[Blog] The Revival of Lowland Scotch Whisky

The Scottish Lowlands are known as the most populous part of Scotland hosting both of their biggest cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Of the 5.3 million population of Scotland just over a million live in those two cities, so how come scotch whisky isn't as prominent near the major urban hubs of Scotland? The answer to that was the changing times for all of Scotland that led to a decline in the industry that saw its distilleries close one after another during the later 20th century. But the destiny of whisky making in the Lowlads seem to be changing again in the favor of those who love their classic Lowland styled malt whisky.

For a good part of the 21st century there seemed to be only two major single malt producers in the market for Lowland whisky, Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie. Giants such as Rosebank and Bladnoch were mothballed and laid dormant, the former even had its stills stolen one New Years Eve, and with the changing economic woes affecting the single malt scotch industry the prominence of Lowland whisky seemed to be fading away.

However, in the last year a spark of new hope has shined on Lowland whisky. But it isn't just coming from the new distilleries in Glasgow and Edinburgh nor a revival of Bladnoch and soon the return of Rosebank, it seems to be mostly coming from the region of Fife.

Fife is the third most populated region of Scotland with just over 370,000 people living in that historic country. Fife is commonly referred to as the Kingdom of Fife for its ties to the ancient monarchs of Scotland and is also the region that St. Andrews Golf Course and the University of St. Andrews, one of the oldest standing university's in the world, lies upon. However, Fife isn't known for whisky rather it is known for higher learning and a fun round of golf being one of the host courses for the British Open as well as being considered the birthplace of golf itself.

So how has Fife led this revival of Lowland whisky? Some could say that it was a very fateful coincidence that led those who cherished Scotland's ancient history to taking their distilling prowess there.

Take Lindores Abbey for example, the ancient medieval ruins hasn't distilled whisky since the 16th century but it's finally distilling again thanks to the convenience of lying right on a great source of water, the River Tay.

Another new distillery, Kingsbarns, opened on a historic farm found by a golf caddie who wanted to revive the history of the land and make some interesting whisky. It also helps that Wemyss Malts, one of the most underrated independent bottlers in Scotland who are owned by descendants of John Haig of the old Haig distillery, is helping lead this new distillery.

And now recently we have two more distilleries, Eden Mill and Daftmill, releasing their first single malt whisky and both take very unique directions to their spirit. While Daftmill looks to make a single estate traditional single malt in the style of distillers of old Eden Mill are experimenting with unique types of malted barley, from chocolate to crystal malt, and using interesting cask sizes and types to make something unique and draw customers in. However, both share a commonality in their appreciation for the history of the Kingdom of Fife with Daftmill being established on an ancient stone clad farmhouse and Eden Mill being founded on the site of an old brewery that was also founded and run by John Haig and his family back in the 19th century.

And for the future there's also InchDairnie who will hopefully have a single malt out in the next 11 years according to the stopwatch on their website.

So it seems that a newfound admiration for the history of this historic part of the Lowlands, and the help of newfound international consumers looking for the next big single malt, is bringing about a new renaissance for distilling in a region that hasn't had much distilling in the past 500 years. While new distilleries come about in Glasgow and Edinburgh such as Clydeside and Holyrood Park, a new subsection of the Lowlands is emerging in Fife and we might be seeing a return of classic styles of whisky and some brand new stuff!

Suffice to say, I'm very excited to one day try out my golf game at St. Andrews while juggling 5 different drams at the same time! But of course while drinking responsibly like we all should!


*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Review] Wiser's Northern Border Collection 2017

What's this? A special set of reviews on a Saturday instead of the usual Monday, Wednesday and Friday? What's the meaning of all this ya little wee laddie?

If you were thinking of any of the above then let me explain why I'm doing this now and not during the week. Next Saturday I'll be attending the Spirit of Toronto whisky gala at Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto, Canada. It's a fairly standard whisky festival in Toronto and basically the only major festival in the GTA since WhiskyLive stopped running shows since 2016, whether this will change in the immediate future I am not too sure. Like most whisky festivals you grab a glass and walk around and try some drams and maybe attend a masterclass or two for an additional fee. So because there aren't any alternatives in Ontario now except for the Wonderful World of Whisky Show in Cornwall (1 hour away from Ottawa and Montreal but close to the New York State border), Spirit of Toronto is basically one of the biggest days for Toronto whisky drinkers outside of the yearly Buffalo Trace Antique Collection lottery that the LCBO runs.

Speaking of the BTAC, this segways well into what I'll be looking at today which is the Canadian take on this well regarded collection of whiskies, the Wiser's Northern Border Collection. Next Saturday I'll be attending a masterclass to try the 2018 Wiser's Northern Border Collection with Dr. Don Livermore, master distiller at Hiram Walker Distillery who produces Wiser's whiskies, so before that I want to go over the time when I had the great chance to try the 2017 releases along with the basic common expressions that each are based off of.

Back in October 2017, I went to a merry gathering of whisky lovers hosted by the Toronto Whisky Society to try the 2017 Northern Border Collection. It serves as a premium collection to highlight Hiram Walker's wares and the range of how complex Canadian whisky can get. It includes a lot of older Canadian whiskies including the now second oldest Canadian whisky release right behind the Canadian Club 40 Year Old, which is the Wiser's 35 Year Old. So as the night went along we tried the collection along with their counterparts from Corby's core selection of spirits as Mr. Dave Mitton from Corby's Spirits led us on a journey through the history of Canadian whisky.

