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Day 17 — Kilkerran 10 Year Visitor Center

Posted on December 17, 2019December 14, 2019 by jprost

Day 17th this is the visitor center bottling from Glengyle Distillery, aka Kilkerran, in Campbeltown. Sit back and relax into this dram and imagine a trip to Scotland where you can sample many more drams like this one.

Profile

Kilkerran single malt was born from the rebirth of Glengyle distillery in 2004. The Campbeltown distillery, which had closed in 1925, was reopened after the turn of the century by J&A Mitchell. However, the Glengyle brand name had been previously sold to Bloch Bros, leaving the distillery’s new owners to consider an alternative name for its single malt. Kilkerran – Cille Chiarain in Gaelic – is the original name of Campbeltown.

Lightly peated and non-chill-filtered, the 12-year-old is matured 70% in ex-Bourbon casks and 30% in ex-Sherry casks. The result is a far cry from the traditional heavy malt distilled at Glengyle during the Victorian era.

The annual ‘Work-in-Progress’ releases were matured either in ex-Bourbon or ex-Sherry and were released in quantities of between nine and 18,000 bottles.

Tasting Notes

Nose: dirt smoke, grass fire, anise, melon, jasmine green tea, fresh earth,
Taste: WTF, chai tea latte, honeydew, hickory sticks, sweet bbq sauce, whisky sour,
Finish: back to the grave, dry tea mouth, all of the above on bread, warm wood,

Purchase Links

Day 16 — Suntory Toki

Posted on December 16, 2019December 14, 2019 by jprost

Day 16 we are off to Japan for a lighter dram this time and I think this fits the bill quite well. So lets tuck in and enjoy

Story

On 1st February 1899, Shinjiro Torii opened a store in Osaka, he named it the Kotobukiya Liqour Shop. Shinjori had a passion for Western drinks and began importing Spanish wines. The Japanese drinks market was largely centred on sake and shochu and the majority of Japanese consumers found Western beverages rather disagreeable. 1907 saw the release of Akadama Port Wine, a sweetened red wine which Shinjiro had created after experimenting flavouring and sweetening Spanish wines. Three years later, the Kotobukiya Company’s products were marketed for their medicinal value. Various other products were sold including spices, teas and various grocery items.

Shinjiro Torii greatly enjoyed Scotch whisky and his dream was to set up the first whisky distillery in Japan. In 1923, his dream was realized with the founding of the Yamazaki Distillery in the Vale of Yamazaki. The distillery was set in a beautiful location just outside of Kyoto. There was a varied climate as well as pure waters and a good humidity. Yamazaki single malt is now Japan’s most popular and the range of Suntory products has been greatly expanded to include foods and beverages, both intoxicating and otherwise.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Soft orchard fruits and thyme honey are joined by a helping of peppermint in the backdrop.
Taste: More green apple on the palate leads along bright citrus notes from pink grapefruit. Bitter herbs, toasted almonds and vanilla oak linger underneath.
FInish: White pepper and ginger add spice to the finish.

Purchase Links

Can be purchased from BC Liquor Stores

Can be purchased from the Strath

Day 15 — Black Mountain Notes Fumees

Posted on December 15, 2019December 7, 2019 by jprost

Day 15 is another fun number and really screams Christmas to to me. Whisky may not be the first aged spirit or even alcohol that you think of when it comes to France, but perhaps it should be. To many of us, the country might only be thought of as the place that makes everything from grapes: Cognac and Armagnac plus many styles of red and white wine from the likes of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, Champagne and so on – but it is much more than that. Even with all of this viniferous production that is imbibed both locally and around the world, the French still manage to drink more Scotch per capita than any other country in the world.

Like many other countries in the current, global whisky boom-time, France has seen quite a few distilleries established within its borders in the past decade, with at least 40 distilleries producing whisky or what will eventually be whisky within the Country. Some French whiskies have already hit the Alberta market such as Warenghem, Glann Ar Mor/Kornog, Bellevoye, Osokye and Bastille. Now joining the selection of French Whisky available to us is Black Mountain.

Black Mountain Compagnie SAS was formed in late 2011 by four friends from Toulouse in the region of Occitan, which resides in Southern France. The team behind the Black Mountain company have been blending carefully selected malt and grain whisky sourced from Scottish distilleries for a while now. They focus on creating whisky that is stylistically light, floral and fruity with a hint of spice.

