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.
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!