Party Like It's 1985

An Orville Piñata, shortly before his celebratory new year thrashing 

Hello one and all. We're back from our relaxed Christmas breaks now, heading into all manner of excitement in the new year. 

We look back fondly on 2014. It was a year that bought some truly exceptional spirits, many many journeys and friendships:  From Baijiu in China, Cachaca in Brazil, Armagnac in France and some wondrous drinks in-between, both of us can definitely say it was an enlightening year.  

2014 also saw us bring out Distilled, our first book together which is shaping up really nicely for 2015. Expect to see us popping up in a few unusual locations next year, as we travel around, hopefully continuing our spirits exploration around the globe. 

However, there is a new year and a new dawn coming (keep your eyes peeled here folks...) so let’s kick off with our predictions for 2015: 

Joel:

The Continued Growth of Grain 

We already tipped grain as a new category in its own right back in 2012 and 2014 saw the launch of Haig Club, a single grain Scotch whisky developed in partnership with major drinks producer Diageo and megastar ex-footballer David Beckham. There aren’t many other single grain whiskies on the market, with just one other official global release, three expressions from the Girvan distillery in the Lowlands of Scotland. However, grain whisky has always been highly sought after by connoisseurs and experts, who know that the lightness of the spirit gives excellent flavours of vanilla and lemongrass, making it ideal for mixing or sipping with acouple of blocks of ice. With only Haig Club and Girvan available around the world at the moment, and the considerable weight that a celebrity such as David Beckham adds to this category, expect to see others jumping in and wanting to be part of the grain whisky party. 

High Value Brands Offering Experiences:

 
As we see more and more highly valued single malts and blends, such as The Macallan and Johnnie Walker pushing their prices up with rarer, older and more extravagantly packaged items, the focus will shift onto 'experiences'. They could be high-end, exclusive trips to the distilleries, more branded ‘houses’ (like The House of Johnnie Walker) or shops. Either way, we think the immersive experience of taking consumers on a literal journey will become more of a focus in 2015. Look out for more bespoke blends from big whisky companies too, for those who can afford it. 


My Top Tipple From 2014: The Glenlivet Nadurra Oloroso

We haven’t got around to reviewing this one, yet but the new Nadurra Oloroso offering from The Glenlivet at 60.7% is stunning and priced at a bonkers £45. Take Aberlour’s A'bunadh and soften it slightly and you’ve got this. It packs a punch and is worth every penny.  




Neil: 

Craft: This Party Is Getting A Little Crowded... 

The term ‘craft’ has taken over in the world of spirits, particularly in whisky. In the USA, ‘craft’ distilling is a huge movement with small producers making tiny amounts of their own rye, bourbon and single malt. As these distillers gain more sales, they’ll be able to afford to export their products and see them (if they are good) take hold in markets far from where they are made. 

But there won't be room for everyone. It feels like 'Craft' is a term that is thrown around without prejudice now, with some distillers -  be it big or small, exhibiting little or no craft. There are some genuinely brilliant well-crafted products out there: be it well-known Scotch blends (hey -  blending is the original craft, when you really start to think about it) or tiny distillers with equally small spirit batches. But when corporate boardroom decisions interfere with the distillation process (i'm looking at you, Balcones) you kind of get the feeling that the money-making-machine and the sound of the cash registers are the predominant sounds echoing around a few distilleries, whose reputations are now damaged as a result.  In 2015 and beyond, we think craft will become less about being handmade, more about using technology in new and innovative ways to create or 'craft' new products.  Think less wicker chair, more MacLaren F1.  

Other Spirits Stealing Whisky Drinkers:

The idea of ‘occasion’ is going to be focused on more and more in 2015. Why drink a fairly boring vodka, when you can enjoy a grain whisky before the party really kicks off?  Similarly, do you really need to be paying  through the nose for super premium aged single malts, when you could be getting the same after dinner experience with an extraordinary Armagnac, vintage Tequila or rum for a fraction of the price? Whisky still has an enormous cache internationally, but there are signs that other spirits -  particularly Armagnac and Mezcal are beginning to draw a few connoisseurs away from whisky.  

