I met the famous author and scotch whisky expert Charlie MacLean on Tuesday evening (4/12/22), at a Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") event. He's one of the great treasures of Scotland as far as whisky experts go, and I highly recommend his various books on the subject, which are thoroughly researched and very nicely written.
I'll cover that evening more in future posts, but I want to discuss this wild dram of chaos that I got to sip later in the night - SMWS of America director Tom Smith bought the whole room a dram (!), given only that it was (a) a Society bottle and (b) $30 or less (reasonable).
The fourth of six drams served at the April outturn tasting for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") at the Jack Rose Saloon in Adams Morgan, Washington DC. At these events, you sit at a small table and one by one make guesses about the six scotches in front of you: age, type of cask, which distillery (multiple choice, out of five provided), along with a field to write notes.
The first of six drams served at the April outturn tasting for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") at the Jack Rose Saloon in Adams Morgan, Washington DC. At these events, you sit at a small table and one by one make guesses about the six scotches in front of you: age, type of cask, which distillery (multiple choice, out of five provided), along with a field to write notes.
Arran is a distillery I respect; even if it doesn't necessarily blow me out of my shoes with every glass, it is consistently high quality with unusual angles, and presented in a quality way. They are a recent distillery - they only opened in 1995 - and before them, the most recent official distillery closed in 1837 (!). Of course, in the intervening years there was a lot of moonshining. It operated at a loss for years, and the original owner Harold Currie sold out and resigned in 2003. Apparently they started turning things around back in 2010. These days they have a respectable if not dominant market position.
Ah, mysterious Loch Lomond distillery. They have so many imprints and sub-labels, it's hard to get a grasp on their full output... but I have had some really amazing stuff from them over the past couple years, and it's fair to say that they are on the rise these days. Their profile is definitely higher than it's ever been.
I honestly don't know what is going on with casks of Auchroisk over at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), because every single expression I've seen over the last two years has been finished in some kind of wine cask, often a reconditioned one. I am so damned curious as this point what non-finished Auchroisk tastes like!
Nonetheless, I find this strange system of wine finishing to be full of flavor, and this bottle is twice as old as most of the ~7 year releases that come out of the SMWS for Auchroisk (and I am a bit fatigued on bright young brash whiskies), so I am hoping for something mature and mellow while retaining the same complexity of flavor I like in Auchroisk.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an official bottling Bowmore is the worst expression of the Islay distillery, and that the distillate is best showcased in independent bottlings which have, as a result, steadily crept up in price over the years. This particular bottle hails from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS").
No one knows what is going on over at Bowmore, but the opinion I just laid out is the party line everywhere that scotch drinkers gather. I've heard it on Reddit, in whisky bars, from friends, liquor store owners, everywhere. I have, in fact, discussed it in numerous posts on Bowmore here on the blog. They clearly get under my skin a bit.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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."
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.
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.
I love Golden Moon - a Colorado distillery that opened in 2008 and utilized old world production methods from the get-go. I am a particular fan of their Creme de Violette - an usually rich, leathery violet liquer - but this is their difficult-to-source Amer Dit Picon. Picon, of course, is the French term for an orange-flavored liqueur. Usually made with orange peel, chinchona bark, and gentian root, it's a staple of the amaro scene.
Glen Moray is one of those distilleries I first encountered in turbocharged single cask independent bottles - they are rich and sweet and full of interesting flavors, in that setting. But their official bottlings mostly seemed geared at the lower end of the market, and this Port Cask Finish bottling was only $28 - half the cost of most other standard bottles. Thanks to Rob Martin for this delicious sample!
Don Ciccio & Figli is located right here in Washington DC, in the Ivy City neighborhood. I have had, at this point, basically their entire lineup of amaros - and all are good. This is the most recent I've sampled: a tonic-style amaro made with chinchona bark, which has quinine in it, cooked/roasted on iron plates before maceration, unaged, bottled at 20% ABV.
This style of amaro dates to at least 1881, according to the story on the bottle. Their house blend of herbs is combined in terracotta amphorae (!), which is certainly old world style - I appreciate that. Let's dig in:
I have a deep and abiding love for Italian amaros - bitter herbal liqueurs - and eventually I will review all the 3-4 dozen that I have sampled here on the blog, as a change of pace and flavor.
I want to kick it off with this amazing organic digestif I recently had, from the Varnelli family in the mountains of central Italy - Amaro Dell'Erbolista. Unfiltered, made with spices and herbs combined over a wood fire, and sweetened only with organic honey, it's rapidly become one of my very favorites. Let's explore the bitter side:
Aged 14 years in ex-bourbon casks, although rumors persist that a little refill sherry casking is present as well - I came across that claim on numerous websites - and bottled at 46%.
