Tag Archives: Douglas Laing

The Whisky Shop Dufftown Challenge for Independent Bottlers

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This is the first of our articles following The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2017.

Once again this year we laid down the challenge to independent whisky merchants to find the best independent bottling in two categories: Speyside Whisky; and the Rest of Whisk(e)y.

We run our challenge throughout the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival and it is judged by guests who come in to our shop in a blind tasting.  It was fun and relaxed and people really enjoyed the experience.  We had over 300 guests of the festival  sample the whiskies in the challenge and nearly 200 voted for their favourite.

Speyside

The Speyside Category was fiercely contested but we had a clear winner in Aultmore 2008 6 Years Old from Stilnovisti which gained a third of the votes.  Stilnovisti have recently set up an office in Dufftown and it was great of them to find some whisky for us.  Particularly as they stole the show with a young whisky which beat off some much older competition.  This proved yet again that it is the liquid that counts the most and not the age.  We consider this to be a win for the Dufftown whisky region!  Second place was taken by the Adelphi Breath of Speyside 2006 10 Years Old and third place by Old Particular Craigellachie 1995 21 Years Old.

Stillnovisti Aultmore 2008 6 Years Old

Rest of Whisk(e)y

We had a runaway winner in the Rest of Whisky category with 40% of the votes, Old Particular Strathclyde 2005 11 Years Old.  We are hoping to get more stocks in shortly.  The rogue entry from Gordon & MacPhail, The English Whisky Co English Peated Single Malt came second and Old Perth came third.

Old Particular Strathclyde 2005 11 Years Old

Note:  We define the rest of whisky to be any alcoholic beverage which is derived from any grain, distilled and then matured in oak casks. It can be a blend or blend of malts. It does not have to be distilled, matured or bottled in Scotland. However, it cannot be defined to be from Speyside. Should there ever be a grain distillery in Speyside then we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

A big thank you to Adelphi, Douglas Laing, Gordon & MacPhail, Morrison & MacKay, Stilnovisti and Wemyss Malts.

Best Tasting Notes

We also have a competition for the best tasting notes submitted by one of our guests.  This year the best tasting notes came from Will Burtt and he wins a bottle of the Stilnovisti Aultmore which he voted for as his favourite.

Here is a flavour of some of Will's comments:

  • "like a distant steam train"
  • "like the very first taste of fresh Cornish vanilla ice cream"
  • "who would you give your last Rolo too?"
  • "lying in a field of lavender with a big spoon of honey"

 

A big thank you to all the guests who took part.

See you all next year!

The Whisky Shop Dufftown Autumn Festival 2016

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TWSDAF 22 to 26 September 2016

WSD Postcard WSADF 2016

Here is our programme as it stands. We are very sorry but everything is not finalised. We want to get the best tours possible and ensure the companies that help us put on the festival have given us their full authority. This can take time and has been particularly difficult this year. The traditional date for the Autumn festival has been the last weekend in September and this always clashes with Whisky Live Paris which takes priority over Speyside although we do not know why. We are now free to choose our own dates for our festival so we will look at a more practical date for 2017. Tickets will go on sale on 17 July at 6pm BST. Click here to buy tickets but only from 17 July!

Thursday 22 September 2016

11:00 to 15:00: Blind Blends (The Shop) -  Our annual competition to find the best blended whisky.  The current champion Adelphi's Glenborrodale (if we can get some) will go up against 4 specially selected challenger which have not been in the competition before.

18:00 to 19:00 The First Drop (St James Hall) -  Mike's traditional opening to the festival with a fun look at some of the new releases from the whisky industry which have caught his interest for good or bad reasons.

Friday 23 September 2016

09:30 to 13:00: Five Generations of Glenfarclas (The Shop) - We travel from The Whisky Shop Dufftown to Glenfarclas Distillery for a guided tour and then to sample 5 Glenfarclas from 5 different decades

11:00 to 15:00: Blind Blends (The Shop)

12:00 to 17:00: In-store tasting with Angels' Nectar - Come to the shop for a free tasting of some great whiskies from this new independent company.

13:30 to 14:45: Masterclass (St James Hall) - Slot currently open.

15:00 to 16:15: Masterclass with Fred Allan of Murray McDavid (St James Hall) - A local character and down right honest bloke, "Fred's Enterprises" will show case some samples from independent bottler Murray MacDavid..

17:00 to 18:15: Materclass with Rick Drysdale of Douglas Laing (St James Hall) - Rick will take you through a selection of the very best of the latest releases from Douglas Laing.

19:30 to 23:15: Whisky Dining at The Dowans Hotel (The Shop) - We travel from The Whisky Shop Dufftown to The Dowans hotel in Aberlour to experience a fabulous dining experience with dishes paired with whisky.  Working in Progress at the moment to get the right unique magic.

 

Saturday 24 September 2016

09:00 to 13:30: Distillery Visit to Glenlivet (The Shop) - We depart from the shop to Glenlivet for a specially arranged event.  We will have a special tour of the distillery and then we stay on for the legendary Legacy Tasting Experience.

10:00 to 10:30: A Bacon Roll and 4 Nips (St James) - Our annual attempt to find the best whisky with a bacon roll.  Arran Lochranza, the current reigning champion will be pitted against 3 specially selected contenders who have not been in the competition before.

11:00 to 15:00: Blind Blends (The Shop)

12:00 to 17:00: In-Store tasting with Spey Craft Brewery (The Shop) - Come along to the shop for a free tasting of the range of beers from this excellent brewery.

12:00 to 12:30: Haggis and 4 Nips (St James) - Yet again we will be trying to find the best dram to go with Haggis.  Neeps and tatties will be around but they are only there for support.  The current reigning champion, Glen Scotia 15 Years Old, will be challenged by 3 specially selected single malts.

13:30 to 14:45: Masterclass (St James Hall) - Slot currently open.

15:30 to 16:45: Masterclass with Antonia Bruce from Adelphi ( St James Hall) -  Antonia will take you through a selection of the very best of the latest release from Adelphi.

17:30 to 18:45:  Masterclass with Mark Watt (probably) from Cadenheads (St James Hall) - Mark will present the latest from the oldest independent bottler in his own inimitable style.

20:00 to 22:00: Bollywood Comes to Dufftown with Vicky Keough of The Whisky Shop Dufftown and David MacDonald of Spey Valley Brewery (St James) - In essence this will be the most extraordinary tasting you will have every been to.  This tasting will pair in sets, whisky and beer and curry in an amazing fusion of flavours.

 

Sunday 25 September 2016

 09:00 to 13:30 - Distillery tour to be confirmed

10:00 to 10:30: A Bacon Roll and 4 Nips (St James) - Our annual attempt to find the best whisky with a bacon roll.  Arran Lochranza, the current reigning champion will be pitted against 3 specially selected contenders who have not been in the competition before.

11:00 to 15:00: Blind Blends (The Shop)

12:00 to 17:00: In-Store Tasting with Wemyss Malts (The Shop) - Come along and try the range of blended whiskies from Wemyss for free.

