whiskey

Auchentoshan 12 Year Old

Reviewed by: Nick

The Highlands. It sounds so impressive. Wild, rugged, windswept, untamed and undeniably Scottish. The Lowlands, on the other hand, does not sound nearly as awe-inspiring. Likewise, single malts from this region do not receive the same levels of celebration and esteem their more northerly counterparts enjoy. They lack a leader, a distillery to stand up and act as a champion for the area. Auchentoshan, just outside of Glasgow, could well be that champion.

Auchentoshan, Gaelic for ‘the corner of the field’, are unique among (nearly) all Scottish distilleries in the sense that they distil their spirit three times. Most Scottish distilleries perform this process only twice; triple distillation is actually the norm in Ireland. This method leads to, at least according to the Auchentoshan marketing team, a purer, smoother spirit.

The unique creation of this whisky certainly leads to a distinct flavour and this is immediately noticeable on the nose. It is pleasantly sweet with hints of vanilla and caramel combining to form the aromas of crème brûlée. There is also a zesty lemon scent, followed closely by pecans and walnuts. Once encountered it is never forgotten: it is simply the Auchentoshan nose.

The interesting flavours continue on the palate, which is medium bodied and spicy. There is a pleasant candied orange taste and the overall effect is very smooth and elegant, perhaps a legacy of the triple distillation process.

The finish is undoubtedly the most disappointing element of the dram. After the flavours initially combine so effectively they rapidly fade away to almost nothing. It is reminiscent of a movie with a disappointingly easy resolution (spoiler alert: I’m looking at you Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). It’s smooth and enjoyable, just not long lasting and memorable. Perhaps another trait of the triple distillation? Or a quality you will have to buy the older expressions to discover?

Regardless, Auchentoshan is a must try for any whisky drinker – if only so they can say they have tasted something from the not so impressive-sounding Lowlands.

★★★

Ledaig 10 year Old

Reviewed by: Ted

My Whisky Waffle co-conspirator and bestie Nick was kind enough to give me a bottle of the water of life for my birthday (what else?). We cracked it open that night and had a few cheeky drams. I’ve been mulling it over ever since, a rather appropriate course of action seeing as the bottle in question was a Ledaig 10 year old, which is produced by Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull (Haha! Geddit? Isle of Mu… Why are you all groaning?… Ok, I’m just gonna sit quietly over here).

The Isle of Mull is part of the Scottish whisky zone known as the ‘Islands’, a bunch of distillery inhabited land masses surrounded by water and huddled off the Scottish coast, whose seemingly defining feature is that they aren’t Islay. Impressively, Tobermory Distillery is the chief abode for the islanders (or Mullets as they are known locally), a ramshackle stronghold built from driftwood, shipwrecked fishing boats, kelp and the occasional escaped haggis… Oh, wait, sorry, the distillery is actually named after the main town on the island, Tobermory, and is probably constructed of far more traditional materials (not sure about the Mullet thing either. I hope it’s true).

The Ledaig 10 year old takes its name from the original distillery built on the island in 1798. Contrary to popular belief (i.e. mine), it is not matured in the sporrans of the Mullets, but instead in the far more superior oak barrel. Typical of the drams from that part of the world, the Ledaig is peated, but it is a very different smoke to the Ileach drops (Remember, ‘Islands’ = ‘Not Islay’).

On the nose the Ledaig is dark and intense, with quite a distinctly meaty quality to it. It’s sort of like a combination of smoked ham and marinated meat sizzling over hot coals. That marinade has a great oozing sweetness combined with pepper, sea salt and perhaps… plum?

On the mouth you are hit straight up by a big swirl of smoke, followed by a robust spicyness from the 46.3% alcohol. After that a lovely butterscotchy sweetness slides over the back of the tongue, served up with caramelised pears and another dose of that woody smoke. Surprisingly the Ledaig is much smoother than you may expect from its 10 years, but the combination of the smoke and the higher alcohol means that there’s still heaps of craggy, earthy character to be had. It’s certainly not a beginners drink, and probably requires a bit more practise to enjoy the full effect.

