Whiskytutor

Famous Grouse 100 Best Pubs

2012-01-20T11:40:00.000-08:00

In 2010, my publican buddy, Jim Robertson of The Kempock Bar in Gourock, was included in The Famous Grouse's 100 Best Pubs in Britain. The brand had created a Grouse statue with logos for each of the top 30 pubs - and The Kempock was amongst these 30. Jim had never seen the statue so, as he was at Gleneagles today, I suggested that we go to view said statue.
I headed north to The Glen through snow; there were three smashes northbound at Blackford this morning and there was a 45 minute hold up and queues back to Greenloaning, so I turned off on the Crieff road at Greenloaning and cut over a snow-covered, very slippery and windy back road down to The Glen. Picked him up and drove his Land Rover Discovery in 4 wheel drive through the snow to Crieff; slithered a wee bit on a couple of corners, but no problem. Saw no fewer than 3 snow ploughs out on the road.
The statue sits at Glenturret distillery, or as they like to call it nowadays, The Famous Grouse Experience, in the foyer outside the shop. See the pics. The Kempock's log is the jukebox and the musical notes on its upper right chest

Scotch Whisky Trail course

2012-01-20T11:32:00.000-08:00

The latest running of the course started on Tuesday. Pleased to see some women back. After the past couple when it has been all male. Not quite sure of their backgrounds, the college yet again got the applications wrong. The student listed was of 16 students, the register was of 18 and the class was of 19 with one no show. Student Services?
Quite an animated bunch with more feedback than from 2010's entry level students, I'm looking forward quite excitedly to the rest of this spring's course. Trying to get a visit to Deanston, visitor centre doesn't open until after the course, but trying nonetheless as, in 14 years, the course hasn't visited Deanston. We'll see.

Happy New Year & Glenmorangie Artein

2012-01-12T04:35:00.000-08:00

I hope that you all have had a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Christmas for me was good, Santa was very generous, but at New Year, I was hit by the winetr vomiting bug. I only had one dram at Hogmanay - it was at midnight and I only had the one, a normally very pleasant Aberlour a'Bunadh, which I didn't enjoy very much at all. Fortunately, the nausea only lasted around 24 hours, so the rest of the season was enjoyed thoroughly!
Scotland has been batterd, bruised and beaten by the wind in the past few weeks. I can never remember a succession of winds as strong or sustained as we have experienced over the past 6 weeks or so. Many trees down, 30,000 electricity customers cut off at one point, people without power for 3 days. In 2012, we are supposed to have the technology to prevent all this happening.
Glenmorangie released Artein on 4th January. Artein is the third release in its award-winning Private Edition range. Artein is the Gaelic for "stone" and the name links together the distillery's hard water supply from Tarlogie Spring with the stony soil of Sassicaia's vineyards in Tuscany's Bolgheri.
‘Artein’ is an assemblage of 15 and 21 Years Old Glenmorangie, finished by extra maturation in these Supertuscan wine casks.
I think that it is a great addition to their range (see my tasting note on my website) and, in my experience/opinion, supertuscan casks have done a fabulous job of finishing the whiskies they were involved with.
I am very humbled to have been voted "Whisky Man of the Year 2011" by whisky bloggers www.whiskyboys.com.

Weather & Glen Marnoch 40 yo

2011-12-08T08:28:00.000-08:00

Scotland is being buffeted by rather strong breezes at the moment. A gust of 165 mph was recorded around 3.30p.m. on Cairngorm this afternoon and the worst is yet to come so they tell us. Many roads closed - either snow or trees down - Tay, Forth & Erskine bridges all closed to ALL traffic and Friarton & Skye bridges closed to high sided vehicles. The A66 is closed because of overturned vehicles, there are 2 overturned at the Rest And Be Thankful, Byres Road in Glasgow is closed, others such as the coast road south of Skelmorlie are flooded. 80mph winds blowing across the country with gusts higher than this. All Scotland's schools were closed by 12.30p.m.
On a more enjoyable note, Aldi released their 40yo Glen Marnoch Single Speyside Malt today. 3000 bottles between 450 branches. I visited Stirling before 10, no stock and one of my students, Alan Hall, said there were no bottles in Kilmarnock.
The bottle was on Aldi's shelves (when it was there) for £49.99 a bottle. I have heard that there are already bottles on ebay at £300.00. Just think of the extra profit Aldi could have made!

Snow

2011-12-04T11:53:00.000-08:00

To quote Bud Neill:
Winter's came, the snow has fell,
Wee Josie's nose is froze as well.
Wee Josie's frozen nose is skintit,
Winter's diabolic intit?
the pic is of my local hill, Dumyat. At only 418 metres above sea level, it's not really a mountain, but the base of the hill is only about 5 metres elevation, so it is a good, solid, but quite easy walk to the top.
Our first snow of the winter today. Not a lot, but temperatures due to drop to -3 or -4 tonight with more snow tomorrow. Could make the roads rather difficult tomorrow.
My foot is still b____y sore. That nurse really is a sadist!

Damaged foot & record results for Scotch industry

2011-12-02T01:07:00.000-08:00

In the summer of 2005, I was pulling my then 6 year old daughter through the surf on a beach in the Western Loire to the south of the mouth of the Loire. The water here has fine sand in it, so the water isn't crystal clear and I stumbled across some rocks and ripped the sole of my foot open on rocks and oyster shells. My foot was bandaged up and I spent a few days hobbling around. Some months later, I noticed that where my foot had been cut, lumps of hard skin were manifesting. Went to the quack who diagnosed verrucas. I maintained that I felt that there were pieces of rock/shell embedded in my foot. For about 18 months, I treated the foot with a liquid and had cryotherapy (liquid nitrogen) treatment on the sole of my foot. It didn't clear up, so I thought that I was stuck with it. It wasn't causing pain, just a little discomfort which I put up with.
Until a couple of months ago when the foot started to be painful. Went back to the quack who arranged for an x ray to see if there were actually any foreign bodies in my foot because, as he said, my foot shouldn't have been like this for 6 years. He also suggested that I recommence the cryotherapy.
At 5.00pm last night, I saw a sadistic nurse who treated the sole of my foot with the liquid nitrogen - as it has NEVER been treated before! I now cannot walk, I was in sincere pain driving home from the surgery last night, the damaged area is on the ball of my left foot, where the clutch pedal sits.
The good news is that the Scotch Whisky industry has reported record export figures - again! Export sales rose by 23% in the 9 months to 30th September, effectively achieving 2010's exports in the first 9 months of 2011! Brazil, with its 7% annual growth in GDP is the world's fastest growing whisky drinking nation: sales increased by 50% in the 9 months!
See http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/corporate-sme/exports-of-scotch-whisky-surge-to-hit-record-levels-1.1137758?3378

Fairtrade Clackmannanshire + Ben Nevis

2011-11-29T04:43:00.000-08:00

Through my membership of the Co-operative's local Area Committee, I have been pushed into being the leader of the Fairtade Steering Group which aims to achieve Fairtrade Zone status for Clackmannanshire. Our first event, an African Kitchen cookery demonstration, will be held within Baxter's Restaurant in Alloa tomorrow evening. We have already had good coverage in both the local newspapers, Alloa Advertiser and The Wee County News. Did an interview with Central FM this morning which should be broadcast this evening. The event is already a sell out with a large waiting list for spaces.
Next target, the schools, some of which have already been contacted and the churches who, curiously, don't seem particularly connected with Fairtrade.
Ben Nevis distillery has launched McDonald's Celebrated Traditional Ben Nevis with a replica of an old label. This is an attempt to replicate the style of whisky which was bottled by the company in 1882. An almost impossible task as, at the time, the company also owned the nearby Nevis distillery and, historically, this label contained both Nevis and Ben Nevis whiskies. Nevis ceased production around 1908 and its whisky has long faded into memory. This bottling is limited to only 700 bottles.
See my tasting note amongst what I am tasting now: http://www.johnlamond.com/page12.html

Rain, rain and more rain

2011-11-29T03:58:00.000-08:00

It has been a VERY wet November here in Scotland. So much so that now the soil is saturated, literally can't absorb any more rain - and it is still falling! Result? The M8 to the west of Stirling was flooded this morning with drivers having to be rescued from their cars by firemen. The road between here and Causeawhead in Stirling is flooded and impassable, as are the road to the east of Dollar, my wife's route into school, the unclassified road between the B9140 and the A91 into Alva. There is every expectation that more roads will be closed as the day goes on. Many train lines are also flooded and closed. Listening to Radio Scotland's Roads Report, it seems that some people have spent as much as 4 hours stuck in, or near, flooding. The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency are saying as I write that they expect water levels to rise for the next 3 hours. This is as bad as last year's snow and ice problems. We should call for Keith Brown's (Scotland's Transport Minister) resignation!
Last night's Parents' Night was successful, Kirsty seems t be doing well, even very well. She obviously takes after her mother rather than me!

