Category Archives: Scotland

Bowmore Travel Trilogy – 17 year White Sands 43%

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Last in our Bowmore travel trilogy was the 17 year “White Sands.”

I’d picked this bottle up in Singapore duty free back when it was 1st launched. It was one of my “speed date” sample that lead to a clear “buy” decision! And since then I’ve been patiently waiting to open the bottle with our Whisky Ladies.

Bowmore 17 year White Sands 43%

  • Nose – Rich vanilla, citrus orange, honey almonds, very floral, raspberry treacle, light peat smoke, chocolate coffee then cotton candy
  • Palate – Spices, light creamy toffee, cloves, quite a delicious curl of peat, nice and chewy without being heavy, smooth as silk
  • Finish – A long lingering sweet spice with a bitter cinnamon tail

And what did the Whisky Ladies really think?? We LOVED it!

We found it was one of those whiskies that says – “Pull up a nice comfy chair, curl up and pay attention to me. Trust me, you absolutely will not regret!”

There is something quite sophisticated about this whisky. One mentioned ballgowns and tuxedos about to take a twirl on the dance floor…. that spins into a seduction!

For others it was just nice to settle down with an amiable whisky with multiple dimensions. The nose especially has such a lovely range of aromas, it is delicious to sip and savour, with a surprisingly long finish. In short – ticks the right boxes!

Here is what the Bowmore folks have to say about this whisky:

“Inspired by Islay’s pristine white beaches.”

Islay’s coast line boasts seven miles of pristine white beaches and has been the inspiration for White Sands. Matured for seventeen long years, this is Bowmore Master Distiller’s personal favourite. Matured in the finest ex Bourbon casks, the treacle toffee and ripe exotic fruits bound together by warm peat smoke.

  • Nose: Light peat smoke, rich treacle toffee and ripe exotic fruits
  • Taste: Creamy toffee and malty sweetness, together with a delicious warm smokiness
  • Finish: The incredibly smooth, warm and comforting finish

In this case, we would agree with the tasting notes… and of the three whiskies, there was zero doubt which was our favourite! In terms of the three, Black Rock is the most readily available. While not a bad whisky, it unfortunately is outclassed by the other two. Gold Reef may be slightly more challenging to find. And White Sands? Excellent value for a beautifully balanced whisky with enough character to keep you well engaged! It is certainly one to recommend to those who enjoy their whisky with a bit of smoky sweetness.

So while it was long after the initial launch, it was still fun to explore the Bowmore ‘travel trilogy‘:

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Bowmore Travel Trilogy – Gold Reef 43%

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Next up in our Bowmore travel trilogy was another NAS – Gold Reef.

This particular bottle was acquired on my partner‘s trip to Beirut, Lebanon on behalf of our host – a fellow theatre actor. Since last year we have impatiently waited for an opportunity to bring our trilogy together…

And what did the Whisky Ladies think?

Bowmore Gold Reef 43%

  • Nose – Treacle, apple, summery caramel, toasted coconut, marzipan, with tropical fruits. As it opened, particularly after sipping, a delicious maple syrup joined some peat with sweet vanilla and hint of spice
  • Palate – Peat, citrus, heat, bitter chocolate, a bit of dry wood
  • Finish – The heat opens up revealing honey sweet, cinnamon then after a few more sips settles into a bitter finish

We found it very inviting on the nose, the palate was such a contrast – in a good way. The finish remains.

Here is what the Bowmore folks have to say about this whisky:

“Inspired By The Sun’s Reflection On Islay’s Coral Seabed.”

Further out to sea and deep beneath the waves lies Gold Reef. Named for the way the glow of the sun’s rays reflect off the coral seabed, this same old catches the eye inside every bottle of Gold Reef. Predominately matured in 1st fill ex-bourbon casks, it rewards with notes of smooth vanilla, citrus fruits and sea salt.

