English Whisky Special

Another Zoom tasting!

For our September tasting, once again held via Zoom, we had a selection of whiskies from across England to try. It wasn't so long that England didn't produce any whisky at all, but now there are an increasing number of distilleries not only producing the stuff, but putting some impressive bottlings out onto the market, and we had five to try.

Filey Bay

We kicked off the evening with a dram from what is, by geography at least, the closest working whisky distillery to Manchester. It's Filey Bay in North Yorkshire, and we had a bottle of its First Release, which came out towards the end of 2019, once the spirit had passed the three year mark.

It certainly tasted young, with not a lot of wood in it yet, although it was nice and biscuity. The real sages in the group felt this tasted like great quality whisky, although it was obviously still very young and therefore perhaps a bit rough around the edges. It was short-lived on the palate, although quite smooth considering its youth, while others did think it burned a bit. The whisky is all grain to glass on the same site, and we certainly think it's one to watch as it moves up in age in the coming years. This was 46% and £63 when you could get it, although it now goes for upwards of £100 on auction sites.

Cotswolds

Next it was a move much further south, to the Cotswolds in fact, and another inaugural release, from the Cotswolds Distillery. As with Filey Bay, this distillery was established with the help of whisky guru, the late Jim Swan. We felt this had more about it straight away, with a very good nose like a sweet pastry or strudel.

There was a little bit of dryness too, and we felt this was better than some of its English rivals of a similar sort of age, although those who added water felt this killed the whisky a bit. Aged in a mixture of red wine and bourbon casks, this was again 46% and was just £50 when it came out - a bargain! But if you want to buy a bottle now it'll set you back a cool £300. So perhaps best wait for something newer from them.

The English

For our third drink of the evening we visited the oldest of this new breed of English distilleries, the English Whisky Company in Norfolk, which at one time was the first English distillery to bring a whisky to the market in a century. A sign of the age of the distillery is that they are now producing an 11-year-old, which is what we had before us.

We got toasty nuts on the nose, with a little bit of ashtray. Adding water diminished that a bit, and made the drink sweeter. At 56.8% this had a real cask strength feeling to it, which did polarise the club members a bit, with some of our Zoom breakout rooms giving this the thumbs up and others less keen. The finish was a bit short. A single cask whisky, one of 311 bottles matured in a red wine cask, it was £75 when you could get it although it's now sold out.

The Lakes

After a short half-time break, we were on to the fourth whisky and a return to the north of England and The Lakes distillery. Possibly best known for its The One blend, featuring a mixture of whiskies from the four nations of the UK, we had a bottle of its higher end Whiskymaker Reserve No 3.

Spicy, with citrus on the nose, and burnt orange, dark fruits and even cherry. In short, lots going on, with a different sort of taste and some unusual flavours. Very enjoyable, although the nose was perhaps more of a highlight than how it tasted on the palate, yet still a very well balanced drink overall. At 54% and £65, this had a bit of "all the sherries" in it, from Oloroso, PX, cream sherry and then red wine, as if that wasn't enough.

Bimber

To finish off we had something even more special, and it was from one of the hottest names in whisky this year, super trendy London distillery Bimber. This was a bottle of a recent release, an unpeated whisky finished in a peated Islay quarter cask, which sold out of its 1,750 bottles in under an hour.

This whisky was, to quote one member "on another level" to even the very good ones we'd had earlier in the tasting. A lot to it, perhaps with more on the palate than the nose, but it really came at you in layers. Waxy and greasy with a mixture of subtle tastes, that helped it to taste much older than it really is. At auction these bottles will already cost you more than £100. It's 54.1%.

And so it came to our dram of the night voting, and it was the Bimber which came out on top with 10 votes, while the slightly more polarising English Whisky Company bottling picked up 7, while the others also attracted at least one vote each. Bimber certainly one to watch - but then so are all these developing English distilleries.

Thanks to the committee and club members who all took part in another successful tasting. We're counting down the days until we can return to in person tastings at the Britons Protection, but in the meantime, these lockdown specials are continuing to prove hugely successful!