My Top Tipple from 2014:  Chateau Laubade 1983 Vintage Armagnac

As I mentioned above, Armagnac is perhaps the most underrated and unexplored spirits category in the world at the moment, (aside to that of Cachaca and mezcal) with some exceptional expressions available for a fraction of their equivalent Scotch vintages. Having explored the Gers region in November during La Flamme De l'Armagnac (an amazing experience when all the distillers light their stills to mark the start of the distillation season) it reminded me of the Feis Ile experience on Islay, before it became a too overcrowded and commercialised. It was here at the Laubade estate where I discovered their 1983 bottling: a rich, resinous and spicy beast-of-an-Armagnac, full of tannic oak, liquorice and anise, alongside some sweeter vanilla notes and juicy citrus fruit.  All this complexity for around £75.  

We're very much looking forward to tackling 2015 and all the intriguing spirits on offer.  Expect to see a fair few changes here over the coming months-  we'll be focusing on a much broader scale of drinks, rather than just whisky, so here's to a cracking vintage year! 

Don't forget to follow us at @WorldOfSpirits on Twitter.

Neil & Joel

None More Black. The Glenlivet Alpha Arrives.

There's a line that sums up what is undoubtedly one of the finest films in cinematic history.  Simple, effective and descriptive, the line, 'there's none more black' characterises the degenerating relationship between the members of seminal (fictional) heavy metal band Spinal Tap.  If you're not familiar with the line, or the film, we urge you to buy it immediately and have a peak at the video below.

Why are we telling you this?  Well, frankly, there's a lot of crossover between the whisky and music businesses respectively, especially in the last 5 years.  Both of us Caskstrengthers came from careers in music, both Island and Warner Brothers and it was amongst our responsibilities to develop release campaigns around the artists we'd signed and looked after-  sometimes creating an aura of mystery, intrigue and excitement.  

Consider the band My Chemical Romance.  Not a band either of us worked with directly but great props to our friend and former colleague Danny Watson for engineering something truly inspiring at the time.  On their breakthrough album, The Black Parade,  a huddled horde of 30 shadowy figures, dressed in long black hooked cloaks prowled the streets of Hammersmith, carrying banners emblazoned with 'The Black Parade', bringing the roads to a standstill.  Fans went crazy, local residents went crazy, the police probably went crazy, but the album, alongside its award winning TV campaign went on to sell truckloads in the UK.  Another of Danny's standout ideas was utilising the restaurant Dans Le Noir, for an album launch. The restaurant is famous for being totally blacked out, wrong footing the diner's senses, but leading to a taste sensation as a result. 

As you can see, there's a theme running here.  The dark.  Mystery. Uncovering the truth within.  

Whisky companies are seemingly adopting the idea of looking at their whisky releases in the same way a record company marketing manager would when creating a promotional campaign for an album. This neatly brings us on to Alpha by The Glenlivet; a whisky which no one really knows anything substantial about, which has baffled the online community with its unconventional launch -  seemingly parachuting in from no where, with little fanfare.  

What can we tell you about it.  Well, it comes in a fairly striking black bottle, with virtually no information on it, save for the legal requirements of ABV, bottle size and that it is a product of Scotland.  As to the whisky inside... well, here in lies the intrigue.  

Anyone who writes reviews of a whisky is rightly or wrongly guilty of informing a flavour profile in some capacity. Since we started this site back in 2008, we made a decision to never score whiskies, a system which is now much imitated - and rightly so. Rather like in an NME album review, readers tend to gravitate towards very high or indeed, very low scores.  Anything in-between tends to fall into the 'grey' area.  I remember one artist we worked with receiving a 6/10 for their album in the NME.  We'd have preferred a 2/10, simply because poor reviews tend to be better written and, in many cases, actually inspire listeners to seek out the record for themselves.  

