Whiskeria Autumn 2020

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Making waves Autumn 2020 ÂŁ4.50 (where sold)

MacLean brothers’ record-breaking race across the Atlantic + Fettercairn Mixing It Up + Lagg Distillery Visit + Win a Holyrood Custom Cask + Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year Old Expert Tasting

The Magazine of

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Advertorial

On the bonnie banks

Loch Lomond Whiskies has unveiled a complete brand refresh across its single malt Scotch whisky range, after strong performance established the company as one of the top five fastest-growing single malt brands in the world.

loch lomond distillery Loch Lomond Distillery can trace its roots back to Littlemill Distillery, which was established in 1772 and is the oldest licensed Scotch whisky distillery in the world. Since 1814, Loch Lomond Distillery has been distilling and crafting the finest single malt whisky; whiskies which are as delicious as the landscape is stunning.

When it opened, Loch Lomond Distillery’s ground-breaking straight necked stills were a revelation, enabling production of a lighter, fruitier spirit and greater control over the whisky’s character. It is among only four distilleries in the Scotch whisky industry to have an on-site cooperage which maintains 20,000 casks annually.

Today the distillery’s still formation remains unique within the industry and incorporates a total of 13 stills, including three pairs of straightneck stills, one pair of traditional swan-neck stills, one continuous still using malted barley and two continuous stills using wheat.

Together, the combination of different stills, different strains of yeast, and extra-long fermentation times of at least 96 hours creates an unrivalled palette of spirits, enabling Master Blender Michael Henry to achieve an astonishing variety of single malts – each displaying the underlying fruit character for which the distillery is renowned.

michael henry At the very heart of the distilling and blending process at Loch Lomond Distillery is Master Blender Michael Henry. Hailing from the north coast of Ireland, Michael’s background has been steeped in distilling and brewing since first taking a job at Bushmills, just up the road from where he was born. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Michael’s wealth of knowledge helps feed into how Loch Lomond Distillery is able to impart so much flavour and character in its new make spirit. Michael explains, in his own words, what makes whisky from Loch Lomond Distillery so special: “Most distillers talk about how their whisky’s finished, we’d rather talk about how it’s started.

“Distillers tend to differentiate their products using age statements and maturing in different casks; there is very much a focus on the wood character. While wood is important to us at Loch Lomond Distillery, we bring out as much of the distillery character as possible through our different peat levels, yeast types and stills.

“We use different levels of peat in the malted barley, three types of yeast, two shapes of pot stills and different ways of running the pot stills to create eight flavour styles of new make spirit, that range from light and fruity to full-bodied and peaty. After maturing in American oak casks from our own on-site cooperage, we combine up to four of our different single malt styles to give as much distillery character as possible, with a background sweetness from the wood.”

❝ Most distillers talk about how their whisky’s finished, we’d rather talk about how it’s started.

Michael Henry, Master Blender

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Knowledge Bar New look for Loch Lomond

Charlie MacLean reviews Loch Lomond's 14, 21 and 30 Year Old

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New-look packaging introduces a fresh and contemporary aesthetic, while the restructured portfolio brings light and fruity Inchmurrin and heavily peated Inchmoan under the Loch Lomond Whiskies brand, forming the heart of the range alongside Loch Lomond 12 Year Old. Loch Lomond 18 Year Old completes the range, with all four expressions demonstrating the distillery’s innovative distillation techniques, long fermentation and capability to deliver a range of flavour profiles.

In addition to the refresh, Loch Lomond have also unveiled new 14, 21 and 30 Year Old expressions, adding the finishing touches to an enviable range of aged malts. Matured in American oak and finished in lightly toasted French oak, Loch Lomond 14 Year Old delivers the unmistakeable fruit character found in Loch Lomond single malt. Loch Lomond 21 Year Old uses three styles of peated and unpeated spirit from the distillery’s unique straight-neck pot stills, matured in American oak and married together for up to three months before bottling, while Loch Lomond 30 Year Old uses unpeated spirit from the same stills, taken off at a higher collection strength to ensure the distillery’s signature fruit character comes to the fore.

The spirit is matured in American oak casks, with half of the liquid then finished in Oloroso casks, before being married together under the watchful eye of Master Blender Michael Henry.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

As I See It

It's good to be back

As the world reopens, so do the doors of The Whisky Shop. Executive Chairman Ian Bankier reflects on lockdown and the changes it brings, and looks forward to welcoming you back.

❝ We have a large

investment in rare and interesting whiskies that we built up over time, with an eye to the future.

Well, we made it back!

Customer visits are steadily increasing as we welcome you back to all of our stores. In some locations we have adjusted our opening hours to reflect different trading patterns and I would encourage you to check these via our website before visiting.

There are some things we will not get back, most prominently this year’s international tourist season, but our own domestic tourists are doing a great support job and we thank them for that. There is much speculation on what will and what won’t come back and indeed if any social and work-related behaviours will change.

To enable a speedy return to our normal, The Whisky Shop has been running some spectacular product promotions and flash sales. We have a large investment in rare and interesting whiskies that we built up over time, with an eye to the future. This now seems an excellent time to release some of these items, with great money-off deals both online and in our shops. I would encourage everyone to explore these offers and bag a bargain while stocks last! Also, don’t forget our Click & Collect service. This is a highly convenient way to make a quick visit to our stores.

It’s uplifting to contemplate that there will be positive changes on the back of the pandemic.

There is a view that city centre offices will revolutionise. Certainly, working from home will become a permanent feature where it can be accommodated. As I see it, office life will be split between the ‘showroom’, where the formal client facing business will be done, and then the ‘clubhouse’, where employees will work and interact with their colleagues.

There is also the prospect that with less time devoted to putting in hours at the office, people will have more time to pursue their personal interests and enjoy family time. We certainly notice an uptick in people pursuing an interest in whisky. Equally, our online auction site has been very busy, and I predict a surge of interest as global stock markets surely feel the strain of the economic setback. Uniquely, we offer Dropoff and Pick-up facilities for auctions bottles at all of our stores.

There is also the prospect that fewer will go out to socialise, preferring to DIY at home, but I suspect that this trend will be limited.

Personally, I hope and expect that as much of what we did pre-Covid will return. At the very least, all the good things.

Sláinte!

Ian P Bankier, Executive Chairman,

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Win!

COMP ET IT ION

A bottle of Machrie Moor Fingal’s Cut Quarter Cask.

Up for grabs is a bottle of Isle of Arran Distillers’ peated single malt, exclusively bottled for and sold at the island’s new Lagg Distillery. Time spent in ex-bourbon barrels and smaller quarter casks creates an expertly balanced dram, with hints of vanilla and an undertone of sweet, earthy smoke. It is a fine example of what’s to come from Lagg Distillery in the future.

For your chance to win, simply visit: whiskyshop.com/whiskeria-competition Competition closes Monday 2nd November 2020.

T&Cs apply. The winner will be contacted directly.

Terms & Conditions: The winner will be selected from all entries via the link stated above by midnight on 2nd November 2020. The judge’s decision will be final. The competition is not open to employees of The Whisky Shop. UK entrants must be 18 years old or over to enter. International entrants must be of legal drinking age in their country of residence.

Distillery Visit

–– produced by Ascot Publishing Limited PO Box 7415 Glasgow G51 9BR –– contact enquiries@whiskyshop.com

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–– commissioning editor Glenkeir Whiskies Limited –– executive producer Rhona McKeran rhona@whiskyshop.com 0141 427 2919 –– executive chairman Ian P Bankier ipb@whiskyshop.com

–– feature writers Brian Wilson Charles MacLean Gavin D Smith Rhona McKeran –– product photography Subliminal Creative 01236 734923

–– creative direction a visual agency emlyn@avisualagency.com –– feature photography Brian Sweeney Armando Ferrari –– feature illustration Hrafnhildur Halldorsdottir Brian McFie –– feature styling Emma Duncan

The Magazine of

–– Glenkeir Whiskies Limited trades as THE WHISKY SHOP. Opinions expressed in WHISKERIA are not necessarily those of Glenkeir Whiskies Limited. Statements made and opinions expressed are done so in good faith, but shall not be relied upon by the reader.

This publication is the copyright of the publisher, ASCOT PUBLISHING LIMITED, and no part of it may be reproduced without their prior consent in writing. No responsibility is taken for the advertising material contained herein. © ASCOT PUBLISHING LIMITED.

––

Prices effective 29 July 2020.

All prices in this edition of Whiskeria are subject to change.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Contents

Autumn 2020 11 24 28 32 38 42 46 52 64 73 95 98

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New Releases | Autumn 2020 News | Whisky business The W Club | Holyrood Custom Cask Programme Auctions | Murray McDavid A Time in History | A smuggler's tale Industry Insider | Kirstie McCallum, Glen Moray Distillery Visit | Lagg Interview | BROAR Mixing It Up | Fettercairn The Whisky Shop | Single Cask Whiskies, Autumnal Drams + more Expert Tasting | Pappy Van Winkle / Port Ellen The Last Word | Tell me, what's your flavour?

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95 52 98

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Contributors Charles MacLean —

Charles has published fourteen Scotch whisky books to date, including the standard work on whisky brands, Scotch Whisky, and the leading book on its subject, Malt Whisky, both of which were short-listed for Glenfiddich Food & Drink Awards. He was also script advisor for Ken Loach’s 2012 film The Angels’ Share and subsequently played the part of the whisky expert in the film (which he claims to be his biggest career highlight to date).

New Releases

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Expert Tasting

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Brian Wilson —

Gavin D Smith —

Formerly an MP, Brian held several Government Ministerial posts during his political career.

He lives on the Isle of Lewis, where he pursues various business interests, notably in the energy sector. He also led the regeneration of the Harris Tweed industry and is currently Chairman of Harris Tweed Hebrides Ltd. His first love was writing, and he continues to write books, as well as opinion pieces for national newspapers.

A Time in History

Gavin is one of the world’s most prolific and respected whisky writers. He’s regularly published in a range of top magazines and has written more than a dozen books on whisky, while co-authoring many more. He is also responsible for editing and releasing the latest version of Michael Jackson’s seminal whisky publication, The Malt Whisky Companion.

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Distillery Visit

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Refreshingly Different

Serve The Loch Fyne Chocolate & Orange Liqueur in a tall glass over ice, topped up with equal parts full fat milk and soda water, accompanied by a square of dark chocolate.

Loch Fyne Whiskies | Inveraray | Argyll PA32 8UD | t: 01499 302 219 (Shop) | Loch Fyne Whiskies | 36 Cockburn Street | Edinburgh EH1 1PB | t: 0131 226 2134 (Shop) 0800 107 1936 (Orders) | e: info@lochfynewhiskies.com | www.lochfynewhiskies.com

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

TWIN CASKS

DOUBLE TREASURE

UNIQUE | DIFFERENT | INTERESTING E D I N B U R G H - L O N D O N - PA R I S

New Releases Autumn 2020 Reviewed by Charles MacLean GlenAllachie /Loch Lomond / Balvenie /Laphroaig /Kilchoman / Macallan /Eagle Rare /Scapegrace / William Larue Weller / Illustration: Hrafnhildur Halldorsdottir

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

New Releases

GlenAllachie 2008 #508 The Whisky Shop Exclusive 70cl 11 Year Old Speyside Single Malt

51.8% Vol £89.95

Conker-coloured, polished, with rubious lights; excellent beading. Some nose prickle and a vinous top note of tawny port, backed by bruised apple, coated card and a suggestion of milky coffee.

Water introduces a note of fondant sweets and milk chocolate. A smooth texture and a sweet and fruity taste, well-balanced across the palate, with a long, warming finish.

“Bruised apple, coated card and a suggestion of milky coffee.

Glenallachie Distillery was commissioned in 1967 by Scottish Newcastle Breweries through their subsidiary, Mackinlay McPherson & Company, which the brewery had acquired in 1961 in order to supply fillings for that company’s many blends.

The architect was William Delmé-Evans, the leading distillery designer of the day, who had previously completed Tullibardine (1949), Macduff (1960) and Jura (1963) Distilleries. A Welshman by birth, with French antecedents, Delmé-Evans spent many holidays in Scotland during the 1930s and became fascinated by whisky distilling.

He suffered from tuberculosis, so was unfit for war service, and it was during a period of convalescence that he made a thorough study of the distilling process.

From the 1940s his goal was to design “an up-to-date, gravity-fed distillery” which would be more efficient than traditional sites, and in 1947 bought an old brewery at Blackford in Perthshire where he began to apply his design theory. On completion, he managed the distillery, named Tullibardine, then sold it to whisky brokers Brodie Hepburn in 1953.

But it was at Glenallachie that Delmé-Evans fully realised his dream of a ‘gravity-fed’ distillery. He chose the site because of its proximity to Ben Rinnes, the hill which dominates Speyside, so as to draw process water from springs on its steep slopes. The design was (and is) very 1960s, with clean, sharp lines, painted white inside and out, with details in black. Trevor Cowan, a former master blender with Charles Mackinlay & Company, told me Evans was such a stickler for efficiency that he even marked the lightbulbs with their dates of installation in order to monitor how long they lasted.

William Delmé-Evans died in 2003.

His obituary in The Scotsman noted: “The Glenallachie Distillery was a whole new concept in whisky distilling. The most modern technology was used, and DelméEvans drew on his years of experience in ensuring that the most efficient equipment was installed.”

The distillery was mothballed in 1987, then sold to Campbell Distillers, a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard, two years later. They increased the number of stills from two to four. This single cask, number 508, has been selected and bottled exclusively for The Whisky Shop, after maturing in a single Pedro Ximénez puncheon for more than a decade.

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Balvenie The Edge of Burnhead Wood 19 Year Old 70cl 19 Year Old Speyside Single Malt

48.7% Vol £260

The colour of spun honey, with runny honey as an immediate top note, supported by a light floral note (heather), dried figs and a dusting of powdered ginger.

A very sweet taste – honey again – with juicy dates in mid-palate. A warming, gingery, finish and a lightly menthol, mouth-cooling aftertaste.

This is the fourth release in The Balvenie’s Stories range – a collection of single malt whiskies which explore different and unusual aspects of The Balvenie character through conversations with the craftsmen who made them. Each expression is accompanied by an audiobook which tells the story behind it, through conversation between the men themselves and the distillery’s Global Ambassador, Gemma Paterson. The stories are also available on The Balvenie website.

David Stewart, Balvenie Malt Master, says of the series: “Stories are the lifeblood of the Balvenie distillery. They make up the fabric of who we are and what we do. The Balvenie Stories collection tells these tales in liquid form, giving whisky drinkers across the globe a special glimpse into the unique and very human nature of how we produce our whisky. Each expression in the collection reflects this by telling its own story via firsthand accounts and recollections of the many people involved.”

The Edge of Burnhead Wood tells the tale of what became known as the ‘heather trials’, narrated by David Stewart alongside Robbie Gormley (Chief ‘Matty’ or Maltman) and Ian Miller (Distillery Manager at the time of the trials, known as ‘The Mannie’, or simply as ‘God’!).

In August 2000, Ian wondered what flavours would be developed if green malt was dried over a heather fire, as apparently was done in some distilleries in the 1880s when Alfred Barnard was researching his monumental The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom. He asked David Stewart to cut some flowering heather from the hill which rises above the distillery, beyond the Robbie Dubh spring which supplies the process water, on the edge of Burnhead Wood.

He filled a trailer and delivered the heather to Robbie Gormley who dried it for a week or so then cast it on the kiln fire. “It went up with a whoosh in minutes,” he says. So he dampened it and laid it on top of coals, which provided the desired cool smoke.

“Runny honey… dried figs and a dusting of powdered ginger.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

New Releases

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond The Open Special Edition 14 Year Old 12 Year Old 70cl 12 Year Old Highland Single Malt

46% Vol £54.95

70cl 14 Year Old Highland Single Malt

46% Vol £TBC

Bright gold in colour, the first impression on the nose is of creamy rice pudding, which soon gains fruity, citric notes (green apple peel, grapefruit peel), with a suggestion of vanilla fudge. A soft texture and a sweet then tart taste – lemon drizzle cake – with lingering pepper in the finish.

Pale amber with orange lights.

A mild nose-feel and a wellintegrated nose where no single aroma dominates and all work in harmony. There is a hint of peat and dry sherry as base-notes.

The taste starts lightly sweet and finishes savoury, with a suggestion of peat, and some spice at reduced strength.

Loch Lomond 21 Year Old

Loch Lomond 30 Year Old

70cl 21 Year Old Highland Single Malt

70cl 30 Year Old Highland Single Malt

46% Vol £TBC

The colour of polished brass.

