MORE ABOUT GLEN MHOR DISTILLERY

The MacKinlay's Progress Towards Fame

A PRELUDE TO SHACKLETON'S NIMROD FIASCO

Too far north by several degrees of latitude for vineyards to flourish, the coastal land around Inverness and the neighbouring Speyside district is where barley grows richly, and arguably best, in Scotland. Across the maritime humps and hollows of these downlands and over much of the Black Isle near Inverness the golden grain ripens in the long summer evenings.

Towards the higher country inland, misty glens and open expanses of heather keep company with rippling, salmon-run rivers that drain water from the Cairngorm and Grampian Mountains into the Moray Firth and the North Sea.

In the 1890s, the decade of Shackleton’s Merchant Navy service, whisky distilling boomed in Speyside. Twenty-one new distilleries were commissioned during the decade across the district, on either side of the River Spey but mainly around the towns of Elgin, Rothes and Keith. It was an unprecedented expansion, an industrial blossoming. The coastal barley belt facing the Moray Firth was its anchor and its nourishment — that and the mountain-pure water tumbling through the district.

Speyside labels have been at the forefront of the Scotch whisky industry ever since. Far back in time, barley had been the mainstay of the ale industry; its role in whisky production represented a new use.

The Glen Mhor distillery was set up in 1892 at Inverness. The site was strategic. Beside it was a water source, the Caledonian Canal, on the main road south from Inverness.

James Mackinlay headed the project in partnership with John Birnie from the adjoining Glen Albyn distillery. Producing its first whisky in 1894, Glen Mhor was destined to ride the region’s whisky wave in both blended whiskies and single malts.

James’s father, Charles Mackinlay, had established Chas. Mackinlay & Co. at Leith, north of Edinburgh, in 1847 after working for years for other whisky firms, and James’s younger brother, Charles, was a second-generation partner.

Charles junior managed the Glen Mhor distillery until he died in 1896, aged 48, just as the company was working on a Highland Malt Whisky line.

Through the decades the Mackinlays collaborated with other notable names in the Scotch business — Dewar, Walker, Usher, Buchanan. Charles Mackinlay, the founder, was regarded as an early exponent of blended whiskies. It is thought that he might have latched on to the concept through working as an apprentice in the 1830s for tea merchants Walker & Hunter, who knew all about blends, and who were also wine and spirit dealers.

In the 1870s, the Mackinlay premises at Leith were expanded. A new bonded warehouse was erected and new blending and bottling equipment installed to increase production for the London market.

In England in the 1880s, Scotch had an image problem. It was considered less suave, less well bred than brandy or cognac. You really only drank whisky during vigorous, manly outdoor recreation, such as hunting deer or game birds, or salmon fishing on a wild river up north, or if you were lower-class with unsophisticated tastes. It was generally not the drink to be offered in London drawing rooms, where brandy was the tipple of choice. The Shackleton drawing room at Sydenham, for moral and religious reasons, was patently off  limits to whisky.

In 1879, founder Charles Mackinlay appointed the enterprising Canadian-born John Buchanan as the Mackinlay agent in London, and followed this up by making James, his elder son, the company’s London director in 1885.

Mackinlay’s Vatted Old Benvorlich whisky was one of the first blended whiskies on the London market. James Mackinlay and John Buchanan worked wonders for the company, lifting its profile and sales through innovative advertising and personal contact.Then Mackinlay’s won a contract to supply the House of Commons. They had penetrated the corridors of power. By the late 1890s the Glen Mhor distillery was in continuous operation and building its stocks of malt whisky in casks.

It tapped into the local barley crop and drew water from the Caledonian Canal, which in turn was supplied by the River Ness and its source to the south, Loch Ness. A cold, deep, glacial lake, Loch Ness occupies a stretch of Scotland’s Great Glen, a fault-controlled rift in the Earth’s crust angling southwest through Scotland, straight as a die, from the North Sea to the North Atlantic. Among the Scottish lochs, Ness, 37 kilometres long, is second only to Loch Lomond in length and surface area. For much of the year its surface waters are cold, below 10 degrees Celsius, clear and biologically limited, properties typical of a mountain lake. Human sewage discharges into the loch in modern times have periodically compromised its quality, but around the turn of the 20th century, when Glen Mhor was producing its first whiskies, the Ness waters were close to pristine. Pure water, pure whisky.

Extracted from Shackleton's Whisky by Neville Peat.

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NAS BLENDED MALTS FROM THE HOUSE OF CHIVAS

  BLENDED MALT CHIVAS ULTIS LAUNCHED

For the second time in its 108-year history, Chivas Regal has moved out of blended Scotch whisky and into blended malts – and the reasons for the shift say much about the current state of the Scotch whisky market.