Growing up in the only distillery on a windswept island off the Atlantic coast of Scotland has certainly given the Ledaig a character all of its own. Perhaps some of that black humour it displays comes from the dark waters of the mountain lochs on Mull used in its creation. If you’re looking to give someone a strong, rugged, sexy islander who’s been out fighting fires on mountains in only his kilt for their birthday, then the Ledaig’s your man (I’m sure that’s what Nick was aiming for). There’s no need to mull it over too long.

★★★

Balblair 2000

Reviewed by: Richard

Up until I had the bottle in my hands, I’d not heard a lot about Balblair Distillery, and as you do, did a bit of research in to it…

It’s a Scotch whisky distillery located in Edderton, Ross-shire, Scotland. Originally founded in 1790, the distillery was rebuilt in 1895 by Charles C Doig, and so good was its original water source that the rebuilt distillery chose to ignore a nearby burn in favour of the original Ault Dearg burn. To this day, the Balblair Distillery continues to use this original water source.

Balblair has one of the oldest archives in distilling, with the first ledger entry dated 25 January 1800. John Ross himself penned that first entry, which read: “Sale to David Kirkcaldy at Ardmore, one gallon of whisky at £1.8.0d”. Ahhhhh, the good old days when you could get a gallon of whisky for under 2 quid…

The distillery is owned by Inver House Distillers Limited, whose other distilleries include one of my favourites, the Old Pulteney Distillery as well as Balmenach Distillery.

The Balblair distillery is unusual in the use of vintage dates rather than age statements. This means that Master distiller Stuart Harvey has more flexibility with its offerings and it provides the drinker with a ‘snapshot’ of that moment in time rather than a stationary age statement.
So, enough rambling – on with the review – so, this one I have in my hand is:

Balblair 2000 (2nd Release) 43.0% in an ex-bourbon cask

Colour: rose gold

Nose: Sweet and creamy – almost custardy! Apples & Manuka honey, toasted bread…

Palate: Beautiful malty palate with straight up vanilla & coconut, hints of honey & toffee apple and coconut. Nicely balanced with a lovely mouthfeel. Let it sit for a while, you’ll get tinned pears, vanilla ice cream. This is a great whisky – super drinkable (just ask Mooresey!)

Finish: long! With vanilla and some dry oaky wood

I found it did not need water… (I tried adding some, and while the nose picks up some more floral notes, the body & character drops away, and the whisky becomes way too soft and mellow)

All in all, a delicious whisky… one that I have gone back to many times now! (perhaps too many times by the looks of the bottle!) Rumour has it they have made a similar whisky but used Sherry Barrels instead of Bourbon… perhaps I shall try and track it down, and see how it compares, but that’s a story for another day…

★★★★

The Tasmanian Whisky Appreciation Society

Posted by: Nick and Ted

We may have mentioned (once or twice) that we live in Tasmania. Within our little state we have the joy of seeing the local whisky industry going from strength to strength. Around it we’ve also seen the development of a real whisky community, which is both exciting and satisfying to be a part of.

At the forefront of this community is the Tasmanian Whisky Appreciation Society, known to one and all as TWAS. Headed up by Heartwood Malt Whisky’s own Tim Duckett and as well as Richard Stewart, TWAS is a great repository of knowledge, observations, and experience about the Tasmanian whisky scene (and the wider world of whisky in general).

TWAS hold tasting evenings open to the general public at intervals determined by the amount of time required to get over the previous one. The lads at Whisky Waffle sadly live at the wrong end of the state and have not yet made it along to one of these gatherings (although we definitely hope to in the future). In the meantime we’ve managed to bag ourselves the next best thing!