The full line-up

August Tasting: Raiding The Club's Reserves

 

August's line up of samples

Our August remote tasting, the first under Greater Manchester's renewed Covid restrictions, found us sampling a range of drams taken from the club's stocks. No particular theme, but an opportunity to try some excellent whiskies which the club had kept aside for a rainy day like this.

Story of the Spaniard

We did this one blind, revealing the bottles after tasting each whisky. And the first whisky of the night was fresh, with a sort of grassy or organic-type vibe about it. Not as sweet as some whiskies, with a spiciness and a sort of white wine-type crispness on the nose. Some said this wasn't particularly special on the nose but tasted better, and someone thought it was a bit heavy in the end.

It turned out to be a blend, a no age statement one at that, from Compass Box and called The Story of the Spaniard. Inspired by working on a whisky with The Spaniard bar in New York, this is built around whisky drawn from sherry and Spanish red wine casks (so that was wine we could pick up, just the wrong colour). A very pleasant start to the night though. It's 43% and is still available for £52.

Madeira Cask Project

Next we had a much sweeter nose to contend with for dram number two. There maybe wasn't too much else on the nose, though, with a subtle, even menthol type smell. There was much more to go at on the palate, with a particular rush of sweetness at the very end. Adding a bit of water brought out that menthol that much more, along with the likes of liqourice or even nail polish remover (not sure what this actually tastes like, but it takes all sorts).

Some in the club suspected a lightly peated Islay, but it was in fact a Speyside. Not just a Speyside, but a Glen Moray, a distillery recently branching out from its reputation as a purveyor of highly affordable, entry-level whiskies that you can pick up in the supermarket. This was a 13-year-old which had spent all its life in madeira casks, hence the name Madeira Cask Project. It's 46.3% and £62 if you can find a bottle. Closing comments on this included "yummy" and "really good".

Kilkerran 12yo

Onto number three and the nose was unusual, with early suggestions from members including "wet carpet" and "cleaning products" with even a bit of cardboard in there somewhere. Yet despite that possibly unpromising initial blast of mustiness on the nose, once we tasted this, there was widespread enjoyment. Slightly peated, and very pleasant indeed.

The whisky hailed from Campbeltown, once a hub of the whisky industry and now certainly well onto the comeback trail, although the number of distilleries there is a fraction of those that existed in the early 20th century. This particular bottle is from the Glengyle distillery but does not appear under that name, because the rights to 'Glengyle' are held far away at Loch Lomond these days. So instead, it's bottled as Kilkerran, and this was the 12 year-old expression, one of the first of the core range released by the distillery since its 2004 reopening. At 46% and just £39, this represented great value too.

Celebrity Yurt
Indulgence

After a short break we resumed with whisky number four, and this was sweet on the nose before a big hit on the palate. Much bigger than most were expecting after the nose, to be honest. It was very peppery and tasted very strong, and that pepperiness was a complete surprise. Other comments included "sweet" and "syrupy, like golden syrup".

This was a Highland Park, bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society under the name 'Celebrity Yurt Indulgence'. It was surprisingly peaty for a Highland Park. A 16 year-old from a refill Oloroso sherry butt, it tasted all of its 60.6%. We paid £85 for it from the SMWS, although it's long since out of stock.

Finlaggan Red Wine
Cask 

As is often the case with the closing dram of any tasting, it was time for the 'peat incoming' siren to go off, once we poured the last miniature into our glasses. It certainly gave off a fantastic smell for all the peat monsters in the club, of whom there are quite a few. This had a saltiness, sea water, even notes of salted fish and burnt tyres. Really very lovely indeed, some also fancied this with a bit of water too.

It was a Finlaggan, a brand created by the Vintage whisky company. So the actual origin distillery is a bit of a mystery, although we do know for sure it was on Islay somewhere. The particular bottle we were drinking was the red wine cask, which clocked in at 46%. At just over £42, another bottle offering good value.

