Year: 2016

Kilchoman Sanaig

Sean Handley Islay
Screen Shot 2016-03-27 at 16.18.05Distillery: Kilchoman
Bottled: 2016
Age: 4/5 years
ABV: 46%
Cask: 50% Bourbon & 50% Sherry
More Info: WhiskyBase

Here’s a new release from the Islay Farm Distillery.

Kilchoman’s Sanaig is the latest addition to the core line-up and combines Bourbon and Sherry cask influences upon the distillery’s peaty spirit.

As with all Kilchoman’s whiskies, this is very young but full of Islay character.

Nose: Chocolate raisins, prunes, fried pineapple, salty crisps, earthy peat smoke, bandages, milky coffee, wet towel funk.

Palate: Soft plum flesh, pears, and a floral perfume. Toffee and vanilla leading to spicy white pepper and cinnamon with a touch of creamy oak. The signature coastal peat tang comes through too.

Finish: Chewy peat and liquorice strips with more sweet toffee and sea salt emerging.

A sweet peat treat. The sherry influence here brings soft fruit notes, much sweeter than the relatively dry and meaty Loch Gorm 100% sherry release.

Some people aren’t a fan of young peaty whisky but I think Kilchoman are doing extraordinarily well with the stock they have (founded in 2005, it’ll be a while before we see older releases). Mind you, young peaty malts aren’t to everyone’s taste I suppose (though I bloody love them!).

At around £50 per bottle, it’s not cheap. But given this is uncoloured and non chill filtered Islay from a tiny farm that malts and peats their own barley on site, I’d be happy to part with my cash to support their endeavours.

The Kilchoman Sanaig is on Master of Malt for £49.84.

Glenmorangie Milsean

Sean Handley Highlands ,

Screen Shot 2016-03-23 at 20.39.46Distillery: Glenmorangie
Cask: Ex-Bourbon + retoasted wine casks
Bottles: 30,000
ABV: 46%
More Info: WhiskyBase

Glenmorangie recently released this limited edition “Milsean” bottling amid a mild furore of whether or not their re-toasted wine casks constituted as “added flavouring” (banned by the SWA as it contravenes the definition of a Scotch).

Allegedly the wood was still wet with wine and the toasting caramelised the remnants, hence the sweet shop profile and old-fashioned ice cream parlour decor of the bottle and box. Given that the industry allows caramel colouring, I think it’s more than a little hypocritical to lay these accusations at Bill Lumsden’s feet!

Regardless, they didn’t uphold their misgivings and it got the green light to be released. It’s not age statemented, but it is non chill filtered and bottled at 46% (without E150 colouring too).

Nose: Takes a while to open up but it evolves well in the glass. Very clean. As predicted, lots of fruity candy notes: Orange pith, dusty sherbet, hard candy, pear skin, lemon drops, wine gums, apple peel, peach gums. Suddenly there’s coconut ice cream! Very nice.

Palate: Vanilla bean, chilled bananas, and malt sugar with a prominent oakiness developing. Some barrel spice: white pepper and liquorice. Watered down white wine (like ice cubes have melted in it, but in a nice way).

Finish: That oaky wood note really lasts and lasts with double cream and tingly pepper.

I like the nose a lot! The palate is a little unbalanced but I like that; Glenmorangie is usually very mellow and predictable so a few rough edges gives it an appeal that I enjoy. It’s a bit too woody, if I’m honest, but it’s definitely drinkable.

However, at £90 a bottle I think the marketing has overtaken the liquid. You can get really, really good Highland malts (like Pulteney 21) for less.

Laphroaig Brodir

Sean Handley Islay , ,

Screen Shot 2016-03-04 at 20.37.09Distillery: Laphroaig
Age: NAS
Bottled: 2015
Cask: Bourbon barrels, finished in Ruby port
ABV: 48%
More Info: WhiskyBase

Peaty Islay whisky, finished in port casks?? Yeah, go on, why not.

Another travel retail release from Laphroaig, Brodir’s been around a couple of years as you may have noticed if you’ve been through duty free lately. Bottled at 48%, without chill filtering – let’s see how it fares in the glass.

