Tasty Tasty Whisky

Kilchoman Spring Release

2010-10-25T00:05:00.000+13:00

Well as you know I was at regional the other day for the monthly tasting and I purchased two bottles of Kilchoman Spring Release. Why two? One for immediate consumption (gone) and the other to add to my collection of fine Kilchoman releases.

Let me tell you now that this is one delicious drop! Especially so for me as I was lucky enough to do some work experience there last year see exactly how it was made.

This one hasn't lasted very long because it is so drinkable. And this would be why!

Nose : Distinctively Islay. Strong essence of peat smoke.

Palate : Sweet peat smoke flavor with a hint of citrus. Quintessential Islay.

BUT at 46% it just needs something else. An extra 14%!! I have a small amount of cask strength left over from last years visit and it is perfect. It is gonna be a 'Giant Monster Whisky' at 6 years and 60%. Can't wait!!

Score : 87

Regional Tasting - New Age Malts

2010-10-11T20:43:00.000+13:00

Well another tasting has been and gone at Regional Wines & Spirits and this was another great one .......I think!

It started well with my mandatory stop at this fine establishment. Past the sign and down the magic tunnel and into my happy place....he he!

Indoors there was a dizzying array of tastytasty liquor and I just had time for one. So I scanned the bar! Decisions decisions!! They have a wonderful whisky selection and I was quite spoiled for choice. In the end I chose an Ardbeg 10 as the tasting was non-Islay and that's just not a good thing!!

Then onward to see the good folk at regional. First things first though...... I was forced to check out the comprehensive array of whiskies residing on-site. It never fails to astonish me that there is always something new to see. Indeed I saw my next purchase on the shelf staring me in the liver!

With this arduous task completed I went upstairs to find my seat at the big table where we taste the whisky. And this is what awaited me. Seven spectacular whiskies plus beer and water. The initial beer was Yeastie Boys Punkadiddle followed by the always delicious Emersons Bookbinder. It is also worth noting that the person across from me didn't turn up and their whisky was up for grabs. Let us call this bit of good fortune 'the beginning of my downfall'....cause with Ian away in Nelson working with the fishes and Donna becoming an Australian citizen, I found myself, unfortunately, without any adult supervision!! he he :-)

But enough of that for now, on to the business end of the evening as I remember it!

The drams were as follows:

Whisky : Aberlour A'bunadh, Batch 28, 59.7% "THE MYSTERY"
Notes : A big whisky, nose of Molasses, raisins fruitcake, hint of rubber in taste, herbaceous finish!
Score : Me - 9 / Us - 9.22 1st

Whisky : Ben Nevis, 14yo, Double matured, 46%, Sherry barrel 2623 NC2
Notes : Nosed as toffee apples & old socks, taste of malt biscuits...low strength. Quite drinkable!
Score : Me - 7 / Us - 8.56 2nd =

Whisky : Benriach, 20yo, 54.3%, 1998 - July 2009, Gaja Barolo Hogshead 4424, 59 of 322
Notes : Nosed of Mandarin, sweet vanilla & figs, taste of oily wasabe, slightly metallic finish.
Score : Me - 8 / Us - 8.56 2nd =

Whisky : Isle of Arran, 8yo, Fino sherry wine cask, 50%, Bottled 2007, 7980 bottles
Notes : Nosed of caramel, G Syrup & wet dog, sweet tasting with finish of bitter dark chocolate.
Score : Me - 8 / Us - 8.1 4th

Whisky : Auchentoshan, SIGNATORY, 25yo, 55%, Bourbon barrel 266, bottle 123 of 148, NC2
Notes : Nosed of football & young linseed, taste of dates and liquorice, spicy finish
Score : Me - 7 / Us - 8.02 5th

Whisky : Mortlach, SIGNATORY, 1991, 17yo, 46%, Sherry butt 5882, bottle 372 of 727 NC2
Notes : Nosed of popcorn, grass & chalk, finished slightly smokey & bitter "WEAK"
Score : Me : 7 / Us - 7.67 6th

Whisky : Cragganmore, DUTHIES CANDENHEAD, 15yo, 46%, NC2
Notes : Nosed of banana & sherbet, tasted of citrus & peppermint, warm metallic finish!!#$@
Score : Me : 7 / Us : 7.41 7th

Clearly the Aberlour was an exceptional dram and I do hope it finds it's way to best of the best in December.
It was however the pick of a very dreary bunch. Again I think too much was made of the "old" whiskies. Even at cask strength, some of these barely registered on the taste scale. They tasted bland and dreary.

That said of course I was encouraged to help consume some of the better drams from the empty seat across from me and I did so with great enthusiasm and with scant regard for my own sobriety. The Benriach and the Aberlour going down particularly well! And if it had stopped there I would have still have had my health and remnants of my dignity. But no! That's not my way. The peat, the water, barley & the yeast were calling me saying "oh no you're not" (finished).
So I was talking to Daniel as he tidied up afterwards and he said "Look at all that whisky people left behind" and I'm like "well we can't have that" so one thing led to five others and a few more number 4's and 7's later I was completely off my chops....but in a good way. I have vague memories of KFC and a green taxi but that's about it.

All in all a great night at regional!!

Purchases - 2 bottles of Kilchoman Spring Release (to be reviewed shortly)

Upcoming tasting (20th October) - Adelphi Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmmmmmmm!

Upcoming foray (13-26th November) - My triumphant return to Scotland. Orkney, Glencoe, Stirling,
Glasgow and at least 7 distilleries.

Nikka Pure Malt 'WHITE'

2010-09-26T22:29:00.000+13:00

You know, there are some interesting and somewhat oddball whiskies out there in the world. I was at work the other day when my mate Ian bought in one such interesting bottle. Nikka Pure Malt White is a very curious drop indeed. It is a vatted malt that is a combination of "'Yoichi' and an Islay single Malt.

And damn, it is a most exquisite combination. Whilst somewhat sweet and slightly fruity to the nose, the 'Island style' definitely shines through with the seaweedy aroma you would expect. The taste of Islay is definitely there but with some honey-like notes as well. If I had to liken it to anything a would say that it reminded me very strongly of a 'Buffalo Trace' bourbon.

Bloody delicious!

