We’ve all done things (or not done things) that we may have regretted. I’ve done plenty of stupid things, but who hasn’t? Thankfully the fact you are reading this now means we are both here to tell the tale. Though by the end of the sample I’m leaving to sit, I’m not 100% sure whether this will be my final regret.
I’m not going to give up, as this was one of the more expensive of the Silent Season miniatures, and had a good seal coupled with a decent fill level. The other mini I have wasn’t so good with the fill level so there was no point taking the chance of it being flat and unreviewable. How I came to regret this choice.
I’d love to fill you with a story about this distillery, but there is really not a lot to tell you about it, but this will come with a story after a wee bit of tasting.
Region – Lowland Age – 5 y.oStrength – 40%Colour – Old Gold (0.6) Cask Type – not statedColouring – not statedChill Filtered – not statedNose – needs to sit. Sewage, possibly camomile and liquorice. But mostly sewage. Or maybe tripe. Palate –Petrol. Finish – Down the sink
The only green container this should have been in would have been a fuel jerry can. Maybe it had been.
I’m gutted. I have drunk some awful whiskies in my time, but this one is up there. It was worth quite a bit as a collectible bottle as well and I should have kept it sealed. I don’t think it was actually petrol, as it didn’t smell like it, but it was revolting. Abort! Abort! Abort! It was oily in my mouth and it took a few toffees afterwards to get rid of the highly unpleasant taste in my mouth.
As this was an Italian import bottle, and with a taste very unlike whisky, the possibility of this being a fake entered my head. The seal looked good but a very good fill level which you don’t tend to see on these miniatures. And after only one sip, and after eating sweeties, I can still taste it, something strikes me as odd. Even at bed time when I was cleaning my teeth and despite having a cleansing nip, I still had a taste of the liquid in my mouth, despite only taking a sip. If that doesn’t set off alarm bells, what would?
I would have never really thought of this being a fake, but I’d let my guard down, and for those of you who may be drinking old samples, let this be a warning to you that if you have a perfect mini of an old and rare sample, then proceed with caution. All that glitters isn’t gold. It’s very easy to become complacent after many years purchasing at auction and only having successes. Provided that they haven’t evaporated too much, even the minis with low fill levels have provided an interesting drink, if not the way the bottlers intended it to be.
The seal was good on this bottle, and the cap didn’t look out of place – if it looks new or the seal looks suspicious, walk away. But I never even thought about those things until my experience of the liquid. Doing it retrospectively could have given me very different results, but there were other warning signs that should have stopped me even sipping it. The smell alone should have been the red stop light.
Seal intact.
I often look at tasting notes after I buy a dram to see what I can expect and these are not common for Glen Flagler due to the rarity and the cost of the whisky nowadays. I had expected grassy notes, and while this did definitely smell vegetal in the extreme, the only grassy notes I got would have been similar to those from a lawnmower collection bin after accidentally running over a fresh dog turd. They say you can’t recognise a smell or taste you haven’t had before and this was one experience I wasn’t planning on ever smelling again. Word to the wise – strim long grass before mowing it. If nothing else, strimmers are easier to clean, definitely when you find a dog egg.
Before labelling this as 100% fake, I looked for any other signs and how the bottle had been treated in my ownership. It had always been tightly sealed. It had always been upright. Even in packing my bag to take to Poland, I had orientated the samples so the only time they would in theory have been horizontal is when my bag was being carried on and off the train. So, limited contact with the waxed seal. Of course, before I bought it, the last owner could have kept it on its side, but in my experience this usually gives a cardboard sort of taste to the spirit, sometimes taking away the taste of the whisky, but never making it foul. Even the waxed seal and cap looked in good condition, but maybe too good for its age; it’s something that just can’t be verified, but in whisky I feel that things like this if you suspect, then you are perhaps right.
What’s worrying me was the mouthfeel. Very very oily or syrupy. Almost like oil itself. Or glycerine. because it was in my mouth for so little time I never fully analysed it. When you have a taste like that in your mouth for so little a moment, there has to be something not quite right about it. As one of my social media followers on BlueSky commented “it could have been worse. It could have been a full sized bottle.”
A lesson learnt that not all whisky is good and not all old bottles can be trusted. And you can all know that while I may have done some stupid things in the past, at least I still have a sense of self preservation.
People seem to chase after this dram due to its rarity but to be honest, if this isn’t a fake and that was the real taste, then I don’t give it much more than I did the Passport blended whisky. And that was awful. By clicking on this link you’ll see what I thought of that. Glen Flagler was never meant to be a market leader, it was simply a distillery at the Inver House complex in Airdrie to supply malts for its blends. It had a relatively short existence of 20 years, starting in 1965 and ending in 1985. It was used in Hankey Bannister, a blend that I’ve never seen in the shops. The complex was also home to a second single malt, Killyloch, which is even rarer to find. Garnheath grain distillery completed the trio within the same site.
As for Glen Flagler? Don’t look for it on a map as like Glentauchers it doesn’t exist, although there is a Tauchers Wood. The name Flagler comes from a street in West Palm Beach where the American founder of Inver House had a residence.
The brand has been rejuvenated as a blended whisky and there is a single malt still available but whether this is left over stock or a sourced malt, I don’t know. What I do know is I’d rather drink Bells than try anything with that moniker again.
Taste Review #158 – Inchgower MMD Fruity and Sweet
I’ve had a sedentary fortnight before I wrote this blog. You’ve probably noticed a recent upturn in my output and it’s all tied to the fact that I’ve been on a wee holiday to Poland, where my day-to-day life can be put on hold and time was spent drinking whisky and trying to write about it. I’ve been spoilt rotten by my mother-in-law and this has resulted in me needing to forego any treats when I got back home. Hopefully my wife doesn’t read this and keeps giving me the good stuff, due to me having a resolve with the breaking strain of a blade of grass when it comes to dietary matters.
But it hasn’t all been pierogi, biscuits, bigos and traditional bimber. I’ve been up to something else that I enjoy doing but don’t get a lot of time to do, and that is reading a book. That’s the one thing this age of electronic wonder has stolen from me, as it is so much easier to pick up a phone or tablet for entertainment rather than read a hard copy of some literature. I tend to read non-fiction, and often nowadays there’s a personal preference leaning towards audio books, something I can listen to in the car, which makes wasted time getting to places that little bit more enjoyable and often educational. But nowadays my time in the car for edifying entertainment is further curtailed by my daughter who requests to listen to “angry music”, a carefully curated playlist of rock which includes Slipknot, Rammstein, Tool, System of a Down and the Deftones. Perhaps the Rockabye baby downloads worked more subliminally than I ever imagined.
Coffee and Cake. Polish style. Consumed when writing this. Need to keep my energy up!
Imagination is something crucial to reading a book. Your brain is processing words to construct an image as described on the page, forming a satisfying mental picture that can put you almost inside the story. The better the writing is, the fuller and more immersive that cranium based scene will be. This was the case with my latest book, which was unsurprisingly about a whisky topic. I’m not really into book reviews, given my recent poor track record in whisky reviewing but I feel this one should make a mention.
There are a few books that mention people’s experiences while part of the whisky industry but the book ‘Wort, Worms and Washbacks’ by John Macdougall came onto my radar and the fact it relates to some distilleries I have either visited or pass regularly was enough to hook my attention. Starting in the early 1960’s, it tells the story of John’s introduction into distillery management through a DCL training scheme, rather than rising through the ranks. Starting at Aultmore, John moved around over 30 years being sent to Dailuaine next, with short stints at Imperial, Balmenach, Banff and Knockdhu, then taking the chance at the managers position at Laphroaig. From there he moves to Tormore, down to Glasgow to work in the office for Long John, before finally ending up at Springbank, where the book (but not his career) comes to a conclusion.
I don’t want to say too much about the book, as I don’t want to spoil it for you, but there are plenty of tales such as being surprised at photo shoot at Dailuaine as it turned out to be a shoot for a French girly mag, sacking of thieving warehouse staff at Imperial, the hi-jinks on Islay to the drudge of office life away from the hands on work then back to rejuvenating Springbank. What makes this book for me is the unassuming writing style; for it quickly fills your minds eye that you could be there in another world, one which we are maybe partially familiar with through our own experiences or knowledge of that era and industry. A kaleidoscope of imagination results in going back to the 1960’s even though I wasn’t born yet. Then my own experiences kick in, and that I do remember playing on the old railway trackbed that used to feed Aultmore in the early to mid 80’s, as well as playing around the yard whilst my dad visited colleagues in a house adjacent to the distillery. I’ve visited Dailuaine, I’ve driven through Carron to pass the Imperial distillery. I regularly pass Tormore and know the area well, so the picture John is trying to paint with his words becomes so much more vivid. Also, I grew up in the North East of Scotland, so am very familiar with the nature of people who are incidental to his story. It gels well for this blogger who yearns a bit too much for a bygone era that often belies his actual age.
