Category Archives: Highland

Whisky Archives – Oban 14 year, Deanston 12 year, The Six Isles and Yellow Spot

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Another from the archives… from June 2013 and my 1st whisky post on EverydayAsia. Hope you enjoy!

Tasting Notes from 20 June 2013

Following our standard format, we blind tasted before revealing the whisky. This month featured: Oban 14 year, Deanston 12 year, The Six Isles and Yellow Spot.

“Oh us fortunate few! What an evening it was!”

Oban 14 year – Golden amber colour. A light fruity sweet nose. Unexpectedly oily, chewy body with a spicy bite yet smooth. Short finish. Felt familiar, nice yet not exceptional.

Oban 14 year (photo: Carissa Hickling)

Deanston 12 year – A little ‘extra’ brought out by our host for those who missed trying it in an earlier meeting. Nuanced nose with over ripe fruit, sweet and spicy on the palate, lovely finish with a hint of spice that slowly dissipated. Delightful!

Deanston (Photo: Carissa Hickling)

The Six Isles – A vatted malt with single malts from the Scottish Islands: Islay, Jura, Mull, Arran, Skye and Orkney, this one kept us guessing! Quite peaty on the nose with hints of spice and other elements. Burnt ash, rich, oily on the palate yet with only a drop or two of water transformed into an exquisite smooth sweet whisky that would even pair well with desert. A lovely mellow finish. What a wonderful surprise!

The Six Isles (Photo: Carissa Hickling)

Yellow Spot 12 year – From Ireland, a single pot still Irish whisky produced for Mitchell & Son of Dublin, matured in bourbon, sherry and Malaga casks. The nose was fresh and sweet with hints of a complexity to come. On the palate, initially a blend of sea salt and honey, it rounded out with chocolate to fruit, supported by a woody robustness. The finish was particularly superb! Complex, with a gorgeous flavour that lingered…

It has garnered some very well deserved praise from Jim Murray (and us)! An exceptional whisky that hit all our favourite counts for a wonderful malt.

Yellow Spot (Photo: Carissa Hickling)

Any different opinions? Any recommendations along the lines of Yellow Spot?

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Whisky Ladies enjoy Old Pulteney 21 year 46%

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This wasn’t my first rodeo with the Old Pulteney 21 year – I had the pleasure of sampling it at a master class with Stuart Harvey and then with Andy Hannah at Whisky Live Singapore.

old-pulteney-21-yr

However it was a 1st for the Whisky Ladies and a treat to share as the ‘kick off’ to our November session.

What did the ladies find?

  • Nose – Mmmm… apples, pears, light flirtatious flowers, honey, salted caramel, ginger snap spice
  • Palate – Salty sweet pepper, beautiful complex flavours, wonderfully syrupy, soft fruit, oily, thick on the tongue, nicely chewy, well balanced, slightly smokey quality
  • Finish – Delightful dry cinnamon spice, tinge of bitterness in a good way

Then commenced a healthy debate on differences between tasting in a Glencairn glass vs Norlan glass… Our standard is to sample using the Glencairn, however one whisky lady returned from Canada with an early Christmas gift of a pair of Norlan glasses.

For many the Glencairn glass brought out more pronounced aromas, brighter more intense whereas the Norlan softened, rounded and blended the elements. On the palate, most preferred the Norlan as it enabled the flavours to shine muting the ‘alcohol’… which happened to also make the Old Pulteney dangerously easy to drink.

One remarked that Glencairn brought out the academic elements where one could distinguish the apples from honey from spice whereas the Norlan brought everything together creating a more sociable, approachable and companionable whisky.

Bottom line, the whisky was a perfect start to our evening!

The Whisky ladies experimental evening followed with:

PS The Old Pulteney 21 year was compliments of InterBev.

For more related updates and activities, check out:

Whisky Ladies experiment with Old Pulteney, Benromach, Bowmore and a surprise

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Quite a few of our Whisky Ladies were off traversing the globe in October and November. Which meant our American Adventures in October was sparsely attended and our November session felt like long lost friends getting together for a much overdue reunion!

