North American Adventure #3

The weather has been very nice, the beer bubbly, and Kristin arrived Wednesday. Life is good.

These drams are from an afternoon spent with two 21 year olds. And an older, balder, and much more fun Frindian. Inder's notes are in quotation marks. Tasted at the LCBO Tasting Tower at Summerhill in Toronto.

Glenfiddich 21yo Gran Reserva
Rum Cask Finish
40% abv
£55
$149.95(CAD)
$120(USD)

The Glendiffich 21yo Gran Reserva is finished in rum casks and used to be called the Havana Reserve. Due to the US embargo on Cuban products the name was changed to Gran Reserva and many American retailers advertise that it is aged in Caribbean rum casks. Whatever.

This stuff won a gold medal at the 2006 IWSC

For more Glenfiddich distillery info go see Malt Mission #28

TASTING NOTES

Potpurri, unlit incense, vanilla and oak, cloves, BRIO or chinotto

"Thin and sweet". Oak explodes in the mouth with lime and brown sugar. "Grapes". White ones, chardonnay and oak paneling in a bar/tavern that has recently banned smoking.

SUMMARY

Our impressions were really positive, but the best adjective for the experience was "fine". Yeah, it is 'fine' whisky, no off-notes and lots of oaky flavours, but it didnt do too much for us. It is an elegant whisky in that all of its flavours are well integrated like a good sauce; nothing stands out but together the stuff goes well on rice, pasta, or bread. I guess we just coulda used some bread.

Balevenie 21yo Port Wood
40% abv
£55
$160.15 (CAD)
$130 (USD)


For more info on the Balvenie distillery, please look to future Malt Missions.

TASTING NOTES

I rarely note colour, but this one is distinctly pinkish in the glass. Smells of pina colada, orange Crush, creamsicles. "Red grapes and dusty books". Age and basement mustiness lurks beneath the sexy, creamy sweetness on top.

Mmmm... "Mmmmm..."
Great mouthfeel from all those years in bourbon casks. Deep and dark. "Coffee grinds." Lamb fat. Very little of what the nose suggests, but finishes with a balance of the two perceptions... quickly.

SUMMARY

Very tasty whisky that makes a happy camper out of anyone lucky enough to stick their nose in a glass of the stuff. Hard to get your nose out and actually drink the stuff, it is that interesting to smell. "Yup. Now let's go get a beer and a burger". Off to the Victory Café...

North American Adventure #1
North American Adventure #2
North American Adventure #4
North American Adventure #5

North American Adventure HOME
Malt Mission HOME

North American Adventure #2

Crown Royal XR (Extra Rare)
Canadian Whisky
40% abv
$175.20 (CAD)
$145 (USD)

Crown Royal is currently distilled at Gimli in Manitoba. This is a limited release made from the last batch of whisky distilled at the Waterloo distillery which closed in 1992. Shortly after closing, a fire destroyed most of the mothballed distillery and warehouses. Some of the whisky was saved and released in summer 2006 in the strictly allocated Crown Royal XR. Master Blender Andrew MacKay set out to try to create the finest Crown Royal ever to be bottled, and whether he achieved it or not, it is certainly among the rarest and most precious releases from Crown Royal.

Tasted this at the LCBO with Inder Marwah.
Special guest tasting contributor's notes will be in quotation marks.

TASTING NOTES:

Marachino cherries, or just the brine. Vanilla ice cream. "Lots of raw sugar, bits of chocolate. Iodine? A little rubbing alcohol."

"Burnt toast, blackened Naan in a pan." Marzipan, banana flavoured liquid penicillin. Compact in a way that I found charming and Inder found boring("Sweet, bitter, nuthin"). Lots of creamy oak and a whiff of smoke.

SUMMARY:

Inder was not impressed, but I really enjoyed it. It was sweet but well offset by the slightly puckering oak and fired bread flavours. Yeah, it's expensive, but you are really paying for the history and small batch blending craftsmanship that no other Crown Royal has.

