The Whisky Show
Having won tickets worth 95quid each,it would have been churlish not to attend. And so, early on Sat morning, I found myself on a train heading to London with Alec. We wandered up to the rather lovely venue, The Brewery, picking up our gift bags - tasting glass, bottle of water, meal ticket, and other advertising crap- oh and a token to get an expensive whisky sample.
First impressions, nice relaxed layout and one of the obvious reasons for the increased ticket price was to limit the number of people in the hall. So made for a nice informal vibe.
Tasting notes start off OK, although I was writing while holding the glass which made life difficult. And after our break for food, I gave up and just noted *most* of those we tried.
Tastings were about 10ml but even so, we got through a fair number…
Entering the hall I went to Bruichladdich first, and we tried their 16yo Cuvee Margaux from their 16yo french oak finishes range, 46%.
N: very sherry, wine, warm
P: warm, sweet, very tasty, sherry
F: medium; wine, sherry
8/10 very lovely warm whisky. could do with a bit more on the finish, but as an excuse to curl up with a whisky, yeah it works.
Headed across to the Bowmore stand, which was quite disappointing with only the 12, 15 and 18 yo standard released. And a salesman who really wasn't interested. Tried the 18yo, 48%
Very sweet whisky, strong chocolate taste on the back of the palate, but hints of salty peat in there too. Both worked nicely as complementary flavours. Finish was very short. 6.5/10
Ohhh look, one of my favourite distilleries is here, Glengoyne. Chatted to the main dude there, explained how much I loved the 20yo single cask I have here. So he said, well then you'll love the 23yo 55% cask we're releasing soon. He was very right.
N: great, candyfloss, foot odour (this is good by the way)
P: sweet, complex, tangy spice, sherry, xmas cake
F: long, spicy.
Very lovely whisky. 8.5/10 and yes I would like a bottle. They are supposed to be retailing for around 170quid I think. So maybe next year :(
Never heard of them before, which was,of course, red flag to a drinking bull. And since it was still early we had a nice long chat to the Manager. They are an older distillery which was mothballed, which recently re-opened in 2008. So too young for new whisky, but they'd brought down some of their new spirits - including flavourings from bourbon, wine, plain, and a peaty version. Very tasty.
Glenglassaugh 46% 26yo 150quid
N: complex, wood, sweet sherry
P: sweet, spicy, flavoursome
F: long
8/10 Oddly, for a coastal distillery, there's no hint of salt. But really is beautiful.
One of nice things was the opportunity to try their expensive whisky by using the token. And after some discussion - the Manager saying it's the best whisky in the world, me saying really, how does it compare to Brora 24yo or the Adelphi Whisky that cannot be named etc, we decided to go ahead.
Seeing as we'd spent some time chatting we both got some, and he threw in a sample of the 41yo as well. Result. Although having now had his whisky, I will be buying some when it's released.
So we also tried the 36yo and the 41yo. the 36yo was a very young whisky - sprightly - whereas the 41yo was more a mature form of the 26yo. Which is odd, but worked beautifully. I think I'd agree with the Manager than the 36yo was the better, or at least, the more unique, of the two. Prices were about 500 for the 36 and 1500 for the 41.
I'm picking a 9 or 10/10 for both those.
This is exactly the reason whisky shows are good, I came away from this stand very excited, and very keen to buy their booze when it's whisky. Quite tempted to buy some of their new spirit as well, it's that good.
Oh damn, next door was my favourite indie bottlers, Adelphi
Even worse, they had a longhorn 18yo 55.6% bottling. Oh well, needs must:
N: toasting marshmallows, cut grass
P: sweet, marshmallows, fluffy!!
F: med
7/10. Very light and drinkable whisky. For breakfast?
We also tried something else, on the lovely ladies suggestion, I think it was a Bunnahabhain that she described as weird and wrong. But I didn't write down which one it was, I'm guessing the 9yo 59.2% from their website.
Mackay and White has a large stand, covering Jura, Fettercairn and their blends. Figured we should give a couple of the Jura's a go so:
Jura Prophecy 46% - nothing startling.. 6/10
Jura Boutique Barrel Cask. Hint of sulphur, sherry, 8/10 I liked this. At some stage I must get some Jura.
Fettercairn: another M & W, we tried some. nothing interesting. didn't make any notes, so can't have been any good at all.