Wallace Monument

2011-11-28T10:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, as we are close to St. Andrew's Day, many buildings, castles, etc. were open to the public for FREE. The Wallace Monument is about 2 miles away from where I sit in my study. Despite its proximity, we have not visited it in the 6 years we have lived here, thus my daughter has never been near it - because the cost is, quite frankly prohibitive. £30.00 for the three of us. Just to climb up and climb down again.
Thus, as it was free (see it's true, we Scots are tight!), I took my daughter along.
The queues were extraordinary and it was freezing cold standing in the queue. They told us when we arrived that it would be about an hour before we would be able to get inside the monument. Then they told us that we would only be able to get to the third floor. One of the reasons for going was to experience the view and take photographs of our home area from the top!
We froze, we waited.
It was quite good, but it was not worth £30.00
Tonight is my daughter's first parents' night at secondary school. She had good reports from her primary school up until the summer, but i am not sure about how things are going at secondary. Now we will find out how she has really been getting on.

Drambusters' Whisky Festival

2011-11-27T11:52:00.000-08:00

Down to Dumfries yesterday for Drambusters' inaugural Whisky Festival. Drambusters is the whisky club organised by Dumfries whisky shop, T.B. Watson Ltd. in the town's English Street.
This was a good wee festival, held in the Cairndale Hotel with 18 or 20 whisky companies (and me) taking part. I signed a few books, spoke to a LOT of people from all over: Carlisle, Kent, Glasgow, Germany, California as well as Dumfries. At most such festivals I have been to there seems to have been an upper age. At this one, that was exceeded. Possibly because I was situated at a central pillar and had no fewer than 3 seats, none of which I was using, I spoke to 4 people who were in excess of 80 years of age and 1 who was 92. That made an age spread of 74 years!
Met up again with Robertson Wellen, a whiskyphile Californian who runs a great guest house in Dumfries called "Ferintosh". The only hotel/guest house/b&b I have ever been at where I was left a small decanter of single cask single malt whisky by my bed! http://www.ferintosh.net/index.htm The three members of the Bavarian Whisky Pipes were staying with Robertson while they were in Dumfries.
The weather was appalling and my drive home was fun; strong winds, pouring rain and amateur drivers crawling up the road from Dumfries to the M74. Still I did the 95 mile return journey in an hour and 40 minutes. A steady 73 mph on the M74, M73 and M90, great thing cruise control!

Filming

2011-11-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

Filming today for a couple of projects, the first an online whisky blender, whiskyblender.com, did the intro for the website http://www.whiskyblender.com/school.php
A steep learning curve as the camera and sound equipment was untried and we encountered a wee glitch or two, but it will all get there. whiskyblender.com goes live on 25th November, so watch this space.

Back to Whisky

2011-11-19T13:06:00.001-08:00

Glasgow's Whisky Festival today!
900 people crammed into The Arches underneath the city's Central Station to taste a very wide range of whiskies and buy some books from me, signed of course. Sold half a box (25 copies) and, because I was attempting to make my fortune (ha! ha!), I only had time to taste a couple of whiskies. Ronnie Routledge from Glenglassaugh had the new whisky - 3 years and a couple of days old - the first whisky since Stuart Nickerson & Scaent Group took over. Unfortunately, it was all gone by the time I was able to get to his stand. Tasted a 20 yo (I think) Bunnahabhain from Wemyss Malt, very impressive, honeyed and soft and the Last Ever Vatted Malt from Compass Box.
Met almost all of the recent Advanced Whisky students and quite a few who have/are about to sign up to the Scotch Whisky Trail Certificate course due to start on 17th January.
Next year, I think I'll go along as a punter and enjoy myself.

More diversity

2011-11-19T12:55:00.000-08:00

On Friday, I spent the morning delivering posters and leaflets around various venues around Clackmannanshire: Post Offices, Co-op stores, libraries, civic centres, the Alloa campus of Forth Valley College. I am leading the Fairtrade Steering Group in Clacks, attempting to get Fairtrade status for the county by the middle of next year. Our first event is an African Kitchen event on St. Andrew's Day, 30th November. Although we havn't advertised it yet, there are something like 20 places booked already. We have set a capacity of 50 but could stretch that to 55 or so, should we need to.
In the evening, I took Kirsty to the opening and launch event at Showcase Glass in Stirling, a glass artist who also showcased other people's work. Have signed Kirsty up for a free taster session where she gets to make her own hanging ‘Christmas Tree’ decoration and have some interesting and enjoyable glass fun! See www.showcaseglass.co.uk.

Kilmacolm High Dam

2011-11-19T12:12:00.000-08:00

What a diverse life I lead! On Thursday, I was helping out my publican buddy with a problem he has at a reservoir he owns - repairing the concrete on the edge of the reservoir's spillway. Some miscreant has opened the sluices and the dam has emptied. To date we cannot find out how this has happened and the water flows across the base of the reservoir and out through then open sluice. We spent some time trying to find out where the water is going to - unsuccessfully! Just as the rain came on, we returned to the car which I had driven down to the reservoir a) because we had cement to carry and b) because there were highland cattle up the field and I did not want to lose my wing mirrors. With the rain, the track became slippy and it took us an hour to get the car the 70 metres or so up the track. We were soaked and covered in mud.
What fun!

Showing Deanston for HSBC

2011-11-18T09:28:00.000-08:00

The new branch of HSBC has opened in Stirling. They needed a whisky expert to entertain customers and potential customers and, of course, they called on me on Wednesday night.
A deal was done with Deanston and I showed the 12 yo and their new Virgin Oak which is matured as usual in amix of ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry and then finished in new, unsullied oak. The result is a drier and more assertive version of the 12 yo with a little more chewy tannins, more obvious leather and toffee characters and more spice on the tail. The punters' reaction? Being Scotland, the sweeter 12 yo won out, but quite a number preferred the Virgin Oak, so it wasn't as clear cut as I initially thought that it would be.

Cutty Sark

2011-11-16T05:45:00.000-08:00

Did the third in a series of educational events for Cutty last night.
A group consisting of some staff from Cutty's Brazilian agents and their Russian agents,as well as one from Maxxium UK (their UK agants) and one from Edrington, Cutty's parent company. Have already done one event for their Turkish distributors and one for their Spanish.
We have created the Cutty Sark Blended Scotch Whisky Academy as the vehicle for this series of events.
This one was at Lochgreen House in Troon, a comfortable, personal, almost intimate hotel.
A good bunch and quite knowledgeable with pertinent questions showing that they had more than a basic understanding of the subject, but, as Jason Craig, the Cutty Sark Supremo, has opined, their understanding of The Blend wasn't quite there.
Had a great dinner to finish with: Salmon wrapped in seaweed with wasabi, roast venison with wild mushrooms and caramelised parsnips and tarte tatin with ice cream. Yummy!
Finally left at about 11.45 and it only took an hour to get home. Was only over the speed limit by a couple of miles an hour, but the roads were VERY quiet.
Tonight I am doing a whisky tasting as a part of an HSBC branch opening in Stirling. Hopefully a relaxed do where I can interact with their customers and potential customers. We will see!

