Whiskies With Beer Connections

 

Six of the eight drams we enjoyed

It's fair to say most of the club members like beer almost as much as whisky, and for August's tasting we had a line up of no fewer than eight drams, all with beer connections.

Two Brewers

We started off in Canada with a single malt from Two Brewers, based in the Yukon, making it just about as far flung a dram as we've had. Brewers malts were used to create this no age statement bottling, and there were some maple syrup casks in the mix as well.

This definitely had a sweetness but also a sting and so you felt it all the way down. A little harsh and definitely tasted young. But also had a real mapley sweetness about it, with sherbet another tasting note to the fore. Robust flavours and pleasant. At £80 this was "expensive but interesting". It was 46%. Those who had it with water said it took quite a bit of it and held up well. "Sweet, weird and nice" was one verdict.

Gouden Carolus

Belgium next for a 3-year-old Gouden Carolus, made by the Het Anker brewery. This one is aged in bourbon casks then some which previously held their own beer.

This was very sweet on the nose, with hints of toffee apples, sticky toffee pudding and a "chemistry lab". Sweet and beery, very smooth "but weird" we thought. Certainly another interesting dram although some in the group weren't so keen, while others suggested trying it with water again. It was 46% and cost us £55.

Circumstance

Back to the UK next and Circumstance distillery, the Bristol-based outfit showing off some of their organic credentials with a cask strength single grain. The beer connection was the use of saison yeast.

The most noticeable thing here was a strong aftertaste of liqourice, although it did mellow a bit after a few sips. "Weird again" but became more lively with a bit of water, some felt. It was 60.3%. We weren't quite sure how much this one actually cost us, but they do have a range of organic drams on their site for the £45-55 mark.

Holyrood new make

Whisky number four wasn't actually whisky at all really, but was instead a new make from Edinburgh's Holyrood. They've released lots of these new make expressions which is quite unusual. In this example, some brewers yeast and chocolate malt helped give it a beer influence. Not technically whisky, but whisky adjacent, anyway.

This was very dry indeed. The taste was very reminiscent of buttered toast or burnt toast, so quite distinctive. The finish was more of a dark chocolate. This was 60%. It's out of stock now on the Holyrood site, but was previously available for £36.

Cheshire IPA cask

After a half-time break and a chance to fill up our actual beer glasses downstairs at the Seven Oaks, we were back for another quartet.

And it was a case of moving on to whiskies actually finished in beer casks. Number five took us close to home with The Cheshire IPA cask. This was mostly 3-year-old liquid, matured initially in STR casks before a final blast in ones which previously held their Jester IPA.

This smelt lovely and floral, and tasted delicious too. After the ones we'd had in the first half, there was the feeling that "this is a normal whisky!" Pear drops and Parma Violents, green apples and citrus. Some real classic favours, in fact whisky flavoured whisky, you might say. It comes in and 46% and offers good value at 40 quid.

Teeling dark porter

Teeling next and a visit to Dublin, almost a full decade after they came to see us with a selection of drams. This was a dark porter finish whiskey, we think a blend. Beer finishes are a real feature of their range, and they often exchange casks back and forth with the nearby Dock Brewery.

We liked this one, too. A mixture of cereal and chocolately flavours, so very much like Coco Pops. A short finish, but very nice, and a general thumbs up. Again this was 46% and decent value at just over the £40 mark.

Glasgow / I&G finish

The Glasgow distillery was the origin of whisky number seven, a golden beer cask finish from a partnership with high-profile Scottish brewery Innis and Gunn.

At 58% this was a "real bruiser". We "sort of" got dried fruits on the palate, certainly a little bit raisiny anyway. Biscuity, like shortbread. A little bit of water did the job for quite a few of us. It's mostly sold out, but it's £55-60 where available.

Caol Ila 12yo

Which brought us onto the almost inevitable big peat finish. A Murray McDavid, 12-year-old Caol Ila, matured in imperial stout casks.

This was very nice stuff, although at first we didn't really feel like we got too much beer out of it. A pretty typical Caol Ila really, not that this is a bad thing. A long aftertaste, so that was very pleasant, and maybe made it a trifle softer than a typical Islay. Lovely really. I've written at the end of my notes "probably the best whisky of the night but I want to vote for someone else" so who knows what I really meant by that. This was 52.3% and was £89.

It did well in the dram of the night voting, but not quite well enough. The winner was dram seven, the Glasgow/Innis and Gunn collaboration, with 12 votes, ahead of the Caol Ila with 10. All except the Belgians got at least one vote, though!

Thanks to all club members for taking part in such a great evening, and to everyone at the Seven Oaks for hosting us again.

