Kensington Wine Market's 2023 Whisky Calendar UBER EDITION Day 21 - Maltbarn Invergordon 1972 - 49 Year Old
Posted on December 27, 2023
by EvanThis is the second Scottish Grain Whisky we have had in the 2023 KWM UBER Whisky Calendar – the first being the Whisky Trail Silhouette Carsebridge 1973 we had on day 16. And the oldest by a year. Today, we are tasting the 49-Year-Old Maltbarn Invergordon 1972.
When it comes to Scottish Single Grain Distilleries, most are situated in the Lowlands. Invergordon Distillery bucks that trend by being in the Northeastern Highlands, in the town of Invergordon near the banks of the Cromarty Firth. Dalmore is Invergordon’s closest distillery neighbour, being less than a 10-minute drive along the Firth to the west. Teaninich Distillery is just a few kilometres further west from Dalmore. If you drive North for about 20 minutes from Invergordon Distillery along either Scotsman Road or the A9, you will come to the south end of the Dornoch Firth and Glenmorangie Distillery.
Dalmore’s proximity makes sense as both it and the Invergordon Distillery are owned by Whyte & Mackay. Invergordon supplies most of the grain whisky for Whyte and Mackay’s Blended Scotch brands, which include the Whyte & Mackay Blended Scotch itself, The Woodsman, John Barr, Claymore. Whyte & Mackay also makes the Shackleton Blended Malt Scotch, but it does not contain any grain whisky and therefore Invergordon is not one of its components.
The Invergordon Distillery is not terribly old by Scottish standards, having started up in 1961. Before then, the site was a naval base during World War I and up to 1956. When the naval base was pulled out and the locals were all of a sudden short on employment options, the distillery was proposed and opened. It quickly expanded, adding two column stills in 1963. In 1965, since it was the style at the time, pot stills were installed on the Invergordon site, and Ben Wyvis Distillery was born. Sort of a distillery within a distillery, if you will.
Ben Wyvis was short-lived though, only operating for about a decade until it’s closure in 1976. The distillery was dismantled in 1977. In 2004, the copper stills that were installed at Invergordon for Ben Wyvis Distillery were installed at Glengyle Distillery in Campbeltown. Glengyle Distillery’s whisky is bottled as Kilkerran Single Malt, and the distillery is owned by WM Cadenhead, the same owner that controls Springbank Distillery.
Invergordon produces nearly twice the amount of spirit annually as the largest single malt distilleries in Scotland, but it’s production is dwarfed by a few of the other grain distilleries. North British has about double the production annually of Invergordon. Both the Girvan and Cameronbridge Distilleries more than triple its output.
Maltbarn Invergordon 1972 - 49 Year Old – 44.4%
49 years. Not much more to say, other than 'wow.' Only 87 bottles of this single grain whisky ...
KWM 2023 Whisky Calendar Blog Day 21 - Old Pulteney 15 Year
Posted on December 21, 2023
by EvanFor a long time, one of the factoids that you could bring up about Old Pulteney was that it was made at the most northern distillery on the mainland of Scotland. That title was taken from it back in January of 2013 when Wolfburn Distillery began producing spirit. Pulteney Distillery resides in the town of Wick, right on the coast of the Western Highlands, just south of the Orkney Islands. Its nearest neighbours include the aforementioned Wolfburn, which is around a 40-minute drive to the north and west in Thurso. Beyond that and further north on the Orkney Islands itself - Highland Park Distillery and Scapa Distillery. Clynelish Distillery is a one-hour drive south along the A9 and the Eastern Coast of Scotland.
Pulteney Distillery was founded in 1826, and other than a 21-year closure from 1930 to 1951 it has spent most of its history in production. It is owned by Inverhouse Distillers/International Beverage Holdings, which also owns the two other Highland distilleries: Knockdhu (bottled under the name anCnoc) and Balblair. The company also owns Speyburn Distillery, which we visited back on Day 17, and Balmenach within the Speyside region.
Dubbed on the label as "The Maritime Malt", Old Pultney whisky typically shows a good amount of coastal influence but is unpeated. For me, this combination makes it a fun whisky to introduce to people who say they want a "Speyside Malt". Getting that salty, seaside experience in a whisky without any of that dirty peat can be an epiphany to some people. It can be easy to assume that you can't make a coastal whisky without it being smoky at the same time if you are still new to Scotch Whisky and not used to the different styles available. To me, the saltiness of Old Pulteney malts is a welcome bit of nuance that helps bring out the flavours in its lighter spirit.
