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Glentauchers 1990 (bottled 2006)
Gordon & Macphail
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
40% abv
£25
So we're gonna have a GLEN-filled week here on the Malt Mission and continue today with another offering from Gordon and Macphail, a company who for many years was the only outlet for single malt whiskies from countless distilleries around Scotland. That is how most independent bottlers began; because most distillers were 100% dedicated to producing malts as components in blends, single malts were not widely available until the 1970s. Acquiring casks from distilleries, independent bottlers would bottle and release them locally. The tradition continues today, although it is much more difficult to source quality casks as most distillers have their own proprietary bottling needs. Speaking of indie bottlers, I saw a Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask in IRON MAN over the weekend. Among the most esoteric of product placements I have ever seen... or noticed.
Built in 1898 to supply malt for James Buchanan's blended whiskies, Glentauchers is today used mainly for Ballantine's. Like yesterday's Glenburgie, a 15yo was released for a short run in 2000 but other than that, official bottlings don't exist. I read that production ceased between 1985 and 1992, but this and several other independent bottlings (Wilson and Morgan, Duncan Taylor) also share the 1990 distillation date. I can only assume that there was intermittent production, largely sold off to independent interests, after Allied purchased the distillery in 1989.
Tasted with IM.
TASTING NOTES:
Apricot, orange marmalade, carrot muffins, sweet and sour winey aroma, roasted chestnuts, salty vegetable soup broth, and a little nail polish.
Sherry, but soggy sherry, as if it was a damp sock of a cask. Suntan lotion, shea butter. Some bitterness like rye or fennel tea. Inder says, "tastes thin but expensive."
SUMMARY:
Simple but appealing enough nose, some rubber and bitterness at times, but I would still say its a nice drop to have on the shelf because a) it's something that most your friends have never had, and b) won't cost you much for the thrill of obscurity.
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Glenburgie 10 yo
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
40% abv
£24
This little known distillery is one of the most interesting in Scotland due to its down-to-business attitude, innovation over the years and use of state of the art machinery. As a major component of the Ballantines blends, Glenburgie has been a silent workhorse since 1810, when it was known as Kilnflat. It was renamed Glenburgie in 1878 and purchased by Canadian company Hiram Walker in 1936, the time after which it became a key ingredient in Ballantines blended whiskies.
Between 1958 and 1981, Glenburgie also produced a spirit with Lomond stills called Glencraig, which, with any luck, can still be found from time to time. I recently had an excellent bottling of Glencraig from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.
Owned by Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard) since 2005, official bottlings do not currently exist (there is a 15yo from 2002 that is hard to find) and this expression is from Gordon and Macphail.
TASTING NOTES:
Hard and clean, even metallic. Dry and mineral with some fruitiness and maltiness like apple cider and oat cakes. Red grapefruit, red cabbage, and some buttery sherried tones, too.
Thin impact in the texture, some undesirable heat, but rich with fruit and maltiness. Honey, vanilla, dry sherry, too. Lingering and spicy.
SUMMARY:
Whisky really is a drink that demands that the drinker slows down. This reminds me of that fact because this whisky needed some time to warm up to me, or vice versa. Good, simple, easy drinker at a brilliant price. I quite dig the simplicity of the label, too.
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Old Pulteney 1990
Gordon and Macphail Cask Strength
Cask 5470, 15/10/1990 - 21/4/2005
Single Cask Highland Single Malt Whisky
58.8% abv
£52
Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Whisky was clicked for the 100,000th time yesterday. If you are the reader from Tampere, Finland who poked around Dr. Whisky yesterday at around 7:40am GMT, then I have pretty cool a prize for you as visitor 100,000. Everyone else, if I don't hear from him/her by Friday it will be first come first served for the goodies. Please be in touch (contact info through pic on left). And again, thanks to all of you for reading, sharing, linking, emailing, etc.
In his 1967 "The Whiskies of Scotland", Professor Emiritus at University of London Dr. R.J.S. McDowell wrote, "It is to me quite surprising that such a good whisky could be made in this grim, windswept fishing town on the North Sea. Caithness is indeed a bare country and needs a good whisky to warm it up." Having tasted this before (and stashed a few bottles myself) I can say that wherever you are as winter approaches in the Northern hemisphere, if you need something to warm you up grab a blanket or make a fire... and keep this whisky nearby should wool and wood combustion fail you.
Back in McDowell's drinking days, Old Pulteney was only available in the Highlands, particularly around Wick, but also through Gordon & Macphail. James Gordon and John Macphail began bottling whiskies as single malts in an age when blends dominated the whisky world, mainly in the Highlands of Scotland, out of their shop in Elgin in 1985. By 1914, they were exporting abroad. After over 100 years as independent bottlers, Gordon & Macphail has one of the most envied supplies of maturing stock and a list of past releases that make up some of the worlds most collectible bottles. More on G&M's history HERE.
