Single Malt Report: Glen Moray 12 year old

History

Glen Moray-Glenlivet Distillery Co. Ltd. built Glen Moray on the site of the former West Brewery, in the midst of the Pattison-era whisky craze, in 1897. The whisky market crashed the following year, but Glen Moray kept chugging along until 1910, when it closed. Macdonald & Muir, then owners of Glenmorangie, bought the distillery in 1920, reopening it 1923. Due to the malt's success in M&M's Highland Queen blend, the owners doubled the still count in 1958, also replacing the floor maltings with a Saladin box. (Note: I've seen a conflict between reliable sources saying the stills were actually doubled in 1979. It's Chuck Maclean vs. Johannes.) Macdonald & Muir released the first official Glen Moray single malt in 1976. It was right around the late '70s when they ditched the internal maltings altogether for a third party's unpeated malt; so if you have one of the old 20yo or 30yo, those were distilled from the distillery's own maltings.  In 2004, Macdonald & Muir (now Glenmorangie plc) sold their distilleries to Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. Then four years later LVMH sold Glen Moray to the current La Martiniquaise ownership.

For more than a decade Glen Moray has produced a number of well priced aged-stated single malts, including a 10 year old Chardonnay Cask, 12 year old, and 16 year old. They had the NAS Classic for years, but that was clearly priced to be their starter whisky. As of 2016, they entered the NAS parade with a Classic Peated, Classic Chardonnay Finish, Classic Port Finish, and Classic Sherry Finish. Thankfully, those price tags have been kept under £30.

Brief Commentary

With most of their malt going to the Label 5 brand, the 10th most popular blended scotch in the world, I get the feeling there was a bit of strain being put on their malt reserves. Either that or they bought into the artificial boom too late, because they just doubled the distillery's capacity to 6.5 million liters per annum last year. Whisky Yearbook says there are plans to increase it further to 9 million liters/year. Yes, you just heard me sigh. I hope their ownership looks back to the beginning of the distillery's history to determine the wisdom of that additional expansion.

Review

Distillery: Glen Moray
Owner: La Martiniquaise
Type: Single Malt
Region: Speyside (Elgin)
Maturation: ex-bourbon casks, with unknown quantity of first fills
Age: at least twelve years old
Alcohol by Volume: 40%
Chillfiltered? Probably
Colorant added? Not much, if any
(Sample comes to D4P courtesy of a sample swap with My Annoying Opinions)

Its color is as light as straw, often a positive in my book. The nose is very grainy; think cream of wheat, oats, or rice. Actually, a bit of sake in there. Then hay, carpet, apple cider and a young weird buttery note that may be more from the spirit than the oak. The palate starts off well with a gentle toffee note and a raisin-like thing.....which vanishes after the third sip. What starts off as light acidity grows with time. Add that acidity to a fizziness, and one's left with a 7-UP note. Some anise. Hint of potato vodka. A thinness in the mouthfeel makes this come across like a mid-shelf blend. The finish has barley, anise and vanilla. That 7-UP note. The acidity remains, giving off a feeling of grappa, almost.

Well, that was curious. Having had other Glen Morays before (though oddly this is the first I've reviewed) I knew I wasn't going to get some average boring malt. There's always a kick of something quirky in their whisky. I liked the graininess and the whole young aspect of the nose. The palate began with promise then was overtaken by the acidity, and that's where it buried itself.

It works a little better as a tumbler whisky, as opposed to a Glencairn whisky. And that's how I'd recommend one drink it. The acidity mellows and more of the youthful barley notes stick out. You could do much worse in the vanishing $30 single malt tier, especially if you're not an oak enthusiast.

