Merry Christmas 2021

Our latest club bottling

We celebrated another successful year of Manchester Whisky Club with our annual Christmas party - once again back at the Britons Protection - in mid-December. Zoom served us well for more than 18 months but it's been a real treat to be back in person at the Britons since October, and hopefully that can continue into the new year.

We've also been getting our hands on the latest club bottling, a 14-year-old Girvan. This is the fifth bottling the club has produced, and plans are afoot for an extra special sixth at the end of 2022, to mark a decade since the club started.

Thanks again to everyone who has taken part this year, from committee members and club members, to those on the waiting list and guests, to the whole team at the Britons.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Islay Festival Special

The line up of Islay bottlings

We had an Islay night for November's club tasting at the Britons Protection. There was a line up of bottles representing six of the island's best known distilleries. Not only that, but each was from Feis Ile - the Islay Festival - an annual event during which a series of special whiskies go on sale.

Bowmore 2019

Martin, who led us through the tasting, pointed out that the Feis Ile specials had developed a reputation some years ago for having dipped, as some distilleries put quantity over quality. This has apparently now been reversed and more recent expressions are better regarded.

The first one we had on our tables was a 2019 from Bowmore, the oldest of the island's distilleries able to trace its history back to 1779 and these days owned by Suntory.

This bottling was described as "distinctively Bowmore". Sharp and dry, enjoyable and "quite nice". Creamy on the nose, other tasting notes from the group included fruity and minty. It was £85.

Caol Ila 2019

We moved on next to Caol Ila, by far the biggest distillery on Islay by volume, which much of its output going into Diageo's blends such as Johnnie Walker. The expression we were trying also dated from the 2019 festival and was the priciest of the night at £130 (although good luck getting any of them for close to the RRP these days, as hinted at earlier these festival bottlings are highly collectible).

This got a great reception from the room. Some sherry in there, and all round a bit of a beast of a dram that really kept going. A bit of water took off the top end but added to the general warmth. Terrific!

Bunnahabhain 2021

Dram number three came from Bunnahabhain, which until recent years bucked the Islay trend by generally producing unpeated malt. Even today, it perhaps shies away from the big peat monsters seen elsewhere on the island.

Our bottling was from the 2021 festival, and had a red wine finish. This went well with the hint of peat, we thought. A great nose, and a nice mouthfeel and aftertaste too, although maybe lacking a little bit of oomph in the middle. There was something musty about it, and someone also detected Parma Violets. A bit dry but also sweet, this was £85.

Ardbeg Kelpie

After a half-time break and a chance to recharge our beer glasses at the bar of the Britons, it was back for another trio of Islay whiskies. Number four took us to Ardbeg, a distillery that is a firm favourite of many club members (but, it's fair to say, not others!). We had the 2017 festival bottling, known as Kelpie, the twist here being the use of virgin oak casks from the Black Sea.

We wondered on trying it whether those casks had actually knocked some of the peat out this. It tasted soft, or as someone suggested, "like whisky squash". There were some floral notes, but not all of us liked it all that much. It was £98.

Lagavulin 2017

Lagavulin was our fifth stop of the evening, another Diageo distillery best known for its ever popular 16-year-old. We had a 2017 festival bottling on this occasion, a cask strength version of the 16yo finished in Moscatel, with casks previously used by Caol Ila.

And it smelt really fantastic on the nose. It was lovely on the palate too, albeit rather muted. A good all-rounder, we thought. Easy drinking all things considered. It was £125.

That brought us to the end of the evening. And any Islay tasting can only really ever end with the biggest beast of them all, Laphroaig. We had a 2019 bottling of Laphroaig Cardeas, at 59.5% one of the stronger expressions of the night.

Laphroaig 2019

All dark chocolate and leather, this is "good expensive stuff" as someone said. It wasn't quite as expensive as some of the other drams though, not bad value at £85.

It was enough for third in the dram of the night voting for the Laphroaig, but it finished behind the second-placed Lagavulin and the overall winner - dram two from Caol Ila. A victory for one of the perhaps less fashionable distilleries on the island.

Thank you to Martin for taking us through another great evening, and for sourcing and keeping these bottles for us down the years. Thanks again as well to all club members for attending, and the team at the Britons Protection for hosting us.

