It is hard in a job writing about
spirits, to not write regularly about Scotch. And, living in England and
visiting Scotland on a regular basis, it is difficult to ignore the
bagpipe-like noise of nationalism currently floating through the air, this time
not coming from a kilt-wearing man standing on the corner of Princess Street in
Edinburgh, but from the trunk of the rather large ‘elephant in the room’ that
is the upcoming Scottish independence vote.
As I live in England, I don’t get
an official say as to the outcome of the situation, as I don’t have a vote. But
I have been watching with interest (as someone who holds a Norwegian passport, born
in Oxford to an English father and Norwegian mother, I often feel Scotland is geographically
my natural home) as the debate has unfolded. And something odd has happened...
For as far as I can make out, the
‘Yes’ vote is arguing that Scotland is a rich country, full of great natural
resources and untapped potential. It is a ‘sleeping Norway’, if you will which
can stand on its own two feet and create a utopia of a country with a huge oil
fund. The ‘No’ vote seems to have taken the stance that Scotland is a country
leaning financially and politically on Westminster; that it takes more money from
the Union coffers for free university education and other luxuries, not to
mention the skew of an ageing population who draw their state pension from a
joint pension pot, that leaving the Union would be a bad idea, as ‘we’
(Westminster), fund ‘you’ (Scotland).
So what is it that is odd about these
arguments for those of us living south of the border? Well, if you live in the
other areas of the Union, you might be swayed by these headline ‘facts’ into the very
strange political stance of supporting one side’s argument in the hope that the
vote goes the opposite way.
For example, if you live in
England and you believe the line of the ‘No’ party that Scotland costs Westminster money, then you might think “OK then, if we fund your lifestyle, then off you go” and want a Yes vote to win. On the other hand, if
you live in England and think “Salmond is right, Scotland is rich in so many ways and makes a huge positive
contribution to the UK finances, not to mention the political power having oil
in any form brings” then you would want the opposite of what Salmond wants: a 'No' vote to keep the Union together.
As a result, it is all very odd living outside
of Scotland and watching the debate happen, with the divided idea that you may end up supporting the
ideals of one side, in the hope the vote goes the opposite way. I’ve never
known politics like it, in this regard.
Now, I haven’t done the research
into the facts on offer by both sides. I don’t need to, I don’t have the vote.
But if I did have the vote I would make the time (I’m too busy working hard to pay
off my University fees, but if you got your Uni education for free, you’ve
got more time on your hands for this sort of thing...) to really dig into the
ideals of each option, as this vote is simply too important to ignore.
So if you do have the vote,
whichever way you think you might choose, just make sure you turn up on the day
and use it.
Now, on to the reason we write this blog: whisky. And something
which reflects the handshakes which happen regularly across the border: a single malt Scotch bottled by a non-Scottish company. In this case, Berry Brothers and Rudd (BBR), in London. Famed for their fantastic selection of
whiskies, BBR consistently choose fantastic liquid to mature and bottle, mostly
all single cask single malts.
Glenlivet – 1974 Single Cask 8211 – bottled 2013 – Berry Brothers &
Rudd x The Whisky Exchange – 55.1% abv
Nose: Hot blueberry pie, plum chutney, blackcurrants and other
summer fruits. There is just so much delicious fruit on the initial nose, which
is underpinned with old leather, hazelnut and dark chocolate. Some wood spices
of cinnamon and nutmeg appear, but not so as to overpower the fruits.
Palate: The mix of oak, fruit and spice is almost perfect. The
three dance around the palate with the fruit becoming more vibrant the longer
this sits, with blood orange developing as the dominant flavour. Of course
there are the key touchstones of great old whisky in there too (some fruit
cake, chamois leather, cardamom) but this shows that old whisky does not have
to be tired.
Finish: More blood orange, strawberry licorice laces and a hint of
vanilla, too.
Overall: At last year’s whisky show, a little beauty was on the BBR
tasting stand. Bottled in conjunction with The Whisky Exchange, the combination
of expert palates from BBR’s Doug McIvor and TWE’s Sukhinder Singh means that
you simply can’t go wrong and indeed this turned out to be one of my top drams
of 2013.
Having bought myself a bottle,
which didn’t last very long at all, I returned to The Whisky Exchange shop in
London Bridge earlier this year to restock my cabinet and came away with more than one bottle of this...
something to eke out over the next few years.
