www.caskstrength.net - whisky blog

Smokin'

2012-01-26T19:08:00.006Z

The world of whisky and cigars is an often maligned subject. Do the two really work together? Sometimes we're inclined to think not. A visit to Fox's of St James recently proved to be a mixed bag for us - three superb cigars: Bolivar's superbly rich Belicosos Finos, a Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure Especial and a moreish Montecristo Edmundo.

We'd chosen some interesting whiskies to go with our sticks: Ardbeg Uigeadail, Highland Park 21yo and a single cask Glenfarclas, providing a meaty mix of wood and sherry influence.

But despite the wealth of wares on offer, we just couldn't get a handle on any of the pairings - they were either too weighted in favour of the cigar, the whiskies losing all their appeal, or the melange of flavour just overwhelmed the palate totally. In the end, we just wanted a milkshake and a sit down.

But not being quitters we've vowed to keep up the research into the ultimate pairing - and by jingo, we're pretty sure that courtesy of Partagas and The Dalmore, we've found an intriguing marriage, based on compliments, subtlety and spice. Surely, the recipe for any great partnership?

Mr Richard Paterson, man of refined vices galore, is no stranger to the gentle art of fine smoking. One of his best creations, The Dalmore Cigar Malt was perfectly balanced to allow even the most subtle wafts of a lightweight El Rey Del Mundo to tantalise the palate, one giving the other enough room to breathe (excuse the pun). When it was discontinued in 2007, a few people undoubtedly planned to march on Whyte & Mackay's Health & Safety Commandants (sorry, lawyers) burning stakes in clenched fist, hell bent on retribution for the whisky's untimely withdrawal.

Or perhaps a few strongly worded letters were sent. Either way, it was a huge result when the whisky was rightly reinstated earlier this month, in a slightly reformulated state. The new The Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve will be available from February bottled at 44% and priced at £70 and we were eager to test it out - with the daddy of the Partagas range, the Serie E 2.

With a full bodied blast of toasted chocolate and spiced notes, it is a formidable test for many a decent dram...

The Dalmore - Cigar Malt Reserve - 44%

Nose: Toasted orange zest, leather, earthy/mushroomy undertones and dark chocolate shavings. given a little time, a touch of vanilla (reminiscent of pipe tobacco) comes to the fore.

Palate: A rich mouth feel, with a little rubberiness, dark sherry, dark sugar- in fact, lots of dark tasting things- treacle, cocoa and toasted malt round out the darkness. Given a few minutes and the first mouthful of Partagas, the flavour is undaunted by the smoke - citrus notes and woody spice also develop, but the undercurrent of treacle, sherry and chocolate blend well with the top notes of the cigar.

Finish: the smoke clearly takes the lingering lead, but the rich fruity notes of the whisky return, alongside a pronounced malt extract note. Everything is there, but nothing pokes out too provocatively.

Overall: There is enough light and shade to this whisky to handle a big beast of a cigar. We have yet to try it against a mild smoke, but it is very pleasing when the combination of flavours on the palate doesn't pull in different directions. Here, the experience is enjoyable and complimentary.

Richard, a victory for you and two fingers to the non smoking pedants.

Let's Go Clubbing: The Balvenie Craftsman's Reserve No. 1 Whisky : The Cooper

2012-01-20T12:05:00.012Z

It’s not a lot different to most peoples’ houses... if you ever come over to my abode, you’ll learn a lot about me from the objects that fill the space in which I live. Of course, there is plenty of whisky and whisky related artefacts scattered around, but that’s not all. Strewn around the house are clues to other interests and hobbies of mine; a framed ticket for the 2009 / 2010 Conference Play Off Final at Wembley between (the mighty) Oxford United and York City for example or a few books about street art, piled high on my coffee table.

However if you look closely, you can see keys to my childhood, too: A whole row of Rold Dahl books on my bookshelf. A 1980’s Subbuteo team still in full packaging on my mantelpiece, nestled up next to a well-used Rubik’s Cube... but the most telling evidence lies in a room far from these effects. For in my toilet is an almost complete set of Beano Annuals from around the late 1970’s through to the present day.

The Beano was a comic that my two brothers and I had delivered on weekly basis throughout our childhood and the yearly bumper hardback offering was a standard Christmas present from ‘Santa Claus’ pretty much from birth. It still makes an appearance each Christmas, keeping a family tradition going (and probably underpinning the publishers D.C. Thomson & Co as we do so, before it gets nailed by kids playing Angry Birds on their iPads).

Such fans we were of characters such as Billy Whizz, The Bash Street Kids and Dennis The Menace himself, that it seemed only natural to join The Dennis The Menace Fan Club (later rebranded as The Beano Fan Club). And what an honour that was. When joining, members would receive a pack containing a membership card, a letter and some badges (one adorned with the words ‘He Who Meanaces Wins’ – amazing!). Some years, you’d even get a birthday card from Dennis and Gnasher... does life get any better, when you’re ten years old?!

Sadly, in 2010 D.C. Thomson, the publishers of The Beano, closed its doors to new members. Having had, at its peak, over 1.25 million members, the club moved online to embrace new media in engaging fans of the much-loved comic.

I’m not ten years old any longer. I’m 32. Quite a difference. And, where you once found the Beano Annual by my bed, you’ll now find it by my toilet (essential reading when on the throne, it must be said) but one thing is still true: I still join fan clubs. It’s just the fan clubs I join these days are whisky-related.

There are plenty of them around: Friends of Laphroaig, Friends of the Classic Malts, The Ardbeg Committee, Highland Park Inner Circle, The Guardians of The Glenlivet, The Glenfiddich Explorers, The Springbank Society, The Bowmore Inner Core... you get the picture.

Nearly all of these ‘clubs’ are free to join and just require an email address and date of brith, but the rewards can be rich. Once signed up, you’re often sent a members pack (much like the Dennis The Menace fan club, sans a furry Gnasher badge) with anything from a short ‘thank you’ to a tasting book to a certificate of ownership on a plot of land! But the real pay off comes with the offer of exclusive bottlings, tasty editions launched only for club members, the die-hards, the fanatics.

The latest distillery to engage their membership scheme in this way is The Balvenie. Their membership programme is called Warehouse 24, named after the oldest surviving part of the distillery, now known as warehouse no. 24. (NSS)

The first ever exclusive bottling to be released to the membership from The Balvenie comes in support of one the five rare crafts which the distillery still employs, The Cooper. Such is the focus by The Balvenie on their five rare crafts, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this as a series with one release for each of the five crafts. To be fair, the title kinda gives that impression too, with it being called Craftsman’s Rreserve No.1...

So, a little about this bottling, then: 515 bottles will be produced, with 315 being made available for the UK market. Aged for 15 Years, this whisky was matured in two sherry butts and is bottled at natural strength. It will retail via The Balvenie website at £65.00 a bottle but expect to see if for more on auction sites at a later date... *yawn* Expected release date is some time in Feb.

The Balvenie – Craftsman’s Reserve No.1: The Cooper – 15 Years Old – 515 Bottles Only – Exclusive to Warehouse 24 Members - 59.4% abv

Nose: Rich Maple syrup, builders tea with sugar, honey and dark chocolate (a kin to the smell you get when snapping a Cadbury’s Crunchie in half), strong runny honey. A very appetising nose, with plenty of body. Asserts itself as a Speyside whisky but with more balls, more kick than normal from this distillery.

Palate: A ‘chewy’ dram with notes of sweet tea, dried apricots, big malt hit. It comes across as very rich with orange tones developing over time. Some notes of wood chippings after rain, heavy toffee and pulled pork. Meaty and mouthfilling. Holds a drop of water well.

Finish: Melting dark chocolate, some cloves and orange tones. Big and powerful in flavour and finish.

Overall: This is not a shy and retiring dram. Imagine the Doublewood but with extra age and intensity and richness and obstinance. It’s like a Balvenie that has won the lottery; it’s better than you and it knows it and it doesn’t care what you think, it’s going to wear garish designer clothing and to hell with the world. Bold and rich, more expressions like this (and at this strength) please...

No doubt there will be a bun flight on the day of release for this and if William Grant and Sons have taken a lesson from any of the other clubs that have released bottles online, just make sure your website doesn’t crash the second it goes up for sale... and if you really want to add some value to your distillery fan club, include a nice badge that says “He Who Drams Wins”.

Right, I’m off to ‘read the Beano’ as we say in my house...

A Mid-Morning Caol Ila

2012-01-19T10:33:00.004Z

Blink and all of a sudden, you're nearly at the end of the month, with a head full of plans and plenty to be getting on with. I'm right in the thick of co-writing a brand new whisky book ('Let Me Tell You About Whisky') with the mighty Gavin Smith, the samples are racking up here and it's high time we got down to the business of looking at a few crackers to put on your late January/February wish list.

Duncan Taylor have come out of the traps early with a couple of new releases from their Dimensions range and what a way to start today off - a gorgeous looking (and smelling) Caol Ila from 1983...

Duncan Taylor - Dimensions - Caol Ila - 1983 vintage - 28 years old- Cask 3625 - 54.3%

(a note must be written on just how...erm... attractive this whisky looks. Colourwise, it is a rich bright copper. Not something we're usually concerned with, but in this instance, it needs to be noted!)

Nose: Not immediately what you would expect from a Caol Ila. Sweet smoked barbecued bananas, vanilla pods, some freshly turned earth, nutmeg, butterscotch sauce and a slight emergence of medicinal/coaltar soap. The smoke is very restrained, but wafting around somewhere in the background. Very nicely balanced indeed.

Palate: A little dry off the bat, but then into classic Caol Ila territory, sweet malty biscuits, a mouthful of sappy pine smoke and coal dust. Given a dash of water and some time, the richness of this dram comes to the fore: the vanillas take a more prominent position, with some cream soda notes and a hint of candied fruit.

Finish: Lengthy fruit sherbet notes, sit alongside the coal dust and a dollop of malt extract.

Overall: What a pleasant surprise. This is certainly a Caol Ila that delivers complexity, but plenty of direct, easy to read notes up front.

Visit Duncan Taylor for more details.

Is that a Linkwood in your pocket...?

2012-01-13T17:24:00.004Z

New Year resolutions: they can be both frustrating and fascinating at the same time. They can provide an opportunity for a clean slate, a fresh start, a new dawn.

Maybe you have the desire to lose weight. You’ve adjusted your diet accordingly and the fridge is full of fresh veg, salad and lean meats. After some online research, you’ve joined a local gym. Two hours in the Nike store and you’ve walked out with a pair of trainers seemingly made from a kitchen sponge for the sole with an upper consisting of less made-made material than you’d see Jody Marsh wear on a night out. And you’ve paid a ton for the pleasure of running on some ‘air’, a substance which is traditionally free.

Six months later and the shoes are being worn to do the gardening, the gym silently steals fifty quid a month from your bank account by direct debit and your waistline has grown by exactly the same percentage as inflation, an irony not lost on you when looking into a new pair of jeans which actually the fit the ‘new you’.

A friend of mine has a good rule. She doesn’t make New Year resolutions, but gives each year a title, a la Chinese New Year. For example, this year could be your 'Year Of The Fish', in which you vow to eat more seafood. Or 'Year Of The Plane', where you make it an aim to travel more. This year is going to be my ‘Year Of Discovery’.

The aim for 2012 is for me to try new flavours and experiences which previously have passed me by. This could be as simple as going around The National Portrait Gallery (somewhere I walk past on an almost daily basis but, criminally, have never been in) through to trying new foods that I have never had before (‘white pudding’, anyone?). One area that this allows for in whisky is, of course, the ongoing journey of tasting whiskies from new distilleries, be they Scottish, Irish, American, Japanese or New World.

The first of this year’s palate-expanders is Linkwood, a dram I am not familiar with at all. Owned by Diageo, Linkwood gets a brief outing (as do all 28 Diageo malts) as a 12 Years Old Flora & Fauna bottling (around £40 here) and then a smattering of unusual releases such as a slot in the Managers’ Choice releases with a 1996 offering, some Rare Malts bottlings and some nifty little 50cl offering in 2008 finished in rum, red wine and port casks. All very interesting, but it seems the easiest way to track down some Linkwood is through independent bottlers, and where else should one turn than to the SMWS:

39.82 (Linkwood) – Suede Shoes Walking Through Clover – 13 Years Old – 60.0%

Nose: A sweet nose which gives wisps of hot buttered crumpets, pancakes dusted with sugar and lemon juice, honey and heather. With water, the heather becomes much more pronounced, as do white flowers and a touch of Champaign.

Palate: Delicate with plenty of floral notes, copper and vanilla custard, however it is a little too ‘hot’ without water. With water: The sweetness is balanced out with a pleasant salty undertone. Vanilla cream filled buns dusted with cinnamon and enhanced copper tones shine through.

Finish: Copper tones and more heather and honey without water. With water: the salt comes to the fore in the finish, disappearing in to lemon cheesecake with a tart, sweet lemon sauce.

Overall: A very nice dram which demands more than a drop of water to open it up. Not quite enough to muscle its way in to my top ten distilleries yet, but certainly worth the introduction. Maybe we’ll go on a few more ‘dates’ and see if we really click. Either way, I think I’ve made a new friend with whom I look forward to spending more time.

A good start to the whisky end of my 'Year Of Discovery'. The question is, how brave will I be when it comes to food, roller-coasters and clothes... eek.

Having A Bal.

2012-01-10T10:39:00.008Z

Just before Christmas, both Joel and I had an interesting trip up to the Highlands to visit the Balblair Distillery. A stones throw away from the Glenmorangie distillery Balblair have been hard at work developing their series of vintage bottlings including the majestic 1978, 1989 and recently the 2000.

But this trip also marked the opening of the distillery's very first 'visitors centre' - tastefully developing some of the older warehouse space into a precise time line charting the distillery's history, as well as providing Balblair with the first onsite bottling - a distillery-only single cask, which visitors can bottle themselves using a rather handsome (if slightly temperamental) new filling system.

Balblair is undoubtedly one of the prettier distilleries, noted for its simple rustic charm, as opposed to throwing the kitchen sink at re-designing and repainting everything in sight, which so often happens when a new visitors centre is built. One aspect that really caught our attention was the distillery's close proximity to a rail line (which would have been one of the primary transport sources for distributing their whisky at some point in the past). Open one of the doors to the back of the still house and you can pretty much step out onto the line, which gave us an idea for a game of 'whisky chicken', until we realised that the line is actually still in operation, so we got scared and quickly took this picture... Whisky On The Tracks....

So to the whiskies themselves. The 2000 vintage gets us off to a cracking start- light and zesty, with a sugary cereal/sponge cake note, the palate gave some flavoursome tinned fruit notes and a hint of bourbon character. The 1989 followed suit accordingly in the complexity department, with some lovely cherry, vanilla, honey and banana notes, melding into richer sponge cake notes (spot he recurring theme here)

Our highlight was the distillery-only single cask. If you're planning a Highland adventure, don't just head straight for Tain - you'll miss out on getting a dram of this little beauty.

