EVENT: DUFFTOWN AUTUMN WHISKY FESTIVAL 2014 - REPORT BY BRUCE CRICHTON

Again this year, Bruce Crichton attended the Dufftown Autumn Whisky Festival and, as the last couple of years, I'm publishing Bruce's account of the events of a few whisky filled days. Please excuse any formatting errors.

Autumn Speyside Whisky Festival 2014

Report by Bruce Crichton

After the series of bit parts I had recorded for ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ were cut, I headed to Dufftown. The surgeon was able to reattach and, with the foot literally on the other hand, the Autumn Speyside Whisky festival was just what I needed and after many days of great whisky, food, music, tours, kiwis, wallabies, hakas and a bucket of Kininvie, here is my account of it.

This report is only 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. Most often, I find myself able to describe the taste of sweets extremely well and the reader is invited to speculate how I have managed to reach adulthood with any teeth remaining. To shorten the report, I refer the reader to previous reports and tastings if a whisky re-appears. I also assume the reader is familiar with widely available bottlings mentioned. Any cask samples, discontinued releases and fill-your-own (FYO) tasted are described briefly, as these may not be available to buy. When water added was, literally, one drop and whiskies were 40%abv, if the strength is not otherwise indicated.

‘It all started with a big dram’ at the Whiskyshop Dufftown

On Thursday afternoon, Whisky Shop Dufftown (WSD) owner Mike Lord presented 3 drams to begin the festival with. Mike had had a barren summer with cautious crocodiles wisely avoiding his waterhole because his death roll is a terrifying sight to behold and even Luis Suarez fears his bite. In this tasting, he presented the 3 most interesting whiskies he had come across recently.

After Mike emptied a bottle of Benromach’s excellent 10 year old into a giant snifter glass for a charity event over the weekend, we tasted Diageo’s flagship ‘Rare Old’ Mortlach, at 43.4%abv. A somewhat controversial release, this contains whisky between 6 and 21 years old with Diageo aiming to keep the product consistent. There was much less sherry character than the popular but discontinued 16 year old ‘Flora and Fauna’ bottling and I found the nose to be almost magical with sherbet and fruit crumble and there was some bourbon cask fruitiness present with the taste being both crisp and sweet. Mike commented that Mortlach has recently doubled in size and has gone from the smallest distillery in Dufftown to being the second largest.
  

As this was going on, Brett the kiwi made a surprise re-appearance, sparking a discussion that ended with the conclusion that the England rugby team should do a Morris dance when the New Zealand rugby team are doing their haka and should probably do a Morris dance before every match they play.

Highland Park ‘Dark Origins’, at 46.8%abv, had been taken from 80% sherry casks and did have a somewhat rubbery nose that dissipated with the whisky being given time to breathe. As Mike reminisced about the 1990’s releases from the distillery, I found this to have the taste of sweet, stewed fruits and shortbread with a touch of peat.

The third and final dram, a 1991 Glenfarclas Family Cask, exclusive to the WSD, at 53.8%abv, was reviewed in the spring festival report. As we tasted it, Mike told us of his campaign to make Dufftown a recognized whisky region and pointed out that, if he succeeds, it will be the third biggest whisky region.

Glen Elgin and Benriach tours

At Glen Elgin distillery, we were greeted by Kwanele, our guide for the morning. Glen Elgin contributes significantly to the ‘White Horse’ blends’, with the logo visible on entry. Glen Elgin is also component of the popular Bells and Johnnie Walker’s blends.

Belgravia and Concerto malts are used, from nearby Burghead, with 8.4 tons of malt per mash, at Glen Elgin, and the grist is split into 8 fractions instead of the usual 3 of husks, grist and flour. Diageo believe this gives them more information, reducing variability and giving them a better extract. Fermentation is a minimum of 90 hours with the aim of producing a fruity character in the spirit.

In 2012, the washbacks were increased from 6 to 9, the mashes increased from 11 to 16 and production increased from 5 to 7 days per week. Increased automation allows a single operator to work where, before, a stillman and mashman were required. On top of each washback is a soap dispenser that, in the event of a power cut, will dispense soap into the wash to prevent foam spilling over. The distillery has 6 stills and currently spirit is transported to Cambus, in Clackmannanshire, as the Auchroisk facility at Keith is at capacity. A distillery upgrade is planned for November 2014 with the spirit receivers to be replaced.

We tasted a sweet 1995 ‘Exclusive’ from Gordon and MacPhail (G&M), at 50%abv, which had the taste of fruit and boiled sweets. This bottling has long since sold out though the curious reader is invited to the G&M shop in Elgin as there will no doubt be future releases from the company. 

Moving on to Benriach, we met Ewan George who showed us a promotional DVD from the company that clearly been produced by the makers of ‘Police Squad’.  Last year, the distillery made 2.4 million litres of alcohol with a third being used for single malt and the rest traded as spirit. 175,000 litres of peated spirit were made and all was kept by the distillery. Interestingly, master blender Billy Walker was unaware when taking over the distillery in 2004 that he had inherited peated spirit dating back to 1972.

1994 was another landmark year for the distillery as then owners Seagram’s bottled Benriach as a single malt, one of the so-called ‘Heritage Selection’. Using Optic Concerto malted barley, the distillery uses 4 waters rather than the traditional 3, something done by both Chivas and Seagrams’, the previous owners.
The short stills have a slight reflux that Ewan says imparts fruity character. Foreshots are kept short at 13 minutes to retain the fruity esters while the cut is between 61 and 73 percent while peated spirit has a cut of between 60 and 73 percent.

Spirit intended for single malt is filled into first fill casks with a small percentage filled into refill casks that are intended for blending. Demineralized borehole water is used to reduce casks. For example, the award winning 12 year old Sherry cask matured release, mostly available in the Far East, is diluted to 47%abv and left for between 6 and 8 weeks before being bottled at 46%abv.

An impressive tasting lineup began with the 1999 virgin oak finish, single cask, at 46%abv. It was sweet with vanilla and cream notes and the finish was spicy. A 1997 distillery shop exclusive, at 59.2%abv, had spent 15 years in a bourbon cask before 11 final months in a Sauternes wine cask. Ewan finds that this cask gives the whisky a caramelized taste. I found that the taste of crème brulee and first fill bourbon was too hard to resist. A 1996 vintage, at 52.4%abv, matured for the final 3 years in a Pedro Ximenez cask had tremendous sweetness from start to finish.

A 1977 Rioja finish, at 44.1%abv, bottled in 2012, was the first ‘I was there’ moment of the festival. Ewan found the taste of sponge cake while I smelled stewed fruits and tasted raspberry ripple. Finally, we had the 25 year old ‘Authenticus’, at 46%abv which apparently contains some 1985 virgin oak finish. It smelled of mellow peat, tasted of smooth and sweet peat and the finish was long, luxurious and soft.

Session whiskies by Gordon and MacPhail

Mike Paterson of G&M took time to recount the company’s history, praising previous owner George Urquhart for being ahead of his time in laying down malt whisky for future with the motto ‘Tomorrow is shaped by today’s decisions, today is shaped by decisions of the past’.

The first of a series of possible session whiskies was a ‘MacPhail’s 15 year old’ mystery malt. This range was introduced in 1983. Mike himself does not know the distillery this whisky is taken from though he said that 40 percent of the whisky was matured in refill sherry casks. It had mint, sherbet and cheesecake on the nose though the taste was difficult to describe and festival regular ‘Boisterous Aberdonian’ reckoned it had a quick finish. Mike Paterson added that the bottles of this malt whisky can be personalized while Mike Lord said that the WSD does the same thing by sticking a post-it note to the bottle. As we were discussing this, gasps of amazement greeted the announcement that a legendary peaty whisky lover enjoyed this despite it not having any discernable peat.

George Urquhart introduced the Connoisseur’s Choice (CC) range in the 1960s to make available whiskies that were otherwise unavailable as single malts and, appropriately, a 2004 CC Balmenach, at a standard strength of 46%abv, was our next whisky. The distillery was owned by Diageo and current owners Inver House have never bottled it. The Balmenach had been matured in refill sherry casks and smelled of creamy soft cheese. The taste was of chewy pear drops and the spicy finish was very long.

