How Much Would You Pay To Live Here??

Anyone fancy making a Pilgrimage to this most hallowed of South London streets? Best photo gets a free dram of 1977 on us...!

Judge and Jura

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"Me? I’m doing just fine, thanks."

Actually, I’m not. But why do we always say that we are?

It’s a very British thing to brush aside such a deep and probing question with a glib “yeah, I’m okay” bog standard answer. The truth is, I didn’t sleep very well last night. I tried, I really did. I got an early night. I had fresh bed sheets on. I even went to gym in the day to tire myself out. But (and this doesn’t happen very often), I just couldn't sleep. After a while I gave up and watched Sherlock on BBC iPlayer for 90 min, which probably didn’t help as every gust of wind which caught my curtains, I assumed was a ninja ready to attack me as they continued their search for a lost £9m hair pin. Anyway, I digress...

This morning, I’m shattered. Really tired and it’s only the middle of the week! What I need is a perk to get me going. Something to bring me back to life. Let’s have a look what’s in the cupboard. Options are thus:

Tea

Coffee

Tick Tock (rooibos tea)

Ribena (Hot or Cold)

Milk

I opt for a nice cup of tea. How very British of me!

A few hours later, however I’m flagging again. Bored of tea and almost certainly not in the mood for coffee, I’m wondering what wonderful remedy could wake me from my half-slumber. And then I get an email with the answer in it.

It simply read: “Did you hear the crazy Jura story that was on the radio on Saturday night? Have a listen and a giggle to this one...” and contained the following attachment (click here):

Luckily, in the cabinet downstairs I have a bottle of Jura Superstition and sitting on my desk are some wee little sample bottles, which were sent over last week. The contents? Some Jura whisky! If this stuff can bring a chicken back to life, then it must be useful on me...!?!

The three small bottles are samples of the Jura Boutique Barrel series which, their press release informs us, are three unique offerings A First Fill Bourbon, a Heavily Peated Bourbon cask and an Oloroso Sherry cask.

First off however, let’s have a look at a standard expression of Jura, the Superstition, a peated version of their whisky:

Jura – Superstition – 43% Vol

Nose: A whiff of smoke (a mix of peat of peat and wood smoke) and then notes of old oak and a big, sweet sherry hit. The sweetness of nose lingers over the initial hit of smoke with the headline fruit being apricot.

Palate: Not so much smoke on the palate, it takes a back seat allowing the wood notes (this time fresh pine), the fruit and some hickory notes to appear. Quite dry and oily, it almost seems to roll up into a ball on your tong.

Finish: Wood polish, some smoke, sweet cure bacon and hints of oak at the death.

Overall: A fine whisky with a good mix of smoke and oak, but a tad heavy on the sherry for me and a slightly artificial taste. At £26 this is a pretty decent dram for the money, if you want mild smoke and rich sherry.

Let’s move on to the new release Boutique Barrels and start with the Oloroso Sherry Cask.

Jura – “JI” - Boutique Barrel Series – Sherry cask - 1993 - 54% - £75

Nose: Ahhh! Now there is that “honesty” which you want from a sherry barrel. Immediately you get a rush of dusty old books, church pews, stewed prunes toffee apple, brewing coffee and ginger. A real, honest nose from a sherry cask with a hint of menthol on the back.

Palate: Rich and crisp with ryvita and brown bread. There is also a hint of copper as you swirl and chew- like a good rye bread with honey on.

Finish: warm and spicy but soft and chewy. Plenty of cinnamon and toffee with some light orange notes. Really lovely.

Overall: A fine expression of a well sherried whisky that does everything well. Dusty without being over-old, and chewy and oliy without being too sweet.

Next up comes the Bourbon Cask.

Jura – “JO” - Boutique Barrel Series – Sherry cask - 1995 - 56.5% - £65

Nose: Butterscotch. Red apples, vanilla ice cream and strawberry sauce. This has taken a lot from the cask!

Palate: Oooh, some lovely spices and drying oak notes. Very lively and malty. Gammon in cider, baked in the oven with cloves in.

Finish: Dry, long and malty again with a slight hint of liquorice on the back palate.

Overall: What about this, huh? A complex dram that won’t be to everyones tastes. It’s quite up front with big flavours and will shove them in your face. Not a subtle dram at all.

Finally, let’s have a go on their “heavily peated” Bourbon cask...

