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.

New Year, New Home!

 

The line-up

Our 2025 programme of tastings got off to a bit of a different start for a couple of reasons. The first was a week's delay due to a previous booking at our new venue, meaning our January tasting actually took place on the first Thursday in February.

North British 18yo

But I've already given away the second. After spending most of our decade-plus history at the Britons Protection (longer serving members might recall our earliest days in the Lass O'Gowrie then the Castle, but these memories are understandably hazy), events at the start of January meant Star Pubs/Heineken finally took control of the place following a long battle. Changes afoot there, not least the departure of the whisky stocks that made it such an attractive place for us for so long, meant we were briefly homeless.

In stepped another Manchester landmark, the Seven Oaks in Chinatown. Their upstairs room is an ideal size for us, and so that's where we assembled for Martin to take us through six assorted bottles raided from the club's stocks.

The Holyrood

We started off with a single cask grain, an 18-year-old from North British aged in a refill sherry cask and bottled by Douglas Laing under their Old Particular brand. This had a sort of leather, waxy type vibe about it, the sort of smell you get when buffing up your car (I was taking others' word for this, I'm afraid my poor old Ford has never had a buffing, at least not from me). On the palate we got some toffee at the end, butterscotch too. Not too vanilla-y, as some grains can be.

This was good, although at our table we weren't quite sure it was worth the £67 we paid for it back in 2022. Others raved it about it though, declaring it "surprisingly good". Other tasting notes included struck matches and sulphur. It was 48.4%.

SMWS Tullibardine

Dram two went to the other end of the age scale, and a very young whisky from Edinburgh's new Holyrood distillery, which says it's the first in the Scottish capital for a century. Set up by Canadians in an old railway building, the distillery has a reputation for experimenting, and has employed an ex-distiller from Macallan to help them realise what they want to achieve.

We weren't so keen on the nose here - cheese and sweaty socks - but it was totally different when you actually drank it. Very creamy and interesting. We'd like to try more of their stuff, but not necessarily this precise expression again. It was 49.8% and cost us £70 including postage.

Arran 16yo

As someone commented on seeing the line-up of bottles at the start of the evening, "it's always a good night when you see one of these," gesturing at the familiar Scotch Malt Whisky Society livery of dram three. This expression - Blindfolds and Pipettes, 28.95 - was a 10-year-old Tullibardine.

This was straightforward and very good, we felt. Understated but chewy. Not especially memorable on the nose but it had a super long aftertaste, with distinct flavours of apple crumble, custard and a honeyed sweetness. There were mixed views on whether adding water did all that much for it. This bottle was £70 for SMWS members and it was 59%.

Aultmore

After a half-time break to recharge our glasses downstairs in our new surroundings, it was back for another trio of whiskies.

And we kicked off part two on the Isle of Arran, with a distillery exclusive 16-year-old single cask from 2022. We weren't quite sure what the cask was, although it could have been Sauternes, or fino - it was certainly very pale for something which had been aged for that long. 

It was very nice all round though, and Arran is a popular distillery among many club members who felt this particular expression helped the liquid shine. It was £95, which was perhaps a little at the top end of what we'd pay for it. The strength was 58%.

Glen Scotia

To another club for whisky five, this time the Cadenhead's Club and a 15-year-old Aultmore, the result of a vatting of several casks. This had an incredible nose and looked great too: it made you (or at least me) instantly want to drink it. 

And indeed, it lived up to expectations. Very nice, with classical old Speyside flavours, including dates and sticky toffee pudding. A great all-rounder and a favourite so far for many in the room. This was £70 and 54.8%.

Martin had a bit of peat lined up for us to finish with. A Glen Scotia bottled for Callander, this was matured in fresh bourbon then PX casks. My notes here indicate that it was billed as heavily peated, but didn't really taste all that peated, indeed I wrote "is it really peated at all?" so clearly this was causing some debate. More of a soft hint of smoke than anything else.

This was really delicious though. That hint of smoke brought to mind smoky bacon and Frazzles. "Stunning" and "terrific" were among the comments. Incredible value too, as we paid £59 for it back in 2021. It was 52.9%.

That brought us to the dram of the night voting, and despite a strong challenge from the Glen Scotia, the Cadenhead's Club Aultmore got the most votes with 13. In third place was the Arran.

Thanks to Martin for putting together our new home and this great line up of drams, and to all at the Seven Oaks for giving us such a warm welcome!