Show us your whisky! Vol 2

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Discussion

jammy-git

29,775 posts

211 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
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SebastienClement said:
Had a week in the highlands last week, and did the distillery tour at Aberfeldy. Never tried Aberfeldy before, but had the chance to pour a bottle from a cask at a reduced price.

Cask filled in 2001, single cask at 55.8% abv. Very smooth, not overly complex, but very agreeable smooth vanilla, fruit & a long finish. Lovely.
I love Aberfeldy. Tried the 12, 15 and 18, all very good and the 12 is superb value. Would like to try the 21 at some point.

Podie

46,630 posts

274 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
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Any decent “travel retail exclusives” out there at the moment... will be passing through an airport or two in the near future, so seems rude not to stock up!

Bobberoo99

38,362 posts

97 months

Thursday 6th September 2018
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jammy-git said:
SebastienClement said:
Had a week in the highlands last week, and did the distillery tour at Aberfeldy. Never tried Aberfeldy before, but had the chance to pour a bottle from a cask at a reduced price.

Cask filled in 2001, single cask at 55.8% abv. Very smooth, not overly complex, but very agreeable smooth vanilla, fruit & a long finish. Lovely.
I love Aberfeldy. Tried the 12, 15 and 18, all very good and the 12 is superb value. Would like to try the 21 at some point.
I did the tour just after they opened the Dewars world of whisky exhibition, I'm a fan of the 12 and 15 too, I was fortunate enough to try the 25yr old at the distillery as I spent quite a lot in the shop, little did I know but my wife bought me a bottle of the 25yr old as a surprise which I still have untouched, I'd be willing to part with it if there's any interest.

jammy-git

29,775 posts

211 months

Thursday 6th September 2018
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Podie said:
Any decent “travel retail exclusives” out there at the moment... will be passing through an airport or two in the near future, so seems rude not to stock up!
I had several recommendations for the Balvennie 14 Peated Triple Cask. It’s gorgeous. Ended up buying four bottles over a couple of trips.

Podie

46,630 posts

274 months

Thursday 6th September 2018
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jammy-git said:
Podie said:
Any decent “travel retail exclusives” out there at the moment... will be passing through an airport or two in the near future, so seems rude not to stock up!
I had several recommendations for the Balvennie 14 Peated Triple Cask. It’s gorgeous. Ended up buying four bottles over a couple of trips.
nono No ashtray please... hehe

Have tried and enjoyed the non-peated Balvenie triple casks though

crmcatee

5,691 posts

226 months

Thursday 6th September 2018
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DHL just dropped latest purchase.



We opened and finished a bottle of the original a few years back at a friends wedding on Islay; it was gorgeous so had to have some of the last of it.

Bobberoo99

38,362 posts

97 months

Saturday 15th September 2018
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Converted my award for employee of the week into Amazon vouchers and treated myself to a bottle of Lagavulin.

autofocus

2,963 posts

217 months

Saturday 15th September 2018
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Hi there,

What are people’s thoughts on the newly released BenRiach 12yo Sherry cask and also the Glendronach 15yo ?

Anyone tried them ?

Regards
Tim

NRS

22,078 posts

200 months

Sunday 16th September 2018
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crmcateec - one to open and one to put away?

Bobberoo99 said:
Converted my award for employee of the week into Amazon vouchers and treated myself to a bottle of Lagavulin.
Congrats on the award - nice to get some "free" whisky, biggrin

The new Glendronach 15yo is distillery only release for the first few months I think, so hard to get a taste just yet unless you are there/ know someone. However both of the originals of those were tasty drams.

Was at a mini whisky festival here yesterday. Had a bit of variety, Ailsa Bay, then single casks of North British 25yo, Linkwood 1997, Smogen 2012 and finished with Ledaig 1997.



crmcatee

5,691 posts

226 months

Sunday 16th September 2018
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NRS said:
crmcatee - one to open and one to put away?

