Tastes

Ok. This one took me a minute to figure out. For those that are not aware ‘Fable Whisky’ is a relatively new brand of independently bottled single malt whisky. Fable was created in 2020 by Calum Lawrie and Andrew Torrance. Lawrie and Torrance are directors of Pendulum Spirits Ltd., a Scotland-based company. Fable have entered the market on the back of creative arts heavy marketing leaning heavily into a branding strategy that uses animation, artwork, music, and pottery. Currently there are two collections or ‘volumes’. Volume 1 delves into the legend of ‘The Ghost Piper of Clanyard Bay’, a story hailing from the South West Coast of Scotland, close to Stranraer. Through collaboration with artist Hugo Cuellar Fable attempted to create ‘an enchanted world, from which label illustrations highlighting characters and scenes form a set of eleven Chapters’. In this series I will be exploring chapters one to five. Looking at the limited entries on Distiller, it is easy to get lost in these bottles. Chapter one has seen 17 (yes, 17!) releases going back to distillate produced in 2008 through to the most recent in 2014. All are Cool Ila distillate matured in ex-bourbon refill Hogsheads for 8-12 years and released as single cask expressions at cask strength. The different releases range from 190-320 bottles each and have different global markets. Tonight I am drinking the 5th release (cask number 313836) distilled 16/08/2010 and aged 10 years. 311 bottles were filled at 57.3% on 27/07/2021 and released to the Australian, Danish, and UK markets. N: Clean and surprisingly delicate with no suggestion of the high ABV. Lovely savoury salted meat character is dominant with plenty of smoky and briny BBQ aromas. A very light preserved lemon and herbaceous pepper come through readily. More time takes you further into a maritime environment of pebble beaches and maybe the suggestion of creosoted briny old wood that is subtly linked with toasted grains. A little straightforward and simple, not that that is bad here; as its done very well I think. P: Theres the ABV, instantly drying and with a relic harsh roughness like sandpaper on the tongue. Yet, plenty of flavour too. Charcoal heavy, burnt BBQ ends, honey and red chillies, wholemeal toast, a tiny tiny tiny apple crunch and freshness. Preserved lemon. Leathery, and with some vague aniseed. F: Long. Smoked meat stays aggressively forefront, a little dusty oatmeal, chilli and black pepper. I first tried a Caol Ila, in 2016, a half empty bottle of CI12 was poured. The only memory I can recall is of preserved lemon. That is here, so I guess thats a weak confirmation that this liquid is indeed an Islay classic. But, I am profoundly disappointed this evening. The nose here is an exploration of perfection in simplicity, light, engaging, subtle and enjoyable. What follows though is unbridled, unrestrained, and harsh. Perhaps as I am being now. The instant rough dryness that rasps across the tongue means any development of palate fails to get going. I sense there may be some lovely peat tones in here, but burnt meat and charcoal just smack instead. The malt feels wholesome and weighty, but its hidden away. The lemon, leathery anise and touch of apple freshness are desperately needed, but they barely produce. The chilli rich finish is like a cheap imitation of Talisker. So, yes I am disappointed. A definite case of style over substance. Lots of points for style though! Oh, water: a drop or two brings out a fresh grass/gooseberry element to the nose that I think is great, but leaves nothing but ashy-wateryness in the palate and light chilli on the finish. Maybe add water and just smell it? Distiller whisky taste: #186 No rock tonight, instead, Fables telling of the Ghost Piper of Clanyard Bay. “There was once a small settlement perched on a sea cliff in Scotland’s wild southwest corner. The four compass points would take you elsewhere – east to the borders, north to the country’s heart, south to glacial lakes and west by boat across the waters - but the locals stayed put. For the land here, which should have been barren, was remarkably rich for farming (a well-kept secret). Lashed by rain, these were hardy folk as tough as the granite rock beneath their feet. They did not complain or scare easily, but for one strange thing. On stormy nights, when the moon was nearly drowned, eerie screams seemed to come from below them. There, where jarring waves met rugged bay, stood a gapping, hollow cave. The cave was left untouched until, one day as the earth was thawing, an old piper appeared with a dog. The rough hound was as grey as the beard of its owner. The piper was surely the finest in the land (as no doubt was his father before him). His bagpipes were crudely made and yet, from this instrument, came a merry sound that even stopped the crows from cawing. No one had heard such cheerful tunes. And so, accompanied by his faithful dog, the piper ventured into the cave, playing boldly as we went. At the entrance, the locals waited and listened. Hours passed and the pipes grew quieter until there was no sound at all. Suddenly the hound, once shaggy, ran out of the cave howling, without a single hair left on his shivering body. Deep underground, the piper continued to play as the fairies yelled, cursing him to leave. On he went, with a chill upon him, towards a distant light. The music soared above the terrible cries until the piper reached the cave’s centre. The piper was now in the mouth of a dreadful storm yet still he played. Furious at being bested by a human, the fairies departed, leaving a labyrinthine of mazes behind them to trap the poor piper inside. The piper was never seen again and not one settler could later recall his face. The cave’s entrance is now long gone, but hear me! Stand on that cliff in the middle of the night and a feint melody of pipes can still be heard coming from the depths below.” Fable running scores: Chapter 1 - Call Ila 10, 2010: 2.75/5

