Indie, Indie, Indie Part 2: Master of Malt DARKNESS! Collection

In our second look at some indie releases from retailers, it is the chaps over at Master of Malt who yet again throw their creative brains into a cask, add in a bunch of spirit and leave it to infuse.

Having stepped up their game in terms of their own bottlings (crowing their releases with a 60 Year Old earlier this year), some of the most memorable ones being an 18 year old Ardbeg last year and a very floral Bowmore before that, they have now released a new mini-series of whiskies which have all been additionally finished in a small, first fill sherry cask (50 litres).

The series, known as Darkness!, features spirit from Ardbeg, Macallan and Clynelish distilleries as well as two from Benrinnes.

Benrinnes 15 Years Old, Pedro Ximenez Cask Finish, 53.3% abv: A nose of rich fruits and oak, linseed oil and fresh leather. The palate gives a firm oak note, followed by dark cherries, cinnamon and nutmeg. Fruity and spicy. The finish is oaky and fruity with lasting spices. A big tasting dram.

Benrinnes 15 Years Old, Oloroso Cask Finish, 52.9% abv: A more subtle dram with less big oak and more fresh pine (as you would expect from the different style cask), raspberry and white chocolate. The palate is again more subtle with cherry pie and apricot jam. The finish gives sandalwood and old leather.

Macallan 15 Years Old, Pedro Ximenez Cask Finish, 52.3% abv: Ginger and mint, this is the most closed of the five samples we have but over time opens up to reveal vanilla and cream soda. The Palate is sweet and rounded, the most easy drinking of the bunch and feels a lot older in flavour, with a hint of sulphur and red apple. Finish plays with spent matches and meaty pulled pork.

Clynelish 16 Years Old, Oloroso Cask Finish, 54.9% abv: Wood polish/wax, butter beer, some sweet cure bacon and ghee on the nose. The palate is hazelnut praline, walnuts and crunchie bar. The finish is chopped chilli and milk chocolate.

Ardbeg 21 Years Old, Pedro Ximenez Cask Finish, 40.1% abv: Well, this shows that no matter what cask Ardbeg spirit has been sitting in, you always ‘come home’ to Ardbeg when you stick your nose in a glass of it. Classic Ardbeg smoke, this isn’t a meaty dram it is quite delicate for a PX casked whisky and at 21 years old comes from their lighter production period (in terms of volume) of the early 1990’s.  Apple pie with cinnamon and warm custard on the nose, followed by a palate of very delicate smoke, apple sours, some sour cherry, vanilla and lemongrass.  

Of these initial samples, the two Benrinnes showed up the best. The biggest curveball was the Ardbeg which we thought might end up somewhere in Lagavulin 16 territory but actually retains a huge amount of vanilla and green apple; a surprisingly easy dram to drink but not a ‘sherry monster’ like the others.

This range is due to spin off battings from other Scotch distilleries, including single grains (which we are personally looking forward to the most) and already has a North British, Dailuaine, two Aberlours, an Aultmore, a Glen Moray and a Tomintoul (all carrying age statements) in their stable. Obviously, coming from such a small cask, they are in 50cl bottles (the new ‘en vogue’ bottle size these days, don’t ya know) and bottled at cask strength.

   

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. **

God Jul fra CaskStrength! Clynelish Single Malt Scotch Whisky And Something A Little Different

It's Christmas Eve! God Jul to all our Scandinavian readers. We hope you have something special in your glass.

Each year, when Christmas rolls around, I like to choose something special to have over the festive period.

Last year, my choice was a Highland Park 21 year old and the year before, the Harrison tipple was a single cask Glendronach.

This year, I find myself not in my native Oxford, but up in the Highlands of Scotland.

With snow forecast and not a huge amount of options other than a Tesco locally, I took a trip to the nearby town of Pitlochry to the quite fabulous Drinkmonger store.

It was there that I discovered an excellent selection of bottles, many from the indie bottler and local lads Signatory, with one bottle catching my eye: a single cask Clynelish.