The Return to the Britons Protection: Missed You Sherry Much!

A bumper line up

After more than a year and a half of Covid-enforced remote tastings, we were back in the familiar surroundings of the top room at the Britons for October's meeting of Manchester Whisky Club.

Tamnavulin

And we had a line up of sherried drams to try, as part of 'We Missed You Sherry Much'.

Sherried whiskies are typically associated with Speyside, and that's where we began the evening. Dram number one was a whisky that's widely available, the Tamnavulin Sherry Cask. Part of the Whyte and Mackay group (in turn under Filipino ownership), it appeared under its own name relatively rarely under 2016, when a range of bottlings at reasonable prices began to pop up in supermarkets especially.

The Sherry Cask is actually only finished in sherry, is £33 and comes in at 40%. It certainly fits the bill of 'cheap and cheerful'. Mild and muted, with a bit of a bite in there somewhere to take it out of the ordinary. Someone said they got a bit of apple skin. Very quaffable, and good as a calibration dram.

Mortlach 16yo

Next, it was Mortlach, a Diageo Speyside known for a heavier character than the light and fruity output of nearby distilleries. We had a bottle of the 16-year-old to hand, a 43.4% whisky available for £66.

And this was very nice. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the distillery's reputation, it tasted stronger than that 43.4% on the label. Water opened up the nose a bit as well. One frequently mentioned tasting note from the members was 'gingery'.

Macallan is a Speyside distillery that almost needs no introduction, being virtually synonymous with the area's whisky production. An independent bottling of the stuff is what we had before us this time, the work of the well-known Elgin-based firm Gordon and Macphail under the Spey Malt name. It's only bottled now and again, and released in certain international markets only.

G&M Spey Malt 14yo

The bottle we had was a 14-year-old bottled in 2019, coming in at 43%. Nice on the nose, with a hint of marshmallow. The main hit was a range of tropical fruits: maybe including pineapples among some other fruity notes. Not bad at all. It's £75 or thereabouts if you can find a bottle online.

Another independent bottler was the source of dram four. And it was one of the club's favourites, Whiskybroker. We were treated to an eight-year-old Balmenach, from WB's recent outturn. Balmenach would have to be one of the least well-known distilleries in Speyside, with all its output going into blends and just the odd independent bottling such as this one.

WB Balmenach 8yo

Great on the nose. Chewy: you certainly know when you've tasted it. Nice and strong all round. Some club members liked it with water. As ever from Whiskybroker, it was competitively priced, although I haven't got a note of exactly how much it was (I bought another Balmenach in the same outturn for £32, so I'd say something around that). It was 54%.

Tobermory 17yo

It was Tobermory next, so away from Speyside on to the Isle of Mull. This distilery produces whiskies for two brands, and you might be more familiar with the peated version, Ledaig. This was a 17-year-old Tobermory, though, fully matured in Oloroso sherry casks.

This was "unbelievably nice" according to one comment. Lots of toffee on the palate, even Lion bars at a push, along with festive spices. Plenty of thumbs up for this one. Ideal for late autumn into winter. It's 55.9% and it's still available online for £130.

Glen Grant 23yo

The sixth dram of the night, normally the last one of any tasting but not on this occasion as we will see in a moment, took us back to Speyside and Glen Grant. Another independent bottling, this was a 23-year-old from Lady of the Glen, finished in a fresh Oloroso hogshead.

A very Christmassy type of taste here, with citrus and rum and raisin notes. Very nice, but also a bit dry as befits the age. Tasted older than it was, in fact. It's 50.4%, and there are still a few bottles kicking about for £170.

We don't normally have seven drams but a mishap during the pouring meant that some of drams five and six ended up blended together in some glasses, giving everyone an unexpected extra drop. The Tobermory certainly overpowered the Glen Grant, it's fair to say. While again drinkable, tasting the impromptu creation allowed us to see why blenders get paid!

Dram of the night!

If you're in for a penny, you're in for a pound. And committee member Martin produced an additional bottle for us to cap off the night, in honour of he and Anna becoming parents recently. This was another one from Whiskybroker, a 12-year-old Dufftown. By this time the tasting notes I had been keeping had become extremely brief, and under this one I've just written "a beast". So read into that what you will.