Meggan Dawson-Farrell

2011-11-16T05:28:00.000-08:00

Quite a few days! Had a (rare) night out on Saturday when one of my neighbours arranged a race night in a local hotel to raise funds for their daughter's athletics activities. Meggan Dawson-Farrell is a paralympic athlete and, at 19 years old (she's not a whisky!) is becoming a very accomplished wheelchair athlete. At a national event in Stoke in August, she came in third over 1500 meters behind a paralympic gold medallist and the world junior champion. She knocked 43 seconds off her persoanl best over 10k in Kelso a few weeks ago, coming away with the award for the best performance on the day.
She's 30th in the world rankings over 100 metres; 35th over 200 metres; 40th over 400 metres; 38th over 800 metres; 29th over 1,500 metres and 21st over 10,000 metres. She is aiming for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and Olympics in 2016.
Her wheelchair costs £4,500.00, with, additionally, each wheel costing £1,500.00, never mind the travel and accommodation costs, so events such as this are essential if she is to continue to develop as a paralympic athlete.
I am pleased to say that they raised £2,000 on the night and hopefully will raise more on the back of the night.

Tullibardine sold

2011-11-10T12:19:00.001-08:00

Hot off the press!!

A deal was sealed at 1.00 p.m. this afternoon which saw the sale by Mike Beamish, Doug Ross and their backers of Tullibardine distillery in Blackford. No-one at the distillery would give me any information, but my source (in another whisky company) informed me that the buyer is a French company who are not currently involved in the whisky industry.

High Spirits Mesquite Smoked Single Malt

2011-11-10T12:02:00.000-08:00

A single malt from Flagstaff, Arizona. Yup, I too was not aware of a whisky distillery in Arizona. This is apparently 7,000 feet above sea level. You obviously need oxygen masks at that altitude.
I assume that they use mesquite because they don't have any peat locally.
The bottle was brought to the Advanced Whisky class by one of the students, Jim Coleman of www.whiskyboys.com and I tasted it on the night he brought it a couple of weeks ago, but tasted it again today more clinically.
It's not my cup of tea, the mesquite smoke is characterful to say the least.
The nose is quite full-bodied, with vanilla, leather and mesquite (I assume, never having experienced mesquite) smoke; with water, the smoke becomes cigar smoke and fruit characters of melon and possibly mango are masked by the smoke.
The palate is full-bodied, quite rich and medium-dry with obvious mesquite (I hope) flavour, burnt paper, a nice, spicy touch and slightly medicinal and it finishes of medium length (surprisingly) with notes of bandages, hospital wards and, overpoweringly, mesquite smoke.
As a curiosity, it is well made, but its flavours are too over the top for me.

Advanced Whisky course Week 8

2011-11-09T01:24:00.000-08:00

Part of the syllabus for the Advanced course is a visit to a lab where the students can ask difficult questions of the blender. Unfortunately, this year, I have been unable to tie in a lab visit, with bottling plants being closed in the evenings, blenders being on maternity leave, wandering the world as brand ambassador or just not answering their phones. So I threw in an extra classroom evening.
My theme was some of the industry's essentials, energy and water and the threats to their continuity.
Thanks to Kirsteen Campbell at Cutty Sark, I was able to demonstrate the essential nature of e150a (caramel colouring) and its lack of impact on flavour/aroma. I put less than 4ml from a teaspoon into an empty 2 litre water bottle and gradually filled it with water, allowing the students to see how little colouring is necessary to add colour. I probably should have had two bottles (memo to self - use 2 bottles next time), with the second having less than 0.5ml. The 4ml coloured the water such that it looked darker than a 50 years old first fill Sherry aged whisky - it was even darker than Loch Dhu. They were able to smell the caramel, but, with water, there are no other aromas to hide it and the aroma of the caramel was quite light.
Having done it this way, for next time, I will get a syringe and be much more clinical in the amounts I put in. In that way, the aroma will not be noticeable because the percentage of colour needed will be absolutely tiny.
The order of the evening's whiskies was completely random, with my taking, without looking, a decanting bottle in one hand and a whisky in the other when I decanted them an hour or so before the class. The order in which I presented them was:
1 The Co-operative's 12 yo Single Highland Malt
2 Black Grouse
3 Tobermory 10 yo
4 Arran 1998 The Westie
5 Buffalo Trace
6 Laphroaig 10 yo
7 Jameson's 12 yo
8 Grant's No. 2 (Sherry Cask Finish)
As always, they tasted the whiskies blind and there were several grumbles about a) the selection and b) the order in which I had set them out.
I have to say that the students did well, eventually setting them into a proper tasting order and knuckling down to tasting them.
1 was correctly identified by almost all as a Highland,
2 threw some who, understandably put it on Islay,
a couple correctly identified 3 as Tobermory 10,
most were correct in identifying 5 as a Bourbon,
everybody correctly identified 6 as Laphraoig 10,
a couple identified 7 as Irish and
8 threw almost all of them, with about half identiying it as a blend and some putting it as a poor Speyside.
That's this course completed - or maybe not, watch this space.
I now have 4 or 5 weeks where I get my Tuesdays back and can plan for the Scotch Whisky Trail Certificate course (the entry level course) which starts on 17th January.

Christmas shopping

2011-11-09T01:13:00.000-08:00

Yes, even I have to undertake this time consuming and mindless task.
My wife and I, who both positively hate shopping, chose some years ago to get it all done in one day early/mid November, before the mobs arrive.
A couple of years ago, we saw that this unpleasant experience has a possible pleasant one connected to it (for every action, there is a reaction). Get the shopping done in one day, stay over in Glasgow, have a pleasant night out, take the pain and misery out of the shopping experience. Sorted!
This year, we went into Glasgow last Saturday (daughter spent two nights with grandparents) arriving in the Buchanan Galleries car park at 9.20. We had lunch in O Sole Mio in Bath Street and shopping was finished, everything bought apart from an Amazon voucher, by 2.45.
This year, we had booked into the Crowne Plaza beside the SECC and watched the fireworks displays around the city from our room on the 14th floor.
We then went out and had a very pleasant dinner in The Pelican Cafe - my fourth attempt to eat here in the past year, finishe doff with an aniseed grappa.
Unfortunately, our room (no 1422 - avoid it like the plague) is close to some machinery, possibly the air-conditioning unit, which emits a low hume for 24 hours a day.
Our sleep was disturbed.

Someone helping me to educate the masses!

2011-11-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

At last, someone is helping me to spread the good word. John Glaser of the Compass Box Whisky Co. is to take a lead in the educational drive around the new laws on Scotch Whisky that come into force from Wednesday 23rd November, 2011.
To mark the occasion, Compass Box will release a limited edition bottling, the Last Vatted Malt, made from a marriage of fine, old single malt whiskies from Islay and Speyside distilleries, that will be the last whisky to be labelled legally as a Vatted Malt.

As Compass Box founder and whiskymaker John Glaser explains: “At midnight on November 22nd, 2011, an era ends. After that point, it will be illegal for whiskymakers to use the term Vatted Malt to describe a Scotch whisky made from the combination of two or more single malts. From 23rd November 2011, this style of whisky will by law have to be labelled as a Blended Malt Scotch Whisky. Vatted Malt is a term that has been in use since at least the 19th century. It represents a style of whisky in which Compass Box specialise, so it has special meaning for us. Therefore we have decided to take a lead in the education of whisky drinkers about the new legal definitions of the 5 styles of Scotch whisky. We feel that this is an important change to the law that needs to be explained to whisky lovers. As the new laws come into effect, we want to take this opportunity to educate, to look to the future and to help the industry as a whole.”
To commemorate this transition into a new era, The Last Vatted Malt Limited Edition from Compass Box will be on sale from 23rd November 2011 onwards at www.compassboxwhisky.com and from whisky retailers. It will be bottled at cask strength, and each bottle will be personally signed by John Glaser. Only 1323 bottles will be produced. The recommended retail price will be £175.00 per 70cl bottle.
Compass Box intend organising a number of activities through November to help promote awareness of the new laws, supported by a programme of communication on Facebook, Twitter and by email. These will include:http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

• A Twitter Q&A with John Glaser @CompassBox at 8pm GMT on Tues 15th November

• The Compass Box potted guide to all you need to know about the new Scotch Whisky laws at www.facebook.com/CompassBox

• Last Vatted Malt Day on Tues 22nd November encouraging whisky fans worldwide to bid adieu to Vatted Malt by raising a glass wherever they are.

