Yes, after two years of schmoozing the assembled masses of the whisky industry Andy and Jason managed to lever a number of sample bottles of new make spirit out of the hands of the distilleries for a bit of a special evening – tasting blind, as usual, whiskies and the new make spirits that they started out as.

The pairs were served together, to allow appreciation of the similarities and variances in the aged and unaged spirits. The first new make had a buttery nose, with ground coriander, lemons and yeasty bread. To taste it was sour with crunchy pears and peach. The accompanying aged dram was light and floral on the nose, with sweet grain, hints of sherry and a touch of farmyard. On the palate it remained light, with a little bit of fruit, lots of cream, and some grain. It finished with woody spices and pleasant oak. The mask came off the bottle to reveal that it was Glenmorangie 10 year old. I’d gone for a while without having tasted the 10, but had tried it recently at the Whisky Lounge festival in Brighton (a good time was had, even from behind the Glenmorangie/Ardbeg stand were I was stationed for the day) and was more favourable towards it than I remembered being. It’s light and easy drinking and you can see why they sell so much of it.

The next new make had a slightly fizzy nose, with pear, grain and a little bit of generic fruitiness. To taste it was sweet, with some charcoal and fruit, and a minerally backbone. The whisky had spiced pear on the nose, with caramel digestives, brown bread and browning apples. To taste it was creamy, with cinnamon, sweet and sour apples, woody spice and a touch of linseed oil. It finished with more apples, both flesh and skins. I was quite surprised to guess this correctly, with the label coming off to reveal that it was Glenfiddich 12 year old. As I’ve written before I wasn’t a fan of the distillery until recently, letting the memory of bad old bottles and whisky snobbery get in the way of actually tasting the stuff. I still don’t think it’ll change your life, but it’s a decent dram.

The third new make had a nose of lemony grain, caraway seeds and pungent farmyard – bits of silage and a hint of cowpat. It started off tasting sweet, but quickly faded away to not a lot. The whisky was a different matter, with a spicy nose of sherry fruit, parma violets and iced fruitcake. To taste it was spicy, with apples, spiced spongecake, bananas and a touch of tannin, finishing with more parma violets. This was a bit of a conundrum, with the assumption being that it was a refill sherry cask matured whisky, but the label came off and it was revealed to instead be from the Isle of Arran – a single cask whisky from a bourbon barrel, to be exact. A tasty whisky that showed not only how much the wood lends to the spirit, but also how different every cask can be.

Number four came as a trio rather than a pair, with a mystery dram poured in between the whisky and new make. The spirit had a nose of citrus and caraway, with a hint of coffee ground bitterness. To taste it was very light, with only really a hint of sweet grain, and finished very hot. The second glass had a nose of butter icing and lemon, and a soft creamy taste that continued into the finish – we assumed, correctly, that this had been in a cask for at least some time. The whisky was quite different to the middle dram, with a nose of charcoal dust and sherry, carbonised bacon and young raw spirit. To taste it had sweaty leather, lots of sharp wood, pungent raisins, ground coffee and a lingering finish of new make spirit. The presense of an intermediate dram meant that this wasn’t much of a surprise – it was Glenglassaugh First Cask, a three year old whisky bottled at 59.1% that was some of the first distillate to be produced after the distillery changed hands back in 2008. The middle dram was their Fledgling XB, matured for a year in bourbon and sold as part of their spirit drinks range,. I’ve tried some of the older Glenglassaugh’s and I very much hope that their new spirit continues to develop towards that style, as I wasn’t a fan of the First Cask (or their new three year old Revival).

The next new make was very different – crunchy and green on the nose with pungent grain, and a spicy taste with lots of pear. The whisky was again different, with a nose of balsamic vinegar, raisins, Garibaldi biscuits, marzipan and damp forest floors. To taste it had sour cream and sweet fruit laid against a muddy background, finishing with cream, spice and a touch of menthol. The label came off and the bottle was shown to be Glenrothes 1995, a recent entry into their range of vintages that was bottled last year.

The penultimate new make started our decent into the smokier end of things, with a nose of sour fruit, light smoke and a hint of ham. It was sweet to taste, with mint, hay, tobacco, tea, tar and a young spirit caraway tang. The whisky had smoked peanut butter, coal stoves, lime and brine on the nose. On the palate it had coal dust, mango, sweet spicy fruit, extra strong mints and a burny hit of alcohol. It finished with a sherberty fizz and fizzy fruit chews. The big reveal showed it to be Lg3 from the Elements of Islay range, a rather excellent range bottled by my employers. I can’t possible mention which distillery Lg3 comes from, other than that it is on Islay, but the new make we tried beforehand was from Lagavulin.

The last new make of the night had a nose of smokey limes and a sweet mineral heavy body. The whisky’s nose started out with sweet fruity pip sweets and flowers, and moved on to glacé cherries, medicinal peat, freshly unwrapped bandages, germolene, turkish delight and candied lemons. To taste it had smoky coal, sweet syrup, more flowers, mint and a creamy, oily texture. It finished with the lime and coal smoke of the new make’s nose. For the last time the whisky was revealed and turned out to be Ardbeg 10. I don’t know whether to blame my knackered taste buds but this was not how I remembered Ardbeg 10, with none of the big vanilla that I associate it with coming out, replaced by a much more delicate and interesting set of flavours underneath the smoke. More investigation needed.

Anyways, with the whisky over there was only one thing left to do – eat cake. And cake there was.

Expect more Whisky Squad writeups when I get round to them. There were three sessions in April and I’m already a month behind, but as I’m missing the next one (my second one missed since I started going from #4) I might have a chance to not only finish up but also write about something else for once…

Lack of piccies courtesy of frantic note writing and talking toot with the lovely people of The Squad. Ho hum. Luckily Charly was on hand and took some rather pretty ones – they’re over on her blog.

Glenmorangie 10yo Original
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 40%. ~£25

Glenfiddich 12yo
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 40%. ~£25

Arran Cask Strength Bourbon (I think this was the 1998)
Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 57.8%. ~£45 

Glenglassaugh First Cask
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, CS%. £90 

Glenglassaugh Fledgling XB
Scottish Barley Spirit, 50%.  ~£13 for 20cl

Glenrothes 1995
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 43%. ~£45

Elements of Islay Lg2
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 58%. ~£45

Ardbeg 10
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky,  46%. ~£35

First up – a preview tasting of whiskies with the folks from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

In the last couple of years the SMWS have been upping their public exposure, starting with an occasional open evening during the Edinburgh festival and now running regular public nights and actively recruiting members. Part of this is their arrival at whisky shows, with stands at every major UK show in the last year, including this year’s Whisky Live London. As with last year’s Whisky Show they decided to invite a few favoured souls along to an evening of meat and whisky beforehand to preview some of the drams they were taking along, and yet again I managed to get on to the guest list.

As with last time the plan was quite simple – assemble in Bistro du Vin Clerkenwell‘s Whisky Snuggle (still maybe the most stupid name for a room I’ve ever heard), drink whisky and eat things that were once part of a cow. Bistro du Vin, part of the Hotel du Vin/Malmaison group, are partnered up with the SMWS to provide guests/diners who are members of The Society the chance to have a few drams, and have a range of whiskies and space set aside in some of their locations. Hence the Whisky Snuggle. That name really does make me twitch.

We started off, as is tradition, with a lowland whisky, 25.62 – Classy and Attractive, a 20 year old from Rosebank, closed since 1983 and since converted into a Beefeater restaurant. On the nose it had honeysuckle, light honey, sugared almonds, turkish delight, porridge, lime zest and a hint of dustiness. To taste it had creamy citrus – the middle of lime cream chocolates – dusty oak, parma violets, lemons, and a touch of smoky wood and cedar lined cigar boxes. It finished sweet and fruity, with juicy strawberry appearing as it faded.