The old Dailuaine Locomotive Shed, where the Puggie engine used to be kept. The same engine mentioned in the book used as part of a French girlie magazine photoshoot now sits outside Aberfeldy Distillery.
The book was really hard to put down, and I managed to read it over the course of three days. I was totally immersed in an age of whisky days gone by and it was magnificent. The book will be a brilliant source of anecdotes for the future, so it has been a worthwhile read. I’m sure there will be a flurry of activity on Amazon or eBay trying to source this book after they’ve read my piece. It is still available, both new and second hand on both sites.
If there is one final point to make about this book that I feel is relevant to make here, is that in the era John writes about, whisky was an industry but different to how we know it now. Back then it was so much more, when distilleries were actual communities. There would have been a lot more staff employed. Malt men, Brewers, Still men, Coopers, Warehouse men, Customs and Excise officers, as well as management. Many communities grew up around distilleries as before their arrival, there is likely not much was there before. A distillery closure thus would have had catastrophic consequences for these communities. Nowadays, due to automation, a distillery can be ran by one or two people a shift; the only hand crafted part of it will be the blender, usually based in the central belt of Scotland where incidently where much of Scotch whisky is stored. So much for your carefully crafted Speyside which was tankered straight from the distillery, casked, matured and blended near to Alloa. The veneration of a distillery then becomes misplaced as its provenance isn’t what you believe it to be from the label, and we end up falsely romanticising an industrial mass production process.
Mind you, I’ve long said that Speyside is simply a well spaced out and scenic industrial estate. It’s now a highly developed process that now largely has long dispensed of the era similar to that described in John’s book. If you want an entertaining that looks back to days long gone, I thoroughly recommend this book.
Keeping it simple
As much as I like telling a story about a distillery, I’m going to give an in depth overview a miss this time, as there isn’t a lot to tell about Inchgower, having being founded in 1871. By 1936, its then owners fell bankrupt, and fearful of a loss of employment in the area, the Buckie Town council bought it to keep it operating, this keeping all those people listed a couple of paragraphs above in work. This was to become the only distillery in Scotland to be owned by a local authority By 1938, Arthur Bell bought the distillery, then through the various purchases and acquisitions became part of Diageo.
The propriety bottling from this distillery is the 14 year old Flora and Fauna, and to date this is usually easily available at specialist retailers and online. Inchgower appears occasionally in the Diageo special releases line up but that’s as far as official bottlings go. The Flora and Fauna release is not the greatest whisky, and was only released as a way of allowing people to sample from each one of United Distillers distilleries not covered by the Classic Malts. However it is not a bad distillery, but for best results you need to try independent bottlings.
Inchgower 14 Flora & Fauna
I’ve got great respect for Murray McDavid (MMD) as an independent bottler. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad dram from them. They are based at Coleburn Distillery between Elgin and Rothes, and we’ll be hearing more about them in the future as part of my Silent Season whiskies. I managed to get a sample of Inchgower 5 which MMD bottled as their Spirit Of Speyside bottling in 2022. Despite its young age, it was banging. See my review here. Murray McDavid Inchgower 5These bottles aren’t expensive, around £55-£65 a pop, but decent high strength whisky for the price.
What’s even better value is the NAS Cask Craft range. This totally ignores age statements and is typically bottled around 44%. This only lists the finishing cask type and the general flavour profile. They are on sale in the UK at around £35 and to my mind represents great value for money for the quality given. For this Inchgower, it has been labelled Fruity and Sweet. Let’s have a look and see what it’s all about.
Inchgower Cask Craft, Fruity and Sweet
Region – Speyside Age – NAS Strength – 44.5%Colour – Old Gold (0.6) Cask Type – Madeira Barrique Colouring – NoChill Filtered – Not stated Nose – Cream, malt, grapes, strawberries lemon, green apples, blueberries, raisins, oak. Palate – malt, grapes, apple, heather honey, pecan nut, tannic, pastry notes. Finish – long, sweet, lingering, strawberries, peppery tannins mingle with a creamy afterglow.
Another success in my opinion from the MMD warehouse. Not the most complex but interesting enough and full of enough flavour to make you want more. It shows that whisky doesn’t always need to be at cask strength and annihilating the lining of your throat. It speaks of a time when whisky was bottled at lower a.b.v, typically 40% but every bit as tasty. I suspect that many malts back in the day weren’t chill filtered as that didn’t really take off until the 1970’s, although DCL did start chill filtration in 1930’s. Just as well I enjoy seeking out those older drams of a bygone era!
At the time of writing, the Inchgower Fruity and Sweet was still available at retail, costing around £33. I’d certainly recommend giving it a go if you see it.
Thanks to Mick (Drammstein on BlueSky) for the great dram swap.
Obviously I’m a bit late with this but given how long it’s been since I last wrote a blog, you can see some things won’t have changed, certainly not for the better.
I don’t subscribe to all this rubbish about celebrating the changes you hope will happen on the earth’s next journey around the sun. Yes, the year may well have changed, but I’m still mulling over the potentially pointless whisky questions so that you don’t have to. When many amongst us have made our end of year lists of great things that happened to them, best albums listened to, best whiskies drunk etc. I find myself still thinking over a discussion that I had with Bob around the time of last year’s National Whisky Festival in Aberdeen.
“Does whisky have a class?”
There are some class whiskies, but I’m thinking something more in line with social class. It’s something that is still reveberating around my head over seven months later. It’s a somewhat awkward question to ask, because it all depends on your point of view and other matters. This has been brought to the fore through an uncomfortable experience last year on social media, of which I didn’t come out of it smelling entirely of roses but neither did the other party. I’ll cut the long story short, but basically I was getting a bit cheesed off by constantly seeing someone boasting about high purchase prices and big age statements. While I wasn’t the only one feeling this way, at least the others ignored it. But I often have a misguided socialist streak.
The straw that broke the camels back.
So, in what became perhaps not one of my finest moments, I delivered what I considered a truth bomb. While in my opinion it may have been true, it doesn’t always make it a good idea to share. Never mind, I’ll worry about that later… It’s a pity as I once had a reasonable online chat with the guy who said we all have different budgets. It’s a very well made point and there is no denying it. However, it’s a different matter when you’re showing off bottles of several hundred pounds almost daily, when the majority are only buying whisky sub-£100.
Subtle like bombs.
Yeah, well. You get the picture. I could have unfollowed earlier but subtle hints were getting me nowhere and after all said and done, it’s none of my business what people spend their money on. But it says a lot about the person who is informing others how much a whisky was that they missed out on. Plus, I’m uncomfortably ignoring what my outburst says about me.
I really don’t know why they did it. I don’t care any more and it was probably never that important. But some people want to look like Big Jock at the clubhouse.
This seems vaguely familiar.
While I don’t regret making that point, it awakened an offline discussion about whisky and how we perceive it, amongst fellow social media users and other friends. I have already explored this concept on two other blogs, one of which was a whisky eulogy to my best friend, and the other explored how we feel about brands and relative value. These links are worth reading again to put things into context if you don’t mind me saying so. These issues continually circle around my head as people venerate a drink perhaps a bit more than they should. Therefore it’s natural to ask my friend Bob what he thought.
“Does whisky have a (social) class?”
Bob, for those of you who don’t know him or haven’t heard of him, has a strong socialist streak. This could have been a red(!) rag to a bull if you can pardon the pun, but Bob has come out with some very reasonable responses. Ultimately he said yes, whisky does have a class and I’m of the opinion that I agree with him. I also believe that this situation is wrong and ultimately false. What follows are my thoughts and it would be interesting to find out if any of this strikes a chord with you, or if you can change my mind.
Bob photographed in a thoughtful mood. Actually, it’s not Bob, but full points go to those who know who it is.
