The Scotch Blog

Bushmills celebrates 400 years. Sort of.

Today's story is a guest piece by whisky-guy extraordinaire, Ian Buxton.

---

If you’ll excuse the lazy national stereotype, no-one loves a party more than the Irish - and what better excuse than a 400th anniversary?

I refer, of course, to Bushmills, which celebrates its 400th anniversary in April this year.  Except, of course, there’s a fair bit of the blarney in there (“blarney” is Irish for “marketing” I think).

The claim’s based on the 1608 licence to distil granted to Sir Thomas Phillips by King James’ representative in Ireland, Sir Arthur Chichester, the so-called Lord Deputy.  This allowed Sir Thomas or his servants (perish the thought he’d do any manual labour himself)  “to make, drawe and distill such and soe great quantities of aquavite, usquabagh and aqua composita, as he or his assinges shall think fitt”.

Problem is, Sir Arthur was just a royal servant looking to cash in on this lucrative new territory by replacing the old Catholic gentry with good Protestants, loyal to the crown and willing to pay ready money for such licences – in fact, only the previous month, he had granted patents to distillers in Galway, Munster and Leinster.

New from Nikka

Misako Udo (author of The Scottish Whisky Distilleries) emailed a few people to let us know that Nikka will be releasing something new very soon:

Just let you know that a very interesting bottle will be released from Nikka in Japan on 22nd November.

It is called "Single Coffy Malt 12 y.o." which I believe same type of whisky as a silent malt which distilled by Coffey's Still at Cameronbridge Distillery between the 1880s and 1929.

Only 996 bottles will be available overseas. If you were interested in this bottle, please visit following the website.

 

I am visiting Japan from 9th to 29th and will try to get this bottle, but it is not guaranteed that I will be able to get one - keeping fingers crossed!!!

Unfortunately, I don't know how you can get this bottle in your country, but if you visit their English version site, they have contact section, so please send a mail to them how you can get it in your country.

Serge Valentin (Malt Maniac & Whiskyfun.com) checked with La Maison du Whisky and found out that:

They say there will be 2,000 bottles for Japan and indeed, roughly 1,000 for Europe.

France: LMdW will be getting an allotment.

Rest of Europe: Check with your favorite shop.

Americans: None for you.

Independent Bottler, Eh?

I recently had a chance to chat with Barry Bernstein of Premium Bottlers- Canada's first and only Independent bottler.

The company was formed by two enthusiasts who were frustrated with the limited quantity of Single Malt Scotch available on the Canadian market.

The IB and Canadian Liquor Law

You are likely familiar with the concept of an Independent Bottler (or IB) who sources casks of whisky (usually, but not always, fully matured) from brokers or directly from distilleries. They then bottle, label and market the products - usually to specialty shops, you seldom find them in your corner liquor shop.

These casks are often - but not always, hand selected by the IB and usually, but not always, bottled as "Single Cask"

Canada's "interesting" liquor laws create special problems for a company like Premium Bottlers - the interesting law I am talking about dictates that a spirit marketed by Canadians must contain at least 1% of spirit (not necessarily whisky) which has been produced in Canada.

Crown Royal Cask No. 16

Crown Royal, everyone's favorite Canadian blended whisky, is getting the special treatment. Or at least a single expression of it is.

Crown Royal Cask No. 16 begins with a blend of more than 50 different aged whiskies. The blend is then placed in French oak casks which had previously held cognac. There is no age statement associated with the bottling.

Marketing Bull Alert: Despite the name, there's no indication that this is the product of a whisky finished in a single cask.

This new expression should be available across the US by the third week of October, but I had a chance to try it early.

Mine came is a small sample bottle - but when you buy yours, it will come "in a faceted 750ml decanter-style bottle, which is wrapped in a black velvet bag with gold stitching. The bottle is then encased in a black and gold gift tube."

Sounds very posh.

But what about the taste?

Bags and decanter-style bottles aside, this is good stuff.

Nose: The winey notes on the nose are unmistakable, with a good dollop of oak (maybe a little too much?) - but all in all the entire nose is very subtle, very clean and very pleasant.

Taste: Oh yeah, that characteristic Canadian rye bite is there, but much more subtle than your standard Canadian. The cognac has done a good job of taming the rye.

First you get hit with a fruit-sugar sweetness - followed by the bite. Complexity? Medium, but often complexity is lost in favor of smoothness. And Cask No. 16 is very smooth. Most of the complexity is contained in the finish.

