The Art Of Whisky

It’s been nearly three weeks since we returned from our last, epic trip to Scotland.

The video camera has been left on the shelf, the liver has been blasted with milk thistle and the credit card has been encased in concrete and thrown to the fishes off the Millennium Bridge. An action which caused a passing curator from a local modern art gallery to remark this as art, calling it a “modern day take on Found Art with strong references to Duchamp and, in particular, Man Ray’s iconic “Iron With Nails”.

According to the gentleman-scholar I was taking an everyday item, rendering it useless and then returning the raw material to whence they came.

I politely pointed out that we all do this every day, with the food we eat. Surely there is no greater critique of consumerism than actually consuming mass marketed, mass produced items of food: tearing them up with our teeth, breaking the items down with one of the strongest acids known to man and then depositing them in sit-down versions of Duchamp’s Fountain makes us all the greatest modern artists ever to walk the earth.

Needless to say I now have an interactive installation at the Tate Modern: it can be found on every floor and is easily identifiable by the following sign:

Enough of the toilet humour (in the literal sense), let’s get back to reality. And it doesn’t get more real than Monday morning. So what better way to see off the weekend than with a wee whisky.

One distillery that Neil and I have always been in the vicinity of, but never quite managed to get to, is Springbank. Situated in Campbelltown, just down the coast from the ferry terminal to Islay, the distillery produces three different styles of whisky (Springbank two-and-a-half times distilled, the more peated Longrow which is distilled twice and the triple-distilled Hazelburn) and owners J & A Mitchell / Springbank Distillers have to good grace to put them all in a bottle embossed with the words SPRINGBANK DISTILLERY. Other distillers take note.

The Springbank which is sitting in my glass is from Single Malts Of Scotland, an independent bottler owned by The Whisky Exchange. Never shy of a good cask, let us see what this offering brings:

Springbank – 1999 - Cask No. 114 (Sherry Butt) - 53% Vol

Nose: This whisky is a rich mahogany red and the moment you pour the liquid in to the glass, the aroma jumps straight out at you, like an escaped prisoner running hard and fast to avoid the search lights. Energy and guile emerge and, after settling down, rich sherry tones backed with cherry jam, a hint of ginger, loads of really fresh wood spices, like a newly split oak log. With additional time, the waft of a second hand paperback book. Not much changes with a dash of water, save for a drier wood tone.

Palate: The oiliness of the whisky coats the mouth and brings with it a hint of smoke, sweet cure bacon, maple syrup, toffee apple coating. With water, the palate opens up a little more with an enhancement of the sweet, juicy summer fruits which this time add plums and a back palate hint of over ripe kiwi fruit.

Finish: Rich, red cherries (newly picked, warm from the sun), deep wood polish and a hint of minty strawberry and lime cordial. With water, the finish is curtailed a little too soon, but the powerful, sweet and juicy notes from the palate still linger. The slightest hint of salt.

Overall: I thought this offering was fantastic; I wasn’t prepared for quite the assault of rich, sweet and juicy flavours, coupled with great oiliness and real depth. Pow!

Well, what better way to see off a weekend than with a rich, oily and juicy whisky such as this. It almost makes Monday morning seem palatable.

Howzat?!

That split second of confusion, anticipation, hope. A gap of 5 seconds or so where everyone else around you knows what is going on. But not you. You are in the dark. That fact, that little piece of knowledge has not yet reached you. But everyone else around you is in the light. And then you get it. It hits you; that fact, that piece of knowledge. It is in your life, in context and you belatedly make the same reaction as everyone else around you.

I'm sat in my garden, the sun pouring through mottled clouds and a warm, blustery wind whips up the washing on the line. Not far in the distance I hear a loud cheer, so I quickly look down at my computer screen, logged on to a lagging stream of a foreign broadcast, to see an Australian bowler (Siddle) dispatch a perfect delivery to England batsman Broad who hooks it high into the sky. In my ears still rings the cheers of the crowd from The Oval just down the road. He must be out. He's a gonner. But no! As the ball skies towards Mitchell Johnson at long leg, he goes for the catch but drops it! And I cheer. I cheer with same gusto and relief that the 15,000 people down the road cheered. And suddenIy feel part of it again. Part of the atmosphere; part of the summer; part of England.

There really is only one whisky to be sat in the late summer sun with and that is Rosebank. Well, Rosebank and Clynelish. Which makes this a good opportunity to post some recently taken notes from 2x Rosebanks!

Rosebank - 17 YO - Single Malts Of Scotland - Dist. 01.07.91 - Bottled 20.04.09 - Cask No. 2206 - 259 bottles - Vol. 46%

Nose: Nice and fresh, with a good dollop of spirits, some vanilla, cream and mint.

Palate: Rhubarb and custard with a touch of mint again.

Finish: Medium. Smooth and fresh.

Overall: Yummy in the summer time! Forget your G&T, pour a big glass of this with some ice, sit back and take in the evening heat.

Rosebank - Rare Malts - 20 YO -1981 - 62.3% Vol.

Nose: Stewed, dark red fruits. Crumble.