The funniest thing about that story was how Canadian whisky became big in the first place. Canadian whisky makers, like William Gooderham Sr. of the original Gooderham & Worts Distillery, sought to create the most delicate whisky in the land, a whisky that didn't sell on its harshness but on its delicacy. In some ways this helped Canadian whisky continue to sell but has not necessarily helped Canadian whisky appeal to the changing tastes of modern consumers who have started to seek bolder whisky over the past few decades, which is especially true with the growing number of ultra premium whisky buyers. So now the Northern Border Collection was created to show both the past of Canadian whisky and the near future. To me this is worth a ton of respect to the ambitious creators over at Corby's and I was very pleased to get a peek before the collection came out to stores last fall.

So without further ado lets get to some whisky reviews!

Note: We'll be skipping reviewing Lot No. 40 and Lot No. 40 12 Year Old Cask Strength as those were reviewed previously, but for those who aren't looking back I highly recommend buying both as they are very solid rye whiskies for the MSRP.

Pike Creek 10 Year Old Rum Finish Canadian Whisky

 

So this is a 10 year old rye forward Canadian whisky that is a child of Dr. Don Livermore, master distiller of Wiser's, who wanted to experiment with use of different wood finishes. This whisky used to be released as a Port finish but sadly the access to port barrels became hard to come by so they moved to a Rum finish instead. So the new Pike Creek 10 Year Old is aged in Demerara Rum casks for between 60-100 days. Apparently they use Lamb's Rum barrels but this isn't 100% certain. It's bottled at 42% ABV which is definitely an unusual proof.

• Colour: Amber
• Nose: Molasses, vanilla, toffee, citrus fruits, light allspice
• Taste: Light body, molasses, vanilla, oranges, wood spice, toffee
• Finish: Medium with maple syrup, spice and citrus

A little too light for me personally but still a solid medium priced Canadian whisky.

75 pts

 

Pike Creek 21 Year Old Speyside Finish Canadian Whisky

 

So now we get to the older Pike Creek which is aged for 21 years and bottled at a higher 45% ABV. This one is finished in Speyside single malt scotch whisky casks sourced from Chivas Brothers for 100 days.

• Colour: Light Amber
• Nose: Apples, pears, sherryfruits, woodspice, vanilla, oranges
• Taste: Vanilla cream, mandarins, cereals, apple, toffee, woodspice
• Finish: Medium-long with apples and rye spice

The color makes it seem like it was an refill sherried whisky cask and even then this is really solid for a Canadian whisky. 21 years and the price help it out well.

82 pts

 

Gooderham & Worts Canadian Whisky 

 

So the next whisky line we tasted was Gooderham and Wort's which is a newer whisky created 2 years ago by Corby's distillery and won Canadian Whisky of the year at the World Whisky Awards. Named after the original distillery which once was the biggest in Canada before being closed in 1990 and converted to Toronto's distillery district, the whisky is made with 4 grains (rye, wheat, corn and barley) and with the main grain being primarily rye. It's bottled at 44.4% ABV.

• Colour: Gold
• Nose: Light citrus fruits, corn, sweet oak, rye spice, bread
• Taste: Rye spice, baked bread, apple, red fruits, slight citrus, apples
• Finish: Medium with spiced fruit bread

A solid whisky, more my thing than the Pike Creek 10 but only a tiny bit better. The ABV helps too.

76 pts

 

Gooderham & Worts Little Trinity 17 Year Old Canadian Whisky

 

This special edition of Gooderham & Worts was named after the Little Trinity Anglican Church in Downtown Toronto that was built by the original distillery owner so his employees didn't have to pay to go and worship. This whisky uses all the grains as the regular Gooderham & Worts minus the barley. It's bottled at a slightly stronger 45% ABV.

• Colour: Straw gold
• Nose: Honey, allspice, rye cereals, light red fruits, lighter nose than the others I've had tonight
• Taste: Vanilla, red fruits, chocolate, allspice, buttercream
• Finish: Medium with biscuits and honey

It's good with some complexity on the nose but it's definitely a little lacking on the palate. Worth a try but not a buy.

77 pts

 

Wiser's 18 Year Old Canadian Whisky 

 

So now as we approach the end of the tasting we get to the Wiser's core line. This is a 100% corn whisky that is double column distilled and aged in used Canadian whisky casks. It is bottled at 40% ABV.

• Colour: Amber
• Nose: Strong corn, apple, vanilla, allspice, toffee, sweet oak
• Taste: Honey, cereals, vanilla, red fruits, apple, sweet caramel
• Finish: Low to medium with spiced red apples and brown sugar

It's a nice solid corn whisky, surprisingly strong for the proof but not super deep in palate. Still very good stuff but not great.

77 pts

 

Wiser's 35 Year Old Canadian Whisky

 

Now it's time for the grandpa Canadian whisky to finish the night off with a bang. This is primarily a copper pot distilled corn whisky aged for 35 years. It also has some rye whisky aged in virgin oak barrels added in and is bottled at 50% ABV.

• Colour: Amber
• Nose: Delicate nose, citrus, apple, vanilla, honey, wood spice
• Taste: Rye spice, rich honey, vanilla, milk chocolate, apple, wood spice, treenuts
• Finish: Medium-long with grapes, nuts and dark chocolate

This is pretty damn good for a 35 year old 90% corn whisky. Very nice stuff. I'm not sure if it's worth a buy but it's still a wonderful achievement from Corby's and definitely worth a try.

