Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whisky Advent Day 6 - Hyde 1938 No.6 President's Reserve
Posted on November 12, 2023
KWM Whisky Advent 2017 – Hyde 1938 No. 6 President’s ReserveFor the second straight year we have an offering from up and coming Irish Whiskey producer Hyde. Hyde is among the wave of new Irish distilleries that have opened up in the last few years. Most of them do not yet have stocks of mature whisky, so they are releasing whiskies produced under license. Last year we featured the Hyde Sherry Finish Single Malt on Day 9. This year we have the Hyde 1938 No.6 President’s Reserve Irish Whiskey, named for Ireland’s first Prime Minister Douglas Ross Hyde. Bottled at 46% the whiskey is composed of 8 year old single grain and much older single malt. The whisky has been married and finished in Oloroso sherry. Blended whiskey is composed of both malt and grain whiskey.
Single grain whiskey is a style of whiskey with roots in both Ireland and Scotland. Irishmen Sir Anthony Perrier introduced the first continuous still at Spring Lane Distillery, Cork in 1822. Just a few years later Scotsman Robert Stein, inspired by the “continuous stillâ€, improved on the design by the addition of partitions in the column. His “patent still†was installed at Cameronbridge Distillery in Fife, but it failed to take hold. It didn’t go unnoticed however, an Irish Exciseman, Aeneas Coffey took the design and added a couple of pipes allowing the spirit to recirculate. The result was a lighter, cleaner distillate, that didn’t require multiple distillations.
The Coffey Still was a hit and embraced all over the world. The still was adopted by distilleries all over Europe and America. It was especially well received in Scotland and England for whisky and gin respectively. Curiously, the only country that didn’t adopt it with open arms was Ireland. Irish distillers felt the still produced bland, tasteless, inferior whiskey. Ironically the failure of the Irish to adopt the Coffey Still and other similar still types is one of the reasons cited for the decline of the Irish whiskey industry by the early 1900s.
About the Hyde Family: (In their own words) “The Hyde family have a long tradition of being involved in the Irish drinks business. From 1640 until 1962 the family ran a tavern located just outside the picturesque town of Bandon in West Cork. The Hydes sold traditional Irish Whiskey and draught stout straight from wooden casks, tapped by hand with a mallet and brass tap. The drink business runs through twelve generations of the Hyde family tree. At one stage in 1916, their grandfather, granduncle and grandaunt were all publicans in Bandon. Today, Alan and Conor Hyde are the first generation not to own a tavern, but they continu...
Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whisky Advent Day 5 - Gordon Macphail Connoisseurs Choice Caol Ila 2004
Posted on November 12, 2023
KWM Whisky Advent Day 5 - G&M Connoisseur's Choice Caol IlaWe are big fans of Caol Ila at KWM. To quote my friend Kelly Carpenter, a great friend of the store, Caol Ila “is one of the most consistently good Scotch whiskiesâ€. Any opportunity to feature the distillery and its whisky in the KWM Whisky Advent Calendar is a welcome one. We didn’t have a Caol Ila last year, but we did feature aCaol ila from Gordon Macphail in the 2015 edition on Day 18.
Our Day 5 whisky, like that from 2 years ago, is a Gordon Macphail Connoisseurs Choice Caol Ila. In this case a 2004 vintage. Unlike most independent bottlers, Gordon Macphail fills their own casks, rather than simply acquiring them on the open market. The family firm, now in its 4th generation has a wood policy that is among the best of any whisky firm in Scotland. In the last two years we have selected and bottled 4 Kensington Wine Market exclusive casks of Caol Ila from G&M. Every time they send us a flight of samples to select a cask, we struggle to select just one…
Caol Ila is Scots Gaelic for the “Sound of Islayâ€, the body of water separating Islay from Jura. Caol Ila, the largest of Islay’s eight operating distilleries has spectacular view of the Sound and the island beyond. But even though the view from the still room is second to no other in Scotland, Caol Ila has been modernized and expanded so many times that it is without question the island’s least interesting distillery to tour. Established in 1842 the distillery changed hands many times over the following century until it was acquired by Distillers Company Limited, one of the forbearers of industry giant Diageo, in 1927. The distillery has run ever since, with but three short breaks, including the War years, 1942 to 1945 due to wartime barley restrictions. It was also closed between 1972-4 and 2011-2, in both cases for major upgrades to add capacity.