And it comes in the 500ml bottle just like a pint of milk. At that volume it's very easily 'drunk' in one afternoon. So you better get in a couple to tide you over for the weekend.

A great drop. This one came back from Japan duty free so I'm not sure where to obtain one. But if you do happen upon one grab it because it's absolute gold.

Compendium of Winter Events

2010-09-11T16:19:00.000+12:00

Well it has been a while since my last post. A good long while. March..... Hells teeth!

But, it has been very cold and I have been quite tired and I did lose one of my good whisky drinking buddies to the Australians. So what are you gonna do?

Drink more tasty whisky...that's what.

So what's been happening? For a start there has been an absolutely salubrious tasting program at Regional.

APRIL: Glendronach

Michael Fraser-Milne from whisky galore joined us for this evening and a great evening it was. Glendronach is a great drop for a Speyside. The two standouts were the 1972 vintage 37 y.o. Cask 719 at 54.8% and the GlenDronach 1993 vintage 16 y.o. Olorosso Butt 523 60.4%. The cask strength of these two fine drams made them an absolute winners on the night. I love tasting new whisky.

MAY: Laphroaig
He he he he Laphroaig!! I bloody love Laphroaig. I am sipping on some 'Quarter Cask' as I type this. It's just so damn tasty. And if that's not good enough I have actually been there! Anyway, there are so many tasty drams from this classic distillery. The standouts were the 10yo Cask Strength 55.7% (of course) and the always delicious 'Quarter cask'. And to top it all off the mystery was Ardbeg Corryvreckan. Oh sweet jesus it was delicious. But more of that later.

Speaking of quarter casks here is display showing relative cask sizes from the good folk at Laphroaig.

JUNE: Sophisticated Speysides

I love the Speyside, it's home to so many great distilleries in such a concentrated area. Mortlach, Longmorn, Allt-a-Bhainne, Glenrothes.

These were the fine distilleries represented in this spectacular tasting. The standout was the Mortlach 17yo Adelphi 1991-2009 57% cask 4235. As with anything bottled by Adelphi, it was absolutely delicious.

Here is something interesting from the Speyside. It is the Gordon & McPhail store in Eglin at the top of the Speyside. You have never seen such an extensive range of whisky in your life. It's definitely my happy place.

Below is the Speyside cooperage where casks are bought in and reassembled to the different sizes you see above. It would take up too much space to import whole casks (all the air in the middle) so they are imported in parts. The coopers are paid by the cask so they go hell for leather cranking them out. It's a hard arsed way to earn a living and there is a definite art to assembly. You really need an extra hand!

JULY : Groundshaking Malts

What a brilliant idea! Tasty whisky from the Islands of Japan and some interesting drams from the great and thirsty country of New Zealand. Japanese whisky is absolutely delicious. It is quite sweet and clean flavored and a joy to consume. And consume it I did in great amounts. The other two drams came from Milford, a New Zealand distillery. Quite tasty, though probably due more to the cask strength than any inherent quality.

The pick of the night was as the Nikka 20yo 52% scoring 8.12. Cask strength wins again!
I did however purchase a bottle of the Milford on the evening. Lasted about a week. Mmm

AUGUST : Island Extreme

Ooooh mama this was an absolutely top of the line tasting. A range of whisky from the far flung Isles of Scotland. Several were at high cask strength! And I don't mind telling you ladies and Gentlemen, that by the time the evening was over I was partially 'off my chops'.

So what did we have?

Ardbeg Supernova - Hells teeth. This was the best of the bunch easily. This a giant monster whisky. So much peat. Not so much on the nose but as soon as you taste it you know what it is. It's like a kick in the mouth with a peat covered boot. Big, brutal and perfection itself. I gave it a 10. We gave it 9.07

Bruichladdich Octomore - A very close second. Nose was peaty & yeasty. This is another monster whisky. Not the smoked violence of the Ardbeg but at 62.5% it socks you hard in the face and makes your tongue lose all feeling. But not before the yeasty peaty flavours shine through. A gave it 9.5. We gave it a 7.77

Bruichladdich X4 - Hmmm, quadruple distilled raw spirit. Sweet but inherently tasteless. No character. Not even tasty like a double distilled Islay spirit. I mean what's the point, really? The spirit is taken off the final distillation at 90% but watered down to 50%. I gave it a 5. We gave it a 5.13

Talisker 18yo - I am a great fan of the Talisker. And this was another fine example from the fine distillery on the Isle of Skye. Slightly peaty and peppery and oh so very tasty. I gave it an 8. We gave it 8.66

Longrow CV - A great whisky from the good folk at Springbank. Longrow is their peated expression. Setup to prove an Islay style whisky could be made away from Islay, it had a delicious salty, peaty flavour. I gave it an 8. We gave it 8.58

Highland Park - A tastyish drop from the Orkney Islands. Your standard HP is a very nice drop but this was something different. A lot is made of old whiskies and to be honest I don't get it. This was a very subtle drop. Weak to be honest. The most expensive of the lot with the least flavour and at 46% not much to write home about. Give me a 6yo 60% whisky any day. At least you can taste it. I gave it a 7. We gave it a 8.68

OBAN 14 - This was the mystery. An appley, peppery, dusty flavoured dram. A pleasure to consume. I gave it an 8. We gave it an 8.02

All in all this was my favorite tasting so far this year. Glorious peat at cask strength. Yikes!
These people also liked it..

Little wonder I was partially trousered by the end of this wondrous event.

To wrap up this epic post here a few photos of some of fine distilleries mentioned above.

Talisker Isle of Skye

Talisker Still Room

Bruichladdich Stillhouse

Ardbeg Visitor Centre

Ardbeg Still Attachment (makes the spirit lighter)

Hooray for Single Malt Scotch Whisky.......Drink, Drink, Drink your way to better health!

....NOW!!

An evening with Charles MacLean

2010-04-13T00:23:00.000+12:00

What: An evenings whisky tasting with Charles MacLean (Courtesy of Regional wines & spirits)
When: 30th March 2010
Where: Firth Hall, Wellington College, Wellington, NZ
Why: To meet Charles MacLean and taste some most salubrious whiskies yet
Who: 88 feral whisky fans, my mate Ian Jesus Hunt and of course myself.