The MacPhail’s collection range appeared in 1998 and an 8 year old Tamdhu, at 43%abv, needed time to breath but, having done so, I found light golden syrup and honey on the nose while water revealed fizzy sherbet. This had been matured in refill sherry and bourbon casks, giving it the taste of fruit salad chew bars with vanilla being revealed by water. This particular range bottles either as an age statement or as a vintage. Festival regular Danny Maguire found this particularly enjoyable as it took his mind of the fact that he has tennis elbow in his knees from playing golf.

‘Distillery Label’ Linkwood, at 43%abv, smelled of golden honey and sherbet and tasted lightly fruity with toffee notes. The finish was short and did have a bite to it. Mike Paterson thinks it has a little bit of everything and represents a classic Speyside whisky taken from both bourbon and sherry casks.

We ended with the widely available, recently repackaged Benromach 10 year old, at 43%abv, detailed later. Mike told us to look out for the upcoming 10 year old ‘100 proof’ addition to the range and an Hermitage wine finish. A 5 year old will replace the ‘Traditional’ while Mike said he was looking forward to future ‘Organic’ releases as the company can reuse the casks used previously in that bottling.

Whisky Corner – ‘Peat in Whisky’

Appearing at a festival for the first time were Stewart Craigon and Kirsty Clarke who have their own blog entitled www.whiskycorner.co.uk . Kirsty does most of the writing for the site while Stewart runs a whisky club and the couple are available for corporate events and PR.

Beginning with the Highland Park ‘Dark Origins’ tasted earlier, Stewart detailed the composition of Orkney peat which, unlike other parts of Scotland, has no trees. The ‘Fogg’ is the top layer of peat that gives the initial smoke, the ‘yahrpe’ layer gives smoke and heat and the ‘moss’ gives heat with prolonged but less intense smoke. The barley is dried for 36 hours with 18 of those hours done with peat and the rest done with coke. (My initial thought that they would get better results with Irn Bru was, on reflection, a bit daft). As we considered this, Boisterous Aberdonian started to act up, apparently the result of his trying to smoke a hashtag. Boisterous also reckoned the whisky had a quick finish but nonetheless held its own, something he has experience of, apparently.

Douglas Laing’s ‘Big Peat’ vatted malt, at 46%abv, smelled of toffee and mints, indicating that the nose was dominated by Bowmore. Light and sweet, the smoke gently tickled the palate.  Port Charlotte ‘Scottish Barley’, at 50%abv, had light smoke and icing sugar aromas with minty and soft smoke tastes while the finish had smoked fish and salt.

An Cnoc ‘Cutter’, at 46%abv, was the fourth in a series of highland malts from the Knochdhu distillery, all named after cutting tools, the other 3 in the series are the ‘Rutter’, ‘Flaughter’ and ‘Tushkar’.
Unusually, the distillery publishes the level of peat in the whisky instead of the barley. The ‘Cutter’ had just been released a few days beforehand with Kirsty and Stewart tasting all four of them, back to back with Kirsty reckoning this one had the biggest punch of the 4. After finding fizzy sweetness on the nose, I noticed chewy peat and smoked fish on the taste while water lengthened the finish.

The widely available Laphroaig Quarter Cask, at 48%abv, had the biggest punch of the tasting. A drop of water revealed smoked fish on the nose with smoke erupting on the palate with excellent chewiness and fresh wood present. As I chewed the whisky, Kirsty said she would like to see more companies state the level of peat in the bottle and, to follow, Boisterous changed topic by recommending ‘Charlie Barley’, purveyor of black pudding in Stornoway. At this point, I caution readers asking them to consider the fact that Boisterous was burned in a wicker man on his last visit to Lewis.

A bonus dram of the 12 year old Highland Park, at the very end, revealed itself to be back on effervescent form with lots of delightful, cheery sweetness, making it the most surprising whisky of the weekend.

Cheeky Drams at Glendronach distillery

Arriving at Glendronach on Saturday morning, we were greeted by Karen, our guide for the tour. I’ve reported on this distillery extensively in my reports for the autumn festivals of 2009, 2010 and 2012 so I’ll say only that it was not in production this particular weekend and add a few interesting factoids.

The distillery has increased production every year since 2008 when it was sold by Chivas to Benriach in 2008. The maltings closed in 1996 at the same time the distillery did and was not reopened in 2002 when the distillery was because the building is not strong enough. However, it is preserved as a museum piece. The washbacks are made of Scottish larch and the stills are oil-heated. In the warehouse, there are octave and quarter casks as well as butts and a trial sherry, not from Jerez, is currently being tested.

At our tasting, Karen told us that her favourite from the core range is the 18 year old ‘Allardice’ that she finds ‘cheeky’ and, that instant, she was proved to be correct as the whisky in my glass told me to sod off as I was nosing it. This 18 year old, at 46%abv, has improved recently and Karen finds it chewy. I found rich fruit and sherry with wedding cake and it was a fine benchmark to measure the other whiskies with.

A UK exclusive 1995, cask 3326, at 55%abv had been matured in a Pedro Ximenez (PX) cask making it taste sweet and velvety. 21 year old Oloroso cask 39, at 58.8% needed time to breathe and reveal thick treacle and coffee. A 2002 distillery exclusive, at 56.5%abv, had been matured in a first fill PX puncheon. Surprisingly light, it had hints of syrup, fizzy sweets and sticky toffee pudding. Steve Carr found it rather quiet and not assertive though this was by no means a negative in his view. Karen told us that those who tasted it blind had thought it was much older than 11 years old.

A 1993 oloroso matured, 18 year old at 56.1%abv, smelled and tasted of coffee and dark orange chocolate. A very big dram, it was both thick and chewy. The 1994 ‘Manager’s cask’ was available to fill by hand, at 58.1%abv. A drop of water revealed coffee again and the charming taste of Fry’s orange cream chocolate.

                                                   

Adelphi Tasting with Antonia Bruce

 After announcing that Adelphi’s Ardnamurchan distillery had opened in July 2014, we began with a 1992 Longmorn, at 53.6%abv, that smelled like fruit salad chew bars while Mark Watt found honey and cereal breakfast bars. The whisky had both bourbon and sherry characteristics, leading me to ponder if it had been re-racked. Vanilla and cereal notes were present throughout this tremendous whisky.

The latest ‘Fascadale’ release, at 46%abv, is a 14 year old Highland Park consisting of 2 bourbon casks and 1 sherry cask. Writer Charles Maclean gets red pippin apples and highland fudge while I found fizzy sherbet, apples and mints. Sitting beside me, Christian from Norway said that water revealed a lot of vanilla. On the palate, I got something between apple sauce and apple crumble together with shortbread and concluded that this would make a fine session whisky.

A 1993 Glen Garioch, at 59%abv, had come from a first fill sherry butt. Antonia got spice and ginger notes from the nose while the consensus between Christian and myself was one of orange, marmalade and chocolate.

2007 Glenrothes, at 66.7%abv, led Antonia to describe it as being like a mad peanut butter sandwich though Mark Watt asked the reasonable question: ‘is there a sensible peanut butter sandwich?’ This was a big and punchy dram with no obvious youthfulness discernible and water opened it to give creamy sweetness while Christian detected chocolate.

Our 2000 Ardmore, at 55.6%abv, had subtle highland peat throughout. It smelled of smoked cheese with hints of ham while it tasted of sweet smoke. Christian found vanilla, lemon zest and sugar.

Later, at the Tannochbrae gala dinner, most of these whiskies reappeared alongside a 1990 Bladnoch, at 59.3%abv. With this lowland distillery unlikely to produce again, this was a timely chance to taste a well-aged lowland whisky and it put me in mind of what Auchentoshan Valinch might be like if it was allowed to mature for at least one more decade.  The whisky had been matured in a refill bourbon cask and tasted of butter on white bread with obvious notes of bourbon and spice.