Time to revisit this sherry monster. Other Old Pulteneys had on the mission can be read HERE.I will include some notes on this whisky I took from folks at a tasting I held.
TASTING NOTES:
Walnut and honey sweetness, marmite and furniture cleaner.SHERRY. Chocolate and maraschino cherries. There is a floral sweetness, too, like roses, and some fishing gear/rubber trousers. "Smells like my grandmother's breath at Christmas."
Spicy like ginger, sweet and sour. SHERRY. Leather shoes, rubber soles and toffee. Vinyl, old records, rum, buttery/dairy sourness, bittersweet and pretty drinkable for the abv%.
"What the fuck is this?"
"(Odd face) So not right."
Finish is smoky with Honey Nut Cheerios, SHERRY, a little mintiness, and more marmite.
SUMMARY:
SHERRY. I am not a sherry freak, but something about this lights my fire... Not an everyday dram by any means, very moody and heavy, but it has depth and a gentle creaminess unexpected after so much oloroso influence and at such a high abv%. I don't think this same treatment would work with every whisky, or even with every cask of this distillery's make, but this one does... for me. The quotes above indicate the other extreme. Like marmite, its a love or hate thing.
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Benromach Peat Smoke
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
46% abv
£26
Another Speyside week on the Malt Mission. Sure, its a Bank Holiday Monday and Notting Hill Carnival, but there ain't no rest for the whik-sy. Well, sort of. Today's malt has been guest-tasted by JM and some of the Benromach info is blatantly lifted from author and historian Gavin D. Smith. View his site HERE.
"Back in 1983 the old Distillers Company Limited closed nine distilleries in an effort to cut over-supply and lower the level of the 'whisky loch.' Two years later, the firm went on to shut a further ten distilleries. Some of those silent distilleries are long gone, buried beneath retail and residential developments, but others have happier tales to tell. Tales of restoration and revival.
One such distillery is Benromach, built in 1898 on the outskirts of Forres, close to Elgin. Benromach closed in 1983, but was saved from oblivion by the internationally renowned Elgin-based independent bottler, wholesaler and retailer Gordon & MacPhail, who purchased the site in 1993 and set about reviving the distillery. It was subsequently reopened by HRH the Prince of Wales in its centenary year."
Benromach Peat Smoke uses the same intensity of peating as Laphroaig, 55 ppm. Gordon & Macphail has been produced a batch of peated malt annually and this one, matured in first-fill bourbon casks, is from 2000. It serves as a peated counterpart to the Benromach Traditional, a great value malt that has not yet appeared on the mission, but that I have used at tastings for years.
I tasted this at the Whisky Fringe, and tasted it with JM and Beth at the OddBins Wine Fair. They liked it and brought a bottle back to Canada with them. Again, these tasting notes are theirs.
TASTING NOTES:
Mineral water with a squeeze of lemon/lime, peat, iodine, wet steel, cantaloupe, damp organic (compost-y)
Nice thick, oily mouth feel. First banana popsicles or sorbet, mellowing into dry toast, salty soda crackers, then big peat. Grainy, dirty fresh spinach flavor. Evaporates and takes all the moisture out of my mouth. Feels like I drank a big bottle of cheap table chardonnay or ate a big bag of salty ballpark peanuts in the shell. Beth says the roof of her mouth feels like she scraped it on dry bread.
SUMMARY:
Mood whisky for sure. Not something I'm going to have more than one or two of at one sitting, but enjoyable and interesting just the same. It seems much simpler and more straight forward than the first time I had it, must have been influenced by something else that I'd been drinking that day... it was a wine and spirits fair, after all. Beth says it's her favorite in my collection right now (weird).
Back to Dr. Whisky typing now, fresh and fruity with great characteristics of bourbon maturation and waterfalls of peat. But I agree with JM, there is something about the dryness that works against the initial sumptuous mouthfeel. Overall, a tasty and well-priced treat from the happy-to-experiment Gordon & Macphail, and worth noting that it was really enjoyed by a woman who "doesn't like smoky whiskies".
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Benromach Sassicaia Wood Finish
Single Malt Scotch Whisky
45% abv
£28
Benromach distillery was built in 1898 in Forres, near the mouth of the river Findhorn. Very difficult to find as a single until Gordon & Macphail bought the distillery in 1993. It is only since 2004 that the current owners have been releasing official bottlings and they have been anything but disappointing.
Things of note about this, the smallest working Speyside distillery:
-Malt is peated to 12ppm
-fermentation is unusually long (115 hours)
-stills are heated by steam plates
-spirit receivers are made of wood
The core range includes Benromach Traditional, 18 yo old, 21 year old, 25 year old, cask strength 1980, vintages 1968 and 69, Port Wood finish, Tokaji finish, and the first fully certified organic single malt, Benromach Organic. The later bottling has been so popular that keeping up with demand has been a real challenge.
