Regional Malts

Johnnie Walker

For February's tasting we were online again, before a planned return to the Britons for March. And we marked the occasion with another trip right around Scotland, with Adam taking us to all five of the officially recognised whisky regions: Highland, Lowland, Islay, Speyside and Campbeltown, plus an extra stop at an island distillery for good measure.

We started off in the Lowlands, the southernmost region which roughly speaking covers Edinburgh, Glasgow and everything below. We got dried apricot on the nose of this one, with a light bit of vanilla and flowers, too - there was definitely something floral going on. The taste was quite soft, a Lowland all over in fact as someone suggested. Light, easy drinking, and a good session whisky, with a subtle and sweet aftertaste.

The Gauldrons

This was a blend, the Johnnie Walker Lowlands Origin. Given the relative ownership of those distilleries, we think this was probably a mix of Cameronbridge and Glenkinchie. A 12-year-old at 42%, this was £52 for a one litre bottle (so £36 for means of comparison with the usual 70cl bottles). Other tasting notes included biscuits and even a bit of rose Turkish delight. Not bad at all.

Next to Campbeltown, once the home of Scottish whisky and well on the road to a recovery thanks to the powerhouses of Springbank, Glen Scotia and Glengyle. We had a good try of these at a tasting last year, and were keen for another. This particular dram was very pale, and didn't have all that much on the nose. A bit of marzipan maybe, there was certainly an almondy vibe. The whisky was quite different on the palate though. Much more distinctive than the nose would have led you to believe. A bit of smoke in there somewhere, with coconut and banana too. Maybe even a bit of fennel.

Hector Macbeth 1997

What we had in our glasses turned out to be a blended malt, a term used to describe a whisky that is a blend of various single malts. It was The Gauldrons, from indie bottler Douglas Laing. Billed as 'the marriage of the finest Campbeltown malts' (and let's be honest, there are only three so that does rather narrow down the options as to what that might involve), it's 46.2% and £49. Again, a good drop.

Speyside may be the best-known whisky country in Scotland. It's certainly got the most distilleries in it, clustered around the banks of the fast flowing River Spey on its journey north from the heart of Scotland to the Moray Firth. The Speyside we had was a bit bitter on the nose, maybe cacao or green apples too. Quite a contrast to the floral notes we'd had earlier in the evening. The taste wasn't all that strong and it didn't need any water. A rich sweetness, "one note" as someone suggested, albeit one note that it does really well. Not the most Speyside of Speysides some thought, but others thought it was a 'classic Speyside' which just goes to show it's basically impossible to get anyone to agree on anything.

Meet the Beast

This was a Hector Macbeth. Another blended malt, this time from Hunter Laing, a company created as the 'other half' of the Laing business when the brothers when their separate ways almost a decade ago. A 24-year-old distilled in 1997, it was 51% and cost £128. Bourbon cask, which came as a bit of a surprised as we'd assumed a sherry cask given the rich colour (sadly I can't show this to you as I had drunk mine before remembering to take the photo, as you can see).

To the Highlands, a large whisky region including just about 'the rest' of Scotland that isn't covered by one of the other named areas, whether or not there are any actual hills nearby. Toffee and butterscotch on the nose of this one, almost like Werther's originals.

Mossburn

Certainly a bit of sweetness, almost like that heather honey so beloved of National Trust for Scotland gift shops. An easy drinker, it soon stopped being as fiery as it was at the start on the palate. A good one for round the campfire, someone suggested, with notes of dark chocolate, and a creamy, thick, mouthfeel. Others were less keen, though.

Another Bourbon cask, and another from Douglas Laing, this was an expression under their Timorous Beastie brand, called Meet The Beast. A no age statement blended malt, it was 54.9% and just £50. Great value, we felt.

That left just an island and an Islay to try, and with the peatiness of Islay inevitably kept for the end, it was off to a different island first. Still smoky though, peaty but very drinkable. It had a pleasant softness. As someone commented, "people who don't like peat would tolerate it." Better without the water we felt, with a hint of sweetness overall.

Big Peat Black Edition

This turned out to be a bottle under the Mossburn brand, from Torabhaig, the Isle of Skye's long-awaited second distillery (after Talisker). Called Signature Casks 1, it involved three different bits of cask wood in the ageing process. Another blended malt it was a no age statement dram at 46% and just £42. Really nice, we thought.

And so to Islay. To no great surprise, this had the typical medicinal character straight from the off. We also got salty, cough syrup, but perhaps not a wide range of sensations on the palate. "Not bad but not amazing" said someone, and others felt it was a touch one dimensional, by comparison to a few of the earlier drams.