  • Nose: Vanilla, coconut milk, delicious baked peach, oranges and lemons
  • Taste: Tangy peat, pineapple, juicy mango and kiwi fruit tempered by sea salt and olive oil
  • Finish: The long, honeyed, zesty finish

Not so sure about the kiwi fruit or olive oil but certainly the balance is more or less what we found!

Our Bowmore ‘travel trilogy‘ evening included:

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Bowmore Travel Trilogy – Black Rock 40% Revisited

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1st in our Bowmore travel trilogy was an NAS whisky we sampled a few months earlier – Black Rock.

The original bottle helped inspire the Bowmore Travel Trilogy theme… as one of our ladies happened to acquire it at the same time I picked up the White Sands. However when another whisky lady picked up the very same one, it gave us an opportunity to try it in one of our “Contributor’s Choice” evenings a little earlier and revisit it side-by-side with two other Bowmores – what fun!

Bowmore Black Rock 40%

And what did the Whisky Ladies think the 2nd time around?

  • Nose – Smoked fruit, dried prunes, sun-dried currents and cranberries, burnt orange, roasted almond, a puff of smoke
  • Palate – Sweet spice, smooth peat, bit of cloves, that hint of smoke carried through
  • Finish – Cinnamon sweet, there but barely

Overall a simple straight forward whisky. We found the nose more exciting than the palate. Easy to drink though some found it a little sweet.

How did this contrast with our earlier tasting experience?

  • Nose – Initially sour curd, warm and wintry, intense and then closed, light peat, then strong sour cherry, raisins spice toasted nuts
  • Palate – Well… clearly into 40% territory here… however once we got past the ‘watered down’ dimension enjoyed the smoky, cherry and other tight dried berries, sweet dry spices
  • Finish – Much fainter than expected – just a touch of sweetness, smoke and spice

Here is what the Bowmore folks have to say about this whisky:

“Inspired by the Black Rock of Islay.”
  • Nose – Smoke infused with raisins, pepper, warm cocoa beans and burnt orange
  • Taste – Rich sherry and peat smoke followed by blackcurrant treacle toffee and cinnamon spice
  • Finish – Beautifully balanced peat smoke and sea salt

Our Bowmore ‘travel trilogy’ evening included:

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Bowmore Travel Trilogy – Black Rock, Gold Reef, White Sands

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As Whisky Ladies, we enjoy celebrating the contributions of whisky women to the industry.

Rachel Barrie has a career that started with the Glenmorangie team, gaining experience to become a whisky creator and master blender for The Glenmorangie, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Moet Hennessy (LVMH) before joining Morrison Bowmore Distillers, Beam Suntory in 2011. As Master Blender, she described “Islay is my escape. There’s part of me that’s a free spirit and very elemental.”

As Whisky Ladies, we thought it rather apt to have a session featuring whiskies where a professional Whisky woman was involved!

So we set about early 2016 to collectively acquire a ‘travel trilogy’ from Bowmore with:

For once, it was surprisingly easy to buy… the trick turned out to be finding an evening when all three ladies who purchased the bottles were `free on the same night!

This finally happened in April 2017… by which time Rachel Barrie had changed jobs and joined BenRiach and Glendronach Distillery Company as Whisky Maker.

Didn’t matter to us – we toasted her in spirit anyways!

Other Bowmore‘s tasted over the years include:

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Whisky Live Singapore – Balvenie

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I’m nearing the end of my Whisky Live Singapore ‘speed dates‘… I made zero attempt to get to all booths, instead I wandered, meandered, stopping where fancy struck. In a few cases, I planned to return but didn’t yet there was no regret… all that means is more to explore at the next one!

Next up is a wee nip of Balvenie…

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I will admit to skipping over the 12 year and Caribbean Cask 14 year to go straight to the Doublewood 17 year.

2016-11-12-balvenie-17-yrThe DoubleWood 17 Year Old has a lovely honey vanilla nose, crisp orchard fruit, spicy,  toffee… in short lip smacking good!