12:00 to 12:30: Haggis and 4 Nips (St James) - Yet again we will be trying to find the best dram to go with Haggis.  Neeps and tatties will be around but they are only there for support.  The current reigning champion, Glen Scotia 15 Years Old, will be challenged by 3 specially selected single malts.

13:30 to 14:45: Masterclass (St James Hall) - Slot currently open.

15:00 to 16:15: Masterclass: Vintage Speyside with Angus MacRaid (St James) - You may have been to a tasting before with old whiskies but this is different.  This is old whiskies, bottling's of whisky from the past so you can experience how whisky has changed over the decades.

17:30 to 18:45: Masterclass with Jonny MacMillan of Berry Bros & Rudd (St James) - Jonny will take you through the best of the new releases from BBR and a touch more.  Intrigued?  Come along and find out!

20:00 to 21:45:  Music, Songs and Laughter with Robin Laing (St James) - Robin will entertain with his singing and a few good drams.

 

Monday 26 September 2016

09:00 to 13:30: Distillery Tours - One company to confirm week commencing 18 June.

11:00 to 15:00: Blind Blends (The Shop)

12:00 to 17:00: In-store Tasting (TBC week commencing 25 June)

13:30 to 14:45: Masterclass with Alastair Mutch of Tomatin Distillery (St James) - This will be a great opportunity to try a number of expressions from across the Tomatin range.

15:15 to 16:45: Materclass with Lucy Whitehall of Glenturret Distillery (St James) - Lucy will be a long with a selection of whiskies from the new Glen Turret range and a few surprises.

17:30 to 19:00: Masterclass with Peter MacKay of Morrison & Mackay (St James) - Peter will present the a selection of the latest releases from the indepencent bottler Morrison & MacKay

20:00 to 22:00: The Last Drop (The Shop) - The traditional close to the end of the festival with a fine array of odds and end of whiskies from the last six months and a selection from the tasting for you to try. The shop will also be open for purchases.

WSD Postcard WSADF 2016

 

 

The Whisky Shop Dufftown @ The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2016

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Now that the festival dust has well and truly settled it is time to recap the results of our various competitions.

 

The Whisky Shop Dufftown Challenge for Independent Bottlers: Speyside

The Whisky Shop Dufftown threw down the gauntlet and challenged the independent bottlers to find the best Speyside Single Malt.  Our guests at The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2016 voted for their favourite in blind tastings. The winner was Old Malt Cask Speyside 1993 21 Years Old from Hunter Laing.

First Place:

  • Old Malt Cask Speyside 1993 21 Years Old (£86.95)

Second Place:

  • Adelphi Glenrothes 1991 25 Years Old (£189.00)

Old Malt Cask Speyside 1993 21 Years OldAdelphi Glenrothes 1991 25 Years Old

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Whisky Shop Dufftown Challenge for Independent Bottlers:  Rest of Whisky

The Whisky Shop Dufftown threw down the gauntlet and challenged the independent bottlers to find the best whisk(e)y not from Speyside - it could be any whisk(e)y just not a single malt whisky from Speyside.  Our guests at The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2016 voted for their favourite in blind tastings. The winner was Adelphi Bunnahabhain 2005 11 Years Old.  We should also mention the Old Perth Sherry which coming in second place and at that price is amazing!

First Place:

  • Adelphi Bunnahabhain 2005 11 Years Old (£75.95)

Second Place:

  • Old Perth Sherry cask from Morrison & MacKay (£29.95)

Adelphi Bunnahabhain 2005 11 Years Old

Old Perth Sherry Cask Blend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each year, Mike as Chairman of the awards, has a look at the whiskies that did not win to see if there is another one that did really well with the public but also shows value for money considering how highly it was placed.  If he sees one then he will award it The Chairmans Award for a Cracking Dram.  This year he has decided there is a deserving dram and that is the Old Perth Sherry which to beat off competition from much older more expensive whisky to come second place in the Rest of Whisky category makes it worth £29.95 of any ones money.

 

The Best Tasting Note

 As part of the Challenge for Independent Bottlers we ask our guests taking part in the judging to write tasting notes for the whiskies as well as picking their favourites.  At the end of the festival we pick the best tasting notes and the winner receives a bottle of their favourite whisky from the competition.

This year it was won by Ruth Ball and she wins a bottle of Old Malt Cask Speyside 21 Years Old.

  

What is the Best Single Malt to go with a Bacon Roll?

According to the Guests of The Whisky Shop Dufftown during The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2016 it is Arran Lochranza which has won at 3 festivals in a row now.  Could this be the ultimate companion to a bacon roll?  Please note that the bacon was unsmoked.  There was no sauce.  This is science!

WSD Image Bacon 01

 

 

 

 

 

First Place:

  • Arran Lochranza (£33.50)

Second Place:

  • Glenrothes Vintage Cask (£40.95)

 Glenrothes Vintage ReserveArran Lochranza Reserve


What is the Best Single Malt to go with Haggis?

According to the Guests of The Whisky Shop Dufftown during The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2016 it is Glen Scotia 15 Years Old which has retained its title from the last festival.  Please note that neeps and tatties where involved but the voting on the pairing was done just with the haggis!

Haggis, neeps and tatties

Haggis, neeps and tatties

First Place:

  • Glen Scotia 15 Years Old (£50.95)

Second Place:

  • Singleton of Dufftown Spey Cascade (£38.95)

Glen Scotia 15Singleton Spey Cascade_edited-1

 

Next Festivals

The first Spirit of Speyside: Distilled festival will be in Elgin from 9 to 11 September.  We will be running the retail shop at the event an we will also have a few drams for you to try. The aims is to get all the Speyside distillers under one roof with our Speyside beer and gins.  It's going to be great.

The Whisky Shop Dufftown Autumn Festival run's from 22 to 26 September this year.  We hope to launch the programme on 1 July with tickets on sale from 8th on our website.  We will have masterclasses and distillery tours as usual.

On 12 of November we are off to Osby in Sweden for an all day tasting with Whiskygastronomerna.  Tickets are available from them right now.

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival in 2017 will be from 27 April to 1 May.

On the 8th and 9th September 2017 we will be making our return to Maltstock as they can't do with out us apparently.  Tickets will be available from them later in the year. Not sure when as they are very relaxed about these things,

The Whisky Shop Dufftown's Challenge for Independent Bottlers

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At each Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival we run a competition for Independent Bottlers to find the best expression they have released during the first half of the year.  This complements the festival's own competition to find the best Speyside whiskies.  We go one step further.  We of course have an award for the best Speyside Whisky but we like to acknowledge that other whiskies are available so we also have a category for The Rest of Whisky.

Voting is carried out by guests of the festival who visit The Whisky Shop Dufftown and take part in an informal do-it-yourself tasting.  All we ask is that people enjoy the drams and if possible vote for their favourite.  We also give a prize for the best tasting note written by one of the guests who take part in the judging.

We had a great competition this year and over 150 people took part.

The full list of whiskies entered are at the bottom of this post but lets get straight in to the winners:-

Speyside

1st Place - Adelphi Glenrothes 2007 (This sold out so quickly we were not able to get a photo.  Hopefully we will get some more stock in soon).