                                                            Berry Brothers and Rudd,

After recovering from a bucket of 23 year old Kininvie, I returned in time for Jonny MacMillan to guide us through the best of Berry Brothers and Rudd (BBR). He began with a slide comparing a single cask BBR bottling with a thinly disguised bottle of ‘Isle of Dalmorecairn’ with the former being unchilfiltered and coloured and the latter not. (Each whisky is 46%abv, if not strength is not otherwise indicated). Jonny recommends rolling your glass with the whisky in it to make it look like you know what you are doing and said that the whiskies had been poured some 30 minutes previously, allowing them to breath.

As we had a 1995 Caperdonich, Jonny showed a slide of the ‘picturesque’ distillery using a photo taken by Mark Watt of the rubble left after demolition. This whisky had vanilla and Parma violets on the nose and tasted of light honey and fruit syrup. 1999 Linkwood, from a refill bourbon cask, was grassy and floral with lemons and delicate sweetness. Apparently, Linkwood is Gaelic for ‘Distillery in Elgin’.

As a historical aside, Jonny showed us a picture of a 1909 company document, written before Rudd had joined the business.  During the prohibition era, BBR had moved enough whisky through the Bahamas to give each person in the islands 8 bottles a day, although it must be taken into account that Mark Watt didn’t live there at the time or the number would have been considerably reduced.

A 1998 Ben Nevis – Gaelic for ‘Fairly High Mountain’ – had been matured in a refill bourbon cask. The nose was slightly astringent with malt and aniseed and it tasted of warm vanilla sauce. Water lightened it considerably and it had all the qualities of a fine session whisky. A 1991 Glencadam, at 53.8%abv, led Jonny to say that the name is Gaelic for ‘Glencadam’ but I angrily disputed this, insisting it is Gaelic for ‘Tight up beside a football pitch’. Appropriately for a component whisky of ‘Stewart’s Cream of the Barley’, it had notes of both vanilla and cream throughout with Christian getting shortbread and pears.

The Glencadam had apparently been extremely popular with a writer who shall remain unnamed but, for the purpose of this report, will be referred to as ‘Pretentious, dopey, self-important twonk’.  Playing a musical tribute to Twonk, Jonny hailed him as our lord and savior and he and I decided it was best not to mention the name of the song either, just to be safe.

A 1997 Clynelish – Gaelic for ‘North Highland Waxy Whisky’ – was 55.4%abv. By this time, my ability to pick out flavours, apart from sweetness and waxiness, had collapsed but this was indeed classic, bourbon cask matured Clynelish and the reader is recommended to by the 14 year old distillery bottle for a benchmark and compare the two. With time running short, I headed out after tasting a bonus dram of the delicious ‘Paul John’ peated Indian whisky where the angel’s share is some 22%.
                                      

Antipodean Wildlife and High Visibility at Benromach Distillery

Sunday morning brought us to Benromach where Susan Colville was delighted to meet old friend Brett the Kiwi and new friend Bruce the wallaby. After watching a promotional DVD narrated by Michael Urquhart, we headed round the distillery, built in 1898 and then closed and gutted by previous owners Diageo in 1983, leaving behind only the buildings and the water supply.

Malting was carried out at the distillery until the mid-1960’s, symptomatic of most of the industry. Benromach uses a combination of both brewer’s and distillers yeast, making it virtually unique in Scotland. This is believed to give richness to the flavour at this manual distillery where almost nothing is automated with no pressure or temperature gauges and the spirit hand-filled into first fill bourbon and sherry casks.

Despite there not being production on Sunday, Susan donned her Hi Vis jacket for our tour and told us that Benromach and nearby Dallas Dhu, closed in 1983, were built as mirror images of each other by Charles Doig. While Dallas Dhu has been preserved with replica equipment, Benromach has changed considerably. Pagoda roofs were removed at the same time as malting was ceased on the premises.

Malt from Inverness is peated to between 10 and 12 ppm while the ‘Organic’ expression uses no peat and the ‘Peat Smoke’ has as much peat as can be fitted into the barley. 13 tons of malt are used per week with 1.5 tons used per mash. One man is on each shift with almost the entire distillery fitted into one room as the new distillery is a small fraction of the size of the old one which Susan reckons could make almost 2 million litres per year, about the same size as the popular Glen Moray, a few miles away.

Fermentation can take 48, 72 or 120 hours with the longer fermentation adding nuttiness. Cloudy wort means that the washbacks do not require switchers. Spirit cutting is also done by hand. Old stock is held at Elgin while post 1998 stock is held on site. Benromach made 135000 litres in 2013 and is on course to make 250000 in 2014. 40 percent of spirit is filled into Jim Beam bourbon casks with the rest filled into Jerez sherry casks, not counting the numerous small batch experiments in progress and the ‘Organic’ which is filled into certified organic Missouri oak. After a cleanout, the Organic’s spirit is made in January and 100 casks are filled per year while the same number of ‘Peat Smoke’ casks are filled in December.

The ageing warehouse will be knocked down then rebuilt and expanded though it does contain the historic 2006 cask that has the millionth litre produced by G&M. Benromach is exported to 42 countries, a remarkable feat for such a distillery of this size. In the pipeline is a 15 year old, stocks permitting.

Our tasting began with the newly packaged ‘Organic’, at 43%abv. This uses organic barley from Mulben, in Banffshire, and the nose had soft bourbon with warm toast and butter and a big, punchy, fruity taste. Susan prefers Benromach from bourbon casks, believing it shows the distillery character and our sample of the fill-your-own, at 61.9%abv, had a light, floral nose, tasting of vanilla, honey and cream. By contrast, the Oloroso cask sample, at 57.6%abv, was sweet and surprisingly light, not being a Benromach A’bunadh or 105. It was improved by adding the bourbon cask sample to it.

After another taste of the flagship 10 year old, we tasted the 30 year old, at 43%abv, which is currently 34 years old, in fact, and a fine sample of the old distillery’s product. Matured in first fill and refill casks, this was a luxurious evening whisky with a notably fruity taste. After that, there was a taste of history in the form of the 1976 vintage, bottled in 2012 at 46%abv. Light and creamy, this was a subtle dram.

Finally, the ‘current ‘Peat smoke’, at 46%abv, had used barley with 67ppm phenol, in contrast to Diageo’s Benromach that used no peat at all. There was smoke, salt and peat on the nose though the taste was much lighter than the level of peat would lead one to expect. There was the taste of delicate salted, smoked fish to finish with. With that, Susan removed her Hi Vis vest and promptly became invisible. (Rumour has it that she and her beloved Amazonian tree frogs had run off with Bruce the wallaby).

Morrison and Mackay Whiskies with Peter Mackay

The ‘Old Perth’ blended malt whisky from Morrison and Mackay (M&M) is currently on its third batch. In our glasses, however, was the first batch, at 43%abv. There was cereal and malt on the nose with smooth citrus tastes and the lemon from a lemon meringue pie to finish. As we were tasting, Peter told us that the core of this particular blend will always be Aultmore, matured in bourbon casks.

The first of four ‘Strictly Limited’ releases, all at 46%abv, was a 1995 ‘Westport’, taken from two bourbon casks. Westport is mostly from a highland distillery in a glen of tranquility with an added teaspoon of whisky from a distillery in Elgin. This had peaches in syrup and cream on the nose with a mellow citrus taste and lemon curd on the finish.

Also from 2 casks was a 17 year old Benrinnes that Peter thought was the best of the range bottled this year. A dram worth spending considerable time on, it had syrup and warm golden honey on the nose with vanilla and delicate, light bourbon in the middle. Rolling this on the tongue gave a long, spicy finish. As we tasted, Peter paid tribute to Mike Lord’s generosity ‘coming out in spades’, just like a combination of Motorhead and the Village People, I guess.

A 1995 Speyside had fudge and wedding cake aromas while Peter described it as ‘Snickers in a glass’ and ‘a whisky for Germans’. Tasting, I found nuts and chocolate on the taste with some bitter oranges to finish.