The third and final ‘Casks of Lindores’ bottling and the final part of my Lindores series. This liquid highlights the Sherry cask process, with the Lindores spirit exclusively aged in Oloroso Sherry butts sourced from Jerez in Spain. N: Deep and stupendously rich. Dates, figs, dark toffee, buttery mocha, berries. Richness, rather than being from toffee and fruits; seems to stem from a darker leathery or tobacco presence. P: Gentle warming fullness. Baking spices, cake batter, dark bitter cocoa and some stewed red fruits. A little orchard fruit and musty to nutty tannins add to the mix. Surprisingly simple and dare I say it; a little bland for a sherry cask. But, as has been the case for the other Lindores, clean and precise. F: Medium. Dark chocolate coated ginger, pot pourris florals, wood spice, and a little berry sweetness. Certainly not a sherry bomb, but the classic sherry characters are here: cocoa, stewed red fruits and some coffees. I had expected something bigger, bolder, and more purposeful. Not the case, this is lighter and gives room for florals on the finish and some richer opulence on the nose. I think the finish takes the win on this one, the florals are exceptional. I get less of the new make spirit in this but see how the sherry cask clearly integrates into the superior multicasking of MCDXCIV. This is the last of the six part series. I’m sad, this has been a wonderful exploration that I wish went deeper. Exciting things are sure to follow from this historic distillery. Distiller whisky taste #185 [Pictured here with a skarn from Aberdeenshire in Scotland featuring red garnet, green epidote and grey-white wollastonite. Skarns are metamorphic rocks formed by hot fluids coming at the contact of intrusive igneous rocks and surrounding country rocks. No idea what the precursor rock to this skarn was but it was likely a calcium-silicate sediment]. New make: 3.25/5
Aqua Vitae Small Batch: 3.5/5 MCDXCIV: 4/5 Bourbon cask: 3.5/5 STR wine barrique cask: 3.5/5 Sherry butt: 3.75

Scraped, Toasted, and Re-charred wine barrique casking, the second of three offerings under the ‘Casks of Lindores Series’ designed to showcase the fruit-forward style of the wine. N: Fresh oranges, plums, a hint of aniseed and barrel spice. There is a buttery-toffee like suggestion that pulls the spices to a richer depth and perhaps squeezes out the malt profile slightly. P: Instantly grabbed by thick wood presence, earthy spices and warmth. Deep stewed and spiced cereal laden plum. A lashing of honey and toast. Very straight forward with no real development. F: Long. Initially I thought medium, but then some brighter summery fruits come in as strawberry jam sweetness. The wood here is creamy and balances a fine line between caramel richness and oaky astringency. The opulent wood character is the central theme here. I had expected it would be the brighter citrus and jammy notes from the MCDXCIV but opulent wood is the surprise winner. There is a semblance of getting a rich port cask here. And whilst I do love a good port cask I wonder if the excellent new make is pushed out at the expense of this big cask presence. Again Lindores hit their brief. Show off the individual STR wine cask that forms part of the MCDXCIV; straight to the point and clearly focused. Distiller whisky taste #184 [Pictured here with a Torridonian Sandstone, the UKs oldest sedimentary rock formation at 1 billion years old. The formation is comprised of sediments reworked in river systems from fan deposits coming off the front of an ancient mountain front. This particular sandstone is an arkose, rich in feldspars. The red colouring is from extensive iron oxide overprinting] New make: 3.25/5
Aqua Vitae Small Batch: 3.5/5 MCDXCIV: 4/5 Bourbon cask: 3.5/5 STR wine barrique cask: 3.5/5