All of which brought us to the dram of the night voting. And not for the first time, each whisky had some supporters, indicating plenty of strength in depth from this particular line up. But the winner in the end was the SMWS Celebrity Yurt Indulgence with nine votes, just ahead of the Story of the Spaniard and the Kilkerran which picked up six each.

Thanks again to all club members and guests for taking part via Zoom, and to Anna and Martin for overseeing this well-timed raid on the club's whisky stocks.

Elixir Distillers and the Single Malts of Scotland

It was another Zoom tasting.

Our series of remote lockdown tastings continued in July with a selection of whiskies from Elixir Distillers. It's a London-based independent distiller known for being part of the Whisky Exchange empire, and for bottling the Elements of Islay and Port Askaig brands, both of which we've enjoyed at past events.

Julie Hamilton from Elixir took us through a set of five miniatures mostly drawn from Elixir's other main range, called Single Malts of Scotland.

Clynelish 8yo

We tasted them all blind, and the first whisky of the evening had a familiar taste about it. It was very pleasant on the nose, spicy with a hit of flavour although it did fade a bit after that. There was a bit of citrus or pineapple about it, although it tasted a bit different to what the nose would have suggested, with a certain oiliness. A nice easy drinker to start off the evening though.

Some of the club members rightly pegged it as something youngish, and it turned out to be an 8yo from Clynelish. It's 48% and costs £60.

Glen Elgin 12yo

Next was something that came over as very subtle, with pear drops and toasted cereal on the nose. Tasting this revealed a smoother drink with a longer finish than the previous dram, also a bit chewy with some drinkers picking up almonds, and bit of a spice and even bitterness at the back of the throat. Another tasting note was marmalade or orange peel, and those who added a bit of water felt that it softened things up considerably.

Again this felt a touch young, but it was in fact a 12-year-old from Glen Elgin on Speyside. It's 48% and £61.95.

Benrinnes 13yo

The third dram of the evening immediately smelt of peat, although not entirely meaning we doubted whether this was an Islay. Other notes on the nose included menthol or something medicinal, like Vicks rub. Someone else suggested Lotus caramelised biscuits, and we all agreed this was a bit of a mixed bag. It did start like an Islay on the palate but then changed, with a bit of a surprising, dry finish.

Certainly unusual, and our favourite so far, it turned out to be a 13-year-old from Benrinnes. Again it's 48% and £61.95.

Linkwood 12yo

After a short break, Julie invited us to open drink number four. There wasn't too much on the nose, but it had a lovely, sweet feeling on the palate. The sweetness put us in mind of golden syrup, maybe candy floss, and it certainly was very sweet. A bit of water actually unlocked the nose a bit more, although if anything it also served to lessen the palate.

This was another 12-year-old, although on this occasion from Linkwood. We certainly thought it was interesting the Single Malts of Scotland showcased a series of whiskies of similar ages and strengths, but which were all quite different. The Linkwood is again 48% and comes in at £66.95.

Port Askaig 12yo

For the final drink of the evening we moved away from the SMoS range and to Port Askaig, a brand named after a key settlement on Islay, and used to showcase Elixir's range of independent Islay bottlings. And this was unmistakably an Islay from the first nose. Very nice, beautiful and salty, we thought, and almost everyone enjoyed this very much, although one or two drinkers felt it was a touch too peaty for them.

This turned out to be what should have been the spring edition of Port Askaig, although the release was delayed by Covid. Perhaps surprisingly, this was actually less strong than the other drams of the night at just 45.8%, and it's £65.95.

In the dram of the night voting, it was the Port Askaig that took the honours, just ahead of the Linkwood and the Benrinnes. Thank you to Julie for taking us through another great selection of whiskies from Elixir, and to all club members who took part for supporting the event in such numbers.

Lockdown Blind Tasting

The line up of whiskies (1-5 left to right)

Manchester Whisky Club has continued despite lockdown, with the community regularly meeting for informal Zoom-based drams. But last Thursday we took things a stage further with a blind tasting of five whiskies from the club's stocks, the miniatures having been picked up in a suitably socially-distanced fashion!