Unlike the current level of
political noise, this whisky is simple: a harmony of flavours from Scottish new
make, foreign oak casks, bottled by two London-based establishments, which leaves me clear on my Yes/No decision: Yes, you can have a dram. No, you can’t
keep the rest of the bottle.
There is something quite glorious
about a summer’s day. To be honest, here in London, it isn’t quite summer just
yet, but we are at the start of a rather warm snap which will, fingers cross, will
last across the weekend.
In the UK, this is the sign for
women to raid their wardrobe for flowery Laura Ashley dresses and for men to
bare their legs; but when it comes to whisky, our thoughts turn from heavily peated
numbers, to lighter whiskies (grains and blends), served up in a highball glass
with ice, topped up with soda water and a slice of something zesty.
And herein lies the exact reason
why we all need a cabinet of drinks: there is no one ‘cure all’ spirit for that
moment when you want to pour yourself a dram or mix yourself a cocktail.
Our advice for putting together a
basic drinks selection is to build up your cabinet from the basics, making sure
you have a good quality gin and vodka in your freezer, with plenty of ice and
some glasses, too (if you don’t have a lot of room, then make sure you have
four Martini glasses at the very least). If you can store highball glasses too,
then a top tip is to put a small amount of water in the bottom of each glass,
so you have a natural layer of ice in each one; brilliant for G&T’s.
Moving from the freezer to the
fridge, ensure you have some cans of tonic and soda water, as well just some
filtered water too.
Topping all this off, a good
drinks cabinet should contain a nice brandy (go Armagnac for better value than
Cognac), a good rum (two if you can afford it- one for sipping, one for
mixing), some Tequila and cocktail bitters (Angostura at the very least). And
then some whisky.
You’ll notice here that, save for
the rum where you can reach out over several varieties and Tequila / Mezcal
where you might want a sipping option as well as a mixer, whisky is where the
greatest variation is to be found. If we were being honest, you probably could
do with having the following in stock:
A Smoky Whisky: Preferably a single malt with a good level of peat
smoke. Example: Lagavulin 16.
A Sipping Whisky: Not everyone likes peat, so have a non-peated
offering, too. Could be a blend, single malt, a bourbon, Irish or Japanese
whisky. Example: The Balvenie DoubleWood
12 Years Old.
A Sunshine Whisky: A grain whisky or blend helps for those summer
days when you want a long drink. Example: Cutty
Sark Original.
So, in a basic cabinet we’d look
at three different whisk(e)y offerings; quite a lot more than the others, but
all playing different roles in the team.
In this blog we focus on all
styles of whisky, trying to review them with their purpose in mind. As became
evident in our look at flavoured whiskies recently, you can’t review something
like J&B Urban Honey in the same
way that you would a 40 Year Old Brora.
Equally, as with Dave Broom’s new book The Manual, you shouldn’t be ashamed of
mixing a ‘sipping single malt’, either.
When it comes to these single
malt sippers, there are more and more appearing on the market all the time;
some brand new offerings from indie distillers, others being released from major
distillery names as range extensions.
One distillery who is undertaking
a re-jig of their more niche offerings, is The Balvenie who have recently
launched a couple of new single barrel expressions. It was a year ago when we
reviewed their ‘new’ 12 Year Old First Fill American Oak Single Barrel, and the
time has come again for another release from them, this time a 15 Year Old Oloroso
Sherry cask.
The Balvenie – 15 Year Old Sherry Cask – Single Barrel – Cask Number
4440 – 47.8% avb – each batch has no more than 650 bottles – RRP £79.99
NOTE: These tasting notes are for one specific cask release, no. 4440.
Other casks may differ.
Nose: Certainly a sherry cask whisky, this gives ginger and honey
up front, some dusty oak and golden syrup, this isn’t hiding its roots. There
is a slight Piri-Piri sauce element which develops over time. Returning to the
nose after a while, the key elements have died a little and the spirit remains,
giving a punchy youthfulness to the dram, but always with that Oloroso backbone
of sweet spices.
Palate: Fresh apricots drizzled in honey sit atop cinnamon spices,
some over ripe banana and rum and raisin milk chocolate. It is powerful with a
hint of complexity, and some spiritus elements. Mouthfilling, the wood
influence shines through towards the back of the palate giving plum chutney and
more raisins.
