18 Under 30 Part 9: Gonzalez Byass Matusalem Oloroso Sherry

If you read our last musing on port, you'll no doubt be familiar with the predicament faced by sherry. Like port, it's easy to make a huge sweeping generalisation that no one buys it anymore (especially in the UK) but the sad thing is that to many drinkers, sherry will no doubt evoke a few memories, which they would perhaps care to forget. In the UK, one could argue that sherry has been one of those unfortunate drinks to be looked upon with embarrassment and derision; a lingering hangover from 1970’s family Christmas parties, and as well received as the poorly-knitted, itchy festive jumpers a nation of aunties forced us to wear.  

Remember your auntie doing this at Christmas?
Thought not. 

But strip away those images of half drunk, lipstick smeared schooners of Harvey’s Bristol Cream, plus the overpowering alcoholic hit of a 70's trifle and the real inner complexity of sherry comes to the fore. Thanks to some exceptional wines hitting our shores from Jerez, sherry has once again begun to flourish as a very noble drink, like it once did several centuries ago.

One winery currently spearheading the resurgence of sherry is the González Byass bodega.  Known to many as the company who produce the trend-bucking Tio Pepe Fino sherry, (and to a few whisky folks out there as the bodega who supply Dalmore with sherry casks for a number of their high-end Constellation bottlings) we've been lucky enough to fall under the spell of several of their recent offerings.  
In fact our very good friend, wine writer Jane Parkinson switched us onto a range of exceptional sherries that should be top of your list if you happen to be warming to the idea of fortifying one's self in the coming weeks.   

For those who appreciate the huge importance of sherry casks in whisky, it will come as no surprise that sherries such as Palo Cortado and Oloroso represent some of the finest wine making in Jerez and highlight just how the ageing process can produce flavours and aromas which often surprise and delight in equal measure.  From rich, dark earthy palate coating notes to a distinctive aromatic nuttiness, there's nothing quite like a slightly chilled glass of aged Oloroso with a selection of festive epicurean delights to raise a smile from even those who profess to have an abject hatred of sherry - a hatred usually stemming from the aforementioned forceful aunties... 

Anyway, alongside the excellent Gonzalez Byass Leonor Palo Cortado, which is a steal at £12.95 from here 
(think an abundance of roasted caramel-coated nuts, burnt orange zest and a faint waft of anise)  we shall definitely be buying a bottle or two of the bodega's mighty 30 year old Matusalem Oloroso -  a sherry so intensely packed with complexity that if it were a Christmas gift,  it would be one of those fiendish Japanese box puzzles.   

Gonzalez Byass -  Matusalem Oloroso -  30 Years Old - 20.5% - 37.5cl

Nose: An intense dryness, but tempered with rich oak notes, polished mahogany, dried fruit, marzipan and chopped nuts. Given time in the glass a distinct note of brittle caramel comes to the fore, backed up with mature oak notes and dark fruit.

Palate: The dryness of the nose continues, but there is an almost resin-like note to this on the palate- hugely complex, with more dried fruits, further hints of oak and a savoury/meatiness. The dryness subsides into toasted hazelnuts followed by a lovely lingering blood orange citrus note. Quite breathtaking really. 

Finish:  Lingering notes of mouthwatering dried fruit, an oaky dryness and a distinct nuttiness.  

Overall:  This Oloroso demonstrates precisely how far we have come from the world inhabited by the one-dimensional sherries of several decades ago. For those of you who love the uncompromising directness of a heavily sherried whisky, this is a no brainer, but for those in doubt, don't underestimate its underlying subtlety: the complexity of this bottling will leave you wondering just why it took so long to give sherry a second chance.  Stunning. 

Gonzalez Byass 30 year old Matusalem Oloroso is available for £18.95 here 

Like A Rolling Stone: Jura 30 Year Old Whisky

It's once again that time of year when the drinks world goes bonkers for the Christmas rush. Easing out single casks, limited editions runs or new blends, it's a great time to be interested in whisky as we begin to see the fruits that the collective creative brains in the industry have been cultivating for months, possibly even years.

A lot of these expressions will be 'here today, gone (on eBay) tomorrow' bottles and as the balloon that is demand rises, so the cost of holding on to these offerings increases as the string gets longer. We only have to look at the effect of  supply and demand on the annual Port Ellen release to see this example played out in Technicolor.