Thanks to one whisky lady’s ‘prezzies’ from Canada was an opportunity to compare the difference between tasting whisky in the industry standard Glencairn glass vs the novel engineered Norlan glass.

It also meant we had an interesting assortment for our ‘contributors choice’ evening… where the only planning that went into deciding which whisky to sample was someone putting up their hand going “Me! Me! I have something to share!”

Old Pulteney, Benromach, Bowmore, Hampden

And what did we try?

Check out the links above to find out what we thought of each spirit plus our ‘expose’ on whisky tasting in Glencairn vs Norlan glasses.

For more related updates and activities, check out:

Whisky Archives – Singleton, GlenDronach, All Malt, The Belgian Owl

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Here’s another from our whisky archives… this time from May 2013…

Following our standard format, we blind tasted samples before revealing the whisky. This month featured: Singleton, GlenDronach, All Malt and the Belgian Owl.

The Singleton – We found it tasted better when chilled otherwise a fairly ‘standard’ whisky. A Speyside offering from the Auchroisk distillery.

The Singleton (Photo: The Singleton Website)

THE SINGLETON (PHOTO: THE SINGLETON WEBSITE)

GlenDronach 12 year – Unique on the nose and on the palate. Another Speyside worth revisiting.

GlenDronach (Photo: GlenDronach website)

GLENDRONACH (PHOTO: GLENDRONACH.COM)

Nikka’s All Malt – A beautiful offering that which was quickly categorised as a `woman’s whisky’ for its delicate, nuanced character. Refreshing to sample a whisky from Japan!

All Malt (Photo: Nikka website)

ALL MALT (PHOTO: NIKKA WEBSITE)

The Belgian Owl – Nothing exceptional and not even up to our regular standards. Perhaps it needs to perch itself longer in the cask maybe? Sigh… or maybe our Belgian friends should stick to beer? Pity this eco-friendly, colouring free whisky isn’t…. well… better…

The Belgian Owl (Photo: United International)

THE BELGIAN OWL (PHOTO: UNITED INTERNATIONAL)

Our favourite of the evening? It was a toss-up between the All Malt and GlenDronach – both delightful in their own way.

For more posts on our tasting sessions and whisky explorations…

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Glengoyne 21 year marmalade

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Now the gents I enjoy the Malt & Cigar evenings with tend to prefer the finer things in life. And have the means to indulge their predilections.

Our memorable kick-off with four ‘adult’ whiskies, all 21 years and older, was partly burned forever in our brains as the night four mature whisky corks all crumbled and the night we decimated a rare beautiful whisky – the Balblair 38 year and added the stunning Laphroaig T5 21 year as an afterthought!

Glenlivet, Glengoyne, Balblair

The runt of the litter that night was clearly the Glengoyne 21 year. At the time, I found it a bit ‘queer’… however when an opportunity presented itself to revisit, thought what the heck! And tried it with someone not earlier ‘tainted’ by our poor opinion…

Here is what we found in our revisit:

  • Nose – Sweet sherry spice
  • Palate – Woody, ginger
  • Finish – Nutmeg spice after smoking

I kid you not but ‘headache inducing’ and ‘burnt flesh at the back of the throat’ were real comments.

We further speculated that perhaps in the interest of achieving a coveted ‘age’ statement, some of the whisky had simply matured too long or perhaps it could be chalked up to our queer cork theory.

To put into perspective, we originally found:

  • ggoob-21yoNose – Sherry! Plums, caramel, very ripe figs, vanilla, sugar sweet, raisins, dried fruits
  • Palate – Woody, port… honestly a little too oaky. As in sat in the cask too long…
  • Finish – Long dry sherry spice with a wood hangover
  • Water – Opens it up a little and adds some zing!

In the end we concluded, that while not a complete disaster, it was far from a delight. Certainly not a whisky any of us would chose to drink.

