Author: Sean Handley

Port Charlotte 13 (RABT)

Sean Handley Islay , ,

Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottled: 2015, Distilled: 2001
ABV: 62.8%
Cask: Jurançon wine cask
Bottler: Rest And Be Thankful
More Info: WhiskyBase

This’ll be the third bottling I’ve tried from those mysterious people behind Rest And Be Thankful. The two Octomores they produced were very interesting and this one promises to follow suit.

At any rate, you’ll not see a Port Charlotte much older than 13 years these days because there wasn’t any made before 2001 so this is a treat for me – the oldest ever peated Bruichladdich whisky I’ve tried.

And it’s whacky wine barrel finished to boot – I’m no wine buff so I know nothing about Jurançon. Let’s see what it’s like…

Nose: Salted cashew nuts, crispy bacon and black pudding, dark chocolate, mineral oil, burning pinecones with dry soil and ashes.

Palate: Runny caramel mixed with a huge handful of sea-salt. Fragrant Kaffir lime leaves with spices: cayenne pepper, cinnamon and cumin with a touch of nutmeg. There’s an element of dry white wine in there, though I’m not sure I’d have noticed without knowing it was a wine maturation – it’s chalky and floral with a tart, bitter edge to it. Gets winier with water.

Finish: Very long and tingly with lingering smokiness, leaf litter, minerality, and the bittersweet taste of mild rolling tobacco. After a while, the taste of swimming pool water (though that’s not as bad as it sounds).

Wow – another indy bottling of Bruichladdich whisky that just piles on the weird and wonderful flavours.

This is a winner for me. It’s much more savoury than other wine maturation Port Charlottes (the PC6 was a sweet shop on the palate). Very long and lip smacking, and very drinkable at full strength. Great wood influence and a slightly calmer Port Charlotte peat smoke.

If you’ve a spare £129, you can pick this up from Master Of Malt.

Littlemill 22 (Cadenhead Small Batch)

Sean Handley Lowlands , ,

caol_il_29Distillery: Littlemill
Bottled: 2014, Distilled: 1992
ABV: 53.7%
Cask: Bourbon
Bottler: WM Cadenhead
More Info: WhiskyBase

Yet another interesting bottle from Cadenhead’s! This has been on the shelf a while now but it felt like time to crack it open.

Nose: Waxy with sweet sawdust and wood resin, basil in butter, citrus flowers, icing sugar, and squeezed clementines.

Palate: Oily. Very oily. Fruit and spice – baked apple, elderflower, fresh bilberries leading to cloves and black pepper.

Finish: Long with a warming cinnamon burn and creamy oak.

Big! Fruity and spicy, but without a hint of sherry. Really very moreish and pleasant.

Octomore 07.2

Sean Handley Islay , ,

Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottled: 2015
Age: 5 years old
ABV: 58.5%
Cask: American oak, finished in Rhône Syrah Wine Casks
More Info: WhiskyBase

Here’s this year’s cask-finish Octomore, the travel retail exclusive 07.2 finished in French red wine casks which previously held wine made with those famously peppery Syrah grapes.

I’ve been wanting to try this for a while! These TREs from Bruichladdich can go for silly money so it took a while to source one at a sane price.

Nose: Opens with salty dark chocolate, orange wine gums, blackberries. Damp earthy peat bog leading to herbaceous lavender and dry basil. A faint sulphurous edge which, combined with the salt, reminds me of the smell you get when opening a pack of vacuum packed wafer ham.

Palate: Like someone peat-smoked a strawberry cheesecake! Viscous, golden barley syrup leads only to be t-boned by the Octomore signature peat juggernaut. As the peat fades you get the soft red fruit – strawberries and raspberries, with some kirsch cherry-chocolates

Finish: Long, lipsmacking oily peat with salt and pepper, and a touch of citrus. The peat’s very sticky – you can almost chew it. Slightly ashy, like the mouthfeel after a cigar.