Dram number two was 104.13 – An Angel Fallen to Earth from Glen Craig. Glen Craig isn’t actually a distillery, it’s the name given to spirit distilled at Glenburgie in the 1970s using Lomond stills. These are stills with a regular pot still at the bottom but with adjustable plates in the neck and a moveable lyne arm to allow the distiller to modify the character of the spirit. Hiram Walker, owners of the distillery at the time, installed a pair of Lomond stills so as to be able to produce a wider range of spirits to satisfy the demands of the blending industry. However, they the blenders preferred their regular whisky and they removed the stills in 1981. Since then the SWA have declared that Single Malt Scotch Whisky has to be produced using a regular pot still without any spangly attachments, meaning that not much Lomond distilled whisky is produced these days other than at Loch Lomond distillery, who lend their name to the still type.

Anyways, the whisky is increasingly rare these days and I’d not managed to try one from the distillery before. On the nose it had rosewater turkish delight, digestive biscuit crumb crusted lemon tarts, milky cornflakes and dusty wood. To taste it was oily, with cream, parma violets, sour oak and some polished wood. It finished slightly astringently, with cloves and dry oak.

We took a break after the first couple of drams to go and meet the chef and our dinner. Hotel du Vin dry age their meat on site in a special freezer and in order to get the best out of the process they buy slow grown British beef. It’s some of the best beef they can get without turning to ridiculously priced imports (USDA prime beef is incredible, but scarily expensive due to the roundabout route it takes to get to the British market) and comes from Lake District Farmers. They use 29 month old beef, as after that it is illegal to sell the meat on the bone, and then age it on the bone for between 2 weeks (for fillet) and 4 weeks (for rib and sirloin). It’s dry aging, leading to a large amount of waste as not only does the meat contract as it loses moisture (and thus size and weight) but also picks up fungus, which aids in the aging process but needs to be trimmed.

We had a few beefy bits to eat over the space of the evening, starting with a carpaccio (taken from the rump) topped with a fillet steak tartare. This was followed up with a main course of porterhouse steak – an American cut T-bone from the rump end, giving a larger fillet piece than the traditional British version. The Clerkenwell branch of Bistro du Vin has been open for about a year now and they’ve settled in well – the steaks are well cooked, the meat is tasty and other than their portions of chips being too large for my tiny appetite (ahem) it was all good.

No pictures of the whisky, I’m afraid. Just lots of piccies of beefs…

Next dram on the list was 121.50 – Xmas cake and Afghan Coats, a 9 year old sherry monster from Arran. When I first joined the society I’d pick up every Arran bottling untasted but after a couple of less than stellar whiskies I’ve dropped back to trying every one before I consider buying them – I’ve not bought one in a while. On the nose this was filthy, with dirty engine oil and diesel (I’ve never smelled two-stroke, but this is what I imagine it’s like), Vicks, cherry menthol and rich raisiny wood. To taste it was pure big dirty sherry, with a decent amount of struck match sulphur, and the Christmas cake of the name studded with black liquorice, leather, dark chocolate and burned wood. It finished long, with big woody spice and sweet raisins hanging around and slowly turning bitter. One for sherry heads and a bit much for me at a full strength of 61.3%.

We then moved on to 93.50 – Hot Embers at the Gates of Hell, a lightly coloured dram from Glen Scotia, Campbeltown’s ‘other’ distillery. While Campbeltown used to be the centre of the whisky industry back at the turn of the 20th century it’s now been reduced to a couple of distillers, with most of the focus being on Springbank (along with the Longrow, Hazelburn and Kilkerran they also produce). I’ve tried a few society Glen Scotias and none of them have really stuck in my memory. This one had a big smoky nose, metallic and pungent like emptied briny fish tins. After my nose got used to the kick from that I found some caramel sweetness and a bit of smoky lime hiding underneath. To taste it started with sweet citrus and aniseed, before being quickly swamped by hammy smoke. The finish was heavy with minerals, gravelly and dry, sweetened up with some spicy aniseed balls. Again, a bit much for my liking, definitely needing water (which I didn’t get round to adding) and not as complex neat as I’d hoped.

We took another break at this point to try a bit of cheese and some dessert. The 93.50 was a bit much for the Brezain that I nibbled on, as being a cheese wuss meant the Bleu de Gex also on the cheeseboard was a step too far for me, but the 121.50 worked well, cutting through the fat of the cheese without swamping its delicate nutty and smoky flavour. The 121.50 was also the winner when it came to dessert, with chocolate sorbet, chocolate pavé and honeycomb rather well complimented by the dark fruit and sherry wood.

The ‘official’ last dram of the night was something I was rather impressed by, 29.109 – Oak and Smoke Intensity, a 20 year old very sherried Laphroaig. While you get some sherry in most Laphroaig expressions I’ve not tried a fully sherry matured one, let alone one as dark and heavily influenced as this one. On the nose there was pungent extra strong cherry Strepsils, a crisp mineral smoke, damp forest floors, some sugary sweetness and very dark chocolate. To taste it was rich and spicy, with the predictable raisins, leather and cocoa joined by cracked black pepper and smoky charcoal dust. It finished long, with a burnt oak chip smokiness, smoked cheese and fruity dark chocolate. Over the top and rather impressive, one that I may have to investigate acquiring, although it not being on their website implies I might be too late.

Helen, who invited me along for the evening, wasn’t going to let us finish with that whisky, chosen by SMWS London rooms manager Joe, and had brought another one along to rival it, 33.something – an Ardbeg whose name and number I didn’t catch…we had been drinking for a while by then (Update: Helen just mailed me to let me know that it was 33.115 – Man that’s braw, which she translates as “Squire, I do believe this to be a very good dram indeed”). It was lightly coloured and quite a contrast to the previous dram – a nose of smoky menthol, gooseberries, sweet lemons and raisins, with tropical fruit hiding underneath all the rest. To taste it was big and gravelly, with loads of smoke overpowering the rest of the flavours, although a little bit of citrus fruit poked its head round the corner. An interesting one this, although again a bit much for me (I think my recent sticking to 40-46% whisky has killed my ability to drink cask strength), a sherry cask matured whisky (although almost certainly 2nd or 3rd fill) without much sherry to it, letting the spirit’s character (which Ardbeg has in spades) come through rather than being swamped by the cask.

Anyways, many thanks to Helen, Joe and John for hosting the evening and the folks at Bistro du Vin for filling me with steak. Alwynne of Miss Whisky has also written up the evening, as has Tim Chester of thirtyoneseventyfive.

25.62 – Classy and Attractive (20yo)
Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 54%. £86.60

104.13 – An Angel Fallen to Earth (36yo)
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 50.6%. £155 (sold out)

121.50 – Xmas Cake & Afghan Coats (9yo)
Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 61.3%. £42 (sold out)

93.50 – Hot Embers at the Gates of Hell (20yo)
Campbeltown Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 58.6%.

29.109 – Oak and Smoke Intensity (20yo)
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 59.2%.

33.115 – Man that’s Braw (11yo)
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 55.4%.

We were back in The Gunmakers and slightly taken aback by the upstairs room’s transformation – the reorganisation and addition of furniture has created a perfectly sized space for fitting in a whole group of Squadders without resorting to darkened corners or consensual lap sitting. On that latter point we were again bereft of a Darren, as the (obviously minimal, in my unhelpful opinion) effort of setting up a new London distillery meant that he was elsewhere, and I had been promoted/drafted in (my words/Jason’s words) as a member of ‘The Management’ for the session. The conceit this time was simple – Jason, Andy and I had each chosen a pair of drams that we like to present to the group. Andy, competitive chap that he is, also brought in an extra element – at the end of the session a vote would be taken to choose the favourite whisky of the night. As usual the whiskies were tasted blind, and each presenter did some presenting on his whisky, which may have shown a bit more about our competitive nature than was wise.