84 pts

 

A wonderful showing of Canadian whisky and personally a happy customer of Lot No. 40 Cask Strength which I bought shortly after this night of reviews. Thanks yet again to Toronto Whisky Society and to Mr. Dave Mitton for hosting a fun and very informative night of great Canadian whisky! I can't wait to post my next review set for Spirit of Toronto's Wiser's Masterclass showcasing the 2018 collection lineup and meeting Dr. Livemore in person to ask more about his very cool flavor wheel below, so stay tuned for that one which will hopefully be up in the second week of May! Merci beaucoup!

Current Review Scoring System:

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.


 

[Review] The Tyrconnell Core Range

So I ended up taking a vacant spot for a tasting with some good lads from the Toronto Whisky Society and ended up at The Caledonian for their Irish Whiskey tasting! We were led by Global Irish Whiskey Ambassador from Beam Suntory John Cashman who had many fun stories to tell, especially since a good deal of my ancestral background dates back to the Emerald Isle.

He went on a long story about how the Irish invented the modern form of whisky, but not alcohol which was invented by the ancient Persians who distilled it for medicinal purposes as well as for perfumes. The Monks of Ireland had journeyed around Europe spreading the word of God and on their travels they brought back a precursor to a pot still from Southern Europe which at the time was ruled by the Moors. In the monasteries the monks were distillers for medicinal purposes but their medicine wasn’t called alcohol it was named Uisce beatha (ish-ka-ba-ha) or water of life. The same word translates to eau de vie and aqua vitae in France and Italy. Eventually social consumption began among the peoples of Ireland and in 1169 after the Norman invasion of Ireland the new conquerors found difficulties with the Irish language so they decided to call Uisce beatha a shorter word, Uisce (is-ki), which would later be replaced by whiskey. The Irish monks would also establish monasteries in Scotland and spread the distillation practices there. Irish whiskey became so popular that Queen Elizabeth I was rumored to be a lover of Irish Whiskey and it was a routine drink of the Royal Court. Why was Irish whiskey considered superior during the early years? Because the climate on the island was generally mild all year round to where this pattern of mild weather creates a softer, gentler style of whiskey that appealed to the masses. During World War I Irish Whiskey was number 1 in America, but now you can barely find more than a few brands on the shelves at your local state liquor superstore. One reason was the rise of the temperance movement in Ireland which led to the closure of 20% of Ireland's distilleries in 2 years. Soon after Coffey stills were invented to improve on pot stills, however the Irish didn’t embrace it because the spirit was too strong so the technology was sold in Scotland who embraced it for blending purposes to get closer to the Irish style. Finally, the Irish War of Independence and the Prohibition in America essentially killed off the Irish whiskey industry in the 1920s. To put it in perspective, in the 1820s there were over 200 distilleries in Ireland and by the 1970s there were only two left who controlled Irish whiskey until Cooley distillery opened in 1987. Cooley went for double distillation instead of triple distillation to get a consistent flavour. However, after buying the rights to the brand Tyrconnell they decided to produce a range of spirits with the name of an older distillery to give their whisky some heritage.

And so that's what we're trying tonight, 4 expressions from the Tyrconnell core lineup distilled by Cooley Distillery in Ireland.

Tyrconnell Single Malt Irish Whiskey

Bottled at 43% ABV and matured in ex-bourbon barrels sourced from Jim Beam. Aged from 6-10 years.

• Colour: Light gold
• Nose: Lemons, Vanilla, caramel, oak, light spice
• Taste: Light oak, apple, grass, slight lemon, allspice
• Finish: Medium with Spicy raisin

It’s pretty average for the most part. Not anything of note but decent. For $46 I’m not sure I'd get a bottle but you could still find worse at that price point.

70 pts

Tyrconnell 10 Year Old Madeira Finish

This whisky was aged for 10 years in Madeira and finished in Malmsey madeira casks for 4-6 months. It is bottled at 46% ABV and retails for $80.

• Colour: Light amber
• Nose: Allspice, cardamom, oak, Apple, light vanilla, mandarin orange, some salt
• Taste: Apple, orange, allspice, salt, meat proteins, cereal
• Finish: Short-Medium with spiced cereals

Yeah this one just has a big strong off note that hurts the rest of the whisky, almost like a burn meat protein that just doesn't work for the style of the rest of the malt. I’ll say this one is an easy pass.

66 pts

Tyrconnell 10 Year Old Sherry Finish

This single malt was finished in Oloroso casks for 18 months and bottled at 46% ABV. It retails in the LCBO north of $90.

• Colour: Amber
• Nose: Allspice, chocolate, orange, lemon, some leather, sultana
• Taste: Orange, fresh and candy plums, chocolate, sultana, allspice, cereal, nuts
• Finish: Medium with sweet plummy nuts

This one was really nice with a nice soft mouthfeel and decent complexity, but for the MSRP I’d say it’s worth a try not a buy.

79 pts

Tyrconnell 10 Year Old Port Finish

This one is finished in ruby port pipes in months. It is also bottled at 46% ABV and sells similar to the Sherry Finish.

