It has been awhile since the crew of MaltGeeks have met and sampled some drams, life can do that to people, but not all is lost, we are planning a meeting in the following weeks and with luck we will open a bottle or two to sample and report on.
In my latest trip to Edinburgh I have purchased 3 new bottles and they are sitting in my cabinet waiting just for such a gathering:
All are new to us and would be interesting to sample.
For a long while it was suggested to me that I should try the Oban, but the opportunity never came, though several friends offered, it was never the “right time”.
Yesterday I went to a tasting in a liquor store hosted by a Diageo Ambassador and the Oban was part of the collection offered to sample (Along with Cardhu, Singelton and Talisker).
As this was the only one I did not know, I was curios about it and took some notes:
The Distillery
Oban distillery is owned by Diageo. It has only two pot stills, making it one of the smallest in Scotland, producing a whisky that has been described as having a “West Highland” flavour that falls between the dry, smoky style of the Scottish islands and the lighter, sweeter malts of the Highlands.
ColourLight golden yellow,clear with short legs.
Nose:The aroma contained traces of Pines, Pineapple Light smoke and sea breeze.
The scents them self come out slowly and are not overpowering, rather having to be coaxed out slowly.
Palate:The flavours that come out of the dram leave traces of Peppers, Vanilla, Apples and Citrus.
Slow release of a light after burn, and goes down smoothly, lingering burn at the mouth not too strong.
Water Adding the water turned the Nose to a strong one that was unpleasant and the coloring stayed the same, the Palate developed an aggressive lingering burn but no change on the After burn.
Conclusion: A nice simple dram that stands on it’s own and does not need water, good as a slow drink, and will be well paired with a fish meal. 3 out of 5
I have been trying to get a bottle of this Jameson ever since I sampled it (see entry [Whisky Live Tel Aviv 2015 ), and have been foiled by suppliers on several occasions.
Last week I have been to the UK and hoped to obtain it while there but the Duty free shops (carrying it past security is not an option) do not stock this expression, so I came back empty handed.
In one place I inquired the wanted almost 4 times the retail price, of course I did not buy it there, but then I went in to a store that I know has a nice stock, and which have a Tomintoul 21 (which has been discontinued) for £100 – that I intend on buying in my next visit – and there was the Black Barrel, the last one on the shelf and in a cost of £5 more then the retail price in the UK.
Now this bottle is in my whiskey collection and waiting a proper time to be savored, once we can gather as many of the MaltGeeks group, we will post other opinions about this Dram.
I will start by saying that living in the UK has made me spoiled rotten when it comes to whisky events, that being said the I will now give my review on the event and the whiskies I have sampled during Whisky Live Tel Aviv 2015.
To start of the entrance funnel was also the exit, which made coming in or going out very difficult as you had to push your way past the masses going the other way (which ever it might be in that particular moment in time).
Once you made it in there wasn’t any flow to the positions of the presentations and placement of booths, I suspect that this is due to the variety of importers and the amount each was willing to pay for their position.
The options for sampling, considering the heritage of the name “Whisky Live” was rather limited and catered to the more well-known expressions from the distillers and parent companies, with some exceptions to the rule. Some Brand ambassadors and members of the industry were present, but not in a ratio that gave the feel that the companies they represent don’t care much about the local market.
One of the main attraction in this event was meant to be the new local distillery, and you’d think they will put them front and centre so they can be easily accessed, but they were hidden in the corner off the main hall.
Given all that, the event gave you large serving bars in the main hall with 7 major Drams available and each had it’s industry representative (be is brand ambassador or in the event with Tomintoul – The Master Distiller), you had the chance to bottle your own bottle from a selection of small barrels (Rum, Vodka, Whisky, Bourbon) and you could participate in a blind tasting event.
Criticism over, now I will review the whiskies I sampled:
Nose: Traces of Sea weeds,citrus, peppers and cloves.
Colour:Deep honey, smooth swirl, no legs.
Platte:Smooth down, no after burn with a slow release of flavours, traces of Almonds, Caramel, Pines and Bannana.
Added Water
Nose: added traces of Peppers, the aroma is much more pungent almost obtrusive.
Colour:No discernible change.
Platte:Strong after burn, too over powered and a slow release.
Overall : Nice dram, but nothing out of the ordinary from Jura.
Tomatin 14 years 46% Portwood finish
Nose : very subtle almost nonexistent hints of smoke and mold.
Colour : Amber red.
Platte : For a 46% dram the flavors are very subtle, hints of dates, honey, and peppers. A slow after burn
Added Water
Nose: All gone.
