OUTTURN. December 2011 Bottling List. May the spirit(s) of the season be with you. Issue 3.

Transcription

1 OUTTURN December 2011 Bottling List Issue 3 May the spirit(s) of the season be with you.

2 Speyside (Spey) All whiskies available from December 2, 2011! See page 12 for how to order. A country kitchen garden The first nose was delicate, floral and elusive, at first revealing an orchard of Braeburn apples, brambles and fresh grass, then becoming spicy (subtle) with fennel, tarragon and vanilla. Richer notes of raisins, orange and dark chocolate appeared with time. The unreduced palate was a contrasting fusion of hot and spicy cooked apple, powder minerals, savoury thyme and fennel. The reduced nose reminded us of late summer hedgerows; Braeburn apples, pine needles and wild mint, with blueberry bushes. The palate was now both fresh and oily with cooling mint and menthol; also apple skins and oiled wood. The distillery shares its name with a mountain in Moray. First taste of the evening $ Bottle price Colour: Champagne Date distilled: February 1989 Cask: Refill hogshead, ex-bourbon Alcohol: 52.4% Age: 21 years Flowers on the breakfast table 278 bottles The classic ex-bourbon nose gave sticky toffee pudding, sherbet lemons, flowers, pineapple, popcorn, coconut, pistachios, sultanas and bread and butter pudding. The palate was mouth-watering and well -rounded, with flavours of cedar, exotic fruits, mint sprigs and intense floral notes ( like munching flowers from a vase ) - then peach stones and plum skins in the after-taste. The reduced nose had more cereal Alpen with dried fruits and brown sugar, Weetabix with honey; waxed furniture, rose, mango, orange and peach. The reduced palate was complex and refreshing juicy raisins, Turkish delight (rose and lemon), white pepper and Nuttal s Mintoes. From Rothes oldest distillery. On a summer picnic with a sweetheart $ Bottle price Colour: Pale shallot Date distilled: August 2002 Cask: First fill barrel Alcohol: 60.9% Age: 8 years 234 bottles 2

3 Attractive as apple pie Speyside (Lossie) and Highland Northern The enticing nose - attractive as apple pie - offered maple syrup, toffee, vanilla, Danish pastries (with cinnamon and almonds) and hints of tobacco and hay. Even with water, it remained beautifully warm and inviting - ice-cream, toffee apples, fudge and jasmine perfume. The palate was hot but smooth - flavours of honey, apple, and butterscotch, spiked up by the zing of Fentimans Victorian lemonade with ginger; some tobacco and leather tannic dryness lengthened the finish. Water seemed to allow the toffee and syrup sweetness to come through, while retaining the chilli, peppercorn heat. The distillery has links to one Saint and many sinners. Would suit early evening, but is very versatile $ Bottle price Colour: Bright yellow gold Date distilled: May 2003 Cask: First fill barrel Alcohol: 61.6% Age: 8 years Christmas in Jamaica 239 bottles Soft, rich and creamy, the nose displayed buttery toffee with Brazil nuts and Macadamias, plums, marmalade on toast, liquorice, treacle pudding and rum and raisin ice cream. The unreduced palate was massive, intense and vibrant with plentiful heat, treacle toffee, orange zest, dates, figs, raisins and plums - quite Christmassy. The reduced nose, conveying chocolate, rum, caramel and molasses (and a tiny trace of struck match) seemed almost Jamaican. It remained full on the palate - we identified dark chocolate truffles dusted in cocoa, candied oranges, treacle, liquorice, and a pleasant, long-lasting ginger and pepper heat. From Tain s one and only distillery. $ Bottle price A perfect winter warmer - or after dinner with coffee Colour: Seville orange marmalade Date distilled: November 2001 Cask: Refill hogshead Alcohol: 61.4% Age: 9 years 280 bottles 3

