Tag Archives: Glendullan

That Boutique-y Whisky Co – Mixed Malts (Part 2)

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Our Bombay Malt & Cigar evening began with a pair of Lowland grains from North British and Strathclyde. However, we were keen to dive into a mix of malts:

  • Whitlaw 15 Year Batch #1 49.7% (possibly Highland Park) ~£83
  • Glendullan 16 Year Batch #3 48.8% ~£83
  • Speyside #4 24 Year Batch #1 47.8% ~£80
  • Tomatin 36 Year Batch #5 46.8% ~£252

Our tasting went from Islands to Highlands to Speyside too – a nice mix of malts in wee packages!

There are industry “open secrets” – like Whitlaw is code for Highland Park.

Whitlaw 15 year Batch #1 49.7% 979 bottles

  • Nose – It began quite yheasty – almost into the baby puke territory! Then some sweet spices, a hint of iodine, light salene, sea breeze, old citrus wood polish, fresh peeled mosambi (sweet lime), a hint of nuts and baked fruit pie
  • Palate – Well-rounded with a lovely interplay between sweet spices of cinnamon and cardamom with smoke, then honey, contrasting with Brittany’s salted butter
  • Finish – Peppery, sweet, long-lasting peat – frankly, it was incredibly long and lingering!

There was an island seaside quality to this dram that mixed and mingled with dessert. The peat was barely discernible on the nose (aside from the iodine), more like a smoke accent on the palate, then clearly came through in the finish.

Overall, we found this was quite a respectable dram.

Next up was Glendullan – a Speyside brand better known as The Singleton in North America. The distillery style is often described as “fresh” or grassy with a lighter, crisp profile. What did we find?

Glendullan 16 Year Batch #3 48.8% 469 bottles

  • Nose – Loads of fermented fruits, caramel, vanilla, a herbal hint too?
  • Palate – Sugar syrup, dates, a little bit of sweet spices too
  • Finish – Star anise

Whilst not unpleasant, there was nothing that really stood out here. One could call it delicate or nuanced, yet with the overall line-up, it paled in comparison.

From one Speyside to another, we geared up for the next in our malty quartet. For most, this was the “hit” of the evening that totally rewarded! Why?

Speyside #4 24 Year Batch #1 47.8% 3,549 bottles

  • Nose – Well, hello sherry! We were plunged into an old forest, aged wood, sweet persimmon, candy floss, and custard apples, roasted almonds, pureed fruit compote and cream
  • Palate – Wonderful! Spice and wood, brilliant balance, wonderful mouthfeel – a pleasure just rolling it around!
  • Finish – Long and thick

Don’t get me wrong – I like a good ex-bourbon cask. However, there is just something about a classic sherry that gets us. And to have it be both beautiful and a proper, mature dram? We were enchanted!

What do the chats at TBWC have to say?

  • N: Honeyed oak and baking spices. Lots of cereal notes with fresh juicy apple and a subtle caramel aroma.
  • P: The apple really comes through on the palate, followed by warming spices, honeysuckle, a nutty oiliness and more of those cereal notes.

Now, if only we had sampled this back when the bottle was available. At ~£80 it was a brilliant buy!

From Speyside, we moved to the Highlands with the oldest expression of the evening – a venerable 36 years from Tomatin distillery.

Tomatin 36 Year Batch #5 46.8% 878 bottles

  • Nose – Heady – almost headache-inducing – then drops quickly into something much more accessible. Caramel, mystery fruits (more on the tropical side than citrus or orchard), floral, with a funk behind it all
  • Palate – Huge hit of sweet, spice beneath the sweet, resinous, more fruit, firm influence of long oak aging
  • Finish – Spicier than anticipated at first – cinnamon, star anise soaked in sugar, long yet light

Overall, it was a brilliant progression – from aged grains to a mix of malts. My one change would be to begin with the Glendullan, then progress to the Tomatin, Whitlaw, and close with the Speyside.

And if you just haven’t had enough Whisky calendar mini experiences? Explore with us!

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Gordon + Macphail Connoisseurs Choice – Glendullan, Glenburgie, Caol Ila

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We continued our whisky explorations at the Gordon & Macphail stand at Paris Whisky Live, switching gears from their DIscover to Connoisseur Choice range with:

  • Glendullan 12 year (2009 / 2022) 45% (approx Eur 100)
  • Glenburgie 26 year (1995/2022) 1st fill Sherry Puncheon #6349, 56.8% (approx Eur 250)
  • Caol Ila 25 year (1996/2022) 1st fill Sherry Butt #16074, 59.2% (approx Eur 350)

Glendullan 12 year (2009 / 2022) 45% 3245 Bottles.

  • Nose – A burst of berries – sweet and inviting
  • Palate – Strong berry flavours – mostly raspberries with some cassis
  • Finish – Nice sweet and sour cherry plus berry finish

What more do we know? The bottle states that this whisky had its initial maturation in a refilled bourbon barrel, finished in Cote Rotie cask for 3 years. It must be the red wine that brought such distinctive berry flavours to the fore – my tasting notes are merely variations on a berry theme! Their official tasting notes share a bit more with:

Dried strawberry aromas give way to roasted peanuts and crystallised violet. Rasperry compote flavours combine with liquorice and red apple. A medium-bodied finish with citrus and red berries.

Glenburgie 26 year (1995/2022) 1st fill Sherry Puncheon # 6349, 56.8% 564 Bottles.