Mackay and White blend: 30yo very very good, 9/10. But at around 300quid a bottle, I'd rather get some good single malts.
Glendronach
Like this a lot, 7.5-8/10
We ended up chatting to the boss and letting him pour stuff into our glass, but initially it was a cute blonde. Yes. It's a tough life researching whisky.
Virgin Oak finish 46% didn't think much of this. 5/10 lacking much flavour.
About this point we decided some food would be a plan. Which the Whisky Show was putting on, I went for a blue cheese and mushroom pie with a pasta side and salad. Superb. Really was. Finished off with a ginger and plum pudding. Yes, again taking a hit for the team.
Back into the fray saw us wander past the big guns stands, momentarily distracted by a very disappointing Clyneish from some double distilled bottler. About 14yo and no flavour. Wankers.
We stood and stared at the one remaining bottle of the worlds most expensive whisky, 100,000 quid. It came with two guards. They looked cheaper, and far less smooth. A 64yo Dalmore.
In a worrying turn, suggestive of some form of cheapskate, Alec declined my magnanimous offer of accepting the bottle if he bought it for me.
And so, still smarting from his rejection, we went back to the BenRiach/GlenDronagh stand.
We used the other token on the BenRiach 30yo.
N: bland, sherry
P: sweat, honey, fruity
F: punchy, sweet, med-long
9/10 - very lovely whisky, about 170 quid from memory
Next up was the Benriach Solstice, 15yo 51%
N: smoke, ask, peat
P: peat, subtle, port finish
9/10 - this is a new one coming out in a week or so. And I really loved it. To the point where I may pick up a bottle.
BenRiach : Authenticus, very tasty. Yes notes were getting more vague here.
And since we'd been chatting to the boss of GlenDronagh for some time he said we had to try their expensive one. Naturally we declined. Oh FFS, really, you believed that?
So yeah, around 340quid, very tasty. Full bodied. Brilliant.
And so, with heavy heart and empty vessels we moved on. I'll definitely be buying some of those two distilleries. Superb stuff.
Oh lookeehere another indie bottler. And a Mortlach.
Berry's 21yo Mortlach 46%. Not a hugely typical Mortlach,I felt it lacked complexity. But more than adequate. 60quid
Berry's 1971 Invergordon - Grain whisky. 47%.1971. 99quid. Nothing startling, but drinkable.
Berry's GlenGrant 1972 Speyside 51.8%. Couldn't go past tasting this one, Superb. And probably worth the 140quid.
Springbank, and associated, were next door to Berry's. Saying goodbye to the nice chap at Berry's, who invited us to the store where he works if we wanted to try more, we began exploring Springbank, Kilkerran and Hazelburn.
the Hazelburn Cask strength, 8yo, was superb. Getting two ticks on my new rating system (notes be damned, simply drink, not drink, or much drink).
Kilkerran is the new distillery, and is just coming of age. the 6yo 46% got one tick, but shows much promise.
N: fruit, sweet
P: strong, sherry.
By comparison the Springbank 15yo didn't' get much of a rating from me. Think I'll stick to my 100 proof sitting in the cupboard.
Port Askaig 17yo. Extensive tasting notes = Dead. Port Askaig I've since found out is where Caol Ila is, and just down the road from Bunna'. Recommend you avoid.
Lg2 : lagavulin, from speciality brands. Meh.
See, never let be said I won't try a blend. This one is based on the dude's (who we were speaking to) Grandfathers blending book. Very nice. Id' be ok with this in my cupboard, there's complexity, warmth, and it's very reasonable at 26quid.
Although I suspect if someone asked me, I'd recommend going for the Adelphi blend, which is slightly cheaper, and possibly better. But it's pretty close.
Highland Park 18yo
Ardbeg of unknown description
Bruichladdich 18
http://www.realmalt.com/prod4web/newproducts07/18yo.pdf
The lovely lass on the Bruichladdich stand was packing up early to catch a flight, and didn't want to take all the bottles. Thankfully I was there to help, and so I now have 1/3rd full bottle of BL 16yo CuveeA (yet to be tasted).
We also picked up a few glasses, to improve our respective collections.
All in all, a superb day. And I think I'll be going next year, even if I have to pay. I think the relaxed environment, and limited numbers, just made it. Great stuff.
B
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