The company made their first entirely French Single Malt in the region in March of 2018, distilling a small batch with another local distillery. Their own future distillery may still the planning stages, but the team hopes to bring whisky making to the Occitan region in a big way. The land they have selected for the future distillery resides 3000 feet above sea level on a plateau of the Montagne Noire, which the company takes its name from. There is a spring in the same area that is also the planned water source and is already used to cut the selected whiskies at before bottling.

The company currently has three releases in their main whisky portfolio, all of which are currently available in Alberta. Black Mountain N1 – Excellence and N2 – Premium are both mostly unpeated in style. The moderately peated Black Mountain Notes Fumées (smoke notes in English) rounds out their current line up. It was awarded Best French Blended Whisky at the World Whiskies Awards in 2017.

The Black Mountain Notes Fumées is a young blend – starting its life as a 5-to-6-year-old blended whisky in Scotland before being shipped to Occitan to be finished for 12-16 months in casks that once held grape-based spirit from the region. Two parcels of peated whisky making up about 20#% of the total volume are then married into the blend after this and the resulting whisky is then rested in 3rd and 4th fill (essentially plain) casks before being cut to 45% ABV and bottled.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Christmas Cake, Caramel, Stone fruit, sweet, maple syrup, guinness of whisky, brown sugar, cola
Taste: Molasses, Malty, Tobacco, stone fruit, figs, fudge, boozy fruit cake, coffee, chocolate
Finish: Leather, smooth, coffee, raisins, more chocolate

Purchase Links

Day 14 — Cadenhead Linkwood 2006

Posted on December 14, 2019December 7, 2019 by jprost

Day 14 today we return to Cadenhead this time with a lovely number from linkwood not much to say so enjoy.

HISTORY

It was 1842 when George Duncan founded a vintner and distilling agency in Aberdeen. The business flourished under his ownership and a decade later, he invited his brother-in-law, William Cadenhead, to join him.

Duncan suffered a short illness in 1858 and passed away, leaving Cadenhead to take over the business. He swiftly changed the company name to his own. Cadenhead was by no means an expert vintner, but he was known to have a head for business due to working overseas in a yarn company. He was also heavily involved in supporting the local community and was a noted poet.

Cadenhead died in 1904 and the business fell under the wing of his nephew, Robert Duthie, who developed the company into the independent whisky bottling business we recognise today. In one change of philosophy Duthie developed the idea of vatting the variety of malts he had access to rather than simply bottling single malt whiskies as his uncle had. In doing so he expanded the range to include brands such as The Heilanman and the deluxe Putachieside. To promote the company, he advertised on theatre curtains, busses and concert programmes using the slogan, ‘By Test the Best’.

When Duthie died in 1931 (at the height of The Great Depression he was knocked down by a tram car on his way to visit his bank manager), he was a bachelor, so the company passed onto his two sisters. Unfortunately, they had no knowledge of the trade but were determined to keep the company running, and with this in mind they handed over the day-to-day operation of the business to a long-term employee, Ann Oliver.

Oliver proved to be quite an eccentric choice with set ideas on how the company should be run and refused to change with the times or the market in whisky sales. The result of this was a warehouse full to the gunnels with whisky, rum and gin that no one knew the value of. The result was a ‘fire sale’ of spirits at the auction house of Christie’s in London in 1972, which much to everyone’s delight not only cleared the debts of the company but left a six-figure profit as well.

On Oliver’s retirement in the same year, the company was sold to J. & A. Mitchell and Co., the owner of one of Scotland’s oldest whisky distilleries, Springbank in Campbeltown.

After 130 years trading in Netherkirkgate, the company moved to Campbeltown and has been nurtured and developed under J. & A. Mitchell’s stewardship. On top of its range of non-chill-filtered and non-coloured single malt whiskies, rums and gins, the company now has shops and tasting rooms in London and Edinburgh, as well as partnerships in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Denmark.

Tasting Notes

Nose: lemon and pear drops, tapioca and white chocolate Hershey’s Kisses; shortbread dusted in coarse sugar with a touch of lemon; jammy dodgers and other cream filled cookies; freshly baked donuts, chocolate éclairs and tarte tatin.
Palate: sweet, honeyed and fruity; oily and toasty; white fruity and glossy citrus tones; lemon cream cookies, jammy dodgers and more sugar dusted shortbread; decadent and doughy, like an old-fashioned donut shop: carrot cake with creme cheese icing, custard creme and apple curler donuts, and also more chocolate éclairs; lots of lemon and white fruits, creamsicles and building decadent spices.
Finish: long and elegant beyond its years; creamy with doughy tones and lots of honey; soft spices and minty floral tones and bright fruits.