It must have been very good indeed though, because the eighth dram waltzed off with the dram of the night voting, taking ten votes. The Glen Grant was second with the Mortlach in third.

Thank you to Martin for taking us through a great selection of drams, and to all club members new and old for attending. And thanks in particular to everyone at the Britons for having us back in the top room, we're looking forward to many more tastings in the near future.

Campbeltown Night

 

The (hopefully) last Zoom tasting!

September's tasting was, we hope, the last of our regular monthly events to take place remotely via Zoom, at least for the time being. October would see us back in the surroundings of the Briton's Protection. But for this tasting, we had a range of premium whiskies from Campbeltown to try.

2x Springbank

Campbeltown was once the whisky capital of the world, but declined dramatically during the early part of the 20th century and there are now just three distilleries, although that is just enough for it to retain its designation as a whisky 'region' in its own right. Those are Springbank, Glen Scotia and Glengyle, and we had whiskies from each to try as part of the line up.

We started off with two drams from Springbank. The first was a distillery bottling under the Hazelburn brand, a single cask 15-year-old released in 2018. Somewhat unusually, it had full maturation in a Cognac butt.

This got the evening off to a strong start. A bit of a salty tang at first, and it gave way to a very thick, buttery finish. Beautiful all round. Some drinkers had to add a bit of water to fully enjoy it, and duly reported waves of flavour on the finish, along with a good mouthfeel.

Glen Scotia 17yo

It was just as well we got to enjoy it, because bottles are pretty scarce. It was originally £94 but one went for £250 at a recent auction. It was 53.9%.

For a counterpoint we moved onto a second Springbank, this time an eight-year-old aged in fresh sherry casks and bottled under the distillery's own name, from the Campbeltown Malts Festival 2019. This was sweet on the nose, so there was no mistaking the sherry. On the palate, we got tobacco, a real spicy, peppery taste, and overall it tasted quite dry. It was better with a bit of water, as that opened up the already impressive nose a bit further. Burnt toffee was one tasting shout at this point. In your face as a dram, but with a lot going for it.

We felt this didn't necessarily taste like an eight-year-old, but also that it might have improved still further with a bit longer maturation. We bought ours for £65 but at a recent auction it went for £275. It was 56.8%.

Glen Scotia 14yo

Leaving Springbank behind, we went to Glen Scotia for drams three and four. Number three was a 17-year-old, the Master Distillers Edition from 2020, aged in refill American oak. Many of us in the club are fans of the distillery's output today, it offers some good value drams, so we were looking forward to tasting this. Again, we were not disappointed!

There was a little bit of coconut in there, someone felt, and the nose and the finish were the high points, if anything a bit stronger than the actual bit in the middle. Some drops of water opened it up nicely. Some felt this was very slightly uninspiring compared with what had gone before, but others appreciated the subtletly of it. It was £170, and there aren't any more bottles available anywhere as far as we could tell.

Longrow 15yo

The other Glen Scotia was also from 2020, a peated bottling from that year's Malts Festival. It was a 14-year-old, with an American oak and port finish. There was a hint of peat but that was all, didn't hit as strongly as you might have expected. Certainly perfectly drinkable, maybe even more drinkable than some of the big hitters from the earlier in the tasting, but maybe less memorable as a result. Someone tried this with a bit of water and said it transformed the dram into something spectacular - "a taste explosion" - but a a few of us had foolishly finished ours before getting this advice!

It was 52.8% and cost £75 at the time, but the cheapest bottle we could find online today was going for £250.

Glengyle 5yo

We were back to Springbank for dram five, a 15-year-old Longrow, again bottled for the 2019 Malts Festival, and matured in first fill rum. This was slightly sweet on the nose, gentlre, although we weren't sure about the end of the finish - a bit bitter, or briney we felt. Not bad overall but not a hell raiser. No need to add any water here. This cost £75 at the time but is currently going for four times that online, and it was 52.4%.

And last it was off to Glengyle, the last of the trio of Campbeltown distilleries. Owned by J&A Mitchell, which also operates Springbank, it was revived early this century. Here, we were trying a 2021 distillery bottling under the Kilkerran name - the company was not able to re-acquire the Glengyle brand! - a five-year-old matured in fresh Oloroso sherry casks.