How we see whisky and how we would like to see ourselves
Class is all about perception. It just isn’t only about how you see yourself, but how you want other people to see you. This is borne out of the fact that while we believe it is only the rich that may be class-aware, there are many people of means who are completely down to earth and you’d have no idea of their background or the size of their bank account. It would be nice to imagine that the social class system most demonstrably shown by the British empire has to all intents and purposes died, but human nature isn’t like that. There’s always an aspect that somebody wants to be appearing to do a little better than others. Sadly, human nature is never going to change, but that’s a good thing for marketeers, as they want to play on the aspirational aspects of their target market.
Whisky in the media has been and continues to be marketed on aspirations of the target audience. Different cultures may play it slightly differently but Bob reminded me of this clip from the film “Lost In Translation” starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. Bill plays the role of Bob Harris, a fading American movie star who is having a mid life crisis during a trip to Tokyo to film an advert for Suntory whisky. Bob gave me a link to the actual scene. It’s better if you switch on the subtitles for this as you will get the Japanese translation, and will thus make what I will say next have more sense.
You can see how that the producer is trying to set the scene; famous American movie star, dressed in a fine suit, country house background. The scene is designed to radiate success and opulence. The director is trying to get Bob to say something similar to in style to the classic film Casablanca, to encourage potential drinkers that this is a suave drink and you will look cool and successful if you drink it slowly with an air of sophistication similar to Humphrey Bogart who played the bar tender Rick Blaine in the film.
Suave and sophisticated? Or synthetic and suffocating? What does our choices really say? *Macallan optional
Unfortunately when we drink whisky we won’t be teleported to a country house and be the sudden instruments of desire, unless we own one and are. (Chance would be a fine thing!).But many feel they identify with a different class when they are seen to be buying this or that brand, age statement or high cost whisky. I’ve been under no illusion that this is nothing other than a marketing construct to play on our insecurities and aspirations. Why do we need to prove what we have, how old it is or how expensive it was? And while I have discussed prices on my Facebook page or blog, this is solely to pass on information that I’ve been asked from followers and passing information between enthusiasts. And this is important, as the secondary bottle market is constantly moving.
It goes without saying that the whisky market has changed with the end of Covid, and the endless buying of what is marketed as “special whisky” doesn’t resonate the same with many whisky enthusiasts any longer. In my estimation, sometimes showing extravagant bottles or those with extravagant prices shows that perhaps you aren’t in touch with the market or are paying for over priced whisky at retail. Gone are the days when you’d have to compete with flippers for an inaugural release. These are almost ten a penny nowadays. Many special releases are currently selling for well under their release price, or hovering just above it, even Macallan. It’s my opinion that the market has been oversaturated, and the market is full of special whiskies that in my opinion really aren’t that special. Let me explain, it isn’t that hard and is very simple.
Since we’ve mentioned Macallan, let me use them as an example, although this can be levelled at more than one distillery. Macallan has in my opinion become less of a whisky but more a brand. Like it or lump it, the whisky is now more of a lifestyle aspirational brand. I remember the days even before they built their new distillery that you could drive in, visit the shop, make some purchases, look at the display. No more. You need an appointment to get in – everything has been made to be exclusive, to make you feel that you are that little bit better than everybody else. It makes you feel if you buy one of their products, that you have got something better than anybody else can get.
Designed for the über-wealthy? Made by the common person.
And now here comes my point – see that bottle of Macallan that costs several thousand pounds? It was made with exactly the same equipment as the bottles that sit on the shelves of the supermarket. When that new make was produced and put into casks, nobody knew whether or not it was going to be sold for less than £100 some 12 years later, or put into a sherry seasoned cask for 6 years longer and sold for more than three times the price. Does that extra 6 years and a sherry cask really make that much difference to the cost? No, it doesn’t. Whisky can justifiably cost more in my opinion when it is truly rare, not just because a brand tells you it is rare. The Emperor’s new clothes indeed.
And just to put the icing on the cake, if you think that Macallan have the highest standards, then think again. It is all computer controlled. There is absolutely no more mastery in the new make production than there is when your car was built by robot. Indeed an industry insider was telling me that while the operators know how to control the system, if there is a fault, I’d be surprised if they can do any more than point to where a malfunctioning component is on their SCADA screen. They’ve no hope of actually finding it in the maze of pipework that the distillery contains, as that’s left to the maintenance personnel. If you want a genuine hand crafted whisky where people know exactly how things are done, and everything is manual, look to your smaller and newer distilleries.
The other thing that I think is relevant in why whisky shouldn’t have a class is that it is a product where it is solely made by ordinary, down to earth, human beings. To the majority of whisky workers I have spoken to, while they will have pride in their product, to them it’s just whisky. While I have met many who don’t even like the spirit, for the rest it is just a drink. They can appreciate that some whiskies will be more special than others, but as they have created it, I think its right that it is them that take the most kudos from it. Not some twonk who is going to pay over the odds for something that isn’t really that special.
The best quotes for me come from the industry themselves, and all of these people will be well known. When thinking on if older whisky or expensive whisky is better,
Its quite a controversial subject, this whole idea that the older a whisky is, the better it is, and I’m a passionate believer that almost the opposite is the case. From a very personal perspective, whether I’m drinking Ardbeg or Glenmorangie or Balvenie or Mortlach or Springbank or Highland Park or any of these whiskies which I enjoy, I tend to prefer them between the ages of 10 and 18. Because I think most distilleries hit their sweet spot in that range. Now the older a whisky gets, the rarer it is going to be… Firstly most of it will have been bottled at 10, 12 or 18 years old, so there’s simply less of a pool to choose from, and you’ve lost more by evaporative loss… so by its very nature it’s going to be much rarer, and really thats what you’re paying for in a very old whisky, is the scarcity value, the rarity value. But you need to bear in mind a 50 year old whisky is going to have taken up so much flavour from the wood. It might be woody, it might be dry, it might be bitter. So I would say think very, very carefully before you decided to shell out £5000 or £10,000 for a bottle.
Dr Bill Lumsden – Director of Distilling & Whisky Creation, Glenmorangie Company.
Age isn’t everything, I think there is too much emphasis on the age of whisky. Yes, it will tell you how long it has been in the cask, and that will give you an indication of what it’s complexity may be, but it could have been in tired, old casks for 30 years and become over-aged. And you could have an 8 year old which is every bit as good, if not better because its been in better quality casks
Graham Eunson – Distillery Operations Director (Executive) at Tomatin Distillery.
Er, is it worth it? If I had £100,000, would I buy a bottle of whisky? I would not buy a bottle of whisky for £100,000. No, I would by many hundreds of cases of bottles of whiskies for the same amount of money.
Robbie Hughes – Glengoyne Distillery Manager
We’re a nation that can laugh at ourselves. Hey, it’s just a drink, but its a very, very special drink that’s unique to us.
Jim McEwan
I normally drink those with the people I love. I want to hear what they’ve got to say. You know, a celebration, an anniversary… you bring in a whisky. So quite often I will in fact serve a very aged whisky over a special occasion.
Richard Paterson – Whyte & Mackay
These quotes were taken from the film Scotch – The Golden Dram.
This sums up exactly how I feel. Whisky should be classless. It is just a drink. There is nothing wrong with drinking old or expensive whisky, given the caveats listed in the quotes above. Indeed, a Strathmill 33 I had recently was so tannic it was effectively to my mind undrinkable, so there is a verifiable truth in the words of Graham Eunson. We seem to have built a scene which celebrates itself, which distillers aren’t going to argue with as long as we keep buying. On the other hand I suspect they think we are all nuts.
I’ve started to move away from the communities that seem to place this drink up on a pedestal, as I’ve come to believe we’re often over-elevating its importance. And yes, while it is a hobby to many, including myself, we have to keep grounded and see it for what it is. It’s great when fellow enthusiasts get together and swap notes and experiences. It’s even better when we can share in person. I know from my time on Twitter before Elon took over and turned it into an online Der Stürmer, that I have met many very genuine, interesting and caring people. I am interested in what they have to say, to hear their experiences. Similarly on Twitter / X before I quit, I also knew and communicated with people who had experience of
Losing their jobs
Suffered relationship breakdown
Suffered seious and long term illness
Have had financial problems
Have had to become carers to a spouse or very ill child.
So, it’s important to know which way the wind is blowing in your online community. Even the majority of people that I was involved with would think twice about spending more than £100 on a whisky. And why should you? There are plenty of alternatives that are tasty and don’t cost more than £50. Whisky is over priced as it is, but by overpaying for it continuously gives the manufacturers the green light to keep raising the prices.
