Indie Indie Indie Part 1: The Whisky Exchange Exclusive Cask Selection

We love a good indie whisky release here at Caskstrength.net.  In fact, so keen are we on one-off interesting little gems, that they actually make up a rather large portion of our own cabinets. The issue with independent bottles is that unless you try it, you can’t quite be sure of what it is you’re gonna get. That’s the gamble.

The whole point of a proprietary bottling is consistency. When you buy a Glenfiddich 12 Year Old, you know you should be getting something very similar to the last bottle you bought. And the next bottle you buy.

Indie bottles are different, however. As the mavericks of the business, they can be totally leftfield from the norm. The Syd Barrett of bottlings: sometimes genius. Sometimes, erm, questionable.

But amid all the inconsistency that indie bottles can deliver, more often than not they uncover some real gems, as we saw recently with the liquid coming out from Cadenheads.

And it is retailers who seem to be taking a lead in either bottling their own expressions or working with other likeminded souls to release exclusive bottles of indie offerings.

A few weeks ago, The WhiskyExchange released eight new bottles; all independent bottlings, all exclusive to them. Of the eight, four are smoky, four are not. Let’s have a quick look at the latter four first:

Balmenach 1988 (25 years old), Hogshead #1132, Signatory Vintage, 55.6% abv: I think this is the first Balmenach we’ve ever reviewed on Caskstrength.net. A rich and creamy nose gives great flavours of watermelon and mint. The palate is oily and thick and gives oak spices, vanilla and tea tree oil. Takes water well to give a finish of strawberry coulis and cream.

Clynelish 1995 (17 years old), Refill Sherry Cask #12794, Signatory Vintage, 56.2% abv: The classic Clynelish nose of wax candles burning in the middle of a table where a steak dinner has just been served. This gives way to light summer fruits. On the palate, more meaty and waxy notes which are really quite delicious and provide a bold but rewarding flavour experience of plums and blackcurrants. The finish carries on in the fruity nature of the palate. Very tasty indeed.

Edradour 2006. Bottled 2013. Oloroso Cask #240. Bottled for The Whisky Exchange. 59.2% abv: A very oaky and woody nose, this is giving little more than ‘oak’ until the addition of water brings out the Oloroso notes, raspberry jam and cigar casing. The palate delivers more oak, dunnage warehouse flooring and some sulphur tones which linger into the finish, too.

Glentauchers 1997. Sherry Cask #5580, Gordon & Macphail for The Whisky Exchange. 54.3% abv: BBQ brisket, Mars Bar, chopped hazelnuts on the nose. The palate his a HUGE hit of sherry; so powerful yet with some grace and balance. But pretty much just sherry, backed with a hint of the BBQ brisket again. On the finish, coffee, coffee and more coffee. A big dram!

Of these four whiskies, the latter two were forward on the sherry front with the best of the bunch being the Clynelish which carried a great balance of flavours. A really quite fantastic dram.

On to the smoky offerings:

Ledaig 1997, Sherry Cask #465, Bottled by Gordon & Macpahil for The Whisky Exchange. 56.8% abv: Ahhh, we love a Ledaig here at Caskstrength.net and this is a great example of why. A rich nose of mince pie and smoke, sweet yet earthy. The palate gives smoked cream soda rapped with parma ham and figs and the finish... smoked brown sugar. A little dry, but aside from that a winning dram. Really very good indeed.

Kilchoman 2008. Bottled 2013. Bourbon Cask. Bottled for The Whisky Exchange. 61% abv: a whopping ABV here, I was expecting more smoke on the nose, but again this is classic Kilchoman, with smoked cheese, fresh vanilla pods and lilies on the nose, a hint of coal dust but more vanilla on the palate and more smoke an vanilla on the finish. 61%? You’d never guess it. Another brilliant, but disturbingly easy-to-drink, dram.

Caol Ila 1984 (29 Years Old), Refill Sherry Cask #2758. Signatory Vintage. 54.7% abv: Oooh, on the nose this is another corker. Rich balsamic notes mingle with air dried speck ham, cigar smoke and real ale. The palate gives real aged spirit, delicate oak balanced with smoke and cherry jam. The finish is a perfect mix of smoke and red berries. Delicious.

