What I Did On My Holidays (in Japan)

 

The first six bottles

Earlier in the year I went to Japan on holiday with the family, and brought back some whiskies to share with everyone at the club. I managed fit five into a spare suitcase, and added one sourced here in the UK and then a bonus seventh dram from the club's stocks, to present a varied line-up of Japanese drams.

Hishida Newborn No 1

We haven't often had much from Japan at the club over the years, simply because there isn't that much of it around and what there is, is pretty sought after and therefore expensive. So this particular tasting was one of the most anticipated we've run, and sold out to members on the very morning tickets went on sale.

No pressure then, and the first whisky in the line-up was brand new. Trying to source some drams not typically available in the UK led me to the Hishida Newborn No 1, the inaugural release from Tensei Shuzo, which admittedly has 120 years of making sake and shochu behind it. Hishida is the name of their water supply on Kyushu Island, and they say the warm climate helps it mature quickly.

Nikka Session

A mixture of malt and grain whisky, with the malt coming from the UK and Germany and some local grain, the malt is matured in a mix of port and white oak casks with the grain spending time in ex-bourbon. I paid £27 for this in a whisky shop in Osaka, and it's 47%. Tasting a bit new makey, it did give us bits of cinnamon, tea and some smoke, along with a more vanilla and woody aftertaste.

Next was one of the big names in Japanese whisky, Nikka, and their Session blend. The category of 'world blend' is quite common, with producers mixing a little home spirit with stuff sources from places including Scotland and Canada. This particular expression is a cut above some of those lower quality offerings, using liquid from Nikka's three distilleries - two in Japan and Ben Nevis, which they own.

Light and sweet, with hints of green apples, tropical fruit, mint and a certain pepperiness, this is a nice easy drinker. It's 43% and I got it in Tokyo for just £19, although if you want a bottle here it'll set you back several times that.

Hibiki BC

The other biggie in the Japanese whisky canon is Suntory, and I represented them in this tasting with a bottle of Blenders Choice from the Hibiki brand. This was launched a few years back in place of their 17-year-old, presumably so they could make more of a relatively scarce resource. A mix of malts from Yamazaki and Hakushu, along with some of their Chita grain whisky, this was another sweet one. Toffee and custard on the nose, almost like creme brulee. More green apples too, although we weren't sure about the official tasting note of creamy rice pudding.

This is typically £200 in the UK, although I paid just over half that for my bottle, in the same Tokyo shop where I got the Nikka. 

For half-time I rustled up some sweet Japanese snacks from the shop around the corner from the Seven Oaks in Chinatown, and dished out some different flavoured packets of the classic Pocky to everyone (although not straight from the freezer, as recommended here by Hatsune Miku).

Sakurao Sherry Cask

A newer name in Japanese whisky is Sakurao, a distillery based on the coast near Hiroshima. As with most booze manufacturers in Japan it has a long history of brewing and distilling other drinks, and even produced whisky before moving away from it in the 1980s, coming back since 2018 as a highball craze helps boost local interest in whisky.

This was their sherry cask, the first addition to their new core range. No age statement but probably about three years or so, this was aged in cream sherry hogsheads. Matured close to the sea in one of the distillery's two ageing locations, this has savoury notes with hints of miso but also a jammy sweetness from the sherry, there were hints of chocolate and marzipan on the palate. Very nice indeed. This was 50% and cost me £67, again picked up in Osaka.

BBR Togouchi

Whisky number five was the one I added to the list here in the UK. The Sakurao distillery has a second brand, Togouchi, and I had a bottling of it from Berry Brothers and Rudd. Togouchi was previously used for their lower-quality world blends, but the distillery is now trying to reimagine it for some of their own produce, although in contrast to the Sakurao this is matured in a second location, an old railway tunnel.

This was a single malt, and according to BBR it's "crisp, poised and fragrant." We certainly got some familiar green apples from it, on both the nose and the palate, with minerals and spiciness as well. It's available for £95 and comes in at 50.8%.

Akkeshi

I pushed the boat out a bit for dram number six. Looking for something cask strength and independently bottled, neither of which are necessarily commonplace in drams widely available at a reasonable price even in Japan, I found a bottling of Akkeshi to share. This is a newish distillery on the northern Hokkaido island, aimed at being a 'little Lagavulin' for its Islay stylings.

