The Science of Whisky: part 3

 

The full line-up

Club member Adam was our host for August's meeting of Manchester Whisky Club, and as befits his personal interest in all things science he had an evening of chemical geekery in store for us.

95% worth

We kicked off with something extremely strong, in fact the highest ABV drink we've ever had at the club. Not whisky but some 95% Spirytus from Poland.

This was a bit of an effort to get down for a newbie at this kind of super strong booze, but wasn't as bad as it might have been all things considered. We had it in the little plastic cup you can see in the middle of the line up of drams and most of us managed to get it down in the end. An acquired taste that it would probably be quite headache-inducting to acquire.

The new make

Onto the actual whisky and Adam had a bit of a double header for us first of all. He asked to to try drams one and two together and do a compare and contrast.

The first definitely had treacle notes. The second was much thicker and tasted sweet. Adam revealed that they were in fact the same original spirit, a new make from Bladnoch that Adam had bought from club favourite indie bottler Whiskybroker.

He then aged the first dram with spirit caramel and number two with bits of barrel over just a couple of weeks, to demonstrate the different effects these can have and took us through what they do to the liquid. All very interesting!

Glen Moray 8yo

Whisky three also had some interesting ageing going on. It was an 8-year-old from Glen Moray that had been matured in oloroso sherry butts. Cask strength at 60%, this was sweet with plenty of depth and hints of summer fruits. A bit of a lip smacker.

Retailing at £75, opinion was split on whether it was quite worth that much.

St Bridget's Kirk

After a half-time break and an opportunity to recharge our glasses downstairs at the Britons Protection, we went back to something much older. A 35-year-old bottle of St Bridget's Kirk, which Adam described as a "classic blend" from the Edrington Group, owner of Famous Grouse, Highland Park and many others.

This was aged in a refill sherry cask and was highly likely to include some of that Highland Park along with liquid from some of Edrington's other distilleries. This was really nice, "delicious" in fact. We got ours for £90 although it's no longer available in the UK for that price, sadly.

BBR Williamson

Two more to go and whisky five was a Murray McDavid, another one with a few miles on the clock with 28 years on the bottle. It was a Sauternes cask, which certainly gave it a bit of a salty taste. A bit dull though was one general view, and others found it a little unusual or weird. It was 47.5% and we paid £175 for it (I forgot to get a photo of it!).

For the big finish we went to Berry Brothers and Rudd and a bottle of Williamson, a brand usually applied to 'teaspooned' bottlings of Laphroaig. This was particular expression had spend its full term in an oloroso hogshead, giving us a lovely mixture of peat and sherry. It had a real kick to it as well at 60.8%. We got ours for a bargain of £82, although it's now sold out.

The dram of the night voting was only ever going to go one way given the fondness of many club members for big peaty drinks, and the BBR Williamson won so easily we didn't even bother counting up how many votes it got. Next was the St Bridget's Kirk with eight, while the Glen Moray was in third place with four.

Thanks to all club members and their guests for joining us, the Britons for hosting another successful tasting, and especially Adam for all his work selecting the drams and guiding us through some of the more scientific elements of whisky.

Distillery Exclusives

 

July's line up

I missed May and June, but I'm reliably informed they were as great as ever! But for our July tasting, Martin was on hand to take us through a selection of six bottlings normally available only at the distilleries themselves. All cask strength, with some bottle-your-own expressions in there too.

Glengoyne 18yo

Where else to start than at dram number one. Glengoyne is technically a Highland but is pretty close to Glasgow, making it a handy place to visit if you're ever in the area and in need of some whisky-based retail therapy.

We had a Distillery Cask bottle to try, an 18-year-old ex-bourbon cask. Punchy, we thought, with notes of butterscotch and green fruit, especially Granny Smith apples.

This claimed to be a slow distillation and we wondered whether this helped make the drink lighter. It certainly settled down a bit to something sweeter once you'd had a couple of sips. It was 54.1% and came in at £150.