Damn, what an absolutely awesome night of whisky tasting! 90 thirsty thirsty whisky lovers, six 'salubrious whiskies' of spectacular quality, several grown men in kilts and a set of bagpipes!

This half feral man was seen in the crowd mumbling something about Islay and looking for the faint aroma of peat!

Our own whisky expert Daniel introduced Michael Fraser Milne from Whisky Galore in Christchurch who was accompanying our keynote speaker on his tour of New Zealand. Michael gave a brief introduction to Charles MacLean outlining his many achievements and skills, then it was straight into the tasting process.

The format was a little different this time around with six delicious drams awaiting us. Each dram was identified on the tasting sheet before us and the only accompaniment was fresh water. As you can see a wonderfully diverse range colors indicating the different cask varieties used mature the whisky.

The tasting consisted of the following whiskies:

MALT: Glengarioch, 1990, Adlephi bottled, 19yo, 53.8%ABV, cask# 2697

Score: 8.34

MALT: Old Pultney, 30yo, 44% ABV

Score: 7.95

MALT: Bunnahabhain, 1986, 21yo, 46.7%, bottle 334 of 512

Score: 8.54

MALT: Glenfarclas, 1989 Family cask, 60% ABV, cask# 11721, 1 of 600 bottles, bottled 30\11\06

Score: 9.49

MALT: Benriach 1975, 33yo, 52.2% ABV, cask# 4450, Peated Tawny Port finish

Score: 8.43

MALT: Caol Ila 1979, 30yo, OMC Bottled, 50% AV, distilled Nov 79, Bottled Jan 2010, 1 of 266

Score: 9.32

All of the whiskies were salubrious but but the standout for the evening was the Glenfarclas family cask. It was my first taste of the family cask bottling and I was not disappointed. It was truly world class. Something very special. I gave it a 9.5 out of 10. I did however rate the OMC Caol Ila a 10 on general principles. It is from Islay after all!!

Charles MacLean was an excellent speaker and has a knowledge of whisky and whisky related products that is second to none. He talked about oak types, cask varieties, distillery history, peating levels and condensor construction to name but a few topics. By the end of the evening my brain was full of highly useful whisky knowledge, my glasses were empty and their contents safely winging their way towards my liver. I also managed to liberate a few extra drams from nearby so all in all it was a highly satisfying experience.

And if all that wasn't good enough, I was lucky enough to go out for dinner afterwards with Charles, Michael and a few of the regulars from regional. And needless to say a few more drams were consumed.

In summary, 'BEST TASTING EVER'

SWMS Whisky Tasting - Wellington

2010-03-18T23:45:00.007+13:00

What :    Scotch Malt Whisky Society Tasting
When:   Thursday, 4th March, 2010
Where:   Museum Hotel, Wellington, NZ
Who:   Myself & 30 other random whisky fans
Why:   To find new and Salubrious whiskies to try

You know, it's a long time between whisky tastings at regional. A whole month for crying out loud!! How could a relatively normal person like myself go a whole month without tasting whisky. I couldn't I just couldn't!

Luckily my roving Australian (eeeww) whisky reporter, Donna sent me an article about the 'Scotch Malt Whisky Society' having a New Zealand tasting. Problem solved!!

It was held at the 'Museum Hotel' Wellington in the Agostini room on the fourth floor.

As I entered the room I was given a welcome dram. It was an Aberlour 10yo. A tasty but entry level Speyside dram that was setting us up for the salubrious whiskies ahead.

Now the Society buy single casks from various distillers so everything is cask strength and bottled in their own specific bottles. They don't however label the bottles with the distillery name, due to an agreement they have with distilleries not to compete with their marketing efforts. They use a distillery code to signify its origin.

The tasting differed from regional in that the drams were identified and tasting notes were provided.

The five whiskies were as follows :

Malt: Glen Moray (Speyside), 60.5%, 1st fill barrel, 215 bottles from cask, Colour - Pale Apricot Gold

Malt: Glenmorangie (Highland), 56.9%, 1st fill designer hogshead, 300 bottles from cask, Colour - Sunlit Chardonnay

Malt: Glenfarclas (Speyside), 50.1%, Refill hogshead, 165 bottles from cask, Colour - 9 Carat gold

Malt: Tormore (Speyside), 56%, 1st fill sherry hogshead, 318 bottles from cask, Colour - Colheita Tawny

Malt: Ardbeg (Islay), 56.7%, First fill barrel, 236 bottles from cask, Colour - HMS Edinburgh Bullion

Pick of the Evening : ARDBEG of course. Absolutely delicious!! Cask strength. Perfect

Dog of the Evening : Glenmorangie, Petrol in a barrel. Not palatable.

Special Mention : Tormore, I have never tried a Tormore before and I was pleasantly surprised. Very sweet almost sickly, but with a powerful punch and a spicy strong finish. Would definitely drink again.
The accompanying tasting note reads....POURING TREACLE ON CUT GRASS.......say no more!

All in all it was a pleasant experience and our presenter for the evening spoke with great knowledge and enthusiasm. Though compared to the wonderful tastings at Regional it was a little pretentious.
Also the pricing on the bottles was astronomical, from $192 (GlenMoray) to $373 (Tormore)...Ouch!!

In summary - Top notch whisky, oddball format, dodgy auction of the half empty bottles. At $85 a seat I'm not sure if I will attend another one........... but then again I probably will!!

Peat and Bruichladdich

2010-03-17T20:20:00.004+13:00

When I first saw the bottle sitting high on one of the shelves with the security tag around the neck I knew that was the bottle for me. Peat. Something that Bruichladdich does well - Octomore is one of the most peaty whiskies around today - only narrowly superceeded by the (slightly less peaty) but complex and delicious Ardbeg Supernova!

The label boasts 'refreshingly free from 'medicinal' overtones - just evocative and beguiling peat aromas. A three dimensional flavour obtained from three strengths of peated barley'

At 46% it is not cask strength, a refreshing change! Unlike some of my fellow whisky drinkers I find non-cask strength pleasant as it allows you to enjoy the more subtle flavours that dont get wiped out by alcohol content.

'Peat' has some very nice flavours, caramel, honey, quite sweet and a wonderfully smoky flavour - in wine terms a nice everyday drinking whisky.

Great Whisky Photos

2010-03-01T22:13:00.003+13:00

Here are a few photos from a medium-sized photographer of my acquaintance.

