Tasting Notes: St Georges Distillery: The English Whisky Company: Chapter 6

St Georges Distillery: The English Whisky Company: Chapter 6:Unpeated(English Single Malt Whisky: 3 Years: 46% ABV)

Visual: Light grain colour.

Viscosity: A mix of fast streaks.

Nose:  Light apples. Moderate alcohol. Planed wood. Pear drops. Light sugared crumble. White wine.

Body: Apples. Quite the spark of alcohol, almost metaphorically quicksilver spirit feel. Menthol. Pear. Milk chocolate. Water adds a touch of plums at the back. Also makes sweeter, more apple crumble with custard this time. White grapes.

Finish: Dry, white grapes. Milk chocolate. Really feels the alcohol here.

Conclusion: I’m not much of one for patriotism. The fact that this thing wraps itself around the English flag does little for me but a wry smile and a shake of the head.

However it’s whisky, and new. Two things that do attract my attention, so let’s give this thing a fair shake.

It is evidently young, a touch fiery, but even at this point it is boding well. Fresh and fruity, it has all green fruit for the flavour. Lots of pears and apples, sweet and occasionally grape like. It has that kind of quicksilver nature I first ran into years ago with Canadian Club, which I attribute to its youth.  However the same youth combined with the freshness and raw level of apple fruitiness makes your mouth tingle pleasantly and you feel revitalised in the sipping of its flavour.

A bit of water does help mellow it. I mean it still feels a tad raw but also much less fiery. It is still closer to spirit than whisky in its feel –it hasn’t had long enough to develop that distinctive whisky character, even though at three years it can legally call itself that.

For all its youth and fire I like this whisky. It is raw but lively and it has a very distinctive character to call it’s own. I will be interested to watch it as it matures to see if it enhances this character, or if it loses what makes it fun as it gains the distinctive whisky character.

Worth keeping an eye on.

Background: The first English whisky in over a hundred years they say. I must admit it took me a while to care. We do have access to a perfectly good bunch of whisky distillers just across the border in Scotland and even more a short plane ride away in Ireland. It’s not like there is this huge untapped market thing going on here. I mean come on, calling it the “St Georges Distillery” and going with white and red colour scheme – could you make it a bigger bunch of flag waving horsecrap if you tried? Still, it is whisky, and a chance to watch it grow and mature, and that more than anything else gained my attention. So on a nice relaxing days whisky wandering I gave it a shot over at the Star. Anyone who points out the hypocrisy between my distaste for flag waving patriotism and my blatant Yorkshire bias on beer reviews will be met with a shrug and not much else.

Tasting Notes: Connoisseurs Choice: Royal Brackla 1991

Gordon and MacPhail: Connoisseurs Choice: Royal Brackla 1991 (Scottish Highland Single Malt Whisky: 20 Years: 46% ABV)

Visual: Thick gold.

Viscosity: Only a few streaks. Medium sized and slow.

Nose: Toffee. Planed wood. Mild lime influence. Shortbread. Heather. Slight sulphur. Water makes the heather more emphasised.

Body: Moderate oak that grows quickly. Slight alcohol is noticeable. Custard. Walnuts.  Water makes smoother. Adds lime and chestnut honey.

Finish: Quite dry and oaken. Acorns? Light nuts and moss. Water makes sweeter, adding chestnut honey again.

Conclusion: A whisky that has escaped review for a while based on the misapprehension that I had already reviewed it.  Thankfully the old green tree nearly always has a bottle in. So I dropped by to correct my mistake.

Let’s talk about the whisky as it is with water added, as without that it is an overly oak dominated and touch fiery whisky. So not at its best to say the least. Water allows it to show its best elements, that of a more mellow nutty style which mingles with a light sweetness to give a kind of chestnut honey element which is quite soothing.

Now it does always keep that oak dryness around the edges. When you finish a sip the mix of alcohol and the oak leaves you quite dry and parches. It is soothing, but one that leaves you thirsty.

