Hot May Tuesday

Just a quick update as it’s all I’ve really got time for.

Jaid’s out of action for a few days with a recurring grit in the foot problem but the quacks are on to it as it were so I’m working my way around with a cane for a bit.
It’s Clare’s birthday today so we’re off out tonight for a Chinese with her parents.

We went to Bressingham last week for a day in the sun with those of the cast of Dad’s army who’re still able to talk and write, plus we went on a small gage steam train which Malone disliked so much he jumped off Indiana dog and the temple of bones style.

I’ve opened up a Springbank 1997 10 year old vintage which I’ll make notes on later on this week. I also cracked a few other older bottles but won’t blog about those as I’ve decided only to create whisky notes about those bottlings still available should you wish to find them.

The new Def Leppard cd “songs from the sparkle lounge” is out and getting regular spins on the stream as is the new White Snake cd “good to be bad”. I’m also impressed at the moment by the latest effort from Karine Polwart “this earthly spell”

I’ve been making tangible progress at losing a few pounds over the last week or two and keeping off the beer during the week and I’m walking much more and riding the exercise bike which is all jolly nice in an aren’t I good kind of way. I’ve still had a few beers or more than a few at the weekend and I enjoy a dram most week nights.

The real ales available near me in Ipswich are getting better with the Kingfisher offering two including Adnams Best and the Station Hotel serving a verry good pint of Spitfire plus Adnams. Even the Belsted Arms across the road should be adding an ale or two soon so I may pop in on Friday to check it out.

Bunnahabhain 1985 / 16 Year Old / 70cl / 50% / Douglas Laing

The distillery tour of Bunnahabhain by John the manager was a highlight for me last year on Islay, and on this weeks whisky cast the master blender said that Bunnahabhain bottling and all the BS single malts will be at 46 and unchillfiltered if he has his way. Let’s hope this happens as this whisky deserves it.

Nose: mashie with sweet American oak but not over powering, peaches custard and limes.

Pallett: incredibly smooth with the wood and a little fudge up front, a tiny bit of smoke.

Finnish: short but the citrus of the wood comes back to remind you that you’ve just had a lovely dram. Easy going.

Comments: a 16 year old whisky at 50% ABV for 35 quid? A bargain at todays stupid prices. Lovely pleasant every day whisky. Lets hope the boys at the Laddi take note and stop acing good islay whisky in it’s teans.

Whisky Dream on Youtube

Good vidio on Bruichladdich. In fact brilliant.

They're making a book out of this too. Even if you're not in to whisky it's worth watching.

Artichoke Broome and a Springbank 21

The artichoke is a flagged woodsmoky and foody pub with a
selection of beers and our first was Oakgrain from Norfolk
brewery. this was a lush and creamy mild and to easy to put
back. I think I could have done a few of these. The tap room
had beers from Peterborough's finest York Brewery and Adnams. Chris and
I went for the Bishop's Farewell.

Black Dog mild from Elgoods was also on offer.

I was happy to find out that Springbank 21 year was part of the
extensive malt list and I nearly came when it was only £3.50 for
a large measure.

nose- coconut and pine, salt and briney sherry.

pallet salty, sweet and smooth really good.

finnish- long lingering and salty. lots of Spanish oak. What
an experience.

comments the notes are sparse and it was the end of the bottle
and from a tumbler. Chris and I cleared the bottle out. too
easy to drink and what pleasure. This bottle would sell for over 200 quid today.

Another good pub and I will return with no hesitation ASAP.

Whisky Exchange

I popped over to do some business with Sukhinder of the Whisky Exchange London this week. A nice chap and he pored me two good drams. A highly sherried Glen Grant costing around 90 quid a bottle and a refill sherry springbank at half the price.

Springbank 1993 / 13 Year old / R. Sherry Butt / 70cl / 58.7% / Speciality Drinks Ltd

A bit of sherry on the nose with fruits. Soon smoke overtakes and I had what I call farm yard on the taste. One good drop of springbank. Shame I had to down this as the taxi was arriving.

Glen Grant 1972 / 34 Year old / Sherry Cask

Christmas cake wooden boxes and all that comes of first fill sherry and age. Lovely stuff and deservedly award winning.

Both these drams can be ordered from the Whisky Exchange.

I walked out with a pocket full of cash 5 bbruichladdich 17s in the post plus two bottles for a friend and was happy with the profit I’d made from 5 Ardbegs and a Laphroaig. I may have been able to get more on ebay but I didn’t want the hassle.

PORT CHARLOTTE PC6

Nose: treacle peat Christmas cake and, sorry, cow shit sweetness. I’m back filling MADEIRA casks with grant and the crew. A moving experience. Look out for these 1998 casks to be thundered out this year.

Pallet: hot, somehow musty and earthy with lots of lovely oak livening things up. Toffee kipper but no salty notes.

Finnish: lingering. The grape shines in this bourbon and MADEIRA combo adding interest for me at least. With water we lose the grape but it’s still a good drop.

Comment: worth 60 quid? No, not on a qualitative scale, I could have purchased 3 bottles of Ardbeg 10 for the same this Christmas but well, I was not the one buying. Dave did and for this I will be for ever grateful. We bottled some of this hooch with the lads and girls at the distillery, distilled a part of the 2007 vintage and sweated over the x MADEIRA casks that I would wager had disgorged the licker in to the bottling hall and now hold 1998 spirit. Thanks is all I can say. It was worth every penny. Yes I will show MADEIRA as I love it and think it will be the next sherry as far as whisky goes. Lovely.

Bruichladdich Links Royal Troon 14yo 46%

Aaah, second fill sherry casks with a dash of port and a spot of sweet dark and lovely Pedro Ximénez. Heaven. I love Spanish oak in it’s second fill state.

Nose: gooseberry apple and spring flowers beautiful freshness. Opens in to quiet dried fruits. Clare detects marzipan. I can’t bring myself to water this. Just wait it unfolds. Magnificent,.

Pallet: creamy. Heat at the front which is unexpected because of the nose but the fruits and custard keep it all in check. Hell, what a dram. The laddi new make is in control and sound. The mouth watering flavors the nose suggested really control the show. Yes oak is in the background but really only hints through
as in a fine wine.