Clean fruit meets dirty peat! I don’t like it as much as the 06.3 Islay Barley but it’s got a certain appeal for sure. That intense muddy peated chocolate character that runs through Octomore acts as a good backdrop for those red fruit high notes.

Another worthy experiment, Mr. McEwan.

I picked this up for about £88 on WhiskySite.nl – they’ve sold out now, but they do still have the 06.2 version for the same price.

Laphroaig 25 Cask Strength

Sean Handley Islay
Distillery: Laphroaig
Bottled: 2014
Age: 25 years old
ABV: 45.1%
Cask: Bourbon and Oloroso Barrels
More Info: WhiskyBase

Always fun tasting an older Laphroaig! That peat smoke tends to calm down and let those fruit notes come through…

Nose: Candy floss, minty mouthwash, coal tar soap, bandages, peaches and candied orange peels, all against a faint and far-away wood smoke. Antique wooden furniture, dust and polish.

Palate: Creamy, tangy peat smoke wraps more citrus notes – lime and mandarin, developing a bitter grapefruit quality. Quite chalky and mineral-rich.

Finish: Drying with ashy smoke and burnt coffee beans.

Nowhere near as fruity and summery as the 18. The sherry cask influence gives this a much more savoury edge with heavier fruit and wood notes.

All in all, it’s very elegant. The palate’s quite straightforward, but the nose is very complex with a well-aged Islay feel that conjures up images of refined living in dusty antique studies by open fireplaces.

It reminds me of Port Ellens and Caol Ilas of similar age, which I didn’t expect as they’re both light and delicate distillates compared with the darker, dirtier, punchier peaty power associated with Laphroaig.

Be tempted to get a bottle, if I could afford it!

You can buy the Laphroaig 25 Cask Strength online from a variety of UK-based retailers. I ordered my sample from WhiskySite.nl for €17.99.

Andy’s Pick ‘n’ Mix

Sean Handley Campbeltown, Islay, Lowlands, Speyside , , , ,

Thanks to Andy for these samples. I drained these ages ago but I’ve finally typed up my tasting notes…!

Producer: Hamish Robertson & Co
ABV: 43%
Age: 5 years old
More Info: Master of Malt

These are always fun – a blended whisky from the 1960s. You can find bottles like this on a lot of auction sites and they tend to sell for a lot less than you might imagine, taking a backseat to all the high flying single malts.

Nose: Malty caramel, candle wax,  menthol, and pears. A gentle floral edge develops after a while.

Palate: Syrupy! Very rich and rounded malty flavour with more menthol and a little pepper mint.

Finish: Quite short with black pepper.

This, as with many blends, is all about the core malt flavour. It’s soft and sweet, like nectar with no hard edges or dominating notes. Very drinkable and smooth, much moreso than modern low-end blends where the malt content has dropped dramatically since the 1960s.

 

Royal Culross 8 year old Blended Malt 1972

Distillery: Glen Scotia
ABV: 43%
Distilled: 1972
Age: 8 years old
More Info: WhiskyBase

Don’t know a great deal about what’s in this, besides it being put together by the Glen Scotia distillery in Campbeltown in the seventies…

Nose: Orchard smells of ripe apples and pears, with desserty notes of custard. There’s a dessert-wine character to the aroma too – sweet juicy grapes.

Palate: Very appley. Tart and crisp cider, with cinnamon spice and ripe barley grain. Reminiscent of Irish whiskey, with a gristy, unmalted barley note.

Finish: Toasted nuts and warm oak with a lingering apple edge and a touch of pepper spice.

I wonder if there’s any Macallan in this… Very nice malt, and quite three dimensional for a blend.

 

Longmorn 20 Year Old Single Cask

Distillery: Longmorn
Bottler: Whisky Broker
Bottled: 2012, Distilled: 1992
ABV: 55%
Age: 20 years old
Cask: Sherry Hogshead
More Info: WhiskyBase

Good old Whiskybroker. You can get some very nice whiskies (by the cask, as well as by the bottle) at very reasonable prices indeed. This one’s a sherried Longmorn.

Nose: Orange candy, pine resin, pencils, barley mash, freshly ground hazelnuts and a pinch of ginger.

