Here we go again - I found another excellent deal on a Blackadder Raw Cask and - as always - simply could not say no. I should have said no, this exhausts my budget for the rest of the month for whisky or anything else, but ... a 16 year peated Bunnahabhain, with giant flakes of cask floating in the bottle? Another Dram Hunter selection from Raj Sabharwal?? Sign me up, I'll go for broke.
This is the first Fettercairn I've ever had - a single cask independent bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), a nice standard 12 year ex-bourbon cask version. Should be a nice way to get to know the distillery, which is owned by Whyte and Mackay (who also own Dalmore and Jura).
Croftongea is the heavily peated imprint of distiller Loch Lomond, and the other ones I've had have been pretty funky indeed. This is easily the oldest I've seen in the wild, a 15 year from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") that I picked up as part of their Black Friday sale. Thought I'd give it a spin, the price was reasonable and I always appreciate the flavor risks that Loch Lomond takes. They aren't afraid of releasing some really crazy juice.
This is the second of the two 23-year Ardmores from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") I've had recently - sister casks, each featuring a different finish. The first bottle, numbered 66.197 and called "Let The World Fall Apart" and was finished in a sherry cask; this bottle, numbered 66.198 is called "Serene Sunset Satisfaction" and was finished in a wine barrique (presumably red wine?).
I have become a huge fan of Blackadder, the independent bottler of scotch whisky. I had a Ben Nevis Raw Cask from them that was one of the best drams I've had all year. I decided to take a risk on this "Sherry Snake" bottle - no age statement, no distillery identity, no color added, no filtration, cask strength (61.9% ABV), from "first fill sherry butts." Very curious.
At last! The final sample I had at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") October outturn. It's a Mannochmore, aged 12 years in a first fill custom-toasted American and European oak hogshead (!). Bottled at 58.4% ABV. I have only had one other Mannochmore, which was a Signatory bottling, I think provided by Rob Martin. So, this should be interesting.
Almost done with these belated reviews from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") October outturn. Sorry to all, it's been a busy month. This is a 10 year Allt-a-Bhainne, whose single cask offerings are always wacky as hell. Peated, botted at 62.1% ABV after a decade in a second-fill barrel, I am willing to bet it will be quite crazy.
Another in my series of "one month overdue" reviews from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") October outturn. The November outturn is already out (!), but I missed the tasting because I lost hearing in my ear for a while, which discouraged me from socializing, even with alcohol involved.
This is a 21 year old Inchmoan (the peated Loch Lomond imprint), bottled at 54.9% ABV after 21 years in a first fill barrel. What is most curious about this is that although the spirit was originally peated, this bears NO trace of peat any longer. After 21 years, there is no smoke, no earth, no nothing that would betray any peat - which is pretty remarkable. Even 20+ year old Highland Park - a pretty lightly peated whisky - show the peat with age. Unsure what happened here.
There are few distilleries I have an innate fondness for like Craigellachie. One of the infamous "worm tub" distilleries, that allows for a heavy, dense, sulfurous spirit, Craigellachie is always a bouquet of apples mixed with raw meat. It's often a wild ride. So this sherried Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") bottling (from the October 2022 outturn) was instantly interesting to me.
I have taken quite a shine to Ben Nevis, which has an incredibly "rural" Highland profile - full of oils and funk and farm flavors, but counterbalanced with fruit and florality, all with a huge mouthfeel. Just amazing stuff.
At the Jack Rose Saloon the other day, I sampled this single cask bottling from Single Cask Nation - a 6 year bottled at 67.6% ABV (!). All six years were in an Amontillado sherry cask, which is my favorite kind of sherry. I won't waste time - let's get right into this:
I sure do love these heavily peated single cask Glenturrets - rich, woody, meaty, citric, smoky... big, bold drams. Even the scent left behind in the glass is thick and viscous. This bottle of 12 year old Glenturret was named by actor Neil Patrick Harris (!), one of three he named for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS").
