KWM Whisky Advent Day 10 - Connoisseurs Choice Auchroisk 1996
Posted on October 25, 2024
Welcome to KWM Whisky Advent Day 10!Well I am a dram short and a day behind but we'll get caught up today come hell or high strength whisky... Day 10 has us sipping on another Gordon & MacPhail bottling. I did a bit of a write up on Gordon & MacPhail on Day 4 which you can read here to refresh! But there is so much more that can be said about this family firm. Gordon & MacPhail was opened on the 24th May 1895 as reported in the Elgin Courant: "in New, Centrical, and Commodious Premises, No's 38 and 40 South Street... a Family Grocers, Tea, Wine & Spirit Merchants". The firm was founded by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail, and one of their first employees was a 15 year old John Urquhart. One of his jobs was to help select and purchase casks of malt whisky for the shop. John also helped created house blends for the firm's many customers in the north of Scotland.
When Mr. MacPhail retired in March of 1915 John Urquhart was made a partner. Two weeks later he became the senior partner when James Gordon suddenly passed away. The business has been in the Urquhart family ever since, currently in its 4th generation. John continued to grow the whisky brokering side of the business begun by James Gordon and began filling his own casks of whisky from distilleries across Scotland. This is a practice the firm continues to this day, setting them apart from other independent bottlers. Most of the casks were Ex-Sherry casks acquired by the firm through their wine business. John Urquhart also began the practice of laying down stocks of whisky for extended periods of time, an uncommon practice.
[caption id="attachment_3587" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption=""Auchroisk Distillery" by Anne Burgess. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auchroisk_Distillery.jpg#/media/File:Auchroisk_Distillery.jpg"][/caption]
John's three children joined him in his business beginning in the 1930s with George and Betty in 1933 and Gordon in 1950. By the 1950's Gordon & MacPhail had the largest range of bottled whisky held by any firm in the world. Few distilleries bottled their own whiskies as single malts in that day. In the 1960s distilleries like Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Macallan, Glenmorangie and Bowmore began bottling their own single malts and promoting them globally. During the same period George Urquhart released a new line of single malts under the Connoisseurs Choice range which caught on very quickly in markets across Western Europe and the US.
In the KWM Whisky Advent Calendar today we have another Connoisseurs Choice single malt today, this one is a 1996 from the Auchroisk distillery. The distillery was built in 1974 by J&...
KWM 2015 Whisky Advent Day 9 - Compass Box Great King Street Glasgow
Posted on December 17, 2024
Welcome to KWM Whisky Advent Day 9!Compass Box is Scotland's most respected Boutique Blender, and 2015 is it's 15th Anniversary, a banner year. The firm was founded by John Glaser who'd got his start in the liquor business working in the wine trade before. Along the way he found himself working for one of the world's largest whisky companies in their marketing department. John also learned the art of blending working for Johnny Walker, he was hooked and it gave him an idea. He wanted to create a boutique blending firm within the Johnny Walker family. The industry juggernaut was not interested, so John set off on his own with their blessing, and contracts giving him access to some of their whiskies.
Compass Box was born in 2000 with an eye to innovation and a desire to reinvigorate the Blended Scotch Whisky category. Single Malts were exploding in popularity and Compass Box saw an opportunity to make Blends that would appeal to single malt drinkers. John wanted people to get excited about Blended Scotch and the techniques used to produce them. Over the last decade and a half Compass Box has been pushing the boundaries for Blended Scotch Whisky. Like the most exciting single malt producers Compass Box has a core range, but also releases interesting one off expressions. Some of these releases have drawn the scrutiny of the Scotch Whisky Association SWA, which doesn't have the most progressive reputation. In 2005 Compass Box first released The Spice Tree which involved inserting French oak staves (inner staves) into American oak casks for a secondary maturation. The SWA felt this was in contravention of the rules governing Scotch Whisky, and they threatened to sue. Annoyed but undaunted Compass Box shifted gears slightly putting French oak heads on American oak casks, nothing the SWA could do about that...
