The Malt Affair: Michiel Wigman Masterclass tasting
Welcome Michiel and Jan to Singapore! We hope you’ve enjoyed our food and hospitality, and that you were never short of something to drink. Notes from the engaging Masterclass: Ardbeg … Continue reading
Springbank 10 yo 1977 / 1987 Sutti Import 57% 75 cl vs Springbank 33 yo 1970 / 2004 The Whisky Fair #2964 47.9%
Springbank 10 yo 1977 / 1987 Sutti Import 57% 75 cl Tense with a measured golden power. Nose it for an immediate bullseye: A woody, barky petitgrain followed by hot … Continue reading
Milroy’s trio: Clynelish 23 yo 1997 / 2021 Milroy’s #12359 53.3% vs Ben Nevis 25 yo 1996 / 2021 Milroy’s #20 47.6% vs Springbank 28 yo 1992 / 2021 Milroy’s #185 50.9%
Check out our pals Friends With Drams, they’ve got good whisky. Clynelish 23 yo 1997 / 2021 Milroy’s #12359 53.3% The sort of Clynelish that’s big on oak, so we … Continue reading
Springbank 23 yo bottled Dec 1991 James MacArthur’s 53.7% vs Ardbeg 17 yo 1976 / 1993 Cadenhead 54.6%
Springbank 23 yo bottled Dec 1991 James MacArthur’s 53.7% On one hand it’s got the trappings of pristine Springbank, with salted lemons, sea breeze, crunching minerals, white smoke and drops … Continue reading
Springbank 34 1964 / 1998 Cadenhead 52.2% vs Springbank 30 1972 / 2002 Chieftain’s #410 57.8%
Springbank 34 1964 / 1998 Cadenhead 52.2% Thick, oxidised and heavy sherry the kind that brushes by mere fruit with a disdainful glance and plunges gleefully into the tarry, umami … Continue reading
Springbank 21 yo 1993 / 2015 Lockett Brothers #470 49.4% vs Cooley 22 yo 1991 / 2014 SMWS 117.5 55.5%
Springbank 21 yo 1993 / 2015 Lockett Brothers #470 49.4% Oh a sharp-edged, muscular Springbank. Grass juice, lemon rind, all ascetic and raw. Lots of hot engine oil and puffing … Continue reading
Springbank 21 yo 1996 / 2018 ‘peated type’ Whisky Agency 50.9% vs Springbank 23 yo 1994 / 2017 Nectar of the Daily Drams 50.6%
Springbank 21 yo 1996 / 2018 ‘peated type’ Whisky Agency 50.9% Why isn’t this Longrow then? Because Longrow is double distilled and this was made with the 2 plus distillation … Continue reading
Springbank 10 yo 46% vs Springbank 26 yo 1992 / 2019 Whisky Kingdom #153b 47.7% vs Springbank 22 yo 1993 / 2015 The Bottlers #227 51.9%
Springbank 10 yo 46% ~ mid 2010s It’s a lean sort of whisky that’s all very unoffensive though somewhat dull. It’s vegetable peelings. brine, burning butane, working machinery and hot … Continue reading
Springbank 15 yo black label 46% vs Springbank 25 yo parchment label 46%
Springbank 15 yo black label 46% One of the cleaner Springbanks. This time some obvious waxy notes, clean sackcloth, a tiny bit of fermenting fruit, fried banana chips, honey, maybe … Continue reading
Bruichladdich 25 yo 1958 Cadenhead, Macallan 15 yo 1946 Securo, Macallan 1962, Springbank 1965 Moon Import The Birds #367, Glenfiddich 29 yo 1956 Intertrade, Clynelish 1974 Modern Masters, Caol Ila 21 yo 1968 for Intertrade, Glen moray 25 yo 1959 Samaroli, Glen Grant 21 yo 1972 Whyte & Whyte, Talisker 1979 Whyte & Whyte
Sample night! So short notes only. Bruichladdich 25 yo 1958 / 1984 Cadenhead Peated yes, but not hugely so. The sort of phenols that’s been transmuted to a secondary level. … Continue reading
Longrow 16 yo 1974 46% ~ mini, J & A Mitchell & Co Ltdvs Longrow 21 yo 1974 #1550 46%
Longrow 16 yo 1974 46% ~ mini, J & A Mitchell & Co Ltd Shoe polish, black grease, old camphor boxes stained with incense implements. Soot, old newspapers, gooped up … Continue reading
