ARDMORE 2000 - ADELPHI CLUB DENMARK

Located in Kennethmont, northeast of Aberdeen, Ardmore Distillery is owned by the Beam Suntory group who acquired the distillery in 2005 adding it to its Scottish Malt portfolio that already held the 2 Islay greats, Bowmore and Laphroaig and Glen Garioch in the Old Meldrum, North West of Aberdeen

Ardmore produces about 5,5 million liters of spirit each year off of 8 stills, much of it reaching the Teacher's Blend. Ardmore, however, are becoming more and more popular as a single malt, especially with people who likes a lighter style smoky dram, as opposed to the heavy pungent Islay whiskies.

Some of casks of Ardmore also reaches the independent bottlers and this one has reached one of my favourite ones of the sort, Adelphi.This year, Adelphi has, in cooperation with danish importer FC Whisky founded Adelphi Club Denmark - another name for 'bottled exclusively for Denmark' and sold through 18 of the best whisky shops in Denmark.

This year, so far, we've seen a 7yo Glenrothes , a 10yo Port Charlotte and, of course, a 14yo Ardmore reviewed below...

Here we go:

Ardmore Distillery - picture from geograph.org.uk

Ardmore 2000 14yo (19.05.2000/23.02.2015) 58,4%, cask#248, 137 bottles, Adelphi Club Denmark

Colour is white wine

Nose:

Clearly smoky, but not more than you can make out layers beneath it.

There's quite some vanilla, notes of apple, grass and some wood sap.

After a while it takes on a slight acidic nose, like lemon zest but the sweetness from both the smoke and vanilla makes the day

Taste:

Quite a creamy mouth feel for a whisky at 58,4%. There's still smoke, vanilla and apple there, but also some ginger pops up mid palate along with green banana this time. Some mouth watering malt provides a good backbone in this one, always keeping it in line with only a few oaky detours showing itself as a slight sour note.

Quite a good Ardmore, with more emphasis on the fruit mid palate and with the smoke making its appearance late in the game. It never strays too far off its path, making it a good alternative for those wanting something smoky and fruity sweet without the Islay punch.

86/100!

Finally, thanks to Soren from Skjold Burne Vinhandel for the sample!

BLADNOCH 1990 - ADELPHI

For a while now, the Bladnoch Distillery just outside Wigtown in the very South-West corner of Scotland, has been silent... It's been up for sale now for couple of years, but every time you hear of an imminent sale, buyers tend to either retract their offer or get it rejected by the a part of the ownership - or at least so the rumors say... but it's not for me to get into that - I'm in this for the whisky and I can only express my sadness that this place isn't up and running, providing us with golden drops a few years down the line...

Meanwhile, let's enjoy some of the whisky from there - distilled a quarter of a century ago...

Bladnoch Distillery, May 6th 2010 © The Malt Desk

Bladnoch 1990 24yo (bottled xx.08.2014) 54,1%, refill ex-bourbon cask#30549, 169 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is golden straw

Nose:
First lots of vanilla , then oak spices pop up, a peppery nip, ginger and some hint of coconut? a couple of drops of water bring out an incredibly grassy and citrussy side and also a garden variety floral side... Lovely!

Taste:
The palate mirrors the nose a lot - the mouthfeel is pretty full, yet its still fresh.
Lots of grass and citrus as mentioned above, lemons/peel, coming across as a bit sharp at times, but some warming oak levels it out beautifully.

This Bladnoch comes across quite full at first but mid palate it looses some of its flavour profile, leaving a kind of a 'hole' in mid palate somewhere between mid palate and finish - quite a strange experience, in fact!

It's still very good whisky, though and just manages to creep past the mid-80s

86/100!

A STREAK OF IRISH WHISKEY - VARIOUS BOTTLERS

Tuesday this week the Irish (and lots of others, for that matter...) celebrate St. Patrick's Day. By now the hangovers should have lifted from those who participated - a hangover mainly caused by many pints of Guinness and also, in some, Irish Whiskey.

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of hosting an Irish Whiskey tasting in the local club and thankfully, they've started bottling more of their whiskey at cask strength which makes the whole thing a lot more fun.

Here's some quick notes on all the whiskeys from that tasting in one post (left to right)

7 drams from The Emerald Isle, January 22nd 2015 © The Malt Desk

Tullamore Dew 12yo Special Reserve, 40%, Distillery bottling

Colour is light amber

Nose:
Fruity at first, then spicy grains and some honey

Taste:
Very easy arrival, banana, vanillas, gentle and sweet, more honey, crisp grains evident, pleasant drinker, slight bitterness on the finish

Actually much better than expected!

77/100!


Jameson Select Reserve, 40%, Distillery bottling

Colour is amber

Nose:
Burnt caramel, spicy, not much grain evident at first, , toast, honey and hints of coffee

Taste:
Creamy, a burnt bitterness, medium mouthfeel, notes of rum and candied apple

78/100!