The gang

First up was Andy and his iPod (I think it might have actually been a Zune, the pervert). Taking a leaf from the Book of St Heston he accompanied his presentation with track 47 of ‘Relaxation for Hippies’, or some other such album – The Sound of Breaking Waves. On the nose the whisky was pure toffee popcorn and salted caramel – potentially an aftereffect of having Butterkist for dinner the previous night, or maybe a psychosomatic introduction thanks to Andy’s soundtrack, but in any event it was rather nice. To taste it had more salted caramel, dark wood, lemon and a touch of menthol/liquorice cutting through the sweetness. A drop of water brought out even more caramel, leading into a finish of woody spices and green leaves. A top dram that I’d been looking forward to trying again since seeing the line-up – Arran 10 year old Cask Strength. When I started out on the latest chapter of my whisky obsession a few years back Arran was by far and away my favourite distillery and this dram reminds me why – sweet and spicy but balanced with some darker woody flavours to stop it going over the top.

Next was Jason with a very lightly coloured dram, unaccompanied by music. Jason let on that this was a slightly more difficult to find whisky than the others on the card for the evening as it was a distillery only bottling – an excellent idea by the distillers to almost guarantee a purchase in the giftshop by visiting whisky geeks. This one was selected to be a distillation (pun not intended) of the distillery’s character: On the nose it had fizzy sherbert, dried apple rings, anis, creamy vanilla, alpine scented floor cleaner and a whiff of smoke; to taste it had brine, pepper, chilli, beeswax and candied lemons, with water introducing some tropical fruit Chewitts; it finished with more brine, fragrant wood and liquorice root. This was the dram I was most looking forward to, as it was the only one I’d not tried before and I’m visiting the distillery this week – Clynelish Distillery Only Cask Strength. It’s a vatting which they’ve had on sale their for a few years and I’ll definitely be picking up a couple of bottles – one of them for someone at the session who found out my travel plans.

Next was my first selection, a very different beast to the two previous whiskies, very dark in colour and obviously the product of a sherry cask. On the nose it was massively sherried, with raisins (specifically the sugary ones that you can pick off the top of a fruit cake) and slightly sour wine galore. Along with that there was milk chocolate, the fruit cake that sat under the raisins, custard and cream. TO taste there was medium-sweet oloroso, cream and even more fruit cake, with some anis and menthol balancing the sweetness. It finished with spicy wood, ginger cake and lingering liquorice root. An excellent whisky that I’ve underestimated in the past, prompting my choosing it – Glendronach 15 Revival. I went to a tasting of their range last year (as written about on the work blog) and having pretty much dismissed them beforehand I was shocked by how much I liked their spirit. The current owners haven’t been around that long and have spent the last 6 years investing heavily in excellent casks to bring back the distillery’s former reputation for excellent sherried spirit – from this example it’s certainly paying off.

Number four was Andy’s next selection, another darkly coloured sherry beast. This time it was accompanied by some light jazz and talk of relaxing in leather armchairs around the fire – a suitable atmosphere for the dram. On the nose it had sweet spice, caramel and treacle toffee, an earthy hint of the farmyard, cherries and anis. To taste it was big and spicy, with cinnamon and cloves prickling the tongue. Along with that there were cinnamon danish pastries and dark chocolate leading to a woody and warming finish. I was doing pretty well on whiskies I like at this point, with this one being the first single malt that I knew by name and one that I’ve always had a bottle of in the cupboard until recently, when it was replaced by a single cask Glendronach. It was the most well-known high proof sherry bomb in Speyside, Glenfarclas 105. I first experienced this on my first trip up to Scotland that I can remember – the first holiday to the timeshare resort where I am currently sitting, almost 30 years ago (although the conservatory I’m sitting in now was at the time a wooden terrace generally used for storing sledges and hiding my brother’s mittens). We went to the Glenfarclas distillery for a tour and afterwards my dad tried a dram of the 105. He offered it to the five year old (almost six. It mattered back then) me and I couldn’t get it any closer than a couple of inches from my mouth, the smell was so strong. Happily I’ve got over that youthful physical limitation.

Next on the list was my second contribution – a pale whisky that opened up the third style we would be trying, smoky. Unfortunately I was too busy knowledgeably waffling about the whisky (well, being a bit pissed and drunkenly giving away too much information about it at least) to write tasting notes, so here’s some from last time I tried it:

On the nose it had a sweet peaty, cracked stone minerality and lime – ‘Chopped limes on a muddy pebble beach’ as my notes read. It also had some fresh coal smoke, metallic sardine tins (sardines in oil and not ketchup, of course) and red fruit – a very clean and crisp nose that added a bit of mud as it sat in the glass. To taste there was salted cream, lemons & limes, green wood and pungent Manuka honey leading to a coal fire with an edge of black rubber. It finished with surprisingly fruity strawberries and lime, smoked ham, coal dust and sour lemon infused butter. As that disappeared there was a lingering pepper and black plimsoll rubber.

I don’t remember it being quite so rubbery this time, but to sum up it’s a very clean peaty whisky, with lots of minerality, crisp coal smoke and soft citrus. It was Compass Box’s Peat Monster. I wanted to bring along something different and this was the only non-single malt whisky of the night (as well of one of two non-cask strength ones – the other being my Glendronach). A blended malt with whisky from Laphroaig, Ardmore and Ledaig in the mix, it combines three quite diffent types of peatiness from three quite different areas (although their peated malt could all happily come from the same source – there isn’t much in the way of terroir in malt these days due to the large maltsters supplying most of the industry). It’s not as much of a monster as the name would suggest, but it’s big and smoky but without some of the pungency that puts many off peaty whisky. A great dram, but I would say that.

Last of the night was Jason’s second choice, another peaty dram but one that went towards the darker side of smoky malts. On the nose it started with fresh grass, anis, a hint of metal and waxed fruit (Jason’s note of ‘Tinned fruit salad’ hit the nail on the head), crushed seashells (the clean briney note in the middle of a seafood stock), sweet lime, muddy peat and seaside bonfires. To taste there was more peat than smoke, with a nice earthy base, malt loaf, seaside pebbles, lime skin, gravel and closed cast iron stoves. It finished quite dirty, with gravel, smoky tar and sweet wood. Another interesting dram and, similarly to Jason’s first choice, one that isn’t quite so common – Lagavulin 12 year old (2009 release). Lagavulin is more well known for its 16 year old (one of the most praised of Diageo’s regular bottlings) and a few years ago they started producing a bottling of 12 year old whisky as part of their yearly Special Releases. Most of the other whiskies in the range change yearly, but the Lagavulin has been a constant member since its first appearance as one of the reasonably priced entries in the lineup.

With the drams drunk voting slips were passed around, and an independent adjudication panel (Dave) was set up to count the results and announce the winner. I felt that this was slightly unnecessary, as my agreement with Jason and Andy before the session was that I would happily support the idea of a vote as long as it was fixed such that I won. However, counting done, it was not to be, with Andy’s Glenfarclas 105 taking the (purely honour based) prize for favourite of the night. Dave did a bit more statistical wrangling and pointed out that while the Glenfarclas had won, every whisky we’d tried had been marked as both favourite and least favourite by at least one person within the group. Which was nice.

Anyways, the March St Patrick’s tie-in Irish whisky sessions (including one next week led by m’colleague Tim) are now sold out, as is next weekend’s blending school with Chris Maybin down at Compass Box HQ. As ever keep an eye on the website and Twitter for last minute dropouts, they do sometimes happen.

Arran 10 year old Cask Strength
Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 54.1%. ~£45

Clynelish Distillery Only Cask Strength
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 57.3%. ~£45

Glendronach 15 year old Revival
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 46%. ~£40

Glenfarclas 105
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 60%. ~£40

Compass Box Peat Monster
Blended Malt Scotch Whisky, 46%. ~£35

Lagavulin 12 year old (2009 release
Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 57.9%. ~£65

Anyways, the second tasting of November was deliberately pushed towards the end of the month as it was in honour of Movember, and the extra couple of weeks meant that there were some moustaches on display, unlike during the Smoking Section tasting where MoSista Charly‘s stick on lip warmer was the only thing worthy of the name ‘Mo’. Anyways, we gathered upstairs at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society with bottles donated from a variety of sponsors and all the proceeds going straight to the Whisky4Movember fund raising efforts. Unfortunately we had some generous sponsors and even excluding the emergency bottle I had in my bag, just in case any of the whiskies didn’t arrive, we had eight drams to get through. It’s a hard life…

First up, tasted blind as usual, was a mid-golden dram. On the nose it had sour apple skins, butter, cream, light spice, and milky butter icing. To taste it was creamy up front, with fruit and woody spice down the middle. It was quite light in body and very easily drinkable, with a finish of spiced creme brulee. An excellent start to the evening and not particularly surprising when the paper was pulled off and it turned out to be the Great King Street Artist’s Blend from Compass Box. I’ve written about this before, both here in a post about the Compass Box twitter tasting and in a work post around release time, and my opinion stays the same – a versatile, tasty and easy drinking whisky, and a great place to push people who assume that all blends are rubbish. Thanks to Compass Box for donating the bottle.