Clynelish – Signatory - 1995 / 2013 (21.12.95 / 11.04.2013) – cask #12796 – bottle 130 of 859 – 43% abv - £55.00

Nose: Pickled herring, roast chestnut, a hint of Seville orange, jasmine tea, vanilla, toffee.

Palate: Tobacco, some light sooty notes, dark chocolate, cherry lips, rich and oily with some light green veg and ‘the herb’ as they say in South London.

Finish: More of the skunk tones with light vanilla.

Overall: Well... I wouldn’t have chosen a bad one for the Xmas factor, would I?! Honestly, a CRACKER for the price.

But this year, to get me through Christmas in foreign lands, one bottle wasn't nearly enough. 

No, Sir!

This year, I also took a momento with me, picked up on one of the CaskStrength trips of the year.

It was in the first half of 2013 that saw Neil and I head out to Gascony for a research trip to visit the brandy-producing region of Armagnac; one of many trips taken this year to help us write a forthcoming book, due out in 2014. More on that later next year.

A little tip for all you whisky-lovers out there: if you happen to visit the Armagnac region, don't do what I did and take just a suitcase (or what Neil did and take a tiny suitcase). Why? Because you'll want to buy, buy, buy...

Having totally exceeded my easyJet baggage limit, mainly with bottles of 1979 vintage (all for the price of a good blended Scotch), I have been carefully choosing which bottles to open over the course of the year... one was cracked on my birthday a couple of weeks ago. And the another just yesterday.

Castarede - Bas-Armagnac – 1979 Vintage – 40% abv

Nose: Grenadine, cherry (black), toffee, big hit of oak and some almonds, a hit of antique shop and big Christmas Cake. Right at the death, warming Bovril.

Palate: Dried orange, candied cherries, marzipan, fresh coffee (black, again), liquorice root.

Finish: Massive powered cocoa and granulated brown sugar; white tea. Mint.

Overall: Yes, a very good example of a vintage Armagnac. Not the greatest I’ve ever had, but certainly challenge for it. A lovely counterpoint to the light and refreshing Clynelish.

Two totally different beasts of spirits; one grain, one grape. One delicate and light, one rich and fruity. And both for well under £100!

So whatever you choose to dram in Christmas with, just make sure that you leave something good for Santa when he arrives, for when everone has retired to bed, as I'm sure whatever has been left out will magically disappear... Enjoy!

The Wemyss Medal Table

Ok, so we're one day off now, weather looks great, Boris has just given a suitably rousing, but slightly xenophobic speech at Hyde Park and we got the first gob-smacking, hum-dinging mistake out the way with the Korean flag f**k up.  Having been down to see the Olympic torch relay hit my manor on Tuesday, to witness the reaction it got from the usually cynical South Londoners, I think the Olympics and Team GB are going to be a huge success.

But what to drink?

Is there a gold, silver and bronze line up of booze out there, to enjoy in times of triumph - and perhaps a commiseration dram to lift one's spirits when diving sensation Tom Daley comes 6th, due to suffering fatigue from all his pre-Olympics media commitments.

Of course it is completely subjective, but here at Caskstrength, we've worked out a little drinking game to mirror the actual games themselves.

In-keeping with the actual medals table, we'll be trying to consume beverages produced by the top ten medal winning nations during the next two weeks.  Now as you will see below, this immediately presents us with a continent-sized problem.  Looking at the huge success of China in the 2008 Beijing games, I think we'll mostly be drinking shochu for a fortnight.  However, we've come up with a strategy to combat this, due to the lack of  readily available domestic Chinese spirit in the Caskstrength office. As whisky is now hugely popular in China, and often consumed with green tea, we'll use this as our oriental caveat. 


So Russia...erm...vodka?


 And South Korea?... Oh forget it. What a bloody stupid idea this was.

Joking aside, we will be bringing you whiskies from a few international nations over the Olympic period and, when we can be bothered, a fun, national-themed cocktail too.  Tonight though, we'll start with our first offering in the shape of a trio of excellent new releases from indie bottlers, Wemyss (or to apply the ludicrous-Olympics-theme-we've-mistakenly-saddled-ourselves- with, 'Team GB')

We last featured a batch of their interestingly titled releases last year and in that time, the world seems to have gone a little bit gaga for their flavoursome offerings.  This current batch is in keeping with the creative naming policy, working on dessert themes.  So seeing as my supper of tuna and lime fishcakes, steamed anya potatoes and peas has now gone down, I might as well prepare for afters...