It doesn’t vary much from what I’ve just described. It is quite single note, pretty much a nut cluster of a whisky. Despite that it is quite reasonable. Straightforward but with a finish that just doesn’t, well, finish. You can take your time with this one, let the flavour just hand there without needing to sip again. It is one that I would imagine would suit a distinguished evening party. You do not concentrate on it, but allow the flavour to hang there as you converse with others, possibly with a wood fire beside you to add to the aromas you experience.

So not a favourite whisky, but I can see its place in the whisky world.

Background: Bottled in 2011, this Royal Brackla whisky was drunk as part of a relaxing day, wandering the whisky pubs of Bath and sampling a few spirits in a leisurely fashion. Taking a photo of this bottle resulted in a few jokes from the locals, resulting in a quick explanation of doing the reviews. It’s odd how rarely I need to do that. Royal Brackla is one I’ve had a few times, but only independent bottlings. I will have to seek out an official bottling at some point to compare. This was a brand new bottled, opened before my eyes.

Tasting Notes: Springbank: 10 Year

Springbank: 10 Year (Scotland Campbeltown Single Malt Whisky:10 Years: 46% ABV)

Visual: Pale grain gold.

Viscosity: Quite fast mixed thick streaks.

Nose: Mud, grass and slightly oily. Peat. Dried beef, or maybe cured ham actually. Sulphur – egg. Lightens with water.

Body: Oak. Syrup. Malt loaf. Light custard. Dried beef jerky. Peat. Tiny touch of salt.  Milk chocolate. Very potent. Oily. Grassy. Water makes grassier and more open. Adds slight raisins but apart from that doesn’t alter the flavours much.

Finish: Smoke. Dry. Touch of salted beef.  Touch of bitter chocolate. Lightly grassy. Black cherry hints. Water makes more chocolate and grass but doesn’t hide the smoke. Slight plum and spice comes out here.

Conclusion:  My old friend. Springbank 10. How has it taken so long for me to get around to doing a review of it? Ok, yes that pretty much gives away that this is going to be a positive review doesn’t it?

Well frankly that fits the whisky. From the first you can tell it is going to be good. A grassy dry character with peat and sulphur. Lots of hints of what would usually be Island or Islay characteristics balanced with nuance and care. These normally challenging characteristic show themselves in a restrained yet highly aromatic front that give a hint of what is to come.

The body comes in forcefully. Dried beef and lets loose with all the elements the nose promised. Sweet syrup and chocolate touches mesh with the massive front of those aroma promised characteristics and lead into a smoke finish.  There is a distinct grassy style that I would normally associate with lighter whiskys rather than this booming beast.

Sweet and smoky, grassy and peaty. Oily into a dry finish. It is a juggling act of flavours. In fact it is odd that adding water does so little to expand it. Possibly it’s because it managed to present so much already up front. Water adds  a touch of spice and dark fruit while quelling the fire somewhat, but generally the water just allows the main characteristics to roam better.

It is a challenging whisky, and thus not for all. It is not challenging like the heavier Islays where one or two elements are pushed to the extreme. It is however forthright, robust and thick textured and while restrained more than Islay it does not compromise on the depth of the peat and smoke flavour.

All in all an old favourite of great depth and intensity.

Background: Campbeltown. I first encountered the name when reading  Aeneas Macdonald’s book “Whisky” in which he described the Campbeltowns as “The double basses of the whisky orchestra”. So as soon as I could I hunted down a bottle of Campbeltown  whisky to try. I sometimes wondered what would have happened if I had found Glen Scotia first, but thankfully I did not, I found Springbank and thus a love of the region was born.  There are very few Distilleries in the area now. Glen Scotia, and Springbank who turn out Springbank Hazelburn and Longrow. Springbank also own the third distillery of the area who make the new Kilkerran whisky.  This particular bottle was a luck find, It was at a local supermarket for a ridiculously low price. When I asked why it turns out it was an end of line bottle that they had to get rid of, so despite being perfectly fine spirit, they sold for a knock down price. I of course bought it. While drinking this I listened to the album “The Silent Enigma” by Anathema. It seemed somehow appropriate.