Of course there’s nothing wrong with buying expensive whisky, if you can afford it. Sometimes the price tag is justified.
Or you just want it.
You deserve it.
Add to cart.
But perhaps being so public about it on social media, when you rarely show open bottles says more about you than it does the whisky. It certainly may form a different perception in others who may well think that it does indeed make you a prick.
Jack Daniels Single Malt
Now that I have got my angst out, I’d be interested to hear what you think. Am I right or am I wrong? Either way, its just a drink, so get drinking. And this moves me nicely on to a drink that isn’t mass marketed as such just yet, but comes from a mass production facility where there are absolutely no class issues. Indeed, this actually may put you at the Jarvis Cocker end of the scale when thinking about the song Common People. This sample was supplied by a former work colleague, Doug Hyem. Doug does like a Jack Daniels on occasion, and generously supplied me with 2 x 50ml samples.
It can’t be a secret that I’m not the most prolific drinker of American whiskey. There’s not that I find anything wrong with it, but I’m surrounded with so many indigenous options I tend to rarely look outside Scotland. But when offered to try something different, it makes sense to try at least once.
Region – American Age – NAS Strength – 45% Colour – Russet (1.4) Cask Type – Highly Charred Virgin American Oak, finished in Oloroso. Colouring – Not Stated Chill Filtered – Not Stated.
Nose – A sweet, corn aroma to begin with, quite Bourbon-esque. Stewed bananas, maple syrup, polished wood, milk chocolate.
Palate – Gentle, sweet, cherry cola, heavy and oily. Pleasant mouthfeel. Malted biscuits, chocolate. Red fruit and a hint of raisin.
Finish – Short and drying. Oily. A burst of black cherries, double cream and strawberries. Banana loaf.
I know there are a lot of whisky snobs out there that would turn their noses up at this, but I found this dram very easy to drink – indeed easier than a normal Jack Daniels. There are some strong notes of the Jack Daniels DNA in there, predominately the cherries. Perhaps they are using heavily charred oak casks as well for their malt whisky.
Regardless, when we assess the whisky that we are drinking , we may try to see how it makes us feel. This didn’t make me feel like trailer trash, or like I wanted to place a few more sofas out on my front lawn, nor shoot a 12 guage at critturs or roadsigns. I didn’t feel elevated to a place of superiority, where my malt whiskey was better than others. It gave me a nice, easy sipper while watching TV without having to think too much about it. While this is not normally my cup of tea, and I certainly won’t be rushing out to buy it, as I believe it is only travel retail at the moment. Of course, MoM probably stock it. But I will probably pick one up if I see it on my regular trips through the airports.
Take care of yourselves and remember. It’s only a drink and meant to be drunk.
There’s a sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure ‘Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings
Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven
You know how it is awful to see Christmas stuff in the shops around August / September time? Well, I know that December is the time for Christmas, but this review is a bit late. A year late. Those of you who read my last blog will have realised that often I can take a bit of time to do things, notably DIY and blog writing. I’m an expert procrastinator at times, but like whisky they often say that it’s best to wait, for the best stuff doesn’t arrive as quickly as it is possible.
As much as my 2023 was sparse of new whiskies to taste, it was also sparse for music. I have finally succumbed to online services, with few CDs being bought but most importantly there were only two gigs attended. Both were at opposite ends of the spectrum, with one being the Pet Shop Boys, the other being the masters of goth – The Sisters of Mercy. Some of you may know of them, some may even still like them, but I’m not going to hold my breath. Needless to say while the Pet Shop Boys was a treat for the wife, The Sisters was a solo run to Newcastle.
What most people won’t know about the Sisters Of Mercy was they had a side project called The Sisterhood. It was in response to the breakup of the band after the first album, and Wayne Hussey with Craig Adams wanted to use the name for their band. Andrew Eldritch rushed an album through under the Sisterhood name called “Gift”, thus preventing Hussey and Adams using the Sisterhood name. They went onto form The Mission and became mildly successful.
The Prince of Darkness, Andrew Eldritch (as he was)
Eldritch went on to give the ultimate two fingers to his former band mates. The first track on the album “Jihad” was an electronic track with a vocalist repeating the words “Two, Five, Zero, Zero, Zero”. Seems a bit odd, but it turns out it was the royalties due to the band members that were in respect of the second Sisters Of Mercy album that was never made. Rather than split the £25000, Eldritch planned to take it all. He failed, the contract was cancelled, nobody got the money, and both groups went on to form their own careers.
The Lord Of Darkness II – Andrew Eldritch – still enigmatic but a lot more bald nowadays
If you think this was bitter and twisted, by this point, Eldritch was based in Germany. The word Gift there actually means “Poison”. Trust me, this was no mistake, and probably went over the heads of the Mission, just like the repeated numerals on Jihad reportedly did until a lot later.
And then we move onto the whisky, in which the distillery name also has two meanings. Many people reading this will be familiar with the Bimber distillery, but I don’t know how many people will know that Bimber is the Polish word for moonshine. Fortunately, this is a legitimate distillery located in London and was founded in 2015 by Dariusz Plazewski, with the first casks being laid down in 2016. Since then the distillery has gone from strength to strength, so much so that a second distillery has been opened in Dunphail, within Speyside, just to the south of Forres.
I have enjoyed every Bimber I have tried thus far, but it’s a distillery that I never connected with too deeply, solely because living where I live and having a cornucopia of whisky available locally, I’ve not paid much attention to the brand. That is until a bottle of whisky turned up unexpectedly just before Christmas. While I have been discussing double meanings, at least I know that this gift wasn’t poisonous. The bottle in question is the 2023 Santa Edition, and it is this bottle I’ll be reviewing later on. But how can I review such a whisky without knowing a lot about the distillery? Fortunately I was able to get time to visit while obtaining a US Visa at the London Embassy.
Bimber distillery is very easy to walk past and it can’t be more unlike a distillery if it tried. The area is occupied by many a garage workshop, and I even was able to walk past Sunbeam Road without seeing it. Retracing my steps soon brought me to the Eagles head sign above the front door. And once you are inside, the smells let you know you are indeed inside a distillery. Entering the front door, there is a reception / tasting area with displays of Bimber bottlings past and present. With a warm greeting from Arnold Harrison, the account and Customer Relationship manager, it was only a matter of time before Matt Mckay, the Bimber Marketing and Communications director arrived and a tour was given of the distillery, with access all areas and unrestricted photo taking. Other distilleries should take note.
Having been to one or two distilleries in the past, it’s helpful to forget how it’s done elsewhere, while although Bimber follow the same principles, they don’t necessarily follow the same process, something that will help create their own unique spirit. You really have to get into the mind of the European bootlegger. Firstly, the barley used comes from a single farm in Hampshire, with Concerto and Laureate being the variant used. The grain is taken to Warminster Maltings, where it is malted in the traditional way using a floor malting. But we now move into the realm of the illicit distiller, where the malted grain isn’t milled, it is merely cracked. This is then mashed in the one ton stainless mash tun .
The mash tun
From mashing, the wort is transferred into one of seven American Oak washbacks for fermentation. Fermentation time is around the 168hr mark, and using lightly charred oak, this allows natural bacteria to form that wouldn’t be present in a stainless vessel. This enhances the fermentation once the yeast has died off by generating a malolactic fermentation which will create even more fruity esters which is ever present in Bimber new make.
The washbacks
Just as in every other distillery, the next process is distillation, where the wash is emptied into the wash still. Matt explained that they had recently upgraded the wash still. Previously, the distillery used two alembic stills, with a capacity of 1000 litres. The wash still has been changed for a more traditional pot still, with double the capacity at 2000 litres. Both stills are direct fired, which creates a Maillaird effect. Now, geeky as I am, I had to look that one up, and its similar to the browning of food, which is almost caramelised. This gives more flavour compounds and an oily mouthfeel to the spirit. Condensing of the spirit vapours is carried out via a shell and tube condenser.
The stills
The stills, with a view through to the tasting area. Have you noticed a traditional piece of distilling equipment missing yet?
It was envisaged at the start to make Bimber in a way that wasn’t too far removed from the traditional methods of making moonshine, so you may notice that there is no spirit safe. Cuts are done not by measuring but by sampling. Spirit runs off into milk churn-like vessels, not some massive spirit receiver. From here, the new make is casked. Matt explained how cask quality is a big thing for the company, using Ex Bourbon, sherry or Virgin casks, or other smaller batch casks such as the one I will review below, which was a Cognac cask.
