Spey As You Go - Part 4

Our trip to the Speyside Cooperage was a true eye-opener and a real education in to the thought, effort and sheer craftsmanship that goes into creating the perfect cask. One note made in my tasting book was to amend my will on my return back home: I have to have some money set aside when I finally croak it to have the chaps at Speyside Cooperage make me a coffin! I’m thinking one stave from a barrel of each of my favourite distilleries. I guess this rules out cremation, as the threat to our national airspace from the ash and flames would be just as bad as from an Icelandic volcano....

Having been refreshed with a cup of coffee at the Cooperage and with the sun beating down on our heads, we decided to go for a short walk North towards Craigellachie to find a bus stop to take us back towards Dufftown. After 10 mins or so walking, we came across exactly what we needed, a bus stop and time table. With one issue: no buses for at least 50 mins. Negative. Now we needed two positives. You know, one to cancel out the negative and another, well, just so we can have a positive... and we were in luck! This bus stop was different from any other bus stop we’d seen in the past as it came with its own whisky bar...

Actually, to tell you the truth, this is a slight lie. But the bus stop was directly outside The Craigellachie Hotel, who have one of the best stocked “whisky libraries” in Scotland. How could we resist?!?! The very next moment we found ourselves nestled into two big leather Chesterfield armchairs, flicking through the bar list and salivating wildly. This was the whisky equivalent of dropping Any Winehouse in Columbia for the week, no questions asked... Several drams later and a hearty meal to boot, we made our way back to the cottage ready for our final day in Dufftown.

We awoke the next day to yet another glorious morning, but this time our destination was too far to walk. A quick breakfast and taxi ride later and we found ourselves at The Macallan. Now, Macallan is not a whisky we’ve reviewed much here at Caskstrenght.net. Being totally upfront about it, we both kinda find their whisky, well, a little bit lacking in personality. I once had a cracking bottle, from their Travel Series. I think it was the 1940’s or 1950’s bottling but can’t remember. And their Speaker Martins release was nice. But everything else has just passed us by. What better way to put us straight than to jump onto a tour and end with a round of drams, really discovering the range for the first time.

The Distillery tour was excellent. Our guide was Jennie and she was fantastic. Macallan have invested a lot in their tour and visitors centre, building around their new Mash House and Still Room. There are lots of pipes with coloured liquid in, flip charts and microscopic pictures; it was like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory meets The Science Museum. A touch over-heavy on the facts at times, but entertaining none-the-less. The main highlight being the “sensory tunnel” of different smells. The surrounding grounds and Easter Elchies house are beautiful, especially in the spring sunshine. It’s very much worth a visit. But be warned: it’s quite high up so can get a wee bit windy!

At the end of the tour we got to sample the New Make and four whiskies from their range (plus a wee bonus one!), the 12 Year Old Sherry Oak, 15 Year Old Fine Oak, 18 Year Old and the 30 Year Old Fine Oak. As a bonus we also had the 10 Year Old Cask Strength Release. Would this flight of drams change our perception of Macallan? You can find out next week...

...actually, we can’t be bothered to wait until next week! So here’s the answer: not really. First off we encountered a problem: There were 6 of us on the tour and when we arrived back to the tasting room, only 5 sets of whiskies had been poured. I opted to share with Neil but the excellent staff at the visitors centre had someone pour me my own set. However, it quickly became apparent from the nosing of Neil’s set vs. my newly poured whiskies that there was a problem. Whoever had the duty of setting up for the arriving tour party had either just washed their hands using a very fragrant soap or had been over generous with their perfume, as all Neil’s whisky smelt the same... and it was completely different from my batch where you could easily nose the unique aromas in each glass. In the end, Neil and I did end up sharing, but it was my newly poured set that took centre stage. The best of the drams we tried were the 15 Year Old Fine Oak, the 18 Year Old and the 10 Year Old Cask Strength:

Macallan – 15 Year Old - Fine Oak – 43% Vol

Nose: White Grapes, Wood (oak), Bread (brown, wholemeal) and an overall dryness to the nose.

Palate: Zesty notes of lemons, limes and grapefruit. Slight orange bitters and green tea. Vanilla right at the back.

Finish: Almost like a dry white wine, with hints of dark chocolate powder.

Overall: I’m guessing this isn’t as heavily sherried as other Macallans as vanilla notes come through along with slight hints of the European Oak, which seem to leave themselves until the final parts of the Palate and Finish.

Macallan – 18 Year Old – 1991 – 43%

Nose: Red apples, dried fruit and muesli (Alpan). Red apples, spices and cinnamon.

Palate: Lovely woody notes of Strawberry Jam and a hint of woodsmoke. This is how I’d imagine smoked strawberries to be.

Finish: Warming, gingers and clove-like spices.

Overall: Very well rounded and constructed. Not over-aged but with enough youthfulness to drive it’s powerful flavours through.