Wemyss - Campbeltown -  Glen Scotia - 1991 - 'Strawberry Ganache' - 46%

Nose: Waxy notes, dark honey, malt extract, floor polish, honey comb and dark chocolate. It's very rich, malty and heavy- more Black Forest Gateau, than a ganache.  

Palate:  A lovely silky, oily mouthfeel, giving notes of woody sherry, cinnamon bark, black treacle and tobacco.  Given a bit of time, mint humbugs and rum-soaked raisins coat the whole of the mouth.  

Finish: Lengthy, malty, bittersweet and heavyweight. In fact, as heavy as an olympic medal, no doubt.  

Overall: If this were a medal, colour wise, it has to be bronze, but don't let the colour influence your decision- this is a top step of the podium whisky. Superb.

                                     

Wemyss -  Highland -  Clynelish - 1997 - 'Fresh Fruit Sorbet' - 46%  

Nose: Wow, now we've finished our ganache (or gateau) it's on to a palate cleansing fruit salad and what a bowl of loveliness we have here.  Papaya, blood orange, fresh strawberry, lavender, parma violet, fruit sherbet and freshly cut red apple.  There's also a waft of cedarwood if you dig deep enough.

Palate: Quite hot, but then an explosion of fruitiness on the tongue, tinned peaches and cream, mango, raspberries, more sherbet (citrus this time) and American original chewing gum (think Hubba Bubba or Bazooka Joes)

Finish: The fruit notes linger, with a touch of green apple peel, giving way to some lighter liquorice spiciness. Not hugely lengthy, but pleasant and very summery. 

Overall:  Unusually fruity for a Clynelish, lacking some of the waxy notes one would ordinarily expect, but making up for the absence with that stonking fruit bowl effect. Golden in colour, but perhaps running a close second or silver to the Glen Scotia. 

Our final contestant is the youngest of the trio, coming from the Lowlands.  Will it be Usain Bolt on a good day... or a 2012 Daley Thompson comeback?  Let's find out.

Wemyss - Lowland - Auchentoshan - 1998 -  'Lemon Sorbet' - 46%

Nose: Unusual at first, sappy pine freshness, pea shoots and clean linen all spring to attention off the bat.  Given time, some pencil shavings, followed by a touch of basil start to develop. It's hard to pin this one down and it is a little closed.  A drop of water brings out some more mineral-like notes and some cherry sherbet.

Palate: Sweet, with a touch of vanilla, more cherry sherbet but quite short in the character department, compared to the other two. A touch of pepper rounds out the experience.

Finish: Short, with notes of vanilla again.

Overall: The weakest of the three releases, this has moments where it tries to grab your attention, but is just a little too polite, compared to the might of the Glen Scotia and the fruity charm of the Clynelish.  

To stick with the Olympic theme (sorry) the Auchentoshan is probably a little way off being selected for Team GB, needing more time to find its feet, whereas the Glen Scotia is the already experienced  gold medal shoe-in Sir Chris Hoy and the Clynelish a confident, talented and very feminine Jessica Ennis. 

Promise i'll stop now.  Let's hope the lighting of the opening ceremony Olympic flame goes more smoothly than this shocking fire lighting attempt:

All The Way To The Finishing Line

What an incredible few months it's been. Unbelievably we now hit March and the rumbling of the jungle drums has begun in earnest, with the whisky business releasing a salvo of new releases upon us or urging us to revisit some classics of old.

Last month perfectly highlighted this premise, when I attended a superb whisky event in Helsinki. Uisge, now in its 2nd year was a rip roaring success and the organisers estimated that over two days, around 1,5oo people attended the event, held at the heart of the city. What is surprising is that despite the good will of the organisers, the brands attending- and of course the attendees, it is virtually impossible to do anything remotely exciting with whisky- and indeed- other spirits, due to the draconian rules imposed by the Finnish government and their state monopoly Alko, who control the sale of high strength alcohol. Uisge was a huge success, without any promotion, advertising or even an official website! Hell, the only thing you could find about the event was an 'unofficial' Facebook page and lots of chatter about it via Finnish whisky groups and societies.