But every-so-often around this time of year, someone sneaks out a whisky which will just sit quietly in the range and not make too much of a fuss over itself. And this is exactly what has happened over at Jura. Except this isn't just any average teenage newbie.

No, Sir. This is a 30 Year Old offering.

Named 'Standing Stone', the whisky takes its name from the largest of eight standing stones on the island where the whisky is made. Standing 12-foot high, it is all that is left of a 3,000 year old stone circle. That means this whisky, at 30 years old, is just 1% of the age of the stone which is depicted on the bottle. And we thought this hooch was elderly...

The whisky itself is matured in ex-American oak barrels and then finished in Oloroso Sherry butts from Gonzalez Byass. It will come housed in a display case, with the bottle being in-filled with copper wax and a matching metal plate containing all the details. It'll set you back 350 of your Great British Pounds.

Jura - Standing Stone - 30 Years old - 44% abv

Nose: The first aroma to hit the nose is like opening a fresh packet of high quality granola; this gives some cereal tones, a hint of coconut,  lots of raisins and dried fruits (esp. apricot). Beneath that is a hint of peat smoke and then the real finger print for me of Jura, which is a copper tone, like standing next to a blazing hot still in operation.

Palate: A big initial hit of apricot, which develops a meatier mouthfeel and gives off some light candy flavours, sweet cured bacon and toasted pine nuts. The smoke emerges along with a copper tone again, giving the big mouthfeel a surprisingly light undertone. With water the palate opens up to greater sherry elements and more polished oak. A lot of energy for a whisky this age.

Finish: Some spices and chillies, there are hints of liquorice powder, orris root and crystallised ginger. Lovely soft-smoky end to it all.

Overall: This is certainly a Jura but with the extra 'oomph' of long maturation and the finish in a very good sherry cask to really give the beast some additional energy and complexity on the palate. Belittles its age. If you like Jura, you'll be in for a real treat with this one. It Jura XO.

So there you have it. A whisky which has been added to the very top end of the Jura range, but just quietly gets on with being a really great example of a well-aged and complex Isle of Jura offering. Less of a standing stone, this is certainly more Mick Jagger than Oblix.

A Blast From The Past... For A Star Of The Future

Howdy.  As Harrison swans off on his holidays for a week to a Spanish Castle (to no doubt enjoy the hospitality of the local señoritas and their flagons of Rioja) Ridley here is left holding the baby.

And this time, I mean literally holding the baby.  On the 4th July, at three minutes past two in the afternoon, Miss Lois Emmeline Bullus-Ridley was born at the Princess Royal University Hospital in Kent.  

My impending fatherhood had previously got me thinking about some of life's decisions... the following might have been at the tail end of the list.

Will fatherhood mean i'll have to exchange my Teutonic Torpedo (aka a late 80's Mercedes 230e) for a sensible (but ultimately tedious) 'People Carrier'?



I've since grown fearful every time I see a Vauxhall Meriva and literally start screaming at the sound of nearby Fiat Multipla coughing into life.

Will fatherhood mean that one's wardrobe suddenly becomes 'infused' with all manner of bodily fluids?

But perhaps even more pertinently, which whisky should I reach for, from the newly constructed walk-in, baby proof cabinet, to celebrate our wonderful and perfectly formed arrival?

The last poser really got me floundering.  For a little while i've been picking up some nice bits and bobs where ever I happened to find them. A recently acquired bottle of Port Ellen 6th Release was earmarked for 'special occasions', but the bottle i'd really been itching to uncork was an ancient Laphroaig.

Originally released in 2000, Laphroaig  30 year old has no doubt become the stuff of legend amongst peaty purists.  A 75cl bottle was released for the American market with a regular 70cl bottling (at 43%) released into Europe.  Whilst on a shopping trip down to Canary Wharf about 18 months ago, I chanced upon a bottle of this rarity in a local Waitrose -  for the incredible price of £110!  Surely one of the bargains of the century.  I eagerly ran to the tills with sweaty hands and vowed to open this in celebration of a significant milestone.

So on the evening of the 4th July, the date that the Higgs boson particle was discovered - arguably the most important scientific breakthrough of the 21st century, I duly celebrated the most significant and profound event in my life to date.

Does a great whisky taste even greater when it has a purpose, a destination and more importantly, a reason to be opened and shared with friends?

Undoubtedly.

Slainte, Lois.  As Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, an aim in life is the only fortune worth finding.

