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Talisker 18yo
Island Single Malt Whisky
45.8% abv
£38
$94.50(CAD)
$75(USD)
Tasted blind by a bunch of whisky folk, this was awarded Best Whisky in the World at The World Whisky Awards 2007. The 30 friends who got together while I was in Toronto to have a tasting a few weeks ago thought it was pretty darn tasty, too. This week we have been reliving that tasting one dram at a time.
Talisker is currently the only distillery on the Isle of Skye and is bottled at the unusual strength of 45.8% by its owners. It has been a part of Diageo's Classic Malts Selection since 1987. When the still house was burnt down in 1960, the distillery fell silent for 2 years. The phenolic content of the malt (peat level) is 25-30 ppm(parts per million). To make relative sense of that, Charlie Maclean has a formulation: 1ppm in a 700ml bottle of whisky is like 10 minutes in 20 years. So what makes more of an impact, 5 hours of the past 20 years of your life or the peat in that dram of Talisker you're drinking right now?
Notes in quotes are from folks at the tasting. All Talisker we've had on the mission can be read HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
"Bitter dark chocolate" cinnamon tea, dark rum, vanilla. A little orange zest, creamy bourbon element. Some folks got salt from coastal aromas, others got salt from licorice. "Can I say smoke and cherries? cuz they seem to go together. Sweet smoke." Time brought out more peat and bonfire on the beach-type of aromas.
Gorgeous creaminess, but with an oaky bite up front, green bitternes, raw celery. "Its definitely got that book mustiness"
"Ooo, very sweet. Saccrin and cherry. Once you swallow you get that bitterness. Blunt smoke. Two tones."
Immensely drinkable and full of tasty oak influence. Honey cured ham and toffee. Pepper late in the game.
SUMMARY:
Delicious, but a bit too sweet for some. For me, the pepper and bitter rootiness helped rein-in the luscious vanilla and bourbon sweetness creating a dangerously drinkable treat. Well-rounded, beautifully crafted stuff. Very fair price, too!
Malt Mission #161
Malt Mission #162
Malt Mission #163
Malt Mission #164
Malt Mission HOME
Scapa 23yo, Sherry finish
Douglas Laing, Old Malt Cask 1978-2001 612 bottles
Island Single Malt Whisky
50% abv
£50
Scapa distillery lives in the shadow of its more famous Orkney neighbour, Highland Park. Scapa flow is the stretch of sea linking the North Sea with the Atlantic. German vessels were sunk there in 1919 and now rest on the sea floor. The Royal Viking Fleet of King Haakon (pronounced hawk-un) was stationed in Scapa flow in the 13th century. Old Norse gives Scapa its name, meaning 'ship' or 'boat'. Find all Scapas enjoyed on the mission HERE.
Douglas Laing is an independent bottler of good repute, but as supplies get tighter and tighter in the whisky industry one wonders from where they will be sourcing casks for the future security of their company. Most indies have bought up or partnered up with distilleries so they have some cask-trading power because in the future, money won't be enough to acquire casks of mature or maturing whisky. What is Douglas Laing's plan?
The company releases bottlings under different brand and blend names. This expression is from their Old Malt Cask range and always bottled at 50%abv. It was finished for 6 months in a sherry cask.This whisky was voted 'dram of the night', just beating tomorrow drop by one or two votes in the tasting we had in Toronto. Each dram we had is featured this week on the mission. We even had the control to leave 3-4 servings in the bottom of the bottle for the hosts who let us use their flat. Kind or stupid?
TASTING NOTES:
Gentle and sumptuous sherry, plums, brown sugar and oak. Very complex nose, with big depth. Salty like peanuts. Creamy honeyed tones. Apples and honey. Earthy. Ginger biscuits. Malt is miraculously still present coming across as a hard, dry, oatiness. Slightly perfumy.
Firm, caressing, sensual mouthfeel. Oatmeal cookies, cardboard, sweetness and fruitiness of sherry balances the musty dry oakiness. Salt-and-sweet where the sherry lingers in a soft oak and cocoa finish.
SUMMARY:
An excellent Scapa. The sherry compliments the salt and honey-nut distillery character character with the musty vanilla and pulp and paper mill influence from 20-some years in bourbon.
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Malt Mission #162
Malt Mission #163
Malt Mission #165
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Isle of Arran
Cream Sherry Cask finish(Gonzalez byass)
Island Single Malt Whisky
57.5% abv
£39.99
$78(USD)
Another one of Arran's gazillion finishes... and, to be fair, many of them have turned out pretty darn well.