It isn’t difficult to see a trend emerging here. Several months after Scotch whisky’s biggest producer, Diageo, relaunched its Johnnie Walker Green Label blended malt around the world, its nearest rival, Pernod Ricard-owned Chivas Brothers, has moved into the same segment with flagship blend Chivas Regal. And its an NAS as well, quite the current trend.

Chivas boss Laurent Lacassagne highlighted two reasons for the introduction of the new, US$200 expression: innovation and filling a gap in the range.

‘We had the desire to have a luxury offering sitting somewhere between Chivas 18-year-old and 25-year-old,’ he said, and it’s true that the price gap between the two products is a big gap: well over $125 in the UK. But why a blended malt and not a 21-year-old blend, for example? ‘We chose blended malt for innovation reasons,’ Lacassagne says, ‘offering something a bit different to our consumers, but which is still very much Chivas. Consumers today are keen to discover new things.’

Hence Ultis, a whisky for which the number five is central: a tribute to the five master blenders who have looked after Chivas Regal since its inception in 1909, and made up of ‘five iconic malts with which Chivas has been made over the years’.

On this last point, it rather depends on how you define ‘over the years’. Of the five malts in question – Strathisla, Allt A’Bhainne, Braeval, Tormore and Longmorn – Strathisla has been in Chivas’ hands for longest (since 1950). Allt A’Bhainne and Braeval were only built in the 1970s, Longmorn was acquired in 1977, and Tormore followed in 2005.

Anyway, blended Scotch whisky brands rarely stand still, either in terms of the liquid used or the way in which it is classified. Chivas Regal, after all, started life as a 25-year-old, before circumstances dictated a downgrading to 12-year-old and an acceptable price point. Further expressions – including an 18-year-old and the return of a 25 – have been relatively recent additions.

There’s also no doubt that product innovation is as important to blends as it is to the single malts which – in terms of publicity, at least – tend to overshadow them these days. ‘We have already made a few moves out of the traditional range,’ pointed out Lacassagne. ‘We launched Chivas Regal Extra [in 2015], the first non-age statement [NAS] whisky within the Chivas range.’ And, he adds, it’s been a success, selling 100,000 cases a year at the latest count. Its a $35-37 range whisky for 70 cl & 40% ABV.

The global launch of Ultis was at Cannes, and far from accidental. The Riviera resort hosts the annual TFWA travel retail trade exhibition – an important sales channel for Chivas Regal, and one where shoppers are traditionally on the hunt for something new to take home from their travels. That said, the roll-out over the coming weeks is also focussed on all the traditional luxury hotspots: Asia, the US, the Gulf. India – where increasingly wealthy consumers are beginning to disregard the cripplingly high levels of excise duty – is one key market; China – where Lacassagne says Chivas ‘created’ the modern market for Scotch, but where it has since suffered a serious downturn – is another. The logic of Chivas Regal having a product sitting at the US$200/€170 price point, and filling that pricing gap, is irrefutable, but the reasons for that product being a blended malt take a little more teasing out.

Asked if the launch of Ultis is a response to the reintroduction of Johnnie Walker Green Label 15 YO (and the subsequent smoky cousin NAS Island Green), Lacassagne says: ‘It’s not about riding the wave, it’s more a way to remind everybody that Chivas has been made with very strong and beautiful single malts, and it’s what we express in the new product.’ These JW blended malt labels are at $55-60. Again, this is logical and says much about current trends in Scotch whisky: the rise of single malts and the relative decline of blends.

Just look at the way in which the same company, Chivas Brothers, publicised the recent launch of Royal Salute 32 Year Old Union of the Crowns, a luxury blend: by talking up the individual single malts that go into it, from Braeval, Longmorn and Tormore again, to closed distilleries Lochside and Caperdonich. If you can’t beat them, join them: promote the single malt components of your blend or, as with Ultis, make your blend into a malt. And maybe you’ll persuade some single malt snobs that blends aren’t so bad after all.

EXCELLENT SINGLE MALTS

 SOME SUPERB SINGLE MALTS

I've been lucky to savour almost 750 single malts, including a few single singles. I'll tell you one thing-it keeps a grumpy 70 year old tied down in smoky fumes while waxing eloquent about the positives of barley, water and yeast. See what a good single can do to simple writing? Complicate it and join the 'Haves' of this contra-rotating antithetic malt world!And the tidbits that follow to tickle you a tad, if you've had a bath.

Scotch drinkers like to keep things simple. Most Scotch drinkers want to enjoy the smoky flavour unadorned except perhaps for water. Scotch drinkers are trying to find the top distilleries in Scottish towns from the Highlands to the Lowlands that produce the best Single Malt Scotch. Rest assured that my list includes whiskies from the Scottish Isles that are hard to pronounce, but these are all names worth knowing. Enjoy my selection of Great Single Malt Scotch Whiskies, in no particular order. I like the Singleton of Glen Ord 18 YO the most, followed by the Japanese Yamazaki 12 YO, JW Island Green, Talisker 18 and Lagavulin 16. I'll review those left out later.