Finnish: give me another sip. Seriously Clare got coffee on the slightly bitter finish. I’ve just tried this with some 80 percent coco dark chocolate and boy, what a combo.

Comments: the best of the links series I’ve tried. Still available from the whisky exchange at 40 quid a pop though I didn’t pay this for the two I purchased. Jim M really put some good casks in to this vatting.

Useful Beer Links and a Whisky one too

I’ve been finding the Oxford Bottled Beer Database rather useful over the last few years but don’t think I’ve mentioned it on this blog. It’s a place to review and read reviews of bottled beers
http://www.bottledbeer.co.uk

Beerintheevening is also a handy set of beery recources aimed at reviewing pubs. My few entries are posted under the name mproberts.
http://www.beerintheevening.com

Single Malt TV is a new way of getting your nerdy whisky fix online in the form of well, online tv showing malts, feckers who drink them, food and all kinds of other whisky related programming.
http://www.singlemalt.tv

Lazy Sundays

Aaah, a lazy Sunday. We’ve had a juice prepared by Clare and myself earlier, apple, pear and Ginger, went down really well. Clare’s making a vegetable soup at the moment and I think it’s stuffed chicken for tea tonight.

I plan on grabbing some ale from the coop and plopping down a whisky tasting note or two this afternoon. What better way to spend a Sunday ay?

I’m off up to Yorkshire on Monday for a spot work so will stay with the family and hopefully take ina pint of Barnsley bitter or two.

Brora 22yo 1981/2003 (46%, Signatory, unchillfiltered collection

Brora distillery was closed down in 1983 and now it's malts are highly prized. This specimen is from a refill sherry butt and set me back 47 quid a few years back.

Nose: wet straw, cow stable and earth. With time fruit in the form of apples comes through. Peat.

Palette: lovely gentle smoke and pleasing citrus notes. sweet with balancing oak.

Finnish: mouth watering. long with an orange skin bitterness.

Comments: The more I try whisky from second fill sherry butts the more of a fan I become. Lovely whisky from a sadly gone distillery.

Bruichladdich Infinity Second Edition

Bruichladdich Infinity Second Edition wais in at 52.5 percent alcohol and is peated containing a blend of lightly peated older laddie with some peated spirit made in 1998 at the time the distillery was run in order to preserve some stocks and some new heavily peated Port Charlotte then all sloshed in to ex-Rioja casks for a polishing.

Nose: the usual fruits one expects from a wine finished malt, strawberries with smoke and oak. Water changes this drastically and the sweetness of icing sugar is evident. Port Charlotte’s signature fennels come to the front with time.

Pallet: big attack at full strength with sweet jam laced with peaty embers. When water is added the young spirit is more up front and I get a little rubber.

Finnish: medium long but a little too drying for my tastes.

Comments: something different for bruichladdich and a good fireside dram, an even better dram to drink outside. let down a little on the finnish.

Bruichladdich Whisky Documentary Correction

Just seen a correction to my info on the whisky dream show on bbc Scotlnd taken from the Laddi blog.

The 30 minute documentary will be aired on BBC 2 Scotland on Tuesday, January 15th
at 10pm.
Tuesday, 8 January 2008

Available on Sky Channel 990.

The water of life by the hogshead from the Field Magazine

They don’t mention in the article that Glengoyne now offer casks for sale to the public. Not a bad piece though and if anyone’s interested in buying a barrel of whisky it’s a good read.



On the Hebridean island of Islay there are several distilleries (Laphroaig being
perhaps the most famous) all known for their peaty, iodine character. Bruichladdich
("brook-laddie") is in the south west of the island and does cask offers. The old
distillery, with its Victorian machinery, had been mothballed by its previous corporate
owner. It was bought up a few years ago by a private consortium led by Mark Reynier,
a whisky-obsessed former wine merchant, who wanted to re-establish this classic,
aggressively Hebridean malt of yesteryear. The multi-award-winning distillery and
maturation warehouse are on the shore and the sea mist gets into the barrels and
imparts a delicious, briny tang to a very lightly peated spirit. It's an upmarket
whisky for those who don't like the dominant, rather Germolene flavour of the heavier
Islay malts… The barrels Bruichladdich offers are imported casks from the Buffalo Trace bourbon
distillery, lending the spirit a hint of Kentucky yee-ha as it ages. Among the cask
owners is Andy Becalick, who set up a club of 30 or so fellow malt whisky addicts
in the Basildon area where they stave off the winter gloom with ample supplies. "We've
got six casks of five-year-old Bruichladdich between us.
"Some barrels have 20 owners, some six. We've spread the cost around and we've gone
for hogsheads. You basically pay for the new spirit and the barrel. The cost of storage
and insurance is included in the price for the first 10 years. When you bottle it
you pay costs, labelling, bottling, duty and VAT. Duty depends on whatever alcohol
percentage you bottle it at. So if you bottle it at the standard Bruichladdich percentage
of 46 per cent then it works out at approximately £75 per dozen bottles. On top of
all of that you pay 17.5 per cent VAT. The costs to us, we reckoned, are about £12.50
a bottle. Bruichladdich is willing to store some of your whisky in bond up there,
so you don't have to pay the duty until you are ready. One of our casks is already
delicious and bottleable at five years, but we are going to keep going longer to
see whether it gets better.
"We are starting to think about labels for the whisky. A group of us go up to Islay
every year. But for us it's not about the money - we haven't tried to make a profit,
we are not selling it and it's all purely for enjoyment. The fun we have sampling
the whisky with the locals is worth every penny."

Malt Island from the Scotsman

Rather interesting article about Islay malts and the welcom to be found in all the working distilleries on the Island.

Year Roundup

2007 is now tottering in to senility and it’s embers are ebbing so we await it’s last orgasm in the form of Christmas and newyears celibrations with much enthusiasm in our Ipswich household.

This year has been a good one for me in every way. Work is interesting me still and throing up many and varied challenges, gps technology moves on swiftly and the Streem has been a huge success. We will find more developments and new products next year with Humanware and I remain excited by our technology. Work invariably puts me in to contact with some amazing and also eccentric people but that’s the beauty of being on the road. Two of the best were a flamboyant Welsh actor and musician in London and a man in Chesterfield who introduced me to chunky peanut butter kit kats.

