Category Archives: Beyond Scotland

Singapore Saturday Sipping… Crown Royal, Bruichladdich, Springbank + Kilchoman

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It was one of those sociable Saturday evenings in Singapore…

It also happened to be the home of a fellow malt aficionado and ex Mumbai tasting group member. On my last trip we took on an eight dram marathon at The Auld Alliance. This trip we swapped such revelries for a family and friends affair with great company, delicious food and… yes… a whisky or two or three!

I will openly admit, it was a fully social setting so it wasn’t like I jotted down tasting notes until the last… when we decided to have a little impromptu ‘tasting’ experience to close the night.

Crown-Royal-Northern-Harvest-Rye

Official CrownRoyal website

However, formal tasting notes or not… we still covered four rather distinctive whiskies in one evening!

Shortly after I arrived, a mystery glass was brought out as a teaser. What did I find?

  • Nose – A sparkling quality like having a whiff of proseco or sparkling apple cider
  • Palate – Some spice yet overall smooth, vanilla – clearly not Scottish, not bourbon, not having the sophistication one associates with Japan…
  • Finish – Sweet spice wood then fades away

The ‘punch line’ was that this particular bottle just so happens to be from Gimli, Manitoba… my home province in Canada. And – you guessed it – was Crown Royal’s Northern Harvest Rye which has literally flown off the shelves globally thanks to Jim Murray’s recent recognition of it as 2016 World’s Best Whisky.

The bottle was snagged in the US by a friend’s brother and brought to Singapore… part of the stash that will be coming into India soon. Gotta love globe-trotting whisky!

Overall what did I think? Honestly – it is not bad for a Rye and really quite excellent for $30 whisk(e)y but… come on… world’s best whisky? Seriously?

The Organic Scottish Barley (Whisky Lady)

The Organic Scottish Barley (Whisky Lady)

With this start to our evening, our host then pulled out the Bruichladdich The Organic 50%:

  • Nose – That overripe fruit to the point of being rotten
  • Palate – Young, a bit of spice, sourness
  • Finish – Still a bit ‘queer’

Just not aligning with my mood for the evening… I simply could not wrap my palate around the extra over-ripe quality.

So our host took pity on my pickiness and out came a reliable dram – Springbank 10 year 46%.

  • Nose – Pear, a hint of peat
  • Palate – Yum – cinnamon and nutmeg, rich oak, a bit nutty
  • Finish – Dry, sweet, salty

Khanna (food) then became the focus… was happily consumed and our evening was winding its way to a close. As the deserts and tea came out… so too did a bunch of glasses for a semi ‘proper’ tasting session. What did we sample?

Kilchoman (Whisky Lady)

Kilchoman (Whisky Lady)

Kilchoman Machir Bay 46%

  • Nose – Honey, cough syrup, leather, medicine and surgical wipes, fruity like peach and grape, very light not a hint of peat, vanilla, sweet, like an apple orchard, quite youthful
  • Palate – Peaty, sharp, black pepper, young, woody, bitter cinnamon bark, a little oily, star anise
  • Finish – Dry wine, a rawness
  • Overall – While not mature and still a bit raw it is also like a procosious youngster – lots of promise, worth checking out and quite remarkable for such a young whisky.

Our host shared tales of his visit to Kilchoman’s distillery and shared how it ‘transformed’ expectations of a young whisky. I was again reminded that for me at least, the Kilchoman Coull Point stands out.

What fun to revisit a few whiskies… and a perfect close to a most enjoyable trip to Singapore.

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Sheringham William’s White Double Distilled Grain 2015 45%

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With Crown Royal’s flying off the shelf – irrespective of whether it is the now coveted Northern Harvest Rye or not – attention is shifting to Canada with speculation… is it the new ‘wild west’ of whisky?

20151126_William'sWhite

In steps a new ‘breed’ of upstarts! They may not have age, they may not have pedigree, but they have a whole lotta passion for craft fine spirits.