North Star Spica

It was an opportunity to try a selection of bottles which had been bought by the club but had never yet found their way into a themed tasting.

And we started with the whisky that had by far the deepest colour of the five chosen. It smelled like a heavy hitter, with a lot of toffee and sweetness, a bit like a creme brulee or a sweet pastry. Someone even suggested orange, although conceded that may have been because the sticker on the bottle was orange. It was thick and oily and really clung to the side of the glass, but the finish was short, perhaps surprisingly so all things considered.

This turned out to be a bit deceiving, in that it was a blend of just 45.2%, so not as high an ABV as many had thought. A 20-year-old bottled by independent bottler North Star, it went under the name Spica and was released in 2018 when we paid £46. It's long gone unfortunately, along with all the other whiskies we were trying, but it made for a strong start to the tasting.

Highland Laird Royal Brackla

The next whisky was very light. It didn't have much on the nose, with some members suggesting they couldn't smell much at all, while others got a spirity blast and some apple notes as well. When it came to tasting, it seemed familiar but nobody could quite put their finger on it. "Tastes like it should be a Bruichladdich but there's no peat" said someone, and we knew what they meant, but that wasn't quite on the money either.

If the first dram had been less strong than expected, the opposite was true here: 59.8% even though it didn't really drink like that. A Highland rather than an unpeated Islay, it's a 10yo single cask Royal Brackla, bottled by another independent bottler under the brand name Highland Laird. Royal Brackla is not a name seen too often as most of it goes into the Dewar's blend. We paid just £41 for this in 2017, a real bargain.

Whiskybroker Tomintoul

The advice for dram number three was that this was another high ABV, so well worth trying straight before with a little bit of water. It was nice and warm and fragrant on the nose, although it did seem to take a little bit of time to get going. The palate was where this one really stood out. Mild mannered to begin with then "really gorgeous" with toasted marshmallows and Turkish delight, along with a sort of chewy, peppery thing going on too. As someone said, "I don't want to add any water to that!"

The bottle was from another indie, the ever-popular Whiskybroker, and it was a 10yo Tomintoul. Finished in an oloroso sherry hogshead, this particular dram clocked in at 54% and was again very good value at just £44, when we bought it in 2018.

SMWS Glendronach

After a short break, it was back for the fourth whisky of the evening, and this one was quite powerful on the nose. We were getting Quavers, also pear drops, and cherries, maybe even a bit of cherry brandy. That cherry note continued onto the taste, although to be increasingly specific, there was a general view that this was the sort of artificial cherry flavouring you get, rather than actual fresh cherries. So there! Some tried it with a bit of water and this arguably gave a more rounded flavour, with a little less sweetness.

At 55.2%, the ABV was high but lower than many had thought. It was an 11yo Glendronach from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, under the name The Merchant of Alsace. Unusually for Glendronach, it wasn't sherried. We got it in March 2018 for just £56, brilliant value, although there were just 198 bottles produced. As you can see from the picture, I had drunk mine before remembering to take a photo, so you'll just have to imagine what it looked like!

Chorlton Highland Park

The final whisky seemed to be another high ABV one. Everyone (mistakenly) thought this was an Islay because there seemed to be a bit of peat in there, and others thought that it tasted even stronger with a drop of water.

This was our youngest drinking of the night, just a 9-year-old, and it was from the Orkney distillery of Highland Park rather than Islay. Bottled by local favourite Chorlton, it was a bit of a monster at 63.1% even though it didn't really taste like it. We got the bottle for £47.50 in 2018, again superb value.

Which brought us onto the voting for dram of the night. At this point my somewhat unreliable broadband (at least when it comes to extending into the garden) dropped out, but I was able to gather that the Tomintoul was the winner with eight votes!

Thanks to everyone in the club for such a great turnout for the tasting, and for Martin and Anna for co-ordinating the safe despatch of whiskies to members. Hopefully we'll be back in the Britons' Protection before long, but in the meantime, this is a good substitute.

A post-tasting chance to try the newest club bottling.