We've had Arran on the mission before, but it is always a treat. And we are always ready to try more as the results from this new distillery have been very promising since opening in 1995. Arran was the first distillery on the island bearing the same name since Lagg distillery closed in 1836. The stills are similar to those at Glengyle(Campbeltown) and their washbacks AREN'T oregon pine but larch and Norwegian spruce. Whistle melody here... "she once had me," etc.
Short on time so short on words. Let's get down to business...
TASTING NOTES:
Big toffeed sweetness, sherry, candy apples. "Coffee Crisp"(a very Canadian tasting note brought to you by JM) Chocolate milk. Cereal, and a slight vegetal element. Glue. Quite gentle on the nose for the abv%.
Slightly punchy, but some really wimpy punches. Sugar in tea, balsa wood, freshly baked cookies, apple cider, flower gardens. A caramelised element as well. Turns toasty as burnt sherry flavours resonate through the finish.
SUMMARY:
Sweet, but remarkably pleasant. Autumnal whisky, whisky for when its not quite warm enough for a shorts or young bourbon-cask Speysiders, but not quite cold enough for woolly jumpers or heavily sherried peat monsters. October, trick-or-treat whisky.
Malt Mission #161
Malt Mission #162
Malt Mission #164
Malt Mission #165
Malt Mission HOME
Ledaig Island
Island Single Malt Whisky
42% abv
£15
$40(CAD)
$32(USD)
Pronounced 'led-chig', this is the peated expression of whisky from Tobermory distillery on the isle of Mull. In fact, it was the original name of the distillery when it was built in 1798 and has produced two different whiskies since its early days. This is the more heavily peated expression. The last whisky from this distillery to be had on the Malt Mission can be found HERE.
Tobermory comes from 'Tobar Moire', meaning "Mary's well". Ledaig means "safe haven".
The limited supplies of Ledaig from the 70s that have been bottled have really impressed amateur and professional whisky critics across the globe. This good reputation is being cashed in on (?) with reasonably new proprietary bottlings of unaged Ledaig, from sherry and bourbon casks. This expression is from bourbon and is shockingly cheap. In a blind tasting we held years ago in Edinburgh where the objective was to find the expensive bottle among the cheap ones, this whisky was thought by most to be the pricey one.
TASTING NOTES:
Not what I would call an appetizing nose, but pretty busy. Herring, brine, bad morning breath. Orange pekoe tea. Strawberry jam. Toast and butter. Fresh raw shellfish and Dark chocolate. Verging on butryic.
Buttery and sweet, green grapes, stamp glue. Soy and fish sauce and smoke, but mainly sweeter, saltier characteristics. Light but full of character. Thin finish of campino.
SUMMARY:
Light but flavourful. Quaffable and not overly offensive, in spite of some of my chosen adjectives, with maritime characters coming out the wazoo. Very impactful for such a young, cheap whisky, just not an impact that would be welcomed by all. If you like you whisky fishy, smoky and salty, this is for you. In a character to price ratio, this scores very highly.
Malt Mission #161
Malt Mission #163
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The Six Isles
Vatted/Blended Malt
43% abv
£19
This is an unchillfiltered vatting of whiskies from the 6 isles of whisky production, Arran, Mull, Islay, Skye, Jura, and Orkney. We used it as a warm-up dram at a tasting we held for 30 friends when we were in Toronto two weeks ago and it went down a treat. Folks really liked it. This week we will be re-living that tasting one day/dram at a time.
Discontinued at the LCBO, and only $35.35(CAD) right now if you can find a bottle near you, Jim Murray has praised this stuff calling it, "island whisky to the max!" (2003) and, "The best standard, non-deluxe blend I have found in my lifetime."(2004) Like I said, it went down well with friends on a cool, late-summer, Toronto night.
All Ian Macleod products can be viewed HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Laid back, peaty and earthy, with a layer of salty nuts and smoke. Chlorine. Sooty. Apricots. Custard. Cocoa dustings. All freshened with a citrus zing.
Spring. Cut grass. Lemon curd. Metallic smoke takes over and a minty, or Listerine effect lingers in the medium long, but pleasantly thin, finish.
SUMMARY:
Tobermory/Ledaig and Islay malts(Bowmore?) dominate this whisky, and blind, one might think it's a peated Speysider. Yeah, that is due to the smoke mixed with the janitor's closet smells, but also the weighty sweetness on the nose, the floral element on the palate, and the sheer drinkability. For peat freaks and the new drinkers they insist "have gotta try this..."