The owner of the bottle admitted he’s been ‘scared’ and ‘scarred’ by this Glengoyne experience dismissing the distillery even when he receives recommendations from those he otherwise trusts.

And then entered the idea of a malty marmalade. It began as a joke, however the very elements that make the Glengoyne a little too woody, sherry, sweet… might actually be a quite fabulous counterpoint to the citrus in marmalade.

The very next day the Glengoyne 21 year was whisky off the marmalade maker’s home.

When finally will we have an opportunity to sample the fruit of the folly?

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Sherry but… Glengoyne 18 year 43%

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Glengoyne is one of those well regarded distilleries with a distinctive sherry berry quality.

Our original Mumbai whisky tasting group has sampled both a 12 and 21 year during sessions I either missed (or missed taking notes). I did encounter a Glengoyne 21 year at an ‘adult whisky evening‘ however it was curiously off, so likely not representative.

For our October session, our host was careful to ensure that while we may have sampled Glengoyne whiskies previously, what we opened that evening would be a different age statement than we had tasted together before.

As usual, we sampled blind before the reveal…

glengoyne-18-year

Glengoyne 18 year 43%

  • Nose – Subdued sherry, strong yet light (yes it sounds like a contradiction but true!), berries, hint of orange cake or apple crisp
  • Palate – Pungent, bitter orange marmalade, decent mouthfeel, good body, smooth, some sweet spice, quite delicious
  • Finish – Nice and pleasant

Overall we found this whisky very accessible, good aromas and gave the impression of being not fully sherry but perhaps a mix of 1st fill sherry with other casks, nicely rounding out the elements so the sherry dimension was not overpowering or too intense. In short, it was sherry but… not. Which worked!

For those of us who drained to the last drop (seemed to be all!), we were impressed by the excellent aromas remaining in the empty Glencairn glass.

For most, this was the whisky of the night!

Here is what the folks at Glengoyne have to say:

Spicy vanilla fruit, ripe apples and a rich, luxurious mouthfeel. This is the result of eighteen long years and a generous proportion of first-fill sherry casks.

  • Nose – Awash with red apple and ripe melon. Heavenly and well rounded, it drifts into hot porridge topped with brown sugar.
  • Taste – Full bodied, round and rich. At first macerated fruits, marzipan and walnuts; then warm spices, dry cocoa and lingering Seville marmalade.
  • Finish – Long, warm and dry.

What was particularly interesting is Glengoyne sharing their cask recipe which is: 

  • 35% 1st Fill European Oak Sherry
  • 15% 1st Fill American Oak Sherry
  • 50% Hand-selected quality Oak Refill casks

What else did we try in our October session?

Related tasting sessions:

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Mixing things up – Connemara, Glengoyne, Glenlivet

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After more than five years, our original Mumbai whisky tasting group has become known for pushing the boundaries with a focus on discovering new and different whiskies.

We’ve had home-made experiments with aging, phenomenal food pairings, independent bottlers, country specific themes, unique blends and more!

Which meant it was high time to revisit slightly different avatars of well known whiskies, completely blind to avoid the influence of advertising and pre-conceived notions.

glenlivet-connemara-glengoyne

What did we try?

No strangers to these brands, we’ve even previously had a session focused on Glenlivet, a couple of Glengoynes over the years and most have separately sampled Connemara.

What made it interesting is the order…

Traditionally, we would start with the lightest (Glenlivet) then sherry (Glengoyne) and close with a peated whisky (Connemara).

Here we did the exact opposite – peat, sherry, light! With some interesting results.

Related tasting sessions:

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Classic Highland Dram – Old Pulteney 17 year 46%

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First up in our Bombay Malt & Cigar club’s blind tasting surprise evening was a familiar friend in a slightly different age that we ordinarily encounter.