Availability - Specialty retailers
Pricing - $30-$40
Rating - 78

Bourbon and Rye Day Friday: Blanton's Straight from the Barrel, barrel 446

I'm a fan of Blanton's Single Barrel (46.5%abv) more so than I am of Blanton's Straight from the Barrel (60+%abv). Preferring a lower ABV version of a whisk(e)y is tantamount to heresy in many circles. Thankfully my circle is more forgiving. Jordan from Chemistry of the Cocktail critiqued the valorization of cask strength whiskies very well, almost three years ago. I'll add my thoughtful crappy take on this matter once I can figure out how to string together two paragraphs about it. But Blanton's more or less captures my viewpoint. The higher alcohol percentage provides nothing but ethyl heat, closing off much of the whiskey's richness and character. This isn't true of all bourbons. But it's been consistently true of Blanton's, so much so that I'm not that disappointed Straight from the Barrel isn't sold in The States. Goodness knows what retailers would be selling it for.

Yes, I'm already giving you a hint about the results of this tasting, if you hadn't already scrolled down to see the rating. My first review of Straight from the Barrel (#68) was back in 2014, click here for that one. I also had pours from two different barrels while in Japan, with similar results: lots of cherry, much better with water.  So here goes my fourth shot (if you will) from a sample purchased from whiskysite.nl last year.

Distillery: Buffalo Trace
Brand: Blanton's
Brand Owner: Age International
Region: Kentucky, USA
Type: Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Mashbill: Buffalo Trace #2 (higher-rye; about 15%)
Age: unknown
Bottled: January 8, 2015
Barrel: 446
Warehouse: H
Rick: 42
Alcohol by volume: 64.9%

NEAT
It has plenty of color to it, as opposed to the photo above. The nose is plenty hot, in fact it took almost 45 minutes of airing out before I could find these notes. At first it's corn syrup and flowers. From underneath that arrives a cinnamon and cherry syrup. Cherry & lime lollipops. Melting cherry popsicles. You the get the point: cherry candy. A little bit of caramel, vanilla, and grapefruit. Ethyl sits up front in the palate and refuses to move. Way behind that is cherry candy, cayenne pepper, molasses, salt, oak pulp, and a burnt note (though that might just be my tastebuds getting cooked). There's a palatable bitterness in there somewhere. The vague hot finish leaves a long burn and not much else. Sweet cherry-flavored meds and chili oil.

I then reduced the second half of my sample to the Single Barrel's 46.5%abv and let it sit for 24 hours for better integration...

WITH WATER (~46.5%abv)
The nose becomes clearer. Cinnamon, vanilla, dried apricots, and fresh plums. Some Sazerac Rye, sawdust, and caramel.  The palate is quite candied, but that gets balanced out a bit by the good bitterness. Caramel, bubblegum, mint, ginger, and rye. Feels a bit thin in the mouth, though. Corn and cherry sweetness make up most of the finish, though it's less cloying than when neat. Maybe some hints of bubblegum, fresh ginger, and chili oil.

WORDS WORDS WORDS:
As referenced in the notes, the whisky took 45 minutes of air before it opened up a little. Previous to that it held but two dimensions: cherry candy and face burning. The neat nose isn't terrible, once one can find it. The palate is fine, once one's tongue regains feeling, but the finish proves to be bland. Dilution provides added dimension to all the pieces, turning it into kind of a sugary version of the regular Single Barrel. But it also feels watered down in the mouth and doesn't finish strong. There's nothing here (at 64.9% or 46.5%) that can't be regularly beat by the Single Barrel. Straight from the Barrel is a decent bourbon (one diluted) but I'm in no mood to try it a fifth time.

Availability - Europe and Asia
Pricing - anywhere from $55 to $95 (w/o VAT and shipping)
Rating - 80 (with water only, low to mid 70s when neat)

Single Malt Report: Craiglodge 8 year old 1998 Distillery Select, cask 139

On an oddly warm evening in mid November of last year, Andy Smith (of LASC, OCSC, and SDSC fame) and I were having an earnest discourse about fatherhood as we picked through the leftovers from the recent Peatin' Meetin'. Not being emptied during the Meetin' was usually not a good sign for a whisky bottle. Among these unfinished whiskies was a Craiglodge. Upon this discovery I asked Andy if I could take a sample home for deep study.  He said, "Take the bottle, please."  And that's how I wound up with this:

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, Loch Lomond's lack of candor over their different brands can result in confusion. For instance, though Craiglodge is a peated Loch Lomond, it's not the same as Croftengea which is also a peated Loch Lomond.  And neither of these should be confused with Loch Lomond Peated, which is a different peated Loch Lomond. A little bit of openness from the distillery would be nice, because it isn't as if one of us could recreate this stuff in our garage. Nor would most of us want to.