A 1988 Celebration of the Cask Linkwood, at 50.7%abv, had been matured in a bourbon cask with three months finishing in Oloroso sherry. This whisky had two sister casks, bottled circa 2011/12, one of which tasted like millionaire shortbread. A chewy and sweet dram, I found it deliciously well balanced.
Interestingly, before finishing, Peter told us that the Linkwood was paler in colour than our final whisky, a 1997 Ledaig. This had a minty nose with toffee and smoke but was milder to taste, with biscuits and fruit present. Unlike the younger Ledaig available from Morrison and Mackay, this was more like a peaty Highland or Speyside whisky than one from Islay.

                                                         An evening with Robin Laing
Robin’s back catalogue is reviewed in previous reports and, in addition, he played a number of new tracks, including one about Bannockburn, one called ‘Whisky Cathedral’ and another entitled ‘Black Rose’. His whiskies for the evening were the Bruichladdich ‘Scottish Barley’, at 50%abv, 1989 ‘Images of Dufftown’ from ‘Malts of Scotland’, at 53.2%abv, Port Charlotte Scottish Barley, Benromach Peat Smoke, Benriach 15 Tawny port finish, reviewed in previous reports, and the UK exclusive 1995 Glendronach PX cask, at 52.5%abv. Interestingly, compared to the Port Charlotte, the Benromach tasted lighter, despite a higher level of peat in the barley. Robin is particularly fond of the Bruichladdich ‘Scottish Barley’, as am I. Despite no peat, this is a big, effervescent dram with spice and sweetness in balance throughout. The Glendronach tasted of burnt fruitcake, raisins and toffee and, again, Robin is a big fan.

A thought-provoker for the evening was Robin’s suggestion that limbo dancing in a kilt should be made an Olympic sport – he reckons it is guaranteed TV time.

As usual, highlights from Robin’s performance are available on both Facebook and www.youtube.com.

I was there at Balvenie Distillery

At Balvenie, David Mair took us round. Most of the process has been covered extensively in the reports for the autumn festival of 2010 and the spring festival of 2013 and, this time, the maltings was under repair and out of bounds. David told us that it produces between 10 and 15 percent of the malt needed. A small amount of peat is used on site and, indeed, the distillery produces peated spirit for 10 days out of the year though no bottling date is indicated yet for the whisky.

Balvenie uses different water than nearby sister distillery Glenfiddich uses although the mineral content of the water does not differ. Steeping tanks were added in 1928 and are currently in the process of being replaced, at the time of writing. Interestingly, the original stills had come from Lagavulin and Glen Albyn distilleries. These were sold and the distillery changed to one still shape though David didn’t know which. Unusually, all the stills are the same shape at Balvenie.

The reader is recommended to join the ‘Warehouse 24’ club online for free and tours must be booked by contacting the distillery directly with a limited number of places available per tour. In the aforementioned warehouse, there are 3 casks available for to taste and bottle 200 ml of: first-fill bourbon, refill bourbon and first-fill sherry. These were soft and creamy, tasted of banana and honey and of rich wedding cake, respectively. Also available are a 1974 refill bourbon cask and a 1982 sherry cask. The old Tun 1401 is gone, replaced by the 8000 litre capacity Tun 1509. Each batch of this is compiled by malt master David Stewart and consists of 42 casks of between 21 and 40 years of age. Marrying takes 3 months.

Our vertical began with the widely available ‘Doublewood’ 12 year old, the distillery’s biggest selling bottling. After that, we had the 14 year old ‘Caribbean Cask’, at 43%abv, reviewed in the spring 2013 report. A drop of water opens this to reveal fudge and rum and raisin ice cream. A new addition to the range is the 15 year old ‘Single Sherry Barrel’, at a standard 47.8%abv. Each chosen barrel yields no more than 650 bottles and the whisky has a big punch of raisins, plums and wedding cake. David recommends a single drop of water with this one.

The 17 year old ‘Doublewood’, at 43%abv, is available in a miniatures pack with the 12 year old and the ‘Caribbean cask’. Reviewed in spring 2013 as well, I found fizzy sherbet this time around. The 21 year old Port Wood finish was extensively reviewed in my autumn 2008 report and is a fine accompaniment to a serving of cheese after dinner.

The last 3 whiskies were batch 1 of the Tun 1509, at 47.1%abv, and samples from the 1974 and 1982 casks mentioned earlier. The first of these sold out very quickly on release and all 3 were completely beyond my ability to describe, in a short space of time and we were pushed for time by then. However, for a relatively small outlay, readers of this report can book a tour and taste these whiskies, each of which constitute an ‘I was there’ moment. Also, be sure to bring a glass or a small cup for best results.

                                                  Graham Dunnet of Douglas Laing

Making his debut in Dufftown was Islay man Graham Dunnet who was standing in for the absent Jan Beckers. Jan, it turned out, had headed to London where, ever the practical joker, he persuaded the mayor that it would be a brilliant wheeze to stand up at his party’s conference with a brick. (Jan is reported to have purred at the success of this little jape.)

At 46.8%abv, the newly released ‘Timorous Beastie’ was a blend of highland malts from Glengoyne, Glen Garioch, Dalmore and Blair Athol. This whisky sparked a frenzy of comments from my table and elsewhere in the hall. I found lime citrus on the nose while Graham got barley sugar and Danny got green apples, something that Graham believes is an indicator of young whisky. Snorre found toffee and caramel while I got shortbread notes on the taste. The finish had spice, apple crumble and apple sauce with the addition of water making it minty. An exceptionally pale and delicious Provenance Mortlach, at 46%abv, smelled of shortbread and tasted of caramel shortcake with some light vanilla and peaches.

An ‘Old Particular’ (OP) 15 year old Benrinnes, at 48.4%abv, smelled of peaches and fruit salad chew bars, tasting of bourbon and vanilla. Snorre found raspberries in this one while Leif, his countryman, found plum jam and Pat Lunn tasted salted kippers. An OP 1997 Glenrothes, at 56.4%abv, from a refill hogshead had notes of bourbon while Graham got maltiness, Neil Simpson found cereal and a lady in the audience detected marzipan. I also tasted boiled sweets with water making it revealing mint and a creamy finish.

1989 Clan Denny Strathclyde grain whisky, at 56.2%abv, had an aroma of soft, sweet vanilla with Graham getting muscovado sugar. Neil found banana flavours on the addition of water while I tasted caramel milk chocolate. Graham believes that grain whisky is ideal for the summer and I will test this out the next time that Scotland has a summer as we don’t have one every year.

We ended with an 8 year old Provenance Laphroaig, at 46%abv. A huge dram with a very punch, it was quelled with a drop of water. It tasted of salt, peat and smoked fish with sweetness appearing in time. The finish was long and elegant and the reader is recommended to compare it to the widely available ‘Quarter Cask’ official bottling. Graham asked what was the audience’s favourite and the smooth, luxurious Strathclyde won hands down.

Cadenhead’s tasting with Mark Watt-Glenlivet

Unlike me, Mark Watt does not have a leg to stand on when the foot’s on the other hand and those who have seen him legless confirm this is true. Introducing, Mike Lord said that Mark has pushed back the boundaries of good sense.

With that, our first whisky was a 24 year old ‘Small Batch’ Miltonduff-Glenlivet, at 55.3%abv, taken from 2 hogsheads. This was fresh, juicy and creamy and led Mark to declare that the whole point of an independent bottler is to give you something unusual. He believes this to be a fine session whisky or ‘report-writing’ whisky. I found the taste of digestive biscuits with lemon meringue pie though Mark agreed with me that, despite the quality of the whisky, it is difficult to write about.

Mark says he warms up in the morning with whisky, reasoning that you wouldn’t run without warming up. His ‘Creations’ 17 year old blended whisky contained 1977 Caperdonich with other whisky from Ardmore, Clynelish, Invergordon and Auchroisk. Stephen Lunn thought it had way too much Clynelish and Mark reckoned that was the best insult ever. Strangely enough, the previous Miltonduff could have been added to this without changing the character as the blend is delicate, creamy and sweet with lemon meringue pie.

