Four more tastings and some interesting internet browsing

Three new recent openings:  a third Singleton from Dufftown, a very drinkable Glen Grant, an update on a Naked blend, and a hot Adnamurchan for afters.

And there’s some quality on-line reading for you to peruse while you sip!

The Singleton, 15 yo, Dufftown Distillery

40% abv, Refill Bourbon and Pedro Ximenes sherry casks

We have tried Singletons before.

Back last year Pat reported on a couple of The Singleton whiskies he’d bought. 

The Singleton is a Diagio product, comprising whiskies from three Speyside distilleries – Glen Ord, Glendullan, and Dufftown.

              Dufftown, Speyside

I recently purchased another Singleton whisky, a 15-year-old from the Speyside Dufftown Distillery (map above).

Purchase price was a whopping $95.  It’s another of those whiskies that are very affordable and very tasty!

Colour:  Dark amber
Nose: Fruit, rich pipe tobacco/pipe smoke, nose prickle, deep nose.
Palate: Contradictorally (is that a word?) simultaneously sour but sweet (like sweet & sour pork takeaways). Wide and mouth-filling, integrated, soft & smooth with no hard edges (showing the age?).  Slightly oily feel, but not much.  The taste tends to “disappear” fairly quickly, but I’m not entirely sure to where.
Finish: Sweetness stays, with a warm throat.
Comment: Yummy.  A nice “session” whisky.  I’d get it again. 

Score:   8.1

The GlenGrant, Arboralis

Speyside Single Malt, 40% abv, nas

Colour: Light gold/amber.
Nose: Fruity, with sultanas and poached peaches.  Sweet with a slight note of perspiration.  Rich pipe tobacco, golden syrup, sherry
Palate: A quick sharp heat that disappears fast, leaving an oily mouth fell.  Nice but unsophisticated.  Oil tongue lining and top of mouth.  Slightly sour.
Finish: Taste is medium spice, and the oiliness stays on.
Comment:  Another good session whisky quaffer.  Length is medium (the Glen Grant website says “long” but it would, wouldn’t it).

Score:  7.5

Naked Grouse, Blended Malt, 19yo, 40% abv

F/F Sherry Cask Finish

Donated by Daniel

We tasted this recently as part of Matt’s Blended Tasting, where it came 3rd for nose and 4th overall.

This is a whisky that is rather hard to get a firm handle on.    It has been relaunched from the Famous Grouse family of whiskies as a stand-alone blended malt, without the previous grain component. 

The malt selections include Highland Park, Macallan, Glen Turret and Glen Rothes.  Those component whiskies have been matured in first-fill and refill American and European oak casks.  It has then been finished in first-fill oloroso sherry butts for a further six months.

Colour: Dark amber, with a reddish tinge.
Nose: Raisins and fruit cake fruit.  Grassy (straw) and chocolate.  Sour washing, but not necessarily an unattractive nose.
Palate: Sweet & soft, not wide but integrated.  Warming tongue.  A bit sharp (4/10). Sourish (may be from the oloroso sherry).  Slight sweaty sock at the end.
Finish: The main taste does not stay.  Sherry and the warm throat linger, with an oily residue on tongue.
Comment: Not demanding, not exceptional, but very drinkable.

Score: 7.1

I found a comment in thewhiskyjug.com that I thought was a good summary:  “This is not a good cheap Scotch, it’s a good Scotch that happens to be cheap.”

The Library

And then we went to Regional Wines’ Library tasting, where my clear hit of the evening was:

Ardnamurchan AD/04:21, 57.5%

The Paul Launois Release

The first limited release (2,576 bottles) from Ardnamurchan distillery.

The whisky is a vatting of unpeated spirit matured firstly in first fill Bourbon barrels.  It is finished in wine barriques from Paul Launois, a new Champagne producer in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (an area to the east of Paris, known for chardonnay grapes). 

Added into the mix is an unpeated cask of Ardnamurchan.

Nose: Grainy, meusli with dried apricots and oats.  The alcohol level prickles the nostrils.  A very attractive nose, indeed.
Palate: Sweet, with the youth show through.  At 57.6% abv and young, the alcohol and sharpness overrule the  world – score 7.8.    However, with a minimal amount of reduction the flavours come through, the whole lot softens quite gloriously and the score goes to 8.9.
Finish: Medium, and a mysterious bit of smoke.
Comment:  I managed to wrangle another couple of servings when backs were turned – just to check my scoring, you understand.  It’s a big pity there were so few bottles!

