Whisky Cyclist - Blog

SMWS January 2018 Outturn

29/12/2017

For the benefit of those not following me on Facebook:

For me the best dram was G10.13, an excellent old Grain from Strathclyde, the nose didn't immediately set off the graindar, but as soon as it was on the palette the vanilla notes came through.

7.193 was another good dram, fudge, coconut ice and a hint of strawberry; the 7.195 was similar, but not so smooth and slightly sweeter.

78.41 is certainly a sherry monster - for me, slightly sulphurous and mouth drying.I wouldn't really want another dram.
37.100 disappointing at first, give it time, still not outstanding, but...

71.52 the most interesting dram of the Outturn. Loads of liquorice and aniseed on both nose and palette, but there's something else - juniper. Yes juniper, this is a gin drinker's whisky - more so than the 35.178. I had to get a bottle, not because it was my favourite, it was just so ... interesting.

Of the peaty drams on offer, I thought the 42.42 was chemically peaty, I didn't enjoy it at all - though many others really liked it. 29.237 a soft froggy; 18 years has taken the medicinal TCP notes away - an excellent peated dram, but probably not for peat freaks. For me the best of the peat once again goes to Coal Ila for the 53.247, a really good young peaty dram, but...having tasted the extra sherry finish for the 53.243 on the bar at The Vaults, you have to think that this could also have been enhanced.

Busting Drams in Dumfries - 36yo Tomatin; ThrOctomore; and a Masterful Masterclass

18/11/2017

The Drambusters Whisky Festival returned to Dumfries for a 7th year, 44 stalls, 700+ punters and shed-loads of whisky. The venue for this event is Easterbrook Hall at The Crichton - formerly the Crichton Royal Hospital founded in 1838 as a psychiatric hospital. Easterbrook Hall was the last element of the Hospital - completed in 1938. The site is now largely a campus for a number of universities. South of the campus is the 252 hectare Crichton Royal Farm, originally used to supply the Hospital and provide work for the patients, it is now part of Scotland's Rural College.

One of the great things about a festival in a smallish town like Dumfries, is that a substantial proportion of people in the town are at the festival, so you keep bumping into them long after the last pour. Go into pub or restaurant after the festival and there'll be someone there with a Drambusters bag or wristband.

Having had a grand tasting the night before, which included a sneak preview of the Festival programme, an early start was clearly in order. (Actually, I started with a dram of WoodWinters 27yo Longmorn on my porridge).

Links to individual whiskies are to TB Watson, where available on their site.

We may have overdone the early arrival at Easterbrook a bit - 50 minutes before the start, no one else joined the queue for about 15 minutes, but this did ensure we were first in what transpired to be a lengthy queue at the Tomatin stand for their 36yo - and it did not disappoint. I think I can say that this is the first time I've been to a whisky festival and the first dram has not been surpassed! There were some close calls though...

ThrOctomore - 3 Octomores

I normally wait a while before heading for the peated whiskies, but with three Octomores (ThrOctomore??) available, and that stand already being mobbed, it seemed like the place to go next. First up was Scottish Barley 6.1 at a mere 167ppm, but as with all Octomores, however high the initial ppm, the final dram seems to emerge well balanced and easily drinkable to all but the most peat averse. For me this was the best, but the phenomenally phenolic Islay Barley 8.3, 5yo, 59.5% and the highest ppm ever seen. I think it's best to let the official description from the Bruichladdich website tell the story: "The autumn of 2010 was wet and windy. A late harvest saw Octomore farmer James Brown facing heavy losses from greylag geese and herds of wild red deer, resulting in a precious little yield. Malting the this Octomore grain produced results that were unprecedented, the readings came back at 309.1ppm." Nearly half of what they ended up with was matured in red wine casks, and after the initial smoke smack the red wine and red fruits shone through the peat haze. OK, I've gone over the top a bit here, as I said above, it is a balanced dram, the peat is more prominent than the others, but far from palette destroying. That having been said, I did have a few more (less) peated whiskies to bring me back to earth. The first of which was the Octomore 8.1, 8yo, 59.3%, 167ppm, matured entirely in first fill bourbon casks - and I think that's why I probably didn't like it as much as the 8.3, with the added dimension of wine casks.