Palate: Crystalised white grape sugar, malty bread, and toasted oak with rising nutmeg and anise spices. Becomes drying and fruitier with water – a plummy note comes through.

Finish: Tingly and peppery.

Great nose on this, and the palate gets better with water. At 55% ABV it’s a little too fierce but maybe watered down to 45%-50% and it’s perfect.

 

Springbank 19 year old (Master of Malt)

Distillery: Springbank
Bottler: Master of Malt
Bottled: 2012, Distilled: 1993
ABV: 55.2%
Age: 19 years old
More Info: WhiskyBase

I love an indy bottling of Springbank! MoM’s single cask bottlings usually sell out quickly and have a good reputation for quality cask choice.

Nose: Sticking plasters, cough syrup, and leather with smoked caramel and pebble beach.

Palate: Oily, sweet, and salty with rich malt and cinder toffee. Cinnamon in custard, with a slow-rising, lip-tingling chilli oil burn.

Finish: Oak and smoke, with hazelnuts.

Balls to salted caramel latté – if you want an oily, malty, coastal zing then this is the whisky for you. My word, do they know how to do whisky at Springbank. Another cask well chosen, chaps!

 

Caol Ila G&M 2001 Cask Strength

Distillery: Caol Ila
Bottled: 2013, Distilled: 2001
Bottler: Gordon & Macphail
ABV: 59.2%
Age: 12 years old
Cask: Refill sherry butts
More Info: WhiskyBase

Gordon & Macphail have a ridiculously large catalog of whiskies. One of Scotland’s oldest independent bottlers, they’re still owned and managed by the Urquhart Family. Well worth a look at their offerings, and the prices are usually very reasonable.

Nose: Beach bonfire, salty clifftops, sawdust, motor oil, buttery kippers.

Palate: Coal dust, cough drops, with custard creams and sweet milky fudge.

Finish: Salty black liquorice.

Yummy – great coastal peat notes here. No citrus, which is unusual for Caol Ila. Tasting blind I think I’d have pegged this as an Ardbeg – that coal dust flavour’s really full-on, like you’ve actually licked a coal scuttle.

 

All done! Thanks again, Andy – some cracking drams there.

Laphroaig 15 (200th Anniversary)

Sean Handley Islay
Distillery: Laphroaig
Bottled: 2015
Age: 15 years old
ABV: 43%
More Info: WhiskyBase

It’s a big year for Laphroaig this year as the distillery celebrates its 200th anniversary. To commemorate this, one of the limited bottlings they’re releasing is a revival of their much-loved (but discontinued) 15 year old expression.

Being the only distillery on Islay with the royal warrant, I’m sure Prince Charles was miffed at the decision to discontinue the fifteen as he made it well known this was his favourite. I wonder if he was one of the several thousand fans madly hitting refresh in his browser when the bottling was released a few weeks back…

Nose: Coastal notes of seaweed and salt-crusted rocks. There’s a herbal note of sage in there, alongside a bit of fried cabbage. Dry leaves and old tobacco. Some softer, fruitier notes of banana, becoming more pronounced after the whisky’s had time to breathe.

Palate: A gentle earthy peppery peat wrapped up in an oily, creamy mouthfeel – much thicker than the 10 year old, and very smooth. Fresh mint leaves. Lemon and lime cordial. Some soft poached pear and tart red fruit – cranberries and redcurrants.

Finish: Drying with salted nuts and a little more of that peppery peat. No need for water with this one.

This is much cleaner than I expect from Laphroaig. The 10 is a classic sooty, salty, muddy peat fest but this is much more restrained allowing soft fruit flavours through.

It’s nice, and very drinkable, a fruitier and gentler take on the Laphroaig signature style. But at £75 for a 15 year old whisky released at 43%, I’m not exactly wowed. The distillery already produces the stunningly delicious 18 year old around a similar price so why anyone would choose this instead beyond the illusion of exclusivity I’m really not sure.

