Distillery Exclusives

 

July's line up

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.