Billy from the Whisky Exchange

 

The full line-up

In June we had a special guest to lead the tasting. Billy Abbot from top spirits retailer the Whisky Exchange was with us to guide us through half a dozen choices, (mostly) still available to buy.

Linkwood 10yo

And we kicked us off with an expression from the Whisky Exchange's line-up of Seasons drams. Representing 'Spring' we had a 10-year-old Linkwood, matured in a single refill bourbon cask.

Billy told us the Spring whiskies are aimed at showing off fresh, fruity and zingy flavours. This one delivered, and gave us pears, citrus fruits, a hint of mint and fruity chewing gum. There wasn't much oak in evidence really, giving the spirit itself a chance to come through nicely, and strongly.

Very summery and easy to drink, we thought, ideal to have with a barbecue. It was 57.7% and cost a very reasonable £68.

BBR Macduff 21yo

For the second dram we went to Berry Brothers and Rudd, the legendary London wines and spirits retailer and regular bottler of quality drams. This was a 21-year-old Macduff, matured in a sherry butt.

"Taste the distillery, not the wood" urged Billy, and this tasted stronger than whisky number one, as well it might have done at 58%. This was lovely, really good, with strong notes of pineapple and tropical fruit. Some members thought it was better with a little water. It cost £169.

Ben Nevis

Billy himself was looking back at us from the label of whisky number three. This was part of a series of bottles produced for the Whisky Show, run by the Whisky Exchange, featuring various members of the WE team.

Ben Nevis, owned by Nikka in Japan, is a popular distillery with club members. This was an example of a 'dirty Ben Nevis' we felt, all chewy and tasty with lots of red fruits in evidence. It was 60.2% and cost again a very fair £72.

After a half-time break giving us the chance to recharge our glasses downstairs at the Seven Oaks, we were back for another trio.

Whistlepig 13yo

Dram four was in fact a rye whiskey, from Whistlepig, and for Billy was "the most ridiculous thing we've bottled at the Whisky Exchange." Rather than from Whistlepig's Vermont base, this Amburana Rye was made in Indiana by spirits giant MGP, and was a mix of 95% rye to 5% malted barley, aged for more than 12 years in American oak.

Here's the thing: it didn't really taste like whiskey at all. Very sweet on the nose, it was giving coconut and mint, almost mint choc chip ice cream. It had spent a mere ten days in an amburana cask, a trendy and very aggressive South American wood that imparts flavour on liquid very quickly. This gave it so much flavour, especially on the nose, and it ended up reminding us of liquor chocolates or After Eight mints. Weird in a good way. It was £175 and 43%.

Kilchoman 11yo

Back to Scotland for whisky five and to Islay for some Kilchoman. Billy had picked out an 11-year-old, aged in a first fill ex-bourbon cask and bottled for the 2023 Whisky Show. "This is non-messed with, unadulterated stuff."

At 54.5% this was "not overpowering, just nice." This was smoky and peaty, but more in a subtle barbecue rather than punch in the nose sort of way. It was £140, and so there were perhaps one or two cheaper options from earlier in the night more likely to get us reaching for our virtual wallets.

G&M Caol Ila

We finished off with the very last bottle of something special.

A 19-year-old Caol Ila, so another Islay whisky, bottled by Gordon and Macphail back in 2021. Billy told us when smoky whisky gets older it tends to become more fruity and mellow, and this is a good example. It is apparently unusual to get such an old Caol Ila, as the younger ones tend to be very nice.

This smelt absolutely great. So much so we almost didn't want to taste it. But it was delicious and gave us a huge amount of flavour. It was 57.6% although you can't get it anymore.

Which brought us to the dram of the night voting, and all six secured at least one vote, always the sign of a great tasting. The winner though was the Ben Nevis with ten votes, just ahead of the opening Linkwood in second and then the Caol Ila third.

Our thanks to Billy for visiting us and picking out such a great selection, and to all club members and guests for coming along.

Old Malt Cask

The full line-up

For our March tasting at the Seven Oaks, we had a selection of whiskies to enjoy from well-known whisky bottler Hunter Laing, all from their Old Malt Cask brand.

Royal Brackla 12yo

The Laing name has been associated with whisky for decades through Douglas Laing, the family business and its impressive catalogue of whisky splitting in two back in 2013, with the new Hunter Laing keeping Old Malt Cask as part of the bargain.

We got going with a 12-year-old Royal Brackla, which has had a royal warrant since 1833 and the days of William IV (Royal Lochnagar are the johnny come latelies in this particular battle, having won over Queen Victoria a little later on). This expression was from a single refill hogshead.