Jura – “XU” – Boutique Barrel Series – Bourbon Cask – Heavily Peated – 55% - £55

Nose: Well, it’s peated but I’m not sure how “heavily”. I support Oxford United who, having won promotion from the football conference in to the football league last season could be called a “successful” team. But Man Utd they’re not. And this is peated, but it isn’t Supernova! Still, the nose is lovely – a kin to Lagavulin 16 (in fact.. let’s pour a dram of this to compare- Wow, they really are very similar. The Jura has more “musty” feel to it and is less sweet which must be due to an absence of sherry barrels). Really a very good nose which is both soft and inviting, yet peaty and warming. Yummy!

Palate: Peat smoke sits for a very long time and once this soft and delicate fire subsides there are elements of straw, hazelnuts and warm, fresh baked brown bread. Super, super flavours.

Finish: Just the right length being warming and lingering without outstaying its welcome.

Overall: this is my pick of the bunch. It’s the youngest and the cheapest, but I’d take this bottle any day of the week.

Read All About It

Whisky books are becoming a pretty common sight when you head to your local retailer (assuming they haven't all been closed down and turned into a bloody Starbucks...)

We've long since been big supporters of Ingvar Ronde's superbly researched 'Malt Whisky Yearbook' and if any of you are looking for a detailed account of every working distillery, then look no further. In fact, there are so many good publications out there, it goes to show that there's life in the old bedside read yet.



Recently there's been a trend towards the rediscovery of long since deleted tomes and historical texts. The brilliant, but tricky to find 'Whisky Distilleries of The United Kingdom' by Alfred Barnard has just been reprinted and is in our view, essential reading for those wanting to learn more about distillery characteristics at the turn of the century.

So it was a huge pleasure to recently receive two very interesting tomes by whisky author Ian Buxton. Ian is one of the founders of Classic Expressions, a publisher specialising in the re-introduction of long, lost distillation books, beautifully reprinted using premium quality paper and binding. To simply handle one really gives you the impression that you are delving into a very special text indeed and their two latest releases are no exception.

Ian has clearly been a busy man over the last year or so. 'Glenglassaugh- A Distillery Reborn' offers what he describes as a 'semi-detached' explanation of the distillery's history, closure and subsequent rebirth back in early 2008. The most striking aspect of the book (save for its wonderful presentation) is the sheer amount of research which has clearly gone into the project. From the initial photograph showing a warehouse in desperate need of repair, you are drawn into the magical journey of discovery, which the new owners must have experienced when taking on such a mammoth task to breathe life into the sleeping Highland giant. There are accounts from former distillery managers of the early 1970's as well as a huge amount of historical imagery and Ian does a tremendous job of making the resurrection of Glenglassaugh a wholly enjoyable read, rather than merely a collection of prosaic facts. Anyone interested in this brand new (old) distillery would be advised to grab a copy of Ian's book, uncork a bottle of their fabulous 26 yo (or 40 yo, if you're flush enough...) and settle back for an evening of pure whisky indulgence.

UK RRP £19.99 ISBN 978-1-906476-13-7
Published by Neil Wilson Publishing (Angel's Share)

Next up is a very special book indeed. We're pretty clear on Caskstrength about our love for Highland Park and when Ian mentioned he had been working with the distillery on a historical project we were very intrigued to find out more. The result is a superb recreation of 'Highland Park'- A Good Foundation'- essentially a brief account of the distillery from 1924, which Ian has applied his meticulous reprinting genius to. In short, it looks, feels and reads superbly. From the hand block-stamped facsimile of an original promotional booklet cover on the back, to the perfect blemish-free black and white photos of the distillery from the early 20th century, every page positively reeks of Orkney and a golden age in Highland Park's rich history. It is reassuring to read that many of the distillation practices pioneered nearly 90 years ago are still cherished by the current custodians of the distillery and highlights just how important it is to protect the legacies of our best loved whiskies. The book is currently unavailable commercially, but we're sure plans are afoot to give this the exposure it deserves. Watch this space.

Travel. Retail.

Here at Caskstrength Towers, we’re a big believer in rewarding people and there is no finer example of this than the 'distillery only' bottling. A few weeks ago we took a look at 3 newly released offerings from Diageo, writing up tasting notes on the Blair Athol and the Oban which added to the Lagavulin we had during this years Feis Ile.