A Brace of New Taliskers

Well then. After our monumental trip to Islay, it felt only right to lay off whisky for a few days and let the collective Caskstrength metabolism recover from all the remarkable drams we tried, as well as the equally remarkable Glen Gusset, which is currently residing in a small wooden vessel in a secret location. 


But on returning to London, it seemed the whisky world had carried on valiantly in our absence - samples of a brand new Cutty Sark (Storm) had arrived, alongside the new Irish whiskey, Yellow Spot (stay tuned for a full review) But our eye was immediately drawn to a package marked Talisker.  Hmmm. what could be inside we wondered.  Rumours of a new Talisker have been doing the rounds, so we eagerly opened the packaging and found that not only was there one new release, but two... perhaps a third around the corner too?  who knows...


Anyway, the two whiskies in our sample pack will be well known to most Talisker fans already, only they've now been made full 'family members', rather than just part of the Diageo special release programme.   


According to the press release,  'Talisker 25 year old and Talisker 30 year old will be available on a regular basis within the Talisker range - although necessarily in limited editions, and bottled at the traditional Talisker strength of 45.8% ABV.'Here's our thoughts on these, the first of the brand new formulations:

Talisker - 25 years Old -  45.8% - 2012 Edition

Nose: Soft fruit crumble, (raspberries and strawberries) cotton bandages, floral candle wax, hot fudge sauce and a little zing of liquorice and soft peat smoke. With water the wax notes become more prominent. Classic Talisker, but with a softer, more comforting underbelly.  

Palate: That equally classic Talisker pepper note is there, but not as spiky as the ten year old.  It subsides into golden syrup, a blast of spices (more liquorice and anise) some creamy milk chocolate and something waxy, silky and mouth coating.  With water a malty note comes to the fore, alongside some dairy fudge (or Tablet) and fresh raspberries.  Superb.


Finish:  the rasps seem to linger, alongside a little dusting of black pepper.


Overall: Of all the Talisker's we've tried, this age seems to perfectly characterise a great whisky maturing gracefully. The ten year old is still the benchmark and alongside the 18 year old, forms the bedrock of flavours that this bottling sits perfectly aloft.  We for one are delighted that there's going to be a regular supply of this for the future, not just on specialist allocation. 

Next up:  30 years old:

                                            Talisker - 30 Years Old - 45.8% - 2012 Edition


Nose: Fruitier than the 25 year old and perhaps a touch more floral, with notes of the scented candle wax, stewed rhubarb and baked sweet pastry.  With water, a return to the spices of the 25 year old, but with a little added oomph...


Palate: Slightly more abrasive than the 25 year old, but with more immediate notes of lemon zest, cracked black pepper, sliced green apples and the soft peat smoke you'd expect in a dram of aged Talisker. With water, some medicinal throat lozenges emerge. 


Finish:   The medicinal lozenge notes linger, alongside some creamy undertones.


Overall:  Very similar to the 25 year old, but if we're honest, I think the younger brother just nicks it in terms of being the most impressive.  
 

Islay Odyssey - Day Two: No Joel, This Isn't The Bar We're Looking For - It's The Job Centre

Well here we are well rested and safely ensconced on Islay. Despite the long drive up, there really is no other way to travel over to this glorious isle. Our previous Campbeltown adventure culminated in us already being weighed down with no less than TEN purchases so the car made a reassuring, yet slightly alarming clatter as we pulled away from the Port Askaig ferry terminal to the strains of our 'Now That's What I Call Islay' -  Volume 4. Fresh in our memory was the superb discovery of the Ardshiel Hotel in Campbeltown, home to a great newly refurbished whisky bar with around 1000 bottles of single malt.
Richard Paterson had recently been in to do a tasting and the owners were thrilled that the bar is gathering a real buzz about it.  We elected to have dinner there accompanied by a tasting flight of local drams selected by the bartender Neil MacKinnon.  And what a flight.  Starting with a highly surprising Glengyle Work In Progress 3 (aged around six years old and already packing a rich flavour and plenty of promise for the next few years) we then enjoyed a rich, syrupy and sweet Glen Scotia 12 year old (which paired well with a home made steak pie). To finish, a Springbank 10 year old rounded out what highlights a vibrant and very distinct region of whisky making, which if you haven't already, should be visited at your earliest convenience.

Pulling in to Port Askaig, we were very much now on a mission. With the new (when does it stop being ‘new’) CalMac ferry ‘Finlaggan’ in our rear-view mirror, the full force of the ‘Japanese Mercedes’ powered us down the road to our first port of call, Lagavulin Distillery.