Distilled in Ireland 26yo, 51,6%, The Nectar of the Daily Drams

Colour is golden straw

Nose:
A little vinegar and varnish at first, then vanilla, sweet malt, resin, wet oak

Taste:
Almost waxy, melon, fruits, oak spices, lots of ginger, gets very tropical fruity in style with time along with mustard seeds and cumin - lovely!

85/100!


Limerick Malt 2001 11yo, 57%, cask#9929, 235 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is straw

Nose:
Discreet at first, then apples and pears, grist, hint of strawberry, vanilla and fresh dough

Taste:
Think of a sweet Speyside whisky - the style is very fruity/floral with apple crumble and white chocolate and a peppery finish - Very good and incredibly drinkable even at full strength

86/100!


Writer's Tears Cask Strength 53%, Walsh's Whiskey

Colour is pale straw

Nose:
Slightly soapy note at first and quite some alcohol as well. Vanilla, some fruit, feinty notes (dairy) quite a young-ish profile

Taste:
More feinty notes - I'm guessing this is quite young, slightly herbal, sweet and carries a very distinct style. The pot still-style whiskey comes through to save this one...

81/100!


Redbreast 12 Cask Strength, 58,6%, batch B1/12, Distillery bottling

Colour is dark amber

Nose:
Lots of sherry and a fat pot still nose, very spicy, fruit cake, dates, candies fruit peel

Taste:
A little cardboard at first, sadly, but quickly gives away to candied apple, wood spices, cinnamon and cloves. Thick barley/grains gives this quite an oily mouthfeel - it's really excellent in spite of the cardboardy start!

87/100!


Cooley's (peated) Connemara 118.3 (14.10.1991) 22yo 'Self-assured, buxom and rewarding' 57,9%, 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel, 206 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is full gold

Nose:

Sweet, instantly typical Irish whiskey notes hit your nose, with at times, almost a grain whisky style to it. There's wild flowers and Geranium and lavender, honey, slight hint of high quality tequila, vanilla, red berries (raspberry?). Have you tried the Knappogue Castle 1993? take that and add 15 years of maturation and add a good measure of smoke to it as well. Hugely expressive!

Taste:

Full force floral and perfumy front, then malt, more honey, fresh pear and smoke. Also vanilla, cough mints, licorice, and musty white wine. After a while the whole experience gets alot more fruity, with added banana and melon notes. Water brings out a bit more smoke and a few darker notes, more oak and spices.

I've tried this a few times now and it has grown a bit on me... sadly, a price tag of £270 here in Denmark will keep me from getting one.

A fun and interesting dram, though...

87/100!

Reviewed earlier -  full post here

CAOL ILA 2001 - ADELPHI

It's been quite a while since I reviewed a whisky from from Islay's largest distillery, Caol Ila... actually its been as much as 15 months, so its about time, don't you think? :-)

Since I don't drink as much peated whisky as I used to, I really try to take my time with what I try and this was no exception. First I tried this at the Islay tasting I hosted in November and again at home later on another occasion with plenty time and a fresh(er) palate...

Anyway, here's my review...

Old scale at Caol Ila with the Paps of Jura in the background, June 13th 2007 © The Malt Desk

Caol Ila 2001 11yo (b. 01.2013) 60,6%, refill sherry cask#303802, 280 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is pale straw

Nose:
Very closed down at first but turning quite fresh and sweet after a while. Some brine and salt nips come through with grape fruit/peel, vanilla and the ever present peat

Taste:
At first lots of alcohol but then a peat rush, smoky bacon, vanilla, apple - all delivered by a very oily mouthfeel. Water brings out a slight white wine edge along with some citrus notes and turning the whole thing into a rather ashy and sooty affair. The finish gives off bags of peated peanuts

This is a real bruiser so go easy with this one! It's far from the most complex of whiskies, but its good fun!

83/100!

MORTLACH 1987 26YO - ADELPHI

Not long ago, I reviewed a Mortlach from one of my favourite bottlers, Cadenhead. This time, I'll be reviewing one from another favourite bottler of mine, Adelphi...

This expression, I tried at the whisky fair in Dufftown during the Spirit of Speyside Festival in May 2014 and it made me want go buy at bottle immediately, even if it carried a hefty price tag of around £125...

The famous cooling wormtubs of Mortlach - and also a not so pretty angle of the distillery
May 4th 2014 © The Malt Desk

Mortlach 1987 26yo 56,8%, Refill ex-sherry American oak hogshead#3103, 200 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is light amber


Nose:
Very easy going to begin with a slight fruity, earthy and hint of yeasty note... but after a short while it start to take off, showing multi fruit juice, vanilla, pineapple, oranges and honey'ed notes. It carries that thick Mortlach less-than-subtlety through to your nose in a very civilised manner.... very nice :-)

Taste:
Huge on tropical fruits, thick mouth feel, oranges, more pineapple, mango, passion fruits, ginger, bit of grass and then a spicy oak rush to make sure the whole thing doesn't get too sweet. Finishes on a fruity/floral burst with ginger shortbread and hint of coconut and salt licorice.

Just delicious!

89/100!