• A ceremonial bottling of the last bottle of Vatted Malt at a mystery location in Central London by John Glaser at 11.59 on the night of Tues 22nd November – accompanied by a select Vatted Malt flash mob!
They say that “The Last Vatted Malt is a testament to the high merit of blending single malts—to create a whisky flavour profile that no single distillery can produce. This whisky combines intense aromas and flavours of dried fruits and maltiness underscored by a subtle, sweet smokiness, all robed in the revealing signs of whiskies of antiquity. It is composed of two single malts: approximately 22% of the recipe is whisky distilled at the younger of the two distilleries in the village of Aberlour in 1974 (36 years-old), aged in a first fill sherry butt. The balance is from the famed distillery in the village of Port Askaig on Islay, made in 1984 (26 years-old), aged in an American oak hogshead.”
If you can't work out what the whiskies are, come back at me and I will enlighten you.

Advanced Whisky course week 7

2011-11-02T01:51:00.001-07:00

Yesterday evening, the task set to the students was to present for 5 minutes to their peers on the subject of a whisky of their choice. Each whisky was tasted blind and the student's presentation was to give information about the whisky without naming it or supplying the clue which would make it obvious to everyone.
I set it off with Eddu Grey Rock from Brittany which no-one guessed and some found a bit hard and unyielding.
Gary Ledgerwood then showed a 24 yo (1986) Cambus which no-one got, but he displayed as a part of his presentation, a Google Earth picture of the location which showed Diageo's huge warehouse complex at Blackgrange and my home here.
Alan Hall showed a 19 yo Longmorn from Creative Whisky which about half of the class got from his words.
Mark Connelly showed Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky, a 5 yo grain from South Africa which, with a bit of prompting, one or two got to South Africa, but no-one correctly identified either the whisky of Sedgewick's distillery.
James Farrelly showed Ballantine's Finest which most got when they read about the geese on his presentation. Apparently he lived locally and worked there as a student.
Ian Petrie showed Aberlour a'Bunadh Batch 37 which, surprisingly, none of the students got. He bought the bottle at a disgustingly low promotional price at Waitrose.
Stefan Kah showed Glen Scotia 17 yo from Gordon & MacPhail which a few were able to identify - with some help.
Bob Arnott showed Ben Bracken from Lidl, which is apparently Tamnavulin. I found this disappointing as I have a soft spot for Tamnavulin and the whisky was giving acetone and lots of it.
Jeff McKenzie also had Ben Bracken! I suppose that it had to happen! If you look at the post about last week's class, you will see that there was no duplication, so once in 30 cases isn't bad.
Drew Nicolson showed Macallan Fine Oak 10 yo which most people correctly identified and a few were surprised by how well it showed, having tasted it blind.
Andy Davidson also threw everyone with Kavalan from Taiwan. Some of the class had never even heard of Kavalan. It is a relative newcomer.
Jim Schultz also threw everyone with Old Ballintruan. He had shown the same whisky blind to the Helensburgh Whisky Group on Saturday with similar results. Just over half of the class were either on Islay or close to it with the whisky's flavour. The clues Jim put in to his presentation guided one or two to Tomintoul, but the peat threw them off the scent. The sweetness, however, should have taken them to somewhere other than Islay.
Then I put on 4 whiskies blind.
Each bottle is numbered and, like last week, they were not in the correct tasting order. Towards the end of this the Advanced course, the students should be able to taste them in the correct order.
The order they were given was:
1 Bunnahabhain 18 yo
2 Auchentoshan Classic
3 Dewar's White Label
4 Dalmore Gran Reserva
The order, of course, should have been either 3,2,4,1 or maybe, 3,2,1,4. Having already tasted 13 whiskies, their palates were confused so they didn't correctly identify any of them, but one or two were close with the Dalmore. The Dewar's showed very well with no-one slotting it as a blend, its soft, toffee character raising it in the students' opinions to a Single Highland Malt. The Bunnahabhain threw everyone completely because of the Sherry cask element and as the phenolics have almost completely dissipated over the 18 years.
A good night and showing how well the students have developed over the course of the classes.
Taking both the Scotch Whisky Trail Certificate course (which they have to complete first) and the Advanced Whisky course, they have now completed 15 nights, probably 35 hours of quite intensive education. They all came into the courses as maltheads, but now appreciate the quality of The Blend and some grains and also the importance of these to the industry.
Within the class, there are 3 whisky bloggers, one of whom is a whisky retailer; one, previously retired is now doing some work for David Stirk's Creative Whisky Co. and another is doing some work for Angus Dundee.
What next?

Good Spirit Company

2011-10-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

Signed a few copies of Le Snob Whisky today at The Good Spirits Company in Glasgow's Bath Street. Spoke with quite a few maltheads and tasted one or two interesting whiskies. See Tasting Notes in my website for Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve and Wiser's Legacy.
Great not so wee shop; imaginatively and carefully laid out; looks and feels good, expensive, but friendly, serious about the product and crisply fresh.
Train from Stirling to Glasgow mobbed, standing room only and damed little of that. Return train Glasgow to Stirling equally crowded, but managed to get a seat. No sign of ticket inspectors/conductors in either direction, probably couldn't get through the crush of bodies. Laughingly, they announced over the tannoy as we were leaving Glasgow's Queen Street that passengers were not to block the aisle of the entrance doors. In that case, they shouldn't have let so many people on to the train!

Advanced Whisky course

2011-10-27T00:20:00.000-07:00

I am tutoring the Advanced Whisky course at the City of Glasgow College at the moment. This week, the students had to present for 5 minutes on a whisky-related subject of their own selection. All the students' presentations showed very good levels of research into their subjects.
Alan Hall (who for some reason on Tuesday, I was calling Peter - must have been a senior moment or three) presented on Customs Officer Malcolm Gillespie. His presentation was entertaining and contained lots of detail, some specifics of which I hadn't come across before.
Ian Petrie presented on Advertising. He did a critique of half a dozen ads from magazines. His outcome of this was that, with the exception of Jack Daniels, they didn't hit their target audience of 20-35 years old. It's true that the JD ad was the only one which wasn't the "glass & bottle" style, but I felt that the Glenfiddich ad has moved away from it quite considerably.
Steve Richardson presented on Abhainn Dearg, the new distillery on Lewis. He had produced a Powerpoint slideshow with a lot of detail and included some historical facts of illicit distillation in the Outer Isles.
Bob Arnott also had a Powerpoint show, this time on the relative merits of Dunnage Warehousing versus Racking. It was a thoughtful presentation and pushed the oft-quoted reason of cost versus quality, but laid the question, "but should cost be the deciding factor?" and suggested that to mature whisky in large, central warehouses and not at the distillery, while not breaking the rules, was breaking the spirit of the regulations.
Jim Coleman posed the question: “Are Whisky Bloggers Important to the Industry?” As a whisky blogger, Jim may be biased, but he argued that most bloggers have no direct affiliation to any whisky company and so they are de facto independent. As such, they help to “spread the good word” and encourage enjoyment in all forms.
James Farrelly also posed a question. This time it was “Does Scotch Whisky Have a Future?” James had obviously done a lot of digging to obtain the statistics he argued with and his conclusion was that, “yes, it does have a future, but that it needs some generic advertising.”
Stefan Kah’s subject was German Whisky and he looked in detail at the many German whisky distilleries, most of which had developed out of fruit spirits distillation. He demonstrated their uniqueness and differences from the general acceptance of “what is a whisky” by sampling the products of two small distilleries including a smoky Steiger Wald which was coarse, rough and out of balance. He advised that most were very small, amateur producers and could not understand why Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2011 had scored all of the German Whiskies he had tasted in excess of 90 points.
Jeff McKenzie caused us to look at “What Do We Expect From a Whisky?” His presentation was thought provoking and fitted in well following on from Stefan’s. He suggested that we all look for Scotch look-alikes and argued that each country should develop their own style of whisky.
Gary Ledgerwood’s subject was Prohibition. He looked at the fact that, during Prohibition, whisky was available as a medicine, the routes into the States, and shortcuts for the production of bathtub whisky. His conclusion was that the industry had “played it right” and that the fact that they had continued to supply U.S. distributors (whether legal or not) had served them well since then.
Jim Schultz argued that “Proof = Bravado & Rent”. He argued that high alcoholic strength (proof) = bravado as it makes us less inhibited and thus braver to say and do what we would have been reticent to say or do when sober. He argued that proof makes our kidneys work harder and that the alcohol is in our bodies for a short period of time and therefore proof = rent. Amusing and different.
All in all a very good demonstration of their understanding of the subject and good to note that there was no overlap, in that every student had selected a completely different subject. As a tutor, when setting a project for a number of students, I regularly expect that there will be a couple who will select the same or similar topics. This time, all different.
Naturally, there was ablind tasting after their challenges: Aberlour 10, Bowmore 12, Glenlivet 18 and Glenlivet 12 - in that order to confuse them. They all got the order correct and identified the regions and James Farrelly correctly identified Glenlivet 18.