Finish: Lots of ginger, runny honey and spices, which develop into
nutmeg and cardamom.
Overall: This is a very tasty dram, which packs in big flavours
with a good ABV balace, too. My preference is with a splash of water, which
opens up the dram to reveal red cherries and heather honey, giving a better example
of the smooth Balvenie spirit for which it is famed.
Another giant of the Speyside
distillery world, who is also expanding a diffusion range (if you will) with an
Oloroso matured edition, is The Glenlivet who welcome the ‘Oloroso Matured’
batch to the already popular Nadurra line. This will be the first ever 100% sherry matured offering from the distillery, under their own label. At the moment this is only available
in Global Travel Retail, is a No Age Statement and is bottled at 48% abv but,
as with other Nadurra releases, will see a ‘full strength’ edition hit local
markets in the future.
The Glenlivet – Nadurra Oloroso Matured (batch OLO314) – NAS - 48% abv RRP TBC
Nose: More tropical fruits than the Balveinie, which is focuses
more on ginger and honey. This is a fresher dram (I’d wager a touch younger,
but not by a lot) and gives peach melba, fruit cake, cardamom and mango on the
nose. A hint more summery than the Balvenie.
Palate: Cinnamon and Cardamom come through with a sprinkling of
nutmeg. Blood Orange and fresh mint are backed with cigar box and a distinctly
meaty tone of well aged rare steak, slightly peppered. It sits well on the
palate, with the pepper and sweet sherry partnering well together.
Finish: Bloody orange meets vanilla macaroons to give a hearty,
sweet finish which is mouth watering with a back drop of gala melon.
Overall: Again, this really opens up with a drop of water,
smoothing it out reflect the distillery character and would be my preference to
serve with a splash of H2O. It is going to be interesting to see how this works
at an even higher abv. Bring it on!
These two new expressions are
both excellent and with a splash of water both reveal their true distillery
characters, which is pleasing as it is easy to lose track of the true DNA of
the base spirit once sherry casks are involved. Both are perfect examples of ‘sipping
whiskies’ which make themselves available for team selection in your drinks
cabinet. Now it is up to you to decide which you want to be part of your
team...
Those of
you who have read this site for a while will remember back to my 30th birthday.
In the years leading up to it, I had assembled a collection of bottles from the
year of my birth, 1979. Doing so
wasn't too difficult (this was in the days when one could purchase a bottle of
1979 Port Ellen from an indie
bottler for under £100,
and an OB for little over that) and the army of drams which were opened on my
celebration day would grace any high end hotel nowadays.
I'm not
one of those people who perpetually complain about the price of whisky rising.
I understand that it is a finite product and if demand rises, so will prices.
Doing so, is like complaining about the current house prices in certain parts
of London. 20 years ago, I could have probably afforded to live in, say, Notting Hill. But not these days. Do I
complain? No, I just go and live somewhere that is nice and affordable. Move
on. Literally.
The price
of a bottle of whisky is not determined just by the demand for mature stocks,
however. As discussed in a post from last week about the possible shortage of
casks coming over from America
(legislation tbc), cash-flow plays a major part, too. If more money is needed
now to lay stocks down for the future, then you'll more than likely see an
uplift in the cost of your beloved dram.
All of
this is going to have an effect on whiskies from the year of my birth, 1979 especially
when people like me actually go and open the damn things. More so, any Scotch
from the 1970’s seems to have seen a fairly hefty
price hike in the last few years and my thoughts go out to you if you were born
in the 60's, 50's or, god forbid, the 1940s
and you’re looking to purchase birthday bottles! My advice would be:
stockpile now if you want something to drink on your special birthday in the
future.
However,
there is hope! The indie bottler often rides to the rescue of those indeed of a
rare, old dram and we feature a few of them on this site every so often. But
one bottler who we hardly ever talk about (in fact, I don't think we ever do)
is Cadenhead’s.
The last
time we had a wee drop from these chaps was down in Campbeltown after a visit
to Springbank distillery. They have
a shop locally and sell some quite astonishing stuff at exceptionally low
prices. I used to frequent their shop in London's Covent Garden (before rent
price hikes forced them out to Marylebone- see what they did there? When faced
with a price hike, they just moved on...) but have sadly not taken the time out
to check out their new London store.
Silly me.
Why?