BUNNAHABHAIN 1987 - ADELPHI

Islay underdog Bunnahabhain has started to pick up more attention from both drinkers and bloggers alike... and well deserved it is too. Since 2010, Bunnahabhain, along with its sister products from Tobermory and Deanston, have been bottled at 46,3% abv, and with no chill filtration or colouring. Bunnahabhain has also been a favourite of mine for quite some time now and I always seem to have a bottle of it open at home... and its also often one of the open bottles that gets emptied first.

I haven't been to Islay since  May 2011 but I'll make up for that next year, when most of a week will be spent on this beautiful island. Until then I'll just have to settle for whisky from there...

Bunnahabhain Washbacks - May 6th 2011  © The Malt Desk

Bunnahabhain 1987 25yo 44%, 1st fill sherry hogshead#2786, 146 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is Mahogany

Nose;

Heavy sherry with hints of balsamico and some well measured spicy oak to go along. Cold coffee grounds, chocolate turning very vinous very quickly. Also some musty notes in there, bung cloth, burnt sugar and polished hardwood floor

Taste:

Sugared strong coffee to begin with... then the sherry wine kick in. Also in there are old Cognacs, Madeira and Tawny Ports - very nice! It then fades to bitter drying orange notes and brown overripe banana before a rush of malt and dark fruits (prune juice?) shows itself...

Not overly complex in any way, but if you enjoy this style its good and tasty fun... one for the sherryheads, for sure!

87/100!

BENRINNES 1997 - ADELPHI

About a mile before reaching the village of Aberlour on the A95 running through Speyside, you can, from the road, spot a red chimney on the right, about ½ mile in... that's the distillery.

Benrinnes Distillery is owned by drinks giant Diageo and is almost exclusively used as blend dresser... and the 15yo bottling in the Flora & Fauna range being the best known and about the only official bottling from there - the rest on the market all being from independent bottlers and most notably Gordon & MacPhail. The bottling in this review, however, is from Adelphi...

The distillery is not open to the public and when you get close you can also see why - its not as well kept as distilleries who has visitors centres and a large number of people coming through.

Benrinnes Distillery on a gloomy day, August 26th 2012 © The Malt Desk 

Benrinnes 1997 15yo 59,1%, ex-bourbon cask#837, 148 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is full straw

Similar bottle is shown

Nose:
Nice measures of vanilla and fresh fruit, fresh malt, custard, bit of ginger. After a while more grassy notes comes through, making this one very fresh and lively on the nose - lovely!

Taste:
Medium heavy mouth arrival, apple, vanilla and juicy barley being the most noticeable notes at first. Some notes of peach and honey comes through after a while. The whole thing turns very oily with a few drops of water, giving it an even richer mouthfeel. Fresh cut grass and lemons now in there too... its just keeps developing showing more notes of cereal as we go along.. It finishes on sweet barley and a slight peppery nip.

Some of the best Benrinnes I've had!

89/100!

GLENROTHES 2007 - ADELPHI

When you shop for distillery bottlings of Glenrothes, you'll notice that almost all of them carries a vintage year, as in all the whisky in the bottling comes from that particular year - a good thing when lots of other distilleries releasing No-Age-Statement whisky... That said, so does Glenrothes, but not to an extend where its taken over their product range - I like that!

Normally, I'd say that you have to go for Glenrothes at the age of 12+ to get the best balanced tipple from this distillery, but sometimes, you just stumble across a younger bottling from an incredible active cask that just creates a massive flavour profile.

The Glenrothes, I'm about to review is one such - and it's also an indie bottling at high strength as, sadly, most you ever see from the distillery itself is either 40/43% bottlings.

A couple of stills at The Glenrothes Distillery, May 5th 2012 © The Malt Desk 

Glenrothes 2007 7yo 67,5%, 1st fill spanish oak sherry hogshead#3523, 329 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is mahogany

Nose:
Lovely sherried nose, with an abundance of dark fruits, plums, prunes and raisins, but also strong coffee and dark chocolate. With its kick it reminds me a bit of Aberlour A'Bunadh, but far from as sweet as the Aberlour... and also less oily. Also a slight burnt caramel note to it.

Taste:
Gentle arrival in spite of being 67,5% alcohol. Prunes and orange notes dominate along with a hint of something BBQ-like/smoky but fades quickly and gives away to espresso/crunchy coffee bean notes. The finish turns slightly bitter with hints of dark liqueurs (Tia Maria/Kahlua), pepper and alcohol nip. Not incredibly complex, but what it does, it does
really well.

I love this, very straight forward and hugely enjoyable!

88/100!

MILTONDUFF 1981 - ADELPHI

This will be the first Miltonduff I'll be reviewing here on The Malt Desk.

Miltonduff is one of those distilleries that live its life in relative silence, attention wise - but not production wise - its a big distillery, owned by Pernod Ricard/Chivas and producing whisky for the Ballantines blend.