Malt Mission #160
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Malt Mission HOME
Lochside 1964, 42yo
Blended Scotch Whisky
47.7% abv
£69
Still creeping toward that MM200. It'll happen... I think I can, I think I can, I think I can... Thanks for reading.
Highly unusual and incredibly affordable for the age, this 42 year old whisky is what might be called a single blend as it is a mix of grain and malt whiskies from just one distillery. Single cask, no less. And it is a closed distillery(1992). A true rarity.
The Lochside distillery began producing whisky in 1957 but the site had been the James Deuchars and Sons brewery in Montrose, in the east of Scotland. Until the 1970s, Lochside distillery was producing both single malt and grain whisky on site, like Ben Nevis and Loch Lomond. It was bought by Spanish interests in 1973 and mothballed in 1992. Allied Domecq acquired the distillery in 1994 and in 1997 all the equipment and maturing whisky was removed(or sold).
The warehouses have been destroyed, and from what I can gather, all remaining distillery buildings will see a similar fate as developers have acquired permission to build 37 flats on the premises. The landmark 'distillery tower' seen at the northern entrance into Montrose (see pic) has been demolished (2005). This lost distillery is, for now, somewhat of a hidden gem, with several expressions finding their way into well-received independent releases (Clan Denny, Cadenheads, Douglas Laing, Gordon & Macphail, etc.)
This unsual bottle was blended at birth, spending all of its 42 years maturing as a blend in a single cask. Unusual indeed, but a format founder Joseph W. Hobbs was quite fond of. Let's see if he was onto something...
TASTING NOTES:
Confidently announces its presence with a multidimensional impact: oak, spices, sweetness. A light and elegant bourbony vanilla sweetness with orange peels, cloves, nutmeg, and cheap vanilla ice cream (the kind whose first ingredient is guar gum and/or modified milk ingredients). Some grass or other vegetal aromas, hand creams, hazelnut puree, brio/chinotto.
Sweet/bitter balance, with age becoming VERY apparent. Rum-like tropical flavours that hint at bike tires, with chilli, green peppers, more orange rind or marmalade with bundles of oaky sweetness. Friendly finish where malt and chewable vitamin C tablets linger among a supple oakiness.
SUMMARY:
Impressive and tasty from beginning to end, and extremely unusual. Time in the glass really lets things become creamy both in texture and flavour. 42 yo for £70!? Buy one, buy one now! Don't tell too many friends about this gem. There isn't enough to go 'round, and besides, they probably don't deserve it, anyways.
Malt Mission #156
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Cutty Sark 18 yo
Blended Scotch Whisky
43%abv
£43
The old motto went, "Remove the cork and get the message." Cutty Sark is named after the famous clipper... which was named after the witch in Burns' poem "Tam O'Shanter"... who is named after the Scots expression for a short-cut shirt. Cutty Sark made a name for itself by finding routes into America during prohibition via Canada and the Caribbean.
This is part of the extended range of aged expressions from Cutty Sark. It is joined by the 12, the 15 (which i noticed in abundance at the LCBO when I was home last week), the 25, and the standard unaged blend. the 18yo is sometimes referred to as 'Discovery'.
London is still recovering from a fire that destroyed much of the clipper in Greenwich. News HERE.
More info on Cutty Sark and all expressions tasted on the mission can be found HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Initially extremely light and friendly, but by no means simple, with a buttery creaminess, nectarines, sherry undertones, and a gentle olive-oil-type of spiciness. Meaty.
Very nutty, spicy, and quite refreshing, actually. Stone fruits, cream, and a faint appearance of peat. Raw red meat, lamb? The organic flavours give way to more processed ones: freshly developed photos. Cardboard. Brown paper towels in public washrooms. Long nutty finish.
SUMMARY:
Another blend where the grains take a back seat and let the malts do all the driving. Easy drinking but with character. A little something for the adventurous in the meaty, oily flavours while retaining mass appeal.
Malt Mission #156
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Whyte & Mackay 13yo
Blended Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£16.50
Vijay Mallya and his United Breweries Group recently bought Whyte & Mackay for £600million as growing affluence in India made whisky sales grow 26% over the past year, a trend that didn't come out of nowhere and one that smart-tycoon-y member-of-parliament-entrepreneurs like Mallya wouldn't dare miss. Unfortunately, W&M saw a £2.2million loss in the 12-month period before the takeover. Can King Madras turn everything he touches to gold?