Laphroaig 1998 (15 Years Old), Refill Sherry Cask #700393. Signatory Vintage. 60.8% abv: Hummm... a very sweet nose, which works well with the smoke to give a Lapsang-Souchong-with-a-spoonful-of-sugar effect. The palate once again hides this massive abv with oak, varnish, antique shop, cinnamon spices and smoke. A finish of red fruits and more spice finish of this wonder.

So, that’s four fantastic peaty offerings from the good people at The Whisky Exchange. If I had to pick one... well, I’d go for the Kilchoman I think. No, the Laphroaig. No, wait... the Caol Ila! It is a very hard choice.

A nice step-change from your usual distillery bottlings, these showcase a different side of the distilleries on offer, in only a way that indie bottlers can do. Great stuff.

** A quick Amendment: The guys at TWE have informed us that the Edradour and Kilchoman bottlings are partnership releases with the distilleries, not indie releases. **

Islay Odyssey - Day Five: Des Lynham's Time Travelling Swedish Mercedes

So little time! It's hard to believe that our time on this great island is nearing an end already.  But Friday brings lots of places to visit and drams to catch up on.

Our first port of call is Bunnahabhain and their pier side open day.  Last year, the distillery open day was a little waterlogged and chilly, but not this time around.  Bathed in sunlight, the place looked exceptionally rustic, coupled with the mini highland games, laid out on the lawns to the back of the distillery.

Caskstrength opted for a little display of gentlemanly prowess by having a go at the caber tossing.  Not one to be outdone, Harrison threw first and made a total dog's dinner of the thing, with the angle of the fallen caber looking more like a badly pitched tent pole.  Ridley however used a fairly uncommon throw  based on similar principles to that of the Duckworth-Lewis Method, involving weather systems, trajectory and alcoholic beverage consumption.  It would prove to be a triumphant move and a despondent and defeated Harrison slunk off to find a consolation whisky.  Fortunately, a dram of Bunna' 18yo was located, alongside a tasty cup of freshly flash-fried local scallops.

Our time at the distillery was limited so we popped over to Bruichladdich for a catch up and a try of their  festival release, Nostalgia -   a big bold beast distilled in 1992 and matured in a Barolo cask, with rich dark fruity overtones and a touch of dryness.  


Our next whistle stop visit was over at Kilchoman for a little snack (soup of the day and a tuna roll always fix a hangover) and a dram of the new Machir Bay release.  This release has been buzzing amongst other Feis goers so we thought it high time we gave it a try.

Kilchoman - Machir Bay - NAS - 46%

Nose: Smoke and toasted marshmallow intertwined with hints of vanilla, elderflower and spearmint.

Palate: Delicate for a smoky whisky with cream cheese softness, underpinned with banana milkshake and smoke.

Finish: Warming, long and lingering with vanilla pods and spices.

Overall: One of the best whiskies we've tried on this trip, it belies its age and, at less than £40 a bottle, could well become a session whisky for peated single malt lover.

A short while later and feeling refreshed and revitalised, we decided to spend the evening exploring the island's rich history of illicit distillation, particularly retracing the long lost distilleries of the southern shore- all will be revealed in our next post! 

Post Christmas Blues?

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'.

Never Mind The Coffey Still, Here's The Tea Pot

My neighbours have just erected a shed in their garden. It looks fantastic and, as avid gardeners, they’re quite rightly using it to store pots, tools and other gardening equipment.

For some time now I’ve contemplated putting up a shed, but not for storage of gardening equipment. Oh, no. I would want to create a small area where I can smoke a cigar.

You see, smoking isn't something I do very often and I certainly won’t do it in the house. For starters, I share my place with a housemate and he’s not in to cigars at all. For him to come home to house smelling of tobacco just isn’t on (frying bacon on a Sunday morning? Yes! Stale cigar smoke on a Tuesday evening? No.) so a small shed in the garden would work wonders for this.

However, you can’t stop there, can you? Throw in a Chesterfield chair, a rug, an ash tray, a copy of Monocle Magazine and an old Roberts Radio tuned to Just A Minute on Radio 4 and after a few months you’d be wanting to move the drinks cabinet in. It’s a terribly difficult thing having a cigar without a malt of some repute being within arm’s reach. They are wonderfully comfortable bed fellows, the cigar and the malt.

