Malt Mission 2008 #260

Port Ellen 21yo 1982/2004
Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask (OMC)
for the Islay Whisky Shop
Sherry cask 477, 182 bottles
$£ Price unknown £$

After 260 Malt Missions, is my palate tired or my tastes more refined? How about after 100 whiskies in a single day (yes, spitting... for most of them)?

Yesterday was unlike any day I have ever experienced, and experience was something that the likes of Mario G and Sukhinder S continuously reminded me that I had in short supply. From a 17-flight judging panel of 54 whiskies in the afternoon to a seemingly never-ending night of everything from Compass Box's original Hedonism through Scott's Selection Longmorn-Glenlivet 1971 to Samaroli's Ardbeg 1973 (Fragments of Scotland) it was a long day that tried my nose and palate in ways I never thought possible. It would be unfair to call it hard work, to the reader it would no-doubt sound like a backhanded boast, but what I am acknowledging is my humility, ALL OF OUR necessary humility in the face of this ever-generous spirit. Additionally, I have yet more evidence that I have no justification to 'score' whiskies outside of blind tasting competitions where any score is only relative against its competitor. I have so much more to say about Thursday February 28, 2008, but I haven't the words... or more importantly, the time.

Port Ellen was founded in 1825, closed after 1929 only to be reopened in 1967 (after some modernisation and renovation), silenced in 1983, and fatally closed in 1987. Today the distillery provides malted barley to Caol Ila and Lagavulin (and others?). The world of whisky connoisseurs have mourned this lost distillery and still sing its praises with every sip supped from finite supplies.

Big thanks to TF for bringing over the bottle and thanks to DB and RA for inviting me for the day, SS, MG, JG, GG, and more for the unforgettable night. Cheers and happy leap year!

TASTING NOTES:

Salty, slightly rubbery, and spiced with sherry. Smoked mussels, salt and dried fruits. Damp, humid, dusty, like desperately mid-night drinking from that glass of water that has been sitting beside your bed since last week. Moldy tobacco, sherry, and fish. Funky and odd but incredibly inviting.

Waves of smoke throughout. Soft red delicious apples, bruised. Sherry, pepper. A new fire, paper and shreds of bark. Very burnt, charred, but coated in cake icing.

SUMMARY:

Totally fun and chewy and worthy of communal drinking with conversation, debate, and differing opinions. That is what whisky enjoyment should be all about, not solitary scientific organaleptic consumption and evaluation, as much fun as that sounds...

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Malt Mission 2008 #259

Brora 20yo, 1982
Rare Malts Selection
Highland Single Malt Whisky
58.1% abv
£120*

We'll have a couple of closed distilleries to finish off this peaty week on the Malt Mission. Built by a real bastard whose exploits in a position of peerage made him the wealthiest man of the 19th century and his family one of the wealthiest landowning families in the UK, Clynelish/Brora has a complex and fascinating history.

Brora is the name of of the old Clynelish distillery once it began to produce spirit alongside the new Clynelish distillery from 1969-1983. When old Clynelish was closed in 1967 to build a more modern distillery just up the hill(which took the same name), there was a surge in the demand for peatier, Islay-style malts. Old Clynelish fired up her stills producing a peaty spirit(40ppm) under the name of the town where the distilleries were located, Brora.Times were good in the 1960s and 1970s for the whisky industry and by the late 1970s it was bursting with maturing stock. The increased production and investment had been miscalculated and the closures came quick and fast, especially with the bigger companies. DCL closed Brora in 1983 and the whisky world has indeed been the poorer since. Let us hope the recent investments based on market predictions in good times do not result in another whisky loch. I suppose one way the companies are ensuring this are the gradual price increases over the past year all across the industry. A small price to pay, I suppose, for greener distilleries and a secure future for the industry; we all just hope they aren't taking the piss by, I don't know, repackaging and charging 10-20% more for their entry-level bottlings...

The Duke of Sutherland, George Granville Leveson-Gower, took active part in the Highland Clearances between 1811-1820(quite late in the history of land-clearances in Britain), a territorial if not ethnic cleansing that began with the forced relocation of farmers to coastal settlements, to new lands(Canada, America, New Zealand) or indeed, into the sea itself (see just one tragic story here). All this was to make room for massive sheep farms, much more profitable than human crofters who could not be trusted to pay their rents nor pay them with their heads as sheep could.