Because of bottling such as this:
Cadenhead's 43 yo Glenlivet
I discovered this wee treat behind the bar at
the Royal Oak pub in Dufftown a few weeks ago. Not many
people have whisky dating back this far. And not many sell it for well under £200 a bottle. Yeah,
you heard: under £200
a bottle.
So, what
do Candenhead’s have in store for future
release? Well, one of them is their most expensive bottling ever, a 41 year old
Glenfiddich from 1973 which comes,
as Brand Ambassdor Mark Watt excitedly tells me "in a cardboard box!"
and is a single cask which yielded just 96 bottles, retailing for £450.
Glenfiddich - 1973 –
41 Years Old – Wm.
Cadenhead – 96
bottles only - 43.1% abv
Nose: A complex nose of sandalwood,
petrichor, old diesel locomotives, school desks and furniture polish. This is
like sticking your nose into a 1960's ercol cabinet. Some orange peel, fig,
angostura bitters... this would be brilliant in an Old Fashioned.
Palate: Rich and oily, it starts off
with apricot jam, dark chocolate-dipped candied orange, some more sandalwood,
cinnamon sticks and ginger. Rich and mouthfilling, this could have been dry and
woody, but it is as refreshing as a dewy walk through an autumnal wood at dawn.
Finish: Apricots, old armagnac and a
hint of menthol.
Overall: Rich with great woody notes, a
full body and lots of fresh fruits. Fantastic.
Alongside
this release is a single cask 37 year old Dalmore, retailing at an astonishing £170.
Dalmore - 1976 –
37 Years Old – Wm. Cadenhead
- 150 – 46.4% abv
Nose: Brandy butter, rich clotted
cream, some marzipan and toasted almonds give way to the oak, which takes a while
to lift from the glass, but once it does it provides a good spicy topline,
finally resting on fresh pine needles.
Palate: Vanilla again, rounded with
cinnamon and green apple, which quickly develops into toffee apple and light,
runny honey. The palate also has an element of watermelon and pear drop sweets.
Some custard notes, too.
Finish: Rhubarb and custard sweets.
Overall: A great dram at a stella
price, this is all about the vanilla, cinnamon spice and rhubarb & custard.
So, if
you look hard enough, you'll find the odd bottle out there which is extremely
good value for a well aged product. Just keep your eyes peeled.
Well then- here we go. Another competition on Caskstrength. This time it ties in with our fun masterclass, which is happening at Whisky Live London. As mentioned in our last post, we'll be running a tasting covering a wonderful 'flight' of whiskies that you can only sample at Duty Free - so the only way to taste 'em is to hop on a plane (bad) or come and see us (excellent choice!)
So far, the line up of drams we have for you is exceptional, with new Travel Retail releases from Laphroaig, Auchentoshan and The Glenlivet and Bowmore sitting next to some amazing duty free drams from Highland Park, The Macallan and Jameson. And if that's not enough, there's also a surprise whisky, which will be announced at the end of the tasting...
We've got a pair of tickets to give away for Friday's Whisky Live London which also includes entry to our masterclass.
Getting your hands on them couldn't be simpler. Just email us at the following email address
with the following phrase as the title of the mail:
'Come Dram With Me'
Please include your age, name and location. For logistical reasons, please only enter if you can actually attend Whisky Live London -this Friday 23rd March
from 5pm until 10pm. Oh...and over 18's please. Kinda figures, right?
We'll let the winner know on Thursday midday!
If you don't win, you could always just come along anyway - tickets for Whisky Live London are still available from www.whiskylive.com
In two weeks time, Neil and I shall be making our fifth (fourth for the blog) visit to the Feis Ile, Islay’s Festival of music And whisky. As usual we shall be driving up, kipping somewhere en route and making our way across on the CalMac ferry, provided that Neil has booked us on the correct crossing this year! It is always a festival we look forward to, despite the increasingly competitive nature of the distillery shops when the bottlings are released and we shall be doing our utmost to blog every day from each distillery, hopefully bringing an irreverently packaged slice of Islay to those who can't make it over.
One event that seems to have been left behind in the wake of the Islay revival, is the Spirit Of Speyside Festival. Last week, Caskstrength and a few otherwhiskyblogs were invited up to the event by Chivas Brothers. No long car rides, no motorway service stations and certainly no Ginsters pasties were required to bring you news from this gathering; just a quick train to Gatwick and before you could say 'Spirit of Speyside', we were in Aberdeen awaiting the start of a busy schedule.
