Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, 2019/2020
Dear Gadsby Whisky Collective,
A very happy festive season to you all! Winterval Wonderlands await!
For those that want to blind taste test, don't forget to stop reading now....
....
.... and welcome back.
Here we go:
Number 1: Jura 10 year. 2019 started for me in 2018... yes, I know that doesn't make any sense, but I saw a few deals on whisky in late 2018 (connected with 'Black Friday' and then pre-Christmas reductions) that I couldn't possibly justify for myself and with five whiskies already lined up for 2018 I had no option (that's right, no option) but to plan way ahead for 2019. The first of these is a really interesting one. Jura is a distillery with an interesting history, and it is changing all over again at the moment... Firstly, it is worth locating on the Whisky Map. This is an island that has one road, one pub and one distillery. The road doesn't even go from one end of the island to the other - it goes in two directions from the ferry port and both ends are dead ends.
From an outside point of view, Jura is a distillery that might not seem to know what it wants to produce. It seemed to re-launch itself with a variety of NAS expressions a few years ago, all given fanciful names like 'Superstition', 'Origin' and 'Prophesy' and packaged with a sort of trendy look. Mostly, these haven't reviewed all that well - more quirky than quality. I have tried Origin and Superstition - I can't say exactly what I didn't like about them, I thought they were fine at first but I found them to be a bit hard to want to finish, for some reason. However, in late 2018 they suddenly seemed to stop producing those expressions, which have been generally priced between £28 - £40, and they have replaced all of them with a Jura 10 yr. Reviews so far have been more positive. As you can see, I saw it for about the cheapest any 10 year old single malt ever is, and certainly a lot more reasonable than what they appeared to hope it would go for earlier in the year.
Number 2: Glen Scotia Double Cask, %, non-chilfiltered
Campbeltown used to produce huge amounts of whisky with many (at one stage 37) distinctive distilleries. It's distinctive enough to be considered one of the five separate regions of whisky (that's Highlands, Lowlands, Speyside, Islands and Campbeltown). If you look on a map you can see that there is simply no way that such a small place could drink the produce of 37 distilleries (barely enough people to staff them!) and so it won't be a surprise to learn that they all collapsed due to American prohibition slashing exports in the early 20th century. You'll also see that Campbeltown is on a peninsula that wins the Gadsby award for 'Part of the British Isles Most like a Horse's Dong', but that is just an aside. It went down to two (really one and a half) distilleries at one point but is slowly gaining again, now currently at three. Springbank is the main remaining distillery and it is a good one, but the prices are at a premium, as they would be if your whisky is more or less the sole produce of what is considered to be an entire region. I paid £47 for a bottle of Springbank 10 a couple of years ago and it was not worth it, although it was good. In fact, it was part of the realisation that whisky can be a rip-off if you go by brand reputation rather than independent review. (That said, Springbank are a uniquely family-run-and-everything-on-site distillery that some might say is worth supporting).
Glen Scotia is the 'half' a distillery, in that I believe it was managed by Springbank for a while but I think is finding its feet again now. So it is a bit of a treat to get this well-reviewed (see https://malt-review.com/2016/09/08/glen-scotia-double-cask/) Campbeltown single malt whisky to try, and get change for £30. It is NAS but won't be young.
Number 3: John Paul Edited.
Last year's trip to Ireland in the shape of the Redbreast 12 we all had (I was underwhelmed, for all the hype) is backed up this year with a more adventurous trip (purely in the mind and from the armchair, a sort of transcendental meditation) to Goa. As you can see from the screenshot, I got this one for quite a few pounds under its average and the lowest price yet listed (in Feb - OK, I'll admit it, I am finding it hard to prevent myself from completing the 5 purchases rather speedily). I'm hoping this NAS single malt will warm us up for the two that follow. Geoff and I have tried some Indian single malt before (Amrut distillery) and both liked it. It does tend to be very pricey, though. Mind you, this is far from cheap for a NAS, so fingers crossed...
See the following for a review: https://malt-review.com/2014/08/11/paul-john-edited/
Number 4: The good deals at the end of 2018 were how we come to be able to compare and contrast two of the most desirable (in our price range) single malts from the island of Islay in one year, these last two. Of all the distillery cult followings, these two are probably about the most notable. Perhaps, if you can get past the French accent, this video, filmed on what must be a rare sunny day, will get you into the Islay picture nicely.