This was a Big Peat, another of Douglas Laing's range of brands. Specifically, we had the Black Edition in our hands, a blend of Islay malts and a 27-year-old that was certainly different from the Big Peat we'd had previously. At 48.3% but a costly £185, we probably wouldn't necessarily be queuing up to buy it again.

That left only the dram of the night voting, and it was an easy win for... dram number 4! Meet the Beats took more than half the vote, with the Mossburn in second.

Thank you to Adam for preparing another great tasting for us, and to all club members for attending remotely and continuing to support us!

Campbeltown Night

 

The (hopefully) last Zoom tasting!

September's tasting was, we hope, the last of our regular monthly events to take place remotely via Zoom, at least for the time being. October would see us back in the surroundings of the Briton's Protection. But for this tasting, we had a range of premium whiskies from Campbeltown to try.

2x Springbank

Campbeltown was once the whisky capital of the world, but declined dramatically during the early part of the 20th century and there are now just three distilleries, although that is just enough for it to retain its designation as a whisky 'region' in its own right. Those are Springbank, Glen Scotia and Glengyle, and we had whiskies from each to try as part of the line up.

We started off with two drams from Springbank. The first was a distillery bottling under the Hazelburn brand, a single cask 15-year-old released in 2018. Somewhat unusually, it had full maturation in a Cognac butt.

This got the evening off to a strong start. A bit of a salty tang at first, and it gave way to a very thick, buttery finish. Beautiful all round. Some drinkers had to add a bit of water to fully enjoy it, and duly reported waves of flavour on the finish, along with a good mouthfeel.

Glen Scotia 17yo

It was just as well we got to enjoy it, because bottles are pretty scarce. It was originally £94 but one went for £250 at a recent auction. It was 53.9%.

For a counterpoint we moved onto a second Springbank, this time an eight-year-old aged in fresh sherry casks and bottled under the distillery's own name, from the Campbeltown Malts Festival 2019. This was sweet on the nose, so there was no mistaking the sherry. On the palate, we got tobacco, a real spicy, peppery taste, and overall it tasted quite dry. It was better with a bit of water, as that opened up the already impressive nose a bit further. Burnt toffee was one tasting shout at this point. In your face as a dram, but with a lot going for it.

We felt this didn't necessarily taste like an eight-year-old, but also that it might have improved still further with a bit longer maturation. We bought ours for £65 but at a recent auction it went for £275. It was 56.8%.

Glen Scotia 14yo

Leaving Springbank behind, we went to Glen Scotia for drams three and four. Number three was a 17-year-old, the Master Distillers Edition from 2020, aged in refill American oak. Many of us in the club are fans of the distillery's output today, it offers some good value drams, so we were looking forward to tasting this. Again, we were not disappointed!

There was a little bit of coconut in there, someone felt, and the nose and the finish were the high points, if anything a bit stronger than the actual bit in the middle. Some drops of water opened it up nicely. Some felt this was very slightly uninspiring compared with what had gone before, but others appreciated the subtletly of it. It was £170, and there aren't any more bottles available anywhere as far as we could tell.

Longrow 15yo

The other Glen Scotia was also from 2020, a peated bottling from that year's Malts Festival. It was a 14-year-old, with an American oak and port finish. There was a hint of peat but that was all, didn't hit as strongly as you might have expected. Certainly perfectly drinkable, maybe even more drinkable than some of the big hitters from the earlier in the tasting, but maybe less memorable as a result. Someone tried this with a bit of water and said it transformed the dram into something spectacular - "a taste explosion" - but a a few of us had foolishly finished ours before getting this advice!

It was 52.8% and cost £75 at the time, but the cheapest bottle we could find online today was going for £250.

Glengyle 5yo

We were back to Springbank for dram five, a 15-year-old Longrow, again bottled for the 2019 Malts Festival, and matured in first fill rum. This was slightly sweet on the nose, gentlre, although we weren't sure about the end of the finish - a bit bitter, or briney we felt. Not bad overall but not a hell raiser. No need to add any water here. This cost £75 at the time but is currently going for four times that online, and it was 52.4%.

And last it was off to Glengyle, the last of the trio of Campbeltown distilleries. Owned by J&A Mitchell, which also operates Springbank, it was revived early this century. Here, we were trying a 2021 distillery bottling under the Kilkerran name - the company was not able to re-acquire the Glengyle brand! - a five-year-old matured in fresh Oloroso sherry casks.

