Balblair 1990 (15 year old) 62.1% ?39.95
Clean, very pronounced aromas of sherry fruit, rich marmalade, slightly creamy with notes of earth, vanilla and fresh pine. Superb depth. Dry, med bodied with oodles of fresh, drying sherry fruit, spices. Sensational, intense alcohol, lovely creamy, sweet and luscious mid palate with a fruitcake finish. A drop of water really brings the nose to life, evocative and aromatic, the rich fruit exudes from the glass. On the palate it brings out the oiliness making it super smooth and glorious.
Glen Moray 1990 (14 year old) 62.1% ?39.95
Quite a lively, soft, earthy, summery apricot fruit scented bouquet. Lots of earthiness, a touch waxy and subtle Bourbon oak (much less than on the previous bottling). Luxuriously smooth and complex on the palate, full of rich apricot fruit, earth, cereal, fudge and restrained Bourbon oak. Adding a touch of water reveals hidden dimensions to this glorious malt, emphasising its apricot and yellow fruit and brining out the most glorious perfume hints on the nose. I loved the earlier bottling of this malt, but this is even better.
Macallan 1992 (13 year old) 57.1% ?38.95
Bourbon Hogshead.
Clean and very, very fruity, buckets of ripe, juicy oranges with earthy notes, very deep and uncluttered. Water makes the nose delightful, perfumed and slightly creamy. Dry, light-med bodied, rich, slightly sweet with juicy spiced orange fruit, tangy alcohol and a very long length with spice and earth notes in the finish, water makes it silky smooth and creamy.
Bowmore 1999 (6 year old) ?34.95
Clean, pronounced, very youthful with an abundance of cereal, ripe fruit with a delicate smokiness and a hint of salt, peat, perfumed violets. Quite leafy and foresty. Dry, very smoky yet softly so, a touch of obvious immaturity, but it is wonderfully complex, the coal smoke builds and builds until it fills the mouth, then fades leaving a suggestion of floral herbs, forest floors and sweet fruits. A drop of water tends to emphasis its immaturity but also brings out its perfume ? Certainly not one-dimensional.
RARE MOTHBALLED/ CLOSED DISTILLERIES
Glengarioch 1984 (21 year old) 53% ?54.95
(*)
A clean surprisingly youthful nose, I?d swear it was only in its teens! A superb depth of earthy vanilla, orange, white chocolate with a delicate floral edge. Dry, light-med bodied, slow to build with an initial floralness giving way to delicate spice and tangerine, tangy alcohol and a very long length. A drop of water emphasises the white chocolate and vanilla aromas, while on the palate it softens and brings out the lush creaminess and orange citrus fruit, as well as increasing the spicy length.
SPEYSIDE
Linkwood Raw Cask 1989 (16 year old) 59.3% ?46.95
Cask No 1832
Clean, bracing, youthful aromas of custard creams, salt. Smoke, citrus fruit, toffee, bourbon oak and earthy notes. Bracingly dry on the palate with a wonderful oily texture, med bodied with tangy toffee fruits and vanilla custard. Water brings out a floral orange fruit note and emphasises the toffee and spices, helping the flavour to gloriously mingle ? A lovely crisp, tangy speysider.
Strathisla Raw Sherry Cask Distilled 1989 61.3% ?47.95
Cask 9413
An absolutely stunning bouquet, rich, layered and bursting with extremely rich, sherried fruitcake, a profusion of almond, milk chocolate and oranges when a drop of water is added. A big wow as this whisky passes the lips. Rich and decadently sherried, yet well balanced Dry, soft and silky, full bodied with gentle peat, rum like dried fruits, molasses and moist fruit cake. Water brings out the rich, dark, spicy flavours. Very long and very classy.
HIGHLAND
Aberlour Raw Cask 1990 (12 year old) 60% ?45.95
Cask No 3319
Quite floral and youthful on the nose with a perfumed malty character and an apple blossom note. Light-Medium bodied, quite soft and a bit winey. Very different from the distillery bottling, full of malty/ cereal flavours, lovely soft and sweet middle with a long rounded finish. It takes a drop of water to tease out its complex aromas and flavours ? a floral, winey vanilla note on the nose and sumptuous oily fruit, rich dark chocolate, peat and salt on the palate.
Craggenmore Raw Cask 1989 (15 year old) 57.9% ?48.95
Cask No 1970
A clean, extremely saline nose, it hits the senses as straight as an arrow with fresh citrus, vanilla oak along with a touch of earth, herbs and slight toffee. Very dry and intense on the palate, lovely soft, oily exotic fruit, malt and coal smoke, water makes the fruit even juicier and really brings out its saline character. Very long finish with coffee notes.