My usb keydrive is filling up with aps like portable winamp, CDEX the cd ripper and audio file converter and that always useful screenreading tool NVDA. Facebook has been compelling and both Clare and I have found old friends by joining.

I’ve had my picture in the local newspaper and also the Humanware newsletter, so well published ay?

I visited my first whisky distillery and it was in England, went to Bruichladdich on Islay for the most amazing holiday I’ve ever had and have sipped whisky in warehouses with good people. Dave and I were a tad Merry and blocked the Port Charlotte hotel staircase with drams in our hands. I’ll also take from Islay the beauty of sipping Bruichladdich 12 at 1 AM sitting on a rock outside the distillery with Dave and Philip two dear friends. The pompous bugger Dave and I also now own a cask of Bruichladdich spirit quietly maturing for our enjoyment many years from now.

The Ipswich move was challenging at first but now I’ve made friends in the town and found 3 regular pubs, two locals in the Rose and Crown and the Dove plus been on the tour of my town’s brewery.

I’ve been to the GBBF festival in Olympia, sunk pints of 10% Paradox stout matured in Caol Ila barrels on a barmy hot day at the splendid Peterborough beer festival, been in a crowd of stoners at the anarchic Cambridge Strawberry Fair and was pleasantly surprised that Young’s Special London Ale is still a cracking glass full of hoppyness. A weekend full of happiness was spent at William’s mansions for his house warming in April. It was also my pleasure this year to eat a Cornish Pasty in Cornwall.

Unhappily I sampled Bob’s Burger Van in Ipswich and had the shits, Michael Jackson the beer and whisky scribbler passed away and my bottle of Glendronach is getting emptier by the week. Oh, whisky prices are also going up and up.

Dream Theater released a really strong album in a year which was rather quiet for new music. Symphony X’s Paradise Lost album was brilliant and the always reliable Kate Rusby can make you laugh or cry depending on the track. My head was turned by the UK progressive band Threshold and they made a good show this year with a solid album.

I saw Cara Dillon, Kate Rusby, Symphony X and Dream Theater live and all were superb. I also witnessed my first evensong in Cambridge at the beautiful King’s College Chapel. We saw Jenny Éclair and have one more comedy night to go before the end of the year in Colchester. Other events included Dad's Army the Lost Episodes in South end, the annual Hancock weekend in Bournemouth and getting pissed with the actress Su Pollard in Dovercourt.

Jaid has found a new owner when she retires, I’ll never forget my 30th birthday weekend, Clare was wonderful and having Seann and my friends over made it one to remember. Unfortunately Clare lost her voice on her birthday and Ipswich was on a brain drain that particular weekend.

We spent time in the market town of March in the fenlands and had friends from Ireland over for a really top few days in July.

At home we’ve just been buying things for the house, Clare got a huuuge TV and Malone is quieting down and has turned into a marvelous guide dog.

Next year will throw up new challenges including a new guide dog for me, the worry of house buying, should I or shouldn’t I? tentative plans to spend a weekend on Islay and in late January a trip over to the magnificent city of Dublin.

Wild Turkey Bourbon 8 Year 101 50.5% £19.99

My knowledge of single malts and blends from Scotland is above average but I’m no bourbon expert. I have the 101 on the home bar and it’s also on offer at the moment in tesco.

Nose: powerfully sweet and spicy, marzipan and charred wood. Dried dark fruits emerge with time and a drop of water.

Pallet: Wood caramel and honey, brown sugar with fresh pepper and
Chili spice.

Finnish: lingering for many minutes, warming at full strength.

Comments: a grown up bourbon for sipping though it can easily take ice and will no way fall apart. The higher proof works well on this turkeey. Probably not a beginners smoothie of a drink, Maker’s Mark fills that capacity well but a completive rugged complex friend.

Benriach Authenticus 21 Year 46% £54.99

The new owners of that formerly much neglected and unloved Speyside distillery of Benriach are coming along well these days with many expressions both peated and unpeated, pluss a quantity of well thought out amazing finishes. It just shows what a loving independent owner with good stocks can do.

Nose: smoke at first like an ardbeg but then eventually honey covered icecream, nutty with tropical fruits. Walk down the road between Lagavulin and Ardbeg and we’re on the trail but without the salty air. Mashing peaty wash. Lovely.

Pallett: a simple birst of smoke is sharpened by lemons and grapefruit, the embers linger really nicely. The peaty barley is really full on, crushed grist.

Finnish: more of the same with a sharpening and refreshing citrus element but the smoke won’t leave. Who would want it to?

Comment: what a price and what a dram. Honestly, apart from Glenfarclas who charge 45 quid for a 21 year old which is only at 43 and chilfiltered most other producers are charging 75 quid and upwards for a 21 year old these days. Age and freshness in a peaty monster. I’ve featured heavily peated Benriach earlier this year at a younger age but the 21 year old Authenticus dram is really something special. Ok, you have to like a peaty drink, but something from Islay at this age would be almost unaffordable for most these days. I’m not doing it down at all. It is a stonking peaty monster for any money but that oak keeps the balance. Some may miss the kelp and brine from some island whiskys but Authenticus makes up for it in it’s tropicaly oaky goodness. Hey, I’m lucky actually, I have one bottle left. Yaya!

Springbank 15 Year 46% £45.00

Springbank whisky is not generally available in the local supermarket but it is well worth tracking down. I really like the 10 year old version so it’s time to put my 15 year old bottle on the tracks. I’ve had this for two years or more so the style may have changed a little.

Nose: takes time to open up but reveals sweet orange, mandarin and other tropical fruits. Just like the advert, ‘you’re worth it’

Pallet: characteristically flavorful with salt chocolate and oranges. A bit of smoke complements these flavors. A rubber note is detected but this fails to spoil the show. Not as oily as I’d have expected and fresh to boot.

Finnish: long orangey and tinned grapefruit, brine.

