Tastes

Gordon and MacPhail, Elgin, Shop Tasting, 4th May 2024, whisky #5 Nose: Gentle mature oak, honey and beeswax, sugar-coated cereal flakes, frangipani, mango, ripe rockmelon. It’s like the aroma of a bowl of fresh flowers and tropical fruit standing on an old pine dresser, polished for decades with beeswax and standing in a cheerful sunny room with the windows open and a warm summer breeze drifting through. Adding a little water develops golden syrup, dried figs and slightly warmed almonds. Palate: The arrival is huge, with soft old tannins and lignin that envelop like an angora blanket. Lightly toasted muesli with tropical fruit and honey-sweetened yoghurt. The development turns maltier and more robust with dried fruits, leather, golden syrup and treacle coming forward, and this in turn passes to a milk chocolate, chewing tobacco and nut combination. The progression is slow, complex and defined. The texture is like thinned honey and towards the end a faint ashy (barrel char?) note emerges. Adding water makes the nutty and dark fruit sherry cask contribution more obvious. Finish: Medium/Long. Picking up from the palate the whisky continues to develop into the aftertaste becoming more drying and firm, with earthy tobacco and a hint of maritime brine in the finale. This was a very fine whisky and I summed up the tasting notes in my journal with two words: absolutely exquisite. It was distilled in September 1991 and filled into a refill sherry butt (distillery cask #15386) where it resided for 30 years before being emptied in December 2021 to produce 488 bottles at 55.7% abv. That’s a pretty amazing act when you consider how little loss there was to the angels over the course of three decades! Issued as part of Gordon & MacPhail’s Connoisseur Cask Strength range, this is a great whisky that is still available from some retail outlets. The price is considerable, and a bit too much for my budget nowadays, but the whisky is genuinely worth it. “Excellent” : 89/100 (4.75 stars)

Gordon and MacPhail, Elgin, Shop Tasting, 4th May 2024, whisky #4 Nose: Dusty hay, crushed dandelions, sulphur, dates, dried figs, treacle, malt extract, marmite, menthol. Palate: The arrival is primarily malty and there is a sting from the high alcohol content, but less than expected. Dark fruits, treacle and sulphur, red wine vinegar, bitter black coffee. Adding water increases sweetness but also develops sharp spicey notes. Finish: Medium. Nutty and dry but trailing into a bitter dark chocolate and coffee aftertaste. The nose is heavily sherry influenced but not in an ideal manner, being sharp and rather sulphurous. It’s reminiscent of the smell of a packet of dried figs that has too much added sulphur preservative. Not a great nose, to be honest. The palate is similarly underwhelming being firm and, apart from initial sweetness, primarily sour. It definitely needs water to tame the 62.3%abv it but doing so is not kind to the profile as it awakens a lot of bitter tannins and further sour flavours. Balmenach is not a common single malt and this is the first expression I’ve ever tasted. Partly this is down to the distillery having been mothballed in the mid-1990s which led to a lack of mature stock for a while, but the bigger reason is that almost all of it goes for blending. The spirit is apparently well-know in the industry for being big and meaty (the stills are small and the distillery uses wormtubs) and it adds body to a blended scotch. However some critics do comment on a sulphur presence. Sadly, I did not think much of this bottling and I have a feeling the problems are down to the distillate itself rather than unfortunate maturation. I should mention that this expression has received generally good reviews elsewhere, and that most of the people at the tasting session I attended also liked it, so maybe it's just me. “Average” : 78/100 (2.75 stars)

Gordon and MacPhail, Elgin, Shop Tasting, 4th May 2024, whisky #3 Nose: Rum and raisin chocolate, treacle, leather, orange concentrate, a touch of menthol and mint. The nose expands considerably over time gaining malt extract aromas and an enfolding, rich character. Palate: Sweet but drying arrival, this has a classic oloroso sherry palate with aged dark fruits, Brazil nuts and walnuts. When neat it is dry and more like fino sherry cask maturation but with water it immediately gains balance and sweeter notes come to the fore. The texture is mouth-coating and oily but with a slightly grippy quality. Finish: Medium. Dark fruits and some barrel char in the aftertaste. A commanding cask-strength whisky matured exclusively in refill sherry hogsheads. It’s clean and dry when neat but it’s only when you add water that it really comes to life, and come to life it does, most spectacularly. The whisky gains balance, poise and greater textural complexity but is also more approachable and loses nothing in the process. There is a definite, albeit not intrusive, alcohol presence when neat but this disappears once it is reduced to around 50% abv. This is a very good representative of Gordon & MacPhail’s Connoisseur cask strength range of single malts. 241 bottles were produced from refill sherry hogshead #803998 at a stated age of 13 years, and it beautifully showcases both the distillate and the excellent cask used for maturation. Inchgower is another Diageo Speyside distillery that is all too frequently overlooked and its characteristic nutty, dry distillate is wonderful when matured in either ex-bourbon or (as in this case) sherry casks. Recommended, and just a whisker short of 4 stars. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)