Compass Box added the extension of the Great King Street line in 2012. That year Great King Street Artist's Blend was named Blended Whisky of the Year in Whisky Magazine's Icons of Whisky Awards. A few years back John and his team were looking to broaden the Great King Street range and released two new experimental whiskies to give their most ardent fans a say in their next edition. From this crowd sourcing the Great King Street Glasgow was born, a whisky blended to be characteristic of whiskies popular in the 1930s. The blend is full bodied with a touch of peat and prominent sherry notes.
Compass Box Great King Street Glasgow - 43% - Andrew's Tasting Note: "Nose: oatmeal cookie dough, crisp spices and soft clean smoke; soft white fruits, a touch of honey and new leather; dried fruits and caramel chews; Palate: a soft thread of oily peat, buttery vanilla, light but crisp spices, mixed nuts and dried fruits; the caramel is still there with with sliced green apple and poached pear; Finish: long, coating and creamy with fading spic...
KWM Whisky Advent Day 8 - Glenglassaugh Evolution
Posted on October 25, 2024
Welcome to KWM Whisky Advent Day 8!Glenglassaugh distillery is built into the sand dunes above the east end of the Sandend Bay on the Moray coast. Established in 1875 by Col. James Moir the distillery remained in the family until just 1892 when it became a part of Highland Distillers. The distillery was established at its location near the growing town of Portsoy to supply the town's growing grocery business. It also helped that the distillery sat on the plentiful clean Glenglassaugh Springs, and it was also surrounded by bountiful barley fields. Highland Distillers, who also owned Macallan, Glenrothes and the Famous Grouse Blend owned the distillery from 1892 through 2008. The distillery didn't operate uninterrupted during these years.
In 1960 the distillery had a major upgrade, they doubled production and changed to producing a lighter spirit. But the good times were not to last, the late 1970s and early 1980s were a difficult time for the industry. An enormous number of distilleries were closed between 1981 and 1993, many never reopened. Only 26 years after its major upgrade Glenglassaugh joined the list of closed distilleries. The industry downturn was brutal, but it didn't last forever. In the 1990s interest in Scotch whisky, especially single malts began picking up, many of the closed distilleries we brought back to life, none of them later than Glenglassaugh. It is surprising that it ever opened at all, as the distillery was very remote and not especially well known, bottled seldomly even by independents.
In 2007 a group of Dutch investors, the Scaent Group, Â who had been looking for a distillery to purchase found their way to Glenglassaugh. They purchased the distillery and approximately 400 casks of pre-1986 stock from Highland Distillers. They took possession the following year and released the oldest core range any Scottish distiller has ever started with: 26, 30 and 40 year old single malts. After 6 months of intensive refurbishments, the First Minister of Scotland was on hand to turn on the mill for first time, November 28th 2008, reviving the distillery. In 2013 the distillery was purchased by the BenRiach Distillery Co. who also own BenRiach and Glendronach distilleries. As the post 2008 stocks mature, it will be interesting to see how the whiskies develop. They can't be the same as the pre-closures stocks as much of the equipment changed, but the hands of the BenRiach Distillery Co. they will be sure to make a mark. While we wait for more mature stocks, they have released three young expressions including the Glenglassaugh Evolution, our Day 8 whisky!
Glenglassaugh Evolution - 50% - First Fill Ex-Tennessee Whiskey Barrels - Andrew's Tasting Note: "Nose: vanilla icing sugars on vanilla cake, curry powder, grassy, floral and vegetal; raspberry coulee, lemon drops an...
2015 KWM Whisky Calendar Day 7 - Glendronach 15 Year
Posted on December 11, 2022
Welcome to KWM Whisky Advent Day 7!Wind the clock back a decade and Glendronach was a little known Highland distillery. Whisky connoisseurs in the know, knew of that 'Guid Auld Glendronach" but the brand had been long neglected by its owners, and it was an unknown quantity to your average punter. In 2008 the BenRiach Distillery Co., headed by industry veteran Billy Walker, made a successful bid for the distillery purchasing it from Pernod Ricard. Billy and his consortium (Intra Traing) had previously bought the BenRiach Distillery from Pernod in 2004. With BenRiach Billy and his team wasted no time re-launching the brand, releasing a new core range of single malts including both peated and unpeated expressions. A year later they began putting out single cask bottlings, and BenRiach quickly became one of the Scotch industry's most talked about producers. So when the BenRiach Distillery Co. announced its purchase of the Glendronach Distillery in 2008, whisky fanatics instantly began salivating.