There don't appear to be very many Craiglodge bottlings out there. Whiskybase shows a grand total of four, which doesn't include this one. The cask that has received the most digital ink is #223, which the Malt Maniacs HATED. Johannes gave it a 32, Luc Timmermans graded it a 15, and Serge was the most generous out of the six reviewers, calling it a 68. This level of public shade makes me feel all tingly inside. Bring on cask 139!

Distillery: Loch Lomond
Owner: Loch Lomond Distillery Company
Brand: Craiglodge
Range: Distillery Select
Type: Single Malt
Region: Western Highlands
Maturation: Spanish oak hogshead
Age: 8 years old (March 26, 1998 - June 12, 2006)
Cask #: 139
Bottle: 101 of 330
Alcohol by Volume: 45%
Chillfiltered? I think so
Colorant added? I don't think so

NEAT
The color is bourbon brown. At first whiff the Loch Lomond Garbage™ note rings true in the nose. Luckily(!) it vanishes after a couple minutes. Once that dissipates, large quantities of vanilla and oloroso sherry sit up front. Then fresh mint and chocolate peat. Cinnamon and chlorine. Then, out of nowhere, gunpowder bursts forth, followed by cheap perfume. With more time the vanilla and chocolate take over again. The palate starts with ashy peat, bitter chocolate, and bags of gunpowder. Lots of black pepper. Big sweet grapey action. And an occasional manure note. Bitter ash and moscatel in the finish. Gunpowder on vegetables. Quite sweet.

Dare I add water to this?

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
Melting cheap plastic toys and milk chocolate on the nose. Then mesquite and black cherries. The palate is bitterer and more peppery. More veg, more savoriness. A hint of perfume. The sherry and ash retreat to the far back. The finish is very bitter, to the point it's a stamina test. Somewhere underneath that is lead, dirt, and grape sweetness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS:
Hot damn, it's no wonder they didn't bottle it at full strength, as it would have resulted in fatalities. It's not just ugly, it's the absolute zero of balance and comfort.

But, here's the thing. I like it. The cask imparted a considerable richness. The palate is zesty in its earthiness and bitterness. And its total dissonance makes the whisky so bad it's...it's...It's like one of those impressively frightful dogs that win awards. It resembles nothing lovable, but in that absence one discovers surprisingly warm feelings. And one starts to think, "Man, I want one of those." Gotta respect this little brown snowflake, the antithesis of Balvenie Batch 1401, the ugly dog.

Availability - ???
Pricing - ???
Rating - 79 (Mind you, some drinkers may give this whisky a fat F, and they wouldn't be wrong either.)

Single Malt Report: Inchmurrin 12 year old Unpeated (2014) and what is Inchmurrin single malt anyway?

On Monday, I reviewed the new Loch Lomond NAS Original.  In that post I referenced that the Loch Lomond distillery makes a number of different whisky styles and brands in house, thanks to their unique (pot, Lomond, and Coffey) stills configuration.  Today I'm reviewing a 2014 bottling of another one of their brands, Inchmurrin, named after an island in the loch itself.

Inchmurrin?

Now what Inchmurrin is (style, brand, production process) exactly, I don't know. The internet hasn't been very helpful in my searches. Whiskybase does call it "Unpeated". And Charlie Maclean references a couple of things in his Whiskypedia book: Inchmurrin was originally made from the Lomond stills, and the spirit was designed to age quickly.  The former may no longer be true, while the latter is of course the Great Big Hairy Candy-Coated Grail all of whiskydom continues to chase.