North American Adventure #1
North American Adventure #3
North American Adventure #4
North American Adventure #5

North American Adventure HOME
Malt Mission HOME

North American Adventure #1

Ballantines 12yo
Pure Malt
40% abv
$35 (USD)

Was in Washington, DC for a conference until Sunday evening. Really enjoyed the city and was again charmed by the generous kindness of Americans. A city worth re-visiting and, having lived in Ottawa (capital of Canada), I couldnt help but feel envious of the sense of pride and importance the city seems to hold for itself, and ashamed that we no longer have free museums in our capital city.

Visited the Library of Congress, some Smithsonian buildings, and the Holocaust Museum and was deeply impressed by all. Was a guest at the Canadian Embassy where we met Hon. Michael Wilson and were thoroughly blown away by the beautiful design of the building, inside and out.

Popped into a few pubs and bars and although the beer selection and design of the establishments were very cool, my overall experience was negative. I suppose I have become accustomed to the British style of ordering at the bar, not tipping etc. I felt isolated in that I couldn't sit at the bar and was forced to sit alone at a table cuz that is just the way things are done, and found the pressure by pricing to tip over 20% quite intimidating and unfair.

But I was amazed at the selection of bottles in the average wine and spirits shop. It is amazing how many blended whiskies are not avaialble in the UK (Ballantines 12 Pure Malt, Campbeltown Loch 25, Buchanan's 12) and I was determined to take advantage. Obviously, I couldn't leave duty free empty handed.

This week I will try one of the whiskies from my US visit, a few from the tasting tower at Summerhill LCBO, and will share notes from a cask-strength tasting I am hosting with friends here in Toronto on Saturday.

TASTING NOTES:

Woodsy, earthy like a damp forest. Fresh, green aromas against dark, dirty, decomposing ones. Acidic but soft sweetness, like apple cider with some suntan lotion jojoba or something. With time in the glass, several minutes, smoke emerges.

Bitter like freshly torn bark or a bending and breaking a young sapling, with a sherried toastiness that follows. Some grapefruit citric bitterness and plenty of oak influence. Finish is quite long with a nuttiness added to the firm oakiness. All in all seems quite restrained, but suited for a few successive servings and good conversation.

SUMMARY:

This is real old man 'scotch'. I rarely use that term, but it wholly applies here. It is oaky, firm and even strong in its bitter assertiveness, but somehow mellowed overall in its balancing of elements. Seems to be pulling its punches but making you well aware of its potential power.

North American Adventure #2
North American Adventure #3
North American Adventure #4
North American Adventure #5

North American Adventure HOME
Malt Mission HOME

Canadian Invasion

Yes, it has been twelve weeks since I began this Malt Mission, and I thank all of you for reading and sharing and linking and drinking.
And thanks for helping make our whisky video pass 2000 views.

I tasted Canadian Club yesterday because I am off to Canada today and will not be able to continue the mission on a regular basis until the second week of April.

But fear not!
I will certainly pay a few visits to the LCBO Tasting Tower(s) to taste a few, will hopefully meet the dedicated whisky pioneers(of sorts) Premium Bottlers and a few of their products, get the chance to pilfer American liquor marts when I am in Boston and Washington, and will also be hosting a whisky tasting of 5 cask strength whiskies in Toronto. Will definitely post some notes from all of my (North) American Adventures...

So Happy Easter, Passover, and Egg Salad Week

Malt Mission 2007 #56

Canadian Club Premium
Canadian Whisky
40% abv
£16
$23.15(CAD)
$15(USD)

Today it may be hard to believe, but there was a time in Canada's history when there were dozens of whisky distillers spread out across the country.

When Upper and Lower Canada were united in 1841 as The Province of Canada, taxes were introduced that put great strains on the little distillers. The expanding rail links meant whisky needn't be produced locally anymore as it could be hauled long distances. Into this changing environment came Hiram Walker in 1856, closing his distillery in Detroit under threat of state-wide prohibition. The distillery was founded in Windsor, and as it housed his distillery, a dairy farm, a cooperage, brick and timber yards, and housed all the employees, the area came to be known as Walkerville. Although his family still lived in Detroit (yes, he commuted to work 3 hours each way by ferry) the whisky grew in popularity on both sides of the border and Walker's "Club" whisky was officially born in 1884.