But what of other distilleries; nay other countries...

Now whisky is a truly worldwide product, with distilleries popping up all over the world, we decided to take a look at an example of these offerings from Japan, Ireland and (of course) Speyside.

We start in the Southern Hemisphere with a bottle from Japan.

One theme we took from our travels to this beautiful country was the wonderfully intricate packaging that many retailers indulge their customers with. Spectacularly boxed melons, or hand wrapped books really got our attention and it was no time until we were reaching for our wallets to obtain that unique piece of Japan. When it comes to whisky, clearly there are no exceptions. We came across some superb 'distillery only' bottlings at both Yamazaki and Hakushu. Both bottles were frosted with thin japanese paper to give an opaque finish. There was also little to give away what was inside, hence why everyone dubbed them the 'secret malts'. Now, If there's one way to get a writer excited....

Hakushu - Secret Malt - Distillery Only bottling - NAS -43%

Nose: Rich, very noticeably sherried and also slightly peated, with honeyed notes, soft earthy aromas, dried prunes and brown sugar. Similar to the 18yo, but the peated notes make for a very nice balance indeed.

Palate: Big hit of spicy christmas pudding, with cinnamon, mincemeat, cloves and more sherry, much more dominant on the nose.

Finish: The sherry lingers, developing into woody tones with a little burst of spearmint on the death.

Overall: This should be one of those whiskies that does what it says on the tin. But obviously... it doesn't say anything on the tin!! The sherrywood has had a big influence on the spirit and clearly this has some older bits and pieces mixed in, but there's no lingering bitter/dryness, just bags of well balanced fruit and spice. Brilliant all round.

Next stop on our great bottle hunt is Ireland, specifically Dublin and The Old Jameson Distillery. The bottle available here is one we have covered before in a flight of Jameson bottlings on a visit to the Irish capital a couple of years ago. However, this is a different batch (getting geeky, the bottling code for this one is 2009) so let’s see if anything has changed in the 18 months since we last tucked in to a bottle of this stuff:

Jameson – Distillery Reserve – 12 Years Old – Batch No. JQ-058548 – 40% Vol

This release has a mix of bourbon and sherry casks.

Nose: The honey roast ham from our previous notes is still there, but the hazelnuts have moved more in to the background and sandwiched between the two is a zest of orange squash. The longer it stays in the glass, the more this develops. It has a fresher feel than the previous bottling we tried.

Palate: The palate of this edition leans much more West than North East, with some rich vanilla bourbon notes backed by some of the coffee notes from the sherry casks. The lavender and heather are still there (possibly coming from the triple distillation) but this bottling seems to have a much woodier edge to it, which actually gives it more meatiness / robustness in the mouth. It’s like it’s spent a couple of months in the gym this time, bulking up a little.

Finish: Toffee and figs, but more spice and liquorice this time around. Not quite as smooth as remembered; in fact this finish is quite spiky and peppery. Long and lingering and warming.

Overall: This is still a cracker of a dram which has more in common with the rich oak elements of bourbon, than the light and grassy notes of many of its Cletic neighbours. The additional spice in this batch adds body but makes it a more challenging dram. Probably a good thing as the last bottle of this we had was too easy to drink!

Finally, we find ourselves back in the heartland of whisky, Speyside. Home to 46 distilleries and producing in excess of 160 million litres of alcohol a year, there is no shortage of distillery tours and shops where one can pick up a unique souvenir of your trip. A few months ago we were lucky enough to visit Glenfiddich and picked up a bottle from their distillery shop, a 15 year old bottled at cask strength. This comes from their famous solera vat where three different types of casks (sherry, bourbon and new oak) are married together. The uniqueness comes from the fact that the solera vat is never emptied, adding “extra complexity” to the overall experience, according to Glenfiddich. We did some rough notes on this when we visited the distillery back in April but this will form our first official tasting notes (which, as always, you’ll be able to find in the CaskStrength Warehouse come the end of the week).

Glenfiddich – 15 Year Old – Distillery Only Bottling – Bottled 16.4.2010 – Batch 10 – 58.3% Vol

Nose: The sherry notes take priority here with some soft brown spices (much like a cinnamon bun I had this morning) and backed by some wonderfully delicate vanilla. It’s a very honest nose that doesn’t have anything to hide, but lots to offer the longer you sit with it. Over time it develops down the road of old school men's aftershaves, evoking old leather and cardamom.