2nd Place - Provenance Miltonduff 2005 8 Years Old

Provenance Miltonduff 8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both of these whiskies were exceptional sherry cask whiskies and great examples of how young whisky can also be exceptional.

Rest of Whisky

1st Place - Clan Denny Strathclyde 2005 9 Years Old

Clan Denny Strathclyde 8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2nd Place -  Carn Mor Strictly Limited Fettercairn 2000 14 Years Old

Strictly Limited Fettercairn 14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great win for a grain whisky.  A grain has won this category many times before but this is by far the youngest.

Congratulations to the winners.  A particular well done goes to the Douglas Laing stable of companies for a 1st and 2nd and also to Morrison & MacKay for a second and third with 2 of the most affordable entries.

Speyside
BBR Caperdonich 1995
G&M Connoisseurs Choice Inchgower 2000
G&M Connoisseurs Choice Glen Elgin 1998
Morrison & MacKay Strictly Limited Benrinnes 1996 17 Years Old
Hunter Laing Speyside's Finest 1986 28 Years Old
Douglas Laing Provenance Miltonduff 2005 8 Years Old
Adelphi Glenrothes 2007

 

Rest of Whisky
Tweeddale Lowland 14 Years Old
Morrison & MacKay Strictly Limited Fettercairn 2000
BB&R Blue Hangar 11th Release
Douglas Laing Clan Denny Strathclyde 2005 9 Years Old
Wemyss Peat Chimney

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2013

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Here is the up-to-date information on The Whisky Shop Dufftown's programme of events for the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2013.  We have also put the tickets for some of these events on sale at an "early drammer" discount.  Click here to book.

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT TICKETS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE ON THIS SITE ON 26 JANUARY WHEN TICKET SALES ARE LAUNCHED ON THE MAIN FESTIVAL WEBSITE.


Thursday 2nd May

17:00                     It All Started with a Big Dram - An informal tasting of a selection of the Whisky Shop Dufftown bottlings and a few other selected whiskies.  We will donated £5 from each ticket sold to Dufftown in Bloom.


Friday 3rd May

11:00                     Whisky In Store Extravaganza: Glenfarclas with Kate Wright in the morning and George Grant in the afternoon

13:00                     WSD Challenge for Independent Bottlers (Speyside)

15:30                     Whisky Tasting: Steven MacConnachie of White & MacKay

18:00                     Whisky Tasting: Doug MacIvor of Berry Bros & Rudd

20:30                     Music Event:  A Evening of Scotch Music with Paul Anderson & Shona Donaldson


Saturday 4th May

11:00                     Whisky In Store Extravaganza: David Sinclair of Diageo and Johnny McMillan presents Berry Bros & Rudd

13:00                     Whisky Tasting: Whisky Tasting: Springbank

13:00                     Music at The Clock Tower

15:30                     Whisky Tasting: Jacqueline Sutherland of Wemyss

18:00                     Whisky Tasting:  Peter MacKay of SLC / Carn Mor


Sunday 5th May

11:00                     Whisky In Store Extravaganza: Peter MacKay of Carn Mor (all day), The Whisky Shop Dufftown (am) and Adelphi (2pm to 4pm)

13:00                     WSD Challenge for Independent Bottlers (Rest of Whisky)

13:00                     Music at The Clock Tower

15:30                     Whisky Tasting: Jan Beckers of Douglas Laing

18:00                     Whisky Tasting: Antonia Bruce of Adelphi

20:30                     Music Event:  Robin Laing


Monday 6th May

11:00                     Whisky In Store Extravaganza: Jan Beckers of Douglas Laing and Susan Colville of Glenglassaugh

13:00                     Whisky Tasting: Mike Patterson of Gordon & MacPhail

15:00                     Whisky Tasting:  The Diageo Whiskies

17:30                     Whisky Tasting:  Mark Watt of Cadenheads

20:00                     The Drams Party


In addition:-

  • We hope to be running some special events to distilleries.
  • And as a new tradition we will intend to kick off our programme with a big dram in the shop on Thursday afternoon.

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival Spring 2012

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Report by Bruce Crichton

After reading ‘Llamas in your glove compartment’ by Spearmint Honeybadger, I headed to Dufftown. Bereft of camelid perplexity, the Spirit of Speyside Whisky festival was just what I needed and after several days of great whisky, food and music, here is my account of it. Once again, this report is not a definitive guide and may contain factual errors, for which I apologize in advance. As always, tasting notes are subjective and comment is added from experts present during note taking. To shorten the report, I refer the reader to previous reports and tastings when a whisky re-appears and have also assumed the reader is familiar with widely available bottlings mentioned. Any cask samples tasted are described briefly, since these are not available for the reader to buy. Finally, any water added was, literally, one drop and whiskies were 40% abv, if the strength is not otherwise indicated.

Mates of the Museum

What better way to warm up for the festival than with the ‘Mates of the Museum’ on Thursday night? This brought together old friends and new over a few civilized drams and a nosing contest to win a bottle of whisky and proved to be a great evening for all present.

Strathisla ‘Straight from the cask’ tour

On Friday morning, I headed to Strathisla distillery in Keith – home of Chivas Regal – for the limited edition ‘Straight from the cask tour’ where our young guide, Rachel, would take us round.

As we warmed up with Chivas Regal 12 year old, Rachel noted that Strathisla can claim to be the oldest working Scotch whisky distillery, being licensed in 1786, bought by Chivas in 1950 then bought by Pernod Ricard in 2002. The Chivas blends gained a royal warrant in 1843 enabling them to call their products ‘Royal’ or ‘Regal’ and, historically, used Strathisla as a component for years before buying the distillery.

Strathisla uses 5.1 tons of unpeated malt per mash. One wash back is made from larch and the rest from Oregon pine. The river Isla runs past the distillery and the water is used in cooling but the water used for whisky is taken from the Broomhill spring. Four squat stills produce a heavy, full spirit.

Interestingly, the last coal-fired still ran in 1992 and the stills are now steam-heated. Neighbouring distillery Glen Keith has not produced for years but work is ongoing on the site to bring it back on stream and steam is used from there to power the stills at Strathisla which has the capacity to make 2.4 million litres per year. Unusually, Strathisla has two pagoda roofs, built simply because the owners could and a water wheel is visible outside allowing cooling water to return to the river without damaging the wildlife.
Between 5 and 10 per cent of production is bottled as single malt with the rest going to the deluxe Chivas Regal and Royal Salute blends and, as we viewed the Royal Salute vault in the warehouse for cask owners, we tasted the 12 year old malt. (In fact, even miniature bottles of Strathisla are no longer available).

After finishing our tour, Rachel introduced us to the ‘Cask Strength Edition’ range, exclusive to visitor’s centres at Chivas distilleries. These 50cl bottles are released in small batches that differ in strength and the whisky tasted here may not necessarily be the edition available to buy though the quality of these whiskies is hard to surpass and very little water, if any, was needed.

