Noting that
this was the best audience he’d had all day, Robin was pleased to see a lot of
new faces as this meant he could tell old jokes.
Robin was appearing at
Bruichladdich’s open day, a few weeks after the festival, and the theme for the
day was to be ‘Country and Western’. With that, he had ‘whiskified’ Janis
Joplin’s ‘Mercedes Benz’ with a new verse about the Highlander Inn and played
‘Whiskey Lullaby’, a song recorded by Alison Krauss and Brad Paisley.
Robin’s
next album will be titled ‘Whisky and Death’ and he played a new song about old
whisky. Also, he told the audience that his definition of a whisky collector is
a sad individual who doesn’t have enough special occasions in their life. As
usual, highlights from Robin’s performance are available on both Facebook and www.youtube.com.
After
that, the festival continued for another day but not for me. I was heading down
the road. On the Monday, there were attractive tours of Glen Moray,
Glenglassaugh and Knockdhu distilleries with tastings from Laphroaig distillery
and Gordon and MacPhail’s as well as the winners of the WSD competitions to
announce at the drams party. If anyone was on any of these events and would
like to tell me about what I missed, please feel free to sod off and, with
that, I’d like to thank everyone involved in organizing and running the
festival and, in particular, Mike Lord and his wife Val, Vicky and Kirsten at
the Whisky Shop, Warren, Gemma, Kat, Simon and the rest of the crew, Claus for the proofreading, Steve
Oliver, the Tannochbrae, the Coffee Pot café and the Cairngorm Inn in Aviemore.
I’m off to sell my Hoover as it’s just collecting dust
and I’ll see you all again at the Autumn Festival.
Also in there are vanilla, a musty dunnage style note, some light toffee and spice and notes of overripe citrus fruits