Lindores Abbey 4yo

Next a much newer distillery, Lindores Abbey. I say newer, the present distillery is on the site of where monks used to knock up a bit of their best moonshine back in the 15th century. We didn't have any of that, but instead had some of their 4-year-old from a refill sherry hogshead.

On the nose this was cloves and spice and a hint of chocolate orange. When taking a sip we got more spice, with cinnamon and even a bit of perfume. It almost felt fizzy in fact, a real texture sensation, almost like popping candy on the tongue.

It had a real kick too, as well it might at 62%. It was perhaps a bit harsh and some in the group felt it was too weird to be getting on with, so it did split the room a little bit. There was general surprise at how young it was though. It was £85.

Deanston 25yo

Deanston next, for whisky number three. A regular at the club, this distillery has long since made its name for its organic approach and its dramatic location inside an old cotton mill near Stirling. Many of us were really looking forward to trying this 25-year-old from a PX sherry cask.

It was very fruity indeed, as well as mellow. "Has the whisky been overtaken by the sherry?" was one thought. It gave us a sweet, long aftertaste, with waves of flavour. Interesting and some picked out a bit of resin or oiliness too. Very nice for sure, but perhaps not worth the £155 price tag for everyone. It was 55.7%.

After a half-time break to recharge our beer glasses downstairs at the Britons Protection, we were back for the remaining three whiskies.

Clynelish 2021

Dram four took us to Clynelish, a 'proper' Highland whisky from up near Brora and known for its distinct character. This 2021 expression did not have a huge nose on it, but was very drinkable.

Bananas all the way as a tasting note, sweet and waxy. But some in the room felt it was a little bland or benign overall. It might have been better with water in fact. It was 59.7%.

Tomatin 19yo

More PX sherry fun for whisky five, a Tomatin which had been in a barrel of the good stuff for its full maturation of 19, count them, years. "Sugarlumps!" was someone's one word review. It was thick but a tiny bit of water helped draw out some of the complexity.

This gave it a savoury, almost salty note as well. Even celery perhaps. The salty/sweet popcorn mix made it very different to the other PX we'd had earlier in the evening. Two thumbs up from many in the room. It was 53.7% and cost £147.

Ledaig 12yo

Last we were going to Mull and a bottle of Ledaig, the brand name used by Tobermory for its peated expressions. This was a 12-year-old Marsala finish. Some in the room felt this was "only all right" given the £100 price and that it wasn't as good as the club bottling of Ledaig we'd had for ourselves (although as was also noted, we had a particularly good one).

As ever for the last dram of the evening, the notes a bit sketchy at this point, but I can at least confirm the bottling was 58.1%.

All of which brought us to the dram of the night voting and all six got at least three votes, indicating a broad spread of opinions around what was a great selection. But the clear winner with 13 votes was the Tomatin, with the Glengoyne and Deanston joint second.

Thanks to all club members and guests for attending, everyone at the Britons for hosting us and of course Martin for picking out and taking us through such a great set of drams.

Grain Whisky Night

 

Six grain whiskies for us to try

Grain whisky is sometimes seen as a bit of a poor relation in the whisky world. But there's no real reason why that should be so. The label 'grain whisky' simply means using some grains other than malted barley as part of the whisky making process, and far from just padding out the good stuff with some inferior product, it can lead to some quality bottlings and great value drams.

Fercullen 10yo

And so for our April tasting, we had six grain whiskies to get stuck into courtesy of Martin. We started with a whiskey rather than a whisky, and something from Fercullen. It has been making whiskey at its Powerscourt distillery in Wicklow since 2018, but given we had a 10-year-old in our hands we think this must have come from the ubiquitous Cooley's.

This was floral on the nose and we got a lot of peach. "Very peachy all round". In fact, the finish more or less went away except for the peach. So it's certainly one to try if you like peaches. Further comments suggested this was a perfect breakfast whiskey and was in fact "the best first dram in ages." The bottling was white oak aged then finished in bourbon. It was 40% and we paid £60.