After a few months relaxing in what, in my own mind has become labelled The Cigar Shed, one might find themselves with itchy feet: you could only sit there for so long without wondering what it might be like if you installed your own mini-still... I could knock out a whisky from the back of my council flat in South London. Cut it with some Peckham Spring Water and you’ve got the perfect dram!

I’m sure it’s the dream of every whisky drinker to at some stage in their life, to produce their own whisky. An utterly bonkers pipe dream, of course..

Well... no. Not at Kilchoman Distillery. Along with a few other ventures across Scotland (most notably Daftmill, but also in the pipeline are Kingsbarn and Falkirk), the guys at Kilchoman Distillery have turned a pipe dream in to reality, opening the first new distillery on the Isle Of Islay for more than 120 Years in 2005. And visiting their tiny distillery is about as close to seeing something which you could have in your shed, as is possible in Scotland.

With a 3 Year Old whisky finally launched in 2009 (read about caskstrength’s visit to the launch here), it seemed that the future wasn't just bright for the new distillery, it was positively blinding. After a stack of honours for the new release, including our first ever Best In Glass award in 2009, we have been eagerly awaiting each release from the Western Islay Distillery and last month came their big new offering: a whisky made 100% on Islay. In fact, 100% at the distillery. My dream of making whisky in my back garden has just been blown out of the water.

Using barley grown on the farm site where the distillery is located, malted in their own floor malting, distilled and matured on site and then bottled at the distillery too, this is a true feat of whisky making. It even transpires that bottling of small batches, such as the Cask Strength Edition of this release (see here on the left), is done using a tea pot by the distillery staff. Never mind a Coffey still, here’s the Tea Pot.

Named "100% Islay" and launched on the 16^th June 2011, this 3 year old single malt whisky is matured in first fill bourbon barrels and is available in two limited editions: 11,300 bottles of a 50% ABV edition priced at £69.00 a special distillery only edition, limited to 1,060 bottles, housed in an American white oak presentation box, bottled at cask strength (61.3%) and priced at £149.00.

Using ingredients sourced 100% from the local area is a big mission. But the main question, over-and-above the inclusion of local components, is whether the whisky maintain the high standards set by Kilchoman so far?

Kilchoman – 100% Islay Inaugural Release – 3 Years Old – 50% ABV

Nose: A big hit of smoke rises from the glass and buried beneath is lemon meringue pie; delicate, sugary citrus notes with a fluffy vanilla topping. You might at once mistake this for a young Ardbeg, but there is something more rounded and delicate about the nose, but it certainly owes a debt of gratitude to the Kildalton distilleries.

Palate: 50% abv sits very well with this release. I was a little worried that it might prove too strong, even with a cask strength edition above it in the rage. The smoke takes its rightful place in the driver’s seat here, but the rest of the palate is taken up with malted milk biscuit, more citrus fruit (this time zestier) and now some green apple and cream soda notes.

Finish: This finishes with the lingering nature of a well smoked islay whisky, but some length of pear drops, vanilla scented candles and whipped cream.

Overall: Another cracking release from this distillery. Like the Manchester United youth team, it just shouldn’t be this good at such a young age... but it is.

Watching the development of this distillery is something that will provide an education for us all. With so many long established distilleries making a marketing point out of their age, or the age of their stock, it is a joy to see a young pup such as Kilchoman shout loud and proud about its youth, its verve, its vim and its vigour.

Road To Islay Day Seven: Harrison, it's not about the money or the midgets.

Awaking to a fug of cigar smoke and the inimitable taste of Lagavulin from the night before, Thursday was yet another day of dashing all over the island in search of some cracking whiskies. Today was the day of Kilchoman’s open day, but also Jura, so our plan was to get the small ferry over to the island in the morning. But disaster struck. Again, the weather was too rough and the crossing was cancelled, throwing our trip out the window. So instead we stopped into the Islay Ales Brewery for a little look round and a quick half of their two whisk(ey) themed beers.