Ardbeg 10 year, single malt. I got it for £34.95, and if you see the following graph you'll see that barring a moment of marketing madness in late 2016, this was the cheapest this whisky had ever been. While we are talking about quality, this is non-chill-filtered (a process that removes some of the oils in order to prevent a slight haziness that can occur at lower temperatures), no added colour (loads of whiskies have added E150 caramel colourant because distilleries believe that people associate darker colour with older and more richly flavoured whisky) and it is bottled at 46% (it is up to the distiller what percentage to dilute the whisky down to from its cask-strength, but many aficionados feel that 46% is the best general compromise between quality, drinkability and the inevitable economic advantages for the distiller from selling you more water in the bottle).
I've never tried Ardbeg 10, so for me personally I hope I will find it full on but not too medicinal - the only whisky I have ever had that seriously disagreed with me (same result, several months apart, both less than a single dram) was a Laphroaig, which has the most TCP/bandages/hospital disinfectant reputation of the lot and it made me feel very odd for about 24 hours. So, I'm putting Ardbeg 10 on this year's list in a spirit of risk-taking experimentation and pushing the boat out for me.
This link will take you on a blustery 21 minute walk from Ardbeg to Lagavulin, our next station stop...
Number 5: Lagavulin is considered by many to be the best of the Islay distilleries. It produces an 8 year, a 12 year and a 16 year, as well as 'distillers editions', etc. The 8 year was originally only a special edition to celebrate the distillery's 200th anniversary, but I believe it was popular enough for them to start producing it more regularly. I think it is in the top 5 whiskies I have ever tasted. The 12 year considered to be their highest quality expression and it is double the price of the others, so I have never tasted it. What we have here is the 16 year. I got it for £38, a very low price for this whisky. I've only had it a couple of times before in pubs.
Lagavulin 16 is widely considered one of the world great single malts. It has won award after award and is the reason that this distillery has a cult following. It inspires such pleasant nonsense as this, from a well-known review website:
So it only remains for me to say... may your lush, maritime garden quickly come into Technicolor focus and may all the ghosts of our collective fruit emerge this Christmas. A real boat! Oh geez! See you on the other side of the low-hanging haze.
Please feel free to email me, ordering these whiskies from 1-5 in order of preference. The more of that kind of feedback I get, the more I can shop with your particular tastes in mind. In response to feedback from last year, this batch contains three peated whiskies rather than two. But let me know.
Jura 10: £23
Glen Scotia: £29
Lagavulin 16: £38
John Paul Edited: £33
Ardbeg 10 £35
(23+29+38+33+35) divided by 5 = £32.5
Next year?
I'm investigating bourbon for one or possibly two of the offerings. I've had one excellent and interesting one and one duff one so far. When I say 'one' of course I mean 'one' bottle. Its a tough life...
Wikipedia can come to our uninitiated aid on the subject of what makes a whisky a bourbon...
Dating from the 1870's it could hardly be called a young pretender and it was first made in Kentucky by Scots/Irish settlers, so it is very much in the same tradition as Scotch. Charring the casks is important (although it is very often in Scotch, too). Probably the two biggest differences between whisk(e)y and bourbon whiskey are (1) the requirement that it is made from at least 51% corn, and not the all-barley of the Scotch single malt and (2) the requirement for it to be aged in new oak barrels. Scotch must not be aged in new oak, hence the constant mass migration of barrels from bourbon production in the States to Scotland. Also, it does not have a minimum legal length of time in the barrel, unlike scotch which is three years. However, having looked at the descriptions of a number of bourbons it seems that ageing is as important part of most, just as it is in scotch, although an actual age-statement seems a little rarer to find. Finally, even if someone produced whisky in Scotland with a bourbon recipe it could not legally be called bourbon because it is classed as a distinctive product of the US and only a spirit produced in the US can be called bourbon.
A very happy festive season to you all! Winterval Wonderlands await!
For those that want to blind taste test, don't forget to stop reading now....
....
.... and welcome back.
Here we go:
Number 1: Jura 10 year. 2019 started for me in 2018... yes, I know that doesn't make any sense, but I saw a few deals on whisky in late 2018 (connected with 'Black Friday' and then pre-Christmas reductions) that I couldn't possibly justify for myself and with five whiskies already lined up for 2018 I had no option (that's right, no option) but to plan way ahead for 2019. The first of these is a really interesting one. Jura is a distillery with an interesting history, and it is changing all over again at the moment... Firstly, it is worth locating on the Whisky Map. This is an island that has one road, one pub and one distillery. The road doesn't even go from one end of the island to the other - it goes in two directions from the ferry port and both ends are dead ends.