The particular expression, Hanaguwashi Karinpani, was a joint bottling from a consortium of four Tokyo whisky bars and shops, including the well-known Liquors Hasegawa, a shop in the arcade underneath the capital's main railway station. This was matured mainly in sherry casks, with some use of Japanese mizunara and cherry wood, to complement the peated spirit.

It was available by lottery only so I picked up a bottle second hand, paying a rather over-the-odds £203, in a shop in Osaka.  The reward was floral notes on the nose, including the inevitable cherry blossoms as seen on the label. The taste was custard, with citrus, ginger and a definite smoky saltiness.

The first half a dozen (and a pint)

There was a bonus seventh dram (no photo of this, so you'll have to take my word for it). Another Nikka, a Coffey Grain: Woody and Mellow, brought back from the distillery itself some years ago by club member Tom. This was a no age statement replacement for their 12-year-old, as they also tried to make the most of their perhaps limited stocks.

Soft and sweet with strong notes of maple and fruit on both the nose and the palate, this was very nice, with a long aftertaste and hints of rum and molasses. Tom got this for £35 locally, although you can pick it up for a shade under £100 here.

Dram of the night was, perhaps unsurprisingly for a membership which often loves a peat monster, the Akkeshi with 13 votes. The Sakurao was second and the Togouchi third.

Thanks to all club members for making it such a great tasting, and to all at the Seven Oaks for hosting us again.

Billy from the Whisky Exchange

 

The full line-up

In June we had a special guest to lead the tasting. Billy Abbot from top spirits retailer the Whisky Exchange was with us to guide us through half a dozen choices, (mostly) still available to buy.

Linkwood 10yo

And we kicked us off with an expression from the Whisky Exchange's line-up of Seasons drams. Representing 'Spring' we had a 10-year-old Linkwood, matured in a single refill bourbon cask.

Billy told us the Spring whiskies are aimed at showing off fresh, fruity and zingy flavours. This one delivered, and gave us pears, citrus fruits, a hint of mint and fruity chewing gum. There wasn't much oak in evidence really, giving the spirit itself a chance to come through nicely, and strongly.

Very summery and easy to drink, we thought, ideal to have with a barbecue. It was 57.7% and cost a very reasonable £68.

BBR Macduff 21yo

For the second dram we went to Berry Brothers and Rudd, the legendary London wines and spirits retailer and regular bottler of quality drams. This was a 21-year-old Macduff, matured in a sherry butt.

"Taste the distillery, not the wood" urged Billy, and this tasted stronger than whisky number one, as well it might have done at 58%. This was lovely, really good, with strong notes of pineapple and tropical fruit. Some members thought it was better with a little water. It cost £169.

Ben Nevis

Billy himself was looking back at us from the label of whisky number three. This was part of a series of bottles produced for the Whisky Show, run by the Whisky Exchange, featuring various members of the WE team.

Ben Nevis, owned by Nikka in Japan, is a popular distillery with club members. This was an example of a 'dirty Ben Nevis' we felt, all chewy and tasty with lots of red fruits in evidence. It was 60.2% and cost again a very fair £72.

After a half-time break giving us the chance to recharge our glasses downstairs at the Seven Oaks, we were back for another trio.

Whistlepig 13yo

Dram four was in fact a rye whiskey, from Whistlepig, and for Billy was "the most ridiculous thing we've bottled at the Whisky Exchange." Rather than from Whistlepig's Vermont base, this Amburana Rye was made in Indiana by spirits giant MGP, and was a mix of 95% rye to 5% malted barley, aged for more than 12 years in American oak.

Here's the thing: it didn't really taste like whiskey at all. Very sweet on the nose, it was giving coconut and mint, almost mint choc chip ice cream. It had spent a mere ten days in an amburana cask, a trendy and very aggressive South American wood that imparts flavour on liquid very quickly. This gave it so much flavour, especially on the nose, and it ended up reminding us of liquor chocolates or After Eight mints. Weird in a good way. It was £175 and 43%.

Kilchoman 11yo

Back to Scotland for whisky five and to Islay for some Kilchoman. Billy had picked out an 11-year-old, aged in a first fill ex-bourbon cask and bottled for the 2023 Whisky Show. "This is non-messed with, unadulterated stuff."

At 54.5% this was "not overpowering, just nice." This was smoky and peaty, but more in a subtle barbecue rather than punch in the nose sort of way. It was £140, and so there were perhaps one or two cheaper options from earlier in the night more likely to get us reaching for our virtual wallets.