Custard, caramel, in fact a creme caramel, with burnt vanilla on the nose. A little young perhaps, a bit green, an instant alcoholic sort of a taste. Maybe a bit too young, although others thought it was really nice. Water killed it though! But still worth the £50 we paid for it, although it's now going for £100.

To the dram of the night voting then, and there was a rare victory for the opening whisky of the evening - dram number one!

Thanks to all club members for once again attending this virtual tasting and to the committee for assembling this terrific line up - a set of whiskies which would cost around £1300 to buy today.

Against The Grain: A Grain Whisky Special

The grain whisky line up

For our tasting in August, we looked at one of the more forgotten areas of Scottish whisky: grain whisky. Simply put, grain whisky refers to any whisky made in part from grains which aren't malted barley, and can include grains such as corn, wheat, maize and rye.

Holyrood

We started off with something from the new Holyrood distillery in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital's first new opening in a century. In fact, what we were drinking was not actually produced there, as it's only been up and running since 2019, but was instead called Sweet Single Grain, bottled under licence using the name 'Holyrood Spirits Merchants' although we don't know where the spirit itself was produced.

It smelt nice, with a good nose all round. Something distinctive in the aftertaste, but we couldn't quite place it at first, although there was a shout for butterscotch. Coats your mouth nicely. As someone said: "not all that much to say about it, but it's lovely." From an AHC - alligator heavy char - cask, a fact which might explain the sweetness we all got. This was 46% and was a very reasonable £39.50.

Bramble Whisky Co

Onto dram number two and one of the biggest grain distilleries in Scotland, the North British. Jointly owned by Diageo and Edrington Group, it has an annual output of about 12 million litres, most of which ends up in a variety of well-known blends.

This particular bottle was from a small indie, the Bramble Whisky Company, associated with a local bar. It was four-and-a-half years old, a virgin oak single cask and, like the first bottle, we got ours online from Royal Mile Whiskies. It had plenty going on. We got fruitcake, root liqourice, and a generally quite earthy flavour. Interesting, different, enjoyable, and certainly unusual. One drinker asked whether it was aged in Listerine barrels, although others felt it was a bit on the sickly side. It's £57 and 46%.

Invergordon

We were off next to another big old grain distillery. This time it was Invergordon, today part of Whyte and Mackay. And in a bit of a surprise, we soon learned that we had in our hands the oldest whisky ever tasted as part of a club event. It was a bottling of a whisky distilled back in 1972, making it a 48-year-old when it finally went into the bottle: a rarity for many of us members to have a dram older than them! It was the work of another independent bottler, this time Thompson Brothers.

Pear drops on the nose here. Vanilla, caramel and then a bit of fruit. Tropical fruit in fact, like pineapple or even peaches. Some thought it had a bit of a 'meh' finish to it, but others felt it improved after a few sips. A touch spicy maybe, thought someone. Although a good dram, we probably wouldn't pay the £270 price tag again! It was 42%.

Port Dundas

Port Dundas in Glasgow used to be another big name in grain distilling, until the distillery was closed and demolished a decade ago, as owner Diageo looked to consolidate its grain output at Cameronbridge (more of which in a moment). Adam had chosen for us one of the later bottlings from the distillery, a 2009 10-year-old under the Cooper's Choice name, a mixture of American oak and Martinique rum casks.

And very nice it was too.  Very pleasant and memorable was the consensus, along with "grassy" and "earthy". With water in it became really good, perhaps indicating it was bottled a little too strong. And by too strong, we mean a very chunky 60.5%. At £57 though, we felt this was a bit of a bargain, a more than reasonable price for something like this.

Cameronbridge

Port Dundas may have gone but Cameronbridge endures. Located in East Fife, it's the largest grain distillery in Europe, producing 200 litres of the good stuff every minute. And we had another older whisky to try, this time a 36-year-old bottled by Bartels Whisky under the name His Excellency. Indeed, it was a cask strength version of a bottle we'd had before.