To add to the confusion is the ever-changing Inchmurrin packaging design.  See below for the 5 versions that have existed over the past 10 years.

To be fair, or more confusing, that first bottle type -- the "Distillery Select" -- was actually for all of Loch Lomond's single malts since it was designed for the single casks (not at cask strength) they'd release. All the Distillery Select bottles appear exactly the same from a distance, with the info on the little white label marking the only difference between each release.

Five different bottles, one decade.  From a marketing or (more importantly) the customer's standpoint, what does an Inchmurrin look like? A little visual consistency goes a long way to help a brand. For instance, we all know what a Glenfiddich or Ardbeg bottle looks like from across the shop. Johnnie Walker's bottle & label helped create and sustain the largest whisky brand in history. Thus it wouldn't hurt if Loch Lomond Distillery Company picked a visual style and stuck with it.

Now for the actual review...

The Inchmurrin I'm reviewing today is the fourth bottle from the left (above), probably the artiest of the bunch, though difficult to photograph, and a little difficult to read. While I like that bottle design the best, it lasted all of TWO years before they changed it again.

Distillery: Loch Lomond
Owner: Loch Lomond Distillery Company
Brand: Inchmurrin
Type: Single Malt
Region: Western Highlands
Maturation: refill ex-bourbon?
Age: at least 12 years old
Bottling year: 2014
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Colorant added? No
(Thank you to Florin for the sample!)

Its color is a very light straw.  A remarkably clean nose for a Loch Lomond product. Roasted barley, lemon juice, fruit cocktail juice, rock candy, and apple juice. A little bit of polyester and new car. Small notes of vanilla, honey, and moss.  The palate holds bitter melon rind, lemon peel, and barley. An intense earthy note meets up with fresh arugula. A hint of peaches. This all gets delivered with a nice oily mouthfeel.  The finish registers as soil, grass clippings, and hay upon first sips. Later on it's burnt barley and fresh ginger.

Ta-da! A good Loch Lomond single malt. Hell, it's the best I've had. Even if it is unpeated, it's very earthy and organic. It's also nearly devoid of oak influence, with lots of barley dancing around in lieu of the cask. It also does a good job balancing fruit notes with the industrial stuff.  I won't say this is a world beater, but it sure can compete with (and beat) most official 12 year olds from better-loved distilleries.  Hopefully the producers kept the whisky the same when they changed the label last year.

Availability - Specialty retailers
Pricing - $55-$60 in USA, $30-$45 (w/o VAT or shipping) in Europe
Rating - 84 (Keep in mind, one's enjoyment of it depends on one's palate. So please read the notes.)

Single Malt Report: Loch Lomond Original

Some of us think we're hardcore hipsters for liking Glen Scotia and Ledaig before it was cool to do so. But how many of us dig on Loch Lomond for kicks? I cannot be counted amongst that crowd. While I do respect that distillery for continuing to make whisky without adapting to the times, their company's management (destruction of Littlemill and near abandonment of Glen Scotia) and the frequent packaging revisions (enjoy Google image searches of Inchmurrin Single Malt and Glen Scotia), on the other hand, seem to be some form of satire funny only to the ownership.

Thanks to Loch Lomond distillery's unique set of stills -- four pot stills with rectifying heads, two pot stills without, and a Coffey still for grain and malt -- they can make a plethora of whiskies right in-house.  This week I'll be reviewing three of these whiskies, all single malts.  Today it's the newest iteration of NAS Loch Lomond, the Original.

Distillery: Loch Lomond
Owner: Loch Lomond Distillery Company
Brand: Loch Lomond
Type: Single Malt
Region: Western Highlands
Maturation: paint cans
Age: at least three years old
Bottling year: 2015
Alcohol by Volume: 40%
Chillfiltered? ???
Colorant added? Probably
(mini purchased by the reviewer)

The orange gold color doesn't look even remotely natural for this baby whisky.  The nose treads right between new make and cheap blend.  Apples, rotting veg, margarine, and a chemical note that's something between methanol and turpentine.  YET it's not entirely terrible.  It gets earthier and picks up more barley notes with time. The palate starts with brown butter, caramel, dirt, and a vague bitterness.  There are hints of dark chocolate, dry cheese, dried sage and Loch Lomond's ever present chemical note. It does have a remarkably oil texture which makes me think it wasn't chillfiltered. The finish has a cheap cigar aftertaste to it, then some margarine and burnt toast bitterness.

