Tag Archives: Undisclosed distillery

Chieftain’s Choice 22 years (1993/2015) 52.7%

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There are an increasing number of independent bottlers putting out single malts with the distilleries kept deliberately undisclosed. In this case, the bottle was part of Chieftain’s Choice, from Ian Macleod, which tend towards rare whiskies  – be it the distillery such as ones that are now closed, age or something specific that makes it unique.

Chieftain’s Choice 22 years (1993/2015) 1st Fill Sherry Cask No 3612 52.7%, 579 Bottles 

  • Colour – Bright ruby
  • Nose – Pure sherry bomb – in every way. Press hard and the different dimensions of prunes, raisins, bitter, rum soaked tart, stewed brandied fruit, then even sweet almond milk is revealed.
  • Palate – Honey sweet with spice then pure sweet with some tannic woods – again perfect sherry balance
  • Finish – Exceedingly sweet

We pronounced it “Pure desert!” And while it reminded us a bit of a Glendronach, that is pure speculation and we could be off completely.

What do we know for certain beyond it being matured in a 1st fill sherry cask? Only that it is from Speyside… and it is an exceptionally good example of an unadulterated sherry cask.

If ever anyone is able to share more, we would be most curious to know!

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Undisclosed Distilleries – Again!

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A few months back I shared a trio of whiskies with our original tasting group – each did not disclose the distillery.

My original intention was to immediately share the same whiskies with our Bombay Malt & Cigar group… we had a wait a few extra months and by the time the evening arrived, I managed to add a 4th undisclosed distillery bottle to the mix – what fun!

And challenged the gentlemen to attempt to guess the possible distillery…

Wilson & Morgan “Highland Heart” Sherry (2006/2015) 43%

We began with the delicious sherry delight…

  • Nose – Sherry, berries, bannoffee cream pie, lots of cherries, delicious orange marmalade, prune, dark chocolate
  • Palate – Malty, biscuits, Ghanna bitter chocolate
  • Finish – Beautiful, long, round finish
  • Water – Opens up more but not required

We found it warm, fruity, luxurious and utterly delicious… there is a rich robustness to this whisky which belies its mere 43%.

And the guesses? From Glenrothes, to Glendronach to Aberlour… none suspected Macallan.

Sansibar Islay 8 year (2007/2015) 52.2%

We moved on to Islay…

  • Nose – Sea breeze Islay, sweeter honey notes, some iodine, peat and then peppermint
  • Palate – Cinnamon spice, chewy, velvet and smoke
  • Finish – A lovely finish, peat, bitter cinnamon that ends on sweet
  • Water – Had a bit of a debate – yes or no – with a complete divide on whether we preferred with or without water. Some found it made it sharp and sour whereas others thought it tamed it into sweet submission.

Interestingly, while the Wilson & Morgan seemed stronger and richer than 43% the Sansibar didn’t give a hint of being cask strength.

And the guesses? It was more a process of elimination… everything it was not and only a ‘maybe’ Ardbeg… firmly in the ‘Well it isn’t…’ category was Lagavulin. Oops!

Port Askaig 19 year 50.4%

  • Nose – Wow! Sweet stewed fruits, pears, with a restrained peat, wet rag, white sugar cane as it opened revealed hazelnuts and cream
  • Palate – Oily resin, smooth as silk with a subtle smoke
  • Finish – Sour bitter sweet
  • Water – With a few drops simply made is spicier. With a generous dollop brought out a perfume smoke. Again – opinions were divided between preferring with water and those who thought it best absolutely without a drop

It has a simple yet interesting nose, a complex palate, with a sweet finish.

And the guessing game? Perhaps Bunnahabain, Bruichladdich… certainly not Caol Ila!

Finlaggan Cask Strength 58% 

  • Nose – Pudding, overripe bannoffee pie, coconut, Jamaican sugar cane, lemon curd, nutmeg, spice, dry leaves and hay, vegetable
  • Palate – Peppery peat,
  • Finish – Smokey bitter ash chased by cinnamon sweet
  • Water – It softened the whisky considerably, bringing out juicy fruits – particularly peaches

Final guesses? After an initial speculation may perhaps be Caol Ila, Bowmore… settled on Laphroaig.

If you are curious, check out what I found originally:

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Undisclosed Distillery – Wilson + Morgan “Highland Heart” Sherry Cask 43%

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Our 6th anniversary session had a twist – rather than our usual blind tasting approach, I opted for bottles that do not disclose the distillery. My last choice was Wilson & Morgan, an independent whisky bottler out of Italy – “The Italian way to Scotland’s finest whiskies.”

