The white raven has been received at The Whisky Shop Dufftown - winter is definitely here. We are very concerned for the fate of Jon Snow and we hope he can rise again in the next installment of Game of Thrones. In that hope we have created a Jon Snow Phoenix wall in the shop to keep out the Others and in a shameless attempt to plug our new stock of this whisky. And fankly, we had no where else to put it!
This is another top class Aultmore from Adelphi. They believe it to be one of their best and describe it as a perfect breakfast whisky.
Nose: Underripe bananas. Then the bananas ripen and become banana cheesecake. After water, estery notes of warm polythene or vinyl. Faded dried mixed herbs and muesli.
Taste: Sweet and syrupy. After water, smooth, sweet with rolled-oats.
Finish: Dusty malt and green banana skins in the finish.
It's been a long time since Adelphi last produced a Benriach and it has been worth the wait.
Nose: Tinned peaches in syrup and white grapes with zesty orange peel. Behind this, hints of sphagnum moss [peat moss]. Almonds.
Taste: Oily mouthfeel. Light sweeteness. Water introduces mint toffee (Murray Mints). Musty grape skins. Soft, creamy texture. A trace of spice at the back of the tongue.
Finish: Honeycomb in the finish. An aftertaste of maturation warehouse. A lovely dusting of chocolate.
Nose: Straight away, sweet highland toffee - a thick and creamy nose that develops with Caboc (highland cheese rolled in toasted oatmeal), and traces of butterscotch and chocolate malt. On the nose, the smoke is apparent, but never overpowering.
Taste: Surprisingly sweet to taste as well, and now very smoky, with hints of warm railway sleepers; lingering creosote smokiness. Water makes it more mineralic; bath salts, and a trace of carbolic soap.
Finish: The McCowan's highland toffee returns in the finish, now swathed in hessian sacks.
This is a big Bowmore which I found more smoky that the tasting notes from ADR with intriguing orange peel. Well worth the money. A genuine winter warmer.
Nose: Malty cereal notes, a touch of smoke and peat with hints of orange peel.
Taste: Very malty, soft oily texture, smoke coming through with a touch of spice.
These are the new additions we have had in (that are still in stock). These were all tried at Susan Colville's tasting at The Autumn Speyside Whisky Festival.
Nose: Candid lemons, toffee bonbons, roasted pears and salted lime (from the rim of the Tequila glass).
Taste: Real lemonade and oak chips spice.
Finish: Sweet fruit syrup. Festival reporter, Bruce Chricton, also reported smoke on the finish.
Summary: This is a delightful older Cragganmore. It has many attributes of an aged bourbon cask whisky but also maintains some youthful characteristics. It has gone down very well at all the tastings we have used it in.
Nose: Spiced smoked raisin juice (almost fire damaged oloroso sherry) with ozone and chewy toffee. Festival reporter Bruce Chricton also reported coffee and treacle.
Taste: Sweet sherry trifle, toffe flatjacks and fruit cake crusts.
Finish: More fruit cake which has been a little over cooked.
Summary: There is a crop of excellent sherried Bunnahabhains going round the indpendents and this is no exception. The sherry isn't over powering, there's no sulphur and the touch of smoke blends in well.
Also to follow from Wemyss when back in stock:
Whispering Smoke from Caol Ila and Vanilla Summer from Clynelish
Here are the 6 new releases we have in the shop from Douglas Liang:
Provenance Craigellachie 1999 12 Years Old: Another rare sherried Craigellachie from Douglas Laing. This has a couple of years on the previous expressions and that has helped develop the sherry qualities in to rich toffee notes.
Old Malt Cask Port Ellen 1983 28 Years Old: Port Ellen is getting ever rare and the price reflects that. We suspect DL will move all future releases up to Old & Rare soon so they will get even more expensive. That said this is a great example which is more peated than some.
Directors' Cut Blair Athol 1995 16 Years Old: The Director's cut is a new range from DL and sits between Old Malt Cask and Old & Rare. The packaging is extremely nice and this one holds a cracking sherried Blair Athol,
Old & Rare Caol Ila 1980 30 Years Old: This is a prime example of an old Caol Ila. The smoke is more subtle on the palate allowing lots of sweet barley to come through.
Old & Rare Laphroaig 1986 25 Years Old: I love old Laphroaigs and this one is no disappointment. The smoke has settled but it's still there - more prominent than whiskies of the same age from its contemporaries, and there is lots of citrus and honey emerging through.
