Two of the best “Thirty-Somethings” I’ve had in 2011 – One is a 35yo Glenglassaugh and the other a 37yo Glen Grant

Before the year is out, I wanted to make sure that I post up my reviews of two of my favorite whiskies I tasted this year.  Both are in their thirties and are from a single ex-sherry cask.  The Glen Grant was bottled by Duncan Taylor back in 2007 and the Glenglassaugh is an OB and is the first in a new set of releases entitled: “The Chosen Few“.

The first bottle in "The Chosen Few" series - Ronnie chose a damn fine cask of whisky - 35yo Sherry cask

You might my mentioning a little detail about Glenglassaugh’s “The Chosen Few” series a little while back.  As a reminder (and so as to toot my own horn):

When looking to name this series of single cask bottlings, Ronnie Routledge posted a contest on the Friends of Glenglassaugh Facebook page looking for a name for the range and yours truly (that’s me, Joshua Hatton, by the way) picked the winning name:  The Chosen Few.

Even if I hadn’t had the winning name I still would have chosen this whisky as one of my favorites for 2011:

Glenglassaugh – Highland region – The Chosen Few – Ronnie Routledge – 49.6%ABV£290 | $450

On the nose  There’s a good mix of interesting things going on in here.  A wood paneled pantry full of powdered sweets on a hot and humid summer’s day.

Lemony sugared pinwheels (or perhaps candied lemons – I love finding this note; you should try one sometime) as well as bruised, or perhaps, overripe peaches.

Tinned pineapple, walnut shells and huge notes of juicy mango.  More tropical that I expected.

Some wisps of smoke in the background (??).

My grandparent’s afghan from their finished basement storage somewhere around 1984.

You can smell the age here but it doesn’t smell old or tired in anyway.  All of those candied notes balance off the wood panel & stored afghan scents I got (which are not bad notes at all.  Left unbalanced by the sweetness well, then it’d be a different story…).  Lovely nose.

On the mouth Fantastic attack with a great combination of youthful fizziness (a seeming effervescence) and a strong sweetness (light fruit compote) without being cloying in anyway.

Licorice and spiced dried fruit pastries.  This is yummy,yummy, yummy stuff!!

A second sip in and I notice that the tannins kick in pretty quickly but that dryness is accompanied by some of those powder sugar candies I got on the nose (as Spock would say, Fascinating).

Finish Spicy and long on the finish.  Wow, really long with notes of spiced berries and even some cranberry/ginger relish in there.

In sum  Complex, intriguing and so very balanced.  Ronnie Routledge chose insanely well.  I was so sad to see my sample go.  I took my sweet time with it.  If you have the funds, I suggest you pick up a bottle and start exploring.

Special thanks goes out to Iain over at dramperday.com for the sample.  You can read his thoughts on this fine whisky right here (you’ll see that he LOVED it too).

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Glen Grant – Speyside region – 51.5%ABV – Duncan Taylor Cask # 3480 1970/2007$299

On the nose Forceful nose; like a high school senior boy after the prom.

Giving this just a little time to air out will make a difference, methinks.

Bitter cherries, cherry skins & stones/pits, prunes and potpourri.

Floral and bitter and deep inside notes of heated, over-cinnamoned apple sauce.

Oak furniture, fresh potting soil and party balloons.

A nicely sherried nose showing depth and age but I’m afraid that all of those bitter notes will prove over oaken on the palate.  Let’s see…

On the mouth I LOVE it when I’m wrong!  All sorts going on in here but let’s start off with the fact that this has a a nice oily mouthfeel from the outset.   Yes, it gets a bit dry but nowhere near as dry and oaky as I expected.  Thank G-d!

Now, on with the flavor:  Cherry Cola, honey reduction, Sweet cherry pie filling (minus the pie crust), the taste of the smell of potpourri, baked pear and solid rolled cinnamon bark.

No sign of sulphur, match sticks in this one.

Holiday brown bread and boozy raisins, walnuts and some dark chocolates.

Finish Long, spiced, really long… warming and soothing, oak and warmed butter biscuits.

In sum A fantastic single cask of whisky! This one surprised me.  I was truly expecting an over oaken old fuddy-duddy but no.  There’s a ton of personality and balance in here.  A well chosen cask!

Special thanks goes out to Mike W for the sample!!

Sharing is caring – Glenglassaugh’s “The First Cask”

Highland region – 59.1% ABV – £90 – Distillery only bottling (though available through the distillery’s online store until it’s sold out) – 650 bottles.