Palate: Neat, the palate hits you with some real dustiness of old books and second hand furniture shops but for something at nearly 60% it’s quite delicate yet warming. There is enough oak to give excellent body to the palate, without drying or cloying the other vanilla flavours. It’s clear from the palate that this hasn’t just come from one type of cask and this is very much to it’s strength, although it does make it difficult to pin down some of the more background flavours. With water, the bourbon casks come to life more with lemon zest and some grapefruit come out.

Finish: Neat, this has a long finish (as you would expect from the large engine that is the alcohol content) with more of the vanilla and soft spices from the nose. With water, the lemons from the palate turn in to lovely mandarin oranges and the additional sweetness carries on for an age.

Overall: Complex? Yes. This is a really well rounded whisky with some real body to it and excellent, wood spices. The overall effect is of a much older whisky than 15 years, without being too dry or too woody. It’s a real pleasure to try a Glenfiddich that’s been non-chill filtered and also at natural cask strength and it’s just a shame that you have to travel to Dufftown to pick this little gem up.

And thus or whistle-stop tour of the world ends here. Just don’t forget, when booking your visits to distilleries, leave a little pocket money for the shop-only bottles. You won’t regret it!

Celebrating The Dark Days

Occasionally here on Caskstrength we venture into other spirits, as seen a few months ago when National Absinthe Day was observed by our cousins across the Atlantic. We also featured a brief history of rum and some of the more interesting aged bottlings on the market.

As many of you rum aficionados will know, the 31st of July has a dark and unfortunate significance in the world of rum. In fact, 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of what is known as Black Tot Day - the fateful day when legislation forced an end to the daily issue of British naval rum to our sailors. It was seen as simply an outdated custom, given the fact that the modern fighting fleets functioned on a greater degree of computer control and having a load of tipsy sailors in charge of potentially lethal arsenal of warheads at the touch of a button might have dire consequences. Shame. So as the last tot was issued on HMS Belfast, the remaining stocks of Royal Navy rum was effectively impounded and placed in bond, seemingly never to see the light of day again. Until now that is.

Speciality Drinks, headed by Sukhinder Singh managed to painstakingly track down all of the remaining naval rum stocks - some stored in stone flagons and the rest in traditional firkin barrels. The rum they discovered had taken on a spectacular quality, a proportion of it dated from the 1940's, possessing a wonderfully rich character.

Their next challenge was to produce a marriage of the rums - the origins of which could be traced back to Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad.

So, 40 years to the day in which the last rum tot was drained from its copper drinking vessel by an inevitably distraught sailor, the rum - now bottled as Black Tot was re-launched on HMS Belfast, (now a floating museum) and we got to sample a little piece of liquid history.

At 11.30am, after a short tour of the lower decks of the Belfast, the Bosun gathered the assembled guests with the shrill blast on his pipe and the order of "Up Spirits!" and the rum was duly measured out, while the splendid (and more than able shipmate) Mr Dave Broom regaled us with a few historical naval stories. Rather than cut the rum down with water to a traditional tot measure (effectively an 1/8 of a pint) we dived straight in for a full on 'gulper'.... Permission to taste sir!!!

Black Tot - Last Consignment - British Royal Naval Rum - 54.3%

Nose: An initial earthiness, followed by thick polish notes, mahogany furniture, some burnt caramel and then creamy fudge. It's powerful, intense and certainly easy to lose yourself. One of the richest noses to a rum we've discovered.

Palate: Peppery woody notes blend effortlessly with a slight waxiness, then into a rich demerera sweetness. At first it smothers the tongue with a silkiness, but then bites you with its firey ABV- this is a rum which has to be respected. Given time in the glass, a note of Camp coffee develops, with a seriously spicy undertone giving an extra level of complexity. Pretty extraordinary.

Finish: The lingering notes of sweetened Arabica coffee remain on the palate and you're in for a very lengthy finish indeed.

Overall: This rum reaches a new level in the spirit's heritage and is aimed at the super premium end of the market- but coupled with its inevitably high price (£600) you are drinking a true piece of naval history, which is unlikely to ever be repeated again- not unless we return to the traditional ways of sailing the high seas. until then...'GENTLEMEN....SPLICE THE MAINBRACE AND STANDFAST THE HOLY GHOST!!'