I had not heard of the Islay Boys Flatnose (named for Ketill Flatnose, 9th century Norse King of the Isles) and Barelegs (named for Magnus Barefoot aka Barelegs, 11th century King of Norway and Dublin - and various islands in between), but their selection of Blended Scotch, Blended Malt, and Single Malt (the Barelegs - Lagavulin), whilst never in contention for dram of the day, was certainly worth exploration, and at a competitive price.

Masterclass line-up

There was little time for more dramming before the Masterclass with Iain Fortreath from Angus Dundee. When a £20 masterclass starts off with one of my favourite OB drams 21yo Tomintoul, normally £100 a bottle, you know you've hit the jackpot. 6 drams - three each from Tomintoul and Glencadam - 21yo, 25yo from both, then Tomintoul Five Decades, NAS because the youngest whisky is 10yo, but married for 18 months with the older whiskies. The result a superb dram - I can't wait for the Six Decades bottling! But the 35yo Glencadam was the overall star for me - if only because it was a complete contrast from the rest - the only dram to have been matured in Sherry - an American oak ex-Olorosso hogshead - and a deep, dark brown.

Unlike the previous week, I concentrated on malts - there weren't as many grains about, but even so, I clearly missed some of the gems on offer. I'm hearing lots of good things about the 1997 Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask Tamdhu, which was sadly upside down and empty by the time I arrived at the stall (also sadly, though less so, I failed to get a picture of it). They also had an interesting 6yo not quite Balvenie - teaspooned with Glenfiddich, so it can't be described as a single malt - called "Two Speysiders by a stream". Their distillery Aberargie is now up and running.

My other goal of the day was to speak to as many of the new distilleries as possible. Darren McCormick, formerly at Annandale, who is joining former Annandale colleague Malcolm Rennie at the Lochlea distillery on a farm once owned by Robert Burns, says they hope to have the equipment installed by January. Crafty Distillery from Newton Stewart, currently only make gin, but are hoping to lay down some malted spirit next year - and I was persuaded to sample their Hills and Harbour gin - for which they distil the base wheat spirit before distilling it with botanicals, unlike many of the other new gin distilleries. For a gin, and I'm not a gin drinker, I quite liked it - it was not juniper heavy, and they make a point of using locally sourced ingredients. Despite having organised a separate gin and rum festival during the year, there were quite a few stalls with gin and rum on show, but other than as described above, I didn't sample any.

Hunter Laing were present with a sample of their range, the 21yo Tobermory caught my eye, but nothing further to say about the Ardnahoe Distillery than has been reported on their website. Arran confirmed that warehousing has been built on their new site at Lagg in the south of the island, and that some Isle of Arran casks were likely to be stored there soon. The Madeira cask finish will soon be phased out of their range - it was only a stop gap due to a shortage of Amarone casks. No further news to be had at the show on Rosebank, further than that Iain MacLeod have secured an £80m funding package to proceed with their plans.

Finally to the local new distillery - Annandale. David Thomson, Co-Owner & Managing Director, of Annandale was at the show, and I got the opportunity to talk to him about his plans for the whisky. Although the first casks turned 3 years old the previous week, the initial releases will be limited to numbered bottles from a couple of casks, more general release can be expected in the Spring. You can still get the first cask for £1m if you want to - yes it's a crazy price, but I got the impression that that's because David really wants to keep it for himself - but he has a price... For the time being they are still selling the Rascally Liquor new make spirit. At the show they had what might be described as nearly whisky, cask samples of spirit of over 2.5 years old - peated and unpeated, sherry and bourbon matured - these are very good indeed - and you won't need £1m to buy them.