Comments: 80 percent sherry and 20 percent bourbon. Some of these sherry casks must be second or third fill as the spirit is no way dominated by the grape cask contribution. I’m told by Clare that it’s a rather dark dram. I can’t find the coconut I love so much in the 10 year old but brine and salt are really having a good time on the pallet. Is it worth an extra 17 quid over the 10? Probably but I would put the cash towards another bottle of the 10 or pocket the change. Mmm, it’s growing on me, drinkable, ahem too much.

Bruichladdich the Whisky Dream documentary on BBC

Well well, get those sky boxes set for 15th of Jan at 10 PM. I’m looking forward to this.

A BBC fly-on-the-wall type documentary on Bruichladdich will be aired in January.

The film is directed by Stuart Griegs who made the Scottish Parliament building
documentary. Demus Productions, an independent tv/radio production company, followed the distillery team for over a year from September 2006 until November 2007.

‘This is not a documentary for whisky anoraks,’ he said. ‘Like all good films, it’s
a compelling, compulsive human tale. What struck us all about Bruichladdich was just
how difficult the creative process has been for all those involved in making the
new spirit. It’s not been a bed of roses, by any stretch of the imagination, but
to give them credit, they never asked us to turn the cameras off. Ever. We hope that
all Ileachs enjoy the story. It should reflect well on their own vision, humour and
resourcefulness.’

The 30 minute documentary will be aired on BBC1 Scotland on Tuesday, January 15th
at 10pm. The producer Stuart Rivans has also been commissioned to write a book about
the distillery. ‘The Whisky Dream’ will be published in June 2008.

Christmas Whiskys from Tesco

Tesco have some super prices on malt this Christmas so I humbly offer some pointers to the new malt drinker or gift hunter. The supermarket really do have the best prices this year and these will increase big time in 2008. I’m focusing on them because most people have one near or can use tesco online. I hope the comments on the whiskys are interesting.

I’ve lamented the dropping quality of some well-known whiskeys on this blog before but Highland Park 12 is really bucking the trend.

Ok, so packaging shouldn’t matter but the decanter style bottle is really classy. The liquid inside is now back to it’s former glory of 4/5 years ago as far as I’m concerned. I think Dave W is impressed with it too. At a party of mine not so long ago he liberated the bottle from me and sat in a corner with it making friends.

The sherry content of the dram is emphasized these days but not so that it overpowers the experience. The Smokey heather honey notes are still well integrated. I think the use of more top quality casks is because they have also now stopped caramel coloring it which is really good news. At under £20 at tesco it really is worth grabbing a bottle or two.

Aberlour 10 is still on form with perhaps les sherry than of old but the toffee from the bourbon casks makes up for this. Dave and I sank a bottle in one session at his place in November and it’s only £16 at tesco.

Another noteworthy dram is the glenlivet 12 year old. Around 18 quid and rather gentle and floral but complex if you take the time to discover it.

Glenmorangie 10 Year Old has also had a packaging makeover and price increase but the liquid in the bottle has also changed and not necessarily for the better IMHO. As they put it on LFW.co.uk it’s like having a perfume in your dram. Maybe that’s French ownership for you? Oh my, what will they do to Ardbeg next year when that changes to Glenmorangie distilled spirit?

Talisker 10 from Sky is still lacking a little of the pepper which once characterized the drink and is now rather sweet and smoky but this is no bad thing as the bonfires linger in a good way. I really find myself enjoying a glass of this as I type these notes and think it would be a good place to introduce people to a smokier style of Island malt before going to the full on assault of Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphroaig and Caol Ila. The Christmas presentation is also rather special as the bottle is offered in a leather case. Ooo, how masculine. Seriously its good, and really got me in to single malt mid December 2002.

The star of the crop in Tesco this year has to be Ardbeg 10 Jim Murray’s whisky of the year. It’s a smashing malt and a peat head’s dream. The bottle is selling for less than £20 in tesco and normally retails for £27 upwards. Grab, grab, brab.

Also at tesco they’re offering the Grant’s ale cask and sherry cask finishes for a ridiculously low £8.99. The ale cask is a creamy dram and the sherry finish is far better than bells, grouse and others of that ilk so a good gift for a blend drinker.

Wild Turkey 8yo also features. This robust bourbon bottled at over 50% will warm the cockles and frankly laughs in the face of JD and Jim Beam. It’s £16.99 and would go down lovely outdoors on a cold day, indoors on a hot night with ice or a splash in a coffee after dinner. Really a top draw American drop though not as complex as Makers Mark or Woodford Reserve.

Glendronach 1990/2004 Murray McDavid 46%

Glendronach is a favorite of mine. Along with Ardmore it is the hart of the teachers blended whisky. This was aged in refill sherry casks and you can still pick it up from the Murray Mcdavid shop on the bruichladdich webpages.

Nose: Marzipan strawberry shortbread and a whiff of smoke. Full and malty barley# like with time a wiff of sherry is felt. This is classy stuff

Pallet: oily and viscous chewy. Fudge with burned edges, a suggestion of smoke and more hot toffee.

Finnish: dries out and the oak makes itself known but still the malt is in charge, smooth. Very nice and full bodied whisky.

Comments: sublime, the product of old coal fired stills and the distilleries own malting floor. Old fashioned whisky and wonderfully matured at that. Probably not everyone’s cup of tea but it’s hitting the spot tonight along with the beautiful voice of Sharon from the band Within Temptation. Not dissimilar from a Duncan Taylor bottling I had a year or two ago this is much more polished and satisfying with bags of character. I think refill sherry works really well.

***NEWS FLASH*** New Ardbeg release!

Ardbegs prices are rising and the top end versions are now unafordable for most people. I saw this on facebook and just had to post it on my blog

***NEWS FLASH*** New Ardbeg release!

Ardbeg's new 36 year old malt "Auld Oat Farm" will be released in the coming weeks. Attractively
packaged in a solid gold jewel encrusted Faberge case, it comes with a complimentary,
collector's edition, vintage 1923 steam powered combine once used to harvest oats
for Winston Churchill's nephew's brother-in-law's horse.

The first five purchasers will also receive a complete set of peatcutter's tools, a full set of battle armor ca. 1410 and the original oak bar from Napoleon's guest salon.
All yours for $39.95 US! Order now and get your set of French chef's knives and a
Ronco Potatomatic at no extra charge!