Scapa 16, at 60.9%abv, smelled of peach syrup and vanilla and was exceptionally smooth. The taste was of caramel, spice and salt while water opened a little cocoa and chocolate before a long, warm finish. By contrast, Longmorn 14, at 59.6%abv, had a creamy, malty and honeyed nose and some cereal to taste along with light golden honey and a vanilla and peppery finish. Strathisla 15, at 55.4%abv, had hazelnut chocolate spread and hay aromas with toffee and nutty flavours and a slightly prickly finish before we closed with two whiskies associated with the Ballantines blends.Glenburgie 15, at 54.6%abv, was from a refill bourbon cask with a lovely nose of apples and fizzy chew bars.  The middle was light, fruity and creamy and the finish long and delicate while a Miltonduff 18, at 51.3%abv, had both Edinburgh rock and Irn Bru on the nose and a taste halfway between oranges and marmalade that gives way to a long, dry and sweet finish.

A bonus dram came in the form of 1980 Glenugie, a distillery from Peterhead that closed in 1983, long before our guide was even born and was bottled at 52.1%abv as part of the ‘Deoch an Doras’ series, taken from demolished distilleries. (Also available is 1973 Inverleven, from Dumbarton.) Matured in a sherry cask, there was the smell of rich fruitcake and a taste of coffee and chocolate with an incredibly long finish. This was the first ‘I was there’ moment of the festival and anyone who is able to obtain a bottle from this range can consider themselves to have done very well indeed.
All that remains is to thank Rachel and the team at Strathisla for a tour that was the stuff of legend and to recommend that every whisky lover take this limited edition tour at least once.

Gordon and MacPhail’s Secret Stills

Before the first Whisky Shop Dufftown (WSD) tasting, owner Mike Lord, made his health and safety announcements in sing-a-long fashion, complete with accompanying hand gestures. (Mike is a legend, having been in fifty fights to the death and losing only three of them though his last outing, surprisingly, ended in a draw.) After that, Mike Patterson from Gordon and MacPhail (G&M) presented five whiskies from the six available in the ‘Secret stills’ range, all bottled at 45%abv and non chill-filtered. This range has whisky from three Japanese-owned distilleries and three others that can reasonably be described as ‘classic’. The labeling contains a geographical clue to the identity of the distillery for the knowledgeable reader and drinker and is included in brackets in this report. (Not featured but also available is an ‘Edinburgh malt’).

A 1991 (Clydebank) Lowland 3.5 had been in refill sherry casks that left a grassy and floral nose with some syrupy notes and a soft finish making it something of an aperitif in style. By contrast, a 1966 Speyside 2.2 (Ballindalloch Castle Estate) had come from 3 casks and had some light sherry and a hint of smoke on the nose as well as a light, floral taste with a dry, fruity and very long finish. Mike Patterson thought this was one to savour and the reader who obtains a bottle is in for a memorable treat.

The ‘Secret Stills’ series has been around for some time and Mike recalled an encounter with a butler who had found his master’s bottle had turned cloudy and the clouds would not disappear. Analysis showed that a naughty ghillie had diluted it to 28%abv, hoping not to get found out for drinking someone else’s whisky.

Moving on, a 1988 Highland 6.6 (Oldmeldrum) cask, had coconut, toffee and mints aromas with a light peat taste and chewiness before some light smoke and a very long sweetness to end with. Having had the 6.4 and 6.5 editions, I recommend that no home should be without one of the series. Although not immediately gripping, few bottles are as moreish so pour a large dram and relax.

A 1986 1.2 (Isle of Skye) came from first fill sherry casks giving it smoke, sherry and fudge on the nose. The taste was chewy with raisins, treacle and fudge again with smoke and pepper appearing at the finish. Apparently, the first bottling of this, 1955 vintage, has acquired legendary status. Interestingly, Mike says that no new version of any whisky is released by G&M until the previous release has sold out. We ended with a 1999 Islay 4.16 (Lochindaal), matured in first fill bourbon and, true to that distillery’s style, smelled of toffee and mints and tasted mostly of smoked fish.

Alchemy in the future: Adelphi Tasting with Alex and Antonia Bruce

With exciting news of Adelphi’s planned new distillery, the opening of their new bottling hall and the return of brother Alex to Dufftown, Antonia Bruce introduced the next series of magic potions, with official tasting notes by writer and future film star, Charles Maclean.

1988 Balmenach, at 54.2%abv, was beautiful and easy to drink neat. Fizzy sweets and apple sauce were apparent when nosing and the taste was creamy with almonds and the finish silky. Coming from a refill sherry cask, 1995 Clynelish, at 55.8%abv, smelled of tangy fruit and wax. The middle had coffee, treacle, salt and chocolate and the finish was exceptionally long, with a drop of water revealing smoke, pepper and salt.

As we tasted, Alex recounted the tale of the distillery’s cast iron spirit receiver being removed and with it, the characteristic waxiness and it only returned when the receiver was reinstated.Adelphi had recently been given planning permission for a new distillery to be built in Ardnamurchan, in the far west highlands. A very good water source, with 3 holding lochs, was found for the distillery, a key point as the area’s high rainfall does drop away very quickly. A biomass boiler is planned as; otherwise, fuel costs would be prohibitive. Production will hopefully commence in the autumn of 2013 and an ‘Ardnamurchan’ range is planned with future Fascadale, Laudale and Liddesdale coming from the distillery – these being slightly smoky but not Islay-like in style. Local peat will be legally used for the first time and there will be a traditional maltings. It is also hoped that alliances can be made with the relatively close by Oban, Talisker, Tobermory and Ben Nevis distilleries as the local ferry service is under threat.

2000 Aberlour, 55.8%abv, from a refill sherry cask, had licorice, cinnamon and hot toffee sauce aromas with tastes of acid drop sweets as well as toffee and sherry with wedding cake and a light smoke to finish. My question ‘is Aberlour like gold dust for an independent bottler?’ was met with the answer ‘er, yes!’ Older casks are hard to get but a few younger ones are around.

Fascadale (batch 3), at 46%abv, is now a 12 year old Highland Park taken, in this case, from 5 casks, 3 of which were first fill Jack Daniels barrels. There was Vanilla tablet and smoke to nose and the marvelously sweet taste was like both strawberry and vanilla ice cream with some fishy notes that Charles Maclean, appearing in the upcoming Ken Loach film ‘The Angel’s Share’, describes as rollmop herring. (I was just pleased to get the taste of fish, to be honest.)

A serendipitous finale came with 1998 Bunnahabhain, at 55.2%abv. This had been labeled the day before at the new bottling hall in Fife and had been grabbed by accident, as the plan had been to feature a 1997 heavily peated expression from the same distillery. However, this sherry monster had managed to clog the bottling hall filter with sediment and had the ‘treacle so thick you could dance on the top it’ characteristic of previous Adelphi Bunnahabhains. Awesomely sweet and tasting of rich dark chocolate orange, there was leather, smoke and treacle again to end with. Most of the cask yield was bound for Taiwan but a few bottles were available and, for those who missed out, other heavily sherried bottles would come later.

