MaltGeeks

As part of the trip to the Isles , a stop in the Isle of Jura was a must and so was the acquisition of a bottle.
So now this small 35cl bottle is sitting on my desk ready for me to give it a try , as I have no idea what to expect , this is exciting :

Colour: Light Tea , or more like a tea with honey , but clear through.
Nose : light and easy on the nose ,faint traces of smoke easy enough to not disturb those that dislike smokiness in the whiskey ,apricots, vanilla and very faint trace of mint.
Palate : gentle on the tongue ,smooth and slow in producing the warm glow in the stomach without any burn or after burn as it goes down. When going down it is leaving traces of caramel ,pines and almonds in the mouth .

And now with a drop of water :
Colour : A small drop of water does not affect the colouring much , slightly lighter golden hue.
Nose : The drop of water brings out the aroma of Bananas,Figs, and some traces of sea front smell , on the nice side the traces of smoke is completely gone.
Palate: The smoothness of the dram , with the water added turns it to a powerful bland drink, the warm glow is still present but the mouth is empty of the sensations of the dram.

Conclusion : A very mellow dram that stands on it’s own with out any need for water ,most stores indicate this bottling as out of stock , which is sad since this dram can go well with almost any event . 4 out of 5 .

The name “Tobermory” is derived from the Gaelic “Tobar Mhoire”, which means “Well of Mary” and relates to the well and chapel of St Mary – there was a small Christian settlement in Tobermory from early times. The original name for the distillery, Ledaig (pronounce Led-chig) is also Gaelic and means “Safe Haven”.
Tobermory Distillery is one of the oldest operational Malt Scotch Whisky distilleries and celebrated its 200th Anniversary in 1998
Today Tobermory distillery produces two different styles of single malts. The first one is a lightly peated malt called Tobermory. The second is an extremely peaty malt called Ledaig.

Two members of MaltGeeks visited the distillery and came back with bottle:

The whiskey is bottled at 46.3% and as such might require water, the only way to know is to try:
Colour: Honey gold , smooth and clear with a fluid swirl .
Nose : Gentle on the nose not over powering but dissipates very quickly. Traces of Pines, Peat, Vanilla , faint Peppers.
Palate : Nice mellow burn , and a slow after burn in the gut , lingering traces of pines and caramel , the tastes evaporate from the mouth very quick .

Now with a drop of water :
Colour : A drop of water lightens the colour , making it a shade of pale honey.
Nose : The aroma is getting a mixed treatment, with the more prominent scents feeling repressed with traces of vanilla and cinnamon coming out .
Palate :The burn is still there but takes more time to come out, but once it is out it is slow and building nicely , going down smooth and providing a good burn in the stomach. Traces of Caramel , Pine , Vanilla and Peppers.

Conclusion : very mellow dram with a nice kick and burn, going down smooth but can go to the head fast.
For a price of £75 it is bit over priced (but it is a limited edition) , a good drink for the end of the night 3.6 out of 5 .

During the weekend I had some errands to run in London , things I have been putting off for a while.
So while I was doing my “rounds” I walked in the the Royal Mile Whisky shop for a chat and catching up .

I spotted some bottles I’d probably will add to my collection after pay-day , and once I finished the shelves round I started talking to the guy at the counter , We mentioned some new drams coming out and tasting of old things , and in all of that I told him about the disappointment from the DeerStalker that I bought from the Edinburgh branch.
He said he was sorry to hear that a bottle I got that their shop and offered me a sample to balance it out , I was surprised and jested that I can see several things I’d Love to sample , but he would not open them for that , then I asked what he has open that he thinks would be nice , so he gave me a Bruichladdich 10 year old 43% .
It is a very nice dram , with a very intense and nice burn good nose and a lovely after taste.

This is not a full tasting notes as I did not write the sensations of this dram , but I found it a very pleasant dram .

I’ve also talked about bringing a sample of the Healey and the Imperial I have at home for the staff to taste , now I need to find the time .

As 3 out of the 4 MaltGeeks gathered in the same place (while I was stocking on new items ) we concluded that it was a good time to do another tasting night, We arranged for some snacks to be beside the drink and set forth on an evening of palate exploration.

I must say that since my last visit to Scotland I brought with me 2 bottles of water to serve in tastings, but those have been consumed by the moronic movers that saw them in the drinks cabinet next to Whiskey and decided that they were there for them to use, so we were left with normal English Tap water.