Custard, caramel, in fact a creme caramel, with burnt vanilla on the nose. A little young perhaps, a bit green, an instant alcoholic sort of a taste. Maybe a bit too young, although others thought it was really nice. Water killed it though! But still worth the £50 we paid for it, although it's now going for £100.

To the dram of the night voting then, and there was a rare victory for the opening whisky of the evening - dram number one!

Thanks to all club members for once again attending this virtual tasting and to the committee for assembling this terrific line up - a set of whiskies which would cost around £1300 to buy today.

Blends: The Devil Is In The Detail

The line-up.

In the middle of an incredible June heatwave and despite the competing attraction of England v Belgium in the World Cup, we gathered upstairs at the Briton's Protection for June's Manchester Whisky Club tasting, showcasing a selection of blends.

Our six blends.

Anna had curated the line-up and started off by telling us that she wanted to put a few myths about blended whisky to rest.

There's a long-standing misconception that blends are always that bit inferior to single malts. Frankly, single malts have for quite some time been simply a lot cooler. So Anna introduced six whiskies aimed at celebrating the best of blends, and shaking a few of us out of our single malt blinkers.

First up we were in Campbeltown and J&A Mitchell, maker of club favourite Springbank, for a blended offering called Spirit of Freedom 45.

Spirit of Freedom 45.

The '45' on this occasion relates not just to the 45% ABV but also to the 45% of Scots who voted Yes in the 2014 referendum, as well as the 45 different whiskies featured in the blend itself. Just in case you were in any doubt about the political subtext of all this, the bottle blazes a blue-and-white saltire flag.

The whisky itself was a sharp and summery dram, although it wasn't universally popular. Tasting notes in the room included vinegar and plantain. We thought that trying to knit together 45 whiskies in one was possibly something that was holding it back. It offers good value though, at £25.

It was off to Japan for dram number two and more from Ichiro, which has often featured at the club in the past for its single malts.

Ichiro's Malt and Grain

In this case we were trying Ichiro's Malt and Grain, a blend of whiskies from not just Japan, but also Scotland, Ireland, Canada and the US, making it a real world blend. The fact Japanese whisky is at the heart of it was fairly clear from the distinctive oily taste. This one also had a very dry finish, almost like sandpaper, which put some drinkers in mind of a decent dessert whisky.

At 46% and £72 we thought this wasn't the best price point, though, and that while it was nice, that price tag represents an element of paying extra for the Ichiro name.

Exotic Cargo.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society was represented with whisky number three, Exotic Cargo. On this occasion the second batch released under this name by SMWS, clocking in at 50% and at £47 for members (although good luck finding one still available from a secondary source for anything like that).

While the first two whiskies were more conventional blends of malts and grains, this was the first of two blended malts - that is, a mixture of single malts only, and given the age statement of the youngest dram in the bottle (in this case, 11 years old).

A bit of a departure for SMWS, famed for their exceptional single malts, this really was very nice indeed. A Christmassy sweetness with flavours such as brandy butter, brown sugar and dried banana, it went down very well all round.

Poit Dhubh 12yo

After a half-time break it was time for Anna to try her best Gaelic and introduce us to the Poit Dhubh, which translates as 'black pot'. Another blended malt, this time a 12-year-old, it's made by the Praban na Linne company based on the Isle of Skye. The recipe is apparently a closely guarded secret although internet sleuths have detected neighbouring Talisker, along with Caol Ila and Tobermory.

This one wields a big stick. Hits you hard from the off, "like a Saturday night in Leith" as someone suggested. If you like Talisker you'll probably like this, but if you don't, you might well not be so keen. It's 43% and £38

Collectivum XXVIII

The most expensive bottle of the night was number five, the Collectivum XXVIII from Diageo, coming in at £150. This was part of the drinks giant's annual 'special release' range, and was the first time it had featured a blend. In this case, a bit from each of the 28 operational distilleries run by Diageo, ranging from well-known names such as Lagavulin and Royal Lochnagar to plenty of more obscure ones.

These releases are eagerly awaited each year. And for us, it certainly lived up to hype. Complex yet subtle while certainly spirity, club members thought this was very well made. All of the whiskies in this range are bottled at cask strength, and this was 57.3%.

Arguably the bad boys of whisky, Compass Box, were responsible for the last whisky of the tasting. As if to amplify their hipster credentials, this particular whisky officially has no name, somewhat in the manner of that Sigur Ros album.

Compass Box No Name.

