Irish Eyes – Green Spot, Yellow Spot + Redbreast

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Tonight I was all set for our Mumbai Whisky Club’s monthly tasting … and as our host’s wife now regularly travels to Ireland, I had visions of sociable whiskies dancing in my head with a palate primed for pot still drams!

Alas our sampling was unavoidably postponed to next week… but I just couldn’t shake that Irish mood… So decided it was high time to revisit the joys of Irish pot stills!

A lot is said about the distinctive character of pot still whiskies – that they have a spicier character that comes from their way of blending malted and unmalted barley. Experts say it is this mash rather than the pot itself that qualifies a whisky as being a pot still whisk(e)y.

Here are a few Irish post still whiskeys we’ve sampled over the years…

Green Spot NAS 40%

  • Nose – Creamy caramel, tarka, fresh green apples – tart and sweet combine
  • Taste – Black peppercorn and rose sherbet, bringing together both sweet and spice
  • Finish – Chewy, warm with a little spice, yet not as complex as Yellow Spot
  • Add water? With water becomes lighter with a delightful toasted nut finish – delightful.
  • Our verdict? While Green Spot more than holds its own, it brought back memories of the superb Yellow Spot. Value for money and an excellent example of what a single pot still can produced.

First sampled November 2013…

Yellow Spot 12 year 46%

From Ireland, a single pot still Irish whisky produced for Mitchell & Son of Dublin, matured in bourbon, sherry and Malaga casks.

  • Nose – Fresh and sweet with hints of a complexity to come, sweet spices and fresh hay
  • Palate – Initially a blend of sea salt and honey, it rounded out with creamy chocolate to fruit, supported by a woody toasted robustness
  • Finish – Particularly superb!
  • Our verdict? – 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.

First sampled June 2013 and again Dec 2015…  Redbreast 12 year cask strength 57.7%

  • Nose – Burnt rubber, bold, fruit cake chock full of raisins, dates, nuts, apples
  • Taste – Follows through with its promise, adding cinnamon to the dried fruit and a roasted woodiness
  • Finish – Stays keeping you cosy warm, like Christmas time, curled up by the fireside sipping spiced mulled whiskey, creamy, fruity, toasty warm yumminess!
  • Add water? Even sweeter with spicy delight
  • Our verdict? Ooooohhhhh the Redbreast definitely caught our attention and appreciation! This is certainly one worth revisiting.

First sampled November 2013… I later tried the standard 40% and must say, this cask strength one is by far my preference!

Other Irish Isles Evenings:

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Glenturret 10 year 40%

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Prompted by a recent revisit of Kichoman’s Machir Bay in Singapore, I decided to unearth from our archives a tasting session which occurred in September 2013 with Glenturret 10 year, Auchentoshan 14 year Cooper’s Reserve and Kilchoman Machir Bay.

It was an evening mad with the cacophony of Ganapati processions, requiring all of us to brave nasty traffic snarls to exclaim by the end of the evening – “It was worth the effort to come!”

Glenturret, Auchentoshan Cooper's Reserve, Kilchoman Machir Bay

Glenturret, Auchentoshan, Kilchoman

Glenturret 10 year 40%

  • Nose – Light sweet nose perhaps with a hint of lemon
  • Taste – Not so sweet on the palate, a bit spicy but still smooth with a tinge of bitter kerela (bitter gourd)
  • Finish – While the finish didn’t linger too long, it was quite pleasant
  • Water – With a couple drops of water, it became even more mellow and an enjoyable light treat

None could guess the distillery though it was clearly not a Speyside or Islay. With the unveiling it was shared this particularly Highland whisky was bought at the distillery and, back in 2013, not readily available beyond the distillery doors…

Glenturret is found on the Turret River in Perthshire. Touted to have been established in 1775 with some earlier elicit efforts from 1715, it claims to be the ‘oldest distillery in Scotland.’ Today it is better known for the “Famous Grouse Experience.”

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Kilchoman Machir Bay 46%

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Kilchoman is one of those distilleries to watch… years ago they effectively pushed the boundaries of complexity for a YOUNG Islay whisky. And just keep getting better and better. The travel retail exclusive Coull Point is a current ‘everyday dram’ favourite. I’m eagerly awaiting an opportunity to try their 10 year anniversary whisky.