Also on Glengoyne's Distilley Shop Oopening

2011-10-16T09:56:00.000-07:00

I should also have said that the company revealed its new film to us. "Us" was a group of 20ish hacks and bloggers. Glengoyne has set up a large screen with speakers wrapped in plastic to protect them from the rain. The film, all 16 minutes of it, ran while we remained sheltered on the terrace of the visitor centre with the rain falling down between us and the screen. They even laid on a particularly delicate dropping of the leaves from the trees towards the end of the film. Very dramatic. I have to say that I enjoyed it greatly (and I see lots of these). It was relaxed, laid back, a little ireverent and pawky (look up a dictionary). There is, in particular, one little piece I would like to use in my lectures which demonstrates reflux particularly well.

Glengoyne Distillery Shop Opening

2011-10-16T08:37:00.001-07:00

I really must get round to keeping this up to date on a more regular basis, a LOT has happened since June.
Anyhow, Friday evening saw the official opening of Glengoyne's Distillery Shop after a £500,000 (that was the figure quoted) revamp. It looks and feels better than it did previously, much fresher and probably better laid out, but half a million? I think that the figure was swollen in translation somewhere. Reading the press blurb, they have spent £300,000 on upgrading visitor facilities during 2011 in addition to £200,000 on renovating the Manager's House as an events space in 2007. That's where the £500K comes from.
The company also released 4 new whiskies (see my website for tasting notes):
The Glengoyne Distillery Cask, this is an first fill American oak hogshead, no. 1016 filled in June, 2000. The whisky is currently 60.7% abv and a bottle costs £75.00. To get one, you must visit the distillery and fill it yourself. A great wee gimmick.
A Single Cask 24 years old from cask no 354 of 1987 bottled at 54.8% abv.
A Single Cask 15 years old from cask no
and the Teapot Dram.
The Teapot Dram is the only one which will be widely (?) available, all the others are only available at the distillery. Great excuse to visit though!
Reviews from consumers - and the whisky industry - for "Le Snob Whisky" have been very good. They all seem to like its look and feel. My concern is that, due to its size (only 144 pages), I have had to leave out a lot of whiskies - and a lot of distilleries. I'll just have to wait & see what the reviews are for its content.

Kilchoman pictures

2011-06-21T00:36:00.000-07:00

A couple of pics I took last week at the visit to Kilchoman. Anthony was quite emotional when speaking to the assembled populace about the success of the operation and the friendly and sterling efforts of his staff and directors in getting to the stage they are at.
I normally tell my students that it takes a distilling company 100 years to reach profitability, so that those who start a distillery now are doing it for the benefit of their grandchildren. The initial setup costs, followed by no cashflow for a minimum of 3 years and more likely 5, 10 or more years before the filthy lucre starts to flow in. Anthony has been very clever in selling bottled new make spirit and an imaginative - and wide - range of goods from the distillery shop. The bottles of new make are almost a demand brand in whisky retailers around the world.

Kilchoman Inaugural 100% Islay

2011-06-17T04:45:00.000-07:00

Flew over to Islay yesterday for the launch of Kilchoman's first Whisky that has been completely produced on Islay: The barley was grown on the island; the barley was malted at the distillery; it was mashed, brewed and distilled at the distillery and, finally, it was matured and bottled at the distillery.
It is the first Whisky for over 100 years that has been wholly produced on Islay.
I joined a dozen others, journalists, PR, Charlie Maclean, Ian Buxton & myself, who jumped on a chartered Jestream and flew (no security checks, EXTREMELY civilised) for 25 minutes to then wee strip between Port Ellen and Bowmore, then a bus to Kilchoman distillery at Rockside farm on the west of the island.
AND THE SUN SHONE!!! It was an absolutely glorious day, blue skies, sunshine, no (or few) clouds and shirts sleeve warmth.
Richard Joynson from Loch Fyne Whiskies was there, as were importers from Belgium, Germany, France and Finland, along with the company's directors, shareholders and a number of people who have been instrumental in getting the distillery's produce out there. A local chef put on a fabulous spread which included sumptuous scallops flambeed in the distillery's whisky, fresh, local langoustines, a delightful crab tartlet and local venison.
Our flight back was eventful as we circled above Glasgow airport a couple of times and then headed out towards Cumbernauld above the under construction M80, finally wheeling back via Campsie Glen and Lennoxtown. Apparently, there was an incident involving armed police and the police helicopter at the west end of the main runway.
And the whisky?
Fresh and youthful with a great balance of peat and sweetness and flavours of citrus peel, sugar puffs and tobacco. My full tasting note will be on my website later today - I hope!

Whisky & A' That VIII

2011-06-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

Robbie's Drams' whisky festival in Ayr took place last weekend. A great not-so-wee festival these days. 27 whisky companies taking part, 2 masterclasses: Duncan Macrae of Diageo showcasing the company's Talisker and Caol Ila and trying to persuade then maltheads that unaged malt is a good thing and James McTaggart from Isle of Arran talking about the trials and tribulations of managing a distillery in 2011, 600 people in Ayr Town Hall and a PA system which the hallkeeper didn't know how to operate.
Initially, I attempted to address the throng by shouting. My voice must have carried at least 10 feet from the stage before it was overwhelmed by the raucous hubbub. Graeme from Robbie's Drams was a saviour. He knew how to get the amps up.
It was a great day and I met many people whom I only see at this event every year. One of these days, I will stay over in Ayr drink instead of spitting out.
Robin Russell (the owner of Robbie's Drams) has announced a "Best in Show" whisky for the past three years and this year has had created a large silver quaich on a rosewood stand as the trophy for the winner selected by the votes of those attending. Previous winners have been Glenfarclas 21, Deanston 12 and Glenfarclas 21, but the 2011 winner of the Robbie's Drams Quaich Challenge was Tomintoul 21. This year, he has announced a second place - Hazelburn Sauternes Wood Finish and a third place - Glenfarclas 40.
The www.whiskytrailbars.com website has undergone a makeover - thanks to Drew Nicolson. He has taught me how to carry out html updates and ftp changes, but redesign is beyond me - at the moment.
My daughter participated in Hillfoots Music for Youth's annual year end concert last night in Tillicoultry and she learnt that she has passed her Grade 2 Trumpet exam. She is getting better, which reminds me, I must oil her trumpet's valves!

Injuries

2010-04-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

Arrived back from 5 days at my buddy Jim's caravan at Wemyss Bay. A HUGE caravan site with thousands of caravans, but his is tucked away in a secluded corner; the weather was fabulous, so we had a good time.
Went over to Rothesay (one must when one is doon the watter), visited Rothesay Castle - an impressive ruin which must have been pretty impregnable in its prime with ten feet thick walls. We ate lunch in a very good restaurant - Brechin's Brasserie: small, friendly, no chips!, good food and reasonable pricing. Will definitely go back!
Also ate at the revamped Nardini's in Largs: again, very impressive decor, service and food and not, despite what was suggested, expensive.
Came home, set to recommence work on the fence and was struck down by the Winter Vomiting Virus. Had to spend the next day in bed, very unpleasant and uncomfortable.
Finally got back started work on the fence rebuilding on Wednesday. Weather great, learning as I go along, pleasing results, still not venturing too far from a toilet.
Was due to attend the launch of the Old Pulteney sponsorship of Jock Wishart's Row to the Arctic last night, but it was called off by the grounding off all flights to and from the UK by a cloud of volcanic ash emanating from and Icelandic volcano which was heading this way. Our good weather meant that it wasn't being blown away fast enough. Heard today that 23,666 flights across Europe had been cancelled yesterday and today by the cloud.
Was greatly assisted by my father-in-law, who knows about these things, in the dismantling of our garden shed. It has to be dismantled so that a digger can come in and excavate a 3 metre deep hole in the search for our foundations. It is our intention to have a sunroom built on the northwest corner of our home and, despite the fcat that the house is only five years old, neither the council planning department, nor the consultant engineers who consulted in the original build have records of how the foundations were laid. Incompetence or what? So a hole has to be dug to confirm what the architect thinks, that the house is built on piles, or stilts sunk into the clay.
Anyway, pa-in-law aided me in about 45 minutes to do what it would have taken me two days to do.
Late yesterday afternoon I twisted my knee preventing myself from falling from the fence into the trench at the side of the garden. Today can hardly walk. Looks like the fence is going to take longer than two weeks to rebuild.