Next on the list was the first of two drams donated by our hosts – the SMWS. On the nose it had spiced vinegar, pungent fruit, sweet and sour sauce, treacle toffee, Love Hearts and a touch of minty menthol. To taste it was big and meaty, with some drying tannic wood, spiced apples, sour grapes, apple wood and a hint of woody smoke. It finished very differently, with strawberries, coconut and tropical fruit, as well as some drying wood. A rather complex and interesting dram that turned out to be 123.6 – Rhubarb and Custard, matured for 10 years in a refill port pipe. While the society don’t officially give out what distillery each number goes with, 123 is Glengoyne, a distillery that until recently I’d almost entirely avoided but have become quite fond of in the last couple of weeks. They claim to be the only distillery to dry their barley with no peat whatsoever, using hot air instead, and have been running since 1833. They were taken over by Ian Macleod Distillers in 2003, as the company’s first only and currently only distillery, and since then have been making a lot of headway in the market. I need to try more of their whiskies…

Number three had a young and fruity nose, with some spirity alcohol, toffee, grapefruit and passion fruit – the last two flavours that I’ve been increasingly looking for in whisky. To taste there was fizzy sherbert, sweet lemons, cream and the caraway graininess of less mature whisky. It finished well, with lingering spiced wood, Tangfastic Haribo and more tropical fruit. A bit of a hit around the room and an annoyance when the label came of as it was Cask Strength and Carry On, a whisky from Arran bottled by the chaps at Caskstrength.net which sold out within a couple of days of release. I’ve still got a bit of the sample that Joel and Neil gave me when they released it, but annoyingly I didn’t try it until after they’d run out of bottles and didn’t get any myself. Luckily, Darren did acquire a few bottles (although whether that was by way of tax for his house being used as a staging point after the bottles were driven down from Arran is between Darren and the Caskstrength boys) and he donated one to the evening. There was even a Movember link with the Neil half of Caskstrength having been featured on one of the first Movember bottles. Well, his excellent moustache (now departed) was, at least.

Next up was one that I was fairly sure I’d guessed – a really dark and sticky dram. On the nose it was big and sherried – sugared raisins, the burnt edges from a beef joint, dark wood and rich fruit. To taste that continued, with lots of fruit – plums and stewed mixed winter berries – and some sticky liquorice at the back. The flavours hung around for a while with fruit and buttered wood. The label came off to show that I was right for once – it was the Movember 2011 bottling, a vatting of a couple of casks of 9 year old whisky from Glenfarclas. The barrels were chosen by Chris Hoban of the Edinburgh Whisky Blog and naturally there’s a post up over there about his visit to the distillery. It was sold exclusively by the chaps at Master of Malt (boo, hiss, etc) who donated all the profits to the Whisky4Movember fundraising effort (woo, yay, etc), picking up £6000 by the end of November. They are now sold out, but MoM do still have some samples left to buy.

Number five, the beginning of the second half, was a bit of a surprise at first, as after a run of three cask strength drams it was back to a normal 40%. On the nose it had Fry’s Turkish Delight, honey, red fruit and a touch of menthol. To taste it was creamy, with woody spic, some delicate polished wood flavours, and a lingering finish of wood and spice. A lot less powerful in alcohol than the last couple of drams but a nice contrast and very drinkable. A ripple of surprise spread around the room when the bottle turned out to be Balvenie Signature. I was rather pleased that my tasting notes match up with my usual take on Balvenie and it was impressive that it held up despite coming after some palate killing whiskies. Many thanks to Dr Andrew Forrester, Balvenie’s UK Brand Ambassador, for donating the bottle.

The next one was much lighter in colour and the first peaty whisky of the night – a nose of meaty smoke, dirty peat and mulched leaves all undercut by a young sweet spiritiness. To taste it had gritty smoke, sweet fruit and a metallic hint, finishing with tinned smoky fish and a lingering note of pineapple. A strange combination of flavours that made some sense when the whisky was revealed – Birnie Moss. This is a young peaty whisky from Benriach on Speyside, made with an eye towards the European market, especially Spain, Italy and France who love young fiery whisky and don’t mind a touch of smoke. Benriach don’t stop with Birnie Moss though, as their Curiositas is the same spirit left in the cask for a few extra years – an excellent peaty dram with some nice fruitiness underneath that the Birnie Moss shows some of the elegance of. This was a bit of a hit in the room, with at least a couple of bottles going on Christmas lists. Thanks to the Royal Mile Whiskies for the donation.

The penultimate whisky of the night was a step away from peat again, with a nose of spiced cream, sour fruit and a hint of balsamic vinegar. To taste it had fruity toffee, bananas, sweet apples and pears, and a burst of spicy cinnamon. It finished bitter, with green wood and some woody spice. Another slightly random whisky, this time from Jason’s collection, it was Glenmorangie Astar. I’ve written about it before, back in the olden days of this blog, and it’s a concentration of Glenmorangie’s experiments with interesting casks, using barrels made from wood from a forest that they specially selected, before the usual filling with bourbon, emptying, and shipping over to Scotland to be used to mature the whisky.

Finally we reached whisky number eight, another donation from the SWMS and one that was definitely an evening ender. On the nose the first note, that dominated almost everything else, was pickled onions, both real ones and the overpowering (and very tasty) smell of pickled onion Monster Munch. Underneath that there was sour fruit, some gravelly smoke, soured sherry, shoe polish and tomato ketchup. To taste it was full of coal, ash and coal smoke, with a back-end of sweet and sour sauce, baked beans and damp seaweed. The flavours lingered, with the smoke giving way to ash, ketchup, and spicy sweet and sour sauce. A strange and divisive whisky that I really wasn’t sure about, although I happily sat and sniffed at my glass for ages. It was revealed to be 29.104 – Not For Wee Boys, from Laphroaig, matured for 20 years in a refill sherry butt. A beast of a dram and one that had lost a lot of the typical Laphroaig medicinal nature due to the influence of the sherry wood – interesting and one that I hope to be able to grab a dram of next time I visit.

That was it for another month, although despite there being eight whiskies on the mat there was a trip to the bar downstairs for some more drinks, and a few more people left as members of the SMWS than arrived. December also has two meetups, the Christmas dinner later this week and the ‘everyone brings a bottle’ Whisky Surprise night (still some spaces left), which didn’t get a blog post last year due to the horrific drunkenness I managed to inflict on myself. Keep an eye on the Whisky Squad website for the announcement of January’s sessions, one of which I may have something to do with…

Compass Box Great King Street – The Artists’ Blend
Blended Scotch Whisky, 43%. ~£25 for a 50cl bottle

SMWS 123.6 – Rhubarb and Custard
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 59.5%. ~£60

Cask Strength and Carry On
Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 49.9%. ~£50

Movember 2011
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 53%. ~£40

Balvenie Signature
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 40%. ~£35

Birnie Moss
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 48%. ~£30

Glenmorangie Astar
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 57.1%. ~£55

SMWS 29.104 – Not For Wee Boys
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 58.2%. ~£70

Right, whisky. This months theme was the not-particularly-opaque ‘Grain and Grape’, focusing on the use of old wine casks in whisky production. As usual Mr Rook, The Whisky Guy, led us through the whiskies, with the guiding influence of Jason and Andy from the darkened end of the table. The history of using wine casks to mature whisky is about as old as aged whisky production itself. Bourbon started appearing in the USA in late 1700s and their barrels didn’t make it over to the UK until a while later, so the casks used by the early Scottish distillers would have been whatever else they could have got their hands on – barrels originally used to transport brandy, port, sherry and wine. Barrels were expensive and thus it made a lot of sense to reuse them. This led to stories of whiskies matured in fish and nail barrels (it wasn’t only liquids that casks were used to store) but in general it meant that once booze had been emptied out of the cask someone would buy it for reuse, in Scotland this was often for whisky maturation.