Whisky Waffle are proud and excited to welcome TWAS’ own Richard Stewart aboard the good ship WW as a guest contributor. Tune in tomorrow to catch his first review (what could it be?), and over the coming months for the odd update about TWAS, and in the best tradition of this blog, random wafflings about whisky.

Find out more about TWAS at their website, or for more regular updates check out their Facebook and/or their Twitter.

Whisky Appreciation and Nosing Collective – Night 2

Posted by: Nick

Good whisky. Good company. Nowhere better to be. All the hallmarks of a brilliant night. We had already organised one excellent evening for the Whisky Appreciation and Nosing Collective (the acronym formed is indeed apt) so another was bound to happen. And although it was held up by the final participant being slightly behind schedule (three hours behind schedule, no less) the night was a rousing success.

All members contributed a bottle (or several) to be sampled throughout the night, and we managed an interesting balance of single malts and blends, from Scotland, Tasmania, and even our first foray into Irish whiskey. All were enjoyed by the group, but some more so than others.

Coming from Tasmania, we of course loved the Lark standard release (we had long since polished off the Distillers Edition, sadly), but the revelation was our first sample of another rapidly-rising Tassie distillery: Nant. This one was smuggled along by the rather late member in a small pocket sized flask, so his wife was not alerted to the bottle’s attendance. It proved to be big, well rounded, fruity and all together delicious, another feather in the cap of Tasmanian whisky.

The pinnacle of excitement of the night was the opening of one of the more peculiar bottles in our collections – a blend of Islay malts, featuring a large-nosed pirate on the label. It was of course, Big Peat, and the bottle we finished the night with, expecting an intense smokiness unlike anything we’d tried. And in some ways it did deliver. But the bottle was such a one trick pony (peat and… not much else) that we were a little disappointed.

The real winner of the night was the dram we preceded the Big Peat with. This was the Talisker 10 Year Old and we all agreed it to be a fantastic drop. It certainly is one of the more impressive 10 Year Old malts going around, and perhaps only rivals a certain two Islay 10 Year Olds for supremacy in this category. But that is a debate for another night. This one was simply concluded with a nod of appreciation to all we had tried. And then a sneaky dram of Lagavulin 16 to keep us warm as we walked home.

Overeem Sherry Cask Matured

Barrel Number: OHD-067

Reviewed by: Ted

Norway. Not the first place you might guess for providing the spiritual origins of a whisky hand-crafted in southern Tasmania. Yet it was in the home of the Vikings that inspiration first struck the hero of this tale. Casey Overeem was introduced to the art of distilling in the early 1980’s while visiting relatives in Norway who happened to have a still in their cellar. Impressed by what he saw, Casey was driven to experiment back in Tasmania over the following years, culminating in the founding of Old Hobart Distillery in 2005.

Casey’s main partner in crime at Old Hobart Distillery is his daughter Jane, who has become a well-known face in the Tasmanian whisky scene and an inspirational figure for women in a largely male dominated industry. Together with their crew they fuse fine Tasmanian ingredients together with their passion for the art to create the eponymous Overeem whisky.

Old Hobart Distillery cuts down its barrels (in this case French oak sherry barrels) to create quarter casks, which allows their spirit to develop far more character over a short timeframe. Once the distillers are satisfied with the level of maturation (min. four years) single barrels are selected for bottling, meaning that each release is unique.

The Overeem Sherry Cask sampled for this review comes from barrel OHD-067. The view in the beautifully shaped bottle is pleasing, with the 43% spirit glowing a bright syrupy ginger in colour. The nose is rich and relatively intense, oozing with delicious sun dried raisins, vanilla, mixed peel and candied ginger. The tastebuds are engaged by a sensation of mulled wine, like hot oranges and shiraz, followed by a faint tang of bitterness and burnt sugar. The spirit is dry and very smooth, and the flavours are level and constant throughout the experience.