Last series I did was Hyde, it made me want to hide from whisky. This Lindores juice has me amped up. Three in and it has been getting really good. Number four now and this bottling is part of the ‘Casks of Lindores Series’. These series bottlings are designed to highlight the Lindores spirit with three differently treated casks. Here the ex-Bourbon barrels used in maturation which were sourced from Old Forrester are highlighted. “The first Casks of Lindores bottling featured exclusively bourbon barrels, one of the three core cask types used at Lindores, and was limited to 11,000 bottles. We believe that the Lindores spirit goes extremely well with bourbon casks and helps showcase its early maturing characteristic. The very long wash fermentation period in our Douglas fir washbacks, coupled with our Sister Spirit stills distillation helps create a spirit that matures early but we also believe will continue to develop over time.” N: Scrumpy cider is wrapped in crisp buttery malt-biscuit with some coconut, banana, and a fresh bale of straw. This nose is simple, clean, and crisp. P: Full bodied and lively. There is a zingy alcohol presence like the new make but it drives home crisp flaky pastry, wood spice, peaches and cream fruit notes and plenty of pear with just a touch of sour gooseberry. Richness is delivered by toffee and bitterness from a subtle hint of mocha. F: Medium-long. Drying oak tannin, peppery and cinnamon spice and butteriness. The central malt theme here is what this bottling is all about. There is a semblance of getting all the flaky bits of pastry out the bottom of a bag of freshly baked croissants. The original new make is recognised in the alcohols vibrancy and pear that underly the palate. The finish perhaps leans slightly spicy and tannic, but the expression is clear and demonstrates bourbon cask influence well. Is it the best bourbon cask out there, no; but its a good expression of what does into the more complex MCDXCIV. Distiller whisky taste #183 [Pictured here with a red soapstone, or “steatite” from Shetland. A soapstone is a talc dominant rock formed from hydrous metamorphism of ultramafic (mantle) rocks. Usually white or greenish, this one is red from iron alteration. On Shetland the soapstones are part of an ophiolite (section of oceanic crust) thrust up onto the continent 420-350 million years ago] New make: 3.25/5
Aqua Vitae Small Batch: 3.5/5 MCDXCIV: 4/5 Bourbon cask: 3.5/5

Lindores first public release, MCDXCIV (1494) has spent its time maturing in ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and STR ex-Burgundy red wine casks. The founders boast “one of the longest wash fermentation periods in the Scotch Whisky Industry at 117 hours coupled with an unusual sister spirit stills set up helps achieve the Distillery Manager’s goal of producing a malt of remarkable character for its age. The Sister Spirit Stills “Poppy” & “Gee”, named after the owners two daughters, help enhance and refine, through additional copper contact in the spirit distillation phase, the wonderful flavours captured in the long fermentation period.” N: Instant smack of malt with creamy light toffee and praline. Mixtures of pear, stone fruit, and jammy fig. Gentler florals, chocolates maybe, and some leathery and gristy depth. Eminently enjoyable and with elements of age and youth in equal measure. P: Beautifully light and creamy with some accompanying oiliness. Clove and nutmeg spice blend seamlessly with soft caramel and baked apple. Barely sugar adds a crisp almost crunch to the texture and flavour development. A gentle balanced bitterness from dark chocolate and spritz of orange. F: Medium-long. Darker leathery depths are found here that were promised by the nose and join a rich woodiness (but not over present) and a syrupy texture with a winey fruit presence. The very core of this liquid is a clear development from the new make. The citrus, the plum, the praline and vanillin are all developed and added to by the ambitious multicask ageing to bring depth and fullness to a well balanced and generous profile. The 46% is great, and likely needed to help deliver some of the subtler notes. Some youth is found in here with a slight grist on the nose and barley sugar ‘crunch’ in the palate. But they are minor detractors, this is interesting and seemingly quite unique. Lovely stuff. Distiller whisky taste #182 [Pictured here with a graphite schist from the Foss Mine in Scotland. This silvery coloured rock is from the Ben Egach Schist Formation, a group of 800-470 million year old metamorphosed oceanic sediments. The original sedimentary rocks were metamorphosed during the Caledonian Orogeny (mountain building). The Foss Mine where this rock is from hosts inter layered graphite schists and baryte which was previously mined as a source of barium] New make: 3.25/5
Aqua Vitae Small Batch: 3.5/5 MCDXCIV: 4/5