• Colour: Light amber
• Nose: Citrus, Vanilla cream, slight oak, apple, raisin, allspice
• Taste: Apple, allspice, oak, vanilla, lemon, caramel, baked bread, light leather
• Finish: Medium with leathery fruit and spice

It’s probably my number 2 above the single malt and Madeira however a weak nose hurts this whisky as well as the lack of depth. Still a decent dram for the price.

77 pts

A big thanks to The Caledonian and Mr. Cashman for hosting this great tasting and giving a great lesson on the history of Irish whiskey!


Current Review Scoring System:

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Review] Strathmill 1991 G&M Connoisseurs Choice

So for what was supposed to be Wednesday's whisky review turned into Thursday's and hopefully tomorrow I will have the last review of the week completed otherwise that will be done for Saturday morning.

So this whisky I'm looking at today is a bottling from Strathmill distillery. Strathmill is a small distillery owned by Diageo who primarily produces malt whisky for the Justerini and Brooks blended scotch whisky. It became a distillery out of the remains of a corn mill in 1891 during the midst of the 1890s scotch boom and is one of the 3 distilleries lying in Keith, the other two being Strathisla and Glen Keith who are owned by Chivas Brothers. The distillery produces 1.8 million liters of whisky per year out of 2 wash stills and 2 spirit stills which pretty much solely goes into blends. Strathmill has only produced 1 distillery bottling in recent memory which was a 12 year old Flora and Fauna series release by Diageo that was very much panned by many whisky afficianados as being not as complex as the other distilleries shown off in that series like Glenlossie or Mortlach.


However this single malt is not a distillery bottling, it is an independent bottling by Gordon and Macphail under the Connoisseurs Choice label (which is currently in the midst of being re-branded yet again by the company to put out 46% ABV and cask strength selections) and is bottled with no color added at 40% ABV. What's also interesting is that this single malt was distilled during Strathmill's 100th birthday so in a way this is definitely a celebratory whisky for a little known distillery so let's see how this one goes despite the low proof.

• Colour: Light gold
• Nose: Honey, toffee, sweet oak, apple, pears, tiny bit of grass, some citrus in the back, overall a very typical Speyside nose
• Taste: Lush tangerines, honeydew, caramel cream, sweet almost like cream soda, bourbon vanilla, very light woodspice, apples, grapes, with water we see more lemon citrus appear with this whisky, it has a very nice medium body and it almost feels like a 43% or higher instead of a 40%
• Finish: Medium-long with creamy vanilla and nuts

Didn't expect too much from this being 40% but wow is this some surprisingly solid juice. It's not going to WOW you by any means but this is relatively complex for the proof and does a lot of things right. Sadly my preference for more delicate malts is to have it at a higher ABV to really show off the individual qualities of the malt but for what it is I'm not complaining too much.

80 pts

It doesn't hit enough notes to be considered excellent but it comes very close I would love to try Strathmill at cask strength someday and if you can find some higher proof stuff from this distillery in the future please let me know how you feel about it.

Current Review Scoring System:

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Review] Caol Ila 15 Year Old Unpeated Special Release

For today's whisky review I go to one of my favorite Islay distilleries to try an unpeated expression from them, Caol Ila.

Caol Ila is an Islay distillery located along Port Askaig and sits roughly a few miles away from Bunnahabhain. Operating and distilling since 1846 Caol Ila are known as one of three Diageo owned distilleries along with Lagavulin and Port Ellen which is re-launching in the near future. Caol Ila is an interesting distillery because of the approachability their OBs have especially with their gentler peat character. However this release is unpeated so I can talk about the peaty wares at another time.

So this Caol Ila is a Special Release as part of Diageo's lineup of special bottlings from their many distilleries. This one has been aged for 15 years and bottled at a hefty 61.5% ABV. For the asking price of $125 CAD I felt content to grab a bottle so lets see how this one fares compared to the last unpeated cask strength edition I had from Caol Ila.

• Colour: Straw gold
• Nose: Pepper, sweet oak, cereals, temperate fruits, allspice, some sulphur in the background along with some lemon citrus
• Taste: Big blast of citrus fruits, allspice and white pepper, apples, cereals, sweet oak, vanilla, some grassy floral elements and honey show up near the end
• Finish: Long with honeydew and vanilla

Wow what a fantastic body this whisky has! Strong notes of fruit, sweetness and savouriness really come together in this whisky! If the nose was a little bit stronger I'd probably rate this higher but its still a fantastic whisky and for $125 I might just grab another sometime soon!

85 pts

 

Current Review Scoring System:

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Review] Macallan Edition No. 2+3

For this Friday review I'm going to be showing off two bottlings from Macallan's Editions range, the No. 2 and No.3, which focus specifically on showing off a more ideal palate and nose for each respective whisky.

Macallan is a distillery in the Scottish highlands owned by Edrington Group who also own Highland Park and Glenrothes Distilleries along with the Cutty Sark and Famous Grouse brands of blended whiskies. Founded in Moray in 1824, the distillery became well known in Scotland and internationally for single malts exclusively matured in sherry oak and naturally colored until their addition of the partially ex-bourbon matured Fine Oak series in the mid-2000s. The Edition Series was started a few years ago as a yearly release to show Macallan's cask diversity and blending prowess under current distillery manager Bob Dalgarno. The Edition No. 2 and 3 are the later expressions of this series formed as a collaboration with outside partners with experience in a luxury industry that makes them experts on finding a perfect nose and palate for this Macallan series according to the distillery. So let's see how each expression does.

So first we have...