This half-bottle was brought back on a whim by one of our Whisky Ladies from her recent trip to BC. It was without a doubt the surprise of the night! Read on…

Sheringham ‘William’s White’ double distilled grain 2015 Batch 1308 45%

  • Nose – Yeast, liquorice, woody sawdust, cherry – like cough syrup, a definite sweetness, toasty, nutty, light, wet barley, almonds, butter cream, earthy, but nit unpleasant
  • Palate – Very fresh, light, sweet, perfumed, like sourdough starter, grapefruit, sour curd
  • Finish – Burn
  • Comments – “Toasted ghee in a glass”

The definite surprise of the evening. Distinctly different. Never having even touched wood…

Here’s what the folks at Sheringham have to say:

William’s White is our White Whisky inspired by the high quality, smooth clear whisky that was once produced in our area. Bright aromas of sweet grains with a clean and slightly spicy flavour.

To be enjoyed; as a remarkable sipping whisky or in your favourite cocktail, in place of rye or bourbon.

Made from B.C. Red Fife Wheat, B.C. organic white wheat & B.C. malted barley.

If this is what their new make spirit is like, am quite interested to see what they produce in 2018 – their target date for release of their 1st whisky!

Other whiskies sampled in our Whisky Ladies session in November 2015 included:

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Nikka Blended Whisky 40%

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We’ve been on a bit of a Japanese whisky roll for sometime now… From Nikka alone, have sampled:

So when there was an opportunity to try this at our November Whisky Ladies evening, who could resist?
20151126_NikkaBlended

What did we find?

Nikka Blended Whisky 40%
  • Nose – Papaya and then some seriously strong pineapple, very fruity, bursting with the tropics, “It is having a party in my nose!” Some honey, vanilla… A little sprig of sage
  • Palate – Smooth, creamy, ginger, cinnamon, bay leaf, soft and buttery, chocolate
  • Finish – The most disappointing part of the whisky, some black pepper, there but… after such a remarkable nose and interesting palate… bit of a let down really
  • With water – Nose took on apples, even more honey, apple pie, a bright perfume and the taste pure candy! Even the finish became sweet candies. One observed that with water it is a bit like “burping pears!”
  • Comments – “It’s like Victor / Victoria!” “Completely schizo!”

Quite flirtatious and quixotic, not at all straight forward, some complexity and just kept changing… now it is spicy, now it is sweet, now it is  spicy… sweet… spicy… sweet…

This one sure sparked a lot of conversation. The final conclusion was it is a very ‘gemini’ whisky with two faces… at one time all sweetness and light and then it turns around and jolts you “What the heck?”

Nikka’s two distilleries – Yoichi and Miyagikyo have a serious yin yang thing going on… The peaty Yoichi‘s are quite masculine whereas by contrast Miyagikyo’s whiskies tend to be quite delicate, nuanced and light.

The funny thing is even after all the conversation and all the exclamations, is it a ‘wow’ whisky? No. But definitely very interesting.

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Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve 40%

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Years ago while in Canada I had the privilege to crash a Winnipeg whisky tasting group.

These gents meet regularly and even have a locked whisky ‘cabinet’ that houses the whiskies acquired, sampled and re-sampled by its members. They are a merry bunch and I do hope another Winnipeg trip will coincide with their session… and they would be kind enough to welcome me back as a visitor!

Naturally, I asked what Canadian whisky is worth taking back to India for our tasting group. Crown Royal wouldn’t cut it (remember this is many years before Jim Murray decided to put Manitoba onto the whisky world map) and to be honest, I hadn’t really been paying much attention to developments in the Canadian whisky scene.

Forty Creek was suggested – specifically the Confederation Oak Reserve. Why? It uses Canadian oak – great big giant white Oak around approx 150 years to be precise – named as the trees likely began their life around the time of Confederation. How Canadian, eh?

Very hopeful and bursting with Canadian pride, I brought back a bottle and couldn’t wait to try! Except… let’s just say I wasn’t exactly bowled over by this whisky. I don’t even have a scrap of tasting notes for it…

However folks back in India in social gatherings LOVED it! A great conversation piece, a very smooth, drinkable dram… just not terribly remarkable in my hazy memory of many years ago.