The top notes combine apple with suet pastry to give an overall impression of old fashioned steamed pudding. The aroma becomes thicker and sweeter in time, with a hint of char. The taste is sweet, lightly salty, with some warming spice at reduced strength.

47% Vol £TBC

Deep amber – polished conker; good beading even at this strength; light prickle. The nose is dense and dry, with savoury notes – leather, oiled hardwood, autumn woods, dried parsley; later a suggestion of milky coffee.

Mouth-filling texture and a savoury taste overall, with a long finish.

Loch Lomond Distillery has long been an invisible giant. Although it is one of the largest distilleries in Scotland, producing both malt and grain spirits on the same site – currently ten million litres of the latter and 2.5 million litres of malt, in eight different styles – and thus is able to be almost self-sufficient as a blender, its products have until now been mainly available in export markets.

It has been described as “Scotland’s most versatile distillery” in regard to the different styles of spirit it produces from a baffling range of still-types: two traditional pot stills, four ‘Lomond’ stills, one traditional Coffey still, and one uniquely modified Coffey still capable of producing malt spirit.

Lomond stills: the name is coincidental.

They were invented at nearby Inverleven Distillery where the ‘swan necks’ of traditional pot stills were replaced with short, straight-necked rectifying columns.

The distillery writes on its website: “One of the factors that has a great influence on the character of the spirit produced is the physical length of the neck of the stills. The longer the neck, the lighter (or cleaner) the spirit; the shorter the neck, the more full-bodied (or fatter) the spirit.

By using the rectifying heads in a number of different ways, we can replicate the effect of different lengths of ‘neck’ without physically altering them.”

Early in 2018, Loch Lomond Whiskies signed a five-year agreement with the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews to become the official spirit of The Open golf championships. This summer The Open was cancelled – for the first time in 80 years – giving rise to the slogan for this year’s limited edition bottling: “Be There in Spirit.”

Uniquely, 2020’s bottling was fermented with Chardonnay yeast and distilled on Lomond stills, and is a limited edition of 3,000 bottles.

Loch Lomond 14 Year Old, 21 Year Old and 30 Year Old are new expressions from the distillery, released alongside an attractive brand refresh this year.

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“Creamy rice pudding… with a suggestion of vanilla fudge.

“A hint of peat and dry sherry… some spice at reduced strength.

“An overall impression of old fashioned steamed pudding.

“Autumn woods, dried parsley; later a suggestion of milky coffee.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

New Releases

Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength 2020 70cl 10 Year Old Islay Single Malt

60.1% Vol £76.95

The colour of golden syrup; moderate beading. Classic Laphroaig, with some initial prickle giving way to charcoal, then coal smoke, with carbolic and creosote lurking behind.

An oily texture and a taste which starts sweet, becomes salty and finishes long and spicy in clouds of peat smoke. Much the same at reduced strength.

Laphroaig has long favoured dark green glass bottles and contrasting black and white labels. The message is ‘no compromise’, summed up by a bold print advertising campaign during the 1980s featuring two fists: one tattooed ‘LOVE’, the other ‘HATE’. Like Marmite, you either love Laphroaig or hate it – there is no middle way.

One of the brand’s slogans today is: “We don’t make friends easily, but when we do, they’re for life.”

Most people love its uncompromisingly smoky character, its elemental pungency, and this is best displayed by the 10 Year Old, first introduced 75 years ago. It goes without saying that the non-chill filtered, cask strength expression of this emphasises the whisky’s DNA, and has been described as “the purists’ choice.” This bottling is the twelfth batch to have been released.

The man who introduced Laphroaig 10 Year Old was Ian Hunter, a scion of the founding family, who had joined his mother and aunt in 1908 to manage the family business. In the early 1920s he bought the distillery outright from the laird, Captain Ramsay of Kildalton, and expanded it substantially between 1924 and 1928 to double capacity, faithfully copying the original still shapes.

He also undertook the first of many visits to the United States, exploiting a loophole in the Prohibition law to sell Laphroaig as medicine, on the evidence of its iodine-like nose. He registered ‘Laphroaig’ as a trademark in 1934, the year after Prohibition was repealed. It is said that he also discovered the benefits of filling his spirit into ex-bourbon casks while he was in the US, the first person to do this – it only became standard practice in the Scotch whisky industry after 1946.

Poor health did not allow Ian Hunter to sign up for active service in World War II, indeed, in 1944 he relinquished management of the distillery to his secretary, Bessie Williamson, and on his death ten years later, she inherited Laphroaig, to become the first woman in the 20th century to both manage and own a whisky distillery.

“Charcoal, then coal smoke, with carbolic and creosote lurking behind.

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Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2020 70cl — Islay Single Malt

46% Vol £75

The hue of polished and sunbleached mahogany. The aroma is at once maritime (hemp cordage, crystal salt, varnish) and smoky (fragrant peat), covering a redcurrant fruitiness, and all these are perfectly echoed in the taste: salty, tart fruit, smoke, with a light aftertaste of linseed oil.

Loch Gorm is Islay’s largest freshwater loch, famous for its wild brown trout and a shore abounding in wildlife. Its water is dark and peaty, although ‘gorm’ is Gaelic for blue. One of the loch’s main tributaries is the Allt Gleann Osamail, which supplies Kilchoman with its process water.

A few hundred metres from the loch’s southeast shore is a small island (measuring 48 metres at its widest) upon which stands the vegetation-covered remains of a small fortress belonging to MacDonald of Dunivaig and the Glens – whose main castle, now also ruinous, overlooks Lagavulin Distillery. It measures 30 by 30 metres and was at its height during the late-16th century.

The Welsh naturalist, Thomas Pennant, who toured Scotland in 1769 described Loch Gorm Castle as: “A regular fort of the MacDonald's… now in ruins: the form is square, with a round bastion at each corner; and in the middle are some walls, the remains of the buildings that sheltered the garrison: beneath one side, between the two bastions, was the place where MacDonald secured his boats: they were drawn up beneath the protection of the wall of the fort.”

As I am sure readers know, Kilchoman Distillery, which opened in 2005, was the brainchild of Anthony Wills and is very much a family business – his wife, Kathy, runs the shop and tearoom, and their three boys are the sales force.

Kilchoman Loch Gorm is an annual release exclusively matured in Oloroso sherry casks from the renowned bodega of José Miguel Martin. This 2020 expression comprises 21 Oloroso-seasoned butts, from 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011, and is a release of 15,500 bottles.

Anthony Wills writes: “The Oloroso sherry maturation of Loch Gorm gives it a beautiful balance of big rich sherry flavours which pair very nicely with the peat smoke, soft fruits and typical sweetness of Kilchoman.” I agree!

“Salty, tart fruit, smoke, with a light aftertaste of linseed oil.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

New Releases

Macallan Macallan 18 Year Old Sherry Oak 15 Year Old 2020 Double Cask 70cl 18 Year Old Highland Single Malt

43% Vol £299

Deep amber in hue. A rich, fruity nose – baked apple, sultanas, raisins, crystallised orange peel – with walnuts and almonds; moist simnel cake with caramelised edges; Highland toffee; a suggestion of Oloroso sherry and brimstone. A smooth texture and a sweet taste overall, drying in the lengthy, warming finish, with chocolate in the aftertaste.

Old-school Macallan!

The Macallan built its high reputation on European oak ex-sherry casks. Its 18 Year Old Sherry Oak is a fine example of this classic style, which the late Michael Jackson (writer, not singer) described as “the Rolls Royce of whiskies.”

As demand grew, a parallel range in a lighter style named Fine Oak, drawn from American oak ex-sherry casks, was introduced. In 2016, the distillery chose a ‘middle way’, combining the two styles, hence the Double Cask branding. The carton of the first expression (at 12 years old) described the result as being: “A beautiful partnership. As sunshine and rain create a spectacular rainbow, so the pairing of sherry seasoned European and American oak casks combine in a perfect harmony of flavours and natural colour. The delicate flavour of American oak – vanilla, citrus and light oak – takes centre stage as the traditional Macallan character of rich fruit, sherry and wood spice affords a familiar backdrop.”

How can you resist?

70cl 15 Year Old Highland Single Malt

43% Vol £100

Mid-amber, with peach lights.

Baked apple, vanilla fudge and kitchen spice, on a base of oak shavings and dried fruits. Smooth texture and a taste which starts sweet and finishes lightly tannic and slightly spicy, with a hint of ginger and a warming mediumlength finish.

And now, for the first time, two older Double Cask expressions have been released: Macallan 15 Year Old Double Cask and Macallan 18 Year Old Double Cask. Kirsteen Campbell, Master Whisky Maker at The Macallan, writes: “Bringing together American and European oak sherry-seasoned casks to achieve the perfect balance of flavours is incredibly exciting for the Whisky Mastery Team… Oak influence is the single greatest contributor.”

When the series was first introduced with the 12 Year Old Double Cask, Campbell’s predecessor, Bob Dalgarno, explained: “Macallan is a rich, smooth malt.

For our own bottlings we always favoured European oak, ex-sherry butts, which make for a dark colour and a full-bodied flavour. For this series I balanced these traditional casks with American oak exsherry casks. The latter add sweetness and vanilla notes, and balance the tannic dryness of European oak.”

Comparing the two 18-year-olds was most interesting. Although similar in structure, as one would expect, they have subtly different flavour profiles.

Like twin sisters!

Macallan 18 Year Old Double Cask 70cl 18 Year Old Highland Single Malt

43% Vol £250

Deep amber; polished rosewood.

A mellow nose, discreet, with mixed dried fruits (including figs and crystallised orange), vanilla toffee and powdered ginger. A mouth-filling texture and a sweet taste overall, drying slightly in the elegantly spicy and gingery finish, with dark chocolate and toffee lingering in the aftertaste.

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“Baked apple, sultanas, raisins, crystallised orange peel – with walnuts and almonds.

“Vanilla fudge and kitchen spice, on a base of oak shavings and dried fruits.

“Vanilla toffee and powdered ginger… with dark chocolate and toffee lingering in the aftertaste.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

New Releases

Eagle Rare 17 Year Old 75cl 17 Year Old Kentucky Bourbon

50.5% Vol £895

Deep amber, with excellent beading; much nose prickle. The top notes are of vanilla toffee and almond oil, backed by cherry-liqueur chocolate and fondant, on an oaky base. The aroma falls away with the addition of water.

A smooth, dense texture and a fresh, sweet taste to start, finishing tart and oaky, with a mouth-cooling eucalyptus aftertaste.

Eagle Rare is a ‘single barrel bourbon’ – each release is drawn from a heavily-charred single cask, rather than a mix of casks and bourbon styles, based on different mash bills (i.e. the proportions of corn, malted barley, rye and wheat). To be labelled as ‘straight bourbon’ the mash bill must have at least 51% of corn – Eagle Rare probably has around 80%, but we are not told how much.

It might be described as a ‘classic bourbon’; it has also won a hoard of awards – indeed its website opens with: “The only bourbon to ever win the double gold medal four times.” The leading American whiskey writer, Paul Pacult, writes: “Easily one of the most tactile yet assertive and expressive bourbons I’ve tasted in the last two years; fasten your seat belts.”

It is part of Sazerac’s Antique Collection of super-premium American whiskeys made at Buffalo Trace Distillery, including the legendary Pappy Van Winkle. The 17 Year Old was introduced as part of the original collection in 2000, although the brand was first created by Seagram in 1975, at the same high strength, and acquired by Sazerac in 1989.

Buffalo Trace Distillery is huge and rambling. The site in Franklin County, Kentucky, stretches over 130 acres and has been around since 1775 – “the oldest continuously operating distillery in America” – under a confusing number of names: Leestown (post 1775), George T. Stagg, (1840), Ancient Age (1865, then 1969), Old Fire Copper (1869), Albert B. Blanton (1912) and, finally, Buffalo Trace (post 1995, when the brand was launched).

The brand and distillery name comes from the fact that this place on the Kentucky River was a ford, used since time immemorial by herds of buffalo on their annual migration. Then came the Lee brothers in 1775, who established a trading post named ‘Leestown’, and presumably a whiskey distillery as well.

“Vanilla toffee and almond oil, backed by cherryliqueur chocolate and fondant.

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William Larue Weller 2019 75cl 12 Year Old Kentucky Bourbon

64% Vol £450

Rich amber. Only light beading, in spite of its strength. A mild aroma, clean and light, with considerable prickle. Faintly floral, estery, caramel (which increases) and subtly oaky.

A silky, mouth-filling texture and a sweet, spicy taste, with lingering sandalwood.

William Larue Weller was born around 1825, the son and grandson of distillers near Bardstown, Kentucky.

His grandfather had arrived there on a flatboat down the Kentucky River in 1794, the year of the Whiskey Rebellion in Western Pennsylvania, and had established his distillery by 1800.

William founded a whiskey company named William Larue Weller & Brother in 1849, with the slogan “honest whiskey at an honest price.” It would seem that by this time the family distillery had closed, and the company was buying in and blending whiskey from other distilleries. The ‘Brother’, Charles, was murdered in Tennessee in 1862 by two gunmen who then stole his cash.

By 1876 the company’s name had been changed to W.L. Weller and Son, and by 1880 its whiskeys were doing so well that William marked each bottle with his thumbprint in green ink to guarantee authenticity. The brand’s popularity was given a further boost when Julian ‘Pappy’ Van Winkle joined the company as a salesman.

Weller was the inventor of ‘wheated bourbon’, which means that the mash bill replaces rye in the usual bourbon mix of corn and rye – although to be a ‘straight bourbon’, the mix must be at least 51 per cent corn. The high percentage of wheat makes for a lighter, softer character. It won gold medals in the New York World Spirits Competion 2019 and The San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2020.

W.L. Weller whiskeys are made at Sazerac’s massive Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, and this release is part of the company’s celebrated Antique Collection. In common with their baffling number of other famous bourbon and rye brands, they are distributed ‘on allocation’, with a specific number of bottles being allocated to each state.

“Faintly floral, estery, caramel… with lingering sandalwood.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

New Releases

Scapegrace Black Gin 70cl — New Zealand Gin

41.6% Vol £37.50

Clear juniper on the nose, clean and fresh, with fugitive scents of blackcurrant and elderberry, and a hint of pencil lead. The taste at full strength is sweet overall, with a fruity aftertaste.

A drop of water enhances both these elements, leaving a subtle aftertaste of liquorice or star anise. Tonic brings a flavour of cream soda to the nose and the taste.

This is the most remarkable gin I have ever encountered.

First, for its astonishing colour – not so much black as deep purple, inky blue from certain angles and turning cardinal pink with tonic.

Then, for its flavour, which reveals it to be far more than a novelty... My Chambers Dictionary defines ‘scapegrace’ as “a mischievous or wayward person, especially a young person or child; a rascal.” Perfect!

The unique colour is entirely natural.

It comes from a mix of fruit and vegetable extracts, including the black aronia berry, also known as a chokeberry, which is a sour fruit often used to flavour wine, syrups and jams. Other botanicals include saffron, pineapple, butterfly pea and sweet potato.

Scapegrace says each of the extracts were distilled at precise temperatures in a defined sequence in order to create the black gin.

The owners describe the gin as having “full-bodied florality with a menthol-like crispiness, a balanced citrus freshness and a hint of spice with a candied sweet potato and pineapple finish.” In other words, it is complex but not confused – I missed the sweet potato and pineapple, but hey.

The Scapegrace Distillery is located on the edge of the Southern Alps, in New Zealand’s South Island. Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, the co-founders, brothers-inlaw Mark Neal and Daniel McLaughlin, said the new release had proved so popular they had sold out of their three month supply on the first day of sales. Mr. Neal remarked that the sales were “beyond our wildest expectations.”

The bottle-shape is inspired by Dutch genever bottles of the 18th century. The boys write on their entertaining website: “If gin-makers from then were making gin today, we know they would make it like we do, because we make it like they did. Our bottle is a respectful acknowledgement to everything they taught us.”

The company’s two previous products, Scapegrace Original and Scapegrace Gold, have already won numerous prizes in global gin competitions. I have no doubt that Scapegrace Black will sweep the stage.

Buy now, while you can!

“Blackcurrant and elderberry, and a hint of pencil lead…

Tonic brings a flavour of cream soda.

THE PALETTE OF BENRIACH. We source our eclectic cask collection from all over the world. From this colourful palette our master blender Rachel Barrie artfully combines bourbon, Oloroso sherry and virgin oak casks to create BenRiach 10 Year-Old, a rich Speyside single malt with an abundance of orchard fruits, luscious sweetness and toasted oak spice.

BenRiach. Exploring flavour since 1898.

Savour with time, drink responsibly.