Finish: The rye comes back in a long finish with which turns slightly bitter at the very end. Late finish is very much like cognac or a dry white. Wait a second. What's that? Irish Soda bread!?! Yeah that's it. I get the dryness and sweetness (and occasional raisin) one gets in a bite of Irish Soda Bread. Damn it, I love Irish Soda Bread!

All in all, this is an excellent premium whisky and Crown Royal gets a fair shake from the cognac finish.

Crown Royal Cask No. 16
SRP: $100 (USD)
40% abv

Compass Box Fall Line

Compass Box let me know that they have 6 limited edition releases ready for Fall/Winter 2007.
I'm feeling sick today, so you are getting the "talking points" version of this. Deal with it.

No Orangerie ("Orange-er-ie") this year. Damn.

And remember. if you want Morpheus, Maximus, or Juveniles - contact the retailer/restaurant and NOT Compass Box (or me).

The run down on the fall releases:

Flaming Heart

• Available in all Compass Box markets.
• This is the 2nd release.
• 717 cases (4302 bottles) produced.
• Style: Very big, rich, peaty 100% Scotch Malt Whisky.  Peaty, smoky notes enhanced by rich, sweet, spicy (clove) undertones from new French oak aging.  Digestif style.
• Recommendations:  Neat or with water.  Serve in a red wine glass diluted with chilled water with game dishes.
• Distillery Sourcing:  Primarily from distilleries in the villages of Port Askaig (Islay and Brora (northern Highlands).  Whisky ages between 10 and 16 years-old.
• All whiskies aged in first-fill and refill American oak casks for primary maturation.  Some receive a secondary maturation of 18 months in new French oak barrels.
• Bottled at 48.9%.  Natural colour.  Not chill filtered.

Jonesing for a new Compass Box?

If you are one of the many fans anxiously awaiting the latest masterpiece from Compass Box, your wait is over - but you'll have to visit Milroy's of SoHo in London to score a bottle.

Milroy's was excited to let me know that they have teamed up with John Glaser to create Morpheus, a limited edition bottling made specifically for Milroy's

The description: Beguiling flavours reminiscent of cinnamon fruitcake topped with candied orange peel, shaped into dreamily warming peat.

Damn, that sounds good.

Compass Box “Morpheus” (the Greek god of dreams) is a bespoke bottling made for Milroy’s of Soho.  In keeping with the whisky'’s name, we pursued a visionary notion:  the combination of strong peaty notes with an underlying richness and sweetness (due to partial aging on new American oak, something rarely seen outside the dreams of the typical Scotch producer).

Morpheus” is a limited release bottling of just over 900 bottles, bottled in August 2007.

Introductory offer price - £39.95

Contact Milroy's to reserve yours. I did.

A legacy comes to an end

Today Bruichladdich announced the release of the final installment in their "Legacy Series".

Though labeled as a 34 year old whisky, there are ample amounts of six casks from the 1965 and 1970, in addition to the 1972 vintages.

Jim McEwan says It’s a cracking dram -  as can often be the case when ‘the whole’ is even better than the individual component casks. It makes for a sensationally compelling whisky. Sure, we have more great old casks,  but we have new ideas for these. It will be a real shame if folk merely ‘collect’ this legacy of Legacy,  I truly hope it will be savoured  too -  that’s what it’s really for.

Jim's tasting notes: it’s a suitably special dram, very creamy,  all vanilla, crème caramel and  butterscotch. Hints of banana, apricot, marzipan, maple syrup, and cinnamon - even  pear and mint.

If I can taste half of those flavors I'll be suitably impressed.

Bottled at a cask strength of 41%. Exclusively matured in ex-Bourbon casks, the release is limited to 1,704 numbered bottles and will retail for £200.

The series features labels created from oil paintings of Hebridean seascapes by renowned local artist Frances Macdonald. The 6^th bottling features the painting “Evening Surf”.