Springbank 21 yo 1995 / 2017 #470 Copper Monument vs Springbank 15 yo 1992 / 2007 The Whisky Society 52.6%
Springbank 21 yo 1995 / 2017 #470 Copper Monument 45.8% Quite rich and rounded without jagged edges. The sherry presents itself with overtones of blackcurrant jam, moist leather but also … Continue reading
Springbank 12 yo 100 proof 57% ~ early 90s vs Springbank 10 yo Sutti Import 59% ~ a rather dark vatting
Springbank 12 yo 100 proof 57% ~ early 90s Unmistakable quality at full volume, and the wall of scent is classic Springbank. Thick herbal liqueur, some pine or fir based … Continue reading
Springbank 30 yo 1965 ‘Lost Bottlings Series’ Master of Malt vs Springbank 30 yo parchment label
Just to show not all old bottles were great: Springbank 30 yo 1965 ‘Lost Bottlings Series’ Master of Malt 45.6% Quite an olfactory wave consisting of lots of tiny goings … Continue reading
Springbank 5 yo ‘brown glass bottle’ vs Springbank 21 yo ‘pear shape’
Springbank is clearly one of the unquestionable greats, with the added benefit of having a history of fantastic old bottles from their core range of over half a century now. … Continue reading
Thompson Brothers: Glenlivet Solera drawn 1994, Springbank solera 1950-1978 drawn 1996, Glen Mhor 1937/1959
The Thompson brothers, Phil and Simon, proprietors of the Dornoch Castle Hotel Bar and new distillers operating the Dornoch Distillery, have in their various travels and searching, acquired three examples … Continue reading
Springbank 21 yo ~90s vs Springbank 35 yo 1968 Chieftains #1413
A week into 2017 and already the days fly by. This was meant to be a new year post and it’s a little long in the tooth now but Happy … Continue reading
Springbank 10 yo 100 prood (70s) vs Springbank 1998 Malts of Scotland #15038 vs Springbank 2004Malts of Scotland #15039 vs Springbank Green 13 yo
Springbank doesn’t seem to be a whisky that people fall in love with first. I understand why because it is not an easy whisky, peatheads are just born peaty, everyone … Continue reading
Springbank 15yo ~2005/7 vs Springbank 16yo 1999/2015 Local barley
Springbank has had so many variations in its core range, I find it extremely difficult remembering which were the earlier labels and what their production years were. For instance this … Continue reading
Springbank 17yo 1989 ACEO #145 vs Batch 1 That Boutique-y Whisky Company vs 15yo 1996 Director’s Cut #8700
Out of the veritable graveyard of distilleries that is Campbeltown comes mankind’s last best chance for peace hope future traditional whisky. And its true too. The only place in Scotland … Continue reading
Springbank 12yo Batch 6 Cask Strength, 50.3%
Springbank, and Glenfarclas, are the last remaining family owned distilleries in Scotland. Thank heavens for that too, as Spingbank has seen no need to bow to the pantheon of efficiency, bottomline and … Continue reading
Longrow, just Longrow
Not a 10 year old, but a NAS Longrow ‘Peated’. Seems to be from about 2012 or earlier. As the esteemed reader would know, Longrow is the heavily peated double … Continue reading
Campbeltown Loch
There is in fact a real Campbeltown Loch – Loch Chille Chiarain, its gaelic name, ‘is a small sea loch near the south of the Kintyre Peninsula facing eastwards towards the Firth of Clyde‘ (Wikipedia) But … Continue reading
Springbank 10yo ‘100 proof’
Campbeltown used to be a major whisky producing region, a centre of distilling the way Speyside is today but spotty quality control and massive over production (I’m sure there were … Continue reading
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