As a bonus, we had a cask sample of the Invergordon grain whisky that had been a component of the blend.

As an aside, Mark told us that the Benriach 10 year old had made him cry as he had accidentally poured it in his eye, a drink problem also suffered by Ted Striker in ‘Airplane’. In another aside, Mark said his company likes to add the suffix of Glenlivet to a number of distilleries as these distilleries had done so themselves in previous decades to cash in on the name of the first licensed Scotch whisky distillery despite being miles away from both the distillery and the valley in question.

Re-appearing from May was the 23 year old Aberlour-Glenlivet, at 54.9%abv, had been taken from 2 hogsheads. As we tasted, Mark said Cadenhead’s bottle bourbon and received a two-fingered salute from one audience member for that. Parent Company J and A Mitchell are the second biggest employer in Campbeltown after the local council though the council does less.

A 1985 Glenburgie should be bottled soon as a single cask release, at 57.3%abv, and it tasted of orange cream and blood orange chocolate. (Yes, this chocolate is available to buy.) Mark also said he thought the 80’s were coming back again though perhaps could have lived without me telling him I would play Van Halen to him again.

A 1995 Speyside-Glenlivet, taken from a refill butt and a first fill butt, led Snorre to declare it was the best from the distillery he’d had. At 62.8%abv, this was a beast of a whisky though one commentator believed that water gave it an easy-drinking character. The session became steadily more boisterous, despite no Aberdonians being present, and I tasted wine and cereal on this whisky. Mark told a story of having teeth done, which brought pictures of Richard Hammond to mind, and another of the time he was invited back to a cellar to watch a DVD of himself in action. (He declined).

A cask sample of 2001 Bowmore, from 2 refill barrels, had mint and smoky notes to it and had the character of a highland whisky, rather than one from Islay. Mark thinks that Bowmore’s spirit distilled between 1999 and 2001 will be as highly regarded in 2030 as Black Bowmore is today.

At the end of the festival, an honourable mention must go to Alan’s Tannochbrae warm-up blending of the Aberlour 10 and Monkey Shoulder which was delicious and all credit to him for spraying whisky on Robin’s tongue as he sang about ‘Whisky for Breakfast’, the title track of his current album.

The WSD drams party saw Mike announce that Hankey Bannister Heritage had been a clear winner of the blind blends tasting while Aberlour 15 had tied with Glendronach 18 as the best whisky to pair with haggis and that Singleton of Dufftown ‘Sunray’ had been the popular choice to go with bacon.

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 and the rest of the crew, Claus for the proofreading, Steve Oliver, the Tannochbrae, the Coffee Pot café, Hiro for the bucket of Kininvie and the photo, Steve and Annie for the Balvenie distillery picture.

I’m off to join a club with a really thick layer of chocolate, those are the best, and I hope to see all of you again at the spring festival.

EVENT: DUFFTOWN AUTUMN WHISKY FESTIVAL 2013 - REPORT BY BRUCE CRICHTON

As with the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival Spring 2013, regular Bruce Crichton also attended and did a report on the smaller Dufftown Autumn Whisky Festival that runs around the last weekend in September - enjoy his report here - and sorry for any formatting errors:

　

Autumn Speyside Whisky Festival 2013

Report by Bruce Crichton

The chips were down on the way to Dufftown and so were the salt and vinegar but not the sauce as that would have been a bit daft. Perplexed by the plethora of condiments, the Autumn Speyside Whisky festival was just what I needed and after many days of great whisky, food, music, kiwi seductions, punchy one-liners, jet-setting, sniggering and dodgy Euro-disco, here is my account of it. This report is not intended to be a definitive guide and may contain factual errors, for which I apologize in advance. Tasting notes are subjective and additional comment is added from festivalgoers and experts present during note taking. To save space, I refer the reader to previous reports and tastings if a whisky re-appears and have also assumed the reader knows widely available bottlings mentioned. Cask samples tasted are described briefly, since they are not available for the reader to buy. Finally, any water added was, literally, one drop and whiskies were 40% abv, if the strength is not otherwise indicated.

 

Bruce, before the chips are down

Unfortunately, I had to take Thursday evening off, missing the ‘Mates of the Museum’ with its barrel-making contest and the ‘It all started with a big dram’ event where Whisky Shop Dufftown (WSD) owner Mike Lord celebrated being the first man to unicycle across the English channel by warming up the festival with a taste of Aberlour Bicentenary 12 year old, Glendronach Cask Strength batch 2, his own exclusive bottling of Braes of Glenlivet and Ardbeg Galileo which is the first in a series of releases that will be followed by Ardbeg Figaro, Ardbeg Magnifico, Ardbeg Scaramouche, Ardbeg Bismillah and will conclude with Ardbeg ‘Gordon’s Alive?’ but will not include Ardbeg Radio Gaga as that’s just a bit much.

Glenfarclas distillery through the decades

Friday began with a special bus trip to family-owned Glenfarclas where we would taste whisky from this decade, working back through each decade until the 50s and Kate would be our guide for the morning. Glenfarclas was legally established in 1836 though a painting exists from 1791 showing the distillery name. It was bought in 1865 by John Grant, who was looking for farmland and managed, for the first five years by John Smith who left to run Cragganmore distillery and was replaced by son George Grant. We tasted the 1997 ‘Family Cask’, at 58.8%, described as a breakfast whisky, and I found it stylish, light, crisp and creamy with a playful bite on the finish, making it a whisky unsuitable for Luis Suarez.
 

Kate at Glenfarclas

Interestingly, the nearby Ballindalloch castle estate owned the land until 1930 and then, having sold it, cut off the water supply immediately afterward. The resulting legal case was taken to the House of Lords and the water was given to the distillery in perpetuity. A minimum of 100,000 litres are used every day. On-site malting ceased in 1972 and some 330 tons, 2 weeks supply, can be stored on site. 16.5 tons, peated to 3ppm, are used per mash and the distillery uses a Bueller mill, from Switzerland, as opposed to the more common Porteus mill made in Yorkshire. The wash backs are stainless steel and Kate noted that the beginning of the process is modern but gets less so as the process goes on. Fermentation takes 52 hours. Heading round, we saw the bottom of a still being replaced but not the neck, a consequence of the stills being direct-fired. Direct firing is noisy, expensive and more energy-intensive than steam heating and the stills have ‘rummagers’ to stop sticking which results in wear and tear on the copper. The distillery had briefly used steam coils but this had made the new-make spirit unrecognizable as Glenfarclas.

Heading to the warehouse, we tried a 2010 cask sample that smelled of toffee-fudge ice cream and tasted of fruit crumble with only the finish betraying its youth. By contrast, a 2000 cask sample from a 2nd or 3rd fill cask had Kate declaring that she could detect the taste of ‘Sugar Puff’ cereal. Allowing the sample to breath changed it a lot and I tasted toffee sauce and a hint of smoke. The warehouse at Glenfarclas has been constructed to ensure that the temperature does not deviate by more than 6 degrees as opposed to 40 degrees outside and, apparently, the temperature itself is not as important as the lack of change. Some 55,000 casks are maturing, dating from 1953 to the present day. The distillery does not do ‘finishes’ or ‘re-racks’ but does occasionally fully mature whisky in Port or Cognac casks. Sherry casks are sourced from a family-owned business in Spain. First-fill bourbon casks are never used for maturation but refill bourbon casks are.

Some spirit is sold for blending and is prohibited from being bottled as Glenfarclas since the distillery has had nothing to do with the maturation. Recent casks have been filled at 68% and this will ensure sufficient stocks for the popular 105 bottling. The ‘Family Cask’ series was launched in 2006 and ranged from 1952 to 1994 and it is apparently very rare for a distillery to have good stocks from consecutive years.

 

Glenfarclas Bottles

Working back through the years, we had a 1985 vintage, at 44.9%, bottled in 2012. Andy Ellis got citrus and orange notes while I detected blackcurrant ‘Fruitella’ sweets, noting that it would go nicely with a chocolate orange sweet. A 1976 vintage, bottled in 2007 at 49.4% had the aromas of a Fry’s orange cream with a delicate taste and spicy finish.

