Into the Lowlands

We’ve talked frequently about the Whisky regions of Scotland, but somehow have avoided tasting anything from the Lowlands. Tonight we will correct that omission. First a brief history of the regions and their flavor profiles (or if you’re not into the background info, go straight to The Whiskies, below):

Until the 1980’s the whisky producing regions of Scotland were divided into the Highlands, the Lowlands, Islay, and Campbeltown. This was originally done in 1784 for excise tax purposes. In the 1980’s, when single malts began to be marketed more heavily, flavor profiles began to be attributed to each region as a way of differentiating the various flavors that single malts offer.

Some talk of these regions as if they were similar to the terroir regions of France, where a particular wine, say, Burgundy, could only be produced from the land of the Burgundy region because its soil and microclimate are so unique that they have an unmistakable “stamp” on its product.

As one looks at the regions of Scotland one is tempted to say that each has a distinct flavor profile that is so particular to that place that it could not be produced anywhere else.  But as we know from our last tasting a peaty/smoky whisky such as the Benriach  12-yr. old, Chateau D’Yquem Finish, 58.9% ABV, vintage 1994, which is a Speyside whisky does not have to come from Islay to have the characteristics one usually associates with Islay drams.

Charles MacLean, a well respected whisky writer, in his book malt whisky, further divides the Highlands into North, Speyside, Central, East and West and also adds the Islands as a region, which is comprised of Orkney, Mull, Arran, Skye, Jura and Mull.

Pulteney, Clynelish, Balbair, and Glen Ord make up the Northern Highland distilleries.

Coastal distilleries of the north, MacLean contends, have a slight saltiness and are, “complex, medium bodied and sometimes spicy.” At one point in the 18th century there were nearly 80 distilleries in the Northern coastal area.

Two thirds of all malt whisky production is in the Speyside region, with 57 operational distilleries. MacLean says Speysiders are, “generally sweet and high in estery notes, which makes them redolent of pear drops and acetone…even carnations, Parma violets, roses, apples, bananas, cream soda and lemonade.”  The most famous Speysider is no doubt The Glenlivet with its sweet light flavor and very lightly peated malt, but others from this region, mostly those aged in sherry-wood such as Macallan, Balvenie, Strathisla and Cragganmore are heavier and somewhat chocolaty. Speyside is wedge shaped and bounded by mountains and rivers with the River Spey running down the middle.  Curiously water from the Spey is not used in any malt production. 

The Glenlivet of Speyside became so famous and in-demand that in the 1860s and -70s, twenty-five other distilleries used the name as part of theirs such as Longmorn-Glenlivet.  Within the Speyside region are famous whisky towns Dufftown, Keith, Rothes, Elgin

and Banff.

In Dufftown, within Speyside, the rivers Fiddich and Dullan meet lending their names to Glenfiddich and Glendullan distilleries.  Other famous Dufftown distilleries are: Balvenie, Mortlach, Convalmore, Parkmore, Dufftown, Pittyvaich and Kininvie.

Within the Central Highlands lies the city of Perth.  It became the birthplace of such blending “giants” as Dewar’s, Bell’s and Gloag’s. Perth is ideally situated on the banks of the Tay to have easy access to both the Highland whiskies and the Lowlands. Local distilleries are Glenturret, Blair Athol, Tullibardine, Glengoyne and Edradour.

Within the Eastern Highlands one sees the malts tending to be, “Medium-to full-bodied, smooth, and sweetish, but with a … dry Highland finish. They are malty and often slightly smoky; sometimes fudge or toffee-like, with citrus notes, ginger and spice.  They benefit enormously from maturation in sherry-wood,” writes MacLean.  Glencadam, Fettercairn, Glen Garioch, Ardmore (main malt in Teacher’s blends) and Royal Lochnagar are from this region. We’ve tasted Glencadam 14 (9/6/07), Glen Garioch 16 (4/26/07) and Ardmore (1/22/09).

Aberdeen, a city in this region, was the birthplace of another famous blend, Chivas Regal, produced originally by the Chivas Brothers, grocers who began blending whisky in the early 1800’s.

