A Royal Flush

Is it me, or has everyone jumped on the 'Jubilympics' bandwagon?

To be honest, with the Olympics, the Mayoral elections and the Queen's celebrations (god bless her)  living in London is a little like living in Disneyland.  It feels surreal to think that around the world, images of fairytale royal carriages, flotillas, Olympic torches and of course, Boris Johnson's ludicrous mop top are becoming potent symbols of the city in the 21st Century.  Practically every whisky company has released some sort of extortionate lovingly authentic, celebratory bottling - we reviewed the Johnnie Walker bottling, (which to be fair, was excellent) but frankly gave up counting the number of press releases from other companies showboating their liquid tributes to Her Majesty.

Anyway, not wanting to sound like i'm bandwagoneering or indeed, a miserable sod, but about eight months ago after failing to obtain any Olympic tickets whatsoever (who'd have thought that female weightlifting, tennis and basque pelota - (ok I made the last one up, but it did feature in the 1900 Olympics)) would prove to be so popular, I decided to put Caskstrength Towers up for rental for a two-week period and get the hell out of 'Dodge for the whole thing.  I now have a kindly family utilising the stunning location of the property, which is ideally located to access the Olympic site (being that it is South East London.)  Previously the family had booked into a 'family room' at a Travelodge on the outskirts of London and were being charged - get this - the best part of £2000 for the privilege of five days accommodation.  Feeling like a good Samaritan, I drastically undercut the budget hotel chain and everyone has ended up happy.

Or so I thought.  Realising that timing has never my strong point, Mrs Caskstrength duly reminded me after the deal was done that we will have a six-week old baby to look after - and now, no where to live for a while. Oops.  Timing Ridley, timing.

So while finding temporary digs for my family is clearly a priority, I can't help but thinking how pleased I am that we won't have to suffer sweltering conditions on London's creaking tube network, or endure the frustration of having to suddenly cough up £5 extra for a cup of coffee/tea/pint/apple/loaf of bread (insert every day item here) simply because we have Jacques Rogge's circus in town for a few weeks.

All this brings me to a whisky.  As said above, I don't much care for anything with Royal in its name at the moment (though Royal Leamington Spa is delightful) but I just received a sample of a rather unusual, but, I suppose, timely single malt release from Glenury Royal.  

For those who haven't come across the distillery before- it is a long since demolished site, which gained its royal approval from King William IV back in 1835.  Sadly, this patronage was never enough to stop the distillery suffering long periods of silence and in 1992, the axe finally fell on the distillery for good.

Diageo own the remaining stocks of whisky and it has matured into a barnstormer.   We first reviewed a fabulous 36 year old 1968 Glenury Royal back in 2009 and now, we have the pleasure of trying its 40 year old cousin, distilled in 1970 and filled into American oak refill casks.

Whilst Diageo's timing might be a little off with this royal release, next to the numerous others bearing the word royal,  it can't be any worse than mine...

Glenury Royal - 40 Year Old - 59.4% 

Nose: Initially, quite wine'y, with muted dry cask notes, some pasteurised apple juice, a little touch of woody spice and brown sugar.  With water, toffee apple notes, white chocolate and a hint of lemon sherbet round out a very pleasing balance of aromas.

Palate:  Wow, a terrific mouthfeel. Oily, fat and rich off the bat - and a little hot too.  Pepper and charcoal notes mix with fragrant fresh fruits, vanilla pods and tannic red wine. Big, bold and quite lively for its age. Water delivers a touch of Manuka honey, some honey charred ribs and green apple skins.  Very unusual flavours to find in one sip, but all the better for it.

Finish: Dry, with touches of spice, vanilla, a shake of pepper and the green apple skin.

Overall:  This sits perfectly alongside the 36 year old and perhaps has a little edge in the spice department.  It is certainly an elder statesman, but don't let that put you off.  It also comes in a damn sight cheaper than most of the other 'Royal' releases currently competing with each other -  the RRP is £525, which for a 40 year old whisky in this day and age, is not as butt-clenchingly terrifying as you'd have probably expected. 

Now, about that rental money....

By Royal Appointment

Some time ago, I was thinking about the heritage of the British Isles and in particular, its drinking history. For a small island, we can lay claim to a not inconsiderable number of tremendous inventions, happy accidents and liquid gold concoctions, representing every corner of our green and pleasant domain.

I thought that maybe, with the right presenter/celebrity or even better, a double act, you could clearly have a marvelous television programme where all the key drinks of Britain are explored, maybe even pitted against each other in some crazy historical 'drink off'...

So, as I feverishly reached for the telephone to dial Channel 4 and notify them of my programming gold, a familiar face appeared on BBC2 announcing of all things...

'a-marvelous-television-programme-where-all-the-key-drinks-of-Britain-are-explored,
-maybe-even-pitted-against-each-other-in some-kind-of-crazy-historical-drink-off'.

Hurrah for 'James and Oz drink for Britain!!'

My timing has always been lousy and this just proved it. Oh well. A great programme it has turned out to be, in any case.
I did have another thought about drinks with Royal patronage, of which there are many well known ones- whisky being no exception. Prince Charles likes his Laphroaig, the Queen, her gin and Princess Margaret? well, she liked pretty much anything she could get her hands on... but what about whiskies with 'Royal' in the name??

We recently got to try the following elder statesman -and before you could say 'off with its head' we'd written a bunch of tasting notes for you...

Glenury Royal - 36 years old - distilled 1968 - 51.2% vol - 70cl

Nose: Sherbet lemons, thick woolly sweaters, old tweed, hints of leather, mint, cedar, sandalwood and some more closed medicinal notes spring to mind... the overbearing note has to be this wool, which whilst not at all unpleasant, acts as a more dominant fragrance than the rest.

Palate: More sherbet, (yummy) leading into fragrant notes of bourbon, caramelised fruits, well seasoned lamb and a touch of red wine dryness from the oak. Definitely a whisky that hasn't been in a desperate hurry to escape its woody slumbers for the past 36 years.

Finish: The robust meaty flavours of the lamb give way to a much dryer and slightly sour, lightly charred, fruity finish, which lasts for a hell of a long time.

Overall: Slip on a medium weight richonich tweed suit and enjoy this after a hearty Sunday lunch with your best briar pipe full of a decent Balkan blend. It certainly isn't bright and breezy, but it doesn't need to be. A really 'old school' whisky, from a sadly closed distillery that feels a little ruddy cheeked, but certainly has enough about it to give a great after dinner speech.