4 Campbeltown Same distillery - compare and contrast!! Immense, manly, meaty and peaty As accompaniment to Para Handy (books or DVDs) or to celebrate a rugby victory Colour: Distilled primrose Date distilled: July 1999 Cask: Refill barrel Alcohol: 62% Age: 12 years Bottle price The initial nose was interesting, not stunning; carbolic, soap flakes, mineral notes and cooked ham; eventually turning floral (lavender, parma violets, gorse). Water sweetened it, bringing heather flowers, honey, tobacco, leather and salt fish. The palate, on the other hand, was truly stunning - immense, manly, meaty and peaty - we got Victory V s, liquorice, mint imperials, oily rags, cloves, chewing tobacco and Deep Heat; one panellist mentioned an explosion in a soap factory someone else said I m blowing smoke rings! We thought the reduced palate absolutely fabby - chalky pandrops, peppercorns, manuka honey and sweet heathery smoke. The distillery dates from Explosion in a honey factory 224 bottles This starts as an afternoon tea dram - butter crumpets with honey, honey on burnt toast - then honey-roast almonds, butter toffee, salt toffee gradually becomes more of an evening beside a smoky fire. The taste explodes this comfortable image - dirty smoke and hessian after a sweet start; the crumpets still buttery, but now burnt - and water continues the grubby theme - this is after all from Campbeltown (and an excellent example of the town s No. 2 distillery) - with a whiff of struck matches behind pancakes lathered in maple syrup. Add only a little water. Now the texture is smooth, the sherry notes more apparent; sweet overall, with hessian in the finish. With a North American breakfast $ `absolutely fabby!` $ Bottle price Gold medal winner! `Whisky Magazine` Colour: Golden syrup Date distilled: June 1999 Cask: Refill hogshead, ex bourbon Alcohol: 59.1 Age: 7 years 735 bottles 4

5 Enigmatic big floozy The nose was curious - an enigma - with roasted chestnuts, caramelized figs, slightly burnt raisins in a fruitcake, spit-roasted lamb and smouldering compost. We also found ash, heather, marmite, grease guns and tar. The palate was described, ungenerously, as a big floozy - tar, burnt raisins, over-cooked tajine, cinder toffee, dirty caramel, singed hair and barbecued sardines. The reduced nose put us in mind of the wrapping on a fish supper. The reduced palate, despite earlier hesitations, was surprisingly good and scored well - now quite creamy, with gentle sweetness - chocolate-coated toffee, Daim bars and Madeira wine. From Campbeltown s oldest surviving distillery. To accompany something from the chip shop Campbeltown and Islay $ Bottle price Colour: Polished chestnut Date distilled: March 2000 Cask: First fill sherry hogshead Alcohol: 55.6% Age: 11 years Man, that s braw! 351 bottles The nose was beautifully balanced; varnish, paint, leather, light ash, coal, coarse bread, minty toffee, smoked sugar puffs and shellfish bisque against barbecued pork ribs and char-sui pork fried rice. The first comment provoked by the palate was Man, that s braw! - sweet tar, ash, ham and pineapple pizza, leather and pipe tobacco smoke. The reduced nose was a brilliant combination of crispy seaweed, charred red peppers and meringues or sponge sugar with strawberry and lemon sorbet. The palate had salty caramel, limes squeezed over oysters and sweet prawns cooked on salt - amazingly rewarding. The last distillery along the Kildalton Road. $ Bottle price While watching the sun go down near a lighthouse Colour: Toffee gold Date distilled: August 1999 Cask: Refill sherry butt Alcohol: 55.4% Age: 11 years 578 bottles 5

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7 Speyside (Spey) % off and a free Society tasting glass! Attention-grabbing spicy wood The nose gave us hay, grass, wood-sap, sawdust, some delicate floral notes, peppery spice, blackcurrant, jam and lots of nuts (macadamia, almond, hazelnut). The palate had toffee, chocolate and treacle, but it was the spicy wood that grabbed our attention - chilli, Victory V s, oak tannins - like licking an old cask, without the splinters someone said. The reduced nose had toffee and lots of scented wood - cedar, pine, grape stems, saunas. The reduced palate seemed sweeter - raisins and chocolate-coated Brazils - but still with the woodiness of long years in cask - chewing on sticks, resinous, spicy; a delicious dram from Blackford village. Share with someone who understands and appreciates good whisky - and give it time Colour: Yellow gold Date distilled: November 1989 Cask: Refill sherry butt Alcohol: 57.5% Age: 21 years Bottle price 607 bottles $ The antagonist Enjoying with good friends - preferably at a Society venue Colour: Honey gold Date distilled: July 1995 Cask: 1st fill sherry butt Alcohol: 55.2% Age: 15 years Bottle price The intriguing nose had candied fruit pieces, lemon, brown sugar and crushed mint leaves; also figs and dates, sultana cake. Lime and pickles, curry leaves and oxo cubes brought savoury contrasts. The neat palate was hot and sweet - treacle toffee and heather honey; Granny Smith apples brought freshness. With water, the nose became more floral; poppies, elderflower and plum, blackberry jam and maple syrup, banana and walnut oil. Also truffle oil and squash. The reduced palate brought thoughts of the vineyard - grape skins and must, Poire William eau de vie and black tea tannins drying out on the tongue. The distilling water comes from the Conval Hills and cooling water from the river Dullan. 548 bottles $ Only two left! 7

