Category Archives: Speyside

Glentauchers 18 years (1996/2014) 2 casks 46%

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I first flirted with Glentauchers as part of a set of 17 year old Ballantine‘s blends ‘featuring’ variations that focused on exploring the component distilleries. While an interesting experiment, nothing substitutes for experiencing a whisky in its single malt avatar.

Given nearly all Glentauchers goes into blends – primarily Ballantine’s and Teachers – this isn’t so easy to accomplish.

So I was particularly pleased to have a chance to try a Carn Mor bottle at The Single Cask.

Glentauchers 18 years (1996/2014) 2 casks 46% 443 bottles

  • Nose – Cereals with lightly toasted seeds, apple sauce, quite sweet with a hint of very faint jasmine
  • Palate – This is where more character reveals itself, almost reminded me of a lemon barley squash, gentle malt, sweet and fruity, with a hint of toasted nuts and something else elusive I couldn’t quite catch!
  • Finish – Retrained and gentile, quite lovely

Overall it is exceedingly easy to drink, smooth, approachable, entirely civilized though not terribly distinctive… In short quite ‘likeable’ and one for folks enjoy a lightly fruity whisky. Though restrained, the finish was truly quite enjoyable… nuanced yet very much present.

Here is what The Single Cask folks have to say about this Glentauchers (SG$198.80):

This is a sweet easy, fruity Speysider! 

  • Nose has sugar, sweets, overripe apples and maybe whiffs of flowers.
  • Taste is sweet and green apples, lemon drops, sweet barley, tinned pineapples, maple syrup.
  • Finish is nice, with a little more caramel

Reading their description after sampling the whisky, I would overall quite agree!

Related posts:

This whisky was sampled as part of a whisky flight at The Single Cask together with:

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Glen Moray 21 year (1991/2013) Cask 9980 46%

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Next up in our ‘lighter touch‘ quartet from a whisky flight at The Single Cask in Singapore is Glen Moray.

This Speyside distillery has been a bit of a ‘2nd cousin’ to the more prominent Glenmorangie distillery when owned by Macdonald & Muir and even with Martiniquaise, it is primarily used for the French company’s blends such as Label 5 and Glen Turner. Glen Moray single malts from the distillery have tended to be quite affordable, earlier with age statements of 10 (finished in Chardonnay cask), 12 and 16 years, more recently replaced by their Elgin collections:

  • ‘Elgin Classic‘ line of NAS first fill ex-bourbon, peated then sherry, port and chardonnay cask finish
  • ‘Elgin Heritage‘ age statements with 12, 15 & 18 year
  • ‘Elgin Reserve‘ featuring only a 25 year Port pipe finish whisky

So to find a 21 year is an anomaly… in this case from from Douglas of Dramlanrig collection of single cask bottlings from Hunter Laing, endorsed by the Duke of Buccleuch himself. Bearing the image of the Douglas family seat – Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries and Galloway. While initially available only through The Whisky Shop, you can now find Douglas bottles in other places as well..

Glen Moray 21 year (Oct 1991/Aug 2013) Cask 9980 46% 159 bottles (Douglas)

  • Nose – Cereals, light honey drizzle, all the usual light bright single malt notes
  • Palate – Spice then sweet with a nice interplay between the two, as it opens up becomes more and more creamy
  • Finish – More of a dry burn, nothing spectacular

The palate is the strongest dimension whereas the  finish is the least interesting element. In truth, we were challenged to tease out many specifics… It was just a classic middle of the road malt that neither stood out as particularly unusual yet had nothing ‘wrong’ either.

In truth, the limited aromas was consistent for all but the Miltonduff… which I later suspect had more to do with sitting directly underneath an A/C vent sharing a small 20 ml pour than the whiskies themselves. Particularly with the Gloen Moray, I’ll openly admit to struggling to discern much beyond a cursory impression.

And what do the folks at The Single Cask have to say about this one? Just this…

Douglas of Dramlanrig is inspired by the rolling hills and green forests in the estate of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensferry, Douglas of Drumlanrig is a collection of single cask bottlings personally endorsed and approved by the Duke himself. (SG$294.00)

This whisky was sampled as part of a whisky flight at The Single Cask together with:

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A lighter touch… Whisky Flight at The Single Cask

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Often when one thinks whisky, what jumps to mind are the sherry bombs, the power packed peat monsters, the salty brine maritime malt, or even a bourbon banana sweet… yet nestled amongst those bold, sometimes brash characters are a subtler lot…

One tends to associate a lighter, slightly sweeter touch with whiskies from the Highlands or  Lowlands… though not necessarily so…

On my 2nd stop to The Single Cask, we picked the featured whisky flight with:

Some of these whiskies are found primarily blends – such as Deanston in Burn Stewart’s blends, the Glentauchers or Miltonduff in Ballantines. Whereas Glen Moray, a neighbour of Glentauchers and Miltonduff, is known for affordable single malts.

What did my sampling companion and I think? Click on the whisky links above and find out!