While still the Marquess of Stafford, the prick eventually known as Duke of Sutherland built Clynelish Distillery on a farm in Brora as a way to ensure the use of excess grains and hence deter the farmers selling these excess grains to illicit distillers. This also guaranteed that rent was met, and if it still wasn't, off to Nova Scotia and in with the sheep!!!

This was the last Brora to appear in the Rare Malts range and was released in 2003. See all Clynelish/Brora had on the mission HERE.

* - this figure is my guess at the bottle's worth based on rarity, demand, and precedent and should not be taken as an absolute value.

TASTING NOTES:

Creamy and a bit sweaty, floral and oily with a typical bourbony sweetness. Abv is quite apparent.

Coal and peatsmoke, candied apple, apple-flavoured lollies, some spice and a chewing gum creamy sweetness. Strangely dense but light, like smoke.

SUMMARY:

Not the best Brora I have had, but who knows what sorts of casks they were filling in those final years of production? Pleasant but obviously edgy, like having lunch with an employee that knows you are about to make him/her redundant. A drop that grows on you and still has that special salty, oily, vanilla-ed creaminess that makes the Old Clynelish distillery one of the most missed of all of Scotland's lost distilleries.

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Malt Mission 2008 #258

Benriach 1984, 22yo
Single Malts of Scotland
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
53.2% abv
£65

Seagrams [the Canadian company under whose ownership many distilleries nearly vanished from the earth forever] neglected this speyside distillery when it was in their control (1978-2001) but today, in the capable hands of a passionate team of talented whisky makers, BenRiach is a critically acclaimed and widely well-regarded malt whisky.

Single cask expressions of BenRiach have been available over the past few years and Single Malts of Scotland have released a few now-legendary bottlings, especially those from the peated spirit that BenRiach produced. The distillery was producing peated spirit (since 1983) and unpeated spirit to provide for Seagrams' blended whiskies. I am quite excited to sink my teeth in.

All Single Malts of Scotland bottlings had on the mission can be seen HERE. For more BenRiach distillery (pronoucned ben-REE-akh) info and to see all whiskies from the distillery had on the mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Mmm, sweet and creamy but full of smoke. Peaches, yogurt, vanilla icing, raw chicken, carrot cake, and even a sour note like grapefruits or hard kiwis. With time, some raw fish or pickled cauliflower. Smoke and matches are in the conversation of flavour, but the juicy sweetness is speaking with the loudest voice.

Bam! Big impact that is sweet, burnt, and peaty. Honey, spice, pepper, charred bacon fat, citrus, wood toothpick that you have had in your mouth for too long. A bit of a coffee flavour in there as the finish of peat, brown toast, and marmalade linger. Bacon crisps and beef jerky flavours as well. It goes on...

SUMMARY:

Um... total complete sweet peat treat. Delicious.

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Malt Mission 2008 #257

Bowmore 1985, 21yo
Islay Single Malt Whisky
Single Malts of Scotland
59% abv
£60

From a distillery owned by the company that brought us the McClellands malts from last week, this a single cask offering from the former "Sherriff's" Bowmore distillery. Bottled by the folks at Speciality Drinks (who were nominated for a Drammie... no, not THESE Drammys), the Single Malts of Scotland have limited availability but are loved by most who are able to taste their wares. From odd to awesome, good single cask bottlings are things to be cherished and enjoyed.

Hey, it's almost March. Time to start looking into booking and planning for Feis Isle 2008?

All Single Malts of Scotland bottlings had on the mission can be seen HERE. For Bowmore distillery info and all Bowores had on the mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Grainy and outdoorsy, organic. Horse stables. High abv is gentle, comes off as bakery sweetness, vanilla cakes. Smoked ham, Mr. Clean, and apple juice.

Ashes, soot, dry manure in a damp horse paddock. More pork, pancetta, and chewing the leather straps of new baseball glove. An odd chocolate mint kind of flavour comes out after some time and the finish is chewy, sweet, smoky, and oaky. Does not go quietly into the night.

SUMMARY:

Blind, one would be hard pressed to guess the age and the odd mix of flavours would have even the keenest nose struggling to pinpoint the source distillery. But it works, and takes water well. Water exposes smoke, burnt bits of pastry, and wet hay. A charming oddy.