Colour : No change.
Platte : Just a Burn, but no flavors.
Overall : Water ruin the drink, it is a good drink without it and the port finish really shows and feels in the drink.
Jameson Black Barrel 40% NAS (Blend of Pot still + Grain whiskey)
This is a new Jameson expression that I have not sampled before and was very curious to try. I had a nice conversation with the Brand Ambassador Aislinn O’Keeffe, which seemed to have been surprised to find an Irish Dram fan among all the Bourbon and Scot Malt enthusiasts.
Nose :Very soft aroma coming from the glass, very faint traces of smoke, some plums and touch of honey.
Colour : A like caramel honey, almost hazel.
Platte : Very delicate, smooth, almost like a velvet drink – on the border to becoming too smooth, no pungent after burn, traces of Banana and Chocolate.
I have not added water to this one – as the stand ran out of water at the time, but I very much enjoyed the Dram and the conversation while drinking it.
Overall -I liked this expression, and would like to have another run at with with some water, For any Irish whiskey fan it will be a treat.
When approaching the stand for this bottle, I was happy to find the Master Distiller standing near the booth and talking to visitors, we had a wonderful chat and I got an invite for a tour in the distillery(generally closed to the public) when I am next time in Scotland – hopefully not to long till that happens.
We talked about places we both know and appreciate in Speyside and he shared my excitement and wonder for the magic of the Fiddich Side Inn , then he suggested the 21 for sampling.
Nose :Gentle, full of Pines, Honey, raisins and freshly cut grass.
Colour : A strong tea, light golden hue.
Platte :Chocolate,Peppers,Honey and Vanilla, a wide range of flavors come out of this dram, and it goes down smooth with no strong burn, it has a slow release once down in a good way.
Then there is the added Water
Nose : The Pines come out to be more dominant, but other then that no big change.
Colour : no change.
Platte : Again very subtle changes, the Peppers are more extenuated, and a burn is felt.
Overall very nice dram, suitable for every day – if not for the price, it is meant to be discontinued due to stock shortage, 4/5 .
Dalmore King Alexander 40% NAS
Dalmore King Alexander 40% NAS
Dalmore are considered a “exclusive brand” and hence fairly expensive, which is why I have not had the opportunity to sample them in the past, hence I was happy to pay a little bit for the cost of tasting one of the range provided.
Nose : Soft drift of smells, Grapes,Honey,Caramel and Pines are felt.
Colour : Honey, but it feels like there is some caramel in the coloring too.
Platte : Strong burn in the first touch, then the flavors come out: Milk, Citrus,Banana and Peach, and then the after burn comes in with a fast release in the stomach.
Sadly no water was available for comparison.
Overall – Nice Dram , but not something I would keep in my stock.
During a recent flight to the UK I have had the chance to sample to Drams, one was a “Travel Retail” only and over priced in my opinion, the GlenFiddich 19 year old Rum finish
It has a nice nose, but it also has a very powerful burn that is usually present in younger or potent drams, beside the burn the after taste left more peppers then anything else, so I did not find it appeasing.
The other was a 10 year Glen Deveron, which left me unimpressed to say the least, it was smooth, almost to a fault and with not discernible after taste, a dash of water did bring out some mild after-burn but all in all it was a very dull dram.
Suffice to say I did not purchase any of the above ones, I did however procured two other expressions:
* Linkwood 12 Years
* Arran Malt Robert Burns Single Malt
The Arran will be opened in the up-coming tasting (as we missed Burns night) and then I can update the space with the actual tasting notes.
Watch this space.
There are not many whiskies that all of us in MaltGeeks agree on and love.
There are two that are the exception to that statement and sadly both are now no longer available, both have been covered on this site The Imperial Octave and the now discontinoued Mortlach 16 Year Old – Flora and Fauna.
We first encountered this bottle on a hiking trip following the Distillary rich A941 from Elgin to Dufftown.
We stopped for the night at a B&B in Craigellachie and the owner sent of to a lovely place called The Fiddichside Inn and told us to tell the owner he sent us and to ask for “his usuall”, We did and recieved 2 shots of the Mortlach 16. It was love at first sip, the next morning we bought 2 bottles, and carryed them with us for the rest of the hike (not a trivial task when you also carry your tent and other bottles).
After reading Oliver Kilmek’s Mortlach Blues article on what will happen with the beloved Mortlach, I sent a “Rallying call” to the MaltGeeks crew and we decided to horde as many bottles of this fine dram as we can.