The BenRiach is a registered trademark Š2020 BenRiach

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

News

Whisky business

And the winner is…

The International Whiskey Competition has awarded its coveted title of ‘Whiskey of the Year’ to Dewar’s Double Double 32 Year Old, after it scored an incredible 96.4 points.

The winning blend is subject to a four-stage ageing process, including a final finishing period in ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry casks.

“I aim to push the boundaries of what is expected from the whisky category and have a long-standing commitment to innovation,” explains Dewar’s Master Blender Stephanie MacLeod, who also took home the award for ‘Master Blender of the Year’ for the second time in a row.

Other winners from the international competition included Ardbeg Corryvreckan, The Glenlivet 18 Year Old, Eagle Rare 10 Year Old and 1792 Full Proof.

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Women in whisky Women in the UK now drink 40 million more glasses of whisky a year than they did in 2010, according to the market research firm Kantar.

That’s a mighty rise of 15 per cent, compared with a decline of 6 per cent among male drinkers.

Changes have also taken place behind the scenes, with Penderyn’s Head Distiller Laura Davies reporting that it was rare to see a woman operating a whisky still when she first started making whisky nine years ago.

“We have a lot more females in the technical and the frontline roles,” explains Davies. “More and more distilleries have females as the figureheads of their business. Not because they’re nice to look at, but because they know their stuff.”

High hopes Plans have been announced to build a malt whisky distillery on the historic Hopetoun Estate near Queensferry. The estate has been a long-time grower and supplier of malted barley for the Scotch whisky industry, with plans for the new distillery to exclusively use estate-grown barley. The distillery will be built nearby the ruined Midhope Castle and will reflect the estate’s commitment to environmental sustainability, with former Diageo Director of Communications Ken Robertson and former Renewables Executive Hamish Curran on its board of directors.

Cask strength While the coronavirus pandemic has seen the UK economy shrink by a record 20.4 per cent, the acquirement of whisky casks has been on the rise. Cask investment specialists Whiskey & Wealth Club have reported sales of 258.5 pallets of Scotch, Irish and American whisk(e)y since lockdown began, with the company reporting €7.8m in sales since the start of this year – doubling from the same period last year.

Win a Holyrood Cask

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

News

Whisky for water Sons of Whiskeria’s Charlie MacLean (and this edition’s cover stars!) have released – and almost sold out of – two limited edition blends that will see all proceeds go to Feedback Madagascar to help with the provision of clean water in some of the country’s poorest communities. Masterfully blended with the help of their dad and The Dalmore’s Richard Paterson, MacLean’s Pillage and MacLean’s Spillage are made up of whisky pillaged on the brothers’ row up the west coast of Scotland, before their recordbreaking row across the Atlantic.

Interview with BROAR

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Paper round Diageo is swapping glass for paper, announcing plans to launch a limited release of Johnnie Walker in paper bottles in spring next year. Like many UK drinks companies, Diageo is looking for ways of using less plastic across its brands, but the manufacturing of glass bottles still carries a significant carbon footprint.

The paper bottles will be made from wood pulp and will be fully recyclable, with customers able to drop them straight into the recycling bin once empty.

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Local support Whisky distilleries have stood in solidarity with their local communities throughout the coronavirus pandemic, offering support to those who have needed it most. Glenfarclas Distillery has released Stillmen’s Dram, a limited edition expression which sees 10 per cent of profits go to Speyside-based food bank Moray Food Plus, while Daftmill and Glenfiddich each launched single cask drams via charity auctions, raising thousands of pounds for Highland charities and the Scottish whisky bar scene.

#CallTimeOnTariffs Recent figures have shown exports of Scotch whisky to the USA drop by a staggering 30 per cent since Trump’s 25 per cent tariff was introduced in October last year. Released by the Scotch Whisky Association as part of its ‘Call Time on Tariffs’ campaign, this percentage represents £200 million in lost business.

Distillery doors reopen As the hospitality and tourism industries begin to open back up, so do the homes of our favourite whiskies.

Pernod Ricard have announced plans to reopen the visitor centres of The Glenlivet, Aberlour, Scapa and Strathisla Distilleries with coronavirus safety measures in place, with the likes of Glen Moray, Glenfiddich, Kilchoman and Kingbarns Distilleries following suit.

The SWA is urging whisky-loving Brits to take to social media with the hashtag #CallTimeOnTariffs and write to their local MPs appealing for decisive action from the UK government to defend the country’s most valuable export market.

Details of the campaign, including a letter template, can be found via the SWA’s website at www.scotch-whisky.org.uk.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

The W Club

Whisky your way Here at The W Club, we are firm believers in drinking whisky the way you like it. Sweet or smoky, young or old, sipped neat, with ice, or in a Whisky Sour: the beauty of the spirit is that there are so many ways it can be enjoyed. With this mantra in mind, we were delighted to be invited down to Holyrood Distillery to learn about the team’s Custom Cask Programme – a programme that enables customers to create a truly bespoke whisky suited to their own tastes. a return to distilling Sitting a stone’s throw away from the hills and crags of Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park, Holyrood is the first gin and single malt distillery in Scotland’s capital for almost 100 years. Production began in September 2019 after the distillery was equipped with a onetonne mash tun, six 5,000 litre washbacks, one pair of whisky stills and a gin still. Small it may be, it’s actually the distillery’s size that allows the team to be innovative, agile and flexible in their methods. Distillery Co-founder and former Macallan Master Distiller David Robertson explains: “We built Holyrood Distillery with flavour at its very heart. We’re not bound by heritage; our priority is to be open-minded and produce a range of truly delicious whiskies rather than sticking to tradition and crafting only one or two styles.

We know that our customers appreciate the opportunity to dive into the creative process.”

Following on from the success of 2019’s Custom Cask Programme, a limited run of 200 whisky casks are available to purchase from the distillery this year. Unique to Holyrood’s programme is the customer’s involvement at every stage of the production process, working alongside David and Distillery Manager Jack Mayo.

create, capture, concentrate To achieve the customer’s desired flavour, the distillery follows the ‘Three Cs’: create the initial flavour through raw material selection, mashing and fermentation; capture that flavour during distillation; concentrate the flavour further through maturation. This process is preceded by an in-depth consultation with David and Jack, including a blind tasting of new make spirits and aged whiskies, allowing the customer to identify exactly which flavours they’d like to accomplish in their final spirit.

“The big learning from last year’s programme was that there were four main flavours that people liked,” explains David. “There were people that liked a fruity style of whisky, so you might call that a Glenlivet, or a Glenfiddich – a classic Speyside style.

There were some people who preferred a sweeter style of whisky – so a whisky that was maybe matured in a bourbon barrel. There were the peat freaks, who tended to go one of two ways. They either liked peated spirit matured in American oak (so peat and sweet together), or some preferred peated spirit matured in a Spanish oak sherry cask – like Bowmore or Lagavulin. And then there were people that asked me to make Macallan. Well, I can’t make Macallan here, but I can certainly make a spirit that’s a bit like it! I would call that a sherry-matured, spicy style of whisky – and that turned out to be the most popular.

“The fifth flavour style, which we never expected, is really brought to life through this board,” says David, indicating towards a diagram of different styles of malted barley, ranging from plain, brown, crystal, amber, chocolate and black. master of malt “Most distillers would use 100 per cent plain malt,” David explains, “also known as distilling malt. Here at Holyrood, we like to use different types of malted barley that have been roasted, toasted or crystallised by being heated to different levels. The choice of malt you make at this stage will influence the flavour of your spirit, just as the malt craft brewers use influences whether they make a lager, pale ale, stout and so on.

“So, the fifth flavour style that proved to be popular from last year’s programme was made using a mix of these speciality malts.”

David provides samples of the different types of barley for us to nose, while we dream up a list of specialist malt recipes we’d like to try out… Malted barley selected and mash complete, it’s on to fermentation – another part of the process where the distilling team are totally flexible and ready to pass on their knowledge. Working with Distillery Manager Jack and former Heriot-Watt University Brewing and Distilling graduates Ollie,

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Knowledge Bar Whisky flavour Fruity and floral Feeling fruity? Green, citrus and tropical fruits can be developed in your whisky by creating a spirit from distiller's malt and a mix of distiller's, brewer's and wine yeasts before leaving the new make spirit to slumber in an American oak ex-sherry hogshead. A red fruit profile can be achieved by maturing the fruity spirit in a port barrique cask.

Sweet One for the sweet tooth; notes of milk chocolate, vanilla and treacle toffee can be incorporated into a new make spirit by using roasted malted barley and filling an American oak ex-bourbon barrel. A deeper, richer style of espresso coffee or dark chocolate can be achieved by maturing in a toasted European oak exOloroso sherry hogshead.

Spicy Spice things up with notes of orange marmalade, dried fruits, cloves, ginger and cinnamon spices; accomplished by filling a fruity new make spirit into a toasted European oak ex-Oloroso sherry hogshead.

Smoky

Advice from the best: Co-founder and former Macallan Master Distiller David Robertson leads the programme's personal flavour consultation.

Peat freaks can achieve their dream dram by creating a smoky new make spirit using peated malted barley and allowing it to mature in an American oak ex-sherry hogshead. For smoky-sherry connoisseurs, a Spanish oak ex-sherry hogshead will do the job.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

The W Club

Elizabeth and Elliot, David explains that the team have opened his eyes to how much more choice can be made at this stage.

“Most large distilleries will work with 100 per cent distiller’s yeast in order to produce the same whisky they’ve always made, but we have the need and the flexibility to work with a variety of brewer’s yeasts and wine yeasts, as well as offer different lengths of fermentation time, which can help create different flavours in the spirit.

“At the moment, the biggest flavour impact that we’ve experienced is from the malted barley we’ve used and the novel yeasts we’ve selected.” making the cut Next, we enter the distillery’s stillroom.

Holyrood’s stills are thin and tall, and pink lights from the distillery’s ceiling bounce off their glossy copper. At almost seven metres in height, coppersmiths have confirmed these the tallest stills in Scotland in ratio to the small volume of spirit they hold. The benefit of the stills being so tall means they produce a lot of reflux, creating a more flavour-concentrated and richer spirit. Fruity and spicy notes can shine through the spirit, unmasked from any feinty or oily notes, promising a better and quicker maturation outcome.

At this stage of the production process, with fermentation finished, all of the liquid from the washback is emptied into the wash still and the heat is cranked up. Once the low wines are produced, these are then transferred to the spirit still. It’s during this second run that different ‘cuts’ of the spirit are taken by the distiller – with the aroma and flavours of each cut changing as the run progresses.

David explains that the biggest flavour influencer at this point is what happens inside the spirit still.

“Depending on the flavours you want, we can take different parts of the cut. We can take a short cut, a narrow cut, a long cut, a middle cut – whatever it may be to try and concentrate and capture the flavours that you want in your spirit before we fill it into barrel.

“At the very start of the spirit run, fruity notes of pear drops and apples are produced, before turning into clean, citrussy flavours. These flavours then progress into something a bit more malty, and if you’ve got peat in there, that comes out at the end.

“If you’re after a whisky that’s fruity or spicy, we capture those flavours by taking a very narrow spirit cut, otherwise known as the ‘heart’, right at the start of the run. To create a peated spirit, we tend to take a broader spirit cut to capture the phenols – as smoke and peaty elements come off at the end of the run.” time in cask From the stillroom, we move on to the distillery’s barrel room where we learn how the team accomplish the third and final ‘C’ of the process: concentration. We cast an eye over each of the barrels on offer as David describes the flavours that could be achieved by filling each one – cherry, vanilla and caramel from bourbon barrels; crème caramel, tropical fruit and coconut from American white oak ex-sherry hogsheads; cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and orange from Spanish oak ex-sherry casks; perfumed sandalwood and incense from Japanese oak.

“Of course, we’ve had some requests from customers looking for something a bit more obscure,” says David. “Things like Port, Madeira, Marsala, Vin Santo, Cognac or Armagnac casks. For these, we go out to our network and source whatever the customer decides they want.”

Holyrood is offering three different sizes of cask in this year’s programme – a barrel (200 litres), a barrique (225 litres), or a hogshead (250 litres) starting from £4,950, £5,450, and £5,950 respectively, with each yielding between 250 and 300 bottles of whisky. Once the cask has been filled with the customer’s unique spirit, it is stored at the distillery’s warehouse just a few miles outside of Edinburgh, near the iconic Forth Bridges, where customers are invited back to sample their whisky every year before they deem it good enough to bottle. Ten years’ maturation is included in the price, and any customer that wants to mature for longer can do so for roughly £50 a year, for every cask’s extra year of maturation – but if your plan is to leave your whisky in barrel for some time, beware the angels’ share!

“Roughly speaking, you lose between 8 and 11 per cent of your whisky after three or four years,” explains David. “So after ten years, yeah, you’ve lost a fair amount.

“If you want to get the maximum amount of whisky out of your barrel, you should be thinking about bottling it young, but you need to make sure it is going to give you the flavours that you want, because sometimes a young whisky can be a little fiery.

That’s where our consultation and the flexibility of our programme come in – we can help you make the right choices in terms of the spirit, the raw materials

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and the wood you fill into, to ensure you get the whisky that you want, when you want it.

“Many people love young peated whiskies, and we have discovered that using speciality malts can also create an amazing whisky after just a few years.

“Of course, holding your cask for 50 years is entirely possible, but just be aware that when you come to bottle it, there might not be too much whisky left in the bottom of your barrel!”

As well as ten years’ storage and annual sampling visits to Holyrood’s warehouse, the cost covers the personal flavour consultation, whisky creation and insurance – with bottling costs, customised labelling, duty and VAT for UK customers paid for when it’s time to bottle.

All things considered, this stage works out at approximately £45 per bottle for cask strength and £35 for bottling at 46% VOL. If it’s Holyrood’s fully bespoke offer that piques your interest, pricing is calculated individually depending on each customer’s requirements.

Speaking of this year’s Custom Cask Programme: “It’s an invitation to own a piece of history,” says David, “and to be guided through that process by our experts to create something really bespoke.”

Time to make space in your whisky cupboard…

COM PETITION

Win! your very own custom

Holyrood whisky cask We’re picking one lucky (and we mean seriously lucky!) W Club member to participate in Holyrood’s Custom Cask Programme and create their very own hogshead cask. This amazing prize includes a flavour consultation at Holyrood Distillery with Co-founder David Robertson and Distillery Manager Jack Mayo, alongside the production of the winner’s whisky and maturation for up to ten years – with bottling and duty included!

For your chance to win, simply visit: tws.cx/clubcomp Competition closes Monday 7th September 2020.

T&Cs apply. The winner will be contacted directly.

Terms & Conditions: You must be a member of The W Club to enter.

You can join at thewclub.co.uk The winner will be selected by midnight on 7th September 2020. The judge’s decision will be final. The competition is not open to employees of The Whisky Shop. UK entrants must be 18 years old or over to enter. International entrants must be of legal drinking age in their country of residence.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Auctions

Buried treasure

Amidst The Whisky Shop Auctions’ series of themed auctions with Murray McDavid, we chat to the independent bottler’s Head of Whisky Creation, Dean Jode, to learn more about the company and the unique whiskies on offer.

Hi Dean. For those who don’t know, can you tell us a bit about Murray McDavid?

Murray McDavid are independent bottlers of Scotch whisky. Currently we purchase casks from around 95 different distilleries across Scotland, which we then bring into our own maturation warehouses at Coalburn Distillery to further mature the spirit in really quite specialist casks.

Formed in 1994, Murray McDavid have always led the way in pushing the boundaries of whisky maturation. The company was founded by Mark Reynier, Simon Coughlin, and Gordon Wright. Hailing from backgrounds in the wine industry, both Mark and Simon have a lot of connections in the world of wine and are able to source some really interesting wine barriques.

Murray McDavid have always tried to give provenance to unique casks and really help the drinker understand the flavours they are experiencing. It’s always been a brand for the curious whisky buff, and for somebody who is looking slightly leftfield of what you’d normally expect.

What’s involved in your role as Head of Whisky Creation?

My role is continually evolving! I joined the company when it was revived back in 2015 and have since helped to expand the range of whiskies Murray McDavid have on offer. We have six categories within the brand which I helped to develop – Mission Gold, Benchmark, Mystery Malt, Select Grain, The Vatting and Crafted Blend – which cover a wide spectrum of whiskies, including single malts, single grains and blends. Variety is key for us, and we like to offer nicely balanced whiskies with really exciting casks.

Along the years I’ve been shadowing our creations team up at Coalburn, understanding more about the processes of maturation, selection and blending. For the past two years I’ve been responsible for selecting cask samples from Coalburn before presenting them to a selection panel and, from there, deciding which get bottled.