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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…

2016-11-12-balvenie-trio

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…

2016-11-12-balvenie-20

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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Krishna Collection – BenRiach 20 year (1994/2014) 54.7%

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Last in an evening with Krishna Nakula, India’s Malt Maniac, was a whisky from BenRiach…

Photo: Scotch Whisky Auctions - note image is for Cask 806 not 808

Photo: Scotch Whisky Auctions – note image is for Cask 806 not 808

BenRiach 20 year (1994/2014) 54.7%

Cask No 808 Olorosso Sherry Peated OB for Taiwan Bottle 84/678

  • Nose – Peaty, sherry, brine, sweet spice, heather and flowers
  • Palate – Smooth, peat, a little spice, very well balanced
  • Finish – Lovely

One of those whiskies that sound like the different elements would not go together, but somehow do. The interplay of sherry and peat works wonderfully and was a worthy close to our evening.

Other whiskies sampled that evening with Krishna included:

Other BenRiach whiskies sampled so far include:

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Krishna Collection – Glenlivet 19 year (1995/2015) 58.1%

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India’s Malt Maniac Krishna Nakula shared another dram… this time a Speyside from a well-known distillery – Glenlivet – from independent bottlers Signatory.

glvsig1995v3

Photo: Whisky Exchange

Glenlivet 19 year (30 Oct 1995/9 Sep 2015) 58.1%

CS No 166951, Sherry Butt, Signatory Vintage Cask Strength Collection 431526. 526 Bottles.

  • Nose – Banana spice, clean, lightly herbal, strong start then bursts into a kaleidescope of colours from tea to bright citrus
  • Palate – Cereals, nutty, tasty and utterly delicious – think toast and marmalade
  • Finish – Back to being clean, yet somehow a little less satisfying

This was one of those whiskies that had a delightful nose, quite enjoyable dram yet had less complexity than the other whiskies sampled on that particular evening. Overall though a fine dram indeed.

Others from the 2015 collection:

Other whiskies sampled with Krishna include:

You can also find Whisky Lady in India on:

Krishna Collection – Chieftain’s ‘Speyside’ 22 year (1990/2012) 46%

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The Chieftain’s Collection is the brainchild of the Ian McLeod company and branded as special bottlings ‘targeted at the connoisseur.’

This particular sample did not disclose the distillery and was part of the Malt Maniac 2015 awards – garnering a silver medal.

What did I find?

Chieftain’s Collection ‘Speyside’ 22yo (8.1990/11.2012) 46%

First Fill Sherry Butt, Cask No 5162, 693 Bottles

  • Nose – Sherry, prunes, honey sweet, soaked fruits which were then stewed, mellow, plum brandy
  • Palate – Sweet, smooth, raw bananas, quite dry on the tongue
  • Finish – Long finish of stewed fruits then again dry

While it isn’t complex, yet there is a nice sweet-spice slightly astringent bitter dry quality that is quite enjoyable.

about-hill

Other whiskies sampled that evening with Krishna Nakula included:

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Whiskies shared… India’s own Malt Maniac Krishna Nakula

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Each year Krishna Nakula makes his pilgrimage to Mumbai to battle with customs to get his annual Malt Maniacs samples into India.

Occasionally when he makes these trips, he brings a few remaining drops from previous years to enjoy with special folks.

Last year he generously introduced me to the gorgeous Glendronach grand dames and a stunning rare Karuizawa.

This year, he simply outdid himself, sharing from the 2015 collection:

All of these whiskies were a treat! And go to show that with a good whisky, even just a few drops can say a lot…

20151121_Rare Malts

Other whiskies sampled with Krishna:

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Bar Night – Penderyn, Lagavulin and Aberlour

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In lieu of our original planned evening, the Bombay Malt & Cigar gents shifted gears to enjoy their version of a ‘Bar Night’ with a Gurkha cigar.

There was some debate over the tasting order and, in retrospect, it could have had the peatier Lagavulin last, swapping place with the Aberlour. However it all worked out in the end!

Penderyn Madeira 46% 

  • Nose – Initially distinctly varnish, then sweet, banana, citrus sweet oranges, resin, pine, vanilla, apricot, bannoffee pie, then odd bitter, pine needles
  • Palate – Tingle at the front, sweet, acidity at the back, banana sweet
  • Finish – Pleasant yet nothing substantial

The two of us who sampled it earlier, were reminded of why we found it an interesting conversation whisky. While not for everyone, there is a distinctive quality to it that cannot be ignored.

It also turned out to be the dram choice of the night for most gents, as it complimented our Gurkhas rather well.

Lagavulin 16 year 43%

  • Nose – Clear peat, yet rounded not harsh, wet rag, berry sweetness, black berries, shifting into a briny ocean spray, leather
  • Palate – Spice sweet, peat, ash, lovely balance
  • Finish – Lovely sweet

In short, a beautiful whisky! What a treat to return to a familiar friend…Those who once upon a time treated the Lagavulin 16 as a bar ‘staple’ were reminded of why that is the case – its ability to have balanced peat and sweet.

And how did the Lagavulin fare with the cigar? A contrasting pairing, with the whisky the predominant note.

Aberlour 12 year 40%

  • Nose – Prunes, sherry, berry
  • Palate – Candy sweet, cinnamon
  • Finish – Light spice finish

The whisky was oddly disappointing as it was a pale comparison with the more familiar A’bunadh.

And yet it was an absolutely perfectly balanced pairing with the cigar.

penderyn-lagavulin-aberlour

Though it wasn’t our original plan, the substitute ‘bar night’ theme worked rather well.

What would you chose as a trio of more accessible drams for a sociable evening?

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