A 1965, bottled in 2012 at 51.8%, had an orangey nose while Andy Ellis remarked on its tannic grip before we ended with a 1957, from a first fill hogshead. Bottled in 2012 at 43.7%, it smelled of soft leather and a little orange with a very peppery taste and some very dark chocolate that gave way to ash at the end. (Finally, I must mention that the current 105 is so smooth that a pub measure of it can be drunk neat.)

Benriach, Glendronach and Glenglassaugh with Stewart Buchanan

After being introduced by Mike Lord, the man who ate 5 sharks in a feeding frenzy, Stewart Buchanan opened with his favourite, Benriach 16, which he describes as a ‘classic Speyside expression’.

He then discussed the composition of the bottling, something that is described at length in the May 2011 report. Casks have become more expensive and this has meant that the number and volume of ‘finished’ releases has been scaled back.

Benriach was fortunate in the respect that previous owners Chivas had never owned a west coast whisky so experiments were carried out with peated barley and the serendipitous results are still with us. A 1983 single cask release, at 43.9%, is notable because very little whisky was produced at Benriach during that crisis year for the industry. The nose was very soft with chewy tropical fruits with spice and peppery flavours erupting from it with a drop of water. Stewart found this to have a lovely bite.
 

Stewart Buchanan

The 17 year old ‘Septendicim’ smelled like Bowmore, confirming my view that Benriach is the most Islay-like of any peaty Speysider. It had some chewy peat and saltiness with water revealing elegance and spice that gave way to a long, warm and peppery finish.

Moving on to Glendronach, we had the 15 year old ‘Revival’, at 46%, which is reviewed in the autumn 2010 report. Slightly leathery and with a robust, chewy finish, this is the distillery’s biggest worldwide seller Next up was the 21 year old ‘Parliament’, at 48%abv, covered in the autumn 2012 report and still the last word in luxury. Stewart believes that the relatively high strength is needed to preserve the character of the sherry casks used in maturation and a lower strength would destroy this character.

A 1994 Oloroso single cask, at 58.4%, had subtle, sweet softness with characteristic sherry cask notes to taste. The finish was long, sweet and charming and benefits from time to breathe and develop in the glass to become a fine digestif. Stewart said that he thinks it makes your hair stand on end but I told him that I would make the bald jokes, thank you very much, and there was no need to bristle about it.

Glendronach has made a limited run of peated spirit and some quarter casks of unpeated spirit have been there for 6 years, meaning they will probably be released next year. Batch 1 of Glendronach cask strength was released in October 2012 and sold out by Christmas. Batch 2, at 55.2%, has now virtually sold out and batch 3 is in progress. Batch 2 is composed of 80% oloroso matured whisky from 1993, 94 and 95 plus 20% Pedro Ximenez (PX) from 2002 meaning that it could be called a 10 year old though this would be underselling it. I found it very chocolaty and crisp with orange notes the reader is recommended to take a large mouthful and roll it around on the tongue. Stewart described it as the ’15 year old on steroids’ and, again, the reader is invited to buy this and the 15 year old to compare and contrast.

We closed with Benriach’s release of Glenglassaugh 30 year old, at 44.8%, taken from 3 refill sherry casks. Delicate and velvety with sweet fruits, syrup and raspberry ripple, this was another luxurious dram. Stewart finds that Glenglassaugh has both Highland and Speyside characteristics and noted that the Benriach Company has invested heavily in their newly acquired distillery to improve the site.

 

Berry Brothers and Rudd Tasting with Jonny McMillan

 

With a quickfire delivery to rival that of Tim Vine, Jonny McMillan of the Great Whisky Company, distributors for Berry Brothers and Rudd (BBR), presented a series of unchilfiltered bottlings. The first five of these were taken from refill hogsheads. Using PowerPoint software, Jonny compared single casks to distillery releases with a suitably pixilated bottle of a well-known island malt with its name but not the distinctive bottle shape obscured.

 

Jonny and his faithful foil

 

 

Further comparisons were made between a sirloin steak and a horse burger with added Shergar (part of a stable diet) and between Led Zeppelin and One Direction to much audience laughter. Rolling his glass, which he says makes it appear you know what you’re doing; his first whisky was a 2000 Inchgower, at 46%, and described as a ‘classic bourbon cask Speysider’. It smelled of sherbet and refresher sweets and had a chewy, vanilla taste that became very sweet with a drop of water.

Describing BBR’s Doug McIvor as having a sense of humour so dry, it has evaporated, Jonny moved on to the WSD exclusive bottling 1994 Braes of Glenlivet, at 53.9%. This had aniseed on the nose with the taste being light and sweet with fruit syrup, refreshers and vanilla. Interestingly, BBR now own Glenrothes distillery, having swapped the Edrington group for it with the Cutty Sark blend.

A 1991 Auchroisk, at 54.6%, had a fresh, light, grassy, floral nose with hints of vanilla. This had great mouthfeel, required by Doug McIvor from his whiskies and he does not use first fill casks, believing that refill casks demonstrate a distillery’s character.

By this stage, Jonny was in full flow and aided by a willing audience member who obligingly walked into all of his jokes. Even better, while presenting a 1995 Imperial, at 46%, Jonny asked why the distillery was so called and Danny Maguire, the man who studies for his blood tests and who has vowed to never again iron his underpants while still wearing them, answered. BBR have received two royal warrants and Jonny showed us some pictures of royal family members with bottles of BBR whisky that may or may not have been altered with Photoshop. The Imperial was creamy and had notable shortbread flavours that cried out for some of Walkers finest. The finish was creamy and peppery. A 1977 Glenturret, at 46%, had fruit salad chew bars and tropical fruits on the nose while Andy Ellis found it waxy. Jonny recommends chewing this one for about 10 seconds and there was a cornucopia of fruit, wax and spice with a long, sweet finish.

Berry Brothers Bottles

A 1988 Bunnahabhain, at 49.8%, from a refill sherry butt, had Bovril, treacle and dark chocolate notes while Jonny gets struck matches from it. Jonny told us how he was once cautioned by the police over a linguistic misunderstanding he had with an American who thought that what Jonny described as a piece was a firearm, rather than a Scots term for a sandwich. A 2006 peated Bunnahabhain, at 46% and originally made from blending, smelled of smoked ham to me and smoked cheese to Andy Ellis while it tasted both minty and chewy with some slight peat.

Adelphi Tasting with Antonia Bruce
 

Antonia Bruce of Adelphi

Antonia began with 2001 ‘Slaney’, a mystery Irish whiskey, at 57%, which was distilled twice. Archibald Walker, owner of the Adelphi distillery in Glasgow, owned Limerick distillery in Ireland and this is part of the new ‘Limerick’ range. Taken from a refill bourbon cask, I found the taste of lemon cheesecake while Antonia got sherbet lemons and Madeira cake. The finish was long with both syrup and bourbon flavours.

Handily, a text came in, telling us that the Ardnamurchan distillery is due to be complete in January 2014 and production is planned for next year. A 1990 Macallan, at 56%, from a refill sherry hogshead had McCowan’s toffee, Butterkist popcorn and orange peel aromas with the taste of raisins, burnt toast, coffee and toffee and dark chocolate to finish. Antonia reckons this is a classic Macallan.

2006 Glenrothes, at 67.2%, led to speculation about the filling strength of the cask and there were hints of Bovril about the nose before water opened up fudge and toffee notes. It tasted of rich and velvety wedding cake, prompting Antonia to ask for food pairing suggestions so I recommended sticky toffee pudding though I would have done that if I had been drinking Irn Bru as I’m a bit biased. 1994 Tobermory, at 58.8%, from a first fill sherry butt was found smell musty and of prunes, brandy and salt by both Antonia and Andy Ellis. It had sherry, seaweed and salty tastes with Andy finding onions and meat juices.