To see all our whiskies from Douglas Laing click here.
We are still catching up after The Autumn Speyside Festival so there will be a little spree of shorter updates.
Here is our clutch of new release Adelphi’s. The majority of them were tasted at the Adelphi tasting during the festival and all were superb. Our tastings during the September festival now come under the banner of “The Whisky Shop Dufftown Autumn Festival†to give our events a bit of a separate identity.
During the tasting, which was ably hosted by Antonia Bruce, the Lochside was probably the talking point and it is very sherried and unctuous. The current Breath of Islay, which has some Laphroaig characteristics, is probably the best of this style of whiskies I have had for some time. The Clynelish is a stunning example from that distillery and the Linkwood is about as good as you will find. The Dailuaine, not featured during the festival, is a fabulous sherried whisky and is the sister cask to the one from the previous release if that is possible.
I also need to give a special mention to a very lovely sherried unpeated Bunnahbhain which is The WSD’s latest bottling and is an exclusive in partnership with Adelphi.
Here are the latest releases from Adelphi - most where previewed at The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival in May. This is the first bottlings from Adelphi which have been processed through there own bottling line at their new warehouse - getting even more independent. This should mean that they can be more fleet of foot going forward so except more releases and more frequent.
This whisky is from a refill bourbon hogshead which produced 179 bottles. Lots of baked apples and apple pie notes show the quality of this aged Speyside.
This whisky is from a first fill sherry cask which produced 632 bottles. A big sherried whisky with lots of dark chocolate and toffees with a hint of match boxes.
This whisky is a refill bourbon hogshead which produced 247 bottles. It's all about a biscuit tin in a sweet shop with the door open to a summer day in the Highlands.
This whisky is from a refill bourbon hogshead which produced just 113 bottles. It's like an English country village of the 1950's probably in the Cotswolds - the country church, the sweet shop, the green grocers, coal fires and the village school.
Afternoon all from Dufftown where it’s beginning to look like winter is finally over and the snow is now well and truly retreating from the hills – at least we hope it’s over.
Gordon & MacPhail have been up to it again. They have released a 1940 70 years old Glenlivet. It’s very rare to get access to a whisky from the war years and this is a superb whisky. I was lucky enough to be invited to Edinburgh Castle for the launch where we were allowed to give it a try. It was an extremely windy day and that may have influenced my tasting notes below.
Nose: Polished leather (shoes polished yesterday and not warn), apricot jam, fruit pastels, candid orange peel, marmalade on hot buttered toast, bees wax, velvet, honey and cigarette boxes.
Taste: Brown sugar sweet, very full and rounded, spiced wood, orange bitters, candle wax and vanilla pods.
Finish: Extremely long with gentle spices, a touch of tannins, and a pleasant dryness.
A snip at £13,000.
G&M has also released a series of Glenlivets under its Private Collection label which is worth taking a look at. The older ones from sherry casks are particularly good.
Wemyss
Not yet in stock, but will be shortly, are some new releases from Wemyss:
Ticket sales are going well. We have increased the number available for the Adelphi and Duncan Taylor tastings. Adelphi sold out again but there are few tickets left for Duncan Taylor. Click here to see what WSD events are still available. Here are some updates on the events we are offering:
David Stirk is returning to the masterclass crew in Dufftown this year. This has to be a must go to tasting for the regulars and new comers alike. The Creative Whisky Company is a very popular independent bottler and their releases sell out very fast so David can’t confirm his line-up yet but it will include Aberfeldy 1983 and a Tomintoul 1966.
For those that like a bit of brain teasing and completion during the festival there is the whisky quiz at Strathisla. We at The WSD are offering tickets which include travel by bus from The Square in Dufftown. So come along and pit your wits against the celebrity teams and The Whisky Shop Dufftown All Stars which are to whisky knowledge what the Harlem Gobetrotters are to synchronised swimming.
Robin Laing will be giving a world exclusive preview of his new CD, “Whisky for Breakfastâ€. The songs which are all by Robin and whisky related will be paired with the relevant whisky. Breakfast rolls will also be available.
Steven McConnachie will be showing not only the full River collection in his tasting but also the brand new Castle Leod which is being heralded as one of Dalmore’s best special releases.