G&M Caol Ila

We finished off with the very last bottle of something special.

A 19-year-old Caol Ila, so another Islay whisky, bottled by Gordon and Macphail back in 2021. Billy told us when smoky whisky gets older it tends to become more fruity and mellow, and this is a good example. It is apparently unusual to get such an old Caol Ila, as the younger ones tend to be very nice.

This smelt absolutely great. So much so we almost didn't want to taste it. But it was delicious and gave us a huge amount of flavour. It was 57.6% although you can't get it anymore.

Which brought us to the dram of the night voting, and all six secured at least one vote, always the sign of a great tasting. The winner though was the Ben Nevis with ten votes, just ahead of the opening Linkwood in second and then the Caol Ila third.

Our thanks to Billy for visiting us and picking out such a great selection, and to all club members and guests for coming along.

Everything Over 20 Years Old

 

The May line-up

May's tasting sold out to members within hours of it being announced, and no surprise as Martin had raided the club's stocks for a series of independent bottlings all at least 20 years old.

North British 29yo

We got straight into it with the opening dram, a 29-year-old North British grain whisky. A long-time component of lots of well-known blends, indie bottlings of North British have become more widely seen of late. This particular one came from Fragrant Drops, a brand run by former club member George Keeble, and was matured in a fresh bourbon cask.

This had a very pleasant, creamy nose. That cream was still there on the palate just about, along with a spirity hit. Honey and lemon cough sweets was one suggestion. Rice pudding with honey was another, or vanilla custard (so really going for the full school dinners experience). Not as bitter as some grains, and some felt it was actually too much on the sweet side for them. It's 50.9% and we paid £100.

Tomatin 32yo

Onto Tomatin next, a very large distillery on the Highland/Speyside border. Under Japanese ownership it has gone from a bulk producer of whisky to one that also has a developing brand in its own right, although the bottle we had - a 32-year-old from Skene Scotch Whisky, aged in a bourbon hogshead - harked back to an earlier era of Tomatin production.

Grassy, and almost like a rye on the nose, this one. But the nose promised a bit more than the palate delivered, we felt. We didn't feel this was especially memorable, nor complex and it was a bit of a disappointment for the price tag. We paid £175 from the Aberdeen Whisky Shop, but the RRP on the Skene website has this nearer £400. Admittedly, our view might have been a bit coloured once we realised how expensive it was. It's 44.9%.

Arran 21yo

Whisky three was from Arran, one of the real success stories of Scottish whisky since it was established in the 1990s. Again we were looking back in time to quite an early bottling, a 21-year-old distilled back in 1997. Things could only get better after dram two? Perhaps. This was a sherried expression bottled for the Green Welly Stop, now known as Tyndrum.

This smelt sweet, like Crunchie bars we (ok, I) thought. "Dangerously easy to drink". Not as sweet on the palate but there was a very pleasant dark chocolate, peppermint thing going on, which maybe put it more in After Eights territory. There was a mixture in the room of those who really liked it, and others who found it a little boring. Although billed as full maturation, it tasted more like a sherry finish. We paid £101 and it clocks in at 55.3%.

Tullibardine 29yo

A half-time break to recharge our glasses downstairs at the Seven Oaks, and we were back for three more whiskies.

Local favourite Chorlton Whisky brought us dram four, a 29-year-old Tullibardine distilled in 1993. Known for its good quality water source - Highland Spring is produced next door - Tullibardine is a bit of a landmark on the A9 in Perthshire, well-located if you want to break your journey north.

This bottle was dry and savoury on the nose. Almost like a wholemeal sort of flavour, or Soreen malt loaf, appropriately enough for a Manchester bottler. This again got a slightly mixed response, with some liking it and others feeling it was a bit on the average side. It's 47.5% and we paid £160.

Tormore 30yo

Two Cadenheads bottlings to finish with. Dram five was a 30-year-old Tormore, distilled in 1988 and a combination of three bourbon hogsheads. Recently taken over by Elixir Distillers, owned by the Singh brothers of Whisky Exchange fame, it'll be interesting to see what Tormore has in store for us in the coming years.