Speyside is not only a whisky production hub due to the water, ease of hiding from the taxman and pretty hills, but also due to the areas proximity to the mouth of the Spey and the port of Lossiemouth. It was once a local trade hub, providing sea-access for the market town of Elgin, although it has declined in recent years as road and rail links have taken over from the sea as the main transport links in Scotland. One of the commodities that would have flowed through the port is booze and the casks would have ended up empty in Elgin after their contents had been sold, giving the many local distilleries a hub not only to trade their whisky but also to pick up much needed maturation wood.

These days the use of non-bourbon casks has dropped across the industry for both reasons of flavour and also economics – the US laws requiring bourbon to be filled into new casks mean that there is a ready and cheap supply of barrels flowing from the west of the Atlantic. The economic reasons are especially notable when it comes to the cheaper end of whisky production, with bourbon casks coming in at $50-$70 each (although that number varies every time I’ve heard it mentioned) and wine casks often hitting $200+. Wine casks are often also different sizes to bourbon barrels, often being much bigger (port pipes and sherry butts getting up around 300-400 litres), which can also mean that they influence the whisky more slowly due to a lower wood/spirit ratio, although that is merely one factor in the speed of maturation.

Along with the drop in using wine casks for the full length of maturation there has been a rise in the use of casks to ‘finish’ whisky, with the spirit being transferred from their original cask (often a bourbon barrel) into a different casks for a secondary (and in some cases tertiary) maturation before bottling. These extra periods have no legal requirements, with my idea of using a sherry barrel as funnel probably constituting a sherry cask finish, but generally will last from months to a small number of years, enough time for the cask to have some influence on the whisky. While this does have economic reasons it does also have the flavour related bonus of not allowing the often strong flavours imparted by wine casks to overpower the flavour of the whisky, adding another dimension. There are a number of detractors within whisky fandom, with the standard complaint being that if the whisky is good in the first place then finishing it isn’t necessary. While I’m certain that there are many substandard whiskies that have had their rough edges hidden by finishing (although the received wisdom is that finishing a bad whisky isn’t going to make a great whisky) it is just another tool in the distiller’s box to create the flavours they want from their various products. Anyways, onto the tasting.

We were tasting blind as usual and the first whisky had a nose of vanilla, spiced apple, apricot and pastry, with Mr Matchett starting off his run of predictably surreal but worryingly accurate tasting notes with ‘Imperial Leather’. To taste it started syrupy, with hints of orange blossom wine, and had a body of blanched almonds with tannic edges (a touch of nut skin?). It lingered on the finish with a delicate sweet and perfumed woodiness. Water brought out more spice in the flavour and some sweet grape, giving us an idea of what sort of cask this had sat in. The paper came off to reveal that our suspicions on the finish were correct – it was Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or, finished in Chateau d’Yquem casks. D’Yquem is a one of the world’s most sought after sweet wines, the only Sauternes to be given a rating of Premier Cru Supérieur. It is, like Glenmorangie, owned by booze and handbag company LVMH which makes it the obvious cask choice for many of the experiments conducted by their master distiller Bill Lumsden, one of the pioneers of finishing whisky. This was one of their first commercial wine finishes and has changed a little over the years, now carrying an age statement of 12 years where before it was NAS and generally thought to be 11-13 years old. It’s a great example of what wine finishes can add to a whisky – it’s sweet and delicate with a nice balance between the bourbon influence and the wine finish.

Number two was one that I brought along – we had a sample bottle turn up on my desk at work a few weeks back and it sat unloved until it went into my bag for the evening. On the nose it had damp hay, smokey cheese rind, buttered corn, cream and floral syrup – a combination christened as ‘Jorvik Viking centre‘ by the room. But in a good way… To taste it was sweet, with grape juice, light fruity liqueur and rose Turkish delight. It finished quite pungently with celery and pepper, backed up by a sweet white chocolate. Interesting and not what I expected at all – it was revealed to be Glen Moray 10 year old Chardonnay cask. It’s not entirely released yet and we’re not entirely sure if that’s what they’re calling it as there seems to be no information about it other than what was scribbled on the label of my sample bottle – it’s 10 years old, bottled at 40% and was matured solely in Chardonnay casks. This is not the first time that Glen Moray have produced a Chardonnay matured whisky, as they used to be owned by Glenmorangie and were often used as the location of Bill Lumsden’s experiments, but this is the first that they have produced since their 2008 sale to La Martinquaise. I’ve tried a number of their previous attempts through the SMWS (also owned by LVMH) and have found them to be overly savoury and meaty, not something I generally look for in a whisky. This one, however, is rather tasty although the 40% bottling strength does feel a little low. Hopefully it will actually appear on the market shortly – they’ve had a launch party, but I’ve heard nothing more…

Number 3 was our first pink whisky of the night, a category of whisky that both Jason and I have been examining with the idea of one day doing a tasting consisting of purely pink drink, but have as yet not found enough decent ones to fill a roster. This one had a nose of ‘Turkish delight jelly tots’ (from my notes), sour fruit, and a faint mustiness. To taste it was sweet (again) with rose petals, sweet strawberry and grapes. It finished with a nice mix of sour wood, nuts and more rose petals. The cover was removed to show that it was Arran Amarone, one of their now standard wine finished whiskies in their range. Amarone is a high strength red wine made from partially dried grapes, giving it a big raisiny flavour while still remaining dry (I need to try some – the descriptions from the internet intrigue me).

Next was one that jumped out the glass with struck match sulphur and ‘cow shit methane’. A meaty nose that didn’t entirely appeal to everyone. To taste it had cherry, vanilla, butter and cinnamon, finishing with calvados, more cherries and almonds – a hint of Cherry Bakewell. The cover came off to reveal that this was Benriach 17 year old Burgundy Wood Finish. Benriach have been known in recent times for doing slightly mad things with maturation and finishing, so this is, strangely, a slightly more sensible variant. Other than the ridiculously sulphury nose (and I’m a sulphur fan), which did burn off a bit as the whisky sat in the glass, it was quite nice, with a lot of the wine flavours coming through.

Number 5 was presented with Darren letting the cat out of the bag a bit early, by letting us know that the bottle on the table wasn’t the actual whisky bottle, as the real bottle was quite distinctive. Combined with the wine finishing theme that sort of gave away which distillery it was from… On the nose it had toffee, sour raspberry and cream. To taste it had astringent wood, tannins and sugared strawberries, with a finish of very jam, chocolate and light smoke. The real bottle was brought out and I was slightly shocked – it was Bruichladdich Black Art 19 year old, 2nd edition. It was shocking as last time I tried it I didn’t like it at all, but this time I was significantly more favourable. Bruichladdich are a little bit obsessed with the wine finishing, coining the term ‘ACEd’ (Additional Cask Enhanment-d) and sticking their whisky in almost any kind of cask that master distiller Jim McEwan can find. I’m not even sure what sort of casks have been used to finish this one…

The last whisky on the table for the night had a nose of coal smoke, brine, fresh lime juice, samphire and general ‘sea on the rocks’-ness. To taste it had big wood smoke to start, with underlying grape, syrupy sides and menthol, finishing with a strange but tasty combination of smoky cheese and sweet winey wood. Adding water was a good plan, with more sweetness appearing and it getting more buttery and oily in the mouth. The grand reveal showed it to be Longrow Gaja Barolo, a bottling from Springbank (Longrow being their smokier variant) and the latest edition of the whisky that made me realise that Longrow was a brand I should keep an eye on. This is aged for 5.5 years in bourbon casks before being switched to casks that formerly held Barolo (a traditionally heavy Italian red wine) for a further 1.5 years. I’d not tried this one for a few years and it reminded me how much I like Longrow in general – I’m writing this in Edinburgh (where I’m on holiday for a week) and I’ve already made a trip round the corner to Cadenhead’s (the shop owned by Springbank) for some of their living-cask Springbank (quite Longrow-like at the moment – sherry and smoke) and will be returning for some Longrow before I leave.

