Here’s five new tastings for you.
I’d like to find a way to join them up, but it’s difficult.
Travel has given me personal connection with the first two.
The third has been in New Zealand wine barrels.
The last two I just like.
Close enough!
Inchmurrin 15yo
15yo, 46% abv, colour 0.4
Loch Lomond Distillery, Dunbartonshire.
The whisky is named after the largest island on Loch Lomond.
We took a boat cruise around Loch Lomond three summers ago.
According to the tour guide, Inchmurrin is the headquarters of the local Sun Club. “Not the ideal place to be a nudist.” I thought at the time. “Bit chilly, even in summer.”
Maybe that’s where the idea for Smurfs originated?
All that aside, this is a very drinkable whisky. It’s attractiveness starts with the presentation, even before the cork has been pulled. Inchmurrin 15yo comes in the most beautiful bottle ever: a transparent label puts a black silhouetted scene of hunters, pipers, deer and mountains against the golden background of the whisky.
Nose: A complex nose, with a whole lot going on. There is fresh fruit and pear juice, the grassy note of dewy green grass in the early morning, and the spicy woodiness of nutmeg.
Palette: Woody and oaky like a wine. The pear juice sweetness in the nose comes through into the palette, and a slight background of boiled Brussel sprouts.
Mouthfeel: Astringent and sharp, drying.
Length: Medium/long, with a delightful warm after-effect.
Comment: Complex and very drinkable.
Score: 7.8
Longrow Red
53.1% abv, 11yo, peated Campbelltown single malt.
From the label:
“Matured for 8 years in bourbon barrels, followed by 3 yrs in Refill Pinot Noir Barriques from Central Otago, NZ.”
Nose: Peaty and smoky, with smoked kippers. There are a few off-notes at the start, with a bit of sulphur, rubber, and a match-head. A sweetness of brown sugar comes later. The nose changes with time – the matchheads grow, and so does the sweetness.
Palette: Pepper, sea salt, smoked cheese and an oil coat. The smoke drops away, leaving a seaside brine with an oily residue, but the tongue quite dry.
Comment: The dryness is likely an effect of the red wine barrels. Anticipation of this dram has been high{ the actuality, sadly, I found slightly disappointing.
Most Campbelltown drams are good; this one, not so much.
Score: 7.2
Ailsa Bay
Girvan Distillery. 48.9% abv, colour 1.0
On the same trip as we learned about the sun club on Inchmurrin, I attended a whisky tasting event at the Edinburgh Surgeons’ Hall.
One of the drams at the event was Ailsa Bay, a whisky I had never heard of before – and which, I suspect, a lot of people in New Zealand have still not heard of. We were told the bottle being sampled was one of the last available, that we were very fortunate to being tasting it, and that it was no longer procurable.
I remember taking the photo (above) as a memento of the display and thinking that, if I ever saw it again, I would grab a bottle very fast indeed.
Now here we are, three years later, and I got one!
Nose: Strong peat, like a hairy Ardbeg. There is peat and smoked cheese, with the vegetal taste of boiled cabbage and cooked frozen peas.
Palette: After that nose, it goes without saying that there is Peat. Strangely, though, there is a big sweetness that goes sweeter with more sips. The end is drying.
Finish: Long (peat), and nutty.
Comment: I was surprised to find this degree of peatiness – I really don’t remember it from the first tasting. But my original instincts to get one were correct! This whisky really grows on you as you drink it.
And it leaves you with a delightful chest-warming sensation.
Score: 7.8
Johnny Walker Game of Thrones, White Walker
41.7%, colour 0.3
This is the JW that you keep in the freezer. Cold.
Nose: Coriander and fruity lemon zest, with meaty leather as it warms (“warm”, here, is a relative temperature, still below zero!).
Palette: Unsurprisingly cold, and slightly bitter. There are wood chips, a leather couch, and the lemon-zest nose turns into orchard fruit.
Comment: It is a very dramatic bottle, indeed. But holding it to try to read the label freezes your fingers – an exercise best done wearing heavy insulated gloves.
And it is possibly the best Johnnie Walker I’ve had.
Score: 7.8
GlenLivet Captains’ Reserve
40% colour 1.1.
Finished in cognac casks.
From the label: “Honey and apricot jam, notes of cinnamon bread and spicy liquorice.” “Palette – mandarins in syrup, ripe poached pears and chocolate-dipped raisin.” “Finish smooth and luxurious.”
Nose: Rich and deep (it was finished in cognac casks), with definitely the apricot jam.
Palette: Given the rich nose it is strangely thin, then oily. It has a dry finish, with honey and a slight floral note on the end.
Finish: The finish is short, and the taste didn’t linger.
Comment: It stays together in the mouth. I have noticed other 40% drams which I felt have – for lack of a better expression – “split” into distinct layers of alcohol and water. GlenLivet Captains’ Reserve does not do that! A very good session whisky.
Score: 7.5