Anyway, this isn't a piece on the state of Finnish drinking culture. What I wanted to highlight is that Finland, alongside its Scandinavian cousins is now a real serious hotbed of whisky knowledge and passion.

As part of my talk on cask finishes- the organiser presented me with a mystery whisky to discuss with the assembled group. It transpired that it was a cask strength Laphroaig, which have been re-casked into a smaller five litre vessel, which had previously been seasoned with Oloroso sherry for several weeks.

A debate ensued as to how long the whisky needed to develop extra complexity and depth- not that long is transpired - with a rich treacle like overcoat giving the powerful laphroaig an amazing additional personality. I was also fortunate enough to take home several samples of similar finishing experiments undertaken by one of Finland's keen collectors and whisky aficionados, Mika Hanka - including a wonderfully rich take on Ardbeg's Renaissance. Many thanks Mika!

Anyway, all this got me thinking about the nature of cask finishing. Some people hate it, some people, it seems, can't get enough of it. I think the problem largely lies in the fact that the majority of cask finishes of old were done to hide the undesirable characteristics of the base whisky, masking it in whatever sticky/tannic/fruity cloak available.

One series of cask finishes that changed the benchmark with their ability to highlight the synergy between a distillery's individual characteristics and the additional maturation in decent, complimentary casks was the Diageo Distillers Edition range. As we discussed last week, during the lagavulin tasting post, the Distillers Edition bottling Laga, highlighted that sherry and peat can happy play in the same sandpit, even growing up as childhood sweethearts. It still stands as one of my all time favourite Lagavulins, especially that each batch seems to differ slightly, but never disappoints.

Whilst in Helsinki, I had the opportunity to try the Talisker Distillers Edition and was shocked by how much the hot,peppery, salty peat consumed so well with the Amoroso casks used for the additional maturation, so all this got me thinking, wouldn't it be nice to demo a few of the others in the range, that you don't get to see every day?

So here is the first tranche of three, including the Oban, Clynelish and Caol Ila.

Oban - Distillers Edition - Distilled in 1995 - bottled in 2010 - Double matured in Montilla Fino sherry oak - 43%

Nose: An initial note of cloudy apple juice kicks off the proceedings, followed by white grape fruitiness, some elderflower notes, floral/zesty candle wax and a slightly salty/briny note. Balanced and extremely inviting.

Palate: A big malty coating, followed by some orchard fruit sweetness, some hints of liquorice and then a wash of sea salt. It's big chewy and dominating.

Finish: Liquorice notes, a hint of anise and the sea salt all linger, as the palate dries out.

Overall: A proper mouthful of whisky. It is smooth, well balanced but bold and compelling. The fruit is harmonious the the character of the original whisky. What a great start.

Next up: Clynelish, in all its waxy glory...

Clynelish - Distillers Edition - Distilled in 1993 - bottled in 2010 - Double matured in Oloroso Seco oak - 46%

Nose: Well, first things first - there's the wax. Big bold and beautiful floral candle wax, but this time, there is a distinctly sweet fruit note to contend with too. Almost fresh gooseberries, a bowl of over ripe strawberries and some malted breakfast cereal. Perhaps even a whiff of powder paint too.

Palate: Strawberries and fresh cream, all the way. A distinct malt note also develops, perhaps like rye bread but it balances the sweet fruit out nicely.

Finish: Lingering fruit, with a return of the classic Clynelish wax right at the end.

Overall: Another cracking example of putting the right whisky with the right cask. Lovely stuff.

Finally for this instalment - Caol Ila.

Caol Ila - Distillers Edition - Distilled in 1997 - Bottled in 2010 - Double matured in Moscatel oak - 43%

Nose: A very sweet, almost sickly smoke note, which has undertones of barbecued bananas, icing sugar and dessert wine. Surprisingly integrated, with the medicinal notes balancing well with the sweet fruit.