ISLAY
Caol Ila Raw Cask 1990 (15 year old) 57.3% ?50.95
Finished in ex-Glen Grant Sherry Cask. Cask No 4162
Superb nose. Clean and very soot, bracingly coastal fresh, oozing sherry richness with peat and a superb depth of earthy fruit. Water brings out the spicy orange fruit along with a chocolaty richness and heather aromas. Dry, soft and silky (even without water), full bodied, the sooty-peat flavours hit the palate first followed by floods of fruit and coastal bonfires, bacon and roasted meats, water softens it even more, really bringing out its fruitiness and coastal notes, pushing the smoke and peat into the background. Superb length and complex, a thoroughly engaging dram.
Smoking
This is a mystery single cask bottling. Technically it is a vatted malt from an
earthy-peat bouquet with smoke, candied orange, clean oak, barley sugar & a slight floral violet note. On the palate there is a depth of smoky bourbon oak, cerealy fruit, reminiscent of 'off the still' Bruichladdich and a return of the smoke and peat on the middle. A drop of water smoothes out the spirit and brings forth sweet citrus fruit, apricot, barley, malt and spices. Lovely length and tangy finish.
Blackadder Peat Reak 46% ?26.95
Heavily Peated Coal Ila.
Very clean and floral with youthful violets, peas and juniper aromas, with lots of peat, smoke, coal and ground coffee. Dry and youthful on the palate with peat, peat and more peat, plus a bit of smoke for good measure. Intense and tangy, it does exactly what it says on the tin!
MULL
Ledaig Raw Cask 1992 (13 year old) 46.1% ?42.95
Cask 123
How did it get down to this abv in 13 years? A beguiling, quite oily nose with lots of wood aromas ? coconut, banana followed by oily spiced fruit, a mere whiff of sweet peat and vanilla oaked citrus fruits. Med-dry on the palate again quite oily, med bodied with the wood flavours initially dominating ? toffee, spices, coconut, then comes the citrus fruit and it begins to remind me of the linseed oil flavours of Guyana Rum. Lovely length with a delicate peatiness, tangy alcohol and a long length with dried fruit and coffee notes
ARRAN
Lochranza Arran Raw Cask 1996 (8 year old) 55.8% ?39.95
Cask No 34
Light, clean and youthfully playful on the nose. Floral with violets, malt, orange, coastal and earthy aromas. Dry, light bodied initially a fleeting sweetness gives way to crisp malt, citrus lime, butter-cream and nutty flavours. Very smooth alcohol with a slight twang of sea air. Water really brings out its perfumed, nutty, floralness and emphasises its butter/ cream/ toffee/ salty character
JURA
Jura Raw Cask 1990 (15 year old) ?50.95
Finished in ex-Longmorn Sherry Cask. Cask No 1640
Quite a shy, backward nose, there is an impression of a weight of big, juicy, sherried citrus fruits and smoke waiting to scream ?You?ve been Jura?d? ? A drop of water unleashes the aromas, bringing about a dramatic transformation, and boy are they expressive and voluptuous. Soft, med-sweet on the palate, juicy, spiced sherry, earth, smoke and a gentle peat build to a tangy crescendo, leaving mouth watering spicy fruit and smoke lingering. Water softens and pacifies this wild beastie, mellowing its spicy fruit and bringing out its smoky side.
DEWAR RATTAY
DEWAR RATTAY
Dewar Rattray was founded in 1868 by Andrew Dewar and William Rattray in Glasgow. The company originally imported French wines, Italian spirits and olive oils as well as holding stocks of both malt and grain whiskies which were the basis of its two Scotch Liqueur whiskies, Hero and Glenburn. It also acted as West of Scotland Sales Agent for a number of Highland Malt Distilleries one of which was Stronachie.
In the early 1950s the company moved away from bottling wines and spirits and its primary purpose today is to blend and store bulk Scotch Whisky, primarily malts which range from the 1989 distillation. Today Dewar Rattray is in the capable hand of Tim Morrison, who after the sale of Bowmore to the Japanese a couple of years ago decided to resurrect the Stronachie blend.
Morrison enquired about the Stronachie trademark and found that it had fallen into abeyance, so he bought the rights to the name. By coincidence an original bottle of Stronachie 12-year-old 1904 appeared in the salesroom of McTear?s in Glasgow in 2001. The story became more complicated than a normal bidding ceremony, as the bottle had been dropped and damaged by the auctioneers, who had to purchase it from the owners. So Morrison was able to offer McTears "a sizeable four-figure sum" (at the upper end of this price scale) to take it off their hands. As far as he is aware, this bottle is one of only three in existence (the other two are in Japan and Germany).
Small samples were drawn from the 1904 bottle, tasted and given a detailed flavour profile. He then had to find a good replica that bore some resemblance to the spirit he had tasted. He analysed hundreds of casks and conveniently found a 12-year-old single malt from another Highland distillery in his filling stocks which was similar to the original Stronachie.