Balblair - Distillery Only bottling - Cask 2990 - distilled 1992 - 60.9%

Nose: Guess what... sponge cake hits the nose first with an almighty splat! this is deftly followed by some chopped almonds, marzipan, a slight waxiness, lemon Bon Bons and tonic water. It is refreshing, yet rich in equal measure. It needs a dash of water to help it reveal its inner most secrets though.

Palate: Sweet malty cereal, vanilla, some light cinnamon /spice notes and a mouth coating, creamy chocolate/Horlicks note. Given time, some vaguely tropical fruit notes develop (mango and passion fruit) but they are restrained and just sit perfectly in the background.

Finish: The fruity notes (green apple and those aforementioned tropical notes) linger on the palate, alongside the malt notes.

Overall: Highly drinkable stuff, with a little bit of real distillery character to it. This bottling is well worth looking at, should you be paying a hugely worthwhile visit to Balblair.

Bloomin' Nice Juice: BNJ Blended Whisky

2012-01-04T15:24:00.007Z

[From www.caskstrength.net]

And so it begins... 2012 is upon us and it is traditionally the time of year when we look to banish the excesses of the festive season and to tighten our belts in more ways than one.

We’ve all done it, if not this year then in previous years; spent too much money and consumed too much beer / wine / whisky / meat / cheese*

*delete as appropriate

So what is one to do in January? Well, rein in the spending- yes. But rein in the drinking...? Come on! Seriously, though the first month of the year does provide a good opportunity to detox, at least in part, with lots of green tea and milk thistle and a reduction in intake of booze. But if this kind of belt tightening is not for you, yet you’re looking to save a few pennies having splashed out on that really excellent bottle as your Christmas gift to yourself, then you might want to try something a little cheaper. Our pick to kick off the year with, is the Bailie Nicol Jarvie blended Scotch whisky.

Not a whisky we talk about a lot on here, BNJ as it is known, was a hugely popular blended whisky for large parts of the 20^th Century but its popularity has waned in recent decades, despite still being highly regarded among Scotch experts (the always loveable Charles Maclean ranked it in his top10 whiskies for 2011 recently in the Independent).

Named after a character in ‘Rob Roy’, the seminal book by Walter Scott, BNJ is owned by the Glenmorangie company and is made using a high proportion of malt whisky (apparently around 60%) from just eight distilleries, including some Glenmorangie. This is mixed with grain whisky from the Girvan distillery, blended and bottled to be sold to yours truly for just £18-ish. Deal? Done!

Bailie Nicol Jarvie – Blended Scotch Whisky – 40% abv (£18.99)

Nose: Sweet honey and vanilla tones are underpinned with a whisp of smoke. Some candyfloss develops along with freshly cut pine and menthol. Banana foam penny sweets come through at the last.

Palate: Initial hit of lemon meringue pie, this palate is soft and sweet. Vanilla ice cream comes through, backed by over ripe banana and just a hint of coal dust right at the back of the palate. Very nice for such an inexpensive blend.

Finish: More foam banana sweets, some lemon zest and the lemon meringue pie. Short and slightly warming.

Overall: A very drinkable blended whisky, very well put together and exceedingly good value for money at around £18 a bottle.

Take that finances! I might just stick on this bottle for the month of January and give both my liver and my bank balance time to recover. As for my belt tightening, I’m off down the gym. Not to use the equipment, but to sit in the Jacuzzi you understand...

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:01:00.001Z

So here we are, at the end of one year and the start of another. And what a year it has been. Just about everything that could have happened in 2011 has happened; a real mixed bag of a year that has just about justified the existence of numerous 24-hour news channels...

...and with all that extra reading and viewing vying for your attention, this seems an opportune moment to say a huge ‘thank you’ to all of you who read the blog. The are many ways to read our ramblings; a simple visit to the web site, an RSS feed, sign up through the email shot (so you get a fresh post in your inbox at 8pm GMT whenever we’ve written a post) and now on your shiny new Amazon Kindle e-Reader. This year has seen another bumper year for our readership via Caskstrength.net but it hasn’t stopped there.

2011 has seen us hit the physical world of print media with supplements about whisky in London paper City AM as well as Mint (The Wall Street Journal India) where Joel has a monthly column. We’ve written recommendation pieces for the Evening Standard and the Metro, had regular pieces in Whisky Magazine, Scotland Magazine and Imbibe and Neil has been published in a couple of books:The Malt Whisky Yearbook and Cutty Sark: The Making Of A Brand.

Totting up the total readership of the media we’ve written for this year, across print and digital, it exceeds over a million people, so hopefully we’re helping to push the popularity of the product we love, whisky in all forms, to a wider public.

It was also a year that saw our first bottling, the Cask Strength And Carry On Isle of Arran which sold out in less than 3 days (a massive thank you to all who bought it. We hope you’ve enjoyed drinking it!) and hosting of numerous tasting with groups as diverse as Mumford & Sons and Arcade Fire, with whom we organised a strictly limited edition Highland Park bottling, through to the Japanese ambassador in the Palace of Westminster.

Overall, however we hope to have stayed focused on bringing you irreverent and entertaining writing with a focus on whisky, culture and, above all, fun. 2012 will see us venture into bigger territory still- expect a host of new whisky related projects, more books and a brand new website, launching soon!

What better way to celebrate the end of such a busy year than with a dram... and what a special bottle we have here indeed. We received this bottle as a very special gift, with the aim of it to be opened at a very specific time... and we think we have just the occasion. The Family Ridley is about to grow in ranks, with a new baby on the way for 2012. And so, let’s raise a glass to Neil and his ‘working parts’ as we crack open this little beauty:

The Glenlivet – Single Cask Edition – ‘Atlantic’ - 40 Years Old – Cask No 5318 – bottled 16/12/2005 – 41.6% abv

Nose: Wonderfully rich tones of freshly cut figs, maraschino cherries, dandelion and burdoch soft drink, marmite on hot buttered wholemeal toast, very old brown leather jacket.

Palate: thinner than one would expect from a whisky of this maturation level. The initial hit is of raisins soaked in rum, dark chocolate truffles and black forest gateaux. Slight hints of powered liquorice, cinnamon balls and some lightly steamed green veg on the back palate. Very well balanced and rounded. Not too chewy, like some old whiskies can be, this is a little too easy to drink for something of this age!

Finish: This is where the old fashioned sweet shop takes over with mint humbugs, more cinnamon balls and cherry drops, developing back in the black forest gateaux.

Overall: Of course, a huge treat. The chaps over at The Glenlivet don’t need to be bottling single casks if they’re not top-notch and here is a classic example of an excellently aged Speyside. Teetering at 41.6% (43% would have really given this baby a punch), you’d wonder if this was like watching George Best play for Fulham; but no, this is Best in his Man Utd prime... as he said himself “I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.”

So, where does this amazing start to 2012 leave us? With our annual (“erm, I think this is the first time we’ve done these” – Neil) predictions for 2012...

Oops...my ball's a bit dusty...

Prediction One: More Single Grain whiskies to hit the market, from established bottlers. Seems that there is a definite thirst for these lightly flavoured gems- in a sensible price bracket too.

Prediction Two: Several companies will vie for the title of the 'Official' 2012 Olympic Whisky. Whether or not Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Whyte & Mackay or Edrington have approached Usain Bolt yet for his seal of approval is unknown. Personally, we'd like to see the slogan 'Whisky- Powering Us To Glory' written on the side of Team GB's bus, but they'll probably end up with a sodding Barclaycard advert.

Prediction Three: The rise in popularity of investment whiskies will see more limited releases, single casks and rare bottlings hit the market. Lord knows where it will end up, but with the popularity in the spirit can only be a good thing, so long as it doesn't impact the pricing of our cherished bottles for convivial consumption.

Prediction Four: A charity wrestling match will take place between feuding whisky writers, with the proceeds from this undoubtedly popular public spectacle going to the Whisky In aid of Narcoleptic Kids or W.I.N.K for short. Let's be thankful the charity weren't 'Against' sleepy kids...

Here's to a great 2012 folks - looking forward to sharing some incredible drams with you all.

Joel & Neil

Post Christmas Blues?

2011-12-29T18:21:00.005Z

Since arriving back at Caskstrength towers last night, I've found the hallowed halls a tad drafty after the near stifling conditions that seem to come hand in hand with one's parental homes. I recently found out that incredibly, my parents keep the heating on in bloody July! It was like a sauna in December, lord knows how anything survives during the summer...

So after apologising for this shameful display of global-warming-neglect i'm going to turn the thermostat down a notch and huddle up under a blanket with two wonderful presents I received to even things up.

Firstly, as most of you know, both Joel and I are huge Alan Partridge fans; so much so that we once endeavoured to have a back-to-back Partridge'athon with all three TV series, plus the wonderful bite-sized selection of Mid-Morning Matters episodes courtesy of the Fosters Lager comedy shorts.

Mrs Caskstrength bought me the 'autobiography' of the great man to read over Christmas and so far, I haven't been able to put it down, save for eating another plate of turkey meat or sweatily removing my new Christmas jumper because of the heating. If you're not familiar with Partridge, you must from a foreign land, or just plain idiotic. If either applies, here's a video to help realise his comedy genius:

And to wash down this finely made trifle of comedy a dram of something equally tasty: the new Elements Of Islay 'Kh1' (or Kilchoman for those who don't speak Periodic.)

Speciality Drinks have really taken the whole Periodic Table idea to heart and the last few bottlings we tried (the Port Ellen PE2 and 3 and Lagavulin LG2) have really demonstrated an unbridled coastal Islay at its very best. Here's hoping that this Kilchoman will also demonstrate how elemental these whiskies are.

Elements Of Islay - Kh1 - 59.7%

Nose: Big butterscotch/toffee and milk chocolate notes hit first, with a blast of briny peat thrown in to counteract the sweetness. Some turned earth, hazelnut shells and white pepper develop over time and with a dash of water, a more medicinal peat emerges.

Palate: Wow, hot and youthful. The peat is fearless in its attack and a charcoal-like BBQ meatiness coats the palate. More smoked meat and iodine round out the coastal assault. Water brings it down a peg or two, giving some residual sweetness and a return of the pepper, but personally speaking I prefer the bold (and elemental approach) so without water it is for me!

Finish: Very peppery, with a touch of dried oak, some more of the heavily smoked meat and a lingering TCP lozenge on the death.

Overall: Although this is no doubt a young whisky, it is undeniably as Islay as it gets; fiery, bursting with peat and full of palate-grabbing energy. It won't suit every one, (post-christmas richness) but sometimes you just need something to get things started - and in the wise words of AP, is 'back of the net'.

The Twelve Drams Of Christmas - Part Twelve

2011-12-24T09:00:00.002Z

So here we are. Christmas Eve morning and All is calm and all is.... well, bright pink.The sky has bruised over and I have just left the Ridley Manor Leicestershire for the wiles of North Yorkshire to visit Mrs Caskstrength's relatives.

2012 has been a sensational year for drams and Joel and I have had a fair bit of difficulty in deciding our festive choices, but here you go...

The moment the car is unpacked, shoes are off and replaced by warming slippers, shivering trunk snuggly wrapped in a padded silk smoking jacket, the leather reclining chair tilted back to its fullest extent and the strains of The Rat Pack Christmas emanating from the stereo, I know I can completely relax. I'm sure Joel will echo these simple sentiments too, minus the slippers and poncey jacket.

Ridley's choice of Festive Dram:

'In years gone by, I have often struggled to choose between the titanic flavours of 'Peat' and 'Sherry' as part of the the ultimate Christmas day tipple. I compromised last year and went for a sherried version of a peaty classic (Lagavulin Distillers Edition) which went down so well, there was only a tiny drop left to wash down the Boxing Day turkey sandwiches.

This year, i've adopted a slightly different tact and gone for something balanced, fruity, warming and ridiculously drinkable. It also makes a mean Manhattan, a sizzling Sour and can be sipped, slugged and slurped over ice, with soda or just about any way you choose. So a perfect offering to any whisky-reticent relatives! My Christmas time dram is Yamazaki 18 year old.... Kampai!'

Yamazaki - 18 year old - 43%

Nose: Instantly open on the nose, this bears all the hall marks of a classic Japanese whisky. Mossy, musty, rich sherry, dark orange marmalade, with loads of polished rosewood and big spice.

Palate: Swathes of sherry, leading into rich, thick dark sugar and milky coffee, with an extra sweet backing of barley sugar. The sweetness dies away giving a very well balanced back palate of cereal and starchy overtones.

Finish: Lingering spice, bulging dried fruit, sherbet and more sweetness. Very lengthy and enjoyable.

Overall: Little more needs to be said about this magnificent whisky. So rather than take up additional room with superlatives, here's a picture of some contented Christmas dogs.

I'm the one on the left...

Harrison's choice of Festive Dram:

'For me, this year's festive dram is a distillery we haven't featured very frequently, The Glendronach. I took this home to balance out the wanton desire to have a peated whisky. The 'Lennon' to the Glendronach's 'McCartney', has to be the Lagavulin Distillers Edition, 1995 / 2011. Additional maturation in PX casks means I'm carrying on the same sherry theme, but warming my cockles with a some soft peat smoke. Yum!!'

The Glendronach - Single cask (full term Pedro Ximinez Sherry Puncheon) - 1995 - (08.11.1995) - bottled 2011 - 15 Years Old - Cask #4681 - 725 bottles - 56.2% £55.00

Nose: Everything you want in a sherried whisky, inc well balanced. Rich rose scented candles, heavily polished oak table, old leather shoes, second hand book stores and... Christmas pudding, freshly lit.

Palate: Rich, oily and full of flavour. This hits BIG: burnt sugars, candied orange slices and cloves. Stewed red fruits.

Finish: Sweet and dry with hints of black cherry.

Overall: Just a top, top whisky. Single cask, 56.2% abv, full term PX and £55. Amazing value for a stunning whisky.

Joel & I wish you all the most merry, peaceful and relaxing of Christmas holidays. And wherever you happen to be and whatever your choice of whisky, pour a large one and share a festive toast!

Cheerio and happy holidays.

Neil & Joel x

The Twelve Drams Of Christmas - Part Eleven

2011-12-23T12:50:00.005Z

Our penultimate festive dram comes on a very wintery day (well it is here in the Midlands)

The weather is shockingly cold, rainy and miserable. Come on! couldn't we have just a little snow to at least make us feel Christmas'y....

Until then, here's a cracking suggestion from our good friend and dram'meister, Mr Ben Ellefsen from Master Of Malt:

Well hellllooooo....

"Leaving aside our own range of course, (gentle plug!) I'd have to say that that bottle I'm going to reach for on Christmas day will be a Glenfarclas 105, or an Aberlour a'Bunadh (doesn't matter which batch). After an entire year of tasting, sampling, and picking apart various malts for tasting notes and cask selection, I'm after something at cask strength, with a big, sherry-rich, mucky flavour to savour without having to think too much about it. Both of these bottlings provide exceptional value for money, too - so I can feel completely comfortable opening a bottle with the intention of finishing it with friends and family"

Wise words sir!

Aberlour a'Bunadh - Batch no. 15 - 59.6%

Nose: Big dry sherry cask notes, alcohol steeped raisins, dates, menthol, some earthy, compost/dried leaves and then dark cigar wrappers. Just nosing this is certainly cleaning the pipes.

