Fourth Tasting
Our star single malt is a Speysider, produced by the distillery Auchroisk (Pronounced “orth-rusk,” which means “ford across the red stream” in Gaelic), and is called The Singleton and Auchroisk, both names referring to the same single malt. The first bottling of The Singleton dates from 1987. The distillery was built in 1973 and the stills produced their first alcohol in 1974. The story goes that because someone stumbled across Dorie’s Well, a source of pure spring water on the side of a steep ravine some time during the 1960s, the company decided to build the distillery there.
About 90% of the spirit is used in blends, especially J&B, made and owned by Justerini and Brooks (Diageo.) The still was originally built only to produce whisky for blends but after 8 years it was decided that it was of sufficiently high quality to be bottled as a single malt. It had won eight major awards by 1992, the year in which it also became the Malt Whisky Association’s number one seller.
Our 14-year old single-barrel, single-malt Auchroisk (46%ABV) is medium in weight but offers an elegant range of fruit, malt, smoke and herb flavors. It has a fine mellow texture and generous, smooth length. Notes from the independent bottler describe the nose as “Sweet malt, a light spiciness, hints of candied orange peel, a touch of new oak and just the lightest tease of wood smoke.” The palate is described as, “Sweet malt, followed by dry cocoa, coconut, some elusive citrus notes.” It is aged largely in ex-Bourbon wood, with a sherry finish grafted on by a certain proportion of each batch spending the final one or two years in dry olorosso sherry casks. Distilled October 1992, bottled 2006.
The Singleton of Glendullan 12 yr old, is rated an 82 by the Malt Maniacs, (a loose group of tasters from Holland, Germany, France and England with and extensive web site.) The Maniacs also gave a Bronze Medal to a 27-year old Auchroisk in their 2007 Malt Maniac Awards. Jim Murray gives a 10-year old a 75 and Michael Jackson gives that same aged dram a 78.
Our second whisky comes from the Highland distillery Clynelish, (pronounced cleinLEESH or cleinEElish) which like Auchroisk (orth-rusk) is a young distillery, having been built in 1967, although its style of single malt was produced at the adjacent Brora, which was originally called Clynelish and was licensed in 1824 but is no longer in production. Its name is Gaelic for sloped garden.
Only about 1% of the distillery’s output is sold as a single malt, with most going to the blends such as Johnnie
Walker Gold and Pinch (Dimple.) Nevertheless Clynelish 14-year old (43% ABV) has a rabid following among those who like peaty whiskies.
The distillery is an exact replica of the modern Islay distillery Caol Ila, which was built in 1964 replacing an older plant. Both distilleries are owned by United Distillers & Vintners (Diageo), which own Caol Ila, Cardhu, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glen Elgin, Glen Ord, Glenkinchie, Knockando, Lagavulin, Oban, Royal Lochnager and Talisker.
This whisky is rated an 88 by Jim Murray and rated an 81 by Michael Jackson. Murray describes the nose as, “Weighty, toasty malt with some rich fruity notes and a half-strangled smokiness.” Of the palate, he says, “Sweet, absorbing, mildly gristy malt, coated lightly with muscovado [a type of unrefined sugar with a strong molasses flavor] sugar.”
Jackson weighs in with these notes, “NOSE; Fragrant. A stroll in the sand dunes. BODY: Firm, oily and seductively smoky. PALATE: Firm hit of cleansing flavors. Coriander. Orange. Dry. Spicy. Distinctively mustardy.”
This whisky won a Double Gold award at the 2007 San Francisco World Spirits Competition
Our third whisky, Balvenie 10-year old Founder’s Reserve (40%ABV) is a Speyside whisky from the Scotch making family, the William Grants, who also distill Glenfiddich and Kinninvie. Its name means Beathan’s farm and is named after an 11th century bishop of Mortlach. Balvenie has two pronunciations BalVEENie and BalVENie.