Bimber was never planned to be a large production facility, and this is what has traditionally limited the amount of spirit available. Demand for Bimber has always outpaced supply, although not in the same way as a whisky like Springbank has. It used to be that to get a Bimber release, you’d have to be quick off the mark as they often sold out instantly, and from an enthusiast point of view it seems to have calmed down a bit, but it still seems like the only way to get some of London Single Malt Whisky is to either be lucky in a ballot or purchase it at auction. Certainly, in the past this is how I’ve managed to obtain Bimber, though it was great to be able to purchase directly from the source during my visit.
The tour ended with 6 generous samples of Bimber bottlings past and present, which since I hadn’t eaten very much due to catching a red-eye flight from Inverness first thing in the morning left me a little bit squiffy. Looking at my notes, there’s nothing there that makes much sense, and much less can I read my own scrawl, but let’s just say each one hit my palate in a different but very pleasant way. I sprung for a bottle of the rum cask, which for me is a bit of a departure of form, as while I enjoy rum, I’m not usually a fan of rum casked whiskies. The pursuit of excellence has certainly helped convert me to a finish I’m not normally prone to drinking.
Selfie. That’s Matt on the right.
This brings me nicely to the tasting of the Santa edition. I received this unexpectedly in Dec 2023, along with a 5cl miniature and a Bimber branded Copita glass. I don’t normally review whiskies that have been supplied to me gratis, as I feel uneasy about it. However, given the fact that this has been released and sold out for some time, I feel that I’m not acting as an influencer, but simply reflecting my thoughts on what was supplied with no real commerical obligation. The fact it was free does not have any bearing on my opinions.
A lovely Bimber care package.
Bimber Santa Edition 2023
Region – England Age – NAS Strength – 52.1% Colour – Burnished (1.1) Cask Type – Ex-Cognac Colouring -No Chill Filtered -No
Nose – Quite fruity and slightly sweet. Red apple, grape juice, plums, vanilla and a hint of milk chocolate.
Palate – Despite its higher abv, this didn’t have an agressive arrival at all. Stone fruit is the order of the day, with plums leading the charge, with a hint of liquorice, treacle, apple sauce. Bit of wood spice there too, but not particularly drying.
Finish – to me this was shorter than expected but on reflection had a nice fruit taste lingering afterwards. Water increased the intensity of the flavours, but further shortened the finish.
First taste. This wasn’t the dram that I reviewed, but I forgot to take photos of the actual dram. D’oh!
Thoughts
A very pleasant whisky, and one certainly suited to evenings by the fire. I was braced for something more aggressive given the ABV and the relatively young age. There is an underlying fruity note with a warming hint of wood spice and the influence of the Cognac, but is well within balance. If you got this as a present, then you would be delighted.
Postscript
I have to thank Matt for taking time out of his very busy schedule to show me around the Bimber distillery. It was great to meet him after a few years of online correspondence. Matt is also responsible for an excellent whisky blog – The Dramble. If you haven’t seen this before, then I recommend that you do – it is certainly insightful and for me inspirational. Like me, he hasn’t been too active on his blog, but if I thought he was busy then the week after my visit, all hell broke loose with the relevations about founder, Dariusz, leading a double life and facing historical charges back home in Poland.
I’ve chosen not to speculate on these, and is somewhat a moot point now, as Dariusz has no legal responsiblity for Bimber distillery, with it passing onto Matt and co-founder Ewelina Chruszczyk for now. Matt has since moved onto the revitalisation of the London Distillery Company. However what is sad is the amount of speculation that some whisky enthusiasts made about the fate of Bimber. However, nearly a year on, the distillery seems to continue to thrive, and so it should. It has started to bottle an age stated whisky (8 years old) and the special editions keep coming – the latest being The Shoulders of Giants. I’ve got some of these and we’ll be looking at these later. And if you know me well, that could be much later!
Thanks to Arthur and Matt for a great visit to Bimber, and I look forward to a return visit at some point.
Lastly, congratulations to Matt – I see your latest blog has a somewhat humble confession that it’s been a while since the last post!!
Few scotch whisky geeks should need an introduction to Lindores Abbey. It’s the first recorded place of whisky production in Scotland, thanks to Friar John Cor asking for 8 bolls of malt to make Aquavitae. Things have come a long way since 1494, yet time hasn’t been kind to Friars, Abbeys and Catholicism in Scotland ever since, thanks to King Henry VIII, Elizabeth the 1st and the odd knuckle draggers who celebrate a 1690 battle every July. For whisky followers it’s puzzling to think why somebody commemorates the Battle of Cromdale, which took place on the lands around and above where Balmenach Distillery now stands. It took place in April. Wrong battle maybe.
A surprise present.
Thankfully the Mackenzie Smiths have saved what remains of the Abbey, as it lies on their farm. They’ve owned that farm since 1913, and by 2017, spirit was running in stills on Lindores land again. It’s a distillery that I’m not going to write much about here, as I’ve not personally been and it’s one of those distilleries that I really want to visit. Why? Well, firstly the Lindores team did something that I thoroughly approve of – their inaugural release was in large numbers and therefore flooded the market. In turn, this has denied the flippers their pound of flesh. Secondly, because so far I have not tasted a bad Lindores sample yet. We’ll revisit this point later, but I’ll apologise for the spoiler now.
It’s always good to have friends in the industry and while I cannot claim to have legions of them, I have one or two – some who have been known to share some very decent drams with me, often the stuff that others can’t get easily. One such sample came my way from a friend in a Speyside distillery who knew somebody who had a private cask. I don’t know the exact details but I’m led to believe it came from a firkin, but I’ve been unaware that Lindores ever offered a firkin size. There was 67 bottles available and this was from bottle 58.
Lindores Private Cask
Region – Lowland Age – not stated but estimated 4 years old. Strength – 54.7% abv Colour – Mahogany (1.6) Cask Type – Sherry Firkin Colouring – No Chill Filtered -No. Nose – Sweet. marshmallows, candy floss, raisins, strawberry, Chocolate caramel Palate – Stewed plums, prunes, muscovado sugar, dark chocolate topped ginger snaps, walnuts, slightly waxy mouthfeel with medium to full body. Spirit fizz on the tongue. Finish – long finish. Accelerating spiciness, ginger and pepper dominate with prunes and dates providing the sweetness. Slightly tannic with a touch of astringency towards the end.
Lindores Private Cask
Summary
It just goes to show you that it is a nonsense to write off a whisky on account of age alone. This was absolutely stunning and punching well above its estimated 4 years of age. I’d have said 10 years at least and I felt it gave me almost as much enjoyment as a Glenallachie 15, which is my current affordable Speyside go-to. It was such a balanced dram, and one could only guess it was the choice of a sherry firkin that has made this whisky. I felt very lucky to try this and even luckier that I got two samples. While the remaining sample was intended for archive, I think that will not survive into the second half of the decade. Or even next year.
I’ve more than one friend…
Another Lindores sample came my way as the result of a friendship with a whisky retailer. This is a shop that I enjoy going to, as the service and selection I’ve always seen to be excellent, and while I can shop online with the big boys and get stuff cheaper, you don’t get the same service, inside knowledge and craic for the lack of a better word. Many will know the Whisky Shop Dufftown, who have been trading for many years just opposite the town clock tower, and have also ran the Whisky Colours Festival in October, though I believe it’s taking a break this year. I sometimes receive a wee take away sample as I cannot make use of the barrel top tastings due to always driving. This time it was a Sherry Cask Lindores. Well, I’ve shopped and chatted long enough there, so Kat knows my weakness for sherry casks. It’s been some time since I received that sample, and a short time has passed since I tasted it, but like the private cask before, it was kind of yummy.
Lindores Sherry Cask
Region – Lowland Age – not stated but estimated 4 years old. Strength – 49.4% abv Colour – Tawny (1.4) Cask Type – Oloroso Sherry Butt Colouring – No Chill Filtered -No. Nose – Sweet. Plum Duff, milk chocolate, Orange rind, dried fruit. Palate – Prunes, muscovado sugar, Milk chocolate, white pepper, raisins, walnuts, slightly waxy mouthfeel with medium body. A lighter Spirit fizz on the tongue. Finish – medium finish. Less tannic, ginger in the finish continuing alongside fruit and nut chocolate bars.