Palate: Surprisingly smooth initially, then the fire starts to burn. There's no escape from this whisky in the flavour department; the dry cask notes are still present, but now rich christmas cake, more dates, some sweet cereal notes are developing, alongside some decidedly lighter and more delicate fruity/barley sugar flavours.

Finish: Resinous, powerful and spicy, with a little licorice developing as the palate dries.

Tomorrow's post will be our last festive dram suggestions before the big day and both Joel and I will take the honours... Jingle Bells!!

The Twelve Drams Of Christmas - Part Ten

2011-12-21T21:37:00.006Z

Today's dram comes from the prescriber of all things good. A man who quite possibly purchased his doctor-ship in whisky from a drunken gentleman in Uganda, but we'll forgive him, as his musings for the past few years have kept us highly entertained and informed. Sam is also Global Brand Ambassador for The Balvenie, but don't let that sway your opinion on his choice below...

Ladies and gentleman, we give you Sam Simmons, aka Dr Whisky.

Sexy....

'I love whisky. And I love Christmas.

And my Christmas whisky is the same as it has been since 2002:

The Balvenie Doublewood.

(Long before I worked with William Grant & Sons!)

Do with this as you will'

The Balvenie - Doublewood - 12 yo - 40%

Nose: An entertaining mix of lighter, vanilla, lemon & orange zest and sweet caramels, mixed with some richer Oloroso sherry notes, dark honey and woody spices.

Palate: The vanilla, honey and orange zest all hit the palate first, backdropped by moist raisins, some fig and a big spoonful of the Oloroso. Very open and balanced.

Finish: Drying cask notes, with a long fruity/nutty note. Warming and most definitely festive!

The Twelve Drams Of Christmas - Part Nine

2011-12-20T12:24:00.010Z

Our ninth day of suggestions is upon us and so far, we hope you'll agree, a tremendous list of whiskies to savour over the holiday period. But what if your relatives aren't as fanatical about whisky as your good selves?? Well the simple answer is you make 'em a bevy of bloody great cocktails!

We've extolled the virtues of Ballantine's Christmas Reserve since it was first released last Christmas- a brilliantly blended whisky from the Sandy Hyslop stable, with all the hallmarks of Christmas thrown in for good measure: Notes of clove, cinnamon, orange peel and rich sherry. It's warming, rich and definitely as festive as hell.

We love to throw flavours and ideas around in the lab (or the 'kitchen' as it is known in most houses) and this Christmas has been no exception. Inspired by possibly the best Mint Julep we've ever had during the Caskstrength Christmas lunch at the JW Steakhouse on Park Lane, we set about concocting a Christmas Cake-inspired julep of our own...

After playing around with different ingredients, we came up with the following recipe, involving a specially made Christmas sugar syrup made thus:

Christmas Sugar Syrup: 2 parts boiling water to 1 part demerara sugar. I made around one litre of this. Stir and once the sugar is dissolved, throw in a few hand fulls of mixed dried fruit (my bag cost around 60p from Morrisons), a cinnamon stick, a shake of nutmeg and a dash of almond flavouring. Leave to cool overnight and strain in to a jug or bottle. This gloopy, dark syrup should taste (and smell) of liquid Christmas cake.

The Caskstrength Mint Julep:

Take a julep cup from the freezer and fill with crushed ice. Add two parts Christmas sugar syrup, one part Ballantines Christmas Reserve, a cap of Monin Pain d'Epices Gingerbread Syrup and stir five times. Top with a dash of angostura bitters, a dusting of cinnamon and some orange zest, or if you're feeling particularly fruity, some orange slices. The perfect Christmas cooler.

And if that's not enough festive flavour, we invited London bar owner Fredrik Olsson of Kosmopol around to the Caskstrength bar to show us a few of his festive cocktail creations, using Ballantine's Christmas Reserve. take a gander at the video below for some rocking' (around the Christmas tree) creations.

Now you may have noticed that such was the power of the Christmas goodness contained in the cocktails, that Joel and I were practically reduced to speaking in Christmas songs.

So as additional bonus - if you can correctly identify three of the classic Christmas songs we mentioned in the piece, we'll send you a bottle of Ballantine's Christmas Reserve! We have three bottles up for grabs.

Send in your answers to: jinglebells@caskstrength.net

Usual rules apply: include your name, age and most importantly, your address and location in the email. Comp is only open to those over the legal drinking age in your country... Sorry, but them's the rules!

The competition closes at midday on the 28th December, so get counting and we'll select the lucky winners.

The Twelve Drams Of Christmas - Part Eight

2011-12-19T12:31:00.006Z

Welcome back!

Today's festive dram comes from a brand new group with a rather apt, whisky themed name.

The Staves (Emily, Jessica & Camilla) hail from North London and produce a most harmonious sound indeed; swathes of etherial vocals meet gently plucked acoustic instruments. It's heady and heart warming, full of complexity and intrigue, but incredibly refreshing - rather like the whiskey they have chosen!

So take it away girls...

'This Christmas we, The Staves, will be drinking Green Spot whiskey. We first tried it in Dublin a few months ago. It was a freezing cold, lashing rain, gale-force wind sort of a day and we took refuge in The Stags Head pub where they made us the finest hot whiskies we had e'er tasted.
Once warm and dry again, we were recommended Green Spot by the barman and totally fell for its smooth flavour. Some whiskies can be too peaty and smoky, but this whiskey is really versatile & just seems to go with everything. We will be enjoying it with our mince pies - we're not big on sherry - and look forward to sharing it with friends on those cold evenings!
We stocked up on Green Spot at the airport before flying home, and it was a good job too, as it's quite tricky to find over here. Any donations would be most welcome!'

The Staves - Emily, Jessica & Camilla

Check out The Staves here: http://thestaves.com Sign up to their newsletter and get a free download of two fantastic live tracks!

The Twelve Drams Of Christmas - Part Seven

2011-12-18T10:00:00.002Z

After Olly Smith's brace of liquid beauties, we bring you three cracking suggestions from arguably the most respected whisky writer on the planet and all-round raconteur, sartorial sage and friend of this website, Mr Dave Broom.

Dave has been busy working on a brand new whisky education concept - the World Masterclass. Consisting of a number of online lessons and DVDs, the comprehensive training programme aims to enrich users with a new level of knowledge about whisky production. Sounds like a cracking idea to us. You can get more info about the World Masterclass by visiting:

www.theworldmasterclass.com

Now, Dave has more pressing this to tell you about - namely his choice of festive drams!!

"I've mulled this over along with some suitably seasonal spices (for the annual Christmas Confusion Dram). This is a season of pickled walnuts and walks on the seashore, nose being nipped by the frost, head being nipped by the previous night's festivities. Outdoors, I'd go smoky for the hip flask - Bowmore Tempest or Ardbeg Alligator - but when safely ensconsed once more in Broom Towers it is something richer, fruitier, thicker, I'd reach for. Bring me something to warm the toes, to bring a Claus-like ruddiness to the cheeks, bring me Redbreast 12yo cask strength say I and make it a large one!'

Splendiferous choices, I think you'll agree.

Ardbeg Alligator – Committee release – 51.2%

Nose: Immediate spicy/ fruity notes, with rolled oak shavings, BBQ charcoal, stewed apples, white pepper and hints of strong tea and fresh bourbon. With a dash of water the whisky really comes alive with wonderful rich vanilla tones, chocolate orange notes and hints of copper.

Palate: Big, resonant and dry, leading into more of the chocolate orange notes, sweet vanilla, hints of Five Spice and more stewed apple. Then the smoke arrives, soft, aromatic and gentle at first, giving this a superb complexity.

Finish: The sweet vanilla develops alongside the soft smoke for a very lengthy and pleasing finish.

Red Breast - 12 Years Old - Cask Strength Edition - 57.7%

Nose: This high strength dram makes its presence known immediately. It has a firey top note, which dies away quickly to reveal notes of fresh plums, a little dustiness, some clean linen, dessicated coconut and a lingering creaminess, akin to dairy fudge.

Palate: Powerful and coating, the tongue gets the first blast of wonderful sweetness, more of the dairy fudge, followed by some cornflake notes, creamy vanilla, golden syrup, a deft hint of floral apple peel (Pink Lady?) and some black cherries.

Finish: Lengthy and creamy, with the emergence of the apple again on the death.

Join us soon for part eight and some wonderful choices of dram from a very aptly named band!!

The Twelve Drams Of Christmas - Part Six

2011-12-17T15:50:00.007Z

Seven shopping days to go now, so for those intent on hitting the shops soon, you'd better get a move on!! Of course, I say that with the aplomb of a man in receipt of all his Christmas gifts, which couldn't be further from the truth. Yikes. Better get thinking fast.

In case you're still looking for a decent dram, either for yourself or friend/relative/loved one/boss etc then we still have another seven whisky suggestions out there, including this brace of rambunctious beauties from TV wine critic and all-round blond-haired bounder, 'Jolly' Olly Smith.

Olly has been gracing our screens on programmes such as Saturday Kitchen for several years (the only man to dare introduce a dry sherry pairing with a fish dish, so we whole-heartedly salute him) and before that was, and we kid you not, a script writer for the universally brilliant Pingu!!

You can check out Olly's exploits here, but in the meantime, take it away sir!!

'Righty-ho! Christmas drams, eh. My choices would be Old Pulteney 21 year old for its uplifting bright spank or Bruichladdich 'The Organic' for its outrageously luxuriant creaminess. Hooray!'

Perfect choices for easing that after-dinner inflated feeling, we think...

Old Pulteney - 21 year old - 46%

Nose: Apple pastry, vanilla notes, some metallic/copper ,vaguely floral /aftershave aroma, into malted cereal (think Shreddies and you're near the mark) gooseberry fool and kiwi fruit.

Palate: Sweet, with more of the malted cereal, a dusting of icing Sugar, hint of salt, marzipan, stewed apples and a deft hint of spice.

Finish: A hint of drying wood, leading into creamy coconut notes, crisp green apples and a a re-emergence of the gooseberry.

Bruichladdich - The Organic - 46%

Nose: Malted cereal, cracked ears of corn (sort of sweet and malty) leading into an abundance of sweet vanilla notes, creamy custard and some freshly sliced green apple. With time, a butteriness emerges, with a refreshing light lemon tart aroma.

Palate: The Vanilla custard dominates the palate, with a little fanfare of orchard fruit arriving shortly after the hit of smooth creaminess. Coconut and sliced apples also appear as the palate dries.

Finish: Clean and short, with a tart fruit note.

Our next whisky will be chosen by a brilliantly-bearded titan of the whisky world. No prizes for guessing who.

16 Men of Artein. Glenmorangie Artein Arrives...

2011-12-16T00:01:00.000Z

We're barely 2 weeks into Christmas and bang! the first big contender for 2012 arrives at our door. Glenmorangie Artein (which is derived from the Gaelic word for stone) follows on from the largely successful experiments the distillery have conducted using additional maturation in unusual wine casks. Pride was matured for an additional ten years in casks which held Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes and Nector D'or a similarly sticky experiment, albeit without such long secondary maturation.

Glenmorangie Artein is one of the distillery's 'Private Editions', based on the Glenmo' Classic but additionally matured in 'barriques' containing 'Super Tuscan' Sassicaia wine. According to Dr Bill Lumsden, creator of the whisky, 'two different ages of extra matured Glenmorangie have been married together- some 15 years old from 1996 and some 21 years old from 1990'.

Sounds intriguing. We haven't always been the best of friends with additional wine maturation, but after tasting the excellent Pride, we're more than prepared to take a 2nd look at this increasingly expressive way to create something different in whisky.

Glenmorangie - Artein - 46% - Lab Preview Sample

Nose: Initially a little note of spirit, giving the impression that this is higher in strength than it actually is, but this quickly subsides into a basket of fruit; think fresh red berries, bananas, candied peels, vanilla and floral wax. Wonderfully light and refreshing. Given time, it develops a tinned fruit note, with creamy vanilla custard, sponge fingers and a touch of the sweet wine. Luxurious trifle? Bang on the money. Lovely.

Palate: Sweet, with a hint of unctuous dessert wine, then into ripe plums, some woody spices, green apple peel and the first crusty bite of a festive toffee apple.

Finish: Lingering fruit notes, then a waxy/woody and surprisingly creamy and honeyed aftertaste.

Overall: Hugely expressive and frankly very easy to write tasting notes on. The fruit and cream intermingle in harmony and underneath, the wine influence doesn't take this too far into the experiment-gone-too-far territory. All in all, a cracking whisky for after dinner, in preference to a glass of sticky....

When is a single malt NOT a single malt?

2011-12-14T21:30:00.013Z

Aldi have been making the headlines lately with the release of their 40 year old whisky, Glen Bridge, which has sparked more outrage/intrigue (delete as applicable) than any whisky we can remember this year. A fair dram it is too especially at £49.99- you can read our assessment of it here:

However, it was paired with the not-so-good 24 year-old Glen Marnoch.

Sadly for those in search of a good bargain, the 40 year old predictably (and swiftly) disappeared from the shelves and those left scratching their heads at the back of the queues were faced with the dilemma: go home from Aldi empty handed (is this possible?) or pick up a bottle of Glen Marnoch for £29.99.

Now... we didn't like the Glen Marnoch. At all. In this price bracket, there are a number of far more flavoursome options to consider as solid stocking fillers.

However we were drawn to a small but noticeably glaring error on the box, which begs the question: Who puts these things together??

As you'll see from the image above, apparently 'Glen Marnoch Speyside Single Malt Whisky has been distilled in continuous stills before being aged for an incredible 24 years in hand made oak casks....'

Right. Something doesn't scan properly here. Continuous stills??

Egg sucking grannies aside, based on this description, Glen Marnoch can't be a single malt.

The S.W.A rules surrounding the definition of a single malt Scotch whisky state that it must be produced from only water and malted barley at a single distillery by batch distillation in Pot Stills.

We don't want to beat anyone up here unduly, but this is a sloppy error. Come on guys!!

To be fair, after we asked Aldi to clarify the situation, they contacted us and their spokesperson issued the following:

"We can confirm that the whisky was distilled in 'pot stills' and not 'continuous stills'. This was simply a packaging error, and we apologise if this caused any confusion."

Whoops.

Fortunately, we couldn't help but notice that Makro has a super deal on multi-packs of Tipp-Ex at the moment ;-)

Even if this had been made in a continuous still, like grain whiskies that go into Scotch blends, it isn't good an example of whisky making on any level.

However, a good example of a whisky made in continuous stills is the grain variety. Up and coming as a category it its own right, there are some cracking single grains out there at very reasonable prices. Take, for example, this North British 1997...

North British - 1997 - Single Grain - Signatory Bottling - 43% abv (£23.25)

Nose: Exactly what you want from a grain; some unripe banana, whipped cream (sweetened), a hint of eggnog sans spices. Not rich, not thick but works well as an aroma.

Palate: Again, not thick and rich, but this is not to the detriment of the the liquid. Some lemon notes (limoncello), classic grain notes of pva glue (sounds awful, but it works) and the unripe banana again.

Finish: Not too long, but sweet and delicious.