If it were a limited release of 8,000 bottles then it might have some collectible value as a memorial of the distillery’s 200th birthday. However, I hear there are 72,000 bottles of it globally so it’ll never exactly be hard to find one.

Puzzling. Hopefully retailers will bring the price down over the coming months in the wake of inevitable further releases from the distillery during the Islay Festival later this month. I’m looking forward to a dram that meets the standards of 2014’s excellent (and very yellow) Amontillado Cairdeas release.

You can buy the Laphroaig 15 in a variety of places online. I ordered my sample from WhiskySite.nl for €11.69.

Millburn 1969 (Rare Malts)

Sean Handley Highlands , ,
Distillery: Millburn
Bottled: 2005, Distilled: 1969
Age: 35 years old
Series: Diageo Rare Malts
ABV: 51.2%
More Info: WhiskyBase

Millburn, you say? Never heard of it. Yeah, I hadn’t either.

There’s some extremely well-known whiskies from closed distilleries. Everyone knows Port Ellen, Rosebank, Brora etc. So why isn’t Millburn regularly counted alongside them?

I suspect the reason  is simply because there’s very little of it around left to sell. No annual Special Release bottlings for this old distillery to generate the hype. In many ways, for me, that makes it even more intriguing.

So what do we know about Millburn?

The Distillery

It started life in 1807 as “The Inverness Distillery” and had various owners through the years. For a while it was used purely as a mill, before being turned back into a distillery again in 1876. It kept running on and off through the 20th century until it became another casualty of the eighties slump in whisky demand.

The distillery was closed in 1985 and eventually dismantled in 1988. It’s not clear how much stock Diageo still have, if any, but nothing has appeared since this 2005 Rare Malts release.

A sad story, for sure. I dare say the best way to honour a closed distillery is to taste what it had to offer. You don’t often get chance to taste 35-year-old whisky, much less any whisky from the sixties. If you think about it, it’s probably the closest you can get to time travelling…

Tasting Notes

Nose: Fruity, perfumed and elegant. Ripe (maybe even mouldy, but in a good way) fruit. Nectarines and peaches with wet rose petals, rolling tobacco, wax jacket, and sweet resin. Lots of bakery notes, too – wedding cake, lemon tart, treacle toffee, and home-made strawberry jam. A little dusty, ashy, cigarette smoke too.

Palate: Fizzy peaches with orange, limes, and grapefruit marmalade. It’s very clean and refreshing. Spices come through the fruit – cloves, black pepper, aniseed, liquorice root. Some mellow toasted oak around the edges.

Finish: Herbal peppermint tea with a slight chalky mineral quality. More lingering oakiness with just a touch of black pepper.

Scene: You’re in a wedding marquee after the ceremony. It’s raining, but everybody’s in good spirits. You’ve finished the main course and dessert’s being served. There’s fresh fruit and flowers on the table. Contented, you’re tucking into a slice of wedding cake and enjoying another glass of bubbly while a friend hand-rolls a cigarette beside you.

Verdict

Wow, it’s bursting with fruit on the nose and the palate! The 35 years in the cask hasn’t dulled the distillate, or made it overpoweringly woody. That fizzing edge to it makes the fruit very zesty and pleasant on the tongue.

This is absolutely lovely – the longer I nose it, the more character comes through. If I had a bottle of this, I’d share it with friends and family on a very special occasion.

Seize the chance to try this.

You can pick up bottles of this Millburn on auction sites and on the WhiskyBase marketplace. You can try a sample from WhiskySample.nl €39.50.

Bunnahabhain 17 (Old Particular)

Sean Handley Islay
Distillery: Bunnahabhain
Bottled: 2014, Distilled: 1997
Age: 17 years old
Cask #: DL10584
Bottler: Douglas Laing
ABV: 48.4%
Cask: Refill Hogshead
More Info: WhiskyBase

Here’s the third in a set of three Old Particular whiskies from one of the great indy distillers, Douglas Laing. Each bottling of the series is from a single cask so number of bottles available are quite limited.