Sweet on the nose, we got Parma Violet and Fruit Salad sweeties, along with a creaminess and citrussy notes, like grapefruit. There was quite a strong and distinctive taste, more powerful than we might have expected. Water brought out the oiliness, as well as doses of apples and pears.

Old Pulteney 20yo

At £79 we thought this was a good start to the evening, although the jury's out on whether the extra expense over the distillery bottling would really be worth it.

Sticking with Highland whiskies, Old Pulteney is a distillery we've visited relatively rarely at the club. We've had a few over the years, but none for a while. This was a 20-year-old expression, which set us back a cool £150.

There perhaps wasn't much on the nose here but it had a great flavour. Citrussy again, oranges and grapefruit, the sorts of notes Old Pulteney is often noted for. There was also an oily element, almost like parmesan someone suggested. Lime marmalade was another shout (I can't say I've ever had lime marmalade by way of comparison, but I knew what they meant) as was a peachiness. A nice, easy drinker, but most members felt they wouldn't pay the price tag.

Mortlach 14yo

Off to Speyside for dram three and Mortlach, with a 14-year-old fully matured in cream sherry casks. Harvey's Bristol Cream? Almost certainly not. Besides, we cannot hope to match these levels of refinement in Manchester Whisky Club.

You could smell the sherry a mile off though. It should be sweet and it was. It should be creamy and it was all of that too. A "turbo sherry" as someone described it. A bit of coffee on the palate as well. One for your nan, or perhaps to keep to yourself. It was £100.

After a break to recharge our beer glasses downstairs, it was back for the second half.

Linkwood 22yo

The fourth whisky was a Linkwood, a distillery known for producing a relatively light spirit. We were intrigued by this bottling, which after 22 years of full maturation in refill Pedro Ximenez sherry, might offer something different.

Lots of people liked this one a lot. The PX was a good addition for many, with drinkers feeling it helped smooth things over and tie the dram together very well.

Others who knew Linkwood well reckoned it was a little bit overpowering and something was lost in the maturation. As someone else concluded: "It's not shit though". It was £159.

Ardmore 12yo

Time for peat with dram five and a 12-year-old Ardmore, from a refill bourbon cask, courtesy of Paul the brand ambassador (thanks Paul!), who had been due to join us for the tasting but sadly couldn't.

We liked this one. Subtle and easy to drink, but you got the peat on the nose and it carried through to the palate as well. A consistent drink throughout from the nose onwards. It was £79.

Whisky: model's own

Which brought us to the last dram of the night. A sherried 12-year-old Caol Ila, offering the always alluring promise of a blend of sherry and peat.

This was matured in a Manzanilla cask and certainly didn't taste like a normal Caol Ila. A little bit sweet with a consistent hit of peat throughout, this was well balanced and very nice all round. It cost £109.

The dram of the night voting was quite evenly split, with only the first whisky of the night not picking up at least four votes. But it was a win in the end for that Caol Ila, with ten votes, just one ahead of the Linkwood.

Thank you to Martin for leading us through the whiskies and to all club members and guests for attending another sold out evening.

Christmas Party 2022

 

The whisky table

We gathered upstairs once again at the Britons' Protection for the Manchester Whisky Club Christmas party. It's the annual event where we bring back the bits and bobs of whisky we didn't finish at the tastings through the year, and members bring a few snacks and homebakes to help us through the evening.

Thanks again to everyone who attended a tasting throughout the year, and to all at the Britons for helping to take care of us. We've also been enjoying our latest club bottling (below), an excellent 14 year-old Caol Ila.

We'll be back with more in the new year, as the club marks its tenth anniversary. Merry Christmas!

Our latest club bottling

Cask Strength Islay

 

The full line up

For November's tasting we visited one of the club's favourite destinations - Islay - for an evening of cask strength drams from the home of peated whisky.

Untold Richest

With Martin guiding us through the list, we began slightly counter-intuitively, with something unpeated. It was old, 28 years-old in fact, and was a Wemyss Malts Bunnahabhain called Untold Riches. The liquid comes from no fewer than 31 casks, mostly bourbon-aged but with some sherry cask as well.

We wouldn't have pegged this one as an Islay, if we hadn't known. It was chocolatey and spicy with distinctive notes of cereal and oats. Quite spirity too, still quite a lot of life in it despite the age and the 49.1% ABV. Certainly a great way to start the evening. We got our bottle when it was released for the RRP of £150, but these days you'd be lucky to find one at auction for anything less than £325.

Bowmore 15yo

Bowmore was next, another of Islay's great distilleries. We had a Feis Ile bottling, released for the annual Islay festival. This put us immediately in mind of last November's tasting when we had a whole series of festival drams.