As with past editions of the Kensington Wine Market Whisky Advent Calendar, Gordon Macphail whiskies will be featured on a number of occasions this year. We will dig more into their history in the posts ahead. For this post we will simply say that they have a well-deserved reputation for the quality of their whisky and their unrivaled depth of maturing stocks of Scotch whisky. No one has bottled older whiskies than the 75 year old and three 70 year olds that the firm has released in the last 5 years.
About the Connoisseurs Choice line (Courtesy Gordon Macphail): “In the 1960s George Urquhart, one of the first of four generations of the Urquhart family to shape the future of Gordon & MacPhail, pioneered a range of single malt Scotch whiskies, which he selected, matured, and...
Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whiky Advent Day 4 - Wayne Gretzky 99 Red Cask Whisky
Posted on November 12, 2023
KWM Whisky Advent Day 4 – Gretzky Red Cask WhiskyLike many other experts in the liquor business, it is fair to say that at best we are suspicious of celebrity endorsed products. We don’t care whether David Beckham, George Clooney or Drake actually owns or rents their celebrity to promote a product, we are only concerned with one question, is it good? Entering into that fray is the Wayne Gretzky Red Cask Canadian whisky. Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whisky Advent’s Day 4 offering.
Full disclosure, we hadn’t originally intended to include this whisky in our Calendar, but another planned product fell through with very little notice. After carefully considering the limited other options available we settled on the Wayne Gretzky 99 Red Cask Whisky. Beginning with very low expectations were more than a little surprised by it when it launched a year. If we have but one regret, it is that 50mls of the whisky were filled into plastic bottles… why?
We will leave to the side the fact that Wayne Gretzky, “The Great Oneâ€, captained the mortal enemy of our beloved Calgary Flames. When the whisky first landed in Alberta we were curious, but also skeptical. It is fair to say our expectations, mine especially, were very low, especially considering they didn’t make the whisky themselves. There was a lot of excitement around the launch so we brought some in to the store, and opened a bottle to give it a try. In short the whisky it turned out was considerably better than expected. I was not blown away but for $42 (when it launched) it was pretty good.
The origins of this whisky and its exact nature are curious to say the least. Although the Gretzky name has been hawking wine for many years now, the release of Gretzky 99 Red Cask Whisky caught us completely by surprise. The official description is that it is made from local grains distilled individually before blending and finishing in ex-red wine casks from the Gretzky Estate Winery. Some online sites suggest that it is composed of rye, corn and malted barley.
It will be a few years until the Gretzky Estates Winery and Distillery have whisky of their own to bottle. Ground was only broken on the facility in 2015, and its grand opening was just a few months ago. They have hired a Heriot Watt trained distiller with industry experience in Europe and Canada.
Wayne Gretzky 99 Red Cask Whisky – 40% - Blended Canadian Whisky from a Mixed Mashbill – Matured in Ex-Bourbon and Finished in Red Wine Barrels – Andrew’s Tasting Note: “Nose: very fruity, spicy and earthy; big orange (think toned down Grand Marnier), mixed berry compot...
Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whisky Advent Day 3 - The English Whisky Company Smokey
Posted on November 12, 2023
KWM Whisky Advent Day 3 - The English Whisky Company SmokeyFor the first time in 4 annual editions of the Kensington Wine Market Whisky Advent Calendar, we have an English whisky to present. Our Day 3 2017 offering is the English Whisky Company’s “Smokeyâ€, from St. George’s Distillery in Roudham, Norfolk. When it was opened in December of 2006, St. George’s was the first whisky distillery to be built in England in over 120 years. Its first whisky, bottled in 2009, was the first English whisky produced in over a Century. Prince Charles officially opened the distillery in March of 2007.