8 Delish! The unreduced nose suggested vanilla, raspberry ripple, candy floss and banana, but it mostly conveyed scents from a lady s dresser - citrus, floral perfumes (violet, lavender, lily of the valley), soft leather and sandalwood. This floral intensity continued with water and we also found caramelised onions and spices (white pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon). The unreduced palate was floral and woody (like chewing on charred heather stems, birch twigs or even hyacinth bulbs). We also detected toffee and caramelised orange. With water it became syrupy sweet, with cedarwood and cloves in the finish - Delish! The distillery was built by Peter Brown in Speyside (Lossie) $ Bottle price 28 years old! A perfect first date dram (or just a sunny day if you can t get a date) Colour: Honey gold Date distilled: October 1982 Cask: Refill hogshead, ex bourbon Alcohol: 56.3% Age: 28 years 260 bottles A caravanserai on the silk road The nose was exotic and intriguing; `like a Marrakesh spice market!` someone said; we also got sherbet, vanilla, golden syrup, banoffee pie, crème brûlée and traces of leather. The unreduced taste had Turkish Delight, baklava, coffee, perfumed sweets and sherbet lemons - a theme was emerging - we imagined a caravanserai on the Silk Road. The reduced nose seemed lighter, more floral, with elusive perfumes - as the belly dancers departed the stage?! Adding a drop of water (though it surely needed none) we found spicy Oddfellows sweets, dry perfume and a nutty, woody, lip-sucking after-taste. The distillery is named after the county. When dusk deepens and the promise of the night tingles the senses Colour: Sahara sand reverie Date distilled: December 1984 Cask: Refill butt Alcohol: 41% Age: 26 years Bottle price 294 bottles $

9 Soft light at sunset Highland (Northern) and Islay Light and fresh with a hint of parma violets, recently pressed nutty oils, and the scent of hedgerows on a warm day in a breeze. Neat on the palate there was heat, a hint of vanilla and freshly milled very dry sea salt. On the nose water reveals open pine cones, flint and light chalky soil reminiscent of a fine Chablis. The reduced palate was creamy, soft and light with a hint of slightly chewy meringue. A whisky evocative of a camp-fire in the water sunlight of a late summer evening shared with friends. $ Bottle price After a long day... Colour: Winter sunlight Date distilled: August 1995 Cask: Refill sherry butt Alcohol: 57.9% Age: 15 years 571 bottles Surfer`s sundown dram Unreduced the nose was like the soft smoke of burning driftwood on a distant dune. Damp coarse sand, seaweed and brine fill the nostrils as if one were laying prostrate on a wet beach after an energetic swim across the bay. On the palate it sets the tongue ablaze with hot smoke and black peppercorns cracked between the teeth. With water the nose softens as if a mist has fallen; pleasant, cooler with a hint of eucalyptus. Citrus, tar and swirling smoke cover and console the palate. The narrows of the Sound of Islay remain visible through the mist. $ Bottle price Outside on a cool autumn evening Colour: Dried pasta in a glass jar Date distilled: July 1993 Cask: Refill sherry butt Alcohol: 59.8% Age: 17 years 462 bottles 9