Who does this?  Who reopens a distillery, gets it’s up and running (a long & difficult process), fills the first cask, and then instead of holding that cask for years and years to make major beau coup bucks/quid say… 18-30 years from now, he releases the whisky only three years into maturation.

Stuart Nickerson does, that’s who.

And while, truth be told, I initially thought the idea was a crazy one… I think the move did a really great job of saying “Thank You!” to all of us who have been supporting the distillery and waiting with baited breath for it to release its first whisky in about twenty-five years.

Thank you, Mr. Nickerson, for releasing Glenglassaugh’s first baby.

While the move to release the First Cask might have been a maverick one I would submit, too, that the make up of the cask is also a maverick move.  The “First Cask” is not just whisky that’s stayed in that single cask for 3 years to then be bottled.  No.  Instead, Mr. Nickerson concocted an interesting maturation recipe to help give this whisky its unusual flavor profile.  Here is the description straight from the distillery itself:

“The very first cask, a refill butt, that was filled on that “first cask filling day in 2008” was emptied and refilled into 2 smaller casks on the 16th December 2010. These smaller casks were a first fill ex-Pedro Ximenez (PX) sherry hogshead and a first-fill ex-Palo Cortado sherry hogshead. On the 16th September 2011 the whiskies were returned from these two casks into the original butt and are now marrying  for a period of exactly three months.”

That’s quite a journey in such a short period of time for this first distillate to be matured!  What it has done to the whisky is even more interesting…

On the nose –  Massive, massive waves of fruit and mostly of the tinned variety with a fairly clear focus on the halved cherries and the heavy syrup those fruits swim about in.

What seems to be evident is the natural fruitiness of the Glenglassaugh spirit is being amplified with the unusual choice of casks and maturation.

Pickled walnuts and perfumed tobacco leaves/cigars.

Yeah… all of the scents are, for lack of a better term, “chunked up” (and made moreish), I think, by the casking journey of the whisky.

On the mouth  Vanilla cream soda and orange drink powder.

Sweet and fruity and now we’re back to those tinned fruits…

Clementine, cherries and papaya…  Puckering stuff.

Slightly oily yet quick to an effervescence and then over to a drying quality with ever increasing spice and powerful sweetness.

Tobacco floats over the tongue as do young mangoes.

Finish Pickled walnuts (again), long and effervescent still.

In sum So. Very. Drinkable.  Restraint is needed; it’s right up my alley.

Yes, this is young stuff but it’s got a depth beyond its 3 years.  So nice to see that the spirit quality shines through yet the wood influence (three different types of sherry influence) is so strong that it makes you think this is an older dram than what’s in your glass.  If you have a bottle or can get a bottle (they will ship to the USA, btw)… drink the stuff.  Yes, it’s the first cask from the new ownership but it was shared for a reason – to enjoy; not to lie dormant.

Other thoughts on the First Cask from Glenglassaugh:

Iain over at Dramperday.com seems to have enjoyed it.

Jason at guidscotchdrink.com clearly finds the stuff as drinkable as I do.

Reminder and update: Here’s 20% off the 2012 Universal Whisky Experience in Las Vegas for you, from me

…courtesy of the Universal Whisky Experience, that is.

The folks from the UWE (or Nth show) gave me a special discount code for the JSMWS members and readers of the Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society whisky blog to come to the Nth 2012 Show.

20% off the actual ticket price to the Nth 2012 Connoisseur Package priced at $525.00.  This is a total saving of more than $100.00.

If you’ve wanted to go but the price was a bit high for you, you now can save more than $100!  Not bad folks.  Not bad.

Make sure that, when purchasing the tickets (you can use this link to get to the ticket desk) that you specify this discount code:

jw4567

So, what is this show all about?  The Universal Whisky Experience Show is perhaps the only whisky show dedicated to featuring Ultra-Premium whiskies.