Balvenie has a very broad line of single malts: Beyond the 10-year old Founder’s Reserve there is the Doublewood 12-year Old, Portwood 1991, Portwood 1993, Single Barrel 15-year Old, Portwood 21-year Old, Balvenie Thirty, The Balvenie Cask 191, Vintage Cask and 1974 Vintage. The Portwood 21 is especially good and rates an 88 from Jackson and an 87 from Murray.
Awards include:
2006 International wine and Spirits Competition Awards
Best in Class Gold Medals
The Balvenie Thirty
The Balvenie Rumwood 14 yr old
The Balvenie Single Barrel 15 yr old
Gold
The Balvenie 17 yr old
Best in Class Silver Medals
The Balvenie Portwood 21 yr old
Silver
The Balvenie Portwood 1991
The Balvenie Doublewood 12 yr old
The Balvenie Vintage Cask 1972
Bronze
The Balvenie Founder’s Reserve 10 yr old
The Balvenie 10 is rated 85 from Jackson and 90 from Murray. Jackson notes, “NOSE: Orange-honey perfume. Musky. Faint hint of peat. PALATE: Honeyed sweetness drying to lightly spicy notes. Very lively. Just a touch of sherry.
Murray effusively evaluates the nose as, “Astonishing in complexity: the fruit is relaxed, crushed sultanas and malty suet. A sliver of smoke and no more: everything is hinted and nudged at rather than stated. Superb.
Of the palate he states, “Here we go again: threads of malt binding together barely detectable nuances.
Thin licorice here, grape there, smoke and vanilla somewhere else.”
“We borrowed golf from Scotland as we borrowed whisk(e)y. Not because it is Scottish, but because it is good.”
-Horace Hutchinson
Auchroisk 14-year old single-barrel, single-malt, 46%ABV
Clynelish 14-year old, 43% ABV
Balvenie 10-year old Founder’s Reserve, 40%ABV
Fourth Tasting - Auchroisk, Clynelish, Balvenie
Thursday, June 14, 2007
June 14th, 2007 meeting wrap up
Our 4th meeting, at Dan and Mary Sullivan’s house, was attended by Mary, Dan, John, Myself and two guest tasters, Michelle, Mary’s friend and Mary’s son Mike. Besim, Pat and Judi were missing in action. We tasted a Balvenie 10-year old Founder’s Reserve (40%ABV), a 14-year old single-barrel, single-malt Auchroisk (46%ABV) a non-chill filtered and uncolored bottling and Clynelish 14-year old (43% ABV) in that order.
Of the three only the Balvenie is listed in David Wishart’s Classification of Whisky types. He includes it in Cluster C (Medium-Bodied, Medium-Sweet, with Fruity, Floral, Honey, Malty Notes and Spicy Hints), which include: Benriach, Dalwhinnie, Glendullan, Glen Elgin, Glenlivet, Glen Ord, Linkwood, Royal Brackla.
All of us liked the three whiskies, with the Balvenie and the Auchroisk (also called The Singleton) singled out as good sipping whiskies because of their light crisp flavor. Both had a malty and citrusy nose, which opened up nicely with water, though they were light enough to drink without. The Clynelish was also malty but with more of a peaty, smoky flavor though not as peaty as Caol Isla, its cousin whisky, which shares the same distillery design. The Balvenie seemed to have a longer finish than the Auckroisk.
We had a discussion about “legs,” but I wasn’t sure I remembered the significance of longer or wider legs. Here are some excerpts from some of my sources.
Body: Swirl the whisky around the glass until it starts to “cling” to the sides of the glass. Now, watch as the droplets rundown the sides, these are called the “legs” - the further apart they are, the more body your dram has.
Observe the "legs" on the glass
After having looked at the color, just gently swirl the whisky in the glass. After a while, you'll see some traces in it. The viscosity of the whisky provokes these traces, which are called “legs”. The distance between the legs helps to determine the age of the whisky and the nature of the cask used for the maturation.
Copyright 2010 Mark Friedman