Saturday Morning Whisky Fair

Highlights of the fair include: The new Benriach 12 yr (Sherry matured), at 46%abv, had been vatted together from Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez casks. Originally made for Taiwan, this was the fourth bottling and was surprisingly light, tasting of Turkish Delight.

Adelphi Liddesdale 18 yr, at 46%abv, contained some 20 year old whisky. Lighter than the previous batch, it tasted of treacle, syrup and licorice. Alex Bruce finds it cleaner than before and thought batch 1 had sulphur notes though he views sulphur as fine as long as it is in balance with other flavours. Both of us did wonder, though, how it got such a high score in the whisky bible, as the writer cannot stand such notes.

A Connoisseur’s Choice 1999 Balmenach, at 43%abv, was deliciously creamy, complex and spicy while 2001 Tamdhu, at 58%abv, was from a refill sherry cask. So smooth that it can be consumed neat, this had satisfying wedding cake flavours.

The elegant Tomintoul 12 yr ‘Port Wood’ had fruity sweetness throughout having had 20 months finishing.
Old Malt Cask (OMC) 1993 Glen Keith, at 50%abv, had lemon and lime citrus notes and was marvelously sweet offering a rare chance to taste whisky from this soon to be revived distillery.

‘Ladder Hills’ 18 yr old, 58.3%abv, from Dreamdrams.co.uk offered an extremely rare opportunity to taste whisky from a popular Dufftown distillery that had 1% addition of whisky from a mighty neighbour added. Very complex and smooth, characteristic warm honey and light smoke were the prominent tastes. A Highland Park 21 yr, at 53.3%, was delicate and honey-sweet.

Kilkerran (batch 3), at 46%abv, is work-in-progress malt from the Glengyle distillery in Campbeltown. This was a fascinating dram with a taste that hovered between a young Talisker and a young Islay in taste. By contrast, Springbank distillery’s Longrow C.V., at 46%abv, was sweet and tasted of smoked fish.

Continuing the peat was Benriach 17 yr ‘Septendicim’, at 46%abv. Containing whisky from second and third fill casks, it was sweet, retaining the classic Islay character of other peaty Benriachs. (The 21 year old ‘Authenticus’ has been discontinued and replace by the 25 year old of the same name.)

Finally, Adelphi 1997 Bunnahabhain, at 57.1%abv, was deliciously peaty in taste and, unusually for peated Bunnahabhain, had replicated the south Islay style.  Alex Bruce noted that the taste and aroma of peanuts is often be detected from a Bunnahabhain such as this.

Whyte and Mackay with Steven McConnachie

We began with Tamnavulin 12 yr, now back online after being mothballed between 1995 and 2007 with only intermittent production during those years. A charming dram, this had grassy, hay and peach syrup notes though festival regular Danny Maguire found that it had less linseed oil character about it than of old. (It was good to see Danny again, now happily recovered from being shipwrecked in the Nevada desert.) Steven does recommend not adding water as this gives it a ‘wet raincoat’ taste.

Mackinlay’s ‘Old and Rare’ malt, henceforth known as ‘Shackleton malt’, at 47.3%abv, has been the subject of much press coverage and contains whiskies of between 8 and 30 years old, including Glen Mhor, a long closed Inverness distillery. This is a recreation of the malt whisky that Sir Ernest Shackleton took 25 cases of on his 1907 attempt to reach the South Pole. (He got within 100 miles, the closest anyone had ever been till then and turned back). An informative video showed how the ‘liqueur whisky’ brand began and made its name before being taken to the Antarctic where, a century later, two cases were found with ten bottles still in tact. Painstaking analysis from master blender Richard Paterson allowed strength to be determined and flavours ascertained and recreated.  50000 bottles were released and nearly all have been sold so, should readers obtain one, they are recommended to sip it slowly while reading Roland Huntford’s account of Shackleton’s heroic adventures. The whisky had fruit salad chew bars on the nose while being slightly sharp but still sweet with a crisp, long and peppery finish. This whisky also grabbed Danny who once lost a hand of poker despite holding 4 aces. (His opponent had 5 aces.)

Melting a square of dark chocolate on the tongue should, in this writers’ view, precede a taste of the new release, Dalmore Cigar Malt, at 44%abv. The nose was of coffee, Bovril, exotic wine with tastes of toffee, honey, orange and spices. This premium whisky had been matured in 3 types of casks:  ex-bourbon, 30 year old Matusalem oloroso sherry casks from Gonzalez Byass and premier cru Cabernet Sauvignon wine barriques and is older than the previous bottling though no age statement is present.

1996 vintage Dalmore Cromartie, at 45%abv, is a limited release of 7500 bottles and Steven gets almonds and spice on the nose while I found the taste quite chewy and with lots of chocolate orange. Also watch out for the new ‘Constellation’ range and for a 30 year old release that is on the way.

Jura Prophecy, at 46%abv, is made from barley with 55ppm of peat. The packaging tells the story of a prophecy that accurately foretold the last Campbell would leave Jura with only one eye. With lovely had toffee and peat to nose, the taste was of smoked fish in a rich sauce with a long, soothing and spicy finish making it ideal to have when burning a wicker man though who readers put in it is obviously up to them.

The final Wemyss Whisky session with Susan Colville

Presenting her last Dufftown tasting with Wemyss Whiskies was Susan Colville who, along with her beloved tree frogs, would be moving on to pastures new after this. Each bottling of single malt, bar one, was 46%abv and, as usual, named after the dominant flavour present. My tasting notes are, unusually, free of exotic wildlife of the kind that drives Susan round the twist.

The ‘Hive’ 12 yr blended malt replaces the old ‘Smooth Gentleman’ bottling and contains 16 malts with 50% coming from Glen Moray.  Susan believes that Glen Moray’s ‘house style’ is honey and thinks the distillery is underrated with this release being an easy-drinking everyday dram. With honey, syrup and many childhood sweets on the nose and Irn Bru on the taste, this was a must for all with a sweet tooth.

1989 ‘Rum and Raisin’ Tullibardine had been matured in a refill bourbon cask and is what Susan believes Tullibardine could be but chooses not to be. The nose was between rum and raisin and vanilla ice cream with some delicate honey flavours before a short peppery and spicy finish.

1982 ‘Winter Spice’ Teaninich, at 44.4%abv, had Susan getting dessert spices such as cinnamon and ginger and she described it as ‘heavy and delicate’ at the same time. An audience member found tastes of tropical fruits and spices and the finish was short but very punchy.

Reappearing from Spring 2011 was 1990 ‘Mocha Spice’ Dalmore that invited comparisons with the official releases presented in the previous masterclass and we closed with 1991 Bunnahabhain ‘Honey Spice’, reviewed in the Autumn 2011 report. A silky dram, the reader is invited to compare this to the Adelphi Liddesdale, which comes from the same distillery and is of similar age.