Overall: A good example of single grain whisky at a price that makes it worth taking a risk.

Our bet is that single grain will grow, all be it slowly, as a category in the UK as stocks of malt are diverted abroad to markets where profit margins are higher and taxes lower. A good time to start thinking about expanding you palate towards these grain products.

Now, pass me that Tipp-Ex...

The Twelve Drams Of Christmas - Part Five

2011-12-14T20:26:00.009Z

Hitting our stride now, as the big weekend looms large, both Joel and myself feel chipper that the lion's share of our Christmas shopping has amazingly been done (in one mad rush down Oxford Street the other night, no less.)

Sheltering from the intolerable cold, we immediately feel revivified by our next suggestion of an ideal festive dram, this time courtesy of one of London's finest bartenders and all-round guru of liquid experimentation, Ryan Chetiyawardana. Ryan is one of the brains behind The Whistling Shop; a subterranean watering hole of mind-boggling proportions - part Dickensian gin palace, part science laboratory. When Ryan isn't feverishly working the controls of his Rotovap still, in search of a new dimension in flavour, he's the purveyor of some of the finest hand selected malts in the capital.

'So this is actually a perfect Boxing Day dram. Christmas Day for me is a mixed but usually entirely food-led affair. So a festive dram comes late Boxing Day, by a fire in an old country house! What i'm looking for is a whisky, which is rich, but not something that will put me to sleep before I beat my sisters at Pictionary. So with that in mind, my call for this year's festive masterpiece is Glendronach Parliament. A welcome after-dinner livener!'

Glendronach - Parliament - 21 years old - 48%

Nose: A rich and inviting mixture of woody, but fruity sherry and oak. Big hitting, thick PX tanginess, with a slightly drier, spicier Oloroso note. Almost resinous, but with a little waft of Italian lemon and orange zest to break up the Spanish party.

Palate: The spices (think predominantly cinnamon and nutmeg dusted cocoa beans) take hold first, followed by orange marmalade, some plump raisins and more of the lemon zest. A real mouthful and then some...

Finish: The oak, spice and intense dried fruit give this a lingering complexity. You'll certainly be bored with all your presents, by the time this subsides.

The Twelve Drams Of Christmas - Part Four

2011-12-12T14:37:00.008Z

With a little under two weeks to go, we hope you're well and truly in the middle of your Christmas shopping. Or at the very least, resigned to the fact that probably 80% of the general public are going to leave it until the last minute, which seems to work equally as well as being organised.

In case you haven't thought of anything yet, hopefully our handy guide to festive whiskies, namely the Twelve Drams Of Christmas is now in full flow and we have another cracker for you today, from our good friend and all-round gentleman of the double bass, Ted Dwane from the multi-platinum selling band, Mumford & Sons. Being an international jet-setter, Ted is no stranger to Duty Free and his knowledge of fine drams is as alarmingly good as his songwriting skills, which of course speak for themselves! Take it away Ted!

'People say Guinness tastes better in Dublin and perhaps it does. However, I believe it has less to do with 'how it travels' or where the water comes from and more to do with the context of where you are drinking it. To drink Highland Park on Orkney is to wash your senses with the glory of the Highlands and on a snowy night by the fire in my favourite distillery, I was washed, clean! I literally think of it as my whisky baptism.

The 18 year old will be my chosen festive dram as it's a dram to share. I believe it's elegant smoky/ honey aroma could instigate affectionate glances between the most hostile of in-laws. Those heather blossom and cinnamon flavours are a proven cure for unmanageable credit card bills and with that rich chewy peatiness you know will always be there for you!

I certainly won't be tackling Christmas without my trusty bottle of HP sauce... everything's going to be ok!'

Highland Park - 18 Year Old - 43%

Nose: An abundance of heather honey, fresh red fruits (strawberries and raspberries), something nutty, old cracked leather and a smothering of floral peat. Well rounded, balanced and delightful.

Palate: More of the lingering heather honey, brown sugar, some sweet dessert wine character, cinnamon/ nutmeg spices and a back bone of malty cereal, with an under pinning of peat. The mouth feel is luxurious and rich tasting.

Finish: Longer peppery notes start to emerge (like mild cracked black pepper), but the finish is still sweet and developed, with no real over oakiness to report. Sensational.

Our next one will be from a modern master of the mixed drink... stay tuned!

The Twelve Drams Of Christmas - Part Three

2011-12-09T00:01:00.000Z

Well, here we are again. Our little Christmas Dram Suggestion Cabinet is beginning to fill up nicely and we've received some absolutely brilliant tips from friends and whisky lovers the world over. Thanks so far to Charley Boorman and Jeremy Gara from Arcade Fire for theirs - keep an eye out over the next ten days for more absolute crackers too.

As we mentioned in our last post, the next suggestion may contain nuts. Well one slightly nutty individual in particular!

Earlier this year, we had the absolute pleasure to spend a day with one of our childhood idols, legend of children's breakfast TV and owner of one of the biggest foam implements since Lolo Ferrari. Ladies and gentleman, we give you Mr Timmy Mallett.

Timmy, who is also a highly acclaimed artist (from Mallett's Mallet to Mallett's Pallette!) loves a fine dram and when we think about it, there is probably only one choice of whisky out there with a suitably heavyweight reputation...

"Crikey! A Festive Dram...? Whisky works for me - I use it for coughs, colds and in my trusty hip flask, especially at the football during the winter... But avoid using when a goal is scored!!

And Timmy's dram of choice.... Hammerhead of course. Genius.

Hammer Head - Czech Republic Whisky - 1989 vintage - 40.7%

Nose: An initial note of scented furniture polish, some spiced notes of cloves, dry oaky cask aromas and some slight rubber/hot tyres.

Palate: A big, hard hitting assault on the palate initially, with liquorice notes, dried fruit (ripe prunes) and some cedary cigar /tobacco notes.

Finish: The spice notes linger, with some residual sherried notes and a hint of burnt caramel. Bangin'!!

Join us next week for our forth instalment of exciting drammage...

The Twelve Drams Of Christmas - Part Two

2011-12-08T00:01:00.002Z

Following on from Charley Boorman's fab suggestion of Talisker 10 year old as his choice of festive dram, our 2nd dram of Christmas comes from Canadian alternative music legends Arcade Fire. The band have enjoyed an incredible 18 months with their Grammy and Brit Award winning album 'The Suburbs' and we were fortunate enough to work with them on a whisky project in conjunction with their sell out Hyde Park show, earlier this year.

Jeremy Gara, drummer with the band (far right), gives us his idea of the perfect winter warming whisky:

"As my festive dram, I would definitely pick Lagavulin Distiller's Edition from 1994. This is a whisky that was gifted to us by some amazing guys in a Canadian band called Karkwa, that we played with this past September. It's a real curveball favourite of the last long while and a great warming dram in the winter."

Lagavulin - Distillers Edition - Distilled 1994 - bottled 2010 - 43%

Nose: Sweet peat, stewed apple, mixed with a very dry and fruity thick sherry note, courtesy of the Pedro Ximinez casks it is finished in. Very complex and refined.

Palate: Demerera sugar, some hickory wood smoke notes, creamy fudge, some milky cereal and more stewed apple with raisins. Really festive and simply delicious.

Finish: The smoke lingers alongside the dried fruits/raisins. Warming and mouth filling.

Stay tuned for the 3rd instalment of our Twelve Drams Of Christmas. The next one may contain nuts... ;-)

The Twelve Drams Of Christmas - Part One

2011-12-06T09:00:00.003Z

Thursday last week was a VERY special day for Mrs Caskstrength. At 8.30am, she ran downstairs, heading straight for the kitchen, where, perched on the bread bin, lay a Malteasers Advent Calendar. The first of December had arrived, thus signifying the start of a very long month for me....

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas as much as the small boy sat comfortably on santa's lap, waiting for my present. It's just that advent calendars tend to be a little bit tedious.

One idea we had some months ago at Caskstrength was to have a whisky advent calendar; every day, post a brand new post about our favourite whiskies for the festive season. But we soon realised that this was particularly time consuming and frankly, we didn't want to be chained to the computer, when there's chocolate to eat, mulled wine to glug and ice skates to be donned.

So here is an abbreviated version. Consider it part one of our Twelve Drams Of Christmas.

But rather than make our own suggestions, we've asked a few friends and fellow imbibers to give us theirs... and here's the first!

The First Dram Of Christmas - Charley Boorman

Our first festive dram suggestion is from a particularly rugged chap, known to many as the king of adventuring on two wheels... Mr Charley Boorman.

As well as previously seeking thrills on his beloved motorbikes with Ewan McGregor and recently traversing the world by any means, Charley is a big whisky fan and last month, we caught up with him to discuss drams and the spirit of adventure - i.e. a decent, gentleman-sized dram on a mountain side!! You can read the full interview in issue 99 of Whisky Magazine, but for now, here's Charley's tip on the best festive whisky...

"When it comes to a cracking festive dram, I would recommend Talisker 10yo for Christmas. I love its peaty flavour, which reminds me of burning peat on the fire at home in Ireland."

Talisker 10 Years Old - 45.8%

Nose: A monsterous mixture of hot chilli, carbolic soap, malt and cracked black pepper.

Palate: Hot, warming and peaty, with more chilli, pepper and nutty smokiness.

Finish: Drying, with a lingering note of hot smoke and some dried fruits.

A great start from Mr Boorman here. Stay tuned for our next recommendation from someone a little bit further afield!

With These Whiskies, You Are Spoiling Us...

2011-12-05T10:16:00.011Z

Last week was a stonking week for Caskstrength. In the run up to Christmas, we seem to be jam-packed with stuff to do, including tastings, new launches and our very own BiG Award, which saw Black Bull 40 year old triumph as this year's overall winner.

On the tastings front, we've done some weird and wonderful themed tastings in a wide variety of places, including nightclubs on Burns' Night, stag do's, opening up for famous bands on stage and a variety of incredible countries including Japan, Lithuania, Germany and bizarrely on a beach in the Seychelles.

Last week however was perhaps our proudest moment, when we were asked by the British Japanese Parliamentary Group to host a Japanese whisky tasting at the House Of Commons. The event was attended by around 50 various MPs, Peers, Lords and dignitaries from both Japanese and UK industry, as well as the special guest of honour, the Japanese Ambassador to the UK, Mr Keiichi Hayashi.

Caskstrength meet the Japanese Ambassaor

So no pressure at all then...

Now, being that this was an Ambassador's reception, one thing immediately came to mind in how to inject a bit of extra fun into the proceedings. The answer lay in our favourite tasty, gold foil covered confectionary - Ferrero Rocher. According to the various TV adverts throughout the 90's, they were the quintessential party treat at any reception attended by an Ambassador, so we popped along to Morrison's and found they had an offer on boxes of 16!! Hooray.

So with around 90 Rochers purchased, we proceeded to work out a cunning way to infuse them with the flavour and aroma of one of our favourite Japanese whiskies, Hakushu Bourbon Barrel. And by jingo, it worked. The whisky's wonderfully smooth, fruity, yet oaky, nutty flavour paired perfectly with the little golden gems. Feeling contented, we set off to the tasting, whiskies, glasses and chocolates in hand.

Getting into the House Of Commons is quite a laborious process and I think the sight of Joel and I, complete with 2 suitcases full of whisky and glassware (and 90 Ferrero Rocher) was perhaps the final straw for the security guards, but after some good natured banter, we were ushered through the hallowed doors and into the glorious lobby. As London's buildings go, the Palace Of Westminster really is a truly amazing place and if you happened to meet up with a fly on the wall there, one can imagine the incredible meetings, stories and conversations it could tell you about over a whisky.

The Commons and Lords are no strangers to whisky. A couple of years ago, Speaker Martin lent his name to the House Of Commons single malt (a re-bottling of The Macallan) and on a previous visit, I also picked up a bottle of House Of Lords blended whisky, pictured below.

Our tasting was to be accompanied by an array of sushi dishes, lovingly put together by Emma Reynolds and her team of chefs at the highly regarded collection of Japanese restaurants, Tsuru.

To begin with, a refreshing Mizuwari made using Nikka From The Barrel was served with some great yellow fin tuna nigiri, followed by pairings of Yamazaki 10yo and chicken Teriyaki, Hibiki 12yo and Japanese vegetable and pickle Maki rolls, Nikka All Malt with some melt-in-the -mouth Scottish salmon. The dessert was an age old classic pairing - Yamazaki 18yo, with chocolate brownies. How could anyone resist?

Well, no one did resist and after a spirited speech by Ambassador Hayashi, it was over to yours truly to lead the assembled group through the history of Japanese whisky and the wonderfully unique range of flavours and aromas that can be discovered. Iceballs and three-pronged ice picks were discussed, as well as the fabled intricacies of making a perfect Mizuwari, stirring the drink precisely 13 and a half times to achieve the perfect dilution. The tasting went down a storm (we weren't sent off to Traitor's Gate anyway) and the vibe around Japanese whisky was most definitely raised a notch.

As well as the Rochers, we had another masterstroke up our sleeve. Our friends at Suntory had rather generously donated us a bottle of Yamazaki 1984 as the final 'off the menu' surprise whisky, which turned out to be the icing on the cake. Now very tricky to find, this masterpiece of whisky making ensured that the collective of esteemed imbibers went away happy into the night.

Yamazaki - 1984 Vintage - 48%

Nose: Intensely rich, with a brilliant balancing act between plump dried fruits, incense sticks, cigar box spices and sherry. The oak is present, but not drying in the slightest. It is perhaps one of the most direct noses we've ever encountered- like a really well reduced, spicy sauce. Wonderful stuff.

Palate: The intense spice continues to the palate, with more of the plump raisins, lemon zest, some cedar/ tobacco spice, coupled with lashings of vanilla, cinnamon and clove notes.

Finish: Rich and full-bodied, this beast of a whisky firmly leaves its mark on the palate. This is definitely a whisky to try last, as very few whiskies will measure up once you've had a few sips.

Overall: Sensational whisky making. The 18yo Yamazaki is amongst our favourite expressions of this Japanese powerhouse distillery but the 1984 just raises the bar even higher. It is frightfully expensive and hard to find, but worth every penny, such is the intensity of the experience.

Kampai!

BiG Award 2011 the Winner is announced!

2011-12-01T11:20:00.012Z

With the taste of 10 great whiskies still lingering in our mouths, we're pleased to announce the overall winner of this year's Best in Glass Award, which was no doubt, the biggest and best we've been involved with.

Not only was the competition extremely stiff between the ten short-listed whiskies, but the wealth of experience from our judging panel was a real force to be reckoned with.

Many thanks to our generous hosts The Albannach in London's Trafalgar Square for providing such excellent surroundings for the event and to the esteemed judges themselves for giving up their time and expertise.

This year's BiG Award panel consisted of the following keen noses and palates:

John Glaser, founder of Compass Box Whisky

Sam Simmons, The Balvenie Global Ambassador and the irrepressible Dr Whisky

Ed Bates, independent drinks consultant and former spirits expert for Berry Bros & Rudd.

Hannah Lanfear, bar manager of Boisdale, Canary Wharf

Ryan Chetiyawardana, manager of The Whistling Shop bar and cocktail maestro.