Aside from this he has selected a number of single casks which he believed were of a significant quality to bottle under the Dewar Rattay label. As you will see from the tasting notes below some are exceptionally good and I have decided to shoe horn them into the range. The only couple I have not chosen to list is their 15 year old Mortlach, which was pleasant, but possibly a touch on the simple side, and their 16 year old Macallan. This wasn't omitted due to quality, it was quite interesting but having several Macallan's in the list I couldn't see any room for it. So on to the ones that made it.
Benrinnes 14 year old 59.3% ?39.95
Clean, quite a floral lowlandesque nose with citrus fruits, and grass, slightly spirity with nuts, creamy vanilla and a winey note. Dry on the palate opening with crisp, clean malt, grass and citrus fruits. The oak arrives on the middle and finishes with a lovely nutty finale. A touch of water brings out an aromatic creamy lemon note along with hints of spice and salt. On the palate it sweetens it, giving depth to its delicate flavours. A lovely aperitif malt.
Benraich 15 year old 59.9% ?38.95
Clean, fresh and youthful aromas of perfumed, spicy orange fruit and dusky spices arise from the glass. This whisky is quite light but has a superb depth with earthy nuances. It has a deft balance of dry-sweet aromas and liquefied orange fruit. Med-dry on the palate with a rich entry of cereal and malt. Deep and viscous, loaded with naturally sweet citrus fruits, honey and spices, which build nicely. Soft yet tangy alcohol and an intensely spicy middle. Superb length with a drying finish. Water bring out a touch of oak on the nose but doesn't really add much to the already complex palate, thus ideally it should be drunk neat.
Strathmill 15 year old 63.5% ?39.95
Wow, a lovely nose, slightly youthful but showing signs of mellowing. Awesome amounts of juicy, sweet liqueur like orange fruits, quite oily with a slight floral/ grassy note. Considerably more delicate than the Duncan Taylor bottling, but just as good. Med-dry on the palate with lots of spices - cloves, cinnamon, then comes waves of intense, drying orange fruit, cereals and more mouth watering spices, finishing with a touch of vanilla and a dry wineyness. Water emphasises its winey character and brings out an earthy note. On the palate it softens it, but retains its refreshing oily freshness.
Invergordon Single Grain 40 year old 52.1% ?84.95
Wow, wow and again wow! It has been awhile since I was truly blown away by a whisky, but this one does. Oily, lusciously fruity almost Bourbon whisky like. Is this really 40? The aromas are so extraordinary and complex they are quite difficult to pin down, but here goes (deep breath!) - sweet corn, very creamy apricot, new oak-ish aromas, it reminds me of a heavily oaked desert wine, hugely spicy with natural caramel and coconut. This was an incredibly cask. On the palate it is med-dry, crisp, mature, again quite Bourbon like with cereal, corn, lovely soft, mature dried fruit, a touch rum like on the middle, tangy yet soft alcohol, lashings of oily orange, apricot, late harvested oaked fruit. A simply superb length, luscious, sweet and lasting. I think I can still taste those spices.
BRUICHLADDICH LINKS SERIES
The latest release in the Links Series is the 'St Andrews Swilcan Bridge', and once again has a lable bearing the art of Greame W Baxter, the world's leading golf artist. Not being a golfing person the lable dipicts the Swilcan Bridge looking up towards the 18th Hole. The whisky is bottled in 500ml bottles and is a mix of lightly and medium peated malt of varying ages which has been matured exclusively in bourbon casks. This bottling is limited to 6000 bottles, but unlike the earlier ones, it will not be numbered. It will retail for ?20.95, and at the time of writing I have not tasted it but I would imagine that it will be of their usual high standard.
MURRAY McDAVID MISSON V
Now, as I said earlier I am going to have to convince you to buy these. I know what you are thinking, that these luxury bottlings arrive with an alarming regularity, but if you are a fan of harmonious whiskies that are challenging and all have distinct fazes in the evolution on the tongue. Without exception they all have a discernable start, middle and finish, all set against the cleanest, most enticing oak that I have ever tasted, then you must taste them. Another good reason is the price. When the Misson Series was first released they were coming in at around ?100 per bottle, but know you can pick up the splendid 31 year old Glenlivet for the relative bargain price of ?73.95.
Jim has once again been playing with the wood finishes and I always approach these types of whiskies with caution, because, for me personally sometimes the wood finish tends to completely mask the distillery character. A case in point is the Springbank Port finish, which some people, Jim Murray included seem to love, but it just left me cold, the finish had completely swamped the whisky. When it is subtly done, as in the second edition Bruichladdich 20 year old it can add another dimension to the an already complex malt. So where am I going with all of this, well I have never tasted a port wood finished Macallan or a Grenache finished Auchtentoshan, and I have to say that the Macallan really does it for me, yet I struggled with the Auchtentoshan, I am not sure whether I really like it or not and I'm ashamed to say that I also struggled with the 3rd edition Bruichladdich 20 year old too.
Ok that's it for now. If you have any comments, or would like to purchase any of these bottling, please drop me a line to the usual address.
Sincerely
Chris Goodrum