Macallan Edition No. 2

 

The Edition No. 2 is marketed as a collaborative effort by Macallan Master Blender Bob Delgarno and famous Spanish chefs Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca who selected different whisky to blend from various sherry puncheons, butts and refill hogsheads. Its an NAS whisky that is marketed quite high at around $170 CAD in Ontario.

• Color: Amber
• Nose: Oak and sherry, very reminiscent of the Fine Oak, orchard fruit, soft nutmeg, floral notes, hay, light mint, very light tannin. Overall the nose was quite weak and very similar to the 15 Fine Oak that I reviewed previously.
• Taste: Very spicy in strong, baking spices, apples, strawberry, cherry, grass, vanilla, toffee, light clove, citrus fruits
• Finish: Medium-long with apple pie and spiced nuts

This might be one of the strangest experiences I've had with Macallan, it almost felt like reading a great book with a horrible cover. While the nose was rather uneventful the palate and finish had everything I love in a sherried Speyside. The spice and citrus elements worked together fantastically and the more Lowland and Island like floral and cereal elements worked wonders on this whisky, its definitely not a young tasting spirit. While I still think there are better deals out there this is probably my favorite experience with Macallan yet, although I'm very hesitant on saying its worth the asking price here in Ontario so maybe its worth another try! Regardless as it stands now I still really enjoyed this whisky and if you can find it for under $120 CAD I'd say its worth picking a bottle up even if the nose is lacking depth.

85 pts 

 

Next up we have the nose-focused side of this pair...

Macallan Edition No. 3

 

This bottling of Macallan was made in collaboration with master perfumer David Roca who selected a variety of cases that he believed would lead to a sublime whisky along with the help of Macallan master distiller Bob Dalgarno. Aged in a mix of sherry and ex-bourbon casks, butts, puncheons and hogsheads this NAS single malt is bottled at 48.3% ABV. So let’s see how it does with a fresh bottle.

• Colour: Solid Gold
• Nose: Sherryfruit, baked bread, allspice, almost reminds me of a Glenfarclas nose, citrus, raisin, nuts
• Taste: Spicy, rich baked fruit bread, Vanilla, toffee, chocolate, oranges, woodspice, treenuts
• Finish: Medium-Long with spiced apple and bread

I think this might be the Glenfarclas of Macallan. It’s a really stupid thing to say but what I mean is it feels like a Macallan that does everything Glenfarclas is praised for and then adds a great body and spiciness thanks to the higher ABV. I think this one might be worth a buy. I easily prefer this over the Edition No. 2.

86 pts

 

Overall, it's nice to see Macallan releasing some good cask quality whiskies at an enjoyable proof  The only major gripe that hurts the appeal of purchasing these whiskies is the price point, however the whisky themselves are still solid enough to be easily worth a try if you can find them for a decent price per dram. Personally I wish these whiskies were cask strength as I wasn't as huge a fan of Macallan's Classic Cut and would love to see these better quality vattings of quality barrels be bottled at a higher proof in the future. Sadly I'm skeptical whether that future is a certainty given the consumer appeal for anything with the name "Macallan" regardless of quality, but the future is always bright so hopefully Macallan dedicate some time to really get back into the good graces of the connoisseurs who've definitely aided in their successes so far.

Current Review Scoring System:

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Review] Kilkerran 12 Year Old

So to start off this week's whisky reviews I decided to go back and try one of my favorite new single malt scotch whiskies from the lovely region of Campbeltown! Also sorry for being a day late by the way!

Kilkerran is made at the Glengyle Distillery in Campbeltown and is owned by J & A Mitchell's who also owns Springbank Distillery and Cadenhead's who is dubbed the world's oldest independent bottler of whisky and other fine spirits. Glengyle originally started in 1872 and was founded by William Mitchell, a co-owner of Springbank with his brother John. Due to quarrels between the brothers, William left to form Glengyle after Riechlachan Distillery closed down which was operated by his other brothers. However, in 1919 the distillery was sold off due to the post-World War I economic woes in Scotland and after multiple changing of hands the distillery was shut down in 1925 and all stocks were sold. This time was known as the collapse of Campbeltown where the biggest whisky region in Scotland was reduced down to just 2 distilleries, Springbank and Glen Scotia. The distillery had multiple re-opening attempts in the 1940s and 1950s but neither attempt succeeded and history for the distillery went grim. But in 2000, Mitchell’s Glengyle Ltd. was created by J & A Mitchell's and after installing two stills from the closed Ben Wyvis Distillery it finally began to distill whisky again in 2004 and became the first "new" distillery to be built in Campbeltown in 125 years.

After multiple Work In Progress releases in the 2010s, Glengyle finally released a 12 year old single malt whisky for the international market. The name "Kilkerran" comes from Saint Kieran, one of Ireland's 12 apostles but also a prominent religious figure in Campbeltown. This change came about due to Glengyle's trademark being owned by Loch Lomond Distillers so the owners decided to name the whisky output Kilkerran instead.

So moving onto this whisky itself it is produced using Springbank malted barley as Glengyle were still working on their own grain to glass operations which hopefully should be done relatively soon. This whisky is non chill filtered at 46% and is bottled at natural color after 12 years in bourbon and sherry casks.