The next Whisky Squad is already sold out, although depending on the venue there may be some more spaces appearing (keep an eye on the website), and will feature Grant’s global ambassador Ludo Ducrocq and an interesting take on their whiskies. More than that I cannot say (mainly as I’m not sure what’s going on…).

Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 46%. ~£45

Glen Moray 10 year old Chardonnay Cask
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 40%. Price unknown…

Arran Amarone Finish
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 50%. ~£45

Benriach 17 year old Burgundy Finish
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 46%. ~£45

Bruichladdich Black Art 2nd Edition
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 51.1%. Discontinued

Longrow Gaja Barolo
Campbeltown Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 55.8%. Discontinued

Charly beat me to the conveted spot of ‘first post about this month’s whisky squad’ and has a write-up over on her blog.

They have various whisky tastings sets that you can buy, but I decided to go for the thing that attracted me to them in the first place – regular sets sent out to you on a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly basis. I went for the bi-monthly sets (as I have only one liver and too many things to drink in London as it is) and set up a standing order to kick them £28 every couple of months (£25 + £2.95 P&P for 5x50l samples). After a couple of mails back and forth I heard my first set was being sent out (back at the beginning of November in the middle of Dominic’s run through whisky dinner – the real one is coming up soon) and they arrived a few days later. One of the reasons I like the idea of a tasting by post is that it meant I could stretch the drams out over a few nights, and could also leave them for a few weeks to fit in with my rather boozy autumn. I’ve finally got round to writing this up just as my second set appeared in the post.

Along with sending out the tasting boxes they have a forum on their site for everyone to share their tasting notes, as well as the usual whisky chat, which will hopefully fill in the gap that not necessarily being around others drinking the whiskies leaves – I can’t wave my arms around and mumble about whisky on the internet, so it’s a bonus for everyone. I will hopefully have a copy of Dominic’s book appearing early next year as a thankyou for signing up for the regular sets and there are tales of bonus drams making their way out as well – I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.

This first set is an introduction to the whisky regions of Scotland and I was quite pleased to see that I’d only tasted two of the provided whiskies before, and one of those was one I very much wanted to try again. I went with the traditional light-heavy ordering and started off the lowland of the box – Bladnoch ‘Beltie’ 8 Year old. Named for the Belted Galloway cow on the label, a rare breed from the area around the distillery, it’s bottled at 55%. On the nose it had hint of farmyard – silage and mulching grass, which faded as it sat in the glass to be replaced by vanilla, linseed oil, candle wax, apples, foam strawberries, a hint of cinnamon and digestive biscuits. To taste it had big woody start and finish, with liquorice root at the end. A big booze hit was joined by pine & mint and a little bit of fruitiness in the middle – apple pies and unsweetened buttery mince meat, although unsweetened. It could take quite a bit of water, softening the flavours into black forest gateau, although the bitter liquorice remains at the end. The finish had some longering pear and apple. There was a surprising amount to the whisky, especially for an 8 year old, but it was maybe a little bit woody on the taste for my liking. The nose was excellent, however, and I’d almost be tempted to buy a dram for the smell alone.

Next I went for the Speyside – Linkwood ‘Flora and Fauna’ 12 year old. Bottled at 43% this is part of a range of whiskies released originally in the 90s by United Distillers (who are now part of Diageo) to show off the range of whisky styles in Scotland. It seems they weren’t one-off releases as some of them are still available for a reasonable cost, including this one – one of the only distillery bottlings of Linkwood available (although they are much loved by independents). On the nose an initially pungent mulchy grain quickly floated off to reveal fruit and grain underneath – barley and granny smith apples with a hint of Refresher chews. The taste was very light and thin, initially sweet and creamy with a hint of stewed and crunchy apples moving on to a more woody middle with vanilla and wood spice. It finished with a mix of barley and sharp apples. Water nrought out more spice on the nose and more sour fruit to taste, with hints of grapes and some sugary sweetness on the finish.
This was fine but nothing earth shattering and maybe a little light in flavour for my liking, although I liked it much more on my second tasting (finishing the other half of the 50ml sample when I started writing this blog entry).

I then moved on to the island contribution -  Arran 14 year old. Bottled at 46% this is the latest regular bottling to be released from the distillery – as they were founded in 1996 it’s obvious to see why it hasn’t appeared before. On the nose it had sweet pears, grass, lemons and brine. To taste it had the traditional Arran burst of icing sugar followed by wood polish, prickly spice, chocolate orange and vanilla. Water added some more sugary sweetness, an unexpected savoury note, floral overtones (orange blossom?) and a touch of minty menthol. I like Arran whiskies and this is the one that I wanted to try again, having only tried a drop at Whisky Live Glasgow a few weeks after the bottled it. This is definitely an evolution of their previous whiskies and one that I’m tempted to buy a bottle of. It’s still not a patch on the SMWS single cask bottlings that I tried a year or so ago – those are still some of my favourite whiskies of all time.

Next was the highland whisky – Balblair 2000. I tried this as part of the Twitter tasting I did last year and didn’t get much different from it this time. On the nose it had pineapple, vanilla, a hint of meaty anis, and rhubarb and custard sweets. To taste it had caramel with sweet vanilla, dark chocolate, just unripe vine fruits and a hint of pepper. I didn’t get the coppery note that we found last time so much this time, but I did still find a bit of dry twigginess in the finish. Water brought out more vanilla but also more astringent alcohol on the nose. The taste changed quite a bit, with more heat, more thin alcohols and more big wood, with thick custard at the back of the mouth.

The final whisky of the evening was the one from Islay – Port Charlotte An Turas Mor (The Great Journey). Part of Bruichladdich’s heavily peated range named for the long closed Port Charlotte distillery, this is the newer reasonably priced expression, as earlier releases have fetched a bit of a premium from the ‘Laddich lovers and also been bottled a lot stronger. On the nose there was initially a hit of baby sick, but this faded after pouring into sweet peat and muddy grass. There was also coal smoke, sweet oranges and tangerines. The taste was first dominated by big coal smoke fading away to be replaced by sweet fruit, lemon, and a dry woody end. Water adds some sweetness and a lot more citrus – the smoke is still there but hangs around out at the end rather than up front with some dusty coal powering it.

A nice first box, full of slightly more interesting drams than you’ll often find in a regular region sampling whisky flight. My next box is whiskies of the world, which I hope to get on to slightly faster than this one.

Bladnoch 8 year old – Belted Galloway bottling
Lowland single malt Scotch whisky, 55%. ~£35 at Master of Malt.

Linkwood 12 year old – Flora and Fauna
Speyside single malt Scotch whisky, 43%. ~£40 at Master of Malt.

Arran 14 year old
Island single malt Scotch whisky, 46%. ~£40 from The Whisky Exchange.

Balblair 2000
Highland single malt Scotch whisky, 43%.~£30 from The Whisky Exchange.

Port Charlotte An Turas Mor
Islay single malt Scotch whisky, 46%. ~£35 from The Whisky Exchange.

Arran is an island that I visited a few times as a child – popping over on the ferry (and on The Waverley at least once) when up in Scotland visiting people in Ayr. I don’t remember much about it apart from always asking if we could back every time we visited. When I joined the SMWS a few years back I saw that they had some bottlings from Arran and rather liking the style bought most of them until recently. I also picked up one of the distillery bottlings – the limited edition Peacock – and rather liked that as well, all of which has led me towards wanting to try more of their whiskies.

The Arran distillery is quite young, having been built from scratch at Lochranza in the north of the island in 1995, and is currently the island’s only distillery. The Isle of Arran itself is in a rather unique location, sitting between the mainland and the peninsula of Kintyre, home of Campbeltown whiskies, experiencing a relatively constant and mild climate thanks to the influence of the Gulf Stream. This helps in the maturation of the whisky, with the constant temperature increasing the effect of time, with Arran whisky often passing as older than it is (as I discovered with one of my SMWS bottlings – 5 years old, the colour of Irn Bru and tasting as rich as something two to three times its age).