Campbeltown is geographically in the West Highlands but is considered to be a region unto itself.  In 1824 there were 25 distilleries in this west coastal town. It’s regional character was considered to be, “something of the strength and body of Islays, and are indeed traditionally regarded as the most manly of whiskies,” said whisky writer Daiches in 1969.  “The double basses of the whisky orchestra…potent, full-bodied, pungent,” said Aeneas Macdonald, when writing of Campbeltown whiskies in the 1930s.

Today Glen Scotia (formerly Scotia) and Springbank are the only remaining distilleries.

Springbank produces Springbank, which is very malty with a salty briny flavor; Hazelburn, a light triple distilled whisky and Longrow, a heavily peated and partially sherry-aged beauty. They are also currently distilling a new dram named Kilkerran at the Glengyle Distillery, which became legal whisky (3-years old) in 2007.

Islay, we’ll skip since we’ve talked about and sampled its characteristic smoky malts (Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Bowmore, Ardbeg, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Isla and the new Kilchoman) so frequently and move onto the Islands region, which is comprised of Orkney, Mull, Arran, Skye, Jura and Mull.

In the 1820’s, there were, 22 legal distilleries in the Islands region. Today we have the Arran Distillery on Arran, the Jura Distillery on Jura, Highland Park and Scapa Distilleries on Orkney, Ledaig Distillery (making Ledaig and Tobermory) on Mull and the Talisker Distillery on Skye. We have sampled Isle of Arran 10 (10/9/08), Highland Park 15 (7/31/08), Tobermory 15 (3/19/09) and Talisker 18 (9/6/07).

Finally, the Lowlands. The Scotch Whisky Industry Record lists 215 known distilleries in the Lowlands in the late 18th century, mostly producing grain whisky. Most single malts of this region were/are triple-distilled, as is the custom in Irish whiskies. Today the only operating Lowland distilleries are Auchentoshen, Glenkinchie and Bladnoch. Rosebank is “mothballed” and Littlemill has been almost entirely demolished. St. Magdelene Distillery also known as Linlithgow was closed in 1985 but some product from these closed distilleries is still available.

Why are there so few Lowland distilleries left today? One can guess that the public’s taste for more flavorful whiskies made them less popular over time but the vagaries of what remains open and what is closed also has much to do with the giant distiller companies such as Diageo, which close distilleries they deem to be too similar to other product or too expensive to update.

                                                                                                                            

The Whiskies

Tonight we’ll taste whiskies from the still-open Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie and the closed Littlemill distilleries.

We’ll be starting with Littlemill.  There are still official bottlings from Littlemill (a 12-year old) although it has been closed since 1992 and was demolished in 1996.  However, we will taste an independent bottling by Lombard, a ‘Jewels of Scotland’ Littlemill 13-year old, 50% ABV.

Littlemill was founded in1772, and until its recent destruction, was probably the oldest distillery in Scotland. Some evidence suggests that it may have been distilling as early as 1750. The distillery used the triple distillation process until the mid 1930s. Most Scottish malts today are distilled twice. The stills are of an unusual design - they had rectifying columns at their neck and were similar to those at a grain distillery. It was closed from 1984-1989, when production resumed for about 5 years. Until the 1970s Littlemill produced 3 different whiskies:

‘Dumbuck’ – a heavily peated malt

‘Dunglass’ – a complex malt with a hint of peat

Our bottling is of the Littlemill, aged in American Bourbon casks and is considered to be very rare, with a very limited supply. Lombard provides these tasting notes: An excellent whisky. Displays all the characteristics and subtle nuances of a Lowland Malt. Delicate, sweet, light nose. Malty palate has hints of fruit and toasted marshmallow. Develops easily with gentle spicy notes. Dry and clean finish with hints of spices and warmth.

John Hansell of Malt Advocate rated a similar independent bottling an 88 with these tasting notes: White wine color. Sweet aromas of confectioner’s sugar, toasted marshmallow, honey, and coconut. Its flavors mirror its aroma, with a pleasing creamy, almost buttery, texture and soft, gentle finish.

Available from Binny’s $39 plus shipping

Next we have another Lowlander that is double distilled, Glenkinchie, which is located about 15 miles southeast of Edinburgh in the rolling farmland of East Lothian. We’ll be tasting a distillery bottling, Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition 1991 vintage 43%ABV, bottled 2005.  This is aged in refill bourbon barrels for 13-years and then re-racked into an Amontillado sherry cask probably for a year or less for finishing.