Islay Ales - Kentucky Kiss- 5.1%

This is a beer, which has been fermented in fresh bourbon barrels, then bottle conditioned. It is a dark, malty stout style ale, with pronounced malt extract aromas and a very fragrant, floral waft of bourbon sweetness. The palate has lots of character, with a sweet, malty tongue coating taste, again with bags of the bourbon fruitiness. Anyone fascinated with the link between beer and American whiskey should grab a bottle of this, as the flavours are extremely well balanced and showcase just how progressive Islay Ales have become as an artisanal brewery.

Islay Ales – Single Malt Ale – 5.0%

Winner of a gold medal at the CAMRA champion Bottled beer awards in 2010, the single malt ale has a superbly clean, floral nose, with pronounced hoppiness and lemon zest, reminding us of a slightly heavier IPA. It is brewed using only pale malt (hence the ‘single malt’ description) and American Amarillo and English Bramling Cross hops. The palate is again clean zesty and very hoppy, making this a cracker of a summer ale- alas not what we’re experiencing on Islay at present.

Onwards to Kilchoman and we arrive to a bustling open day, which is hugely pleasing and a sign of prosperity for this great new Islay distillery. The festival bottling this year is a 5yo from 2006 and a vatting of 2 fresh bourbon casks - no 31 and 32 and then finished in Oloroso sherry. Apologies for the lack of picture- we’ll stick one up as soon as possible.

Kilchoman – Feis Ile 2011 bottling – 500 bottles - 56%

Nose: Very fresh marzipan notes, slightly zesty, with buttery tones and a whiff of smoke and dark sherry.

Palate: Sharp with heathery honey tones, with sooty coal smoke, then sweet banana foam sweet notes. More than a hint of Caol Ila’s Moch about it, but at cask strength.

Finish: The smoke lingers with light, sweet malt notes.

Overall: Light weight with less of the pronounced peat, which earlier bottlings of Kilchoman have exhibited. We really liked this – again thinking it will probably shine brighter on a hot summers day than a rain sodden weekend in May!

We had a little chat with Anthony Wills who gave us a sneak preview of the distillery’s new bottle shape, which will see its first service for their 100% Islay bottling, which is due out later in June. Caskstrength will be back on Islay for the launch, so stay tuned for more info…

We’d worked up a bit of an appetite by now and our pals at Master Of Malt were hosting a bit of an impromptu BBQ at their digs in Carnduncan. The wind had begun to whip up but our chef Ben expertly manned the stoves- to produce some of the finest Southern style cuisine we’ve ever tasted; Racks of baby back ribs, home made BBQ sauce, thinly sliced lamb and hand turned burgers. But to begin - Ridley had to encounter his culinary nemesis, the humble Islay oyster. Quite why anyone can derive pleasure from oysters is beyond Ridley- as this video perfectly illustrates.

In our next post, we visit Bunnahabhain for their open day and start pricing up distillery themed 3-piece tweed suits at the Islay Woollen Mill. Will Ridley’s Visa finally succumb to the massive seizure it has been threatening??

Summer's 'Choman Gone....

God, these titles get decidedly worse, but with Kilchoman, they just write themselves!

There's something about late summer that always gets me in a slightly melancholic mood. One can usually expect a few really great weekends of sunshine, but you kind of know that lurking in the background is the rain - waiting to dampen your spirits and signal the start of the rest of the year.

This week has been dreadful weather in London. One moment sunshine, the next... torrential rain. What is a chap to wear? My usual brogues are now sodden, after an ill-fated walk down Oxford Street, prompting me to have to buy the world's most useless umbrella.

As I have written on here before, I purchased a rather fine wooden handled umbrella from a very reputable shop, but it is currently being repaired and out of desperation, I had to purchase a £7 'tourist special' from a vender selling joke Police helmets, 'I Heart London' t-shirts and postcards plastered with comedy London 'themed' breasts. Highly tasteful stuff as i'm sure you can imagine.

Once unfurled, the umbrella lasted for exactly 5 minutes and 23 seconds, before someone bumped into it, leaving one pathetic half hanging down limply, dripping water into my bag of whisky samples. It would have actually been cheaper to hail a taxi to take me to my destination.