Whisky News
There seems to be mixed progress in the plans of the independent bottlers who are intending to expand into distilling. The 2 that are strongly rumoured to be buying distilleries do not seem to have got ink on to contracts yet. Duncan Taylor seems to have kicked their distillery plans into the long grass (or should that be barley). The other independent with their eyes on building a distillery of their own is quietly pressing on and may be making an announcement soon – I won’t say more for fear of jeopardising my invitation to the opening.
Diageo seem to be expanding some of the expressions in their core range. Singleton of Dufftown 18 years old is to hit the streets soon. And look out for further new age expressions in some of their other ranges. I think this underlines that rumours of Roseisle spelling the demise of several core Diageo malt brands were false.
At Williams Grants a new travel retail expression of Glenfiddich coming in at 19 Years Old is getting good reviews. It is also available at the distillery shop where if you are lucky you may be able to pick up a bottle of Snow Phoenix. A small batch returned from one of the overseas markets will be available only from them. Maybe if they had put more into the UK market in the first place things would have been easier for everyone. I won’t name the market that could not sell its allocation of Snow Phoenix (despite the efforts of the voice of Scotland returning with a suitcase full) but may be Snow Cuckoo Clock would have done better.
Here at The Whisky Shop Dufftown we are helping our friends at Maltstock by selling tickets for their 2011 gathering. They do everything they can to keep their costs down so currently you are only able to buy tickets from them using a direct bank transfer. For many UK banks this seems to be a bridge to far unless you want to pay a hefty fee so we are helping our by offering the option to pay for tickets by credit card. And what’s more if you do buy a Maltstock ticket you will get a 10% discount from The Whisky Shop Dufftown for all whisky purchases valid until the end of September. You didn’t need an incentive to go but now you have one anyway.
We are also offering free festival delivery for anyone attending the Islay Festival or Maltstock. If you are attending either of these festivals then you can buy from us and we will deliver your purchases to you at the festival free of charge. If you want to take up this offer please email us.
Should Dufftown be Recognised as a Whisky Region?
If Campbeltown can get re-recognised as a whisky region then is there a case for Dufftown being recognised as one? Let’s look at the facts. Dufftown has 5 working distilleries which have the capacity to produce some 28 million litres of pure alcohol per year. So there is a lot of distilling going on. There is also Kininvie which is currently not in production which has a capacity of 4.8 million litres. You can also see the shells of 2 former distilleries at Parkmore and Convalmore and the site of the now demolished Pittyvaich. Historically there were many more in and around Dufftown and including on the slopes of the Convals and Benrinnes. Leaving Kinninvie aside, if Dufftown was a region in its own right then it would be 3rd by capacity easily out stripping Cambeltown, Lowlands, Islands and Islay. It would be equal 5th with the Lowlands on number of distilleries. But then maybe not.
Local News
The Royal Oak pub has taken a huge step down its planned rejuvenation. It now sports purple walls, chrome, mirrors and new stools. It’s divided the local population a bit but it certainly looks smarter. We are still recovering from the draft Guinness being removed and replaced with Stella. Don’t worry, surger Guinness is available and all-in-all it’s probably just as good.
The Masons has also had a face lift. The place has been revamped and a much improved restaurant is now open daily for lunch and dinner. A great addition to the eating options in Dufftown.
At the end of February we threw a party at La Faisanderie to celebrate 5 years of my ownership of The Whisky Shop Dufftown. The attendees were split in two with one half who could not believe it has been as long as 5 years and me, who still thinks it’s more like 10. We toasted to the next 5 years with The Whisky Shop Dufftowns exclusive Glenfarclas 1971 40 Years Old which is at cask strength and available soon to buy. It is sublime so a great time was had by all. Thanks to all who could make it and didn’t use a poor excuse like being in Korea – you know who you are!
Focus on Adelphi
Adelphi Distillery was established by the Gray brothers, Charles and David, in 1826 on what had been a two-acre orchard. It stood just south of the Clyde's Victoria Bridge on the northern edge of the Gorbals. The Gray family operated the distillery throughout its existence, but around 1880 its ownership was acquired by Messrs A. Walker and Co, who already owned two big distilleries in Liverpool and Limerick respectively. Walkers injected new capital and expanded the works to include a large Coffey still to make grain spirit. In 1886, the Coffey still and four pot stills were all in full production, with an annual output of 516,000 gallons. It had ten 16,000 gallon washbacks, with two more under construction. Three wash charges held 45,000 gallons in all, the wash stills 6,000 gallons each and the spirit stills 4,500 gallons each. It had six steam engines - the largest a massive brute of 80 horse power - and six boilers ranging in size up to 28 by nine feet in diameter. The whole was dominated by huge circular chimney with a flared top.