10 Old lace and lavender hand cream With coal dust, bacon flans, liquorice, tomato leaf, salty maple ham, fresh peat, charcoal bonfires and geranium leaf the Panel thought this inviting. Big and smoky to taste with white pepper, barbecued prawns, heather, chalky violets, sweet oysters and charcoal. Water brought out iodine, lavender hand cream, blackened pork, old lace, vanilla, mint sauce and salty oysters. Spicy, sweet, nutty, and salty on the palate with hot wood (saunas), heather, pine (likened to winter walks in the woods), and meaty notes, the smoke although dense was very much in the background. This distillery has a royal warrant from Prince Charles. Islay $ Bottle price Only one left! Perfect for after a sauna, before jumping into the frozen loch in winter Colour: Dirty gold Date distilled: April 1998 Cask: Refill hogshead Alcohol: 57.3% Age: 13 years 188 bottles Gentle giant Although this was an initial blast of peat smoke, smoked bacon, vegetable oil, brine (from hot dogs), it was sweet and delicate. There was toffee dust (the stuff you find at the bottom of a big jar from the sweet shop), white bonbons, all interlaced with a mineral character. Big, salty, smoky, and earthy to taste but a delicate perfumed herbal note gave the impression of lightness. Water stabilised this gentle impression; now it was nutty, grassy, herbal and more perfumed although the smoky bacon was still there. Liquorice, walnuts, pine resin and salty ash were added to the palate. $ Bottle price On your way to Islay or for an education in the art of smoky whiskies Colour: 9 carat gold Date distilled: October 2001 Cask: First fill barrel Alcohol: 57.6% Age: 9 years 229 bottles 10

11 On the dunes - watching a puffer We found spicy Bombay mix on the nose - also Trail mix (dried pineapple, coconut and papaya) - sharp exotic fruits wrestling with smoke - like limes squeezed over barbeque meats. The palate`s lipsmacking fruitiness (melon, lemon) and mint suggested jugs of Pimm`s; but always with heat and smoke - `lime water on a sauna heater`, someone said. The reduced nose, with pineapple and menthol, seemed like sea breezes over the machair on warm spring days (with maybe a puffer on the horizon). The reduced palate balanced sherbet and ice tea against smoke, while retaining its intensity. Loch Indaal laps against the distillery wall. Islay $ Bottle price A feel good dram - when heading off on holiday or celebrating an achievement Colour: Beady ginger gold Date distilled: April 1994 Cask: Refill butt Alcohol: 56% Age: 16 years 572 bottles Right up my street The nose delivered suggestions of Germolene, coal, trainers, Dutch liquorice, mint humbugs, roasted chestnuts, bananas and ham ribs - but mainly freshly tarred roads and new telegraph poles (`right up MY street` someone said). The palate was huge, tongue-roasting and crying out for water - but we identified roasted parsnips, liquorice, sweet cinnamon, cherries and coal-dust. Water freshened the nose - maple cured bacon, Thai coconut satay, banana, peanut, cranberries and cherries. The palate was still challenging and took plenty of water, but the panel remained positive - finding everlasting heat, sweet smoked pecans and other lip-smacking flavours. The medium-peated version of distillery 23. Could stiffen you up before setting out to do battle - or just a nice winter fireside dram Colour: Mellow yellow buttercup gold Date distilled: June 2002 Cask: Refill barrel Alcohol: 65.7% Age: 9 years 243 bottles $ Bottle price Only three left! 11

12 A hawker market in Singapore The nose had buttery egg custard, vanilla, syrup, donuts, light smoke, struck matches and dried flowers, plus pork char siu, duck and hoisin sauce with rice wine. The unreduced palate had creamy vanilla, cooked meats, aromatic smoke, pepper and chilli - someone remembered prawns grilled on pans of salt; another panellist was transported to Singapore s hawker market - a positive experience, apparently. The reduced nose managed to balance fruit (apple, cranberry, orange, melon, lychees) with smoked fish pie and brown sauce. The reduced palate - smoky, salty, woody, with brown sugar, banana, leather and tobacco. The distillery name means mouth of the river. Islay $ Bottle price Only 3 left! After eating exotic food Colour: Coppery gold Date distilled: April 1998 Cask: Refill sherry butt Alcohol: 56.4% Age: 12 years 756 bottles They re wonderful! But how to buy? Remind me how to get it? Easy! Through The Scotch Malt Whisky Society website at which will then take you through to the Kensington Wine Market website for final purchase. Through the Kensington Wine Market website at - search for The Scotch Malt Whisky Society under the Scotch tab. By phoning Andrew Ferguson at the Kensington Wine Market at (403) (within Calgary) or at (outside Calgary). In person at Kensington Wine Market, located at 1257 Kensington Road NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 3P8. Remember, you have to be a member to purchase, so please have your membership number with you! 12