At the 2015 IWSC Awards, Machir Bay won gold, it also won best Islay under 12 year at the 2015 Scotch Whisky masters and boasts of many other recognitions.

My sampling journey with Machir Bay is:

  • First sampled blind as part of our regular monthly tastings in Sept 2013
  • Part of a delightful food – whisky pairing with Kilchoman Distillery owner and master distiller – Anthony Willis and his wife in 2014
  • During a convivial evening in Singapore in Dec 2015

The Singapore evening prompted me to pull out from our archives the 2013 tasting notes… which was sampled together with the Glenturret 10 year and Auchentoshan 14 year Cooper’s Reserve.

Glenturret, Auchentoshan Cooper's Reserve, Kilchoman Machir Bay

Here is what we found then…

Kilchoman Machir Bay 46%

  • Colour – Light gold in colour
  • Nose – Such a contrast from the earlier whiskies (Glenturret & Auchentoshan), bold, rubber, smoky, burnt wood and ash on nose
  • Taste – Carried through on palate with a woodsy strength tempered by a sweeter undertone, a difficult to identify element like soft over-ripe dried fruit
  • Finish – A lingering rich charcoal finish which prompted some debate on its age – some qualities of a younger whisky yet refreshingly complex as one would more typically find in an older whisky
  • Water – Add a little water and it bloomed further – bringing out both the sweet and spice with the warmth of burnt wood remaining

There was a challenge in pinpointing this offering – the peat was too subtle for a Laphroaig and didn’t quite fit the qualities of other Islay mainstays – however the region was guessed spot on!

Also aged in ex-bourbon casks and finished in sherry butts like the Cooper’s Reserve, it is far more robust. Machir Bay captures the senses and was the clear favourite – even paired post dinner with chocolate. To learn it is available in India and not ridiculously expensive – my oh my we lucky folks!

Each sample was a contrast and unique. Interestingly, all improved with a few drops of water whether lowland (Auchentoshan), highland (Glenturret) or islay (Kilchoman)! Slainthe!

For those curious, here’s what the folks over at The Vault Fine Spirits (based in Mumbai) have to say about Kilchoman Machir Bay:

Machir Bay, a heavily peated (50 PPM) whisky, is a vatting of 4 and 5 year old ex-bourbon casks, with the 4 year being finished in oloroso sherry butts for 4 weeks prior to bottling. Machir Bay was named ‘Whisky of the Year 2013’ at the International Whisky Competition.

Tasting Notes: The Machir Bay starts with a nose of soft cooked fruits with strong peaty aromas which in turn leads to a palate of mixed fruits and vanilla with an intense sweetness before a long lingering finish.

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Ballantine’s 17 year Glentauchers 40%

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Last in our Ballantine’s Signature Distillery Collection was Glentauchers.

While there is apparently an official bottling kicking around, it certainly isn’t one our merry malters have stumbled across… not even readily listed online at either Master of Malt or The Whisky Exchange.

More typically, Glentauchers is found in Ballantine’s and Teacher’s – both widely consumed blends. As in 99% of it goes to blends! So you can appreciate my interest in exploring a sense of its character through Ballantine’s eyes (or taste buds / nose as the case may be!).

Ballantine's Glentauchers

Ballantine’s Glentauchers

Ballantine’s Glentauchers 17 year 40%

  • Nose – Strong nose, piney notes, earthy like a forest, toasted hazelnuts, a nougaty sweetness… as it continued to air after 15-20 minutes it was like reaching out to dip your hand straight into a honey-comb with the bees still buzzing!
  • Taste – Slightly bitter, hint of spice, much lighter body than the nose, smooth
  • Finish – Bitter almonds, like the Glenburgie, an unremarkable finish yet a far easier dram
  • Overall – The nose showed promise which alas didn’t carry through on the palate… however at least the nutty quality continued throughout in a rather pleasant way. Overall, quite a drinkable dram.

The preferred setting for this whisky? Could drink by the fire, in a more social manner with the caveat that it goes down so smoothly that you may not even realise that you’d finished it and reached out for more!

Overall, I must say, it was interesting to have a blend pay homage to the characters of its single malt components. We each did our ‘preference’ line-up… for my friend it was:

  • Miltonduff by a mile, then Glentauchers, Scapa and Glenburgie

For me, it was along the same lines, except I would swap the ‘last’ two with Glenburgie just a smudge ahead of the Scapa.