According to the little press available, Alpha aims to offer a 'blank canvas' to the consumer allowing themselves to make a judgement on their own interpretation of the whiskies flavour and aroma profile.  To this end, The Glenlivet will be unveiling a series of sensory videos as guidelines to help the consumer to discover their own interpretation of the whisky.  A neat idea really.  

So what does it actually taste like?

Well, here's the problem. Although an open bottle is sitting in front of us, it would be quite boring to simply review this in a conventional fashion and give the game away.  So we've decided to have a little fun with you.  

Glenlivet Alpha -  50%

Nose: 

01110110 01100001 01101110 01101001 01101100 01101100 01100001 00101100 00100000 01101001 01100011 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110011 01110101 01100111 01100001 01110010 00101100 00100000 01110011 01101100 01101001 01100011 01100101 01100100 00100000 01100001 01110000 01110000 01101100 01100101 01110011 00101100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110101 01110100 00101100 00100000 01100110 01110010 01100101 01101110 01100011 01101000 00100000 01110000 01101111 01101100 01101001 01110011 01101000 00101100 00100000 01101100 01100101 01101101 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101101 01100101 01110010 01101001 01101110 01100111 01110101 01100101 00100000 01110000 01101001 01100101

Palate:

Finish:

Overall: Well. That's up to you to find out.  Suffice to say, we thought it was a solid expression and very 'Glenlivet' in style. Over to you. Let us know your thoughts.

If you're having trouble working out our tasting notes, fret not.  We urge you to try this whisky and make your own mind up.  If you're still needing our tasting notes, somewhere on this page is a link to them.  Have fun...

18 Under 30 Part 16: The Glenlivet 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky

And so, the end is near... and you should hopefully by now all be on your seasonal Christmas break. If so, let us wish you a very merry Christmas and we're glad you survived the end of the world, Mayan-style. If, however, you're not yet off and you're still out, nose to the grindstone, working then you have our sympathy. Either way, it sounds like you need a good old dram!

Yesterday we brought you the recommendation of purchasing the Highland Park 12 Year Old, a fantastic whisky which give you a gentle introduction to the world of peated and smoky whiskies.

However, if island-style liquid really isn't you bag and you'd prefer something much more relaxed then can we recommend The Glenlivet 12 Year Old for you.

Often neglected due to it's ubiquity on both the back bar and the supermarket shelf, there is a reason why big brands such as this have (and crucially maintain) their success  because they're good! And for the price (often to be found on discount around this time of year) this is a real winner:

The Glenlivet 12 Years Old – 70cl – 40% ABV

Nose: A full flavoured nose of sweet vanilla and apple pie with a sugared topping. Some elderflower notes and a clean, crisp, Champagne tone with hints of other white flowers.

Palate: Easy to drink at the bottling strength, the apple pie notes develop into a cooked apple with hot custard topping. Aniseed and hint of cinnamon complete this very drinkable package. The vanillas from the oak are notable on the end of the dram.

Finish: Long and warming, this gives more of the green apple and cinnamon. Perfect with a block of ice.

Overall: Just a fantastic example of a great Speyside whisky for well under £30. In fact, at certain times of the year you can pick this up + the 20cl bottle of Lagavulin we reviewed earlier in this series for a pound or so over £30. The perfect way to start your whisky drinking journey.

It is bottles such as this which teach us a valuable lesson: just because the brand is a household name, it does not mean you should turn your nose up to. In fact, quite the opposite.

Under £30 here and here 

The Return Of The Glenlivet 70 Year Old Whisky... Win A Taste On Us.

Well well well... The prodigal grandfather has returned.  18 months after its initial release, Gordon and MacPhail have unveiled the sequel release to the monumental Glenlivet 70 year old.

And yes, folks, it's another Glenlivet 70 year old!!

The final 100 bottles of this now legendary liquid have been put into their decanters and will be officially released later today at the opening of the new World Duty Free shop at Vancouver International Airport. It will be there exclusively until November 1st, when it will officially become available to the rest of the world.