Loch Lomond National Park is beautiful. Loch Lomond single malt is not. Its producers don't seem to strive for drinkability, subtlety, or brilliance. And, you know, there's something admirable in that. You get what you get without much woodwork or futzing.  And if their whiskies weren't usually lousy with turpentine or garbage notes, I'd say they were on to something.

The good news is that this Loch Lomond Original is probably the best "Loch Lomond" brand single malt I've tried.  The bad news is that's not saying much. What works in its favor is the thick mouthfeel, earthy palate and near absence of oak. What doesn't work is the constant chemical note running throughout keeping me in constant fear that I'm drinking something unsafe. And I can do without all the margarine notes too. Overall, the whisky is more or less of the quality of an NAS blend and, thankfully, priced almost the same.

Availability - Specialty retailers
Pricing - $20-$35 (w/o VAT or shipping) in Europe, $30-$35 in USA
Rating - 72

Bourbon and Rye Day Friday: High West Rendezvous Rye, Vine & Table Barrel Select (barrel 957)

Something else was on my calendar for today's review, but circumstances call for this whiskey. If you hadn't heard, High West was purchased by Constellation Brands for $160 million of money.  The Perkinseseses are staying onboard, which is good.  The funny(?) thing is that High West made hay due to their barrel picking and blending. Meanwhile, distilling is a very different business and science. No one really knows how their High West's aged spirit will fare. Like Willett, they'll have to segue from high-quality products sourced from long-running distilleries to their own distillate. And that's at least one strike against them. I am rooting for them though. It takes guts to open a whiskey business in Utah.....and then succeed. And I do love me some Rendezvous Rye.

Today's bottle isn't the usual Rendezvous. High West has (or had, depending on Constellation) a Barrel Select program, wherein retailers could get an exclusive barrel of Rendezvous or Double Rye with extra maturation. In this instance, High West poured the blended contents of regular Rendezvous -- 6yo MGP rye + 16yo Barton rye -- into an ex-bourbon (American Prairie?) barrel and let it age for another two-and-a-half years before bottling at barrel strength. Thus it's a different whiskey than Rendezvous and, as to be expected, more expensive. Ignoring the older component, consider that this Barrel Select is mostly 8 year old MGP stuff, so $70 is a reasonable price in this market.

Since High West is in the news and I attended Vine & Table's Expo this past weekend, I figured it's time to taste this stuff officially.

Product: Rendezvous Rye
Producer: High West
Distilleries: Barton and MGP

Type: Blend of Straight Rye Whisky
Region: Utah (High West), Indiana (MGP), Barton (Kentucky)

Mashbills: Barton - 80% rye 10% corn 10% malted barley
MGP - 95% rye 5% malted barley
Maturation, part 1: Barton 16yo and MGP 6yo, separately, in new white oak barrels
Maturation, part 2: 2.5 year marriage together in an ex-bourbon barrel

Barrel #: 957
Bottle #: 40

Alcohol by Volume: 53%
(notes taken from my bottle's midpoint)

NEAT:
The nose starts off with a surprising dried fruit note; think apricots, pineapple and golden raisins. Plenty of creamy vanilla notes. No pickle juice (for those who fear it). Some fun notes of root beer and hazelnut liqueur poke out here and there. Eventually it develops a big Rolos candy note that nearly takes over. A lot of ethyl heat blocks the palate for the first couple of sips. But then the aggressive high-rye spices rush in, followed by an old bourbon character (lots of corn and vanilla). Its sweetness is of the brown sugar and maraschino cherry sort. Some black cherry soda. With time the spices shift towards jalapeño pepper. It also picks up some plain oak notes as well. At first the finish is all maraschino cherries on vanilla ice cream. Then there's plain sweet & heat, along with dried fruit. After later sips, it trends towards bitter oak and pencil shavings.