From an outside point of view, Jura is a distillery that might not seem to know what it wants to produce. It seemed to re-launch itself with a variety of NAS expressions a few years ago, all given fanciful names like 'Superstition', 'Origin' and 'Prophesy' and packaged with a sort of trendy look. Mostly, these haven't reviewed all that well - more quirky than quality. I have tried Origin and Superstition - I can't say exactly what I didn't like about them, I thought they were fine at first but I found them to be a bit hard to want to finish, for some reason. However, in late 2018 they suddenly seemed to stop producing those expressions, which have been generally priced between £28 - £40, and they have replaced all of them with a Jura 10 yr. Reviews so far have been more positive. As you can see, I saw it for about the cheapest any 10 year old single malt ever is, and certainly a lot more reasonable than what they appeared to hope it would go for earlier in the year.
Number 2: Glen Scotia Double Cask, %, non-chilfiltered
Campbeltown used to produce huge amounts of whisky with many (at one stage 37) distinctive distilleries. It's distinctive enough to be considered one of the five separate regions of whisky (that's Highlands, Lowlands, Speyside, Islands and Campbeltown). If you look on a map you can see that there is simply no way that such a small place could drink the produce of 37 distilleries (barely enough people to staff them!) and so it won't be a surprise to learn that they all collapsed due to American prohibition slashing exports in the early 20th century. You'll also see that Campbeltown is on a peninsula that wins the Gadsby award for 'Part of the British Isles Most like a Horse's Dong', but that is just an aside. It went down to two (really one and a half) distilleries at one point but is slowly gaining again, now currently at three. Springbank is the main remaining distillery and it is a good one, but the prices are at a premium, as they would be if your whisky is more or less the sole produce of what is considered to be an entire region. I paid £47 for a bottle of Springbank 10 a couple of years ago and it was not worth it, although it was good. In fact, it was part of the realisation that whisky can be a rip-off if you go by brand reputation rather than independent review. (That said, Springbank are a uniquely family-run-and-everything-on-site distillery that some might say is worth supporting).
Glen Scotia is the 'half' a distillery, in that I believe it was managed by Springbank for a while but I think is finding its feet again now. So it is a bit of a treat to get this well-reviewed (see https://malt-review.com/2016/09/08/glen-scotia-double-cask/) Campbeltown single malt whisky to try, and get change for £30. It is NAS but won't be young.
Number 3: John Paul Edited.
Last year's trip to Ireland in the shape of the Redbreast 12 we all had (I was underwhelmed, for all the hype) is backed up this year with a more adventurous trip (purely in the mind and from the armchair, a sort of transcendental meditation) to Goa. As you can see from the screenshot, I got this one for quite a few pounds under its average and the lowest price yet listed (in Feb - OK, I'll admit it, I am finding it hard to prevent myself from completing the 5 purchases rather speedily). I'm hoping this NAS single malt will warm us up for the two that follow. Geoff and I have tried some Indian single malt before (Amrut distillery) and both liked it. It does tend to be very pricey, though. Mind you, this is far from cheap for a NAS, so fingers crossed...
See the following for a review: https://malt-review.com/2014/08/11/paul-john-edited/
Number 4: The good deals at the end of 2018 were how we come to be able to compare and contrast two of the most desirable (in our price range) single malts from the island of Islay in one year, these last two. Of all the distillery cult followings, these two are probably about the most notable. Perhaps, if you can get past the French accent, this video, filmed on what must be a rare sunny day, will get you into the Islay picture nicely.
Ardbeg 10 year, single malt. I got it for £34.95, and if you see the following graph you'll see that barring a moment of marketing madness in late 2016, this was the cheapest this whisky had ever been. While we are talking about quality, this is non-chill-filtered (a process that removes some of the oils in order to prevent a slight haziness that can occur at lower temperatures), no added colour (loads of whiskies have added E150 caramel colourant because distilleries believe that people associate darker colour with older and more richly flavoured whisky) and it is bottled at 46% (it is up to the distiller what percentage to dilute the whisky down to from its cask-strength, but many aficionados feel that 46% is the best general compromise between quality, drinkability and the inevitable economic advantages for the distiller from selling you more water in the bottle).
I've never tried Ardbeg 10, so for me personally I hope I will find it full on but not too medicinal - the only whisky I have ever had that seriously disagreed with me (same result, several months apart, both less than a single dram) was a Laphroaig, which has the most TCP/bandages/hospital disinfectant reputation of the lot and it made me feel very odd for about 24 hours. So, I'm putting Ardbeg 10 on this year's list in a spirit of risk-taking experimentation and pushing the boat out for me.