The word 'Canadian' came to appear on the label because of a ill-advised plan by the U.S. government. Under the encouragement of American distillers, the government tried to curb Canadian whisky imports (and thus, they thought, consumption) by introducing legislation that demanded the whisky clearly indicate country of origin. This had the opposite affect as Americans were attracted to the whisky from Canada. Hiram Walker saw this appeal and capitalised on it. Thus, "Canadian Club" was born.

Queen Victoria loved the stuff. And so did Al Capone who saw to it that Canadian Club flowed into the US via Windsor to Detroit by car and truck, but also strapped to smuggler's legs, hidden by their boots, coining the term "bootlegging".

Canadian Club is a blend of rye, barley and corn/maize whiskies, pre-blended before maturation and put to cask to marry for 5 years. There are (at least) 7 varieties of Canadian Club, only 4 of which are widely available in Canada.

TASTING NOTES:

Tough to explain and I dont have the posh terminology that I am certain exists in the wine world, but this has a nose with aromas that are 'up high'; light and perceived behind the eyes rather than the back of the skull. To put it in context, I had similar impressions with the Isle of Arran, Buchanan's, and Johnnie Walkers Green and Red. Perfumy. Cotton candy, raw corn, plastic bags, shoe polish, make-up remover.

Very watery in the mouth, tastes of flat cream soda, green apple peels, toothpicks, and some white pepper. The flavour is simple and straightforward while being neither unpleasant nor exciting.

SUMMARY:

Fine to drink this neat, I suppose, but really screams for a mixer. Pass the Canada Dry. And ice, please.

Malt Mission #55
Malt Mission #57
Malt Mission #58
Malt Mission #59
Malt Mission #60

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2007 #55

Glenfarclas 25yo
Single Malt Whisky
43% abv
£80
$140(USD)

You have to love Glenfarclas: independence, family, and butt-loads of sherry casks. There are no other distillers that have proprietary bottlings of this age and quality for such a reasonable price. Yes, Gordon&Macphail have delicious bottlings of 25 year olds that are great value(Longmorn, Balmenach 1974 CC) and their Benromach 25, but Talisker or Highland Park are the nearest and even they are £20 and £40 jumps, respectively.

More history and info can be found at Malt Mission #46 when I tasted Glenfarclas 105.

TASTING NOTES:

Deep and rich sherry smells, with a soft sweetness that is not punchy but warming and nestles in the nose. Slightly musty, too, well suited for library drinking (something I have yet to try at the British...)

Slightly hot for the abv%, and incredibly rich. Quick movement from sweet to dry sherry, toasted oak, and a touch of smoke. Sweet pipe tobacco and coffee beans. Cocoa powder. The finish ends quickly making it impossible for me to keep myself from reaching for another serving.

SUMMARY:

As immediately pleasing as this whisky is, it only gets better with time in the glass. And on the palate, the flavours are almost shy to reveal themselves, but again, with time the complexity and depth of flavour makes itself apparent. All-night conversation whisky.

Malt Mission #51
Malt Mission #52
Malt Mission #53
Malt Mission #54

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2007 #54

St. Magdalene 1979, 19yo
Rare Malts Series
Lowland Single Malt Scotch
63.8% abv
£85*

This is a whisky praised by many, but never widely used when it was in production either as a single or for blending. St. Magdalene produced a double-distilled spirit, uncommmon for a lowlander, but standard in terms of most Scottish pot still whisky.

The site where this distillery was built accomodated a leper colony in the 12th century and later housed a covent, from which the name St. Magdalene's was borrowed. The distillery is also known as Linlithgow, and this whisky represents the last of the seven lost distilleries of the town of the same name. The buildings have been converted into flats and only the distinctive pagoda roof that remains offers a clue to future generations of the function the building once had. The distillery was closed in 1983.