I don't think I've ever had a bad or even average Blair Athol - everything I've sampled from that particular "shadow distillery" (owned by Diageo, funneled into blends) has been great. Then again, I just checked my archives and apparently I've only ever had one bottle from them before, haha. I could have sworn I've had more than one before, but maybe I've just read about them. Oh well - this is a 13 year old single cask Blair Athol from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), released as a lottery pick.
The third and final of the 18 year Glen Garioch bottles released by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") as part of their distillery deep dive into this little known gem from the Highlands. Sorted into the "juicy, oak, and vanilla" and featuring easily the most creative nickname of the bunch - "Fifties Nostalgia," eh?? Unsure what that implies, but it gets the imagination going.
This is the second of three 18 year old bottles released by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") as part of their deep dive into Glen Garioch, a relatively unknown Highland distillery. A lot of the reason I stay involved with the SMWS is access to things exactly like this - very difficult to source otherwise, an older bottling from a little known distiller. This bottle is sorted in to the "sweet, fruity, and mellow" category.
A few times a year, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") will do a single cask deep dive into particular distilleries - where several casks are released together, usually complementing each other and presenting various different angles. I've participated in the Macallan and Highland Park deep dives... now I'm trying out a fairly lesser known distillery, Glen Garioch.
I've had my fair fill of Caol Ila from the SMWS, that's for sure - and every damn time I tell myself "this is quite nice stuff, if a bit staid." It really occupies a strange zone of eminently tasty and well-executed yet also distinctly un-thrilling.
This was the fifth sample at the September 2022 outturn from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") at the Jack Rose Saloon in Washington DC. This was a popular one - a lot of peatheads in the audience that night - and fooled most people into thinking it was a straight-up Islay. I heard a lot of guesses like Caol Ila, Bunnahabhain, and even Laphroaig (!). I myself thought it was Caol Ila.
Fourth (and most popular) sample from the September 2022 outturn of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") at the Jack Rose Saloon here in Washington DC. The moment this stuff was put in front of people and the scenting began, there was a slight hush over the room and a chorus of "ooooh" and "hmmmm" and "ahhhh" - a lovely nose indeed.
This is the third sample I had from the September 2022 outturn from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") at the Jack Rose Saloon. This is a 10 year Linkwood, from a second fill ex-bourbon barrel, bottled at a fiery 62.6% ABV.
Second sample from the September 2022 outturn of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") at the Jack Rose Saloon here in Washington DC.
This is a rather unsung distillery - Cragganmore - founded in 1869 by John Smith on land that was partly chosen due to its proximity to the local railway in Banffshire. Smith was an old hand in the Scotch whisky trade, having managed Macallan, Glenfarclas, and Glenlivet, at least, prior to founding Cragganmore.
Currently Cragganmore is owned by Diageo, and forms part of their blends.
I hate to say this, but this is exactly the kind of bottle I avoid from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") these days: young and off-profile. As many readers will already know, virtually all Glenfarclas is fully matured in sherry casks of one sort of another, and to see an 8 year ex-bourbon cask immediately raises the eyebrows and makes you wonder what strange experiment went awry. And the age itself is curious - why only 8 years, which is quite immature and hints at a brash, underbaked spirit?
A brief review of a sample of this Balvenie single barrel 12 year old I had with Rob Martin - quite nice stuff! Ex-bourbon cask, bottled at 47.8% ABV (interesting), let's just dig right in:
I've always been curious about this bottle, BenRiach's peated offering, and thanks to Rob Martin I finally was able to try it. It's a peated Speyside bottled at 46% ABV, and labeled "Curiositas" presumably because it's so uncommon to happen across a peated offering from the Speyside region.
Blackadder is an independent bottler that tends to be very, very pricy where I am - so I have abstained from buying a bottle. That may change after tonight. At a restaurant bar I had a glass of one of the most remarkable Highland whiskies I've ever had - a 15 year Ben Nevis that would rival any Springbank (!). Truly amazing stuff.