According to the press release from G & M, Cask 339 was filled at The Glenlivet distillery on the 3rd February 1940, under the instruction of John Urquhart, great grandfather of G&M's current owners.

This second batch is exactly the same strength as the initial one (45.9%), so one would assume that it was bottled at the same time as the first release or has been in a demijohn for the past 18 months -  either that or it is a wonderfully airtight cask.

For more details visit: http://www.gordonandmacphail.com/

This morning, the following package arrived by post, much to our excitement.

As you can see, there is a small sample of the whisky.   Now whilst it would be an experience to taste what is likely to be one of the oldest whiskies to ever cross our palates, it seems wholly unacceptable for us to do this, purely for a 'notch on the bedpost'.

So we're not going to open it.  But one of you lot is.  

We've decided to give this whole package away, including the accompanying book etc and of course, the phial of the whisky.


Now, the plan here is simple.

At midday GMT on Friday 28th September, we will choose one lucky winner from our Twitter followers at random. There's no catch -  all you have to do is be an @WeHeartWhisky Twitter follower... and of course be over the legal drinking age in your country of residence.

Simple eh.  So if you don't already follow us, make sure you sign up to our Twitter feed here: 

Good luck folks.  Joel & Neil x

Happy New Year!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Joel & Neil

Athlete's Village

It’s Frrrrriday! And as always on a Friday we like to try and add to the anticipated wonderfulness of the weekend which awaits... try saying that after a dram or two!

Last week we launch a competition to win a bottle of our now sold-out Caskstrength & Carry On Arran, signed by Distillery Manager James MacTaggart, with the simple task of clicking “like” on our facebook page to enter. The winner was announced on facebook earlier today.

If you didn’t win but you did buy a bottle of the whisky, then don’t forget that there is still one bottle out there somewhere with a GOLD STAR in the bottom of the box. If you have this, drop us a line with a picture of it and you win an additional, limited edition, single cask Arran. That should make your Friday even brighter.

But it doesn't stop there!

As it’s festival season, we thought it would be good to give you the chance to come and see some live music and have a wee whisky at the same time, so we’ve paired up with London based band Athlete to offer you the chance to come to one of their show from their July tour, preceded by a whisky tasting with us and the band.

Signed to Fiction Records (home to The Cure, Elbow, Ian Brown, Kaiser Chiefs, White Lies, Snow Patrol), Athlete have previously scored a UK number 1 album, sold over a million records, won an Ivor Novello award as well as received a Mercury Music nomination... but most importantly, they love their whisky! Moreover, I'm sure you'll all appreciate the irony of us on tour with a band called 'Athlete', taking in to consideration the picture of us in the "about" section on the blog...

As a result we will be hosting four pre-show whisky tasting sessions with the band at their gigs in Bristol (July 23^rd), Oxford (July 24^th), Glasgow (July 30^th) and Birmingham (July 31^st). The tastings are being held in conjunction with The Glenlivet, with three pairs of tickets for each show, plus the tasting with the band and us, to be won via the Guardians Of The Glenlivet progamme. If you happen to be heading to one of these show already, you can enter a competition on the Athlete facebook page, here, to win entry to The Glenlivet tasting.

To enter the competition and for terms and conditions, click here.

For more tour dates from Athlete, click here.

In the meantime, enjoy this live video of the band:

Our Arran Sells Out... and an interesting cigar event for ladies!

Well that all happened pretty quickly... It gives us great pleasure to report that our Caskstrength and Carry On bottling of Arran officially sold out just 4 days after going on sale. Thanks to everyone who decided to buy a bottle and we really hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Fortunately, if you did want to try it, all is not lost. Master Of Malt are offering it in their Drinks By The Dram series, for the very reasonable £3.99.

As we started at the letter 'A', it seems rude not to try to bottle the alphabet of whisky now...expect an update on 'B' sometime soon...

