Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2010/2016 Sherry Cask 46%

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Over the years I’ve had some interesting experiences with Kilchoman. However the last bottle that was actually mine to keep (as opposed to helping others source) was the Coull Point which was my ‘daily dram’ of choice for as long as it lasted back in mid 2015!

So when Islay Storm  showed up as part of an Islay tasting flight at The Single Cask early 2017, with an unmistakable ‘stamp’ of Kilchoman, I vowed it was time to acquire another bottle for home.

Enter the Loch Gorm 100% sherry matured… sourced from the UK. Earlier experiences with Kilchoman’s peat and full sherry sweet were all cask strength with an Olorosso and Pedro Ximenez, so I looked forward to trying a ‘connoisseurs’ strength of 46%.

Kilchoman Loch Gorm (2010/2016) 46%

  • Nose – Lasang souchon tea, bandaids, antisceptic, one found fish? Then it started to settle down with some sweet cinnamon and maple syrup…
  • Palate – Very pronounced peat! And with the peat was sweet, and yet it was initially a bit unbalanced, some sweet smoky cinnamon, cloves, dry
  • Finish – Peat with ash

After the absolutely stunning BenRiach, this was quite the change. Certainly as a contrast, it succeeded. However as a whisky for the gents to relax, unwind and enjoy… not that evening.

So I took it home…. and added a few generous drops of water – wow! Transformed…

  • Nose – It became much fruitier, rich chocolate, mince pie, vanilla and even, dare I say it, marshmallows?
  • Palate – Now we have the balance! Much sweeter, fruitier yet lost none of the “oomph!” and character
  • Finish – Long, cinnamon sweet with an unmistakable curl of smoke… almost sacred ash like… with a chaser of spice.

I think it might be fun to revisit again with the Whisky Ladies as part of a Smokey Night… where the Loch Gorm will have some peaty Islay company!

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

Named after a famously peaty loch overlooked by the distillery, Loch Gorm is the only fully ex-sherry cask matured release in our range. Since it’s first launch in 2012 a new edition of Loch Gorm has been released every year, each with it’s unique balance of sherry influence and maturity. Bottlings are differentiated by distillation and bottling years printed on the label. Loch Gorm combines rich sherry fruits and spices with smouldering peat, cloves and lingering sweetness.

And for this specific bottle? The box has this to say:

  • Colour: Rich mahogany
  • Nose: Spicy and sweet with peat smoke and dark chocolate well integrated
  • Palate: Soft fruits, well rounded and full of character
  • Finish: Lingering, sweet and well balanced

Kilchoman whiskies sampled include:

Here are the whiskies explored in our Sherry Unusual evening:

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BenRiach 12 year (2005/2018) Sherry Cask No 5052 59.3%

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When planning my sherry unusual evening, I wanted there to be variety – hence Irish, Indian and Islay – yet also knew we needed at least one “proper” classic sherry dram.

Enter the BenRiach single cask, single malt bottled for World of Whisky, Heathrow Airport. Now lest you think this was standard travel retail fare, this cask was launched for World Whisky Day in May 2018 for a slightly pricey £120.

Matured in Olorosso Sherry, non-chill filtered with natural colour, we managed to nab bottle 292 of a mere 597… and discovered it was worth every single pound!

BenRiach 12 year (14 Oct 2005/2018) Cask No 5052 59.3% 

  • Nose – Milk caramel sweets, slight citrus hint, heavy toffee, rum raisins, chocolate eclairs…  started to shift into chocolate liquor, dark fruits, nuts… after quite some time there was almost a hint of blue cheese
  • Palate – Gorgeous! Simply a class act. Dark plums, black cherries, rich and simply outstanding. Lovely cinnamon, raisins, complex, so well balanced, every sip a reward.
  • Finish – Huge long flavour. Everything we loved about the palate simply carried through… for an incredibly long time… superb!

There was no doubt this was an exceptional single malt.