*- hard-to-find bottling so the price given is based on an old list price. It would certainly fetch more today (£200ish)

TASTING NOTES:

Light, but full of aromas: sugar, newspaper, molasses, Supermalt, carob, pecans, ginger. Rooty and perfumy. Very appetising

Tight, but quite complex: Oats sweetened with dates and dried apricots, banana bread, tree sap, taste like the smell of lemon peels. Really holds together through the palate, not much development of flavour, maybe a whiff of smoke emerging? A real package from impact to finish.

SUMMARY:

Quite busy with flavours, but all wound up in a well-balanced ensemble that doesnt fuss about. Good, clean, well constructed whisky.

Malt Mission #51
Malt Mission #52
Malt Mission #53
Malt Mission #55

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2007 #53

Glenfiddich 18yo Ancient Reserve
Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40%abv
£38
$90.15(CAD)
$70(USD)

The last Glenfiddich I had in this whisky tasting adventure was Malt Mission #28, where you can find notes on history and facts about the distillery.

TASTING NOTES:

Big and rich, well-rounded nose. Sweet with apples and spice and honey and oaky with, well, oak. Some soft smoke in there, too.

Malty sweetness with definite smoke and a great toasty flavour, sherry, tobacco, some leather and hot cross buns. Can't help but lick your lips. Finish is a perfect balance of the flavours already mentioned, is just long enough to finish the flavour development in its pace and just short enough to encourage you to get that glass back up to your lips.

SUMMARY:

Not many words needed; very good whisky. One more sentence? For my taste, this knocks the pants off Glenlivet 18 tasted yesterday, but many would disagree. And thank goodness or else I wouldnt waste time having an opinion at all.

Malt Mission #51
Malt Mission #52
Malt Mission #54
Malt Mission #55

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2007 #52

Glenlivet 18yo
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
43% abv
£33
$90.15(CAD)
$70(USD)

No real theme to this week, but I will be trying two well-known 18 year olds back-to-back today and tomorrow and then just see where the week takes me.

Glenlivet is the 5th biggest selling malt in the UK and 4th in the world. The water source is Josie's Well, mineral rich water that is therefore not as soft as the water sources of most distilleries. This is the second Glenlivet to be tasted in this malt mission, so if you want any more distillery info see Malt Mission #27, use a link to the left, or use your friend Google.

TASTING NOTES:

I usually don't note colour, but for some reason I cannot help but note the vibrance of this one, it just seems to shimmer copper. It just looks different. Hard to explain. Not just the colour itself, but the way it refracts light is very attractive to the eye and somehow different than most whiskies. I will test this in subsequent days. If I am wrong I will delete these sentences. Fair?

Loads of nuts and oak. The aromas are deep and weighty in that they sit heavy in the nose (for context, I have described these as having a similar effect) Rich. Sweet but woody like peach pits, some kind of flower but I dont know what it is called; it is purple-ish.

A great interplay of sweet barley and oak; starts with a fruity, syrupy sweetness and then oak swells up in the mouth. Never drying or too woody, tho. It is a spicy balance of bourbon and sherry oak influence, vanilla pods and cinnamon. The sweetness comes back to coat the finish which is firmly based in oak, solid and medium-long.

SUMMARY:

A very satisfying, typically speyside-style whisky. Never gets too sweet or too oaky, showing great balance in this regard. Not as exciting as the 15 French Oak, with dozens of perceptible flavours and aromas, but much more certain of who it is and that kind of confidence is good in a whisky as it is something you feel you can trust over the years and know what you are getting every time.

Malt Mission #51
Malt Mission #53
Malt Mission #54
Malt Mission #55

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2007 #51

HAIG Gold Label
Blended Scotch Whisky
40% abv
€24
(other prices unknown)

Not available in the UK or Canada, and most difficult to find online (I couldnt even find a single good photo of a bottle), Haig Gold Label is available in limited markets(Ireland, India, Turkey, to name but a few) but does still manage to be one of the biggest selling blends in the world.

I am tasting from a glass bottled miniature.

An important family in the history of whisky, the Haig story can be found elswhere on the web; from Robert to John to Field Marshall Haig of WWI fame. What I can tell you here, however, is that bottlings before the 1980's are supposed to be very tasty while bottlings between 1980 and 2000 are said to have been of inferior quality, the "firewater" Jim Murray has cited as being partly responsible for many people fearing blends and finding solace in single malts.