Competition Time!!

We can happily report that one bottle was held back and we've decided to give it away as a competition prize! It is signed by James MacTaggert, Master Distiller at Arran and if you fancy trying your hand at winning it, all you need to do is follow this simple procedure:

Visit our Facebook page and 'like' it !!

www.facebook.com/caskstrength

At 12pm on Friday 15th July, we'll be selecting one winner at random and the Arran will be winging its way over to you!!

Obviously you'll need to be over 18 years old to enter if you're a UK resident or over the legal drinking age in your country of residence. We'll be checking... ;-)

And that's not all... In one of the boxes which hold the bottles, Joel and I placed a special golden ticket. If you've bought this bottle (take the bottle out and have a look) follow the instructions and you'll bag yourself an additional single cask bottle of Arran!!

Man, we're too good to you lot. ;-)

Changing the subject slightly, there's a excellent event happening next Monday 11th July, for ladies only!

At Boisdale Canary Wharf, cigar connoisseur Ms Lalla Kaur is teaming up with Chivas/The Glenlivet ambassador Phil Huckle for the launch of the First Ever 'Ladies Only Event' , featuring an evening of Cigars, Cocktails and Canapes.

Here's a list of the goods you ladies will be able to enjoy:

The Cigar:

Hoyo De Monterry

Epicure No. 1

46rg 5 3/8” smoking time: up to 45 minutes

The Cocktails:

Summer Wind

Blood & Sand

The Whiskies:

Chivas Regal 18yo

The Glenlivet 18yo

£30 per person. To book, please contact rob@boisdale-cw.co.uk or call 020 7715 5818

Slainte!

Whisky Live Competition....Become A Dram Detective!

Competition time again folks! We've been lucky enough to give you the opportunity of winning TWO Pairs of VIP Tickets for this year's Whisky Live London, held on the Friday 4th and Saturday 5th March at the The Honourable Artillery Company in London.

The two lucky winners will each be able to take a guest along to Friday's whisky-packed extravaganza (between 5pm and 10pm) and sample some of the cream of newly released drams, as well as exclusive bottlings, whilst meeting ambassadors and other legends from the world of whisky. VIP guests also get entrance to the VIP lounge, a tasting glass, a Magazine tasting journal, as well as 8 sample vouchers, with an additional gold voucher to exchange in the lounge for something extra tasty...

Sounds good? Well it gets even better... the competition winners and their guests will also be able to join Joel and myself at a special Caskstrength masterclass, run in conjunction with The Glenlivet and their whisky ambassador, all round top chap, Ian Logan;

Whisky Cluedo - 'Aroma round The Glenlivet.

You've get the opportunity to try a number of whiskies from The Glenlivet range (including the French Oak Reserve, Nadurra Cask Strength, 18yo and 21yo) whilst using your powers of deduction to try and guess the details of a final mystery dram of The Glenlivet! Turn yourself into a whisky detective, whilst enjoying some excellent drams- what better way to start the weekend...

To enter this tasty comp couldn't be easier. Simply email info@caskstrength.net with your name, age and location, along with the following phrase:

"Elementary My Dear Watson... it's Whisky"

Enterants must be over 18 years old and MUST be able to attend the Whisky Live London event next Friday 4th March between 5pm and 10pm.

We'll be announcing the 2 lucky winners at midday next Wednesday 2nd March, so best of British luck to you!!!

The Glen Love It

Thank goodness for double glazing!

My marker for winter drawing in is the need to turn on the central heating. Had it not been for good cavity wall insulation and thick, vacuous, see-through* panes of double-glazed glass, which daily provide me with a real-life version of East Enders as I gaze out on London life, I would have had the heaters blaring out weeks ago. But this week, with plummeting temperatures and snow falling all around, I finally succumbed to pushing the “on” button, to have my various cockles warmed.