Tasting Notes: Van Winkle: Special Reserve: 12 Year: Lot B

Van Winkle: Special Reserve: 12 Year: Lot B (American Wheated Bourbon: 12 Years: 45.2% ABV)

Visual: A very dark amber gold.

Viscosity: Comes down thick and as a single sheet.

Nose: Rye bread. Spice. Shelled husks. Faint oil air. Orange peel. Water lightens mainly without adding much.

Body: Very sweet and spiced. Orange liquor. Sherry soaked red grapes. Treacle. Muscat grapes. Chives. Rye bread.

Finish: Red grapes. Mulled spice. A scented candle like oddity that hands around just at the back of the nostrils. Quite dry. Treacle and herbal.

Conclusion: Not for the faint of heart this one. Before drinking it I thought I had worked out the rough range of flavour the Bourbon played with. Then this passed my lips and I realized I was wrong.

Very sweet with this almost liquore touches countered by very herbal mulled wine styling. The more traditional Bourbon flavours expected show them underneath that, but on top it is all dancing spicy flavour.

Unfortunately you acclimatise to this shock too quickly. It is such a pleasant experience that I would like to be surprised anew on each sip, but the eye blinking oddity loses its punch as you get used to it.  That doesn’t mean it becomes bad, just that you can only really have that surprise once.

Also, don’t add water, it doesn’t seem to benefit and water  kills some of the higher elements in it.

So it had wondrous first sips and  then a tingling spiciness that makes for fair decent flavour by itself. Reminds me a bit of Muscat cask ageing and that’s a fair impressive feat.  Overall very impressive without compromising the core elements. I will definitely have to try the even older versions.

Background: Made at the Buffalo Trace distillery, this is apparently a wheated Bourbon. Best I know that means that despite it containing elements that I was convinced was rye bread like, there was actually no rye used to make it. Go figure.  Drunk at the Rummer Hotel. I have been having a lot of Scottish whisky recently and decided to give their Bourbon selection a try for a change. No I don’t know what “Lot B” is.  Twelve years is bloody old for a Bourbon, I didn’t think they survived well aged for more than six. Obviously I was wrong

Tasting Notes: Tobermory: 10 Year

Tobermory: 10 Year (Scottish Island Single Malt Whisky: 10 Years: 46.3% ABV)

Visual: Light grain colour.

Viscosity: Very slow streaks. Moderately thick

Nose: Squeezed lime. Vanilla. Grain fields. Oak. Sulphur. Water makes less distinct.

Body:  Quite fiery alcohol. Lime cheesecake. Milk chocolate and kiwi fruit. Sweet strawberry undertone. Water makes toffee chocolate and sweet lime yet still fiery. Some golden syrup comes out.

Finish: Kiwi fruit and milk chocolate. Dry. Strawberry. Slightly dusty. Water adds toffee and more chocolate. Pears. More water makes praline like.

Conclusion: I ran into the peated Ledaig version of this a while back but I realised I had never really played with the unpeated Tobermory expression. So when I saw it in a tidy little 5cl bottle I thought I might as well rectify that.

The unusually high abv for a base expression seems like an odd pick for the style of whisky.  The whisky is light and citrus fruit filled which doesn’t seem like it needs the extra grip the abv brings.  Oddly the aroma breaks up a bit with water as well, and water is recommended to break up the fire a little.  After a bit of play adding water I started finding the chocolate toffee coming out in the body which helps play against the fruitiness. This is where it gets most interesting, though by this point the water has pretty much nullified all but the egg sulphur like elements of the aroma which matches the flavour badly.

It’s nice like that but still fiery, which definitely doesn’t match the style.   In fact the alcohol burn can survive a surprising amount of water being added.  This is probably the whiskys main weakness.  Thankfully a bit more water will eventually balance the fire out and adds a nice praline touch.  However by this point the delicious toffee elements seem to have been submerged by the water.