Day 13 — Macallan 23

Posted on December 13, 2019December 7, 2019 by jprost

Day 13 its here where I like to congratulate you on your making it to halfway through the calendar. If you are here on the 13th of December then you really have done well but if you are here later that is fine too. Because today is the big middle bottle normally Macallan is one of the more meh distilleries but they are big so they need to be doing something right. I think today we can safely say that this is probably the reason why. Bottled by AD Rattray it is a fine dram.

HISTORY

Andrew Dewar Rattray set up in business in Glasgow during 1868, trading as an importer of French wines, Italian spirits and olive oil, as well as blending and retailing Scotch whisky. Ultimately the firm was sold to the whisky broker William Walker, but was brought back into family ownership by Tim Morrison, who created the ‘new’ Stronachie in 2002. Back in the late 1800s A Dewar Rattray had acted as agent for Stronachie distillery, so there was already a historic connection.

Morrison also established the Cask Collection label for single cask bottlings, and in 2011 the peated blended malt Cask Islay was released, being transformed into a single malt two years later. 2012 saw the release of a five-year-old blend named Bank Note, a year after the Whisky Experience and Shop opened in Kirkoswald. Plans for the new Glasgow distillery were approved during 2014.

Tasting Notes

Nose: bourbon, grass
Taste: doughnuts, pear, chocolate
FInish: Grand Marnier

Purchase Links

Can be purchased from Strath

Can be purchased from Jak’s Liquor

Day 12 — SMWS 93.90 – A masculine enigma

Posted on December 12, 2019December 7, 2019 by jprost

Day 12 Today’s offering is not only one of the biggest Independant bottlers but also one of the first bottles that was acquired for the calendar.

PROFILE

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) is a private members’ club and one of the oldest of Scotland’s ‘modern’ independent bottlers and an influential whisky institution that has played a significant role in the promotion and expansion of enthusiasm for single malt whiskies, both in the UK and abroad.

It was one of the key companies to promote the bottling of whiskies at cask strength and the idea of ‘single casks’. Its whiskies are notable for their uniform presentation and the coding system by which the different bottlings are denoted. The SMWS has also bottled Cognac, Armagnac, rum, Bourbon, other American whiskies and even Somerset cider brandy.

Annual membership includes access to the society’s numerous venues around the world, as well as to its bottlings which are exclusively for members only.

Tasting Notes

Nose: burnt staves, campfire, leather, rubarb, grass, old books
Taste: iodine, ashy, burned marshmallow skin, seaweed, spice, sweet, burning spice shop
Finish: earthy, ginger, seaside

Purchase Links

Can be purchased from the Strath

Can be purchased from Legacy Liquor

Day 11 — Cooper’s Choice 2006 Caol Ila

Posted on December 11, 2019December 7, 2019 by jprost

Day 11 as I write this article I have come to the conclusion that independent bottlers are definitely part of the theme of this years calendar and why not with some of the most unique and delicious bottles out there its hard to argue with their work. Todays offering from Vintage Malt Whisky Co under the Coopers Choice label is no exception so tuck in and enjoy.

PROFILE

The Vintage Malt Whisky Co offers bottlings from a wide range of distilleries in its Cooper’s Choice portfolio of single cask bottlings, along with aged single grains under the parallel Cooper’s Choice Golden Grains label.

The company also markets an unspecified Islay single malt under the Finlaggan banner, with several expressions now available, along with Tantallan, an unspecified Highland single malt, and the Glenalmond blended Highland malt.

Its sister company, the Highlands and Islands Scotch Whisky Co., produces single Islay malts The Ileach and Pibroch, as well as Island single malt Black Cuillin.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Pink peppercorn, smoky hay and a pinch of toffee.
Taste: Milk chocolate, smoked meats and oily malt.
FInish: Hints of bonfire embers linger long on the finish.

Purchase Links

Can be purchased from the Strath

Day 10 — GlenAllachie 10 Year Cask Strength Batch 2

Posted on December 10, 2019December 7, 2019 by jprost

Day 10 today we have a solid offering from GleanAllachie a distillery I feel we do not see often enough especially since what they have to offer is really quite nice. anyways enjoy this dram and we will see you tomorrow

HISTORY

One of the results of the US-fuelled 1960s whisky boom, GlenAllachie was built in 1967 by Scottish & Newcastle Breweries’ distilling subsidiary, Mackinlays. It is notable for being one of the distilleries designed by William Delmé-Evans who was also behind Macduff, Tullibardine and Jura.