Back to this particular bottle though, and we found it nice and approachable. Not necessarily complex, but certainly nice, although it lacked the 'wow' factor you might have been looking for from something really exceptional. "A beauty" on first taste for some, but it didn't linger as it might have done. But overall, a very positive reception. It's long gone from the official site, but we paid £180 for it. It's 47.9%.

Benrinnes 23yo

For the last dram we stayed in Speyside for a Benrinnes, a distillery usually only seen officially in the Flora and Fauna range. This was a 23-year-old from 1995.

This gave us green apples on the nose, followed by a different sort of appley-taste on the palate. McDonald's apple pie was one suggestion, although a caramel toffee apple was perhaps a slightly classier suggestion. Sharp and fresh, this was delicious. We paid £80 - a bargain we felt - and it's 53.4%.

So to the dram of the night voting and a clear win for - the Benrinnes. It took 14 votes, with the Tormore second and the Arran in third.

Thanks to Martin for putting on yet another excellent tasting, all at the Seven Oaks for their hospitality and to all club members for showing their support once again.

Indian Whisky Tasting

 

Another stellar line-up

Club member Marc took the reins for April and a welcome opportunity for him to guide us through some names old and new from the Indian whisky scene.

Indri Dru

We started with Indri, a growing maker of whisky and other drinks which recently announced plans to develop a distillery of its own in Argyll. The stuff we had in our glasses was produced rather closer to its Indian home, in its large faciility in the suburbs of New Delhi.

This Indri Dru expression was bourbon aged and was dark, pleasant and had a bit of spice to it, almost like a rye. There was also an orangey vibe, sort of adjacaent to marmalade or even Cointreau. Sticky toffee pudding was another tasting note.

That spiciness meant we felt it would go well with a plate of snacks. It was 57.2% - so not exactly holding back at the start of the evening - and cost £73.

Paul John Kanya

Paul John was next, a Goa distillery that has become one of the best known global names in whisky. We were drinking the Kanya, a 50% 7-year-old - pretty old by Indian standards where there is an unofficial rule of thumb that one year of maturation equals three years in Scotland.

It was aged in first fill American white oak. Not so big on the nose but it did have a notable palate. A bit fruitier than our opening dram, it had a long finish, and also mellowed a bit with water. A bit of smoke too maybe, certainly some burnt notes in there somewhere.

The reception was a little bit mixed in the room. We paid £100, but it now goes for more than double that, so nobody was reaching for their wallets on this occasion.

Amrut

Amrut is the other most well-established whisky brand from India, and it would probably have been remiss to do an Indian tasting without one. Marc had a big single malt for us at no less than 61.8%. It had no age statement but was presumably 4-5 years old.

We found this easy drinking and sweet for something of this strength. There was a sweetness in the aftertaste, with strong hints of candied fruits. At £70, this was not bad value at all.

There was time for a half-time break to refill our beer glasses downstairs at the Seven Oaks, before moving on with the second part of our Indian odyssey.

Rampur Asava

Dram four was from a single malt from Rampur. Called Asava, this had been matured in a mixture of ex-bourbon and ex-Cabernet Sauvignon casks.

A pleasant nose, with a distinctive hit of plain chocolate on the palate. There was a bittersweet taste at the back of the mouth. Delicious we felt, a lot of people in the room really liked it. No obvious red wine influence from the casks though, at least as far as we could tell.

So, this was not quite what we thought we were getting when we opened the bottle. Still good though. One last sideways tasting note shout: Eton mess. It was 45% and not bad value at £67.

Godawan Series 01

Whisky five came from Diageo brand Godawan, their Series 01. This was aged in bourbon and PX sherry, with some help from Indian botanicals apparently.

We felt this was a bit spicy but also a little undistinguished and not especially memorable. We didn't get much of the sherry nor the botanicals. A bit of butterscotch perhaps? Having said that, others elsewhere in the room liked it a bit more. It was 46% and £60.

Kurinji

The last of Marc's selection of six was from Kurinji, part of a new single malts of India range bottled by Amrut from smaller distilleries.

This was grassy and floral, rather more than the previous one in fact. A bit of coal fire on the palate. Easy to drink. "A breakfast whisky" someone suggested. It was £85 and was 46%.

There was just time for a seventh bonus dram, courtesy of one of the biggest domestic brands in India, Royal Challenge. A grain mix of Indian and Scottish malts, we were led to believe that only some would be what we'd consider 'real' whisky, with the rest made up of spirit made from molasses as is commonplace in India. Not the worst, certainly sweet, like cordial or rum. A dull sweetness reminiscent of flat Coke. It was £30. Like everything, it was worth a try!