To give you an idea, here’s an incomplete list of what they’ll be pouring during their “Super Pour” this coming March:

  • Dalmore Astrum (40yr)
  • New release for 2011, Highland Park (40yr)
  • Glenfarclas 1966 – Single Cask exclusive to ‘Nth 2011’ show
  • Glenglassaugh (40yr)
  • Glenrothes – John Ramsey (Limited release)
  • Dalmore Aurora (45yr) – New release for 2011
  • Laphroaig (21yr)
  • Ardbeg 1974 single cask
  • Glenfarclas (50yr) – “family cask”
  • Scotch Malt Whisky Society Cask  No. 1.124 (39yr)
  • Speyside (Very rare bottling)
  • Benriach (40yr)
  • Glenfiddich (40yr)
  • Yamazaki 1984
  • Gold Bowmore 1964
  • Balvenie (40yr) – New release for 2011
  • The Glenlivet Cellar Collection 1964
  • Gordon & Macphail – Strathisla 1963, Macallan 1950 Fine & Rare
  • Duncan Taylor ‘ Rarest of the Rare’ – Kinclaith  1974
  • Glenmorangie – Quarter Century 25yr old
  • Update — Exclusive private tasting of the original glenfiddich 50(yr), by Ian Millar, Global brand ambassador at the HIGHROLLER DINNER RECEPTION on saturday 3rd March at the Nth 2012. Very limited bottling valued around $16,000 – $20,000 a bottle (If you can find one)!!!!!!

As you can imagine, premium pours such as these will command a premium price.  But, if you have the ching and this is your thing, you’re going to have a absolute blast!

Check out the poster below for the upcoming event.  If you click on the poster, it will bring you to the Ultimate Whisky Experience show site.  Have fun!

Stories from the good ‘ol days of whisky – Volume 3b: Real Puggies… The way we were

And now for something completely different…  Real Puggies…. The way we were

So Catch me if you can cause I’m going back.

I have always had a great love for Dailuaine, the first malt whisky distillery to commission a pagoda from Charls Chree Doig, (not  only for its dark hue and fruit cake flavour but because it was where I was born back in the summer of ’49  (Oh Yeah, It was the summer of ’49).

Despite the aftermath of World War 2,with it’s hangover of food shortages, Summers back then were Halcyon days of iridescent kingfishers, sky schything swallows and “craggy” herons and you could still walk across the river Spey on the backs of salmon…. or so I am told by the old local poachers of my little town of Charlestown of Aberlour.

Cherry cheeked children scampered barefoot through golden fields of ripening barley, which would shortly fall to the reaper and binder pulled by “Ten to Two’s” 3 large Clydesdale horses (the farmer was called “Ten to Two” due to his Charlie Chaplin like gait which called to mind a firewalking penguin).

Bold bolshy boys skinny-dipped into languid crystal clear pools which teemed with speckled brown trout.

My eldest sister,Anna,has fond memories of her and our big brother, John,travelling to Carron Primary on th footplate of Dailuaine 1, affectionately known locally as “the puggy”.  Dailuaine 1 replaced it’s predecessor in 1939 and plied the track for over 40 years.  Carron station is next door to Imperial distillery, where my father worked at the time as a maltman, walking to and from his work and Dailuaine terrace every day by way of the railway line spur.

The terrace was known as Aristocracy row, as it was built on an elevated site overlooking the distillery and also Imperial cottages, which earned the somewhat demeaning name of Poverty row as the terrace folk were forever looking down on them, and probably still are.  The puggy made it’s last journey on the spur to the main track in 1970 and grown men were seen to cry openly as Puggy Wullie steamed into Dailuaine distillery.  Even he, a pugnacious hard man, who could start a fight in an empty room, had a lump in his throat as he stepped down from the engine.

The spur is now overgrown but Dailuaine 1 lives on, the old warhorse having been put out to pasture at Dewars world of whisky at Aberfeldy.  Many distilleries employed puggies until Beeching’s axe fell on the rail network in the late 60’s and the rise in road transport  sounded their death knell.

As with the self entertainment of war babies and farm horsepower the era of the puggies is a sweet memory of a byegone age… gone forever.

We will never see the like of them again.

Every wee boy dreams of being an engine driver on the Flying Scotsman or emulating Casey Jones on the throttle of the Cannonball Express but my train of my dreams is proudly displayed at Aberfeldy Distillery.

I would like to take this opportunity to dedicate these stories to my late brother John.

Merry Christmas and A Guid New Year…and I hope your latkes went down well with a wee dram.
Bill

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A big thanks goes out to Bill Morgan for submitting this story.  All of his entries/stories can be found here.

You might not know who Bill Morgan is but you should.  Having worked professionally in whisky between 1965 & 1996, chances are if you’re a whisky drinker he’s helped to make the whisky you’ve enjoyed for the past, let’s say, 50 years or so.