This had the nicest nose so far. Caramel, chewy, toffee apple, even fizzy cider. A bit rummy on the nose, we got some sweetness and molasses. Chewy - that word again - when tasted, a bit of water brought out more of the flavour. The finish was perhaps a little harsh, but was also thick and oily. For plenty of members, the clear favourite so far. It was 57.9% and cost us £78.

Loch Lomond

To finish, we took the high road, or perhaps by this time of the night it was more like the low road, to Loch Lomond. The distillery is known for being self-sufficient, in so far as it has its own malt and grain distillery. And we were trying a peated version of the Loch Lomond Single Grain.

This had an interesting nose. Irn Bru, fruits and spices, and just a bit peaty or smoky. A rabbit out of the hat suggested someone, and quite a few really enjoyed this. It's unusual to have a peaty grain, and on this occasion we were drinking what was effectively a single malt, but which was not distilled in the batch process but was instead made using the continuous Coffey still method so technically doesn't count as a single malt under Scottish rules. More's the pity, as not only was this a very good whisky, it was a total bargain at just £26. It's 46%.

And so we came to the dram of the night voting. And in an unprecedented development, we had a five-way tie! All the drams from two to six got the same number of votes, so we left it at that rather than trying to force a winner.

Thanks to all members for taking part via Zoom once again, and to Adam for selecting and running us through another great selection of drams!

Rage Against The Maltchine

 

We went through the drams on Zoom

July's tasting was called Rage Against The Maltchine - a chance to try two different expressions from three lesser known distilleries.

Inchgower F&F

Each of the three distilleries is owned by spirits giant Diageo and their output mostly used in blends, so seeing them in their own right is a relative rarity. The main exceptions are for the company's Flora and Fauna range, which it uses to showcase several of its hidden gems, and a range of bottlings done by independents. So, for this tasting, we had three pairings of an F&F versus an indie to see which came out on top.

We started off with Inchgower, a Speyside that is a key component of Bell's. The F&F was a delicate dram, very nice, fruity and a bit salty as well. It was clear to see why it has been used for so long in a major blend, as we felt it had a little bit of everything and could accentuate other flavours really well. Or, as someone put it, "it's the whisky equivalent of Spanx". It's about £50 and is 43%.

Inchgower SMWS

Up against it was an Inchgower from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, a bottling called Depth of Flavour. There was certainly a family resemblance on the nose. Like the last one but a bit more, well, "more-r" as someone suggested.

A little bit of water brought the pears out, along with a general fruitiness and a slightly tropical sense of banana. Most drinkers in the club seemed to think this was a bit better but, seeing as it was a cask strength SMWS and members generally prefer the high octane stuff, this wasn't exactly surprising.

The SMWS bottling was £61, and in the little mini vote of the two Inchgowers it won out 16-7.

Teaninch F&F

The next pairing was from the Teaninch distillery, a Highland which comes from a large facility in Ross. We started off with the 10-year-old F&F expression. There were cereal notes on the nose. Quite nice if a bit forgettable. As we got down to drinking it, we felt it was a bit sweeter than expected, but more of an orientation dram than anything else.

Not as good when you added water either. There were bits of barley sugar, a dryness, and a subtle and delicate creaminess going on, although even for the members who are fans of the more subtle drams this was on the delicate side. It didn't get a huge amount of love overall. £43 better spent elsewhere, we felt.

Teaninch Mey Selections

Next we had a 12-year-old independent bottling under the Mey Selections label. Oaky and dry, this was definitely better. There was something going on in the background on the nose but we couldn't quite put our finger on what. There was much more to get your teeth into on the palate though.

Cask strength for sure, and perhaps a bit too much of an alcoholic taste for some, there were some questions about whether it was really from the same distillery. One comment was: "One came out of the tap, the other was definitely whisky." It was 54% and £90, and although this got a general thumbs up, there was also agreement the price tag was a bit steep.

However, the Mey bottling beat the F&F by no fewer than 22 votes to 1!

Glenlossie F&F

Our last duo was from Glenlossie, a Speyside from close to Elgin. Much of it ends up in Haig Gold, a brand name which was particularly popular back in the 1970s. As for today's 10-year-old F&F bottling, this was great on the nose for a few of us, although some felt it was a bit 'meh' with less going on. Almost a bit reminiscent of the first Teaninch we tried, pleasant enough but a little nondescript.