1.  Glenmorangie.  A wonderful Highland malt that comes in a variety of excellent finishes - Portwood, Madeira, and Sherry. I'd like to try the Sauternes finish, which sounds wonderful. Somebody help, please. Best of all: the '97 Nectar d'Or, which I prefer to the very expensive Signet. Prices were fine before LVMH took it over and jacked up costs threefold. Shaft them!

Glenmorangie is a simple whisky to understand. All its casks meant for age-stated bottling and all new make is decanted into American oak casks and left there for 8 years. The new make is then shifted to the second-fill casks kept in damp ‘dunnage’ warehouses. Two years later, a designated portion is bottled as The Original. The remaining new make, 10 YO, is then transferred into its final casks, to emerge as 12 YO bottlings. One lot, those in specially selected ruby port pipes from the Quintas or wine estates of Portugal, is left to mature two years more and emerge as The Quinta Ruban 14 YO.

Private Editions: Starting 2009, the distillery has produced a private expression every year, most of which do not carry age statements, but are not chill filtered and at 46% ABV or higher. 

Legends: 4 brands are sold as legends, but only in the travel reserve sector. Initially sold as 1L bottles at 43% ABV, they are now available as 70cl bottles at 43%. The Tarlogan, The Tayne, The Duthac and The Cadboll comprise this segment. The Cadboll is a 15 YO.

2. Laphroaig: Islay's best-known malt. The fifteen-year old is cloying when you get to tasting and deconstructing the whisky to reveal its true heritage.It represents outstanding value for cost. Perhaps best of all is the sherry-finished thirty-year-old - an unusual but beautiful balance between sweet sherry and smoky peat. Even the Laphroaig 10 quarter cask is super. I got one from Cyprus, on sale.

3. Ardbeg: Another excellent Islay malt, especially delicious in its older bottlings. Try the Ardbeg 10, the good old peat example, or Provenance, cut with a little water to bring out the flavour and soften its near 56% ABV or 98 proof. I had my first Ardbeg in Osaka's Bar Satoh way back in '99, in the best whisky bar in the world as my ADC, one Capt. Saito, told me and the taste of Ardbeg always takes me back there. The Uigeadail and Ardbog are mighty good too.

4. Glenfiddich 18. Luxe and easy-sipping. Look for enticing notes of butterscotch, baked pear, cinnamon and clove on the nose and palate, swathed in just the right amount of smokiness. 

5. The Glenlivet 12. Yes, the 12 YO and not the 15 or 18 YO expressions from The Glenlivet, matured in French Limousin Oak casks notwithstanding. Limousin Oak is a popular choice for maturation of Cognac.

Nose: Light fruits, of course. I get grape flesh and fresh almond slivers, at first. Accenting this freshness is something plant-like/leafy or even "piney", like dried pineapple. There's also an impression of yellow apple and butter. (Lesser influences of vanilla, butterscotch, toasted coconut, and rose.) Palate: A butter-smooth entrance welcomes... but quickly transforms to sour white peach, rather gingery. Then to tannic, purple grape skins and something menthol-y, like pine. Finish: Butter and yellow apples emerge, rescuing the prickly palate. But the youth can't hide, and the finish closes with pine and powdered ginger. Vanilla/underripe peach lightly occupy the background.

The Glenlivet 12 is light and nondescript. It is not objectionable, and just served a good purpose: improving my flight by giving me something interesting to focus on for a short while. There is quite an atmosphere to overcome, and it does so suitably. I am therefore grateful for its availability. No wonder it is one of the best selling malts in the world, well-worth re-visiting. I would probably add a case to my lower-altitude cabinet. 

6. The Macallan brand is synonymous with top-tier Single Malt Scotch, and the unsung hero of their portfolio is their cask strength. This malt hails from the Easter Elchies House of Macallan overlooking the River Spey. This cask strength has a sherried finish making it bright, rich and accessible; it explodes with caramel, brown sugar, toffee and vanilla so complex and intertwined it drinks like a dessert. It’s well balanced on the palate with a sweet, tawny port and cinnamon bouquet. At this price point, I think it's a steal. Make that "The Steal". 

Talisker 18. The wonderful bouquet includes scents of seaweed, smoke, peat, iodine, kippers and pipe tobacco. The palate entry is briny and intense; the midpalate is oily with traces of anise, butterscotch and linseed oil. Finishes vibrantly with tastes of salted butter, oil and brine. Highly idiosyncratic: for lovers of robust, seaside malts. I rate it very highly. Alternate: Talisker 10.