• Colour: Pale gold
• Nose: Apple, sea spray, sweet oak, fresh green grapes, citrus fruits, treenuts
• Taste: Spicy oak, honey, vanilla, nuts, light brine, raisins, oranges, allspice
• Finish: Medium with light brine and fruit salad

This is a surprisingly refreshing dram with a mix of sweetness and light oiliness compared to other non-cask strength Springbank samples I've had. Its not an exceptional whisky but its still a really nice after dinner dram and worth the price of admission at least for me.

82 pts

Even more so it is a very impressive entry level dram from a brand new distillery and I hope Ontario gets the 8 year old cask strength from Glengyle because I'd love to see hos this distillery's profile looks with cask strength. A wonderful first age stated showing and I can't wait to try more from them!

Current Review Scoring System:
 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Whisky News] Master of Malt and That Boutique-y Whisky Company Bought by AB-InBev

A great shock came to many whisky lovers yesterday after Atom Group, the company that owns online whisky retailer Master of Malt and independent spirits bottling and blending company That Boutique-y Whisky Company, was purchased by Anheuser-Busch InBev. For those who don't know who Anheuser-Busch InBev are they are a multi-national conglomerate alcoholic beverages company that mostly focus in beer and own brands such as Corona, Budweiser and Stella Artois along with many other beer brands and craft beer makers such as Goose Island Brewery and Devil's Backbone Brewery in the United States.

The news came yesterday afternoon after Master of Malt made a blogpost confirming the sale for an undisclosed amount.

The news also came just after Master of Malt made another blogpost confirming that it would not be continuing their practice of shipping products to the United States.

Some commenters online and on Master of Malt's blog comment section were skeptical over the reasoning behind the halting of online orders to the United States when other sites such as The Whisky Exchange were continuing online orders to FedEx approved states. Some question whether the purchase by AB-Inbev played a role in this due to potential liability issues arising with international imports of spirits.

That Boutique-y Whisky Company have not made any social media posts currently regarding the purchase.

The deal gives AB-InBev ownership of the two companies along with Maverick Drinks which is the distribution side of the company. While many whisky lovers, including long-time fans of Master of Malt and That Boutique-y Whisky Company, are very concerned about the purchase by such a big conglomerate others have been more subdued regarding the purchase due to past successes by AB-InBev with craft breweries such as Goose Island who they claim have not seen quality hits in their products after the purchase.

More details regarding the future of USA distribution for Master of Malt appear to be coming at a much later date.

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Review] Lot No. 40 Rye and Lot No. 40 Cask Strength 12 Year Old Rye

 

So for my first reviews of something that's not a malted barley whisky, I decided to review two of my personal favorite rye whiskys from my home country of Canada.

These two come from Hiram Walker Distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada who are best known as being the main distillery owned by Corby's Spirit and Wine who produce the J.P. Wiser's Canadian Whisky brands as well as many other different spirits.  Corby's have been around since 1859 since they were founded in Corbyville, a small community in Belleville, Ontario and are currently majority owned by Pernod Ricard. 

The idea for these whiskies came from master distiller Mike Booth when in the 1990s the company was looking for an answer to compete in the growing high end spirits market. The whisky was named after a plot of land Booth's ancestors used to own to celebrate his rye farming heritage. However, the original Lot No. 40 along with the rest of the "Canadian Whisky Guild" series under-performed leading to them being discontinued. In 2012 Corby's decided to bring Lot No. 40 back after whisky connoisseurs who enjoyed the original in the 90s kept asking about bringing the whisky back, but this time the whisky became a coast to coast smash hit and won Whisky of the Year at the Canadian Whisky Awards in 2013 and now has become a mainstay on shelves across the country.

And funny enough, the legacy of Lot No. 40 and its revival is also how the cask strength version came about. After many whisky connoisseurs continued to show interest in a higher premium Canadian whisky from the distillery Hiram Walker's current master distiller Dr. Don Livermore decided to tease some Canadian whisky commentators with a sample of Lot No. 40 straight from the barrel. The response was overwhelming, the people who tried this cask strength Lot No. 40 wanted more! About a year later, Corby's and Dr. Livermore delivered not only a cask strength Lot No. 40 but a 12 year old version for the Canadian market at a respectable price in Ontario of $70 which is unheard of for a cask strength 10+ year old whisky in this day and age.

Now the question is for those of you who haven't tried these whiskies before, well how do they taste? Let's find out!

The first one we'll look at is...

Lot No. 40 Canadian Rye Whisky

 

This is a 43% ABV bottled 100% Canadian rye. 10% of the rye used to be malted rye until 2016 when they changed to 100% rye which is the version that I reviewed and did tasting notes for. This whisky is aged solely in virgin oak for apparently around 6 years or so and retails in Canada for around $40 CAD.

• Colour: Amber
• Nose: Rye spice, red fruits, sweet oak, vanilla, caramel
• Taste: Rye spice, vanilla, toffee, cherries, soft oak, banana
• Finish: Medium with allspice and red fruits

This is truly a solid 100% rye the depth and sheer complexity does not fail here after another try especially for the price. This is definitely a bar standard for me,

80 pts

 

And now I get to the whisky that I've been truly waiting to try...

Lot No. 40 Cask Strength 12 Year Old Rye

 

This is a 12 year old Cask Strength version of Lot No. 40 barrelled at 55% ABV and retails for a cool $70 CAD. It's aged solely in virgin oak and while this would be a concerning thing if this was a malted barley spirit for a grain like rye its a perfect combination. So let's see how this fares to all those other blogger's praises.

