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

August Tasting: Raiding The Club's Reserves

 

August's line up of samples

Our August remote tasting, the first under Greater Manchester's renewed Covid restrictions, found us sampling a range of drams taken from the club's stocks. No particular theme, but an opportunity to try some excellent whiskies which the club had kept aside for a rainy day like this.

Story of the Spaniard

We did this one blind, revealing the bottles after tasting each whisky. And the first whisky of the night was fresh, with a sort of grassy or organic-type vibe about it. Not as sweet as some whiskies, with a spiciness and a sort of white wine-type crispness on the nose. Some said this wasn't particularly special on the nose but tasted better, and someone thought it was a bit heavy in the end.

It turned out to be a blend, a no age statement one at that, from Compass Box and called The Story of the Spaniard. Inspired by working on a whisky with The Spaniard bar in New York, this is built around whisky drawn from sherry and Spanish red wine casks (so that was wine we could pick up, just the wrong colour). A very pleasant start to the night though. It's 43% and is still available for £52.

Madeira Cask Project

Next we had a much sweeter nose to contend with for dram number two. There maybe wasn't too much else on the nose, though, with a subtle, even menthol type smell. There was much more to go at on the palate, with a particular rush of sweetness at the very end. Adding a bit of water brought out that menthol that much more, along with the likes of liqourice or even nail polish remover (not sure what this actually tastes like, but it takes all sorts).

Some in the club suspected a lightly peated Islay, but it was in fact a Speyside. Not just a Speyside, but a Glen Moray, a distillery recently branching out from its reputation as a purveyor of highly affordable, entry-level whiskies that you can pick up in the supermarket. This was a 13-year-old which had spent all its life in madeira casks, hence the name Madeira Cask Project. It's 46.3% and £62 if you can find a bottle. Closing comments on this included "yummy" and "really good".

Kilkerran 12yo

Onto number three and the nose was unusual, with early suggestions from members including "wet carpet" and "cleaning products" with even a bit of cardboard in there somewhere. Yet despite that possibly unpromising initial blast of mustiness on the nose, once we tasted this, there was widespread enjoyment. Slightly peated, and very pleasant indeed.

The whisky hailed from Campbeltown, once a hub of the whisky industry and now certainly well onto the comeback trail, although the number of distilleries there is a fraction of those that existed in the early 20th century. This particular bottle is from the Glengyle distillery but does not appear under that name, because the rights to 'Glengyle' are held far away at Loch Lomond these days. So instead, it's bottled as Kilkerran, and this was the 12 year-old expression, one of the first of the core range released by the distillery since its 2004 reopening. At 46% and just £39, this represented great value too.

Celebrity Yurt
Indulgence

After a short break we resumed with whisky number four, and this was sweet on the nose before a big hit on the palate. Much bigger than most were expecting after the nose, to be honest. It was very peppery and tasted very strong, and that pepperiness was a complete surprise. Other comments included "sweet" and "syrupy, like golden syrup".

This was a Highland Park, bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society under the name 'Celebrity Yurt Indulgence'. It was surprisingly peaty for a Highland Park. A 16 year-old from a refill Oloroso sherry butt, it tasted all of its 60.6%. We paid £85 for it from the SMWS, although it's long since out of stock.

Finlaggan Red Wine
Cask 

As is often the case with the closing dram of any tasting, it was time for the 'peat incoming' siren to go off, once we poured the last miniature into our glasses. It certainly gave off a fantastic smell for all the peat monsters in the club, of whom there are quite a few. This had a saltiness, sea water, even notes of salted fish and burnt tyres. Really very lovely indeed, some also fancied this with a bit of water too.

It was a Finlaggan, a brand created by the Vintage whisky company. So the actual origin distillery is a bit of a mystery, although we do know for sure it was on Islay somewhere. The particular bottle we were drinking was the red wine cask, which clocked in at 46%. At just over £42, another bottle offering good value.

All of which brought us to the dram of the night voting. And not for the first time, each whisky had some supporters, indicating plenty of strength in depth from this particular line up. But the winner in the end was the SMWS Celebrity Yurt Indulgence with nine votes, just ahead of the Story of the Spaniard and the Kilkerran which picked up six each.

Thanks again to all club members and guests for taking part via Zoom, and to Anna and Martin for overseeing this well-timed raid on the club's whisky stocks.

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.

Stina's Indie Presents Night

The evening's line up of indie bottlings.

August's tasting took place on the last day of the month, and there was a great turnout of faces old and new to enjoy five independent bottlings selected by Stina.

7yo Fettercairn

We got started with a whisky brought back by club members who attended the recent Dramboree weekend. It was a 7yo Fettercairn, bottled at 46% by Mike Lord of the Whisky Shop in Dufftown.

There was a real sweet shop vibe about this one - one bizarrely specific tasting note even suggested pineapple upside down cake mix - especially on the nose. In fact, the nose got much better reviews than the palate which some found "a bit harsh" and betraying its relative youth. There were some Fettercairn sceptics among the membership anyway, but one conceded "This is the best Fettercairn I've had!" although this may have been a slight case of damning with faint praise. We paid £46.