Whisky of course being the wonderfully tasty subject

The Laphroaig is a very tasty drop. At 55.7% it is full of peaty, smoky goodness!

The things you see!

2010-02-28T23:12:00.002+13:00

It's amazing what you find when you are out and about drinking whisky! Or in this case whisky bread & butter pudding with a lovely topping of Ardbeg Supernova.

On a trip to 'Sweet Mothers Kitchen' my medium-sized friend Donna snapped this, tucked away on the wall.

Someone is a Laphroaig fan!

2010 Inaugural Whisky Tasting

2010-02-28T20:57:00.053+13:00

Hooray! Whisky tasting season is upon us again after a loooooonngg two month break.

What: Whisky Tasting - Freshest Islays

When: Monday 22nd & Wednesday 24th February

Where: Regional Wines & Spirits, Wellington

Who: 60 highly motivated and enthusiastic whisky fans (both nights)

Why: Because Single Malt whisky tastes damn good

Kicking off our 2010 campaign was a very special tasting! Freshest Islays included some very young malts from Kilchoman and Bruichladdich (Port Charlotte) and of course our mystery malt.

I was asked to say a few words about the whisky making process at Kilchoman due to my recent pilgrimage to the holy land.

It was a full turnout as usual with the following array strange folk in attendance.

The whiskies were some of my all time favorite drams. You cannot beat young peat ridden Islays, especially of the cask strength persuasion. By the gods they were good. Alcoholic, smoky, peaty, throat constrictingly, liver throbbingly good!

The awesome selection of whiskies were as follows -

Malt: Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 7, 61.0% Non-Chillfiltered & Non-Colored 12460\240000

Score: 9.17

Malt: Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 8, 60.5% Non-Chillfiltered & Non-Colored
Score: 8.75

Malt: Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 6, 2001-2007, 61.6%
Score: 8.74

Malt: Kilchoman Autumn 2009 Release, 46%, Non-Chillfiltered & Non-Colored
Score: 8.32

Malt: Kilchoman Inaugural Release, 46%, Non-Chillfiltered & Non-Colored, 3y Bourbon finished, 3mth in Sherry
Score: 7.47

Malt: Kilchoman New Spirit 18\7\07-16\12\08 (17months), Optic barley 50ppm, 62%, Fresh Bourbon Cask# 63
Score: 6.52

Malt: Kilchoman New Spirit, 9\12\08-16\12\08 (7days), Optic barley, 50ppm
Score: 6.06

Favorite Dram: Kilchoman Raw Spirit 7 day old. Delicious! Better warm though.

Least Favorite Dram: Kilchoman Inaugural Release. Hard to pick but just because of the excellent company it was in, this just lacked a little punch. Bloody good though.

You might not necessarily agree with me, but you'd be dead wrong. Plus I've actually made the stuff so

SHUT UP!! That said, there are some awesome upcoming tastings including Japanese, vertical Laphroaig and the upcoming 'Evening With Charles Maclean, Master Of The Quaich'.

All in all this was a salubrious tasting that will be very hard to beat. Using my awesome storehouse of whisky knowledge I scored a brilliant 2\7. Damn I'm good. DON'T LAUGH!

That said though, something was missing. Can't quite put my finger on it, but it just wasn't quite the same!

Best of the Best 2009

2010-01-21T23:07:00.051+13:00

Well, November 2009 saw the yearly Best of the Best whisky tasting at Regional Wines & Spirits.
And it was bloody brilliant!

What:            Best of the Best 2009
When:           18 November 2009
Where:          Firth hall, Wellington College, Wellington, NZ
Why:              To taste the years best whiskies from Regionals 2009 tastings
Who:             108 crazed whisky fans plus these two fine individuals

So there we were after 9 months of intensive whisky tastings with the finest malts of 2009 staring us in the face. With us, 108 thirsty souls shoehorned into Firth Hall on the Wellington college campus, which is just over the road from my happy place (Regional wines and spirits).

And I am here to tell you it was a salubrious event crammed full of Bagpipes, Haggis, dodgy kilts and (of course) a wonderful array of Single Malt Scotch Whisky! .....plus some Glenmorangie :-(

The whiskies were as follows:

Malt: Ardbeg Still Young 56.2%
Score: 8.96

Malt: Bruichladdich PC7 61.0%
Score: 8.81

Malt: Glengrant 22 y.o. 62.1% Bottled by Adelphi Cask# 10184,
Score: 8.65

Malt: Glenfarclas 105 10 y.o. 60.0%
Score: 8.40

Malt: Glenmorangie ‘Astar’ 57.1%
Score: 8.27

Malt: Bowmore ‘Old Malt Cask’ 15 y.o. 50.0%      (Mystery)
Score: 8.20

Malt: Glengarioch 17 y.o. 55.8% Adelphi Cask#2689
Score: 7.97

Dang, what a wide range of whiskies, something for all tastes!

Best Dram of the evening: Had to be the Ardbeg. I love the young cask strength Islays!

Worst Dram of the evening: Bowmore OMC. Surprising for an Islay. Tasted like dishwater!

But as if that wasn't good enough, both Donna and myself picked 7 out of 7! Yay, first time for me and.......well....second time for Donna! Fairly sure I'm not gonna hear the end of that any time soon but what are you gonna do.

Roll on the first tasting of 2010 ...........Kilchoman and Port Charlotte.....T minus 34 days and counting!!

Upcoming Events

2010-01-18T23:20:00.006+13:00

A medium-sized friend sent this to me recently. An upcoming event in the Wellington region.

The Scotch Whisky Society is having a tasting in March at the Museum Hotel and I'm gonna go!!

http://www.smws.com.au/pages/calendar.php

A week at Kilchoman part-2

2010-01-16T19:59:00.009+13:00

Ok, so here is part 2 of my adventures at Kilchoman distillery manufacturing the tasty tasty whisky....

As you will recall the malted, kilned barley had just been ground to a grist!

One tonne of grist is mixed with 4000 litres of water at 68deg C through the mashing machine into the mash tun.

It is left to sit for 25 minutes and drained away into a washback. Then a 1700 litre second water is added at 80deg C. This is also drained away to the washback resulting in 5400 litres for fermentation.