A return visit to Tomatin to get a picture of the great 36yo bottle, didn't turn out so well photographically, but gave me the chance to sample some of their other whiskies - Earth a peated variant, though not so peat-freak pleasing as the Cù Bòcan, and their Cask Strength.

I should also mention the Indie Brands stall (they had two stalls one showcasing Arran, the other a number of different whiskies as well as other spirits). At this other stall, I sampled the blended Japanese whisky Yamazakura; The Corriemhor Cigar Malt - an undisclosed single malt, which the rear label says was originally put together by Richard Paterson; Muckle Flugga over wintered in the Shetlands (TB Watson describe it as a blended malt, but the label says it's a single); and Peat's Beast.

All too soon it's 16:30 and all over for another year, join the throngs heading back to Dumfries - busses are laid on, but most people seem to be walking - it's a nice evening. Time to sober up, and the Pearl Palace seems just the place - their Special Sizzling Garlic Crispy Chicken (my emphasis) is just the thing.

So the end of a healthy day - porridge is good for you; as is cycling; whisky is the water of life; and garlic is good for the blood. Well, I feel better!

These pictures and others from the Drambusters Festival are on Facebook and Flickr

Preparing for a whisky festval

Queuing for 36yo Tomatin

The contents were much better than the photography!

Brian Gibson, Drambuster in Chief, introduces Iain Fortreath at the Masterclass

A cascade of the Decades

Tom and Dawn, more cyclists who love whisky

After the show - sunset over the Crichton

Sobering Up after a whisky festival Pearl Palace, Dumfries

Return of the Whisky Cyclist Blog - Glasgow’s Whisky Festival, Hampden Park 2017 - Grains Galore

12/11/2017

Queen’s Park FC aren’t the force they used to be (the only Scottish club to reach the English FA Cup Final, they dominated the early years of Scottish football and Hampden Park was built in 1903 because their previous home could only hold 50,000 – it was the biggest stadium in the world until 1950). Now they are propping up League One – and attracted an attendance of 764, as they lost to Arbroath. To be fair to them it was the biggest League One gate of the day.
Glasgow’s Whisky Festival, on the other hand, has grown so successful, that two sessions were held this year at the stadium that now only comes into its own for International matches and cup finals. The stadium once had 150,000 in attendance for a Scotland – England game in 1937, though now rebuilt as an all seater stadium with a capacity a little over 50,000, there’s plenty of room to host a whisky festival and a League One football match at the same time.

Some excellent whiskies on show, but too many to get through in just 4 hours - so I concentrated mainly on the independent bottlers and the new distilleries.
The SMWS had its usual array of awesome whiskies, the pick for me being 10.127 a peated Bunnahabhain, marked Exclusive to Sweden – presumably Hampden Park was classified as Swedish territory for the day.
I was aware that Morrison & Mackay were planning a distillery, but somehow they weren’t on my list – they have now been added – at the top of the list as the distillery is called Aberargie (that’s a hard g). The distillery is built, and has a Facebook page (with a picture of the still room), but no website as yet. They have started initial distillation
Aberargie is a small village about 5 miles south of Perth – east of the M90 and south of the River Earn, so a Lowland Distillery. They are also about 5 miles from the newly in production Lindores Abbey. (With Strathearn only about 5 miles to its west, Perth is becoming a busy area for new distilleries).
The Glasgow Distillery, which has been making a name for itself with Makar gin, had a sample of 16 month old malt spirit, which I would have thought considerably older had I not been told its age.
Of the other new distilleries – Kingsbarns were not exhibiting any spirit ahead of their 3 years at the beginning of 2018 – initial releases will be for Founder Members, but they expect to have whisky at the next Glasgow show. Rasaay have now commenced distilling; Adelphi just had their independent bottlings, no Ardnamurchan yet, though they are 3 years old now. Douglas Laing recently announced they were planning a distillery in Glasgow, but are not expecting to make a start until next year.
I also spoke to Darren, formerly of Annandale, who is now working for Lochlea Distillery in Ayrshire, which is still in its early days.
Click for a full round up of new Distilleries and Projects.