Spice Tree Extravaganza.

Next it was Compass Box, and the Spice Tree Extravaganza. The original Spice Tree was fleetingly banned a decade ago because it breached Scotch Whisky Association rules, as the maturation process involved putting new bits of French oak into used whisky barrels, borrowing a technique common in winemaking. Instead, the Spice Tree expressions are now matured using specially-constructed barrels with French oak heads (rather than the inserted staves which proved controversial) and so everyone's happy now, apparently.

The Extravaganza version, a no age statement blend of again 46%, was very pleasant and smooth. It was considered more drinkable than the standard Spice Tree. But then, as well it might be for a £83 price tag (higher with some other retailers). While an undoubtedly nice drop, the consensus in the room was this probably wasn't worth that kind of cash.

A Small Glass of Happiness.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society provided dram number three, and in their tradition of giving their bottlings enigmatic titles, this was was called A Small Glass of Happiness. Underneath all that, it's a 12yo Speyside from the Dailuaine distillery, bottled at 57.3%.

This tasted like all of your favourite caramelised products. Someone offered those little Lotus biscuits you get with your coffee, and others thought toffee, crystallised ginger and even a bit of pineapple again. Costing £54.70 for those with a SMWS membership, there was a lot of love for this one.

18yo Arran.

After a half-time break and some Chinese baked products brought along by Katharine, we took our seats again for the last two drams of the night. Number four was from a bottler that we've not had at a tasting before, Rest and Be Thankful, which has close links to club favourite Bruichladdich. This particular bottle was from Arran and, at 18 years old, would have been distilled not long after it began production in the mid-1990s.

This was surprisingly light in colour for a whisky of that age, and it was certainly sippable, with a creamy sort of taste, and hints of baked apple. At 55.3% it was certainly strong too, but for some members it seemed to be lacking something, somewhere. It's £90.

As We Get It.

It was certainly a night of strong drams and Stina took things up even further on the last whisky of the evening, an Ian Macleod bottling of a Highland whisky called As We Get It, which clocked in at 65.1%. Funnily enough it didn't quite taste that strong, because it was quite sweet. Although not as sweet as the Fettercairn from earlier in the evening - "nothing's as sweet as that one" said someone - it was generally agreed this was sweet by the standards of a drink with 65% ABV.

Tasting notes included barley sugars and damson jam. It's undoubtedly good value at £45.

Voting!

There wasn't much doubt that it was one of the top two drams of the evening, along with number three. But when it came to the voting, it was the SMWS A Small Glass of Happiness which won out, with 11 votes.

Thanks to Stina for putting on another great evening, and thanks too to all at the Britons Protection for hosting us once again.

Tickets are already available for September's tasting with Martin, which is going to be based around grain whiskies. And there's something special coming up in October too, which will be well worth keeping an eye out for.

'Battle of the Blends' - Round 1

The most recent meeting of the MWC saw us focusing on blended whiskies.

Blends are often overlooked and seen by some as being inferior to single malts. So we went out of our way to showcase some of the best and most unique blends on the market.

Part of the nights lineup

Over all we had 7 whiskies in the lineup as we had 2 bonus bottles this month kindly provided by member Dave Marsland who brought along a bottle of Monkey Shoulder and Chivas Regal 12.

Monkey Shoulder 40%

So first off we cracked open the Monkey Shoulder which is a blended malt whisky from famous blenders William Grant. Composed of 3 Speyside single malts and bottled at 40%, Monkey Shoulder is often seen as a great introduction to whisky.

Andy's tasting notes were -

Nose -Boiled Sweets, caramel in the pan, slight malt and Butterkist popcorn

Palate - Sweet again, a bit of treacle toffee, plums

Finish - Quite short, flourish of malt with a bitter tail.

You can see why this is such a good introductory whisky due to its simplicity and sweetness. I always have a bottle at home for cocktails too.

Chival Regal 12 - 40%

Next up is the Chivas regal 12. An immensely popular whisky in the States and Asia. The Chivas bros owned a grocery shop in Aberdeen in 1801 and started to blend their own whisky. Chivas was said to be the preferred tipple of both Jim Morrison and Frank Sinatra. Groovy.

Andy's tasting notes were -

Nose - Short toffee, the club thought I was mental but I also got plastic carrier bags, sawdust and salt

Palate - Flat, white pepper, thin fruit syrup from the end of a fruit tin, extremely smooth.

Finish - Very short with the only noticeable flavour being a tart metallic tang

A bit underwhelming I think but you can see why it is popular in the US and Asian markets due to the light sweetness and smoothness.

The tasting gets underway!

The Tweeddale Blend 12 yo Batch #2 - 46% NCF

The Tweeddale blend produced by Alisdair Day is a 50/50 Grain/Malt split. Originally produced by his great grandfather back in the 1800's the Tweeddale 12 sticks to the same recipe as it did almost 200 years ago. There are 9 whiskies in the blend and all whiskies contained are drawn from single casks making each batch unique. Out of the 9, only 1 is a grain whisky with 8 malts following.

Andy's tasting notes were -

Nose - Very light and delicate, similar to the Bladnoch we had in January. Vanilla fudge, pear drops and cinnamon with the slightest hint of dried herbs.