Anyway, moaning aside, one of the samples (whose label was sadly turned to an inky mush by the rain) was Kilchoman's brand new Summer Release. Earlier this week, we reviewed a rather unexpected single cask bottling of Kilchoman, which was excellent. So it was all the more timely that we received their big release, just before the summer was well and truly lost for another year.

A hot summer's day triumph on the Cote d' Azur.... or a wet weekend in Prestatyn? Let's find out...

Kilchoman - Summer Release - 46 %

Nose: Banana milkshake, wet leaves/humid forest notes, tinned fruit cocktail sweetness and some sherbet. With a hint of water, some malty/gristy notes develop.

Palate: Burnt bonfire peat, charcoal notes, very decisive but not too dominating. With a little hint of water, the palate really opens up with some orchard fruit pie, tablet toffee and peppery BBQ steak.

Finish: Quite fatty/oily and very rich. The bonfire peat starts to develop a more peppery note as the palate dries.

Overall: It's official. Kilchoman keep turning out really well made whisky. Apparently, this release is Anthony Wills' favourite so far. It of course bears many similarities with the previous releases, but what is abundantly clear is that the whisky is starting to develop an undoubted distillery character, fitting in perfectly next to the other more established peated monsters. It isn't medicinal, it isn't highly phenolic, but it has a wonderful balanced smoke and as a result, simply cannot be ignored. Keep 'em 'choman guys!!

Keep 'em 'Choman...

Fridays are always a frantic time over at Caskstrength towers. The once clear dining room table is by and large reduced to a state of annihilation. Bottles sit half drunk, last night's sampling Glencairns need washing up and piles of notes/ press releases and general marketing gumph need filing in the circular file.

So it is all the more refreshing when you have a bottle that has sat there quietly, waiting for its chance to be opened when all the melee has died down.

This week's happens to be a sample bottle of Kilchoman - a single bourbon cask from 2007.

We had been expecting a sample of the Summer Release, which went on sale last week, so this was a complete surprise. All being well, we'll be able to bring you notes of this in a few days, but for now, settle back back and enjoy something else from this cracking new distillery. I have no idea if it's ever destined to see the light of day, but lets hope so...

Kilchoman - Single Bourbon Cask - Cask No. 114/07 - 62.2% abv - 50ppm

Nose: Crisp, with some earthy tones rising immediately to the fore, backed up with a wholesome, malty peat aroma. It is so very different to the peat aromas of other Islay distilleries, lacking the iodine/brine of the Port Ellen trio. This is more aromatic coffee, with a large measure of frothy milk and a couple of complimentary Werther's Originals thrown in for good measure.

Palate: As one would expect from a whisky at 62%... it is hot and very spiky. But a little sharp lemon sherbet rises through, alongside some coal-dusted malt. Water makes the mouthfeel a little softer, like biting into a chocolate with some gooey vanilla caramel in the middle, but there is still a feisty, peppery peat wanting to kick your tonsils in at the slightest ill-advised look. Think Begbie from Trainspotting holding a box of Milktray and you're close to what this feels like in the mouth.

Finish: The coffee of the nose returns (sans milk) and that's when you start to realise there's some magic at work here- the coal dust makes a black-handed grab for your tongue and also a hint of something sweet but definitely earthy which outlasts all the other flavours. I'm thinking carrots freshly pulled from the garden... (which reminds me, Mrs Caskstrength asked me to water the veg patch and I totally forgot...oops)

Overall: It's hard to dislike anything that Kilchoman is putting out at the moment. The single cask which was released for this year's Feis Ile (incidentally, the sister cask to this) had youth, fire and intensity, backed up by enough sweetness, peat and maturity to warrant a second helping. This is virtually the same, albeit maybe slightly more manic at first. Give it a little time in the glass (with water) and then it starts to come to life.

Help The Aged

Yesterday, Chivas Brothers launched a “global campaign to advocate the importance and value of age statements to consumers”.

Chivas have done some research which basically comes to the conclusion that people buying whisky, be it single malt or blended, think that the greater the age on the label, the better the whisky inside*. As you will know if you read this blog, that’s a load of old bollocks. Last year, the winner of our Best In Glass Award was a 3 Year Old, in the Kilchoman. The previous year however, it was a whisky from the early 1970’s. The issue with whisky is not HOW LONG something is aged for, but HOW WELL it is aged. And neither should an increased age statement be used as an excuse to demand a higher price.