20151126_Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve

Fast forward to November 2015 and this same whisky made its way via another Canadian lass living in Mumbai as her ‘treat’ from Canada for our Whisky Ladies November. However, always want to keep an open mind so thought what the heck! Let’s give it another chance.

What did we find?

Forty Creek Confederation Reserve Bottle #06232 40%
  • Nose – Citrusy, fresh cut wood, lemon peel, ether like in a doctor’s office, vanilla, cinnamon, fig, a rather Canadian maple and LOTS of honey
  • Palate – Very easy, creamy, smooth, wood, simple, not complex, bit of pepper spice, walnut, not full bodied but pleasant
  • Finish – Honey, mild with a bit of bitter
  • Overall – An easy drinking whisky, nothing exceptional but entirely drinkable

While nice to have something from Canada, there is nothing to make me stand up and go ‘Oh!’ Our contributor shared a similar reaction… and then went to on to share her explorations of newer craft distilleries whose whiskies are yet to come!

So we are still hopeful our patriotic Canadian whisky hearts will find something to fall in love it from our ‘original’ home to share with our friends in our ‘adopted’ home India.

For those that are curious, here are the official tasting notes:

Forty Creek Confederation Oak is the colour of old gold and is a very full bodied whisky.  To the nose it is a big whisky with constantly evolving aromas and flavours.

Beginning with a maple-raisin-vanilla-fig, layers of praline, banana, butter cream, honeyed nuts, marzipan, spice and orange blossoms. As it lingers, dark dried fruits and anise evolve. On the palate it has a very rich entry; soft, round and dry. Full bodied with vanilla, butter cream and pepper spice which is nicely framed with oak, walnut and smoke. 

An exceptional finish that has great depth. A long lingering finish with fading spice and white pepper.  Excellent balance and vibrant flavour. 

Here’s what others have to say about this Forty Creek:

Other whiskies sampled in our Whisky Ladies session in November 2015 included:

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Whisky Ladies November tasting adventures – take two!

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Our lovely ladies gathered not once but twice in November!

After a Cask Strength Diwali featuring Glenfarclas 105 60%, Chichibu 2009 63.1%, A’bunadh 35 60.3%… we were ready for a change of pace.

Shruti's Pic

Photo courtesy of our host @ShrutiS

Our line-up included:

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Singapore sipping – Miyagikyo 15 year 45%

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The wonderful thing about Singapore is that even places that are primarily for post-work beers such as The Bank Bar + Bistro near Asia Square stock a decent collections of whiskies.

Interestingly the server shared how they are pushing patrons towards the Glenfarclas and away from the Japanese whiskies they earlier promoted. Perhaps due to the rising prices and scarcity of the Japanese whiskies they are simply working through the remaining stock and trying to encourage a return to old faithfuls from Scotland?

20151203_The Bank

Naturally of the whiskies on offer, my eye was drawn to the Miyagikyo… particularly the 15 year. Yet  horror of all horrors, they serve in standard glasses. Oh… my inner whisky snob is definitely surfacing!

What did I find with the whisky?

  • Nose – Very sweet! Lots of toffee, fudge, mild spice…. apples… stewed apples to be precise
  • Palate – Can I just say – yum? Malty, bit of spice, a little bitter cinnamon bark, dry, has a good mouthfeel… a toffee sweetness
  • Finish – Definitely malty, quite pleasant with a splash of spice. Nice that it doesn’t just dash off but instead settles in for a friendly visit

No tropical fruits or other citrus elements, no perfume or sea salt. Why mention what its not? Well… normally I expect something more from the nose for a Japanese whisky. This one didn’t seem to have such layers of complexity on the nose… It also didn’t have the decidedly ‘feminine’ quality I was anticipating from a Miyagikyo. However in fairness… take one look at the picture and you know it wasn’t exactly sampled using optimal tasting glassware!

Overall the yumminess of the whisky and quite lovely finish more than compensated. In short – delightful.