Lindores sherry cask
Conclusions
Kind of nice. That’s my understatement for the week. I would buy a bottle if I had room – or not an already sizeable backlog. I’ll be putting Lindores higher on the shortlist. Yet again the cask has taken the spirit and worked its magic to my taste, dispelling the myth that whisky has to be aged 10-12 years before it is ready. The Lindores Spirit is light enough yet strong enough to take a good bit of active cask influence without overpowering the distillery character.
I have to say I was one of these. young whisky naysayers, although I’ll confess to enjoying young super-peated whisky all along. But these drams have taught me to judge on flavour and experience alone. Despite what others may say, the only person that can travel on your whisky journey is YOU. All you have to do is be open to other experiences.
Based on these two drams, I’m very likely to be dipping back into the Lindores selections again.
Christmas. Done and dusted for another year and good riddance to it all. I really cannot be doing with all the hustle and bustle of people getting ready for some festival that pretty much most people don’t seem to believe in and spending money that they may not be truly able to afford to waste.
The first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome during 336AD, which is quite fitting, for the gluttony that traditionally takes place at this time of year wouldn’t be out of place in a Roman orgy. Perhaps nothing much has changed after all? I had decided that this year we’d just treat our child and keep everything else low key. Being a good Aberdonian, I wasn’t really wanting to waste cash on anything that wasn’t necessary, though I’d caved in a bit when it came to the budget for Brussels Sprouts, Pigs in Blankets and crisp based snacks. The wife intimated that she wasn’t really looking for much for Christmas (or she gave me that impression, which was to be my defence if needed) and didn’t look that disappointed when that’s exactly what she got. Well, sort of; more about that at the end.
A typical Roman celebration in December for Saturnalia. I suppose they didn’t have Hogmanay to fall back on. Doesn’t seem much has changed.
One of the things I dislike most about the festive season is being asked what do I want as a gift? I let it be known that I’d be happy with getting very little, but my wife wasn’t going to let me away with that so easily. As I tend to buy what I want when I need it, I couldn’t really say that I needed a new power tool. I’m pretty much fashion unconscious, so the offer of new clothing wasn’t taken up. My favourite designer is F&F and I only wear clothes because we have to in public. It gets pretty Baltic in this part of Scotland for most of the year, so clothes are a good idea for more than legal reasons. I sort of knew I was heading for the present that most whisky geeks may detest – Supermarket Whisky.
Putting all the batteries in the decorative animatronic toys is also a festive bugbear. And so is taking them out 4 weeks later.
I’m not that much of a whisky fascist, as there are sometimes a few bottles of whisky in a supermarket that may be acceptable, but the problem is that my dearest knows next to nothing about whisky, and shows little or no interest in reading my blog so had no idea what I’d like. I’d instantly start to feel guilty about asking for something like Talisker 18 while my wife is currently taking time out of her career to look after our child. There was a slight glimmer of hope when she went shopping in Inverness just before Santa day, as she was wanting to go into Leakeys Bookstore – just up the street from wine and spirits retailer Wood Winters. The command that was issued to the effect that I was banned from entering her dressing room once she came home from that trip meant the chances were even higher of something decent. But I was deceiving myself.
Please God, no!Don’t let her buy any of this! And since when did Welsh whisky become local to a Tescoin Speyside?
I’m no stranger to a supermarket whisky gift. Previous presents have been Johnnie Walker Red, Laphroaig Select, Cardhu Gold, Glen Keith, Glen Moray Classic. None of these I’d say are bad whiskies, but definitely not anything I’d purchase myself. There was a wee bit of worry that I may end up with a full size Jura Journey, which given it took me over 5 years to finish a half sized bottle that ended up being poured down the sink filled me with dread. Even if it was a whisky from a specialist retailer, what would she get me? At best I was looking at a Macallan or Glenmorangie, which aren’t to be sniffed at, but not that exciting either. I started to mull over the contemplation that the word “Gift” is also the German word for poison, and wondered if the person who entered that into their lexicon had received supermarket whisky as part of a Christmas present. The regret from not asking for something from the Master Of Malt site was growing. I knew all my contemporaries on social media will be parading the fantastic whiskies that I’d love to try and didn’t want the feeling of pity when they learnt I got something so uninteresting as supermarket whisky.
Come the big day and I was right. It was supermarket whisky. However it was a complete surprise, as I hadn’t had it before and it turns out that my wife had put a bit of thought into it. My gift was a bottle of Smokehead. Not the basic one at 43% but the 40% even more basic version. Probably loaded with colour, chill filtered and as thin as water. I was going to find out that my misconceptions were misplaced.
Smoked bottle makes it look darker than it is.
Smokehead – NAS
Region – Islay Age – NAS Strength – 40% abv Colour – Cherry Oloroso sherry (1.2) Cask Type – Not stated. Colouring – Not Stated but likely Chill Filtered –Not stated but most likely. Nose – Sweet. Strawberry fondant cream, petrol, salty smoke, a hint of TCP, vegetal note of silage. Palate – sweet arrival with no obvious kick. Banana, ginger, malt, salt, smoked bacon, vegetal, liquorice. There is an oily mouthfeel which while light is surprising for such a low abv. A mineral note is present in the later part of the palate. Finish – Spicy but short finish. Ginger and nutmeg, mineral taste, coupled with smoke and a light TCP. Similar to Laphroaig, seaweed, oak and a hint of char.
A healthy pour. Well, it is only 40%!
You’d be justified in saying that I am a whisky snob; anything on a supermarket shelf just doesn’t get me excited unless heavily discounted, and even then there are limits. But this one was a bit of an eye opener. I don’t mean to sound so surprised but I enjoyed it. Complex – it wasn’t, but what grabbed me was the mouthfeel. It was more oily than expected, the smoke and peat was well controlled in such a way it was a pleasure to drink neat. There was a sweetness to it that persuades me that a Sherry cask may be in the mix somewhere. While I have had a lot better whisky than this, it was well balanced and pleasurable to drink while watching a Christmas movie. I may have some cheese and crackers with it when I watch my next Christmas movie. Scotty’s cheese box in the fridge is well stocked with smokey delights.
My wife’s thought process was impressive, remembering that we’d both visited Talisker distillery and she knew I preferred that smokey whisky to the Dalwhinnie later on in the trip. While she had no idea how smokey Smokehead would be, she thought it a safe bet. And it was genius idea, as the chances of me having a supermarket whisky were to be frank, low. While I would have maybe preferred to receive a Talisker 10, that is based on my perception of quality and consistency. But the Smokehead was no slouch, despite it lacking in the usual geek credentials of ABV, age statement, NC and NCF.
It is so easy to dismiss whisky that resides on a supermarket shelf, but we need to remember one or two things that will keep us grounded. Firstly, not everybody has the same whisky budget. Some might want something cheap and cheerful. Some may want a bit of variety, some may just want something a little different but don’t want to break the bank trying something they may not like. While we are not likely to find whisky geek banger whisky in Tesco, we can get something that is palatable at a decent price. Crucially, it could be someone experimenting with whisky who doesn’t want to spaff £75 up the wall on some thing they don’t like. We’ve all been there or known somebody that has.
Mouthfeel was good. More oily than you might expect, giving a feeling of quality. While it is obvious the this spirit has seen a bit of chill filtering, there is still some thing left to give a hint as to what a cask strength one would be like. Unfortunately the standard release is only 43%. No massive spirit burn, although there was a little on the finish. I’ve no idea what distillery it is sourced from. Common belief is that it’s Caol Ila or Lagavulin, but I felt it was less peaty and more smokey putting it into Laphroaig territory for me. Wherever it’s from, I’m not going to say it’s definitely that, but hats off to Ian Macleod Distillers, for it was a perfect dram to sit and sip without the attendant analysis of what I could and couldn’t taste, along with the distractions that such processes demand. Just get it down you and enjoy.
I’m not that jealous of those who got better drams than me for Christmas. I’ve enough whisky in the house and had already had potential Christmas disappointment averted by a delivery of two Murray McDavids from Aberdeen Whisky Shop, though I’ve not felt the need to crack them open in lieu of my supermarket whisky. As we now move past 2022 and into 2023, it’s time to maybe forget such snobbery about supermarket whisky. After all, I’ve got a whisky which some people could pay ten times that amount for other whiskies and not have a much different experience with. Who’s the mug? Obviously there will be stinkers on the shelf, but a wise whisky drinker will know what they are. Just because they have 46% and and age statement means nothing; besides it’s all subjective anyway.