As for other tastings - I seem to have tasted a lot of Grain whisky - the 21yo North British and 11yo Strathclyde from Douglas Laing are worth mentioning first. The latter is finished in Sherry and follows on from other young Strathclyde's that they have bottled over the last few years, Fred felt they'd got it right this time, balancing the sherry finish with the vanilla notes from the original bourbon cask - previous bottles having been left in sherry too long. I can see his point, though I still have a couple of bottles of the 8yo from a couple of years ago, which is a great whisky, though not immediately recognisable as Grain. This year's 11yo certainly set the Graindar off. The 21yo was an even more obvious grain, but a good one.

My visit to the Creative Whisky Company stall started with a 25yo Cambus - a classic grain bottling, though better was to follow. Before the ultimate grain if the day however, there was a detour to Speyside for a Secret 14yo Speyside - a whisky that dare not speak its name - they'll kill me if I tell you (well they might not pour me any whisky next week, which would be about as bad), suffice to say, if you see it buy it. The next dram was also anonymous - an Exclusive Speyside 8yo, but this had a distillery code "GA" on it - could only really be Glenallachie. Finally, the dram of the day - 43yo Invergordon. Bottles from 1974 aren't around that often these days, and this was just supreme, even though the cask's strength had dropped to 42.7%.Not released yet, so not available at the show, and no price for it yet - look out for it.
Adelphi had a very strange 17yo Laphroaig - I only got the last dregs of the bottle, but enough to detect no TCP and a much more sweet and oily dram than you'd normally get from Laphroaig.

That Boutique-y Whisky had a 25yo Port Dundas followed by a mystery 13yo Irish Single Malt, which Dave Worthington thought was probably from Bushmills.
Murray McDavid's grain was the 19yo Loch Lomond - they've previously had an 18yo, but this had a different twist - finished in a red wine cask - and it it has certainly worked.
North Star had a 24yo Cambus, though it was late on by the time I got there, so I don't remember much.
Morrison & Mackay had no grain, but the 5yo Glenburgie was a great dram that seemed much older.
Finally some malts that derve a mention - two Birthday bottlings from The Pot Still
Glen Moray brought along their latest bottle your own from the Distillery Visitor Centre - a Marsala finish this time - as ever a superb selection, I shall have to plan a trip to Elgin...
The Pot Still was celebrating being named Scottish Whisky Bar of the Year, and had two sherry monsters - an 11yo Glenrothes and a 22yo from Speyside Distillery, which will shortly be available form their website.

All in all another great show and they've promised bigger and better for 2018!
And I have a winter hat courtesy of Glenfarclas.
The Festival also worked with Drumchapel Foodbank to encourage donations in return for a raffle ticket for tickets to the 2018 show.
A word on accessibility - I have currently some problems with getting down stairs, there are lifts at the venue, but they are not well signposted.

My pictures from the show are available on Flickr and Facebook.

Glasgow 16 month spirit

Charles MacLean at the SMWS stall

Leeds Whisky Fest on Ardbog Day

1/6/2013

Bizarre goings on in London and Islay to celebrate Ardbog Day (Ardbeg Day at Fèis Ìle renamed in honour of their Fèis Ìle release), but I'm in Leeds, so a Whisky Lounge event is the order of the day - I guess there'll be some Ardbeg, maybe Ardbog there (as Eddie's been in Islay this week), though probably less flying sheep than in London!
While I'm getting ready, I've discovered that a new Whisky Fellowship has set up in nearby Garforth, and is following me on twitter - sounds like something to check out, so I've signed up for their first meeting on Monday. Another follower of theirs is Strathearn Distillery - a new start up micro-distiller in Methven that I've not heard of before, seems they are building a distillery and hope to start production soon.
Arrive at O2 Academy 20 minutes before start - first in queue - only way to be sure of getting a few photos before the venue fills up. Joe is setting up the flags and I have time for breakfast - sandwich from Sainsbury's - and get organised for the show. By the time the doors open the queue has built up considerably.
Traditional start with Compass Box Hedonism, then off to see Andrew Nelstrop owner of the English Whisky Company, who hasn't been at a show so far this year. Chapter 6 the standard unpeated bottling is good, but the Rum finished Chapter 7 is exceptional for a 3yo, even allowing for faster maturation in Norfolk than Scotland. They also have a bottle of the Queen's 60th Jubilee limited edition - sold out on the distillery website. Good presentation - apart from the Royal tackiness, and a good dram. Andrew bemoans the fact that too many of these royal special editions get bought by collectors of royal memorabilia rather than true Whisky drinkers, but it does help him sell his whisky. Didn't try the peated Chapter 11, intending to return later once I was on peated whisky, but didn't make it back.