Tannochbrae Gala Dinner with Robin Laing

Saturday night in Dufftown brought another fantastic feast at the Tannochbrae restaurant where Allan and Susie served up some more fantastic fare accompanied by whiskies from Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) and music from the great Robin Laing who opened with Bladnoch 18 yr 50.48 ‘capering on a river bank’, at 54.6%abv, from a refill bourbon cask while showing some society magazines with pictures of Amazonian tree frogs that reminded him of my comments on the subject.  Also tasted were Benrinnes 22 yr 36.56, at 53.6% ‘Magic Carpet Ride’, Bowmore 20 yr, at 49.4%abv, ‘margarita and a cigar in one glass’ (1 of 51 bottles) and Port Charlotte 127.19, at 66%abv, ‘a hairy chested claymore-wielding dram’.New songs revealed by Robin were ‘Taking Johnnie Walker home’ and ‘Ugly Betty’ – about the Lomond still at Bruichladdich used for making Botanist gin. One final note, though not a fan of cocktails, a long, refreshing drink known as ‘Monkey Mojito’ can be made using Monkey Shoulder blended malt whisky.

WSD independent bottler’s challenge – the rest of whisky

Deviating from the format of previous challenges, no brand ambassadors spoke and all the whiskies entered were presented by Mike Lord, a man who laughs with impunity at the laws of science and once shot 3 men dead with an egg whisky. (I know this because I was one of those men.)

10 whiskies were tasted and, to save space, the highlights are included below though this is not to imply that those not described at length are in any way bad.

A delicious Cadenhead’s 1992 Brackla (rum finished), at 55.9%abv, had rum and brown sugar on the nose with thick, heavy and strong caramel and treacle. As we discussed this dram, the subject of a petard came up and some frantic ‘googling’ from Susan and Kate Wright revealed that it was a military mine that could blow up, hoisting the man who lit it. Mike also noted the number of brand ambassadors who were supposed to come to the festival and had not and said that gathering them together was like ‘Nailing a herd of jellied cats to a barn wall’ – readers are forgiven for shuffling away at this point.

Duncan Taylor’s 1979 Cameronbridge, at 48.8%abv, had the nose and taste of well-aged bourbon and banana chew bars with a delicate, long and honey/smoke finish.

By contrast, Wemyss ‘Honey Spice’ was a particularly dark colour from its sherry maturation and the reader is recommended to pour a large measure and roll on the tongue for as long as possible for best results.

1990 Berry Brothers and Rudd Bunnahabhain, at 46%abv, smelled like golden toast and tasted of syrup and treacle with a hint of smoke on the long, peppery finish.

As we moved on, Mike floated the possibility of a hog roast for the autumn festival along with a small wicker man though who is to be burned in it has yet to be discussed.

We then tasted a Carn Mor 1994 Highland Park, from the Scottish Liqueur Centre had mint and some light smoke with burnt sugar notes.

Moving to Islay, Adelphi’s 1983 Caol Ila, at 54%abv, had its smoke build gently before toffee emerged on the nose while rolling on the tongue revealed considerable smoke, pepper, chewiness and warmth.

Douglas Laing’s 1980 Old and rare Caol Ila was more restrained to nose with a little smoke and vanilla but did have some big maritime salt, smoke and bourbon tastes while Carn Mor’s 1996 Bowmore came from a refill sherry cask and had very heavy smoke, pepper tastes with Murray mints, milk chocolate and salt aromas.

Also tasted were Amrut ‘Fusion’ from India and G&M 1995 Brackla.

Diageo debut from David Sinclair

Presenting some of the lesser-known whiskies from whisky giants Diageo and making his first appearance at Dufftown was David Sinclair who had previously been bar manager at the prestigious Gleneagles Hotel.

Each whisky was tasted blind before the identity was revealed and we opened with the Singleton of Glendullan, aimed at the American market. Susan Colville reckoned that bottling at 43%abv would have improved it but it was still sweet with citrus and fizzy sweet notes and also lightly fruity with vanilla, although the slightly smoky finish was short. 1 of 636 bottles, the Glendullan 14 year old ‘manager’s choice’, at 58.7%abv, had brilliant pineapple, fruit syrup and golden delicious apples on the nose with vanilla and fruit tastes while the finish was extremely long and warm.

Mortlach 12 year old ‘manager’s choice’, at 57.1%abv, came from a bourbon cask and made this writer ask if the natural home of Mortlach is really the bourbon cask, rather than the sherry casks that have proved so popular over the years. Unusually inspired, I found the nose had bourbon, cream, vanilla, bananas, lemon and pear drops while the taste was light and delicate and the finish sweet with hints of spice. This unusually fantastic nose made it the Scarlett Johansson of whisky award winner for the festival.

A 12 year old ‘Friends of the Classic Malts’ Talisker, at 45.8%abv, had some light sherry and fruity notes and was delightfully sweet with a dry, long with only hints of Talisker’s characteristic pepper and seaweed.

Oban 18 yr, at 43%abv, bottled for America had orange cream and spicy notes and a velvety mouth feel that gave way to light smoke and a malty dryness. (David finds this richer than the 14 yr bottling.)As David accepted a big round of applause, the question ‘ Did you ever get that response at the bar?’ came from Mike Lord who fondly remembers the time he held 5 aces at poker. (His sad opponent only had 4).

Robin Laing – ‘The Whisky Coast’

Presenting SMWS whiskies Arran 121.52, at 59.9%abv, Glen Scotia 93.49, at 57.8%abv, Berry Brothers and Rudd 1994 Bowmore, at 46%abv, his own port- matured Bruichladdich, covered in the Spring 2011 report and 2001 OMC Talisker, at 50%abv, Robin’s theme for the night was ‘the whisky coast’ which had been the name for a brave but unsuccessful attempt at a tourist venture in recent years. The Bowmore tasted of characteristic mint and peat while the Talisker had equally characteristic smoke, seaweed and pepper that built slowly and steadily to an impressive crescendo and a very long finish.

Talisker had been a favourite of Robin’s as a young man and the distillery is the subject of a song from his current album ‘Whisky for breakfast’. Other tunes played included ‘Dundee Cat’, ‘Isle of Arran’, ‘Black Art’, ‘Campbeltown Loch’ to accompany the Glen Scotia, ‘Ugly Betty’, ‘Black Art’ and ‘A’Bunadh’ and there were stories of Jim McEwan, ‘Black art’, Heidi Klum and a German whisky anorak, Bowmore being attacked by an American warship, Eddi Reader and dinner at Macallan before Robin noted that a collector is simply ‘ a sad barsteward who doesn’t have enough special occasions in his life’.

As usual, highlights from Robin’s performance are available on both Facebook and www.youtube.com.

Douglas Laing presented by Paul McKendrick

Douglas Laing’s Jan Beckers was unavailable, having been cordoned off in mysterious circumstances by the police, so his place was ably Paul McKendrick, appearing for the first time at a festival in Dufftown.

A 1978 Clan Denny Port Dundas, at 54.2%, from a refill hogshead had a rich bourbon nose and taste and was wonderfully smooth and velvety with an unusually long finish for a grain, according to Paul. An exceptionally fruity 1999 Provenance Mannochmore, at a standard 46%abv, came from a third-fill cask, which Douglas Laing think allows distillery character to show, Paul describing it as a breakfast whisky.

OMC 2001 Glenlivet, at a standard 50%abv, had been in a sherry cask that Paul believed had added another dimension making it warm and rich with coffee and treacle toffee notes and a long, sweet finish.

