Teeling Blackpitts Peated Irish Whisky (NAS)

 

I love Teeling whisky. I visited the distillery in Dublin in December of 2020 and it was a wonderful experience. I've actually strolled through the Blackpitts neighborhood that this whisk is named for. 

Peated Irish whiskies are pretty uncommon - the only other one I can remember having was Connemara, which I liked but didn't love. This one is triple distilled, of course - they started with peated Speyside malt at the highest concentration they could find (55 ppm) and apparently after the triple distillation it ended up around 15 ppm, which is - in terms of scotch - approximately Springbank territory. 

Croftongea 10 Year (Exclusive Malts)

 

Exclusive Malts was an imprint or brand or wing of the independent bottler The Creative Whisky Company, which was founded and run by David Stirk, a veteran of Douglas Laing and Cadenheads. 

For whatever reason, Exclusive Malts bottles were widely available here in the Washington DC region in the mid-2010s. Unfortunately the Creative Whisky Company apparently folded in August of 2018 and all their stocks were sold off. The website is no longer accessible, which is often the final and most conclusive mark of death.

Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2010 Second Take

 

This is my second look at my favorite bottling by Bruichladdich, the Bere Barley 2010. Bere is a very very old six-row variety of barley; the grain used in this bottling was grown on the far northern Orkney Islands. Bere only yields about 50% what modern barley varieties do, so it's fallen from favor almost entirely - but it also has a really outstanding, rich buttery taste to it. This was an experiment by Bruichladdich, and in my mind it was 100% successful. It's a wonderful bottle. 

Amaro Nardini

 

Another Italian amaro on the block tonight - this time a much heralded family-owned product called Amaro Nardini. The Nardini distillery is in the general Venice/Padua metropolitan area, in far northeastern Italy, and they have apparently been making this since 1870 or so - in fact, their website makes the claim they are Italy's first distillery (!). Bartolo Nardini was born in 1739 and they mostly made grappa from the leftovers produced during wine production. 

Kilchoman USA Small Batch Release No. 2 (NAS)

 I'm a long-time fan of Kilchoman, the small, family-run distillery on Islay, but I have to admit that their price point (everything hovers around or above the $100 mark) tends to dissuade me from buying too many bottles. However, I saw this dusty bottle on a back shelf at Batch 13 liquors on 14th St NW here in Washington DC, and couldn't resist. 

Amaro Soldatini

 

Another fairly unusual/rare amaro, at least here in the US: Amaro Soldatini, from Distilleria Gualco, in the northwest of Italy near France (between Turin and Genoa). Interestingly, despite the name, the distillers themselves call this a "grappa senza nome" - Grappa Without a Name. 

The distillery was founded in 1870 by a former cooper, Paolo Gualco. The entire history of the family ownership can be found on their website - it's a great read! I absolutely delight in the black and white photo they include of the old Italian man smoking a cheroot. Right up my alley. 

Craigellachie 10 Year (Five Lions)

 

Here is an independent bottling so obscure, I couldn't even find a clean picture of it anywhere on the net (!). Five Lions is a UK independent bottler whose mission to bottle exception single casks. I have not heard of them before, and the only review I could find of this bottle was pretty bare bones, so I have no idea what I'm in for. A fairly obscure bottle if there ever was one.

Glencadam 15 Year

Glencadam is a Highland distillery that was built in 1825 by one George Cooper, and has changed hands many, many times over the last 200 years. Most recently - and gloriously - it was purchased by Angus Dundee in 2003, who immediately improved every aspect of whisky. This 15 year expression is bottled at 46%, no coloring, no filtering. Huzzah for Angus Dundee! It's part of the blend recipe for Ballantine's, which is a blend I have enjoyed in the past. It's not far from Fettercairn, and also not super distant from Royal Lochnagar, Edradour, and Blair Athol. 

Glen Grant 17 Year (Signatory)

 

It's been some time since I explored the Signatory range of independently bottled scotch. Too long, in fact. Signatory provided me with my first, valuable looks at Mortlach, Linkwood, Dailuaine, and Clynelish. This bottle is of Glen Grant - a Speyside distillery from whom I have liked everything I've tried thus far. I have a Scotch Malt Whisky Society Glen Grant bottle in my cabinet as well, "Harvest Hayride Happiness," and it's astoundingly fragrant, fruity, and delicious. This bottle, at 43% ABV, is much less potent, but I suspect will be a very easy sipper and full of flavor. No colorating, no chill filtration!

Caol Ila 10 Year (SMWS 53.386 "Phenomenal")

 The final dram of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") March outturn preview tasting at the Jack Rose Saloon in Washington DC on 2/28/22. Predictably, they ended with a peated expression, since peat tends to dominate your palate after you've sampled it. This is yet another ~10 year Caol Ila, which they SMWS seems to have an unlimited stock of. My notes tell me I've only had three of these bottles, but I feel like it's been twice that number. They stick with you.

Glen Scotia 9 Year (SMWS 93.170 "Mermaid Karate")

 

The fifth and penultimate bottle of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") March outturn tasting preview at the Jack Rose Saloon in Washington DC, this was my favorite, I think. It certainly has the best name of the night! "Mermaid Karate" is right up there with the most memorable names I've seen like "Doctor Blowtorch" and "Nice to Meat You." 

Glen Scotia is probably the least heralded of the vaunted Campbeltown distilleries, after Springbank (and Longrow and Hazelburn) and Kilkerran. I hear the fewest things about Glen Scotia, which has a VERY distinctive signature series of flavors that this bottle encapsulates perfectly. 

Strathmill 11 Year (SMWS 100.27 "Colorful and Flavorful")

 

This was the fourth cask sampled at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") March outturn preview tasting at the Jack Rose Saloon on 2/28/22, and probably the crowd favorite (along with the Inchmurrin 25 year). This was the first sherried whisky of the night and the nose was as open and bountiful as the Inchmurrin was closed!

Strathmill is another anonymous Diageo distillery that mostly used to produce blend fodder for J&B (among others). The name is Gaelic for "shallow valley mill." 

Inchmurrin 25 Year (SMWS 112.83 "Rara Avis")

The third cask tasted at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society March outturn preview tasting event at the Jack Rose saloon on 2/28/22 was a 25 year old Inchmurrin (Loch Lomond). This was immediately more interesting than the previous two (a young Glen Moray and an older Clynelish). The nose presented as more complex, yet also curiously muted - a fascinating mixture. 

Clynelish 17 Year (SMWS 26.179 "Eastern Coastlines")

 

The second dram of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") March outturn preview tasting. This was also immediately identifiable as Clynelish right on the nose - so much wax! - even without knowing the distillery because of the order page provided online. 

Glen Moray 7 Year (SMWS 35.298 "Big Bumper Bag of Buttons")

 

I attended the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") March Outturn preview tasting at the Jack Rose Saloon here in Washington DC last night - it was an interesting experience. They gave us all small pours (~.5-1 oz) of the six casks being released, and the entire evening was structured as a guessing game. Our host was Mike Hong, who was weirdly familiar to me, but perhaps I just know from seeing him at a bar here and there. He did a good job of engaging people and moving the night along from cask to cask.