All seven whiskies got at least one vote in the dram of the night voting. But there was a rare victory for the opening whisky, with the Indri Dru picking up 13 votes to 12 for the Amrut, and the Rampur claiming the bronze medal.

Thanks to Marc for choosing the whiskies and taking us on a tour of the Indian industry, and to all club members and guests for joining us in the very hospitable surroundings of the Seven Oaks once again.

The full selection

Old Malt Cask

The full line-up

For our March tasting at the Seven Oaks, we had a selection of whiskies to enjoy from well-known whisky bottler Hunter Laing, all from their Old Malt Cask brand.

Royal Brackla 12yo

The Laing name has been associated with whisky for decades through Douglas Laing, the family business and its impressive catalogue of whisky splitting in two back in 2013, with the new Hunter Laing keeping Old Malt Cask as part of the bargain.

We got going with a 12-year-old Royal Brackla, which has had a royal warrant since 1833 and the days of William IV (Royal Lochnagar are the johnny come latelies in this particular battle, having won over Queen Victoria a little later on). This expression was from a single refill hogshead.

Sweet on the nose, we got Parma Violet and Fruit Salad sweeties, along with a creaminess and citrussy notes, like grapefruit. There was quite a strong and distinctive taste, more powerful than we might have expected. Water brought out the oiliness, as well as doses of apples and pears.

Old Pulteney 20yo

At £79 we thought this was a good start to the evening, although the jury's out on whether the extra expense over the distillery bottling would really be worth it.

Sticking with Highland whiskies, Old Pulteney is a distillery we've visited relatively rarely at the club. We've had a few over the years, but none for a while. This was a 20-year-old expression, which set us back a cool £150.

There perhaps wasn't much on the nose here but it had a great flavour. Citrussy again, oranges and grapefruit, the sorts of notes Old Pulteney is often noted for. There was also an oily element, almost like parmesan someone suggested. Lime marmalade was another shout (I can't say I've ever had lime marmalade by way of comparison, but I knew what they meant) as was a peachiness. A nice, easy drinker, but most members felt they wouldn't pay the price tag.

Mortlach 14yo

Off to Speyside for dram three and Mortlach, with a 14-year-old fully matured in cream sherry casks. Harvey's Bristol Cream? Almost certainly not. Besides, we cannot hope to match these levels of refinement in Manchester Whisky Club.

You could smell the sherry a mile off though. It should be sweet and it was. It should be creamy and it was all of that too. A "turbo sherry" as someone described it. A bit of coffee on the palate as well. One for your nan, or perhaps to keep to yourself. It was £100.

After a break to recharge our beer glasses downstairs, it was back for the second half.

Linkwood 22yo

The fourth whisky was a Linkwood, a distillery known for producing a relatively light spirit. We were intrigued by this bottling, which after 22 years of full maturation in refill Pedro Ximenez sherry, might offer something different.

Lots of people liked this one a lot. The PX was a good addition for many, with drinkers feeling it helped smooth things over and tie the dram together very well.

Others who knew Linkwood well reckoned it was a little bit overpowering and something was lost in the maturation. As someone else concluded: "It's not shit though". It was £159.

Ardmore 12yo

Time for peat with dram five and a 12-year-old Ardmore, from a refill bourbon cask, courtesy of Paul the brand ambassador (thanks Paul!), who had been due to join us for the tasting but sadly couldn't.

We liked this one. Subtle and easy to drink, but you got the peat on the nose and it carried through to the palate as well. A consistent drink throughout from the nose onwards. It was £79.

Whisky: model's own

Which brought us to the last dram of the night. A sherried 12-year-old Caol Ila, offering the always alluring promise of a blend of sherry and peat.

This was matured in a Manzanilla cask and certainly didn't taste like a normal Caol Ila. A little bit sweet with a consistent hit of peat throughout, this was well balanced and very nice all round. It cost £109.

The dram of the night voting was quite evenly split, with only the first whisky of the night not picking up at least four votes. But it was a win in the end for that Caol Ila, with ten votes, just one ahead of the Linkwood.

Thank you to Martin for leading us through the whiskies and to all club members and guests for attending another sold out evening.