Lunches

2010-03-31T02:11:00.000-07:00

My daughter played her first concert as a member of the training band in Hillfoots Music for Youth at Tillicoutry Village Hall, a delightful 1930s art deco edifice. 83 kids, many of them playing muiscal instruments in public for the first time. They were quite well kept together by their conductors and they were pretty close to the tune, if a little slow.
She also took part in her primary school's team in the Scottish European Educational Trust's Euroquiz - and won the Clackmannanshire heat. They now go onto the National finals at the Scottish parliament in Holyrood in mid-May.
Had lunch with Ian Williams, a friend in Skelmorlie on Monday. Snow overnight in various parts of the country, but here in Tullibody, just cold & windy. Ian is a great chef, the food was stunning. Had to leave early though to get back in time for Kirsty coming home from school, even then, was about 20 minutes late.
Lunch on Tuesday at Stirling's Riverhouse restaurant, c/o Forth Valley Master Composters, of which i am one. Fodd, better than I expected, some imagination in the kitchen and the ability to put that imagination onto the plate. At £6.95 for 2 courses, also very good value.
Last night, the wind built up, we had a very disturbed night and now, at 10.30 on Wednesday, it continues unabated. Overnight, we lost about 35 metres of fence. Other areas of the country are receiving large quantities of snow, with roads blocked, jack-knifed lorries, etc., but we have trees down and fences destroyed. A couple of years ago, I had a quote for replacement of the fence, as I think that the larchlap fencing is dreadful and, at that time, it was going to cost me £2,500.00. I now have time to do it myself, I hope, so we shall see how much it will cost.

Scotch Whisky Trail Course ends

2010-03-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

The spring 2010 season of courses is now over with the final night - and the EXAM!! - of the Scotch Whisky Trail Course last night. I always seem to get a good bunch of guys and gals who are there to enjoy themselves and to pick up a wee bit knowledge about the cratur. The exam scores last night were very good. Taken as a whole, at 73%, they probably had probably the best average score in the 11 years I have been running the course.
The examconsists of 50 multiple choice questions and 3 whiskies tasted blind, with one mark being given for correctly identifying whether the whisky is a blended whisky or a single malt and 5 marks for correctly identifying the brand. The tasting side of it is really just for fun and doesn't count towards the final percentage.
We finished up with a fairly comprehensive tasting of Japanese (and other) whiskies, with samples from Yamazaki, Chichibu, Hanyu, Fuji-Gotemba, Karuizawa, Yoichi & Hakushu, not forgetting Glann ar Mor, Mackmyra, Bakery Hill, Sullivan's Cove & Kilchoman.
Today I have been down to more mundane things - decorating the bathroom. I HATE painting skirting boards! I need a dram now.

Napa Valley Rocks tasting

2010-03-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

Attended a Napa Valley tasting at Calistoga in Rose Street Lane North last week. Michael Honig from Honig Vineyard & Winery, Daniel Bailey from The Jones Family Winery, Molly Kenward from Tor Kenward Family Wines and Peter Franus from Peter Franus Wine Company presented to a small group of what seemed was mostly wine educators, although some restauranteurs and retailers were also there, along with Tom Cannavan from wine-pages.com.
Some VERY good Cabernets: the 2006 Jones Family "The Sisters" Cab Sauv was impressively rich with ripe blackcurrant and a slight waxy note to the smoky oak; chocolate features in the flavour along with elegant oak, with spice & pepper on the finish; The 2006 Jones Family Estate Cab Sauv was also big-bodied and solid with good levels of tannin and acidity supporting dark fruits and a tail which is very long, impressive and elegant.
Other than these two, we tasted Cakebrook Cellars' 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Cuvaison's 2007 Carneros Chardonnay, Honig's 2008 Sauv Blanc, Honig's 2006 Cab Sauv, Tor Kenward's Mast Vineyard 2003 Yountville Cab Sauv, Cimarossa's 2003 Mount Howell Cabernet, Franus's 2006 Brandlin Vineyard Mt. Veeder Zinfandel and Franus's 2005 Brandlin Vineyard Mt Veeder Mourvedre.
Of these, the whites, in particular, were lowish in acidity, I could be kind and say that they had soft acidity, but I suspect that the grapes were left on the vine to achieve ripeness and complexity at the expense of the acidity and Sauvignon Blanc needs acidity, it needs bite.
The Mt Veeder Zin was a bit closed on the nose, though had rich and ripe dark fruits, with elegant vanilla and solid tannins on the palate with a bitter note on the tail.
The Mt Veeder Mourvedre was a bit of a revelation though:deep, ripe, soft redcurrants and some liquorice on the nose, the palate was big, ripe, rich and plummy exhibiting good acidity and tannins, with a long, impressive, floral, perfumed tail. Really quite yummy.

Scotch Whisky Trail Certificate Course week 7

2010-03-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

The course last night was a trip for the students to Glengoyne distillery. A couple of them had been there before, at least one had NEVER been to a whisky distillery, never mind Glengoyne!
A great night, looked after by Louise & Callum. Stuart had looked out some samples for me to deliver to them showing the effects of different woods on maturation. We sampled:
a 3 years old Glengoyne from a first fill Oloroso European oak hogshead at 63.5%: medium-bodied, rich and Sherried with rubber/nuttiness and a little apple; with water, it became bigger with tangerines and some perfume.
a 12 yo first fill Oloroso American oak butt at 58.2%: Richer, with more toffee, honey and apple; with water, a distinct ceral note of Sugar Puffs breakfast cereal opened out.
a 19 yo second fill Oloroso European oak butt at 55.8%: a wee bit dumb on the nose, showing a little toffee & not much more; with water, it really opened out with fresh citrus, lemon/lime, honey and apricot.
and finally, Glengoyne 21 yo, the current bottling, which is all from a mix of 10-12 casks of first fill Oloroso European oak at 43%: Sherry nuttiness leaps out of the glass with a dense beeswax note and a little perfume; with water, the beeswax becomes softer, with notes of furniture polish and some apple and peach.
A great way to demonstrate the effects of the different woods. With the beeswax and fruity characters of the European oak and the definite cereal characters of the American wood.
Another great night!
The students now have to sit the exam next week.

Advanced Course continued

2010-03-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

Well, that's the first running of the Advanced Whisky course - and now the students are asking me to write the Advanced Advanced Whisky Course! No, I don't think so. The whole thing has worked a lot better than I thought it would.
With a course content like:

1. Characteristics Arising from Distillation and Fermentation

An examination of the characteristics which arrive through foreshots and/or feints, metallic, sulphury and off-notes, their causes and manifestations. 2/3/4 distillations. What makes a good whisky? Beyond subjectivity.

Group blind tasting organised by tutor

2. Beyond Maturation.

A look at wood types and the inherent characteristics of various oaks; what previous inhabitants of the casks give to or take from the whisky; storage conditions; “good” and “bad” results – too old and too youthful. Focus on one whisky with a look at various ages of that whisky.

Students to bring three aromas in containers for class to identify blind.

Group blind tasting organised by tutor and group note taking

3. 2^nd February, 2010 Regionalisation – Does it Exist?

An examination of the flavours inherent in the makes of various distilleries; identification of regional characteristics; examination of primary, secondary and tertiary flavours with comparison with Diageo’s map, S.W.C’s wheel and John Lamond’s Aberlour Whisky Wheel.