But the very fact that the Miltonduff even made both of us pay attention was saying something.

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Ballantine’s 17 year Glenburgie 40%

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Third in our sampling quartet of Ballantine’s Signature Distillery Collection was Glenburgie…

I will admit to having certain expectations of this expression… Late 2015, we sampled the Glenburgie 15 year and two years ago, I also briefly sampled a Glenburgie 18 year old independent bottling… Between past brushes with this distillery and particularly after the surprisingly good Miltonduff, I was primed to enjoy!

So, did this Ballantine’s blend meet or exceed my anticipation?

Ballantine's Glenburgie

Ballantine’s Glenburgie

Here is what we found:

Ballantine’s Glenburgie 17 year 40%

  • Nose – When first opened sour notes – cereals, maltiness, sweet but with a musty undertone, then dried orange, vanilla, some dried rose petals, slightly earthy though on the lighter side
  • Taste – Just managed to avoid (barely!) being cloyingly sweet, then moved into woody notes, and finally a little spice with pine
  • Finish – Starts a bit smokey but relatively unremarkable, then shifts into a bitter after taste

Overall – The most complex of the bunch yet also vaguely schizophrenic. For my companion, it simply was not worth the effort and time to unwrap the full flavour package. The nose at least initially took us on a journey however was belied by the overwhelming sweetness on the palate… There was at least some different elements however they simply didn’t come together harmoniously.

I couldn’t help but recall the delightful Glenburgie 15 year Gordon & MacPhail bottling we sampled in November. It was pronounced the “Downton Abbey” of whiskies as there was an elegant refinement to it, yet still had sufficient happening to make it worth paying attention to…

It’s Ballantine’s blend cousin? Just couldn’t match up. Not even close. Pity.

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Ballantine’s 17 year Miltonduff 40%

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Next up in a sampling series of Ballantine’s Signature Distillery Collection is the Miltonduff 17 year.

So what do we know about Miltonduff?

Well, it is said to have been established in 1824 and located in the Pluscarden area of Speyside, near an old Abbey. There is a Canadian connect via Hiram Walker’s purchase of the distillery in 1936, along with Glenburgie to produce malt whisky for their blends. At the time they used Lamond Stills which then, in 1981, were replaced with regular pot stills to increase production. Relatively soon thereafter the Hiram Walker stocks were acquired by Allied – its largest distillery at the time. Then in turn, it was further acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2005.

While you won’t readily find too many ‘official’ Miltonduff single malts out there, it has certainly been around and a mainstay for Ballentine’s blends.

Ballentine's Signature Distillery Collection 17 yr - Miltonduff

Ballentine’s Signature Distillery Collection 17 yr – Miltonduff

And what did we find?

Ballantine’s Miltonduff 17 year 40%

  • Nose – Much more complex, cinnamon, cloves, winter berries like cranberry, after airing sweet toffee
  • Taste – Darker, deeper, woodier, sweet and smooth, certainly not complex as it opens up however still rather appealing
  • Finish – Cinnamon candy bite that then mellows out… just continuing the Christmasy feel
  • Water – A drop (please not more!) opened up the sweetness shifting the winter berries to summer raspberries and strawberries
  • Overall – Nicely balanced with everything in harmony. Certainly not complex but still sufficiently worth paying attention to that my gal pal call it a ‘Select’ for her, prompting online searches to buy an independent bottler’s offering when back in the US next week.

We revisited this whisky after about 20 minutes… alas the nose had all but disappeared – leaving mostly a toffee sweetness. However it was a completely comfortable, enjoyable dram. Nothing fancy about it but with the twinkle of the Christmas tree lights and the slight nip in the air (for Mumbai!), it was good enough to prompt after our light sample of all four whiskies a return. Yup! It was the dram of the night for us.

This one had enough going on to prompt a ‘setting’ to sip….

“Cashmere sweater and jeans in front of the fire – comfortable and anti-social but at least you got out of bed today.”

What the Ballantine’s folks had to say:

Its cinnamon spiced notes bring warmth to the Ballantine’s 17 year old blend while its creamy sweet texture forms the foundation of the blend.

And our final thoughts? The very fact that the Miltonduff even made both of us pay attention says something and my fellow taster decided it just might be worth trying to track down a Miltonduff single malt!

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Ballantine’s 17 year Scapa 40%

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Ballantine’s Signature Distillery Collection 17 year are blends… that were designed to show off their component whiskies.