Palate - Such power from nowhere! A sudden ensemble of Spice, black pepper, lemon sherbet, peanut brittle and baked apples.

Finish - A long lingering finish of toffee, brandy snaps and Jamaican ginger cake.

Overall a lovely blended whisky that really sneaks up on you! The nose is so delicate and almost floral and then the palate contains so much complexity and spice! If Alisdair keeps this up I think you'll be hearing a lot more about the Tweeddale brand over the next few years!

Black Bull 12 yo - 50% NCF

Black Bull 12 is part of indie bottler Duncan Taylor's famous blended range. First produced in 1933, Duncan Taylor took over production in 2001 and continued to win accolade's with their high quality range. The 12 has a few older brothers in the 30yo and 40yo, who knows, one day we might be able to try them too!

Another 50/50 grain/malt blended scotch Black Bull 12 yo has been kept to a whopping 50% which is fantastic to see in any arena of whisky let alone blends where 40% is sadly common place. 

Andy's tasting notes were:

Nose -  Red grape, Brasil nuts, Dark chocolate, sherry, vanilla and apple pie filling.

Palate - Surprisingly mellow and delicate on the palate, treacle toffee, vanilla pods and more apple

Finish - Heavier fruits now, vanilla and distinct creaminess.

A great offering from Duncan Taylor here with a lot of depth of character thanks to that whopping 50%

Compass Box Spice Tree - 46% NCF

Compass Box are a renowned and boutique blending company who offer consistently high quality and award winning products. Spice Tree is no different. It's not all been plain sailing for the Spice Tree. It was banned from production in 2005 by the SWA as they didn't appreciate Compass Box's practice of adding high quality toasted french oak staves to the cask that gave Spice Tree its unique flavour.

Compass box eventually compromised by using the same oak as cask heads instead. Spice tree is a Blended  Malt whisky as opposed to a grain/malt blend and is made up of only Highland Malt whisky including a big dollop of Clynelish.

Andy's tasting notes were:

Nose -  Ginger, cinnamon, clove and vanilla, deep.

Palate - Well rounded, very full and rich, brandy snaps, caramac, nutmeg, more vanilla, rainbow peppercorns.

  Finish - Warm Biscuits, cocoa and raisins.

One of my personal favourites, you can feel the love and attention that goes into every bottle. These bottling's become a signature of the true quality that John Glaser and the team are producing.

Sheep Dip Amaroso Olorosso - 41.8%

Every so often you come across a whisky that is so unique you can't help but buy a bottle. The Sheep Dip Amaroso Olorosso is one of these. Originally blended and matured in Scotland for 3 years in a Bourbon cask, the whisky was then sent over to the Sherry capital of Spain, Jerez where it was transferred into a Spanish sherry cask and warehoused  there.

9 Years passed as the Spanish company warehousing the whisky went bust and left it there! Once the company was bought out the new company discovered the barrel and contacted the Spencerfield Spirit co ( a subsidiary of Whyte & Mackay) who retrieved the cask. Since this whisky spent the majority of its life maturing outside Scotland it can no longer be referred to as Scotch Whisky.

Andy's tasting notes were:

Nose -  Holy cow! So much chocolate here! Dairy milk, coco pops with warm milk, buttered popcorn, vanilla frosting and almond.

Palate - Nesquick milkshake, chocolate digestive, baked apple, vanilla cream, raisins, 

Finish - There it is! The sherry tail alongside warm porridge and lovely warm banana bread.

Such a unique whisky, a few exclamations of surprise went round the room when this was being tasted. If only this was in constant production, worth owning just for the novelty!

Feárr Cuideachd - 40% whiskyblender.com

Feárr Cuideachd was the bespoke club blend that I made on Whisky Blenders website.

I used all 7 whiskies on the site including 2 grains and 5 malts in the following amounts. BURNT PUDDIN'

100ml, SMOKE ON THE WATER 50ml, TOUCH OF SPICE 140ml, SOFT & FRUITY 80ml, COCOA-NUTS 110ml, VANILLA FUDGE 120ml, TASTE OF THE SEA 100ml

Nose -  Initial fruit nose including Greengage and apple, followed by toffee, spice and granola.

Palate - Spice, a sea air freshness cutting through and a pleasant buttercup syrup-like overlay. Nice mouthfeel

Finish - A long and lingering finish, a bit more spice here and the 50ml of peat finally makes it appearance with a soft and warming glow.

Personally I'm pretty chuffed with how well this came out, it's not easy blending blind so to speak. I've since transferred the remainder to a smaller bottle and we will revisit in a few months once it has had more time to marry together. I think this will go from strength to strength.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Overall I think we had some great blends on offer, from the entry level Monkey Shoulder to the higher-end and small batch blends such as the Tweeddale & Spice Tree. Personally my favourite was the Tweeddale which has a lot going on and shows the true quality of the ingredients within.

Have you had a good blend experience recently? Is one of your favourite drams a blended whisky? Let us know in the comments!

Many thanks do Dave Marsland of Drinks Enthusiast for a selection of the photographs.