Individual blind tasting and group note taking

4. Glasses and Their Influences

Comparison of Schott, Riedel & Glencairn. Different flavour characteristics emphasised by different glasses

Blind tasting from various glassware

5. Brand and Craft

Examination of independent bottlers’ influences on flavour; chill-filtration; 40/43/46/cask strength; e150; grain species – yields versus flavour?

Blind tasting of non-whisky spirits supplied by students and written appraisal of tasting

6. Visit to Edrington’s Lab

Biochemistry & gas spectrometry – what are they looking for? Reduction water quality, either at cask filling or bottling. Water problems at the distillery – low or contamination.

7. Open Week

Each student to give a 10 minute presentation on some aspect of whisky. Followed by an open discussion and appraisal.

Blind tasting with each student giving a detailed written appraisal of four whiskies.

8. The Market

How is it controlled? Is it controlled? Who controls it? Politics, trends, influence, the auction market – and fakes; other World Whiskies.

Blind tastings – each student to give a verbal presentation for five minutes on their chosen sample.

I was certain that some parts would work, but the whole thing went really quite magnificently. A lot was down to the calibre of the students, with the effort they put into their presentations being very impressive.
Week 8, for example, my intention was that they would merely present for 5 minutes on an expression of a whisky. I arrived with 8 whiskies (including Millstone 8 from the Netherlands and Yamazaki 10 from Japan) for them to taste blind. They each brought along a sample, which meant that we tasted 17 whiskies on the night. No wonder that the janitor was champing at the bit to get us out of the building so that he could lock up at 9.10 p.m. (the class is supposed to finish at 8.30p.m.).
Great night though.

Adanced Whisky Course

2010-03-12T09:32:00.000-08:00

The Advanced Whisky Course is now into its seventh week and going amazingly well. I was not 100% convinced that it would work as well as it has. Looking into the minutiae of whisky is not everyone's cup of tea, but it seems that the students on the first running of the course like it.
This week was easy for me, the students had to deliver a 15 minute address on some aspect of whisky. We had chill-filtration, profiles of Auchentoshan and Glenfarclas (including a sample of the 1958 from the Family Casks!), an Italian whisky club, poetry and art & whisky. Wonderfully imaginative and very good and in-depth research involved by the students. I was impressed!
The entry level course, The Scotch Whisky Trail Certificate course has just had its 6th week and again, a good bunch of students, a couple of publicans, a whisky writer, two restaurant staff and the balance of aficionados.
Scotland's weather has improved, it has ben very stable over the past week with blue skies and sunshine, although it is cold out of the sunshine. As I look west just now, the sun is sinking over Stirlimng Castle and the sky is picking up a rosy glow, soon to be purple, gold and many other colours.

Japan (3)

2010-03-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

After a night at the Hachioji Plaza Hotel, we had a European style breakfast of croissants and coffee in a cafe just up the road before catching the train into the centre of Tokyo.
We wandered around the Ginza area, Jim was wanting to find the technology area which a Dutch professor in our hotel had told him about the previous day. We didn't find it, but the Ginza is full of Rolex, Prada, Tiffany, Armani, etc., all the BIG fashion names. We had a couple of beers and lunch at the Lion Beer Hall in Ginza Street. Then I had to get back because I was being interviewed by Mamoru Tsuchiya for an article in May's edition of "The Whisky World".
Our flight back was fairly uneventful, apart from the problem of buying a couple of coffees in the departure hall. We were 30 odd yen short and I had to run down to an ATM to get more funds. Wonderful thing international banking, I wonder how much Alliance & Leicester will charge me for the privilege of changing currencies?
Stopped off in Amsterdam's Schiphol for 3 hours and had sausages, chips & beans in an Irish pub! A change from all the healthy Japanese food for the previous week.
Arrived home to snow - in the air and on the ground. Drove Jim home to Gourock and myself home to Tullibody, arriving at half past midnight. 25 hours' travelling. Sat down, supped on a whisky for 20 minutes and slept like a log. It's good to get back to your own bed!

Japan (2)

2010-03-04T02:18:00.000-08:00

On the Monday (22nd Feb), we set off for Chichibu distillery. My friend in Takeshi Mogi in Hachioji had very kindly given me detailed travel instructions with specific trains and timings. His detail was wonderful.
For Chichibu, we had to get on the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line and transfer to the Seibu line at Ikebukuro. At Ikebukuro, we hit our first problem, not bad in 10 rail journeys so far. The English translation of the signs ran out when we reached the platform. There was no train at the platform and the train further down had an "Out of Service" sign over it. I wandered down the platform to see if I could learn anything while Jim looked after the luggage. When I returned, he advised me that a woman sitting in a train at an other platform had come over to him and asked if we needed assistance. She pointed out that the train we were looking for was the one which was currently "Out of Service".
This train duly left and, when it reached Hanno, it reversed out of the station along another section of track. Thus, we were now travelling backwards. The guard announced that our seats would turn around and therefore face forward and all we needed to do was press a button and birl the seat round on a pivot. Effective and imaginative!
When we reached Seibu-Chichibu, it was obvious that I was the first person the locals had seen in a kilt! Needless to say, it went down a bomb!
A half hour taxi ride took us to Chichibu distillery, where Ichiro Akuto, the owner was waiting for us. The first stillhouse - in the world! - where you remove your shoes before entering! Everything is spotless. The stillhouse has no mezzanine, so to examine, and clean the washbacks, the staff have to climb a ladder. See my pics at www.flickr.com/photos/whiskytutor/.
I tasted some amazing young spirit, aged in new wood which was astoundingly forward. See my tasting notes at www.johnlamond.com/page9.html.
Back into the city and a meeting with Takeshi Mogi, who has been translating "The Malt Whisky File" into Japanese since 1995. An amazing guy who is fluent in Gaelic, wears the kilt and plays the bagpipes.
Jim had been given a plaque from a Greenock councillor to present to Takeshi. The individual prior to Takeshi who received one of these was the captain of the Queen Mary II when that ship docked in Greenock towards the end of 2009.
We had dinner at Ukai Chikutei, a traditional Japanese restaurant which is spread over a number of cottages. An amazing meal served by a traditionally dressed young waitress.
We spent the night in Hachioji and then caught a Rapide into the city for our last day.

Japan was AWESOME!