The Six Nations Championship of Whisky

The Six Nations line up

We met at the end of February for what will now, sadly, be the last in-person tasting of Manchester Whisky Club for the next little while. For the first time in my seven years of attending the club, I finally got around to actually hosting a tasting, and I led the members through a whisky representing each of the competing nations in rugby union's Six Nations Championship: Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, France and Italy.

Wales

You may well have noticed that some of those countries are rather better known for producing whisky than others. One of those nations probably more associated with rugby than whisky is Wales, but not through the want of trying of their best-known distillery, Penderyn. Based in the Brecon Beacons, they have carved out quite a name for themselves, with their highly drinkable and very good value Madeira cask finish standard bottling a common sight in supermarkets and airports these days.

For this tasting I picked out a rugby-themed dram, the bottling the distillery produced in 2019 to commemorate Wales' Grand Slam in the Six Nations, which is when one country beats all the others. It's a port wood finish, and there are various bits and bobs about the final victory over Ireland on the packaging, if you're into that sort of thing. It's got those port-type flavours of berries and red grapes about it, and a dried fruit sweetness as well. A great way to start the evening, this went down very well. It's 46% and is £48.

Italy

If Wales is not exactly a whisky hotbed, the best efforts of Penderyn notwithstanding, what should we make of Italy? Well, to describe it as not a whisky country is a bit misleading: it has a long-standing taste for Scottish whisky, especially younger expressions bottled specifically for that market, meaning that obscure Italian bottlings are a staple of the 'old and rare' whisky scene.

There is an Italian single malt actually produced there though, and here it is. Psenner is a distillery in the Tirol best known for making fruit liqueurs, but it has turned its hand to whisky as well with this 3yo called Eretico. It's matured for a while in ex-grappa casks, and also spends time in Oloroso sherry casks as well. But it's certainly the pungent grappa that comes across both on the nose and the palate. Certainly distinctive, but probably not one too many club members will be trying to seek out. It's 43% and is available locally for 70 Euros, but we paid a bit more to get it through Amazon.

Ireland

Ireland next, but mixed with a hint of another emerging rugby nation, Japan. This bottle is from the Glendalough distillery, which emerged in County Wicklow in 2012 as an independent bottler of whisky produced at Cooley's, although since 2015 it has started to make its own stuff too (this being 13-years-old, means it falls in the former camp). The twist here is that it is finished in mizunara oak casks. A wood native to Japan, it was used in the Japanese whisky industry because of post-war shortages, but since then has proved a tricky beast - the trees don't grow straight and the wood is relatively porous.

But using it is not just a gimmick. Mizunara is known for imparting a distinctive flavour on whisky, and this Glendalough was no exception. This had a bit of coconut about it, and was very smooth, with a sort of fudgey, chocolatey quality about it too. Lovely. It's 46% and £78.

France

After a half-time break when I served up some homemade millionaire's shortbread and Aberdeen rowies (thanks to the Hairy Bikers for the recipe), it was on to the remaining three whiskies, and three cask strength ones too.

First it was France. Or to be more precise, Brittany. The last time we did a Six Nations tasting back in 2016, it was a bottle of Armorik that we rated the best. I thought it was sensible to bring them back for another go as reigning champions, and picked out their 2002 bottling, a 14-year-old.

It was a single cask (3309), aged in Oloroso sherry. And it was a bit of a sherry monster, with lots of dark fruits on the nose, then raisins and creamy vanilla, along with a long and warm finish. Again, this was a popular drink with the group. It didn't quite taste all of its 56.3%, and went down a bit more easily than that. It's £85.

England

Only two nations remained and I switched it up a bit. For the last dram I went with a Scottish whisky bottled in England, so first that meant an English whisky bottled in Scotland. Not just any old English whisky, but something from The English Whisky Company of Norfolk, an 8yo bottled by the venerable whisky name of Cadenheads. This was a vatted malt, meaning a combination of two or more single malts, on this occasion one peated and one unpeated hogshead, distilled in 2010.