TASTING NOTES:

Suprisingly, not a blend that starts sweet. Instead, this leads on oak, truffles, and acacia (can you tell I was playing with a Nez de Vin kit recently?) with some sulphury smoke beneath. There is sweetness in the form of pear and vanilla, but let me just make clear that the general impression is quite flat.

Comes on strong with a firm attack that lacks much flavour complexity; oak with some artificial pine scent, barley or just plain bread, and then chocolate and buttered toast.

SUMMARY:

Straightforward but charmingly quaffable. Much to respect in its well constructed balance of grain and malt, with the malt directing the flavours in spite of the 65/35 grain to malt ratio.

Malt Mission #50
Malt Mission #52
Malt Mission #53
Malt Mission #54
Malt Mission #55

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2007 #50

Glengoyne 'Charlie's Choice' 17yo
Single Cask Single Malt Whisky
56% abv
£100

Last year, Glengoyne released a series of single cask bottlings selected by the stillmen at the distillery. The bottlings were very highly acclaimed. This year the mashmen were given the chance to prove that they also had great skills in choosing the perfect whisky. Another exercise that goes to show that there are different whiskies for different folks, and what one person may think is heavenly could be hell-in-a-bottle to another.

Charlie (Charles Murray) says, "I've been watching Cask 1231 for a while and am honoured to be releasing it. In my 17 years at Glengoyne this is the best cask I have tested. Full of sherry and soft oak, with layers of vanilla and marzipan. Heaps of complexity and no rough edges whatsoever." From a first-fill Oloroso Sherry hogshead, distilled 6th July 1989 and bottled August 2006.

I thank Iain Weir from Ian Macleod Distillers for letting me take this bottle away from the product launch I attended in the autumn. I just had to share it, and this taste was the last drop in the bottle, a perfect way to celebrate malt mission number 50(!!!)

TASTING NOTES:

Sweet oloroso, grapes, rich fortified wine. Beernuts, candied almonds. Swampy muddiness, like walking in bullrushes. Mint, green wine gums, envelope adhesive. An almost smoky element in there, too.

Great toffee sweetness. Brioche with nutella. Beernuts and candied almonds again. The intense oakiness gives a smoky impression, like pipe tobacco, or driving past a autumn garden fire. Aftertaste is very oaky, not too over powering or outstaying its welcome. Sweet like morning air after camping in the woods.

SUMMARY:

When I first tried this I was struck by how sherried it was and that I still liked it. I am not a sherry freak, but when sherry and malt combine in equal influence, the result is incredible. The powerful, oily barley spirit of Glengoyne (and Macallan, for that matter) match beautifully with this kind of oloroso cask. You also get the feeling that this was bottled just in time; any longer and the sherry might have won.

Malt Mission #46
Malt Mission #47
Malt Mission #48
Malt Mission #49

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2007 #49

Inchgower 24yo
Single Cask Single Malt Whisky
SMWS 18.24
54.7% abv

Say this distillery's name and most folks will figure you are talking about a garden worm or a measuring tool. Yes, Inchgower is not a widely known distillery, but it is very likely that if you are reading this then you have tasted it before as a part of Johnnie Walker or Bell's blends.

Although it is technically a speyside whisky, Inchgower, according to MJ, "tastes more like a coastal malt." This is likely because it is located near Buckie, on the north coast of the central highlands. But it is the distillery's proximity to the river spey rather than its water source (springs in the Menduff hills) that determines its region.

All official single malt releases from Inchgower (Flora&Fauna, Rare Malts) are matured on site, the rest of the casks are matured elsewhere. SMWS's one line description on the bottle is, "Emphatically fig-like"

TASTING NOTES:

Cinnamon bun sweetness, full of raisins, dried apricots and figs. Wet wood chips. Has great toastiness that adds a meatiness to the otherwise very tart, light malt.

Chocolate and nuts and raisins... Dairy Milk Fruit & Nut. Drying as it leaves the sweetness and becomes quite oaky and kitchen-like; cut up root vegetables, oil heating up in a pan. Soy sauce. Finish is a balance of both sweet and savoury elements, with some salt(seaweed) coming through.