We ended with a 1996 Bowmore, at 52.5%, which had been matured in a Spanish hogshead. There was characteristic toffee and mints on the nose. There was a little smoke on both the nose and subtle peat and sherry notes. Andy, not a fan of Bowmore, reckoned this whisky had great balance. As we closed, Mike thanked Antonia for taking time off from laying bricks at the distillery.

Carn Mor Scottish Liqueur Centre Whiskies with Peter Mackay

In quickfire mode himself, Peter began with the blended malt ‘Old Perth’, at 43%, and a potted history of blending in the city. The Old Perth brand began as a blend 100 years ago but later changed its name to Beneagles. Carn Mor relaunched it this year as a blended malt, containing mostly Aultmore, Mortlach, 1996 Ben Nevis and 1987 Tomatin. Soft, dry and creamy with some vanilla and slight smoke to end. This blend has been described, by a German writer, as a ‘good TV whisky’, something Peter told us in a German accent as accurate as Tim Vine’s Dale Winton voice.

 

Peter Mackay and Mike

A 1989 ‘Celebration of the Cask’ Bunnahabhain, from a bourbon hogshead, at 43.5% was delightfully creamy and silky with notes of vanilla while Peter got banana from it. A 1994 Blair Athol, at a standard strength of 46%, was the first of 4 ‘Strictly Limited’ (SL) bottles, all of which would make excellent session drams. It was taken from 2 hogsheads that had been vatted into a sherry cask for the final 3 weeks of maturation, making it not so much as a finish as a tickle. Although hard to pick out flavours, I found it marvelously chewy with a very slight sherry character and, moreish.

A 1998 Auchroisk had also had 3-4 weeks in a sherry cask and retained a nutty and grassy nose. It also was chewy with vanilla and nuts and fruit. A 1999 Dailuaine had cereal maltiness on both the nose and taste with maltiness again at the finish with some slight pepper also.

1995 Mortlach was taken from 2 casks and Peter believes that the distillery makes the heaviest and richest spirit in Diageo’s portfolio. The nose had apple crumble and caramel while the taste was grassy, floral and malty. The finish was creamy and peppery. A cheery bonus dram arrived in the form of a sister cask to the earlier 1989 Bunnahabhain that may be released as a WSD exclusive in the future.

Tannochbrae Gala Dinner with Robin Laing and Antonia Bruce

Few things can beat dinner at the Tannochbrae restaurant with music and poetry from bard Robin Laing and more Adelphi whiskies presented by Antonia.

A refreshing ‘Italian Monkey’ cocktail, made with ‘Monkey Shoulder’, began the evening, leading Robin to sing ‘Monkey Shoulder’. Our first whisky was a 1992 Longmorn, at 52.1%, from a sherry cask that imbued it with the soft taste of brandy butter. A 1987 Mortlach, at 59.4%, from a refill bourbon cask had a rich bourbon nose and water revealed the taste of cherries, pears and almonds. Dessert began with some delicious Adelphi Fascadale ice cream, available from Dufftown’s Balvenie Street ice cream shop and our final dram was 1986 Glen Moray, at 56.8%, that smelled of sharp, crisp vanilla and was creamy, spicy and peppery with a soft, bourbon-like finish.

Antonia at the Tannochbrae

We also tasted the Slaney whisky from earlier again, which led Robin to sing the Irish tune ‘Whisky, you’re the devil’. New track ‘Whisky Men’ had been slightly rewritten to include a verse about whisky girls and Robin also sang ‘The wee cooper of Fife’, ‘Whisky for Breakfast’ and ‘Tall tale’.

Train to Keith for the Strathisla ‘Straight from the cask’ tour

On Sunday morning, I took the journey from Dufftown train station to Keith. The line was closed decades ago but has been brought back to life by volunteers who work weekends and the train passes by the closed Parkmore distillery and the site of the former Towiemore distillery that now makes stainless steel containers for the food and drinks industry. (A café is sited at the station.) 

Arriving at Strathisla distillery, Tony was our expert guide for the limited edition ‘Straight from the cask’ tour. Many of the whiskies featured on this tour had sold out in the Chivas Brothers distillery shops at Aberlour, Strathisla and Glenlivet or sold out over the course of the weekend so notes are brief.

Tony at Strathisla

Most of Strathisla’s details are covered in the spring 2012 report but it is worth noting that the distillery uses spring barley as winter barley doesn’t have the correct properties for whisky. Also, it had been named Milltown distillery between 1786 and 1951 though the whisky it made was always called Strathisla.

Tony told us of the financial shenanigans of a previous owner called James Pomeroy who ended up in prison and the distillery was 110,000 pounds in debt when Canadians Seagram’s bought it over.

Strathisla can make 2.4 million litres per year, 10% of which is bottled as single malt.. Heading to the old filling station at the distillery, we tasted the now sold out 1997 Strathisla ‘Cask Strength Edition’, at 58.7% which had a floral and minty nose that blossomed with water to reveal fruit loaf and spices. This series is released in batches of 800 bottles and these are not numbered, except for the first batch from a particular distillery. After heading to the tasting room, we tasted 2000 Scapa, at 55.1%, which sold out at the distillery during our visit. Matured in fill bourbon casks, it had banana chew bar notes with butterscotch and water revealed some maritime character and a dry, long and salty finish. 1997 Glenburgie, at 60.5%abv, is still available at the time of writing and water opened the whisky to reveal honey and bourbon. Again matured in first fill bourbon casks, this was soft with citrus fruits and lemon zest notes albeit with a short finish. Glenburgie distillery is the third largest of the Chivas portfolio, at 4.2 million litres capacity and the second biggest is Miltonduff, at 5.2 million litres. 1997 Miltonduff, at 58.3%, had vanilla and orange zest aromas with Edinburgh rock and bourbon flavours. A drop of water gave it a much bigger punch though the finish was very soft with some rich vanilla.

I found it fascinating to discover that the distilleries historically associated with the Ballantines blends – Scapa, Glenburgie and Miltonduff – still have most of their product used for that blend while the Chivas distilleries – Glen Keith, Glenlivet, Longmorn and Strathisla – still go mostly to the Chivas blends.

Straight from the cask bottles

1996 Glen Keith was bottled at 54.9% to mark the reopening of the distillery in June. (Glen Keith was built in 1958 and closed in 1999). It smelled of banana and custard yoghurt with orange notes also present. It had a honey and bourbon taste with an elegant and subtle bite to end with.

We closed the tasting with a bonus dram of 1980 Glenugie, bottled at 52.1% as part of the ‘Deoch an Doras’ series, taken from demolished distilleries. Covered in detail in Spring 2012, this is still highly recommended to the reader and, anyone able to obtain a bottle from the series is to be congratulated.

Music with Robin Laing – the whisky bard

As Sunday evening approached, the chips were yet again down and this time with a fried Mars bar and only a warm, flat bottle of Strike Cola to go with it. However, good taste was at hand as Robin Laing played a varied set list with songs about whisky and not about whisky while presenting these whiskies:

Cooper’s Choice 1998 Clynelish, at 46%, that tasted of syrup, golden honey, vanilla and cream.

20 year old Berry Brother’s Caperdonich, at 46%, that was soft, grassy, delicate and peppery.

Benriach 15, at 46%, Tawny Port finish was awesome with rich orange and milk chocolate aromas and chocolate again on the taste with subtle hints of port. Dalmore Spey was soft and velvety and Neil Simpson reckoned it had a peppery kick to finish with. 1994 Glendronach, at 55.1%, smelled of Bovril and treacle so thick you could dance on the top of it with a silky smooth and surprisingly light taste that faded only slowly at the end. The widely available Old Ballantruan, at 50%, has a bigger peat punch than in previous years.

As always, the whiskies are secondary at a Robin Laing gig and the tracks played included ‘Born in the wrong time’, ‘Forth Bridge Song’, ‘Black Clothes’, ‘Black Coffee’, ‘Jamie Penman’, ‘Punters’ and ‘Guernica’. Picasso’s painting of the same name inspired the latter song and Robin believes that he was a Scotsman whose real name was MacAsso. Returning after an interlude, he played ‘Black Art’, ‘Bruichladdich Dram’, ‘Queer folk in the Shaws, ‘Whisky Men’, ‘Speyside Whisky Song’ and many others including the ‘Missionary Song’ which prompted him to tell us that there is African whisky out there and he hopes it remains out there. Also, the second edition of his book ‘The Whisky River’ is now available.