W&M has a pretty good stable of malts and blends and may have performed poorly last year due to the relaunch of the Whyte and Mackay blends (with a fancy new Charles Rennie Mackintosh look) that never really had a chance to take off or get marketed properly. (Are they even available anywhere?) Jura, Dalmore, Fettercairn, Glayva and Whyte and Mackay are now set to invade India now that Mallya used his political pull to change the iNsAnE foreign spirits tariff in India, a change that was certainly unpopular among other domestic spirits producers.
Anyways, I won't talk too much about that. Truth is I don't have enough time to get my facts straight so f-it. If you want more info and opinion on the story, read THIS(BBC), THIS(Malt Maniacs), or THIS(Scotch Blog).
Let's drink Whyte and Mackay's The Thirteen. (All Whyte&Mackay tasted on the mission can be read HERE)
TASTING NOTES:
Soft and rich, pecans, butter tarts, vanilla candles, waffle cones, an ice cream parlour. Sherry influence is present but the tasty Invergordon (and other?) grains lead the sweeter, vanilla-ed appeal to 'drink me'.
Bigger body than the nose suggests, that dissipates quickly. Strange. Now you see it, now you don't. Rich sherry and nuts, Dairy Milk, and a touch of salt then Caramilk and honey, ginger, and a light finish of sherry, fresh figs, and older grain whisky.
SUMMARY:
An odd experience, and I know I have complained about this stuff before, but I quite enjoyed it today. The vanishing effect (in terms of mouth presence) on the palate was strange, but the lingering flavours made up for it. A late metallic flavour hurt my overall impression but affordability and drinkability combine to make this a worthwhile purchase to decide for yourself.
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Famous Grouse Gold Reserve 12 yo
Blended Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£22
$25(USD)
Perth was a nexus of blending houses in the 19th century. If you wanted, you could wander about town tasting the wares of John Dewar, Arthur Bell, and Matthew Gloag. Since 1820, Gloag ran a grocery in town and by 1860, his son started blending whiskies. By the end of the century was selling the Grouse Brand. It became well known among locals earning it the addition of 'famous' to its name.
The Famous Grouse is owned by The Edrington Group (Macallan, Highland Park, and others) and has been the #1 whisky in Scotland for many years. They have extended their range over the past decade, most recently with the launch of The Black Grouse, a peaty, Islay-themed blend specifically targeting the nordic and Scandanavian markets.
All Famous Grouse we've had on the mission can be read HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Weighty nose of rich, honeyed malt, sherry sweetness, and a touch of sulphur. Sesame seeds, oats, and pie crust. Well integrated smoke like exhaust as the impressions drive away.
Puff of gentle smoke then warm and toasty with sherry, dairy, and Honeycomb cereal. Filter coffee. Long finish of brown sugar and oatmeal.
SUMMARY:
Nothing too complex, but the weight of the sherry and heavy malty tones are very satisfying. The smoke that appears on the nose leads on the palate but gives way to the rich vanilla maltiness and sherry like a gentleman holding the door for young lady. Grain definitely takes a back seat in this number. Bunnahabhain and Highland Park are quite noticable so fans of either distillery could really dig this blend. For the price and flavour profile, it could be a good replacement for Jon, Mark and Robbo's Rich, Spicy One for those of you in markets that have lost that affordable line.
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King's Legend
Blended Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£20(? not available in UK)
Welcome back to the mission. We had a nice time with friends, family, and food in Toronto and now we are back with the focused goal of tasting our way to Malt 
Mission 200... and a few other minor goals along the way (submitting this damned dissertation, training for a new job, learning to make pancakes as nice as the ones Morwenna made for us on Sunday, etc.)
We will have a blends week here on the mission. I have a keen interest in blends, partly because of my fascination with their variety and abundance, with most local markets having their own brands unavailable anywhere else in the world, partly because of the fact that blends are what keep distilleries open and made whisky a worldwide phenomenon (see my Bullocks to Blends series or go buy a book), but also because the craft of blending is a fascinating art and the challenges blenders face in making a consistent product out of often variable tools is nothing short of astounding.
Blended whiskies are a combination of different single malts (whiskies made in pot stills out of a single grain, barley, and at a single distillery) and different grain whiskies (whiskies made in column or Coffey stills out of various different grains, maize, wheat, barley, rye). Contrary to snobborific popular belief, Blended whiskies are NOT by default better or worse than single malts. They are made with quite different intentions than single malts, and often quite different aims than eachother (a wintery blend, a summer blend, a peaty blend, a blend for ice, a blend for cooking, a blend to accompany all night conversations... etc.). Where single malt whiskies are made to be individual, powerful, engaging, and sometimes challenging, blended scotch is generally designed to appeal to a wider customer base, being well-balanced and smooth and suited to more people's palates. While these whiskies can be sensual, wonderfully constructed, rich whiskies with great subtle complexities, more often than not they are made out of barely legal whiskies (3-4 years old) from tired casks (maturation vessels which have been used too many times to yield much flavour). But it is also for this reason that the art of blending is so respected; in combining various casks that would simply not be good enough for release as a single malt, blended whiskies become more than the sum of their parts. They account for 90-95% of all Scottish whisky sales worldwide and the best of them win as many awards and accolades as single malts in blind tastings.