Ben Ellefsen, director of Master Of Malt

Darren Rook, former manager of the SMWS and now independent spirits consultant

Carey Willetts, bass player and songwriter with the UK band Athlete and whisky enthusiast.

Cat Spencer, marketing manager of The Albannach bar.

The ten whiskies were all judged blind, with three rounds to get down to our overall winning Best in Glass whisky.

So without further ado, the final 3 whiskies were as follows:

Ardbeg Alligator (highly commended)

Tomatin Decades (highly commended)

The 2011 Best in Glass Award winner goes to:

Black Bull 40 year old blended whisky - Batch 2

The panel were wowed by the balance of this superbly put together whisky, which demonstrated incredible fruit, vanilla and complex, aged oak notes, with a rich and highly moreish character. For a full review click here:

So it's congratulations to the team at Duncan Taylor. Once again, the BiG Award has demonstrated that it is possible to select 10 great whiskies, wildly differing in style, put them in the same room, with a bunch of like-minded imbibers and select an overall winner.

On receiving this year's award, Scott Watson, CEO for Duncan Taylor Whiskies commented:

“It’s tremendous to see Black Bull 40 year old recognised with a prestigious Best In Glass award from Caskstrength. To come out top in a blind tasting from such an esteemed panel of judges is a great honour and a fantastic testament to Black Bull’s boldly independent character."

Stay tuned for next year's awards....

BiG Award Shortlist 2011 is here!

2011-11-30T14:00:00.002Z

Well here we are once again, the back end of the year with winter well and truly gripping tighter than an uptight python. Despite the relatively austere year which seems to have encircled the globe, the whisky business remains as upbeat and buoyant as ever and judging by the releases we've experienced, one of the best in taking whisky of all kinds to unprecedented heights.

So it gives us great pleasure to announce the 2011 BiG Award short list.

By way of a short recap, here at Caskstrength we don't like faffing around. In our opinion, modern day whisky awards tend to be dominated by too many categories, sub categories and sub, sub categories, rendering them pretty pointless to the general public and... achingly dull to read about.

So why not get the ten best whiskies released in a calendar year in one room, with a panel of like-minded imbibers and choose one overall winner, or... Best in Glass. The major caveat is that every short listed entry must be available to order from a regular or specialist retailer. No festival bottlings, club/society-only releases or international exclusives fit the bill. This is the 4th year the award has run, with previous winners impressing and delighting in equal measures.

And so here we are today. The Albannach in Trafalgar Square is our generous host venue. Our panel of highly experienced judges/imbibers is assembled, the 10 whiskies poured and all is good. Apart from the fact that we haven't told you what the drams are yet!

So without further ado, here we go, in no particular order...

Redbreast 12 year old Cask Strength Edition

Mackinlay's Shackleton Rare Old Blended Whisky

Lagavulin 12 year old 2011 Edition

The Naked Grouse

Black Bull 40 year old Batch Two

Bruichladdich 10 year old

Jura 1976 Feith A' Chaorainn Vintage

Tomatin Decades

Ardbeg Alligator (committee release reviewed here)

Chichibu The First

We'll be reporting the details of the winning whisky tomorrow along with comments from our judging panel.

Congratulations to the shortlisted 10 whiskies!!

Vintage Trouble

2011-11-25T18:06:00.008Z

Since our time visiting the superb Highland Park distillery on Orkney, two more expressions from their Orcadian Vintages selection have cropped up. Like the original 1964 and 1968 and then the magnificent 1970, this brace of vintages were matured in differing cask types, with the older 1971 vintage maturing in Spanish oak and the 1976 American oak. The result is two distinctly different whiskies, but each with something to say for themselves.

Joel and I often argue about seminal bands or records and with a remarkable amount of symmetry, these vintages represent two distinctly important events of musical significance.

1971 saw the very first 'proper' Glastonbury Festival launch, with David Bowie headlining. Personally speaking, I kind of wish Michael Eavis left it there, as every experience I have had of this festival has been one of feeling fleeced, cold, pissed off and very wet. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, but it's impossible to successfully operate a Corby Trouser Press at an event like this; I should have known from the moment I saw the swathes of tie-dye that it wasn't really for me...

Any how, one significant event which occurred later that year was the release of Led Zeppelin's opus - IV - the one with the symbols on. As it's Friday and i'm super excited about breaking out a brand new guitar i've just purchased, I decided to blast out 'Rock and Roll', whilst reviewing this - perhaps the equivalent of Led Zeppelin IV in the catalogue of other Orcadian Vintages?

Highland Park - Orcadian Vintage - 1971 - 46.9%

Nose: An instant mossy/earthy note hits first, then into some burnt caramel notes, a soft fragrant peat, powder paints, dried strawberries with vanilla cheesecake, toasted pecan nuts and a drying oak, no, actually more leafy. Think about going for a walk this sunday in a wood, strewn with oak leaves and you'll get the picture. Given time, the strawberry and vanillas come to the fore.

Palate: Powerful, with some initial sweetness, then earthy tones, some cigar-like spice, rich caramels and lingering fresh vanilla pod. Not sure why, but the last few whiskies i've reviewed have really given this fresh vanilla pod note!! Maybe I have some stuck betwixt my incisors. The sherry notes are muted, but there is so much complexity going on, this is a whisky you have to take a step back from to get your head around. With water, it all becomes a lot clearer; the viscosity opens up, golden syrup comes through, alongside an unmistakable HP smoke, a tart blackberry fruitiness, some aromatic vermouth and some clean sweet malt.

Finish: A very herbaceous note lingers, some distinct Oloroso/Palo Cortado sherry dryness, alongside the sweet cereal and vanilla.

Overall: Unquestionably a whisky of quality, but it makes you work to find it. This is more 'The Battle Of Evermore' than 'When The Levee Breaks' or 'Rock and Roll'. When you do fall under its spell, you'll be lost in a fruity/peaty abyss for a long time.

Next up, the 1976. I was one year old when this whisky was made and judging from the now fading pictures my parents took of my birthday that year, it was hellishly hot. Our lawn was completely brown, counterpointing the dark blue of my father's denim flairs and the cream cheesecloth shirt they had fitted me in for some reason. 1976 was also the year that the Sex Pistols played one of their seminal shows at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Halls, where they were proclaimed to be the saviours of British music by some and the spawn of the devil by the establishment.

U2 also began their tentative steps towards superstardom in the same year, although it took them a little longer to get to the point... Will the 1976 Orcadian Vintage cut through like the the abrasive chords of Anarchy in the UK, or wash over the palate like The U2's chiming, echo soaked I Will Follow.

Highland Park - Orcadian Vintage - 1976 - 49.1%

Nose: Quite a contrast to the 1971. Initial notes of butter scotch, peanut brittle, fragrant talcum powder, some very gentle peat and light sweet vanilla notes. It's not as brooding as the '71, with hints of zest developing as the glass warms up. With water, the floral notes positively explode from the glass - lilies, rose notes and scented candles. Lovely stuff indeed.

Palate: Hot initially, but then some lovely candied cherries, sweet vanilla, coconut creams (macaroons) the return of the floral peat, which really intensifies as the palate dries. It is particularly buttery too, with some sweet milk chocolate notes creeping in at the last minute. With water, the palate becomes a little blurred, not quite as direct, but the sweetness and fruity cherries very much remain the driving force. Whereas, the 1971 needed a little water for some real direction, this is absolutely sensational with only the merest hint of the stuff.

Finish: Cherry sherbet and coconut linger, with a little prickle of lemon zest.

Overall: Stunning for a multitude of different reasons to the 1971. This is bright, very direct, with all the hallmarks of the younger expressions of Highland Park.

Both chalk and cheese really, but fortunately, I love street art and Ploughman's lunches...

Vats All Folks!

2011-11-23T19:22:00.016Z

Regulation ties, Regulation shoes,

Those regulation fools

With the regulation rules.

Just keep on breakin' the rules

C'mon get ready to rule

Just keep on breakin' the rules

It seems very apt that you join us tonight and find us quoting the lyrics of a band, who to so many represented throwing off the shackles of oppressive authority: be it at work, at home or a higher power indeed. As straight down the line as they may be, AC/DC were unquestionably operating on a no frills, no bullshit policy.

The world of music is full of rule breakers - some with a genuine agenda to challenge convention and authority for the greater good - remember Rage Against The Machine? Gigs pulled by the authorities, peaceful protests ending in police tear gas dispersion tactics and tense stand-offs with politicians. In 2009, they even held off the full frontal assault from the dark-forces-of-the-bland-and-the-mediocre in claiming the Christmas no.1 from The X Factor.

Of course the whisky world is full of folks who challenge convention and probably occasionally break the rules, but we're probably not at the tear gas stage yet.

Artisinal whisky makers Compass Box notoriously clashed with 'The Man' - i.e, the SWA (Scotch Whisky Association) when Spice Tree was deemed to be 'illegal'. The following is an extract from the the Compass Box website, which brilliantly points out how absurd the whole episode was:

'Working with friends like the famous Dr. Jim Swan, I borrowed a technique commonly used by winemakers and I began experimenting with secondary maturation of whisky in casks with new oak barrel inserts inside them. I was effectively using a quality of oak that is never used in Scotch whisky.The results were extraordinary! Why, I began wondering, are the winemakers getting all the good wood? Why don’t we use this kind of oak to mature Scotch whisky?

Well, we did. And this is where “The Spice Tree” came from. Our inaugural batch of just over 4,000 bottles was sold out in five weeks (we thought it would last five months!) And our second batch, released in April 2006 was entirely pre-sold to our importers before we bottled it!

However, the SWA did not like it. I tried to explain to them that we had studied the law and believed that what we were doing was well within it, not to mention a positive quality step forward for the industry. “Quality,” I was told by the SWA, “is completely irrelevant.” They had their interpretation of the law, which held that what we were doing was not “traditional”, so that was the end of the story, as far as they were concerned.

Not much we could do at that point, with a gun, (figuratively speaking) pointed at our head.'

Of course the rest is history and Spice Tree is still in production, (yay!) albeit with a different and apparently 'agreeable' technique.

But that's not the end of the story, concerning da rules. back in 2009, Parliament decided to take out Statutory Instrument 2890 - The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009.

The rules are far too long-winded to go into detail with here, so for another brilliant explanation from Compass Box's John Glaser, click here:

What we will tell you is that from 23rd November (today) the term Vatted Malt and Vatted Grain (ie a vatting of different single malts or grain whiskies) has been deemed illegal to use on the label of a whisky bottle. The new permissible phrase is as follows:

'Blended Malt Scotch Whisky' or 'Blended Grain Scotch Whisky'.

Now, we know what you're thinking. 'Isn't this awfully like Blended Scotch Whisky and therefore, more confusing than using Vatted Malt?

The SWA's argument is that the phrase 'Vatted' is not something understood by the consumer, which we can't really argue with, but clearly this leads to a predicament, especially if your company makes both blended whiskies and blended malts.

So last night, to mourn the 'passing' of the term vatted, we found ourselves standing alongside a small gaggle of folks in the middle of Westminster Bridge, overlooking the House Of Commons. At precisely 11.59pm, Mr John Glaser conducted the very last 'legal' vatting of whisky for us to enjoy. A rather excellent vatting, sorry, blend (them's the rules now) of some rather old Speyside and Islay malts. Sublime stuff indeed - subtle smoke, fruits and sherry cask spice. Luckily John had set his watch via Big Ben time, so no need for the SWA to set their strategically poised snipers and rabid hounds loose on the assembled crowd, should the vatting have accidentally taken place at 12.01am.

The gathering was also the 'launch' for Compass Box's newest creations- Last Vatted Grain and Last Vatted Malt, of course bottled just before the ban came into place.

Despite the cold London air playing havoc with our nosing ability, here's our thoughts:

Compass Box - The Last Vatted Malt - 1,323 bottles - 53.7% -Single malts from Speyside and Islay

Nose: Huge dried fruit notes, some oaky dryness and a big waft of spice hit first, then a gentle sooty peat, which can only be classic old Caol Ila, although you didn't hear it from us. Perfect for a night like this.

Palate: The spiced fruits coat the tongue first, then the peat develops- but it so wonderfully soft, it just washes over with a gentle wave. This is seriously good Caol Ila in here, that's for sure. Fabulous.

Finish: Lingering wood spices, a hint of Creme Caramel and the remnants of the peat.

Overall: Every time, you have to hand it to Mr Glaser. To pick these casks and then vat them, (sorry, blend them) with such precision is a work of alchemy.

Next up: the last ever vatting of grain. We're told this came together from a mixture of '65 Invergordon, '79 Carsebridge, '91 Port Dundas and '97 Cameronbridge, all from first fill American oak, so you begin to get an idea of how exciting this is going to be.

The Last Vatted Grain - 297 bottles - 46% - various grain whiskies

Nose: Oh Hallelujah! It's like walking into a tropical fruit market. Mango, meets sweet pineapple, fat vanilla pods washed in bourbon, creamy cereal and slightly charred blood oranges.

Palate: The tour around the fruit market continues its stroll along the tongue - ripe pineapple, green bananas, vanilla custard tarts, and a little lingering nutmeg. Wonderful, light and beautifully balanced.

Finish: The creaminess of the nose returns to the finish and your mouth is left with the feeling of a midnight feast of crunchy nut cornflakes. Pretty damn accurate considering the time.

Overall: Again, a mastery of the vatter's, (sorry blender's) art bought to life for an all-too-short run of bottlings. If you can locate this - buy it now, treasure it for a moment as a relic of the past, then open it, whilst listening to I Fought The Law - whichever version you prefer; in our case the Dead Kennedys...

Aldi Want For Christmas Is You

2011-11-21T00:01:00.004Z

Sometimes there are places which you never go to. You don’t even know anyone who does. But then all of a sudden, you meet a series of folk who have been there, or are going there.

Kazakhstan is an example of this. One week, nothing: never heard of anyone who has been there. The next, there are like five people in a row who have been out on holiday or business. What’s that all about?

I believe this is what Malcolm Gladwell calls ‘The Tipping Point’, described in his book of the same name as “the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors [sic] spread like viruses do." so what better way to push your business towards a tipping point, than with a good old PR stunt...

The idea of a ‘lost leader’ in Supermarkets, a cheap product to draw people in, in the hope that while you’ve got the shopper there, they might also buy a loaf of bread, a can of beans and some pork cylinders for supper, is nothing new. It’s just another form of advertising spend for the Supermarket, as it is making such great profit on the other items, that they can afford a small loss on the product originally on offer.

And so to Aldi. A shop that needs to reach its tipping point. A bunch of, actually quite good, TV adverts has seen this once unknown German Discount Supermarket battling against Lidl to become the go-to discount store in times of recession and economic uncertainty. With 450 stores in the UK (Lidl trumps it with 580) it needs to drive footfall towards its doors in the run up to the biggest shopping time of the year, Christmas.

What better way to whip the whisky world in to a frenzy than to knock out some old liquid at, what can only be described as, an unbelievable price. Try these on for size: a 24 year old single malt for £29.99. But, more amazing than that, a 40 Year Old Single Malt Scotch for... £49.99

£49.99. Yeah, that’s right. £49.99.