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Malt Mission 2008 #256

Auld Reekie 12yo
(Vatted) Malt Scotch Whisky
Duncan Taylor and Co.
46% abv
£22

Had a series of mystery malts from McClelland's last week and will start this week of smoke and peat with another unknown malt from independent bottlers Duncan Taylor & Co. This Auld Reekie whisky is a new expression (Jan 2008) and replaces the 12yo that was sold for a while(and was actually made up of mostly 15yo Caol Ila). This is not a single malt but all the constituents are from the island of Islay. Blended malt, vatted malt, or what DTC has gone for: Islay Malt.

The city of Edinburgh acquired the affectionate nickname "Auld Reekie" back when chimneys spewed coal and wood smoke in the heating of its inhabitants' homes. At this same time Edinburgh had become a 'hot-bed of genius' that "coincided with drinking on an unprecedented scale."* There were 8 licensed whisky distilleries but Hugo Arnot, in his "History of Edinburgh" (1779), estimates that there were over 400 illicit stills operating in Edinburgh. Scottish Enlightenment, perhaps, but Auld Reekie was reekin' drunk.

Today, Edinburgh still has a reek about it, but it is the heavenly sweet aroma of barley mashing blowing in from the west(North British), not chimney smoke. In whisky terms, Islay is the capital of smoke (peat) and this release captures that character. I know the Hallowe'en font of the bottle text is a bit off-putting for some, but I am sure this whisky could scare a few folks. Let's taste.

* - Charles Maclean, "Scotch Whisky: A Liquid History" p. 62 (1988)

TASTING NOTES:

Lemon meringue, smoke, honey, sesame snaps, more smoke. The peatiness definitely leads, but there are plenty of sweet aromas in there as well.

Simultaneously gentle and explosive. Coal, butter and flour roux, lemon zest, gummy fruits, some sea salt, and a touch of spicy cinnamon like gum, Big Red. Long coppery finish with peat, earth, wood and a lingering saltiness. Some minutes later, public swimming pool impressions still linger.

SUMMARY:

Pretty exhilarating stuff. A pick-me-up quality about it among clouds of peat and industrial smoke. Relaxing but recharging and the abv is at an ideal level for both high drinkability and impact. A quality drop that deserves a better label, in my mind.

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Malt Mission 2008 #255

McClellands Islay
Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£14
$31.85(CAD)
$20(USD)

Another week come and gone on the malt mission and my eyes (third eye?) still burn from celebrating the Drammie win on Wednesday. I understand yours might, too.

Today we will have the final malt in the regional series from McClelland's, whiskies created to represent four regions of whisky production available in many global markets and priced fairly.

Can you name all distilleries currently in operation on Islay? *

For all McClelland's had on the mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Earthy, tarry, some chamomile and clementine skins. Gentle smoke, mineral like mud, and a touch of dog poo.

Soft and smoked, like dutch cheese. Burnt bits of pizza crust, with a lovely core of honey and chocolate, Toblerone. Long charred finish, like crispy belly of pork or burnt cheese dripping out the side of a calzone or something.

SUMMARY:

The angriest of the McClelland's lot, but still quite easy drinking and packs more punch than its price point. A little sweet, a little thin, and a little dirty... brings back memories of teenagehood... A good cheap whisky for that Islay mood.

* - Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Kilchoman, Lagavulin, Laphroaig.

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Malt Mission 2008 #254

McClelland's Speyside
Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40%
£14
$31.85(CAD)
$20(USD)

Thanks for your emails, posts, messages and comments of congratulations on winning the Drammie. No, thank you. No, thank YOU. But no, thank YOU!

Actually, I am totally BLOWn away that you have been so HARD ON me with such PENETRATING comments. Puns intended, you perverts. I really never thought the SEMI-nudity would be the issue (there's more nudity on tube/subway, newspaper/magazine and TV adverts!!!). I thought there would be anoraks writing "Um, Drammies is plural, DrammY is singular", and "that liquid is too light for Talisker", "too dark for Grant's", etc. Whatever. I think the pics are hilarious and thank K for a fun night of shooting them.

Continuing with our THANKS FOR VOTING week, tasting our way through 4 affordable, entry-level malt whiskies for everyone's budget and palate. Today is the Speyside representative, tomorrow will be the Islay, and next week we will have some celebratory malts. For all McClellands had on the Malt Mission click HERE.

Speyside is a wonderful region of whisky production, too often overlooked by whisky drinkers who get captivated by the intense flavours of Islay and never return to mainland. But for those that do, there are some absolute gems to be discovered in this region of over FIFTY(50) distilleries. Subtle, complex, with great diversity, sometimes even with the same water and barley sources(!), Speyside whiskies are far from boring.