The distillery was bought in 1902 by DCL. One morning in November 1906 disaster struck the distillery. One distillery worker was supervising the horses and carts queuing at the draffhouse to be loaded up with spent grains stored in the draff tank when a loud bang was heard. One witness described the noise as sounding like a cannon shot. One of the wash chargers had toppled from its iron pillar supports releasing 45,000 gallons of hot wash from some 60 feet up which in turn toppled two more full washbacks on the platform below. A torrent of wash and debris smashed in to the draff tank on the ground floor destroying it. Many of the queuing farm workers were caught in the torrent and swept away with their horses and carts. A boiling tidal wave poured into the nearby streets destroying the local bakehouse and flooding many shops. The resulting tide marks were 20 feet above floor of the draffhouse and 10 feet up on the buildings on the street outside. level and reached more than 10 feet above street level on the granary wall outside. Perhaps it was a miracle that only one person was killed. DCL closed the malt distillery in 1907 although grain whisky production continued until 1932. The remaining buildings were demolished between 1968 and 1970 with the distillery chimney coming down in 1971.
In 1993, the great-grandson of Archibald Walker, Jamie, revived the Adelphi name as an independent bottler. Jamie was determined not to sacrifice quality for volume, and he was equally adamant that this should be continued when he sold the company in 2004. Keith Falconer and his neighbour in Argyll, Donald Houston, had approached Jamie on a recommendation, to buy a hogshead of whisky. In fact, they liked it so much they bought the company.
The team was rounded off by Alex Bruce. Whisky is in Alex’s blood. His mother, an Usher, is a direct descendant of Andrew Usher who is credited with pioneering blended whisky, and his father, Lord Elgin, is a patron and former Grand Master of the Keepers of the Quaich. Alex was also made a Keeper of the Quaich in 2006. He has trained with Remy Martin and J&B, and latterly headed up a new office for Friarwood Fine Wines in Scotland.
Continuing in the family theme Alex has been joined by his sister Antonia, whose background is also in the wine trade, to help deal with increasing sales and Alex’s wife, Vicky, often helps out at whisky fairs and other events. Alex clearly sees his family as a resource and we wonder when their daughters will be press ganged.
Remaining completely independent, Adelphi is able to offer bottlings from an extensive range of distilleries with Charles Maclean chairing their nosing team. Adelphi continues to go from strength-to-strength and has recently opened a new warehouse and office complex which it shares with a wine company. I was lucky enough to be shown round recently and I am geeky enough to be excited by the smell of a new warehouse. They are well on their way to getting their own bottling line started as well.
Best Wishes
We wish Donald Colville the best of luck in his new job at Diageo as a Global Scotch Brand Ambassador.
And congratulations to Euan Shand of Duncan Taylor who is to wed later this year. You are a brave lady Mojdeh.
St. Magnus, second of the Earl Magnus Editions celebrates the life of St. Magnus a man of peace, contemplation and scholarly learning. It is a life story of Christian devotion and forgiveness, qualities that are not usually associated with the Vikings. Saint Magnus was murdered by his treacherous cousin Haakon and was canonised 20 years later.
Bottled at a natural strength of 55% ABV, this limited edition 12 year old, drawn from casks laid down in 1998 and earlier years, provides an affordable and collectable piece of the Highland Park’s history. Only 11,994 bottles available.
It is a shame that the UK is one of the last markets to have this whisky released into it so you probably all have this. We only have 2 bottles left and I haven't had mine yet so if you do want one hurry. At least here at The WSD we are matching the distillery price - fools that we are - we certainly wont get rich but at least we are not making ridiculous claims about the RRP to justify a higher price - you know who you are, shame on you (I do hope it was a mistake).
Tasting notes are from Highland Park:-
Nose: At natural strength there is terrific intensity with classic dried fruits and honey sweetness. Thereafter glorious notes of cinnamon, dried apple and hints of exotic fruits emerge, followed by a whiff of aromatic smoke.
Palate: Immediately intense and rich, the whisky lingers on the palate emphasizing the perfect balance between sweetness and aromatic smoke.