World Whiskies Tasting at Gerry's

29/5/2013

Two reviews for this event - for reasons I can't be bothered to go into - take your pick...

7 whiskies from around the world - blind tasting, all presented in Plymouth Gin bottles!. I'm not the only photographer there - and someone with a bigger beard than me too. Still what does size matter?

Co-hosted by Holly from Gerry's and Rowena from Yelp. Limited information about how the whisky was produced and the type of maturation were all the clues that were given, and I was only able to definitively identify one whisky as one I knew I'd had before - the very distinctive Wasamund's Single Malt from the US, which uses applewood to smoke the barley and also applewood chips in the cask.

Not sure I could drink it all evening, but a very pleasant dram - my favourite of the day, and I think it also topped the popular vote, though the Swedish contribution - the new Bruks from Mackmyra - also did well.

Seven whiskies from around the world to taste for a tenner – can’t be bad. Hosted jointly by Holly from Gerry's and Rowena from Yelp.
On arrival it appears we have seven bottles of differently coloured Plymouth Gin – this is to disguise the identity of the whiskies and let us judge them entirely on the contents of the glass. All we are told upfront is that they are from seven different countries, one is from Scotland – a Scottish flag is supplied to wave when you think you have the Scottish whisky – all are malt whiskies.A little further information was given around the method of distillation of each whisky, and what it had been matured in, but not the country of origin. The first whisky is revealed to be a blended malt, nothing too special about it. The second one is altogether different, and my initial thought is Swedish though further sipping makes me doubt that, and after briefly thinking it might be Welsh, I’m left without an idea of where it’s from.

London Whisky Fest on World Whisky Day

18/5/2013

SMWS at London Whisky Fest

SMWS Grain week - but I've tickets for both sessions of Eddie Ludlow's visit to London. So had to celebrate the SMWS grain explosion on Friday night - 10 new grains making a total of 16 available on the bar in Greville Street. Starting off with 2 new Strathclydes 10.2 and 10.4, but neither impressed me as much as 10.1. pick of the bunch G9.1, the Loch Lomond 11yo that I'd previously encountered in Leith last June - and managed to get a bottle. Only one case made its way to London, and only one bottle was available for sale - which Phil Storry had managed to get hold of already - amongst his 15 purchases that day! In all I managed to get through 9 of the 16, but they couldn't find a bottle of G7.5 before I had to get the train home.

Heading Back Home

8/5/2013

Spirit of Speyside 2013 Blogs: Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday

The day had started well enough, as I find that the other residents of the B&B I’m staying at for the last day of my trip are a young Canadian couple Catherine and David (? – I really must start writing names down, or find a better way to remember them), who are touring Scotland’s distilleries. She’s got a good deal – she’s too young to be a driver for a hire car, so he has to be designated driver! Makes for a more interesting breakfast conversation than many – they’ve missed the Festival, but I’m able to supply plenty of information, though not the time Glenfiddich opens, as I can’t get a signal in the breakfast room. Catherine is also on a mission to get an expensive bottle of single malt for her father (on his money) – so I point them firmly in the direction of Mike and The Whisky Shop Dufftown, after suggesting my current favourite in that price range – Talisker 35.