The watercolour paintings on each bottle were painted by British artist, John Caldwell.

TASTING NOTES:

Very aromatic and estery with a bready, malty core. Apricots, lillies, kiwis, synthetic banana. Fruit essence shampoo, Jolly Ranchers, icing sugar, petroleum jelly/Vaseline, and french toast.

Gentle impact with a nice rounded flavour, if a bit perfumy. Russet apples, Ritz crackers, golden syrup before an eruption of oak, walnuts and chocolate truffles followed by a bit of UHU, and a tingling, slowly drying effect. Finish is more made up of sensations than flavours.

SUMMARY:

The nose on all three of these McClellands malts so far have been really quite impressive. But they have also all failed to match that performance on the palate. Perfectly good whisky that is pleasant to sip and distinctly different than the other regional selections in the series.

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Dr. Whisky Wins Drammie!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Dr. Whisky was nominated BY YOU and voted for BY YOU and WAS AWARDED the 2007 Drammie award at The Scotch Blog. Sure, my passion for whisky and talking/typing about the stuff is what drives this whisky blog BUT as a non-cash-generating/ad-free blog, your emails of kind words, compliments and questions give me the motivation I need (some days more than others) to keep this thing going. Winning a people's choice award like this only gives me more fuel and I have every intention of keeping this resource alive as long as the whisky world can use it. THANK YOU!

it has to be done, and this is MY show so no one can cue the music and pull me offstage...

Thanks to:
My Mama and Daddy
Kevin Erskine, The Scotch Blog and Inebrio
Mark Gillespie (who linked and mentioned Dr. Whisky in Whisky Cast episode 91)
Ingvar Ronde and The Scotch Whisky Yearbook 2008
Kris Gilmartin (author of the article on Dr. Whisky that appeared in the Scottish Sunday Post in June)

Thanks to mad-blogging linkers: Sku of Sku's Recent Eats, Malthead, Rocksoff.se, V at Scrapple from the Apple, 't Veemgericht, Emily at Waiting for Dorothy, Douglas Blyde at The Daily Wine, Jysmith at A Perspective and A Jeremiad, Dunford at Bread Party, Cigar Jack, Kristof, Darren Turpin's The Genre Files, Islay Weblog, Armin Grewe (IslayBlog), Johan (WhiskyGrotto), Home of Whisky, Stephen Rowe (Food & Plastics), Inebrio, Sweasel.com, Mattias (WhiskyBlogg), Discover Whisky, Dave and Thomas, The Avondale Evening Mail, Home of Whisky, Whiskymagazin, The World According to Patrick, Chris Taylor (Taylor & Company) Red Hare (Eclectic Elephant), Will (Nose Palate Finish), Chris Bunting (Nonjatta), Colin Ligertwood (For Peat Sake), Colin Campbell (Whisky Blog), Jay Williams' Aphoristic Subplot, all you nuts at EUWOLS, Naresh at Sound of the Cinema, and any more I am forgetting(sorry), who have all linked to Dr. Whisky.

Thanks to loyal returning readers everywhere and to EVERYONE who has forwarded links to friends and colleagues via word of mouth, email, Facebook, web fora, etc.

Thanks to Neil Berrie and Arthur Motley at Royal Mile Whiskies
Friends and folks who have helped me taste drams over the past 14 months, MH, JM, RM, SK, EK, TF...
Dominic Roskrow, Misako Udo, Ian Buxton, Serge Valentin, Gavin D. Smith, Charlie Maclean, Robin Laing, Annabel Meikle, Dave Broom, Tim Forbes and Sukhinder and Raj Singh for being so constistently supportive and forthcoming with information