The idea here is that the whisky simply speaks for itself, and doesn't need a name. On the other hand, you might regard this as pretentious nonsense. But this was certainly a good whisky. By far the peatiest dram of the night, it was all peat and smoke, albeit not quite on the levels of a Port Charlotte.

It's mostly Ardbeg with a bit of Caol Ila and Clynelish in there too, and even our resident Ardbeg-hater sort of almost didn't quite totally hate it, so that's something. It's £100 and 48.9% - some thought this represented great value, but for the money others would have shopped elsewhere. It's mostly sold out anyway though.

The dram of the night voting went the way of Diageo's special release, the Collectivum XXVIII, although both Compass Box and Exotic Cargo had their supporters too.

Thanks to Anna for picking out such a great and interesting selection for us, and to club members old and new for coming down and making it such an enjoyable evening. Thanks also to the Britons for their hospitality once again.

Old and Rare Night With Angus MacRaild

The full line-up!

Our annual Old and Rare night is always one of the highlights of the Manchester Whisky Club year, and this time we had a record attendance of members old and new, plus some guests, as Edinburgh-based whisky expert Angus MacRaild took us through some bottles from his own personal stash.

G&M Edradour 10yo from 1982

In fact, it was the biggest turnout at a Whisky Club meeting ever, and the top room at the Britons Protection was packed as Angus got the evening underway with the first of six drams.

And it was an Edradour, distilled in 1972 and bottled by Gordon and MacPhail a decade later at 40%, as part of its long-running Connoisseur's Choice range. As Angus explained, Edradour has had a bit of a mixed reputation over the years, but some of the older bottlings are worth exploring.

Bruichladdich 15yo from 1990

He recommended this particular one as an example of an old-style Scotch whisky, of the sort that might have been commonplace in your local newsagent once upon a time. This was nice although at the same time, a bit cardboardy. But it certainly got the evening off to a solid start.

Next we went to Islay and Bruichladdich, a club favourite in general, but on this occasion we were trying a dram from long before its recent resurgence. It was a 15yo, distilled in the mid-70s and bottled around 1990.

This was really very pleasant indeed. Beautiful and light, with a soft fruitiness about it. "Starchy!" as someone suggested. Bruichladdich don't make them quite like this anymore.

G&M Scapa 8yo from early 1980s

We were back to Gordon and MacPhail for the third dram, and this time the whisky was from Orkney's Scapa distillery, in the form of an 8yo bottled in the early 1980s.

At 57% this packed quite a punch at first, but that soon gave way to something sweet and sherried, "like candyfloss inside" as someone commented. It was a spicy one too, quite unusual with lots of character. It also changed quite a bit with a few drops of water. Arguably a bit more interesting than some of the more modern expressions to have emerged from Scapa.

Pure Malt Gold 106, mid 1980s

After a half-time break and a refill of our pint glasses at the Britons bar, we tried the fourth whisky of the night and the third and last of the G&M bottlings. This was a Pure Malt Gold 106, bottled in the mid-1980s.

A 10yo expression, the actual distillery or distilleries involved remain something of a mystery. Although the sherred, Speyside-style put plenty of drinkers in mind of a slightly more subtle version of Christmas favourite Glenfarclas 105. It's 60.5%, which Angus suggested gave it a "big, hot and healthy" character. People really liked this one.

SMWS North Port 16yo from 1996

Angus brought the evening to a close with two old bottlings from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. And the first was a real rarity for the club, our first ever taste of North Port - and indeed, even the club's most experienced whisky fans had never had anything from this distillery before. Situated in Brechin, north of Dundee close to the Angus coast, it was mothballed in 1983 and later demolished, and these days you can't easily get a bottle for much below £350, witih almost no new bottlings these days.

This particular expression was a 16yo, bottled in 1996 at 57.3%. And it got the thumbs up, with comments including "nicely spicy" and "waxy character". There was a lot going on on the nose, too, although this divided opinion a little more.

SMWS Longrow 14yo 2004

We finished off with a more recent SMWS bottling of a Longrow from the Springbank distillery in Campbeltown, dating from 2004.

It was a 14yo at 57.8%, and was a peaty one, but "not in an Islay way, more in a smouldering beach smoke way". That subtle smokiness gave it a take on peaty whisky which was a new one for some of us, and very welcome it was too!

And this last whisky came pretty close in the dram of the night voting, but it was just edged out by number four, the Macphail's Pure Malt Gold 106. Given that particular whisky's sherry character, and the number of sherry monsters inhabiting the club, perhaps the outcome was no surprise really!