1976 OMC Imperial, from a refill sherry cask, was the next ‘I was there’ moment. This year, according to the late Norwegian expert Per Lovlie, was Imperial’s finest, producing their best ever distillate. Given the 70’s vintage, the recurring ‘Wicker Man’ themes and the unusual but attractive nose, this was the Ingrid Pitt of whisky. Sweet, floral, creamy with hints of spice, fruit, vanilla and wine, it had a very long finish.

2003 Provenance Ardmore demonstrated, in Paul’s view, the difference between highland and island peat. This tasted of biscuits and smoke with cream and smoke to end with.

1996 OMC Caol Ila came from what is now Scotland’s fifth largest distillery. Ideal for rolling on the tongue, this full-bodied dram was lightly smoky with maritime salt and a surprisingly soft finish. Paul thinks that 15 years is the peak for an Islay whisky as more age leads the cask to dominate.

The Boss at Duncan Taylor

Euan Shand of Duncan Taylor (DTC) presented a virtually unique perspective at this festival: that of a company chief. The entire tasting was an ‘I was there’ moment and 90 utterly gripping minutes followed as Euan recounted his humble beginnings as a cooper at Glendronach distillery, through his years building up his own businesses with tales of youthful adventures with a valinch, jet-lagged tastings in Japan in front of a polite audience, Americans unaware of cask evaporation, laying down his own casks, fighting ‘Red Bull’, his aversion to colour in whisky, possible plans for a Huntly distillery that still has planning permission until December 2012 and a sad near miss in attempting to acquire Imperial distillery.

Black Bull 12, at 50%abv, demonstrated dependable deliciousness and kept us going as Euan told the story of Abe Rosenberg who had owned a huge collection of casks. Paying tribute to his vision, Euan told how the late Mr. Rosenberg had laid down second and third fill casks with the view to them maturing for many decades, perhaps knowing that he would never see these casks bottled in his lifetime

1998 ‘Dimensions’ Dailuaine, at 46%abv, was the first in a series of casks picked by Mark Watt, sadly unavailable after a drunken prank went wrong and he was accidentally mailed to Timbuktu. However, Mark’s absence, according to Mike Lord, meant that he was saved the expense of a large quantity of Guinness. No home should be without this masterful dram with its real bakery smell and buttered toast sweetness.

90 percent of DTC casks mature at the distillery, something that amuses Euan as he thinks of Macduff maturing in a tiny warehouse while the proprietor’s casks mature at sister distillery Royal Brackla in Nairn.

Euan is a big enthusiast for grain whisky and commented on the extensive stock still available to DTC, noting that one cask will reach 50 years old in 2013. 1978 North British grain, at 54.4%abv, had soft bourbon on the nose with a velvety vanilla taste. Grain spirit is bland and neutral and a good thing, in his view, as it gives a blank canvas to work with as all the flavour comes from the cask.

1995 ‘Dimensions’ Imperial, at 53.8%abv, was of such quality that I drank it neat to get vanilla, cream, spice and pepper notes and Euan is one of the few who think that Imperial may yet produce again. His preference is for bourbon casks over sherry as he feels that sherry overpowers distillery character.

As Euan ran through the ranges available from DTC such as ‘Peerless’, ‘Rarest’, Battlehill and Octave (the viagra of casks), we tasted 1985 Glen Elgin, at 46.1%abv, and Euan recounted selling 5 ‘Rarest’ bottles in as many minutes for a 5 figure sum in Singapore and decided to retire to the bar for the day. This inspirational whisky had refreshers and wham bar sweets on the nose with cream, fruit and vanilla flavours. Euan thinks the distillery produces  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœtop class blending whisky’ and reckons that Elgin whiskies such as Longmorn, Benriach, Glenlossie and Glen Elgin are very close in character, a fascinating viewpoint.

Revealing that he hadn’t tasted any of the whiskies, nor read any tasting notes, Euan invited us to describe the preview of the next batch of Black Bull 40, admitting he would like to know the recipe for this whisky, entirely blended by Mark Watt and of such high quality, he has decided to keep Mark on at the company.

Drams Party

A civilized ‘Drams Party’ closed the festival and Mike announced the winners in each ‘challenge’ category as Adelphi 1969 Glenrothes and DTC 1979 Cameronbridge, both of which won by a mile. (The best tasting notes included ‘A pretend whisky made in a bucket’ and ‘like the doormat of the Whisky Shop Dufftown).

And Finally....

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone involved in organizing and running the festival and, in particular, Mike Lord and his wife Val, Steve Oliver, the wonderful people at the ‘Coffee Pot’, to Vicky and Kirsten at the Whisky Shop, to both Claus and Claire for the proofreading, to Rene and Glo, and everyone involved with the ‘Mates of the Museum’ plus Alan and Susie at the Tannochbrae.I’m off to write my first novel, which will be titled ‘Punctilious Catnip’ and published under the pseudonym Ramrod Blancmange the third and hopefully, I’ll see you again at the autumn festival.

The WSD Challenge for Independent Bottlers

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The Winning Tasting Notes

By Teun van Wel

Benromach 2001 Cask Strength

Nose: Bob Marley waking up.

Taste: To hot to do work.

Finish: Very relaxed.

Wemyss Cragganmore 1989 "Lemon Grove"

Nose: Waking up in Barbados.

Taste: Going to the beach and have a Malibu cocktail

Finish: Although you have to go home you stay on the beach and and have another one.  Very relaxed.

Duncan Taylor Octave Linkwood 1991 20 Years Old

Nose: I just love the smell of whisky in the morning.

Taste: Something to talk about with fellow enthusiasts.

Finish: Sunday 9 Sep, after breakfast, very relaxed.

Douglas Laing Old & Rare Glen Grant 1985 25 Years Old

Nose: Like a Saturday afternoon at Maltstock

Taste: Is that the BBQ firing up?

Finish: An unforgettable evening around the camp fire with fellow enthusiasts sharing and enjoying great whisky - very relaxed.

Gordon & MacPhail Glen Grant 25 Years Old

Nose: Like being on a remote tropical island some where in the  mid south Pacific just before noon, on an undiscovered beach, getting a massage from a young lady with the softest hands you'll ever find, while sipping the ultimate Pina Colada from a coconut, knowing there's absolutely nothing you have yo do for the rest of the day. Utterly relaxed.

Taste: Sure.

Finish: Never.  Please!

Berry Brothers & Rudd Glenlivet 1973 38 Years Old

Nose:  Hmmm.  Looks like I just got an extra week on the island.

Taste:  Oooh and she just bought me a fruit basket.

Finish:  Feeling totally and utterly relaxed.

Adelphi Glenrothes 1969 42 Years Old

Nose: If I wasn't so relaxed I'm sure I could come up with some fantastis notes.

Taste:  Ditto

Finish:  Can we finally relax now?