Barnsley V Ipswich and some beers

Emma, Dale, Rebecca, Sam and Joanne were in the Dove along with Chris and I on Friday night. We had some strong winter ales and a good chat. I haven’t seen some of these people for around 10 years and it was about time we got together.

Chris and I were given a lift home by Naomi and Dezz in a 1940s Citroen car which was something unexpected and most agreeable then the two of us had a dram from a bottle of BRORA 1981 Signatory Un-chillfiltered Collection. This is a rare whisky as the distillery has been shut down since 1982 or so.

It was destination Portman Road on Saturday to watch Barnsley verses Ipswich, me from the Barnsley end and the Ipswich parts of the family from the opposite. The result was a good one for Barnsley and the 0 0 draw was made the sweeter as Ipswich have been on a winning streak at home of late. We all then trooped back to the Rose and Crown for beers and much later those of us who were left shared a pizza. It wasn’t possible for me to get a taxi home as I’d have waited an hour for it it was 1 AM already so I crashed on the finest leather sofa in Ipswich for the night and partook of the crackling open fire. Thanks Nigel!

All the Christmas whisky, beer and wines are now in and a fine collection they make. I’ve purchased Bishops Finger and Special London Ale from Majestic at 15 quid a case delivered plus have 15 bottles of assorted reds from the Sunday Times Wine Club. We have stocked up on ports one of Clare’s favorite and some dark sherries for me, oh plus two bottles of ginger wine and some NZ bubbles to round everything off. We now have just to buy the last of our gifts, get a tree, food and some other bits then we’ll be set for the month ahead. I’ve not been adventuress with the whisky and just stocked up on Aberlour A'Bunadh and Ardbeg Uigeadail with one or two Bruichladdiches chucked in. I have a good amount of Glenfarclas 105 but will probably get another bottle or two when next I’m in Stansted Airport. the prices of whisky are going up so fast at the moment and I’m afraid with the lack of sherry casks these days some brands may be killed off. I do have some interesting bottles open at the moment so I’ll put some notes on the blog later in the month.

Glen Scotia 1991 14 Year old MMCD 46%

"Glen Scotia Murray Mc. David 91/05": Campbeltown, Cask: Bourbon, Marsanne, Roussanne

Glen Scotia, with Springbank and Glengyle are the only distilleries left in Cambpeltown an area historically strong in distilling. Its rather sad but the owners of Glen Scotia don’t really know what to do with it and it is rumored to be up for sale. The spirit is good but cask quality variable. If you put a good spirit in to poor wood you get a rubbish drink as I have noted below. This was bottled and finished in Marsanne and Roussanne wine casks after first maturation in bourbon wood.

Nose: fruity at first then an earthy chocolate note comes through. The wine maybe a top dressing but I can smell youngish spirit within.
The fruit vanishes after 2 minutes or so but is replace by winy notes.

Pallet: rather thin and to me austere with pungent spirit notes. rubber and a little chemical.

Finnish: bitter with vanilla and wood.

Comments: I suspect poor first maturation then a period to pep it up in the wine casks. Poor whisky this but drinkable and will mix nicely with ginger wine. I would expect more from the Bruichladdich boys.

macallan 10 year Old Cask Strength, 58%, Europe Airports

Cold out so it is yet another highly sherried malt to tickle my taste buds. Along with Aberlour abunadh and Glenfarclas 105 this 10 year old CS 100 percent sherry cask Macallan is a relatively affordable monster and waiting to fight the cold from the drawing in evenings.

Nose: at first musty but then immense sherry dried fruits poke heads above the glass and say “hey, come on in”. dates, marzipan, rotten wine and all kinds of smells. Rubber and chemicals come in to spoil the game after a bit. Association is big for me with a good Macallan so I like this. Honestly, the nose is really fine And if it were a best of the best between the 3 malts above this would have a good chance of winning on the nose alone.

Pallet: Harsh, fire, sweet but with drying notes of good quality spirit. The rubber comes back and spoils things a little. This could do with another few years.

Finnish: long and a little chemical but the intense dry fruit keeps it alive.

Comment: well, I’ve talked about all 3 cask strength affordable sherry monsters on the blog now. They are all at cask strength, un colored and un filtered. Aberlour brings a lovely toffee mint luxuriance, the farclas bucket loads of sweetness and balance and the Macallan disappoints me. I’d get a bottle for 30 quid a liter in the airport but it would be in third place compared to the other two. The nose is fantastic but an immature body lets this down a bit. I will probably get another when next I go flying. Reminds me of the 10 but stronger.

Aberlour Abunad batch 16 notes from last year
http://www.mproberts.co.uk/2006/08/whisky-aberlour-abunadh-batch16-59.html
Glenfarclas 105 notes from a bit ago
http://www.mproberts.co.uk/2005/09/whisky-tasting-glenfarclas-105.html

Bushmills Black Bush 40%

I’ll cut to the point and state that Black Bush is one of my favorite Irish whiskeys. It’s a blend with a high malt content and the malt is matured in Oloroso sherry casks. Distilled and aged in Co. Antrim this is a blend consisting of 75% malt and 25% grain whiskey. The malt is triple distilled in the oldest licensed distillery in the world.

Nose: spiced Christmas minced meet, coal dust vanilla fudge and very soft sherry. A little mint.

Pallet: rather thinner than I would have liked. Crisp with minty freshness. The sherry adds complexity.

Finnish: warming, spicy and faids quick. Nevermind, I’ll just have to have another sip.

Comments: an inexpensive little number and smooth in the Irish style. Not as complex or satisfying as Red Breast. I won’t make any daft jokes about having a redbreast and a Black Bush side by side. A before dinner dram.

Fab Friday Update

{That’s it, the end of another working week. I’m on my way home from Broxbourne now and apart from a few phone calls that’s me until my flight out on Monday.

This weekend will find me venturing once more in to the wilds of Essex to hunt out the fine liquid from the Nethergate brewery. Apart from that I have nothing else planned.