Robin the whisky bard

As usual, highlights from Robin’s performance are available on both Facebook and www.youtube.com

Glen Ord Distillery Tour

Taking a detour to the highlands, I headed to Glen Ord distillery, in Ross-shire. Raymond, the guide, gave the party an abbreviated tour as the distillery is currently doubling in size from its current 5 million-litre capacity. Glen Ord has a hugely impressive visitor’s centre that is very pleasing to the eye. The on-site maltings produces malt for Talisker, Clynelish, Teaninich, Cragganmore and many others.

12.5 tons of grist are used per mash and the wash backs are 25 feet tall. A fermentation of 75 hours has been found to give the spirit a dried fruit and orange peel character while; by contrast, a 48-hour fermentation gives nuttiness. There are 6 tall stills with very long necks and 8 warehouses are on-site that house the spirit of Glen Ord and many other distilleries.

The current ‘Singleton’ of Glen Ord 12 year old release has a 50:50 ratio of sherry to bourbon casks and these are married together for a month in stainless steel. 70% of the whisky made is bottled as single malt while the remainder goes to the mighty Johnnie Walker blends.

Singleton of Glen Ord bottles

The previous release of Glen Ord, not known as the ‘Singleton’, was 70% sherry and 30% bourbon. Off the ‘Singleton’ series, Dufftown is sold in Europe, Glendullan is sold in North America and Glen Ord is sold to south east Asia where demand far exceeds supply. As it is, the distillery is the only place in Britain where any ‘Singleton of Glen Ord’ is available to buy.

The ‘tasting experience’ tour ended with a tasting conducted by the knowledgeable Gordon Sinclair. This tour offers the chance to taste 3 whiskies from owners Diageo’s vast portfolio. The widely available Dalwhinnie 15, at 43%, is still a tremendously easy drinking whisky and Gordon recommends freezing it and serving it straight. The current 12 year old from Glen Ord is also tremendously easy to drink with a velvety smoothness to it. Interestingly, Gordon told us of a production mistake in the past where hot water was wrongly injected into the cooling process and that gave the spirit much more sweetness so it has been left in place. A bonus dram of the 15 year old, at 43%, was slightly fuller and richer than the 12 year old. (An 18 year old is also available at the distillery).

The popular Talisker 10 year old, at 45.8%, was on form with an entertaining big punch to the taste buds and characteristic smokiness present. One final note is that Diageo, in the past, received a large order for unpeated Caol Ila that was cancelled at the last moment. Undeterred, the company pressed on and released some of it any way. Currently available from their special releases range is a cask strength, unpeated Caol Ila that has been matured in sherry casks and curious readers are invited to taste it.
 

Cadenhead’s Creations and beyond with Mark Watt

Arriving back from Japan was Cadenhead’s Mark Watt who, after recovering in the Royal Oak, presented some of his recent ‘Creations’ range, amongst others. (Mark got married in the summer and, appropriately, the cake was half-cut.) Mark said that we were drinking 127 years of whisky and that is not as old as the jokes of Danny Maguire, the man who recently ran a bath and came in fifth, his best performance to date.

An 18 year old ‘Creations‘ Glenrothes-Glenlivet, at 46%, was so named because the company had always called it that. According to Mark, tradition is a good thing unless it’s a bad tradition. This whisky had vanilla and creaminess on both the nose and taste. A drop of water revealed the taste of light golden honey and Mark believes this to be a dangerous whisky as it would be easy to drink a bottle of this. He also describes it as a ‘good report-writing whisky’; something that almost, but not quite, made me bristle.

A 21 year old Glengarioch, at 53.7%, led Mark to note that distillery has a one-word name though the brand has a two-word name. This had the taste of rich, golden honey and a slight peatiness lurked in the background. Danny Maguire found stewed apple, demonstrating there is nothing wrong with his palate even though he has 4 cauliflower ears from 20 years in the Austrian navy and a lifetime of playing chess.

A 24 year old ‘Small Batch’ Cragganmore-Glenlivet, at 57.5%, was made at ‘one of forty distilleries older than Cadenhead’s’. Both the nose and taste had peaches, golden syrup, cream and sponge cake while the finish had a slight smokiness and was very long.

Pausing to recount the history of his company, Mark noted that previous company owners, including Mr Cadenhead, Mr Duthie and current owner Hedley Wright, have never had heirs to leave the firm to. When he departs, Mr Wright will leave Cadenhead’s to the town of Campbeltown. Springbank distillery bought Cadenhead’s to put their bottling line to use and a new line is currently being built as they couldn’t find one to work slow enough – the fastest produced bottling line would bottle a year’s production of Springbank in one month. Current bottling ranges are now available in 23 markets worldwide, having previously only been sold in the company’s own shops, of which there are 8.

A 1979 Dufftown sample was a year older than Mark Watt is and one audience member reckoned it was a lot more mature. Mark found it beefy, describing it as a beast of a dram and reckons there will be about 140 bottles released, depending on how many tastings he does. Detailing his and the company’s modus operandi, Mark asked the legitimate question ‘when did you last lick packaging?’ pointing out that Cadenhead’s don’t spend a lot of money on packaging, thus keeping the price down. He was also promoted and given a raise before he had sold a bottle. Expecting half or quarter bottles, he was asked by veteran Frank McHardy whether he would like half or full bottles to sample and still doesn’t know why he said half.

Moving on to a 21 year old Cooley Irish Whiskey, at 56.3%, Mark began to talk about the distillery being next door to the more famous Bushmills, thus bucking the trend among whisky brand ambassadors by having James May’s sense of direction rather than his taste in jackets. Thus corrected, Mark recalled the time he found Green Spot pure pot still whiskey in a bar and ended up sweating Green Spot. The following day, he was ironically handed a glass of Green Spot and asked to identify it. This whiskey was soft and delicate with bananas and tropical fruits with many audience members finding peat, something I didn’t get.

Sitting beside me, Neil Simpson found a 2003 Bowmore cask sample to be mellow with pickle and almonds while I detected the smell of Murray Mints. This had apparently been rubbish before finishing but had been re-racked into a cask that had previously held Longrow whisky to give a fine whisky. Cadenhead’s will not do a finish if it is less than 3 years and Mark also says that he doesn’t want to walk into a bar and not buy his own whisky, as it’s too expensive.

Asking the rhetorical question ‘Can you tell if a whisky is at its best?’ he answered that it can only be answered definitively after it has peaked and you find yourself saying that it would have been so much better last year.
As the tasting ended and the stories flowed, Mark told us that he has taken to winding up a Diageo brand ambassador whose name I will withhold by singing the company’s name to him to the tune of ‘D-I-S-C-O’.

The festival ended with Mike announcing at the drams party that newcomer Hankey Bannister Heritage, at 46%, had soundly defeated the illustrious Johnnie Walker’s Platinum, last year’s winner, to win the ‘blind blends’ competition while Glendronach 12 had won the contest to see which whisky best accompanied haggis and Tomintoul 16 received 100% of the vote, saying it went best with a bacon roll and then those attending the party kept the dodgy Euro-disco theme going as the night wore on.

Mike and Val at the drams party

To end, I’d like to thank those involved in organizing and running the festival and, in particular, Mike Lord, Val and the crew Vicky, Kirsteen, Gemma, Warren, Jen, Simon and Kat, to Alan, James and the crew at the Tannochbrae, the Dufftown to Keith railway volunteers, the Coffee Pot and the Stuart Arms and to Claus and Claire for the proofreading.

I’m off to read ‘Armadillos in your sock drawer’ by Jeffrey Porbeagle-shark, and I’ll see you at the spring festival when the chips will be down again, this time with 2 sausages and a bottle of Irn Bru.