8. Aberlour A'bunadh

The Aberlour A’bunadh is an unusual Scotch whisky. While it carries no age statement, each bottle carries a unique batch number. It is released in limited-run batches ranging from one to as many as five per year, with the first batch released in 1997. The most recent release was batch No. 52, released in 2015. The whisky is a blend from barrels ranging from five to 25 years in age, and is bottled at cask strength, which historically has averaged between 59% ABV and 61% ABV. The whisky is not chill filtered, nor is any colouring added to it.

Speyside cake. ABV: 59%.Colour: Amontillado Sherry. If you like fruit cake, chocolate pot, creme brulee, marshmallow, banana mousses, pecan pie, apple strudel, Christmas cake, marzipan, toffee fudge sprinkled with icing sugar. YOU WILL like this gem of a scotch.The flavors are so intense and layered, making this whisky a fun experiment where you can add little bit of water each time to see just how the complexity of its flavours unfold. It also has a lovely rum tone to its nose, an amazing sensation.

9. Cardhu   

                                

Cardhu has a warmth and cleanliness of taste - often described as sleek, a popular taste known and liked globally. Served from its classy decanter, high end Cardhu is the classic Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky. The Cardhu 12 year old has the flavor of luscious rich fruit, sweet honey and nut all smoothly balanced by a delicious dry freshness, bottled at 40 per cent ABV. It is gold and honey to look at, its nose powered by heather and sweet honey and nut. It is enticing yet intriguing, harmonious but softer with water; malt-cereal; spicy wood, moorland and faint traces of wood-smoke. Its body is soft, pleasing, medium while its palate is well balanced, smooth mouth-feel; sweet and fresh, then drying. Moorish. Enjoyable with a little water or ice. The FINISH is quite short. Lingering sweet smoke in the attractive, drying aftertaste. 

10. Balblair. This is one of Scotland's best 'hidden gems' from a distillery up on the North East coast . It is a Starburst fruit bowl with fresh citrus and green fruit notes and just enough earthiness to stop it from being cloying. This full-bodied malt is fused with the citrus aromas of pineapple, apricot and lemon to create a long-lasting sweet finish. On the nose, the American oak barrels, used in the distillate's maturation, produce an inviting, spicy fragrance.

Balblair 15 Year Old is a full-bodied, velvety single malt that has been matured in ex-bourbon casks and finished in first-fill Spanish oak butts. This creates a rich, sweet whisky with spicy aromas of honey, gingerbread and prunes. The palate is velvety-smooth and full of dark chocolate, tropical fruit and warm spice notes.

11. Bowmore. Another Islay malt, but different from most. "The whiskies of Bowmore are between the intense malts of the south shore and the gentlest extremes of the north. Their character is not a compromise but an enigma…". Best value: Bowmore Legend. Best taste: any of the twenty-five + bottlings. I managed two from eBay.de when I was last in der Vaterland in 2011. 

12. The Singleton of Glen Ord 18 YO

On the nose, a gentle waft of beeswax opening up to honey, followed by distant yet distinct flavours of cinnamon, basel, Sinhalese pine, lemon peel, quince and vanilla. Chilly powder. Palate: Big. Waxen and chocolate malt-sugar sweet. Clotted cream, Italian lemon, dried fruits - nectarines, apricot, Asian gooseberries and tangerines. Mirabelle jam. Half a teaspoon of water highlights the multi-sherried wood, wax, honey, and vanilla, but depresses the fruit. Traces of armagnac. Finish: Long and luxurious. Doesn''t lose anything. Just glorious. Punchy yet divinely elegant. Rajasthani Asha liquor, Asian kitchen mash. Maybe that’s why it’s sold in Asia only! 

13. Johnnie Walker Island Green NAS Blended Malt

It is made with whiskies from four different distilleries, each from different regions of Scotland - Caol Ila distillery in Islay, Clynelish distillery in the Highlands, Glenkinchie distillery in the Lowlands, and Cardhu Distillery in Speyside. This whisky is bottled at 43% ABV. 

Color: Amber

Nose: Nice smoky start… Not as strong as an Islay expression but still very definitive… light and fresh aromas, like a morning walk in the park, fruits, flowers and grass… presence of malty wood notes… honey and vanilla with a healthy amount of wood spices… peppery…

Palate: Complex but not so balanced flavors… Heavy on the smoky and spicy side… sweetness from pears… honeyed malt cereals and vanilla with hints of citrus… faint notes of chocolaty bitterness…

Finish: Medium but warm finish… very spicy …  leaving behind some bitter, tar like flavours on the tongue…

Island Green is a great ‘blend’ expression as someone would expect from Johnnie Walker. But if you are a real Islay lover, this bottle will not quench your thirst of smoke and peat. On the other hand, if you like lightly peated whiskies or just starting to explore the wonderful world of smoky whisky, this may be the perfect dram to start things of.