The official bottlings of Old Pulteney all feature a unique bottle shape, which pays homage to the shape of the stills the distillery uses. The bottle shape possibly helps it stand out on crowded whisky shelves and makes it easily recognizable to consumers. This, and the fact that the whisky tends to be pretty darn good and offers a bit of salinity, are likely the reasons for Old Pulteney being the best-selling Single Malt Scotch for Inverhouse. This is a bit surprising when you consider Pulteney is the smallest in the company’s Scottish distillery portfolio by alcohol production volume.
The Old Pulteney core range of Single Malts includes this 12 Year Old that we will be tasting today as well as a 15 Year, 18 Year and 25 Year old plus the Huddart, which is finished in ex-Islay whisky casks to give it a touch of smoke and peat.
The Old Pulteney 15 Year is the bottle in the core range that we will be sampling today. This 15 Year Old S...
Kensington Wine Market's 2023 Whisky Calendar UBER EDITION Day 20 - G&M Ardmore 1997 - 24 Year Old
Posted on December 20, 2024
by EvanWe have covered Gordon & MacPhail and their distillery bottlings a few times in the 2023 KWM Whisky Calendar, with three G&M different distillery labels. These were Glentauchers on Day Four, Ardmore on Day Ten, and Morlach on Day Fourteen. This Gordon & MacPhail bottling isn’t a batch, though, it is a 24-year-old cask strength, single cask bottling that was aged in a Refill American Oak Hogshead. It should be a fun bottle to compare with the G&M Distillery Label Ardmore 2000 from Day Ten if you have any.
Ardmore Distillery is located within the Highlands, in the village of Kennethmont. Its closest distillery neighbours include Glen Garioch Distillery which is about a 30-minute drive to the East, and GlenDronach Distillery which is about a 30-minute drive north.
Like Glen Garioch, Ardmore Distillery is owned by Beam Suntory.
Click above to view a short YouTube video on Ardmore Distillery from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Both this Gordon & MacPhail bottle from 1997 and the G&M Distillery Label Ardmore 2000 from Day Ten in the 2023 KWM Whisky Calendar were distilled before a big change at the Ardmore Distillery. In 2002, Ardmore's stills were changed from being directly heated by coal fires to the much more modern and common indirect heating of the stills using steam running through pipes.
G&M CC Ardmore 1997 - 24 Year Old - 55.2%
The outturn from Refill American Hogshead Cask No. 900661 was 199 bottles.
Natural colour, Non-chill filtered, 24 years, and bottled at 55.2% abv.
Evan’s Tasting Note
Nose: Bacon frying on a cast iron skillet, peach cobbler, pineapple rings from the can, vanilla bean, and eucalyptus.
Palate: Apple tarts, peach slices wrapped in a crepe and drizzled in pancake syrup, more bacon, ginger ale, candied orange peel, rainbow popcorn, and a sip from a Mint Julep.
Finish: Tingly, smoky, and sweet.
Comment: This is a light and zingy Ardmore with plenty of fruit. Delicious!
Cheers,
Evan
evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com
Facebook & Instagram: @sagelikefool
You can find all blog posts for the UBER EDITION of Kensington Wine Market’s 2023 Whisky Calendar Here
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KWM 2023 Whisky Calendar Blog Day 20 - Ardbeg Wee Beastie
Posted on December 20, 2023
by EvanI am not going to get into Ardbeg’s history or location or ownership too much. It is old, and it is on Islay. To say more is to preach to the choir for the most part. If you want to know more, just mispronounce the name as ‘Ardberg’ within the hearing of Andrew or Curt. You will quickly be corrected and then likely be given the chronological timeline of the distillery in question as well as a thorough essay on why it is perhaps the best distillery on Islay, if not in Scotland itself. That last part is more likely to come from Curt. Andrew only agrees with this when he temporarily forgets about his first love, which is Bowmore. All in all, I personally find it strange that both of them so easily ignore Bunnahabhain and Laphroaig Distillery’s greater merits. There truly is no accounting for taste!