Palate: Very clean, with more sweet peat on the palate, but developing sugary notes, some ripe banana again and a little drizzle of lemon juice.

Finish: Lingering notes of the sweet medicinal peat, but a resurgence of some of the sweeter wine characteristics.

Overall: Perhaps the least 'immediate' from this batch of Distillers Eds, but nonetheless, inviting and drinkable. I think in terms of the peat monsters, Lagavulin certainly has the edge from this series.

We'll be introducing several of the other bottlings in the range in part two, but until then, let us know your thoughts on cask finishing - have you experimented at home? Tried a finish that was out of this world?? We want to hear from you....

Brighton Rock (s)

As winter wraps its chilling cloak around us, a trip to the seaside probably isn't up there on everyone's to do lists. However last week, we were invited to Brighton's Hotel Du Vin, home to the south east's Scotch Malt Whisky Society rooms to sample several of their new bottlings.

The trip from London to Brighton was a fairly tortuous affair, with trees on the line, the wrong leaves, farting businessmen and the overpoweringly twee sound of Justin Bieber, piped loudly from a teenage iPod next to me. It's at times like this that my inner Basil Fawlty rises up. Like David Banner trying to resist the transition into the Hulk, I furiously fought back the urges to snip the offending iPod cable discreetly with nail scissors. Fortunately, We had a hot meal and several fabulous drams to look forward to, so Basil was banished and we soon pulled into a crisp and bracing Brighton night.

The hotel has been superbly renovated and features an immaculate bar, behind which, you'll find a plethora of great whiskies. But for SMWS members, the hotel features a private room for tastings and it was here that our fun began.

London SMWS Manager Joe McGirr was on hand with 5 new bottlings from their extensive range, including an absolutely divine Clynelish and a downright bizarre Penderyn...

Here's our pick from the current outturn:

26.68 - SMWS single cask bottling- 'Morph and Minty' - 18 years old- 52.9% - 150 bottles

Nose: Butterscotch, wax jackets, Refreshers sweets, a hit of blue cheese and musty church books. Yes- a heady but superb mix of extremely diverse aromas.

Palate: Perfumed and floral notes mix with cereals, some waxy honey, mint humbugs, lavender and creamy homemade fudge. Wonderfully fruity and rich.

Finish: A hint of saltiness creeps in at the end, but the floral notes and a classic waxiness develops and you're left with a very satisfied set of senses.

Overall: Another choice cask from a consistently brilliant highland distillery.

Next up... Is it a Cognac? An Armagnac? Calvados? No... it's Welsh...

OK, so we can't really keep the identity of this one a secret, but the sheer strangeness of this, the society's first bottling from Penderyn needs to be noted. 6 years in a very fresh port cask has 'influenced' the spirit beyond all recognition...

128.1 - SMWS single cask bottling- 'A String Quartet of Flavours' - 6 years old - 55.6% - 233 bottles

Nose: Huge notes of fruity but floral Cognac, reminiscent of a very feminine VSOP. Dig past these notes and you walk headlong into buttery apple sweetness, with a distinct Calvados slant. the colour is absolutely staggering- russet red/brown.

Palate: The fruit develops, with port dominating at first, some talc notes and butterscotch.

Finish: Highly different- some lemon zest notes but again a drying finish really similar to a decent well-aged Armagnac.

Overall: It's hard to say that this is a decent whisky, as in all honestly, it isn't like any whisky we've tried for a long time. The cask has dominated the spirit to such an extent, that it is very one dimensional. But it's a dimension that displays how the use of interesting European oak can influence a whisky and because of that- this is well worth seeking out.

A heavily sherried Laphroaig reared its head (29.91) - with lots of big BBQ pork notes on the nose, coupled with a woody, slightly biting and dry palate. Also, the peaty 'chalk' to the Laphroaig's 'cheese' - a very handsome and light Ardbeg (33.96), with citrus, light peat and vanilla, mixed with cream soda and pairing very well with the Hotel du Vin's Creme Brulee.

But our attention was focused on our final pic of the night - one from Cambeltown's duo of distilleries.