[
One definitely to be open; the other will be stashed, but given time; no doubt will be opened too smile

LeighW

4,360 posts

187 months

Monday 17th September 2018
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NRS said:
The new Glendronach 15yo is distillery only release for the first few months I think, so hard to get a taste just yet unless you are there/ know someone. However both of the originals of those were tasty drams.
The Glendronach 15 is excellent, as was the distillery tour that I did there on Friday. I bought two bottles. biggrin For my taste, it's as good as, and possibly even better than the 18yo Allardice, smoother (for want of a better word) on the arrival. Great value too. I visited a few distilleries over the weekend, I'll try and do a write up later. My suitcase was a LOT heavier on the flight home. hehe

Podie

46,630 posts

274 months

Tuesday 18th September 2018
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Travel Retail Exclusive is a lad of st.

Most things available on the high street / online.... and cheaper.

Came away with a Benriach 10 triple distilled and a cheap Spice tree.

jammy-git

29,775 posts

211 months

Tuesday 18th September 2018
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Does anybody have any good suggestions of a whisky (or non-whisky) to get as a gift to commemorate the birth of my friend's daughter?

LeighW

4,360 posts

187 months

Tuesday 18th September 2018
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Podie said:
Travel Retail Exclusive is a lad of st.
Aberdeen airport had the Aberlour Casg Annamh 1 litre for £58 - that's a good price. The 70cl is £59.95 at MoM. It's a decent dram too, albeit quite a bit different from the usual Aberlour. Quite light on the arrival, then quite a bit of spice with a fruity/dried fruit finish. Not a really huge sherry bomb.

NRS

22,078 posts

200 months

Tuesday 18th September 2018
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LeighW said:
Podie said:
Travel Retail Exclusive is a lad of st.
Aberdeen airport had the Aberlour Casg Annamh 1 litre for £58 - that's a good price. The 70cl is £59.95 at MoM. It's a decent dram too, albeit quite a bit different from the usual Aberlour. Quite light on the arrival, then quite a bit of spice with a fruity/dried fruit finish. Not a really huge sherry bomb.
Duty Free is generally pretty rubbish for the most part these days. Most is normal stuff, sometimes in a bigger 1 litre bottle. Plus most distilleries have 1 release of a more expensive NAS travel special, which is usually overpriced for the taste. However Aberdeen Airport has a exclusive HP single cask at the moment, unless it is sold out.

LeighW said:
The Glendronach 15 is excellent, as was the distillery tour that I did there on Friday. I bought two bottles. biggrin For my taste, it's as good as, and possibly even better than the 18yo Allardice, smoother (for want of a better word) on the arrival. Great value too. I visited a few distilleries over the weekend, I'll try and do a write up later. My suitcase was a LOT heavier on the flight home. hehe
Sounds like a good trip, and important the suitcase is full on the way back, biggrin Looking forward to hearing more about it. I know a few friends said the same about the previous 15yo - better than the 18yo as a bit less alcohol burn. It was too long apart than I tried them to be able to say anything myself.

jammy-git said:
Does anybody have any good suggestions of a whisky (or non-whisky) to get as a gift to commemorate the birth of my friend's daughter?
How much are you looking at for a budget? Do you know what whisky he/she might like?

jammy-git

29,775 posts

211 months

Tuesday 18th September 2018
quotequote all
NRS said:
jammy-git said:
Does anybody have any good suggestions of a whisky (or non-whisky) to get as a gift to commemorate the birth of my friend's daughter?
How much are you looking at for a budget? Do you know what whisky he/she might like?
Preferably well under £100. Not sure on her tastes, she's only a day old. wink

I thought it could possibly be something he could keep until she's 18 - which is why I wondered whether something that isn't a whisky might be a better option?