When I think about it, we rarely see bottlings of Miltonduff around, in spite of a good handful being bottles by the independent bottlers - why, you ask? Well, I guess they fly off the shelves pretty quickly... and that, in my book, is a sign of a quality whisky... oh, and when Miltonduffs do come out, they're also at reasonably prices - at least compared to more famous brands... quality for your hard earned money - there you go... :-)

On my whisky travels I've had Miltonduffs bottled by Gordon & Macphail, a couple of them dark as the night with sherry from both 1968 and 1969 - great whisky! Today, though these bottling have crept up over £300 - but its still less than bottlings from the same vintage from more popular distilleries...  I've also had a couple of the official batches of early 90's from the Chivas Cask Strength Series, which more clearly shows what this distillery has to offer... So do go and try!

For this review though, I'll be going somewhere in between with a 1981 from Adelphi

Bonded warehouses at Miltonduff Distillery - picture from WikiMedia

Miltonduff 1981 32yo, 53,2%, refill ex-bourbon hogshead#5066, 197 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is full straw

Nose:
Oak comes out here very clearly to begin with....
Then it produces some hints of heavy grassy notes and dried ginger, some subdued floral notes and a well rounded sweetness counter balanced by oak nipping on your nostrils. Also some apple'ish notes in there...

Taste:
Pink meringues, that apple again - this time as baked apple crumble, some lemonade, white chocolate ending on strawberry and oranges and a herbal notes.... Wow, what a burst of flavour - but its still kind of all over the place with everything it has to offer and miss some balance here and there.

Very good whisky nevertheless!

86/100!

GLEN GRANT 1992 - ADELPHI

Glen Grant Distillery in the village of Rothes in Speyside is quite a large distillery, but its tucked well away at the north west end of the village. It does have its own exit on the village round-about, so getting there is quite easy...

The distillery was founded back in 1840 and was up until somtimes in the early 1970s still in family hands. Then ownership went to what later became Pernod Ricard/Chivas Bros up until 2005 when Italian drinks company Campari bought the distillery and now produces around 6.000.000 liters of spirit per year. Much of this is actually sold in Italy at a very young and refreshing 5 year old, supposedly drinking well over ice in the Italian summer. Today, I'm sure Pernod Ricard wish they'd never sold off Glen Grant now that demand is increasing everywhere.

Being such a large distillery casks go out to the independent bottlers as well, most noticeable Gordon & Macphail in Elgin, who, for quite some years now, have bottled and sold Glen Grant for the company. This, however, will, if not already, soon come to a stop as the distillers themselves can offload it all these days.

This review from another indie bottler, though, and a favourite of mine - Adelphi.

Glen Grant still house, April 29th 2011 © The Malt Desk

Glen Grant 1992 21yo, 56,6%, ex-bourbon barrel#141974, 219 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is straw

Nose:

Fresh malted barley, apples and pears, some cookie dough, has a very fresh feel to it and also somewhat of a young'ish feel as well- like there's been very little cask influence going on here.

Taste:

Very sugary, pears again, avocado and some notes of baking and cereal, very little spice and a burst of citrus and a little mouth burn on the finish. Its all just too well behaved for me... but its still god whisky.

I'd say again this comes from a fairly inactive cask, which can sometimes be fun... but this time its just a bit on the dull side

82/100!

MACALLAN 1997 - ADELPHI

Tonight, I just read that the next Macallan Easter Elchies House bottling was released today. A single cask 17 years of age and at cask strength of 55,3% abv. A 170 bottles was released from cask#26 of where a total 340 bottles were drawn. The remaining bottles go on sale in December... Price £185 and sold only at the distillery visitors centre. Besides the price, the even more crazy part is that people had been lining up since 5am Sunday morning to get their hands on this.


The Macallan Easter Elchies bottling Nov 2013 - thanks to Shaun King for letting me use the picuture

Is this what whisky has become? a thing to line up for at crazy hours in the morning to make some money? if it is, its just sad, sad, sad... I know these Easter Elchies bottlings are quite sought after, but this is getting down right ridiculous. Have some people become so far stretched economically that they are willing to line up and freeze for several hours for a chance to double their money? There were even stories of people driving up to Speyside from Edinburgh to get a bottle!!

I'm betting close to NONE of these bottles will ever be opened. Whisky investing and hoarding like this is, IMO, an insult to the guys that make the whisky and its becoming a significant dark side of the whisky market these days.

I wonder when the whisky bubble will burst? Is it when the 'Tiger'-economies in the Far East, especially China slows down? or Russia slows? Brazil maybe? But if we take a look at the investments being made by the whisky industry now and their plans for coming years, it doesn't seem that they're worried about a slow down.

Now, I'm certainly no market strategist, but when making investments of billions of UK £, banks and shareholders will certainly be wanting them back along with a big fat return. It's a business and this is how we've chosen to live (most of us, anyway)... but there is a long way from lining up at 5am in the morning to get a single bottle to provide the worlds population with drinks (as it's not only whisky many of these companies are selling). Someone has placed alot of trust in demographic and marketing experts to make sure their capacity will still make up for demand. And even if the bubble should burst and you are down to maintaining or even losing existing customers and not getting new ones, there's only us customers to pay for those investments and current demand, resulting in higher prices for us.