Not one of us were tempted to put even a single drop of water. Each sip we enjoyed more… and it kept evolving. By the 3rd we discovered cayenne, by the 4th chocolate, by the 5th the dark fruits again came to the fore… and the next dripping in honey… you get the picture!

This was one worthy whisky that invited you to slow down, take your time, savour each sip and be rewarded with the most marvellously long finish.

A brilliant reminder of what a quality sherry dram can and should be!

BenRiach tasting notes with the bottle:

  • Colour – Amber
  • Nose – Honeycomb, chocolate, honey covered dates
  • Taste – Rich dark chocolate and herbs, honey coated almonds and figs

Here are the whiskies explored in our Sherry Unusual evening:

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Paul John 7 year Oloroso (2009) 57.4%

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I’ve been ever so patiently waiting to sample this whisky… wanting just the right opportunity to share it with one of my Mumbai based whisky tasting groups.

Finally… nearly 2 years after I acquired this lovely bottle, it graced an evening of Sherry explorations…

What did we find?

Paul John 7 year (2009) Oloroso Sherry Cask Finish 57.4%

  • Nose – Starts quite nutty – specifically walnut, some balsa wood, toast then starts to shift into sweet dry fruits and spices with an inviting warm cinnamon, mince pie, dates, fresh figs, orange citrus, a delicious drizzle of honey or perhaps maple syrup?
  • Palate – Full force and fabulous! There was a lovely spice, cherries, rich and full bodied while remaining nicely rounded. Some black pepper and cinnamon bark, complex and dry.
  • Finish – Long, strong, sweet and sumptuous, even a little hint of licorice at the tail
  • Water – Wow! Really opened it up… Much fruitier, dried apricot, still keeps the orange, rum raisins, even sweeter yet without losing the lovely “Ooomph!” and character…The nose then took on some vanilla, cream, think of a yummy egg nog with a generous dash of nutmeg

What a whisky! Even before  the 1st sip, we already heard comments like “Beautiful!” and “Remarkable!”

No question this was cask strength. And equally no doubt this was one exceptional whisky. Full flavoured and quite fabulous, it really came into its optimal character with a splash of water.

To put it in desi terms – we were “maha” impressed! Even more so when the reveal was Indian, provoking much national pride. Bravo Paul John!

And what the folks at Paul John have to say?

A limited edition of the Indian single malt from the sunny Goan coasts, Oloroso presents an aromatic tapestry of complex yet gorgeously weighted fragrances, from toasted honeycomb to figs and a touch of dry raisin. Matured for 3 years in American bourbon barrels and finished in sherry casks for 4 years, its creamy flavours offer a delectable blend of barley with grape. The intense sherry richness towards the end, gives this rare whisky its name. The finish is long and luxuriously spiced, with a cocoa tinged vanilla. It is a wholesome Goan experience, packed into every sip.

  • Nose – Complex and gorgeously weighted, Toasted honeycomb, dry resin, dates, figs and apricot, its almost an aromatic tapestry.
  • Palate – Magnificent mix of barley and grape, sweet and creamy, intense richness of sherry in the end.
  • Finish – Long and luxurious, with pulsing vanilla-cocoa mix and a build-up of spices.
  • Colour – Dark Amber
  • Pairing – This extremely complex whisky needs food that can complement it well. Tender, juicy steaks and blue cheese can help you unravel every nuance of this magnificent malt from Goa.

Paul John Whiskies:

Here are the whiskies explored in our Sherry Unusual evening:

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Hyde No. 6 President’s Reserve 46%

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Thanks to a mutual whisky aficionado, I was introduced in Mumbai many months ago to two of the merry men behind Ireland’s new whiskey brand – Hyde. Note the deliberate use of brand not distillery… as these folks are building a name for themselves as “bonders” working with existing distillers to craft a range of whiskies with ambitious plans to some day some way have a distillery of their own.

What did they send our way?

Well… A curious miss greeted the Hyde on its arrival… and then I waited an exceedingly long time to find the right evening to share this bottle… So what did we find?