Gordon and MacPhail, Elgin, Shop Tasting, 4th May 2024, whisky #2 Nose: Malty and savory, like balsamic vinegar or beef extract. Stewed fruit, gooseberries and red berries. There is an aroma of decomposed lignin and fermentation sulphur that is a lot nicer than it might sound. It’s an umami character and it gives the nose depth and interest. Palate: Semi-sweet cereal arrival. As it develops there is muesli with lots of fruits and nuts and again that umami quality that was noticed on the nose. The texture is oily and the sulphurous note contributes body but absolutely no off-notes. Finish: Medium. Buttered black bread, white wheat toast and roasted nuts. This is a classic refill-cask whisky that highlights malt and cereal notes. There is no cask domination or fussy finishing going on here and the pleasant range of aromas and flavours is easy to enjoy. It's a straight-up, no-nonsense, good scotch single malt whisky. There has never been an official distillery bottling of Glentauchers which is a pity as it’s a delightful distillate. My tasting diary tells me that I’ve had six Glentauchers expressions over the years including this one and I’ve never rated it as less than 83/100. The vast majority of their output goes into Ballantine’s blended whiskies which I guess is one reason why that blend is so pleasant. Gordon & MacPhail have (or at least they used to have) a standing licence to bottle Glentauchers as a semi-official bottling under their “Distillery Labels” range. It has been available for decades as semi-annual releases in batches ranging form 12-14 years of age. The casks, which are top-notch refill hogsheads, are supplied by Gordon & MacPhail and filled at the distillery. I particularly enjoyed this whisky with a dash of water as it brought out some delightful barley sugar notes and rendered the already enjoyable oily texture even better making it creamy and buttery. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)

Gordon and MacPhail, Elgin, Shop Tasting, 4th May 2024, whisky #1 Nose: Fruity (citrus juice, citrus peel, pineapple), vanilla, mild spices. Over time the pineapple note becomes more noticeable. Palate: Overall the palate is fruity, light and slightly spicy. Sweet lemon and grapefruit in the arrival, morphing into orange, pineapple and mango as it develops. There is a touch of youthful oak, a little white pepper and some ginger and cinnamon. The texture is OK but nothing special. Finish: Short. Fruitiness and oak notes plus a cereal flavor that did not appear in the initial taste. A solid, straightforward fruity whisky that has no objectionable faults but neither does it have a great deal of depth, engagement or persistence. Adding water wrought no real change. The finish lengthened slightly but no previously hidden aromas or flavours emerged. This single malt is typical of Gordon and MacPhail's introductory "Discovery" range of single malts, but it's both the youngest and least interesting one I have tasted. Like all the others in the range it is competent, sippable and versatile. At the price point it is competing against more interesting single malts so its value for money as a sipping dram is marginal. However it does also compare favourably against similarly priced blended scotches so it is worth considering for its value just as a mixer. I feel I'm being a little generous with rating this at 81/100 when in many ways it is such an average malt, but the quality of distillation and maturation is undeniable so it just barely warrants that score. “Above Average (just)” : 81/100 (3 stars)