When a steady temperature of 20c is achieved, 15kg mauri distillers yeast is added to start the fermentation. This lasts for around 48 hours but can last up to 80 hour if the phenol content is much higher. Once the fermentation is complete the wash will be 7-8% abv. (And quite tasty i'll have you know!)

Half the washback is charged into the wash stilll (2700 litres). One third of which will be collected as low wines. It is heated and starts to release alcohol vapours at around 80deg C. It is run until the remaining alcohol is about 1%.

Above we can see the condensors for the wash and spirit stills and how they are routed into the spirit safe.

The low wines, and feints from the previous spirit run are charged into the spirit still at an average strength of 23%-24% and are heated to 85deg C. The resulting vapours still contain impurities and a "centre cut" of the collected spirit is taken.

The spirit is routed through the spirit safe and its specific gravity is checked at regular intervals to ensure only the "centre cut " of the spirit is taken. Spirit is run through until its ABV is 73% then the flow is switched over to the ISR or intermediate spirit reservoir (below) and it is switched back at 60%. Kilchomans lower cut point however is at 65.5%.

The tasty spirit is then pumped accross the courtyard to the filling resrvoir in the warehouse. Prior to filling the spirit is reduced in strength to 63.5% by adding water. 63.5% is apparently the optimum ABV for filling a barrel according to most distilleries. Bruichladdich differs on this point, and their policy seems to be 'add the full strength spirit to the casks'. ie why store water in your warehouse? But that's a whole other post!

Finally, here is some handsome fellow filling up a 500 litre sherry butt with tasty Kilchoman raw spirit with a gravity fed hose. Interesting facts...........(1) There was at least 20 litres of sherry in the barrel prior to filling so it's easy to see how the barrel and contents impart some flavours to the whisky.........and (2) it's final weight was.....552kg.

If you want to do a weeks work experience at Kilchoman look here.

http://www.kilchomandistillery.com/categories/distillery-experience

You 'work' five mornings then you are free to do your own thing in the afternoons like explore the distilleries or drink your way to better health at Duffy's in Bowmore.

A week at Kilchoman Part-1

2010-01-05T16:21:00.003+13:00

Kilchoman is a new farm distillery on the west coast of Islay that has just released it's inaugural 3yo single malt. I was lucky enough to spend a salubrious week there in early September 2009, learning how the 'Tasty tasty whisky' is made!

The following is a brief rundown on what I got up to whilst at that fine establishment!

My first view of Kilchoman from the carpark out the back. The main structure in the centre contains, the malting floor below and the kiln in the tower above. To the right of the picture you can just see the warehouse where a number of the maturing barrels are stored.

Peaty water is taken from the big white holding tanks and combined with the barley in the stainless vessel above, in a process called steeping. The barley is steeped three times for 8-10 hours each then spread out over the malting floor.

During this time the barley germinates (starts to grow). It is left on the floor for 5-7 days depending on the temperature and turned regularly so as to not heat up to much. At the end of this time it is carried up to the kiln floor in a series of mechanical buckets, though some mug has to shovel it in to the chute. It's fun for a while but the novelty soon wears off!

The kiln is then stoked up with a load of peat and the ensuing fire imparts the characteristic smokey Islay style, whilst drying the malted barley. Ten hours of drying imparts about 35-40ppm of phenols into the barley.

The dried malted barley is then 'milled' in a large industrial style mill. This one used live in a brewery on the mainland. The barley needs to be ground to a very specific consistency to enable the maximum amount of sugars to be extracted. At Kilchoman the makeup is 18% husk, 70% middle or grist and 12% flour.

Stay tuned for Part-2 (when I get motivated), where we will look at the mashing and distilling processes...............................................................................

Compedium of Scottish events

2009-09-28T23:45:00.005+13:00

OK, here is a compedium of photos from my whisky tour so far that may or may not be relevant.

Here I am at Kilchoman with the malting room and kiln in the background. The malted barley is taken up to the kiln by series of buckets attached to a conveyor belt. I never did get up to the kiln floor!

Here is the kiln floor at Laphroaig. The malted barley is spread over the floor and dried with peat smoke first and then heated air to stop the malting. A very interesting room! Lets just say, I bet the Germans felt uncomfortable!!

(Don't mention the war!)

Interestingly, here is a closeup of the kiln floor. It has elongated slits that allow the lovely peat smoke and hot air to dry the malted barley but they are narrow enough that the barley doesn't drop down into the kiln. Now you just don't see that sort of thing every day!

This is outside the Bruichladdich distillery, relaxing on one of my afternoons off.

Behind me is off the old spirit stills that has been retire. I wonder if I can send it back home. I might come on hand for my home distilling operation I want to set up. Now that I have the insider knowledge, it's only a matter of time before I set up my own operation. Properly! Not with some dodgy wood chips!

Here I am at Machrie golf club on Islay have a little bit of Bunker troub. Made an excellent recovery I must say. I bought 8 balls thinking that would be enough and Laura from Kilchoman had an Aunt working at the club so they got me free clubs.

Unfortunately by the 17th I lost my last ball. On the tee of all places. The rough in this case is not it's ironical name. Even if you saw the ball go in you could not find it. And there were so many blind tee shot it was impossible though still great fun. I hired an electric cart for speed and sheer entertainment value, especially as I was one of only 5 people on the course!!

As a side not there is also an excellent selection of whiskies at the clubhouse.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I planted a New Zealand flag for my godson and I on our plots of land at the friends of laphroaig peat field.

(More like just a paddock really) The main tennants of the field seem to be swedish. Something about Laphroaig and the Swedes seems to gel for some reason.

Still who cares!

More follow later!!!

What in the WWF is it??

2009-09-16T09:31:00.006+12:00

Saw this out the window flying 10500m above the Gobi desert (Mongolia\China). I had to tweek the colors a little as it was a liitle bland at that height. Beats the hell out of me!! I just have to know. TELL ME!!

Activities at Kilchoman

2009-09-16T07:18:00.006+12:00

Well day two on Islay saw me turn up at Kilchoman in the morning to see what interesting tasks they had in store for me. As it turns out we were straight to the malting floor! It was time to send the malted barley to the kiln to be dried with the lovely peat smoke. I spent the morning shovelling the barley into the chute that carries it up to the kiln. We used special wooden shovels that make the job a bit easier apparently!