Macallan – 10 Year Old – Cask Strength – 2010 Edition – 58.6%

Nose: Really rich aromas of dark cherry and cigars

Palate: Honey nut cornflakes with apricots and syrup.

Finish: Long with lovely plumy notes

Overall: This is a cracking release but sadly only available Duty Free or at the distillery. It should have a wider release.

We left Macallan happy that we’d been, but not enthused with a fire for their drams. The people there were really lovely, the shop was excellent (I bought myself a Macallan travel bag) and the setting is just spectacular. But the whisky... we just can’t get excited about it. It’s all a little too safe, a little too bland. But this is their strength in their key markets, so who am I to judge! They sell well and have a very hardcore following, so onwards and upwards for Macallan.

It was time for us to head back to London. Unfortunately, our travel plans were scuppered by a certain Icelandic Volcano. What was supposed to be a 90 min flight down the UK from Aberdeen to London became an 11 hour train journey from Keith to Kings Cross... still at least we got home that week.

Speyside, thank you! It was a wonderful trip and we hope to be back sometime soon!

Joel & Neil

In The Loop

I recently spent a wonderful evening at the Electric Cinema in London’s famous Portabello Road, where I took in a showing of In The Loop. Scripted by a man who would take up a seat at my fantasy dinner party, Armando Iannucci, the film is a fantastically witty comedy about the way bumbling MP’s are cajoled by aggressive (Scottish!) spin doctors to tow the party line. In this case, avoiding committing, or otherwise, the UK to a war in the Middle East. Set between Westminster and Washington DC it gives a fascinating insight into the way the world is run; for one Cabinet Minister, balancing the needs of his constituency in Middle England with that of an impending war, to be voted on at the UN in New York.

I came away from the film thinking how difficult it must be to balance the life of a jet-set Cabinet Minister against that of a run-of-mill Member of Parliament, dealing with bad local schools, farmers and walls. Whenever they get a chance, they must sink into their sofa’s in the 2nd home, stick on some pay-per-view and pour themselves a nice big Scotch! All the tax payers expenses, you understand...!

So which Scotch would be the choice for our busy MP’s? Well, there are currently two bottlings available to buy at the House Of Commons and two in the House Of Lords. The Commons bottlings, as with the Lords, come in two forms: Single Malt and Blended.

Blended:

House Of Commons Blended Scotch Whisky – Bottled By Gordon & Macphail – 70cl – 40%

Nose- This has a very delicate and quite wonderful nose to it. Lots of floral notes (Heather, honeysuckle, Rosehip and Vanilla) and a hint, just a hint of golden syrup.

Palate - Again, very delicate on the palate and not overly complex: honey with vanilla fudge.

Finish - Toffee apple followed by lots of liquorice and a wave of vanilla cream. A very delicate hint of smoke right at the finish.
Overall- this does what any good, cheap blend should do; provide a quality dram that isn’t over expensive nor too complex for the palate. It doesn’t just “taste like whisky” either. They honed in on what they want to achieve with an overall flavour profile, and gone for it. And it works. Lovely packaging too. This would make a nice gift for someone.

Single Malt:

Now, this is a real treat and a super rarity. Unlike the House Of Lords, where the single malt is unnamed, the House of Commons have gone for it big time! If the selection of bottles available in the corridors of power are this, plus two blends and an unnamed Chivas single malt (answer on a postcard for that one, please!) then this one is the icing on the cake. The Robinho in the Manchester City squad...

The Macallan - Speaker Martin’s Highland Single Malt Whisky - 10 Years Old – 40% vol - 70cl

Let’s kick off with the information on the elaborate, but beautifully presented box:

“Michael Martin was elected Speaker of the House Of Commons on 23rd October 2000. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1979 and has represented the Glasgow Springburn constituency since then. He is and avid player of the Highland bagpipe, ‘the noble instrument of Scotland’, and was keen for it to be featured on this malt.

On 26th February 2001, a tasting of some of the finest malt whiskies took place in the Speaker’s House, House Of Commons. The Speaker together with a number of Parliamentary colleagues specially selected this rich 10 years old Macallan.”

As mentioned above, the box and bottle both show the bagpipes and has the musical notation for the traditional Scottish song “Mhairi Bhan Og” or “Fair Young Mary” on it.

N- Freshly cut green apples, Toffee, fresh mint. Lots of malt and sherry. Like the soaked biscuits at the bottom of a trifle.

P- Slightly weak at first (to the seasoned Scotch drinker most things at 40% need more punch), but then you get figs, raisins, cloves and freshly cooked wholemeal brown bread.
F- A touch of delicate wood smoke with some mince pie spices. The perfect length.
O- A sumptuous dram, worthy of a place in my Cabinet! This really is a lovely, lovely pour. The right balance of sherry, oak, fruits and spices. Hear, hear!

NOTE: Speaker Martin must have an amazing nose, or an amazing set of friends as he is a teetotaller! He doesn’t touch a drop. Much is the shame, as he’s really missing out with his own bottling here!