For those of you who have never been, Speyside covers a large area of the Scottish Highlands and has around 40 single malt distilleries open or mothballed and many others, which live on through rare and unusual bottlings. This makes the idea of bringing them all together for one week of festival fun a rather daunting task, but kudos to the people running the organising committee, as well as to the array of distillery owners and managers who have come together to make this work. Speyside is undeniably the home of whisky and as such, the festival should be lauded as much as any event in the whisky calendar.
The itinerary for our three-and-a-bit day visit was rather daunting: One mountain, two 12km walks, five distilleries and numerous drams all to be fitted in around the Royal Wedding celebrations...
Day One:
The main event on the day of arrival was the Spirit Of Speyside opening dinner. Apparently the opening ceremony rotates annually between distilleries on Speyside and this year this honour fell to Knockando. A beautiful old distillery with plenty of character, it played host to not only an opening dinner but also the Spirit Of Speyside 2011 Whisky Awards Final Round judging, which we were asked to help out with. Six different drams, split into three categories;
12 - 15 years old
18 -20 years old
21 years & older
with two whiskies in each category, it made the task of judging the 2011 World Whisky Awards earlier in the years seem mammoth in comparison. The judging forms were the sort of thing we might expect if the referendum on the Alternative Vote swings in favour of the “yes” camp and if we can pair each General Election candidate with a different whisky, it might encourage the sort of turn out that this event drew; a new way of casting your vote, via the AV system...the Aqua Vita way, that is!
Just to highlight how jam-packed the festival schedule was this year, here are some other events that you could have chosen to do on the opening day:
Speyside Cooperage tour, Gourmet Heaven whisky & Chocolate pairing with Gordon & MacPhail, or bottling your own 2011 festival spirit at the Glenglassaugh distillery. So much to do and so little time!!
Day Two:
The morning kicked off with a tour of Longmorn Distillery. A real treat as we were being shown around by Distillery Manager Neal Corbett who is, shock-horror- an Englishman in charge of a Scotch Distillery! Hailing from the Midlands, Neal has an amazing knowledge concerning the art of distillation and as a result had to put up with a barrage of questions from us about cut points, temperatures and fermentation levels.
The real masterclass came when we were asked to nose a sample of New Make against a test sample, something that a team of highly train managers and blenders have to do once a week to make sure that each and every distillery from the Chivas portfolio is up to scratch. These guys have highly trained, bloodhound like noses which could sniff out a Rosebank in a field of flowers at twenty paces. Amazing stuff and utterly educational.
At the end of the tour, we got to try a 15 year old cask sample and the 16 year old, which replaced the 15 Year Old in 2007 (we have notes for the 15 here)
Longmorn 16 Year Old - 48%
Nose: Hints of dried fruits, leather notes, and toasted almonds all surprise at first, then with water, some of the classic Longmorn fruitiness develops, pears, ripe plums and a bourbon sweet vanilla.
Palate: Hints of woodiness, hugely mouth coating with fruit sherbets and well reduced caramel sauce notes.
Finish: Very lengthy, with lingering notes of cherry brandy.
Overall: As fans of the 15yo, we were pleased that this expression hasn't deviated too far from the brilliance of the original.
Longmorn - cask sample - 1989- cask 8583 - 57%
Nose: Big hit of vanilla, followed by royal jelly, classic Longmorn sweet soft fruits, sherbet and powerful floral notes.
Palate: Light, fresh and initially grassy, the fruit influence begins to take hold, with plums, bourbon cask sweetness, vanilla, lemon zest and a hint of dustiness.
Finish: Lingering notes of fresh fruit and bourbon influence dominate the lengthy finish.
Overall: Very similar to the commercially available Cask Strength edition Longmorn, more of which comes later...
After enjoying these two drams with Neal, it was time to take a break and head to the Highlander Inn, one of the most famous whisky bars in Scotland, to ironically catch up on the events happening in London. Ridley had managed to forget about the small sample of The Macallan Royal Marriage bottling he had put in his bag and finding it whilst watching the proceedings on TV made this especially historic occasion, even more memorable.
A wonderful occasion, a magical whisky bar and a fantastic setting to boot. We even spotted the perfect bottling for Tim TWE’s 40th: a natural born Playboy!