20151203_Miyagikyo

Curious to see what others think, before publishing this post I looked up what the “Chaps at Master of Malt” have to say… OK this is scary… I swear I did not look at their notes before writing mine. I pinky swear it! But it does seem to back-up the impression of lovely but not so complex on the nose…

Tasting Notes by the chaps at Master of Malt

  • Nose: Very sweet with vanilla fudge, toffee apple and spice. A straightforward nose, without heaps of complexity, but very charming nonetheless.
  • Palate: Malty, toffeyed, and generically fruity, this is a great session dram – not too heavy, and very pleasing.
  • Finish: Spices, hints of granary toast. Malty.

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Hibiki Japanese Harmony “Master’s Select” 43%

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My early introduction to Hibiki was with its enjoyable 12 year blend years ago and then its even more delightful 17 year sibling. However the craze for Japanese whiskies in recent years has meant pressures on stock and, like many other companies, Suntory is no exception to embracing the NAS trend rather than be restricted to have a year statement linked to the youngest whisky found in the bottle.

Japanese Harmony “Master’s Select” is a recent Hibiki offering found in most Duty Free shops around the world… and just so happens to be the whisky that kicked-off our regular group‘s November tasting trio!

Hibiki Japanese Harmony

As our normal practice, we sampled blind then revealed the whisky…

Hibiki Japanese Harmony NAS 43%

  • Colour – Amber
  • Nose – That new bottle ‘bang!’ with jackfruit, over-ripe fruit, then a little sour, slightly medicinal, morphing into sweet basil, a little Vicks vapour rub, very sweet, fresh, even a whiff of orange marmalade and eucalyptus
  • Palate – Dry, bitter, a bit ‘hard’ with light leather, quite ‘wintery’, a bit oaky, nutty – more along the lines of a betel nut with that astringent after taste, with a larger sip becomes quite spicy
  • Finish – There but relatively non-descript, nothing exceptional
  • Water – Without even adding, it feels like was already opened with a few drops of water, those that did found it spicier but didn’t add anything specific
  • Speculation – Sense that it is between 40 – 43%, feel of being a bit ‘junior’, could the colour have a little caramel?

The unveiling – the new Hibiki NAS blend with Yamazaki sherry cask, Hakushu and Chita.

And our overall thoughts? Quite straight, linear, no complexity, yet equally a ’no complaints’ kind of whisky! An entirely pleasant dram and when in the mood to simply sip, enjoy while listening to say.. classical music… this would do the trick!

Here’s what the Masters of Malt folks have to say about the whisky:

Hibiki Japanese Harmony is made with malt whiskies from the Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries, as well as grain whisky from the Chita distillery. The whiskies are drawn from 5 different types of cask, including American white oak casks, Sherry casks and Mizunara oak casks. The blend itself was crafted by the Suntory Whisky blending team, led by Master Blender Shingo Torii. An elegant expression, with wafts of honey, orange, a herbaceous touch or two and light oak.
The other whiskies sampled in our November session included:

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Whisky double trouble

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A funny thing is starting to happen… as our original whisky tasting group looks forward to our 5th year together, we are beginning to do a little inadvertent duplication.

As our practice is to rotate hosts with each host responsible for curating the evening, not disclosing the whiskies procured for our sampling pleasure until after we have tasted blind, it means we do not coordinate with each other to ensure we aren’t buying the same or similar thing.

At the time of the reveal, we are now occasionally hearing ‘Oh’ in a different tone as the whisky just tried was already acquired for a forthcoming session by another member. That happened in August with the Bruichladdich The Organic Scottish Barley 50%.

However for those that are similar, rather than exactly the same, it means we can play around with interesting comparisons… and in the coming months we will have opportunities to do just that!

Hibiki Harmony, Aultmore 18, Glenburgie 15

Hibiki Harmony, Aultmore 18, Glenburgie 15

For example, November’s three whiskies included:

Why is that remarkable?