Annandale Distillery Tasting

The full line-up

We had a packed crowd upstairs in our new surroundings of the Seven Oaks for February's tasting, a visit from the Annandale Distillery. Not too far over the border, it's only a couple of hours away on the M6 making it one of our closest distilleries. As is often the case, it's a 19th century distillery which closed in the 20th, but which has been revived in the 21st as part of the whisky boom.

Unpeated bourbon cask

Ambassador John had brought with him a mix of cask strength expressions showing off their unpeated (Man O'Words) and peated (Man O'Sword) range, and we added two bottles of our own from the club stocks for good measure.

So with eight drams to try we got straight into it, with an unpeated Man O'Words matured in bourbon casks. We certainly got the hit of vanilla and cream with this one. It tasted strong, you really felt this one in your chest on the way down, as well you might at 59.8% (no calibration drams here, clearly).

There was a caramel sweetness too, as part of a really long aftertaste. This was £75 and was nothing if not a serious start to proceedings.

Unpeated oloroso cask

Next a version aged in oloroso sherry, and even stronger at 61.5%. Again there was no mistaking that sherry, with plenty of spice, fruits, raisins and sultanas evident on the nose, which was a cracker and made us want to move quickly on to drinking the thing.

Those spices came through again on the palate, especially nutmeg, with a definite hint of ginger biscuits. Buttery shortbread was another shout. It was £85.

Unpeated fino cask

Completing the Man O'Words core range was dram three, matured in ex-fino sherry. The single cask fino makes this a unique whisky, John reckoned. This was different again, with yeast or bread on the nose. This gave way to something more cake-y on the palate, with a mixture of sweetness and almonds, so a Bakewell tart was an obvious tasting note.

Others picked out dark chocolate as well as other nutty flavours. Extremely pleasant again, and it came in at 60.4% and £95.

The fresh-filled bourbon

Before moving onto the peated core range, there was time for a detour via two bottles of Annandale sources from the club's back catalogue.

Again cask strength, whisky four was a 59.6% fresh filled bourbon. This did not taste quite as strong as the others or its ABV would suggest. Indeed, it had more of a "straight down the line" feel about it and was very pleasant and approachable.

The STR

Tasting notes included buttery again, along with "grainy" and a bit of sweetcorn. It took water well, too, apparently.

Dram five was an STR, the now familiar technique of shaving, toasting and re-charring, used by many younger distilleries to rejuvenate red wine and other casks for the maturation of whisky.

This got some mixed views in the room - some feeling the palate fell a bit short, but others really enjoying it. I fell into the latter camp and have written down the suitably vague "moreish" in my notes, so you'll have to make of that what you will. It was 59.2%.

Peated bourbon cask

Back to the distillery's core range for their three Man O'Swords peated drams, once again with bourbon, oloroso and fino cask expressions.

Dram six was matured in fresh bourbon. This was smoky on the nose, like a campfire barbecue, but not medicinal like some peat monsters can be. The PPM was 28-30ish, and we felt this was pretty approachable as these sorts of drinks go. "Delicious" was one view, and that it was great as it was, with no need for water.

Peated oloroso cask

This was 59.6% and was £75 (full disclosure: I bought one).

We were going in the same order as before, so it was oloroso next for a blend of sherry and peat. As you might expect, this made the whisky "very complex". Someone suggested it was more like a peated mead than anything else, although whether the Lindisfarne monks themselves ever needed to use peat to make their booze may be lost to history.

This was £85 and 61.1%.

If you think that the tasting notes recorded here might be getting shorter as the night progressed, you'd be right, but that's how it goes on an evening of eight cask strength whiskies. To finish we were treated to a peated version of the fino. It got an "ooh!" on the nose. We liked it, but amid stiff competition it perhaps wasn't quite the dram of the night. Nice, but maybe too peaty for some in the room.

Peated fino cask

Again it was 61%, and clocked in at £95.

As for that dram of the night voting, no fewer than seven of the eight whiskies got at least one vote, always a sign of a strong line up. The clear winner though was dram three, the unpeated fino cask Man O'Words, with an impressive 18 votes! The unpeated oloroso was second, with the peated bourbon and fino joint third.

Thanks to Martin for raiding the club stocks for those two additional bottles, and special thanks to John from Annandale for making the journey to see us and bringing such a great line up of drams to share.

New Year, New Home!

