The First of The Last Great Malts: Craigellachie Single Malt Scotch Whisky

The relationship between beauty and functionality is one I struggle with. I'm Scandinavian and subscribe to the ideal that, as far as you can make it, everything should be "both beautiful and functional".

There are plenty of excellent examples of this, from coffee makers through to oyster shucking kits, but every so often in life there is an example of extreme functionality without beauty, and the embodiment of this has to be a certain Mr Dean Windass.

A builder by trade, Dean Windass is what we humble chaps in the pub would call 'an ugly f*cker'. Dean signed as a professional footballer for Hull City (a place itself of questionable beauty...) before moving to Aberdeen where he became somewhat of a legend.

Moving back south to English football, Windass signed in 1998 for Oxford United at a sum that is still counted a club record fee for the University city team, and when he arrived in the City of Dreaming Spires he came with a warning- for Deano, as he was known, had been much loved by the supporters of the football clubs he had played for previously. But a genius on the pitch, he was also dogged by a fierce temper and Oxford United fans received warning of this via our weekly football fanzine (kids- this was like a blog but in paper form, before the Internet existed).

The story goes that Dean, the man with the face of a boxer but the feet of an angel, had once been sent off THREE TIMES in one game, whilst playing for Aberdeen: firstly for some on the pitch footballing offence; secondly for verbally abusing the ref who sent him off and thirdly (and brilliantly in my eyes) for "using the corner flag as a weapon".

Wow. Just wow.

In what would be considered a long career on the pitch, Windass’ final act was a simply amazing goal, which you can watch here, while back at his home town club of Hull City in a match which is still the biggest financial prize in sport- scoring the winning goal to take Hull into the Premier League. At Wembley. It must be noted that Dean Windass was nearly 40 when he performed this piece of utter magic.

As you can see from the footage (if you've bothered to watch it) Dean Windass has cropped bleach/blond hair, looking like a washed up D.J. in a local nightclub, trying to relive his days as a headline act in Ibiza.

But whatever his look, his ability shined through.

Speyside (local club: Aberdeen) is a forest of beauty and functionality. Distilleries such as Aberlour, The Balvenie, and Benromach stand as stunning examples of architecture, churning out some of the best single malt on the market. Top this off with The Macallan, which is about to go under the surgeon’s knife with a £120m new distillery, this should make their site as beautiful as the liquid in its bottles.

But there are some distilleries where function takes over from form. We recently visited a 'new to market' distillery, which has been churning out malt whisky for a long time, but due to its long history is now somewhat of an ugly child of mid-1960’s architecture, but with a result that would grace the grass at Wembley stadium.

Craigallachie Distillery sits in a wonderful location, just down the hill from Dufftown before the banks of the Spey river rise to meet the Macallan, Knockando and Cardhu distilleries. The spawn of mid-century architecture, aside from a quite stunning walk along the top of their worm tub cooling vessels, is a functional production facility, part of the team of distilleries producing whisky for the Dewar’s blend.

The team behind the malt distilleries (owned by Barcadi) have decided to have a go at replicating the umbrella group of malts that Diageo successfully launched under their 'Classic Malts' banner in the 1990s.

Using the term ‘The Last Great Malts’ it covers Craigellachie, GlenDevron (the distillery known as MacDuff), Aberfeldy, Royal Bracklar and Aultmore - all well regarded juice  in their own right.

The Last Great Malts; an odd name. It comes across as something of a final sigh from a collection of excellent distilleries, not a new collection of vibrant malts. It seems almost like an acknowledgement that there is a wave of newer distilleries to take their place, steal their crown and melt it down into cooler jewellery for a new generation- like the Rolling Stones doing a 'last great tour' before giving way to Jack White or the Arctic Monkeys. But instead of £450 a ticket, it is £330.00 for a 23 year old whisky...

But enough about the marketing, let’s look at the distillery itself. A wonderful still room, housing four large pot stills, despite its utilitarian feel has one very unusual aspect: a large window which can be opened to let in the natural Speyside air. If you’ve been to Caol Ila, you would feel very much at home in this still room, save for the view which isn’t of the mist covered Paps of Jura but of the A941.

In terms of production, Craigellachie is one of the few distilleries left in Scotland to use Worm Tubs as their method of condensing, something to applaud. And it makes for a wonderful spirit (show me a distillery using worm tubs, that doesn’t...).

