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...
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...
