March 2008
The Nineteenth Edition of "A Whiff of Peat Smoke...." , Why ? because i can !
It's nearly Easter , hopefully something will happen shortly ......
Raymonds Brew !
Since Raymond reinstated Bladnoch he's had a steady stream of bottlings coming out under his own label , all of which has been Diageo distillation and all of which he has had to buy back in . We've had the Sheep and Beltie (The Coo !) at 55% and at various ages , The distillery label at 40% and 46% , various finishes ( Cognac and Rum) and an odd single cask bottling but everyones always asked when will Raymonds own distillation hit the shelves......
Well it soon will in 3 20cl tasting bottles !
All 6yo , one from an ex-bourbon , one from an ex-sherry and one from a Lightly Peated cask . So What are they like ?
The Ex-Bourbon cask is at 57.3% , a pale straw in colour . Slightly spirity on the nose at first , once the air gets to it the lowland characteristics burst through , fresh cut grass , slightly citric (lemons) , malt and Vanilla . On the palate it's very oily but the citric/grassy malt is wonderful ! The finish seems slightly subdued at first but then it becomes like lemon drizzle cake ! Jesus that is good ! A cracking little dram !!!
The Ex-Sherry cask comes in at 56.9% and is a light amber in colour and the nose is very similar to the ex-bourbon but with a sherry overtone , lovely spices and dried fruits . Again a lovely oily mouthfeel to it , the Liquid Christmas cake explodes all over the palate . The sherry is well balanced (not over powering ) , there is a maltiness but none of the grassy -citric of the ex-bourbon . The finish is very long , spicy and malty . Another good dram but the first has it so far.......
The Lighlty peated is the strongest at 58.5% and is slightly brighter in colour than the ex-bourbon one . On the nose the first thing that hits you is a slight smokiness , then just a drop of peat almost un noticable in the Grass , malt and Lemon , infact it seems to get more lemony ! The peat comes through on the palate , not heavy , very subtle but it mingles with the lemon and grass , again a lovely mouthfeel to this dram , oily . The finish is slightly smoky with lemon drizzle cake again . This one comes between the previous two for me , the Bourbon at the top the Sherry at the bottom . [edit] just revisited it and it's slightly more peaty on the second trying !
Conclusion - 3 exceptional young whiskies i'd gladly have on my shelf , none of them gave their young age away (apart from the ex-bourbon on initial pouring ) . All i can say is the boys done well ! Congratulations Raymond great stuff ! And that's from an Islay Boy !!!!!
For more details and when it's available keep an eye on the Bladnoch site ( http://www.bladnoch.co.uk ) and it's on line shop !
Government Announces rise in Duty
The Chancellor Alistair Darling announced in his latest budget that the duty on spirit would rise from Sunday 16th March . It goes up from £19.56 OLA to £21.35 OLA , this means about 59p on a bottle of Whisky at 40% ABV or nearly £1 on Caskstrength . But if you start applying it to Cask Purchases it effectively adds £220+ onto the cost at Bottling because not only does the duty go up but also the VAT as you pay VAT on the duty ! Crafty Eh !!!!! And to make matters worse the Duty will also rise 2% above the rate of inflation over the next 3 years !
So Thank You Mr Darling this will definitely combat Binge Drinking ...... or more likely fill the hole in the budget deficit as you don't get many teenage Binge drinker knocking back bottles of Islay Single Malt Whisky do you ?
Jim McEwan has entered the Building......
Ok not quite the Building but the Stillroom !
On the 5th March Weekly chat we had the pleassure of welcoming Jim McEwan into our chat . It's always a pleasure to have a guest on the chat , especially someone as highly regarded in the whisky world as Jim . We also set a new record for people attending the chat , 27 at it's peak , Thankfully the Stillroom held together and no structural damage was recorded !
Lots of Bruichladdich was consumed and lots of questions answered , amongst the important points a new 16yo to replace the 15yo , aced in 6 different styles ( incl La Tour Margux Haut brion, Clemiens ,Calejio and La Fleur0) . This year we'll also see the release of Octomore ,Brookie 7 year old and PC7 . Many thanks to Jim for giving us some of his valuable time and Jim you're welcome back anytime !!!!!
The log for the chat can be found in the sites Forum in the Bruichladdich section.
Not a lot going on.....
I've never known it be so quiet whisky wise on Islay , the calm before the storm ?
A few bits of recent Islay non-whisky related news ......
The Scottish Parliment announced a pilot plan for cheaper ferry fares , unfortunately Islay isn't part of the pilot which went down well on the Island , full report here .
The Bruichladdich Pier / Keewhit fiasco continues , read The Laddie Blogs take on this (and other things ...... ).
Provisional Feis Ile 2008 Programme
For full datails see the Feis Ile site .....
24 May - Lagavulin Distillery Open Day
25 May - Bruichladdich Distillery open day (to be confirmed)
26 May - Caol Ila Open Day / Port Ellen Maltings guided tours / Whisky Tasting Ceilidh held at The Ramsay Hall. Port Ellen evening
27 May - Laphroaig Distillery open day (to be confirmed) / Ceilidh A dance at Laphroaig Distillery evening
28 May - Bowmore Distillery open day (to be confirmed)
29 May - Kilchoman Distillery open day / Jura Distillery open day (to be confirmed)
30 May - Bunnahabhain Distillery open day
31 May - Ardbeg Distillery open day (to be confirmed)