 

The line-up

Our 2025 programme of tastings got off to a bit of a different start for a couple of reasons. The first was a week's delay due to a previous booking at our new venue, meaning our January tasting actually took place on the first Thursday in February.

North British 18yo

But I've already given away the second. After spending most of our decade-plus history at the Britons Protection (longer serving members might recall our earliest days in the Lass O'Gowrie then the Castle, but these memories are understandably hazy), events at the start of January meant Star Pubs/Heineken finally took control of the place following a long battle. Changes afoot there, not least the departure of the whisky stocks that made it such an attractive place for us for so long, meant we were briefly homeless.

In stepped another Manchester landmark, the Seven Oaks in Chinatown. Their upstairs room is an ideal size for us, and so that's where we assembled for Martin to take us through six assorted bottles raided from the club's stocks.

The Holyrood

We started off with a single cask grain, an 18-year-old from North British aged in a refill sherry cask and bottled by Douglas Laing under their Old Particular brand. This had a sort of leather, waxy type vibe about it, the sort of smell you get when buffing up your car (I was taking others' word for this, I'm afraid my poor old Ford has never had a buffing, at least not from me). On the palate we got some toffee at the end, butterscotch too. Not too vanilla-y, as some grains can be.

This was good, although at our table we weren't quite sure it was worth the £67 we paid for it back in 2022. Others raved it about it though, declaring it "surprisingly good". Other tasting notes included struck matches and sulphur. It was 48.4%.

SMWS Tullibardine

Dram two went to the other end of the age scale, and a very young whisky from Edinburgh's new Holyrood distillery, which says it's the first in the Scottish capital for a century. Set up by Canadians in an old railway building, the distillery has a reputation for experimenting, and has employed an ex-distiller from Macallan to help them realise what they want to achieve.

We weren't so keen on the nose here - cheese and sweaty socks - but it was totally different when you actually drank it. Very creamy and interesting. We'd like to try more of their stuff, but not necessarily this precise expression again. It was 49.8% and cost us £70 including postage.

Arran 16yo

As someone commented on seeing the line-up of bottles at the start of the evening, "it's always a good night when you see one of these," gesturing at the familiar Scotch Malt Whisky Society livery of dram three. This expression - Blindfolds and Pipettes, 28.95 - was a 10-year-old Tullibardine.

This was straightforward and very good, we felt. Understated but chewy. Not especially memorable on the nose but it had a super long aftertaste, with distinct flavours of apple crumble, custard and a honeyed sweetness. There were mixed views on whether adding water did all that much for it. This bottle was £70 for SMWS members and it was 59%.

Aultmore

After a half-time break to recharge our glasses downstairs in our new surroundings, it was back for another trio of whiskies.

And we kicked off part two on the Isle of Arran, with a distillery exclusive 16-year-old single cask from 2022. We weren't quite sure what the cask was, although it could have been Sauternes, or fino - it was certainly very pale for something which had been aged for that long. 

It was very nice all round though, and Arran is a popular distillery among many club members who felt this particular expression helped the liquid shine. It was £95, which was perhaps a little at the top end of what we'd pay for it. The strength was 58%.

Glen Scotia

To another club for whisky five, this time the Cadenhead's Club and a 15-year-old Aultmore, the result of a vatting of several casks. This had an incredible nose and looked great too: it made you (or at least me) instantly want to drink it. 

And indeed, it lived up to expectations. Very nice, with classical old Speyside flavours, including dates and sticky toffee pudding. A great all-rounder and a favourite so far for many in the room. This was £70 and 54.8%.

Martin had a bit of peat lined up for us to finish with. A Glen Scotia bottled for Callander, this was matured in fresh bourbon then PX casks. My notes here indicate that it was billed as heavily peated, but didn't really taste all that peated, indeed I wrote "is it really peated at all?" so clearly this was causing some debate. More of a soft hint of smoke than anything else.

This was really delicious though. That hint of smoke brought to mind smoky bacon and Frazzles. "Stunning" and "terrific" were among the comments. Incredible value too, as we paid £59 for it back in 2021. It was 52.9%.

That brought us to the dram of the night voting, and despite a strong challenge from the Glen Scotia, the Cadenhead's Club Aultmore got the most votes with 13. In third place was the Arran.

Thanks to Martin for putting together our new home and this great line up of drams, and to all at the Seven Oaks for giving us such a warm welcome!