Kings Legend is an odd blend owned by Diageo but only available in a few markets (if they have this where you live, email me. I would love to know). I got it in Norway a few months ago. You may remember it from the Royal Norwegian Cocktail Competition. I cannot find any good information about the blend's history or contents in any of my books. Sorry. If you have any info, I would love to receive it. I have had it a few times since buying it over ice and it has been quite pleasant. Now lets subject it to a sensory interrogation.
TASTING NOTES:
White toast with butter, pumpkin pie and spice, vanilla ice cream. Light and thin, slightly petrolic, with toffeed sweetness and cooked pasta. Some smoke, too. Appetising and cakey.
Thin mouthfeel, soft then hot, integrated flavours of maple, saunas, envelope glue, and banana. Faint sherry and smoke through the finish that sits in the middle of the tongue.
SUMMARY:
A bit hot to the tongue, but perfectly pleasant blended whisky. Drinking this stuff over ice eliminates the tongue heat and really lets the smoke and vanilla-balance shine. No doubt a high grain content (80%?), but the vanilla and waffle-type tastes from the grains are really luscious. The sherry and peat from the malts are present and notable, but it is the creamy, vanilla-ed bourbon cask Speysiders in here that really make this the drinkable and affordable blend that it is. Enjoy it, Scandinavia!
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Malt Mission HOME
I've only written one weekend post since February so I will make up for it on this break in the Malt Mission (I am in Canada). It's not for lack of whisky things to write about. I guess it is just that I have been busy and/or lazy...?
So here is Dear Doctor #1.
The first in a possible series of Q&A posts that will see me try to answer your questions.
As it is, I have been doing this for months via email(thanks for your questions, all!), but I think in some cases others would benefit from the info as well, so here we go.
Two recent emails from the UK and Canada.
Hi, Where can I find the story about Johnnie Walker changing striding directions and the impact on sales? Thanks RS
This question had me thinking for days. Did Johnnie turn? When artist Tom Browne sketched the famous striding man character on a napkin in 1908, in which direction was he striding? Is it even consistent from campaign to campaign? After all, Tom Browne died in 1910 and the 'striding man' responsibilities were handed over briefly to Bernard Partridge and Leonard Raven Hill, then Leo Cheney (until his death in 1928), Doris Zinkesen who took Johnnie into the world of colour, Fougasse (Cyril Kenneth Bird) Clive Upton in the post-WWII years, and countless others who seem to have moved Johnnie from cricket pitch to shipyard facing all sorts of directions.
So I looked through some jpegs of old 1920-1950s adverts, looked at some 1980s-current ads in magazines, looked at the bottles here in our flat, looked at bottles online, looked at the Johnnie Walker website, leafed through the books I have, asked friends, whisky industry folks, and fellow bloggers. And waht did I learn? The first striding man image appeared in an advert in The Tatler and the striding man was walking to his right. In others since, he walks to his left.
If anything in the history of Johnnie Walker's advertising has affected sales it is the theme of the advert [golf, cricket, football, support for the war(s), English heritage, literary series, buy British campaigns, etc.), not the direction in which this iconic figure is striding. Great question, though. Thanks!
If you want more info, check out John Hughes' book, "Still Going Strong: A History of Scotch Whisky Advertising" or Gavin D. Smith's "The Whisky Men". If anyone has any other info relevant to this question, let me know!
Hey doc, i've got a question for you: what's up with whisky and food? are they ever paired? i know we're all supposed to have clean, virginal palates when sampling our fancy drams, but damn do i ever sometimes like a whisky and chocolate after dinner. given your liberal approach to whisky appreciation, i thought i'd see what you think. ISM
My quick answer is that there is only one way to drink whisky: any way you want. This sentiment echoes the great Robert Hicks(Ballantines, Teachers, Laphroaig) who is famed for saying (paraphrasing) "Hey mate, you bought it, do what you like with it!" Liberal, indeed.