First up in our sampling was the Scapa from the Orkney Islands in the north Highlands, not far from the Highland Park distillery. Of the four Ballantine’s whiskies featured in the Signature Distillery Collection, Scapa has distillery produced single malts – initially a 14 year which was then replaced in 2008 with a 16 year avatar.

While not stated on the label, the gents over at Malt Madness share that Scapa is matured exclusively in bourbon casks. The whisky is unpeated though the water supply is known to be quite peaty, hence is piped for over a kilometre in large iron pipes to keep its more delicate quality.

20151224_Ballantine's Scapa

Ballantine’s Scapa 17 year 40%

What we found:

  • Nose – Piquant, lightly floral, almonds, hint of sea salt, light honey, some hay (sez the country gal whereas the city slicker couldn’t identify), as it aired slipped into a candy sweet with a drizzle of honey suckle
  • Taste – Woody, earthier version of the nose, following the hay back to its roots
  • Finish – Slight bite but general continuity of the nose and palate
  • Comments – “Sweetness & light, rainbows & butterflies” “A demure romp in a meadow”
  • Occasion – The kind of whisky you have when you want something light in the background but not requiring any focused attention.

Quite drinkable, linear nose, flavour and finish however all aligned and overall pleasant.

I will be honest, I expected something with a bit more of a maritime feel… When you think Orkney Islands, you think of sea spray from a wild remote corner. I recalled an earlier sampling of the Scapa 16 year it had more of that element… plus a distinctive heathery honey.

While I supposed we could morph the hay quality with the perfume notes into something in spitting distance of ‘heather’ and it certainly had the honey, we didn’t find the fruity quality the Ballantine’s folks describe or what I remembered from sampling its single malt cousin.

Here’s what the chaps over at Master of Malt have to say about this one:

  • Nose: The nose is fruity and floral with icing sugar scattered on top.
  • Palate: The palate develops orange zestiness with fleshy stone fruit flavours, notably peach.
  • Finish: The finish is creamy and smooth with hint of nectarine and Seville orange segments.
  • Overall: Another excellent seventeen year old Ballantine’s intriguingly displaying a stronger Scapa character.

Would I say it represents a ‘Scapa’ style or its contribution to Ballantine’s? Hmm…. It is easy to see why most of this whisky goes into a blend. It has a restrained quality that would play well with other profiles.

As for this expression? Does it stand on its own as a credible blend? It was ‘nice’ and definitely drinkable. However would I run out and buy a full bottle? Nope… just not my kinda whisky.

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Ballantine’s Signature Distillery Collection 17 year Scapa, Miltonduff, Glenburgie, Glentauchers

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Is it a blend? A single malt? Clearly Ballantine’s Signature Distillery Collection are blends… yet are they the slippery slope of introducing loyal blend fans to single malts? Or trying to woo promiscuous single malt explorers to the land of blends by enticing with ‘showcasing’ Ballantine’s ‘iconic malts’?

My curiosity got the better of me…. so picked up this sample pack in Singapore and cracked it open a cool December evening with a merry malt mistress!

Here’s what they have to say about their special Ballantine’s 17 year olds:

Ballantine's Signature Distillery Collection 17 year

Ballantine’s Signature Distillery Collection 17 yr

Ballantine’s Scapa 17 year 40%

Its rich sweet top dressing contributes to the initial burst of fruity and floral flavours providing the Ballantine’s 17 year Old blend with incredibly smooth, rare and delicate notes.

Ballantine’s Miltonduff 17 year 40%

Its cinnamon spiced notes bring warmth to the Ballantine’s 17 year old blend while its creamy sweet texture forms the foundation of the blend.

Ballantine’s Glenburgie 17 year 40%

Its fruity, floral and rich-flavoured malt sits at the heart of the original Ballantine’s 17 year old blend.

Ballantine’s Glentauchers 17 year 40%

Its delicate fruit and rich nutty flavours form the Ballantine’s 17 year old blend’s long sweet and smooth finish.