Palate: Sherbet and the extra age has added some liquorice to the taste. Not as light as Rosebanks in their teens (when I think they are at their best) but he extra weight doesn't detract, nor add. But gives a more robust dimension.

Finish: Waxy, "black and red" sweets / dark coloured wine gums.

Overall: My preference is for a Rosebank in it's teens, but this good if you want a little more meat to your delicate spirit.

Bunna: Have Some

Bunnahabhain. Not a distillery that we have reviewed much. In fact, only once since we have been going has it popped into our view- and that was for their excellent, but over priced Feis Ile 2008 bottling. It’s an interesting distillery simply because it really does not conform to the classic Islay style of heavily peating the spirit. Here we tried 2 sister bottlings from the same independent bottler, Single Malts of Scotland. One just a year older than the other, but both from the classic vintage, 1979 (guess when this reviewer was born...!).


Bunnahabhain – Single Malts Of Scotland – 27 Years Old – Distilled: 31.10.79 / Bottled: 02.03.07 – cask no. 11488 – 234 bottles – 46% Vol – 70cl

N- Wine overtones- like a light and crisp Chardonnay. Estery notes, with fresh pear and fruity/creamy notes like rhubarb and custard boiled sweets. The fruit subsides and then liquorice and under-ripe, green apple comes through with a faint hint of hazel nut.

P: The first hit is a blast of cinnamon and clove, then a real creaminess. It’s really reminiscent of home made apple pie and custard. Sweet, sharp, spicy but smothered in a wonderful vanilla'y creaminess.

F; More green apples and freshness. A hint of baked cooking apples sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon at the end. More length than you'd have expected here.

O: In keeping with our 'seasonal drams' debate, this could be compared to the very first shoots of spring- it's very light weight as bunna's usually are, but less floral and without the sherry influence, which is a refreshing change for me.


Bunnahabhain – Single Malts Of Scotland – 28 Years Old – Distilled: 31.10.79 / Bottled: 22.04.08 – cask no. 18831 – 234 bottles – 46% Vol – 70cl

N: Again more of that Chardonnay with further grassy and estery notes. A little touch of rosehip and then drying woody spices, cedar perhaps?

P: Slightly sweeter than last years mixed with more of that fresh green fruit, cloves and oak, which is definitely more noticeable than before.

F: Again, a great length for a light dram. Liquorice, hints of spice and bean sprouts.

O: We left this out to air a little and it certainly opened up, with more comparisons to its older sister.

It seemed that the 28 YO needed a little more time in the glass to settle, and once it did it really came to life. We both chose the 27 YO as our pick of the two. Not a great deal in it, especially once the 28 YO had sat in the glass and opened up. Both cracking little gems.

(Rose) Bank On This

Have you ever made a bad decision?

Bought the wrong size shirt in a shop.
Chosen the chicken when you should have had the fish.
Decided to take Russia in winter.
Bought a house in Swindon when you should have bought a house, er, anywhere other than in Swindon.

We all do it.

We all make stupid decisions.

Sometimes these decisions have bigger ramifications that we expect.
Sometimes these bad choices are personal to us only.

But we try and learn.

We try the shirt on in the shop before buying it.
We choose the fish instead of the chicken.
We wait until the harsh winter in Russia is over before pushing the Northern front forward.
We never, ever even go near Swindon.

That’s how life works. We make mistakes.
We’re only human.
But life is also about learning.

Just ten years after closing the Port Ellen distillery on Islay, Diageo took the decision to mothball Rosebank; a Lowland distillery situated between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Often considered as the finest example of Lowland whisky, Rosebank is famed for a delicate and floral flavour. Now ear-marked for house development, a Beefeater “restaurant” takes up some of the old warehousing space.

I’d hazard a guess that the staff at Diageo c.1980 – 1995 all wear ill-fitting shirts. I bet they all chose the chicken when they got to the Beefeater in Camelon, Falkirk. I bet their marketing department tried to take Russia in the winter, years before it became a lucrative new emerging market. And I bet they all now live in... shudder... Swindon.

Rosebank – Single Malts Of Scotland – 16 Year Old – Distilled 01.07.1991 / bottled 22.04.2008 - cask no. 402 - 249 bottles - 55.2% Vol. – 70cl

Nose- the trademark Rosebank camomile comes hitting through at first, backed by gentle lavender, warm butter and a slight track of golden syrup. This is the whisky equivalent of a 1980’s Laura Ashley dress. All grace, flow and spring flowers. A real innocence here to the nose, pushed not too heavily by the alcohol content.

Palate- a real sweetness at first, with the golden syrup making the first impact followed by pineapple juice, hot toasted crumpets with melting butter on and then red chilli. A real blast at the end to keep you on your toes. Far more warming than the nose would lead you to think. This is a whisky that does not need any watering down. It’s just perfect at 55.2%.

Finish- the heat dissipates leaving a real dryness and coal dust finish, but not in an unpleasant way. Medium in length, it really leaves you wanting more.

Overall- a cracker. A lot of people say that Rosebank does not last well into the teens but this one has managed to retain the floral joys of life without becoming over woody. At £49, a great buy.