Score: 8.9

 

Post script

Pat came across  the Whiskyintelligence.com website. 

There is a raft of absolutely fascinating articles here.  I’ve just been reading about a new Islay distillery (Portintruan) that is being built by Elixir Distillers on the island’s South Coast on the way to Laphroaig.

Elixir’s core brands include Port Askaig, Elements of Islay, Single Malts of Scotland and Black Tot.

Give yourself plenty of time.  This site is a real rabbit hole of information – you could get lost down it for a long time!

 

The Singleton

by Pat Phipps

Never heard of The Singleton?

You will.  And if owners Diagio plc have any say in it you will hear a lot more!

Diagio is a British -based multinational beverage company, headquartered in London.   The company operates in over 180 countries and it produces more than 140 sites around the world.

UK£26,400 will get you a taste of “scented hand-cream, rose water and exotic tropical and berry fruit’ notes on the nose, with dried figs and a suggestion of toffee

With whisky brands including Talisker and Lagavulin, Diagio’s aim is to have the Singleton brand at the top of worldwide sales in whisky to rival the likes of Glenfiddich and The Glenlivet.

Side Bar – The Dufftown 53 year old

Recently a cask of a 53-year-old whisky was found at Dufftown.

Laid down in 1964, it is said to be one of those types of casks that was more or less found lying around.

117 bottles at 40.6 % were filled and if you have a spare UK£26,400 lying around you can have a one – at that price, probably just to look at!.

This rather costly bottling forms part of the new Paragon of Time collection.

According to one commentator, your UK£26,400 will get you a taste of “scented hand-cream, rose water and exotic tropical and berry fruit’ notes on the nose, with dried figs and a suggestion of toffee.  Another commentator notes that the finish is very elegant and sweet, and with a slight smoky, ginger spice aftertaste.

Make of that what you will.

For me, though, I’m still trying to get over the £26,000!

So what exactly is The Singleton?  

The Singleton (reputedly Gaelic for “single malt”) is a cover-all brand name for a range of single malts from three Speyside distilleries – Glen Ord, Glendullan and Dufftown.

These three distilleries can each boast great lineage.   Glen Ord was established in 1838, Dufftown in 1895 and Glendullan in 1897.   Both Dufftown and Glendullan have an entry level Non-Aged Statement whisky, and all three distilleries have 12, 15 and 18 years old on offer.

I wanted to check the Singleton whiskies out to see if they were any good and to compare them to their market rivals.  So off I toddled to a local liquor store to purchase two entry level Singletons to try.

My purchases were The Singleton Speycascade and The Singleton Tailfire.  Both are from Dufftown, both non-age statement single malts, both 40% abv.

And both involved the princely outlay of NZ$68 each – another blow for the Whiskies Under $100 crusade!

In line with other distilleries at the entry level, neither has comment on the label about being non chill filtered or coloured.

The Singletons

I have read some mixed reviews of these two drams on other tasting web site.  Overall they have favourable ratings that are similar to most competitors in the field.

The Singleton Speycascade

The label on the bottle describes Speycascade as “Rich Balanced Smooth”.

My notes are:

Colour: medium golden a combination of ex Bourbon and Sherry casks
Nose: green apple, honey and vanilla and leather polish
Palate: soft and oily with mouth feel very smooth
After Taste: Slightly dry and mildly tannic with a short finish

The Singleton Tailfire

The label description comments “Vibrant Fruity Fresh”.

My notes:

Colour: medium Golden a combination of European and American Oak casks
Nose: Fruity, fresh, dark fruits and slight grapefruit
Palate: oily with mouth feel and sweet, slightly thin, fruity
After Taste: sweet and coats the mouth nicely

 Would I buy The Singleton again?

The two entry-level whiskies are completely different to each other.   And I like that.  It gives the consumer (me) the chance to try two very different styles from the same distiller at very competitive pricing. As expected, the Singletons are non-challenging, but they are a good introduction to single malts.

I could easily see myself drinking one after work as a go-to dram – something we all need at some stage or another!

I am looking forward to trying other Singleton whiskies in the future.  A particular interest will be in the age statement expressions to see how they measure up.