Nose: Crisp peat smoke, flinty stones, breezy seashore, a wisp of tangy citrus (grapefruit, lemon) and just a hint of vanilla and pencil shavings. Palate: Immediately briny on the arrival with semi-sweet lemon in the foundation. As it develops, the sweetness enlarges with just a suggestion of salted caramel and you start to get mild peat smoke. The smoke flavor continues to grow as the palate progresses but this never becomes a peat monster. There is a crisp, clean quality to the palate and the texture is fresh and firm, but not oily or creamy. The dry, salty aspect never retreats. Finish: Medium/Long. The salt and lemon profile subsides into mildly ashy sweetness over time and the texture gains creaminess. A pleasant NAS by Hunter Laing that is sourced from an unknown Islay distillery, but it only takes one taste to nail this as Caol Ila … and very young Caol Ila at that. The crisp lightness of profile, lack of intense wood character and almost colourless appearance all confirm this as very young whisky matured in good quality refill casks. I doubt this is much more than 5 years old but that means nothing in itself. There are some strikingly good young single malts out there (Waterford, Lochlea, Ardnamurchan etc.) and this expression can be added to that list. One thing I would note is that when first opened this whisky seemed overly salty and harsh on the nose with an accompanying sharp palate, however it has relaxed considerably over just a week. At 46% abv this can handle a dash of water, however dilution does little for the nose other than muting it and causing some plastic/rubber notes to emerge from the peat reek. Likewise the palate is softened but a slightly sour metallic flavor comes to the front, which is not desirable. Water does make the texture creamier, but overall I’d call adding it a bad move so take this one neat. This can be enjoyed as a sipping whisky but for me it lacks the character to make it a really engaging experience. It does work well as a mixer or in long drinks, and is pleasant in black coffee, so for the money it is a good buy. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Glenfarclas Distillery post-tour tasting, 3rd May 2024, whisky #5 Nose: Fortified wine, raisins, dark chocolate, Turkish delight, nutmeg. There is a note of sulphur but it was not disagreeable. Palate: Caramel fondant, marzipan, plums and sultanas in the arrival. Stone fruits, malt extract, stewed dark fruit, sweet black cherries, preserved orange peel, ginger in syrup, pineapple chunks. The texture is rich and beyond creamy, it almost approaches the mouth-feel of a liqueur. Finish: Medium. Wine, malt and preserved fruits. This expression was a special release, distillery-only, single-cask bottling and although the distillery’s signature character is recognizable it was different to any other Glenfarclas I have tasted. Overall it was softer, more velvety in texture and had a much sweeter profile, particularly on the finish. There was a trace of sulphur on both nose and palate but it was benign and agreeable (in the same way that Springbank fermentation sulphur is agreeable). It was distilled in 1997 and filled into a refill Madeira pipe (distillery cask #181), and disgorged on 19th February 2021 at an abv of 50.7%. The bottle from which we tasted did not state the number of bottles, but I believe it was 653 (more about that below). Glenfarclas does not generally use anything other than sherry casks, and they never finish whiskies (as far as I can recall) so a full-term Madeira pipe maturation is remarkable for them. The tour guide did show us some other non-sherry casks in the dunnage we visited, but apparently the whisky from these is seldom sold. I could not find any information about this expression online, but there is a bottle on Whiskybase that has a different label (1997 Family Reserve II Madeira Cask) but is identical in all other respects including the cask number. It states “1 of 653 bottles” so I’m assuming that the whisky I tasted was part of the same batch, but labeled differently for UK sale. It was very interesting to taste but none was available for purchase. “Very Good” : 86/100 (4 stars)

Glenfarclas Distillery post-tour tasting, 3rd May 2024, whisky# 4 Nose: Malt extract, rum and raisin chocolate, cherries, orange peel, preserved ginger, dried apricot and leather. It’s a marvelous, commanding nose that has intensity but is well balanced. An excellent sherry nose. Palate: The arrival is sweetly spicy with preserved fruits stewed in dark honey, pippali, hot cinnamon and nutmeg. In the development the palate becomes maltier with licorice, oak and espresso coffee backed by a leathery, tobacco note. The texture is very good, just a little oily with perfectly contained alcohol. Adding water tones down the spice notes a little, enlarges the sweet flavours (but also introduces a touch of bitterness) and makes the texture creamier. Finish: Long. Mildly spicy and sweet with a candy-like fruity acidity in the aftertaste. This distillery exclusive bottling was released for the Spirit of Speyside Festival in 2023, but bottles are still available from the distillery door (the 2024 Festival exclusive was a NAS called “107” but I did not have an opportunity to taste it). It was distilled in 2002, matured in a 1st-fill sherry butt (distillery cask 3774) for 20 years, and bottled on the 15th February 2023. 636 bottles were filled at cask-strength of 54.3%. A very fine example of classic, old-school 1st-fill sherry Glenfarclas. The nose is quite magnificent and the palate not far short in quality. This is good sherried whisky, but not a generic sherry bomb. I did note a slight astringency when it was watered but this just provided balance against the spicy-sweetness of the neat palate. “Excellent” : 88/100 (4.5 stars)

Speyburn Distillery post-tour masterclass, 2nd May 2024, whisky #5 Nose: Sherry, dried figs, dried dates, raisins, boiled Christmas pudding. A waft of furniture varnish and old oak. Palate: Dark fruit, sherry, orange marmalade, oak. Not a great deal emerges later or with subsequent sips – it’s a fairly straightforward sherried palate. The texture is waxy rather than creamy or oily and there was walnut-skin tannic astringency. Finish: Medium. Dark fruits, sherry, dark chocolate, oak. This was distilled in 2004 and disgorged in 2024 after being aged in one ex-sherry cask (distillery cask 215) for 19 years. 546 bottles were produced (which is about 410 litres so it must have been a sherry butt) and our tasting was from bottle 513. This bottling was a distillery-only exclusive single-cask expression for the 2024 Spirit of Speyside Festival. It was a pleasant whisky, clean and well sherried with a lovely dark, all-natural colour. On the whole I’d describe it as being better than average but, although there was nothing specifically bad about it, it lacked personality, depth and length so there was no incentive for me to purchase it – particularly for £180. “Above Average” 82/100 (3.25 stars)