It revealed itself a bit more after a couple of sips, so there was perhaps more going on than at first glance. Others also felt it was probably the strongest of the three F&F bottlings. It's £49.

The rival independent was a 22-year-old Carn Mor, under its Celebration of the Cask banner. This was certainly more popular, although a tougher choice than the other pairings because both it and number five were good in their own way.

Glenlossie Carn Mor

Leather and boot polish here, and a peppery flavour. It's 53.3% and £150: great but perhaps not three times as great as the F&F one we'd just had. Notwithstanding the price, the indie still took this round by 14 votes to 9 - the closest run battle of the evening.

In the overall dram of the night voting, dram 2, the SMWS Inchgower, took the title with eight votes, ahead of the Carn Mor which got six. And, as if all that voting wasn't enough, we found time for a tiny bit more democracy to finish the evening. In the overall consideration of Diageo v the Rest of the World, it was just two votes for the corporate Maltchine and 21 for Rage!

Thanks to Adam for co-ordinating the tasting and everyone who presented whiskies and took part. Another successful Zoom tasting.

Pick and Mix Drams

June's line up

For June's Zoom tasting we asked five different members to select a whisky to share with the rest of the club, for a bit of a pick and mix type of evening.

Green Spot Zinfandel

And we started off with Jasper taking us through a bit of his own history with whisky over the nine years he's been a fan, culminating in his experiences as part of our community.

He chose something from Ireland for us to try, in the shape of Green Spot Zinfandel wine cask finish. This smelt lovely and strong on the nose, and sweet as well, and went down smoothly and easily on the palate. The nose especially was fantastic, went the club consensus, giving us a great start to the night. One surprise was that it was 'only' 46%, we'd generally pegged it at something above 50 given the powerful nose. Someone added water but was a bit less keen on it after that, yet overall this was a very decent dram at a solid price point of £57.

Glenglassaugh

Katherine was up next to take us to Scotland, more specifically Speyside and the Glenglassaugh distillery, bringing back memories for her of walks on Sandend beach near Portsoy on the Moray Firth coast. She'd picked out a bottle from the Octaves expressions, aged in casks made from wood which had previously held a range of sherries.

A good nose, the familiar raisiny and dried fruit kind of smell you get with distilleries from that part of the world. But as it happened, ultimately not quite as sherried on the palate as the nose suggested it would be. We felt this was a little bit nondescript in the end, there was a bit of maple syrup and bacon, the beginning of a hint of burnt tyres as well, and a little smoky too which we weren't quite expecting. Nice enough but perhaps not quite worth the price tag - it's available for about £50. It's 44%.

Dunville's 12yo

Next it was Pedro's turn and, befitting his name, he selected something finished in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. We were going back to the island of Ireland and Belfast, for a Dunville's 12-year-old, Dunville's being an old name in whiskey resurrected as a brand in recent years by the Echlinville distillery.

Perhaps not quite as nice on the nose as the last two, we got a bit of nail polish remover along with some spiciness and a hint of custard. There was no lingering finish to it though, at least in the breakout room I was in (other groups seemed to like it a little better!). There was a surprising lack of PX, there was certainly a hint of it but it wasn't exactly in the forefront of the drink. At £95 it was a bit on the expensive side for what it was, but still enjoyable overall and good to have tried it, which is the whole point of the club really. It's 46%.

Talisker 8yo

Matt chose dram number four for us, a 2010 8-year-old Talisker bottled into a sherry butt, bringing back some wedding memories for him of his marriage to fellow club member Becky.

This gave us a bit of an island vibe, befitting the Skye distillery. This was salty and smoky, light and fishy. A little bit bitter at the very end perhaps, but really this was very nice, we'd definitely drink it again. Considering it had spent eight years in a sherry butt we were surprised it wasn't a slightly darker colour. There was a really interesting mix of flavours in there though, from bits of chocolate, a certain peppery thing going on, maybe even rhubarb.

Balcones!

The last dram of the evening was picked out for us by Chris. Known throughout the club for his love of Balcones Brimstone, he insisted this was not it!