This malt is just 5 years old and finished for an additional 27 months in casks that previously held Sassicaia wine. Sassicaia is a super-Tuscan wine, which, in my non-wine educated mind, means it is fancy. It is apparently quite expensive and sourcing the cask could not have been an easy task. More here on Sassicaia.
TASTING NOTES:
Jammy vanilla french toast. Berries and malt, oats. Lively with youthful vitality. Distinct smoky waves over the fruitiness.
Peppery and fruity, marmalade, cooked fennel, sweet and satisfying in the mouth. Moves from deep, very ALIVE flavours, to a slightly drying finish decorated with wood smoke.
SUMMARY:
This whisky taught visiting friend Beth the distinction between 'smoky' and 'peaty'. A finish that is interesting and unique without ever silencing the presence of the malt whisky, just accenting it. Clever use of young spirit and posh wine casks = good value.
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Edinburgh University Water of Life Society
Independent Bottlers Meeting
Teviot Dining Room, Bristo Square, Edinburgh
April 16, 2007
Ended our Edinburgh visit appropriately by attending a meeting of the whisky club Kristin and I used to be involved with(first as poet laureate, then president) when we lived in Edinburgh. In fact, it was the society that got us involved with eachother in the first place. Ah, whisky; bringing people together for over 200 years...
The theme of the meeting was Independent Bottlings and we had a few interesting ones to try. Here are impressions of three of them. Notes in quotes are not my own and, where possible, I have attributed them to their sources.
Littlemill 1990, 16yo
Signatory Vintage
Single Malt Whisky
43% abv
£27.95
Littlemill was a lowland whisky, although it sourced its water in the highlands. The distillery closed in 1984, opened briefly 1989-1992, suffered a fire started by youngsters in 2004, and today all but two towers have been demolished. It was the oldest Scottish distillery in production having been founded by George Buchanan in the 1750s, but obviously lost that position when it closed in 1992. The 8yo bottling you can sometimes find is still bottled by Loch Lomond, but the contents are in fact 14-15 years old.
TASTING NOTES:
Soft. Light and sweet with old spice or someone's dad's deodorant. Chinese 5-spice.
"Wet cardboard" -Leo, "Tequila" -Dan, "Cinnamon" -Joe, "Butterscotch" -Nikki
"Old wood in an antique furniture shop" - Lorna
Watery, melony, then mildew flavours, dissonant notes that really sour towards the finish. Like decomposition in the mouth."Damp clothes that were mud-soaked and now have air-dried." -Ran
"Chemical used to treat cow hides" -Jamal
"Rotten pineapple" -Leo
"Honeydew" -Joe
SUMMARY:
"The nose is misleading and the aftertaste is awful." -Judith
"Walking into a house full of mold. Possibly the worst whisky I have ever had" -Kristin
To be fair, I must note here that we warmed up with the smooth Irish Kilbeggan whisky, after which many malts would suffer. This was interesting, but certainly not something I would reach for.
Tormore 1993, 13yo 
Douglas Laing, Old Malt Cask
Single Malt Whisky
50% abv
£30
After the Second World war, the whisky industry saw new growth for the first time in over 30 years; closed distilleries reopened and new ones were built. Three new distilleries were built after the war before Tormore in 1960, and only Tormore still survives intact and in full production. The distillery was built to supply malt for Long John blends. Today it is most commonly found in Ballantine's blends, and quite rare as a single malt.
TASTING NOTES:
Fresh, unripe tree fruit; pears or russet apples. Sweet coconut like Jon, Mark and Robbo's Smooth Sweeter One. Creme brullée.
"Linseed oil" -Dan, "Hot sick and flambéed cherries" -Joe
Firm mouthfeel that tastes bready and slightly seedy or oily, like sesame seed bagels. Mild pickle saltiness beneath.
SUMMARY:
Exciting sip after sip, new flavours abound, constantly developing but not ever blowing anyone away. Solid stuff.
"Weird bourbon cask. Too much woody... um... nutty rich... cinnamony" -Leo
Clynelish 1993, 13yo
Gordon and Macphail Connoisseurs Choice
Single Malt Whisky
43% abv
£30
One of my favourite distilleries, references to Clynelish can be found here and at Malt Mission 23
TASTING NOTES:
Blueberries and apricots, shortbread, salty, and a whiff of peat.
"Sausage" -Leo
"Coconut" -Simeon
"It's making me tipsy" -Lorna
Dark and gloomy. Meaty and clean. Halal butcher. Oranges.
"Pork fat", "tobacco", "dirty old dirty old old dirty."
"Virgin pine palate/skid on the palate" -Simeon
SUMMARY:
Friday night in watching horror movies. Dark and scary, exciting and tense, but no surprises. My favorite of the night, but the Kilbeggan warm-up dram was the overall winner with the group. I regret not taking notes on that one. Oh well. A good night was had. Thanks, guys.
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