The Bowmore was a 15yo released for the 2022 festival, costing £110. And it was clear from the first taste this was something extra special. Bourbon, chocolate and coffee were all over this. Really fruity, with an extra hit of coffee beans again at the end. Lovely all round. It was 54.7%.

Spiritfilled Port Charlotte

October's tasting from Spiritfilled was one bottle short due to the vagaries of the postal service, but the bottle did eventually turn up and slotted into this tasting as whisky number three. 

This was a forthcoming Port Charlotte, a bourbon cask 13 year-old clocking in at 58%. At the time of our tasting, this had a total availability of one! But this will be changing soon as it gets a broader release. This was certainly a very punchy dram, and went down particularly well with those who enjoy the big Islay peat monsters (this is a not insignificant proportion of club members!).  It's £145 for pre-order.

Caol Ila 9yo

After a half-time break, giving everyone the chance to recharge their beer glasses downstairs at the Britons' Protection bar, we were back for the second trio of whiskies.

Next up was a bottling created for the Southport Whisky Club, a 9 year-old Caol Ila. A sherried Caol Ila is a relative rarity which is what caught Martin's eye when he picked it up for us for £75 (there was a discount involved here, we think the bottle itself is probably no longer available).

This had a high ABV of 57.9% but was nevertheless very smooth. In fact it was "surprisingly chill" as someone put it. Very peaty as well, of course, with some ripe bananas at the end. This got the nod as being a "quintessential Islay", a classical sort of dram and a great example of the combination of sherry and peat.

Lagavulin

Lagavulin was dram number five. On this occasion, a no age statement bottling from 2018, consisting of a vatting of two types of cask, a heavily charred refill bourbon and an American oak.

This didn't feel like a Lagavulin to us, although "it is Laggy adjacent" as someone suggested. A really good dram, with more of a subtle sweetness than you'd expect from the distillery. A little bit muted even, but not in a bad way at all. There was something creamy about it too. It was £100 and came in at 53.5%

Kilchoman

The final dram of the night involved a visit to Islay's farm distillery, Kilchoman, and a bottle created especially for Robertson's of Pitlochry, a notable independent whisky retailer. This was a single cask whisky, aged in a refilled bourbon barrel from Woodford Reserve, then finished for a year in a French oak tequila barrel. It was £90 and 54%.

This was lovely on the nose, and in fact some thought the palate didn't quite live up to the promise. Sweet and fruity, there were mixed views on whether the tequila really added anything much to the mix here. American cream soda was another tasting note.

That brought us to the dram of the night voting, and the Bowmore ran out a clear winner with 15 votes, ahead of the Spiritfilled Port Charlotte in second place.

Thanks to Martin for selecting and presenting such a great range of Islay whiskies, to all at the Britons for hosting us again, and to club members old and new for joining us to take part.

Bang For Your Buck

This month's line up

For May's tasting, there was a welcome return for Anna who presented a line up of best 'bang for your buck' whiskies currently on the market, a timely tasting considering not only the cost of living crisis, but also the general inflationary pressures on whisky prices too. Anna was out to show us that there remains all kinds of great stuff out there at reasonable prices if you know where to look.

Compass Box

Most of the drinks came from independent bottlers, and dram number one was the work of one of the club's favourites, Compass Box, the London-based blender and bottler. We were drinking Orchard House, a blend (of which the biggest component was Clynelish) with a definite fruit and apple vibe from the label onwards.

There was no doubt about the apple straight from the nose, green apples especially. We also got some peanut butter, and perhaps a faint bit of smoke on the palate, too. The finish was nice and long. It's 46% and you can pick it up for about £41 from the usual online retailers. 

Kilchoman SB3

Dram number two took us to Islay and Kilchoman, and a small batch distillery bottling. It's number three in Kilchoman's small batch series, and features a combination of bourbon and Oloroso aged Kilchoman, along with some much stronger Sauternes cask, to create a bottling at 49.1%.

This was sweet before it got peaty. Apples again and other sweet notes, making for a lovely combination with the smoke which grew on the palate. "I'd buy that" said more than one club member. It's £52. Cheap at the price, we felt.

Petrichor Galore

Back to the indie bottlers for dram three, and a whisky from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. This one was called Petrichor Galore (petrichor being the smell of rain, a new one on me!) and was bottle 63.81, the 63 standing for Glentauchers.

This was intense and "sherry tastic" with toffee another tasting note that we got. "This makes me violently happy" someone said. As well it might, at just £53.20 (for members, and sadly it's all since gone), it was an extremely strong 66.3%. Great value as well as being an excellent drop. Not sure about the smell of rain, though.