They didn't have to wait long for their hopes and dreams to be rewarded. Only months after the takeover in 2009, Glendronach released a new core range of what have proven to be stalwart whiskies: 12, 15 and 18 year olds. The following year they opened a visitor center and they added the first release of Glendronach Grandeur 31 Year, 11 vintage single casks and four wood finish expressions. They haven't looked back since and the world has not been able to get enough of them. Over the last few years we've seen prices creeping up and we've started hearing rumours about some of the whiskies being put into allocation (like this 15 Year). The downside of Glendronach's growth is that they are struggling to keep up with demand. In just 4 years Glendronach went from being a little know distillery to the best selling whisky in our store. We now sell twice as much Glendronach as the next closest rival, in large part because of the amazing single casks we have been lucky enough to bottle.
Glendronach has one of the greatest founding myths of any distillery in the world. The distillery was founded in 1826 by James Allardice, hidden in the Forgue valley in the bucolic rolling hills north of Huntly. When he finally had whisky to sell Allardice did as one would in that day, he made his way to Edinbrugh, Scotland's largest city, to peddle his wares. After a long and futile day of calling on bars and pubs he decided to return to his hotel defeated. On the way, walking up the Cannongate, Allardice was propositioned by two ladies of the night, and this is where versions of the story diverge.
The one I prefer has Allardice sharing or gifting a flagon of his whisky to the ladies at the end of their affair. Perhaps it was a gratuity or payment for services rendered, or just a favour from a man desperate to share h...
KWM Whisky Advent Day 6 - Ardbeg 10 Year
Posted on October 25, 2024
Welcome to KWM Whisky Advent Day 6!Ardbeg is one of two Islay distilleries which marked their 200th birthdays this year. The iconic Hebridean Island distillery has been on a tear for the last 15 years, and it has one of the strongest and most loyal cult followings of any distillery in Scotland. Look at the popularity of its annual Ardbeg Day release if you need proof of this point. Or the sums people are willing to pay for older vintages like the 1974s or 17 year old expression. This makes it all the more striking when you consider that the distillery only operated intermittently from from 1981 through 1997, and it could easily have been demolished and lost forever!
Between 1885 and 1887 Alfred Barnard, a beer and whisky historian working for Harper's Weekly Gazette, travelled across the United Kingdom visiting 162 distilleries (129 in Scotland, 29 in Ireland and 4 in England). He wrote about his experiences and each of the distilleries he visited in his still referenced work, The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom. At the time of Alfred Barnard's visit Ardbeg was the largest distillery on Islay, producing 1.2 million liters of spirit a year, only slightly less than its annual production today. The distillery first started as most of Scotland's 18th and 19th century distilleries did as a farm. Although 1812 is the official founding date of the distillery there is some evidence it was operating as far back as 1794.
In 1888 the distillery was acquired by the Hay family in who's hands it would remain for nearly 100 years. In 1973 Hiram Walker acquired the distillery, and Ardbeg's fortunes turned. The new owners started moving away from barley peated in their own maltings in favour of relying on commercial maltings like the nearby Port Ellen maltings. This shift was most notable in 1974, which is regarded as a the benchmark vintage from the distillery. Sadly whiskies from this year are now rarer than hens teeth and command huge prices. The on site maltings closed for good in 1977. The photo above is of the old malting floors lit up during the Feis Isle festivities this past May. The party the night before Ardbeg Day was the finest Ardbeg tasting I will ever attend in my life. Ardbeg's most devoted fans brought back their bottles to the distillery and shared them with invited friends new and old from all over the world. I was poured healthy drams of Lord of the Isles, four different 1974s, 1975, 1977 and 1978 to name just a few. It was the Ardbeg tasting of a lifetime.
In 1981 Ardbeg was closed. Hiram Walker had a problem, the industry was in crisis, the various whisky companies had vastly overestimated future demand for whisky and there was a glut. Hiram Walker had two Islay disilleries, but they only needed one. That year Ardbeg was closed, while Laphroaig is kept open. In 1989 increasing...
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