“Here’s to women’s kisses, and to whiskey, amber clear;
not as sweet as a woman’s kiss, but a damn sight more sincere!”

wm-sherry-cask

Wilson & Morgan “Highland Heart” Sherry Cask 9 year (2006/2015) 43%

Here is what our original underground tasting group had to say:

  • Nose – Immediate sherry, then old leather chair, dusty bookshelves, incredibly rich, marmalade, coffee, chocolate, toffee, slightly nutty, yet with that sweet stewed prunes sherry underlying it all
  • Palate – Sooooo soft! Cotton ball soft. More of the rich orange, incredibly rounded, simply so tasty you wanted to settle down with it for an entire evening
  • Finish – Red pepper, mile long finish, left you salivating for more

As one taster put it “Such a tasty whisky!” And another dubbed it “very royal.” It indeed had quite a regal quality – a classy classic whisky. The interplay of a hint of peat with royal sherry reminded us of an aged GlenDronach, yet softer and exceedingly well-rounded.

Some of us re-sampled it with a nutella cheesecake or salty sweet cookies dipped in warm chocolate milk… a delightful combination! (from One Street Over).

What does the bottle tell us? It was distilled April 2006, bottle January 2015 as a room sample Cask No 2004/2011.

The William & Morgan’s Sherry cask is known to be from the Macallan distillery. When I first sampled it at La Maison du Whisky, I simply fell in love. The nutty quality, the clear stamp of sherry with flirtatious peat… All I could think was – if this is what Macallan can still produce, where has it all gone? Truly a superb whisky.

Here is what the William & Morgan folks have to say about their whisky:

Returning to sherry intensity after the more delicate 2014 release, our young Speysider tries to evoke memories of a beloved legendary whisky from this region that was sold as a 7 years old in Italy and of which we have fond memories. 

  • The nose is very winey, almost spicy and slightly astringent, with the fragrance of walnuts. 
  • On the palate it retains this lively spiciness, for a pungently peppery character, but it’s well matched by the resinous sweetness of dried fruits (peaches, apricots, plums, sultana raisins) and at the same time it’s kept lean and fresh by a clean mineralogy. It tastes already fully mature thanks to the very active oak casks. 
  • In the end it adds a note of liquorice, to complement the interplay of spice and sweetness

Purchased at La Maison du Whisky as part of a whisky ‘speed dating‘ session.

We loved it!!

The trio of whiskies sampled in our undisclosed distillery evening included:

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Undisclosed Distillery – Port Askaig 19 year 50.4%

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I first sampled this Port Askaig as a sniff, swish and spit “speed date” at Whisky Live Singapore.

I was both impressed and intrigued, knowing it was impossible to get a full feel for this whisky, the Port Askaig 19 year made the cut to come home to Bombay for collective sampling pleasure!

port-askaig-19

Port Askaig 19 year 50.4%

Here is what our original underground group had to say:

  • Nose – Jasmin, then a whole array of flowers, perfumes, hay, lightly toasted sesame seeds, quite restrained overall
  • Palate – Delicious! Balance, nice warm spice, light peat, mellowed, nuanced musk
  • Finish – Long beautiful finish – quite refined
  • Water – Brought out honey and cumin spice
  • Revisit – A huge bouquet of flowers on the nose – one said “like what you give your spouse for a special anniversary.” Followed by lots of hay, that beautifully balanced mellow delicious whisky and long enjoyable finish…

One put it perfectly “This is why we love Scottish whisky!” A fine example of what whisky can and should be! One to sip and savour, sufficiently complex to keep it interesting, quite elegant in its way.

For those who are curious, it is a well known industry secret that Caol Ila is the distillery of this TWE bottling!

port-askaig-19-year

Here is what they have to say about Port Askaig 19 year:

This 19 year old cask-strength edition bursts with fabulously flinty, lemony, seashells-on-the-seashore flavours. This is a truly elemental whisky, perfect for sipping from hip flasks during cold winter walks.

And here is what Billy A over at The Whisky Exchange have to say:

  • Nose: Crisp, stony smoke hides a layer of muddy peat. There are hints of flowers and a thick and spicy middle, reminding me of sponge-cake batter.
  • Palate: A syrupy sweet start is quickly overtaken by flinty smoke and charcoal dust, sherbert fountains, lemons and a hint of violet.
  • Finish: Long and lingering, with sappy wood and sherbet lemons giving way to wood ash in a cast iron stove. After that there’s a lingering green leafiness – fruit leaves?
  • Water: Dirties up the nose with heavily smoked bacon and adds more sweet and sour fruit to the body – lemons, limes and berries galore. The finish loses some of its its ashy bitterness, becoming softer and sweeter.

The trio of whiskies sampled in our undisclosed distillery evening included:

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