14. Amrut Peated Single Malt Whisky 46% ABV

The new 46% Amruts are a very different proposition to the pleasant but unexciting original release. At the higher strength this 24ppm peated effort fairly fizzes along the tastebuds. This is excellent - hugely improved stuff from a distillery coming along in leaps and bounds.

The finish is sweet, heavy peated flavours emerging and fading like a show-stopping number before ending with a custard-sweetness at the back of the palate…and some banana. Surprisingly, the sweetness lingers on. Interestingly, the peat was not overpowered by the competitive smokiness, nor did it overpower any of the other interesting complexities.

This particular expression is one of their best. As there is no peated barley in India, Amrut sources it from Scotland, having it peated there to their exact specifications before being shipped to the distillery in India. The peat dissipates somewhat during the journey. The peated barley is mashed, distilled, aged, and bottled at Amrut, and after spending around 6 years in used bourbon barrels, this peated single malt is diluted to 80.5°proof (92° in the US) for bottling.

On the nose, this peated single malt was rife with citrus and peat—a sweeter sort than one might expect—as well as salt pork (how did that get there?!) and low notes of caramel. Breaking it with ½ teaspoon of water brought the unusual savoury notes to the forefront, followed by a grassiness, which, combined with the savoury, was almost like chives.

Though it was a hefty 46% ABV, the mouthfeel was under the tongue, mostly. The Amrut Fusion blends this (25%) and their single malt (75%).

The company is confident that its single malt segment to be a big revenue generator in the next few years, hoping to scale up to 40,000-50,000 cases internationally. They plan to take the Prestige blended whisky off market, enabling them to increase their supplies to the Single Malt direction.

TIDBITS

Experts advise you to drink Single Malt whisky neat or with a tiny bit of water. The water supposedly ‘Releases the Serpent’ from the whisky.

If there is a serpent, there is also an Angel. As it ages, 2.0-2.5 % of the whisky maturing in a barrel is lost to evaporation every year. Distillers refer to this as the ‘angel’s share’.

But the Devil has the last word. The larger the barrel used to mature whisky, the more the spirit that is absorbed by the wood and lost, called by distillers the ‘Devil’s Cut’.

The most expensive country in which to buy Scotch is where it’s made, the UK.

18,000 litres of Scotch whisky worth over $800,000 (£ 500,000) were accidentally flushed down the drain at Chivas Brothers’ Dumbarton bottling plant of in March 2013. Earlier, Glen Catrine Bonded Warehouse in Catrine village had spilled 6,600 liters of whisky on 6 September 2011− mostly into the River Ayr. They were fined £12,000.

Copyrighted material. Do not copy without express permission from the author.

A FEW TASTING NOTES

TASTING NOTES ON BLENDED AND SINGLE MALTS

 WHISKIES FROM MY COLLECTION

After slogging away writing about Scotch Whisky for nearly six months, I thought I'd pen some thoughts on whisky tasting.

Northern Highlands whiskies are full, cereal sweet and rich. Bouquets are big, sweet and malty; The nose of a 'Northern Highlander will tell you about fragrance with complexity. Perhaps a shade dry, often with a long finish; There's lots of variety among Northern Highlanders. Clynelish 1998/2012 had a nose that was surprisingly sweet, like a commercial dark chocolate. Clynelish 1972/2005 nose is mild and somewhat grainy with a background hint of fruits.

Southern Highlands whiskies are a mite lighter with dryness and fruit, grows on you with time; a little water releases its sweetness with fruitier notes. It gradually moves in a more flowery & aromatic direction, at times just off the beaten path, enticing you along. They tend to be sharp and sweetish, accompanied by exotic spices.

The Western Highland whiskies are full and pungent and not devoid of peat and smoke.

Let's first look at Ledaig, a peated Scotch from the island of Mull, but grouped with the Highlanders:Ledaig, 1990 Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice.

Tobermory distillery on the island of Mull, set up in 1823, suffered sporadic closure during its history, its most recent reopening being in 1989. The Ledaig name is used for peated expressions of Tobermory; the peating level has risen progressively, currently standing at around 35ppm. This 1990 independent expression has been matured in refill Sherry casks. Quite floral and fragrant on the nose, especially with the addition of water, with a hint of olive oil and brine. Light-bodied and medium-dry on the palate, with salt, cereal and spices, roasted nuts, a suggestion of liquorice and a delicate tang of peat. The finish is medium in length, dry and peppery, with mild oak. Compared with the current bargain basement house bottling of relatively young Ledaig, this 15 YO has far less overt peatiness in its character, confirming the increased levels of peating in more recent distillations. Proof that if Ledaig is allowed to mature for a reasonable length of time, the result is a very good island whisky. 43.0% ABV, 70cl. 