And then Neil Strachan, Regional Brand Ambassador SouthEast Asia intervened with this secret little beauty…

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Balvenie (1994/17 Nov 2015) 56.1% Cask No 4013

This was a dram savoured and enjoyed without scribbles… just because sometimes one just needs to stop and experience.

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Other Balvenie’s sampled include:

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Whisky Archives – Cracking open the cabinet…

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Another from the tasting archives… this time from Sept 2011. Rediscovering these notes brought a flood memories of my previous Mumbai flat… that had a fabulous cabinet in which all my whisky was stashed… now replaced in our current home by a larger storage space waaaaay up high in our kitchen pantry.

We broke with tradition and merrily abandoned all pretense of blind tastings… instead settled down for a sampling of various bottles. It became a  popularity contest between different regions and geographies as small pegs of multiple whiskies were sniffed, swirled, swallowed, savoured and yes – much discussed!

Samplings from earlier sessions - all quaffed at one occasion!

Speyside‘s dominated the evening with:

  • Aberlour’s cask strength Abu’nadh batch 32 (sampled earlier) and batch 31 were compared. Batch 31 was a clear winner and a hit of the evening! Bold yet with an extraordinary warm finish… with layers to discover and enjoy.
  • Aberlour 10 year held its own with slight smokiness and butter, however was overshadowed by it’s cask strength cousin.
  • Cragganmore 12 year was softer on the palate and a nice contrast to the Abelours
  • Glenrothes 12 year (also sampled earlier) gained appreciation for its smooth fruity aroma, sherry note and oak, medium slightly spicy finish.

Islay‘s were represented by a few familiar friends:

  • Bunnahabhain 12 year 40% is a regular favourite with several folks
  • Caol Ila is also well-known and after the last drop of one bottle was polished off, another was opened… Need one say more?
  • Lagavulin 16 year was also a familiar friend but neglected with all the other options…

Highland

  • Dalwhinnie from the highest distillery in Scotland was a delightful gentler ‘everyday’ favourite

Japan

  • Suntory’s Hakushu 18 year…. In a class of its own with hints of forest, moss, nuanced, with a divine finish – simply exquisite. It remains one of my favourites!

Canada

  • Crown Royal from Gimli, Manitoba (my home province) certainly added a different element with rye, however alas outclassed by single malt companions

Naturally what’s expressed here is only one interpretation based on snippets of conversation and personal bias. Would love to hear others opinions on any of these whiskies…

Slainthe!

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Whisky Live Singapore – Bruichladdich

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Popping by the Bruichladdich booth at Whisky Live Singapore was a distinct highlight.

One of the Masterclass sessions I hoped to join was Richard Gillam’s “Bruichladdich Presents Truth and Lies in Whisky.” Alas it was sold out. Fortunately their whisky booth was well stocked!

After the extraordinary Prince Charles & Lady Di Wedding Bruichladdich from the Collector’s Room, it was time to go back to the basics… and beyond…

My notes with brief impressions of the different whiskies were scant, the memory of the booth was not!

Manned by a merry bunch, the passion and enthusiasm of the team was completely infectious!  It was a popular spot, sparking conversations amongst samplers… the ability to do a peat progress from none to “Holy toledo Batman” ppm was a hit!

So too was a ‘tip’ from Murray Campbell, Bruichladdich’s Brand Ambassador for Asia… understanding the warmer climes of our region, he suggests cooling your mouth with a ‘shot’ of ice water before enjoying your dram.

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Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 50%  – Ahh…. Lip smacking lightly floral, fruity, clean and honey sweet

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Bruichladdich Port Charlotte Scottish Barley 50% – Bacon – that wonderful sweet peat element that comes through with a few whiskies – yum!