This certainly did have a bit of smoke about it, more of an ashiness really rather than a full-on Islay-style peat explosion. But there were also other flavours were could pick out, the main one being a general sort of sweet barbecue sauce sort of thing. It was 64.6% and was available for a £55, although I'm afraid we picked up the last one.

Also unavailable now is the last whisky of the evening, another from our friends at local (to us) independent bottler Chorlton Whisky. Again this had a peat theme, in that it was an 8yo Ruadh Maor, the brand name used by Glenturret for its more peated expressions (the name translates from the Gaelic as 'red steward').

This particular bottle was aged in a hogshead from Caol Ila, hence the peatiness. Again there was a sort of barbecue flavour going on, with some honey and even toffee apple on the finish. Nice again, but it perhaps didn't quite hit the heights of some of the earlier whiskies. There were just 158 of them produced at 62.5% and it was £50.

And the dram of the night voting, to crown the Six Nations Whisky Champions, went the way of... Ireland! The Glendalough took nine votes, with support also for the Penderyn and the Armorik. Sadly the Scottish whisky at the end got no votes at all, perhaps proving that Scotland should stick to rugby? Actually, maybe not.

Thanks again to all club members and guests who came, and to everyone at the Britons for hosting us again. Hopefully we'll be back again, sooner than we fear.

The Science of Sherry

Six whiskies and three sherries!

It was club chairman Adam's turn to lead us through January's tasting. And what a line-up he produced for us as part of his look at the science of sherry, and the particular role sherry often plays in the maturation of whisky. Yes, those are nine glasses on the (rather fetching) new club mats, six of whisky and three of sherry.

Gonzalez Byass Fino

And it was one of the sherries we began with, a 10yo Fino sherry from Gonzalez Byass. Fino is the driest and palest sherry, and along with other sherries, has featured prominently in the story of Scottish whisky for decades. The traditional popularity of sherry in Britain led to widespread availability of sherry casks, which were convenient for the whisky industry, giving many of our best-known whiskies a familiar sherry character.

The Gonzalez Byass was indeed obviously very dry, even to those of us without much sherry knowledge (sherry reached its peak popularity in the UK back in the 1970s - "around the time my nan was absolutely caning it" - as someone suggested). It was certainly distinctive, with a butteriness about it. Some drinkers liked it, some didn't. It's £40 for a 50cl bottle, and the ABV is 16%.

Deanston Fino Cask

Adam took us on to the second drink, and first whisky, of the night. And the Fino theme continued, this time with a 2006 Deanston, finished in Fino casks. It was matured for 12 years in total and this occasion the 'finish' amounted to a very decent two-and-a-half years of that time, having been in ex-bourbon casks initially. Deanston is considered a Highland distillery, although in reality it's just a short way from Stirling in central Scotland.

There was a lot going on here, with a fresh, sweet, taste. The lengthy time spent finishing in the sherry casks perhaps made it seem older than it actually was. It's true to say we liked this one very much. It's 55% and is well worth the £65 price tag.

Aberlour A'Bunadh

It was Aberlour next, for a taste of what used to be one of the best value whiskies around. I say 'used to be', because A'Bunadh, which was once available for not much over £40, will now set you back £80, much to the understandable irritation of long-term fans of this particular cask strength drop, matured in Oloroso sherry butts.

It really hits the big, rich, sherried notes of fruitcake and raisins. The ABV is 61.2%. It's arguably still worth the £80, but if you know how much it used to cost, it's possibly a little harder to justify parting with the cash. The particular bottle we drank was from batch 56, although they're up to number 63 now.

Craigellachie 10yo PX

Having experienced Fino and then Oloroso, we moved on to a third well-known variety of sherry, with Pedro Ximenex (typically known as PX, in case you ever see it on a bottle and wonder what it stands for). These are sherries with a dark, juicy, intense sweetness, and the PX casks are often in real demand for certain whiskies. The dram Adam had picked out for us was a 10yo from the Craigellachie distillery on Speyside, bottled by the independent Whiskybroker.