Bernheim 7yo

Dram two was another whiskey, albeit from a bit further west. This was a wheat whiskey from the Heaven Hill distillery, bottled under the Bernheim Original brand. It was a seven-year-old, and it had a little bit of corn and barley in there along with the wheat.

Initial tasting notes here were liquorice, herbs and spices. Aniseed and cola cubes came next. This was not universally popular, and some drinkers felt it was a bit on the sweet side for their taste. Others thought it was not bad but just suffered in comparison with the opener. Nice to try a wheat whiskey all the same. This was 45% and cost £78.

Circumstance 3yo

To England for the third whisky and our old friends from Circumstance, who did a remote tasting with us during Covid. They've set out their point of difference in the spirits market by using unusual yeasts, including a saison wheat beer yeast. We were trying a three-year-old, which had been matured in ex-bourbon casks.

This was sweet upfront with pear drops and banana sweets. A bit like those little fruit salad chews. Felt a bit rum like for some, and others thought it had a bit of a non-whisky or even slightly synthetic vibe about it. The yeast was certainly there in the beer-like mouthfeel. A bit light perhaps, and also trying to do a lot in a single drink. Lively and interesting and unlike other whiskies most of us have tried before. It was 46% and we paid £60.

Master of Malt's own

After a half-time break and a chance to refill our beer glasses downstairs at the Britons Protection, we were into something far older for the fourth whisky. From the Atom Labs offshoot of leading online booze retailer Master of Malt, this was Butterscotch & Vanilla & Toast & a Generation, part of their series of similarly-named whiskies with cool minimalist labels. This particular bottling was a 30yo blend of grains, probably from the North British and Invergordon distilleries.

It certainly tasted mature. Not light at all, and there was plenty to go at. Barbecue was one tasting note, creme brulee another. Waxy on the nose and we definitely did get the butterscotch. At £65, this was very good value for a 30yo whisky. But on the other hand, at just 40% some drinkers felt it was a little under-powered, and resolved to try the higher ABV cask strength version which retails for a bit more.

Electric Coo 26yo

More North British in dram number five, which was something of a curiosity. Electric Coo was the brand name, and it ended up with us as part of a crowdfunder for David Stirk, a whisky expert who was writing a book about independent distilleries. If you contributed you got a bottle, and so here it was, a 26-year-old.

This had a bit of an acidic tang to it. In fact it was "brutal" suggested someone, in the sense it was very strong and big tasting, and felt stronger than the 50% on the label. Still some sweetness in there, but also a tannin mouthfeel thought some in the room. A bit of a split room in the end, but more than one person was desperate for another drop having finished theirs. The indicative value on it was £95.

Loch Lomond

For our last whisky of the evening, we went to Loch Lomond via the Southport Whisky Club, which bottled this particular expression. Rather than a grain whisky, this was really a single malt in all but name, but because it was distilled using Coffey stills it can't technically be called a malt. This was a chunky old peated cask strength dram, at 61.3%.

And didn't it taste like it. "My word this is strong" I've written down in my notes, and that sums it up pretty well. Very fruit too, with grapefruit prominent on the palate. There were mixed views in the room on whether it improved with water. Some found it a bit much all round. But, as ever for a big peat monster, it had its supporters in the club too!

We ran dram of the night a bit differently, giving everyone two votes instead of one. And would you believe it, we ended up with a very rare win for the opening dram of the night. The Fercullen picked up 17 votes, with the Loch Lomond second and the Electric Coo third. But all the whiskies got some votes, again emphasising what a good selection we had. Thanks to Martin for providing it, for all club members and guests for getting stuck in and drinking them, and to all at the Britons for hosting us yet again.