Opening the airing cupboard to retrieve my selection of “big jumpers”, hidden away since the snow melted in March, I’m reminded of sunnier times in the year and a short film flicks through my mind, typically rose-tinted and jolly. But amongst the nostalgia are some genuine highlights, one of which is of a fabulous trip to Speyside, to the opening of the new still house at The Glenlivet.

Last night we held our first 'official' CaskStrength.net tasting, in association with The Glenlivet, which provided us with an opportunity to give our invited guests some winter memories of their own. The venue for this 'liquid alliance' was one of the lavishly decorated upstairs rooms at the well known London restaurant and jazz club Boisdales of Belgravia.

Awaking to a blanket of snow across London, the conditions for our tasting were the polar opposite (pun very much intended) of the sun-drenched Speyside trip back in June. However, our 20 hardy attendees were not to be deterred from the prospect of six whiskies from The Glenlivet range and we had just person one drop out, struggling to make his way from a snow-bound Oxfordshire countryside into the Big Smoke.

On the menu for the evening were some whiskies we’d not had the pleasure of trying before, with particular highlights being the oldest and the youngest in the line up; The Glenlivet 12 Year Old First Fill (travel retail only) and The Glenlivet 25 Year Old. The rest of the selection was as follows: 15 Year Old French Oak, Nadurra Triumph, 18 Year Old and a Mystery Whisky...... ooooohhhhh! (you gotta love audience participation!!)

The Mystery Whisky was in fact one that we have already reviewed, The Founders Reserve, but tonight was about providing our esteemed (and highly knowledgable) guests with an opportunity to share in our tastings and hopefully bank a “highlight of 2010”, as we did with our trip to Speyside earlier in the year. Thankfully, the lucky competition winners seemed to enjoy the night, with an eclectic mix of people, proving our long-held view that whisky is all about the spirit within the spirit, meeting new people and enjoying great company.

But we weren’t going to let our guests off scot-free (or Scotch free, even). Oh, no! Caskstrength.net is all about the work ethic and in this life, you don’t get anything for free... it was the job of the assembled group to help us tweet some tasting notes on each whisky, which we then sent flying out in to the digital ether. Not quite wikileaks, but it was jolly good fun and threw up some very interesting tasting notes (most noticeably “Gary Lineker”, but more on that later) which hopefully add an extra dimension to our thoughts on these drams, below.

The evening started with a scene-setting introduction from Phil Huckle, UK Brand Ambassador for The Glenlivet, as he expanded on the history of the distillery and the use of the term “Glenlivet”. So popular was whisky from The Glenlivet that distillers from the area would use the name Glenlivet solely for their own single malt, leading to a court case in the 1800’s where The Glenlivet was granted the right to be the only distillery to use the name Glenlivet in isolation, relegating its neighbours to the use of Glenlivet as an additional marque on their products.

As the snow tumbled down outside, it was time to warm ourselves with the first dram of the evening:

The Glenlivet - 12 Year Old First Fill – Travel Retail Only – 1ltr – 40% ABV

Nose: Great wafts of spiced cooking apple and ripe bananas, toasted pine nuts and clear apple juice.

Palate: Matured in first fill American Oak, this leads to a palate of fresh pine, those bananas again but this time more as banana bread, honey and white pear. A “juicy” mouth feel.

Finish: Medium to short, with a hint of spice, this is a session whisky and once opened, throw the cork far away as you won’t need it again!

Overall: Here are our thoughts from the tasting panel for the evening: “Ripe bananas, coconut and toffee, vanilla, crème brulee and almond spice”. The ripe bananas was a particular talking point and really stood out on the nose.

The second dram of the evening was the 15 Year Old French Oak. Matured in American Oak and finished in Limousin casks, more commonly used in the Cognac industry, this whisky highlighted the influence European Oak has on spirit, adding a greater weight, depth and additional complexity from the 12 Year Old First Fill. The tasting notes from our guests included "well-fed xmas cake, pre-fired xmas pudding, dates, caramel, panna cotta, nutmeg and brandy butter", which about sums up this whisky, at 40% ABV, perfectly. Give yourself a round of applause!