Hyde No. 6 President’s Reserve (May 2017) 46% Bottle No 4780/5000

  • Nose – Bright lemon, a very light sherry perfume, talcum powder, hint of lavender, somehow quite astringent with the lemon the most obvious element – shifting from zest to liquid dishwashing soap, a synthetic lemon desert
  • Palate – One found sulfur, for most it was honey or sugar water, lightly fruity
  • Finish – An initial spice that then relatively quickly dissipated

As the gents knew the theme was some dimension of sherry, speculation turned to it certainly not being fully matured in an ex-sherry barrel but instead only finished and that too not a PX but perhaps Olorosso.

It was a pleasant beginning, simple, sweet with the nose probably the most interesting element.

What do we know about this whisky? First off, it is a blend an 18 Year Old Irish single malt and 8 Year Old Irish single grain. Both were first matured in bourbon casks before being finished together for 9 months in Oloroso sherry casks. It was named in honour of Douglas Hyde, Ireland’s first president, who was inaugurated on 25th June 1938.

And here is what the Hyde folks have to say:

  • Nose – Delightfully floral notes of vanilla, sweet, honey, caramel, chocolate, and mixed fruit, infused with spices.
  • Taste – Wonderfully smooth yet complex, creamy yet fruity with notes of caramel, honey, apricot, and apple, with a silky rich texture.
  • Finish – Rich & Oaky. It lingers in the mouth with a rich long finish.

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Sherry Unusual – Hyde, Paul John, Kilchoman, BenRiach

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Sherry’s effect on whisky can be a marvel. And I wanted to do something a bit different for our Bombay Malt & Cigar gents to push the boundaries beyond the known sherry drams like Aberlour, GlenDronach, Glenrothes, etc.

Normally we dive straight into whiskies, knowing what we are trying. However I wanted to have a bit of fun with a surprise…. So kept my fellow tasters “blind.”

Next, I introduced a “reference” pour.

I said nothing about it – merely to smell (not sip) with a request between each whisky to go back to the “reference” to recalibrate senses and compare.

It didn’t take long til they realized the “reference” wasn’t whisky at all but instead a sherry… with speculation it may be a “cream” or sweetened avatar rather than a dry fino or amontillado.

I later revealed that it was a Kingsgate Canadian sherry from KittlingRidge Ontario, Canada  described on the bottle as:

“A premium medium dry sherry, barrel aged in oak for extra smoothness.”

However this Kingsgate is now known as Apera with an explanation that it is medium dry Oloroso sherry “style” dessert wine. This 2013 nod from to EU regulations recognizes that a “true” Sherry can only come from the Spanish triangle.

Which tells you this funny little bottle, inherited from a friend who was leaving India, has been around for a few years…

As for what we tried? Not quite your usual fare…

Here is the progression we explored with our Sherry Unusual evening with whiskies from Ireland, India and Islay…. plus an extra special single cask:

Hyde #6 President’s Reserve 8 year single grain + 18 year single malt 46%

From Ireland, picked as an appetizer, the bottle stated it was finished in Sherry. What made it unusual is that it is a new brand, released to help promote the Hyde name before their Hibernia distillery in Cork is fully producing.

Paul John 7 Year (2009) Oloroso Sherry Cask Finish 57.4%

This was the biggest surprise – none imaged it could be from India! We were mighty impressed with what the folks from Paul John produced with four years in ex Bourbon then 3 years in ex Sherry casks. It also opened up beautifully with a bit of water.

BenRiach 12 year (2005/2018) Oloroso Sherry Cask No 5052 59.3%

A true class act. Selected just to be sure we had at least ONE proper single malt in our evening. Gorgeous and astounding how at 59.2%, not a drop of water was desired.

Kilchoman Loch Gorm (2010/2016) Sherry 46%

A pure peat monster tempered with 100% sherry from Islay. Not everyone’s tipple but certainly demonstrated how peat and sweet can combine!

Just click on the whisky links to find out even more about what we discovered!