The Long and Winding Road to Campbeltown

 

The full line up

For our March tasting, club member Ian took us down the A83 - the fabled 'long and winding road' - to one of the great traditional centres of whisky in Scotland, Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre.

Hazelburn 10yo

He had half a dozen drams for us all connected to J&A Mitchell, owner of Springbank and Glengyle distilleries in the town, as well as the Cadenhead's independent bottler and whisky shop.

The opening whisky was a 10-year-old Hazelburn, one of the collection of brands produced at Springbank that uses a name associated with the town's long whisky-making heritage. It was a triple distilled and unpeated dram, acting as our calibration for the evening.

Enigma 25yo

And it did a pretty good job. Easy drinking and fruity we thought, apples or even toffee apples on the palate. Almost like a summer cider. Delicate with a floral finish. A real easy drinker all round and very pleasant. It was £52 and came in at 46%.

Next it was something from the Cadenhead's stable, a 25-year-old blend matured in refill sherry casks and released under the Enigma name last summer.

With not much information available as to what was actually in it, this was a little bit of a step into the unknown. Prunes and strawberry sauce perhaps. Definitely sherry characteristics and a nice texture. Oily and a bit woody. Had it spent too long in the cask, perhaps?

Enigma 15yo

The fact it had been bottled at 41.4% indicated that it may have been in danger of slipping below the magic 40. It did have a little bitterness about it, along with peppery notes and aniseed as well. It cost £70.

Another Enigma bottle which Ian was able to secure for us was the sister expression, a 15-year-old, and we had it in our hands for whisky three. Less mystery about this one, a blended malt mixing Hazelburn and Kilkerran and coming in at 48.2%.

"Very nice, can we have another?" This gave us tropical fruits and was juicy and oily. Salty notes too, also peppermint and possibly a bit of melted butter as well. Nice and smooth all round. Well worth the £65.

Ord 13yo

After a half-time break and an opportunity to refill our beer glasses downstairs at the Britons Protection bar, it was back for the second trio.

Dram four was another Cadenhead's, this time an Authentic Collection bottling from Glen Ord, a name generally only seen in conjunction with Diageo's The Singleton brand. The special twist here was the finish in Armagnac.

Delicate on the nose, but with a real punch in the mouth, suggested someone. There was lots of enthusiasm for this - "delicious" and "glorious" - we felt. A lot of dried fruits were in evidence, and it was also strong enough to take a bit of water. No surprise really at 56.4% and plenty of folk felt they'd be interested in buying it at the price tag of £70 (you can still buy it online from Cadenhead's themselves).

Glen Grant 14yo

Sticking with Cadenhead's and we had a monster of a sherry dram waiting for us next, a 14-year-old Glen Grant finished in a Pedro Ximenez hogshead. Incredible on the nose, this was very chewy and big tasting on the palate. It tasted all of its not inconsiderable 59.9%.

Again it took a bit of water and we also thought it was excellent value at £75. 

Union 5yo

If the colour of number five was impressive, our last dram of the night looked even more distinctive. We were tasting it blind and on first impressions it was thick and oily like treacle. "I love this but it's not quite as good as five" was one widely held view.

On revealing the identity, it turned out to be a Cadenhead's bottling of a whisky from Brazil and the Union distillery - our first ever from the country. The colour came from the Oloroso sherry hogshead and it was another chunky dram at 56.9%. Sharp tasting and good value at just £45, we felt this could be even better with a bit longer. A great effort though and incredible for a whisky so young.

Which brought us to the dram of the night voting. All whiskies got at least one vote, but in the end it was an easy triumph for the Glen Grant with no fewer than 19 votes. The Ord was second and the Union third, making it a Cadenhead's 1-2-3.

Thanks to Ian for putting on such a great tasting for us, and to all club members and those on the waiting list for attending, as well as to all at the Britons for hosting us again. 

Raiding The Club's Cellar

This month's line up

For the leap day tasting on February 29th, Martin went burrowing around club stocks and selected six bottles that have been sitting on the shelf for long enough. The extra part of the theme was that they were all from independent bottlers, too.