St. George’s Distillery was founded in 2006 by father and son James and Andrew Nelstrop. The original plan was to build a tiny mico-distillery, but the smallest stills that British Customs and Excise would permit were 1800 liters, larger than those of many Scottish distilleries. Ian Henderson, who had only just retired from Laphroaig, agreed to help get the distillery and its new manager David Fitt (formerly of Greene King brewery) off on the right foot. He spent 4 months with the St. George’s team, passing on invaluable insight and experience.
Although the Nelstrop’s family’s distilling roots are quite shallow, the family has a long and deep history English agriculture. William Nelstrop was recorded to be farming in Yorkshire in 1335. In 1772 Joseph Nelstrop opened a mill in Ackworth, which was moved to Stockworth in 1820, where it is still run by the family. Another branch of the Nelstrop family, that in question in this post, moved to Linconshire where they have been farming since 1881.
James and Andrew decided to build their distillery in Norfolk, which is considered one of the best barley growing regions in Great Britain. The region is also blessed with abundant pure water. They produce both peated and unpeated single malts, maturing the spirit primarily in Ex-Bourbon Barrels, but also Sherry and some Rum and Madeira barrels. The distillery has filled well over 3000 casks since its inception, all of which mature on site. The whiskies are bottled at 43% without added colouring.
English Whisky Company Smokey – 43% - Matured in Ex-Bourbon – Andrew’s Tasting Note: “Nose: bright orange, cigar ash and grassy malt; a touch green and youthful with some tart grapefruit, honey and vanilla. Palate: creamy with a firm base of clean smoke and chewy green malt; more vanilla and honey, white fruits and citrus: bright orange a touch of tart grapefruit; there is a flinty minerality to the spirit that also has clean oily body. Finish: medium, smooth and coating; the smoke quickly fades leaving th...
Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whisky Advent Day 2 - Deanston 12 Year
Posted on November 12, 2023
KWM Whisky Advent Day 2 - Deanston 12 YearFor the first time in 4 editions of the Kensington Wine Market Whisky Advent Calendar, we are featuring an official bottling from the Deanston Distillery. Deanston is not a household name, even among whisky aficionados, but that is beginning to change. We think this expression may give many of you a reason to stand-up and take notice of the fine malts coming from this distillery.
Deanston is a relatively young distillery by Scottish standards, and has only been producing whisky since the end of the 1960s. But the distillery’s roots and heritage go back almost a quarter of a millennium. Before it was converted into a distillery beginning in 1966, Deanston operated as a Mill with its own self-contained and governed community. The massive Deanston Mill was built in 1785 by Richard Arkwright to take advantage of the fast flowing River Teith. The mill was powered by one of the largest water wheels in Europe, and was one of four sites used for the development of the Cotton Jenny.
For almost two centuries, the Mill was a going concern, for a time issuing its own currency. By the middle of the 19th Century it employed 1100 people, some of them women and children. Employees were housed in homes built and owned by the Mill beginning in 1811. The manager of the cotton mill ws also the town’s defacto mayor. The “model town†had its own schools, post office, wash house, hospital, savings bank, grocery and shops. The Mill also built a fish ladder in the early 1800s to give Salmon access to the river upstream. The original fish ladder is still visible at the distillery.
Originally built to serve the demand for blended whisky brands, Deanston was bottled as a single malt for the first time in 1974. The distillery was closed in 1982, a victim of the downturn that savaged the industry in the 1980s. Burn Stewart Distillers, owners of Bunnahabhain Distillery, purchased and reopened the Deanston in 1990. The Distillery is still powered by the River Teith today, with vast amounts of surplus electricity sold on to the grid.
We love what Burn Stewart Distillers have done with the Deanston, Bunnahabhain and Tobermory brands. The firm has modernized their malt whiskies, bottling most of their range at or above 46%, and therefore without chill-filtering. They also do not add caramel colouring to alter the appearance of their whiskies. We’re fans of that honest approach to making whisky. Deanston is also starting to release some Organic expressions.
Deanston 12 Year – 46.3% - Matured in Ex-Bourbon - Andrew’s Tasting Note: “Nose: bright, fresh and fruity with fancy floral soaps; ...
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