The Whisky Shop Auctions has been running a series of themed auctions with bottles from Murray McDavid’s Aficionado series – tell us more about the unique whiskies up for grabs.

The Aficionado series is such an exciting project! It really stemmed from the sheer volume of cask samples we’ve accrued throughout the years. Murray McDavid are owned by a company called Aceo Limited who are one of the biggest brokers of cask whisky in the industry. Aceo have been operating for 20 years now, so a lot of casks have come through the doors, with nearly 40,000 casks at present and the oldest stock aged over 50 years.

Knowledge Bar Drams ahoy!

Murray McDavid are proud owners of a rather unconventional brand home: a 60ft traditional wooden boat, moored on the River Clyde in Glasgow.

The boat hosts monthly whisky tastings and chartered sails down the River Clyde, as well as to whisky festivals on the west coast of Scotland.

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Power of the palate: Dean Jode selects single cask samples at Coalburn Distillery.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Auctions

Over time, samples are drawn from these casks for spirit analysis, resulting in a wonderful archive of incredible whiskies dating from 1962 to 2011. We thought to ourselves, what can we do with these? We decided to bottle them and spread the joy!

These are truly unique, wonderful whiskies – some are the only bottles of their kind – and with the help of The Whisky Shop Auctions, we’ve been offering some real gems from Islay, Speyside and lost distilleries, to name just a few of the auction themes. It’s great knowing these bottles are finding good homes to bidders.

It will be nice to have a Murray McDavid in somebody’s collection.

the line-up of whiskies in front of me looked a bit full-on. But I embraced it, and as soon as the brand ambassador started telling the story of The Dalmore, I was hook, line and sinkered – I almost didn’t need to taste anything! The brand ambassador was so great in explaining the whisky’s rich heritage, what was in my glass and how it was created; I soon realised there was something really quite unique and special about this drink. I went on to become bar manager at John Gordon’s in Cheltenham, where I helped develop the whisky collection to around 250 bottles, before meeting my nowboss at a whisky tasting and accepting a job with Murray McDavid. The rest is history!

Do you collect whisky yourself?

I used to have a little collection, around 150 bottles, but now I don’t have a sealed bottle at home! I’ve just not got the space.

I still browse auctions. You can pick up some remarkable bargains, and not just recent bottlings, but old blends from the 80s – the quality in those bottles is truly incredible for what you pay for them. From my own experience in my job, there’s nothing more exciting (and bloody nerve-wracking!) than creating and bottling a blend.

What do independent bottlers offer whisky drinkers?

With independent bottlings, it’s all about broadening your horizons and experiencing new journeys of flavour. Other maturation techniques may be applied, whiskies may be bottled at different ages or presented at natural cask strength – all the while retaining that distillery character found in official distillery bottlings.

What independents offer you is just sheer variety. If you do have a favourite distillery and you’ve only been drinking official distillery bottlings, then you’re about to uncover a wealth of wonderful whiskies to grace your shelves!

How did you get the whisky bug?

My parents weren’t really drinkers and they certainly don’t teach whisky in school, so it was thanks to working at a bar during university that I caught the ‘whisky bug’. We had a very enthusiastic bar manager who took the team to a Dalmore tasting. I don’t think I seriously had a whisky before that moment, so

Knowledge Bar Murray McDavid auctions

Themed auctions featuring bottles from Murray McDavid's Aficionado series are happening at The Whisky Shop Auctions throughout August and into September.

Head to www.whiskyshop.com/auctions to browse the lots and add one of these highly-limited bottles to your collection.

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auctions@whiskyshop.com

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Auctions

Whisky auction results TWSA results

£4,400 › Glenmorangie 1974 Pride We recorded a fantastic final bid of £4,400 for a bottle of Glenmorangie 1974 Pride.

Aged for 41 years in bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks, this expression is the pinnacle of Glenmorangie’s Pride series, comprised of some of the Highland distillery’s most treasured liquid.

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£4,200 › Hanyu 2000 Single Cask Ichiro's Malt Card 7 of Clubs Since its stills were turned off in 2000, Hanyu has become one of Japan’s most sought after single malts, as proven by a winning bid of £4,200 for a 7 of Clubs bottling from Ichiro's Malt Card series – one of our best world whisky results to date!

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£2,000 › Bowmore 30 Year Old The Sea Dragon

£2,000 was a fantastic result for a 1990s release of Bowmore 30 Year Old, achieving an increase in value of 25 per cent since it last appeared in the secondary market.

Nicknamed the 'sea dragon', the whisky is presented in a beautiful ceramic bottle adorned with artwork of the mythical beast.

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£1,200 › Macallan Edition No.1

A bottle of Macallan Edition No.1 amassed a record hammer price of £1,200 – the most we’ve seen this cardboard carton edition sell for in the current market! The first release in Macallan’s Edition series, this expression comprises of liquid drawn from from eight different European and American oak cask styles and sizes.

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£1,200 › Macallan 10 Year Old 100 Proof

Macallan does it again! £1,200 was a wonderful winning bid for the distillery’s 10 Year Old 100 Proof – a sherry-aged expression that spent at least a decade in casks before being bottled in the 1970s at a mighty 100 proof.

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£800 › Bunnahabhain 1989 30 Year Old Spiorad An Dochais Fèis Ìle We were first to market in June with a bottle of Bunnahabhain’s Spiorad An Dochais. Translating from Gaelic to ‘Spirit of Hope’, the 30-year-old was a surprise release during this year's virtual Fèis Ìle celebrations, revealed during an online tasting. One of only 200 bottles produced, £800 was a fantastic result for the sherried single malt.

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World results

£240,000 › Glenfiddich Spirit of Speyside 2020 An exclusive online release of Glenfiddich's Spirit of Speyside 2020 Distillery Edition went to auction in June, generating an incredible sum of £240k that will go directly to local Speyside causes hardest hit by the Covid-19 crisis. The release comprised of 450 bottles, drawn from cask #25427 and signed by Master Blender Brian Kinsman himself, with bottle #001 achieving a fantastic hammer price of £6,800 alone.

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£35,300 › Daftmill 2008 Single Bourbon Cask #68

An auction of seven single cask Daftmill bottlings and a distillery tour raised over £35k for charity – an incredible sum that will be used to support independent whisky bars across Scotland throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The expression is the first single cask bottling to be released from Daftmill’s 2008 vintage, with individual bottles achieving final hammer prices of £4,800 and £4,900.

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£7,500 › Double Eagle Very Rare 2020

£7,500 was an incredible result for Eagle Rare’s oldest expression, of which 499 bottles were released in 2019 at an RRP of $1,999. Named after the length of time it spent in cask, which at 20 years is double that of the standard Eagle Rare expression, the liquid is presented in a luxe decanter featuring two crystal eagles, one inside the bottle and one as the bottle stopper. The brand is one of five bourbons included in the award-winning Buffalo Trace Antique Collection.

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Knowledge Bar Buying and selling at The Whisky Shop Auctions New lots daily In our rolling auction programme, new bottles are added every day meaning there is always something interesting to bid on. And it’s not just whisky – we sell rum, cognac, gin and other spirits, too.

Drop off & free home collection With our network of shops across the UK and France, we have 22 convenient locations available to drop off bottles and pick up winning lots. You can also post your bottles to us or make use of our home collection service that picks up bottles directly from your doorstep.

360° imagery

£7,200 › Macallan 12 Year Old 1980s Corade Import

Inspect the condition of lots from every angle with our industry-leading 360° spin photography.

A French exclusive 1980s bottling of Macallan (and one that doesn’t grace the secondary market all too often) has amassed an exceptional final bid of £7,200.

The 12-year-old is some of the first liquid Macallan inherited from independent bottlers Campbell, Hope & King in the 1980s, when production focus was switched from blends to single malt and the distillery reassumed responsibility for their own bottlings.

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Free storage

£6,400 › Bivrost Niflheim First Release

Bottle #001 from Aurora Spirit Distillery’s inaugural release of their arctic single malt has sold at auction for a staggering £6,400 – one of the highest prices we’ve seen for a first release from a new distillery! The Norwegian distillery has laid claim to the accolade of the world's most northerly whisky producer, distilling inside a disused NATO Cold War base and maturing their whisky within the distillery’s network of underground tunnels.

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£6,180 › Ichiro's Malt Double Distilleries + Peated

The tenth release in Stefan Van Eycken’s Yoshitorshi Ghost Series has sold for an impressive £6,180 at auction. The bottle is a vatting of the Ichiro's Malt Double Distilleries blended malt, which contains whisky from Chichibu and the silent stills of Hanyu, along with some peated Chichibu single malt. Bottled at cask strength in 2018, the label features artwork from Yoshitoshi's New Forms of 36 Ghosts.

We can store your winning lots in our Auction House free of charge to reduce your delivery costs.

We’re whisky people!

With more than 90 years’ collective experience of the specialist whisky market, our experts are always on hand to provide top-notch advice and guidance.

Sellers, it's time to raid your drinks cabinet for buried treasure and make fast cash on forgotten drams! Buyers, head to whiskyshop.com/auctions to place your bids.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

A Time in History

A smuggler’s tale From illicit stills to hidden Highland trails, Brian Wilson uncovers the ghosts of Scotch whisky’s chequered past.

Illustration: Brian McFie

Production of whisky has always depended on a pure, plentiful source of water. Whether it was the illicit product of the 18th century or the most respected single malts of our own discerning era, this basic requirement remains unchanged. That explains a lot about where distilleries now stand – and their origins in less scrupulous times. The water has underpinned the continuity.

“The lone shieling, the remote farmhouse by the burn, the bothy on the seashore now bear names respected wherever fine malt whisky is prized,” wrote Derek Cooper in The Whisky Roads of Scotland. “Glenlivet, Balmenach, Cardow, Macallan, Lochnagar, Highland Park, Glenturret, Ardbeg, Dailuaine, Lagavulin, Ord… all rose on the sites of unlicensed stills. It was a transition which took a lot of excitement out of life.” Far from being a blemish upon their reputations, that lawless past should be written into the narrative behind today’s great brands.

As well as laying the foundations for a modern industry, the old pattern of illicit distilling helped ensure that most of today’s distilleries are located in far-flung places, amidst Scotland’s scenic grandeur. The priority up until the mid-19th century was not just to produce whisky and then find a market, it was also to avoid detection by the excisemen – or ‘gaugers’ – who did their best to stem the illegal trade on behalf of His Majesty’s Revenue.

That placed a premium on inaccessibility so distilling flourished in remote places. After the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion, King George I despatched General Wade to improve communications in the rebellious north, to facilitate the movement of troops. For distilling, the main effect was to push activity even deeper into areas which remained well-nigh impenetrable for the excisemen. It was not until a century later that Thomas Telford’s great road building campaign made a difference.

While the absence of roads made access for unwelcome visitors difficult, it also posed a challenge for the illicit producers who had to devise their own safe routes into the towns of northern Scotland from where the whisky was smuggled southwards to the cities and beyond.

The remains of these tracks can sometimes still be seen today and along their way, if you look hard enough, is likely to lie the physical evidence of an illicit past.

Derek Cooper wrote: “It would not be an exaggeration to say that almost any overgrown paths you encounter in the hills today would at one time have been trodden by smugglers either bringing barley or malt to their whisky bothies or taking their kegs by pony to customers in Inverness, Elgin, Aberdeen, Perth and Dundee.” The old whisky routes south “became as well-mapped as the older drove roads through the glens to the trysts of Crieff and Falkirk.”

❝

As well as laying the foundations for a modern industry, the old pattern of illicit distilling helped ensure that most of today’s distilleries are located in farflung places, amidst Scotland’s scenic grandeur.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

A Time in History In an account from a boyhood in Brechin which brings the trade to life, Rev Thomas Guthrie recalled the presence of Highland smugglers in the town around 1818: “They rode on Highland ponies, carrying on each side of their small, shaggy but brave and hardy steeds, a small cask, or ‘keg’ as it was called, of illicit whisky manufactured amid the wilds of Aberdeenshire or the glens of the Grampians.” As night fell, they sold the whisky to “agents they had everywhere” before forming a triumphal procession.

Guthrie recalled seeing a troop of 30 or so smugglers riding through the streets of Brechin.

“They rode leisurely along, beating time with their formidable cudgels on the empty barrels to the great amusement of the public and mortification of the excisemen … everybody, with few exceptions, drank what was in reality illicit whisky – far superior to that made under the eye of the excise; lord and lairds, Members of Parliament and ministers of the gospel.”

Across the Scottish social classes, illicit distilling and smuggling were respectable professions.

For the producers themselves, these activities were intrinsic to the harsh, agrarian economies on which they subsisted. There are parallels with parts of the world which, in our own age, see poor farmers subsist on drug crops – not because they want to engage in a criminal activity but in the absence of obvious alternatives. Neither were the economic benefits restricted to the primary producers.

Highland estate owners depended on revenues produced by the illicit trades in whisky and cattle to provide the means of paying rent.

In 1816, Patrick Sellar – later notorious for his part in the Sutherland Clearances – estimated that 25 per cent of the total rents from his Strathnaver estate depended on illicit distillation and the sale of black cattle. Within the Helmsdale area of East Sutherland, there were estimated to be more than 300 illicit stills. While romanticised history tends to record the victories of smugglers over excisemen, it was far from one-way traffic. In 1823 alone, there were 14,000 recorded detections.

These statistics hint at the sheer scale of the industry – and resultant loss of revenue to the Exchequer. These factors came to dictate the inevitability of legislation which duly arrived in 1823 in the form of the Excise Act which allowed for stills to be licensed for a fee of £10, an impossible sum for most small producers.

The alternative was for legal distilleries to be built on prime sites, funded by landowners and others with capital at their disposal. By the end of the decade, 300 licensed distilleries had appeared and smuggling was on the way out.

In some places, it did not go down without a fight. One of the most celebrated areas of illicit distilling was the parish of The Cabrach (A’Chabrach being Gaelic for ‘The Antler Place’) on the inhospitable borderlands of Moray and

Aberdeenshire. Whisky produced there was noted for its quality and the population for hostility to authority, having been firmly in the 18th century Jacobite camp. With other areas conquered, the authorities turned their attention to The Cabrach, leading to a pitched battle in 1827 when an exciseman was wounded by a smuggler’s musket. Two of the miscreants were ordered to be transported for life.

As demand for illicit whisky declined, so too did the population of The Cabrach, though even at the start of the 20th century there were still 1,000 people in scattered farms. The First World War took a particularly heavy toll. The area had been so insulated from the outside world that men succumbed easily to disease as well as to the other perils of war. Decline continued relentlessly thereafter. The vast, empty area is now part of Glenfiddich and Cabrach Estate owned by an Irish financier, Christopher Moran, with a population of around 70.

However, plans are afoot for at least some degree of revival with whisky at its heart. The Cabrach Trust is planning a heritage centre which will feature a still similar to the type used in the 1820s to create Scotland’s only not-forprofit distillery. The Trust was founded by Grant Gordon, a member of the Grant’s whisky family, who has lived part-time in The Cabrach since childhood. It is hoped to open in 2021 and attract 20,000 visitors a year as at least one reminder of a trade which once thrived throughout much of Scotland.

There is also a more intangible legacy – the place of whisky in Scottish society. In the 1830s, consumption of duty-charged whisky was measured at almost a pint a week for every Scot aged 15 and over (and there were still 700 detections of illegal stills in 1833-35). Whisky was the refreshment of choice at every social occasion and while the movement towards legal production increased the cost and steadily reduced consumption, that whisky culture remained deeply embedded.

To a unique extent in western Europe, drinking spirits for revelry, celebration or sheer escapism became the Scottish norm. As in so many other respects, it is impossible to fully understand the present, without first knowing something about the past. In the case of Scotch whisky, that story lies deep in the once-remote straths and glens where today’s impeccablymaintained distilleries and visitor centres provide the water of economic life, still under the watchful eye of the exciseman.

Knowledge Bar The Cabrach Located in remote Aberdeenshire, in the foothills of the Cairngorms, the parish of The Cabrach has been dubbed ‘smuggling’s heartland’, due to illegal distillation and transportation of Scotch whisky being the foundation for economic and social development in the area for a considerable period of time.

Fast forward to present day, remains of hundreds of illicit stills are likely to be hidden across The Cabrach, with the most recent excavation of a ruined distillery taking place in 2018. It is believed the ruins belonged to that of a traditional small-scale farm distillery named Blackmiddens.

If you’re ever hiking in Aberdeenshire, look out for low stone walls tucked away next to burns in the hills – they may just tell the stories of whisky’s illicit past!