Overall a range of nice elements that you can’t seem to get all at one time. The aroma breaks before you get the toffee and the toffee breaks before the fire does.  It gives it a nice bit of exploration but it does mean that you never reach that balanced level where everything works at one.  A nice whisky to play about with but not a favourite.

Background: Tobermory is a distillery I know better for their more petaed expressions bottled under the “Ledaig” line.  This miniature was picked up to give the lighter less peated base expression a try.

Tasting Notes: Glen Garioch: 12 Year

Glen Garioch: 12 Year (Scottish Highland Single Malt: 12 Years: 48% ABV)

Visual: Slightly bronzed gold.

Viscosity: Generally slow and middling length streaks. A few fast chasing streaks.

Nose: Marzipan. Sugared almonds, very sweet and light. Light planed wood. Hint of smoke. Water brings out stewed apples.

Body: Oak front. Golden syrup. Custard and dried apricot.  Milky chocolate. Pears. Water makes apple crumble and oak come out, overall much more fruity with water.

Finish: Almonds and chocolate. Pear drops. Tiny meat broth occasionally. Light oak. Cinnamon. Water makes much more chocolate emphasis come out.

Conclusion: This is really smooth, and if I didn’t know better I would have called it as Speyside for its sweet and fruity style. It has a bit more punch that usually for the fruity sweet style though, probably due to the slightly higher than average abv. No bad thing though. In fact I would advise against watering it down too much because while a drop or two really helps it open up it very quickly looses that extra force and thickness that really helps it stand out from the crowd.

It has a lovely luxurious chocolate finish and a delicate sugar and fruit nose to set it top and tail. It brings you in easy and heads out smoothly.  In fact while it is different in flavour the texture and class reminds me of the pacing on its fellow highland whisky Dalmore.  In my opinion that’s a very good whisky to be like, and the lovely fruitiness means that it brings nearly completely different flavours in with the same stylish touch.

Overall an impressive mix of style and fruit, and stewed and dessert in its flavours.  It balances the extra force with great ease of drinking in the flavours. It isn’t one for long sipping session neat due to that extra force, but works well that way watered down a touch. Neat I would say it would be great post dessert whisky.

A nice introduction to the distillery.

Background: Drunk at “the Tasting Rooms” who usually have a nice selection of less common whiskys.  I’d been meaning to try this one for a while, it being yet another distillery I had yet to try.  Apparently the pronunciation on the name is Glen Geery. Yeah, I would never have worked that one out. Drunk with friends who were similarly enjoying a range of spirits and commenting which gave a nice tasting atmosphere.

Tasting Notes: Bruichladdich: Port Charlotte: An Turas Mor

Bruichladdich: Port Charlotte: An Turas Mor (Scottish Islay Single Malt Whisky: no age statement: 46% ABV)

Visual: Clear gold.

Viscosity:  A lot of fast thin streaks.

Nose:  Peat and smoke.  Light dried beef jerky.  Campfire ash.  Dry pomegranates.  Water makes more broth like. Beef crisps.  Aniseed and peppercorn.

Body: Burnt and peated. Touch of sweet syrup below that. Charred thin beef slice. Dried apricot, pomegranate and vanilla cream. Water makes sweeter and the meat and peat roils in.

Finish: Dry. Chocolate and smoke. Slightly medicinal dryness.  Light charring. Dried peach slices. Water makes more chocolate and smoke.

Conclusion: I’ve played with a few whiskys recently that turned out to be very dry and peaty and a few of them have turned out a bit too mouth drying and antiseptic for me. Oft the ones with higher alcohol content exacerbating the effect.

On first sip I thought this one was going to be another of those. The dry peat and medicinal style is distinctly present, but backed up with light fruit and sweetness.  Then a few meagre drips of water take that edge off balancing it up just right.

Smoke on the nose, sweet and peat then into fantastic dryness and chocolate which gives great mouth freshness. It is still dry, even the fruit feels like dried fruit. The added flavour range does not reduce the distinctive style.