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Compass Box Great King Street Glasgow Blend 43%

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Our Whisky Ladies November session quite randomly ended  up with a trio of Highland drams plus the delicious Compass Box Great King Street Glasgow Blend.

As a tasting group, we were no strangers to Compass Box and its whole new calibre of blends. In an earlier session we had even tried a limited edition Great King Street blend – the Experimental Batch.

Here is what we thought of the peaty Glasgow version…

Compass Box Great King Street Glasgow Blend 43%

  • Colour – Light straw
  • Nose – Nutty, lightly smokey, old furniture, autumn leaves, some spice, a bit of minerals, some vanilla, biscuits
  • Palate – Simply superb! Coffee, sweet berries, beautifully well rounded, some basil, a bit woodsy
  • Finish – Wood smoke, cinnamon, cloves

Overall we enjoyed our wee nip of this blend and the small bottle was completely polished off!

Here is what the Compass Box folks have to say:

In his 1930 book “Whisky”, Aeneas MacDonald teaches us that Glaswegians historically preferred fuller bodied and more flavour-packed whiskies than people in other parts of the world. So what better name for a whisky such as this?

You’ll find here a rich vein of peaty-smokiness, underpinned by sherry cask-aged whiskies, full of dried fruit and wine character. The palate is full and round, with a sweetness typical of whiskies from our company.

You can also see exactly what this blend is made of, courtesy of the fabulously transparent disclosures of Compass Box.

Here is what else we tried:

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Whisky Lady – November 2018

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November kicked off in the best possible way – a trip to Singapore and Whisky Live! It then carried on with a jaunt to Istanbul, Turkey for work and the balance all in Bombay.

Our original group had an evening of Sherry Expressions:

So too did our Bombay Malt & Cigar gents with slightly less traditional Sherry Expressions:

  • Hyde #6 President’s Reserve 8 year single grain + 18 year single malt 46% – With an Olorosso sherry finish
  • Paul John 7 Year (2009) Olorosso Sherry Cask Finish 57.4% – Paul John’s first foray into a rich Olorosso sherry matured dram – simply superb!
  • BenRiach 12 year (14 Oct 2005/2018) Cask No 5052 59.3% – A singular single cask, steeped in sherry – a true class act!
  • Kilchoman Loch Gorm (2016) 46% – Full sherry and peat

Whereas the Whisky Ladies chose to reach into our respective bars and pull out a bottle:

November also brought a few “miscellaneous” posts from tastings gone by such as:

Plus a catch up on tasting notes from the previous month…

Our Whisky Ladies Contributor’s Choice evening was a Sunday sundowner with:

And the last of our bourbon evening with:

Curious to know more? Check out recent Whisky Lady’s monthly missives:

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Whisky Live Singapore 2018

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I will admit, I nearly didn’t go… Whisky tasting events can be great fun but making the trek from Mumbai to Singapore isn’t exactly like driving down the road for a wee nip.

While a trade pass was very kindly offered, I knew I couldn’t miss the VIP section – particularly as there was no Collector’s Room this year. So splurged both on flight and entry to indulge in a day of hopefully delights.

I was joined by fellow Singapore based enthusiasts and knew there was no point even attempting to “try” everything so was rather selective with where we spent our time.

Just to get into the “spirit” of things, I actually started my sampling before the official festival with an evening at La Maison du Whisky with Mario of the Nector of the Daily Drams. My friend and I tried the Ben Nevis, Highland Park, Springbank, Anniversary Dram. I followed this up with a Deanston at Whisky Live.

Then the Sunday arrived and our first whiskies were in the VIP room exploring the latest La Maison du Whisky Artist #8 – this time with both non-sherry and sherry expressions:

Plus a few more La Maison du Whisky exclusive bottles:

And another Edradour – this time combined with Ballechin 8 year (2009) 46%.

One of the more curious developments in the industry is “constructing” whiskies from existing distilleries to “craft” the potential profile of a new distillery… along with an artful story or two… enter Ardgowan’s Expedition 20 year which was retailing for an astounding SGD 1,200!