The most obvious example of these two factors combining that springs to mind is Lagavulin where you have a 12 Year Old whisky at a higher price than a 16 Year Old. And which is better? Well, in our opinion the 12 Year Old is better. A younger whisky which is better than its older counterpart, but also MORE EXPENSIVE. This is one example of a younger whisky being both “better” and more highly priced than its older counterpart.

If we were to expand this argument to a no-age statement bottling, then we should look to Aberlour: the No Age Statement A’bunadh comes out more expensive than their age statement 10 Year Old. And of course it’s more expensive because it is “better” (note: the word “better” is in adverted commas. This is because it is both our expressed opinion and that of the wider drinking community. You may feel the Aberlour 10 Year Old is blessed with flavours which could come only from God himself and if so, you’re totally entitled to these opinions).

So having said all that, let’s try and dig into the Chivas argument for the promotion of age statements on whisky. Let’s start with a little video on the matter:

Now, if you didn’t watch that (or you’re reading this via our mailout), then let me pick up on a major point made less than 20 seconds in to the video, where it states:

“Look for the number... A guarantee of Age... A guarantee of quality.”

Hummmm... no. There is no direct link between the age of a whisky and the quality of a whisky, as Chivas testify themselves with the Aberlour A’bunadh. Old whisky can be very good. But it can also be very poor. And the same is true with young whisky; it can be very good, or very poor.

From here on in, however the video gets much better. There is a genuine attempt to educate the consumer as to what an age statement means. It means that there is a guarantee of a minimum maturation length of the whisky in the bottle. And it is clear from the aforementioned research that a lot of consumers are not aware of this and thus it is important to educate and inform about the true meaning of an age statement.

It does sit awkwardly with me though that the initial frame of reference in this video is saying “Look for the age of the whisky as that makes it good.” This is a question I was able to put to Neil Macdonald, Brand Director for Chivas Brothers.

“It’s all about educating the consumer”, Neil told me. “We’re in a global business and there are certain markets where drinking whisky is a new trend and not everyone understands the impact and importance of an age statement on a bottle. It’s time we went out and proclaimed the benefits of age”.

And I agree. The more the consumer is educated about the contents of the bottle, the more it will help them to see through the marketing and make an informed decision about the quality of the whisky behind the label. And at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. The quality of the whisky.

One of my top whiskies at present is Nikka From The Barrel, a no age statement whisky where I don’t even know what the label says as it’s all in Japanese. You see, I don’t give a toss about what’s written on the back or the front, because the stuff inside is so bloody good. Maybe we’ll start a campaign to ban age statements altogether... then you really would have to judge the whisky on the quality of the whisky...

*In their research, 94% of consumers believe the age statement serves as an indicator of quality and 93% believe that older whiskies are better quality.

Islay Feis Ile - bottlings round up

Welcome to the jungle. Here we are back in The Big Smoke. The city is full of giant concrete structures and asphalt pavements that have sucked in the all heat from the weekend, when it hit 30 degrees and are now slowly releasing warmth into the cooler, moist air like a giant urban sauna. Yesterday I walked two blocks in Central London and ended up feeling like Michael Douglas’ character Bill Foster in Falling Down. It’s a far cry from the sundrenched Kildalton shoreline, but in order to afford time on Islay drinking great whisky and buying rare, festival only bottles for consumption at a later date, you’ve gotta put the work in and earn the cash. So here we are, back in our concrete jungle. Back at work.

Getting home to the goodies purchased on the island (and one bottle picked up at Loch Fyne Whiskies en route home- see above) and sitting back with a large dram of the Caol Ila Festival Bottling, we thought we’d put together a summary of the interesting bottlings that we’re released in 2010 and, with the festival not yet over, some exclusives of the ones that are yet to come...