The day was finished off with festival dinner at the Aberlour Distillery. Not just any old dinner, but one especially put together by Martine Nouet, one of the world's leading experts in food and whisky matching. Each course had been carefully constructed to match a whisky from the Aberlour range - including our favourite- the 18 year old (rich chocolate notes, blood orange and deft hints of marzipan sweetness) A packed room experienced how whisky can be the perfect accompaniment to a variety of foods and Martine did a fantastic job in linking each dram to it’s respected course. A fantastic addition to the festival, this dinner is certainly one to be early to sell out for next years festival.
Day Three:
This was a day to test us, as it kicked off with a 12km walk from The Glenlivet Distillery with Master Distiller Alan Winchester. Alan is an absolute encyclopaedia of knowledge about the local area and walking and talking with him is like spending time with the great man Barnard himself. Facts, figures and folklore about the Speyside region are Winchester’s speciality, delivered with a rye smile as standard. The walk was challenging, but once at the summit of Carn Daimh Alan popped a bottle of Glenlivet 18 year old and all seemed well with the world. Ridley even made it up in a pair of plimsolls, a fact that had us putting Mountain Rescue into the speed dial of our ‘phones, just in case...
As we made our descent from the hills, where illegal distilling took place in the 16th & 17th Centuries, we arrived back at The Glenlivet to find that as part of their open day celebrations they had fired up their (legal) smugglers still. An amazing piece of kit, which replicates how whisky would have originally been made when many of the local distillers where hidden away in the Glens, trying to evade capture. The spirit straight from the still is sweet and strong, needing water to make it fully palatable. Once cut, it is easy to drink with lovely sugary notes and vanilla essence. You can really see why this Uisge Beatha was so sought after. A real treat for everyone who made the 12km trek, as well as all those visiting the distillery that day. The video here shows the still in action and the effects of the white spirit...
The afternoon was filled with a trip to Strathisla Distillery which, with the sun beating down, must be one of the most beautiful distilleries in Speyside. After a brief tour, we were introduced to the Chivas Brothers range of Cask Strength Editions, bottlings that are only available at each distillery, or online via their respective webshops. Released in very small batches, these are worth a real look with some very well priced (£35-ish) gems in the line up:
Glenburgie – 15 Years Old – 1994 / 2011 - Cask Strength Editions – 54.6% - 50cl
Nose: Huge pear notes, boiled sweets (white), white flowers. Very fresh and juicy indeed.
Palate: Weak lemon drink (freshly made, not cordial) pear juice again.
Finish: Lemons and pears again. Almost like barley water at times too. Very juicy and drinkable.
Overall: A real cracker of a bottling, we loved the previous batch and this is just as good with loads of pear juice and fresh lemonade cutting through. A great summer dram.
Scapa – 16 years Old – 1993 / 2010 – Cask Strength Editions – 60.9% - 50cl
Palate: Orange zest, sweet mandarins, butternut squash and a hint of coriander.
Finish: Good body, sweet sugars and orange squash.
Overall: A really solid offering from a distillery that produces a unique whisky. Robust and complex.
Miltonduff – 18 Years Old – 1991 / 2009 – Cask Strength Editions – 51.3% - 50cl
Nose: Dried fruits, pear juices but not as much as the Glenburgie, pickles.
Palate: Vanilla and soft ice cream, but that’s about it.
Finish: Spicy vanilla.
Overall: Not a great deal of character or personality in this dram sadly. More Milton Keynes than John Milton...
The Glenlivet – 16 Years Old – 1992 / 2009 - Cask Strength Editions – 57.8% - 50cl
Nose: Baked banana, vanilla fondant, boiled sweets dusted with sugar.
Palate: Big hit of sugary tea, a fantastic texture and notes of sauternes wine.
Finish: Crème Brule topping, dark honey and Lilt soft drink (pineapple and orange fizz).
Overall: Good use of the key distillery characters to produce something that is clearly The Glenlivet, but differs from their usual range and has more in common with the Nadurra than any other bottling.
Strathisla – 16 Years Old – 1994 / 2011 – Cask Strength Editions - 55.3% - 50cl
Nose: Creamy banana ice cream, vanilla pods, ‘taste the difference’ custard, blackcurrant tart.
Palate: Toasted sesame seeds mixed with fruit sorbet, creamy raspberry yoghurt and pink wafer biscuits.
Finish: Biscuits with toasted almonds.