2010-03-03T06:11:00.000-08:00

Just back from a week in Japan. 26 hours' travelling to arrive at my first stop in Arashiyama on the southeast outskirts of Kyoto.
Arashiyama is a world heritage site, with many ancient shrines. It receives many, many tourists in the course of a year and yet, at this time of year, there are no restaurants open in the evening.
I travelled with my buddy, Jim Robertson, the publican of The Kempock Bar in Gourock. Arrived at my hotel Kyoto Ranzan, obviously very tired, and asked at reception if the hotel restaurant was still open (this was 9.15 p.m.). Was informed that there were NO restaurants open in Arashiyama, there was only a convenience store and suggesting that we go there and eat its offerings in our rooms. Naturally, I did not believe this and we went out for a walk.
Everything was shut up for the night and I was beginning to despair of getting anything to eat - we had not eaten anything since around 10 o'clock in the morning - when we saw some lights. The convenience store! We grabbed a couple of bento boxes containing sushi & some fruit and beer and headed back to the hotel.
The next day, we visited Yamazaki distillery and were conducted around by Makoto Sumita, the distillery's Deputy Executive Manager: a very big mash tun and washbacks and a stillhouse containing a dozen stills of various shapes and sizes, permitting them to produce a wide variety of flavours within their whiskies.
I tasted 12 years old Yamazaki matured in American oak, 12 yo Yamazaki matured in a Sherry butt, 12 yo Yamazaki matured in a Mizunara (the Japanese oak, Quercus serrata) cask and 12 yo (the standard offering on the shelves), Yamazaki 18 yo and yamazaki 1984Limited Edition.
The tasting revealed the difference that Mizunara casks make. For tasting notes see that section on my website.
That night, I determined to find an open restaurant! We had seen a great number of restaurants in the area over the course of the afternoon and I could not understand why, when there were obviously a lot of tourists around despite it being early in the season, they all seemed to close at 4.30.
I was successful! I found what must have been the only restuaurant open in the area, a kushi-age restaurant and we were their only customers all night, so we got great service with an explanation of what everything was and how to eat it. Great! Deep fried food! A very Scottish diet!
17 train journeys in 7 days and everyone of them ran precisely to time!
Back over to Tokyo on the bullet train. One of these 1800 seat trains travels down the tracks every 7 minutes and our experience was that they travelled at 60-70% capacity.
Tokyo was an experience in itself. Their planning department doesn't seem to be particularly effective, there is no continuity of building style, each house is (often) totally different from its neighbour and they are built cheek by jowl in an almost shanty town style. Such proximity would not be permitted in Britain. Having said that, the streets were very clean, no chewing gum stuck to the pavements, no cigarette ends/polythene bags/crisp packets blowing in the wind.
It was expensive though. The sterling/yen exchange rate didn't help, but I got the impression that the cost of living is expensive in Japan.
We had dinner with Kiyotoshi, Keiko and Takamitsu Shimamura from Scotch Whisky Sales Ltd. and Junichi Fukutani, who translated the last edition of "The Malt Whisky File" into Japanese. Sushi - again. They fed us beer, followed by sake and that was followed by shochu. I got tyhe distinct impression that our hosts were trying to see how much we could drink as they were not either eating as much, or drinking as much as they were. A very enjoyable night nonetheless and Jim & I dropped into an Italian wine bar for a bottle of wine to finish the night with.
Whisky Live Japan was on the Sunday and we jumped onto the Yurikamome line at Shimbashi to the Big Sight exhibition centre. The Yurikamome line is an automated system without a driver, like London's Docklands Light Railway. the view it gives of Tokyo's waterfront area is fabulous. It is a pretty wonderful piece of engineering, especially when one thinks about the now dumped plans for the Glasgow Airport Rail Link and the chaos which has blighted Edinburgh's streets since work started on that city's tram system - and this tram system now looks as if the build will overrun by 2 or 3 years!
Whisky Live was amazing - 5,000 visitors all very serious about whisky. I was walking around the exhibition and people were coming up to me and saying, "Ahh, you are John Lamond!", pulling a copy of "The Malt Whisky File" out of a bag and asking for my autograph or asking to be photographed with me. Felt like stardom! It was reallya buzz.
Went to dinner with Shusaka Osawa and his staff from Liquors Hasegawa - in a Chinese restaurant. Again very different from the UK version of a Chinese retaurant.
For relaxation, after all this excitement, Jim & I split a bottle of wine at a Breton retsaurant just along the street from our hotel in the Ginza district.

The Whisky Courses Continue

2010-02-11T02:40:00.000-08:00

Now into the fourth week, last night saw us into history of the industry up to 1850, having already looked at malt and grain production, the blend and maturation. The Scotch Whisky Trail Certificate Course is a good wee group of a dozen bar staff, private consumers, a ship's steward and a whisky writer. One, last week, announced that he had been to many courses over the course of his life and that this was "by far, the best course I have ever been on!" Made me feel good.
The great thing about this course is that the students are coming in with already formed, pre-conceived ideas and the course opens their eyes to how good some brands (especially blends) are which they had previously discounted as poor.
The Advanced Course, running for the first time, is very different and looks at some obscure areas of the industry from obtuse angles. The students taste whiskies blind and are becoming very proficient at identifying regional and local characteristics in the whiskies. They say that they are finding the course difficult which I am pleased about because have I found it dfficult to create the course materials. I certainly wouldn't iike the students to find things easy!
Attached is a picture of the students enjoying themselves on the Whisky Trail Course.

New whisky course

2010-01-20T06:45:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since my last post - a lot has happened, but we will continue. The world is still turning.
The first running of The Advanced Whisky Trail course occurred last night. Some people missing and others unable to attend the course this year. My students have been badgering me for this course for the past half dozen years or so.
Anyway, the first night saw an examination of the characteristics which arrive through foreshots and/or feints, metallic, sulphury and off-notes, their causes and manifestations. What difference 2/3/4 distillations makes. What makes a good whisky? And "Beyond subjectivity". They tasted 6 whiskies and shared tasting notes to come up with a conclusion. It worked well.
Another running of The Scotch Whisky Trail Certificate Course starts tonight. I am not convinced in the effectiveness of the college's administration. Student Services they call it...
We'll see how it goes.

Premium bottlings

2009-10-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

Following my post of yesterday, I have had a long intercourse with a couple of my students about whether or not a bottling such as Glengoyne 40 Years Old is at £3,750.00 per bottle value for money. One argued that the value of the liquid wasn't in question, but that most whisky drinkers would prefer to buy the whisky in an ordinary bottle, then they would be able to drink it. To buy a bottling in an expensive decanter with its wooden box and associated add ons just gives items which the drinker doesn't need - or want, he argued.
The other side was also put, by me, that the bottlers are making a statement in wrapping their superlative product in crystal and adding on extras, such as a booklet detailing what was happening in the world on the day that the whisky was distilled. And then cocooning it in a highly polished container.
The bottle which started all this is in the attached image.

Wigtown Book Festival

2009-10-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

Just back from Wigtown and the Wigtown Book Festival, http://www.wigtownbookfestival.com/index and, more specifically, Whisky & Words, a festival within a festival.
I was doing a tasting at midnight on 1st October and launching Bladnoch 8 years old, the oldest bottling produced by the distillery's current management and a pretty wonderful glassful, see my tasting notes.
The midnight tasting was titled "Flavours of Whisky" and is the content of a project I am currently working on. Being midnight, there was not a great turnout, but they were very receptive and some had not experienced such an event before.
As it was the first time I had delivered this presentation, I wasn't sure how it would work out, but it went very well indeed. Tying the various whiskies in with the characters of flavour which I find in them. The revelation for me was the marriage of Caol Ila 12 yo with freshly sliced oranges. It was magnificent.
The event was also attended by Gavin Smith, Hans & Becky Offringa (the Whisky Couple), Charlie Maclean, Neil Wilson, Ian Buxton, Richard Paterson, David Wishart, Helen Arthur and Tom Morton. We had a great time. It was the first time that the whisky festival side of it had run, although the book festival is now into its tenth year and it may be run again in 2011, setting a timetable as a biannual event. There was not a high attendance for some of the events, but the calibre of those who attended was high. Word will spread!
Tasted Dutch Whisky for the first time thanks to Hans, from Zuidam Distillers in Baarle Nassau - again see my tasting notes.

23rd July, 2009

2009-07-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

Just back from 18 days holiday. Visited the town of Erquy on the north coast of Brittany, what the call "le Cote d'Emeraude". Erquy is a very pleasant wee town with fabulous beaches - acres of sand! It has French, Belgian, Dutch, German and Swiss tourist - and damned few Brits! Good food and friendly locals. We holidayed in the Western Loire two years ago and noticed that the Euro prices had risen quite considerably since 2007. That added to the poor Sterling - Euro exchange rate made for an expensive holiday.
I was even in swimming a few times and the water wasn't too cold.
Visited Glann ar Mor distillery and hour and a half to the north west of Erquy. Here, Jean Donnay and his wife Martine operate the Celtique Whisky Compagnie, a Breton independent bottler, see http://www.celtic-whisky.com. Jean and Patrick, his helper (warehouseman/mashman/stillman/etc.) produce small amounts of spirit from distillery buildings which have the date 1668 carved into the lintel above the door. The first of Glann ar Mor's spirit became whisky at three years old earlier this year and was bottled at 3 years and 4 months old. My tasting note will follow.
Very cute little stills with a production of around a mere 50,000 bottles per annum, distillation is slow, wash still distillation takes 14 hours, spirit still distillation even slower.
Jean Donnay is a driven character, enthused, animated and focussed. A great ambassador for his own product, the stills were made for him in the Charente and are both direct fired - without rummagers.

26th June, 2009

2009-06-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Did a whisky dinner for the International Conference of the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning at the Stirling Management Centre last night. Ben Nevis 10 with Cock a Leekie soup and Glenfarclas 15 with Raspberry Cranachan. One of the management’s staff was matching a wine with the main course. Even though I say so myself, both the whiskies were perfect matches to their respective dishes! The Glenfarclas received the most plaudits from the diners though.
School's out today. The weather looks good for the coming weeks, but, as always, we shall just have to wait and see.