NRS

22,078 posts

200 months

Tuesday 18th September 2018
quotequote all
jammy-git said:
NRS said:
jammy-git said:
Does anybody have any good suggestions of a whisky (or non-whisky) to get as a gift to commemorate the birth of my friend's daughter?
How much are you looking at for a budget? Do you know what whisky he/she might like?
Preferably well under £100. Not sure on her tastes, she's only a day old. wink

I thought it could possibly be something he could keep until she's 18 - which is why I wondered whether something that isn't a whisky might be a better option?
Ah, sorry, I thought it was for your friend as a celebration now, rather than the wee one, biggrin

For my godson I put money into a share saving account, with the thought being 18 years of compound interest makes a bit of money for the future. I'm adding to it for birthdays etc. With 18 years at 5% interest you should get a bit over double any money now.

If you want to go whisky related then probably something non-cask strength if it's for drinking, as a lot of people are not fans of it, especially when young. Peated/smokey I'd also not do, since many people hate that flavour.

You could maybe get something from this year as something on the side.... Guiness Book of Records or something?! confused

LaurasOtherHalf

21,429 posts

195 months

Tuesday 18th September 2018
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Port Dundas has closed so when it’s all gone, it’s gone.

There are a few decent bottles about at the moment;

https://www.houseofmalt.co.uk/product-category/sco...

I know one collector in particular who’s squealing away anything that’s from there.

LeighW

4,360 posts

187 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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Ok, I have some time for a bit of a write up on my Speyside distillery distillery trip for anyone that's interested. Those that aren't should scroll down now. biggrin

After an early start (3.55am taxi pickup!), we flew up to Aberdeen on Friday morning. As we had landed at 8am, and our first booked tour being at Glenfarclas at 2pm, we had some spare time. As luck would have it, Glendronach distillery is only a short detour from the Aberdeen to Aberlour route, so we decided to pop into the visitor centre.

Glendronach
We rolled up about twenty minutes before they opened, and even though the staff were still getting ready, we were made very welcome. We obviously had nothing booked, but fortunately there was space on the first tour of the day, so we chose the Premium Tasting Tour for £20. This consisted of the usual tour around, enjoying all the usual sights and aromas, followed by a tasting of the 18yo Allardice, the 21yo and the Distillery Manager's Cask. I was going to buy an 18yo, but we were then offered a taste of the 15yo Revival. Wow, a lovely dram! So man maths/logic kicked in, and as the 18yo is currently pretty widely available, I bought two of the 15yo, which at the moment is a distillery exclusive, and a pretty reasonable £55. One to drink, one to keep!

One thing I didn't know was that the Allardice 18 is actually quite a bit older. The distillery was closed from 1996 until 2001, so any bottled this year would actually be 23 years old. The 18 won't actually be as young as 18 until we get to 2020.

To sum up, a lovely distillery, great staff, and great whisky. Well worth a visit.




Onward to Aberlour, and checking in at the Mash Tun. This was the second time we'd stayed here, and I can't recommend it enough. A huge range of whiskies, with a whisky menu as thick as a telephone directory! We were checked in by Kevin, one of the owners, and we asked if he could get us a taxi for the five mile trip to Glenfarclas a couple of hours later. Unfortunately, all the local firms were busy. “No problem” he said, “I'll take you. Just ring me when you want picking up and I'll come and get you.” We offered to pay him, but he said “No, just get me a beer later.” You don't get service like that at many places. Cosy rooms, really great food, great staff who know their whisky, what more could you want?






Renault Captur. Possibly the slowest hire car in the world…

Glenfarclas

Glefarclas, the Connoisseur's Tour. A tour of the distillery followed by a tasting of the 15, 21, 25 and Family Cask (I can't remember the exact year for certain, I think 1994). I fully expected to be buying a bottle or two here, but I have to say I was a bit disappointed. The only Glenfarclas I'd had prior to this was a 105 cask strength, which I wasn't a huge fan of. I like a sherried whisky, but for me the Glenfarclas seems a bit blunt and one dimensional. Others will disagree I'm sure!

