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.

A Trip Down the Spey

Our second tasting in January was based around the Speyside region whilst also taking into account the cashflow issue following the New Year. We lined up 5 bottles that all came in at under £50 each with some usually overlooked bottlers and distilleries for a bit of variety.

So without further ado..

Glen Elgin 18 Yr old - Signatory 46%

Glen Elgin is rarely found as a single malt bottling. This is one of Diageo's portfolio that has been deemed only worthy of supplying whisky for their blended ranges. Glen Elgin predominantly goes into the famous White Horse range where it plays its part as the backbone of the blend.

There is only 1 official recent bottling of Glen Elgin as a single malt by Diageo, a 12 year old. This particular 18 year old we have was matured for the full 18 years in 2 refill hogshead casks before being bottled in November 2013 by famous indy bottlers - Signatory and is non Chill filtered with no added colour.

The nose is very fresh, fruity and malty with pear and Bird's custard with slight elderflower cordial notes. The palate while very smooth is sweet and syrupy, like tinned peach with slight wood influence and sugared porridge. Simple in its own way but satisfying. A medium length finish again sweet, this time caramel and peanut brittle.

A good solid start and coming in at £45 for a NCF natural colour 18yr old Speysider, you might find it hard to turn this one down and makes a nice change to the usual suspects.




Glenlivet 16 Yr old - Signatory 46%


Glenlivet is the second best selling single malt whisky in the world. This is mainly thanks to the US market where it currently stands as the most popular malt.

It is not surprising that Glenlivet hold this title, you can now find the 12 year old in practically every major supermarket in the UK and a swathe of pub chains and bars. Glenlivet are vying for the title of most popular single malt with regional neighbours and current title holders of the most popular malt worldwide, Glenfiddich. Glenlivet are owned by Pernod Ricard who's portfolio also includes other major names such as Aberlour and Longmorn as well as Irish distillers, Midleton.

This particular Glenlivet has been matured for 16 years in a 1st fill Sherry Butt before being bottled in November 2013 by Signatory, our second of the night by this popular bottler. Again this is Non chill filtered and natural colour.

The colour is noticeably darker than the Glen Elgin due to the sherry butt maturation. The nose offers warm toffee and a good sherry balance, not overly rich or too overpowering. There are notes of green apple peel and dried cranberry. The palate was a luscious mix of the balanced sherry character, warm chocolate sponge, banana chips and toblerone. The finish was long and warming and a slowly sweetening baked apple pie note. Delicious, for £47 you can't go wrong with this one.


Miltonduff-Glenlivet 19 Yr old - Cadenheads 46%

What? Another Glenlivet? Really? This is a bit boring surely? You'd be forgiven for thinking that from the title - Miltonduff-Glenlivet, that we're looking at another of the Glenlivet distillery's range, but no. This is a 19yr old Miltonduff, traditionally there are many distilleries named with Glenlivet in the title, Aberlour again for example is traditionally called Aberlour-Glenlivet as Glenlivet is a catchment area, like a postcode in a sense.

This bottling of the often overlooked Miltonduff was bottled in 2013 by famous indy bottlers Cadenheads for their small batch range, again this is non chill filtered and natural colour. Miltonduff is again a blend focused malt with the majority of production going into Chivas blends such as Ballantine's and rarely seen as a single malt.

This appeared to have been matured in what seems to be a first fill bourbon cask with a rich golden colour.

The nose was fruity, very rich in blackberry, apple and raspberries with a malty underlyer, akin to a blackberry and apple crumble. The palate again was rich, fruity, tropical this time like a tropical fruit juice, almond biscuit and vanilla. The finish is long with more vanilla and lingering fruits. This one went down well and provided good value for £49.95 (the most expensive of the night).



Glenfarclas 105 - 60% 

Our first distillery bottling of the night and what better way to kick this off than with a famous, family owned Speyside distiller? We've already tried one Glenfarclas at the Whisky Shop, this however is a different kettle of fish. A 60% 'No Age Statement, or NAS, (although its a 10 yr old) sherry finished whisky famous for its value for money with single malt anoraks..

The colour on the 105 is a dark gold, akin to the Glenlivet earlier on.

The nose carries those typical Glenfarclas-esque sherry delights alongside macadamia nuts, bitter chocolate and coffee grinds. Not a note you often find in whisky but it plays its part very well alongside the sherry influence.

On the palate the whisky finally spreads its wings with its 60% strength with indonesian long pepper, the coffee from the nose, more nuts and fudge. This leads in to a long and heated finish carrying more of the pepper from the palate and oak.

£42 you say? For a 60% sherried whisky at natural colour, this is a great affordable Speysider to have in the house all the time. Bargain.



Aberlour A'bunadh - 60.7%  Batch 47

Aberlour A'bunadh is possibly one of the most famous and popular sherried whiskies of recent times. A'bunadh is a no age statement batch release range of 1st fill Olorosso sherry cask matured, cask strength Aberlour Whisky.

This particular bottling is from the most recent batch #47 bottled in January 2014! Each batch varies massively and we had the benefit of Adam bringing his remaining Batch #46 to test side by side.

Batch 46 (bottled 2013) 60.4% - A rich nose with blueberry, melted nutty fudge, brown sugar, sherry. The palate was relatively punchy with dry sherry, fried pineapple, burnt toast with marmalade and demerara sugar. Finish long and lingering.

Batch 47 (2014) 60.7% - A well balanced nose, sherry, Madagascan chocolate, orange rind in a still
unbaked Christmas cake mix and a mixed nut tin. The palate was a bit more in tune with itself again with the sherry leading the fore alongside red currant sauce, Nutella on toast and freshly baked ginger biscuits. The finish was similar to the 46, long, but mellowing to show the sherry's true deep character that really did last for a long time.

From memory it was a bit of a split between the 46 and 47 so was down to personal preference and taste which is one of the great things about whisky.

The 47 retails at around £39.99 which not only made it the cheapest of the night but the most popular, there's a reason that people say Ablerlour A'bunadh is possibly the best 'bang for buck' whisky out there.

Natural cask strength, matured in 1st fill Olorosso Sherry butts, what's not to like?


The night was a roaring success with a good even split between the Glenlivet, Miltonduff and Aberlour in terms of popularity. It just goes to show that if you take a step off the beaten path, you can find little gems like the Miltonduff and that you don't have to spend a fortune to go home with a high quality, well made and enjoyable single malt from this utterly fantastic whisky making region.