I'll not bore you much longer with this, but I am, as I've mentioned in other posts before, aware that distilleries are businesses and not philanthropy or pet project of a crazed billionaire - it's about cool cash... I just hope cool cash doesn't blur the picture too much for either the people in the line to get an Easter Elchies bottling or the people in the corporate board rooms.

Anyway, I know you're here for the whisky so let me review another Macallan for you - not the Easter Elchies one (though I would like to that that ;-) )

Easter Elchies House at Macallan - June 13th 2013 © The Malt Desk

Macallan 1997 14yo 51,6%, Sherry hogshead#1046, 216 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is mahogany

Nose:
Chocolate, nutmeg, hint of oriental spices and orange peel, prunes and burnt sugar

Taste:
Creamy/Oily on arrival, a streak of sulphur (matches), amaretto, strong coffee, orange infused chocolates and polished leather. Sadly it gets a tad too bitter and drying for me on the finish

I was looking forward to this one as I counted on a good pick from Adelphi and with that a trip down memory lane to the likes of the Cask Strength Macallan from a few years back. Sadly it never got much further than out the driveway and certainly not down memory lane. Guess my expectations was too high :-/

82/100!

CRAGGANMORE 1984 - ADELPHI

Time flies... and we've passed 1 week since my last review - oh, well... Here comes the next one...

Tucked away in Speyside, about half a mile off the A95 lies Cragganmore. It's not very well signed and you can miss it in a hearbeat when heading for the usual distillery 'hub' of Aberlour/Craigellachie/Dufftown - but do swing by... it's a nice distillery and even though its standard bottlings are riddled with the evils (E150 Caramel and chill filtration) it makes for a nice starter dram if you need to buy a gift for a newbie whisky drinker.

This whisky I'm about to review is not for a newbie, though... actually I'd say this is quite a challenging dram! and certainly, besides being from a bourbon cask, was somewhat of a surprise for me... but thats what indie bottlings are all about... bottling casks that do not always taste like a distilleries house style.

Oh, and sorry... I've digging holes in my digital archives for a proper picture from Cragganmore for this review, but all I found was bad ones - so you'll have to do without for this review.

Cragganmore 1984 26yo 58,2%, refill ex-bourbon cask#1489, 200 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is straw

Nose:
Waxy, yeast and fresh baking, cut grass left to dry in the sun (hay), citrus and sour apples and a dairy note.

Taste:
Malty, bitter and sour (grape fruits) and spices. Water calms the whole thing down a bit an fruits turn to the boiled kind some honey too. Baked apple in there? Still carries a bit of that sour through to the finish which doesn't really to it for me with this one...

This is a strange one, indeed and certainly not the normal Cragganmore house style. It also doesn't taste like a 26yo. Tried blind I wouldn't say this was older than maybe 15 years. Quite a demanding dram, IMO

81/100!

TAMDHU 1984 - ADELPHI

This is the first Tamdhu I'll be reviewing here on The Malt Desk... and to be honest its not a malt, I've had that many expressions of over the years, though summed up its still more than just a few.

Tamdhu has been owned by Ian McLeod Distillers (IMD) since 2011 and, as with Adelphi, is one of those smaller indie companies that has gone out and bought themselves a distillery, though IMD already owned a distillery, Glengoyne Distillery, some 10 miles north of Glasgow before buying Tamdhu.

Tamdhu was previously owned by The Edrington Group (Highland Park, Macallan, Glenturret) and was mothballed back in 2009 until IMD restarted production in 2012. The official opening, though, was delayed until The Spirit of Speyside Festival in May 2013 where a 10yo bottling from 1st and refill sherry casks also was released.... maybe I'll get to review that later.

The distillery is a relatively large operation and a place I've been wanting to see for some time and the Speyside Festival 2013 provided me with just that opportunity.

The Tamdhu I'll be reviewing is from another regime, though, going back to 1984 - and from an ex-bourbon cask.

Tamdhu stillhouse, May 6th 2013 © The Malt Desk

Tamdhu 1984 26yo, 48,8%, refill ex-bourbon cask#2836, 269 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is full straw

Nose:
Very fresh after spending 26 years in the cask, apple, citrus (oranges), hint of ginger and grass, vanilla. Gets even more fizzy and fresh with water.

Taste:
Very malty arrival, sweet green apples, spices, nipping oak, honey, water brings out peppery spices, oily and that fresh grass again and plain white fruit.

This is a good one - I quite like it for its fruity freshness, though I think it might come across as simple to some...

87/100!

SPRINGBANK 1996 - ADELPHI

Next, I'll be doing a review of a few Adelphi bottlings. For this first one, we head to Campbeltown and Springbank and after that I'll be moving north east to Speyside for the next ones...

I'm not going to dwell long on Springbank itself in this review, but instead I'll focus a bit on building of Adelphi's new distillery on the remote Ardnamurchan Peninsula. As I mentioned in this post, their plan were, to begin with, to be distilling in the Autumn of 2013, but this has now been pushed forward to first quarter of 2014. The building and installation of equipment is going along nicely now and still should arrive the week starting with 11th November.