Unfortunately, the distillery is currently on shut down due to a shortage of water after the dry summer we've had (a water shortage in Scotland – whodathunkit??), so instead of the lovely aromas that usually greet you as you tour a distillery, all we could smell was fresh paint! I also didn't expect the tour guide to be French. She was a lovely person, but c'mon, I want the whole Scottish distillery experience. wink






Back to the Mash Tun for a power nap biggrin, then food and a dram or two in their bar.

Cragganmore

After a great breakfast, it was a taxi at 9.30 for Cragganmore and their Range Tour. A beautiful setting down a quiet lane, this looked promising. We were welcomed to the distillery with a coffee in the study of founder John Smith. This room is as correct as possible down to original ornaments, furniture etc, including his desk and specially made chair (he was apparently quite short, but weighed 22 stones!) A really knowledgeable and friendly tour guide, Johnathon, told us the history of the distillery, then gave us a tour round. Although some people say that once you’ve done one tour, you’ve done them all, I find that every distillery has something unique about it, and you generally learn something new each time. After the tour, we had samples of four different malts (12, the double matured limited release, the distillery only bottling and a sample straight from the cask) paired with shortbread, crackers, parma ham and cheese. Very enjoyable. You also got a free glass and £5 off every full bottle in the shop. As someone who’d never even tried a Cragganmore before, I left impressed, and poorer, having bought a bottle of the double matured (£55 I think) and a signed bottle of the distillery only bottling (£95 – oops!) hehe






Back to Aberlour, and time for a wander up to the Aberlour distillery shop before lunch. Bought a bottle of their Distillery Exclusive 13yo Oloroso Sherry Cask. £70, but it comes in a nice wooden box…

Macallan

After lunch, and this is one I was interested in having visited last year, was Macallan. I’m a sucker for the traditions and history of whisky, so I fully expected to hate this place, all shiny and new. Time to find out. First impressions were not great. This place is vast and there is little to no signage in the car park so you’re not exactly sure where to go, the entrance has no sign at all, just a frankly stupidly designed footpath. Wheelchair users would have some fun here.



Enter through the automatic door, and you’re greeted by this.



One of the first things you notice is that there are no older members of staff, all young twenty somethings. We’d later find out (not from Macallan) that when the new place opened, a new manager came in and they basically got rid of all of the old tour staff. We were also told that apparently if any of the staff are caught referring to the new building’s nick name of the Teletubbies House, it is instant dismissal. How true that is I don’t know. So, the tour. The choice of tours is simple. Tour or no tour.

To be honest, you cannot fail to be initially impressed by the sheer scale of the place, and the engineering that has gone into it. You can see where the money has gone, no doubt. However, this soon fades as the gimmicks start. The tour guides all carry ipads which control the various stations that you are taken to. Each is a round table with some sort of demonstration model on it. You’re then invited to spin the rail that goes round the outside to make the model/demo move. Frankly, it was like playing wheel of fortune (for anyone that remembers the TV show).

The first one was a model of the original house, which split in half as we spun the rail.


This one lit up in stages to demonstrate the production process.



This one had little flashing lights that demonstrated the distillation process and the vapours rising through the stills.



You get the idea.

More pics




Imgur compresses the pictures horribly, but in case you can't read it, the above is a 6 litre Lalique decanter of Macallan 'M' (eh?) that sold at a Hong Kong auction for $628000. eek






It then went downhill for me. You’re invited into a circular area, which then becomes enclosed as the walls rotate around you and you take your seat for a film. I filmed a short clip which is in the following link. There’s no sound on imgur for some reason, but I’m sure you could find the full length version on Youtube. At the end of the film, a bottle of Macallan rises through the centre of the table, complete with dry ice. Seriously.

https://i.imgur.com/6BZL6uW.mp4

It reminded me of the start of a ride at Alton Towers or something. Slight motion sickness thrown in for free.




Anyway, after all that jazz, we were then shown to our table for a tasting, and introduced to our host, Seb. I couldn’t quite place the accent, kind of Dutch with an American twang, think young F1 driver with the build and confident persona to match. And a ponytail. hehe Friendly chap though.

