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.

Feis Ile Day One: "Old Wobbly Legs"

“Old Wobbly Legs”

Its midday on Friday and you know it’s going to be a good ‘un when, in the departures lounge of Heathrow airport you chat with a 1980’s footballing legend... Neil and I look at each other in amazement and without hesitation; “Sod the whisky!.... It’s Bruce Grobbelaar!” A brief chat ensues with the ex-Oxford United (and, er, Liverpool!) player and then it was time to think whisky.

On landing at Glasgow airport we swiftly locate our hired ‘Kia’ and its off down the A82 towards the awe inspiring views of the Kintyre Peninsula. And what a drive it is. (For the uninitiated, do not hire a Kia – try to get something resembling a Mark II Jag, for maximum enjoyment)
Our first stop finds us with the prospect of a cheeky dram with the lovely folks at Loch Fyne Whiskies, where we leave with three interesting miniatures; Old Malt Cask Dallas Dhu 21, Old Malt Cask Highland Park 23 and Loch Fyne’s very own blend.



Dallas Dhu - Old Malt Cask – 21 YO – Ex Sherry Wood – 50% Vol – 50ML

Nose: Too much sherry, a hint of sulphur, coal, apricot and tiny hints of Lavender. Rather like Sunday lunch at your ageing grandma’s cottage.

Palate: big sweetness, but sadly curbed by a rubberiness followed by what could be a promising cederwood hint, which comes and goes way too quickly.

Finish: perhaps hints of black coffee, zesty lemons and then dry, dry oak and chilli. Very quick.

Overall: Not how we had hoped to start off our malt mileage. We only purchased 50ml thank god. Clearly size does matter!!! In essence- this is more JR Hartley than JR Ewing....





Onwards to our homestead for the evening, the Hunting Lodge Hotel near Campbeltown. Famed for its award winning whisky bar, many of the 500+ has now gone due to new ownership. There is, however, a few gems left. Let’s get on with the reviews:



Royal Bracklar – Rare Malts – 20 Years Old – Dist. 1978, Bottled May 1998 – 59.8% Vol – 70cl

Nose: Grassy. A huge alcohol hit (as you would expect from 59.8%) with hints of coal dust and a dry nose.

Palate:

Without Water: Spices, Chillies, totally overbearing.

With Water: Much better. Much more open with big fruit notes of strawberry and grapefruit coming through. Subtle but nice.

Finish:

Without Water: packs a punch with oak and not much else

With Water: Cream adds to the strawberry flavours. A touch of bitterness from the grapefruit and a short, clean end.

Overall: Not bad, but not astonishing either. I expected more from this Rare Malt (always a bad thing to do) and it let me down, until the addition of a little water when it really came to life. Good but not great.


Tomintoul – Mackillops Choice – 35 YO – Dist. 1966 – Cask 6073 – 46.5% Vol – 70cl

Nose: Syrup, candied pears, Demerara. (i.e.- very sweet). Infused with hints of heather, strawberry and marzipan.

Palate: Cinnamon, “all spice” mix and cedar wood. Hints of desiccated coconut and cream at the death. Due to it’s age, the oak clearly shows through later on the palate.

Finish: A zesty burst of alcohol (a cask strength whisky at 46.5%. Wow! This is really showing it’s age!). More hints of fruit and cedar return. Again, dry oak and hints of bitterness.

Overall: Extremely pleasant sweet and spicy malt, but a little too old now to be considered a great. A bit like Bruce Grobbelaar, really...

Tomorrow the fun really starts with our ferry over to Islay, but it is an early start. So time to get some much needed kip before we hit the fabled shores.