The Dram Club

Old friend

Going through the drinks chest to finish some of the bottles I have started and have just had the final two drams of Ardbeg's Lord of the Isles. The smooth, smokiness reminds me of Islay and the sea crashing on the rocks on the south of the island. An old friend. Question is should I open another bottle?

Whisky Shop

Hutcheson's Whisky Shop in Alton, Hampshire is a great find. Stocked with a wide range of Scottish Single malts, Irish, Japanese, Indian and blends it took me a while to decide what to get.

After careful consideration and several paces up and down the single malt shelves I settled on a Ledaig and Bruichladdich Peat.

Helpful staff offered a couple of tastings and I'm tempted to join the shops members club.

A great little find in this part of the world. 

New laws for the whisky industry

As of the 23rd November the long hard fought battle to protect the Scotch whisky industry from imitations comes into force.

A number of foreign producers have long been using names and visuals in their marketing and promotional material to suggest that the product is Scotch whisky. This not only damages the reputation of Scotch whisky it confuses the consumer and potentially deprives them from experiencing the best whisky in the world.

As of the 23rd a number of key provisions come into force:

• Five categories of Scotch Whisky are defined for the first time; Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky, Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.
• These compulsory category sales terms will be required to appear clearly and prominently on all labels.
• A requirement to only bottle Single Malt Scotch Whisky in Scotland.
• New rules to prevent the misleading labelling and marketing of Single Malt Scotch Whiskies.
• A ban on the use of the term ‘Pure Malt’.
• A ban on the use of a distillery name as a brand name on any Scotch Whisky which has
• not been wholly distilled in the named distillery.
• Protection of five traditional whisky regions of production; Highland, Lowland, Speyside,
• Islay, and Campbeltown.
• A requirement that Scotch Whisky must be wholly matured in Scotland.
• Clear rules on the use of age statements on packaging.
• Designation of HM Customs & Excise as the verification authority for Scotch Whisky.

25.47

25.47 translates as the 47th bottling of Rosebank from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

It's 19yrs matured in an ex-bourbon cask.

It's not as sweet as I was expecting but it has that light, fruity aroma that you would expect from a lowland whisky, you can taste the fruits - pineapple, mango - and it has a honey smoothness with a dash of spice in the finish.

Probably not as good as last years bottling which was 16yrs if I remember correctly but nevertheless a welcome addition to the Christmas drinks cabinet.

Stilton and apricot

It's actually Benriach 16yrs finished in a Sauternes wine barrel but it's creamy, smooth, fruity with a butterscotch finish.

Careful, one glass can easily become three.

Just add water

It's always interesting talking the guys at Duty Free and listening to their elaborate stories and their 'not quite accurate' descriptions but one guy today lost a lot of business.

An American gentlemen who clearly wanted to spend some money was after a 'smooth' whisky. He probably wanted something light, maybe Irish, perhaps a Lowland but instead the man from World of Whiskies had him tasting Bowmore and Cask Strength drams.

Then the American pointed to a bottle with a hefty price tag and asked if that was smooth, "Oh no" the man said "It's 54% so it's quite strong, not for the faint hearted."

What!? Only an idiot drinks whisky at 54% ABV, what's wrong with advising him to add water?

The Whisky Guide - iPhone App

It's here!

It has taken slightly longer than we hoped but Version 1 of The Whisky Guide is now available from the iTunes App store for iPhone and iTouch.

It's not meant to be a comprehensive guide or to offer any personal judgement of single malts. Instead it is hoped that people will use it to find out a bit more about the whisky bottles they see behind the bar and maybe use some basic information to try something new.

So spread the word and let us know how we can make it better.

 

The best Edradour yet?

A 10 year old Edradour full of the nutty, oily flavour that you would expect but then it's finished for 27 months in a Chateau Neuf Du Pape wine cask.

The result is smooth, full of fruit flavour and as robust as a full bodied red wine.

Possibly the best of the 'Straight from the Cask' range.

How not to woo your clients

I was recently asked to recommend four malt whiskies and devise a competition for an exhibition stand.

I duly recommended four decent 10 year old whiskies from different regions, wrote a description of each distillery and some guide tasting notes.

The person organising the event then worked out how much this was going to cost and, realising it would be several hundred pounds, asked whether I thought it would be fun to include a cheap supermarket blend!

It might be fun, but I'm not sure that my description would be well received.

57 Degrees North

Is a blend of different aged malts from Talisker, apparently 'only available from the distillery' but widely available in duty free.

It has a very fruity aroma and is more peaty than most Talisker whisky but I whilst I found it agreeable to drink I think there are better 'peat' whiskies available for less money that this limited edition will set you back.