27.85 - SMWS single cask bottling- 'Manly and Penetrating' - 12 years old - 58.8% - 209 bottles

Nose: Slightly musty, notes of wet wood and a slight damp warehouses. Then toffee, peanut brittle, marshmallows, and toffee apples.

Palate: Sherbet fruits, port sweetness, fruit gums, a hint of coffee and sawdust.

Finish: The fruity notes lead into slightly musty wine notes, with a little waft of west coast peat.

Overall: A highly entertaining and enjoyable dram, highlighting further that the society can root out some real gems from around the world.

As the evening drew to a close, it was clear that the SMWS continue to knock out excellent bottlings quicker than South East Rail can get you from Brighton to London. And nearly always at a reasonable price to their members. The pick of the bunch from this lot was the 26.68 and we happily took a hip flask full as preparation for the train ride home.

Spoilt for Choice?

The final tranche of Diageo's Managers' Choice bottlings has just been released, which includes several big names, including Clynelish and the much anticipated bottling of Lagavulin, as well as some of the other less well known bottlings. Tasting notes of the entire batch can now be found on our new Caskstrength Warehouse site and below we've featured a cross section of our thoughts on some of the riders and runners...

Clynelish – Managers’ Choice – 1997 / 2009 – First Fill Bourbon American Oak – cask 4341 - 216 bottles – 58.5% vol

Nose: Ahhhh... Clynelish! Welcome to our noses. Beautiful aroma of lavender, vanilla and parma violets. Clynelish and Rosebank have, for us the two of the finest, most fragrant noses within Scottish whisky and you can see why Clynelish is the choice for the smart blender. If grain is the hard tackling midfielder, the ball winner, then Clynelish is the creative, luxury player. The one you come to watch. The one who sells the shirts. Really, really good.

Palate: Waxy, slightly bitter and loads cream. Holding the palate it develops loads of lovely berry flavours: summer fruits yogurt! With water: Swimming pool notes come through and the berries are reduced.

Finish: Very “bourbon-like” with oak and red jam. Not too far from the Four Roses Single Barrel. With water: As with the palate, the gentle medicinal notes.

Overall: This is a cracking dram but for me, needs to be taken straight.

Auchroisk – Managers Choice - 1999 – bottled March 2009 - 642 bottles - Sherry Hogshead - cask 11323 - 60.6% vol

Nose: Immediate Caramac notes, some definite spiritiness, malted milk biscuits, condensed milk and dessicated coconut.

Palate: Very thin mouthfeel, almost disappears in the mouth instantly. Some crème caramel notes and hints of Toffee Crisp bars. With water, the caramel notes are more pronounced, but that’s about it.

Finish: Sweet and fairly short, with a slight malty note entering on the death.

Overall: The nose gives you hope that this will be a stunner, but it falls apart way too quickly and you’re left thinking about what you’re going to try next. Disappointing.

Lagavulin- Managers Choice – 1993 – bottled February 2009 – 612 bottles – European Bodega Sherry Oak - cask 4477 – 54.7% vol

Nose: Soft medicinal notes, with carbolic soap and earthy/dry undertones. Slightly vegetate, with some salted potato crisps. A hint of plastcine and some gentle wood smoke rounds out a very pleasant nose indeed.

Palate: Crunchie bars, soft peat smoke and a slight mossy/musty note. The salted crisps make a return and some lighter white chocolate sweetness rounds out the palate.

Finish: The sweetness lingers with the classic Lagavulin carbolic medicinal notes and a drying woody note on the death.

Overall: A decent enough bottling, but in our opinion this goes to highlight just how good the regular 16yo bottling is when placed side-by-side. Also worth checking out the Feis Ile bottlings from the same distillation date, (1993) which again probably have the edge here.

Knockando – Managers’ Choice – 1996 / 2009 – Spanish Sherry Oak – Cask No 800790 – 612 Bottles – 58.5% Vol

Nose: A classic sherry whisky – robust dry/fruity aromas, tannic notes and slightly bitter undertones. The wood has dominated the whisky, but has not beaten it completely into submission.

Palate: Very dry mouthfeel, some fruity richness and twigs. The sherry influence is, er, heavy and somewhere under all this make up is a fairly honeyed whisky with some lovely delicate notes of green apple and fresh mint. With water: much improved and the true flavours of this distillery come to the fore.