Nose: Coal dust, charred sausages, salty pretzels, wet oil paints. With time, dark cherries and plums emerge through the thick, salty aroma of wood smoke.

Palate: Coal tar soap, orange marmalade, with a kick of chilli calming to reveal chamomile flowers, loose leaf tea, liquorice all-sorts, bitter grapefruit, vanilla pods, and a twist of blackcurrant.

Finish: Soap and smoke, black pepper, liquorice and lingering dry ashes.

Not a bad dram at all, this.

Reminds me very much of the Amontillado-finished Cairdeas from 2014. All the coal-tar and acrid peat you expect from Laphroaig but with an interesting dark fruit influence from the port casks.

Available at Master of Malt for £89.95.

Arran “The Bothy”

Sean Handley Islands ,
Screen Shot 2016-02-26 at 20.09.32Distillery: Arran
Bottled: 2015
ABV: 55.7%
Cask: 1st-fill Bourbon, then Quarter Casks
More Info: WhiskyBase

Ah, I love a good bothy!

For the uninitiated, a bothy is basically a house/cabin out in the countryside (usually Scotland, but there’s some in the far North of England too) where walkers are free to set up bed and shelter the night safe from the elements.

They’re usually way off the beaten track and have no plumbing or amenities, except for a good fireplace and a latching door. The bothy code is to leave the bothy in a clean, tidy state along with some firewood and maybe a little food for the next people who stay.

It’s a lovely system, and I’ve had some excellent nights in bothies, usually with friends and whisky around an open wood fire.

Nose: Hay, marshmallows, rubber pencil tips, PVA glue, fizzy refresher sweets and board marker pens.

Palate: Hard fruit candy, think “Jolly Ranchers”. Pineapple cubes, menthol gum, cinnamon spice, egg custard tarts, strüdel and glacé cherries.

Finish: Oaky and long with a little vanilla pod and caramel.

 

Mmmm. Looks like someone brought some pick ‘n’ mix to the bothy! It’s quite youthful and very sweet and estery. I like this a lot – very much in keeping with the distillery’s core fruity sweet-shop character.

MoM Highland Park 1990

Sean Handley Islands , ,
Screen Shot 2016-02-07 at 20.55.48Distillery: Highland Park
Bottled: 2014 Distilled: 1990
Age: 24 years old
Bottler: Master of Malt
ABV: 57.5%
Cask: Second-fill Bourbon
More Info: WhiskyBase

I do like an interesting Highland Park!

The first time I tried his delicious Orcadian beverage was way back in the sands of time as a student. Since then, sadly, I’ve found that it’s easy to get the 12 year old anywhere but pretty much everything else in their range is hard to find or just too damn expensive.

But its scarcity and price do indicate one thing – its popularity. And with good reason. Highland Park to me always tastes like an older style of whisky – more subtle, mineral, savoury qualities on the palate without being a vanilla candle at one end of the scale, or a peat monster at the other. And they peat their own barley at the distillery, which I find always makes for a more interesting profile than barley smoked at an industrial maltings.

This particular single ex-bourbon cask held the spirit for 24 years. A good age for any whisky, I’m expecting some class here.

Nose: Grilled pineapple, grapefruit syrup, fragrant resin, nutmeg ice cream, honeydew melon. Beyond the fruit, a waft of sea salt flakes and dry wood smoke.

Palate: Pear skin, tart raspberry, grapefruit, oaky barrel spice, cinnamon, and savoury peat amidst a thick, soft mouthfeel and a gentle maltiness.

Finish: Salty oak with cashews and a touch of smoked cheese.

This is absolutely glorious. Coastal peat with a ton of fruit in perfect balance. Soft mouthfeel and very smooth at full cask strength. With water it opens up with even more fruit and smoke coming through. Without water it’s still masterful on the palate, belying the considerable 57.5% ABV of the spirit.

Forgive the cliché but it’s a “fruity dessert at a beach barbecue” kind of dram. Mmmmm, absolutely stellar.

Still available over at Master of Malt for £209.95. A little more than I’d like to pay for the vintage, but it is exceptionally good and a damn-sight cheaper than the official bottling of 25-year-old, plus it’s cask strength.