SUMMARY:

When Kristin's father was here he asked for a nightcap and I offered him this. 10 minutes and several sighs of satisfaction later, he said he figured it was the nicest whisky he ever had. Such praises need not be true for everyone, but they do attest to the quality of this whisky. I wonder if liquids I produced 27 years ago would taste this good today... Highly drinkable at cask strength (but not hurt by the addition of water), this whisky has unique characteristics and deserves more attention as a single.

Malt Mission #46
Malt Mission #47
Malt Mission #48
Malt Mission #50

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2007 #48

Benrinnes 17yo
Single Cask Single Malt Whisky
SMWS 36.29
59.5% abv

Benrinnes uses a strange style of distillation, similar to that of Springbank, that results in partial triple distillation and a resulting abv of 75.5%. The distillery is one of just over a dozen distilleries to use traditional worm tubs to cool the distillate. This means that after travelling up the neck of the still and down the lyne arm, the vapour is recondensed inside copper tubes or 'worms' that are submerged in cool water. Visual here

The distillery has suffered bankruptcy(twice), a flood and a fire. Benrinnes is not readily available as a single malt, but can be found as a part of the Flora&Fauna series, a few independent bottlings, and as a component in Johnnie Walker whiskies and J&B.

This is the distillery whose 12yo whisky was apparently used for Dewar Rattray's Stronachie.

This is a bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Follow their link above for more information. We received it as payment for sitting on the society tasting/cask selection panel 2005-6.

TASTING NOTES:

Lemon, tea, clean diapers/nappies. Almost a hops-like floral element mixed with malted barley and earth. With water it really gets malty and creamy, with a little bit of leather and clean marble, like a room in Harrod's.

Spicy with fresh flavours, lime, fresh herbs, coconut. Outdoorsy element in the freshness but also the tree(pine?) and flower smells. Lingering oak and Ovaltine. With water, a brininess emerges and the green, herb-y, new wood flavours become more pronounced.

SUMMARY:

The SMWS always put a short description on each bottle, and this one reads, "Sippin' Whisky." I am not quite sure whether that means that you can sip lots of it, or that you cannot quaff it, but either way it is a safe tagline. It is very well balanced whisky, if a bit green and one dimensional, that one could enjoy at lengths should one be so inclined. For me, I would probably call it "blendin' whisky" and to every one part 36.29, add 1/8 parts Talisker, for example.

Malt Mission #46
Malt Mission #47
Malt Mission #49
Malt Mission #50

Malt Mission HOME

From Start to Finish

Just thought I would write a quick supplementary post about wood finishes.

So what is a 'wood finish' in this increasingly confusing world of whisky?

When a whisky is said to be 'finished', it means that it has been transfered from the first cask it was being matured in into another, often of a different type, for a second period of maturation*, thus "finishing". For example, after 10 years in an ex-bourbon barrel, a whisky can be put down to 'finish' in an ex-port pipe. The process was pioneered in recent years by Balvenie (William Grant and Sons) and Glenmorangie. While it is quite often the case that such maturation enhances the flavour profile of a given malt, many consumers, critics, and even distillers, frown on the practice as a gimmick that is, more often that not, masking poor whisky.

As far as I am concerned, many finishes are delicious(Balvenie Doublewood, Glenmorangie Port Wood, Laphroaig Quarter Cask, Dalmore Black Pearl, etc.), whether they use the moniker or not, and the practice provides great opportunities for innovation. Now, if it is indeed a case of masking a whisky that didnt mature as well as it could have, then what is the harm in trying to improve the flavours in the hopes that it will one day be good enough to be released as a single malt? The problem lies when the market gets flooded with crap bottlings of finishes (usually from the independent bottlers, sorry, but it is true in my experience) that potentially starts eroding the integrity of the product as a whole or confusing new customers to the wonderful world of whisky. Additionally, there are no standards for how long a whisky must be in the second cask to be considered a 'finish'(typically, 3 months to 24months, but there have been several dubious cases), nor are there any regulations, so far as I know, around how many uses a distiller can get out of the same cask; once I have finished a whisky in a cognac cask, does that cask cease being a cognac cask or can it be used to finish another whisky and still be called a cognac finish? You can see how the integrity of the technique can quickly be undermined by ambitions for profit.