Finish: long and warming with heavy polished wood and some mint. With water: as with the palate.

Overall: Spain is, along with France, one of the biggest markets for Knockando as a single malt and we wonder if this had an influence on the decision making behind this choice of bottling. The sherry is very pronounced but fortunately hasn't killed off the distillery character and is certainly worth a try if you're keen on big, fruity beasts.

So there we have it- alongside the Talisker, the Clynelish shines through as probably the best of the Managers' Choice bottlings.

We've Arrived! caskstrength.net hits 50+ reviews!

This is it, ladies and gents. Here is our 49th, 50th and 51st whisky reviews. Actually, that's a bit of a lie as that number has included 2 beers (whisky related, of course!) but it is not bad going since we started in March of this year. When I finally pass away, I want my liver to be made into pate and served at my funeral, as it will be better than any foie gras found around today.

What have you tried so far, we hear you cry (new readers, at least). Well, here is a little list for you of what exactly we have tasted thus far:

Arran - Founder's Reserve

Ardbeg - 1977

Ardbeg - Very Young

Ardbeg - Still Young

Ardbeg - Almost There

Ardbeg - Renaissance (We've Arrived!)
Ardbeg - 1975 - Cask No.1375 - Distilled 1975

Ardbeg - 1975 - Cask No.1378 - Distilled 1975

Ardbeg - 1990 - 18 YO - Fourth Fill Bourbon Cask - Cask No. 2553

Ardbeg - Corryvreckan

Ardbeg - Mor - Feis Ile 2007
Ardbeg / Glen Moray - Serendipity

BBR - Blue Hanger

Bowmore – 8 YO - Distilled 14th June 1999

Bruichladdich - PC7- Unity

Bruichladdich - Port Charlotte - PC6 - Ian Buxton Single Cask bottling

Buichladdich 3D3

Bruichladdich - Valinch X4+1 Deliverance

Bunnahabhain 1976 – 31 YO

Bunnahabhain – 21 Yo – Dist 1986
Caol Ila - 1991 / 2007 - 16 YO - Berry Bro and Rudd - Cask No. 286
Caol Ila - 1978 / 2002 - 23 YO - Rare Malts

Caol Ila 1991 – 17 YO

Clynelish 1995 – 12 YO

Dallas Dhu - Old Malt Cask – 21 YO

Glen Scotia 1992 – 15 YO

Grants Ale Cask Reserve

Highland Park – Old Malt Cask- 23 YO – NAS

Highland Park 1989 – 17 YO
Highland Park OB 12 yo Single Cask - 1995

Johnnie Walker - Gold Label - Centenary Edition (18 Year Old Blend)
Johnnie Walker - Blue Label
Lagavulin – 1993 / Bottled 2008 – 15 YO – OB - Feis Ile 2008
Lagavulin - 14 YO - Feis Ile Bottling 2007

Lagavulin - 8 Year Old Lagavulin - Distilled 2000
Lagavulin - 15 YO - Distilled 1993
Lagavulin - 42 YO - Distilled 1966

Laphroaig – 10 YO – Cask Strength

Laphroaig – 1989 – 17 YO – Feis Ile 2007 Bottling

Laphroaig – Cairdeas – Feis Ile Bottling 2008

Macallan - OB - Elegancia

Macallan 1990 – 18 YO

Port Ellen - Berry's Own Selection - 1982 / 2008 (25 YO)

Royal Bracklar – Rare Malts – 20 Years Old – Dist. 1978
Talisker - 10 YO
Talisker - 12 YO

Talisker - 18 YO
Talisker - 57 Degrees North
Tomintoul – Mackillops Choice – 35 YO – Dist. 1966

BEER: Islay Ales - Bruichladdich 2008 Peat Ale - 500ml - 7.6% Vol - £3.50
BEER: Innis & Gunn Original - 6.6% Vol - 330ml