This link will take you on a blustery 21 minute walk from Ardbeg to Lagavulin, our next station stop...
Number 5: Lagavulin is considered by many to be the best of the Islay distilleries. It produces an 8 year, a 12 year and a 16 year, as well as 'distillers editions', etc. The 8 year was originally only a special edition to celebrate the distillery's 200th anniversary, but I believe it was popular enough for them to start producing it more regularly. I think it is in the top 5 whiskies I have ever tasted. The 12 year considered to be their highest quality expression and it is double the price of the others, so I have never tasted it. What we have here is the 16 year. I got it for £38, a very low price for this whisky. I've only had it a couple of times before in pubs.
Lagavulin 16 is widely considered one of the world great single malts. It has won award after award and is the reason that this distillery has a cult following. It inspires such pleasant nonsense as this, from a well-known review website:
Appearance: A deep, dusky amber. Nose: Oh, geez. There’s peat, first of all, a big, pungent whack of it, laced with smoked fish and driftwood and salty rocks. But underneath that, there’s a great big ocean of sweet, caramelized malt, all baked apples and cobbler crust. Plenty of industrial character, too—soot, rubber, hot electrical equipment, and that magical, grimy petrichor of a dirty urban sidewalk after a summer’s rain. Palate: You know that saying “turns to ashes in your mouth?” This is like the opposite. At first, it’s like a mouthful of recently extinguished ashes—charred, powdery, astringent—but then a lush, maritime garden quickly comes into Technicolor focus. Basically, Lagavulin 16 tastes just like a real boat: varnish, diesel, salty nets, ocean spray, and the sticky lanolin-rich smell of a thick wool sweater a hardworking man has been wearing one too many days in a row. Over several minutes in the glass, ghosts of fruit emerge—orange and red cherry, mostly—but never seem to break through the low-hanging haze. That’s alright – a suggestion is enough.
So it only remains for me to say... may your lush, maritime garden quickly come into Technicolor focus and may all the ghosts of our collective fruit emerge this Christmas. A real boat! Oh geez! See you on the other side of the low-hanging haze.
Please feel free to email me, ordering these whiskies from 1-5 in order of preference. The more of that kind of feedback I get, the more I can shop with your particular tastes in mind. In response to feedback from last year, this batch contains three peated whiskies rather than two. But let me know.
Jura 10: £23
Glen Scotia: £29
Lagavulin 16: £38
John Paul Edited: £33
Ardbeg 10 £35
(23+29+38+33+35) divided by 5 = £32.5
Next year?
I'm investigating bourbon for one or possibly two of the offerings. I've had one excellent and interesting one and one duff one so far. When I say 'one' of course I mean 'one' bottle. Its a tough life...
Wikipedia can come to our uninitiated aid on the subject of what makes a whisky a bourbon...
Dating from the 1870's it could hardly be called a young pretender and it was first made in Kentucky by Scots/Irish settlers, so it is very much in the same tradition as Scotch. Charring the casks is important (although it is very often in Scotch, too). Probably the two biggest differences between whisk(e)y and bourbon whiskey are (1) the requirement that it is made from at least 51% corn, and not the all-barley of the Scotch single malt and (2) the requirement for it to be aged in new oak barrels. Scotch must not be aged in new oak, hence the constant mass migration of barrels from bourbon production in the States to Scotland. Also, it does not have a minimum legal length of time in the barrel, unlike scotch which is three years. However, having looked at the descriptions of a number of bourbons it seems that ageing is as important part of most, just as it is in scotch, although an actual age-statement seems a little rarer to find. Finally, even if someone produced whisky in Scotland with a bourbon recipe it could not legally be called bourbon because it is classed as a distinctive product of the US and only a spirit produced in the US can be called bourbon.
It has taken me ages to respond to all this and I apologise. Think of it as matured slowly in the oaky, post-sherry cask of my mind.
ReplyDeleteSo a smokier offering all round. I did my absolute utmost to garner the taste sensations people often bring to bear on this subject. the closest i could get to any of that was "woody, oak floorboards (perhaps that should be oak barrel?), strong whisky-like taste..." reader, I give up.
Unlike Jonathan I actually liked the Ardbeg best of all, and very much enjoy the much-hyped Laphroaig whenever I have it. In general I favoured last year's selection a little better than this year's, as some of the Speysides in that collection had a honey/toffee taste experience, which i find contrasts nicely with the peatsmoke of Islay.