All the Arran I've had - which is somewhat limited to samplings from three bottles - has been very good stuff, and always has a bit of an unusual angle to it. This here is their official Sauternes cask finished offering - 8 years in ex-bourbon, an undisclosed amount of time in the Sauternes casks (which is a type of sweet, syrupy dessert wine) - my guess would be a one year finish or less, maybe. Usually distilleries get a little shy about putting single digit ages on the label, so I'd guess it's less than two years for sure.
Ah yes, Balblair. I've only had an older expression with my good friend Rob Martin, which I really enjoyed, so I am super curious to catch up with them and see how their spirit is doing. This single cask independent bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") is aged 9 years in ex-bourbon hogshead, and then a surprising 5 years (!) in a Chenin Blanc (!!) wine barrique - very unusual.
Balblair is owned by Inver House Distillers (who also own Balmenach, Knockdhu/anCnoc, Pulteney, and Speyburn) and has existed since 1790. An old, vaunted brand, they only recently switched over from "vintage" releases to age statements.
Meanwhile, Chenin Blanc is a white grape from the Loire valley in France. A high-acid grape, it's also popular in South Africa, where it's known as "steen." Chenin Blanc wines are often described as having the flavors of apples, pears, and quinces.
Oh Dailuaine - I love you. What a great distillery! Every bottle I've ever had from them - all independent bottlers, because Diageo is foolish and won't invest in them as a single malt release - has been lovely, lovely. This is a single cask release from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), nicknamed Brooding Armchair Dram (alright!), and with a primarily bourbon maturation (13 years) but with a rich PX sherry finish (2 years).
I have had so little Glenrothes - in fact, my records say only one bottle, also a single cask release from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"). That bottle was even younger, only 7 years old, but featured very similar casking as this one - initial sherry maturation with a finish in a STR sherry butt, so I am expecting it to be mostly the same.
Glenrothes is a Speyside distillery owned by the Edrington Group (Macallan, Highland Park, etc.), was founded in 1879, and uncommonly features their own cooperage on-site.
Although this violates my "10 year rule" with Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") bottlings - I generally won't buy anything under 10 years old unless it's really unusual in some way, I've been burned by a few too many underbaked examples - I decided to take a chance on this 8 year Linkwood. Partly because there is no fancy cask finish - just the core Linkwood spirit and first-fill ex-bourbon barrels - and partly because I just really like what Linkwood brings to the table.
When Edradour - the smallest operating distillery in Scotland - peats their spirit, they release it under the label Ballechin, honoring a long-dead distillery of the same name that operated from 1810 to 1927. The original Ballechin was one of the original seven distilleries in Perthshire, Scotland - now, only Edradour is left.
They only started this heavily peated project in 2003, and this bottle is their third official release, from 2008. It's aged an unknown number of years, matured fully in port casks, bottled without coloration or filtering at 46% ABV. One of only 6000 bottles.
Sadly, The Wine Specialist on 20th St NW here in Washington DC is leaving their current location on July 30, 2022. They told me they'd be returning in 2023, but probably not at the current location - a shame, they were one of the friendlier spots down in the Dupont/Farragut Square neighborhoods to find decent sherry, port, cordials, and sometimes single malt scotch. I particularly miss the older gentleman behind the register who listened to loud jazz all day. Kindred spirit.
I've had quite a few Glen Scotia bottlings over the last two or three years, and I can safely say with full confidence: this is one funky distillery. Owned by the Loch Lomond Group - which is absolutely unafraid to experiment rather radically with their whiskies - Glen Scotia is every bit as funky as its Campbeltown brethren at Springbank and Kilkerran.
This independent bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") is heavily peated and aged eight years in a first fill bottle. While I am a bit leery of younger bottlings from the SMWS (ten times bitten, eleven times shy, or something like that), it's somewhat common knowledge that heavily peated spirit is at its most muscular, brash, and aggressive at younger ages, and the peat tends to fade away relatively quickly as the spirit enters its mid- to upper-teens. A great example of this is drinking Lagavulin 8 year back to back with the 16 year expression. The 16 year is lovely stuff (despite some recent batch variation) but is quite muted and suppressed compared to the "outspoken" 8 year.