IF Knockdhu

After a half-time break to recharge our beer glasses downstairs at the Britons Protection, we returned for whisky four. The indie bottler this time was Infrequent Flyers, a brand run by ex-BenRiach man Alistair Walker, which aims to showcase some rarer single malts at affordable prices. On this occasion it was a Knockdhu, a Speyside distillery which normally produces whisky under the name anCnoc to avoid confusion with Knockando up the road.

Another superb drink, this. Lots of marzipan and almond as the key tasting notes. A really easy drinker, too, remarkable considering its strength of 58.9% (so perhaps we should reclassify it as a 'dangerously' easy drinker). It's £52.90.

North Star Chaos

As a measure of how strong the last two were, there was a bit of surprise that whisky number five was "only" 50%! A North Star bottling from its Chaos range, asking the question 'do port and peat go well together?' being an Islay whisky mostly aged in ruby port octaves.

It's assumed the liquid in this bottling is a Caol Ila, but as someone commented, "if it's a Caol Ila, the delivery van has crashed with an Ardbeg". This was very floral, and savoury. Again great value at £50.

Highland Laird

All too soon it was the last dram of the night, and bottling under name Highland Laird, owned by family-run bottler Bartels. This was a 9-year-old Macduff with plenty of big strength again, at 65.4%. The colour was particularly notable, it was fully matured in first fill sherry casks.

This was another superb whisky, and there were lots of phones out to buy a bottle (including mine) at the excellent price of £48. There are still some available, too, so it's well worth getting one before they're all gone. As a sidenote, after the bottle I ordered went walkabout after an issue with the courier, full marks to Bartels for sending me another! Great customer service and a business well worth supporting.

There was plenty of support for the Highland Laird in the dram of the night voting, but it narrowly lost a three-way battle with the Knockdhu and - this month's winner - the SMWS Glentauchers.

Thanks to Anna for such a great selection of whiskies, and to all club members and their guests for attending another successful tasting. And, as ever, thanks to the Britons for hosting us so well once again.

There they all are

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 2020 Christmas Party

 

Another Zoom tasting!

One of our annual traditions at Manchester Whisky Club is the Christmas party. In the past this has usually involved a big get-together at the Britons Protection, often involving the leftover whiskies from the year's tastings. This year, as with most things, we had to do it remotely on Zoom. But thanks to some wonderful organising from host Adam and the rest of the committee, we had a great night of entertainment and a range of whiskies to try.

Hazelburn 13yo

Everyone had a few small surprise samples to try along with the main line-up for the tasting, with the little bits leftover from bottles we tried earlier in the year, so we'd all had the chance to drink something in advance of the opening dram.

We got going with a 13-year-old from Hazelburn, a brand used by the Springbank distillery in Campbeltown. This was an unpeated expression, matured in Oloroso sherry casks. And that sherry certainly came across when we tried it, with a real Christmas cake sort of feel about it. There was also a definite toffee thing going on as well, so all very appropriate for the time of the year.

Someone suggested a bit of water helped smooth things out a bit. Certainly sweet and bold. It was £54 when available (it no longer is, the run of 9,000 bottles has long gone) and it's 47.4%.

James Eadie Benrinnes

The next whisky was a Benrinnes from independent bottler James Eadie. Again 13 years old, this was finished in a bual Madeira hogshead, but it had a much more limited run of 311 bottles, again all now sold.

And no wonder, because it was really very nice indeed. Fairly subtle on the nose but then big and buttery in the mouth, it had a spicy thing going on, maybe cardamom, and also pear drops. It was good value too at £49, and it was 56.1%.

WB Blair Athol

One of the club's favourite independent bottlers is Whiskybroker, run by Martin Armstrong, and we had one of their bottlings for the third dram of the night. It was a Blair Athol released last summer, which quite a few of the club members took the opportunity of buying at the time. Sharing the wealth with those who missed out first time around, Adam presented us with the red wine-finished 10-year-old.

You could really tell the red wine a mile off with this one. It helped give the whisky a very distinctive flavour which lingered very pleasingly, too. As is always the case with Whiskybroker, an excellent value bottle at £50, and it was 56.5%. This went down very well indeed.

SMWS 37.96

Next up we had a dram from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. This was number 37.96, named 'Cinnamon Semolina Pudding' that was a 13-year-old from Cragganmore on Speyside. This had most of its ageing in an ex-bourbon hogshead before finishing in first fill Pedro Ximenez sherry.