Let’s start with day one, which was the Lagavulin Open Day. Here we picked up two bottles, the single cask Festival Bottling, selected by the amazing Iain “Pinkie” McArthur. Released at £74.99 and limited to around 525 bottles (we can’t remember the exact figure) distilled in 1994 and bottled in 2010 the cask (number 3210) is an ex European oak. Their Distillery Only bottling is a cask strength, double matured, no age statement whisky which retails at £69. I heard someone from the distillery mention that there were only 1,000 cases of this (6,000 bottles) but I don’t know how true that is. You can read our notes on this bottling here.

The Festival Bottling sold out before the end of the day, the first time I’ve seen this with their Feis Ile release. Usually the release is available for a couple of days after their open day but this year it seemed to fly off the shelves. Maybe people have been reading notes on how good these bottlings are. You can read our previous notes on 2008 here and last year's here. Or maybe they've been looking here.

It was a similar story over at Caol Ila, with their cask strength Distillery Only bottling (bottled in 2007) This was the second year that they’d released a festival-only bottling and, much like Lagavulin, it was similar to last years release (both European oak ex- sherry casks) but the 2009 edition was distilled in December 1996 and this years was from August 1999, so just a couple of years younger and it was retailing at £74.99.

Up the bay from Caol Ila is Bunnahabhain who pioneered the whole festival bottling idea under the stewardship of ex-manager John MacLellan, who is now up at Kilchoman. The previous couple of years has seen the price of their festival bottling rocket, but this year they’re releasing a single cask 18yo Pedro Ximinez Finish, 384 bottles at £85. Back on course with something interesting and well priced. The bottle went on sale at the start of the week, but it has been so popular that they’ve stopped selling it to hold some back for their open day tomorrow (bottles available from 10am). A doff of the cap to the chaps at Bunnahabhain. Apologies for the lack of bottle shot here.

As mentioned John MacLellan is now up at Kilchoman and they’re doing their first ever festival bottling this year, a single cask at £55. Distilled in 2007 the bottling will be at 62.2%, drawn from a Bourbon cask (no: 11307) and limited to 258 bottles. A good price but it will be young, of course! We hope to bring you some tasting notes of this shortly (as well as a bottle shot!!)

Heading down the road to Bruichladdich, they knocked out two bottles this year. The first was the excellent (or not so excellent, depending on which blog you read!) Islay Barley 2004 Valinch. Another fill-your-own bottling from the chaps at ‘Laddich, this 6 year old retailed at £55 for 50cl. Last year was a 1993 single cask for the same money (except there was a buy two for £100 deal which legally they’re no longer allowed to do. Something to do with the government’s anti-binge drinking policy. The phrase “cracking a walnut with a sledgehammer” comes to mind!) They also snuck out another very limited bottling which was only available to people with a ticket for the Renegade Rum Masterclass. This was a 20 Year Old Rum Finish single cask of just 105 bottles at 55.5%.

Around the bay to Bowmore and they’ve wrestled the prize for “most expensive festival bottling” away from Bunnahabhain (but only just! More on that later...) by putting out a 25 Year Old at £325. To be fair, there is only 100 bottles of this and they have offered another bottling, batch 2 of their excellent Tempest (batch one review here) which will run to just 500 bottles and comes with a signed certificate, all for just £45. Nice.

Jura aren't doing a specific FI bottling but have elected to release Prophecy, a heavily peated batch and also the Boutique range, which will be part of their on-going range in the future.

Onward to the two Kildalton distilleries we’ve not yet covered; Laphroaig and Ardbeg.

Laphroaig have settled nicely into a consistent release schedule for the Feis Ile, again shifting out a bottle of Càirdéas, this time their Master Edition for £45. Bottled at 57.3%, the whiskies in this edition range from 11 to 19 years in age, as opposed to last year's definitive 12 yo version. No info on how many bottles, but it will be available through the Friends of Laphroaig online shop after the Feis Ile. We'll have some further notes on this bottling shortly.

Finally, we finish at Ardbeg who have their open day on Saturday. This effectively brings the festival to a close, along with the final fling and with the 10^th Anniversary of the Committee, the buzz of excitement is enormous. Earlier in the year all Committee Members were sent an official invitation to the Open Day with tear-out tickets inside for rides on the day. What will be there? Rollercoasters? Helterskelters? Skittles? Wack The Rat? Who knows! But it sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun.