For you crazy collectors out there here's the full lineup:

Sept 2002 - Legacy 1 – Bruichladdich 36 year old @ 40.6% - numbered limited edition of 1,500 bottles
Oct 2003 - Legacy 2 – Bruichladdich  37 year old @ 41.8% - numbered limited edition of 1,500 bottles
Nov 2004 - Legacy 3 – Bruichladdich   35 year old @ 40.7% - numbered limited edition of 1,572 bottles
Nov 2005  - Legacy 4 – Bruichladdich 32 year old @ 47.5% - numbered limited edition of    900 bottles
Oct 2006 -  Legacy 5 – Bruichladdich 39 year old @ 40.9% - numbered limited edition of 1,690 bottles
Oct 2007  - Legacy 6 – Bruichladdich 34 year old @  41.0% - numbered limited edition of 1,704 bottles

Australian for Whisky

Hellyers Road Distillery is the largest single malt whisky distillery in Australia, but they've only started bottling within the last 12 months. The distillery itself is actually located on Tasmania, an island best known (in the US, at least) as the home of the Tasmanian Devil.

And now for the geography portion of our program . . .

Tasmania is located approximately 240 kilometers off the coast of Victoria, almost directly south of Melbourne. Tasmania  has a population of around 500,000 with approximately 200,000 living in the capital, Hobart. The island is the smallest Australian state with a coastline of 3200 Km and a total north south distance of approximately 300 Km.

Back to the good stuff . . .

Whisky Tasmania was established in 1997 in Burnie (on the north west coast of Tasmania far from Hobart) and trades as Hellyers Road Distillery. Hellyers Road Distillery is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Betta Milk Co-operative Ltd. Established in 1956, Betta Milk (100% owned by Tasmanian farmers) processes and supplies fresh milk to the Tasmanian market.

Breaking News: PC5 comes to America

Port Charlotte's PC 5 is on the way to the US.

Only 200 cases will be available starting this August, with an SRP of $120 a bottle, and distribution will likely be clustered in Chicago & New York.

When PC 6 makes its appearance, there should be at least twice the number of available cases.

And in a coup, Wyatt-Zier (current Compass Box importers) has landed the importation contract for Port Charlotte whiskies (Bruichladdich whiskies are currently imported by WineBow - who will retain importation rights to that label.)

For more info contact Ken or Ron.

Chicago Whisky Week - Day 2 & 3

DAY 2 (Evening)

Tuesday evening started out at (where else?) Delilah's for Mike Miller's Whisky 101. A big group then headed over to the Duke of Perth for Fish & Chips courtesy of the Diageo Classic Malts. If you wanted to rub shoulders with industry insiders, this was the place to be. The teams from William Grant, Classic Malts, Highland Park were all there, sharing stories and having a good time. The night ended up (where else?) Delilah's. I'm getting way too predictable.

DAY 3

On Wednesday I braved sleet and rain and jumped on the El to get over to the Erie Street Cafe to meet up with Jeff Topping and John MacDougall and try their new releases.

Jeff has a new bottling of his 15 year old Wild Scotsman15 year old vatted malt. Jeff continues to improve as a blender, and I think this is an improvement on the last bottling I tried. Using only ex-bourbon casks in his vatting, while not a complete disclosure of the recipe, Jeff did let me know that Bowmore, Ledaig, and Tamdhu are in there. Furthermore, despite Jeff's tight relationship with Bladnoch and John MacDougall's ties to Springbank, neither f those single malts are in the Wild Scotsman mix.

Jeff also served his first independent single malt bottling, a 13 year old Ben Nevis aged in an ex-bourbon hogshead and bottled at 46%. Distilled in 1992 and bottled in 2006, only 26 cases are available, most of those in Chicago and slightly fewer in Northern Kentucky. Jeff is looking at Mortloch and Bowmore for future bottlings.

Currently WS is only available in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Jeff hopes to be in Indian, California and Florida this year. Oh...want to be friends with Jeff? Go to http://www.myspace.com/wildscotsmanwhisky

DAY 3 (Evening)

Headed back over to Delilah's for a mini-American Whiskey expo. Buffalo Trace; Elijah Craig; Jim Beam; Wild Turkey, Wasmund's, Kentucky Bourbon and Bulleit were all represented and pouring freely.

Rye whiskies are hot right now, but I must admit I tend to like Bourbons with higher corn percentages in the mash (like Maker's Mark)...last night did a lot to develop my palate for Rye.

I chatted with Jimmy Russell who was pouring his fantastic Russell Reserve; Tom Bulleit gave me the run down on Bulleit Bourbon - which will be a story for another time; and Fred Noe introduced me to his Jim Beam Rye.

And when you are at Delilah's, if Mary is behind the bar, ask her for one of her famous Margaritas. George Grant swears by them.