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Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Mannochmore 12 year old 2008 Watt Whisky

Two years ago Mark Watt left Director of Sales position with Cadenhead to start his own independent bottling company. Officially dubbed Campbeltown Whisky Company Ltd., the company's first brand/range has been Watt Whisky. They did not come flying out of the gate with a 30+ year old Ardbeg, instead they have offered up some familiar names (Caol Ila, "Orkney" and Arran) as well as less-seen ones (Macduff, Glen Elgin and Allt-a-Bhainne) at modest ages and prices. All but a few are over 10 years old, and most are under €100.

According to the back label of today's single malt, Watt had a pair of Mannochmore hoggies that he elected to finish together in a single brandy (cognac, per Serge) butt for three months. Some of you know that butts are big (heh), so between the limited oak contact, the reuse of cognac casks and the limited finish time, I wonder if the point was more to marry the whiskies rather than flavor them. Lemme find out...

Not pictured: the whisky
Distillery: Mannochmore    
Ownership: Diageo
Region: Speyside (Lossie)
Independent Bottler: Campbeltown Whisky Company Ltd
Range: Watt Whisky
Age: 12 years (2008 - 2020)
Maturation: two hogsheads finished for a 3 months in a cognac butt
Outturn: 663 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 54.8%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

In its first few sniffs, two layers dominate the nose: salty + savory and caramel + white chocolate. It slowly gains notes of grass, chives, mint candy and orange peel-infused rubber cement (for my huffers out there). It mellows out when diluted to 46%, with herbal and grassy notes slinking around a lot of toasted oak spices.

The palate is sweet, mineral and peppery. It's a little tannic but not too bad. Lemon juice and champagne vinegar in the background. At the 30-minute mark it picks up something reminiscent of a cinnamon-ginger amezaiku candy that my daughters enjoyed recently. Like Monday's Mannochmore, it flattens out when reduced to 46%abv. It's simple and sweet with sharp edges. Some grass, some caramel, some black pepper.

It finishes sweet and peppery with minor notes of lemon and cassia bark in the background. It's all grass and citrus at 46%abv.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

One can see why the Watts gave this whisky a secondary maturation. It's pretty close to a blendy malt, and was probably more so before the butt action. (Sorry. Like the whisky I am also 12 years old today.) It's all okay, and the nose was very good, but after a while it cowered in the shadow of Monday's Mannochmore. Would a longer finish have helped?

Availability - It might still be available in Europe
Pricing - ???
Rating - 82