A Word from the Owner

Frankly I distance myself from the judging which was undertaken by Kirsteen and Vicky and hence forth a more reasonable judge has been appointed.  Any complaints take it up with them.  I could have over-ridden their decision but that is not my way - we run a democratic dictatorship.  If you discard the blatant promotional material above you are left with the workings of a deranged tour operator.  Oh well!  Teun won a bottle of the Berry's Glenlivet for his trouble - if everything in life was so easy.  Other whisky festivals are available.

The WSD Challenge for Independent Bottlers 2012

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This is the first in a series of blogs on the festival.

During this year’s festival we again held a challenge for Independent Bottlers to find the best independent bottling of Speyside whisky and the best from the rest of whisky. The competition was hotly contended with entries from Adelphi, Berry Brothers & Rudd, Cadenheads’s, Douglas Laing, Duncan Taylor, Gordon & MacPhail, The Scottish Liqueur Centre (Carn Mor) and Wemyss. Both Berry Brothers and the SLC were new to the competition this year.

In both categories we had whiskies from the same distillery but were very different highlighting the craft of the Independent Bottler in selecting unusual casks from that distillery. And again this year almost all of the whiskies had people voting for them as their favourite showing that there is a whisky for everyone and every whisky has someone – the flavours in whisky are as broad as people’s palettes are different.

This year, luckily for once, we had very clear winners in each category!

Speyside Category

We had 7 entries in the Speyside category:

Adelphi Glenrothes 1969 42 Years Old

Benromach 2001 Cask Strength entered by Gordon & MacPhail

Berry’s Glenlivet 1973 38 Years Old

Douglas Laing Old & Rare Glen Grant 1985 25 Years Old

Duncan Taylor Octave Linkwood 1991 20 Years Old

Gordon & MacPhail Glen Grant 25 Years Old

Wemyss Cragganmore 1989 Lemon Grove

The results are:

Third – Berry’s Glenlivet 1973 38 Years Old

Second – Douglas Laing Old & Rare Glen Grant 1985 25 Years Old

First – Adelphi Glenrothes 1969 42 Years Old

Antonia Bruce of Adelphi

Rest of Whisky

We had a whopping 10 entries in the Rest of Whisky Category:

Adelphi Caol Ila 1983 28 Years Old

Amrut Fusion entered by Gordon & MacPhail

Berry's Bunnahabhain 1990 21 Years Old

Cadenhead's Royal Brackla 1992 19 Years Old

Carn Mor Bowmore 1996 16 Years Old entered by The SLC

Carn Mor Highland Park 1994 17 Years Old entered by The SLC

Douglas Laing Old & Rare Caol Ila 1980 30 Years Old

Duncan Taylor Rare Auld Cameronbridge 1979 32 Years Old

Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice Royal Brackla 1995

Wemyss Bunnahabhain 1991 "Honey Spice"

The results are:

Third – Douglas Laing Rare Old Caol Ila 1980 30 Years Old

Second – Wemyss Bunnahabhain 1991 “Honey Spice”

First – Duncan Taylor Rare Auld Cameronbridge 1979 32 Years Old

Mark Watt of Duncan Taylor

Congratulations to Adelphi and Duncan Taylor!!!

Best Under 18's

In previous years we have also given an award to the best whisky under 18 years old. We only had one entry in the Speyside category that met this criteria and unfortunately this was not an independent bottling so did not qualify but was very well received in the under 18’s as was the Carn Mor Highland Park and Carn Mor Bowmore who share the prize for the under 18’s in the Rest of Scotland category.

The Owner's Award

After analysing the voting and comparing that to price to obtain a measure of popularity for price The Owner’s Award (that’s me) goes to the Octave Linkwood as the best buy in the competition with a Crichton coefficient of 0.57. And a very special mention for the Berry’s Glenlivet as I am torn between this and the Adelphi Glenrothes for my personal favourites.

Best Tasting Note

As usual an independent panel reviewed the tasting notes to find the best ones. I stress they were independent and I had nothing to do with it. The winning tasting notes were from Teun van Wel and we will be featuring his tasting note in a later post. Well done to Teun who won his favourite whisky which was the Berry’s Glenlivet. The runner up yet again was Ed Velthuizen. Ed has been either winner or runner up so many times we have decided to appoint him judge for the best tasting note going forward.

Thank You

A big thank you to all the companies that entered and the hundreds of festival goers who took part. This remains one of the few competitions where all of the judging is done by members of the public!!

The Autumn Speyside Festival

For anyone coming to the Autumn Speyside Festival and wishing to attend our events at The WSD Autumn Festival 2012 then it is more than likely than tickets for our events will only be available from our website.  There will be no change for the Spirit of Speyside Festival 2013.


New in from independent bottler Douglas Laing

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By Mike Lord

Here are the new bottlings we have in from Doulas Laing.  The tasting notes are from them.

Old Malt Cask Glen Ord 1997 14 Years Old

It's getting harder and harder to find Glen Ord particularly in Europe.  This one is a very fruity orangy example.

Nose: Opens clean & refreshing - running to sweet fruit + gristy style.

Taste: Still sweet - a macerated ripe fruit character + gentle spices.

Finish: Long - sweetly spiced with a pleasant orange bitters lingering.

Old Malt Cask Glenrothes 1990 21 Years Old

Although this is from a refill sherry but it is a big sherried whisky with lots of citrus and ginger nicely balanced with leather and tobacco.

Nose: Richly spiced – running to a caramelised orange trait + barley sugar.

Taste: Mouth coating with toffee and ginger + a warming citrus quality.

Finish: Long – carrying an attractive oak, leather & sweet tobacco style.

Old Malt Cask Glen Keith 1993 18 Years Old

It's difficult to find a single cask Glen Keith and particularly one that doesn't break the bank.  And this one is even very very drinkable.

Nose: Fresh & fruitily sweet + fresh homemade shortbread + sweet melon.

Taste: Distinctly barley sugared running to a sweet orange/lime zest style.

Finish: Still fresh and fruity – replicating nose & palate + more zest.

Old Malt Cask Imperial 1976 35 Years Old

Oooh, an old Imperial and with definite traces of peat smoke!

Nose: Dry cedar wood shavings open to sweet dark fruit tones + ash

Taste: Richly spiced – lightly smoked/peated + old wooden candy boxes.

Finish: Camphor and cough drops + warming spices + late soft leather.

Old Malt Cask Knockando 1994 17 Years Old

A lush spicy, honey toasty Knockando.

Nose: Opens fruity & sweetly spiced running to a bees wax style.

Taste: Rich – carrying a dry spicy quality + a distinct oak character. Rich – carrying a dry spicy quality + a distinct oak character.

Finish: Long – still spicy + burnt toast & honey that runs and runs.

Old Malt Cask Laphroaig 1993 18 Years Old

Now this is a very good Laphraoig.

Nose: Opens sweet & vanilla’d running to soft smoke + flamed orange zest

Taste: Still sweet & softly smoked + more vanilla – burnt home baked style.

Finish: Long – with an ashes and burnt wood character + lingering creosote.

See our full Douglas Laing range.


New in from Douglas Laing

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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 Rosebank 21 Years Old (DL Ref - 0000): This is another great Rosebank from DL.  This is the second cask os 21 Years Old from 1990 that they have released this year.

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.