Near the end of the drink the alcohol becomes tongue numbing in intensity, even with the water and in but a single measure.  It is possible the whisky would have benefited from a touch more water but since I enjoyed the flavour balance so much I did not want to risk ruining it.  As is it has an impressively bracing style. If you have access to a full bottle I would advise taking some time to play with it as I’m fairly sure it will have a better range than I found.

The fruit to kick balance is impressive and I really want to return to it at some point to experiment more. A very impressive dry peat whisky with good complexity for the punch.

Background: An Turas Mor is apparently Gaelic for Great Journey. This is best I know the only multi vintage version of Port Charlotte with the rest being yearly releases of the evolving spirit. Port Charlotte is the name of the peated version of the Bruichladdich and has a good reputation in the whisky world. Found at the “Tasting Rooms” I just had to give it try.

Tasting Notes: Laphroaig: Quarter Cask

Laphroaig: Quarter Cask (Scottish Single Malt Islay Whisky: No Age Statement: 48% ABV)

Visual: A slightly custard hued gold.

Viscosity: Moderate thickness slow streaks with occasional larger sheets around the glass.

Nose: Smoke, oak and kippers with a touch of malt loaf. Water lightens significantly.

Body: Very viscous.  Salty but with custard sweetness. Slight alcohol tingle that never burns, and slight to moderate beef influence. There is peat throughout.Water adds a sherry touch and makes the sweetness treacle tart like.  Water adds chocolate and oak edging to it whilst enhancing the meatiness.

Finish: Dry oak. Bitter chocolate. Salt, smoke and peat.  Water makes much more chocolate filled, and closer to praline but without removing the salt and alcohol from the end. Spiced raisins.

Conclusion: Laphroaig is nigh always a classic in my eyes, but it is pretty much the medicinal marmite of the whisky range.

This version, which has no age statement, is Laphroaig with pipe and slippers, and a touch of rising oak beneath the surface.  A touch of class, but with an edge.

Salty and peaty, it is matched by delicious sweet smoothness. The higher abv gives it energy but not burn, and the sweet chocolate element that underscores the Laphroaig finish has a wonderful praline like element with water. All just turning the quality up a notch.  The abv also means it survives significant water play, becoming smoother but still keeping a hint of salt amongst the emerging spicy element.

The aroma similarly is rich, with the surprising kipper like element as an addition. Again deliciously unique and contrary, whilst still enhancing the whisky.

At around the same cost as Laphroaig 10 this is the much more distinguished competitor.  So what does the whisky lose from all this added class? Well the medicinal harshness for one, which for some is the defining element of the distillery.  It’s still not a light whisky, and definitely does not bow to public opinion, but it does have some of the rougher edges smoothed.

A great balance between Islay character, sweet smoothness, dry oak and spice, with enough odd elements to keep you interested.

Seriously. Just get it.

Background: Ah Laphroaig. The unmistakable whisky, and an old friend.  The Quarter Cask is one I have tried at whisky shows, and from shops sampler sections, but have never tried a full measure of.  Thus when I saw it at “The Raven” I thought it well worth giving it a try. There were no jugs or spoons for adding water so we improvised using a straw with a thumb over the top to transfer the small measures of water over. By stretching or compressing the flexible joint in the middle of the straw it was easy enough to ensure we drew up the correct amount of water. The quarter cask refers to the fact that the whisky has spent time in a smaller cask, thus has had more contact with the wood, which ages the whisky significantly faster.

Tasting Notes: The Arran Malt: 14 Years

The Arran Malt: 14 Years (Scottish Island Single Malt Whisky: 14 Years: 46% ABV)

Visual: Golden grain.

Viscosity: Very slow to form streaks from the spirit. Very slow streaks and very thin when they do form.

Nose: Slightly smoky. Red cherries. Mustard seeds and shortbread. Slightly creamy. Watercress. Slight eggs. Water makes the eggs more obvious and slightly musty.