Now, I know what most of you are thinking “Honestly, you’d have to pay me to go in to an Aldi. It’s the Mos Eisley of supermarkets, drenched in the stench of humanity.” and you’d be right. I popped in to one last week just to prepare myself for the inevitable trip in for a bottle of 40 Year Old and it wasn’t a fun experience. It was like being in a Wes Anderson movie, if Wes Anderson had a crystal meth problem. Less Every Little Helps and more Care In The Community. Less Jamie Oliver, more Ronald McDonald. Less Waitrose, more Waiting For Godot...

But we should really put the medium of the sale to one side for a moment. It’s a shop, it’s going to be selling whisky at a knock-down price and making it available to the masses. What can be wrong with that? Nothing, so long as the whisky is good. So let’s find out if it is:

Glen Marnoch – 24 Year old Single Malt – 70cl – 40% abv (£29.99 from Aldi)

Nose: wet cardboard, steamed veg, Bovril, toasted brown bread.

Palate: Some green banana, a hint of tinned pineapple, sweet tea. But really sweet tea. This is one of the sweetest drams I’ve ever tasted. Once the sweetness hits, and it is not a good, brown sugar sweetness, it’s an artificial sweetener saccharine-style flavour, you don’t get much more out of it.

Finish: Copper and liquorice with a touch of salted caramel give way to damp wood and wet leaves, post-autumn.

Overall: Pretty one dimensional and to be honest, pretty poor. I just can’t get the saccharine flavour out of my mouth and I’m not a fan of very sweet whisky. Not a bottling for me, even at £29.99

Glenbridge – 40 Year Old Speyside Single Malt Whisky – 70cl - 40% abv (£49.99 from Aldi)

Nose: A hint of smoke, some orange peel, marmalade / dry jaffa cake notes. New leather and wax jacket, but the overriding tone is dried orange peel.

Palate: Warming, oily palate of cough sweets, orange again (the middle of a jaffa cake), some wood tones, fresh figs, melon wrapped in param ham and a wee bit of coffee.

Finish: The orange lingers, developing in to cherry sweets and cracked black pepper. This whisky has been matured in European Oak Sherry casks and this really hits through on the finish, adding spices to the stewed fruits of the palate.

Overall: In a word, this stuff is very tasty. Take the age statement off this and it would still be a cracking drink for £49.99. Stick it on, and you have an absolute steal of a whisky. Warning, it does fall apart a little with water.

In summary, the 40 is great, esp at the price they’re knocking it out at. But sadly the 24 Years Old really isn’t that great. The biggest question is why? Why are Aldi doing this? Are they hoping to lure in people who wouldn’t normally shop there, pre-Xmas or are they wanting to reward their loyal customer base with a steal of a whisky?

Either way, with only 3000 bottles across 450 stores, we'll all be pretty lucky if we get hold of one. And so it is that I wish you good luck, yet at the same time apologise in advance for my elbows in your face, as the shutter on my local Aldi rises for the sale.

A little bit of Jazz...

2011-11-18T18:20:00.009Z

Isn't it great when someone completely misunderstands you, but the resulting conversation is far better for it?

Earlier this week, I was having lunch in London at a rather nice new steak restaurant with a fellow drinks writer, discussing what they had coming up and their plans for 2012. I have just received a copy of the new Cutty Sark book, which I was fortunate to contribute a chapter to and I was explaining about a new writing opportunity, which I was very excited about. I have become Food & Drink Editor for a tasty publication called The Mayfair Magazine, which focuses on working and living in the upper echelons of one of London's most famous postcodes. Of course, It is a relatively alien lifestyle to a South London oik like me, but it is fun to see sit and observe just how the other half live. And judging by the quality of the steak they seem to frequently enjoy, very well indeed.

All this talk of Mayfair Magazine, led my colleague to develop a slightly confused, coupled with an ever-so-slight twinge of mirth on their face. "Mayfair Magazine?" he exclaimed. "Wow - you dirty devil, you! last time I saw that mag was underneath my dad's bed, back in the 80's."

Now at this point, I was looking confused. Then it struck me (being a little slow) that there was of course a slightly less 'salubrious' publication with a similar name, which featured a very different kind of steak dinner, if you follow me. Part of me wanted to say that I had turned my back on drinks and gone into writing about soft porn, but I really couldn't keep a straight face. Needless to say, the rest of the dinner conversation descended into schoolboy humour, which seemed to amuse our waiter so much, that he accidentally dropped Bearnaise sauce all down my sleeve.

Mayfair Magazine... and Mayfair Magazine

So here I am, mistakenly writing for a 'Jazz' mag. It's the sort of thing I want to cheekily tell my father about, just to see if he knowingly raises an eyebrow, then rushes upstairs to see what he might have forgotten about under the bed.

Speaking of Jazz - music not porn, we ran a short preview a few months ago about the Islay Jazz Festival, this year sponsored by Lagavulin. By all accounts, the event was again a rip roaring success, with acts like Viktoria Tolstoy, Otis Grand and Mario Caribe drawing crowds of Jazzheads from all over the world to enjoy some funky time signatures and a few drams of peaty perfection.

One of the highlights for us was the fact that for the first time, Lagavulin had bottled an exclusive Jazz Festival bottling, which was only available during the event. There hasn't been a great deal of info about the bottling out there, but we were recently lucky enough to track a bottle down. So tonight, I sit comfortably on my sofa, the strains of Coltrane's 'Live At Birdland' in the background and an open bottle of Lagavulin Jazz Festival single cask in front of me. I suspect this may be a long evening.

Lagavulin - Single Cask - Especially bottled to celebrate the Islay Jazz Festival 2011 - Date Cask - 355 - filled 8/2/1993 -bottled 2011 - Bodega sherry cask - 55.4%

Nose: Huge hit of wood smoke, followed by classic Lagavulin carbolic soap notes, linseed oil, dark tobacco (cigar notes) bittersweet hard caramel, some nice sugary cereal notes (think brown sugar covered Crunchy Nut Cornflakes) and a deft hint of oak. Nothing drying, but bold and definitely full pelt, in-your -face Lagavulin. It has real similarities to the Distillery Only bottling, which Lagavulin released last year, as well as the 2007 Feis Ile single cask bottling but this is more complex and robust. Sensational stuff.

Palate: Here goes nothing... A huge palate, which is conquered first by the medicinal blast of peat, but then the subtlety of the 16yo comes to the fore- sweet malt, toffee notes, some woody, fireside notes and a hint hint of vanilla pod, dipped in Oloroso sherry. With water, it becomes sublime, the peat calming down, letting the sweet cereal take the driving seat, with some more gentle vanilla pipe tobacco and golden syrup.

Finish: Lengthy medicinal notes, backed with the return of the wood smoke and some oaky dryness.

Overall: A magnificent bottling indeed and as with the large majority of the Feis Ile limited releases, some terrific cask selection from Pinkie and the team at Lagavulin. At 12 years, this distillery bottles some of its finest whisky, at 16 years it becomes wonderfully refined and rounded and with an extra couple of years in the cask, it shows an even greater level of complexity. As our friend Louis Balfour would say.... 'Nice'....

The Best of the Beatles

2011-11-17T22:48:00.011Z

"My favourite beatles album? I'd have to say, The Best Of The Beatles."

Travelling has always been a large part of my life. From midnight drives back to London from a gig at the Night & Day in Manchester, to hour-long tube journeys on a Monday morning, my companion on these trips has consistently been my iPod.

Always rammed full of music, certain tunes mark certain travels like a souvenir from a particular destination. Two weeks in the States in 2003, taking in the SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas followed with a trip to LA, was sound tracked by Tegan & Sarah’s If It Was You album. Whenever this record comes on my iPod, I’m transported straight back to the corner of 6^th and Red River, stood outside Emo’s waiting for a friend to help me christen the day with a cold bottle of Modelo before hitting a bunch of shows.

In a similar way, every time I get on a flight and the seatbelt signs are turned off, the very first record I stick on is The Postal Service’s excellent (and only) album Give Up. If you’ve not heard it, this record is a real low-fi treat and the tracks Such Great Heights and Recycled Air are the perfect accompaniment to flying.

Writing about Scotch for various publications, and not living in Scotland, means I’m still doing my fair share of travelling and the journey from London to Aberdeen / Inverness / Glasgow / Edinburgh is now a well trodden path.

Travelling is always a chore and I don’t know anyone who actually really likes airports, train stations or long car trips. But like any journey in life, it’s the destination that is key. However, one positive is that during ‘travel time’ you are afforded the chance to read books and listen to music. A rarity in today’s world, where every waking hour seems to be filled in some way or another.

One extra joy is the ability on a long journey, to explore a range of an artist’s repertoire. If ever I’m looking to find out about a new (to me) act, I will never, ever default to their Best Of..., but always try and find an album which best represents their output, warts and all, and then listen around those to previous / future releases. Thus, the time travelling to Scotland and back affords this rare pleasure.

When looking at the output of a distillery, the same is true. It is not very often you get the chance to sit down with a flight of whiskies from one distillery to assess and explore their range, let alone have the time, space and peace to enjoy this experience.

Thankfully, on a recent trip to Speyside, I was invited to sit and try the range from The Macallan. Situated on a 370 acre estate, just by the River Spey (the distillery has a beat on the Spey and their own Ghillie), sandwiched between Rothes and Craigellachie, with neighbouring distilleries poking above the trees whichever way you look, this couldn’t be further away from my regular drinking den in South London. These guys have one of the world’s greatest fishing rivers at the end of their garden. At the end of mine is a rusty baked bean can and an empty box of condoms which seems to have blown in on the London winds. I think I know where I’d rather be to sit down with a dram or two...

The tasting was preceded by a tour of their Visitor Centre. A fantastic piece of work which is both educational and entertaining, focusing enough on science without becoming too nerdy, yet providing show-and-tell aspects without wanting to be The Science Museum. The Macallan currently runs 21 stills (two spirit stills for every wash still) which were upgraded and expanded in 2009. The highlight of the tour, strangely, is the end. Not because it was over! But because of this:

What on earth is that? Well, good people of the internet, this is a cask of whisky hidden under the floorboards. Now, I’ve always had a desire to build my own house (I’m a sucker for Grand Designs) but this has just raised the stakes to another level. Amazing stuff:

The Macallan – Alec’s Hidden Dram – 11 Years Old - ~60% abv

Nose: Well, it was very cold (the first flourish of snow was going on outside) so it didn’t give a great deal away, except for some rich Christmas cake notes and a hint of gingerbread.

Palate: Very rich and oily, with strawberry jam, some plum chutney and a dollop of malt loaf. With water, it opened up to reveal some mint notes and hint of red boiled sweet.

Finish: Rich and oily with a hint of liquorice and truffles.

Overall: Very nice, cask strength Macallan. Hiding casks under floorboards is the way forward!

As the tour ended, it was time to move on from hidden casks (the first time I’ve ever had Floorboard Finish!) to standard bottlings. The Macallan have two styles of regular expressions: Fine Oak, which is a mixture of three types of cask (American Oak ex-Bourbon, Spanish Oak ex-Sherry and American Oak ex-Sherry) and Sherry Oak, matured in... yup! Sherry Oak! But first up, it’s New Make:

The Macallan – New Make – 71% abv

Nose: Very fruity, sweet. Gooseberries, apples and candy floss.

Palate: Strawberry laces and candyfloss again.

Finish: Short, creamy and sharp.

Overall: A very characterful new make.

The new make was good, but as usual I prefer my sprit with some cask maturation, so onwards to some actual whisky...

The Macallan – 12 Year Old – Sherry Oak – 40% abv

Nose: Some dried fruit, mainly vanilla, strawberry ice cream with a very subtle hint of ginger and some apricot dusted with cinnamon.

Palate: A delicate palate with the sherry tones really hitting through (Christmas cake, etc). There is a lot of similarities between the palate on this, and nosing a used sherry cask; quite dry but full of flavour.

Finish: Very sweet, coffee with vanilla syrup in.

Overall: A really good standard expression of the The Macallan which isn’t ground breaking but should encourage consumers to upscale in the range.

The Macallan – 15 Years Old – Fine Oak – 43% abv

Nose: White grapes, rose water and cut grass. The Spanish sherry influence is tamed by that of the white oak (American oak) just rounding off the spices.

Palate: Orange blossom, vanilla and cinnamon. The missing spices now appear and the sherry becomes more prominent on the palate.

Finish: Milk Chocolate with hazelnuts, some dried fruit. A woody dryness at the back of the palate and some dry white wine.

Overall: The Fine Oak series seems to have filled a gap of taking the edge off from The Macallan for those who aren’t so keen on a big sherry hit, and it has succeed as this is a very drinkable 15 Year Old.

The Macallan – 18 Years Old – Sherry Oak – 1991 release – 43% abv

Nose: The aromas really just jump out of the glass on this one, with some amazing hits of ginger, chocolate and cinnamon. Massive and very appealing.

Palate: A rich and unctuous palate of ginger bread / ginger cake, some dry wood spices, cooking apples and muscovado sugar.

Finish: Very dry with heavy weight flavours of Christmas cake and cigar casing that lasts for a good length of time.

Overall: This really is a very pleasurable whisky to drink and you can see why it is so popular. 18 Years Old feels like a good age for The Macallan as it really starts to develop its character. If this wasn’t £80 a bottle, I’d drink a lot more of it.

The Macallan – 21 Years Old – Fine Oak – 43% abv

Nose: A very light, yet complex nose of tropical fruit juice, vanilla and pine resin.

Palate: Vanilla ice cream, orange cream chocolates and a hint of crunchy nut cornflakes with fresh, full cream milk.

Finish: A hint of spices, the overriding flavour is cream éclair...

Overall: Yet again, an example of how the Fine Oak provides something just a bit different. It’s Macallan, just turned down a bit. Everything is there, but it doesn’t shout at you as much as the Sherry Oak does.

The Macallan – 30 Years Old - Fine Oak – 43% abv

Nose: Tropical fruits (again), black bananas, real vanilla pods, cherry drops.

Palate: Big oak hit, which you don’t expect from the nose. Hold it on the palate and the cherry drops really amplify and develop in to strawberries topped with balsamic vinegar.

Finish: A tiny hint of wood smoke, it is a robust finish with juniper tones to it.

Overall: This whisky really is very complex, jumping from cherry to juniper, from big oak tones to strawberries, but it is remarkably well balanced too. At this age, I think it helps to have a portion of American Oak in the mix, to take the edge off what could be a whisky with too much extravagance if it were exclusively from Sherry Oak.

A superb experience, visiting Scotland is always a real pleasure. Sitting in quiet, surrounded by very little other than neighbouring distilleries, taking time to really relax with a dram is the very best way to enhance the qualities of the liquid. Thankfully, I can close my curtains from the trash at the end of my garden and I’m overlooked by my neighbouring distillery (Central London’s only one, making Beefeater Gin) and if I close my eyes, really close them hard, I can be wherever I want to be. Until the loud reggae music come drifting over from the flat opposite that is... it's probably The Best Of Bob Marley. *sigh*

A Dram for Seth.