But as we would soon find out, he had gone back to his favourite Texas distillery for something different, in this case the Balcones Dream Big, bottled by indie Simply Whisky. It smelt fiery, like ginger ale. There was no doubt it had a high ABV, but even we were surprised when Chris revealed it clocked in at no less than 65.7%. Just a four-year-old, it really left an impression on us. Stringent at first before it goes smooth and vanilla, the flavour sticks with you, a really long aftertaste of marzipan, almond and marmalade. It's £85.

While it was a great way to finish the night, the dram of the evening poll was won by whisky number four, the sherry-matured Talisker. Congratulations to Matt! And thanks to him and all the club members who presented bottles, and to everyone who joined the tasting.

Irish Off Piste

Another Zoom tasting!

Our May tasting took us to Ireland, and James took us 'off piste' by selecting a series of drams to confound our expectations of Irish whiskey.

We started in Waterford. Best known for crystal, the area's distillery has also got a burgeoning reputation for its obsession with the local terroir, including organically grown single farm barley.

Arcadian Gaia 1.1

We tasted the Arcadian Gaia 1.1. Floral and very aromatic, this tasted strong, harsh and young (take your pick), but not unpleasant. It was a thick, gloopy spirit with a meaty kind of aftertaste. You certainly know you've tasted it. It was a bit sweet as well. This bottle was 50% but was perhaps a bit on the expensive side at £77. It did taste like the price, though.

Method and Madness

Whiskey number two was the Cherry Wood from Method and Madness, a brand name attached to an experimental range of drinks from the Midleton distillery.

This was grassy on the nose. 'Purest green' as someone suggested. It doesn't taste like it smells though. It's certainly both cherry and woody, almost rotting wood or with a bit of a tea thing going on. The mouthfeel was spirity, reminiscent of grappa in fact. We thought this might work as a digestif. This got some positive noises dissipated a bit when we saw the price - 84 quid! A bit funky for some but others did enjoy it. It's 46%.

JJ Corry Flintlock

For the third dram it was something from JJ Corry, whiskey bonders who buy new make from various distilleries and age it themselves. The bottle we were trying was The Flintlock.

We got battenburg cake or marzipan on the nose. The taste came as a bit of a surprise, like fruity Vimto or something along those lines. Soft fruits all round. The finish was perhaps a bit of not very much, but overall we stuck with it and very much enjoyed it. We were trying smaller measures as it was just a 50cl bottle and that was plenty for some, but other members were keener on it, a real room divider. £95 for a small bottle seemed a bit steep though.

Kinahan's Kasc Project

Onto the fourth whiskey and it was something which offered somewhat better value from Kinahan's, in the form of their Kasc Project, which features casks made up of a hybrid of different woods.

This received some positive comments, in that it was perfectly pleasant if perhaps a bit straight down the line. We were trying batch 4 and it was noticeable (to me) how subtly different it was from batch 3, which I had half a bottle of downstairs and quickly grabbed for a bit of a back to back comparison. The best thing about this was probably the price, at just £32, lots of the club was surprised at how good it was at that low cost. It's 43%.

Two Stacks

We went to blenders Two Stacks next, for their Blenders Cut Barbados, a blend of five different whiskeys. They often can whiskey in small tins, but on this occasion we were drinking something which had come from a bottle.

This was another one which tasted strong straight off the bat, we thought either really harsh or simply a high ABV (it turned out to be the latter - 63.5%!). It stays tasted. People had this both with and without water really loved it either way. It's 89 quid.

Red Spot 15yo

We finished off the evening with something from Mitchell and Son. Best known for Green Spot, James told us this was something different.

Very pleasant, very nice, very sweet, were the consistent comments about this one. Tough to follow the heavy onslaught of the Two Stacks, and while many club members enjoyed this one, some thought it was a little boring in comparison to what had gone earlier. This was the Red Spot 15 year-old. Although good, we felt the timing of the drams held it back a touch and we might have got more out of it earlier in the evening. It's £120 and 46%.

Dram of the night was closely fought but it went to Two Stacks with 10 of the 30 votes cast. Whiskeys 1, 3 and 6 were all joint second, but all the drams had at least two supporters - the sign of a successful tasting!

Thank you to James for choosing the whiskeys and taking us through it, and to all members and guests for attending another great evening.