Greeted by the always affable distillery manager Georgie Crawford, we were booked on to the grandly named ‘Ultimate Islay Tour’ which promised unique access to the three Daigeo-owned sites on the island: Lagavulin, the Port Ellen Maltings and Caol Ila Distillery-  All for the princely sum of £240. That might seem like a lot of money, and it is, but included in the price is transport around the island, a picnic lunch (more on that later), plenty of rare and hard-to-find whisky and both the now-sold-out (and already on eBay *sigh*) Lagavulin Feis Ile bottling and the sister Feis Ile release from Caol Ila, hosted by Classic Malts Ambassador Donald Colville.


The tour was designed to show previously off-limits areas around the facilities and our first treat was a trip up the stairs to the long since abandoned Lagavulin malting floors, which lay untouched since the 1970's. The old malt bins and bits of machinery were still there, giving us an idea of how far this now powerhouse-of-a-distillery had come in the last 40 years.   The view from the stone staircase over the bay was probably worth the entry price alone.  Georgie then escorted us to the dunnage warehouses and regaled us with stories of the distillery in the 70's, showing us some rather exciting casks in the process, including the one below:

The story goes that Iain McArthur discovered cask 12162 in the warehouse and remembered it as a significant vessel from his time working at Port Ellen. In fact, it was known as the 'remnant cask', where it was used to store the remaining liquid from every single Port Ellen spirit run from 1967-1983!  So a pretty significant and historical piece of wood indeed.

The cask now holds a ten year old Lagavulin from 2002, which Georgie drew some samples of for us to try. Clearly the cask was chosen back in the day for its neutrality and the Lagavulin retains a lot of its spirit character, alongside some wonderful cream soda notes. Our next dram was a 1966 Lagavulin from cask 552 (which we tried during a previous Feis Ile trip) and the setting for the tasting was the wonderful Lagavulin castle ruins, the fresh sea air making the dram taste even better in our opinion.

After our hit of history from Ms Crawford, we were to head to one of the newer sites on the island, Port Ellen Maltings. Built at the end of the 1970’s / start of the 1980’s, the Port Ellen Maltings worked alongside the now much loved and dearly departed Port Ellen distillery for three years before the spirit-producing side was decommissioned in 1983.  Now a huge factory churning out malt for several of the island's distilleries, we were to be given a tour by (the brilliantly named) Ramsay Borthwick, who had taken over as the maltings manager just a week before, having previously been site operations manager at Talisker.

Reinstalled at the site is the old wooden marrying vessel from Port Ellen distillery, in which every single drop of Port Ellen was stored before being siphoned off for filling. The tap (seen in the picture on the right) has had pretty much every drop of PE ever made pass through it at some stage. Nice.

Onwards and upwards the tour progressed with Ramsay doing a fantastic job of explaining a very complex and highly scientific malting process, through the medium of 'chocolate'. (The outer layer of the chocolate bar being the barley husk and the squares inside the starch molecules) What’s not to like about that?! All in, this one of the most comprehensive tours of maltings I have been on and to say I learnt a lot would be an understatement. It almost required a mini-graduation ceremony at the conclusion of the tour. *applause*

From Port Ellen, we were bundled in to our people carriers and carted off to the peat bogs to meet the legend that is Iain McArthur. After a picnic lunch of rolls made from the grist (flour) at Lagavulin (ergo, giving a sweet and smoky nature to the fresh bread) filled with either locally smoked salmon / smoked venison, it was our turn to have a go at digging out some peat, all aided by a dram of Caol Ila 12 years old, unpeated.

As usual, Neil turned up in totally inappropriate footwear, stomping across the boggy ground in a what can only be described as a pair of plimsolls while everyone else around donned some form of Northface-esque foot attire. Watching him attempt to cut peat in such a get-up almost made the entire trip worthwhile...

Having suitably refreshed ourselves with rolls and drams, it was time to head onwards to the north of the island and up to Caol Ila, stopping firstly for a wee dram at their water source.

Climbing up to the (pretty depleted) loch, we were greeted by Caol Ila distillery manager Billy Stitchell with a rather odd looking decanter, something he’d grabbed from his office before coming out to meet us. It turned out to be the Caol Ila Flora & Fauna series bottling, a rather tasty 15 year old offering:

Caol Ila - 15 Year Old -  Flora & Fauna Series -  43%

Nose: Wow, this is highly unexpected.  Not at all like the modern era Caol Ila bottlings we're used to and perhaps more like Rosebank, if it happened to be lightly peated, or a younger Port Ellen.  Swirls of tropical fruit, mangos, sweet vanilla, butter, coconut and soft medicinal peat and chamois leather note. Absolutely superb. 