Thanks must go to Angus for travelling down from Edinburgh for the tasting and bringing not only six great bottles from his collection, but also giving us the benefit of his great whisky knowledge. And also thanks to faces old and new who made this maybe our most memorable tasting yet.

Campbeltown Capers

At the end of November we held another one of our now legendary tastings dedicated to the small and often overlooked region of Campbeltown in Scotland. Campbeltown is one of if not the smallest whisky producing region in Scotland.

In the late 1800's and early 1900's Campbeltown was known as 'The Whisky Capital of the World' as over 20 active distilleries operated in a very small area. However, since the demand for Scotch whisky in the US was so high, the quality of the spirit produced by the majority of the distilleries was very low.

When Prohibition was implemented in the US, most of the distilleries in Campbeltown closed. They could no longer sell off their stock and for those distilleries that had kept the spirit quality high could sell to the UK market generally speaking.

We've covered whiskies from every area except this to date so now we jumped in with both feet to sample some of the delights from the Mull of Kintyre.

Kilkerran Work in Progress V - Bourbon Wood 46%

Kilkerran is the trading name of the recently opened Glengyle distillery operated by J&A Mitchell of Springbank fame. The distillery was one of those affected by a culmination of Prohibition and the great depression.

However, Glengyle has been operational now for over 9 years and have been releasing these 'Work In Progress' bottling's as a way  not only to introduce people to the brand but also as a way of contributing to keeping the distillery going.

A very spicy, creamy and punchy 9yr old whisky this. This year is the first time Kilkerran releases have come as a pair! One matured in bourbon casks and another in ex sherry casks. The bourbon caks dram offers not only the spice mentioned above but also fresh green apple notes and a lovely vanilla overlay.

This is a very good whisky indeed and you can easily see the quality of the spirit that J&A are putting into this. More official releases will be on their way when the stock matures. I can see great things coming through Glengyle's doors.

Hazelburn 12 - 46%

Hazelburn is actually distilled at the famous Springbank distillery. Whereas Springbank and its smokier brother Longrow pack a peaty punch, Hazelburn is the Distillery's un peated bottling. Hazelburn is named after another of the now defunct Campbeltown distilleries.

The spirit is distilled 2 and a half times, almost akin to triple distilled malts such as Auchentoshan and a lot of Irish whiskey. However, not quite. 

This malt carries a very fresh, salty sea air element reminiscent of an Islay or North Highland malt. There is also toffee, fresh porridge and honey on show.

Glen Scotia 21yr Bottled by Cadenheads - 52.2%

Originally founded in 1832, Glen Scotia has a bit of a patchy and unfortunate history. In 1930 the then owner of the distillery, Duncan Macallum, took his own life after losing a lot of money in a dodgy business deal by drowning himself in a local loch. Nice.

Glen Scotia has been mothballed several times and reopened. Most recently a stint in the 1980's.

This 21 yr old has been bottled by Cadenheads and comes from a single ex bourbon hogshead cask. It displays notes of haylege, cream and apple whilst retaining salty character and slight frames of smoke encasing the whole thing. A pleasant and interesting dram.

Springbank 12yr Cask Strength Batch 5 -  53.1%

There are 3 different Malts distilled at Springbank distillery. However tonight we looked at just the 1 to carry the Distillery's name on the label. This was Batch 5 of Springbank's 12yr old Cask Strength range.

Springbank malts its own barley on site, one of the few distilleries still to do so in Scotland, it also contains an element of peated malt providing a well rounded and chunky character.

This particular bottling was very up front in its intentions and exploded with pear, salt, chunky toffee, grilled toast, and with a long and lasting finish warming till the end yet retaining a surprising smoothness throughout.

Longrow Peated -  46%

Longrow is the third and final malt to be distilled at Springbank. This bottling is one of the newest additions to the range and is a heavily peated no age statement single malt.

There are other expressions of Longrow including a delectable 18yr old but with this particular bottling coming in at a very reasonable £35-£40 it would be very rude not to give it a go.

The Longrow was at first quite tight and only giving away hints of what was to come. There was woodsmoke on the nose alongside ginger snap baskets and fresh bread. Then surprisingly citrus fruit and nuts. The palate carried through with a good mouthfeel and charred naan, salt, white pepper and vanilla sponge.


Out of the lineup the Springbank CS Batch 5 was the standout winner closely followed by the Longrow and Kilkerran. A great example of what variety such a small region can bring whilst retaining character and recognisable characteristics.