NORTH BRITISH 1990 G1.7 'FLAMED CHRISTMAS PUDDING' - THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

We're back with my evil spirits, grains (get the pun?)... that being bourbons/ryes and grains.

This next one is just that... a Scottish grain, but from a distillery I find to produce a slightly spicier style of grain whisky - North British.

Located pretty much almost downtown Edinburgh and very close to a rugby and a football stadium (that's soccer to the US readers) and even close to some residential neighbourhoods, the distillery is using 3 continuous stills, being fed up to 40.00 liters of wash every hour and, at the other end, delivering grain whisky at an amazing 94,5% alcohol. Its not stored on site, but at Muirhall which is halfway between Edinburgh and Glasgow and gets there by road (tanker).

Once there, its diluted to 68,5% before being put into casks.

The one I'm about to review is still pretty high in alcohol volume, but this may be because its from a sherry butt (European oak), which usually is less porous than American oak and with that less likely to loose alcohol.

Google maps provides a good look at the production site here

Anyway, enjoy my review...

North British 1990 G1.7 (xx.12.1990/xx.xx.2010) 19yo 'Flaming Christmas Pudding' 62,4%, 506 bottles, Refill ex-sherry butt, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is amber

Nose:
Varnish (alcohol) and vanilla oak. After 10 drops of water and 15mins, mocha chino and even grapefruits appears. Still carries lots of sugary sweetness mainly burnt brown sugar /creme brulee style.

Taste:
Much more expressive with coconut, spices, ginger, some heavy tropical fruit, peach/nectarines, but also still lots of varnish - even after quite a bit of water.
The sherry influence is there, all right, but it kind of gives a more bitter edge to it.

Phew, although kind of pleasant, this still doesn't do it for me...

Thanks to GNJ for the sample

80/100!

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.

NORTH BRITISH 1997 - SIGNATORY DENMARK EXCLUSIVE

North British is probably my favorite grain distillery since I find it more spicy and not cloyingly sweet like most other grains.

This one is a Denmark Exclusive by indie bottler Signatory, imported to Denmark by FC Whisky.
We usually seems a few of these every year and the last few bottlings I've tried have ranged from good to excellent - very good picks from FC Whisky for sure!

2 casks have been bottled and are now ready for the upcoming Xmas sale here in Denmark - a 1996 Glenrothes (will be reviewed later) and this North British - so how is it:

North British 1997 15yo 14.05.1997/06/10.2012 54,5%, Ex-bourbon barrel#246282, 175 bottles, Signatory Vintage Denmark Exclusive

Colour is pale straw

Nose:
Very sweet, but also very closed at first nosing. I'm not getting much else than a little varnish, wet wood and very little fruit. 15 mins later this baby comes alive with clear vanilla, apricot, creamy coconut, fresh linen and white chocolate. Lovely!

Taste:
Light arrival, first a spicy oak nip but then it rushes on to a stone fruit theme, mainly nectarines and apricots. The character then turns on more traditional grain whisky notes with a spicy sweetness - all very clean, delicate and crisp.
The finish is very much on tropical fruit, coconut and ginger. Again very delicious!

This one is far from as heavy on the sweetness as older grain whiskies usually are. Instead it shows a vibrant young side to grains that we don't see that much of - and I like that!

Good stuff - no doubt about that!

87/100!

NEW RELEASES - DENMARK EXCLUSIVES + GLANN AR MOR

The Autumn always sees new releases and Danish importer FC Whisky has again secured some bottlings exclusively for Denmark.

Like earlier in the year we got 2 single cask bottlings coming our way from indie bottler Signatory. The previous 2 - a Bowmore and an Imperial which were both really good are reviewed here and here.

This time we have a cask of Glenrothes 1996 and a North British 1997 grain hitting the shelves before long. Details on the bottlings can be found on the labels below:
























FC Whisky also imports Kilchoman to Denmark and the 7th danish single cask is a 6yo Kilchoman from a fresh ex-bourbon barrel. FC Whisky is the first to bottle a 6yo Kilchoman ever...

Full details on this one are:

Kilchoman 6yo Distillery bottling - Denmark Single Cask Release 7,  fresh bourbon barrel#162/2006.
Distilled 26.07.2006 – Bottled 08.10.2012 - 59,4% - 234 bottles!

On a bright final note, FC Whisky has also announced that they will start importing French Single Malt 'Glann ar Mor' and its peated twin - the 'Kornog'.

The Danish market will get these 3 bottlings from them:

- Kornog - 46%
- Kornog cask strength - 58,7% 'Taouarc'h an Hañv 2012'
- Glann ar Mor - 46%
















As the production from Glann ar Mor distillery is limited FC Whisky is very proud to get to represent Glann ar Mor in Denmark. The 'Kornog' peated version recently picked up 95points and a 'Liquid Gold Award' from whisky writer Jim Murray.

NORTH BRITISH 1962 - ARCHIVES BATCH 4

Now, as I've mentioned before, I'm not that much into grain whiskies - I simply find them too sweet. After exploring my options a bit I then found, that North British carries a style that is still sweet, of course - but also a bit more on the spicy side, which for me, certainly does things to the otherwise sometime cloying sweetness that some grain whiskies have.

Its all a matter of personal taste, of course - I know people that lap up grain whiskies fast, but not here... usually 1 dram - and I'm good for the night!

Here's a cask of North British from 'The Beatles'-years...

North British 1962 50yo 31.05.1962/24.07.2012, Hogshead#29, 45,2%, 168 bottles, Archives

Light amber in colour

Nose:
Not getting the fruity impact here as you often do with these old grain whiskies. To get some you really need to take a deep whiff of this. Instead, I get a dusty felling and an (olive?) oily feeling on the nose. Aslo getting a guacamole/avocado greenish note and some licorice and tobacco leaves.

Taste:
Not as spicy (oaky) as expected for having spent ½ a century in a cask.
Very smooth, in fact... Now getting some of the tropical fruits I expected on the nose to begin with, especially the all-present (in grain whisky) coconut note - also getting banana and tinned pineapple. On the finish, spices show themselves along with some mint.


This North British remains a little dusty with traces of dunnage and old furniture... and definately not an overly sweet one - I like it!

88/100! ...and I'm not that keen on grains - so pretty good IMO!

NORTH BRITISH - THE WHISKY AGENCY

North British 1962/2010, 48yo, 47,9%, Hogshead, 146 bottles 'The Perfect Dram'
Nose:
Lighty spiced in beautiful measures for an old grain - not at all overpowering - very nicely balanced

Taste:
Not your average heavy sweet tasting grain whisky, more laid back in both arrival/palate and finished. Mouthfilling, medium long, all spice from the cake cabinet, a beautiful grain whisky with a medium/long finish

86/100! (tasted 05-11-2011)