In 1985, Mackinlays became part of own-label specialist Invergordon Distillers which flipped Glenallachie to Campbell Distillers/Pernod Ricard four years later, during most of which it had been mothballed.

It has only very rarely been seen as a single malt bottling – most notably as part of Chivas Brothers’ Cask Strength series.

In July 2017, it was announced that Chivas Brothers had agreed to sell GlenAllachie to The GlenAllachie Distillers Company, operated by former BenRiach MD Billy Walker, ex-Inver House Distillers MD Graham Stevenson and Trisha Savage. A capital ‘A’ was added to the distillery name, in keeping with the changes Walker made to BenRiach and GlenDronach under his stewardship.

The new owners are in the process of relaunching GlenAllachie as a distillery known for its ‘big’, fruity malt whisky. Six single cask bottlings were released in April 2018, with GlenAllachie’s first core range of single malts set for launch in June 2018.

Tasting Notes

Nose: floral, butterscotch pudding, rice pudding, lemon, green tea
Taste: caramel, chestnuts roasting on open fire, brandy beans, chives, hint of mint, dark rich spice
Finish: licorice root, dry oak board, burnt sugar, astringent something, spice cake, nutty

Purchase Links

Can be purchased here from the Tudor house

Day 9 — Beinn Dubh Ruby Black Flying Scottsman

Posted on December 9, 2019December 7, 2019 by jprost

Day 9. Got a fun number here for you today Beinn Dubh is a ruby-black whisky made at Speyside distillery. This special edition was launched in partnership with National Railway Museum to commemorate the return of LNER Class A3 4472, better known as Flying Scotsman, to the main line. Matured in charred casks, this is a rich whisky with notes of chocolate.

Story

The distillery was founded in 1962 by George Christie. It was built by hand by George Christie over the next decades, and was finished in 1987. It took another three years until whisky production started in 1990.

Two pot stills of traditional shape were installed. Because massive production was never one of George’s objectives, they are some of the smallest in Scotland. The Glenspey mash tun was the very last fitted by Newmill engineering before they closed down. Though small the distillery can produce 500,000 litres of alcohol per annum. The distillery is the second most southern on Speyside, (Dalwhinnie can also be classed as Speyside) and takes its water directly from the River Tromie.

Tasting Notes

Purchase Links

Day 8 – – First Editions Aberlour 1995

Posted on December 8, 2019December 7, 2019 by jprost

Day 8 today we have a 2nd offering from our fiends at Hunter Lang. under the First Editons Label. The First Editions range of single barrel expressions is always released at natural cask strength, and of course without colouring or chill filtration.

As the name may suggest, each cask is carefully selected to evoke the qualities of a rare literary volume – those of character and collectability. Colour-coding on the labels denotes the particular regions the whiskies themselves are from and each bottle is individually numbered and presented in a gift tube. A “First Editions” bottling without doubt makes a valuable addition to anyone’s whisky library.

HUNTER LAING & COMPANY HISTORY

Hunter Laing & Co was established in 2013, when the brothers Fred and Stewart of Douglas Laing & Co decided to split the company assets and operate their own independent bottling operations. While Fred Laing was joined by his daughter Cara, Stewart Laing’s two sons Andrew and Scott were recruited to the new firm.

As a young man Stewart Laing learnt about the whisky business at Bruichladdich distillery on Islay when it was in the ownership of A&B Grant & Co, then working for Stevenson Taylor & Co, a wine and spirits company, gaining greater experience of the commercial side of the Scotch whisky industry.

He then joined the family company of Douglas Laing & Co, initially being involved in the bottling side of the operation, before accompanying his father Fred on sales trips to the firm’s key blended Scotch markets in Asia and South America. Following the death of Fred senior in 1982, Stewart and his brother Fred ran the business until 2013, moving away from the export blend market to concentrate on specialised single malt bottlings.

In 2016, Hunter Laing & Co. revealed plans to build its own single malt distillery on Islay to meet rising demand for peated Scotch whisky. Ardnahoe distillery, situated on the island’s east coast, filled its first cask of whisky on 9 November 2018, and opened to the public the following April.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Honeysuckel, apples, artisanal soap, rasins, white fruit

Taste: cornflakes, peper, raisins, Oats, popeye smokes, , ginger

Finish: Light smooth, spicy, lingering peper, ginger, dry, hint of lemon zest

Purchase Links

Can be purchased here from BC Liquor Stores