Their new range encompasses Craigellachie bottled at 13, 17, (a sneaky 19 year old for Duty Free) and 23 years old the maths geeks among you will notice that these are all prime numbers. Aside from that one fact, all these releases are quite excellent, with the real stand out being the 23 year old.

Craigellachie - 23 Year Old – Single Malt Scotch Whisky – 46% abv –  £330.00 here

Nose: A real depth of complexity with large dose of oak spiciness, some candied orange zest and just a hint of blood orange. There are red apples and pear drops too. Very inviting. Not over oaked but a wonderful balance of spice and meaty, oily tones.

Taste: Blood orange develops on the palate with an addition of toasted marshmallows and a hint of lime pickle. Big and unctuous, this has the age to give it good body, but still maintain as vibrant and energetic flavour profile.

Finish: Long and oaky, but without being too dry, this has a great balance of wood in it.

Overall: An excellent dram which has seemingly lasted well in cask given the meaty nature of the spirit. It’s a shame it can’t all be at this age, but with a lower price point...!

All round, this is a great start to The Last Great Malts which, I think, should be given a far more positive name if they are all this good...

Happy Esters

Running a blog is like having a baby. It takes money out of your pocket, you have to attended to it, even on holidays, as it screams for your attention. It won’t even look after you when you get old. But once you’re in, you’re in. No backing out now...

And thus I find myself on Easter Saturday, on retreat to the countryside, writing about whisky. The weather outside has been unseasonably hot; begging one to just sit and be, to listen to nothing but the sound of birds singing (I can honestly hear nothing but a chorus of birds and lone woodpecker hammering into a tree) while sipping slowly on a pint of shandy or a refreshing G&T.

But not me.

In anticipation of a visit to Speyside next week for our first taste of The Spirit of Speyside Festival, followed by a quick trip to Middleton Distillery in Ireland, all before for our 5^th Feis Ile: Festival of Malt & Music on Islay, travelling home via the Arran Distillery Open Day AND having just returned from The Balvenie and Bowmore educations, I have a new drinking policy: If I’m not drinking to write, I’m not drinking at all.

This means that, unlike Ridley, I’m not soaking up the sunshine with Mrs Beverage by my side. I can almost hear a collective, sympathetic “Ahhhhhh“ from all our readers...

The first hump in the road for my wagon today was a visit to the football with Papa Harrison. It was 25 years ago this month that our team, Oxford United, won their only major trophy (discounting league titles) The League Cup and the club were hosting a re-run of the match before our game with league leaders Chesterfield.

A packed room watched Oxford put QPR to the sword and run out 3-0 victors. We even had some ex-players and management staff in attendance. It was a magical way to spend lunch time, even getting my hands on the trophy itself...

But one thing struck a number of people in the room, as we watched the 25 year old footage and that was how much the game has changed over the years.

All 22 players (and the one substitute who came on) were either British or Irish and, despite the hard-tackling, cup final nature of the game, not one yellow card was issued. When QPR’s John Byrne went crumbling to the floor following a nailing challenge from Centre Back Gary Briggs, he just got back up again and carried on. One particularly heavy challenge on Oxford’s John Aldridge in the opposition penalty area must surely have been a foul, a clear cut penalty. But when the referee waved away the shout, the game continued: no surrounding of the referee, no ganging up on him, no managerial ranting and raving. This was a different era, a different time. The game has changed a lot. In comparison, I watched Tottenham Hotspur Vs Arsenal on Wed evening and it seemed more like watching Avatar than football; not quite real life, but very entertaining.

This got me thinking about old whiskies that I’ve had. At the Whisky Show 2010 we were discussing with some folk about why whisky from a different age tastes, well, so different. The conclusion seems to be two-fold:

Firstly, the majority of distilleries would have had coal fired stills. This means the heating levels would have been inconsistent, as coal is difficult to control, and would have been patchy in the heating of the base of the stills with different areas hotter than others. As a result, the spirit being made would have had a greater degree of inconsistency in flavour, which in turn adds character (not always good character, but character none-the-less). Today gas or steam is used to heat the stills, giving incredible levels of control to the temperature and consistent heating across the whole of the base of the still, meaning a more consistent flavour of new make spirit is produced.

Secondly, the type of condensers used. In the old days every distillery would have used Worm tubs; a slower form of condensing the spirit from the second (or in some older cases, like Talisker from the 1960’s, the third distillation) still or Spirit Still. With a Worm Tub you get less contact time between the new make spirit and copper, giving a different, more robust / meaty and often sulphury note to the spirit. This is in contrast to the newer Shell and Tube condensers, which provide greater efficiency, where the spirit has a much greater contact time with copper. This leads to a lighter and more delicate spirit.