In the main floor, it was such a treat to meet Patrick Maguire of Sullivan’s Cove to sample:

Gordon & MacPhail is always  “must”… this year I checked an interesting range in the main floor and VIP room:

Yet not everything was about whisky. One of the highlights was a chance to catch up with Luca Gargano plus a special Jamaican Rum Masterclass. Between the two, we sampled rums from Caroni, Foursquare, Habitation Velier, Hampden, Long Pond and Worthy Park.

Phew! So that is my summary of our explorations… tasting notes coming over the next few months.

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Highland Peat – Ardmore Triple Wood Peated 46%

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We closed our tasting evening with the Ardmore…

Our contributor confessed that while she was excited to try, was initially disappointed when she opened the bottle… finding it a bit too dry and somehow lacking a certain something.

Undeterred we merrily poured our glasses, keeping our minds, olfactory senses and taste buds open to the experience….

Here is what we found…

Ardmore Triple Wood Peated 46%

  • Nose – Caramel and peat! It almost reminded of caramel popcorn just slightly overdone… not in bad way though. There was also some light spice, fruit, sweet… one remarked how it smelt like cooked caramelized banana
  • Palate – Light peppery spice, a bit of toast, herbal and aromatic
  • Finish – Some vanilla, dry and again all with a lighter touch
  • Water – None of us were tempted

Overall we found that while yes it was dry, it wasn’t terribly so. The peat also was much more subtle than anticipated – in a nice way.

Why triple wood? It refers to the three different type of casks used to make this whisky – American Barrel, Quarter Cask and Puncheon.

What do the Ardmore folks have to say?

  • Colour – Golden straw, natural honey.
  • Nose – Biscuity cereal notes and the scent of banana underlie the initial nose of ginger, burnt sugar, cherries and honey. A drop of water intensifies the ginger snap biscuit notes with a hint of cinnamon, and soft highland peat smoke.
  • Palate – Light caramelised sugar, toasted barley, and warming, light peat smoke are followed by sweet vanilla custard. Water releases notes of pink peppercorn, and dried fruit flavours (raisin and candid orange peel).
  • Finish – Light with soft peat smoke, lingering pepper and toasted almonds with a well-balanced dry mouth feel.

We didn’t read the tasting notes at the time but they seem rather apt… and suspect we should have tried it once with a bit of water.

What else did we try that evening?

What about other Ardmore’s sampled?

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Highland Salt – Old Pulteney Dunnet Head 46%

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We continued with the Old Pulteney… And I have to admit this is one I’d had in my cupboard since the summer of 2017.

I remember picking up the Old Pulteney at Heathrow airport. It was a morning flight and yet I did my “due diligence” sampling different drams at the World of Whiskies. What I won’t do for our Mumbai tasting groups!

The whisky is part of their Lighthouse series named for the Dunnet Head lighthouse built in 1831 by Robert Stevenson (Grandfather of the author Robert Louis Stevenson).

And what did our Whisky Ladies think?

Old Pulteney Dunnet Head 46%

  • Nose – Bright oranges, a bit musty initially, then revealed a lovely sea salt, some vanilla, more citrus and even a hint of cocoa
  • Palate – Yummy!! Has real substance and amazingly well-balanced with sweet spices, fruit – especially pear, lightly smokey with that caramel salt too.
  • Finish – Nice, long and lingering

There was no doubt this whisky was a hit with our Whisky Ladies. Many remarked on how it was sooooo tasty!

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

  • Appearance – Old Brass.
  • Nose – Warming and sweet, with notes of spices, bitter chocolate and a whiff of a freshly varnished deck. Lemon and creamy vanilla overtones offer balance and brightness.
  • Taste – Rich fruit cake, sultanas and salted caramel give way to a touch of leather and fragrant floral top note; a long smooth finish.

Other Old Pulteney’s sampled include:

What else did we try that evening?

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