Public transport has been kind to me this week, I’ve acquired a cane as I won’t be taking Jaidy with me to Ireland. She’s going to have a weeks holiday with James, June and the husky named Shadow. These will be her new owners once she retires. Well, Shadow won’t own jaid but the people will.

The days are getting colder and soon the clocks will go back. That means winter, cold dark evenings and nearing the December festivities. It also means the cask strength peaty beasts and sherry monsters of malt will stomp out of bottles and titely lidded cartons to do battle with strong mysterious nourishing ales. Dark unctuous Olaroso sherry and complex port will watch from the sidelines waiting for the mince pies to come out and frolic. It means stews, roasts, jacket spuds and all kinds of British food. Basically this is a time of year I rather like.c 30 in a few weeks and am rather looking forward to it. I don’t think anything will change but I will reflect more on this later.

Glenfarclas 15 Year Second Tasting 46%

This is a retasting because the whisky in the bottle has changed noticeably. Glenfarclas 15 year old has become a much richer dram over the last two years because of casks from (Jose and Miguel Martine sherry Bodega] coming on stream in 1990. I thought I’d type some more about it for this reason. The older notes can be found at.
http://www.mproberts.co.uk/2005/03/single-malts-h2h-glenfarclas.html

All Glenfarclas vattings for the standard bottlings are made up of 60% sherry and the rest plane wood. IE 4th fill casks.

Nose: prickle at first but then big sherry and an oak takes over. Polished tables? A drop of water brings out bitter chocolate. Don’t use too much water or the nose falls apart!

Pallet: Dry sherry, oak and coco. This is near O T T but I love it. Big tannins.

Finnish: long sherried and a little bitter.

Comment: this has changed no end. The fruit cake is gone and a dryer sherry and oak has taken over. Its none the worse for that but the older version I noted had more sophistication as the sherry and oak did not dominate so.I like this newer version even more and it’s one of Clare’s favorites. Not as good as the 105 to me but better than the latest underwhelming 30 year old version I shared with Clare and friends.

Bruichladdich 18 Year Old 46%

The last of my open Bruichladdich bottles for a bit at least. This one was matured for 18 years in bourbon then ACEd in Red Pinot Noir casks. They say it should last two or so years on shelves as stocks are good.

Nose: chocolate, oak soft currents and custard. The sweetness is nice and appetizing. This opens up over time. Water brings out a second fill sherry note. Give it at least 25 minutes.

Pallet: sweet and I’d say luxuriant with grapy notes like in a good sweet wine. Oak grips the back of the mouth.. With water the wood takes proper charge of the show but is kept in check by a citrus buzz.

Finnish: long sweet and appetizing. Really tasty.

Comments: give this time and don’t judge at first when you receive it. This has improved much since I first pulled it’s cork.

Score: I’ve stopped scoring whiskys since I think the notes say it all. Anyway, it’s well subjective.

Bruichladdich Links K Club 14 Year Old

14 years in bourbon then finished in Guigal Cotes Rotie and Guigal Hermitage Rouge Syrah casks.

Nose: black currents, musty and all kinds of soft berry type fruits. jammy. flint? It fades fast though so get a shuffle on.

Pallet: like so much malt from the laddi it's sweet to start but sadly a little thin still rather pleasant in many ways and very drinkable, crisp.

Finnish: oaky and sharp but with winy/fruity notes to keep it interesting.

Comments: not bad if a little tannic but the nose keeps it interesting wile it lasts. Reminds me in some ways of the old 10 year old which is no bad thing if not as fresh.

Islay and Bruichladdich Report

My holiday on Islay with two dear friends was a magical experience and I've
got a few memories to share.

We touched down on Sunday evening and were met by our taxi driver Stuart
Doyle who was to be our savior that evening once refreshments had been taken
in some of Islay's hostelries. He drove us to the academy house and we were
met with offers of tea, coffee, beer and whisky so after dropping our things
went outside for a dram of Brichladdich 12 year. The air in Islay is
something else and when you're at bruichladdich it's salty and crisp as you
are virtually on an Atlantic beech in the warehouses you can feel this damp
wind and it must influence the whisky especially after 15 years in cask in
these conditions and I for one believe it does. Whisky is lost through the
porous wood and air enters.

That evening we ate Islay steaks and scallops at the Port Charlotte Hotel
and then went to the ebullient Lochindaal Hotel
http://www.lochindaal.freeserve.co.uk/ and chatted to it's fun barman Iain
Maclellan with a few more drams and beers.

Back at home Dave and I went drunkenly out in the lashing wetness to have an
explore and nearly got lost as the battery in the GPS gave out. It was fun
though and something different. The idea was for a midnight dram beside
Lochindaal and had we known that just by standing outside the distillery
we'd have been in the correct spot things would have been simpler for us.

Monday saw us taking in a well done tour at Laphroaig, a lovely dram of
Lagavulin finished in rich sherry casks offered to us by Kirsten as we
passed by the distillery and then dinner at Ardbeg along with a drop or two
of the local Islay Ale.

We found out that from now on Ardbeg is going to be matured on the mainland,
well a large portion of it anyway because basically LVMH are too tight to
build more warehousing for the stocks. Will this change the taste? Maybe,
but we were told that Islay and mainland stocks would be blended together so
nobody should know the difference. This to me is a disappointing attitude
for a company as rich as LVMH who offer luxury and exclusivity

We then went for a superb tea at the academy house and up above a cliff with
Duncan McGillivray the manager and our academy friends for another very
windswept dram Life couldn't get better. Thanks also on the Monday for
Emma's lift.

The academy was wonderful I won't go in to huge detail as people can find
all this on the web but everyone was amazing. Dave and I were in the thick
of it moving casks, filling, mashing, lobbing in the fruity smelling yeast,
distilling and sniffing spirit with the Budgie and working in the bottling
hall.

I enjoyed the filling with Grant and the crew. We were filling 1998 Laddi
in to Madera drums after it had been vatted in one of the huge tanks. This
will probably go to make up a batch of Bruichladdich Waves a whisky I noted
a month or two ago. It will be interesting to watch this expression over
the next year because it's getting a little older.