I asked Bill if he could give me a quick overview of his history in whisky and he said:

Briefly speaking, I worked for my father in the floor maltings at Cardhu hand turning malt till they closed in the mid sixties and was transferred to Cragganmore where I soon became head warehouseman. 

Bill Morgan during his days at Tamdu as a malting barley buyer

I moved to Highland Distillery’s Tamdhu site where I did almost everything possible during my 26 years employment.  These included Saladin box worker, maltings shift work, barley intake and analysis, Group Laboratory worker/senior lab assistant, microbiologist, conducting laboratory hygiene surveys at all sites and micromalting.  My career in management with Highland distilleries included Assistant manager /Malting manager at Tamdhu, relief manager for all sites, malting barley buyer and finally 2 years as acting manager at Highland Park.

A lot has changed since my time with Highland distilleries (now Edrington) but the sites back then (pre-1996) which I worked in on surveys and as relief manager were Tamdhu, Glenrothes, Glenglassaugh, Bunnahabhain, Glenturret Highland Park and Glengoyne.

On top of this, Bill has a degree in Biology; Membership in the Institute of Biology and Food Scientists/Technologists and had a paper on distillery bacteria published in Institute of Brewing journal (and developed a new agar medium to grow and count these bugs).  So let’s just say, Bill is quite an accomplished guy! (oh, and he was born at Dailuaine!)

As you might imagine, having been literally born into whisky and being in the business professionally for 50 years… Bill’s got some great stories.

Stories from the good ‘ol days of whisky – Volume 3a: The Tale of Caesar and the Great Train Robbers

The following story is based on a true story of theft and its bittersweet consequences.  To protect the innocent (and the not so innocent) the names have been changed.  In the golden age of steam many distilleries employed puggies to transport goods to and from the railway stations.  Barleybree distillery, away in the Highlands, in Glen Close, by the turbulent River Spate, was such a place.

Meet the cast of this shaggy dog tale…

~* The cowboys in white hats *~

Pat Bottom… Customs officer at Barleybree distillery.

Rosy Bottom… Pat’s wife and the but of many a joke.

Caesar… family pet dog and psycopathic housewrecker.

Rusty Nails… distillery manager.

Ivor Dresson… station master and cross dresser.

Roger Swift… Customs and excise surveyor.As his name suggests bachelor gay Roger’s romantic liasons were brief affairs.

~* The Baddies *~

Puggy Willie Steel… train driver.

Black Rob Steel… Eric’s brother who bathed annually whether he needed to or not! His aversion to soap and hot water made him smell like a very ripe kipper and it was a mistake to get downwind of Black Bob on a hot day.

Pundy Joe Plillpots… Congenital thief and liar and general dogsbody.  He had no redeeming features whatsoever.  Joe was given the nickname Pundy due to his passion for fermented wash,a heady cocktail of  high alcohol green beer,yeast and huge populations of bacteria.  Consumption of this liquid timebomb dissolved the kidneys and liver, adled the brain and earned it’s title of District Nurse because of its immediate explosive effect on the digestive tract.

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The Dog… a few introductory pointers.

Let the story begin with a background to Ceasar and his habits.

Caesar was a cross between Tyrannosaurus rex and a wolfhound and had some interesting traits which included chasing postmen and destroying furniture.  The latter led to him being barred from the house by the Bottoms.  Deprived of his house wrecking hobby, Caesar turned his attention to the village postman; in particular, to the seat of his pants.

His method of pursuit was to lurk behind his huge kennel awaiting the arrival of the reluctant postie who would run up the garden path, despatch the mail through the letterbox and sprint back to the safety of the gate as fast as his little legs could carry him.  Caesar learned to strike when the iron was hot and shot forth like a canine cannonball after the fleeing prey.  His attempt at escape was to no avail and Pat rescued him from further persecution when he pulled the monster off the trembling postman to reveal his nether extremities to the world.  The brute spat out the piece of trouser seat and glowed with satisfaction.

The distraught postman resigned his post and returned his uniform, at least what was left of it, to the postmistress Miss Penny Black.

Pat made for his workshop and began to construct a large ‘BEWARE OF FIERCE PSYCHOPATHIC HOUND’ sign to erect in the garden.  Unfortunately Pat had broken his own golden rule and had left the front door open.  This did not go unmissed by the cunning beast and he swept through the living room like a tremendous hurricane destroying all in his path and reducing everything in his wake to matchsticks and mayhem.  On entering their lounge, the couple were met by a scene of devastation and carnage.