Right. On with our reviews and how fitting that, as we arrive at 50+ reviews we should do a retrospective tasting of the development of Ardbeg across their Very Young, Still Young, Almost There and Renaissance (We've Arrived) range. As the fruits of their labour under the ownership of Glenmorangie, this range is a classic example of why Ardbeg is such a loved and wonderful dram. The wonders of the 3 Kildalton distillieries on Islay (Lagavulin, Laphroaig and Ardbeg) are there for all to taste, but to have a range of whisky showing development over a 10 year period really is wonderful and it gives a rare opportunity to taste malt development and maturation in progress. Let's kick off with a whisky we reviewed recently. Apologies for a re-print, but it is nice to have all these tasting notes in one place:

Ardbeg - Very Young - Distilled 1998 / Bottled 2004 - OB - 70cl - 58.3% Vol

Nose: Green leaves, grass and hints of smoke at the back. Sweet peas, cloves and lemon zest, soft creamy butter.

Palate: Cream, more fruit, this time apples, toffee, bonbons and more cloves.

Finish: Fresh green tea, grass cuttings, brine, leading into lemon sherbets.

Overall: When we first tasted the VY for Discussion, we thought it was a little too young and spirity, but this mixed with a little water is a really excellent whisky, its weight and complexity far outweighing its age.

Ardbeg - Still Young - Distilled 1998 / Bottled 2006 - OB - 70cl - 56.2% vol

Nose: Butterscotch, Caramac bars and coaldust dominate, but there is an emergent savoury note as well. Absolutely lovely.

Palate: Very drinkable despite its youth and strength. Slightly less bumptious and more approachable than its predecessor, Very Young - but still with the big hot spices, coal tar soap and citrus character.

Finish: Long, tingling, warming, astringent. Spices, white pepper and chilli still throwing their weight around and bursting in flashes across the tastebuds.

Overall: Another epic dram from the team at Ardbeg. Strangely, it doesn't seem to suit water: the smallest drop seems to throw it off balance, and the palate becomes quite salty. But there's no need for water in this anyway - take it like a man!

Ardbeg - Almost There - Distilled 1998 / Bottled 2007 - OB - 70cl - 54.1% Vol

Nose: Wet turf & wet wool to begin with, then gets very earthy with distinct bonfire aromas - more woodsmoke than coal. Like burning loose, wet, young peat rather than the heavy, dense, older stuff.

Palate: Noticeably smoother than the Very Young and Still Young, its predecessors in this series. Very approachable, with a more pronounced sweetness sitting well alongside the lemon, brine and smoke that so characterise the younger bottlings.

Finish: Sweet and salty, with the peat mixing with some faint hints of legumes (runner beans, fresh sugar snap peas) and still plenty of spice.

Overall: It is just fascinating to taste this alongside the two earlier versions and the Renaissance - to chart the development of one of the world's greatest malts from its infancy. As one would expect, this version is more balanced and complete than its younger siblings.

Ardbeg - Renaissance (We've Arrived!) - Distilled 1998 / Bottled 2008 - OB - 70cl - 55.9% Vol

Nose: Immediate sherbertiness (if that's a word) - lemony. Then some tinned fruit salad, sugar syrup, sawdust and peach melba. The peat remains in the background as the nose develops green apples and barley sugar, then comes forward: coal smoke & woodsmoke, very nice. With time, the nose becomes more peppery, with not unpleasant hints of tweed and old floorboards, like an ageing relative's attic. But the real thing is the sherbert: it's almost as if the whisky is effervescent - you can't help half-expecting it to fizz up your nose...

Palate: The very second it hits your tounge there is a real Champagne quality to it. But only for a split second. Fizz, sparkle and then a big coal hit... then the spices come rushing in - yowser! Very warming, the bonfire notes are here again, but accompanied by some exotic fruit. Then it's the turn of the coal - this is a smouldering, intense, complex whisky. It's also delicious.

Finish: As the smoke and spice roar on, the finish becomes slightly drying, with dusty oak, honey and...is that peach yoghurt? Whatever. This is going down a treat.

Overall: A great end to the 'Young' series. Ardbeg call it the 'path to peaty maturity', but whatever you want to call it, it's been a great trip. And this stuff is brilliant. Bodes very well for the widely-anticipated new batch of 10 year-old.