Scouring many Whisky retailers in the UK started to become a fool’s erand as most of them were out of stock for this bottling, but at last I managed to talk to a retalier that said he has a number of bottles on the shelf, Well come tomorrow that shelf will be empty as we bought the lot.
I already have a nearly full bottle at home, but the thought that it will one day end adn will never be replaced depresses me.
A while back a member of the MaltGeeks received a bottle of St. Magdalne for his son’s birth with the caveat that he is not allowed to open it alone.
Just before X-mass we met and opened the bottle to finally sample this long dead distilery.
The Bottle’s details are as follows :
Douglas & laing Bottling, 28 Years old, Refill Butt, 50% acl, one of 439 bottles made.
Colour:Light Hay, Golden light yellow.
Nose: Strong spirit aroma bursting out of the glass in the initial whiff, once the vapours dissapte a bit the smell of pines, bananas,choclate, almonds and carobs. Very slow release and gentle.
Palate:Very Smooth, almost feels as if it was a triple distilled whisky, nice slow burn coming in the end of the dram. Traces of Dates, coal, Grapes, anc Citrus.
Sadly since we did this as a tasting – we had to add water- though we knew it will not bode well for such a fine dram.
With the water, we saw no change in the colour, although the nose sufferd badly with all of the afor mentioned aromas gone and the nose is just bland. The most profound change is in the palate: the dram becomes corase and stale fast viloent burn in the stomach but not “feel” in it.
Summery: water on this dram is a shame and a ruin for a wonderfull drink, as a stand alone it is fine dram and a pleasure to drink, same there are not many more of this fine distillary.
As we advertised we had our first open tasting on the 18th of March, It was not desigend as a big event or anything that might be too complex for a whisky novice.
The venue was a local club and comprised of 3 tables in the corner of a room where the participants sat and shared the evening.
The theme for the tasting was “south to north” which comprised of 4 bottles from a private collection:
* Penderyn SherryWood
* Jura 10 Year old
* The Macphail’s Collection GlenTurret
* Glenfiddich 14 year Rich Oak
We had 4 participants and 2 members of the MaltGeeks Crew in the evening, when at one point a member of the Club came to inquire to our satisfaction and ended with a dram on Jura in his hand(he did not protest too hard).
For some of the participants this was the first “tasting” event – they have drank whisky before but have not done the complete process of evaluating a dram by colour, aroma, palate and adding water.
We had some mixed reviews and favorites of the night, however the “winner” of the evening or I should say the favorite of most was the Penderyn.
All in all it was a good evening, and we might consider doing another withing a month.
World Whisky Day Is Just 2 month away , to be held on the 18th of May, We at MaltGeeks are very happy about this event and will enjoy it each in our own way.
As We will be unable to participate in a large event on the day we will be hosting a more modest event on the 18th of March in the Cotterells Club in Hemel Hempstead ,182 Cotterells, Hemel Hempstead HP1 1JW .
This will be a small event with a short selection for tasting and sampleing.
For more information contact assi@maltgeeks.com .
As we discussed in previous posts the Hicks & Healey Cornish Single Malt Whiskey is quite a good dram for such a young and new commer to the market of Whisky.
The inital batch was sold out very soon after it’s launch,but now a new batch is being released.
THE CORNISH WHISKEY STORY
Cornwall’s first whiskey in 300 years was born from a handshake between two local, forward-thinking, independent family businesses; St Austell Brewery (brewer of the South West’s favourite ales and the region’s leading pub company and wholesaler) and Healey’s Cyder Farm (the award-winning craft cyder farm and Cornwall’s only brandy distillery). The partnership brings expertise in brewing and distillation together for the first time in England, resulting in a quality whiskey made with passion and integrity. The idea was initially the inspiration of St Austell Brewery’s Head Brewer, Roger Ryman, who has nursed his passion for whiskey since cutting his teeth in the Scottish drinks business several decades ago. Made with Maris Otter barley grown in Trerulefoot, south-east Cornwall, and clear, soft spring water, the wash was mixed at St Austell Brewery’s traditional Victorian brew-house, before being transferred to Healey’s Farm and passed through a double distillation in a unique, traditional copper pot still (made by third generation coppersmiths, Forsyths, in Rothes, Scotland). At only 1200 litres, it’s the smallest legal still in the country and ensures longer interaction between the spirit and the copper. The best cut was then collected and filled into high quality American bourbon charred casks where it has gained character and colour as it has rested in the steady, Cornish climate for seven years. Notes of spice, honey and barley combine with delicate fruits and hints of cocoa and caramel before a late vanilla finish, to make this whiskey “faultless and almost beautiful beyond words†Jim Murray.