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Then a pair of mighty Octomore 5 years:

  • Edition 07.1 PPM 208 59.5% – Syrupy, no doubt this is peat on steroids yet somehow manages to remain not only a drinkable dram, a most enjoyable one too!
  • Edition 07.3 PPM 169 (2010) 63% – Sweet & fab, amazing what balance between peat and sweet can be achieved!

Later, I had an opportunity to sample Bruichladdich‘s Black Arts 4.1 49.2% and a sneak peak into their Black Arts 5.1 % which is now out… Exceptional both!

What a wonderful treat and terrific way to finish a quick nip through some Bruichladdich whiskies.

Other Bruichladdich‘s sampled til date include:

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Lost Distillery 2 – Jericho, Gersten, Lossit, Auchnagie

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Whisky Live Singapore 2016 featured many a fine dram! Plus discovering new experiments in the world of whisky.

The Lost Distillery Company set out to create “modern interpretations of lost whisky legends.” My 1st sampling set began with the lightest style profile from the “Classic Range” with Auchnagie, Towiemore then Stratheden, gradually gaining momentum towards more robust profiles.

I continued my explorations with three more whisky distillery recreations of days gone by from the Classic range (all bottled at 43%) then closed on one from their Archivist range (bottled at 46%)…

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Jericho Distillery (1824-1913) Classic 43%

  • Nose – Sherry bomb! All those Christmas plum cake elements with an overlay of sweet perfume
  • Palate – Full sherry, lots of rum raisins
  • Finish – Dry sherry

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Gerston Distillery (1796-1882 & 1886-1914) Classic 43%

  • Nose – Briny spice, maritime character, windswept freshness
  • Palate – Toffee, rum caramel, edge of peat
  • Finish – Carries on with smokey elements

I don’t know why, but this whisky reminded me of Kolkata – India’s early British colonial capital. It was a nice surprise… Do also check out the Whisky Lassie review.

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Lossit Distillery (1817-1867) Classic 43%

  • Nose – Lots of smokey peat, salt more than sweet peat, softer bacon, pear drop
  • Palate – A contrast with a softer more delicate creamy profile, hint of pepper
  • Finish – Mellowed out completely

What a contrast – quite pronounced peat on the nose, yet was much more soft and creamy on the palate then a mild finish…

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Just when I thought my sampling as over… out came another Auchnagie at 46% from batch 2/11, bottle no 709, part of their “Archivist” range.

  • Nose – Soft fruits and spice with a slightly tart citrus twist
  • Palate – Then rich, sweet, round full body… in short, delicious!

I sampled seven Lost Distillery whiskies, all ‘speed dating‘ sampling rather than a ‘proper’ sessions, however still gave a sense of quite distinctive styles. Enough to conclude these folks are certainly expanding the horizons of what is possible. The passion and enthusiasm of the team was palpable and I was delighted to have a chance of making their passing acquaintance and wish them well!

Other Lost Distillery whiskies sampled at Whisky Live Singapore include:

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Lost Distillery 1 – Auchnagie, Stratheden, Towiemore

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Whisky Live Singapore 2016 had such a dizzying array of whisky options I knew from the start I would survive only by sniffing, swishing and spitting… and by not getting to every single booth.

One that was intriguing was a venture by Lost Distillery Company to recover ‘lost distillery’ styles. Is this the authentic original whisky produced under the distillery name? Certainly not. However is it an archivists equivalent to recreating lost legends? Yes indeed, with meticulous attention to detail. My old academic historian avatar was keen to know more..

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I sampled seven whiskies in two different sets… While I have shared my tasting notes below, keep in mind this was ‘speed dating‘ style sampling rather than sitting down for a ‘proper’ session… hence more a hint of impressions rather than full consideration of the whisky characters.

Ewan Henderson, Global Brand Ambassador, began the 1st set with the Classic Selection – going from lightest style profile gradually building towards the more robust whiskies.

