Best of The Whisky Exchange Show

The November line-up.

Committee members Martin, Anna and Adam came back from a visit to The Whisky Exchange's whisky show in London clutching two bottles each. And so it was that the club membership gathered upstairs at the Briton's Protection on the last Thursday in November to knock through them all in the usual style.

G&M Macduff 18yo

None of the six whiskies on show were standard distillery bottlings with a range of independents represented. And we kicked off with one of the oldest and best-known names in the field, Gordon & Macphail.

This was an 18yo from the Macduff distillery. On the Moray Firth coast, the distillery's official bottlings appear under the name Glen Deveron, named for the local river, so expressions under the Macduff name are the preserve of indies only.

On this occasion we were drinking a 58% whisky that was big and strong straight away. We got pear drops and vanilla, and one of the tasting notes which struck a particular chord was grapefruit. Some drinkers thought this started off well but perhaps didn't quite live up it, with the alcohol coming through a bit much. It was £100 but is now sold out.

27yo Bunnahabhain

We're not necessarily big fans of spending large sums of money on packaging, but even we had to admit the box for our next bottle was very nice indeed. What was inside was a 27yo Bunnahabhain, part of the rather premium Single Malts of Scotland range from Speciality Drinks, which is in turn another part of The Whisky Exchange business.

This went down a storm. Very smooth, with a definite hint of butter - like melting butter on a crumpet as someone put it. There was definitely some citrus around too. A bottle will set you back £230 though! So although a lovely drop, perhaps not quite worth the price tag. It's a very drinkable 48.4%.

Another distillery which relatively rarely appears under its own name is Glen Elgin, and that's where he went for the third dram of the evening.

22yo Glen Elgin

Glen Elgin is most commonly used in the White Horse blend, still one of the biggest sellers worldwide. But we had a 22yo single malt bottling from Signatory to try.

We were told the distillery is noted for producing particularly fruity drinks, in part because of a long fermentation process. And this was certainly fruity, with a waxiness about it too.

Certainly a good drink but trying to follow those opening two drams, which had both been particularly punchy, was always going to be hard. So it maybe wasn't surprising this divided the room a little more. It's 49.5% and comes in at £107.

After a half-time break and a chance to refill our pint glasses downstairs at the Briton's, it was back for the next three whiskies, and we went west to Ben Nevis.

21yo Ben Nevis

This was a 21yo sherry cask whisky, clocking in at 47.5%, bottled by The Whisky Exchange under a range it's calling The Future of Whisky - this particular dram apparently representing 'Past Future' because it was what people used to think the future of whisky would be like.

By the time we'd got our heads around the logic of that, this particular dram was already in our past. We felt that while the bottle looked as snazzy as the concept, the contents possibly didn't quite live up to that promise.

But then again, after a couple of memorable, flavourful whiskies to start the evening, anything coming along later was maybe inevitably on a bit of a hiding to nothing. At £130, we weren't reaching for our phones to order any bottles, although they seem to have sold out anyway.

14yo Hunter Laing Glenrothes

The sherry theme continued with whisky number five, but this was more of a full-on sherry monster. From the Glenrothes distillery, it was a 14yo bottling by Hunter Laing and its First Editions range.

This proved very popular with the membership, although with many having a known taste for big sherried whiskies this wasn't much of a surprise!

A couple of the tasting notes from the drinkers in the room were maple syrup and chocolate which probably says it all. It's 49.8% and at £73 or thereabouts doesn't represent the worst value in the world, especially if your Christmas list is looking a little bare.

12yo Ledaig

The last dram was a 12yo Ledaig from the Tobermory distillery in Mull, again bottled as part of The Whisky Exchange's The Future of Whisky range, this time representing 'Present Future'.

Another sherry cask one here, but much more of a peat king. By this stage of the evening my notes had become predictably short, and all I managed to get down was "we loved it". It's 58.4% and was £80 but has already all gone, sadly.

The voting for dram of the night came down to a straight fight between the Bunnahabhain and the Ledaig, with the Bunna taking it by 12 votes to 11, with three other whiskies getting two votes each.

Thank you to everyone old and new who attended another extremely busy tasting, as well as to the Britons for hosting us and in particular to Anna, Martin and Adam for coming back from the show which such an interesting and excellent range of drinks for us to try. Up next: it's the Christmas party!