Those who have sent me/helped me source whiskies:
The Whisky Exchange (Colin(ex-man), Duncan, Matt, Alex, Chris, et al.)
Royal Mile Whiskies (London and Edinburgh crews: Michael, Stuart, Alex, Steve, Alaric, et al.)
Scotch Malt Whisky Society (Cath, Lesley, Jenn, et al.)
Alex and Jane at The Spencerfireld Spirit Co.
Andy Forrester (formerly ofJon, Mark, and Robbo, and Cellar Trends)
Mark Watt at Duncan Taylor
Barry and Barry at Premium Bottlers
Folks at Destilerieas Liber
Robert Ransom and George Grant at Glenfarclas
Iain Baxter, Elaine Mitchell and Derek Sinclair at Inver House
Neil Macdonald at Chivas Brothers
Billy and Alistair Walker at BenRiach
Ashok Chokalingham at Amrut
William Grant and Sons
Andrew Torrance at Morrison Bowmore
Katy Windsor at The Famous Grouse
Alex Bruce at Adelphi
Lizzie James, Deanna Killackey and Wendy Krone at Beam Global
Richard Paterson, Dave Robertson, and Margaret Nichol at Whyte & Mackay
Iain Weir and Alison Spowart at Glengoyne/Ian Macleod Distillers
John, Gregg, and Robbie at Compass Box Whisky
Nick Tilt, Tim Forbes, et al at Speciality Drinks
Marcie Hume who helped me make this video (go watch it! Help us break 20,000 views!)
Anne Knudsen for finding interesting bottles in her travels in the Far East, Espen Knudsen for challenging me to start this mission and Kristin Knudsen for putting up with it.

***Never sent liquid support to Dr. Whisky, why not do so today? I see you lurking on these pages(Diageo, Gordon & Macphail, etc.)... cough up some 'spiritual' support. It is a win-win, mate. Find my email in DEAR DOCTOR on sidebar***

And if I have forgotten you or if you feel you deserve a thank you, then THANK YOU. I raise two bottles to all of you... and proceed to pour them over my head.

Malt Mission 2008 #253

McClelland's Highland
Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£14
$31.85(CAD)
$20(USD)

Goodbye Castro, Goodbye Musharraf. The world is changing but the Doctor keeps on sipping... Winners of 2007 Drammies to be announced today.

Today we'll have another whisky in the regional series from McClellands. All expressions can (eventually) be seen HERE. This one is the representative of the Highland region, including islands of Orkney, Mull, Skye, Arran, Jura but NOT Islay, which is classed as a region unto itself both by McClellands labels and by the Scotch Whisky Association.

As these releases are called SINGLE MALT whiskies, they are not vatted or blended or mixed, they are each products of just one Lowland, Speyside, Highland, and Islay distillery. So what are the distilleries in McClelland's malts? As Morrison Bowmore (Suntory) owns distilleries in three of these regions, it is a safe guess that the Lowland is Auchentoshan, the Islay Bowmore, the Highland Glen Garioch, and the Speyside ... ? Will hazard a guess when I taste it tomorrow.

TASTING NOTES:

A gentle spice leads with some savory notes and opens up into creme brullée, fruit yogurt, and vanilla.

Soft initially, but firms up mid-palate with cardboard and dairy sweetness, some ginger, paprika, cucumber skin and parsley. Quite a long aftertaste with some more papery notes and tea biscuits, and halva.

SUMMARY:

Nice, easy to drink, with just a slight edge. Simple, even plain, but wholly enjoyable with good highland characteristics of spice and body.

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Malt Mission 2008 #252

McClelland's Lowland
Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40%
£15
$31.85(CAD)
$20(USD)

Tomorrow (Wednesday) Kevin Erskine of Inebrio and The Scotch Blog will announce the 2007 winners of his people's choice awards, The Drammies. Dr. Whisky was a nominee for best new product and I want to thank all of you folks out there who voted. So this week, in gratitude, we will have whiskies "of the people," no single casks, no £100 bottles, no limited editions. This week we will taste our way through the popular and affordable regional malt whiskies from McClellands.

McClellands single malts are produced by Morrison Bowmore distillers and are the first stop for many budgeted whisky travellers the world over. We have had the whiskies from Ian Macleod Distillers who also do a regional entry-point series (see HERE).

These are single malt whiskies for people who are new to the world of single malt whisky or who are not prepared to spend more than thirty bucks on a bottle of booze. They are gentle drams that are chosen to be representative of the diversity of each region of production AND they are not expensive enough to deter potential buyers from taking the plunge.

TASTING NOTES:

Gentle and juicy. Apple pie, bubblegum, soft spice of cloves and cinnamon.

Nothing on tip of tongue, all in the back. Strange, but very easy to drink as the impact is so gentle. Grassy, dandelions, tea, even some milk, and a lingering woodiness.

SUMMARY:

Very passive in its expression of flavours, if you know what I mean. A more blunt way to describe it would be "flat." Loved the juicy nose. Very friendly and a great way to enter the world of Scottish whisky... from the south.

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