2011-11-12T16:34:00.007Z

Today, I remembered very vividly a conversation I had about 6 years ago with a South London Estate Agent, when moving house from the chaotic streets of Camden in the north of the city, to the leafy suburbs of Dulwich.

'Oh, it's basically baby central round these parts,' she jovially pointed out, as we passed by scores of young couples out for a walk with their prams and push chairs, all aglow with contentment and pride.

If i'm honest, at the time, I really didn't get the 'baby thing'. All I wanted was some peace and quiet; somewhere away from music venues, tourists and occasional knife-wielding drugged up nutters, complete with 12" scars, running down the length of their chests. Camden was a playground for those in pursuit of a more hedonistic lifestyle and I was most definitely done with that.

Since then, South London and the surrounding suburbs have claimed quite a few more of our great friends, eager to settle down and plan their lives together. And I am definitely getting a little broody.

The 2nd of November was a very special day for two particular friends of Caskstrength - Jonny and Melda Simon. Baby Seth Simon was born and today, I popped round to see the little fella, now just 10 days old. Like his dad, he has lots of hair and in the years to come he'll no doubt develop his father's razor sharp wit, as well as a discerning palate for single malts, fine dining and music.

To celebrate, I grabbed something from the Caskstrength cabinet, which I'd been itching to open. A couple of years back, I picked up a Coopers Choice Highland Park, distilled in 1981 and bottled in 2008. Having tried a small sample at the Whisky Shop in Dufftown, I remember it being a real cracker, so to uncork it and raise a glass to another little cracker feels like the order of the day.

Highland Park - Coopers Choice - Distilled 1981 - Bottled 2008 - 26 yo - 46%

Nose: Incredibly light and zesty on the nose. I suspect that the cask must be a 2nd or 3rd fill, but it is all the better for it, as aromas of coconut, sliced vanilla pods, a faint waft of aromatic, floral smoke and plums fill the nostrils. Given time, blackcurrant notes a hint of oak and freshly baked bread come to the fore.

Palate: Very oily on the palate, with that classic HP blackcurrant 'n smoke coating the tongue. Golden syrup notes, tinned peaches and tinned sweetened cream also arrive after a few seconds, alongside a malty note and a hint of herbal tea and Manuka honey.

Finish: Drying oak notes, with a lingering but light aromatic smoke, some iodine notes and lemon zest.

Overall: Oily, fruity, floral and deliciously smoky. A fine example of an independently bottled HP. The oak is definitely there, but fortunately, all the other great hallmarks of this Orkney powerhouse outweigh any criticism.

As Jonny and I pop outside to smoke a brace of celebratory cigars and sink another dram, I raise a glass to little Seth. The HP has excelled, working brilliantly with the Backwoods Originals we're smoking (and their wonderful sweet vanilla smoke) and it is a privilege to spend time with a great mate, who is going to make an excellent dad. Well done guys and hopefully we'll be back here with another freshly cracked bottle in 18 years time for Seth to try.

Game, Set and Batch

2011-11-11T16:19:00.014Z

As the end of the year approaches, drinks companies are finally showing their hand with releases designed to satisfy the market moving into Christmas.

One aspect of bottling which various distilleries have been embracing recently is the idea of batches.

As (hopefully) the malt-ready consumer becomes more educated about their purchases, it is great to see certain distilleries celebrate inconsistency in their bottlings by means of a batch number.

In Speyside, The Balvenie are letting us all know which issue of Signature we’re slugging back (thankfully, batch two onwards is far more drinkable than batch one; very much their Star Wars to the largely forgotten THX 1138. Let’s hope there isn’t a Howard The Duck lurking around the corner).

Howard The Duck. What the F**K was George Lucas thinking?

Over on Islay, Laphroaig have been at it for a couple of years with their Cask Strength 10 Year Old and now their relatively peaty neighbour, Bowmore are well on the road to success with Tempest, who saw their third batch launched recently.

Batch Two was a huge fav of ours, making it into our Best In Glass list of the top ten whiskies released in 2010, as well landing the gong of Best Islay Single Malt 2011 at the World Whisky Awards. So the third release has a lot to live up to.

With Batch Two maintaining its status as a really excellent bottling, we were intrigued to compare the two releases side-by-side to see which should take the crown as THE Bowmore in our cabinet. So we sat down with a dram of each to decide…

Bowmore Tempest - 10 years old - BATCH TWO - 56%

Nose: Woody, with pronounced sweet maple/vanilla notes, butterscotch and hints of sweet sherry. The smoke is sweet, like burning freshly sawn pine. Indeed, there is a distinctly resinous note to this batch. Given time in the glass, the whisky develops a fruit crumble-like note and the vanilla becomes more pronounced. With water, the fruit and a huge citrus burst jump from the glass, with some orange blossom in tow. Lovely stuff.

Palate: Sweet, with candied apple sweets, toffee apple, lemon zest and a slightly peppery/prickly spice. The smoke is delicate and bacon-like, with slight charred/coal-dust notes.

Finish: Lingering soft, sweet smoke notes and an air of creamy toffee helps to complete a complex and well- developed dram.

Overall: This batch really shines on every level; it has enough smoke to satisfy the devotees, but the fruit, vanilla and zest, balance the overall picture fantastically well. High marks indeed.

Bowmore - Tempest – 10 Years Old – BATCH THREE - 55.6% abv

Note: The first thing to say is that batch three is noticeably lighter than batch two. The smoke on the nose of batch two is dustier and comes across as older, less energetic and more relaxed.

Nose: Coal dust smoke (a la Caol Ila) Cream soda and lemon zest, with a hint of lemon meringue pie on the nose. Some cut grass, butterscotch and white flowers.

Palate: Very sweet with smoked chedder and white sugar. With water, the palate develops a lovely elderflower note which grows in volume, so the addition of a few drops is a real must. Some blackberry cordial notes begin to develop too.

Finish: The smoke lingers leaving butterscotch and elderflower wine.

Overall: Batch three is much more akin to the Caol Ila Moch or Port Askaig 17, but without their confidence and assured nature. If batch two has the lolloping attitude of an old Labrador, batch three has the exuberant energy of a golden retriever puppy but without the experience. For us, it’s Batch two all the way...

So there you have it. Batch three is a solid whisky, but it doesn’t quite punch the weight of the previous batch which is richer, more assured and possesses a greater complexity.

More Christmas Madness

2011-11-08T16:47:00.014Z

After our last post it seems that quite a few folks are getting in on the act in the run up to Christmas with liquids and potions galore. And yes, that kind of shamefully means us too.

Firstly we heard the quite bizarre story that super-budget supermarket chain, Aldi were releasing a 40 year old single malt. Once we'd stopped blinking in quiet amazement, assuming it must be a huge wind up, we started to wonder exactly who this might be aimed at, (surely not the man who buys 20 bags of Monster Munch for 99p) which distillery is behind it and more importantly, how much the thing would cost and whether it is any good. Hopefully these things will be revealed over the next few days, but it is certainly a very intriguing release. Imagine the shock on the wife's face when you return with a 50 pack of fish fingers, two dozen toilet rolls, a cheap cordless drill and a bottle of 40yo single malt!!

Secondly, we've been up to mischief with our chums at Master Of Malt again.

This time, it involves an idea that steadily grew one afternoon after a few pints and quickly descended into something chaotic and quite frankly absurd, but with bags of good clean Christmas fun thrown in for good measure. Today, we can proudly say that the very first batch of newly formulated Christmas Bitters go on sale and they certainly do what they say on the label.

As we finished our final round of ales and rather unwisely asked the pub landlord to whip up some Manhattans a thought crossed our slightly befuddled minds. What if you could capture all the great flavours and aromas of Christmas in one bottle, which you could then make some superlative festive cocktails with....

And lo, after much experimentation, we settled on a recipe that features roasted chestnuts, cocoa, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel, mixed nuts, some all important dates, pine extract, nutmeg, cranberries and smoky Lapsang Souchong tea. We drew the line at roast turkey, wrapping paper and the almighty Christmas family row, but think we got all the major players in there.

And then.... a sign!!

A bearded man in the pub knocked his pint over and uttered the immortal words 'Sweet Jesus Christ!'

Suddenly, in a flash we knew we had yet to add the most important ingredients of all: 23 Carat Gold dust, Frankincense and Myrrh. We even managed to find something called Star Of Bethlehem extract, so threw that in too.

Then the fun really started. Once the mixture was secured in the MOM marrying cask, we thought, why not gently agitate the sleeping liquid by continuously piping the sounds of Phil Spector's Christmas Album through the ends of the cask, with mini speakers?

So apologies to all at the Master Of Malt offices, for having to endure what can only be described as festive sonic torture. At one point, apparently a member of the MOM staff, driven stark raving mad by 'Frosty The Snowman' tried to attack the cask with an axe in a frenzied assault, akin to a crazed Mandrill.

But the good news is that the bitters remained in fine form and you can now see if we've we've gone totally bananas, or whether the idea has actually worked!

Master Of Malt & Caskstrength Present: Christmas Bitters - 58.83% - 100ml

Nose: As Christmas'y as the smell of one of Noel Edmonds' festive jumpers or Cliff Richard's Mistletoe and Wine. Rich spice, a hint of smoke, some aromatic notes and lots of dried fruit.

This man LOVES Christmas

Palate: The spices come to the fore, alongside some sour citrus notes, more dried fruit and some lingering bitter liquorice notes.

We'd recommend pimping up a traditional whisk(e)y based cocktail or trying one of the following:

Festive Whisky Sour:

2 measures The Glenrothes 1985 or Glenfarclas 15yo, alternatively you could try Ballantine's Christmas Reserve blended whisky.

1 measure freshly squeezed lemon Juice

1/2 measure of dark orange marmalade syrup (home made)

1/2 fresh egg white

4 dashes of Christmas Bitters (this can be 'dripped through' the froth on the top of the drink, once it's served, so you can see the addition of the gold, in all its glory!!)

Baked Winter Apple:

50ml Clynelish 14 yo, infused with butter. (basically, heat the whisky gently in a pan, adding a small nob of butter) Chill and then filter off the extra fatty bits with a mini sieve when making the cocktail.

30ml pressed apple juice (cloudy style)

25ml quality English cider

15ml maple syrup (for an extra-sweet treat, try making a rich Muscovado sugar
syrup to use instead!)

15ml fresh lemon Juice

4 dashes of Christmas Bitters.

2 Bar spoons of egg white (to give you a lovely froth)

Shake with ice, until extra frothy.

The specially formulated Christmas Bitters cost £12.95 - for more information - visit:

Master Of Malt

A Venerable 'Venie

2011-11-04T18:05:00.008Z

This Wednesday, the burst of pre-Christmas whisky releases got a whole lot more interesting, with the launch of The Balvenie Forty, held at London's V+A Museum in Kensington.

The venue had been chosen rather poignantly, in that its current star attraction, 'The Power Of Making' is an eclectic collection of exhibits from incredibly talented craftsmen and women around the world. The Balvenie have of late highlighted the link between classic crafts and the craftsmanship of their own whisky, by developing the Masters Of Craft Awards; celebrating craftspeople as diverse as violin makers, glassblowers and shoemakers. And with the addition of the British Craft Council's 40th Anniversary, the night was one big mashup of serious hand-crafted talent.

The Balvenie's Dr Andrew Forrester led the assembled guests through a nosing and tasting of the brand new whisky, which is put together using the process of what he described as 'micro-vatting'. The Balvenie Forty brings together a proportion of 6 different casks; 3 sherry butts and 3 refill hogsheads, which is, (like the Tun 1401) married for a short time in one of the distillery's vats. The whisky is presented in a hand-crafted wooden box, built by Scottish craftsman Sam Chinnery. Each bottle is also engraved by Sam's father.

As we like to bang on about, it is of course the liquid inside that counts, but the whole package does look pretty exquisite.

So with a dram in hand, we venture into the craftsmanship of Malt Master David Stewart...

The Balvenie - Forty - Batch 2 - 48.5% - 150 bottles

Nose: Immediate notes of victoria sponge cake, followed by dried cherries, coconut and floral wax. It is quite light and open for a 40yo whisky, with toffee apple notes developing as the dram develops.

Palate: Big hit of vanilla fudge, malted milk biscuits, some more perfumed notes (nectarine and peach) soft fruit crumble and prominent bourbon notes. Given time, a distinctly dark rich honey flavour develops, alongside tart fresh lemon juice and cherry sherbet.

Finish: Surprisingly dry, with some lingering spiced fruit notes and more cherry.

Overall: Unmistakably The Balvenie, this dram adds to the vast range of cracking whiskies expertly bought to life by David Stewart and his team. Whilst at a push, we would say the recent Tun 1401 release tips the scales in terms of excellence, this isn't far behind. At £2,500, it isn't a cheap whisky, but then again, when did you last see a cheap Stradivarius, Purdey shotgun or pair of John Lobb shoes?

Remember, Remember, the Whisks of Movember

2011-11-02T09:13:00.006Z

November hits like a chilling bolt of ice with winter jackets well and truly donned and the pumpkin you carved for halloween now consigned to the stockpot.

It's also a time to perhaps start contemplating how lucky we all are to be healthy.

Without getting too maudlin, which is never the reserve of this journal; gentlemen, we're notorious for thinking with our bollocks & talking bollocks, we're just not very good at thinking about our bollocks.

Approximately 2,090 men are diagnosed with testicular cancer in the UK alone per year and a staggering 899,000 are diagnosed with prostate cancer across the globe.

But thanks to the frankly incredible work of various cancer charities, the fatality rates for these 2 forms of the disease are being tackled as best they can - but there is always much more to be done.

Movember is a name which most guys are no doubt familiar with. But did you realise just how much they do to help bring funding to cancer charities across the world?

Since 2003 the team behind Movember have helped to raise £106 million. Last year alone the charity raised £48 million internationally, which goes on to help fund projects by The Institute of Cancer Research and The Prostate Cancer Charity.

As well as signing yourself up to 'grow a mo' for Movember, (which you can do here) the like-minded folks at Master Of Malt have for the last few years released a limited bottling, the profits of which have gone to Movember.

This year's bottling is a cracker; Master Of Malt have partnered up with Glenfarclas to release a 9 year old bottling, selected by George Grant and the MOM team, from 2 Oloroso hogshead casks.

The bottling will retail at £39.95 and for each bottle sold, £10 will go straight to Movember.

here's our notes on the whisky:

Master Of Malt/Glenfarclas - Movember bottling - 9 years old - distilled in September 2002 - 53%

Nose: Big wafts of spiced dried fruit hit first, with a robust nuttiness (almonds and Brazil nuts) following quickly after. The sherry is bold and brassy, wonderful well rounded fruity notes but some slightly dry sherry aromas to boot.

Palate: Warming, powerful and very chocolatey on the first sip. Some herbal/mint notes begin to develop, but the heavyweight dried fruit soon eats them up for breakfast. This is a big whisky, full of spicy flavour, but with some subtle depth too; the chocolate notes keep developing, as do notes of salted caramel and christmas cake. Mega.

Finish: Spice, liquorice and dried fruit linger, but develop into some sliced green apples and a little butter dusted in brown sugar.

Overall: It goes without saying that both MOM and George Grant have selected 2 absolute gems of casks here and this bottling is an absolute winner.