We also were able to taste some amazing casks in the warehouses including a
brilliant Macallan aced in a Red Ridge zinfandel cask, a Glenlivvet 1977 and
a sinewy 17 year old Glenfarclas from second fill sherry which for me made
time stand still in the damp and lovely smelling building.

Thursday was the day of truth and it was decided between Dave and I that we
would purchase a cask of Bruichladdich spirit aged in first fill bourbon
from the buffalo Trace distillery in the USA. Its cask 1066 from 2007 and
was looking and smelling lovely as we fondly patted its wooden rump. Jim
McEwan had personally selected this cask for us but may have bashed in the
bung a little too hard as Duncan managed to brake the little wooden critter
in two as he extracted it for Dave and I to pay homage to the spirit so we
now have half each. Phil Dave and I then went to a top secret
installation and tried some extremely peaty Bruichladdich called Octomore,
with Duncan the distillery manager. These warehouses were up on a hill in
Port Charlotte and very old. Jaid had a wale of a time scampering around
the sellers snuffling and sniffling.

Everyone passed the exam at the end even Jaid who received a doggy
certificate. It must be said that on the last night we really did have a
drammy or two.

We were looked after like royalty by everyone at the distillery from Mary
and Rae in the accommodation to the manager who made sure that everyone had
a time to remember. We must have put on at least half a stone with the
beautifully cooked grub and the standard was exceptional. I can still taste
the whisky cream.

Friday saw our friends going home but one remained and kindly took us over
to Jura in his car. The Ireland was really windswept and cold. The
distillery tour was a little impersonal but the tour guides had fetched out
some models of the stills for Dave and I to look at which was thoughtful.
Our venison burgers and Murphy's after the tour set us up for a brilliant
tour of Bunnahabhain distillery in the afternoon and for me this was the
best tour of the week. John the manager was such a nice chap and our drams
of this under-rated malt tasted perfect after the experience.

Friday night was another cracker with Mark Reynier and Simon Coughlin two
of the owners from Bruichladdich having a pint or two and some animated
discussion with us in the Port Charlotte Hotel. We then ate a beautiful
Rogan and went to meet up with Grant from the Bruichladdich warehouses for
some pints and Drams. This was another highlight for me as he had asked us
out for a drink at the Lochindaal Hotel and is a genuine gentle giant of a
man.

With wringing heads we boarded the twin prop on Saturday and headed home.
Clare and I will be on Islay next year. Philip also has a cask of Aaron
going over to the distillery soon so would love to make it's acquaintance.

Pictures may be found on Dave's FaceBook pages at
http://www.facebook.com/p/Dave_Williams/780216527

Blind Ambition

Blind Ambition

Two totally blind men have had the free run of a Hebridean distillery for a week.

The ultimate in sensory perception – sound, smell and touch – were put to the test this week at the Bruichladdich Distillery on the Island of Islay.

Martin Roberts from Ipswich – a self-confessed “bolshy, abrasive, blind bastard” –
was joined by his mate David Williams from Worcester both totally blind since birth.

They work in programming and selling software that vocalises GPS navigation commands, having met at university where their interest in single malt whisky started.
.
“I don’t have much time for the patronising and the politically correct”, says Martin,
“The naff catch-all term “disabled” means society actually prevents you from taking part.

“I even refused a white stick because of the stigma, until falling down stairs for the 4th time. “Blind” is as good an Anglo Saxon word as any – it does what it says on the tin”.

Martin heard on the web about Bruichladdich’s whisky Academy where the public get a full hands-on experience in all aspects of distilling and making single malt whisky.

But he feared the three day event – more work experience than academic - would be out of bounds to him on Health and Safety grounds. But he was to be surprised:

Bruichladdich MD Mark Reynier: “When Martin called saying he wanted to come up and do the Whisky Academy I thought at first it was some kind of PC discrimination test.”

“I had often thought it would be an amazing sensory experience to follow the distilling process - blindfolded - relying on smells and sounds of this Victorian machinery.”

“It’s compelling. The BBC even recorded it for Radio 4’s ‘The Sounds of Britain’. When you stop and listen, really listen, it’s an amazing experience. The smells are delicious.”

“So I was happy for Martin, David and Jaid a 9 year old Labrador guide dog, to come and give it a go. They’re no shrinking violets expecting special cotton wool treatment…”

The two men took part in the whole of the distilling process from barley to bottle culminating in filling their own cask of Bruichladdich that they had helped make.

“From when we stepped off the plane, the smell of the air was like nothing we had ever experienced before. This place is real, tangible, neither patronising or condescending.

“In these days of marketing hype over real substance this was a dream come true. To work with people behind the brand and get physically involved is a fantastic experience.”

The term ‘blind drunk’ comes from the consumption of methanol – impure alcohol from the early stages of distillation – that illegal distillers mistakenly imbibed in days gone by.

During the poisoning, the Ophthalmic Nerve from the eye to the brain would be affected causing the inebriated drinker to lose sight, stumble about and collapse - before dying.













Notes to Editors:
Contact: Mark 07799 346 137

The Bruichladdich Academy: http://www.bruichladdich.com/the_academy.htm
Cost for full board, accommodation and course (3 days 4 nights) is £795

Sounds of Britain BBC Radio 4 Monday 17th September at 21.02 and repeated
Tuesday 18 September at 11.02am It will also be available to listen to at www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science (follow the links to NATURE)

Methanol Poisoning and Blindness Case Study: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1041582&blobtype=pdf

R I P Michael Jackson the Beer Hunter

\\\\The whisky man, beer hunter and all round good story teller Michael Jackson passed away yesterday. He fought Parkinson’s disease for many years and will now be drinking the finest of malts and beers looking down on us who must take on board his writing and go find good drinks.

Please, if you have an interest in mortality, beer or whisky take a read of Michaels last article linked above, its full of gentle humor and humanity.

Bruichladdich 15 Second Edition

Another Laddi then. I'm going through a few of them before my trip to Islay in September. The boys at Bruichladdich have buggered around with the bourbon matured spirit after 15 years and gave it additional cask enhancement in Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes wine casks. These white wine casks complement the bourbon maturation the whisky went through. as an aside, this bottling took first pries in the whisky magazine sponsored Winner of the Best Islay (Non-Peated) Award in the World Whiskies Awards 2007.

