Mythical Beasts From Spiritfilled

 

The evening's line up

For October's meeting of the Manchester Whisky Club, we were treated to our first brand tasting since the pandemic. Ross and Russell from cask broker and independent bottler Spiritfilled were on hand to share their story so far, and to allow us to try some of the expressions they've released under their Mythical Beasts label.

Ardlair 11yo

We had four to try (the fifth, a forthcoming Port Charlotte, was delayed in the post, but we're looking forward to having it next month instead). 

The opening dram was an Ardlair. Not a name that is seen all that often - it is in fact an unpeated Ardmore, a Highland distillery best known as the key component of the Teacher's blend. An 11-year-old, this was finished for the last 18 months in a PX sherry cask.

And at 53.5% it was certainly a bit fiery. "Don't be afraid to add water" was some early advice. We got green apples on the nose, then pears and toffee apples when it was tasted, so a good dram for the time of year. The finish was quite long as well, and citrussy. Very flavourful all round, you certainly know you've tasted it. It was dry too, almost like a dry white wine as someone suggested. It's £68. Not bad value for a whisky with plenty going on.

Glenrothes 15yo

More sherry next, in the shape of a Glenrothes. This spent the full 15 years in a first fill sherry butt. A Speyside, Glenrothes also has a long association with a particular blend, in this cask Cutty Sark.

Ross and Russell said this tasted so big out of the cask, they had to "bring it down a bit" to 55% before bottling. This had chewy sweets (like Fruit Salad) and ginger biscuits on the nose, and a bit of vanilla too. On taking a sip, this was thick and unctuous, with dates and fruitcake. Very Christmassy. Some water brought out some orangey notes as well. It's £120.

After a short break to recharge our glasses downstairs at the Britons Protection, we were back for dram three and the most expensive bottle - at time of purchasing - we've ever had, in almost ten years of the club.

Fettercairn 32yo

It was a 32-year-old Fettercairn, bottled from a cask which had been held by a Birmingham woman all that time. It went into an ex-Bourbon hogshead in July 1989, when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, the Berlin Wall was still standing, and Soul II Soul were at number 1. Just 98 bottles exist and we had two of them in the room, and at £425 a pop that's some seriously valuable liquid.

The distillery itself is officially considered a Highland, although in reality the village from which it takes its name is just a short distance from the North Sea.

On the nose we got some rich, dried, fruit, like raisins and apricots. It was sweet to taste, and there was a very pleasant maltiness about it. This was very special to try and we liked it a lot although, sad to say, it was more than a little out of reach in terms of price. It's 48.6%.

Kilchoman 15yo

That brought us to the last dram of the evening and a visit to the Islay distillery of Kilchoman. A small, independent, farm-style distillery, Kilchoman is a real favourite of club members.

This particular Mythical Beasts expression was a 15-year-old private cask release, which spent its entire maturation in a bourbon cask. A little bit of pepper and spice on the nose, and then when tasted a lovely, subtle peated flavour with some vanilla too. I thought this was particularly outstanding (although as we'll see, the membership as a whole had a different favourite). Although at £190 again it's one to push the boat out for. The ABV is 55.5%.

So that brought us to the dram of the night voting, and all four whiskies gained some support from the members in the room. The Kilchoman, in fourth place, still had six votes. But the winner was that sherry bomb Glenrothes, with ten.

Special thanks to Ross and Russell for bringing us such a special selection of whiskies and telling us all about a business that is already going from strength to strength (having been founded in - of all times to do it - March 2020). Thanks also to club members old and new for joining us, and the Britons for hosting us once again.

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.

Happy New... Whisky

Bringing in the New Year is often filled with resolutions such as "I'll get fit" (you know who you are) and those utter lunatics that somehow give up drinking for the entirety of the month of January.

At the Manchester Whisky Club however, we brought in the New Year the only way we know how. With whisky. Lots of whisky. To help us do this was the newest branch of The Whisky Shop which has taken up residence on St Anne's Square in the city and has quickly embedded itself as part of Manchester's retail elite.

We took the opportunity for our first club 'away day' at the shop with both hands. Here Jo and Ed put on a tasting just for the club featuring the shop's ever growing range of exclusive bottlings.

First up...

Glenfarclas 9yr - The W Club Bottling 46%

Anyone that has started exploring malts and whisky veterans alike can only but admire Glenfarclas. Both in it's traditional approach as an independent and family owned distillery, a rare thing indeed nowadays, and in the sheer quality of the whisky that George Grant and the rest of the team produce.

Albeit on the younger end of the scale for what you normally see from Glenfarclas. This bottling had been matured in first fill Olorosso Sherry casks and bottled to mark the formation of the shop's W Club in 2012.

Initially there are notes of classic Glenfarclas sherry, carrot cake and frosting, vanilla, brown sugar and nuts. The palate followed suit with brandy raisins, malt, marmalade and christmas cake. Another good expression from the Farclas stable.

Glenrothes 9yr - Douglas of Drumlanrig - 46% 

A 9yr old Glenrothes matured in a sherry butt, that appeared to be 1st fill due to it's dark copper colour. Glenrothes is an interesting Speyside malt owned by Berry Bros. This particular bottling is another Whisky Shop exclusive, distilled in May 2004 and bottled in August 2013, one of 210 bottles.

Another young whisky here although the nose would suggest an older malt, maybe of around 13-15 years. A very rich and luscious nose with citrus peels, honey and warm sponge cake. The palate followed this through with a surprisingly dry and balanced oak character.

BenRiach 17 Single Cask - 53.1%

Our 3rd Speysider of the night and our 2nd bottle of BenRiach in the whisky club. This time a 17yr old cask strength beast matured in American oak and that unstoppable whisky industry fad, Virgin Oak. BenRiach are an often overlooked Speyside distillery that produces a very consistently high quality spirit and offers a vast range of affordable bottling's with many varying styles and finishes.

Without water this offered pine resin, vanilla custard, leaning towards a red rope liquorice note. The palate, as you'd expect from 53%, was full, warming and delicious. Again sweet and leading with a demerara syrup note, as mentioned by Adam on his own blog, this was very alike a good quality Rye in many a sense. A long and lingering finish was a great sign off for this great drop from BenRiach.

Laphroaig 8yr - Douglas of Drumlanrig -46%

The first time you see this whisky you'd be forgiven for thinking; "Okay, very funny, who's replaced my whisky with the weakest chamomile tea imaginable?". This is a young refill bourbon matured Laphroaig bottled by the Douglas of Drumlanrig range. It's incredibly light in colour, whisky buffs with an knack for noting a whisky's colour might even struggle to use the often found 'golden straw' on this one. But the colour lulls you into a false sense of security..

Nose, oh hello Laphroaig my old friend. Smoked herring, black pepper, liquorice root and that trademark sweet peaty TCP like goodness we've come to know and love from this distillery. The palate was treated to a sudden peat bomb, although not hugely powerful, this was a well balanced peated whisky for its age. A short but continuously sweetening finish provided a chorus of "Mmmnn" from the group.


Overall a fantastic night and huge thanks to Joe and Ed from The Whisky Shop in Manchester for putting this on for us. The winner on the night? Well the Laphroaig just managed to steal top spot with the Benriach close behind. A good example of the exclusives range available here and good to see that Manchester finally has the whisky shop it deserves and that it is doing so well.

Long may it continue.