Lastly, just in case my wife does actually read my articles, I’d like to say thanks for your present – I’m really enjoying it. Hope you liked your ironing board cover.
Had to hide wifey’s face; but judging by that smile, she’s delighted with a top of the range Minky Ironing Board cover. Only the best for her!
Always a bridesmaid but never a bride. That’s the phrase that continually comes to mind when I think about Tamnavulin. It always seems to have a presence on any supermarket shelf, and never ever near the more premier brands. I’m a bit wary of Whyte and Mackay whiskies, as I can never understand their seeming obsession with chill filtering and adding colour, especially to Dalmore. I’ve never really connected to Fettercairn yet and the less said about Jura the better. I have thankfully connected to Invergordon, but normally just the independent bottlings. So that leaves the shelf queen of Tamnavulin. One of those whiskies that always seems to be available for £20 at the Co-op. As this price range often includes the Glen Keith NAS Distillery edition, you’ll understand why I give it a miss.
The Sherry cask edition appeared on Tesco shelves for £45 but it seemed to be a little more than I wanted to pay for a litre of whisky I may not like. But when it made a drop down to £30 it was a no-brainer to try. I did buy a bottle, but was reticent about opening it, so put it in the drinking pile in storage and then bought the sample from drinks by the dram.
According to the information on the Tamnavulin website, this has been matured initially in American Oak, which I am going to assume is Bourbon, and finished in a range of three sherry casks. I’m going presume that will probably be PX, Oloroso and I’ll assume another oxidatively matured sherry such as Amontillado, but no further details are given.
The Tamnavulin distillery opened its doors in 1966, so it is a relative newcomer to Speyside. It is one of three distilleries in Glenlivet, with Glenlivet being the most northerly one, Tamnavulin being the middle one, in the hamlet of Tomnavuilin on the B9008 Ballindalloch to Tomintoul road. The most southerly distillery in Glenlivet is Braeval, which is the highest distillery in Scotland according to my GPS. The whole area is quite remote and I’d hate to live up there in winter, but it’s easy to see why Glenlivet was so popular with illicit distillers.
Being on the west river bank of the River Livet, at this point the Tamnavulin distillery just sneaks into the Cairngorm National Park boundary. This distillery takes its name from the Scots Gaelic meaning ‘Mill on the hill’. There happens to be an old carding mill within the distillery grounds which is where local shepherds would take fleeces to be made into wool.
Rather than spinning out a story, let’s take a look at the whisky.
Tamnavulin Sherry Cask
Region -Speyside Age – NAS Strength – 40% ABV Colour – Deep Copper (1.0) Cask Type – Sherry Colouring – Yes Chill Filtered – Yes Nose – a sharp acidic note which I am assuming to be E150, honey, vanilla, red apple, dried fruit, brown sugar, sherry notes, slight maltiness Palate – Slightly oily mouthfeel but thin. Cadbury Caramels – caramel and milk chocolate, blackberry jam. Slight nuttiness Finish – medium. Chocolate, sweet, slight wood spice, creamy.
Conclusions
There is nothing better than being proved wrong. I thought I was potentially up for a stinker of a whisky and I was mistaken. Premium this is not, but that doesn’t matter. It’s not complex in any way, but drunk neat this to my mind is a well balanced whisky. No sharp spices or alcohol burn. I mostly got fruit, caramel and chocolate from the smell and flavour notes.
In my humble opinion, £45 for a litre may seem to some as expensive but perhaps not. While I’m normally unlikely to pay that for supermarket whisky at NAS, at £30 this has to be a very good value bottle. I’ll probably buy another and open it, leaving one in store for later on as it would be something I’d want to drink again in the future.
My only complaint would be for Whyte and Mackay to stop chill filtering and colouring this whisky. I’m not a snob and I do enjoy whiskies that have been filtered and coloured, but I think it would be better without. 40% seems to be fine for what it is, I found the lack of burn was part of what made this experience much more enjoyable, so the flavours came through more strongly. For enthusiasts this may not the best whisky in the world, but enough of a sherried whisky experience without the sherry overpowering everything else, and would be a good whisky for a beginner to try. It certainly has my favour over the Aberlour 12 which at a similar price proved to be disappointing.
I’d say this whisky can represent value even at £45 for a litre. If you see it offered for less, snap it up. A 70cl bottle is currently being sold on Master Of Malt for £32.95 at time of writing and at Tesco £40 for a litre. At these prices you cannot go wrong. However I encourage you to seek this whisky out at your independent spirit specialist, as the big boys don’t really need your money.
Made In Taiwan or Made In Hong Kong. That seemed to be the manufacturing location of a good proportion of the plastic toys I had as a kid. Back in the 70’s, this was the indication that your toy was most likely to be mass produced crap. But without casting aspersions over the quality of these goods, even though the vast majority of Christmas presents that originated from there were broken by Easter, that isn’t always the case with everything now.
Of course, Hong Kong has now returned to China, and Beijing still has eyes on Formosa, which it sees as part of its empire whereas the rest of the world knows its Taiwan. And the quality of produce from there has certainly taken an upward swing from the toys of the 70’s and 80’s to the adult beverages of the new millennium.
I’m being erroneously swayed by the colour!
Kavalan is a new distillery, built in 2005 and had its first spirit out by 2006. I’ll be upfront here as I’m being lazy and just regurgitating Wikipedia, as I’m trying to kill my backlog of pending reviews. But according to that most reliable resource of fact (or opinion), Kavalan did well enough to beat Scotch whisky in a Burns Night blind tasting in 2010. Jim Murray of sexy whisky infamy gave Kavalan Solist Sherry cask malt his award for new whisky of the year. I’d already heard on the grapevine that this was a distillery to sit up and take notice of, so z zzz who am I do doubt the behatted one?
As usual for now, I’ve no real tales to tell about this distillery, so let me refer you to the distillery website
Region – Taiwan Age – NAS Strength – 40% Colour – Deep Gold (0.8) Cask Type – Not Stated Colouring – Not Stated Chill Filtered – Not Stated Nose – wood polish, bananas, mango, vanilla, egg custard. Coconut and freshly cut green grass. Palate – light to medium mouthfeel. Vanilla, foam banana, dry white wine – possibly Chardonnay. Mango in background, along with creamy vanilla. Finish – short finish, quite unremarkable. Walnuts and a slight brine note. Drying towards the end.
Kavalan Sherry Oak
Region – Taiwan Age – NAS Strength – 46% Colour – Auburn (1.5) Cask Type – Colouring – Chill Filtered – Nose – strawberries, blackberries, tobacco, puff pastry, cherries, almond. Quite sweet with a slight vegetal note. Palate – bitter oak, blackberries, raisins, unami, orange peel, caramel, slight malt there. Finish – drying. Medium length. Raisins, dark chocolate, slight note of hops and salt.
Conclusions
Not a lot to say here. To be short and sweet neither won me over. Having said that, these weren’t bad drams – just not for me. I got the cask notes without a problem I feel but for me there were notes in both that I didn’t resonate with. Starting with the classic, there was a white wine note there that was a bit too dry for me and brought back memories of drinking white wine at Christmas as soon as my family thought me old enough. It was usually Chardonnay and that’s a wine I avoid. Give me a good German Spätlese or Auslese, even a delicious Eiswein. Now we’re talking.
While I can be a bit of a colour-tart, regularly giving into the dark sherried whisky (because that is usually the flavour profile I crave; I know it doesn’t mean premium whisky) , I was surprised not to enjoy the sherry Kavalan. Again, a bit of dryness from the sherry wood; unmistakably Oloroso, the dry dark fruit was marred by the sourness and saltiness I picked up. The savoury note on its own was fine, but I was expecting something with a more prominent dark fruit note which was not as forward as I had hoped.
It’s always a disappointment when something you have looked forward to doesn’t float your boat, but that’s just the way it is. However I’d say there is enough there to try some more Kavalan in the future.
Once again I find myself looking at another world whisky as I endeavour to try whisky other than my preferred option of Scotch. And this time the pin in the map has landed on Denmark. Its not a country you really associate with whisky production but believe it or not there are a handful of distilleries in Denmark. It’s something that I have never tried before, so it was on my list to try for some time.