Nose: big bunches of strawberries, raspberry, and other soft fruits with the honeyed bourbon and melon fudge and brine beneath. when left in the glass raisin notes similar to a sherry cask but less dominating. a fresh crisp nose with no faints or spirit smell.

Pallet: tingles in the mouth with a liveliness which is sensational like sherbet dabs, who remembers those? sweet with les of the fruits from the nose in evidence, barley sugar and a saltiness that one would expect from a well matured laddie that lived by the Atlantic.

Finnish: beautifully tingly and crisp becoming a little sharper but with a long lasting bitter note like you've just eaten some tangy fruits with sugar. Also mellow.

Comment: stands head and shoulders above the oily honeyed 12 year old for me. refreshing.

Score: 90%

Holiday Plans and More

Because of Donna’s excit from humanware and an injury resulting from the London triathlon a week or two ago I’m in the northeast and Scotland this week. This will be sad because it’s a full week away from home and I can do little about it but nice to get together with family and friends.

Dave W has let the cat out of the bag on his blog and yes, we’re off to do the Bruichladdich academy of single malt along with Philip from Preston in two weeks or so. We will also be on the island for the first night of the Islay jazz festival. We’ll take in other distilleries as well as bruichladdich and podcast on both blogs if we get the chance. This is something I’ve wanted to do for over 5 years and I am so thrilled to be given the opportunity.

Next weekend finds two beer festivals, one in the dove and the other is the Peterborough beer festival which will be fun.

Clare Chris and I had a little crawl around Norwich on Saturday after going to Thetford and I went to Ipswich Steve’s birthday celebration at a rather good restaurant that evening then back to the Rose and crown for beer and then to mine for more ale and whisky. Sunday was spent recovering and finishing the last Harry potter book. It’s now time for me to pack the last of my stuff and get the 6:18 train to brum.

Norfolk Whisky the tour

Should you find yourself in Norfolk near Thetfard then the St.George's Distillery is a must visit. The distillery sits on the banks of the river Thet just off the A11 between
East Harling and Roudham.

Clare Chris and I set off on Saturday just gone to pay our respects to England’s only single malt distillery and the first in this country in many years. The enterprising Nelstrop family are realizing a dream of many and have built the plant visitors centre and are distilling a fantastic spirit better even than some of the new make on Islay. I tried the peated batch and it was drinkable at over 63.5% alcohol. They will also be producing unpeated spirit and age in bourbon as well as other wine casks such as sherry and red wines.

The tour was excellent with the brewer and distiller showing us around the brewing and distillation room. The mashing was taking place when we entered and the smell of malt hung in the air like a sweet blanket of well, maltyness. I won’t spoil the details of the tour in case some of you go but it really is good.

Unfortunately Ian Henderson the x manager of Laphroaig who created a fuss when he eventually moved from Scotland on a temporary basis to help start up the plant was not around that day but I left a bottle of Laphroaig cask strength with the MD Andrew Nelstrop who will ask him to sign it for me before they ship it back. Really above and beyond from a friendly family who obviously care about visitors and will make a world class whisky I’m sure.

I couldn’t resist buying one or two interesting bottles of whisky to take home along with a bottle of cream liqueur made with the single malt spirit from the English distillery.

We were also taken in to the warehouse and the smell of the traditionally maturing stocks was amazing. They had some small 20L wine casks maturing and Chris and I wanted to run away with one!

Bruichladdich 12 Second Edition

Yet another in the huge range of Bruichladdich bottlings. I had the first edition of the 12 year old a year or two ago and very nice it was with a vatting of sherry and bourbon matured malts in the mix. This second edition is exclusively matured in first and second fill bourbon casks from the USA.

Nose: honey bananas and soft fruits like peaches. Rather sweet and not as fresh as other Bruichladdiches. Reminds of the Balviny 10 for some reason. Apricots? Really takes time to open up.

Pallet: echoes the nose but adds a sprinkle of salty crushed shells. Oily. This dulls the usual vavavoom of the laddi in some way I can’t explain.

Finnish: Maritime tangy.

Comments. I was expecting more from this. Perhaps I thought it would be better than the previous 10 year old. It’s probably more complex but for my tastes not too exciting. Saying that I’d haply slurp a few glasses of an evening. Good stuff. Not as good as the first edition IMHO but lacks a little character maybe. Too mainstream?

Score: 83

Bruichladdich Waves 7 Year

Bruichladdich Waves is a 7 year old peated malt matured in bourbon casks for the majority of its time in wood then finished in Madera casks.

Nose: a little of the smell one associates with young floral spirit then smoke. Becomes sweet and stable like after a few minutes with the wine making a balancing contribution.

Palette: smoke first hits then a grapyness. Bytes the front of the pallet and lets you know it’s a young scamp of a malt. Not medical as some peaty whiskeys are. Sweet, not bogged down by heavy smoke but if you like a drop of peat you won’t be disappointed.

Finnish: Lingers and rather rich. I like it even though its firey and could put the new whisky explora off. I’ll try it with water next time. Lingers.

Comment: a more interesting version of Bruichladdich than the “Rocks” version they mucked around with last year. The smoke is welcome and I think the finish gives complexity beyond its 7 years. Only 24 quid so worth a shot.

Score: 79

Glenmorangie Cask Strengthc

Nose: White chocolate, creamy to the extreme, clotted cream. Hazel nuts.

Palette: oily and rather rich for a 40% malt. More burn than I would expect but the creaminess saves it. Buttery.

Finnish: fades quickly but returns in a fanfare of toffee. A little salt.

Comment: a bourbon matured little number with an inviting character. I think I had a cold coming on when I tried this so I should have another taste.

Score: 83%

Tyrconnell Irish Single Malt

Cooley distillery is the birth place for this single Irish malt whiskey matured in bourbon casks and hogsheads. The sister malt is a peated perky little number called Connemara.

Nose: banana toffee and liquorish something strange.

Pallet: honey, limes, bites the tongue.

Finnish: short hot peppered. Oak.

Comment: Not bad and I wouldn’t turn one down. Limetastic. Top o the evening.

Score: 68%