Glen Scotia 9yo

We started off in Campbeltown with a 9yo Glen Scotia, bottled for the Southport Whisky Club having been picked out for them by the distillery's master distiller. This unpeated expression had the sort of spicy, peppery notes that are a theme of Glen Scotia whiskies. Adding a bit of water changed the game, and brought out a real creaminess too. Indeed, we felt as though it needed a bit of water.

A nice, long finish and hints of apples and pears as well. Mostly people really enjoyed this in the room. It was a chunky old thing first off at 57.1% and was £58.

North Star Dalmunach

We went to Speyside next and a newer name on the whisky scene, Dalmunach. This began distillation in 2014 as Pernod Ricard's answer to Diageo's similarly big, shiny and new facility at Roseisle. The output mainly goes into the company's blends such as Chivas, so it's relatively rare to spot a bottling in the wild. The one we had was from independent bottler North Star. and was a 6yo fully matured in a ruby port cask.

That port maturation gave it a remarkable colour, almost like a glass of Ribena. It was big on the nose too with definite hints of cola, but on the palate arguably didn't even really taste much like whisky at all. Very spirity we felt, and more like a Cognac. Worth trying once but not everyone was convinced. It was 56.4% and cost £54.

Bunnahabhain 5yo

Off to Islay for dram number three and a Bunnahabhain. This was a 5yo, bottled by the legendary Cadenhead's as part of their club membership scheme.

This was spicy! Very nice, you wouldn't peg it for a young, cask strength whisky (it was 59.6%), and it was much more drinkable than that. It was a bit "angry with water" but at the same time had a smoky finish, and had an element of being light at the same time. We paid £50 for this.

After a break for half-time and a chance to recharge our glasses downstairs at the bar of the Britons Protection, it was on to the second part of the tasting and dram number four.

Glentauchers 20yo

We were back to Speyside for a Glentauchers, bottled by Bartels, known for their brands such as Highland Laird. At 20 years old we had high hopes for this one, Glentauchers being a favourite distillery of many club members, so much so that we even did one of our club bottlings of the stuff.

This was subtle and creamy at first, and for some it was maybe even - whisper it, softly - a little bit plain. But others thought it absolutely superb. As one member commented "if you don't like that, what on earth are you doing here?". So the room in general certainly gave it two thumbs up. It was 53.2% and cost us £62,

Linkwood 13yo

For number five we went to another distillery normally used in blends, this was a 13yo Linkwood, owned by Diageo and more often tasted as part of Johnnie Walker. We had a bottling from Thompson Bros, run by brothers Philip and Simon who are based in Dornoch in the Highlands, where they run their bottling brand along with a micro-distillery and bar.

This smelt terrific, like cream soda. It was light and floral and very drinkable. Others felt it had a little bit of artificial sweetener about it, almost reminiscent of aspartame. This cost £71.50 and was 54.6%.

Glen Elgin 11yo

For the sixth and final dram of the evening, we stayed in Speyside once again for Glen Elgin and a bottling from James Eadie, an old brand that was revived by the family in 2015. 

We had an 11yo matured in a first fill Madeira hogshead. It was 59.1% but if anything tasted even stronger. A bit spicy at the back, and certainly worked well with water. The finish lasted and lasted, and didn't fade. This cost £60.

Which brought us to the dram of the night voting. All the whiskies got at least one vote, a sign of a tasting of great strength in depth. But the clear winner was the Glentauchers, dram four, which picked up no fewer than 19 votes. Tied for second were drams one and three, the Glen Scotia and Bunnahabhain,

Thanks to Martin for putting on such a great tasting, all club members and those from the waiting list for joining us, and to the Britons for hosting us once again.

 

Christmas Party 2023

Club members gathered at the Britons Protection in early December for one of the highlights of every year at MWC, the Christmas Party. 