That being said, I would still suggest that the first time you have any given whisky that you let yourself get to know it first, and the best way to do that is to enjoy it in its natural form, in a good glass (or THIS or THIS). Something with a tapered top is ideal to help concentrate the aromas, but really anything you are comfortable with. Just give the whisky the respect it deserves. You can always disrespect it later with ice, coke, lime, and the saliva of virgins. Then once you know what, say, Auchethoshan 10 tastes like, you can match it with an apple tart or pork rinds or whatever you think it would compliment or would complement it.
Many companies have been pushing the idea of matching whisky and food, as have whisky appreciation societies of all shapes and sizes holding dinners and events to showcase the complimentary nature of boozery and cookery. Whisky Magazine has featured pieces on whisky and food, matching malts with dishes, cooking with whisky, etc. for quite a while now. In Whisky Magazine, back in October 2006 (Issue 58), Ontario-based writer Andrew Coppolino wrote a great article about whether or not whisky was suited to food. His conclusion? Do it. Do it now.
For me, I like something I can fill my mouth with when eating so beer or wine suit me fine. But whisky is such a versatile beverage, it can find a place at every meal. Try it on porridge!
Thanks for emailing, and if you have any questions please don't be shy, ask away! It can be an intimidating whisky world, but it needn't be...
Isle of Jura 21 yo
Island Single Malt Whisky
40% abv
£80
Another Friday on the Malt Mission and another week gone. Still blows my mind and will continue to do so until this whisky lake dries up. Thanks for reading. The Guardian finally ran an obit for Michael Jackson yesterday.
Am off to Canada again for some family-and-friends-time, so the mission will be on hiatus... officially. We will certainly still be trying a few drops and I will post anything of interest like last time.
The people behind Isle of Jura are very proud of their product, and they ought to be. As I have said before, in many ways it shouldn't exist; it makes little economic sense, but it is the pride of the small population of the island from which it comes and most inhabitants are employed, directly or indirectly, thanks to its existence. For every one vocal person who says something detracting about Jura there are two who love the stuff. Sure, I admit, I am no big fan of the 10yo, but lots of folks love it, so who am I to say "Jura sucks"? Who are you?
If you get out to Islay, and many people do, don't miss Jura. It is worth the short trip. Drive the island. Visit the distillery. Sit by the palm trees, watch the seals, sip on a dram of Jura. In the tranquility of that environment critics will be silenced. Shhhh...
Click through to the company tasting notes video here: it turns these guys on.
"Mmm mm mm mm mm mm m mmmm." - Richard Paterson
And they've just released a 40yo.
All Juras tasted on the mission can be viewed HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Okay; wood, wood, and wood. Maple syrup. Damp wood. Gauze, mango juice, and heavy/weighty maltiness. Slightly fishy, as well. Cod liver oil.
That fishiness leads on the palate, and then erupts with dense sherry, maple, and more malt. Milk foam and cinnamon and then a long finish of bitter fruits and coffee cake. Very weighty stuff.
SUMMARY:
Not a morning whisky. This is the stuff they should have been drinking in the original Jaws in that scene where they show off their scars on the boat and sing 'Show me the way to go home'
Malt Mission #151
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Highland Park 1990 16 yo
The Single Malts of Scotland
Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky
46% abv
£35
Highland Park was built in the same year as Tobermory (tasted Tuesday), 1798. Sometimes lovingly refered to as HP sauce, Highland Park is well known for adding depth of flavour to blended whiskies. But Highland Park is a respected brand as a single malt, winning awards and accolades the world over. Michael Jackson has called it 'the greatest all-rounder in the world of whisky" and F. Paul Pacult decided the 18yo was "The Best Spirit in the World" in 2005.
Highland Park shares at least one unique feature with Glenmorangie and Bunnahabhain (among others), and that is the use of hard, mineral-rich water in the production of its whisky. Most distilleries source their water from springs or burns with soft water, water with little or no calcium or magnesium ions and the old rule of thumb for distilling was "soft water, through peat, over granite."
Orcadians, the people who live in the Orkney islands, have a special history quite separate from that of the rest of Scotland. Neolithic tribes inhabited the islands before the Picts, and Orcadians also have heritage ties to the Norse who annexed the islands in 875 and ruled until 1472. The flag of Orkney is exactly like that of Norway, with yellow replacing white around the cross.
This is another bottling from The Single Malts of Scotland range from The Whisky Exchange/Speciality Drinks. For more info, or to read about other Highland Parks tasted on the Malt Mission, click HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Perfumy, but in an odd way; like scented candles or fake plastic fruit. Some pear, shortbread, and vanilla. The processed impressions remain: newspaper, CD cases, pomade. Really interesting and unusual. After some minutes tropical impressions come to the fore. Islands irie, Jamaica no problem.