Which seemed to be exactly what our whisky curator wanted to achieve – trip us up with a less usual avatar of a well-known whisky.

old-pulteney-17-year

Old Pulteney 17 year 46%

Here is what we discovered:

  • Nose – Sweet caramel, lots of vanilla, hint of flowers, hay with a touch of dry wood, none of the typical fruity elements, except perhaps pear?
  • Palate – Initially lots of sugar, think warm peaches or apple sauce, very smooth without a single harsh element, nicely balanced with substance
  • Finish – Pleasant then absent

The smoothness was remarkable – particularly as the 1st dram of the evening there was none of the typical 1st sip reactions. A superb choice to start off our tasting!

Our speculations about region began as a default of Speyside (so many come from that region it is an easy pick!) but as we became more acquainted with the whisky, highland became the region of choice.

We pronounced it quite ‘classic’, well constructed, balanced, and while not complex, a quite lovely beginning to our evening.

With the reveal… some surprise.

Typically in recent Old Pulteney whiskies, the maritime quality is quite pronounced – particularly in the standard 12 year and the superb 21 year. What stands apart from many others is that slightly briney salty edge.

Until we were told the distillery, this element was not immediately discernible. Once it was known…. was it there? Naturally it seemed so (oh the power of suggestion or perhaps the inadequacies of our perceptions!)

We are no strangers to Old Pulteney either. While I may be a more recent convert thanks to Inver House entering India, another member has been a fan for decades.

He shared that this particular Old Pulteney reminded him of what the distillery used to produce years ago… a classic, enjoyable, accessible daily dram you would be happy to settle down with.

Here is what the folks over at Old Pulteney have to say:

  • Nose – Sweet with traces of apples and pears: slightly woody with a hint of butterscotch
  • Palate – Sweet with soft fruits: kiwi, guava, peach

Matured in fine oak casks, quietly breathing in the fresh sea air, Old Pulteney is the very essence of this unique place. Intricate, balanced and with a delicate mineral-salted spiciness, Old Pulteney is a distinctive and evocative spirit – truly The Maritime Malt.

It paired well with our cigars (Gurkha 17 year) and a serious dent made in its contents by the end of the night!

Coming up next in our BMC Blind Surprise tasting:

More Old Pulteney tastings in Mumbai:

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BMC go ‘blind’ – Old Pulteney 17 year, Westland Sherry, Amrut Bourbon

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Til date, our Bombay Malt & Cigar (BMC) gents have proudly shown off their bottles. And who wouldn’t? We’ve had some rare treats like the Balblair 38 year or whiskies all filled by hand.

However sometimes half the fun of a whisky tasting evening is to have a surprise – discover something new about a distillery you thought you could readily spot or have your notions challenged by something completely different than expected!

Our most recent BMC night adopted a ‘blind tasting’ approach, with our whisky curator carefully covering each bottle. He was rather excited to see what we thought before the unveiling… prompting us to try to guess the region, if not distillery.

old-pulteney-westland-amrut

What did we sample? And what did we guess?

Gleefully the whiskies were uncovered to show that while we guessed the right region for the Old Pulteney and the distillery was named at one point, it didn’t have the clear maritime stamp we now associate with Old Pulteney…

As for Westland? Wow! I will confess to shouting out my delight as it proves once again the folks there know exactly what they are doing!

And Amrut? The verdict is still out…

If we were betting, the house clearly would have won this round!

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Glendronach ‘Allardice’ 18 year vs ‘Parliament’ 21 year

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I first tried GlenDronach years ago and my subsequent encounters re-inforced the impression of a rich sherry spice and everything nice range.

Then along came the exceptional experience of sampling the Glendronach grand dames – 39 / 40 / 41 / 42 years old – extraordinary whiskies well beyond the reach of most malty mortals!