At one time I used to do tastings at a hotel my wife used to run, with one of the best customers was a Dane called Ulrik. It was he that introduced me to the fact that Denmark had a burgeoning whisky scene. According to the Malt Whisky Yearbook there are 16 whisky distilleries within Denmark, which came as a surprise to me. And here is me thinking that all Denmark was famous for was Danepak Bacon and the delicious butter cookies we often get offshore. I guess there is a reason for the Danish nation topping polls of who is the happiest nation. With biscuits, bacon and whisky. That is a country that has a lot going for it!
The Stauning distillery was founded in 2005 by nine friends and had a somewhat unconventional beginning. While it was quite normal to source your barley from somebody locally, perhaps the fact (according to the distillery website) they malted on a butchers cold room floor and used an old mincer as a grinder to make their grist. However it wasn’t until 2011 that the first commercial bottlings were released. There is absolutely no point in me telling you things you can read for yourself, so please take a look at their website at stauningwhisky.com
Stauning Floor Malted Rye
Region – Denmark (Rye) Age – NAS Strength – 48% Colour – Burnished (1.1) Cask Type – New American Oak Colouring – No Chill Filtered – No Nose– Lime zest, Rye bread, malt, honey, fruit jelly candies, freshly crushed black peppercorns, Palate – Sweet and subdued with an oily mouthfeel, for me the taste is dominated by peppery oak, there is a hint of cherries and blackberries / Forest fruits, but not as sharp as a a raspberry. Finish – medium and drying – peppery oak and citrus peels. I get a taste of sour beer at the end as well. Adding water really balanced out the peppery oak in the palate and made the citrus sour taste in the finish more prominent and pleasant.
Stauning Bastard
Region – Denmark Age – NAS Strength – 46.3% Colour – Burnished (1.1) Cask Type – American Oak with 6 months Mezcal Finish Colouring – No Chill Filtered – No Nose – Honey, Rye cereal notes, smokiness like toast crusts, Apple, strawberries, quite fruity under the grain and honey notes. Saline note also Palate – Medium body. No real spirit burn on arrival. Oaky, spicy, drying. Ginger, dry well fired toast gives a slight smokey note. Brown sugar. Finish – Spicy and hot on the way down. Quite a surprise given the lack of a spirit burn in the mouth. The finish is quite short and addition of water doesn’t do that much for the heat. Dry finish, brine, oaky spice ending in a brown sugar note.
Conclusions
I felt that the floor malting version slightly unbalanced with the peppery oak on arrival, but having added only a few drops of water from the pipette, this steadied the ship a lot more and it became a decent dram much to my liking. While I wouldn’t rush out to buy it, this would be happlily received as a gift, and should I know somebody who appreciates a rye whisky, I’d consider recommending it or giving as a gift. I do not know the age of this whisky. I would recommend this to people who want to experiment and try Danish spirits.
Given there was quite a gap between publishing this post and it’s writing, within this time I received a wee dram from one of the page followers of some Stauning Rye. It’s a bonus that I’ll enjoy this whisky straight away as I’ll know to add water to it.
The Bastard whisky? Well, it was an expletive that I nearly expressed when I swallowed for the first time. There was a sudden burst of heat that was unexpected given the lack of spirit tingle on the tongue while I held it in my mouth. This has been in a new American Oak cask for three years prior to a six month spell in a Mezcal cask. As I have never tasted Mezcal, I can’t say for definite if I could identify it, but I wonder if the sudden spirit burn was as a result of this. To counter that unpleasant spirit burn, I had to add a good dose of water to the glass. It then became a lot more drinkable but to be honest I wouldn’t recommend it. I think I’ll just stick to the Danish butter cookies and bacon in the future rather than have this again.
It wasn’t so long ago that I have tried a rye whisky that was similar, in that it needed water to become more palatable. Due to my relative inexperience of such grains in whisky compared to malted barley, it’s hard for me to say if this is just a general rye characteristic or if it’s just my personal preference. it’s worth noting that these two whiskies also have malted barley in the mash bill, meaning it’s not all the fault of the rye. I’m going to guess it’s just my preferences that may be why I’ve felt that these whiskies need water.
As for Stauning? I’d certainly be looking at more of their produce in the future, but will have the water on standby.
Being different. Sometimes it might not be better but it may be right. It’s a topic often discussed amongst my offshore colleagues. At the moment many of us are burnt out due to longer offshore trips, often leaving home without knowing when you will see your loved ones again. Regularly trips are over 2 months, which quashes the image of the typical offshore worker doing 2 weeks on a cushy North Sea platform before coming home to get smashed in the Spiders Web and causing havoc on the train to Elgin. The boat I am on now is running out of fresh water, salad is but a memory and the only fruit available will soon be of the tinned variety. I am sure those in the armed services will have similar experiences. At least I’m not getting shot at. Well, at least not yet.
And there are the little things that you often take for granted that get missed. Good internet is one of them – seeing trees, listening to bird song, home cooked food, being able to watch the TV you want to, going out for a pint or just something as basic as decent toilet paper. The stuff used offshore that is suitable for vacuum toilets is cheap, nasty and if you have piles then you may need to ensure you bring on plenty of Anusol or Preparation H.
Offshore Toilet Paper. Better than sandpaper – only just, and high risk of finger poke-through.
Stocking up is the thing to do when working away from home, especially when it comes to the quarantine required before you go offshore. I’m limited to what I can carry. I like carrying those wee Robinson’s Squeezy concentrated squash, packs of chilli coated peanuts and various sweeties that I can’t get offshore. Depending on where I end up going I often bring around 6 packs of Taylor’s of Harrogate Coffee (Lava Java being a favourite) and some green tea.
Twinings do a great range of flavoured green teas, with the Lemon Drizzle Cake, Gingerbread and Cherry Bakewell being my favourites. The aroma of the green tea always reminds me of moist sponge cake. It is different, yet some of the teas snobs I work with turn their noses up at it. But how does Green Tea whisky work? Is it not better but different? Can it be both?
I wonder if Twinings will ever do a Swedish Whisky Green Tea? We can but hope.
The dram that I bring you for this review has been sold out in most places for a while. Thanks to my myopic concentration on Scotch, I don’t always pay attention to whisky outside that scene. However this is a release of a whisky that had been matured in a selection of ex bourbon 1st fill, 1st fill Swedish Oak, plus new and 1st fill Oloroso casks. These have then been vatted and finished in newly seasoned sherry casks that had been filled with Oloroso sherry and green tea seasoning, rather than whole leaf tea. This triggered my inner inquisitiveness and I’ve been drawn to it for some time. However as this was the 2020 seasonal release for Mackmyra, I never managed to get a bottle, though I felt I had to try it as another trip on my whisky journey. I mean, whisky and tea – what could go wrong?
Grönt Te. Swedish for tasty.
Mackmyra Grönt Te
Region – Sweden Age – NAS Strength – 46.1% ABV Colour – Amber (0.7) Cask Type – Oloroso / Green Tea cask finishing cask Colouring – No Chill Filtered – No Nose – Green Apple, Watermelon, white pepper, green tea, sultana, slight nougat, vanilla, floral and sweet biscuity notes. Palate – Quite sweet initially, with red berry notes, green apples, well controlled spicy and slightly drying tannins, cloves, peppery. And more green tea. Finish – short / medium. Earthy notes, fruity and sweet, slightly drying with the ubiquitous green tea taste. Finish had a bit more kick when water added and I detect more spice (firey ginger and pepper) which isn’t overpowering.
The Dram
Conclusions
Was this different any better? No. It was not any better than any contemporary whisky. However, it was certainly different and a very pleasant experience that I would happily repeat. The green tea effect I felt was light and subdued, yet still noticeable. I felt it was well balanced and any more green tea taste may have led the whisky to be off-kilter to my taste.
I felt it had a fresh, refreshing palate, almost equivalent to a decent cuppa, but while I’d happily have it again, it won’t replace any of the staples in my drinks cabinet for now.
And that is probably for the best, as this was a limited release, so if you were wanting to try this then auction houses are your best bet. At an original release price of £59.90 in the UK on the Mackmyra web shop, the closer you can get to this price the better. At 46.1% abv this represents good but maybe not great value for the experience depending on your opinion.
If nothing else, now I know Sweden is good for more than Abba, Volvo cars, meatballs and flat pack furniture. I feel it will benefit you to consider paying attention to the produce of Mackmyra; I certainly will be doing so now.
Scotty’s Drams 