Here is what they say about their standard Ballantine’s 17 year:

  • Nose – Deep, balanced, elegant and smooth with hints of sweet vanilla, oak and a sensation of smoke
  • Taste – Full and complex, vibrant honey sweetness and creamy vanilla flavours with hints of oak and spicy liquorice
  • Body – Full, creamy, luscious
  • Character – Creamy, harmonious & oak-sweetness
  • Colour – Clear, golden amber
  • Finish – Long, sweet and smooth with a hint of spice

What did we find? Ah… you will just have to check out the links to the different expressions:

Ballantine's Signature Whiskies

Ballantine’s Signature Whiskies

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Mumbai’s Whisky Ladies greet AnCnoc 12 + 22 year with Karen Walker

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You thought we were done after a gin and three whiskies? Oooooh no! I did mention that this was the evening when our Whisky Ladies went pro?

The delightful Karen Walker, Global Marketing Head for Scottish Brands of InterBeverage Group then introduced us to not one but two AcCnoc offerings!

AnCnoc 12 year (courtesy Inver House)

AnCnoc 12 year (courtesy Inver House)

All along in the evening, Karen shared insight into the personalities of each distillery manager. In the case of AnCnoc, she described both the whisky and manager as “dry, humorous, complex.”

Here is what our ladies found…

AnCnoc 12 year 40% year aka Modern Tradition

  • Nose – Soft, a drizzle of honey and citrus
  • Taste – Playful quality, sweet, some fruit, VERY easy to drink
  • Finish – Some found it quickly disappeared, others remarked there was indeed a warm soft finish, lingering yet subtle

Karen then unearthed a sample of the AnCnoc 22 year 46%!

  • Nose – Bursting with citrus, flowery, mild yet with complexity, dry, evolves into berries with a hint of talcum powder and a whisp of smoke
  • Taste – Quite sweet, a little ‘oily’ with coconut, some bananas… or oranges… or raisins… or all of them! Sweet spices like cinnamon and cloves.
  • Finish – Ooooh! Lovely sweet berry finish, smokey with a hint of delicious sweet spices

This whisky sparked a slew of comments:

  • “It is so fresh! Yet at the same time so mature…”
  • “Incredibly well balanced and smooth… absolutely no rough edges.”
  • “Delightful!”
  • “Warms you, completely inoffensive”

We quite enjoyed our double hitter from Knockdhu Distillery. Quite the ‘finish’ to a rather sociable sampling evening for our Whisky Ladies with Karen.

It is remarkable anyone was still standing after sipping Caorunn gin, Balblair 03, Speyburn 10 year, Old Pulteney 12 year!

Slainthe!

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Mumbai’s Whisky Ladies meet Karen Walker – Old Pulteney 12 year

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After the thoroughly delightful Caorunn Gin, Balblair 03 and Speyburn 10 year, up next in our sampling adventures with Karen Walker, Global Marketing Head for Scottish Brands of InterBeverage Group was the swarthy sea-worthy Old Pulteney 12 year.

Old Pulteney 12 year (Inver House)

Old Pulteney 12 year (Inver House)

By this point, we couldn’t wait for Karen’s crazy whisky stories.

She began by sharing that Pulteney is one of the most northerly distilleries of Scotland and known as home to ‘gold and silver’ aka Scotch and herring. Picture this – a town with 7,000 migrant workers drinking 500 gallons of whisky A DAY… you do the math! And yes – that includes the women too.

Then moved on to the background to a picture of her with Prince Charles – yes THE Prince Charles of the royal family – that proudly graces Karen’s bathroom.

And the story? A potential PR disaster averted by an advance team that pointed out that with all the slats in the stairs within the distillery (remember – distillery fashion advice?), Charles could not go up the stairs with the press following… After all… the headlines the next day should be praising the unique character of the Old Pulteney distillery not speculating what the prince wears (or doesn’t beneath his kilt!).

Karen then went on to describe the character of the distillery, high up in the highlands, firmly retaining its fishing heritage.

Old Pulteney 12 year 40% – Gold n Silver from 3′ North of Moscow! 

So it is no surprise that the whisky character reflects is swarthy sea lashed heritage. Here is what our Whisky Ladies found:

  • Nose – So sweet, salty, caramel, cinnamon, ocean salt… could be… dare we say… a bit fishy??
  • Taste – Thick and smooth, woody, oily… “An orchestra in my mouth!”
  • Finish – Quite oily, no spice… “Did I just have my cod liver oil dose for the day?”

Some of our lasses are new to whiskies, so took note that Scottish whiskies list the age of the youngest whisky in the bottle. Even in a 12 year label, there may a few elements of much older whiskies.

Up next:

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