And this certainly was fruity, although if anything perhaps a little lighter than some club members had anticipated, and it had a bit of cocoa about it as well, along with a shortish finish. It had spent most of its maturation in a sherry butt before switching to a PX octave (a small cask holding just 50l, ensuring more of the flavour transfers to the liquid inside). It was £44 although they're all gone now, and was 54.9%.

Nectar Pedro Ximenex

Next it was back to sherry and an opportunity to try some actual PX. We had a Nectar Pedro Ximenex, so sweet according to Adam, it is officially 3.7 times sweeter than even the old recipe of Irn Bru. This particular bottle was again from Gonzalez Byass, and was 9 years old.

And the proof of that came when we got to actually try it. "Like concentrated raisin juice" as someone suggested. Certainly memorable, although not exactly a session drink. At 15% and £15 (for a full 75cl bottle this time), it's one to invest in for when the family comes round next Christmas, maybe.

Matusalem 30yo

The third and final sherry was next, and we went to a 30-year-old Oloroso from Matusalem, also a Gonzalez Byass (based at Jerez in southern Spain, the centre of the sherry producing region). The grapes here were some PX alongside Palomino, a drier variety.

It was less raisiny and sweet than the PX we'd just had, and was perhaps all the better for it. This was 20.5% and £21 for a 37.5cl bottle. At this point we held, unusually for us, a 'sherry of the night' vote, and it was the Matusalem which just edged out the Nectar PX in a close decision.

Chorlton Coig Deicheadan 17yo

Not that the evening's entertainment was over. Far from it in fact, with still three whiskies remaining to try. The first, and whisky four overall, was from Manchester-based bottlers Chorlton Whisky, in the shape of a 17yo blend called Coig Deicheadam, drawn from constituent parts including Glenturret, Macallan, Highland Park and Bunnahabhain.

We didn't think this tasted all that sherried, although seeing as we'd just had two sherries back to back, perhaps it's hardly surprising some of the sherried subtlety may have got a bit lost in comparison. And besides, the Islay flavour of the Bunnahabhain seemed to come through too. It was very tasty all the same. Sadly, it's no longer available, although when you could get it, it was 46.5% and cost £75.

SMWS 10.162 9yo

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society often features during club tastings, and tonight's SMWS bottling was 10.162, entirely from Bunnahabhain and aged 9 years, having been matured in a first fill Oloroso Hogshead cask.

Considering it's an Islay whisky and clocked in at 61.2%, this was surprisingly mild mannered. It certainly didn't taste its ABV, which was no bad thing at all. This one went down very well with the membership, although again it's no longer on sale, although we picked ours up for £63. Fans of the amusing names the SMWS gives its bottlings will want to know this particular one had the official title Big Wave Sofa. No, us neither.

Cask Islay

As is often the case, the night ended on a bit of a peat monster. The Cask Islay was this month's choice, and the Cask Strength Sherry Edition from bottler A.D. Rattray.

Considering the sherry maturation, this one was surprisingly peated. Like an ashtray in fact, was one comment. It was certainly a tasty drop if not perhaps the best one we enjoyed all evening. It's 59.9% and is £44.

And so we moved on to the traditional dram of the night voting. And we had a rare tie, with both the Aberlour A'Bunadh and SMWS bottling picking up nine votes apiece, with the Deanston next on seven. In a second round of voting, the A'Bunadh beat the SMWS 14-11. Maybe it's worth the £80, after all.

Thank you to Adam for another brilliantly selected and produced evening, as well as to all club members old and new for attending, and to the staff of the Briton's Protection for looking after us once again.

Netflix and Distil

The full line-up

Club member Dan led a tasting for the first time in November, and he certainly chose an original theme: whisky from TV and the movies, aka Netflix and Distil.

Johnnie Walker Green

And we started off with Blade Runner. Not the original, but the sequel Blade Runner 2048, selected because one of the movie tie-ins was an extraordinary expensive bottle of Johnnie Walker which came in a special bottle. We weren't drinking that, but we did have a drop of Johnnie Walker Green Label to try instead.