• Colour: Rich Amber
• Nose: Really strong potent nose, red fruits, vanilla, wood spice, grass, toffee, chocolate, citrus
• Taste: Rich rye spices, apples, red fruits, vanilla cream; toffee, very spicy and full bodied
• Finish: Long with woodspice and caramel apple

This is nice, in fact this is REALLY REALLY REALLY NICE. As good as if not better than some mid to low years of Thomas H. Handy bottling I had the pleasure to try back in the summertime. However, note that Thomas H. Handy is considered one of the best ryes in the world and this Lot No. 40 Cask Strength is not far behind. This is probably the best Canadian whisky I've ever tried to date and easily the best body on a Canadian rye I've had the chance to experience.

 90 pts

 

Phenomenal stuff and I strongly encourage anyone interested to go buy a bottle right now! Corby's and Dr. Livermore have been doing some great stuff for Canadian whisky and I can't wait to explore more interesting stuff happening in Canada that I can share with you for the future.

And believe me, there is lot's to say about the direction Canadian whisky is going. But let's save that for another day.

Current Review Scoring System:

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Review] Glenmorangie Core Series

For today’s entry blog I decided that it’d be good to show off a distillery that a lot of new whisky drinkers end up going for to begin their journeys.
Glenmorangie is a distillery based out of Rossshire, Scotland who are owned by liquor supergiant Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, or LVMH, who are best known for owning the world famous Hennessy cognac company and Moet and Chandon champagnes. Glenmorangie Distillery itself also owns the very popular Ardbeg scotch distillery, who you should definitely check out as a fantastic entry level Islay single malt starting with their delicious Ardbeg 10 Year Old if you find yourself okay with drinking heavier peated single malts like Laphroaig Quarter Cask and Lagavulin 16 Year Old.

Glenmorangie began producing alcohol in the early 18th century when a brewery was built in on the Morangie Farm and for almost 100 years sold their malty delights to nearby villagers in Rosshire using only local water from the nearby Talorgie Spring. In 1843, William Matheson, a former manager of the distillery, bought the brewery and converted it into a full-fledged whisky distillery. He added 2 gin pot stills while renaming the building to its current name, Glenmorangie. After prohibition and World War II, Glenmorangie Distillery was greeted with such immense popularity in the UK and abroad in North America that they were pushed to maximum capacity and the new owners, a firm from Leith called MacDonald and Muir who happened to be one of the distillery's biggest customers before the purchase, had to add two more stills to meet the newfound demand. Glenmorangie currently has 12 stills in their distillery and produces 6 million liters of scotch whisky every year and are easily the best-selling scotchmakers within the entirety of Scotland and one of the biggest whisky producers in the world. They were purchased by LVMH for almost 300 million British pounds in 2004 and the distillers products were soon re-branded to attract more buyers in the luxury spirits market which was when Glenmorangie started their new “core line” of scotches.

Now the reason why I’m going through the core range of Glenmorangie today is not really just for popularity or for the rich history the distillery holds but for the wine finishes that are noticeable as the core range goes on. Each selection after the 10 year old is essentially a whisky that took a cask of 10 year old and finished it for 2 years in casks that previously held different selections of fortified wine, wines that were either fortified with a neutral high proof brandy or were grown under conditions to make them more dessert like with a higher percentage of alcohol. This review will basically show how the basic Glenmorangie 10 year old spirit changes after the addition of another cask to change the range of flavors in the spirit and what effect each generally has on an unpeated single malt previously aged in standard ex-bourbon barrels. Although they’re not necessarily the best uses of wine finishes they are certainly a good exemplar for the new whisky drinker to get an idea of what he’ll be getting from different wine finished whisky. Later on I hope to show off some other different types of finishes like beer barrel, red wine barrel or rye barrel finishes but for now let's start with the usual ones.

But before we get to the wine finished barrel's let's start with the simple ol'...

Glenmorangie "The Original" 10 Year Old

This is the basic expression from Glenmorangie. Its matured all 10 years in first and second fill ex-bourbon casks including what they dub “famous slow-grown and air-dried ‘designer casks’ from Missouri.” Now a numbered fill cask is a title that refers to a cask that has been used a certain number of times to mature batches of whisky. A first fill cask has only ever had bourbon in it before the whisky goes in. Once that batch of whisky is taken out and bottled, the next batch going into the cask would be referred to as being matured in a second fill ex-bourbon cask. The number of the fill would go on for as many times the barrel is used to mature whisky before it is taken out of commission and any number usually after 3 is sometimes referred to as a refill cask, although refill can also be used for a cask that is a 2nd fill or onward. This bottle is chill filtered at 40% ABV and contains coloring.

• Color: Straw gold
• Nose: Potent citrus, lemon peel, orange rind, banana, pineapple, light lime notes, sweet notes from the bourbon barrels
• Palate: Light toffee, watery, weak baking spice, bananas again, dried fruits
• Finish: Medium with allspice and dried apricot

So with the standard 10 year old there definitely is a lot to be asking for. Despite the pleasant nose the whisky is definitely too unrefined to be worth a recommendation much less buying a dram at a bar unless it is the better 100 Imperial Proof (around 58% ABV) which is definitely worth trying and buying at a good price.

65 pts

So now that we’ve established a benchmark lets look into how our first wine finish affects this flawed young single malt.