  • Nose – Beautiful elegant pear, lovely sherry elements, some marmalade
  • Palate – Gorgeous! Lovely balanced palate, complex, nuanced, fruity, yet at the same time “heavy” and nutty
  • Finish – Again – stunning! Full fruit flavours, long, strong with hint of spice

I’m already partial to this Speyside distillery – with Glenburgie fixed in my mind as the “Downton Abbey” of whiskies – something that harkens back to an earlier era, still with some character and spunk but overlaid with a summery elegance. Everything that I love about Glenburgie was evident here – its age merely augmenting all the elements I’ve grown to love.

What more do we know? The label indicates this was a single cask 1st fill Sherry Puncheon – clearly responsible for the full flavours found in this impressive whisky. Their official tasting notes state:

Sweet raisin aromas combine with orange peel and fruitcake. Sultana flavours emerge alongside pepper and toasted hazelnuts. A full finish with spice.

Caol Ila 25 year (1996/2022) 1st fill Sherry Butt #16074, 59.2% 555 bottles

  • Nose – Cured meat, bacon, bonfire, sweet, heavy maple
  • Palate – A proper “campfire” dram – all those meaty aromas and sweet maple combine
  • Finish – An incredibly sweet peat feat! Some chilli chased by sweet cinnamon
  • Water – Whilst I only had a small sample, I added a drop. Wow! Brings such balance to every element – fabulous!

I was careful in my tasting order – sampling all the non-peated whiskies before turning first to the Discovery Range Caol Ila then this Connoisseurs Choice single cask. It made for a nice progression with this 25 year old being absolutely spectacular. Well worth sampling if you have the chance.

The official tasting notes are a great reflection of what to expect:

Raspberry compote aromas give way to festive spices and smoke. Cured meat flavours complement summer fruit and orange peel. A full finish with black pepper and bonfire embers.

Well done Gordon & Macphail with all three! None of the Connoisseurs Choice expressions disappointed and I appreciated that they kept two vintage single casks for the “main floor”, not just featuring such rare whiskies in the VIP section.

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Gordon + MacPhail – Glendullan 2001/2014 46%

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1st up in our Gordon & MacPhail trilogy evening was a bright, light delightful dram from Glendullan.

Glendullan Distillery was founded in 1897, and was the last built of the original seven distilleries of Dufftown. Glendullan was rebuilt in the 1960’s and an additional distillery unit was built between 1971-72. Currently owned by Diageo.

And what did our Whisky Ladies think?

Glendullan (2001/2014) 46%

  • Nose – Light, flowery, a spring breeze and then a balmy summer day, sweet lemon curd, beautiful… after the 1st sip, turned to a honey cinnamon spice, apricot, fresh fruit, crisp applies, caramel shift to wild flower honey
  • Palate – A delightful spice, all rather “grown up” then shifts to candy cane with a light tingle
  • Finish – Really stays…

I was expecting something light bodied, refreshing, likely best had chilled… and sure enough… it was absolutely delightful. A completely “happy” whisky, nothing harsh yet avoided stepping into the territory of cloying sweet. Instead it was nuanced quality, exceedingly drinkable, just warm, lovely doing a sprightly dance on our palate…

On the bottle, the notes confirmed it is from 1st fill ex-bourbon barrels and describes it as:

The whisky has sweet vanilla notes with hints of kiwi and green apple aromas. The palate is sweet with cracked black pepper, lime and orange flavours. These combine with a lingering creamy chocolate edge.

Here’s what the folks over at Gordon & MacPhail have to say:

Without water:

  • Aroma: Sweet vanilla with hints of kiwi, green apple and lime. These are complimented by underlying coconut, white chocolate and rose water aromas.
  • Taste: Cracked black pepper with lime, ripe banana and orange zest flavours. These combine with a lingering creamy milk chocolate edge.

With water:

  • Aroma – Vanilla pods with hints of cucumber, green banana and lime zest. A subtle freshly cut grass and cedar wood note lingers.
  • Taste – Ripe banana, pressed apple and melon flavours initially. A delicate trace of vanilla and digestive biscuit develops.

Would we agree? For the most part yes! And for the rest? Who cares… we loved it!

The ‘affordable’ G&MP trio featured:

This bottle was purchased at The Whisky Exchange for GBP 45 and freshly opened in November 2017 for our Whisky Ladies.

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Gordon + MacPhail’s Affordable Trio – Glendullan, Aultmore, Longmorn

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I’ve long been a fan of Gordon & MacPhail – finding they deliver consistent quality for value – even in their younger or entry level ranges. I decided to test this by deliberately selecting a few of their most affordable offerings – all around 50 GBP – for a special Gordon & MacPhail evening with the Whisky Ladies in Mumbai.

The purchasing was easy thanks to help of a friend who stopped by The Whisky Exchange in London. The gradual import into India took a bit more time. What required the most patience of all was waiting for an evening to share with the Whisky Ladies!

Two of the whiskies selected were from their “Connoisseurs Choice” range which was started in the mid-1960s by Gordon & MacPhail to bring to whisky aficionados whiskies that were less readily available as a single malt at an overall reasonable price range.

One was from their “Distillery Labels” range using unique distillery designs once used ‘officially’ to bottle the whisky under license from the distillery, now in disuse except through a special relationship with Gordon & MacPhail.

The Whisky Ladies Gordon & MacPhail trio featured:

Fabulous each one in its own unique way…. 

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