SO DON'T BE CONFUSED. Think of finishes as experiments, something to try when you get bored of the thousand or so other expressions of whisky available to you. What I mean is, I would always recommend trying the standard official bottlings from distilleries before trying single casks or finishes, so don't rush into relationships with finishes until you get to know how what is being finished started.

*- Words you may see on bottles that mean essentially the same thing are 'double matured' and 'cask enhanced'

other 'finishes':
Malt Mission #177
Malt Mission #169
Malt Mission #168
Malt Mission #167
Malt Mission #164
Malt Mission #163
Malt Mission #149
Malt Mission #148
Malt Mission #147
Malt Mission #129
Malt Mission #121
Malt Mission #105
Malt Mission #83
Malt Mission #78
North American Adventure #3
Malt Mission #47
Malt Mission #27
Malt Mission #13
Malt Mission #12
Malt Mission #4

Malt Mission 2007 #47

Isle of Arran
Calvados Finish
Island Single Malt Whisky
60.1% abv
£40*

This is from a sample that Euan Mitchell sent us (over a year ago) and we thank him very much. The original release in 2003 was limited to 591 bottles, and was the first in the series of wood finishes brought out by Arran.

It is amazing that Arran has been able to succeed against all odds. Everyone thought is was crazy for Harold Currie to start a new distillery (on an island, no less) in a time when others were closing distilleries, but he obviously had a vision, taking great risks and insisting on certain equipment, no matter the cost. The results have been impressive, we bought the absolutely delicious Anniversary release, and look forward to the future of aged Arran releases.

TASTING NOTES:

Very spicy nose, oaky, sour apples and wine gums.

Sweet but spicy, baked apples, vanilla... With water, the mouthfeel is velvety. Finishes with a warming oak fade, with vanilla and the smell of apple sweets blowing around. Drying. Peanut oil.

SUMMARY: Cut with water, this whisky cleans up a bit, opening up more malty sweetness, cinnamon, and Hob Nobs. This cask is a perfect match for Arran's malty sweet spirit, adding fruitiness and spice.

* - There have been a series of Calvados releases, all with slightly different %abv, so I am not sure which release this one is, so the price may not be accurate. I think it is the one bottled in February 2005.

Malt Mission #46
Malt Mission #48
Malt Mission #49
Malt Mission #50

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2007 #46

Glenfarclas 105
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
60% abv
£33
$80(USD)

Welcome to week TEN of this malt mission. I cannot believe that what started as a New Years challenge to review a few whiskies for friends has gone on this long and been read by so many people. There have been just under 2000 unique visitors to the site over the past 4 weeks and good bunch of regular readers. Thanks for reading, commenting, contributing, etc., and I hope to keep it up for weeks to come.

This week will be a single cask, cask-strength themed week. Rather than starting the week with a blend, I will start with Glenfarclas 105 to really get things going.

Glenfarclas has been a family run distillery since 1865, but the distillery was actually built in 1836. The Grant family became tenants of the adjoining farm and bought the distillery as a rental property(!). John Smith, th efirst tenant of the distillery left four years later to found Cragganmore distillery and the Grant family took over the running of the distillery as they still do today. They are proudly independent and fiercely protective of their name, therefore highly limiting the non-proprietary single cask bottlings on the market and becoming legally pushy when a bottler so much as implies the cask's origin. The end result is that there are very few independent bottlings of Glenfarclas.

Neat things about the distillery are that Glenfarclas has the largest stills in Speyside, their insistence on the use of sherry casks and new oak before ex-bourbon, their huge warehouse space (room for 85, 000 casks, though currently holds about 60,000), the largest mash tun in the industry, and their stills are direct fired (by gas).

Glenfarclas is the pioneer of cask strength whiskies and released Glenfarclas 105 way back in 1968. See the 40th anniversary special release tasted at Malt Mission #331.