You can follow the progress, pictures included, on the Adelphi Distillery Ltd Facebook page.

The review below is of a whisky that carries some sulphury notes, but also one that, IMO of course, benefits from having this edge... more on my takes on sulphur here.

The 3 stills at Springbank, one wash (left) and 2 spirit stills, May 10th 2011 © The Malt Desk 

Springbank 1996 16yo, 53,9%, cask#72, 220 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is gold

Nose:
Sweet, the dirty - noth which I expect comes from a fino sherry cask, though this is not stated on the bottle. Some vegitative sulphury notes comes off this one as well as some winey/yeasty notes - another thing thats making me suspect this being a fino cask, but this adds to the experience here. Then you get the Springbank dirtyness instead, (olive?) oil, some hints of peat and brine accompagnied by overripe banana and mango and a dash of motor oil as well.

Taste:
A lot more agressive on the palate, this one. Again sweet and quite dirty, getting really brackish at some point. A strange combination of heavy oils, peat, fruit, ash, white wine/heavy cider along with some coconut and saltiness.

I suspect this whisky might put off some people and its fun that I like this one, as I'm normally very sensitive to sulphury notes.... but this one has it in the right amounts. Good whisky!!

84/100!

LONGMORN 1992 - ADELPHI

Longmorn Distillery just next to BenRiach is a stonker of a malt. So much that owners, Chivas Bros/Pernod Ricard is trying (but failing) to keep Longmorn a hidden secret - it's just too good for that.

Longmorn itself isn't open to the public and to get in there, you have to visit -as I've mentioned before- the Spirit of Speyside Festival and again this Spring 2013 its has opened its door for a few events for a lucky few.

Now, you don't see many official bottlings from Longmorn, only a 16yo and a 50cl Cask Strength usually only sold at the Chivas Group Distilleries that has a visitors centre and its very good value and quality - usually around £40 for a 50cl at cask strength and relative small batch. I have to say this, but forget about the 16yo distillery bottling - its just too bland! Go for the Cask Strength version if you can get it - otherwise look to the independants for Longmorn! ... like the one, I'm about to review...

Longmorn 1992/2010 17yo 53,9% 1st fill bourbon barrel#48430, Adelphi

Colour is amber

Nose:
Huge of plesant oak and malt, vanilla and spice, tropical fruits and floral hints, coconut, honey, sweet mash and white chocolate

Taste:
Fruit and malt arrival, Longmorm trademarks, green banana style dryness,  peppery, orange marmalade on toast, some wood sourness, again very malt driven mid palate which I love. Finish is on dry oak and some wood shavings - all very sweet.

88/100!

LAUDALE 12YO - ADELPHI

Following up the Macallan from the other day with another bottling by Adelphi.
This particular bottling was fairly cheap when it first came out, but apparently its flavour profile has made people silly or maybe people just want to try an -what has been revealed to be- independent bottling of Glenfarclas. Anyway, this bottling that was around £40/€48 euro when it came out is now fetching up and around £115/€140!! in auctions. Pretty steep for a 12yo undisclosed (well, almost) whisky.

What are the mechanisms around this?
Does people really drink with their eyesn and just dont want to admit it? Whisky preachers and bottlers advocate that the colour of a whisky isn't important and that almost colourless whiskies are just as good as darker ones?... Still the first ones of the shelves at the retailers are the dark sherried expressions.

I too indulge myself in sherry matured bottlings, even heavily sherried ones - but that's because I like the taste, but I just refuse to believe that there are that many people out there crazy for sherry matured whisky...
Are investors picking up these bottlings or are people just hoarding them for other reasons... but then again... are there any other reasons for picking up a bottle than either drinking or investing?

Before I get a huge rant started I'd better review the Laudale...

Laudale 12yo 46%, batch 1, 3458 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is dark mahogany

Nose:
Thick rich dried grapes, very bitter/sweet, balsamico, strong coffee and blackcurrant

Taste:
Creamy rich chocolate, cinnamon, high quality raisins, more coffee (espresso style). cherry and blackberry. Also like chewing a coffee bean.

Not overly complex, the sherry has taken over completely, what I tend to call 'sherry broken' but what it does, it does very well. Sherry heads won't be disappointed!

86/100! for its extreme sherry style...

MACALLAN 1993 - ADELPHI

Macallan - The 'Rolls Royce' of Distilleries... James Bond drinks Macallan 50yo, Macallan and Oakley design makes an indestructible hip flask...

We all know Macallan in association with these adjectives and lately we've also seen them remove the age statement from most of their bottlings. There were public outcries across the whisky world when owners Edrington announced this...