The Overeem Sherry Cask is a triumph of the exciting new whiskies making their way out of Tasmania, one that is well worth jumping into your longship and questing across the windswept oceans to find. Come to think of it, Casey Overeem’s own journeys in Norway seem to have added a certain something to his dram, as it is no great stretch to imagine mighty Viking warriors feasting in their long halls and supping on rich, warming Overeem to keep away the chill of a cold northern winter. Skål!

★★★

Young Enthusiasts Meet Over Peat

Posted by: Mooresy

The first young whisky enthusiasts’ event held at the Lark Cellar Door was a huge success. The sell-out tasting session featured a whirlwind tour of some very special drops, as well as the bar staff choosing some extra whisky for people based on what they liked, and what they didn’t like.

Some people liked it so much, they bought a whole bottle of their favourite.

Whisky: the ultimate conversation starter. Especially after five drams…

In a blind tasting, attendees first had to guess the Cragganmore Double Matured Distillers Edition, with most people agreeing it was a definite step up from the entry level 12 Year Old. Second was a Jefferson’s 100% Rye Whisky which threw a few people. The spicy rye flavour was new to a lot of people, and a lot came back for seconds to help us finish off the bottle.

Back to malt whisky but not in a rush to return to Scotland, the group moved to the Yamazaki 12 Year Old (previously reviewed by Ted) which went down a treat. The night was full of gossip about Yamazaki because we had just heard about Jim Murray heaping praise on their Sherry Cask variant and that moved the conversations to sherry. This was a cunning hint by the guides because the next taste was a true sherry bomb. The group were blessed with an as yet unreleased double sherry wood from Lark, and it exploded sherry goodness all over the room.

Finally, the finisher. A Distillers Edition Lagavulin finished in Pedro Ximenez casks and probably the people’s choice for the night. The marriage of sherry and peat was a treat to witness with one member saying “it’s like you took all the things I like most about whisky and chose one based exactly on my personal taste”.

That’s the point of it all, right there.

Following the success of the event, the group – now called Whisky Business – will be having another tasting event at 7:30PM on Wed 17 December at the Lark Cellar Door in Hobart. If you are a novice and keen to come along, learn more and pick up some tips and tricks, please contact Alex Moores on 0417 382 542 or at alexandermoores@gmail.com.

Balvenie 12 Year Old DoubleWood

Reviewed by: Nick and Ted

Double the wood, double the fun! Just getting into whisky? Think you might like to give one of those new-fangled single malts a try? Can’t afford the Glenfiddich 50yo? Roll up and try the multi-barrelled, malty-talented whisky wizard, the one, the only: the Balvenie 12 Year Old DoubleWood! It’ll cure all your woes*!

* Side effects may include becoming compulsive about seeking out single malts, and mild discomfort in the presence of blends.

Balvenie is a member of the the William Grant & Sons stable, and is the less famous sister to Glenfiddich. Balvenie prides itself on continuing to use traditional hand malting methods, and is well respected for its high quality range of whiskies. Chief amongst these is the 12yo DoubleWood, a dram that has converted many a whisky novice.

There is a good reason for the DoubleWood moniker: while it spends the majority of its life in American oak, for the last few months of maturation the spirit is transferred to sherry butts. This technique imparts the range of flavour that makes this whisky special and means that there is something in it for everyone.

This variety of flavour is immediately evident on the nose with sweeter notes of caramel, fruit leather and vanilla pairing with a citrusy tang reminiscent of lemon drops, and aromatic spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon.

The flavour is very broad and rounded across the palate. There is an initial hit of oranges, followed by spicy ginger and buttery shortbread. The sherry influence is definitely present in the finish. Dried fruits such as figs, prunes and dates can be found, and a tasty flourish of old English toffee is left on the tongue at the end.