And once again it was strong and sweet and smooth, tasting all of its 58.7%. But it also definitely had something interesting with the texture, which is presumably where the SMWS tasters got that 'semolina' reference from. It was part of the October 2017 outturn by the SMWS, and at the time was £56 for members.

Caol Ila 9yo

To finish, as we often do, it was off to Islay for a taste of something peaty. It was a 9-year-old Caol Ila, produced by The Whisky Exchange in 2019 for The Whisky Show, to honour their 20th anniversary. It was fully matured in refill sherry.

It certainly gave us a big blast of peat. The sherry gave it a lingering finish and it was definitely a complex whisky. We thought that, if anything, it might have done from a little extra time in the wood to really bring out more of the flavours.

Amidst all this, Adam kept us all going with a range of quizzes, and thank you to him and everyone who took part, for another successful lockdown tasting.

The dram of the night, mustn't forget that, actually apparently I did because I can't find the results anywhere, so they may well be lost in the mists of time. But for what it's worth my vote would be for the Whiskybroker Blair Athol!

A Virtual Trip To Islay

Another Zoom tasting!

For our tasting in October we went far away from our locked down homes in and around Manchester, and took a virtual trip to one of the homes of whisky, Islay.

Jade's Cask

Adam had five drams lined up for us, along with a sprinkling of the unique history of the whisky island and its classic peated produce.

The first whisky was actually acquired a little closer to home, though. The Wee Dram in Bakewell is one of the best independent booze shops around. The owners produced their own 15-year-old bottling of Bruichladdich back in 2017 in honour of their daughter, Jade, and this was it, simply called 'Jade's Cask'.

We were trying all of them blind and playing a bit of 'guess the distillery' and for this bottling, the smoothness and lack of very strong peat left some speculating it might be a Bunnahabhain, before Adam revealed the correct answer.

Caol Ila

Very sweet on the nose and the palate, with notes of marshmallow and a bit of a kick at the end, we thought this was very nice indeed. It was 50% and cost £53 directly from the shop, although it's no longer available.

The next dram was much more spicy, with pear drops on the nose, although that rather gave way to a bit of Christmassy sweetness on the palate, with raisins and a touch of mince pie. Some with longer memories even suggested Parma Violets.

There certainly wasn't much smoke around, and that was confirmed when the bottle was announced as an unpeated Caol Ila, in the form of a 2017 Diageo special release. It was 18 years old and clocked in at a hefty 59.8%, although it didn't really taste quite that strong.

Bunnahabhain

This particular bottle was in the old 'Highland style', made for blends, which pre-dated the more familiar single malt releases we now get from Caol Ila, making it doubly unusual. If you can find a bottle out there today it'll set you back about £100.

For whisky number three we really were going to Bunnahabhain. We got a characteristic phenolic nose, and then in the mouth a powerful tingle and dry biscuity feeling, with sweetness not far behind. A bit like a caramel flapjack, as someone suggested.

This was a Signatory single cask bottling, an 11-year-old aged in first fill sherry casks and remarkably strong, at 67.3%. A real bargain at £82 when the club bought it, but now sadly sold out.

Ardbeg Wee Beastie

We moved on, for whisky four, to a bottle from the ever-popular Ardbeg. However, this particular bottle didn't exactly have the characteristics of a typical Ardbeg. We weren't sure whether this was because it was lighter than normal, or whether that monster of a Bunnahabhain had knocked our tastebuds out of whack a bit. But we didn't get too much from this at first.

Perhaps it was a little of both. This turned out to be a new addition to the Ardbeg range, the Wee Beastie, a 5-year-old at 47.4%, making it only a little stronger than the standard 10-year-old bottling.

Some felt this a bit watery rather than showcasing the classic heavy Ardbeg taste, but those in the group who had tried this before said it was generally a lot better when it didn't have such a big act to follow, and we did appreciate the fact Ardbeg are bold enough to put an age statement on this. One to have another go at. It's 47.4% and £37.

The Dark Side of Islay

To finish, we somewhat unusually had a blend to get our teeth into. The name Octovulin, itself a long-shut Islay distillery, was used by independent bottler Malts of Scotland for the 2017 instalment in its Dark Side of Islay series. A 19-year-old, this was a blend of three types of cask from three different distilleries.

A lovely, interesting dram with plenty going on, smooth on the nose and palate and a long, warm finish. There were 1,421 bottles produced, although they are long gone!

The dram of the night voting went the way of that last bottle, the Dark Side of Islay, just ahead of the big old Bunnahabhain. Although each of the whiskies got at least a couple of votes, which goes to show what a strong line-up we had.

Thanks to Adam for hosting the tasting, and to all club members old and new for joining in once again over Zoom.