Whilst we were on Islay, we managed to try a sample of a Distillery-Only 10yo release, which had just sold out when we arrived on Saturday (RRP £180) No doubt there will be other releases like this in the future. Notes below:

Ardbeg - 'Distillery Only' Single Cask - Refill Sherry Hogshead - Cask 2763 - distilled 14th September 1998 - Bottled 5th November 2009- 55.6% vol - 70cl

A note on the colour: much darker than the standard issue 10 year old

Nose: An immediate dusty nature with the nose, hints of sandalwood and cedar. Then the smoke hits in a soft and delicate way - hidden behind the smoke some fruity notes emerge, predominantly over ripe bananas and apricot.

Palate: The first full scale flavour is the fruit, the apricot coming at you head on, using smoke as its engine. Then it starts to heat up, with notes of red chilli and cracked black pepper. With water, the fruits are enhanced and hints of soil and earth appear.

Finish: The smoke really takes hold now and it becomes quite firey on the finish. A last minute delivery of salt hits the mouth at the death. Lots of salt and perhaps a touch of the fruit again right at the end. With water, the saltiness is slightly reduced, creating a better balance overall.

Overall: A pretty solid single cask release from Ardbeg. Our personal preference is for refill bourbon over sherry casked Ardbeg, but this is decent. More like the Corryvreckan and less like the standard Ten, if we were to compare with the standard releases.

One thing we do know about is Ardbeg's Festival Bottling for 2010. (see a sneak preview of the bottle above) Last year they released a Feis Ile pair of 2 single casks, 1189 and 1190, both ten years old (from 1998) and in toasted oak which went out at £130 a bottle. This year's release is another single cask bottling. Whoop! Cask 2761 from 1995, a refill bourbon cask.

As it happens, we were lucky enough to try this at last year's festival at the Twisted Tasting during the Open Day. Back then it was called The Warehouseman’s Special and here are our notes- Perhaps it will taste even better now it's bottled.

Ardbeg - Warehouseman's Special - 1995 refill bourbon - 53.7% - cask 2761 (now Ardbeg Feis Ile Bottling 2010 and bottled at 53.3%)

Nose: Superb vanilla + fudge ice cream over flambéed bananas, coffee revels fresh orange juice, pepper. Fresh chopped mix herbs.

Palate: Heather infused fudge, caramels (hints of burnt sugar?), soft peat, effortlessly sweet notes, into bitterness. Malty cereals. The peat takes time to appear but breaks through to be fairly delicate and well balanced.

Finish: Classic soft Ardbeg fudge, smoke and light elegant peat. Juice from tinned pineapples / a hint of citrus.

Overall: Another sensational dram fresh from the warehouse. We have a soft spot for refill bourbon cask Ardbegs which gives excellent vanilla, citrus and tobacco notes to the peaty spirit.

They’ve squeezed out 228 bottles from the cask and this will be retailing at £220.

Okay...here's the issue. This is a MASSIVE price rise on last year's releases- especially when you consider that you could have got 2 single casks for virtually the price of just this one!

As most of you already know, the team at the distillery are truly wonderful hosts and from what we've heard, they've worked tirelessly to make this year's open day, also the 10th Anniversary of the committee, the most spectacular yet. I think it is a shame to couple all their hard work and efforts with a bottling that, from our point of view, doesn't offer value for money, especially considering its age and the Feis Ile bottlings released by the other distilleries. Come on LVMH! Sort it out for next year!! Don't let price ruin such a wonderful event. Take a leaf out of everyone else's book and provide something which is easier on the pocket and a true reward for those partaking in what is always such a wonderful open day.

**UPDATE** We're hearing reports that the Ardbeg festival bottling was actually re-priced at the last minute to £125. Fair play here, a much more reasonable price and something for the real fans. Apparently there was a few folks waiting in line from the night before. That's dedication for you!

Anyway, we're not there. We're stuck here, away from all the undoubted merriment. Whisky always tastes that little bit better at the distillery so to everyone who is visiting the island over the next few days, leave all your troubles on the mainland and have a wonderful relaxing time.

Good luck to all the distilleries who have open days still to run (Jura, Bunnahabhain and of course, Ardbeg and we'll see you all again in 2011!

Slainte.