I must admit that an age statement on the bottle suits me the best... BUT that said I do get its easier for the distillers to put together bottlings when they're not limited to using stock of a certain minimum age. The NAS (No age statement) quickly became NAS (No aged stock) on media like Facebook when this was announced... and honestly this is probably what this is all about - the distillers can't keep up with demand anymore. You see this across several brands these days - likes of Ardbeg, Glenmorangie, Laphroaig and Talisker have also been doing this for a while now, so it can hardly come as a surprise markets are still surging outside the Euro-zone.

I've yet to try the new Macallans now labelled the '1824'-series... but is this all bad? for the whisky drinker? well, maybe - you don't know how old the whisky you're drinking is anymore, but if it tastes is ok, do you mind? do you see the age statement on the bottle as a stamp of quality assurance or can you do without as long as it tastes good? Feel free to leave your thoughts on this below...

We're of course heading into a Macallan review here... and a Macallan from one of my favourite bottlers, Adelphi...

It's a refill sherry hogshead and I wrote this review when I was 3/4 down the bottle and I'm thinking this is what the -now to be discontinued- Fine Oak series might taste like at full strength...

Macallan 1993 17yo 53,7%, refill sherry hogshead#11641, Adelphi

Colour is light amber

Nose:
Stewed apples, hints of white chocolate, thick malt, a little spicy oak nip and an almost floral sweetness to it, heathery and buttery

Taste:
Creamy malt and spice arrival, then a light sherry sweetness along with warm apples, huge malt presence, more fruits, toffee, oily, nuts and spices.

Great stuff, this one!

88/100!

CLYNELISH 1997 15YO - ADELPHI

Alex Bruce from Adelphi has just been touring Denmark to promote their products... IMO they sell themselves - I've yet to have a bottling I would consider 'bad' - but it good to see Alex out and about and hope to catch up with him myself before long. I'm sure he has exiting things to tell about the progression of the Ardnamurchan Distillery.

I visited the plot of land where it was to be built in August 2012 - and it wasn't literally nothing more than an overgrown plot with vegetation little more than knee high in most places.

When I first heard of the location of Adelphi's Distillery I thought they'd lost their marbles but having been there I see the beauty of Ardnamurchan with the peninsula running all the way out to make the westerly mainland point in Scotland... but most important what it can provide with both peat styles, water and also being close to the Glenborrodale Castle where Alex & Co. sometimes use as a business location. I just wonder if the road there is up for the traffic - first the builders and then all the whisky tourists going there once the distillery is completed... I mean, most of the road going there is single track :-O

The plot of land where the Ardnamurchan Distillery is to be built - August 22nd 2012 © The Malt Desk

We're now 2½ months into 2013 and plans are for the Ardnamurchan Distillery to be distilling in the autumn of the this year - I hope they succeed and also hope to visit the place again before long...

Now onto the review:

Clynelish 1997 15yo 54,5% refill bourbon cask#6510, 283 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is white wine

Nose:
Creamy apple at first nosing, roasted bread crumbs, vanilla custard and after a short while some citrus notes along with honey, oak, wet malt, whole-grain cereal and natural caramel.

Taste:
Lovely crisp oak and slightly floral and waxy arrival turning to vanilla'ed malt and honey, vanilla butter biscuits (DK style), barley sugars and a hint of spicy oak on the finish.

An incredible easy drinker this Clynelish, pleasant with a distinct waxy and natural caramel edge to it - good fun!

86/100!

SPECIAL: VATTING AND BLENDING AT HOME

Over a period of time, I've accumulated some (more) open bottles and samples from which I'll be doing this fun little home experiment. I've been wanting to do this for a while, but have been busy with non-whisky stuff lately, but now its time to get busy... at the same time I'd like to excuse for a boring text-only post. ;-)

Some resources says that the optimal blending proportion of ex-bourbon and sherry cask is 70% bourbon/30% sherry - so I'll be using this as a starting point. Also the fact that older and heavier style + peated whiskies can be used to create more 'body' in the final result is significant knowledge... besides that, glasses and pipettes are also ready for this experiment...

I've poured 3 glasses of the 70/30 ratio mix for comparison. I will have a 4th glass on the side with a similar pours to use as a taste reference. The experiment will be done at full strength i.e. no water will be added.

Please also read the individual reviews and tasting notes of each whisky elsewhere on the blog to get the most out of my experiment.

Here's a list of the whiskies I'll be using:

Aberlour 1996 (04.03.1996) 16yo 54,4% 1st fill bourbon cask#6837, Distillery - Bottle your own (reviewed on its own here)

Aberlour 1996 (04.03.1996) 16yo 58,3% 1st fill sherry cask#2987, Distillery - Bottle your own (reviewed on its own here)

Dailuaine 1983 27yo 55,9% sherry hogshead#4318, 189 bottles, Adelphi
(reviewed on its own here)

Ardbeg 1993 14yo 46%, bottled 02.2008, ex-bourbon cask, 288 bottles, Cadenhead Original Collection (reviewed on its own here)

North British 1997 15yo 14.05.1997/06/10.2012 54,5%, Ex-bourbon barrel#246282, 175 bottles, Signatory Vintage Denmark Exclusive (reviewed on its own here)

Starting by mixing the 2 Aberlours (bourbon and sherry) at a 70/30 ratio...