The whiskies we tasted were three varieties of the 12 (double cask, triple cask matured and sherry oak cask), and also their rare cask. Seb told us to open our mouths wide as we nosed the glass, to open up our sinuses and enhance our smelling ability. Yeah, thanks Seb. Cue a table full of people looking slightly uncomfortable and bearing more than a passing resemblance to a dying fish. hehe
All fairly unremarkable and quite similar to be honest, none of them as good as the sherry oak that I used to buy for £30 not that long ago. The price now in the shop, sorry, boutique? The 12s, £60, rare cask £240. Nope, not for me. We did get a free glass though.



None of this is aimed at the whisky drinker IMO, I think it’s more for the new-moneyed collectors from the Far East and US. Have they got it right for the long term? Who am I to say, time will tell.

Conclusion on the Macallan distillery for me? Malt Disney.

Glenfiddich
Still reading? Sunday, and after a quick visit to the whisky shop in Dufftown (tried the Glenglassaugh Port Wood – very nice, quite sweet, bought a bottle banghead ) the final tour at Glenfiddich. Now, I’m only too happy to admit that I only booked this as it was the only place that did any decent tours on a Sunday. Because it is such a huge producer (they get through 100 tonnes of barley every day, seven days a week!), I was expecting it to be very industrial, very corporate and none too exciting. Wrong.

The ‘Deconstructed’ tour that we’d booked included a normal distillery tour, followed by a visit to ‘warehouse 8’, where they make the Solera 15. Oh, the smells in that warehouse – heaven. Sadly, no pictures allowed in there. You then get to make your own version of Solera in the blending room. I’ve been on a fair few tours now, and this is my favourite so far. Somehow they keep it feeling traditional, even though they use some very modern processes in production. They seem rightly proud of the history, and are keen to maintain it.

They are currently building a new still house at a cost of £40m, which according to our guide, is the same amount that Macallan overspent by. The two and a half hours tour with your own bottling at the end which you get to keep cost £50. I don’t begrudge a penny. The café is excellent as well. Highly recommended. I came away a fan, which is surely the idea. By the way, the 18 was £62 in the shop, just £2 more than Macallan's 12. I'm going to buy a 15 Solera when the wife's not looking.










After that, it was sadly back to the airport and home on the 8.30pm flight. Tired and a bit poorer, but a great weekend.



Fortunately, the Glenglassaugh is being delivered, I was already on my weight limit.

If you’re still awake, thanks for reading. smile

Edited to add a few more Glenfiddich pics.
Edited by LeighW on Wednesday 19th September 16:12


Edited by LeighW on Wednesday 19th September 22:09

NRS

22,078 posts

200 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
quotequote all
Sounds like a great trip, and nice write up with pics!

Great to hear Glendronach is still like it was, and hasn't changed (yet?) with the new owners in terms of becoming more corporate.

In terms of the hospitality, seems to be a common thing in the area. When my flight was delayed the AirBnB host I was staying with in Elgin drove the 40min there and back to pick up my bottles that I would have missed out on otherwise. Then would not accept money until I told him to give it to charity instead if he didn't want it!

Surprised Glenfarclas was disappointing, but can understand with the closure. Sometimes I find that is interesting in itself, as you can see stuff you wouldn't normally get to see (for example inside the stills etc). That said, I am perhaps a bit biased as when we were there we got to taste the 1961 cask that is 1 to the right of your pic, which was amazing! When I did the Glenfiddich Solera a few weeks ago it might be similar to being a bit disappointing in some ways, as the distillery was closed so it was just the bottling area and warehouses we saw (plus the room above the mash tun). Which of the Solera parts (Virgin, Bourbon, Sherry) did you like best?

Pity about Macallan - that's the kinda thing that to me would make distillery tours the same. It's important to have the personal touches to make a distillery more than just a fancy video about making whisky.