Here is a picture of the malted barley. It is quite damp at this stage and tends to clump together making it a little difficult to evacuate.

After the malting floor was cleared, we grabbed a single barrel (232), distilled in 2006, loaded it into the trailer and took it to Bruichladdich for bottling. Yes you heard me, I was involved in a single cask bottling of a Kilchoman whisky barrel!! Bloody marvelous! Bruichladdich has a bottling machine that fills 4 bottles at one time. I worked that for a while and corked and labeled bottles as well. On the right you can see me wheeling a huge tub of tasty 3yo whisky to fill up the bottling reservoir. I can tell you it took all my willpower not to strip nekkid and go for a swim in that tasty amber liquid. All in all we got 252.5 bottles of salubrious whisky that are headed to France somewhere.

Did I mention I love whisky?

The eagle has landed!

2009-09-14T07:30:00.006+12:00

Well so begins my pilgrimage to the home tasty tasty whisky!! I flew in to Islay airport at 15:10 today. It was a gloriously sunny day, as befitting my illustrious presence on the Island ;-)
It took 28 hours in the air and many more waiting around but in the end it was well worth it

Flying in was fantastic we flew in a big loop around Jura and the south coast of Islay and I plainly saw each of the southern distilleries from the air. Awesome!!

I picked up my poxy little automatic Ford fiesta :-( from the airport and drove for 10min into downtown (or village) Bowmore. I checked into the Bowmore hotel and went out for a stroll round the village. The distillery was closed as it is Sunday but the whisky store was open. They have a lot of fine whisky, but I held off buying any bottles as I wanted to see what was available at the distilleries.

I start my work experience at Kilchoman tomorrow at 9:30am. I am still not 100% sure how to get there but I'm sure it will work itself out. Then off to Bowmore distillery and Lagavulin. I can't wait to taste that lovely whisky.

Also as a side note, it seems hard liquor is available in Islay supermarkets. The above bottle is 'cooperative' brand premium scotch whisky. Yes you heard it here first!! Supermarket brand whisky. Yay for Scotland and yay for Islay!!!

Dramfest Islay!! - Regional Wines & Spirits

2009-09-05T22:18:00.011+12:00

What : Whisky Tasting - Dramfest Islay
When : Wednesday 26th August 2009

Where : Regional Wines and Spirits, Wellington

Who : 27 crazed Whisky fans including my friends, Ian and Donna and of course, yours truly

Why : To sample some of the finest Islay whiskies ever made.

Dramfest Islay, mmmm.. makes me thirsty just saying those words. As you will recall, in May we attended 'Dramfest Obscura'. Dramfest Obscura celebrated some of the standout non-Islay whiskies from the Bi-yearly 'Dramfest' whisky festival in Christchurch New Zealand.

As you have no doubt already deduced, this followup tasting includes the standout ISLAY whiskies from that glorious event. Why would you dedicate a "Dramfest tasting" to single region like Islay??? SHUT UP!! The best whiskies in the whole world are made on that small island off the west coast of Scotland. There are none better!

Possibly why am travelling there on the 13th of September to work at a distillery for a week.

As per usual it was a blind tasting, with 7 whiskies including one mystery malt.

The Malts were as follows:

Malt : Bruichladdich Octomore 01.1, 63.5% ABV, 131ppm peat, (6000 bottles) , 5yo

Score: 8.13

Malt : Port Charlotte PC7, bottle 12460 of 24000, 61% ABV, 7yo, non chill filtered or coloured

Score: 9.16

Malt : Bruichladdich 2001, bottle 5223 of 24000, 46% ABV, non chill filtered or coloured

Score : 7.18

Malt : Kilchoman New Spirit, 61% ABV, 50ppm peat, 2yo, sherry cask, Optic barley

Score : 8.65

Malt : Ardbeg Supernova, 58.9% ABV, 100ppm peat, non chill filtered, Limited release

Score : 8.44

Malt : Duncan Taylor - Bowmore 25yo, 55.8% ABV, cask 85063, bottle 88 of 166

Score : 7.94

Malt : Lagavulin 16yo, 43% ABV, MYSTERY

Score : 8.51

Highs and Lows

Find of the night - Kilchoman, New Spirit. So tasty at only two years old! Beautiful!

Surprise of the night - Not picking the Lagavulin as the mystery.

What a wonderful selection of whiskies! Definitely the highlight of the year so far. I love the cask strength Islays and especially the Kilchoman (not technically whisky). I just want to drink them all!

I picked well on the evening, getting 5/7 correct, especially since Ian only picked 1/7. And I must say I was feeling somewhat superior until Donna picked 7/7. Ok, yes my ego was a little bruised given all the research hours I have put in tasting whisky but I think I'm just about over it (maybe). As the only attendee to pick 7/7 she won the remainder of the bottle of Octomore. Great prize!

All in all a damn good whisky related activity.

Roll on Best of the Best in November!

Know thine whisky!! - An interesting comparison

2009-08-16T20:26:00.024+12:00

It's a wonderful thing whisky. So many different flavors, some filthy, some oh so very tasty. I myself love anything from Islay and especially cask strength!! My friend Donna is a great Ardbeg fan and having recently attended a whisky food evening featuring Ardbeg (Yay!!) and Glenmorangie (Boo!!), we were keen to compare some of our favorite Islay whiskies side by side.

Phase I of operation 'cask strength' was a blind comparison between Bruichladdich Octomore and Ardbeg Supernova. Here's how it went down. We each filled two glasses and mixed them up for the other. Then we tasted each one in order to decide which was which, and what our favourite dram was!

Now, they are both salubriously tasty drops and very similar in a lot of ways. Both are cask strength, though the Octomore leads the way at 63.5% and both wonderfully peaty, though again Octomore wins with 131ppm.

Anyway the upshot of our blind tasting was that we both were able to discern one from the other though it is a bit more tricky than it sounds. My acid test was that when it numbed the roof of my mouth I knew it was 'Octomore'. Interestingly we both preferred different drams. Donna, being the Ardbeg fan loved the Supernova, whereas myself, I loved the 'SUPER Cask Strength' of the Octomore JUST! It was very close!!