Elgin Inverness

Cabrach

SCOTLAND

Aberdeen

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Industry Insider

Spirit of the glen

With 20 years of drinks industry experience, Kirstie McCallum gives us the inside scoop on her new role as Glen Moray’s Head of Whisky Creation (and yes, it’s as awesome as it sounds).

Hi Kirstie, we already know you from your Senior Blender days at Distell. What does your new role as Glen Moray’s Head of Whisky Creation entail?

I’m looking after the Glen Moray spirit from the moment it comes off the still until it goes into a bottle. I’ve got the great job of choosing what casks it goes into and deciding when it’s ready to bottle, coming up with new expressions and trying new experiments, both with spirit character and cask types. I’m also responsible for the inventory management and making sure we have the right amount of whisky in the right casks to produce our different expressions.

Alongside Glen Moray, I look after Cutty Sark and the group’s other blended whiskies. There’s lots of variety in the job and no day is the same.

It sounds absolutely fantastic!

We’re curious – when did your love affair with whisky first begin?

I’ve always drunk whisky, and my dad was a massive whisky fan, but my real love for it started when I joined the industry.

When did you decide that a career in whisky was the path you wanted to take?

Starting in the industry was through sheer luck! I got a temporary job working at Port Dundas Distillery when I left university. I thought it would see me through until my ideal job came up, but I soon fell in love with whisky and the industry, and I’ve been involved with it ever since. Turns out it was my ideal job!

Aside from patience (and lots of it!), what are the main skills required for your role?

You’re right about the number one skill being patience! It also helps to have a good nose and palate, which are continually trained as you work. More and more blenders now have scientific backgrounds, which can also be a great help. Science can be an excellent complementary tool to sensory analysis – but the nose is always number one!

How did you train your nose and palate to be what they are today?

Experience. Your nose and palate are continually developing, and you are continually learning. When people ask how to develop their nose, I always advise nosing as many whiskies as possible. Through that, you build up a library of smells and flavours that you either recognise or associate with something, and you are continually adding to that library.

When it comes to tasting whisky, what are the characteristics of a stand-out dram?

The flavours are rounded and integrated, and the balance of spirit to wood influence is just right. I like to be able to taste the character of the actual spirit, balanced with the flavours abstracted from the casks.

That brings us perfectly on to our next question. When creating a whisky, what do you consider most? Do distillation and maturation play an equal part?

Both absolutely play a key part in the final flavour of the whisky. While casks play a very important part in the final character of the spirit and contribute to a large part of a whisky’s character, the spirit itself is also important.

If you don’t produce a good new make spirit, you can’t make a good whisky. That’s why I’ll monitor the quality of the spirit as it comes off the still and pay as much attention to it as I do to the character of mature whisky when I take it out the cask.

It must be a dream come true to be let loose in Glen Moray’s barrel rooms! What’s catching your eye in there at the moment?

There’s a lot catching my eye – I’m a bit like a kid in a sweetie shop at the moment! We have a warehouse in Elgin – Warehouse 1 – where we store some of our more experimental casks, and there are some stunning drams hidden away in there. I’m also experimenting with a lot with different cask types – at the moment I’ve been working with a variety of wine casks.

Unfortunately, due to the circumstances of the past few months, I’ve not been able to be up at the distillery as much as I’d like, but I can’t wait to go rooting about in the warehouses again!

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Glen Moray's Head of Whisky Creation, Kirstie McCallum, enjoys the great job of looking after the spirit from the moment it comes off the still until it goes into a bottle.

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When people ask how to develop their nose, I always advise nosing as many whiskies as possible.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Industry Insider Whisky drinkers seem to be more adventurous than ever before. Does that encourage you to innovate?

Definitely. It’s great to see drinkers trying different things. Whisky is such a versatile drink and there’s a whisky for every occasion – the fun is finding that whisky, or developing it.

Hear, hear! The Whiskeria team love a good whisky cocktail. In your opinion, what makes Glen Moray special?

One of the biggest things is undoubtedly the team that works here. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming – it’s a great place to work, as well as a great distillery.

We also produce fantastic liquid that offers something for every step of your whisky journey. There’s the accessible and easy Elgin Classic Collection, which is great for people new to the category, giving them a chance to experiment with different cask styles while still being affordable and accessible. Our Classic Collection is also great for sipping when you just want to kick back and relax.

On top of this, we’ve got the Elgin Heritage Collection for drinkers looking for aged whisky, again with a variety of cask types, and also the Elgin Curiosity Collection for whisky enthusiasts that are looking for something a little more complex and unusual.

Speaking of fun, how do you go about sourcing interesting casks?

I have various ways. I source many through my contacts at cooperages, but we are also very lucky at Glen Moray to be part of the La Martiniquaise group. The group has a wide portfolio of products which means I have access to some superb casks for maturing and finishing our whisky.

Glen Moray’s most recent release, Madeira Cask Project, is delicious!

Can you hint at any unusual releases coming out in the future?

That was one of the hidden gems from Warehouse 1, and there are lots more like it!

We have whiskies matured in casks usually associated with finishes, we have finishes that we’re trying for the first time, and we’ve also been experimenting with different sherry finishes which is something a little more unusual for Glen Moray. Although we do have a small inventory of Oloroso casks, the majority of Glen Moray is bourbon-matured – so it’s nice to see how the liquid interacts with some of the other sherry qualities.

There’s no doubt that the whisky industry is evolving. What do you consider to be the main changes happening in the industry right now, and how is Glen Moray responding to those changes?

I think one of the biggest changes I’ve seen in the industry is whisky becoming more and more inclusive and transparent. People are no longer scared to drink their whisky the way they want to drink it – we’re moving away from “you shouldn’t add anything” or “only add a touch of water” attitudes, which is great. We make whisky for people to enjoy, and however you enjoy it is up to you. Glen Moray has embraced this – last year we had campaigns around the Glen Moray Old Fashioned and we regularly work with bartenders and mixologists to develop new and interesting drinks for the brand.

❝ While casks

play a very important part in the final character of the spirit and contribute to a large part of a whisky’s character, the spirit itself is also important. If you don’t produce a good new make spirit, you can’t make a good whisky.

What’s open in your whisky cupboard at the moment?

Too many bottles to list! I’ve got some Glen Moray of course, and I think there’s some Balvenie left… Ledaig, Laphroaig, Bunnahabhain, Mortlach, and Glenlivet are the ones that come to mind, but I know there are more at the back of the cupboard. I choose my whisky in relation to how I’m feeling – that’s why there are so many open bottles!

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Distillery Visit

Smoke on the water Following the success of Lochranza, Isle of Arran Distillers last year opened the doors to Lagg: a second distillery dedicated to the production of Arran’s peated spirit. Speaking to Lagg’s Distillery Manager Graham Omand, Gavin D Smith takes us behind the scenes at Lochranza’s peated partner in crime.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Distillery Visit The Isle of Arran is located in the Firth of Clyde, off the west coast of Scotland, and is highly popular with visitors who flock to admire its varied and highly picturesque scenery.

During the 19th century, Arran was a Mecca for illicit whisky-making, being blessed with areas of fertile soil in which to grow barley, and the sort of security from excise raids that an island location affords. Arran was also a relatively short sail from the Ayrshire coast and the thirsty markets of the rapidly industrialising west of Scotland. Accordingly, substantial quantities of ‘Arran Water’, as it was known, were regularly shipped to the mainland.

Legal distilling was also practised, and the last licensed distillery on the island during the 19th century operated at Lagg, in the south of Arran, from 1825 to 1837. After a very long break, whisky-making returned to Arran in August 1995, when a brand-new distillery opened at Lochranza in the north of the island. In the years since it began production, Isle of Arran single malt has become one of the Scottish whisky industry’s great success stories, with core expressions now ranging from 10 to 21 years of age.

❝ During the 19th

century, Arran was a Mecca for illicit whisky-making…

Accordingly, substantial quantities of ‘Arran Water’, as it was known, were regularly shipped to the mainland.

heavy peating Since 2010, a heavily peated version of Arran, named Machrie Moor, has also been available, and has proved extremely popular with consumers. Indeed, so popular has it become that it now has its very own distillery, located just half a mile from the site of the original Lagg Distillery.

The Lochranza plant has been running close to capacity for some years, despite two additional stills being installed in 2017, taking potential output to 1.2 million litres per annum.

Not only that, but its sixth warehouse was rapidly reaching capacity, with no suitable land available close by on which to build additional maturation facilities.

Distillery Manager Graham Omand goes on to explain the sequence of events that led to the creation of the new distillery. “We found out that a farmer was looking to sell a large plot of land at Lagg,” he says, “and we actually bought quite a lot more than we needed for warehousing. The site was very close to the last legal distillery at Lagg, which had previously been a flax mill, and there are still remains of it to be seen.”

As Omand recounts, “We got to thinking that maybe as well as warehouses we would build a small craft distillery there. We started by building three warehouses, but the passion for the distillery project grew. However, rather than being a little sister to Lochranza, it’s closer to being a twin in terms of scale, and the overall footprint is actually slightly larger.

Part of our thinking was that we could help the economy of the south of the island by bringing visitors down to Lagg.”

Until Lagg came on stream, “Every October we made peated spirit,” says Omand. “Two to three weeks with malt at 50ppm, then two to three weeks on a lower peating level, gradually taking it back to unpeated. We used the peated spirit for Machrie Moor.” lagg reborn The decision was taken to dedicate the ‘new’ Lagg Distillery to peated spirit production, using malt peated to around 55ppm, thereby freeing up more capacity at Lochranza for non-peated whisky-making and in particular for limited edition releases.

Ground was broken at Lagg in 2017, with major construction commencing the following summer. The design of the distillery is intended to reflect the mountainous landscape of parts of Arran, and is topped with turf-covered roofs.

All equipment was supplied by the renowned coppersmiths Forsyth of Rothes, and includes a four-tonne semi-lauter mashtun, four 25,000 litre Douglas Fir washbacks and one pair of stills, the wash still boasting a capacity of 10,000 litres and the spirit still 7,000 litres.

The distillery has an annual capacity of 800,000 litres, compared with ‘original’ Lagg, which could produce 25,000 litres per year. This

means that across its two distilling sites, Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd now has a potential output of some two million litres per annum.

The first spirit was distilled on 19th March 2019 and the first cask filled on 10th April, with just under 300,000 litres being made during the year. A similar amount is expected to be produced this year, with 2021 seeing an increase to 500,000 litres. spirit style When it comes to the character of spirit being produced at Lagg, Graham Omand declares that “I describe our spirit style as ‘heavy and rustic’. We are looking for the lower end of the distilling run, and we’re not encouraging too much reflux. We run the blades in the mashtun throughout mashing, and that gives grainier and less floral notes.

“We run the stills faster than at Lochranza – 10 litres per minute as opposed to six litres. We’re allowing more sulphur compounds to get through, and we’re looking for very heavy, earthy spirit.

We do 72-hour fermentations, while Lochranza fermentations are in the 50s, but they use different yeast. The spirit cut for Lochranza is 63.5% VOL and for Lagg it is 63% VOL. That allows a bit more of the feints through. When we trialled it, the feints were overpowering if we went below 63% VOL.” All Lagg spirit is being matured on the island, and while some whisky distilled at Lochranza is currently ageing on the mainland, the Isle of Arran Distillers’ team is in the process of repatriating casks to Arran now that the three warehouses at Lagg are in operation.

Graham Omand says that “We are using firstfill Buffalo Trace casks for the whisky we expect to be releasing quite early. We’re also filling a few sherry butts, rum casks and quarter casks, and for some reason we have a single Sauternes cask!”

In terms of future releases of Lagg, Omand notes that “We will definitely do a limited run when it turns three years of age, then maybe distillery shop-exclusive very limited releases from time to time.

We will possibly offer a semi-regular release when it’s around five years old, as I’m confident it will come good at an early age.”

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Knowledge Bar Isle of Arran

Population: 4,629[4] Gaelic name: Eilean Arainn Highest peak: Goat Fell 874 m Island group: Firth of Clyde

SCOTLAND

ARRAN Lagg Distillery

Lagg Distillery is located in the south of the Isle of Arran, with Lochranza Distillery in the north.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Distillery Visit

Knowledge Bar Lagg Distillery Manager Graham Omand “I spent my first four years on the island of Tiree, and the family then moved to Islay.

I lived in Bowmore until I was 18, then went to the Scottish Agricultural College in Ayr, getting a degree in biotech. But I graduated in the recession. I specialised in food technology, but nobody was hiring.

“So, I spent six months working in the Co-op store and then was told that my uncle, James MacTaggart, Master Distiller at Arran Distillery, was looking for a stillman to work the night shift there.

“I moved to the island in January 2011 and worked the stills for seven years. I had the qualifications and the enthusiasm. I always smelled a problem before I saw it.

I got a real feel for it, and carried that over to the Lagg role. I’m afforded a great deal of freedom at Lagg. It’s really just me and James, though he is actually now working part-time in a consulting role on quality control, choosing all of the casks that go for bottling.”

❝ When it comes to

the character of spirit being produced at Lagg, Graham Omand declares that “I describe our spirit style as ‘heavy and rustic’.” cask society Like many start-up distilleries, Lagg is keen to involve members of the public in cask acquisition, and Lagg Cask Society is offering 700 first-fill Buffalo Trace bourbon casks of newmake spirit for sale. Graham Omand outlines an extra incentive to own a cask, saying that “In 10 years’ time, we will fill 700 bottles from cask number one of Lagg - a first-fill sherry butt. Each of the Society members will get a bottle of that, meaning they will own part of the first cask filled with Lagg spirit.”

With peat playing such an important part in the character of Lagg whisky, there are longterm plans to be innovative in that area, with Omand noting that “We would supply peat bricks from other parts of Scotland or even abroad to our malting company, Boortmalt at Glen Esk, near Montrose.

“We want to emphasise how important the peat is to Lagg, and we would make one week’s worth of spirit at a time from a particular type of peat, with the intention of releasing a series of bottlings, but at the moment this is on our ‘wish list’.”

Another innovative aspect of the Lagg venture has been the planting of three acres of apple trees close to the distillery. Omand explains that “There’s lots of space at the Lagg site, so we decided to have an apple orchard. We hope to have our own cider in three years’ time, and then eventually apple brandy. France and Spain are big markets for us, and they love their Calvados. We didn’t want to make yet another gin.” tourism and the future In terms of tourism, Lochranza Distillery regularly attracts in excess of 100,000 visitors per year, and with Lagg on stream, that number may double in time. The hope is that people will visit both sites, but some heavily-peated limited-edition Machrie Moor expressions made at Lochranza are exclusively on sale at Lagg Distillery, in order to reinforce its heavily-peated credentials. 20cl bottles of 63.5% VOL ‘Lagg Peated Spirit Drink New Make’ are also available to purchase.

Looking to the future, when Lagg single malt will be of an age to be legally termed Scotch whisky, Graham Omand points out that as an experiment, “5,000 litres of Lagg spirit has been mixed with 5,000 litres of Lochranza and filled into first-fill sherry butts. It will be really interesting to see that as our very own blended malt release, eventually.”

It comes as a surprise to discover that Lagg is classified as a ‘Lowland’ single malt distillery, despite its island status, as it is located south of the Highland boundary fault line that divides Highland and Lowland regions of production. Lochranza is located north of the boundary fault line.

Lagg has the distinction of being the only Lowland whisky produced on an island, and with the new-make offering rich, tobaccolike aromas, with citrus fruit and peat, and a substantial, sweet peaty palate, becoming more earthy in time, this is going to be a ‘Lowland’ single malt like no other!

Discover the unique character of every single cask.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Interview

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Band of brothers MacLean brothers and ocean rowing team, BROAR, are on top of the world after rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to complete this year’s Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge – smashing three world records on their way and raising over £200k for charity.

Photography: Brian Sweeney

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Interview

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Ewan, Jamie and Lachlan MacLean, sons of Whiskeria’s very own Charlie MacLean, set off from the Canary Islands last December on the adventure of a lifetime. 35 days, nine hours, nine minutes and 1.5 million strokes later, the trio completed the world’s toughest row, arriving in Antigua with newfound titles: ‘fastest trio to row the Atlantic Ocean’, ‘youngest trio to row the Atlantic Ocean’ and ‘first three brothers to row any ocean’.

Adventurers from a young age with a love of the outdoors, the brothers joined us in North Berwick to talk all things training, life at sea, and drams in the middle of the ocean.

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Interview Congratulations on an incredible feat!

What inspired you to enter the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge?

Ewan: Growing up, we spent a lot of time on the northwest coast of Scotland, on beaches similar to this one, but with no one around. We fell in love with being a bit isolated.