Glenmorangie "The Lasanta" 12 Year Old Sherry Finish

 

So now we move onto the first of the wine finished expressions by Glenmorangie. The Lasanta is a 46% non chill filtered single malt that is initially matured for 10 years in ex-bourbon casks before being finished for 2 years in Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez, or PX, sherry casks. Sherry is a type of fortified wine from Jerez, Spain that is made from white wine grapes such as Palomino, which is used to make Fino sherry. So essentially they’re taking the 10 year old and further maturing it in two types of sherry casks. Now for the sherry types used Oloroso is a drier sherry that imparts more nutty notes while PX imparts sweeter fruity notes so in this whisky we’ll see how the use of these sherry casks affect the 10 year.

• Colour: Dark amber
• Nose: Warm spicy flavors. Cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins, toffee, orange. Not overly engaging.
• Taste: Immediately sherry notes , spiced orange and butterscotch which stays through to the finish along with the taste of spicy walnuts, hazelnuts and sweet notes from the bourbon oak. Not very bitter but its definitely strong on the tongue.
• Finish: Medium with sweet bourbon wood and spice.

Now immediately there is a much more prominent baking spice and treenut influence added to the malt that pushes the spirit up a bit. It’s not anything amazing but its a definite improvement from the lackluster Original.

74 pts

Lets see the next wine finish in store, which will be ruby port!

Glenmorangie "The Quinta Ruban" 12 Year Old Port Finish

So now we come to what is personally my favorite of Glenmorangie’s core range, which is the base 10 year old taken and further matured for two years in ruby port pipes. Now when I say a pipe I don’t mean an actual pipe used for smoking tobacco, a port pipe is just an expression for a barrel of port usually around 550L in capacity. Port wine itself is a fortified wine that comes from Douro in Portugal made from local fermented grapes and high strength neutral grape brandy. Ruby port is a type of port wine that is considered easy to make and cheap and does not age like a Tawny port does. This single malt is bottled at 46% like the Lasanta and is non chill filtered.

• Colour: Light Gold
• Nose: Seawater, sand, tropical fruit, oranges, pineapple, mango, sweet wine, white pepper
• Taste: Very intense on the mouth, oranges, seawater, oak, toffee pudding, nutmeg, very smooth and solid for 46%
• Finish: Medium-long with toffee and allspice

So from this we can see a more seaside influences effect the sherry along with more desert like notes like toffee pudding that change the palate of the whisky to be something completely new and interesting and personally the dimensions of sweet and salty it gives are fantastic.

78 pts

And now for our last wine finish we go to something a little different...

Glenmorangie "Nectar D'Or" 12 Year Old Sauternes Finish

So for our final wine finish Glenmorangie we have the Nectar D’Or which finished the 10 year old for 2 years in a type of desert wine called sauternes. Now sauternes is a desert wine from the Sauternes sub-region in the famous Bordeaux wine region of France and is made from the grapes of Sauvingon Blanc, Semillion and Muscadelle that have been affected by a fungus called botrytis cinerea or “noble rot.” This causes the grapes to be partially raisined which makes the flavor more concentrated and has led to the creation of sauternes which has become a popular desert wine among many wine connoisseurs. With sauternes you usually get more sweeter and tropical notes which should go well with this kind of single malt, so lets check the notes.

• Colour: White like a dry Sauvignon Blanc
• Nose: Sweet white wine grapes, lemon curd, vanilla, bourbon oak, lime, honeydew,
• Taste: Very crisp and smooth, intense on tongue, lemon and honey, orange juice, fresh nuts, potent ginger and allspice
• Finish: Medium with lemon and ginger

Its definitely a desert whisky just like its wine finish, it accelerates the tropical flavors seen on the nose of the Glenmorangie Original and heightens it to include stronger citrus and honey characters. Its a lovely treat of a single malt although while I prefer the Quinta Ruban it definitely is a major seller for the Glenmorangie core range.

78 pts

So after all that we can see now how the Glenmorangie lineup really shows what wine finishes can do to whisky, and imagine is the base whisky was something better than the Original. However you have to be careful when it comes to wine finishes as overuse of a certain cask could lead to the elements of the wine overshadowing the spirit so always make sure to read up on what your looking to buy or try it to see if the elements shine together and you know that what your getting is a beautiful sympathy of a single malt rather than a dysfunctional high school polka band.

Thanks for reading once again and I hope you enjoyed this little journey into wine finishes using Glenmorangie’s core range. My next blog will be a more formal whisky review so see you next time!

Current Review Scoring System:

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

Welcome to The Whisky Laddie!

Hello and welcome to my blog!

I am a Canadian whisky connoisseur and in this blog I hope to write some reviews of whisky and give editorials, news and insights into various other topics surrounding whisky and other aspects of the commercial liquor industry! I have worked in liquor for over 2 years which was one of the many reasons I discovered whisky and particularly scotch whisky as a passionate hobby that has helped me discover deeper into my ancestral background and the immense passion and scientific prowess that goes into making each and every whisky on the market smell and taste the way it does.

Hopefully this blog will help enlighten new drinkers and give some insights to more experienced ones on what's happening to the industry as it continues to grow, for better or worse, and maybe recommend some newly released whisky as soon as I can get my hands on them here in the Canadian market! I hope to expand this blog to YouTube and other platforms but for now this will be the main focus for myself as a commentator on the wonderful world of whisky.

So let's pour a fun and responsible dram dive and into it together!

-Mike, The Whisky Laddie