The First Dram of the night was Knappogue Castle 12 year old irish Whiskey :

[I am a fan of the Irish dram and was hoping for a nice smooth drink ]
Color : Very clear Light hay gold .
Nose : A slow and very faint aroma comes out from this dram with hints of citrus and apricot , the scent is very gentle and easy on the nose.
Palate : Delivering a strong powerful burn in the mouth , the Whiskey is releasing a strong taste of peppers , almonds and some fruits in the mouth , but all the excitement ends in the mouth as there is no after burn in the gut.

Adding a dash of water gave this dram some distinct changes :
Color : Becomes clear , nearly vodka like.
Nose : The big change is in the nose as it gives out other scents : Fudge ,cream and almonds come out while the pepper is not present anymore.
Palate : Disappointing , the dram becomes bland with no burn and no after burn , I’ve had Orange Juice with more zest then this Whiskey on water .

Conclusion : Not very exciting , but not at all a bad dram to start with 3 out of five .
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The second item was the mystery DeerStalker 10 year old :

This Dram I acquired on a whim , but knew nothing about it , the guys at the shop could give me no information about it , so we knew nothing on what to expect , except that it is an highland dram.

Color : Slightly yellow hue .
Nose : very easy on the nose, slow expansion, traces of Hay, raisin and grass.
Palate : Bland , flavorless , after a long try some trace of bananas come out but even then very faint , no burn .

Adding water killed all the color from this dram and also washed away the faint traces of the Banana , so not much to say about it .
Conclusion : this is the kind of whiskey you use for cooking , or for a Rusty Nail cocktail – cause anything will improve the drink . 1.5 out of five (£24.95 Price is too much for this one ).
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Third item on the list was the dram I have been chasing for quite a while : GlenCadam 10 year old Distillery bottle 46% :
I have tasted the Glen Cadam twice now and both were the connoisseur edition bottling , which I liked , but I wanted a Distillery bottle and finally I got it :

Color : Deep Light Gold , almost honey like.
Nose: Full nose and deep bodied full of aromas of fudge, Vanilla, banana’s and cardamon.
Palate: The liquid give a strong nice burn in the mouth with a slow long after burn leaving the mouth with traces of pepper and caramel which usually do not go together but in this dram they are balanced and easy on the palate.

Adding a dash of water :
Color : Loses the nice color to even a drop of water and becomes nearly clear.
Nose: The water suppresses the aroma and the smells are slow in coming out , but when they do come you get Caramel,Annis, Pepper and Coriander seeds .
Palate : The water is giving the Pepper a push to become too dominant that it is overshadowing any other flavor ,but you can still feel a trace of the Caramel in it .

Conclusion : this dram need no water as it stands out very well alone and untouched , a good dram for a light evening .3.75 out of 5 (£29.49 is a very good price for this good dram).

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The Last drink of the night was the limited edition Hicks & Healey Cornish Single Malt 7 Year-old Whiskeythat I bought and mentioned Here .

As this is a very rare expression we were very excited about this one …
Color : Golden brown
Nose : The Cider finish is apparent here as the first thing you smell is apples , after that other smells come out to fill your nose with scents of Christmas cake.
Palate: I think I once had tasting buds this thing burned it right off with some trace of honey and a burn of Habanero pepper. A hammer to the head and kick to the groin will describe this drink best.

… and then we read the rest of the label on the bottle : 61.3% proof so lets take it back , add some water and try again :

Color : No discernible change , still deep golden brown.
Nose : Apples , Pines and Honey come drifting out, almost the smells of the cyder farm.
Palate : Now this is more like it , this is a whiskey to enjoy with a good drop of water (3 corks full for me) and now you get a mellow balanced dram with traces of Apples , Cloves, Vanilla, peppers( very mild this time) and earth .

Conclusion : This is a wonderful dram that is worth the investment as a limited edition , if you can still get it do so (£150 ) a pleasure to drink and savor but remember it MUST have water. 4 out of 5 .

29/11/2011 – it was brought to our attention that this item is no longer available

We’ve arrived at Glasgow airport yesterday evening, woke up real early today and got on the ferry to the Isle of Arran, a beautiful island with a single distillery, the Isle of Arran Distillery, which was opened 16 years ago. The opening of the distillery marked the end of a period of 158 years in which there was no (legal) whisky distilling done on Arran.

Tasting notes soon to come.