Lachlan: I recall several years ago my dad showing me something about the race. I told my brothers about it and they were dead keen to get involved. We love adventuring, but we had no rowing experience at all. We had done a bit of amateur sailing, but during the training we had to learn how to row.

Jamie: Ocean rowing is quite different to standard rowing because of the nature of the waves, the wind and the weather. The challenge itself is a lot more about endurance, the harsh conditions – and having the patience to hang out with these two for so long!

Ewan: There was an extra appeal to enter due to the fact it was organised by Talisker. With our dad being very involved in the whisky industry, and having grown up with whisky around us, that was huge draw.

❝ With no rowing

MacLean brothers Ewan, Jamie and Lachlan

experience, the odds were against us, but the three of us shared a belief that we could do it. Throughout the process, it was amazing to see more and more people getting onboard and sharing that belief with us.

Aside from learning how to row (!), how did you prepare for the race?

Jamie: Lachlan and I took a year off university to train, and Ewan somehow managed to juggle it with his full-time job! I don’t think any of us had a social life for a year.

We were going into the training not knowing anything, so our first port of call was to reach out to anyone who had done the race before and find out how they prepared for it.

Lachlan: The overall advice you get from the ocean rowing community is to get as strong and put on as much weight as you possibly can – but we ended up doing things quite differently.

Instead of bulking up, we actually became the leanest we had ever been!

Jamie: On top of an intense gym regime, we did a weekend of training with extreme endurance athlete Chloë Lanthier in France.

She was very instrumental in not only preparing us mentally, but also helping us with nutrition, diet and sleep deprivation. It was also Chloë who advised us to become as lean as we could be, to prepare our bodies for being starved at sea.

We ate a vegetarian diet on the lead up to the race and while we were at sea for ease of digestion.

Lachlan: And we quit boozing, much to Dad’s dismay!

Ewan: If we were going to be competitive, we knew we had to do something different – so we were hoping this was the way to go.

Lachlan: Looking back, that was the right course of action. Chloë was the most instrumental in the whole process, in terms of advice and training.

Some serious work went on before the race.

What skills and strengths did each of you bring to the team during the row?

Ewan: As an engineer by trade, I focused on the technical side of the boat and the race, and Jamie, who is really interested in cooking, did a lot on the diet side of things. Lachlan was the best in crisis, but we are all fairly level-headed.

Lachlan: I think one of our biggest collaborative strengths was that we all had the same objectives, which were to enjoy the experience and to go as fast as we could – in that order.

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Knowledge Bar Atlantic crossing

The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge is a 3,000 mile unsupported rowing race across the Atlantic Ocean from La Gomera to Antigua.

— Distance: 3,000 miles of ocean Duration: 40–60 days at sea — More people have travelled into space or climbed Mount Everest than have completed the row — Teams face up to 40ft waves

During their training, BROAR practised overnight rows on the west coast of Scotland.

Photography: Atlantic Campaigns and Lost Clock Productions

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Interview

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One of our biggest

collaborative strengths was that we all had the same objectives, which were to enjoy the experience and to go as fast as we could – in that order.

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You clearly work very well together, however, 35 days is a long time to spend on a rowboat with your brothers! Were there any arguments?

Lachlan: We made a pact at the start of the race that if we were bickering, then we were doing everything wrong. Of course, there were a few little scraps – mainly food-related! We made the mistake of sharing breakfast each morning. One of us would make a big bowl of porridge and eat a third of it before passing it on to the next person, and so on. When the porridge arrived at the last person, which was usually me, there was hardly anything left!

Ewan: Jamie only lost a kilogram during the whole race, so he was definitely the one eating more porridge than the rest of us!

Did you have a rowing schedule?

Jamie: We had an idea of what our rowing schedule would be, but apart from a few overnight rows on the west coast of Scotland, we hadn’t had a lot of opportunity to practise it.

It took us about seven to ten days to get into our rowing schedule at sea. We would get up each morning at about 6am and row until midnight, applying a shift pattern of 2:1; so maybe an hour on, half an hour off, 40 minutes on, 20 minutes off and so on. If the waves were really good and the wind was on our side, then we'd only need one person rowing.

At midnight, we’d go into our night shift pattern which was a six-hour period of us each rowing solo for two hours, followed by four hours of sleep – and that would be the only sleep we’d really get.

Sounds knackering! Did the rowing get easier as time went on?

Ewan: We definitely got conditioned. It’s not necessarily the rowing we got used to, but the routine. There’s so much more than just the rowing, so once everything else started to come together the rowing seemed to become easier – but it was probably no different to what it was at the start!

What was everyday life like on the boat? Did you have any down time?

What was the most difficult part of your experience?

Jamie: There was pretty much never a moment when we weren’t doing something on the boat, so down time is actually one of the things we really missed. When we weren’t rowing, we were making fresh water, topping up everyone’s water bottles, making meals, or cleaning left, right and centre. If we did manage to relax for five minutes at the end of all that, it was never actually that comfy on the boat!

Jamie: Definitely the first ten days; even the first 24 hours. We were thrown into an environment that was so alien to us – it’s impossible to train for the wind and the size of the waves. Ewan and I were a wee bit seasick at the beginning, and we felt pretty sorry for ourselves on that first night!

Ewan: When it came to everyday things like washing… we were very smelly! But we had to maintain certain things. We had to keep scrubbing the salt off our hands and feet before it was on there long enough to damage our skin.

Jamie also managed to wash his hair once or twice with our eco washing-up liquid.

Jamie: Just a couple of times when I wanted to treat myself!

Speaking of treats, how did you reward yourself onboard?

Lachlan: We had four cans of Tennent's Lager to drink at the end of the race. We carried them all the way across the Atlantic Ocean only for them to be drunk by the skipper who welcomed us into the port at Antigua! We also enjoyed a wee dram at the bells on New Year’s Eve. Ewan: Every few days we’d each have a third of a Snickers bar… we just didn’t pack enough! Having said that, I think there’s a huge amount to be said about having a delayed reward. If we had treats the whole way through, we wouldn’t have had the same kind of motivation.

What was the thing you were most looking forward to back on land?

Lachlan: Pies from Lochinver! We talked about them all the time on the boat. From a young age, we’ve been going to Nedd in the Highlands on holiday, and there’s a legendary pie shop nearby in Lochinver. While we were at sea, we actually phoned the shop and arranged for some of their pies to be sent out with our mum to Antigua.

Ewan: There were no words exchanged, but I remember looking at Jamie and thinking “Oh dear, what have we gotten ourselves into?” because it could have quite easily been another 40 to 60 days of that.

Lachlan: Our biggest fear was to not enjoy the experience, after putting so much effort into fundraising and training. When you’re feeling ill, you’re good for nothing, but we just had to pull ourselves through it and luckily it didn’t continue that way.

Did you know your position in the race at all times?

Jamie: We had invested in a sat com system which we used to send regular updates to our family and friends, and through this we were also able to see exactly where we were in the race. We tried not to check it too much – that comes back to us making sure we enjoyed the experience, over and above getting too competitive.

How does it feel to have broken three world records?

Ewan: Amazing! We were super surprised about the speed record. It turns out that we did enough things differently and enough things right, and the conditions were in our favour.

Lachlan: It was surreal. Our ambitious target was 40 days, so 35 days was an incredible achievement for us.

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â??

Growing up, we spent a lot

of time on the northwest coast of Scotland, on beaches similar to this one, but with no one around. We fell in love with being a bit isolated.

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Interview So far, you’ve raised over £200k for charity – an incredible sum. Why did you pick the charities you fundraised for, Feedback Madagascar and Children 1st?

Ewan: A huge appeal for doing the race was to make a significant difference. Feedback Madagascar and Children 1st are two charities that struck a chord with us for different reasons.

Lachlan: I visited Madagascar three years ago and met the director of the charity, Jamie Spencer, who is an incredible guy. Madagascar is the seventh poorest country in the world and this charity, albeit small, does such a fantastic job addressing so many of the country’s primary needs such as clean water, medical supplies, schooling, deforestation and environmental issues.

Ewan: With Children 1st, we recognised that we’ve been extremely fortunate to have had a great childhood, a supportive family and with that, a lot of opportunities, which some children just don’t have. With it being Scotland’s national children’s charity, we also wanted to support an important cause close to home.

What did you learn from the experience?

To kickstart your fundraising last year, you rowed up the west coast of Scotland, pillaging bottles of whisky from coastal distilleries to use in your new blend. Tell us about the project.

Jamie: We visited 16 distilleries, from the Isle of Arran to Talisker on Skye, pillaging whiskies for our new limited edition blends, MacLean’s Pillage and MacLean’s Spillage, which our dad has been helping us to create, alongside The Dalmore’s Master Blender Richard Paterson.

The project is called Whisky for Water, with all proceeds from the blends going to Feedback Madagascar to fund the supply of clean water.

Ewan: The west coast row was a phenomenal experience, not just because it was our first big row, but because it was amazing to experience first-hand the generosity and hospitality of the whisky industry, which has come together to support our cause.

It’s fair to say you have followed in the footsteps of your Dad with a love for whisky! What are your favourite drams?

Ewan: We didn’t have a choice! I like Glenmorangie and also Adelphi’s blend.

Ewan: I think self-confidence has been quite a big learning for us all. To be successful in this challenge, we had to put ourselves out there and speak to so many people – a process that pushed us all outside of our comfort zones. I’d say we now all feel more comfortable in those kind of situations.

Lachlan: It’s got to be Talisker 10 Year Old.

Jamie: We’ve also been blown away by how incredibly generous people are and how willing they are to help. Although we were the ones in the boat, there have been so many people involved in making this a success. Coming away from the experience, we have a huge appreciation for our extended support network of friends, family and also people we have never even met.

So BROAR, what’s next?

Lachlan: With no rowing experience, the odds were against us, but the three of us shared a belief that we could do it. Throughout the process, it was amazing to see more and more people getting onboard and sharing that belief with us.

By the end of the experience, it was very clear to all of us that, following on from the row, we would probably want to do something together – whether that’s in business or doing more adventures as a trio. That was a really nice, and unexpected, learning for me.

Jamie: I’d have to say Lagavulin 16 Year Old. We were very much spoiled growing up because Dad always had hundreds of whisky samples open at any one time.

Lachlan: We’ve got so many ideas! It’s back to studies and work for the time being, but we definitely want to keep adventuring as a trio – whether that be in business or another challenge – so, stay tuned.

Knowledge Bar Camping cocktails

Take Talisker camping with this easy and delicious serve from Brand Ambassador Jason Clarke.

Strawberry Skyes 50ml Talisker Port Ruighe Strawberries San Pellegrino Limonata Method: Muddle strawberries in a highball glass and add whisky. Fill glass with ice, top with San Pellegrino Limonata and stir.

Garnish: Lemon wedge and strawberry

To keep up with BROAR’s adventures, follow the brothers on social media at @broaratlantic. To support their mission, you can make a donation or buy a bottle of their blend at www.broar.co.uk.

— Macleod tartan shawl from Harris Tweed Hebrides (www.harristweedhebrides.com / @harristweedhebrides) Jackets and shorts from Hanon (www.hanon-shop.com / @hanonshop)

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BUY ANY ONE OF THE TALISKER RANGE, RECEIVE A FREE TALISKER MUG

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Mixing It Up

Concrete jungle Fresh, fruity and full of flavour: Brand Specialist Andrew Lennie demonstrates the versatility of Fettercairn’s extraordinary single malt with a quintet of lush serves.

Photography: Armando Ferrari

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Mixing It Up 1/ Fettercairn 28 Year Old

3/ Tropical Highball

5/ 1824 Martini

25ml

25ml 25ml 4 drops

50ml 5ml

4 drops

Fettercairn 28 Year Old

Method: Serve neat, pair with Toasted Banana and Tonka Bean Marshmallow Glass: Whisky Tumbler Fettercairn 28 Year Old is my desert island dram. The aroma is unmistakeably Fettercairn with notes of melon, pineapple and treacle, followed by a funky pineapple note on the palate, drizzled with sweet balsamic vinegar. The finish is filled with vanilla, coffee and wood spice.

It’s an excellent example of how Fettercairn spirit remains so fresh, even after almost three decades in barrel. The marshmallow pairing for this serve is lots of fun – a great way to round off an evening with friends.

2/ Mango Sour Fettercairn 12 Year Old Mango Puree Sugar Syrup Lemon Juice Aqua Faba

Method: Add whisky, syrup and bitters to mixing glass. Fill with ice and stir for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled martini coupe and garnish.

Glass: Highball Garnish: Pineapple and Star Anise

Glass: Martini Coupe Garnish: Pineapple Leaf, Pinch of Salt

Super easy-drinking, this is a light and refreshing long serve for a sunny day. The addition of coconut water and pineapple bitters accentuate the vibrant tropical fruit notes found within Fettercairn 12 Year Old, while the pineapple and star anise garnish adds an aroma of soft spice that complements the whisky’s finish.

A cocktail to be sipped, the 1824 Martini is elegant and refined, with Fettercairn 16 Year Old as the star of the show. It’s all about those notes of chocolate-coated pineapples, bananas and rich demerara sugar that come to the fore while enjoying this drink.

4/ Fettercairn 22 Year Old Fettercairn 22 Year Old

Method: Serve neat, pair with 100ml Peach Sparkling Water Glass: Whisky Tumbler

Method: Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Dry shake for 10 seconds.

Add ice to shaker and wet shake until the tin begins frosting over. Double strain over ice into serving glass.

Glass: Old Fashioned Garnish: Basil Leaf This is a drink that is bright, bold and full of flavour! It’s a twist on a classic whisky sour that focuses on the vibrancy and versatility of the wonderful tropical fruit notes prominent in Fettercairn 12 Year Old. Basil as a garnish gives a fresh note on the nose, pairing perfectly with the sweetness of the mango.

Fettercairn 16 Year Old Coconut Sugar Syrup (1 part water: 2 parts sugar) Pineapple & Star Anise Bitters

Method: Fill glass with ice. Add whisky, coconut water and bitters before topping with soda. Mix all ingredients with bar spoon and garnish.

25ml 50ml 25ml 10ml 25ml 20ml

Fettercairn 12 Year Old Coconut Water Pineapple & Star Anise Bitters Topped with Soda

Fettercairn 22 Year Old is another fantastic example of how our unique spirit ages in American white oak casks, with the light tropical fruit flavours of our new make spirit maturing into ripe bananas, spiced pear and lots of sweet vanilla. To cleanse the palate between each sip of this delicious whisky, I recommend pairing it with a chilled glass of peach-infused sparkling water.

Knowledge Bar Fettercairn The lineup Fettercairn Fettercairn Fettercairn Fettercairn

12 16 22 28

Year Year Year Year

Old Old Old Old

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40% VOL 46.4% VOL 47% VOL 42% VOL

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– all available at www.whiskyshop.com

Autumn inspiration For more cocktail inspiration, follow Andrew on Instagram via @andrewlennie04, as well as @fettercairnwhisky.

£47 £70 £200 £550

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1/ Fettercairn 28 Year Old

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2/ Mango Sour

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3/ Tropical Highball

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4/ Fettercairn 22 Year Old

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5/ 1824 Martini

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Our doors are open.

Autumn 2020 — We're open! Both online and on the high street.

Single Cask Whiskies / Autumnal Drams / → Buy online Weird and Wonderful / Customer Favourites → whiskyshop.com

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Single Cask Whiskies

➊ GlenAllachie 2008 #508 The Whisky Shop Exclusive 70cl | 51.8% VOL | £89.95

Sherry / Fruitcake / Apricot

→ Distilled in July 2008 and matured in a single Pedro Ximénez puncheon for more than a decade → Selected exclusively for The Whisky Shop, with just 773 bottles filled → A spectacular sherry bomb!

By their very nature, single casks produce ➋ GlenDronach 1992 27 Year Old #5852 The Whisky Shop Exclusive whisky that is extremely limited and one70cl | 58.4% VOL | £300 Milk chocolate / Orange / Cinnamon of-a-kind. Add something special to your → Distilled in June 1992 and matured in a single Oloroso sherry butt for almost three decades → Bottled in 2020 at natural cask strength → Highly exclusive; just 304 bottles exist spirits shelf from our single cask selection.