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The nose is all dried fruit at first. Then vanilla takes over, followed by smaller notes of root beer, peanut dust, and orange oil. Something darker and grungier lurks in the background. The palate gets saltier. Plenty of zing remains, though it's more pepper than ethyl. Fruit punch. Kind of a peppier version of Canadian rye. The finish is sweet and tannic, with notes of vanilla and bananas.

WORDS WORDS WORDS:
I was actually prepared to pan this rye. Upon opening the bottle, Kristen and I found it too hot to drink. Even when reduced to 43%abv, the ethyl stayed put. Thus I had planned to reduce it to 40%abv to see if I could break through the heat.  But now that the bottle is at its halfway point, the whiskey has calmed down considerably, and thankfully, so I could take proper notes. Now I prefer it neat!

With the joyous nose as its strong point and the finish its weakest, this Barrel Select proves to be unique and different than the regular Rendezvous. If it were priced above $100 like most 8yo MGP ryes, I'd say skip it. But if you're already out $60+ for the regular Rendezvous, this is worthwhile at $70, especially if you favor dried fruit over MGP's pickle juice.

Availability - Vine & Table only
Pricing - $69.99
Rating - 85 (when neat)

Single Malt Report: Ardmore 21 year old 1992 "See me, Drink me" The Whiskyman

I'll keep this brief. Early 1990s Ardmore is one of my favorite things. So if someone wants to buy me presents, make them all early '90s Ardmore.  Okey doke?

The sad thing is there have been a grand total of three 1990-1993 Ardmores released anywhere on the planet over the past three years. Though I have plenty from this Ardmore era in my collection, I'd be interested to see how these casks fare with more age.  Hopefully there are some still resting in a dunnage somewhere, and hopefully their prices will be *gulp* reasonable upon release.

I bought two of these samples from the former whiskysamples.eu because the bottle itself was hard to come by. Also, naming it after a song by The Who was an easy cheap way straight to my deaf, dumb, and blind heart.

Distillery: Ardmore

Independent Bottler: The Whiskyman
Region: Highlands (Eastern)
Type: Single Malt

Age: 21 years old (1992-2013)

Maturation: probably refill ex-bourbon barrel
Bottle Count: 175

Alcohol by Volume: 49.7%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No

Its color is a very light straw.  The nose leads with a Laphroaig-like peat, but at half strength. There's also a yellow coconut curry thing going on. Then Ceylon cinnamon bark, fresh peaches, along with hints of milk chocolate and anise.  With a half hour of air, it picks up notes of farm and panettone. As for the palate, I was all nom nom nom cat on my first sip. Succeeding sips......It has a juicy sweetness, more fructose than sucrose (if that makes any sense). Its tingly spiciness is full of cinnamon and ginger, reminding me a little of a red curry. With time in the glass, the whisky discovers its beloved second gear: wood smoke, peaches and pound cake. More of the gentle smoke in the finish, along with oranges, Tapatillo, cinnamon, metal, and dark chocolate.

I can say I'm a Happy Jack because I'm Free to make Much Too Much of this Empty Glass since I'm a Whiskey Man Drowned in the Sparks of a Sensation. But I'll make my conclusion A Quick One lest you Run Run Run until I Can't Reach You and Melancholia sinks in.

With its balance and development, this is a very good whisky, perfect for autumn. The refill cask lets the spirit stay spry without any oak interruption. The peat townshend frames the spice and fruit throughout, never letting any one aspect read too loudly. But I'm not going to give it a 90 because I'm arsehole and also because I'm aware of my Ardmore bias and also because the finish was a slight letdown.

Availability - Happy Hunting!
Pricing - originally was about €100 (I think), probably much more than that now
Rating - 89