For the rest of us though, the core range is in our reach and well worth enjoying. I’ve tried both the 18 & 21 year separately so couldn’t wait to compare them side-by-side!

glendronach-18-year

GlenDronach Allardice 18 year 46%

Here is what we found:

  • Nose – Sherry, salty briney, sea water, sooooo nicely balanced! Candy brittle – like a salty peanut brittle, toffee apple
  • Palate – Full and chewy, cinnamon apple, dry, like soaked cedar plank to smoke salmon,
  • Finish – Fabulous finish! Some star anise sweetness, refreshing

Overall it is an exceedingly drinkable dram. A lovely well balanced tipple to enjoy with others, merrily sipping away while engaging in desultory conversation. Enough going on with the whisky to prompt comments but not distract from a convivial evening either.

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

The GlenDronach 18 years old has been named after the renowned founder of the distillery, James Allardice. This exceptional sherried single malt is non chill filtered and of natural colour. Matured in the finest Spanish Oloroso sherry casks and bottled at 46%, this sublime richly sherried malt is truly unforgettable.

  • Nose – Sweet aromatics of fudge and Muscovado sugar. Fruit compote and glacier morello cherries provide added complexity.
  • Palate – Rich dark and seductive. Remarkable flavours of stewed fruits and all-spice marry together with classic aged Oloroso sherry and toasted walnut bread combined with chocolate orange.
  • Conclusion – Tremendously complex and long.

We quite enjoyed the 18 year and were primed for further delights with the 21 year…

GlenDronach Parliament 21 year 46%

glendronach-21-yearHere is what we found:

  • Nose – Chocolate banana milkshake, lots of sherry elements yet more subtle, dry sherry, chilli chocolate warmth, a dash of spicy perfume, cloves in oranges. As it aired took on a musky quality, a bit of vegetable compost, rum raisins
  • Palate – Initially quite dry, bitter and much more forceful than the 18 year. Lots of rum raisins
  • Finish – Spice, bitter with a hint of rosemary

One serious dram. No mistaking its sherry character. Commands attention and to be reserved for those times when in the mood for a truly indulgent whisky.

Here is what the folks over at GlenDronach have to say:

Matured in a combination of the finest Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks for a minimum of 21 years, the ‘Parliament’ continues the great GlenDronach tradition of offering fruit-laden intensity in its single malts. This rich expression has been named ‘Parliament’ after the colony, or ‘parliament’, of rooks that have been nesting in the trees that overlook the GlenDronach distillery for almost 200 years. Bottled at 48%, the ‘Parliament’ is non chill filtered and of natural colour.

  • Nose – A delicate mix of ripe autumnal fruits – notably blackberries and red plums. Rich Oloroso sherry and candied orange segments. Spiced oatmeal biscuits and toasted oak fragrances bring excellent weight and balance.
  • Palate – Resolute flavours of fine Oloroso sherry and bitter chocolate sauce, which has been spread liberally over homemade plum pudding. This is all infused with fabulous spicy notes – cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Full bodied with smooth tannins.
  • Conclusion – Long and lingering.

One small confusion… the bottle we sampled was labeled as 46% and yet from the GlenDronach website, it seems they bottle Parliament at 48%, so there could be some variation.

glendronach-18-21

So… how did they compare? Both were superb! Wouldn’t hesitate to reach out to either but would select based on mood, context and company.

My companions were of the firm opinion that if buying to share with others, would opt for the more affordable and affable Allardice 18 year. Not that the Parliament 21 year isn’t fantastic, far from it! Just that it is a little heavier on the wallet and equally delivers a rich, heavy dram that need focused attention – not for everyone or every mood – but what a whisky!

When I re-read my earlier posts, I had thought Allardice a little pale next to my memory of the Parliament. Side by side it fully holds its own. They are clearly from the same family and I found so much more in the newly opened 18 year!

I equally absolutely loved how the 21 year mellowed, softened yet made more intense many of the enjoyable elements found in the 19 year. The complexity of the Parliament stands out, however completely agree with my fellow samplers that if thinking of a dram for others, would introduce GlenDronach with the 18 year (or the 15 year Revival… but that is another matter!).

More good news for India – you can buy GlenDronach through The Vault or Delhi duty free!

Related previous GlenDronach tasting encounters:

Other miniatures sampled:

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