Ledaig 10 YO is peated to between 50 and 55 ppm and now accounts for around half of Tobermory distillery's annual output. The nose is profoundly peaty, sweet and full, with notes of butter and smoked fish. Medicinal enough to suggest an Islay. Bold, yet sweet on the rounded palate, with iodine, soft peat and heather. Developing spices. The finish is medium to long, with pepper, ginger, liquorice and peat. 46.3% ABV, 70cl.

Ledaig 7yo 'Peated'

(43%, OB, short clear bottle, Bottled +/- 2002, Imported by Auxil, France)

Nose: Soft and a little oily. Not very expressive. Some peat (not much). Herbal. Chloride. Spirity. The peat drifted away to the background and didn't return.

Needs a while. Then things developed into a fruitier direction with tangerines. Orange skins? Hints of menthol sweets. Something creamy. Intriguing.

Taste: Quite a bite, followed by a salty, peaty burn. Sulphur? Some organics. Very dry, although it grows fruitier and sourish over time. Bitter burn in the finish. An 'Islay Light' and decent value to boot.

 

Now that we've had a smattering of Ledaig's offerings, we could move into the Glen of the river Livet, also known for a 12 mile stretch as Livat.

THE GLENLIVET 12 YO

I postponed sampling to the most appropriate location: an Airbus 340 Club Class.

Nose: Light fruits, of course. I get grape flesh and fresh almond slivers, at first. Accenting this freshness is something plant-like/leafy or even "piney", like dried pineapple. There's also an impression of yellow apple and butter. (Lesser influences of vanilla, butterscotch, toasted coconut, and rose.)

Palate: A butter-smooth entrance welcomes... but quickly transforms to sour white peach, rather gingery. Then to tannic, purple grape skins and something menthol-y, like pine.

Finish: Butter and yellow apples emerge, rescuing the prickly palate. But the youth can't hide, and the finish closes with pine and powdered ginger. Vanilla/underripe peach lightly occupy the background.

The Glenlivet 12 is light and nondescript. It is not objectionable, and just served a good purpose: improving my flight by giving me something interesting to focus on for a short while. There is quite an atmosphere to overcome, and it does so suitably. I am therefore grateful for its availability. Nevertheless, I would probably add a case to my lower-altitude cabinet; Yes, the Glenlivet 18yo is a richer and more rewarding version. But the Glenlivet 12yo below duty-free rates in India? A case is the minimum.

The closest similar malt that I could recall is the Auchentoshan Classic, particularly in the palate. The Glenlivet 12 is better, however, with less drying sour white peach. For other similar budget light malts that you might even prefer, look to the Macallan Gold, Auchentoshan Select or Arran Original.

 

Bowmore 12 YO malt is, for many, the youngest acceptable Bowmore. The younger Bowmores show for many too much roughness in general and a leather note for which many do not care

Nose: medium slightly sweet peat, a hint of rosewater, a little brine, and a hint of smoke, against a background of barley-malt. Pleasant, and more mellow than is the nose of either Bowmore Legend 8 YO or McClelland's Islay 5 YO Bowmore malt

Taste: strong sweet peat flavours in the mouth, stronger than the peat flavours in the nose; otherwise, the nose translates well to the mouth

Finish: the strong sweetness and the malt flavours last a medium length; the ending is on bitter

Balance: Bowmore 12 YO Distillery bottling exemplifies the medium-peat Islay malt style. Personally I prefer whiskies to be more heavily peated and more medicinal/briney than Bowmore 12, but I consider Bowmore 12 to be a drinkable malt whisky. Those who like other Islay medium peated whiskies, such as most of the products from the Caol Ila distillery, should likely also like Bowmore 12 YO.

The history of Cardhu is forever entangled with the stories of two of the sharpest, most inventive and strong-willed women in Scotland’s early whisky narrative: Helen and her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Cumming. The former laid the foundations for success while the latter built on those and took Cardhu to being one of the most important in the region.

In 1893 Elisabeth made a very important decision: She sold Cardow, the original name, to John Walker & Sons for 20,500 pounds and ensured her family shareholding in Walker’s company. Today, Cardhu is the mainstay of almost all Johnnie Walker’s blends.

Cardhu is the luxury single malt whisky from Speyside, presented in an elegant decanter. Nose: Good body, sweet, richness. Streaks of smoke, apple peels, bruised pears. Palate: Smooth, rounded, gentle sweetness, soft peat. A little smoke whispers sweet nothings. Finish: Long, dry smoke, malty touch of peat.                   

Sweet, fruity and gently spiced, a drink to impress and share with friends. The world's first and most awarded 17 YO blended Scotch. A great 17 year old blend from Ballantines. The longer maturation of Ballantine’s 17 Year Old gives an extra depth of flavour and character to the blend. This was Jim Murray's Scotch Blend of the Year for 2010! This 17 Year Old trancends the prejudice that sometimes ranks single malts higher than blends. This is quite a majestic whisky that shows a deep, golden colour. Really biscuity and thick. Nose: Feinty. Smoke and a touch of mochaccino. There are some notes of leather and Madeira with a little chocolate. Palate: Balanced. There are notes of cut herbs and a defined vegetal character. Fresh citrus and fudge. Touch of peat smoke. Finish: Long, sweet and smooth with a hint of spice. Fruit, finally becomes dry.