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➌ Maker's Mark Private Select #3 The Whisky Shop Exclusive 70cl | 54.4% VOL | £85

Tropical fruit / Brown sugar / Pine

→ A Kentucky bourbon hand-selected by our team of experts → The third release from our series of Maker's Mark single barrel bottlings → Matured in a barrel made from a bespoke selection of different wooden staves

➍ BenRiach 2005 The Whisky Shop Exclusive 70cl | 56% VOL | £85

Red liquorice / Toffee / Rhubarb crumble

→ Drawn from cask #5279 and bottled exclusively for The Whisky Shop → Limited to just 553 bottles, each at natural cask strength → Packed with plenty of BenRiach’s famed fruity sweetness

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➎ Kavalan Selection Port Cask The Whisky Shop Exclusive 70cl | 58.6% VOL | £195

Peaches and cream / Brown sugar / Blackcurrant jam

→ Distilled at King Car Distillery in Taiwan, home of Kavalan single malt → Matured in a single port cask, before being bottled at natural cask strength → Selected exclusively for The Whisky Shop

➏ The Loch Fyne Springbank 28 Year Old 70cl | 40% VOL | £350

Fresh fruit / Honey / Spiced pear

→ Distilled at Springbank Distillery in 1989 and bottled by Loch Fyne Whiskies → Just 211 bottles were filled after spending almost three decades in cask → Awarded the accolade of Liquid Gold in Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2019

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Autumnal Drams

➊ Macallan 18 Year Old Sherry Oak 2020 70cl | 43% VOL | £299

The nip in the air calls for a new nip in your glass! From bourbons to sherry bombs, warm up with our selection of top autumn tipples. ➊

Orange / Ginger / Cinnamon

→ The latest release from Macallan's sublime Sherry Oak range → Matured in carefully selected sherry casks from Jerez → Packs plenty of spice and Christmas cake flavour

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➋ Arran Sherry Cask The Bodega 70cl | 55.8% VOL | £59

Hazelnut / Pink pepper / Sweet cherry

→ Distilled at Arran’s Lochranza Distillery → Matured for seven years in first-fill sherry hogsheads → Presented at natural cask strength; this is sure to warm up breezy beach walks

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➌ GlenDronach 15 Year Old Revival 70cl | 46% VOL | £62

➎ Eagle Rare

Treacle / Toffee / Terry’s Chocolate Orange

→ Matured in the finest Oloroso sherry and Pedro Ximénez casks → A full bodied and dynamic dram for its 15 years → Awarded ‘Best in Show’ at this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition

➏ Bowmore 15 Year Old

Seville orange / Roasted chestnut / Toffee

→ Single malt from Dalmore Distillery aged in American white oak ex-bourbon casks → Finished in tawny port pipes from W&J Graham's vineyard in Portugal → Esteemed Master Blender Richard Paterson does it again!

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Candied almonds / Toffee / Cocoa

→ Produced at the famous Buffalo Trace Distillery and aged for no less than 10 years → Celebrated around the world with plenty of gold medals → Pack this on your next camping trip for Old Fashioned cocktails around the campfire

➍ Dalmore Port Wood Reserve 70cl | 46.5% VOL | £65

75cl | 45% VOL | £43

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70cl | 43% VOL | £67

Dried fruit / Sherry / Dark chocolate

→ Distilled at Islay’s first legal distillery, the ‘Queen of the Hebrides’ → The distillery's proximity to the ocean creates Bowmore's signature sea salt character → Finished in sherry casks, imparting a rich sweetness alongside peated smoke

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Weird & Wonderful

➊ Waterford Bannow Island 1.1 70cl | 50% VOL | £80

With Halloween just around the corner, we’ve rounded up some of the industry’s most curious creations, that also happen to taste (frighteningly) delicious.

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Honey / Dried fruit / Salted caramel

→ One of the first releases from innovative Waterford Distillery → Distilled entirely with Irish barley grown on the coast of Country Wexford → The distillery focuses on creating ‘barley-forward, terroir-driven’ whisky

➋ Waterford Ballykilcavan 1.1

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70cl | 50% VOL | £80

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The Last Word

Redcurrants / Cut grass / Mulled wine

→ Another release from Waterford Distillery, founded by ex-Bruichladdich CEO Mark Reynier → Part of the distillery's Single Farm Origin series → Distilled with award-winning barley, this time grown by David Walsh-Kemmis in County Laois

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➌ Glenlivet Spectra 3x20cl | 40% VOL | £99.95

➎ Scapegrace Black Gin You decide!

70cl | 41.6% VOL | £37.50

→ A limited edition trio of mystery whiskies that showcase a wide spectrum of flavours → Each is presented without tasting notes, age or cask information → Drinkers test their tasting abilities, determining what makes each whisky unique

➍ Glen Moray Madeira Cask Project 70cl | 46.3% VOL | £65

➏ Discarded Banana Peel Rum

Pear / Dark chocolate / Berries

→ The third release in Glen Moray’s Elgin Curiosity Collection and a limited edition → Matured for more than 13 years in Madeira wine hogsheads → The first of the distillery’s whiskies be wholly matured in ex-wine casks

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Elderberry / Tropical fruit / Cream soda

→ The latest release from New Zealand’s award-winning Scapegrace Distillery → An intriguing array of botanicals including butterfly pea, saffron, pineapple and sweet potato → A gin that changes colour when mixed with tonic, turning into shades of purple and pink

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50cl | 37.5% VOL | £25

Vanilla / Treacle toffee / Banana bread

→ Banoffee pie lovers – this one’s for you! → Made by infusing Caribbean rum with banana peels that would have otherwise been thrown away → Makes a mean Daiquiri

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Not Just Whisky

➊ Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream 75cl | 15% VOL | £18

Milk chocolate / Vanilla / Cinnamon

→ The perfect marriage of rich cream and smooth Kentucky bourbon → ‘Delectable’ doesn’t even come close! → Enjoy over ice, in a cocktail or add a drop to your post-dinner coffee

Purveyors of whisky by name, we also offer ➋ Hendrick's Lunar Gin a wide spectrum of spirits to cover all of 70cl | 43.4% VOL | £35 Lavender / Lemongrass / Cardamom your sipping needs (and make your home → A limited edition expression crafted by Master Distiller Lesley Gracie → Floral yet spicy, this is a gin to be sipped as the sun goes down → Serve with tonic and garnish with cucumber slices and black pepper bar the most enviable among your friends). ➊

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➌ Kraken Rum Reef Wreckage 70cl | 40% VOL | £39

➎ The Loch Fyne Chocolate & Orange Liqueur Cinnamon / Ginger / Clove

50cl | 40% VOL | £29

→ Distilled from molasses derived from locally grown sugar cane in Trinidad & Tobago → This limited edition bottle supports the work of Surfers Against Sewage → A percentage of profits from every sale go to the charity to help with beach clean-ups

➍ Brugal 1888 Ron Gran Reserva Familiar 70cl | 40% VOL | £40.75

Sultanas / Toffee apple / Demerara sugar

→ A special edition double-distilled Dominican rum → Matured initially in American oak barrels → A second maturation takes place in Spanish oak sherry casks

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Milk chocolate / Tangerine / Spiced smoke

→ Terry’s Chocolate Orange in liquid form! → Natural flavourings of chocolate and orange complement the whisky at its core → Perfect for whisky lovers seeking a dessert-like dram

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Hunter Laing Exclusives

➊ First Editions Blair Athol 2009 70cl | 46% VOL | £70

Apple / Red berries / Caramel

→ Distilled in 2009 at Blair Athol Distillery in the Perthshire town of Pitlochry → Matured in a single sherry butt for its full term, imparting rich sweetness → A limited edition release of just 669 bottles

Glasgow-based bottlers Hunter Laing pride ➋ First Editions Caol Ila 2010 8 Year Old themselves on an inventory of exceptional 70cl | 46% VOL | £105 Lemon / Bonfire smoke / Seaweed and rare malts – from which these single → A single cask expression from Islay favourite, Caol Ila Distillery → Distilled in 2010 before spending eight years in a single sherry butt → Just 818 bottles have been filled cask whiskies have been handpicked as Whisky Shop exclusives. ➊

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➌ First Editions Deanston 2009 70cl | 46% VOL | £74

➎ First Editions Talisker 2010 Raspberry / Toffee / Dark chocolate

70cl | 46% VOL | £89

→ Distilled in 2009 at Deanston Distillery in the Scottish Highlands → Aged in a single port cask for its full term, adding lots of sweet berry flavours → Highly limited, only 239 bottles exist

➍ First Editions Glen Garioch 2008 10 Year Old 70cl | 46% VOL | £70

➏ Old Malt Cask Ben Nevis 23 Year Old

Green tea / Lemon tart / Banana

70cl | 50% VOL | £160

→ Highland single malt distilled at Glen Garioch Distillery in 2008 → Matured for a decade in a single refill hogshead → Blink and you’ll miss it – just 204 bottles exist

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Custard / Sea salt / Peat smoke

→ Distilled at Skye's Talisker Distillery in 2010 → Matured in a single sherry butt for eight years → Only 810 bottles have been produced

Orange / Caramel / Honey

→ Part of Hunter Laing’s Old Malt Cask series → Distilled at Ben Nevis Distillery in October 1996 before spending 23 years in a single refill barrel → Limited to just 601 bottles

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Customer Favourites Light / Floral

➋ Fettercairn 12 Year Old 70cl | 40% VOL | £47

➌ anCnoc 12 Year Old 70cl | 40% VOL | £38

➊ Loch Lomond 12 Year Old 70cl | 46% VOL | £45

Nectarine / Ginger / Pear

Hailing from the village of the same name, this whisky is a masterclass in fruity Highland flavour – perfectly embodying Fettercairn’s exotic fruit-driven character. It has been matured in American oak ex-bourbon for its full 12 years in cask. Simply delicious.

Banana / Butterscotch / Custard

Produced at Knochdhu Distillery in the Highlands and matured in a combination of second-fill American oak, ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, this is an award-winning expression “that should adorn a shelf in every whisky-drinking home,” according to whisky writer Jim Murray.

Vanilla / Brown sugar / Apple turnover

Produced at Loch Lomond’s bonnie banks-based distillery, where a range of different stills are used to create a stunning variety of single malts. In the words of Jim Murray, this 12-year-old expression boasts “a sublime balance” between fruity malt and spice.

“All my favourite desserts rolled into one: chunky cookie dough and peanut butter meet freshly baked apple turnover and carmelised creme brûlée. A dusting of spice on the finish makes a perfect autumnal dram!”

→ Rory, The Whisky Shop Glasgow

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➍ Balblair 12 Year Old 70cl | 46% VOL | £52

➐ Glen Moray 18 Year Old Sultanas / Honey / Apple

70cl | 47.2% VOL | £85

Matured in American oak, ex-bourbon and double-fired American oak casks, this 12-year-old whisky has an elegant complexity and warmth – the defining expression of Balblair Distillery.

➎ Balblair 15 Year Old 70cl | 46% VOL | £80

➑ Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old Apple / Dates / Caramel

70cl | 46.3% VOL | £47

An older sibling to Balblair 12 Year Old, this whisky perfectly balances unique distillery character with smoothness of age, thanks to a flavour profile of tropical fruits and a texture of melted chocolate. Gorgeous.

➒ Auchroisk 10 Year Old Honey / Vanilla / Malted biscuit

70cl | 43% VOL | £48

A single malt crafted by Bruichladdich legend Jim McEwan, this expression showcases the florality and elegance of the distillery’s house style. Unpeated, The Classic Laddie is the distillery’s signature bottling and the definitive Bruichladdich.

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Orange zest / Cut grass / Roasted nuts

A special whisky due to being the only official bottling of Auchroisk Distilllery. This 10-year-old expression is part of Diageo’s Flora & Fauna series – an ode to superb single malts from lesser known distilleries which normally provide liquid for blends.

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Dried fruit / Honey / Chestnut

Bunnhabhain’s whiskies are quite distinct from other single malts of the region, in that the majority are produced with unpeated malted barley. Toast the versatility of Islay with this superb 12-year-old expression that showcases Bunnhabhain’s ‘fruit and nut’ signature style.

➏ Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 70cl | 50% VOL | £52

Heather / Honey / Fudge

A Speyside single malt from the Cairngorms, this expression is aged in the finest American oak barrels, specially selected to emphasise the whisky’s smooth character. It is a whisky that is celebrated for its long and mellow finish.

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Customer Favourites Rich / Sweet

➋ The Glenrothes Vintage Reserve 70cl | 40% VOL | £40

➌ The Dalmore 12 Year Old 70cl | 40% VOL | £50

➊ Arran 10 Year Old 70cl | 46% VOL | £45

Cocoa / Marmalade / Milk chocolate

This single malt is a Highland triumph: full-bodied, thick and sweet. A popular dram, known for its long and spicy finish, and a beautifully rich expression for its 12 years of age.

Apple / Cinnamon / Digestive biscuits

An award-winning whisky that captures the fresh and unique style of this Western Isle distillery and its Arran malt. A worthy addition to your whisky cabinet, this expression offers a fantastic introduction to the flavours from Arran.

“This timeless example of Arran’s malt is my goto dram… any day of the week! Citrus fruits are followed by rich vanilla and buttery shortbread biscuit, with a hint of hot cross buns and a seriously silky finish.”

→ Cara, The Whisky Shop Brighton

Cherry / Fruitcake / Caramel

This easy-drinking expression from Glenrothes Distillery marries the liquid of ten different vintages from between 1989 and 2007, achieving the perfect balance of vibrant youth and mellow maturity.

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➍ The BenRiach 12 Year Old Sherry Wood 70cl | 46% VOL | £48

➐ The Dalmore 15 Year Old

Vanilla / Apricot / Figs

A Speyside single malt matured in sherry casks, before being finished in a combination of Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks. This expression oozes layers upon layers of spice, sweet fruits and toasted oak.

➎ Old Pulteney 15 Year Old 70cl | 46% VOL | £75

Honey / Salted caramel / Fruitcake

➏ Benrinnes 15 Year Old

70cl | 43% VOL | £52

Toffee apple / Sherry / Malted biscuit

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Walnut / Cinnamon / Fruitcake

Established in 1798, Blair Athol is one of Scotland’s oldest working distilleries and is famed for producing the signature malt for Bell’s blend. A delicious dram, this is one of only a few official bottlings ever released from the distillery.

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This 15-year-old Speyside single malt is partially triple-distilled at Benrinnes Distillery, resulting in a sultry expression that packs in plenty of body and character. It is another bottling from Diageo’s Flora & Fauna series, highlighting the versatility of distilleries producing liquid for blends.

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Chocolate orange / Fruitcake / Sherry

An older sibling to The Dalmore 12 Year Old, this expression has been matured for 15 years in a trio of ex-sherry casks (Matusalem, Apostoles and Amoroso sherry), as well as ex-bourbon barrels. It offers all of the sweetness and spice expected of The Dalmore.

➑ Blair Athol 12 Year Old

An incredibly balanced single malt that has spent time in American oak ex-bourbon casks and finished in Spanish oak. Spice and sweetness combine with the refreshing coastal notes expected from this seaside distillery to create a delicious dram.

70cl | 43% VOL | £52

70cl | 40% VOL | £72

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Customer Favourites Rich / Sweet

➋ Glenfiddich Project XX 70cl | 47% VOL | £50

➌ Glen Moray 15 Year Old 70cl | 40% VOL | £55

➊ Highland Park 18 Year Old Viking Pride 70cl | 43% VOL | £110

Fruit salad / Cinnamon / Allspice

“Mouth-wateringly delicious stuff: my desert island dram. Notes of black pepper, cherry, caramel, honey, smoky bacon, orange peel, and soft smoke offer a complexity I just can’t quantify! And the finish goes on and on…”

Dark chocolate / Sherry / Fudge

Unquestionably Speyside in character, this expression showcases a carefully matured, complex and well-rounded whisky, aged in a combination of sherry and American oak casks, and influenced by Elgin’s unique climate.

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Named ‘Best Spirit in the World’ in the Spirit Journal on two separate occasions, this 18-year-old offers the perfect balance of harmony, complexity and refinement. A consistently excellent malt from Orkney's Highland Park Distillery.

Alex, The Whisky Shop Inverness

Cinnamon / Almond / Pear drops

The result of one of the most ambitious malt experiments undertaken by Glenfiddich, bringing together 20 whisky experts from around the world and combining each of their selected Glenfiddich casks. The result is something spectacular.

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➍ Glen Scotia Victoriana 70cl | 54.2% VOL | £73

➐ Oban Distillers Edition Creme brûlée / Cocoa / Caramel

70cl | 43% VOL | £79

Inspired by the whiskies produced at Glen Scotia distillery in the Victorian times, this expression has been relaunched at a slightly higher strength and bottled straight from cask to better reflect how historic expressions of this era would have tasted. Delicious!

➎ The GlenDronach 18 Year Old Allardice 70cl | 46% VOL | £120

➑ The GlenDronach 12 Year Old

Stewed fruit / Walnut / Cherry

70cl | 43% VOL | £49

An ode to James Allardice who founded the distillery and produced the very first drops of “guid Glendronach,” this expression has been matured in the finest Oloroso sherry casks.