It’s quite difficult for new single malt focused distilleries to pay for themselves to start with, with 3 years before you can call your spirit whisky and generally 10 years before you can start putting a ‘regular’ bottling on the shelves. To help augment the income from limited young bottlings (such as the SMWS ones that I tried, as well as ones from other independent bottlers) they built a visitors centre, opened by The Queen, and have become part of the tourist trail on the island. As a thankyou to Her Majesty they gave a couple of casks to Princes William and Harry which they’ve been looking after ever since, as seen in this video from back in April:

The distillery turns 15 years old this week and to celebrate they are having an open day on July 3rd with various events during the day, a ceilidh in the evening, a special whisky cask aged beer from the rather good local Arran Brewery, 3 single cask bottlings from 1995 and a generally available special edition bottling, but more about that later.

The distillery uses barley that is malted offsite and farmed on the east coast of Scotland between Dundee and Montrose. They experimented with using local barley but it didn’t work particularly well, leading to their initial importing of pre-ground unpeated malt from the mainland. Having decided that they needed more control over the grinding of the barley a mill and silo were built on site in 2007, allowing less frequent deliveries and grinding on the premises.

Their stills are quite squat, with long, thin, tall necks stretching up 3-4m to a right angled lyne arm, giving a light and fruity spirit. Eddie had managed to get some new make to try and there were a few glasses dotted around the tables. On the nose it was sweet with mulchy grain, hay, sweet malt and a hint of sugary fruit – maybe pineapple. To taste it was very buttery in mouthfeel, with lots of sweet cereals.

The first whisky to taste of the night was the Arran 10 year old. A mix of about 80% oloroso sherry cask matured whisky and 20% bourbon, this is the latest iteration of their ‘standard’ malt, first produced in 2006 and taking over from the 8 year old which had been the standard until then. Since the first release they have slowly changed the proportions of bourbon and sherry oak, starting with 100% bourbon and potentially moving to a 100% sherry in the near future. It’s bottled at 46%, and, as with all of the distillery’s whiskies, has no added colouring and is not chill filtered. On the nose it has candle wax, salt, milk chocolate, raisins and some lemon sherbert. To taste it has polished oak floors, woody spice, a touch of dried fruit and a dry woody finish. Water opens it up a bit with sweet honey, big tannic winey wood, a hint of chocolate and a spicy finish.

Next up was one of their Icons of Arran bottlings – The Rowan Tree, the follow-up to the Peacock that I have in the cupboard. It’s named for the local profusion of Rowan trees, not a particularly common species in Scotland, more often being found in Scandinavia. It’s bottled at 46% as well and made up of whisky from a batch of 10 second fill sherry butts, producing about 6000 bottles of which 600 are allocated for sale in the UK. On the nose it’s slightly briny with spice and dried fruit. To taste it has black pepper, cumin and a touch of curry, as well as raisins and a dry spicy finish. Left in the glass for a bit some flavours of grass and stones started to emerge. With water more wood popped out and the fruit turned to candy, with sticky boiled sweets behind the oak.

Third of the evening was one of their cask finishes – The Arran Madeira Finish. This is bottled at 50% and consists of whisky matured for 8 years and then finished for 10 months in madeira casks. This is part of a limited run of 6300 bottles, but the cask finishes they tried was so popular that they’ve decided to compliment the growing Arran range with 3 of them as regular bottlings – Port, Sauternes and Amarone (a wine that I’d not heard of, made using partially dried grapes to concentrate the flavour). This one was quite spicy on the nose with dried and tropical fruit (pineapple, apple syrup/maybe mango). To taste it had a dry sweetness to start, quickly becoming fruity and syrupy before tailing off into a spicy wood finish. Water brought out more syrup on the nose, and added more wood and a touch of milk chocolate to the taste.

Being so young a distillery it’s quite difficult to have a wide range of whiskies at traditional ages. They will shortly be releasing their oldest regular production whisky – a 14 year old which we couldn’t try as it was still in the cask finishing its maturation. This will lead to the standard range of whiskies being the 10 and 14 year olds as well as the three cask finishes mentioned above. In addition to the single malts they also do a cream liqueur, Arran Gold, and a pair of blends, Robert Burns and Lochranza, the latter of which has been on my ‘to try’ list for a bit. In a few more years they will have an 18 to round out the age selection, but from there who knows what they might do.

In the meantime they’ve already been continuing their experimentation and the fourth whisky we tried was very much in that line – The Arran Pomerol Finish. Pomerol is an area in France near to Bordeaux known for producing expensive wine, making this an interesting finish both for the quality of the previous occupant of the barrel (a wine from Château La Conseillante) as well being a red wine finish, not particularly common due to it being hard to produce one that works well. This one is bottled at 50% and has a pinkish tinge that is surprising for having only been in the wine cask for 6 months. Again this is finished after 8 years in oak, split 50/50 between bourbon and sherry and married together before being put in the wine barrels. On the nose it is quite meaty with lots of heavy red wine woodiness. To taste it has a thick sweetness with more meaty wininess, hints of icing sugar, spice and a touch of lemon, rounding off to a woody finish. Water brings in more sweet vanilla and fruit but also more sour wood. Left in the glass for a while it opens up further with more sherry sweetness and red wine heaviness coming through. A bit of a divider this, with most of the room really not liking it. I was more on the dislike side, although as it developed in the glass it grew on me.

Next to taste was a bit of a treat – The Arran 15th Anniversary Bottling. This one is being specially produced for this week’s birthday, with 5640 bottles going on sale very shortly (although only 500 of them staying in the UK) – Céline had only had a couple of tastes of this before, showing quite how new it is. It’s from a batch of 1999 distilled spirit, matured in oloroso casks for 8-9 years and then finished for 2 years in Amontillado casks, my favourite kind of sherry. On the nose it’s quite savoury, with sherry wood mixing with a slight brininess to give rich salted caramel. To taste it’s thick and syrupy, with red grapes, spicy wood and a chunk of tannin, rolling towards a buttery apple finish. With water there’s more wine fruit and buttery biscuits, and the wood is tamed although still sits spicily in the finish. A tasty whisky and a nice celebration of the first 15 years of production.

The last whisky of the night was a bit of a curveball – The Peated Arran. Having made a point of letting us know that Arran produced unpeated spirit, Céline went on to explain what this dram was all about. It was first produced in 2004 and came about due to an accidental delivery of barley peated to about 14ppm rather than the distillery’s regular unpeated order. Rather than send it back they decided to have a go at making whisky with it, producing 5 casks. It was rather popular and as such the distillery now produce a few casks of peated spirit a year, having now upped the peat levels from the initial mistake to about 20-25ppm. They make them as the last batches each year before closing down for summer maintenance, giving a chance to clean any residual peatiness out of the workings before starting again in autumn with their regular unpeated spirit. This bottling was one of 253 bottles from a 2005 distillation from barley at about 14 ppm, matured in first fill bourbon casks and bottled in 2009 at 57.7%. On the nose it has a light smokiness laying on a background of grassy fields. To taste it was rich with some sweet peatiness as well as sweet oranges and golden syrup. Water brought out the more vegetal notes from the nose, with a some grass appearing, accompanying oily butter and some sweet mulch. It took water well, tasting younger as the water knocked out some of the peat, adding more cereal and mulchy grass. Being a younger whisky the peat overpowered the wood influence, making it taste quite a lot peatier than the 14ppm suggested.

Annoyingly I can’t make it up to distillery this weekend for the party, but it’s definitely on my list next time I’m on the right side of Scotland. Equally annoying is that the whisky doesn’t quite live up to the spectacular single cask bottlings I’ve had over the last couple of years – they’re all rather good, with the Rowan Tree and Madeira Finish coming in as my favourites of the evening, but none quite as rich and complex as the ones that I’ve found at the SMWS. That won’t stop me picking up more Arran in the future, distillery bottlings as well as single casks, as they are also very reasonably priced, with the most expensive whisky of the evening coming in at under £70 and most bottlings being around £30-£50. Excellent value for such good whisky.