Last night I tried a new whisky from New Zealand, it was exceedingly average to less than. Sitting on my shelf for a couple of months now has been a bottle of a new New Zealand distilleries liquid, and an exclusive bottling at that. The mighty @cascode recently reviewed the same stuff. My turn. What is this stuff then? Apparently, ‘local barley, purest crystal-clear spring water from the volcanic hills that surround the distillery… this American oak double cask creation from heavily toasted ex-bourbon white oak barrels’. This particular release is from ~half of the first release stock at Pokeno and bottled at 46% for Australia’s Whisky Club exclusive versus the rest of the worlds 43% version. Having had an intro through @cascode notes I left this for 20 minutes before approaching. N: Bright, refreshing and summery. White fruits, vanilla and white chocolate, a little fresh wood and gentlest honey. No hint of young alcohol burn and there is, given time a good maltiness. Simple, clean, crisp. P: Oh snap. @cascode was on the money, this is like a seltzer. First impression is just carbonated fizz. White chocolate is very apparent to me, as are melon and pear. The fizz is hard to get past. Malt comes in the form of buttered brioche or milk biscuits. A decent bit of aggressive heat builds up, but it’s manageable. F: Medium-short. Tannic with plenty of malt and honey. Barrel spice has built up appreciably by this point. This is odd stuff. The nose is the strong point here, its light, summery, and easy but delicately enjoyable. Happy there. Then it just gets weird, whisky is not fizzy sherbet, its not a carbonated seltzer. What the heck is going on here, I’m sure the palate would be perfectly acceptable if it wasn’t for that. Over time the building wood presence and tannic spice reveals a likely young spirit with some slightly harsh alcohol in the back. Overall, its fine. It probably sits amongst the crowded Glenfiddich 12 profile. So, Monkey Shoulder kicks its ass for character and price point. Am I annoyed I bought two, a bit. Maybe a collector will want to buy the second at auction one day; I’m sure as heck not going to open it. Distiller whisky taste #179 Pictured here with a beautiful greenschist from just outside Queens Town on New Zealand’s South Island. This rock comes from the Haast Schist Group a Jurassic-Cretaceous stretch of metamorphic rocks that extend from Central Otago all the way along to the Cook Strait, a distance of ~600 km. These rocks were once marine sediments that were metamorphosed at low to medium temperatures and pressures during New Zealand’s Alpine Orogeny. These rocks are also the source of New Zealand’s famous Pounamu Jades.

Dan Murphys international whisky tasting night. Another blind tasting… N: Deliciously light, gentle honey, fresh lush grass, peaches, yoghurt sourness, fudgey depth and some metallic-minerallty. For such a light and bright nose this has wonderful unravelling depth. P: Beautiful malt turning oily with soft stone fruit sweetness. Barley sugar, sultanas; plump and morish. There are subtler notes of spices and citrus and a delicate salt presence. Fresh wood binds everything together without being overbearing or the main player. F: Medium. Orange, dates, and toffee. Lightly maritime and salty with a touch of drying oak. I think I will need to buy a bottle and come back to this. Really interesting, excellently made and with plenty of character to delve into, yet perfectly approachable enough to quaff. I think I need to go back to Ledaig 10 as well. Distiller whisky taste #178 Ledaig 10: 3.75/5 Tobermory 12: 4/5

Dan Murphys international whisky tasting night. N: Thick artificial and rubbery. Lots of synthetic core syrup sweetness and liquid smoke flavour, vague lanolin and lightly fragrant herbs. This has been sat for maybe 30 minutes in the glass. Yet, was still an olfactory assault. P: Corn sweetness and lots of candy (hairbo lollies!), sticky BBQ sauce and prominent wood ash. There is a pleasant toffee apple and cinnamon underneath but there is too much cloying corn sweetness to enjoy it. F: Short-medium. Yet more candy sweetness and some building ethanol heat. Aggressively artificial. No clear character or purpose for me just a powerfully synthetic mash of woodsmoke and sweetness. Wood smoke is hard to do well, and I haven’t found myself to be a huge fan, but this just came across like a home distilled garage experiment and is not something I would seek out. Distiller whisky taste #177