The Balvenie 12 Year Old DoubleWood is exceptionally smooth for its age, and is also excellent value for this level of quality. For experienced whisky drinkers there is so much to like here and it warrants repeated tastings (for research purposes, naturally). For those just beginning their journey, the DoubleWood provides an ideal gateway to the broader whisky world. So line up ladies and gents, there’s enough for everybody. You won’t be disappointed!

★★★★

Johnnie Walker: the verdict

Posted by: Nick and Ted

Hi Wafflers! Johnnie Walker Week is officially over and we have emerged unscathed and wiser from the other side. Throughout the week we’ve gained an appreciation for blended Scotch whisky – and even more of an appreciation for single malts.

All joking aside (and there were a few of them this week) Johnnie Walker has produced a formidable range of whiskies and we can understand why they are the most popular in the world, even if we respectfully disagree.

So what have we learned throughout Johnnie Walker Week? Let’s pick through the shrapnel:

The Red Label is consumed throughout the world as a mixer. And after trying it neat – we understand why;
The Black Label likes to think of itself as a step up – and it is – but not nearly enough to consume neat;
The Double Black fixes the problems of the previous two with solid flavours and a generous dose of smoke, and in our opinion is the best value in the range;
The Gold Label Reserve balances its flavours well, although sadly there are not many of them to balance;
The Platinum Label 18 Year Old is beautifully smooth but lacking in soul;
The Blue Label is excellent – but very expensive. And when you could buy a Balvenie 21 Year Old for the same price – why would you go for the blend?

So there you have it. Whisky Waffle’s first ‘event week’ has concluded. Thanks for checking it out and we hope you appreciated our ramblings and perhaps you have also broadened your whisky drinking horizons. If anyone has their own opinions or rankings of the Johnnie Walker range, let us know in the comments!

Until next time, keep on waffling,

Nick and Ted

#johnniewalkerweek

Johnnie Walker Green Label

Posted by: Mooresy

Johnnie Walker Green Label is – or I should say was – a bit of an anomaly in the family. Unlike the others which are all blends including grain and non-malt whiskies, Green was a blended malt made up of only four whiskies, all single malts. This gave it the quality of arriving like a blend then developing on the palate more like a single malt. It’s nose complexity was also more akin to a single malt, and the better noses out there could probably pick the distilleries involved from the smell.

I happen to know what they were, but so as not to spoiler, you’ll have to ask me.

An elegy for Johnnie Green

Though caramel brown, your label was Green

With flavoured malt so crisp and clean

A complex coffee fruity smell

Vanilla and nuttiness went down well

The taste had cereals, chocolate and nuts

Not sharp or heavy but you sure had guts

A finish strong with walnuts and honey

Of Johnnie’s varieties you were worth the money

One day the factory shut you down

Scotch lovers everywhere gave a frown

No more would we have our favourite blend

A standout nip, a lifelong friend

Now we’re confined to Black and Red

That burns our nose and hurts our head

There’s lots of fine drams out there today

And where there’s a Walker there’s a will and a way

But for now we must simply say farewell

You were a classic, a legend and we think that you’re swell

Now a rare and hard to find malt, Green is consigned to the archive of Johnnie Walker’s bond store along with the Gold Label 18 (they’ve removed the age statement for the current variant) and the elusive Johnnie Walker White Label which I have never tasted. If you find a sealed bottle of Green, you may want to hold onto it for its value but I would strongly encourage you to pop the cork and taste a true exception to the rule. If you spot a half open bottle on a friend’s shelf or in a dark musty pub, encourage the friend to crack it at a party or buy it shot by shot from the wizened landlord.

If you are a single-malt snob who sees the word blended and runs a mile from the likes of Green and the very delicious Blue Hanger, thank you. More for the rest of us.

#johnniewalkerweek

Find out about the rest of our multi-coloured adventures:

Johnnie Walker Red Label

Johnnie Walker Black Label

Johnnie Walker Double Black

Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve

Johnnie Walker Platinum Label 18 Year Old

Johnnie Walker Blue Label

Johnnie Walker: which is best?