Note: Octomore 2 has just been released!
It's a 15000 bottle release of this new expression at 140 ppm and 62.5%. I will attempt to source some on my upcoming trip to Scotland (Including 7 days on Islay & 1 day on Jura) YAY!!

Anyway Phase II commenced a few weeks later but this time the theme was a comparison between two tasty tasty Ardbegs. The abovementioned Supernova and the glorious Renaissance. The format was the same.

Renaissance was distilled in 1998 and released to in June 2008. It is 55.9% ABV, and the final release in the 'still young' series. Supernova on the other hand is a whopping 100ppm + of peat and 58.9% ABV.

The exact results of the comparison are not relevant but needless to say we picked different favorites. I enjoyed the Supernova and Donna picked the Renaissance. That is the great thing about blind tastings, you don't carry any preconceptions into the room. You just taste two glasses of whisky and pick the best on the day! What could be simpler?

So go forth and taste some whisky. It's got to be good for you!

I didn't get where I am today by not drinking whisky!!

Bruichladdich X4!! - Wow

2009-06-07T13:15:00.004+12:00

Well now, how do you follow up a great event like Dramfest Obscura? You go out on the town for a beautiful meal and some very tasty whisky!! Accompanying me on this phase II of Dramfest Obscura evening was my thirsty friend Donna. Ian went AWOL, no doubt somewhere near 'Matterhorn' or 'Mighty Mighty' and was not seen again that evening.

We first visited 'Sweet Mothers Kitchen' which is one of my favourite restaurants in Wellington. We tried hush puppies and Gumbo accompanied by a glass of tasty 'Elijah Craig' 12yo Bourbon. I'm not usually a Bourbon fan as it's all sweet lolly water but this was a lot more refined and has a very earthy (not peaty) flavour that makes it very drinkable!

Anyway, on our travels around downtown Wellington we visited a few fine establishments that I will review in later posts, including 'Hooch' which looked closed because the sign was definitely switched off!!, Hawthorne lounge, Alice and my personal favourite establishment, MOTEL.

Now, 'Motel' has a great selection of single malts as you can see above, including Ardbeg 'airaigh nam beist' and the salubrious Port Charlotte 6. But every once in a while they get in something quite special and they put it in their shiny display case behind the bar. On this occasion it was a bottle of Bruichladdich X4, which is quadruple distilled raw spirit! Called Usquebaugh-baul, pronounced 'oosh-ker-vah-voll' translates from the Gaelic as 'perilous whisky'. It comes out of the still at 90% and is diluted down to 50% ABV for consumption. It is almost sweet to the taste and I did not detect much peatiness. Not like any raw spirit I have tasted! Also interestingly, it comes in the same bottle as Octomore except it lacks the jet black covering.

So get down to MOTEL and try some before Donna drinks it all!

Go now!

WAIT.... this just in!!!

SR4 race car from Radical Sports Cars Runs on Bruichladdich X4!!

Dramfest Obscura - Regional Wines & Spirits

2009-06-02T16:33:00.017+12:00

What : Whisky Tasting - Dramfest Obscura

When : Wednesday 27th May 2009

Where : Regional Wines and Spirits

Who : The usual team! My mates Ian & Donna and of course myself

Why : To sample some tasty whisky & enjoy my life

Dramfest Obscura, what the hell does that mean? Well in February of this year, Michael Fraser-Milne of Whisky Galore in Christchurch, hosted the Bi-yearly 'Dramfest' whisky festival.

I attended this wonderful event and it was the 5th all time top weekend of my life. Such a wonderful array of fine Islay and non-Islay whiskies.

Dramfest Oscura celebrates some of the standout non-Islay whiskies from that salubrious weekend. As per usual it was a blind tasting, with 7 whiskies (See the above photo) including one mystery malt.

The Malts were as follows:

Malt : Benromach Organic 43%

Score: 6.35

Malt : Murray McDavid, 1989 Highland Park 17yo, (2500 bottles) Aged in Banyuls casks

Score: 7.55

Malt : Adelphi, Clynelish 14yo (1993-2008), 57% cask#7541 282 bottles

Score : 8.09

Malt : Adelphi, Breath of the Highlands 22y0 (1985-2008), 55.2% 159 bottles cask#1066

Score : 8.76

Malt : Adelphi, GlenGrant 22yo (1985-2008), 62.1% 167 bottles cask#10184

Score : 8.92

Malt : Adelphi, Mortlach 17yo (1990-2008), 57.5% 516 bottles

Score : 8.83

Malt : Benriach 15yo, 46% finished in Pedro Ximenez casks MYSTERY

Score : 6.95

Highs and Lows

Find of the night - GlenGrant 22yo! I mean 62.1%, Adelphi, come on!

Filthiest whisky of the night - Benromach Organic. Organic Ewww, Fresh oak No !

So there you have it. Another successful tasting. New favourites found. They weren't from Islay but they are still not too bad.

I will give an after action report on the evenings activities shortly, including additional whiskies consumed, fine establishments visted, why I was so late for work the next day and whose fault that really was!!

But anyway.............................Yay for Tasty Tasty Whisky!!!

Another tasty dram from Lagavulin

2009-05-24T12:18:00.017+12:00

Okay, now one of the stupidest things you can do is go to whisky tasting, get partially liquored up and then pop down to the showroom at Regional and shop for whisky. Not that the showroom isn't a wonderful place! They have probably the best selection of single malt in the Wellington area and definitely the best prices. It's certainly my happy place!! :-) I have purchased some beautiful tasty whisky over the last year and will purchase many more (Longrow Gaja Barolo is next). But good decisions are not made after 7 whiskies!

Anyway, as it happens after the wonderful "Malts of the Midlands" tasting, I wandered downstairs to check out the comprehensive selection of single malts and one specific malt took my eye. A Lagavulin 12yo cask strength! It is 56.4% and bottled in 2007.

It lacks a little of the complexity of the 16yo but it is still a most salubrious drop and so very very tasty! The peaty, phenolic taste is still there and while it doesn't linger as long on the palate as its older sister but it's still unmistakeably Lagavulin!! It's so good, that it is in my top 5 favourite whiskies of all time and I polished off half a bottle within a week. I may have to send this bottle off site like the octomore just to make it last a while.

Michael Jackson rated this Lagavulin "expression" at 91\100, only 4 shy of the wonderful 16yo.