20mls of bourbon Aberlour + 6mls of sherry Aberlour

Observation upon mixing - part 1:

Colour goes from straw to gold

The 30% of sherry matured Aberlour mixed with the 70% bourbon matured at first seems to overpower the bourbon at first... I'll leave it to settle for a few mins...

Much better now - the mainly bourbon backbone is still in front, but much more laid back now it has gotten proportion of sherry mixed in. Getting some sherry notes, agreed, but the 1st fill bourbon cask is still very loud and I think I need to up the sherry content.

Taste is more balanced than on the nose, though the wood from the bourbon cask still shows itself on the finish. Time to try and add some depth to this... since the bourbon cask is still dominant I'll add some older whisky - the Dailuaine mentioned above.

2mls of the Dailuaine is now added and left to settle for 5mins. The addition of the Dailuaine at the same time, turned this experiment into a blended (vatted) malt. I'm now also using one of the other initial pours as reference.

Observation upon mixing - part 2:

Colour is gold+
2mls of Dailuaine certainly help to quiet down the bourbon cask, but I feel its still not enough.
I'm adding 1ml more of the Dailuaine...

Observation upon mixing - part 3:

Colour is still gold+
The extra added 1ml of Dailuaine has brought down the backbone of the bourbon cask down to vanilla and oak on an acceptable level, where as before both were very loud, bordering on varnish - again see original tasting notes on the Aberlour Bourbon Cask here.

Here is also when it becomes interesting as I now compare with the original pour of just 70/30 Aberlour. Without taking exact tasting notes, I notice that the nose has clearly become much more heavy and deep and more xmas cake and dark fruits coming through, where as the starting point sample is still very loud and somewhat unbalanced to me.

After a good while more I now find the Ref#2 a tad bitter and drying on the finish...

At the same time I'm now taking initial Ref#3 and adding 3mls of Dailuaine to it for reference before the next step.

Next step - This mix into a blend!

Lets sum up what reference drams I have here:

Ref#1 - Initial pour 70/30 mix (20mls/6mls) of the 2 Aberlours
Ref#2 - 70/30 pour of Aberlour + 3mls of Dailuaine
Ref#3 - 70/30 pour of Aberlour + 3mls of Dailuaine

Now, I'm taking North British 15yo grain and adding 15mls it to the mix of Ref#2 and again, its time to let it settle for a short while... Now, I'm aiming to reach a ratio of about 50% malt and 50% grain, which I think succeeded - so now its time to nose from Ref#2

Now to take a reference here again I've decided to split the now app. 45mls in the mix into app. 2 x 22mls - one go experiment further with and one to taste...

Adding the North British grain is easily detectable on the nose - a much more vanilla, coconut and spicy sweetness shows up immediately, though you can still clearly detect the underlying malt as the ratio is still 50/50 malt/grain. The Ref#3 is still carrying the heavier malt notes and especially the sherry notes.

The taste confirms the nose here (a no. 5 glass). I'm getting the grain on first arrival, but the malt and especially the sherried malt has added an edge here - a decent blend - for a home made kind :-)

Islay in the mix?

I just have to try and add a few drops of peated whisky to this mix - just to see what happens and how much will make the dram go OTT rather than add to the experience...

For that purpose I have an Ardbeg from Cadenhead.
I'll start by adding just 5 drops-  which has no significant effect on the app. 20ml mix, same amount is added to the tasting glass.. on the nose it just show tiny, tiny whiffs of peat, if any... maybe its just a peat imprint in my mind? On the palate its like the mix now has a firmer body.

Now adding 1ml to about a 20ml mix gives it a clearer profile and detectable peat for sure, which goes to show how a little peated malt goes a long way - at least for me here... adding a few more drops bring it to maybe about the level of Johnny Walker Green label (best comparison - I think). The other 22ml mix is clearly unpeated when nosing/tasting.

This has been a fun experiment to do and I hope you've enjoyed reading it.
I'd like to encourage you all to get blending at home... though you should reserve much of an evening for it as its very time consuming and and potentially tiring as your senses are working overtime.

DAILUAINE 1983 - ADELPHI

I think you know by now how much I value bottlings done by Adelphi.
This one is no exception! This cask is the sister cask to the one (#4319) that won the Scottish Field Award in its class in 2011.

Alex Bruce of Adelphi brought a bottle from this cask (#4318) as an extra when he visited last year and boy, was I sure he did that!

Lets talk about why...

Dailuaine 1983 27yo 55,9% refill sherry hogshead#4318, 189 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is glowing amber

Nose:
Sweet vanilla'ed sherry, red berries, tobacco, fresh cut wood, almonds, chocolate and ginger

Taste:
Delicious arrival on sweet dried fruits, fairly medium heavy in style though not as heavy as i.e. Mortlach. Then a peppery chocolaty style followed by crushed red grapes and latte style coffee. Very clean sherry style indeed with just the right amount of drying sherry, spices and nutty flavours at the end.

A premium quality dram, this one...

91/100!