TASTING NOTES:

Sweet sherry, raisins, baked goods. White port, dessert wines, cocoa, honey and bran flakes.

(Sigh of satisfaction) Velvety in the mouth, texture like warm honey, or sucking chocolate milk syrup right out of the bottle. Strong spirit taste and although I find it balanced against rich flavours, I recognise that this stuff is not for everyone. Some tobacco and soft, rotting grapes. There is a curry element in the spices, meaty, with ginger and chilli. Chocolate. Maybe it is Mexican mole. Finish is slow, but the flavours get more and more unappealing to me. Develops from wood to the taste of cutlery to blood to a late aftertaste of fish skin. Encourages me to grab the glass, and it's back to perfect with each additional sip.

SUMMARY:

Scary how drinkable I find this in spite of its strength. Great value. Great satisfying strong whisky from a distillery that never disappoints. Some would prefer Aberlour Abunadh (which we will be having at a tasting we're hosting in Toronto at the end of the month) for the same price, but now that George Grant claims the 105 is now at least 10 years old, I cannot knock this monster.

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Malt Mission 2007 #45

Stronachie 12yo
Highland Single Malt Whisky
43% abv
£32
$79.45(CAD)

The last whisky in this southern highland themed week and the 45th dram in this malt mission.

Stronachie Distillery was built in the 1880s, closed in 1928, and slowly demolished 1930-1950. So what am I drinking?

This is actually a bottling from independent bottlers Dewar Rattray. The whole story can be read here, but basically they have bottled some whisky from another distillery that closely matches an old bottle of the original Stronachie from 1904 that they've got. To the pleasure of many locals and whisky drinkers they revived the name and here it is.

There are rumours about the origins of this whisky, but who knows?

TASTING NOTES:

Up front, forceful, and bitter-sweet. Cider vinegar, raw fish, sugar and lemon juice. Horseradish. Sweaty workmen (who's with me?). Sweet and sour chinese food. Blood, or raw beef. Some boiled veg to go with the fish, and though it is unusual, I am getting nothing that makes me look forward to drinking it.

Starts very forcefully as well with dry sherry and raw barley flavours. There is dry, sort of coal-like peatiness. Dusty peanuts from cracked straight from the shell. Shortish green finish, oak, vegetables(celery?) and wheat.

SUMMARY:

I don't know if it was because I already had a big plate of fish and chips today, but the lemon and fish and vinegar in the nose totally put me off. Taste did not cut it for me either. In the right mood, it could be divine. I have had other whiskies that are similar and they just arent my cuppa.

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Malt Mission 2007 #44

Tullibardine Vintage 1993
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£26
$51(USD)

Founded in 1949 in buildings that occupied a 15th century brewery, Tullibardine is the second distillery of that name to be built on that site. It is one of noted Welsh distillery designer William Delmé-Evans' buildings whose style can be seen in the designs of Jura and Glenallachie.

Tullibardine was purchased by Whyte&Mackay in 1993 and mothballed a year later creating a strange predicament for the distillery. As there has not been any production for the past 10 years, they have only old stocks to draw on. As a result, they have released several older vintages and wood finishes. They have launched a cafe and a beer (brewed on site) sharing the name 1488(King James IV purhased beer from a brewery on this same site to celebrate his coronation in 1488). They have a visitor centre and an expanding retail park giving the impression of a Wal-Mart or ASDA supercentre with a reasonably utilitarian looking distillery as an afterthought. Not super romantic, but a fiscal reality with long-term vision that benefits the local economy and keeps the distillery in production.

Now let's see if the latter is even something desirable.

TASTING NOTES:

Sour yellow plums, hard ones. Green notes like chlorophyll extract. Musty books. A series of aromas making their presence known, but not working together.

Musty oak at the start, good malted barley taste, sweet but turning astringent. Some lemon peel, and herbal notes like a brown liqueur.

SUMMARY:

This is whisky that tastes exerimental. Reminds me of a single cask Mannochmore I had once. Not well integrated, and while it is not complex, it is interesting and we look forward to seeing what the distillery can really do in several years.

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