Only a handful of distilleries in Scotland still have Worm Tubs. A while back we visited one, Royal Lochnagar, where the condenser is kept outside, meaning the variable temperatures of Scotland’s weather also play a large part in the flavour of the spirit produced.

One such distillery to still use Worm Tubs is Old Pulteney. We did a piece a couple of months ago on a Duty Free Only bottling they released, and earlier this week we were treated to a tasting of their full range of commercially available whiskies.

It’s a funny old range, starting off with a 12 Year Old and going all the way up to 30 Years Old. Well, actually it now includes a whopping 40 Year Old which we’ll tell you more about in a moment. But why is it so strange?

The 12 Year Old is a solid whisky which sells in excess of 600k cases a year, 50% of them in the UK. Pure gingerbread man in a glass, it is easy to see why this inoffensive bottling is so popular. With a range that next moves up to a 17 Year Old and then on to a 21 Year Old and 30 Year Old, you would expect, with each incremental age rise, for the whisky to follow suit. But this isn’t the case with Old Pultney.

The 17 Year Old is much lighter and more buttery than the 12 Year Old and a whole heap away from the heavy sherry tones of the 21 Year Old. It reminded me of The Glenlivet Nadurra which provides a real right-turn in their range of whiskies, too.

Old Pulteney – 17 Year Old – 46%

Nose: Apple lattice, vanilla, copper, Paul Smith Green aftershave, gooseberry and over ripe kiwi fruit.

Palate: Icing Sugar, hint of salt, apple sauce (the cheaper stuff that is sugary, almost like the inside of a Maccy D’s apple pie), white grape juice. Very unctuous and yummy.

Finish: Tart, creamy, sweet crisp green apples.

Overall : This has more in common with a light lowland than a Northern Highland whisky. It was my pick of the bunch, but then I like a bourbon matured whisky and at 17 Years Old, the combination of age and the barrels makes this a very drinkable dram, especially with the summer approaching and all this hot weather about...

Once the 17 is out of the way, it is very much a case of “as you were” for the 21 and 30 Year old. Solid whiskies, increasing their flavour, spices, dryness with their age. The additional maturity gives dusty notes and smelling the 21 was like sniffing a glass full of shreddies. As the range came to an end, we were introduced to the newest addition: a 40 Year Old.

Old Pulteney – 40 Year Old – 1968 - Pre Release Sample – 363 Bottles - 53.4% ABV

This will go on to be bottled at 52.5%, apparently with whisky taken from 3 ex sherry barrels and 1 ex bourbon barrel.

Nose: If you met Worzel Gummidge, this is how he might smell! A big mix of hay and straw and old, worn leather (not polished leather, books and old shoes, but worn leather jackets). You’d expect it to be welcoming and not at all scary! Shammy leathers. Whisky just doesn’t smell like this unless it is old.

Palate: surprising creamy for something this old; scones with jam and clotted cream but wood spices, cinnamon and rocket providing the spices.

Finish: Long and lingering, ginger notes, tobacco, cigar casing, orange and custard creams. The straw from the nose comes through at the end backed up with fruity blackcurrant juice.

Overall: A complex whisky which is surprisingly vibrant for its age. This should be out in June-ish 2011 and will add to their range of Old Pulteney well, sitting a level above the 30 Year Old, should you wish to venture onward from at bottling.

With the Old Pulteney tasting in the bag, it signals the start of my next period on the wagon, until we leave for Speyside next week. So here I am, cup of tea in hand, having a day reminiscing about past success. Where ever you are this Easter, sit back, think about something you’ve done, seen, heard, tasted that made you happy and enjoy your break with a smile on your face.

He is risen. He is risen indeed!

Glen V Glen

It would be easy to pull out some obvious analogies to place around the contest between these two big hitters: The Rumble In The Jungle, the fight between the two big hitters of the day Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. The 1966 World Cup Final between England and West Germany. Oasis v Blur for the coveted number one spot in the UK charts, right at the peak of 1990’s Britpop...