Grain Whisky Night

 

Six grain whiskies for us to try

Grain whisky is sometimes seen as a bit of a poor relation in the whisky world. But there's no real reason why that should be so. The label 'grain whisky' simply means using some grains other than malted barley as part of the whisky making process, and far from just padding out the good stuff with some inferior product, it can lead to some quality bottlings and great value drams.

Fercullen 10yo

And so for our April tasting, we had six grain whiskies to get stuck into courtesy of Martin. We started with a whiskey rather than a whisky, and something from Fercullen. It has been making whiskey at its Powerscourt distillery in Wicklow since 2018, but given we had a 10-year-old in our hands we think this must have come from the ubiquitous Cooley's.

This was floral on the nose and we got a lot of peach. "Very peachy all round". In fact, the finish more or less went away except for the peach. So it's certainly one to try if you like peaches. Further comments suggested this was a perfect breakfast whiskey and was in fact "the best first dram in ages." The bottling was white oak aged then finished in bourbon. It was 40% and we paid £60.

Bernheim 7yo

Dram two was another whiskey, albeit from a bit further west. This was a wheat whiskey from the Heaven Hill distillery, bottled under the Bernheim Original brand. It was a seven-year-old, and it had a little bit of corn and barley in there along with the wheat.

Initial tasting notes here were liquorice, herbs and spices. Aniseed and cola cubes came next. This was not universally popular, and some drinkers felt it was a bit on the sweet side for their taste. Others thought it was not bad but just suffered in comparison with the opener. Nice to try a wheat whiskey all the same. This was 45% and cost £78.

Circumstance 3yo

To England for the third whisky and our old friends from Circumstance, who did a remote tasting with us during Covid. They've set out their point of difference in the spirits market by using unusual yeasts, including a saison wheat beer yeast. We were trying a three-year-old, which had been matured in ex-bourbon casks.

This was sweet upfront with pear drops and banana sweets. A bit like those little fruit salad chews. Felt a bit rum like for some, and others thought it had a bit of a non-whisky or even slightly synthetic vibe about it. The yeast was certainly there in the beer-like mouthfeel. A bit light perhaps, and also trying to do a lot in a single drink. Lively and interesting and unlike other whiskies most of us have tried before. It was 46% and we paid £60.

Master of Malt's own

After a half-time break and a chance to refill our beer glasses downstairs at the Britons Protection, we were into something far older for the fourth whisky. From the Atom Labs offshoot of leading online booze retailer Master of Malt, this was Butterscotch & Vanilla & Toast & a Generation, part of their series of similarly-named whiskies with cool minimalist labels. This particular bottling was a 30yo blend of grains, probably from the North British and Invergordon distilleries.

It certainly tasted mature. Not light at all, and there was plenty to go at. Barbecue was one tasting note, creme brulee another. Waxy on the nose and we definitely did get the butterscotch. At £65, this was very good value for a 30yo whisky. But on the other hand, at just 40% some drinkers felt it was a little under-powered, and resolved to try the higher ABV cask strength version which retails for a bit more.

Electric Coo 26yo

More North British in dram number five, which was something of a curiosity. Electric Coo was the brand name, and it ended up with us as part of a crowdfunder for David Stirk, a whisky expert who was writing a book about independent distilleries. If you contributed you got a bottle, and so here it was, a 26-year-old.

This had a bit of an acidic tang to it. In fact it was "brutal" suggested someone, in the sense it was very strong and big tasting, and felt stronger than the 50% on the label. Still some sweetness in there, but also a tannin mouthfeel thought some in the room. A bit of a split room in the end, but more than one person was desperate for another drop having finished theirs. The indicative value on it was £95.

Loch Lomond

For our last whisky of the evening, we went to Loch Lomond via the Southport Whisky Club, which bottled this particular expression. Rather than a grain whisky, this was really a single malt in all but name, but because it was distilled using Coffey stills it can't technically be called a malt. This was a chunky old peated cask strength dram, at 61.3%.

And didn't it taste like it. "My word this is strong" I've written down in my notes, and that sums it up pretty well. Very fruit too, with grapefruit prominent on the palate. There were mixed views in the room on whether it improved with water. Some found it a bit much all round. But, as ever for a big peat monster, it had its supporters in the club too!

We ran dram of the night a bit differently, giving everyone two votes instead of one. And would you believe it, we ended up with a very rare win for the opening dram of the night. The Fercullen picked up 17 votes, with the Loch Lomond second and the Electric Coo third. But all the whiskies got some votes, again emphasising what a good selection we had. Thanks to Martin for providing it, for all club members and guests for getting stuck in and drinking them, and to all at the Britons for hosting us yet again.