Next up was a whisky that we hold in high regard here at CaskStrength.net HQ. So much so, that it has made the final of our Best in Glass Award for this year (result to be announced on Dec 10^th 2010).

The Glenlivet – Nadurra Triumph – 1991 – 48% (non chill filtered)

Just to save any confusion, there are 3 releases of Nadurra: The Triumph,bottled in March 2010 at 48%, a Duty Free edition at 43% and a cask strength (various ABV’s depending on batch) available in high street retailers.

Nose: Hot buttered popcorn is the first thing that flies out of the glass at you, backed with heather and sweet apple juice. A hint of grapefruit juice hits the back of the nose, which I’ve attributed to the higher ABV) and there is just a touch of red fruit right at the back (a tiny portion of this version of the Nadurra has spent time in European Oak, unlike the other two releases which are 100% ex-American Oak barrels).

Palate: Neat, this retains the hot buttered popcorn and the wheat and oak elements dance around like the perfect couple on your tongue, developing the red fruits over time, initially growing out of light apples, vanilla and honey. With water, liquorice emerges and a drying nature, increased wood activity, come out and a hint of ginger.

Finish: Short, gingerbread and spices. With water the finish is easier, less spices with a greater hint of baked apples.

Overall: here is what our panel thought "buttered popcorn, tropical fruits, ginger, sherries coconut, fruit salad chews, tang”

Onwards we carried to the next dram, The Glenlivet 18 Year Old. A classic whisky which is always going to carry a weight of expectation with it, due to its popularity world-wide and was the whisky of the night which provided us with the best, most unusal tasting note of the evening... here is what the panel thought "pear drops, blackberry lockets, toffee, wholemeal toast with nutella, aniseed, treacle, orange peel, Gary Lineker"

“Gary Lineker?”, we hear you cry! “WTF?”

The gent who supplied this note gave an explanation “Well, it just does what you expect it to. 9 times out of 10, this will put the ball in the net.” Fair point!

It’s nearly Christmas and the goodwill seems to extend to distillers and shops around this time too, as you can pick this whisky up in Waitrose for less than £30. In fact, £28.99 is their current retail for this. Bonkers.

As the evening drew to a close, we had two final whiskies to get through. As we’ve already done notes on The Founders Reserve (panel notes on Twitter "dusty coco, coffee, brandy butter, vanilla, dark choc orange, real liquorice, purple quality street, fig jam”), this just leaves the 25 Year Old to go:

The Glenlivet – 25 Year Old – 1985 – 43%

Nose: Everything you expect from an old whisky finished in Oloroso Sherry barrels; plums, rich Christmas pudding, old books and furniture polish, all topped off with walnuts and soaked raisins. A wonderfully rich and filling nose.

Palate: Classy, with cinnamon, ginger, rooibosh tea, nutmeg and fruit cake. Weighty mouth feel and a depth of flavour that surpasses the other drams for the evening. Exactly what an “old” whisky should do.

Finish: Slightly drying, sweet honey and Demerara sugar, with a hint of sweet coffee.

Overall: Here are the thoughts of the panel: “sweet cured bacon, stewed plums, boiled fruits, furniture polish, flat doc pepper, bonfire toffee, crab apple jelly" The final note there, crab apple jelly, got a rousing round of applause and proved one of the more popular tasting notes for the evening.

As the night drew to a close, with the snow still falling, there was just enough time to retire to Boisdale’s famous roof terrace for a cigar and a dram. Thank you to everyone who came along, braving some awful weather to spend the evening helping us taste some excellent drams. It was fantastic to finally meet some of you as well as to see some familiar faces from previous whisky events.

As they say in my part of South London, “Biguppayaself, Blud”.

*one could insert an “ex-girlfriend joke” here, but I’ll refrain after the stick I took from one ex’s friend over a similar opportunity not passed up, recently. I think her Christmas present this year will be reasonably easy: a pinch of salt