I find Bunnahabhain single casks to be a bit hit and miss. There’s usually some interesting perfumed aromas but they don’t always work for me so I’m hopeful this one’s a hit. Either way, it’ll be interesting!

Nose: Fairy washing up liquid? Quite musky (like a cologne), with a little bit of armpit smell, lemon peel, waxed leather, and coltsfoot rock.

Palate: Sweet, soapy sea-water. Halls Soother throat sweets. Bitter grapefruit and stewed black tea with a dash of muddy peat.

Finish: Salty Marmite and cold ashes.

Really unusual this one. Soapy and perfumed with a little sweet and salt thrown in for flavour. Definitely more a thinker, than a drinker.

Imagine yourself in an airport. You’ve got a cold so you had tea, throat sweets and a citrus-rich breakfast with Marmite on toast. You sneak off to the toilets for a cheeky fag and then wash your hands before checking out the perfume section of duty free.

Wow, you don’t often get whisky like this. I don’t know if I like it, but I like the journey it’s sent my tastebuds on and a good reminder of the adventure of drinking single cask expressions.

Bravo, Douglas Laing.

You can get samples (and bottles) of the Old Particular range from www.MasterOfMalt.com.

Arran 1st Official White Stag Bottling

Sean Handley Islands ,
Distillery: Arran
Bottled: June 2015
Age: 18 years old (at least, it will be in June)
ABV: 55.3%
Cask: Sherry Hogshead
More Info: Twitter

Here’s the final dram in the lineup for the Third Arran Tweet Tasting April 2015 – the eagerly awaited White Stag bottling.

The White Stag club is the distillery’s members’ club. Anyone can sign up for free, and be entitled to exclusive offers. This club bottling has been a long time coming and it’s a privilege to be tasting it before it’s officially released in June…

Nose: Ooh. I smell Oriental cooking here. Soy sauce, lemongrass, and fragrant five-spice notes coming through. Cherries in chocolate sauce with melted butter on top. A good stout. Blackcurrant and mint leaves. Freshly shelled peas.

Palate: Luscious and musky. Baked apple, barbecued bananas, cigar tobacco. Chocolate coconut brownies and sweet cider.

Finish: Drying and chalky with more sweet cigar tobacco.

This is divine. A great balance between savoury and sweet. That sherry hogshead approach is working wonders again. I bet this sells out in minutes when it’s released!

So there ends another brilliant tasting from Arran and Steve Rush. What a treat – thanks guys!

The tweet tastings organised by Steve Rush are a lot of fun. Get involved over at www.thewhiskywire.com

Arran Single Bourbon Cask 99/103

Sean Handley Islands ,
Distillery: Arran
Bottled: 2013, Distilled: 1999
Age: 13 years old
ABV: 55.3%
Cask: 1st-Fill Bourbon
More Info: Twitter

Here’s the third whisky in the lineup for the Third Arran Tweet Tasting April 2015 – a premium single cask bottling from a first-fill Bourbon cask.

Nose: Wow. You can really get lost in this nose… Mmmmmmm…. Soft and waxy woodshavings with greengages and lychee. Rowntrees Fruit Pastilles. Sweet pickled cabbage. Tons and tons of Bourbon spice: nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. Salty rock dust. Vanilla custard.

Palate: Oh my god – it’s like someone poured a can of Lilt into the cask! Fizzy tropical fruit notes, sour and sweet with zesty lemon sherbet. Cola cubes, and tart cranberry juice.

Finish: Loads more of that Bourbon barrel spice. Long and tingly.

This dram just keeps on giving. A big, happy, bear-hug of a whisky. I adore bold 1st-fill Bourbon expressions and this is one of the best I’ve tasted. My favourite of the night. So sad it’s already sold out!

There’s currently a similar 15 year old expression available for £71.99 online. I haven’t tried it, but if it’s anything like this one then you’re in for a treat!

Finally, we have the highlight of the evening – a preview taste of the 1st official White Stag bottling due for release in June…

The tweet tastings organised by Steve Rush are a lot of fun. Get involved over at www.thewhiskywire.com