J&B 15 YO is a really great, easy drinking whisky. Grain heavy blend with corn notes and an oak influence. There are more wafts of grainy young alcohol than I would expect from a 15 Year old Blend. There is evidence from coastal – or Islay distilleries in this blend but I find it hard to describe them. It’s like smelling a salty sea breeze but maybe I’m getting a bit too poetic here. But definitively salty! It’s certainly less sweet than I expected given the presence of the Speyside Malts. There are certainly some interesting aspects to the nose but you need patience to get through the wafts of alcohol that keep distracting you from time to time.Soon, floral and fruity notes. Very smooth on the pallet without any heavy/harsh after taste. The apple notes appear after about five minutes. A teaspoon of water opens it up. Now a great "all night" easy drinker. Speyside malts start to appear and the taste is both pleasantly fruity and well matured. Mild peat probably from Caol Ila. Finish: Oaky. Longish. Overall a good starting whisky and fantastic for both the maestro and non-experienced drinker. An absolute stumper.  

"Gold Label 18". This is a fabulous blended whisky based on malt from the Clynelish distillery. Nose: Rich and honeyed with crème caramel and winter spices. Quite floral too. Palate: Mature honey and malt. Cardhu provides smooth malt and oak flavors. Just a hint of smoke, with fresh flowers and custard. Finish: Long finish with Scotch tablet and spice. Overall: A very good blend with an interesting floral character.  Don't confuse it with the NAS Gold Label Reserve, shown below. This is a 16-YO at best and vastly different from the Gold Label 18 YO.

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PEATED WHISKIES

THE INFLUENCE OF PEAT ON WHISKY

I am not the author of this blog. Its just that such data is in limited use in this part of the world and I wish to propagate knowledge. I have acknowledged the author and provided a link to him.

Peat is found all over the British Isles and it is the use of peat in the Scottish whisky industry that helps to produce a drink that has a unique flavour. Peat is earth that consists of grasses, moss, tree roots, carcasses and soil that has become tightly compacted over thousands of years. 

Use in the whisky industry
Historically peat has been used in the whisky industry, especially as in many places it was the only consistent source of fuel. The process detailed below is time consuming and the use of peat dwindled as other fuels, such as coal and electricity, became more widely available. Now it is largely confined to the islands of Scotland - naturally they now have other fuel sources but many of the whiskies remain well known for their smoky, peaty flavours. Therefore, the distilleries have chosen to keep the practice so as to keep the distinctive flavours in their whiskies.

The peat is cut by hand using specialised tools and the resulting 'sod' is then left to dry in the open air for approximately two-three weeks. After this time, the peat is collected and then taken to the distillery. Most of the time the peat used is local to the distillery or cut from property owned by the distillery. The peat is burnt underneath the malted barley to stop its germination. Peat is so tightly compacted and dense that it burns for a long time and with consistent heat and acrid smoke. This is also why it is still used as a domestic fuel in some areas of Scotland, especially the islands.

Different characteristics

Peat is one reason why different distilleries have different characteristics in their whiskies. Peat smoke produces contains chemicals called phenols and these phenols are absorbed by the malted barley during the drying process in a kiln. The level of phenols are controlled by the length of time that the barley is exposed to the smoke, the amount of smoke produced and the type of peat used. The smoke that has been absorbed is then carried through the entire whisky making process and right in to your glass.

Phenols

Once finished, the malt is taken away for mashing and the phenol level is measured. This level is known as the PPM – Phenol Parts per Million. A distillery will always have the same PPM for their malt and this value is also measured in the final spirit. Some is lost during distillation so the PPM is always lower at the end, roughly one third of the level of the original PPM in the malt. The PPM figure most commonly used is that of the malt. Most whisky has some smokiness but in most the PPM value is so low (eg. 1–5 PPM) that it is virtually undetectable. In smokier whiskies, it is easier to detect these levels as the PPM levels increase. 

Here are some examples of PPM values of some well known distilleries
(the approximate PPM of their malt is in brackets in increasing value). 

    Bunnahabhain (1–2)
    Bruichladdich (3–4)
    Springbank (7–8)
    Benromach (8)
    Ardmore (10–15)
    Highland Park (20)
    Bowmore (20–25)
    Talisker (25–30)
    Caol Ila (30–35)
    Ledaig (35)
    Lagavulin (35–40)
    Port Charlotte (40)
    Laphroaig (40–43)
    Ardbeg (55)
    Longrow (55)
     Ardbeg Supernova (100)
    Octomore 5.1 Edition (169)
    Octomore 6.3 Edition (258)

The make up of peat is different in different parts of Scotland and thereby influences the flavour of the whisky differently. For example, there are very few trees on the Orkney islands so there are no tree roots in the peat making it lighter and quicker to burn. Whiskies from this area, like Highland Park, tend to have a lighter smoky flavour than Islay malts. 

