Coastal Distilleries

Waves, gently lap at the shore, while nearby a sea gull lazily plies the thermals of the ocean breeze. The scent of salt and seaweed rise from the bay.

At our 13th gathering we’re taking a look at some coastal mainland distilleries as well as a distillery on one of the islands we have yet to explore. Many of the coastal distilleries’ whiskies are said to have a salty tang from the influence of the sea air on their maturing casks. As the casks breath out their maturing spirit they also breath in the local salty sea air. Others believe that the place of aging has little effect on the finished whisky.

From Scotland’s northernmost mainland distillery, we’ll be tasting Old Pulteney single malt, distilled in the town of Wick; from the town of Oban, of course, Oban single malt and finally, from Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, which is off the western coast, we’ll taste Tobermory single malt.

Oban in its standard bottling as a 14-year old is very lightly peated and gets an 84 from Jim Murray.  It is one of my personal favorites although its flavor profile is on the lighter side. It’s very nice for sipping but not as brawny as a Macallan or an Islay, somewhat similar to Isle of Arran. Tonight we’ll be tasting the Oban 1992 Distillers Edition, 43% ABV which Jim Hansell of Malt Advocate gives an 85.

Its name means Little Bay, from Scottish Gaelic and Old Norse origins and is pronounced ooBAN. The Distiller’s Edition differs from the 14-year old in being aged in Montilla sherry casks and in being a vintage bottling. The first Distiller’s Edition was bottled in 1998, ours was bottled in 2007. The Oban website describes this dram as, “Sweeter than usual on the palate, rich fruit flavours are nonetheless complemented by a typical briny character.” Distilling takes place in Oban while aging and bottling take place at another seaside village, Leven in Fife.

Awards:

Whisky Magazine’s 2009 Silver Award winner, Recommended list

Gold and Silver Medal 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition

Reviews:

Jim Hansell of Malt Advocate magazine rates this dram an 85  

Richer, thicker, and more lush than the 1975 vintage reviewed here. Fallen orchard fruit, sticky toffee pudding, and nuts, with underlying suggestions of date cake. Emerging dried spice and oak resin towards the finish. A good contrast to the 1975 vintage.

Michael Jackson of Whisky Magazine rates it an 8 out of 10

Nose: Fragrant. Edible seaweed, sweetish, restrained fruit. Aroma of white, uncut peaches.

Palate: Smooth, scenty. Developing notes of tobacco.

Finish: Sitting in a leather armchair, reading Masefield, before a log fire, listening to the tide with a whiff of brine under the weather-warped door.

Comment: Demonstrably an evocative whisky. Salty and winey, but neither as overt as in the comparable Glenmorangie Fino.

Doug McIvor of Whisky Magazine rates it a 9 1/2 out of 10

Nose: Succulent honeyed traits with a briney background.

Palate: Rich nutty, malty and full-bodied with dark chocolate and spice emerging.

Finish: Very lingering, chocolatey and warming. With a late peaty finesse.

Comment: Much enhanced Oban. Perfect with after coffee and brazils.

Price: $75-85, available in US

                                                                                  In 1826 in an old herring-fishing village in Wick, a classic whisky was born. Because of its far northern coastal location it was reliant upon the sea for the delivery of grain to make the whisky and again when the distilled product was ready for market. Its stills were bought used and had to have the swan necks sawed off so they would fit into the building. As a result they have a unique shape, which influences the flavor. The Old Pulteney distillery bottles a 12-, 17-, and 21-year old as well as a Liqueur. We are tasting Old Pulteney 12-year old, 40%ABV which is aged in ex-bourbon casks. Worm tub condensers also influence the spirit flavor profile of this dram.

Old Pulteney is owned by Inver House which also own Balbair, anCnoc, Balmenach and Speyburn single malts as well as the blended malts (vattings): Blairmhor and Hankey Bannister and blended Scotch whiskies MacArthur’s, Catto’s, Pinwinnie and Green Plaid.

Awards:

Gold 2008 Wine and Spirit Competition

Whisky Magazine’s 2009 Silver Award winner, Recommended list

Double Gold at the 2006 San Francisco World Spirits Competition

Reviews:

Serge of Malt Maniacs 80 points : Old Pulteney 12 yo (40%, OB, >2000) Nose: very fresh, even if less robust than what they claim on the label. Very vegetal (dill, fern, celery). Gets then a little grainy. Notes of cold coffee. Mouth: a little dusty at first, but nicely balanced. Some spices and some hints of sherry and caramel. Well, this batch is far from being ‘coastal’ again, but it’s quite enjoyable, that’s for sure! Medium but balanced finish.

Dr.Whisky on the For Peat Sake website rates this an 80

Color: Perfect pancake

Nose: Lovely and light creaminess, freshly churned butter, shortbread, some exotic fruit. Black licorice, toffee, vanilla roobios tea. Confident, firm, and very appetising.