Big malty impact, nutty and very spicy, with cumin and sumac. Bubblegum underneath a spicy herbal concoction, like some European homeopathic extract that is supposed to prevent against illness/remedy baldness/cure cancer. Finish, or the lingering flavours, have been different with every sip so I really have no note that would be fair to share. Medium-long, in any event.
SUMMARY:
Not for the casual drinker, this is an experience. Changes a great deal with time in the glass and with water, but remains a odd-ball. To be enjoyed among friends and discussion. Tried all the standard bottlings from Highland Park? Interested in what else goes on in the dark corners of their warehouses? This is for you.
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Isle of Arran 9 yo
SMWS 121.20
"Indian Summer"
Single Cask Single Malt Whisky
56.5% abv
£38
It is hard to believe, but the Scotch Malt Whisky Society is really not as pretentious or pompous as some of its members like to think. Sure, it is a members club, with private members rooms and membership fees, all of which can be objectionable to egalitarian whisky folk, but whether you are a member or not, walk through a society venue door and if any staff treats you with a lack of respect and kindness, I will buy you a dram. Seriously. Sure, like I said, there are assholes everywhere, but anyone who works there or knows what the society is about will be kind, friendly and helpful. Guaranteed. That, and they host some of the greatest tastings in the UK, bottle some absolutely killer malts, rums, and ciders, and have one of the comfiest drinking venues in the world at the Vaults in Leith, Scotland.
The society uses a number system to classify their whiskies both to protect the integrity of the distilleries as brands and to encourage the exploration of under-appreciated or stigmatised distilleries. 121 is Arran, and they have managed to bottle some great expressions from this young distillery, 20 to be exact, which is what the second number in the classification represents.
Their description for this bottling, written by Robin Laing with the help of the noses and imaginations of the society tasting panels, reads as follows:
"This distillery is situated in the picturesque village of Lochranza, on the island commonly described as ‘Scotland in miniature’. A refill sherry butt has given this dram a dark wood colour. The wonderfully complex nose takes time to develop with overripe fruits, salt, oil and roasted coffee. With water there are marmalade notes, vanilla fudge and cloves. In the mout h it is pleasantly warm and spicy, with lots of vanilla and woody notes. With water it’s comforting with Demerara sugar and fresh mint. There is also a long chewy finish with a hint of sulphur. This is a perfectly balanced dram, ideal for an Indian summer."
For more info and past expressions tasted on the mission, click HERE.
Tasted one morning in Edinburgh a few weeks ago while staying with Claire and Ran. Thanks, guys.
TASTING NOTES:
Warming, buttery sherry tones, with toffee and cream, orange rind, raisins and raw oats. Peppery spice beneath.
Honey, spice, fresh plums and a real oak presence. Woody, indeed. Flavour curve from buttery sweetness becoming leafy with dry sherry notes, and getting drier and drier. Water brings out an impression of the outhouse by the lake, toffee, but still really drying.
SUMMARY:
United flavours, concentrated but lacking substance. But the delicacy that I love about Arran is overpowered, especially on the palate. Sherry dries beyond my comfort level and makes the whole experience quite one-dimensional. Great first impressions that only get more disappointing with time and/or water. But hey, I am not a sherry freak. I am certain this would be right up someone's alley. The SMWS tasting panel thought it was well balanced, so who am I to talk?
Malt Mission #151
Malt Mission #152
Malt Mission #154
Malt Mission #155
Malt Mission HOME
Tobermory 1995 12 yo
The Single Malts of Scotland
Island Single Malt Whisky
56.9% abv
£29.99
So I learned later in the day yesterday that The Independent ran an obituary for Michael Jackson and that the Telegraph had done so over the weekend. So no more bitching from me about the lack of attention his passing attracted in the British press. I promise.
This is the first Tobermory (or Ledaig) I have had on the Malt Mission. Tobermory is a distillery on the Isle of Mull, a gorgeous island with adorable towns all within easy reach of the mainland via Oban. Tobermory is one of the nine(9) distilleries still in operation that was built in the 18th century. Originally christened Ledaig in 1798, it was called Tobermory after the town in which it is located. It is, and always has been, the only distillery on the island but has had a split personality since its birth. Bottlings released as Tobermory, about 5% of production, go into an lightly peated 10yo single malt sold in a green dumpy bottle. About 10% of production is released as a heavily peated expression called Ledaig. The rest finds its way into blended whiskies in Burn Stewart Distillers' stable (Scottish Leader, etc.) and beyond.