Overall: A close run thing between this and the Glenburgie, but this won out as our dram of the series. Well worth picking up a bottle online.
The evening saw a whisky quiz with various teams of locals and visitors competing for a prize of a bottle of Inverleven 1973 / 36 Year Old / Deoch an Doras. Thankfully, it was someone from our group whose team won the prize and we returned to our lodgings with the promise of a dram. We were not let down and as the cork was popped, we settled in to our arm chairs to digest the days entertainment and rest our weary feet from the long walk earlier in the day. It was a much needed rest as the following day some folk were departing before the dawn chorus, whilst others of us were in for more fitness with yet another 12km walk only this time up a mountain...
Day Four:
Gulp... what were we thinking. Clearly the spirit of Speyside must have been inside us when we agreed to our next challenge. Caskstrength and TWEB had agreed to traverse the highest point in the region, the whisky mountain, Ben Rinnes. Much like Ronnie Cox’s red socks, you can see the mountain from everywhere in Speyside. The view from the top, we were promised, was going to be spectacular. And they were right. From the near-1,700ft you can see 8 different counties, backdropped by an incredible deep blue sky and a whole host of distilleries, nestled in amongst the landscape.
Our guides were to be the ever-knowledgeable Alan Winchester and the indefatigable Mr Dave Broom, who along with Ann Millar from Chivas Brothers, had installed a geoscope at the summit to all the distilleries you can see. The walk was packed with whisky enthusiasts from across the globe, including some members of London’s Whisky Squad,as well as other writers such as Hans Offringa, Oliver Klimek and anyone else who fancied signing up for the event. We’ve complied a small video to show you some of the journey, as well as Dave Broom’s assessment of the view from the top, which can be viewed here.
Once the summit was conquered the only real rearward was a dram and what better whisky to have than Benrinnes:
Benrinnes – 15 Years Old – Flora & Fauna – 43%- 70cl
Nose: Nuttella, cherry jam and digestive biscuits. A big nose with lots of bold character.
Palate: A big mouthfeel with warming elements of copper, coffee and some dark furniture polish, although not in a heavy sherry influenced way. Plus huge Walnuts. ;-)
Finish: Some wood spices, with the cherry jam returning. Well stewed tea without milk.
Overall: Very enjoyable, even with the wind lashing us and the massive plastic cup. Would like to try this at home in the warmth, but it was a hugely enjoyable dram to enjoy on its namesake peak!
What you want? a F***ing medal or something??
After making a hasty decent from the top, it was time to make our way back to Aberdeen airport for the (rather bumpy) flight home. With ultra-clear skies for take off, we could gaze out of the window at the mountain we had just conquered and as the plane lifted in to the sky, it was easy to pick out some of the distilleries we had seen just a few hours earlier from the top of the mount.
An amazing trip, with plenty of activities on offer for everyone. For more information on the Spirit Of Speyside Festival, visit www.spiritofspeyside.com/
So far, we've only seen one movie in the "new 3D" format at the cinema: Toy Story 3.
Proclaimed by Mark Kermode as "the greatest film trilogy of all time", it really did come to life and brought a whole new dimension to cinematic story-telling.
Never ones to be left behind by technology, here at Caskstrength.net, we're finally entering the 3D world!
Well sort of. Instead of just the regular 2D 'here's-our-thoughts-on-a-whisky' posts, we've decided to launch our first official 'in-the-flesh' Caskstrength tasting.... and we want you to come along....
On St Andrews Day, (Tuesday 30th November) we will be hosting a fabulous tasting in London with some of the good folk from The Glenlivet. The venue will be:
Along with The Glenlivet's Brand Ambassador Phil Huckle, We'll be going through some excellent examples from The 'livet catalogue for your delectation and delight... and something really very interesting and slightly mysterious too...
There are 15 places up for grabs here- If you’d like to join us, it couldn't be simpler.
“Me, please. I’d like to come along and drink some Glenlivet with you.”
And it gets better. If you can't make it into London, Fear not. Our friends at Edinburgh Whisky Blog will be hosting a similar Glenlivet tasting up in their home town, on the same night!!
A few house rules first, however:
1.You must be over the age of 18 Years and state your Date Of Birth in the email. (pretty obvious this one)
2.You must be able to get to the venue for 6pm on 30th November. We will be starting promptly!
3. This is a free event and we'll be drawing 15 names from a hat next Friday 12th November, so get emailing now...!