Body: Great weight in the mouth, like humid warm wind on a cold day.

Palate: Sea air. Creaminess in the taste, like Cool Whip, celery, peaches, flan, crumble crust.

Finish: Finishes with drying oak and dehydrated dates, or some other dried fruit.

Great value for everyone and great entry malt for first time whisky drinkers. This is a bottle that gets consumed and replaced often on our shelf because it goes down well in any malt mood.

Michael Jackson in Whisky Magazine rates this a 7 1/4 out of 10

Nose: Gunmetal. Passion fruit. Sweet broom.

Palate: Honeydew melon. Orange syrup. Honey roast peanuts.

Finish: Salty but oily and soothing.

Comment: A complex and distinctive malt.

Jim Murray in Whisky Magazine rates this an 8 1/4 out of 10, in his Whisky Bible he gives it an 82

Nose: Attractively floral with significant oak input. Polished floorboards and a scattering of crushed hazelnut: firm to the point of being rock hard.

Palate: Hard and bullet-like from the off with an almost Irish pot still firmness.

Finish: Medium length and remains pretty sharp and crisp.

Comment: Pretty impressive and singular in style. First-rate bittersweet balance.

Price: $35-45, not readily available locally

                                                                                   

The ferry leaves from Oban to Mull (pronounced MUI le) at least three times a day in the winter months with crossing taking about 40 minutes. If the weather is “bonnie” it’s a pleasant trip. If the water is a “wee bit lumpy” like the day Terry and I took the ferry to Islay, near Mull, it may be a chance to “liberate me breakfast” as a fellow traveler said as he turned green on the aft deck.

The Isle of Mull lies just north of Islay off the west Scottish mainland and is part of the Inner Hebrides islands, which include Islay, Jura, Skye, Mull, Raasay, Staffa and the small isles. The island has a population of about 2,700, mostly living in Tobermory, the only burgh on the island. Tobermory comes from the Gaelic “Tobar Mhoire” meaning “well of Mary,” and is pronounced toberMOREee.

The distillery bottles three malts, Ledaig, which is heavily peated, Tobermory 10, which is distilled from unpeated barley and our choice for tonight the 1798 Limited edition Tobermory, aged 15-years, 46.3%ABV. Detecting a maritime influence here may be questionable as the whisky distilled here is sent to Deanston Distillery in the highlands to mature. However after 14 years in the highland it is returned to Mull and placed in a Gonzalez Byass Oloroso sherry cask for an additional year and kept there until it is bottled.

Burn Stewart Distilleries, Ltd., owns Tobermory which also own Deanston, Bunnahabhain and produce Black Bottle.

Awards:

(I believe this is a new bottling, within the past year and has not had time to win anything.)

Reviews:

John Hansell of Malt Advocate gives this one an 84  

Aged on the Scottish mainland for 14 years and then finished off in sherry casks on the Island of Mull. A fresh whisky with a hint of brine, along with richer nutty toffee and chocolate fudge, embedded with dried fruit. Delicate oak resin peppers the finish, balancing the whisky’s sweetness. One of the best unpeated Tobermory whiskies (i.e. non-Ledaig) whiskies I’ve tasted. The sherry enhances the whiskey without dominating.

(The 10-year old which is only about $36, he rated an 87.)

These tasting notes come from an anonymous reviewer on the Whisky Exchange:

Nose: A lovely sherried nose with notes of figs, orange marmalade, hints of leather and a touch of smoke.

Palate: Medium to full bodied. Rich sherry fruit cake, milk chocolate, creamy toffee, light oak, a hint of white pepper creating a lovely spicy tang.

Finish: Softly spicy, tingling with a nutty note, a hint of salt, lingering then gently fades.

Price $110 (but from Single Malts Direct $81, however you have to buy a case of 6 bottles, not all have to be the same whisky) Not available in St. Louis at this time.

(Address to the legislature by Mississippi state senator,                                                                                        N.S. "Soggy" Sweat Jr, 1952, “Whiskey Speech”)

“My friends,

“I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time. However, I want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about whiskey. All right, here is how I feel about whiskey.

“If when you say whiskey you mean the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster, that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, and despair, and shame and helplessness, and hopelessness, then certainly I am against it.

"But; If when you say whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips, and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer; if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the old gentleman's step on a frosty, crispy morning; if you mean the drink which enables a man to magnify his joy, and his happiness, and to forget, if only for a little while, life's great tragedies, and heartaches, and sorrows; if you mean that drink, the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirm; to build highways and hospitals and schools, then certainly I am for it. This is my stand. I will not retreat from it. I will not compromise.”

                                                                                       

Oban 1992 Distiller’s Edition, 43% ABV

Old Pulteney 12-Year Old, 40%ABV

Tobermory 15-Year Old, 46.3% ABV

Mortlach 10-yr old bottled at 59.8% ABV, (SMWS) Cask #76.50