The distillery was closed many times during its long history. On one of those sad occasions, in June 1930, it was used as a power station and a canteen. Additionally, after the stills were removed it was rented to a local dairy farmer to mature the famed Isle of Mull cheddar, and, according to Misako Udo, was closed down after a hygiene disaster. Let your imaginations run wild.
This bottling is a single cask offering from the ever-expanding line from The Whisky Exchange/Speciality Drinks called The Single Malts of Scotland. Other bottlings in the series tasted on the mission can be found HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Two planes of aromas, can be generally classified as the malty and the sweaty. But there's more at work here. A lot of smells I am personally nostalgic for: Candy apples, salt water and potatoes, Clearasil, Neilson's Jersey Milk, SaraLee chocolate cakes, ginger and soy sauce.
Big chewy maltiness that envelops your mouth but quickly pulls back in, becoming slightly astringent. A drop of water not only mutes the astringency but really opens up a barrel of fermenting fruits and sugar. Medicinal characteristics too, Alka Seltzer, herbal throat lozenges, acetaminophen. Chocolate and berry jam in the medium-length finish with a maritime saltiness, too.
SUMMARY:
Like songs on an old cassette, "Summer Mix 1986", that take you back in time, this dram really transported me. And to be totally honest, I am surprised to have enjoyed this as much as I did. Brilliant island character with a good depth of flavour. Enjoyable in the nose, a challenge on the palate. No, not sophisticated or subtle, but hearty and distinct.
Malt Mission #151
Malt Mission #153
Malt Mission #154
Malt Mission #155
Malt Mission HOME
Macleod's Island 8yo
Island Single Malt Whisky
40% abv
£19
Well it is days later and still a great absence of mainstream coverage of the death of Michael Jackson who passed away last Thursday. I am still shocked at this shameful oversight. But the grassroots media of the web proves that he is mourned throughout the world as a journalist, a lover of English pubs, renowned beer critic, and a whisky legend. Newspapers? Radio? TV? Let me know if anything you read, heard, or saw commemorated the man that I might have missed.
And just to be clear, I am not overplaying this just because I happen to be a part of some small esoteric demographic he addressed. He was a tourism writer that did wonderful things for London, Yorkshire, and England, a saviour of many pubs due to his lovingly written ode to the institutions simply titled, The English Pub, a television star as The Beer Hunter, a regular contributor to many magazines and newspapers, and the writer of several books on whisky, one of which saw five revised editions. This is no small contribution to British culture or influence in the world. BBC? Big Boardroom of Crackheads. Anyways...
We tried the Speyside expression (Malt Mission #141) of this budget line from Ian Macleod Distillers two weeks ago, and today we will have Macleod's Islands to kick-off an Island themed week. No, not THIS Macleod's Island.
The Islands are an odd region, offering a wide variety of flavours from distillery to distillery, even ones only miles away from eachother (Scapa and Highland Park), and one that could convince you to stop believing in the regional classifications altogether. David Wishart has pushed against the belief in regional styles while others, legends like the late Michael Jackson, have been proponents of the idea of terroir in whisky production. Charles Maclean has this to say. Today, many agree that if nothing else, the idea of regions in Scottish malt whisky has provided a good marketing(is that a bad word?) or educational(is that worse?) tool for entry-level drinkers.
The islands region includes those Scottish isles with distilleries, excluding Islay, which constitutes its own region. Mull (Tobermory/Ledaig), Jura (Isle of Jura), Arran (Isle of Arran), Skye (Talisker), and Orkney (Highland Park, Scapa).
This bottling is from a company that also has these other Island malts in their stable: the Isle of Skye blend, Dun Bheagan Island Malt, 'AS WE GET IT' Island Malt, and Six Isles. More island fun and info can be read in The Island Whisky Trail and all island whiskies tasted on the Malt Mission can be found HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Very laid back nose, some pine, some ginger, vanilla and oak. Calamine lotion. Some wet dog, too.
Soft on the palate, as well. Woodsy impressions from oak along with outdoorsy coastal impressions. Buttery and a touch salty, becoming very piney with some celery and raw potatoes, sweetened by a toffeed maltiness.
SUMMARY:
Whatever impression I may have given above, this whisky does succeed in offering a nice overview of an Island malt style. Great whisky for the uninitiated, but the experienced whisky drinker will find something to enjoy here as well, and not just the pretty price.
Malt Mission #150
Malt Mission #152
Malt Mission #153
Malt Mission #154
Malt Mission #155
Malt Mission HOME