Glenkinchie (pronounced glen KINshee) is an important contributor to Haig’s blends such as Pinch (Dimple) and Haig Gold Label. Glenkinchie was little known in the whisky drinking world until Diageo came up with their Classic Malts campaign in 1988 and chose Glenkinchie to represent the Lowlands in the grouping. The others in the original grouping, which has now been expanded were: Islay: Lagavulin, Highland: Dalwhinnie, Speyside: Cragganmore, Island: Talisker, West Highland: Oban.

Ratings:

Michael Jackson of Whisky Magazine rated an earlier edition of the Glenkinchie an

8 our of 10, with these notes:

Nose: Perfumy. Floral. Slightly oily. Seedcake?

Palate: Beautifully rounded. Nutty. Grainy. Grassy. Sweet.

Finish: Brown sugar. Rum butter. Remarkably long.

Comment: Glenkinchie was always robust for a lowlander, and this expression is more so. Again, it works: the typical grassy sweetness brought out by a touch of sherry.

John Hansell, of Malt Advocate, rates this bottling an 84. His tasting notes state, “Pleasantly fresh, briny, and yeasty, which works nicely with the atypical toffee and nutty notes. Glenkinchie’s dry, grassy character emerges occasionally, as does some delicate background spice and a hint of lime. Pretty hefty stuff for Lowland malt.”

Awards:

World’s Best Lowlands Single Malt Whisky Award in the 2009 World Whisky Awards

Distiller’s Edition won various International Wine and Spirit Awards from 2001-2007

Available locally, priced $74.99 plus tax; $64.99 plus shipping Binny’s Chicago

Finally we have Auchentoshan, a whisky typical of the Lowlands, as it was in years past, because it is triple distilled. Most Scottish whisky goes through a wash still and then a spirit still as a final distillation process.  With this triple distilled whisky there is an intermediate distillation through a small “intermediate” still before passing into a larger spirit still. Auchentoshan is Gaelic for “corner of the field” and is pronounced OCHun-TOShun.  Auchentoshan is owned by Morrison Bowmore, which also owns Glen Garioch and Bowmore and bottles McClellalnds single malts.

Established in 1823, by John Bulloch a local corn merchant, in Clydebank near Glasgow, Auchentoshan distillery was damaged in 1941 during WWII and was rebuilt in 1948, with a pond for cooling water being formed from a bomb crater.

Ratings:

John Hansell of Malt Advocate magazine rates this whisky an 83.  He states, “A very textural whisky. Incredibly creamy, with mouth-coating vanilla, honeyed barley, hay, linseed oil, clementine, and subtle peach. The whisky continues to cling to the palate long after the finish. It’s what you would expect Auchentoshan to taste like, but bolder. A nice whisky, but lacking the polish of the standard 21-year old expression.”

Dave Broom of Whisky Magazine gives it a 7 out of 10 with these notes:

Nose: Immediate oak lactone (coconut) over praline and a hint of chocolate. As it opens there’s redfruit and madeleine. A little fusty with water, the sweetness of draff and vanilla.

Palate: Hint of orange peel, then chocolate shifting to tinned peach and malt. Good feel. Water brings out the cereal note; wholemeal bread and

creamy butter.

Finish: Dustymalt. Fades a little quickly.

(Cranachan is a traditional Scottish dessert. Nowadays it is usually made from a mixture of whipped cream, whisky, honey, and fresh raspberries topped with toasted oatmeal.)

Awards:

Award for “Lowlands 12 and under” in the 2009 World Whisky Awards

Available at Binny’s, $90 plus shipping

“Whenever someone asks me if I want water with my Scotch, I say I’m thirsty, not dirty.”- Comedian and singer

Joe E. Lewis 1902-1957

All scenic photos by ccgd, some rights reserved

Lombard ‘Jewels of Scotland’ Littlemill, 13-year old, 50% ABV

Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition 1991, bottled 2005, 14-year old, 43% ABV

Auchentoshan Bourbon-aged 16-year old, cask strength, 53.7% ABV

Scott’s Select Littlemill 1984, bottled in 2004, cask strength, 62.1% ABV

Bruichladdich Infinity 2nd Edition, no-age statement ,52.5% ABV