It's billed as a blend of whiskies from the four main distilling areas of Scotland. And this was very drinkable indeed. Comments from the floor included "very drinkable" along with "pleasant" and "very surprised". There was a little bitterness about it at first, but that went, with a finish that was quite long and spicy instead. This retails for about the £35 or £40 mark, and it's decent value at that price. It's 43%.

Hibiki Harmony

Next, we left Scotland behind for Japan, and 2003's Lost in Translation, well remembered in part for Bill Murray's attempt to film a Suntory advert. The dram in question was Hibiki 17yo, which received such a publicity boost from the movie, Suntory eventually ran out of stock of the stuff. So instead, we had a bottle of Hibiki Harmony instead.

This is another blend, this time of both malt and grain whiskies. And it really does smell fantastic, with a honeyed sweetness. It tastes nice too, with a bit of sweetness on the palate as well, giving us a taste that some people likened to the mid point of a Speyside and a bourbon. It's £65 and is also 43%.

Old Forester Statesman

The third screen connection of the evening was Kingsman, and in particular the memorable fight scene in the Golden Circle which kicks off shortly after a kidnapped Mark Hamill is offered a dram of the world's most expensive whisky, a Dalmore '62. The club budget couldn't quite stretch to that, but Dan did produce some Old Forester Statesman, again a brand that has released a bottling by way of a movie tie-in. And Old Forester is one of the oldest brands there is in bourbon, dating from 1870.

This again was a very drinkable dram, with definite hints of citrus and spiciness. It did have a bit of an alcoholic taste to it though, which seemed to put a few members off, at least in comparison to the whiskies we'd already had. This is £59 and is 47.5%.

Knockando 18yo

After the half-time break, during which Dan played us this clip of Parks and Rec's Ron Swanson enjoying his trademark Lagavulin 16, it was back to business for the last three drams of the evening.

And we moved straight on with an 18yo Knockando, and a thoroughly enjoyable extract of the most famous whisky story ever told, Whisky Galore. I managed not to write down exactly what the connection between Knockando and Whisky Galore actually was, but it's certainly true to say that bottles of distilleries from all over Scotland were famously washed up on Eriskay, thinly fictionalised by Compton Mackenzie in his novel and the subsequent movie.

The whisky, matured in sherry casks, was again highly drinkable, sweet and sticky, with a hint of candy floss about it. It's again about the £60 mark if you can find a bottle, and it's 43%.

Lagavulin 8yo

We went to Lagavulin next, but for the 8yo rather than the 16, although it's the 16 that Brendan Gleeson hoovers up in this scene from 28 Days Later. If you really had to survive a zombie apocalypse that had more or less wiped out the entire British population, you could probably do a lot worse than pickling yourself in Lagavulin while you did.

The 8yo first hit shelves in 2016 as a sort of limited edition thing, but as with a lot of limited editions which find a market, it's now become part of the distillery's core range. Again, a lovely dram this, with the initial burst of peat on the palate giving way to various other flavours (the tasting notes suggest kippers). It's £51 which puts it roughly on a par with the 16 for price, and it's 48%.

SMWS The Lady Varnishes

The last dram of the night was selected for its age rather than anything else. A 33-year-old whisky (the only clue we get to its identity is 'Highland') features prominently in a key scene in Inglorious Basterds, and so we finished the evening by drinking a 33-year-old courtesy of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

The particular bottling was called The Lady Varnishes, and came from the Strathclyde grain distillery in the Gorbals. All I've written down is "this is lovely" which is not the most detailed tasting note in club history. Notes elsewhere suggest hints of pear, cinnamon, oak, and much else besides. Anyway, it is very pleasant. It's £125 and is 58.4% although there were only ever just over 250 bottles produced, so good luck finding one.

That brought us to the dram of the night voting, and five of the six whiskies got at least some support (sorry Old Forester), but with nine votes it was The Lady Varnishes which took the night, one ahead of Hibiki and two clear of Knockando.

Thank you to Dan for putting together such an interesting and entertaining evening, to all at the Britons Protection for hosting us again, and to club members old and new for attending.

All six drams in position