Find it, buy it, drink it! Do it now!!!!

Tasty Japanese Whisky - Nikka 12yo

2009-05-06T23:29:00.008+12:00

Earlier I mentioned a rather interesting evening out on the town with my mate Ian and the tasty Old Malt Cask Bowmore we tried at Matterhorn. Well on that fateful evening we also wandered a little further up Cuba Street to a fine establishment called 'Good Luck'. It's a basement bar with a excellent atmosphere and a reasonable selection of whiskies including this fine drop.

It as Nikka Yoichi 12yo, single malt from Japan. Yoichi is one of Nikka's two distilleries situated 50km west of Sapporo city on Hokkaido.

Japanese whiskies like there Scottish counterparts come in many varities, both the filthy and the very tasty. This whisky is a very interesting drop. There are definite traces of peat which immediately endears it to me, but in my humble opinion it tastes more like a speyside whisky than anything. It has definite traces of sherry on the nose which are also somewhat evident when you taste it. Fruity, Peaty, Fruity is the best way I can think to describe it. It's just a salubrious dram and an excellent alternative to your average scotch whisky. Can't wait to try the 15yo.

Whisky Tasting from the Midlands

2009-05-03T22:47:00.015+12:00

What : Whisky Tasting - Malts of the Midlands

When : April 29th, 2009, 6pm

Where : Regional Wines & Spirits - Wellington

Who : Me (of course), my friends Donna & Ian + 24 other fine citizens

Why : Duh!

Well last Wednesday I attended latest regional whisky tasting - "Malts of the Midlands" with a couple of mates. Now, I'm crazed Islay fan so I was a little skeptical of the whole 'Midlands' thing, but the whole reason I go to tastings is to learn what I like and don't like. You can usually find one or two standout drams amongst some truly filthy whisky.

The tasting as always was blind, and we had 7 whiskies to contend with including a mystery malt.

Our average scores are as follow:

Malt: Gordon & McPhail, Glenturret 16yo 40%

Score: 5.86

Malt: Chieftans, Glenturret 11yo Port finish 43%

Score: 6.2

Malt: Glengoyne 21yo 43% unpeated

Score: 7.19

Malt: Glengoyne 16yo unpeated Ltd Edition Scottish Oak Finish 53.3%

Score: 7.89

Malt: Adelphi GlenGarioch 17yo cask #2689

Score: 8.2

Malt: Edradour cask strength Gaja Barolo finish Mystery Malt

Score: 7.53

Malt: Edradour 'Straight from the cask' 10yo sherry butt finish

Score: 8.44

Highs and Lows

Filthiest whisky of the night - Edradour cask strength with Gaja Barolo finish (96 Octane)

Find of the night - Edradour straight from the cask, Sherry Butt #84

It's amazing how two whiskies from the same distillery can be so very different. But there you have it, that's why you go to whisky tasting, to find these things out! And that's why I have booked the next two already! Hooray for great company and good whisky!

Lagavulin 21

2009-04-30T20:52:00.004+12:00

Ok, so I was walking down the road on one of my lunchtime walks and I was passing a fine establishment called Centre City Wines & Spirits. Outside there was a blackboard with a list of whiskies you can walk in and taste. First on the list was this exceptional drop! Lagavulin 21yo cask strength. Dang! 56.5%, bottle 6394 out of 6642, bottled in 2007. And interestingly it is in a 750ml bottle.

I saw the bottle on the shelf during an earlier visit, but at $700 a bottle it was a little out of my range. But luckily on this day the owner was selling 15ml shots for $15. Needless to say I was forced to consume many samples just to be sure I liked it.

And by the gods I liked it. The nose is even more peaty and a lot warmer the the 16yo. Flavorwise it is so much richer and more phenolic than the 16yo. It may well be the perfect drop. But I'm not ready to make that determination yet. I am off to Islay in September and maybe I will find it there!!

Surprising Old Malt Cask

2009-04-22T19:05:00.006+12:00

Went out on a bit of a bender last night with my mate Ian. We stopped at one of our favorite bars, Matterhorn, for a few tasty drams and found this wee gem. A 15 yo Bowmore from the good folks at Old Malt Cask. A surprising drop, some might call it meaty, strong flavors, cask strength and damn tasty to boot. 1 of 357 bottles from the cask.

They have a fantastic selection of whisky so I say to you....

Go to Matterhorn, drink their Islay whisky and enjoy your life!

Salubrious Octomore

2009-04-21T22:32:00.012+12:00

Well, last week I bought an exceptionally tasty drop from the good people at WhiskyGalore in Christchurch. It's Octomore from the fine people at Bruichladdich and 'by the gods' it's a salubrious drop of single malt!! The bottle you see before you is #223 of a run of 6000.

At 5 years old it's only been legal for 2 years and it's quite apparent from the nose which reminds me of some of the 2-3yo raw spirits, but significantly tastier. It is the peatiest (is that a word?) whisky ever made at 131 ppm. Yikes!

I took it to a mates place on Saturday night and we had our first taste and it was bloody lovely! With the exception of a good Lagavulin 16yo it is one of the finest whiskies I have ever tasted. There was a great deal of drooling and at one stage I did almost wet myself with sheer pleasure. (I'll be in my bunk!!! :) ), but that's a whole other blog.
Quite simply it was just an explosion of peat and flavor and at 63.5% alcohol, it made us very very happy to be alive.

Jesus. H. Christ IT IS GOOD!!

I have had to hide it away on a high shelf so I don't drink all! Yeah, good luck with that Bro!

Welcome to my new whisky Blog!

2009-04-19T14:50:00.008+12:00

Well, I decided to start a blog on one of my very favourite things in this world. No not boobies............(that's two things).............. Single Malt Scotch Whisky of course! I discovered single malt around two years ago and I haven't looked back since.

My first drams were Glenmorangie 10yo, Glenfiddich 12yo and my all time favourite 'Lagavulin 16yo'. Don't hold the first two against me1

I have been attend monthly Whisky tastings and local whisky events here in NZ and I think I'll start reviewing some of the whiskies and events........because, well, I can!

But I'm not a total bigot, I will look at the odd vatted malt and possibly a blend or two. Damn, you have to love the "Water of Life".

P.S. I'm not an alcoholic. I can do without Single Malt............I just don't want to!!