Anyhow. For a relatively small distillery, Ardbeg’s releases have become relatively prolific over the past few years. The distillery can boast about having the most rabid fan base in the world of Single Malt Scotch, and many of its releases correlate with this. Just about every limited edition bottle of Ardbeg is released to Ardbeg Committee Members first. Membership is free and allows you to find out when the next Ardbeg Limited Release is, well, released.
If there is an issue to be had with many of these releases, it would be that they are mostly variations on a theme and don’t offer much information when it comes to the maturity of the whisky inside or how many bottles are in the batch. The variations on a theme issue is not a real problem if you love Ardbeg Whisky, it just means that some of the special releases may not offer that much unique character versus the readily available core range.
The core range of Ardbeg is pretty strong. If you like you want a taste of what all of the fuss is about when it comes to Ardbeg, the regular Ardbeg 10-Year-Old is a great place to start. If you want a bottle that is a wee bit sweeter and goes in a few more directions when it comes to flavour profile, Ardbeg An Oa should suit you. The combination of peat Sherry is your thing? Then go for the Ardbeg Uigeadail. If you want the Ardbeg-ness of Ardbeg dialled up to 11, go for the Corryvreckan. And now, if you find yourself craving a release of Ardbeg that has an age statement, but you already have the Ardbeg 10, you can go for the Wee Beastie!
The age statement part of this gripe is at least not a direct issue with the Ardbeg Wee Beastie that we will be tasting today. The Wee Beastie does carry a stated age of 5 Years Old, showing the number right on the front label. This itself is certainly a bold move, and there has been a bit of pushback by customers regarding the advertised youth of the bottle since it was first released in 2020.
I find that young, heavily peated Islay Whisky often shows very well – especially when compared to...
Kensington Wine Market's 2023 Whisky Calendar UBER EDITION Day 19 - Valinch & Mallet Speyside 30 Year
Posted on December 20, 2023
by EvanThis is a bottling of 30-year-old Speyside Single Malt Scotch from Valinch & Mallet. Which Speyside distillery does it come from though? Is it a mystery malt, right?
Click above for a short YouTube video showing Speyside Distillery
No, actually. In fact, this Speyside single malt was distilled at THE Speyside Distillery – a name that out-generics the likes of Speyburn and Glen Spey and is likely the most boring and redundant of all Scottish Distillery names.
The Speyside Distillery, which is owned by – get this – Speyside Distillers – was founded in 1990, making it fairly young as Scottish distilleries go. Its short life has been relatively tumultuous in terms of ownership and official bottlings, However, the distillery’s location and surroundings are about as idyllic and picturesque as you can find in a country known for containing an overabundance of such places. Speyside Distiller is located in Inverness-Shire, about an hour’s drive south of Inverness itself. Its nearest distillery neighbours include Dalwhinnie Distillery which is about a 30-minute drive to the Southwest, and Tomatin Distillery which is around a 45-minute drive North.
If you have had any Speyside Distillery Single Malt Scotch in the past, it may have been bottled under the name Spey, which is what it’s official releases are labelled as. The bottles look pretty but are just at the point of being too tall to fit on most whisky store shelves. It is infuriating and might be one of the reasons you can’t find it in many whisky shops on a regular basis. I am basing that on personal experience, not actual statistics. What I can tell you is that as I write this, we have no official bottlings of Spey on KWM shelves, because the only shelves the bottles fit on are so high altitude that they can cause nose bleeds and hypoxia if you are not careful enough in your climb.
Okay, if you have been following along with the 2023 KWM Whisky Calendar as well as this UBER Calendar, then you are probably feeling a strong sense of déjà vu. Almost as if you have read much of this before… Well! That is the bottle behind Door Nineteen in that Whisky Calendar is also a from Speyside Distillery, but in that case it is a 25-year-old from The Single Malts Of Scotland.
Back to this bottle. Independent bottler Valinch & Mallet is headquartered in London, England, about a 20-minute walk south of Hyde Park and the Knightsbridge Station for the London Underground transit system. The company was founded in 2015 by Davide Romano and Fabio Ermoli; Italian friends that share a passion for whisky. Valinch & Mallet specializes in Scotch Whisky and Rum, focusing mostly on releasing single-cask bottles at cask strength.
Shall we taste the whisky?
Valinch & Mallet Speyside 30 Year O...
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