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Auchnagie Distillery (1812-1911) 43%

  • Nose – Lots of cereals, organic, citrus tending more towards grapefruit than orange, light floral
  • Palate – Very smooth & soft, sweet and fruity
  • Finish – Longer than expected, bit spicy – pepper?

The Lost Distillery gent shared there were a number of owners over the years and called this a “Highland masquerading as a Lowland” whisky.

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Strathden Distillery (1829-1926) 43%

  • Nose – Immediate sense of minerals, salty rock, briney, citrus spice
  • Palate – Orchard fruits, chocolate, slightly heavy, was there sweet peat and perhaps a dash sherry too??
  • Finish – Dry, slightly bitter

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Towiemore Distillery (1898-1931) 43?%

  • Nose – Apple crumble, sherry, vanilla, light almonds
  • Palate – Classic speyside
  • Finish – Quite light, hint of spice

It was indeed an intriguing start and proved these folks aren’t just doing some weird gimmicky scheme but sincerely attempting to craft interesting drams. Who am I to say if they are accurate representations of their previous avatars? Yet worth checking out more!

I’ve not included a synopsis of their stories – just click the link on the whisky name to find out more! Makes for a good read.

Coming up next, more Lost Distillery whiskies:

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“The Whisky Guessing Game” at The Single Cask, Singapore

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Having an opportunity to ‘try something different‘ seems to be the hallmark of most whisky aficionados journey. What better way than through bottlers not disclosing the distillery… here follows the tasting notes and speculation from an anonymous Islay whisky flight experienced at The Single Cask in Singapore.

Cask Islay 46%

  • Nose – Citrus smoke, sweet brine
  • Palate – Ash, peat, oily, sense of being a bit sticky, doesn’t travel well
  • Finish – Bitter… makes you want water!

Cask Islay is a small batch release from A.D. Rattray and you can read what they have to say here.

Islay Storm 40%

  • Nose – Softer than the Cask Islay, fresh grass, fruity apples, cereals, barley oat porridge, followed by a nice sweetness
  • Palate – While it didn’t have much body, there was a fresh green dimension and actually quite interesting, warming into vanilla custard with smoke, sweet peat, sea salt, eminently enjoyable
  • Finish – Very nice finish, surprisingly long

The folks behind this bottle is The Vantage Malt Whisky Company and you can read what they have to say about Islay Storm here.

Dun Bheagan Islay 43%

  • Nose – Briney citrus, tannins
  • Palate – Bit of spice, some body, the peat was actually quite balanced
  • Finish – Sweet spice with cinnamon

IanMacLeod Distillers created the Dun Bheagan collection to feature a range of single casks.

Finlaggan Cask Strength 58%

  • Nose – Tar, asphalt, leather, grass, flowers, quite sweet yet also oddly quite shy and mute
  • Palate – Sharp leather, warm balanced evolution
  • Finish – Sweet spice liquor

It may sounds like a contradiction but it was oddly muted and shy – can’t help but suspect the bottle was open too long with oxidation taking its toll.

Again, the folks behind this marvellous dram are The Vantage Malt Whisky Company, with more details about their Finlaggan range available here.

All were interesting. All would be quite affordable in the UK and not pocket destroying in Singapore. I kept coming back to the Islay Storm, whereas my companion was particularly partial to the Finlaggan.

And our guesses?

  • Cask Islay 46% Our guess? Caol Ila
  • Islay Storm 40%? Zero doubt it was Kilchoman… by a mile! And interesting to try at 40%. Sipping it also sparked my companion’s memories of his 1st visit to the distillery
  • Dun Bheagan Islay 43% Most likely a Lagavulin
  • Finlaggan Cask Strength 58% Probably a Laphroaig

If anyone can prove or disprove any of our speculations – would love to hear!

So there we have it… a wee whisky flight and a most enjoyable evening in Singapore.

The Single Cask is located at 01-25 Chijmes Caldwell House, 30 Victoria Street, Singapore 187996 / info@thesinglecask.sg / +65 6837 0953.

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