Visit Master Of Malt to grab a bottle and not only enjoy a cracking whisky, but help to contribute to such a phenomenal charity.

www.masterofmalt.com

Please Sir, Can I Have Some Dalmore?

2011-10-31T08:52:00.011Z

Say what you want about easyjet, at least they fly to Inverness. A bonus if you want to visit some of the more northerly extremes of whisky making on this Fair Isle (and beyond). Plus, they don’t have the audacity, as with some other budget airlines, to pretend that where they’re going isn’t actually where they’re going. Honestly, if the Scotch Whisky Association were given overview of Ryanair’s airport naming policy and applied the same rules they have for whisky labels, we’d all be in safer hands!

As a football fan, I take great delight in visiting new grounds (hopefully to see Oxford play) and this season alone has already yielded another four grounds to my list, with such glamourous locations as Morecambe, Plymouth and Macclesfield penned in the diary. Thankfully Swindon has been done. In more ways than one.

This passion for visiting new grounds, new places and meeting new people has been carried over to distilleries; I love visiting new ones, meeting the people who make the liquid as well as discovering the individual and unique processes that make each distillery distinct. ‘Every day is a school day’, when going around a distillery. You always, without fail, learn something new. So it was with gusto that I jumped at the chance of visiting the newly refurbished Dalmore distillery.

With Scotch whisky exports up by 20% in the first 10 months of 2011, interest in the product has never been higher and people don’t just want to consume, they want to imbibe. Not just the liquid, but the history, the stories and the folklore. This means that when people do go to Scotland, they’re keen to see where their favourite dram is made and how it goes from grain to glass.

The Dalmore has invested £1 million in creating an experience for visitors which guides them through the spirit-making process using clever lighting; the Washbacks are lit with neon strap lights, creating a Tron-eque environment, while the Stills are bathed in flashing lights, recreating the boiling of the liquid and the separation of water and alcohol. The whole experience is a visual delight, half Science Museum, half Coldplay gig.

For the uber-geek however, the real fun comes away from the Still Room. The more time I spend at distilleries, the more I appreciate the ‘cut point’ of the spirit:

The cut point is one of the essential aspects that gives a distillery’s New Make its unique flavour. During the second phase of distillation, the spirit runs off the still and must be captured, placed in a cask and matured. However, you cannot use all of it. The foreshots, the first section of distillate, contains some volatile compounds which can make you ill and the feints, the latter section of the distillate, is too low in alcohol. And doesn’t taste great! This leaves the middle section, known as the ‘heart’, to be saved for maturation. Every distillery chooses which section of the distillate to select as their heart and this will have a profound effect on the profile of the whisky. Thus, the points where the distillery selects to start and finish collecting the heart, are known as the ‘cut points’.

At The Dalmore, the cut is made at around 70 – 72% alcohol. One of the new installations at the distillery is designed to show why this is. A display of 12 bottles of new make spirit are open for nosing. Each bottle has been filled with spirit from a different ‘cut point’, so each has a differing level of alcohol. The range runs: 61% / 64% / 67% / 70% / 72% / 74% / 78% / 80% / 81% / 82% / 83% plus a bottle containing the feints and one containing the foreshots.

This fantastic display allows visitors to nose the difference in aroma between the spirits. Some of which are very nice (closest to the heart) and some of which are not so nice (closets to the foreshots); it highlights the huge importance of taking only the best spirit away for maturation, or else you’ll end up with a pretty bad dram!

In the same area, there is a fantastic sculpture of barrel made up of staves from different types of wood (plane, sherry etc) at different charring levels; a great visual example of the range of casks the spirit can find itself in, for maturation.

The Dalmore has also been offering visitors the chance to purchase a distillery only bottle. A single cask from 1991 chosen by the workers at the distillery, only 450 bottles have been released.

The Dalmore – 'Distillery Exclusive' - 1991 - filled: 25/01/1991 bottled: 10/08/2011) - 20 Years Old – Distillery Only - Comes in a Drawstring Velvet Bag – 450 bottles only - 59% ABV (£150)

Nose: Fruit and Nut Chocolate with a glass of Port is the first aroma out of the glass. Behind it comes pine nuts and a hint of Ryvita. The well-hung, aged raw steak giving it a slightly meaty note. With water, the chocolate tones develop greater prominence.

Palate: Orange Sherbet, orange crèmes mix with good woody driness which gives the whole things some balance of spice to the sweetness of the orange. There is robust Porty nature to this (I don’t know what type of cask this has been in) which I first encountered in the nose. With a drop of water, palate tones turn more to tangerine flavours. Really very tasty.

Finish: The finish is much more robust than the palate, with espresso notes, five spice, a hint of Black Jack sweets and Wham! Bars (I’m getting all Retro-sweet shop here!).

Overall: It’s not often you see an official single cask Dalmore released, so a bit of a rarity from the distillery. But judging by this 20 year old, it has proved a great choice by the distillery chaps and will hopefully open the door to a few more like this in the distillery shop. In short, an excellent bottling at a good age, with a robust ABV and packed with flavour.

The tour at The Dalmore was entertaining and educational and is very much worth a visit. If every day is a school day, when going around a distillery, then visiting The Dalmore is like sports day; you’re bound to have a bit of fun.

The Ultimate Coming Of Age

2011-10-28T10:00:00.002+01:00

1901. A year of unprecedented change across the globe. Queen Victoria passes away, giving rise to the beginning of the Edwardian era. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed. The world, although yet to realise the significance, was joined by Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and master of the honeyed vocal chords and Jazz horn himself, Louis Armstrong.

It was also the year that Janet Sheed Gordon was born. Daughter to Isabella Grant and Charles Gordon and heir to the William Grant & Sons whisky business. for the past incredible 110 years, Janet has lived close to the Glenfiddich distillery, keeping a watchful eye over the proceedings, the comings and goings and ultimately, the liquid that the distillery has been turning out and maturing so successfully for nigh on the past eight decades.

Janet Sheed Gordon (now Roberts) graduating in Law in 1924

The photo below was taken in 1969, at the opening of the Glenfiddich visitor centre. Janet would have been 68 - and looking all the better for it!

As the oldest living woman in Scotland, it's hard to imagine how the world must seem through Janet Roberts' eyes now. So much change, revolution & technology; the birth of the jet age, space travel, nuclear energy, the electric guitar, the internet, the microwave oven and everything else we take for granted these days. All of this has been invented or pioneered during her incredible life.

It seems fitting then, for Glenfiddich to honour such achievement the only way they know best; a bottling of one of their oldest whiskies, from one of the best casks in the distillery's inventory.

What a monumental project this has become. Just 11 bottles of the Janet Sheed Roberts Reserve are ever going to see the light of day. The packaging is an accurate representation of the whisky's namesake, from the travel case box, right down to the aqua marine colour used on the capsule, reported to be Janet's favourite colour.

Comes with a miniature too...

The liquid inside each hand-blown bottle is no less special.

The sherry butt used was filled on Hogmanay 1955. It is what Malt Master, Brian Kinsman describes as a 'plain cask' in that it hasn't had a huge impact on the maturation of the whisky in a short space of time. What this cask has done is allowed the whisky to mature perfectly over a long period of time - 55 years to be precise, which we think rather succinctly sums up a life most definitely well lived.

The first bottle will be auctioned at Bonham's Edinburgh Auction on the 14th December, with all proceeds going to WaterAid, a charity which Glenfiddich have supported in the past.

Further bottles will be available throughout 2012 in key whisky markets such as the US, Taiwan Russia, China and India.

So it is with a deep intake of breath that we raise a dram up to our lips to review.

Crikey. Here goes...

Glenfiddich - Janet Sheed Roberts Reserve - 55 years old - Cask 4222 - filled December 1955- 44.4% - 11 bottles

Nose: An immediate explosion of soft fruits, parma violets, peach skins, floral wax notes, wonderfully perfumed clean linen and brandy snaps. Given time in the glass (hell, this whisky can take all the time it wants) a more herbaceous/vermouth note develops, with some lightly brewed hibiscus tea and finally some freshly picked strawberries and a faint waft of peat smoke. Truly magnificent; open, delicate and enveloping. I carried on just nosing this long after the tasting and changed direction several times as the night wore on.

Palate: A light note of soft aromatic peat, grapefruit, parma violets and lemon zest. Light and fruity, but tethered by a backbone of oak. However nothing dry or oaky dominates, the fruity notes keep developing on the palate, with orange flower water, some light vanilla and back to the soft peat again.

Finish: Peerless balance for a whisky this age. Lingering light fruit, with a slightly drying oak note on the death. The peat takes a backseat, but is still there in spirit, along with the vanilla and zest.

Overall: An extraordinary life such as Janet Sheed Roberts' could only be celebrated with a truly extraordinary whisky and without question, this hits the mark on every level. Hats off to Glenfiddich for maintaining this sensational cask for the past five and a half decades.

So there we have it; inspirational whisky making and perhaps more importantly, an incredibly inspirational woman.

Some Terrific Taylors

2011-10-27T10:30:00.000+01:00

Since we reviewed Duncan Taylor's Blackbull 40yo earlier this year, we've really started to take notice of just how many good bottlings the company are turning out - on a very regular basis too.

The last 3 are no exceptions either. The Rare Auld range represent the pinnacle of Duncan Taylor stocks, with many of the releases bottled at around 30 years, from across Speyside, the Highlands and Islay.

We recently got stuck into a Cardhu, a Bunnahabhain and an intriguingly titled 'Iconic Speyside'. Now what could that be, we wonder...

Duncan Taylor - Rare Auld Collection - Bunnahabhain - Distilled 1979 - 32 yo - 47.1% Cask No: 38408

Nose: Notes of dried coconut, some hints of aromatic dry vermouth, soft brown sugar, some bonfire toffee and a distinct nuttiness.

Palate: Very sweet on the first sip, but calms down after a few minutes in the glass. Again, notes of brown sugar, some slightly zesty grapefruit and soft toffee, almost reminiscent of an aged dessert wine. A true dessert whisky perhaps?

Finish: lingering notes of toffee, chopped hazelnuts and swathes of vanilla'y oak on the death.

Overall: Highly enjoyable - especially sweet, so not to everyone's tastes, but right up our street.

Next up: A rare auld Cardhu.

Duncan Taylor - Rare Auld Collection - Cardhu- Distilled 1984 - 26 yo - 54.4% Cask No: 2873

Nose: Classic oak ageing at its best. Vanilla notes, lots of spiced, cinnamon apple pie, lemon sherbet, cherries mascerated in cognac, furniture polish, Brazil nuts and icing sugar. Warm and inviting, not cold, hard and old.

Palate: Initially sweet, leading into a mouth coating chocolate/cocoa note (think really good quality dark chocolate, with a dusting of muscovado sugar) then, plump raisins, stepped in dark rum, some fresh lemon juice, more Brazil nuts, chocolate covered marzipan and perhaps even a slight barbecue note, although that might be from the Old El Paso taco kit we enjoyed an hour ago. Anyway, enormously open and flavoursome. Lovely stuff.

Finish: Lingering notes of dark chocolate covered nuts and those plump rum soaked raisins. Absolutely gorgeous.

Overall: This is a real find. Balanced, yet old. Open, refined, complex and super-easy to drink. Another very impressive bottling. If you're considering bottlings for your 30th birthday in a few years time, get this and open it on the big day, you'll love it. In fact, hang that idea- just buy it and open it immediately!

And finally.... the dram that dare not speaketh its name (although we suspect it begins with G) (great... big help there... eh)

Duncan Taylor - Rare Auld Collection - Iconic Speyside- Distilled 1984 - 27 yo - 54.8% Cask No: 2033

Nose: Big buttery biscuit base, (not again...) then into more of those Brazil nuts we mention above, some papier mache, notes of Copydex adhesive uncooked pork mince and the very centre of a rosebud!! Sounds absurd, but there you go... that's whisky for you. Given time, more of a digestive biscuit note develops, with a little dusting of dried ginger. It isn't a patch on the Cardhu, but certainly isn't a duffer- just weird.

Palate: A vaguely gingery note pops up first, followed by some savoury meat (honestly, this definitely isn't the Taco kit, we promise!) then into fresh double cream, some light toffee notes and a malty sweetness. Again not a patch on the Cardhu, but interesting nonetheless.

Finish: Quite a drying, lengthy finish, with hints of lavender and something quite bitter and hoppy.

Overall: A little off key if we're absolutely honest, but then compared to the Cardhu, a great many bottlings from anyone's collection would be under par.

If any of these take your fancy, check out the Duncan Taylor online store here:

The First Of Many

2011-10-25T12:14:00.012+01:00

2011 has seen the debut of some extraordinary whiskies; from established favourites (Ardbeg Alligator) re-discovered classics (MacKinlay's 'Shackleton') and coming of age gems (Bruichladdich 10 year old)

2011 has also seen the birth of one or 2 dogs, but on the whole, it's more than refreshing to see just how many well received whiskies are now out on the market.

The Japanese whisky world can also give itself a hearty slap on the back too. Thanks to the tenacity of The Number One Drinks Company, scores of priceless Karuizawa casks have been rescued, which will now see the light of day they so richly deserve. It's also a superbly exciting time for new Japanese distilleries. Ichiro Akuto, founder of the Hanyu Card Series and the widely regarded saviour of this lost classic distillery has reached the pivotal moment, which he has been waiting for, for the past 3 years; the birth of his very first Chichibu single malt.

Continuing his success, Ichiro Akuto began distillation at the brand new Chichibu distillery in 2008, which can be found about 80km to the North West of Tokyo. Presently using a mixture of imported malt from Germany and England, Akuto-san aims to locally source his raw materials for the future, including Japanese peat. The wooden wash backs he currently uses are manufactured from Japanese oak, so a distinctly home-grown theme is emerging.

To date, Chichibu has released 2 editions of Malt Spirit, (a 14-month old double-matured bottling & a heavily peated 3-month old) both of which has been highly commended by the international whisky community. Now Ichiro's first 3 year old single malt- triumphantly titled 'Chichibu The First' has arrived... and the great news is that it's absolutely superb.

Chichibu - The First - Japanese Single Malt Whisky -distilled 2008 - bottled 2011 -61.8%

Nose: 3 years old? How can it be this complex?? Honey, light floral notes of honeysuckle, sweet peas, mix beautifully with vanilla notes, white pepper and milk chocolate, to give this a dusty, but wonderfully rounded aroma.

Palate: Again, the mouthfeel of this whisky defies its youth. Lemon grass notes, fresh limes and coconut milk take hold of the palate first, followed up with lashings of sweet vanilla, marshmallows and apricots, before ascending into some more highly perfumed notes. For a whisky of 61.8% it is amazingly delicate. Adding water certainly brings out the vanilla notes, but this is perfectly drinkable at cask strength.

Finish: Lingering notes of vanilla, some light oak notes and dried apricots give this first real Chichibu some lengthy complexity, way beyond its years.

Overall: Absolutely inspired whisky making, from a man, who is in our opinion, a shining light in the world of Japanese whisky - and for that matter whisky, wherever it is made. A triumphant first bottling and hopefully the first of many!