But I’m going to look much closer to the present. Last night, in fact. And not in the glamorous surrounds of Zaire, Wembley Stadium or the pop charts... but in Luton. For last night the mighty, mighty Oxford United took on Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. Both teams have seen better days, mainly in the mid-1980’s, but both now find themselves in the lowest professional league of English Football, the Blue Square Premiership. Due to their glory years the teams also sport impressive followings and the game at Oxford earlier in the season topped a crowd of 10,500 and was used as an example of our love of soccer at every level in England’s World Cup bid for 2018. Last night’s showdown in Luton also reached attendance. To say these teams are big fish at their current level is an understatement.

With these two teams the most popular in their division, the atmosphere of last nights encounter was never going to disappoint. And neither was the quality of the action on the pitch. With Oxford having taken the spoils earlier in the season with a two nil victory, the outcome of Tuesday night’s game would ensure a vital three points for the winner as well as major bragging rights for the associated fans. At least until next season.

At this point we turn to the whisky. Two big hitters. Two major heavyweight brands in their own league. Glenfiddich, the biggest selling single malt whisky in the world. Glenlivet, the best selling malt whisky in America. In front of me stands two bottles, one expression of the two Glens, the much lauded 18 Year Old. Now, we have reviewed the 18 Year Old ‘fiddich in these pages before, but lets see if there is any thing to add to the notes we already have.

Glenfiddich – 18 Year Old – Batch Number 3148 – 40% Vol – 70cl

Nose: Lovely cut apple again, lots of spiced notes (Star Anise, nutmeg and more cinnamon) Also, some deeper, musty German wine notes start to appear the longer you leave this dram. A lovely heady concoction. New notes: a whiff of passion fruit and the slightest hint of coffee.

Palate: The sherry becomes more noticeable on the first sip, leading the way for a much drier palate than the 12 or 15, but with pleasant notes of toasted, rolled oats and more apple. This really reminds me of my morning porridge with a little dusting of brown sugar and a sprinkling of sultana's on top of the apples. Delicious. New notes: spot on, really (if we don’t say so ourselves!).

Finish: More of the drying sherry notes but with hints of what was once, a very lively new make (as witnessed by the first heady dram of the night!). New notes: Strawberry jam in the finish.

Overall: Another great expression and a lovely progression from the 15- although a very different whisky in its development. New notes: this is consistently my fav expression in the ‘fiddich range.

Let’s see how we get on against the other headline act, the Glenlivet 18 Year Old.

Glenlivet – 18 Year Old – 43% Vol – 70cl

Nose: This noses like a younger, more spirity whisky. But that could be to do two with two things; the greater ABV and a possibly less sherry casks in the overall mix. I couldn’t give you figures on that last one, so it’s a real guess. The nose develops in the glass from something akin to vanilla milkshake into a richer bouquet of honey and heather. A lot less immediate than the ‘fiddich, it requires love in the glass before it gives out it’s best work.

Palate: A rich palate of crème brulee with the honey and the heather really showing though but in the most well balanced of ways. This has apples too, but more of the fresh green variety, than the cooking apples with cinnamon which came in the ‘fiddich. Really very pleasant and refreshing.

Finish: This lingers longer. It’s a test of it’s stamina as a whisky that it sits for a while on the back of the tongue, tingling and watering it’s way to a close. Not overly complex but it knows it’s job and it does it very well.

Overall: A much fresher whisky than the 18 YO Glenfiddich. Helped by the higher alch volume, this dram gives much more aggression with well balanced honey and heather and a long, juicy finish. Very nice indeed.

I came away from last nights match in Luton utterly gutted. My team, Oxford United had put in 100% effort. Every inch of the pitch was covered. Every blade of grass stepped on. In the 74^th min Oxford took the lead, but in injury time at the end of the game Luton managed not one goal to equalise, but a second to steal the match. Heartbreak for the travelling away fans. Unbridled joy for the home supporters. Looking back upon the previous match earlier in the season, it was a game that I left with the exact opposite emotions: I was upbeat at a fantastic victory. I was ready to mock my friends who supported Luton and I was sure I supported the better team. Last night changed all that; I left the ground a loser, bracing myself for the banter from Luton supporting friends. But one thing both Oxford and Luton fans can be assured of from both games, was the fact that each side gave 100% commitment to the cause. They put on the best possible show in front of the largest audience that could turn up. No one could fault the desire, determination and drive of the 22 players in each game. Was there an overall winner? Only time will tell...

This is true with these two whiskies. Both distilleries seemly at the peak of their powers, producing excellent product for large audiences world-wide. But can I pick an overall winner? Only time will tell...