It's the night where we bring back the last drops of the bottles from the tastings throughout the year, raid the club stocks for one or two bottles, and members bring in what they've been enjoying lately for everyone else to try. There's also a stack of homebaking to knock through, too.

Thanks to all who attended another great party and for supporting the club throughout the year. After more than a decade in action, the club goes from strength to strength!

The Lakes Distillery

 

The full line-up

It may have been St Andrew's Night but for our November tasting, we were able to enjoy a selection of drams courtesy of one of England's top distilleries, the Lakes.

Equinox

Established in 2012 and opened in 2014, the Lakes has gradually emerged as one of the leading new names in whisky especially for its Whiskymaker's Reserve range, of which more later. But first we had the chance to try some bottles from its Editions series.

But first we had our hands on glasses of Equinox. Light and delicate and showing the influence of both Calvados and oloroso sherry, this was a very fruity drink. It was a bit spicy at the end too, with white pepper notes and a bit of welcome dryness.

Good for all year round drinking we thought, light enough for summer but with a bit of spiciness that meant it wouldn't be out of place in colder weather either. It's 46.6% and a bottle is £90.

Iris

Next it was Iris, more of a spring-summer dram according to the distillery, but even so it packs a punch at 56%. Floral and fruity, and spicy again. Very powerful all round in fact.

Once that spice dies down the flavour gets more of a chnace to come through, and the main note we had was crisp red apple. It's £85.

For dram three, a collaboration with Simon Rogan, the chef behind Cartmel's multi-Michelin starred L'Enclume and pioneer of sustainability in the food industry.

Reflections

Called Reflections, this is a whisky aimed more at autumn and winter, and features locally sourced ingredients to pair with L'Enclume's autumn menu.

Lots of red wine barrels were involved here, and as such the key tasting notes we picked out were candied fruit, pumpkin spice and cinnamon. This was a very well-balanced dram to drink despite the strength at 54%. It was £85 as well, a price tag that was low enough to tempt a few of us to invest in a bottle from Aston's of Manchester, who were at the tasting too.

No 6

After a half-time break to give us all a chance to recharge our glasses downstairs at the Britons Protection, it was on to part two of the evening and a chance to try three drams from the Reserve range.

Whisky four was No 6, which is matured in a mix of oloroso, Pedro Ximinez and red wine casks, and we thought the red wine barrel gave it a bit of a savoury note. Liquorice, perhaps. Overall, this was a meaty, almost brothy drink, with a big and long finish.

It was 52% but if anything tasted a touch stronger than that, and again you can pick it up for about £85.

No 7

The brand new Whiskymaker's Reserve No 7 was up next, what will be the last in this particular series, and this featured similar casks with a mixture of sherry and red wine again. Sherry-led as befits the Lakes general style, but with notable sandalwood on the nose. Sultanas, too, with a little bit of smoke on the aftertaste.

Adding water brought a bit more of the fruit and less of the spice. It's 52% and is a noble way to end what has been a hugely successful series of releases for The Lakes. Again, the price tag is £85.

Which brought us to the end of the evening and something a bit special to end on. Back to Editions we went for a bottle of Infinity. The recommended way to tackle this was through two sips: let the first one sit on the palate for a moment and then follow up with the second straight after.

Infinity

This gave us the experience of something spicy, then sweet, and then savoury. A sherry bomb, this was Christmas all round. It's 52% and £95.

All that remained was the dram of the night voting, and it was a thumbs up in the end for dram five - the Whiskymaker's Reserve No 7 - with 14 votes, just one ahead of the Reflections with 13. Infinity was third, but all the bottles got at least some support in the room, showing what a strong range of whiskies we had in front of us for this tasting.

Our thanks to everyone at The Lakes and Aston's for putting on the tasting and helping us buy some bottles afterwards. Thanks also to the Britons Protection for hosting us again, and to all club members who joined us for the tasting. Next: the annual Christmas Party!