Diageo is infamously mum about most of the important aspects of their various single malts. 95% of the output of Clynelish goes to Johnnie Walker, as far as I can tell, despite their very high reputation in the independent bottling scene.
Is this colored? Almost certainly. Is it chill-filtered? Very probably. But my memory is that the famously waxy character of Clynelish still shines through, and this is a particularly delectable single malt. Let's explore...
Almost exactly a year has gone by since I was gifted a dram of this by my good friend Rob Martin. Tonight, while out walking around, I wandered into Metro Liquors in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington DC and they had a fire sale on this 2018 bottling to make room for new things. I knew I'd had it, but my memory was scant, faded. So I picked up a bottle.
I have enjoyed both expressions of Kilkerran that I've had previously - the 8 year and the 12 year - and tonight I am sampling the "heavily peated, batch 4" expression of their Peat-in-Progress series.
Kilkerran is a product of one of the three remaining Campbeltown distilleries (Glengyle, which is owned by Springbank, another favorite distillery of mine). This is batch 4, no age expression (apparently is 5-6 years old), was bottled at 58.6% ABV, matured 80/20% in bourbon/sherry casks. Let's immediately dig into some young Campbeltown glory:
It's safe to say now that the Diageo "Game of Thrones" scotch experiment was - sadly - not a success. These attempts to lure your average HBO viewer to the world of expensive liquor was (perhaps) well intentioned, and maybe even well executed, but didn't really pay off. Most scotch drinkers I know considered it some kind of joke, and all the liquor store owners I chatted with said the bottled were hard as hell to move.
The original Game of Thrones collection had the following bottlings:
It's been almost exactly a year since I last had this magnificent 21-year scotch from Glenfarclas. Quite possibly the best-priced 20+ year scotch on the market (I obtained it for $135, less than even the 17 year goes for!), I remember this being full of fascinating, balanced flavors. 100% aged in Oloroso sherry casks - the standard Glenfarclas house style - and bottled at 43% ABV, this was one of the highlights of my 2021 drinking year.
I have held onto this bottle for some time, in a secret "emergency scotch" stash, and only remembered tonight that I had yet to review it! So here we go: the Ardbeg Day 2018 release, aged an undisclosed period of years in super heavily charred red wine casks (!). Very interesting - I think scotch and red wine casks go hand-in-glove. This one is bottled at 46%. Thanks to Ardbeg rep Clarke Boyer for hosting the Ardbeg event where I ordered this from Ace Beverage in Wesley Heights in Washington DC.
One thing I've noticed about smaller scotch blogs (like this one) is that reviewers inevitably end up reviewing non-scotch alcohol every so often. This is due both to (1) scotch fatigue and (2) the high price of reviewing many bottles of scotch per annum.
So in addition to my rum excursions, I am also going to occasionally review bourbon, gin, etc. The focus will still be primarily on scotch, but to keep everyone entertained I'll toss in a few like this every now and again.
I wasn't planning on buying anything this month, especially not a young Speysider, but I saw this bottle in the January outturn and just couldn't resist. A peated Glenfarclas (!). Glenfarclas is a family-owned Speyside distillery known primarily for very heavily sherried whiskies, and I have never seen a peated variant of any of their whiskies, ever. Not one.
So when this showed up, I had to buy it and try it. Apparently the story is: this spent 8 years in a 2nd fill barrel... and the first fill of the barrel must have held heavily, heavily peated whisky. When a whisky ages in a wood barrel, it's not just the oils and esters and other chemicals in the wood that are imparted into the liquid... the liquid, for its part, sends chemicals and oils and esters right back into the wood, in turn. And here, heavy peat and smoke were residing in the barrel used here.
Sometimes shipping alcohol from state to state here in the United States can be prohibitively expensive - between 25% and 33% of the cost of a single bottle, oftentimes. Thus, when placing orders with the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), I usually find it best to buy at least two bottles to distribute the cost a little better. More than once, I have bought a whole bundle that contained a bottle or two I wanted, just to maximize my booze-against-shipping rates.
This 12 year Ardmore was one such "plus one" bottle, bought to accompany the peated Glenfarclas I couldn't resist. And I have been a longterm fan of Ardmore for a long while now, so this was an easy pick.
Another treat provided by the venerable Rob Martin, whisky connoisseur deluxe! And another departure from my usual single malt scotch focus. This was released in a limited edition of 5000 half-sized bottles, at cask strength (57.5% ABV), after aging for 10 years in unknown casks.
Ireland doesn't have the same oak restrictions that the US and Scotland have - they only require "wooden" casks, since oak is hard to come by in Ireland and the whisky industry would have long ago extinguished the species from the island if they were required to use it - thanks to Teeling distillery tour for that bit of info. But I suspect that this spent its years in oak anyway, just based on the drying tannins I taste.
Bottled by the Connaught Whisky Company, the actual distiller here is unknown. Let's investigate:
