Day 7 — Cotswolds Single Malt

Posted on by jprost

Day 7!! The weekend is here and you got yourself a tasty dram of whisky. Since we are just barely into the calendar why not some thing from a young distillery. Lets see how they stack up against the big names.

Story

The Cotswolds Distillery was established in 2014, and is one of only six distilleries producing English whisky.

Initial development of the distillery was assisted by Harry Cockburn (a Master Distiller and former Production Director at Bowmore distillery) and Dr. Jim Swan (an expert in cask maturation whose previous projects include work with Penderyn in Wales, Kavalan in Taiwan and The Milk & Honey Distillery in Israel). Production began on 5 September 2014, with the first cask of single malt whisky filled on 22 September 2014. The first release of whisky, when a selection of casks have reached the three-year minimum age, will take place in October 2017 and will consist of 5000 bottles.

In January 2016, the Distillery opened a crowd funding initiative on CrowdBnk with the aim of raising £500,500 for expansion of the business. The investment window closed with the iniative having raised £1,001,000 from 124 investors in seven weeks.

COTSWOLDS SINGLE MALT WHISKYTasting Notes

Nose: popcorn, grassy, lavendar, short bread, apples, flowers, maple, almond cake

Taste: Corn, soggy hay bail, pepper, fresh cream, vanilla, nutmeg, cookies, buter in oil

Finish: creamy radish, wood chips, four day old sourdough from your first love left in the rain, something vegetal,

Purchase Links

Can be purchased here from BC Liquor Stores

Day 6 — BenRiach Peated Cask Strength Batch 1

Posted on by jprost

Day 6 only one more day to do then you have finished a whole week but hey this is the end of the first row of your calendar. Yep 1 row down 3 more to go. Easy right? You got this. Enjoy

Profile

The BenRiach Distillery Co owns BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh distilleries, and offers a range of single malt expressions from each, along with regular limited editions and single cask releases. The organisation also owns a former Chivas Brothers bottling plant at Newbridge, near Edinburgh.

A total of 120 people are employed across the company’s four sites, and single malts are exported to more than 40 countries, headed by Taiwan, with other Asian markets, North America and Europe also performing well.

History

The BenRiach Distillery Co was formed in 2004 when former Burn Stewart Distillers operations director Billy Walker teamed up with South Africa-based business partners Geoff Bell and Wayne Keiswetter to purchase the mothballed Benriach distillery near Elgin from Chivas Brothers.

The distillery re-opened the following year, and in 2008 a second distillery was acquired from Chivas Brothers in the shape of GlenDronach, near Huntly. While Benriach dated from 1897 and the late Victorian whisky ‘boom,’ Glendronach had been established in 1826. With its trademark sherry cask-influence, Glendronach offered a good stylistic contrast to the classic Speyside Benriach.

BenRiach’s most recent acquisition was Glenglassaugh distillery, at Portsoy, on the Moray Firth coast. Glenglassaugh had been established in 1873, but reconstructed during the late 1950s, before falling silent in 1986. By the time BenRiach came along in 2013 the distillery had already been restored to working order by a group of private investors, who had purchased it during 2008. BenRiach’s takeover provided enough capital to increase production and set about offering a wider range of releases.

BenRiach Distillery Company – as well as Glenglassaugh and Glendronach – was picked up by Brown-Forman, the Louisville, Kentucky-based producer of Jack Daniel’s, in 2016 for £281 million.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Well-charred oak, cinnamon, salted caramel and vanilla-y cereal.

Palate: Earthy and smoky, with a pinch of white pepper warmth growing at the core. Fresh fruit notes add a hint of sweetness to the background.

Finish: Dry smoke and heather honey.

Purchase Links

Can be purchased fron the Strath

Day 5 — Old Malt Cask – Mortlach 11

Posted on by jprost

Day 5 today we have a nice number from Hunter Liang  a young bottler in the independent bottler word but a solid track record of tasty whisky. Today there offering is from Mortlach a distillery witch I feel has all the flavors I like on a regular basis. Please enjoy

 

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.

 

Mortlach 11 Year Old 2007 - Old Malt Cask (Hunter Laing)

Tasting Notes

Nose: grassy, almonds, dryer fresh towels, pine needles, smoke in the distance,

Taste: Light peat, butter tars, black forest cake, basil, those candies from the green leaf bistro,

Finish: slight burnt pasty, black forest cake, maybe a croissant

Purchase Links

Can be purchased here from BC Liquor Stores

Day 4 — Kaiyo The Peated

Posted on by jprost

Day 4 now we head back to Asia, Japan to be specific and with a country that is steeped in tradition and driven by innovation the quality of this product speaks volumes for itself. We hope you enjoy

Story

The Kaikyo Distillery (named after the Akashi-Kaikyo bridge that lies at the foot of the distillery) is located near Akashi, a city located in southern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, on the Seto Inland Sea west of Kobe.

The Yonesawa family have been distilling since 1917 but it was a century later that whisky production was first initiated.  Hatozaki, the whisky produced by the distillery is named after a nearby lighthouse (the oldest stone lighthouse in Japan).  Producing a blended whisky and a pure malt whisky, they’re a blend of Japanese distilled whisky and imported malt and grain.

KL1Tasting Notes

Nose: Orange peel, jasmine, a hint of coastal air, soft cedar.
Taste: Coffee bean, green apple, black tea and alpine herbs.
Finish: Cinnamon rolls and mango.

Purchase Links

Can be purchased here from BC Liquor Stores

Day 3 — Cadenhead Glen Spey/Glenlivet

Posted on by jprost

Day 3 and we have some real scotch for you to enjoy and from on of Scotland’s oldest and arguably biggest independent bottlers. This may be a blend but we are sure you would agree its a strong offering. Bottled at 54% this 16 year old Glen Spey is from a trio of Hogsheads. Enjoy

Profile

Independent whisky bottler Cadenhead’s was founded in 1842 at 47 Netherkirkgate in Aberdeen, a site the company traded from for more than 130 years. Today, the business is owned by J. & A. Mitchell and Co., owner of Springbank distillery in Campbeltown. It specialises in single cask malt whiskies that are neither chill-filtered nor coloured, though trades in rum and gin as well.

Tasting Notes

Nose: buttercups, hill smell, marzapan, cough medicine, lemon fishermans friends, rye bread dough, banana cream pie and cinnamon,

Taste: worthers that fell in lavinder, apple compote on french toast, dark bread, creamed honey, cinamon, pepper,

Finish: cinnamon, dry sangria, creamed honey and cayenne, more cannamon,

Purchase Links

 

Day 2 — Paul John Peated Select Cask

Posted on by jprost

Welcome to day 2. Let us dive into this tasty offering from one of India’s most prominent distilleries. Today we have a great peated offering from them git it a try maybe you find a new favourite distillery

Story

John Distilleries was founded by Paul John in 1992, when they began producing a number of spirits, including Indian molasses ‘whisky’. One of their most well-known products, Original Choice, continues to be extremely popular to this day, selling 10 million cases annually.

John would go on to set up a traditional pot-still distillery in Goa with the intention of producing a top quality Indian single malt whisky. The first of these whiskies were released in 2012, under the name Paul John Single Malt. The range has continued to grow, and so has their trophy cabinet, with their expressions receiving awards from the World Whisky Masters and Wizards of Whisky, as well as high praise from Jim Murray.

Their splendid selection includes both unpeated and peated single malts, most of which are matured in ex-bourbon casks, though there have been a smattering of Sherry cask releases over the years. The angels are rather greedy when it comes to Paul John Indian Single Malt Whisky, because India is, y’know, a bit hotter than Scotland, meaning there’s more evaporation from the casks, but it also shows well at a younger age.

Paul John Peated Select Cask

Tasting Notes

Nose: Walnut, barley sugar sweets and classic earthy peat notes. A touch of salt.
Palate: More BBQ smoke, more sugar, more slightly damp earthy notes. Hints of tropical fruit and spice.
Finish: Bitter orange peels on the finish.

Purchase Links

Can be purchased from The Strath

Day 1 — Canadian Club 41

Posted on by jprost

Welcome to day one. For our 3rd year we figured that we should do something fun and surprising so we present to you some Canadian Club. Now we hear you Canadian club is boarding and can be gotten anywhere. So in order to address that we present to you Canadian Club 41 this is not your standard Canadian club with 41 years of maturity it has aged into a fine specimen and we are sure you will agree this is a fine dram

History

Hiram Walker founded his distillery in 1858 in Detroit. He first learned how to distill cider vinegar in his grocery store in the 1830s before moving on to whisky and producing his first barrels in 1854. However, with the Prohibition movement gathering momentum and Michigan already becoming “dry”, Walker decided to move his distillery across the Detroit River to Windsor, Ontario. From here, he was able to export his whisky and start to develop Walkerville, a model community that Walker financed to provide housing and services for his employees.

Walker’s whisky was particularly popular in the late 19th century gentlemen’s clubs of the United States and Canada; hence it became known as “Club Whisky”. Walker originally positioned the whisky as a premium liquor, pitching it not only on its smoothness and purity but also its five-year oak barrel aging.

Club Whisky became very popular and American distillers petitioned for the inclusion of the word “Canada” on the bottle to distinguish it from their competing whiskies, thinking it would hamper the popularity of Walker’s. This backfired, only making Club Whisky more exclusive. Walker saw this and changed the label again in 1889 adding the word “Canadian” to the top of the label, distinguishing Walker’s recipe for his whisky from the other processes of the time. In 1890, the word “Canadian” was moved down from the top of the label and incorporated into the name of the whisky.

Walker’s distillery passed to his sons upon his death in 1899. At one point, the Walkers employed almost the entire population of Walkerville, where they built police and fire stations, brought in running water and installed street lights. In 1890, the Canadian government acknowledged Walkerville as a legal town. It was incorporated into Windsor in 1935.

During the years of Prohibition, one of the distillery’s most important clients was Chicago gangster Al Capone, who smuggled in thousands of cases of Canadian Club via a route from Windsor to Detroit.

Canadian Club has received the royal warrants of Queen Victoria, Edward VII, George V, George VI, and Elizabeth II. Hiram Walker & Sons is the only North American distiller to have been granted a royal warrant.

The Walker distillery remains in production in Windsor. Canadian Club is now part of the Jim Beam portfolio. It is its number four–selling alcoholic product, behind Jim Beam bourbon whiskey, Sauza Tequila, and DeKuyper cordials.

Image result for canadian club 41"

Tasting Notes

Nose: Very sweet. Brown sugar and caramel hit first, with apple and toffee that follow.

Taste: rich and creamy sweetness You’ll definitely notice the 120 proof,vanilla, maple syrup and brown sugar that the nose foreshadowed.
FInish: Hot and long lasting. Full of cinnamon, oak and leather.

Purchase Links

Can be purchased from The Strath

 

2019 Welcome and How to Calendar

Posted on by jprost

For those of you new to the journey we welcome you. For those of you returning welcome back. 2019 was a big year for WhiskyDev we hit our 5th anniversary and with that we could never be more proud. To celebrate that that we had a contest for the first few purchasers of the calendar. One lucky person got to sample some of the whiskies before we even decided where they were going into the calendar and to help contribute to the notes for some of the fine whiskies and someone also received a free copy of last year’s calendar for sampling in July. So once again congrats to Marc and John for being the lucky winners. We had so much fun with that we think we are going to do that gain next year. So pay attention in the Advent-Calendar channel in the WhiskyDev slack for tastings in the new year for more details.

But enough rambling before you you should have 3 items (1x Stemless whisky Glass, 1x Wrapped bottle for your Tree, & 1x Newly designed Box of tasty whiskys) . Here is a bit about it and what to do:

1.) The Glass — I feel that the glass is fairly self explanatory, but it holds liquid it can be used for holding all or some of the future drams. It probably should not be eaten but your mileage may vary so um… good luck!

2.) The wrapped bottle — This is your day 25. Put it under the tree so we can be that jerk who helped contribute to the presents under your tree which until tomorrow should not be up by the way. If you choose not to put it under the tree or you do not have one that is cool too. The point is put it somewhere safe and do not open it until the 25th not even a little.

3.) The big box of tasty whisky — Once again I thought that this was fairly self explanatory but apparently some people; you know who you are, feel the need to open things early and then forget the order they pulled them out in. I do warn you not all bottles are labelled but the box has this numbering thing on the outside so you can either pull out each bottle via the semi perforated slots… or you can open the side with 1-6 on it and use counting and the date to figure out what the number you should be removing is. So on Dec 1st you pull the 1 from the… that’s right 1 slot, and then on day 2 you open the special wrapped gift pull #2 from the 2 slot. Rinse and repeat till day 25 at which point return to item 2 from above.

 

With the jibber jab out of the way now we wait with baited breath for the clock to strike midnight and reveal our first day and with that the lively discussion once again on #advent-calender.

 

Regards,

WhiskyDev

 

Day 25 — Surprise

Posted on by jprost

Day 25. This is the end my friends but you’re not leaving empty handed. We got your mystery dram in a bigger size for sharing, coping or just enjoying. Today’s whiskies, to keep it simple, are all SMWS that means even though its only 100ml it’s all cask strength which should help you with whatever the day throws at you. Please read and enjoy. I hope you all enjoyed the ride and I look forward to seeing you again next year.

25A — Sweet snuggle 7.177

Age: 13 years

ABV: 58.1%

Nose: antique furniture, expensive waxed leather shoes , floral designer fragrance

Taste: sticky toffee pudding,  marmalade, hot buttered toast, banana cream pie

25B — Harbourside take-away 4.231

Age: 12 years

ABV: 58.6%

Nose: Very Briney, apple, grass, vanilla, oaky, sulphur, seaweed

Taste: Vanilla, barley sugar, apple, caramel, treenuts, allspice, cereal

Finish: Medium with salty and sweet apple and nuts

25C — Burnt toast in a bookshop 66.115

Age: 11 Years

ABV: 59.2%

Nose: old bookshop, well-used wooden shelves. Soft leather-bound books,light peppery tingle before turning over to floral features

Taste: burnt butter, smoked cream, singed skin of an orange, toasted crumpets, granola breakfast cereal, sticky toffee

 

Day 24 — Cadenhead Dailuaine

Posted on by jprost

Day 24. Today is the last of our regular days but we are making sure to leave you with a top notch offering I present to you a 12 year old Dailuaine bottled by William Cadenhead Independent bottlers. A very tasty way to end our regular offerings please enjoy and look forward to seeing you tomorrow

WILLIAM CADENHEAD 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 theImagelocal 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.

Image result for Cadenhead Dailuaine

Tasting Notes

Nose: Floral and fruity with mangos and pears, light salt, vanilla pod, white peppercorn, chamomile, blanched almonds, white chocolate, fennel, wood shavings and a hint of aloe.
Taste: Porridge with peaches, pears and creamy vanilla yogurt topped with a sprig of mint and a dash of cinnamon. Peppery spice, salted macadamia nuts, pineapple, papaya and light passionfruit notes.
FInish: The salt and spice give way to a light sweetness.