After the Festival - but still in Speyside (Tuesday)

7/5/2013

Spirit of Speyside 2013 Blogs: Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday

Ben Rinnes

The Festival's over. Time to go home then? Well, not quite – I booked my return journey a day later than I’d intended by mistake. Still, early indications are that this could work out well. It’s a beautiful day – warmest so far by some way. But first I have to negotiate an extra day at the Hotel – and enquire about next year. Negative on both counts!
I assume that there shouldn’t be any problem getting accommodation, how wrong I am – none of the B&Bs near the square have vacancies – apart from Fournet House, and I’m not paying their prices. Have to get the e-Pad out and check other places on my site. Third time lucky, one place no longer does B&B, Fife Arms is full, but Inveravon can take me tonight – and for next year’s festival. Amazing room – massive bathroom and there’s a tumble drier in there too!

Busy Monday - ending the Festival in Style

6/5/2013

Spirit of Speyside 2013 Blogs: Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday

Early breakfast – have to be in Aberlour for 9.30 to get the bus to Knockando for a Manager’s Choice tasting. Head up the hill again – I think it is quicker than the Speyside Way, particularly in this direction. As it’s Aberlour, go for the Bluehill Quarry turn off, and then decide to be innovative – looks like there’s a way through upper Aberlour from the Caravan Park turn off.
There is though it takes me uphill again, and I think it links to the public path from Dufftown. I have plenty of time – had thought of cycling all the way, but I said I’d be on the bus. Eventually find the right bus – there are only three others who get on, one looks like Ronnie Routledge from Glenglassaugh, and indeed is – he says he’s got a day off so he’s seeing things from a different angle!
We wait in case anyone else turns up, but the driver eventually concludes that they must be making their own way there. The driver is a local, but with a very strong accent – really hard work to understand. We head out through Craigellachie and past Macallan, by which time I’ve been checking which tastings I have tickets for this afternoon, and I discover I haven’t a ticket for the Diageo tasting, and find a spot with a signal to book it.
We get to Knockando, and I have a Google Streets moment – I recognise the distillery but am not sure whether I’ve been there before or just virtually courtesy of Google Streets photography – it’s very disconcerting.
We’re greeted with coffee and biscuits, but I need a cold drink – fortunately they have orange juice – must have been something I drunk the night before. We set off around the distillery – photography allowed except flash use in the still house. Knockando has an ancient malt screen and weigher. The mash tun also turns out to be in the still house – fortunately it’s very bright so no flash required. May of the rest on the tour are Canadians who are very impressed to see the Maple Leaf flag flying at the distillery – unlike some previous days explanations of distillery operations outside are perfectly acceptable in today’s weather.

Spirited Sunday in Dufftown

4/5/2013

Spirit of Speyside 2013 Blogs: Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday

Tasting in Whisky Shop, Dufftown with Peter Mackay from Carn Mor, who has apparently been dubbed the New Mark Watt after a party last night; and Mike Lord exhibiting his own WSD (Whisky Shop Dufftown) bottlings, including the 1971 Glenlivet Family Cask special bottling, and the 41yo Glenrothes, finished in an octave - for me the stand out of these whiskies.
Whisky Fair starts at 12noon today, so it's a short walk down the road - no bike today everything's close enough for walking.
I have my hip flask with me today - I've not cracked open last night's winnings, but felt I could at least share some of the 59.43 Caramel Swirl Ice Cream the SMWS 30th Anniversary 29yo Teaninich - it seems to meet with approval. A detailed tour of all the stalls is called for today, with a quick diversion to St James' Hall for the Independent Bottlers' Challenge tasting.
My successful Dutch team-mates have arrived in the hall by the time I'm back after the tasting - and they too enjoy the 59.43. Bill and Mary from Newcastle are at the Fair - it's good to see Mary about again, as she's not been too well, but she's in good form today and ends up helping out on the Adelphi stall when Antonia's taking a break or doing a tasting.

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