We had just sampled the Aultmore 15 year bottled by Gordon & MacPhail the previous month… and here was another Aultmore. Naturally we have asked the hosts from both sessions to bring along both bottles to our next tasting in January!

And now that I have the delightful Whisky Ladies group too, that provides scope for even more such comparisons! Between the two whisky tasting groups, I was able to put side-by-side the distillery release of Caol Ila 12 year next to a Gordon & MacPhail Caol Ila 12 year.

For those of you part of a whisky tasting group, how do you acquire whiskies and organise your sessions?

And do you sometimes get that ‘Oh!’ of duplication or ‘Oooh!’ for another opportunity to do a different kind of comparison?

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Rare Japanese Whisky – Karuizawa 39 year 1973/2013 Cask No 1607 67.7%

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I still cannot believe we sampled this near mythical dram. While I was intrigued but not blown away by the ‘entry level’ Asama, a mature Karuizawa whisky is valued in the $15,000 range?!

That is… if you can find it…

Image from Scotch Whisky Auction

Image from Scotch Whisky Auction

This vintage cask no 1607 release from Karuizawa was bottled exclusively for La Maison du Whisky at a cask strength of 67.7%. It was distilled in December 1973 and bottled July 2013, making it 39 years old, with only 138 bottles taken from the ex-sherry cask. To call it ‘rare’ is a bit of an understatement!

Here is what we found:

  • Colour – Deep rich burgandy
  • Nose – Like a fine cognac, hint of orange zest, grape, sugary honey
  • Palate – Fire, orange, chocolate
  • Finish – Cigar pipe tobacco soaked in cognac

The sample came courtesy of India’s Malt Maniac Krishna Nakula and tasted together with the gorgeous quartet of grand dames – Glendronach 39 – 42 year whiskies.

My tasting notes simply do not do justice…. it is hard to put into words something that just wraps you up in so many layers of richness… It was a bit overwhelming to sample such mature, complex and yet still eminently enjoyable drams. Age doesn’t necessarily mean quality, but in this case it does!

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Murray makes Manitobans proud!

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Speaking as a proud Manitoban gal, I’m always delighted when anything from my home province makes its mark positively beyond its borders.

However as a whisky explorer, I must admit Rye has never been my thing and the humble Crown Royal from my old backyard Gimli, Manitoba took a back seat long ago…

That said, I’ve begged family and friends to pretty please snag me an extremely reasonably priced bottle of the Northern Harvest Rye from the local Manitoba liquor store to be collected on my next trip to Canada… I’m always open to have my scepticism refuted! And happy to bring the novelty of Manitoban whiskey to Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Crown-Royal-Northern-Harvest-Rye

So what is all the fuss? Skipping merrily past many marvellous Scotch whiskies, Mr Murray has established a clear non-Scottish top 5 with:

  1. Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye (Canada) – £47  (Manitoba sells for only CND 32.99!!)
  2. Pikesville Straight Rye (USA) – £33
  3. Midleton Dair Ghaelach (Ireland) – £180
  4. William Larue Weller Bourbon (Bot.2014) (USA) – £65
  5. Suntory Yamazaki Mizunara (Bot.2014) (Japan) – £45

As for the Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye, here is what Mr Murray has to say along with his rating of 97.5/100:

Rye, that most eloquent of grains, not just turning up to charm and enthral but to also take us through a routine which reaches new heights of beauty and complexity. To say this is a masterpiece is barely doing it justice.

And here are what the folks over at Crown Royal share:

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye combines the distinctive flavor of Canadian rye grain with the unmistakable smoothness of Crown Royal for a truly exceptional Canadian whisky.

  • Nose – Baking spices, cereal, light wood spices
  • Palate – Gentle oak note, rich butterscotch, spiced vanilla, develops into soft peppery notes
  • Finish – Smooth and creamy

So there you have it folks. As for this Manitoban? My father managed to ‘score’ a bottle from our local liquor store… which has wound its way back to Mumbai for an upcoming session with the Whisky Ladies.

I also had a chance to sample this whiskey:

Check out the other Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2016 winners here!

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