Body: Creamy. Blue berry crumble. Light sugar dusting. Thick texture. Slight milky chocolate. Sweeter with water. Golden syrup and banana syrup. Slight walnuts. Much creamier with water.

Finish: Milky chocolate and pepper. Shortbread again. Light oak. Water adds banana bread and pancake. Still peppery with water and more oak filled.

Conclusion: When I tried the Arran 10 a while back I already knew that this bottle was awaiting me and I was intrigued to see what a few extra years would do to it. So now it’s here, what do we find?

Still creamy, but now it’s got some body to it. It’s like it spent the last four years on an intensive fitness regime for flavour.  Lots of sweet and lightly fruity elements to the whisky with a light pepper influence rounding it off. Very easy drinking and great to go alongside a dessert. So this far in and I’m already pretty impressed.

Then there’s the whisky when you get water added in. It’s quite a shock, much sweeter and with a sudden banana influence. Again its dessert accompanying whisky, but now almost syrupy in nature. It’s more a change in pitch than in style, similar yet distinctly different.

This whisky is very much a pumped up version of the ten year, but it has aged marvellously, smoother and fuller in all aspects.  It is probably too sweet to be a general drinking whisky, but anywhere from dessert to late night snacks it would fit in the schedule nicely.

A single use, two style whisky to be enjoyed.

Background:  Isle of Arran is a comparatively new Island malt, and quite significantly different from the harsh and salty island archetype. I’d tried the ten year a while back, and before that had seen the whiskys influence on Brewdog’s Paradox beer, so despite being a relative newbie to the spirit I’ve still had a bit of history with the distillery.

This was a present from my parents for which I thank them muchly. In fact the first dram was sampled whilst watching the Doctor Who Christmas special. A fine way to spend Christmas day (New Doctor Who is one of the few good things about Christmas In My Opinion)

Tasting Notes: Bruichladdich: Waves

Bruichladdich: Waves (Scottish Islay Single Malt Whisky: No Age Statement: 46%)

Visual: Very rich rose and apricot colour. Almost perfumeqsue. Very unusual

Nose: Peat beef and smoke. Light planed wood. Quite smooth. Water brings out a slight sulphur egg smell.

Body: Contradicts the nose by being rich and fruity. Peaches and apricots. Peat back. Sweet syrup. Beef casserole. Some custard in the sweetens as well. Spice red grapes. Water makes even sweeter and spicier.

Finish: Dried apricot. Light wood. Grows into some malt taste. Water makes a mulled wine touch that lasts long.

Conclusion: The first sip, they say, is taken with the eye.  Or is it the first bite. Same idea anyway.  This performs wonderfully to that first bite. Beautiful with an almost perfume and apricot colour, and it’s a nice visual key that you are about to try something a bit different.

The difference skips the aroma though. It has the usual pungent sulphur smell. Nice but not usual.  The difference then is in the main body. Bruichladdich is one of the milder Islays usually, but this brings quite the beef stew feel and a touch of island peat against a huge fruitiness. This fruitiness and spiciness is the wonderful part, unusual and works so well against the main dram.  The flavours don’t dim with water, instead expanding. The sweetness in particular booms post the first drops, easily strong enough to combat the Islay style.

Overall it gives that touch of extra character which Bruichladdich may need to stand out from its fellows, and a great touch it is.  It’s still not quite as complex as some of the other examples form the region, but in this case is definitely different and accentuates Bruichladdich’s quirks.

An easy sipping balance of sweet to peat. A relaxing Islay that I must say I do like

Background: Odd one to do research on here. The whisky menu listed this as a ten year, online research suggest seven. The bottle gives no clue. Also there seems to be different versions of this finished in different fashions. Best guess I think this one was finished in a Madeira cask, but don’t quote me on that. Fits the taste profile though. Drunk at The Tasting Room, where despite the fact I and my friends have been a bare two times, we were remembered and greeted with friendly conversation.  The latter half of the dram was had with some shortbread which was a nice accompaniment. Thanks to Dylan for providing the improvised background on this photo.