After meeting the lovely people of Arran Distillery (Thank you – Chris, Sue and Campbel!), we went on a wee boat that took us from Lochranza to Tarbert on the Kintyre Peninsula, from which we drove down to Campbeltown. More on that tomorrow, after our visit to Springbank and GlenGyle.

J & U

Two weeks ago I found myself in Edinburgh , and like any Malt fan , no visit to the Scot Capital will be complete without a visit to a Whisky shop , my personal Guilty shop is the “Royal Mile Whisky” shop … and those that have been in it needs not explaining why , True it is not the most extravagant shop or the most extensive one can find , but it does have it’s gems and magic if you take the time to explore.

I had some time and budget limitation ( as always) and so I limited myself in the selection and purchasing.
The final Tally of the purchase was varied — at least I hope so …

Out of those 3 the GlenFiddich is the only one that I know what to expect as I’ve posted about it before , the GlenCadam was a bottle I wanted for a while , but always got the Connoisseur’s bottling ( 21 and 23 years) , so I got a distillery one this time. And the “Deerstalker”, well that one was a curiosity so I bought it on a whim.

Watch this space for reports on when I open them.

A while back I visited the Healey’s Cornish Cyder Farm and had a wonderful time , they produce some wonderful Cyder and we took some home to try ( very short try indeed as one of the bottles was opened and consumed the same night ). During the visit I learned that they are in the process of making their own brand of whiskey Hicks & Healey Cornish Single Malt Whiskey , so I made arrangements to purchase one .

Yesterday the package arrived and it is so exquisite I am thinking of buying another one so I may be able to open and taste it .

I’ve tasted this dram a few nights ago, boy was I surprised!

This is a bottling of 3 and 4 years old whisky (One must remember the distillery has only been open since 2005).

Color: Very light yellow, not surprising given the little time it had to mature in the casks.

Nose: As expected of an Islay scotch, you can smell the peat, although not as strongly as other drams. There is a sweetness to the smell – maybe honey, or some sweet fruit. The raw side of the spirit is still very much apparent, but not in a bad way.

Palate: This is where it gets interesting. I was expecting to be hit with a very sharp and biting scotch, but was instead greeted by an oily mellowness, very sweet indeed (more caramel than honey), and a slight medicinal taste. After the initial surprise has diminished, a fruity flavor appeared, as well as the familiar peat, although again, much more timid than other Islay expressions. The finish is long and fruity, with traces of peat.

Overall, a great experience from a very young bottling.

Score: 3.7/5.0

Note: It’s about time I started using this blog – with that 1975 St Magdalene bottling almost gone (a bottle following the rule of never drink without the two owners present, which was broken only once, and for a good reason).

So, I’ve been fantasizing about another Scotch Trip for some time, and now it actually seems as if it might happen, and big time.

The idea is to visit all of the distilleries on the Scottish West Coast. This of course includes all of the hebridean distilleries (Peat anyone?), as well as Ben Nevis and Oban – All in all, 16 distilleries.

Details are still vague, but I’m already excited.

More to come soon.

A 14 year old distillery bottling from Craigellachie. This is the an edition that was discontinued in 2007, quite hard to find now , and I had a good fortune to get this bottle .

I went in to The Royal mile whisky shop in Edinburgh shopping for some bottles, a well recommended shop BTW , and went over to look for this bottle.
As you can see the box is a dark brown color , same as the shelves in the shop , and I am standing there going over the bottles (stacked alphabetically) A …. B…. D ! , this is wrong again , A… B… D! , after the 3rd time I asked a member of the staff to help me and he just came and plucked the bottle from my blind spot – right in front of me , the box and shelf made my eyes just glance over it and miss it completely. Good thing I asked for help.

So after a long wait (almost 6 years), I will finally sample the flavors of the Craigellachie dram:

color - golden , light honey color with a very smooth swirl, the thin long legs take a while to form but leave lovely traces.
nose – The aroma is very delicate and fills the nose slowly and gently, the dominant traces are of honey and fruits with some slight trace of peppers.
palate -this dram is very smooth in the mouth and goes down very pleasantly and creates a long slow burn in the gut, without a powerful after burn , the lingering traces are of spices and vanilla.

In this dram we did not do our usual sampling – we did not add water , so this posting is incomplete in that aspect .
This dram will go well at the start of a meat meal or with cheese platter.
Conclusion extremely drinkable , and a good value for money at £30 , 3.75 out of 5 .