In the centre of the room, wagging his huge tail in triumph lay Caesar, stretched out on a carpet of debris that, until recently, had served as their comfortable sofa.

The bereft Bottoms decided that in order to soothe the savage Beast of Barleybree (and to tire it out) Rosy should take the Hound of the Baskervilles for long walks in the surrounding countryside.  Caesar took to these extended wanderings like a duck to water and even barked at Rosy to take him along.

Rosy makes a remarkable discovery…

One day Rosy and that reformed dog were walking in the valley beside the track of the puggy (train) line.  As they rounded a bend in the woods, Rosy spotted the last wagon entering the tunnel and she was surpised to note that there was no sign of the puggy (train) coming out of the other side when her and the dog drew level with the tunnel exit.  She decided to investigate and they hid away in the bracken.

After some time, a furtive fetid ragamuffin of a man, who she recognised as Pundy Phillpots, appeared with a bucket full of brown liquid and secreted it in the nearby trees to be collected much later, under cover of darkness. Meanwhile, deep within the tunnel, the Steel brothers had driven a spile into the cask they had drilled, and were replacing the hoop. Secreting the cooper’s tools in a recess in the wall they joined their smelly partner in crime and the puggy continued it’s onward journey at full throttle to make up” lost” time.

Crime and retribution….

Rosy sped home and alerted her husband who immediately informed Roger the surveyor and they agreed that their patience would be rewarded with a red handed capture of the culprits.

A small posse of railwaymen and customs officers were rounded up and an early morning meeting at the tunnel arranged for the following day.  The posse duly met and hid behind bushes and in the branches of trees, out of sight of the approaching puggy and its motley crew.

When the pirates of Puggystop had been inside the tunnel (for what was estimated to be enough time to rob and plunder) the plan of capture began and the trap was set.

The gang of 3 became aware of a strange sound in the tunnel and peered into the darkness.  To their horror they saw a terrible apparition, coming towards them in the gloom.  An enormous hound from hell, hackles raised and pointy teeth bared in a snarl with eyes that burned through them like coals.

Give yourselves up or I let him off his lead” shouted Pat.

The trio of thieves turned and fled towards the other opening but were easily apprehended by the rest of the posse, who tied them up and threw them into the wagon.  The hero of the hour took his rightful place of honour alongside the railwayman driver, firmly fixing his four furry feet on the footplate and the Puggy headed for the station where Rusty and Ivor waited on the platform.

They would serve the gang with their just Desserts.

EVERY DOG HAS IT’S DAY

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A big thanks goes out to Bill Morgan for submitting this story.  All of his entries/stories can be found here.

You might not know who Bill Morgan is but you should.  Having worked professionally in whisky between 1965 & 1996, chances are if you’re a whisky drinker he’s helped to make the whisky you’ve enjoyed for the past, let’s say, 50 years or so.

I asked Bill if he could give me a quick overview of his history in whisky and he said:

Briefly speaking, I worked for my father in the floor maltings at Cardhu hand turning malt till they closed in the mid sixties and was transferred to Cragganmore where I soon became head warehouseman. 

Bill Morgan during his days at Tamdu as a malting barley buyer

I moved to Highland Distillery’s Tamdhu site where I did almost everything possible during my 26 years employment.  These included Saladin box worker, maltings shift work, barley intake and analysis, Group Laboratory worker/senior lab assistant, microbiologist, conducting laboratory hygiene surveys at all sites and micromalting.  My career in management with Highland distilleries included Assistant manager /Malting manager at Tamdhu, relief manager for all sites, malting barley buyer and finally 2 years as acting manager at Highland Park.

A lot has changed since my time with Highland distilleries (now Edrington) but the sites back then (pre-1996) which I worked in on surveys and as relief manager were Tamdhu, Glenrothes, Glenglassaugh, Bunnahabhain, Glenturret Highland Park and Glengoyne.

On top of this, Bill has a degree in Biology; Membership in the Institute of Biology and Food Scientists/Technologists and had a paper on distillery bacteria published in Institute of Brewing journal (and developed a new agar medium to grow and count these bugs).  So let’s just say, Bill is quite an accomplished guy! (oh, and he was born at Dailuaine!)

As you might imagine, having been literally born into whisky and being in the business professionally for 50 years… Bill’s got some great stories.