Palate:  The fruit continues on the palate, with some lighter notes of stewed plums, green apples and lemon zest, all underpinned with a delicate waft of peat.

Finish:  Lingering notes of syrup and apple.

Overall: Undoubtedly one of the finest Caol Ila's we've tried. Subtle, gentle, yet complex, this bottling is almost like a greatest hits of single malts.  

Having supped our dram while gazing out at where the water to make this fantastic whisky originally came from, we made our way down to the final destination for the day, Caol Ila distillery itself.

Arriving, we were treated to a tour of the distilleries newly expanded operations, with two huge new washbacks and one massive new mash tun, all aiding the increased production at this site which in-turn, will service the increased demand for whisky across the globe.

Ending up at the top of the distillery, (literally on the roof) it was time to try what we thought would be the last dram of the day (but boy, were we mistaken), the Caol Ila Feis Ile 2012 bottling:

Caol Ila – Feis Ile 2012 – Filled: 15/01/2001 – cask no 300897 – 60.4% abv – 70cl (around 620 bottles)

Nose: A huge hit of the classic coal dust smoke, followed by rich runny honey, some mint jelly, hot sand after rainfall and some red berries. With water the spiced fruit notes increase and the whisky takes on aromas of mincemeat.  

Palate: Hot and smoky, this gives off wafts of bacon frazzle crisps, meaty overtones of smoked haggis and sweet cure bacon. With water, the sherried nature of this comes to life with more vibrancy and colour to the palate. Really takes water well.

Finish: Long, lingering and smoky.

Overall: We both agreed that this is the best Caol Ila Feis Ile bottling to date with an excellent balance -  powerful, yet complex.

But- oh no... As everyone turned to leave, the sight of another three whiskies in Billy's office took us all by surprise.  The sound of jaws dropping could be heard as far away as the Islay Woollen Mill. Alongside the 2012 Lagavulin Feis Ile bottling sat  two final drams and perhaps the pinnacle of Islay whiskies in our humble opinion- Port Ellen annual release No.1 (which we reviewed last year and tasted equally as exquisite stood on the rooftop at Caol Ila) and the official bottling of Lagavulin 30 year old.  

Breathe deeply caskstrength...

Lagavulin - 2012 Feis Ile Release - 1998 - Cask 1716 - 55.1% 

Nose: Raspberry ripple ice cream, apple strudel and icing sugar.  Sweet, with the classic cream soda and carbolic soap underneath.

Palate: Vanilla notes, green apple, some chopped hazelnuts and a big hit of medicinal smoke.  Lighter than the 16yo, but slightly more complex than the 12yo.  

Finish: Lingering orchard fruit and a sooty peat smoke.

Overall:  We were divided over whether this was better than the Caol Ila, with Joel preferring it, but Neil feeling the spiciness and fruit of the Caol Ila tipped the balance in its favour.

Lagavulin - 30 years Old - Distilled 1976 -  52.6%

Nose: Candied fruit, tinned peaches, chamois leather, lemon meringue pie, lavender and a hint of Parma Violets.  The smoke is restrained, gentle and super subtle, with just a caressing waft of the classic Lagavulin carbolic soap. Truly astonishing.

Palate: This is where it gets really serious. Coconut, more lavender, light vanilla stewed fruit (rhubarb, strawberry and raspberries) with an underpinning of American oak-influenced creaminess, this whisky just screams - no sorry - whispers perfection. The balance is extraordinary. 

Finish:  The fruit notes give way to more of the light peat and a touch of creamy maltiness for an extremely long finish indeed.

Overall: No doubt, the finest Lagavulin ever bottled.  This is one of those whiskies that demands the time, the company, the setting and your full attention and delivers more than you could ever hope for.  

Despite the relatively high face value of this tasting, if you break down the actual value and quality of the whisky tasted, the two festival bottlings, the unprecedented access to previously off-limits distillery areas and, more than anything, the time spent with the likes of Georgie, Billy, Ian and Ramsay for pretty much a whole day, this is undoubtedly cheaper than the sum of the parts if they were offered individually. As a result, it is one of the best tastings the festival has surely offered thus far.  Lord knows what they're planning for 2013.