Here they all are.

Port Askaig Tasting

The first five bottles of the evening.

Manchester Whisky Club returned for 2017 the evening after Burns Night, with a line up of whiskies from Port Askaig to ease us into the new year. Mariella from Speciality Drinks was there to take us through the range, including a bottle of an expression yet to hit the market.

The 8yo.

But first we got acquainted with the two whiskies which make up Port Askaig's core offering. The name comes from an Islay village and ferry terminal (this last description may be pushing it a bit - "basically just a jetty" was the consensus of those club members who've made the journey), but it's not actually a distillery itself.

Instead, Speciality Drinks uses the name as a brand to showcase a variety of Islay flavours from different distilleries. Mariella emphasised their range is about a more welcoming type of Islay whisky, retaining the key characteristics of the island's drams while not attempting to overpower drinkers in a fug of smoke.

That was on display straight from the off with Port Askaig's 8yo. The entry level whisky of the range, this was a nice and salty, fresh-tasting drink.

The 100 proof.

There was also a definite mixture of citrus and creaminess, especially in the aftertaste, as if we'd had a lemon meringue pie chaser. Which, on reflection, is something we should definitely suggest for a future tasting.

The 8yo is, in common with most Port Askaig whiskies, 45.8% and comes in at £40, a very reasonable price point for something that is always available.

Next was the 100 proof, a good deal stronger at 57.1% but only a little more expensive at £45. It's unheard of these days to get an Islay whisky at that strength for that price, so the Port Askaig offers excellent value.

The brand new 15yo.

It's got butter, vanilla and ice cream, and we tried it with some dark mint chocolate supplied by Mariella for the occasion. This certainly made it less peaty, although the chocolate seemed to do more for the whisky than the mint - so if you're getting a bottle you probably don't need to also order a hundredweight of After Eights.

Moving onto the evening's small batch whiskies, we started with a bottle which won't be available for another couple of months. It's a new 15yo (so not the 15yo Port Askaig currently on the market) and it's the first sherry cask to emerge under the Port Askaig brand.

This was absolutely fantastic on the nose. There was a bit of smoke, but again it was more salty if anything, and Mariella pointed out notes of Moroccan spices and dates. If anything the nose slightly outshone the palate, but there was an almost unanimous feeling that this is one to look forward to very much. The price is still TBC.

The 16yo.

There was a bit more sherry in evidence for dram number four, the 16yo. This was a more autumnal beast, with chestnuts, red fruits and a distinct tobacco nose - halfway to Christmas as someone suggested.

Feelings were more mixed with some very positive comments alongside some more negative ones, as some club members have a well-signposted aversion to the particular distillery (which begins with A and rhymes with 'hardbeg') from where this was sourced.

The 19yo.

We had a bit more chocolate here too, this time orangey. This certainly brought something out in it again, although one view was that the chocolate was a bit on the bitter side for the whisky.

Courageously we ploughed on to the fifth drink of the evening, and a redoubtable 19yo which Mariella described as classic "hip flask whisky". Heathery on the nose, the aftertaste had some more unexpected fruitiness in it. You could even say it went a bit tropical, which is not a word you typically associate with Islay, but there you have it.

Extremely pleasant and clocking in at just over 50%, it's £100 or thereabouts.

The 30yo.

We saved the elder statesman of the range to last. The 30yo was very robust, with a full-on flavour. Certainly the most obviously Islay whisky of the night, it had the clearest smoky and peaty notes. "Stunning" as someone called it.

But on the other hand, and as predicted by Mariella at the beginning of the evening, it wasn't overpowering, and was definitely highly drinkable. As well it might be for £375! Given the value provided by other bottles in the range, perhaps it's not one too many club members are likely to invest in, at least not this side of payday.

And so to the voting for dram of the night. These were relatively evenly spread, with all-but-one whisky attracting at least a couple of votes. But it was number three, the as-yet-unreleased sherry monster, which came out on top.

Thanks to all club members and those from the waiting list who attended to get 2017 off to a strong start, and in particular thanks to both the Britons Protection and Mariella, for putting on such a great evening.

Getting ready for our Port Askaig tasting tonight at @MCRWhiskyClub ! #whisky #islay #manchester #portaskaig pic.twitter.com/fayK33QzGS

— Port Askaig Whisky (@PortAskaigMalt) 26 January 2017