Arran 10 year old
Scottish Island Single Malt whisky, 46%. ~£30

Arran Rowan Tree
Scottish Island Single Malt whisky, 46%. ~£35

Arran Madeira Cask Finish
Scottish Island Single Malt whisky, 50%. ~£40

Arran Pomerol Cask Finish
Scottish Island Single Malt whisky, 50%. ~£45

Arran 15th Anniversary Bottling
Scottish Island Single Malt whisky, 54.6%. Available soon

Arran 2005 Peated
Scottish Island Single Malt whisky, 57.7%. ~£45 (limited availability)

Eddie of The Whisky Lounge is Eddie Ludlow and he is in the process of putting together this Autumn’s event calendar. Keep an eye on his website for details.

Master of Malt have a good range of Arran whiskies, although they don’t have the peated. Eddie might have a couple of bottles of that, although I suspect they’re for personal consumption, but The Whisky Exchange have a few which they are more likely to sell you.

Beer

My friend Mr Utobeer came through for me again, after an unplanned drop-in while wandering around Borough Market with Mondoagogo a few days before Christmas, and added to my bottle of Orkney Dark Island Special Reserve (left until after Christmas so as to be shared with people who love nice beer more than my family). Other than some bottles grabbed as a present for someone (as my order from Brewdog hasn’t been sent yet as they haven’t yet brewed one part of it – a bottle of the second batch of Tactical Nuclear Penguin) I also grabbed, and have since drunk:

Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special 40 Reserve: I tried the 16 a few weeks back and discovered at the same time that they now did a beer matured in a 30 year old Highland Park cask. Then I went to the SMWS last week and was informed that they also do a 40, which they had a couple of bottles of at obscene prices. Then I found one at Utobeer for the scary price of £7.60. The verdict – much like with the 16 year old it wasn’t all that impressive. It was a marked difference from the younger barrelled beers, with more of a woody whiskiness than before, but still not worth the cost in my opinion. A really nice heavy dark beer still.

Brewdog Paradox: Isle of Arran: They may not have sent me my beer yet, but I still like the Brewdog chaps. And their beer. This, to continue a theme, is another whisky cask matured beer (Innis & Gunn have a lot to answer for) and one that I’ve tried before. I rather like the Arran distillery, producing some of my favourite SMWS whiskies as they have, and I really liked my last bottle of this that I tried. This one was slightly disappointing – not so influenced by the wood as the last one, but still a really good dark ale with more fruit and less vanilla than the Ola Dubh.

My Mate Nick’s Homebrew: Mr Martin, cow-orker and ginger bearded buddy extraordinaire, has recently started brewing and after discussing what he was doing to make his beer presented me with one of his first batch of bottles. I left it to settle for a while and then cracked it open on Christmas Eve. It was rather lively, needing several glasses to pour out into without overflowing with meringue-like head, and in true bottle conditioned fashion was quite sedimenty at the bottom, requiring some care in the pouring. It was very very dark and quite sweet – a definite hint of black treacle without quite so much of its burnt taste. I suffered none of the ill effects that homebrew is famed for and I also rather enjoyed it. The fluffiness and sweetness suggests that maybe it was bottled a bit early but it wasn’t the worse for it. I look forward to brew number 2. Hopefully I’ll get some more…please?

Wine

Realising a few days before Christmas that you have visiting wine loving parents and no suitable bottles on the shelf was a mild concern, as I’m a very lazy man who doesn’t like carrying things back from the supermarket. The nice folks at Naked Wines jumped in to save me with guaranteed Christmas Eve delivery if I ordered by 5pm the day before – I ordered at 4:45. The next afternoon the slightly harassed looking delivery man turned up, dumped my wine and ran away quickly – I think there were a few people who had the same idea as me. Anyways, combined with a few bottles contributed by my visitors I definitely have enough wine now, although still only 3 spare slots on the wine rack.

Milani Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (Naked Wine, Italy): My first out of the box and grabbed to match a spaghetti bolognese. I quite like Montepulciano and this was slightly disappointing – quite rough, although it did soften as it aired, without as much fruit as I hoped. However, a couple of glasses went in to the bolognese sauce and the rest of it went down quite nicely with dinner.

Vicien Syrah 2007 (Naked Wine, Argentina): Rolled into service when the first bottle from my case ran out prematurely, this was really quite good. A nice full Syrah with a good amount of fruit that got better as it breathed. I stoppered it and finished it the next day and it was still very drinkable.

Howcroft Estate Limestone Coast Merlot 2006 (Tesco, Australia): Grabbed from my step-dad’s wine rack due to the word ‘turkey’ being in the ‘goes with’ list on the back, this was a nice light Merlot, full enough to battle with the dark turkey meat as well as not being too strong as to drown out the (admittedly dry) white meat.

Hardy’s Varietal Range Shiraz 2008 (Sainsbury?, Australia): Another donation from the visitors, this one isn’t quite done yet, opened to provide some lubrication for dinner part 2 – the christmas pud (delayed until evening to allow some digestion of lunch to occur). It definitely needed some time to breathe, having a harsh edge, but it quickly softened (especially when poured through my newly acquired wine aerater [thankyou Dave'nLet] which worked much better than we had imagined) and was a nice, spicy, fruity wine, complimenting the pud better than expected.

Whisk(e)y

I’ve had a Christmas uncharacteristically light on whisky, despite a trip to Milroy’s a couple of days beforehand. I stopped by to try and pick up a bottle of rye to make the Manhattans that my mum had demanded via SMS (she had already bought cocktail cherries specially) and found that they were out of everything but a £180 per bottle Rittenhouse. I turned that down and got upsold when I tried to buy a 70cl bottle of Buffalo Trace, coming away with a 1.75l bottle (with free julep cup). I also grabbed a bottle of 15 year old Glencadam, having liked the SMWS bottling I picked up a couple of weeks back. The Trace is a solid bourbon, smooth enough to go either in cocktails or be drunk on the rocks (something that I’ve done a bit too much of since picking it up). The Glencadam is interesting – similar to the production Arran whisky in a way that I didn’t expect, with a fizzy icing sugar start, but also with a thick wedge of rubbery niceness running through the middle. It seems that I subconsciously do know my taste in whisky and Arran and Glencadam slot into it.

I used Glenfiddich instead of brandy to ignite the Christmas pud – the fact that I consider Glenfiddich to be cooking whisky when not too long ago it was one of the best whiskies that you could expect someone to have on their shelf has been commented on. It is cooking whisky…

I’ll skip over the currently processing disc, Oasis’s Cigarettes and Alcohol (the opening half of my first band’s first set, accompanied by The Rolling Stones’ Brown Sugar), and proceed directly to the slightly more random track – Last of the Big Time Drinkers, by Stereophonics. There was once a time when Kelly Jones didn’t wear a silly hat on stage and the band didn’t strut quite so much, and back then they had a fantastically raw sound with a stage presence that suggested that bigger things were just down the road. The song doesn’t really glorify drinking, more point out the glorious lifestyle of the late night drinker who has pride in his work, but fewer brain cells after the weekend is done. It’s also rather a good tune. The live version on my More Life in a Tramps Vest EP is a top performance, but all I could find online was a bunch of covers and a Glastonbury performance from when hats started appearing. It’s still a good’un though:

Accompanied (responsibly) by:
Arran – The Peacock
Single Malt Scotch Whisky
12 years old (distilled 1996, bottled 2009)
1 of 6000 bottles
Limited availability (I got mine from Royal Mile Whiskies in London)

A fairly light dram compared to some of the more fruitcakey whiskies coming from their SMWS bottlings, but not overly delicate. Icing sugar and fruit to start followed by honey, vanilla and a hint of banana on the finish. There’s also a bit of the malty saltiness that I enjoy in their single casks, although it’s nicely rolled in with the rest of the flavours. A more refined version of their regular 10yr old and worth a try.