It's safe to say at this point that I'm an enormous fan of Dailuaine, and will buy almost any bottling for their spirit that I find. The last bottle I had, a 9 year from Single Cask Nation, was just lovely front to back. The last sherried version I had, a Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") bottle nicknamed "Jam-Packed With Darkness" was amazing, as it featured the signature "watermelon Jolly rancher"/"Sour Patch kid" note I get with Dailuaine, but with tons of rich sherry notes overlaid on top, which was surprisingly successful.
(Editor's Note: 10 days after covid, my sense of taste and smell seem to be restored. I have sampled a variety of foods and drinks that I know very well, and finally they all smell like they are supposed to, with a full array of richness and variety. Strangely, the thing that took the longest to come back was ketchup - go figure.)
Master Distiller Billy Walker is a highly divisive figure in scotch whisky. A former research chemist, he began overseeing the distilling process at BenRiach in 2004, and moved on in the 2010s to resurrect Glenglassaugh and - famously or infamously - GlenDronach.
His time at GlenDronach is fairly well known and also somewhat notorious: he added old stock to the various GlenDronach bottlings to enrich the flavor and build the brand's reputation... but when the old stock ran low, he purportedly began re-racking lower quality stock into fresh sherry casks, but not disclosing it. People noticed that the various age statements were tasting thinner and thinner, and some bottlings were noticeably worse than before.
Sadly, I got the dreaded coronavirus last weekend, and after laying waste to my flesh and blood, it has scrambled my sense of smell (and presumably taste) as well.
Tomato-based sauces like ketchup currently smell horribly burnt and acrid to me. Coffee tastes muted. Potato chips taste like metal.
And scotch? Well, this last bottle of Craigellachie I bought from the SMWS - the 8 year sherry-matured one, at 67.9% ABV - went from a rich, explosive dram to an oddly powerless spirit. All I can scent is malt barley and chocolate, and only barely. All I can taste are chocolate and blueberries. None of those were present in my first tasting.
Strangest of all the gigantic wash of alcohol I got when my sinuses were free and clear is totally missing. It's like the glass was left out for several days and went flat. It's the oddest thing.
So until things are tasting normal again, I can't review anything in good faith. Otherwise I'll be famous across the internet as the guy who said Macallan tasted like Laphroaig, and Laphroaig tasted like dishwater, and dishwater tasted like paperclips fried in old hair clippings.
Cross your fingers that this passes quickly, and enjoy a dram on my behalf in the meantime.
P.S. The last three reviews were all scheduled to release long after the bottles were in hand, so don't worry about those being "tainted" - my tongue and nose were still in service when those were done.
I can't resist Highland Park independent bottlings... or, for that matter, their official cask strength expression. They have a very specific, particular set of flavors - heather, soft smoke, soft fruit, minerals, salt/sea spray - that I quite care for. I had this as a quick sample at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") June Outturn event at the Jack Rose Saloon - I liked it enough to buy a bottle - this is the full, extended review.
I haven't had a ton of Aultmore... in fact, I've only had one sample, of an independently bottled 11 year, which I liked. This bottle in front of me is from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), matured 10 years in a second-fill ex-bourbon barrel. It's bottled at 58.6% ABV, and here are the official notes:
Ah, sweet Craigellachie - how I love thee. Applesauce and porkchops, in a glass. The official bottling is good, the independent bottlings are better, and even at its worst (looking at you, Five Lions), it's intriguing. So here is a bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") that I jumped on immediately - eight years matured in two different Oloroso casks (!), bottled at 67.9% (!!!)... and a companion to another eight year sherry-matured Craigellachie I had a couple months back that was like drinking a pork and sulfur smoothie (!!!!).