Rich and dark, it offers remarkable depth of flavour.

➏ Benromach 10 Year Old 70cl | 43% VOL | £39.99

Milk chocolate / Sea salt / Christmas cake

A distillery renowned for its innovation, each expression of Oban Distillers Edition undergoes double maturation in casks that have previously held a fortified wine. This edition has been finished in a Montilla Fino cask – a rare type of finish and a complete treat!

Marmalade / Sherry / Raisins

An award-winning expression from the distillery famous for its richly sherried offering – this 12-year-old is a firm favourite amongst our customers. Matured in both Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks, this expression offers an indulgent portfolio of flavours.

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→ Buy online → whiskyshop.com

Green apple / Toffee / Black cherry

Produced at the family-owned distillery in Forres and aged for a decade in first-fill bourbon and sherry casks, Benromach’s 10-year-old is a dram that is unmistakably Speyside in flavour. It is the proud winner of multiple gold awards.

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Customer Favourites Smoky ➊ Port Charlotte 10 Year Old 70cl | 50% VOL | £62

➋ Talisker Port Ruighe 70cl | 45.8% VOL | £55

Cocoa / Plum / Spicy pepper

Rich and fruity, Talisker have taken their Isle of Skye malt and finished it in ruby port casks to achieve this delicious dram. 'Port Ruighe' (pronounced 'Portree') is the Gaelic spelling of the once bustling trading port on Skye.

➌ Ailsa Bay 1.2 70cl | 48.9% VOL | £60

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Vanilla / Shortbread / Campfire ember

Ailsa Bay 1.2 has undergone the distillery’s signature micro-maturation process – rapid maturation in ex-bourbon casks before ageing in virgin American oak casks for several years – achieving a single malt that’s even sweeter and smokier than its predecessor. Beautiful.

Salted caramel / Peat smoke / Ginger

The flagship release in Bruichladdich's heavily-peated range, this single malt is packed to the brim with characteristic Port Charlotte smoke. Aged in American oak and French wine casks, the liquid has been distilled, matured and bottled entirely on Islay.

“A peated masterpiece! Oily and thick on the palate; a sucker-punch of smoke gives way to layers of sweetness. Wickedly delicious.”

→ Callum, The Whisky Shop Bath

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➍ Caol Ila Distillers Edition 70cl | 43% VOL | £75

➏ Loch Lomond 12 Year Old Inchmoan Malted biscuit / Peat smoke / Cinnamon

A sweeter expression from the Islay distillery due to time spent in moscatel casks at the end of its maturation process. The result is a delicious layer of sweetness and dried fruits on top of classic Caol Ila peat smoke.

➎ Jura 18 Year Old 70cl | 44% VOL | £75

70cl | 46% VOL | £50

Vanilla / Medicinal smoke / Pear drops

A unique expression made up of whisky from a traditional swan neck pot still and whisky from a straight neck pot still, achieving great depth and unconventional peat character within this 12-year-old Highland single malt.

→ Buy online → whiskyshop.com Dark chocolate / Coffee / Blackcurrant jam

The oldest expression in Jura’s signature range, Jura 18 Year Old has been aged in American white oak ex-bourbon barrels and enriched by Premier Grand Cru Classé red wine barriques.

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Customer Favourites International

➋ Kavalan Concertmaster 50cl | 40% VOL | £55

➌ Tyrconnell 16 Year Old Oloroso & Moscatel Cask Finish 70cl | 46.3% VOL | £80

➊ Maker’s 46 70cl | 47% VOL | £45

Nutmeg / Mulled wine / Caramel

“Easy like a Sunday morning: this bourbon is all buttered toast, breakfast tea and cinnamon pancakes, with a blast of spice on the finish.

I drink mine with ice to allow delicious woody oak flavours to come to the fore.”

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Honeycomb / Grapefruit / Spiced oak

A limited edition expression of Cooley Distillery’s Irish single malt that has spent time in American white oak ex-bourbon barrels before being finished in Oloroso sherry and moscatel wine casks from Andalucia. A winning combination.

Filled into a barrel partly made of seared French oak staves, this stunning Kentucky bourbon packs plenty of spice and is named after the final recipe chosen by its creators – recipe number 46.

→ Anna, The Whisky Shop Nottingham

Tropical fruit / Vanilla / Cinnamon

One of the most awarded Asian whiskies of all time, this Taiwanese whisky is made using the pure spring water that flows through the Snow Mountain of Yilan, before maturing in American oak and port barriques. Something different, and something delicious.

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➍ Green Spot 70cl | 40% VOL | £46

➐ Roe & Co Vanilla / Papaya / Chocolate

70cl | 45% VOL | £35

Produced at Midleton Distillery in Ireland and comprised of pot still whiskeys aged between seven and ten years old, this whiskey was once only available to buy at one grocery store in Dublin. It is now a whiskey held to high acclaim across the world – and rightly so!

➎ Redbreast 12 Year Old 70cl | 40% VOL | £50

➑ Tullamore D.E.W. 14 Year Old Ginger / Marzipan / Dried fruit

70cl | 41.3% VOL | £57

This 12-year-old expression is an Irish single pot still whiskey full of aroma and flavour, praised by critics worldwide. Matured in ex-bourbon barrels and Oloroso sherry casks, you can thank the latter for giving this whiskey its signature Christmas cake flavour.

➏ Bulleit Bourbon 10 Year Old 70cl | 45.6% VOL | £49

Pear drops / Allspice / Vanilla

Developed by Diageo Master Blender Caroline Martin, this is a whiskey that can be enjoyed neat or hold its own in a cocktail. A tasty blend of malt and grain from various distilleries across Ireland, this expression has been matured predominantly in first-fill bourbon casks.

Vanilla / Honey / Apple

A delicious dram that has been triple distilled in true Irish tradition. Aged for up to 14 years in ex-bourbon barrels, this expression was then finished for a minimum of 6 months in a range of different casks, including Oloroso sherry butts, port pipes and Madeira drums.

➐ Apricot / Vanilla / Cinnamon

A top-notch Kentucky bourbon that has spent a decade in oak. With a mash bill of 68% corn, 28% rye and 4% malted barley, this is the go-to bourbon for a rich balance of creaminess and spice.

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Expert Tasting

Expert Tasting ⇨ Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 23 Year Old 2019 Port Ellen 40 Year Old 9 Rogue Casks Reviewed by Charles MacLean

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

Expert Tasting

An ocean apart: Port Ellen Distillery in Islay (left) and barrels at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky (right).

pappy van winkle Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve has been described as “more a folk tale than a whiskey”, “a unicorn” and “the most hyped bourbon ever,” all on account of its rarity.

Only around 84,000 bottles are released each year (less than 10,000 bottles for each state in the US). If you think that’s a lot, compare with 84 million bottles of Jim Beam (a million and a half bottles per state). The online superstore, Gear Control, writes in their magazine: “Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve is super rare and the vast majority of people will go their entire lives without sampling any.” In most states it is sold by ballot: consumers apply for tickets, the lucky winners are drawn and offered the chance to buy a bottle.

The eponymous Julian ‘Pappy’ Van Winkle was a brilliant bourbon salesman in the 1890s who eventually became the president of the Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Kentucky. His son and grandson, Julian Van Winkle Jr. and Julian Van Winkle III, ran the distillery until the family sold it in 1972, but kept the family name alive in the bourbon business by buying back old barrels from Stitzel-Weller and other distilleries and bottling the whiskey under the Old Rip Van Winkle label.

In the 1980s, Julian Van Winkle III started bottling exceptional and very old bourbons.

Eventually those became the modern line of the Van Winkle range, including the three oldest expressions: Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 15 Year Old, 20 Year Old and 23 Year Old. In 1996, a sales rep in Chicago entered the 20 Year Old into a Beverage Tasting Institute panel: it was awarded 99 out of 100 points, the highest ever score for a bourbon. Rave reviews began to roll in, culminating in 2012 with the late Anthony Bourdain, super-celebrity chef, author and film star, ordering the 20 Year Old and saying on screen: “That is an incredibly wonderful bourbon

whose name I’m not gonna mention because there are just too many sons of bitches out there who want it.” He later tweeted that he was considering getting a Pappy tattoo across his entire back!

Demand exploded, stimulated by the fact that it far outstripped supply.

Pappy is described as a ‘wheated bourbon’, with a mash bill which has a higher quantity of wheat than normal, bestowing a velvety texture and sweeter taste. The original stocks of StitzelWeller whiskeys seem to have been used up in the early 2000s, and now Pappy is produced at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky. port ellen If Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve is the most elusive bourbon, its equivalent Scotch single malt must be Port Ellen, which has won a cult following since the distillery was closed and dismantled in 1983.

Nine rogue casks filled in 1979 were selected

by Master Blender Dr. Craig Wilson – four American oak hogsheads and five European oak butts, all refills and all with unusual and individual flavour characteristics – blended, and bottled at natural strength, without tinting or chill-filtration. The nine casks yielded 1,380 bottles. It is the oldest Port Ellen so far released by the distillery owner, and the second release in Diageo’s Port Ellen Untold Stories series exploring aspects of the distillery’s history.

The first ‘untold story’, released early 2019, was named The Spirit Safe. The eponymous safe was trialled at Port Ellen Distillery.

A prototype spirit safe was invented by Septimus Fox in the early 1820s – a glass-fronted brass cabinet through which it was possible to see and test the strength and purity of the spirit during distillation, without physically having access to it. At either end of the safe were large padlocks and only the resident excise officer

and the distillery manager held the keys.

The Excise Act 1823 made its use compulsory, but distillers found this irksome and claimed they couldn’t properly test the spirit through a window, so in September that year the Excise Board agreed to waive the clause until experiments had been done to investigate.

These were done at Port Ellen Distillery where it was shown to have no adverse effects, and the first safes were installed throughout the industry in 1825.

The founder of the distillery went bankrupt within months of its opening and ownership passed rapidly to three relatives, all of whom had doubts about its viability. In 1832, one of the relatives sent his eighteen-year-old nephew, John Ramsay, to Islay to look into this and report back.

John believed the distillery had a bright future in the right hands and his uncle installed him as manager, after he had served an apprenticeship in distilling with a cousin in Alloa.

John Ramsay was a remarkable man. He invented a greatly improved spirit safe and played a key role in persuading the excise authorities to permit maturation under bond, before duty had to be paid. In fact, Port Ellen’s Warehouse Number One was the first duty-free bond in Scotland. He was also one of the earliest distillers to export whisky to America, inaugurated the first regular steamship service between Islay and Glasgow (where he was Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce) and was elected MP for Stirling (1868) then Falkirk (1874-1886).

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Tasting notes

Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 23 Year Old 2019

“Maple syrup, plum jam, then vanilla toffee… all on a mellow base of oakwood.

Very deep amber in colour.

A fresh nose-feel and a highly complex aroma: the top notes are sweet (maple syrup, plum jam, then vanilla toffee) and faintly herbal (allspice, black pepper, camphor), all on a mellow base of oakwood. Artichokes in the development. A creamy texture and a taste which starts lightly sweet, with vanilla ice cream in midpalate, finishing minty and spicy. A very long warming finish. Outstanding.

75cl 23 Year Old Kentucky Bourbon

47.8% Vol £1,850

Port Ellen 40 Year Old 9 Rogue Casks

“Grilled pork chop, seared tangerine… with just a suggestion of peat smoke.

Deep gold; late summer sunlight. A profoundly mellow nose, the top notes are savoury (grilled pork chop, seared tangerine) and maritime (sea salt), with just a suggestion of peat smoke. A drop of water increases the tangerine and adds more fruit notes (peach?). The taste is much sweeter than expected, with floral notes in mid-palate, a shake of salt and a lightly smoky finish. All increased at reduced strength.

70cl 40 Year Old Islay Single Malt

50.9% Vol £6,395

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Whiskeria Autumn 2020

The Last Word

Tell me, what’s your flavour?

Whisky: loved the world over for its complex aromas, but what are we to thank for the flavours found in our glass?

Experts on the frontline of whisky flavour, Mark Reynier and Stuart MacPherson give us their views.

terroir up this town Mark Reynier, Founder, Waterford Distillery Terroir used to be important for whisky production as every still, illegal or otherwise, would use the owner’s own-grown barley. Some were blessed with good soils, microclimate and topography; others less so. Perhaps the farm distilleries that survived, expanded and became the famous names of today were those best suited to growing great barley?

In 1926, Herbert Hunter wrote a thesis on terroir – though he did not call it that – and its impact on barley growing, noting that different microclimates and soils could be the difference between success and failure. There’s nothing new about terroir apart from the name – and the French have been using that for years. Gardeners know in which parts of their garden certain plants grow best; where they blossom finest and bloom most vibrantly. Farmers, too, intimately know their land; that’s terroir.

Since barley is the origin of single malt whisky’s complex flavours, it surprises me that the whisky world pays so little attention to it.

It is, after all, what makes malt whisky, whisky.

Most will argue that it’s the mechanical process of distillation that determines what whisky tastes like; certainly, these play their part mainly with weight and purity of spirit. Others insist it’s the wood – “80% of a whisky’s flavour…” – but that ignores the fact that a spirit’s flavour must be there in the first place otherwise we might as well use industrial alcohol, or cheaper grains.

No, barley is what makes malt whisky the most flavoursome spirit in the world, and it is defined in law.

One would hypothesise, how and where that barley grows ought to determine the flavour profile of a whisky. At Bruichladdich, I was able to put that to the test. When one sees two burly farmers discussing earnestly with each other about the merits of their spirit produced from their own barley – one from sandy soil, the other clay – you know you are on to something.

At Waterford, we have been able to scale this up and put into practice the world’s first definitive barley terroir set up; it’s a steppingstone to our destination, the grand cuvée.

Furthermore, over the last three years we have undertaken the first ever terroir-proving project to scientifically demonstrate the effects of terroir – and the results are startling.

If you are inquisitive, curious to know more about whisky’s intrinsic raw flavours, I invite you to join our journey. holy oak!

Stuart MacPherson, Master of Wood, The Macallan Our exceptional oak casks are the single greatest contributor to the outstanding quality, natural colours and distinctive aromas and flavours of The Macallan. Because of this, we invest in the sourcing, crafting, seasoning and caring of our casks, and over many years we have developed a deep level of understanding of how both the wood and specific oak species influence our whisky.

Oak is the preferred wood to construct casks from due to its strength and porosity for holding our precious liquid, but importantly, many elements present in oak influence the whisky’s final flavour.

Over time, our knowledge and understanding of the influence of wood on our whisky has increased around the toasting levels, the duration for seasoning casks with sherry, and in turn how this impacts the spirit. For example, during heat treatment of wood, hemicellulose breaks down first into its constituent sugars, then into caramelization products such as Furfural, Maltol and Hydroxymethyl Furfural.

These compounds are responsible for sweet, toasted flavours as well as colour development.

Furthermore, specific influence on whisky’s flavour can be traced to different species of oak and geographical origin.

We source our European oak from Northern Spain, in the regions of Galicia, Austurias and

Navarra, where you find the Quercus Robur species. Typically, this kind of oak will deliver magnificent flavours of dried fruits, spice, and orange citrus.

When it comes to sourcing American oak, which we use in The Macallan Double Cask range, our search takes us to the eastern states, such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky.

Interestingly, American oak tends to be more dense than European oak. There are two main oak lactones of which cis-isomer is more common in American oak, and these are derived from natural oils that are present in the wood.

Their levels are increased with seasoning and heat treatment and this provides woody, coconut aromas in our whisky which give way to typical flavours of vanilla, lemon citrus and coconut.

When it comes to our wood policy, our investment and understanding has shaped The Macallan’s signature style, as well as the quality and consistency synonymous with our brand.

Our commitment to understanding more and more, across both the species of oak we select to mature our whisky in and how that wood can influence its flavour, is instrumental to the creation of The Macallan – and will remain so for years to come.

Knowledge Bar Try these at home Waterford Ballykilcavan 1.1 50% VOL | £80 Waterford Bannow Island 1.1 50% VOL | £80 ————— Macallan 15 Year Old Double Cask 43% VOL | £100 Macallan 18 Year Old Double Cask 43% VOL | £250

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“WE MAKE FINE BOURBON AT A PROFIT IF WE CAN, AT A LOSS IF WE MUST,

BUT ALWAYS FINE BOURBON” - Julian P. “Pappy” Van Winkle

The Van Winkle Collection is proudly part of the Buffalo Trace Distillery family.

Now available to buy at The Whisky Shop.

Please enjoy responsibly.