This blog is a virtual reproduction of an article by Whisky For Everyone.

The Solera System

WHAT IS THE SOLERA SYSTEM?

Solera is a process for aging whisky by fractional blending in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues over many years. The purpose of this labour-intensive process is the maintenance of a reliable style and quality of the beverage over time. Solera means literally "on the ground" in Spanish, and it refers to the lower level of the set of barrels or other containers used in the process; the liquid (traditionally transferred from barrel to barrel, top to bottom, the oldest mixtures being in the barrel right "on the ground"), although the containers in today's process are not necessarily stacked physically in the way that this implies, but merely carefully labelled.

The Solera System In Whisky

The notion of the Solera system being used in whisky production is interesting. Many distillers are moving away from age statement whiskies in favour of a mixture of ages. Age statements are a useful marketing ploy and help justify spending exorbitant amounts of money for a bottle, but don’t make the liquid inside taste any better.

Glenfiddich have picked up on the idea of a Solera vat being used in whisky production. The Glenfiddich 15 year old is an example of a whisky that uses a variation of this method. They use an enormous vat which gets filled with whiskies aged in different types of casks. All of the whiskies are combined in the vat and left to blend. The vat is only ever half emptied to be bottled. The whisky is labelled as their "15 year old Single Malt Scotch Whisky". For Scotch whisky, the stated age must refer to the youngest of whisky's components.

The solera system, by design, imparts consistency of taste and colour on a liquid. People enjoy consistency with their whisky, and distillers spend money adding colouring to whiskies to create this (illusion of) consistency. Bad batches do happen, which can cost distillers time and money and damage reputations if they are provided to the market too frequently. Perhaps the solera system is worthy of consideration for more widespread use.

This is what Glenfiddich says about its 15 YO:

Exemplifying our family’s tradition of innovation, our 15 Year Old expression is created using a technique pioneered by our Malt Master and its warm, spicy flavours are transformed with the alchemy of the Solera Vat. Aged in European oak sherry casks and new oak casks, the whisky is mellowed in our unique Solera Vat, a large oak tun inspired by the sherry bodegas of Spain and Portugal. Never emptied, and kept half full of whiskies since 1998, our Solera Vat is the culmination of curious minds and the pioneering spirit of our family. It’s also the secret behind this whisky becoming the first 15 year old expression to enter the top ten best selling single malts.

 

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The Johnnie Walker Greens

Johnnie Walker Green Label and Island Green Label

Johnnie Walker Green Label is a blended malt whisky which was pulled out of the market in 2012 due to non-availability of certain core single malt whiskies. It has reappeared on the shelves in mid-2016, but with a different nose and palate, a change for the better. In creating the Green Label, Jim Beveridge, the Johnnie Walker Master Blender, set out to craft a whisky with a taste experience which can’t be found in any one single malt whisky. His vast knowledge of Scotland’s malts helped him decide on a balance of Speyside, Highland and Lowland malts and more intense whiskies from the Scottish islands, each of them carefully matured for a minimum of 15-years in American and European oak casks.

The unique flavour of Johnnie Walker Green Label is a delicate blend of four key signature styles, represented by Talisker, Linkwood, Cragganmore and Caol Ila. The individual characteristics of these mature malt whiskies are perfectly balanced to bring together intense aromas of crisp cut grass, fresh fruit, wood smoke, peat, pepper, deep vanilla, and sandalwood. It creates a depth of character that just isn’t possible to achieve with one malt whisky alone. Minor gaps, if any, are plugged by Clynelish and Dailuane.

Johnnie Walker Island Green, available from July 2016 as a 1L 86 proof NAS travel retail exclusive, is a brand that owner Diageo is hailing as a ‘true game changer for the Scotch whisky category’. With a greater proportion of malt from Caol Ila distillery on Islay, Johnnie Walker Island Green Label is said to have a ‘rich, fruity sweetness’ that’s complemented by pronounced flavours of peat smoke. It is a much smokier version of the 15 YO JW Green Label, which itself has reemerged from the boondocks in a very pleasant avatar. Beveridge says: ‘As whisky makers, we’re passionate about flavour, and creating this exclusive travel retail variant of our blended malt whisky has given us an opportunity to showcase a rare blend of rich malts.’ The NAS maritime blended malt includes whisky from Clynelish, Glenkinchie and Cardhu and a greater proportion of malt from Caol Ila distillery on Islay. Minor gaps, if any, are plugged by Talisker, a Singleton 12 YO and Dailuane.