As we head into fall, the Awards Winning Whisky Lists start accumulating. Jim Murray’s 2012 Whisky Bible Awards (actually for 2011) just came-out and a few months earlier the results of the 2011 International Wine and Sprits Competition (IWSC) were released. While Jim Murray’s choices are his alone, the IWSC is a blind tasting with judging done by a large panel of judges. I posted earlier in the Blog section about some of the Award winners and for this tasting and I’ve chosen some of the Gold Award Winners for us to taste.

Two of our whiskies won Gold (Best in Class) Awards: Laphroaig Triple Wood (Category: Islay, single malt, Cask Finish & Cask Strength 46-48%) and Kilchoman Spring 2011 Release (Category: single malt, Islay, no age stated). The third whisky won a Gold Award, Aberlour Single Malt 18-year old (Category: single malt, Speyside, 17-18 year old). Products achieving the highest mark in the Gold range are awarded the Gold – Best in Class and are rated in the range of 90-100.

We tasted Aberlour A’bunadh in January of 2008. Aberlour means “mouth of the Lour” (Lour itself meaning “the chattering burn” or stream), and pronounced, aber LOWER. (Audio pronunciation here)

The Aberlour Distillery is at the heart of Speyside within the Highlands, in the country’s premier whisky-making region. No fewer than half of Scotland’s malt distilleries are located in Speyside, which is renowned for producing whiskies of subtle depth and elegance.

Situated at the junction of the rivers Lour and Spey, the distillery is surrounded by glorious scenery, dominated by the rugged peaks of Ben Rinnes a short distance away.

The distillery was founded in 1879 by James Fleming, who built it on the site of St. Drostan’s Well, a source of pure spring water. Fleming is said to have lived by his family motto (bestowed on it by Scottish leader, Robert the Bruce) of “Let the Deed Show,” a sentiment appropriately displayed on every bottle of Aberlour.

Most of the Aberlour range is aged separately in ex-Bourbon casks and ex-Sherry casks and then “married” in Sherry casks. Each year’s bottlings have a different percentage of Sherry to Bourbon finished whisky. The range of bottlings for Aberlour is 10-, 12-, 16-, and 18-year old plus the no age statement A’bunadh cask strength bottlings. Aberlour is known and loved for its deep, rich flavor. The 18 is aged exclusively in Sherry casks.

Tasting notes from the Aberlour website:

Nose: Rich and complex, notes of toffee and butterscotch combine with ripe peach and bitter orange

Palate: Perfect structure. Initial notes of soft apricot and cream are offset by developing flavours of old leather and oak with a touch of honey

Finish: Very long and balanced, progresses from creme brulée to a gentle oak flourish

John Hansell of Whisky Advocate, formerly Malt Advocate, rates this a 91, with these notes: “There was an Aberlour 18 on the market for a spell several years ago, aged in sherry casks, that I really enjoyed. Now we have this new 18-year old expression. There are big shoes to fill, and this whisky fills them quite nicely. Once again, the sherry is prominent throughout, with its lush fruit, velvety texture, and sweet demeanor. But it’s not cloying or sappy — the sherry blends in nicely with the rest of the flavors. Ripe orange, apricot preserve, peach cobbler, chocolate-covered caramel, and toffee, with a sprinkling of cinnamon and cocoa. Rich, silky smooth, satisfying finish. Very impressive. The Aberlour 18 year old’s reputation remains intact!”

In Jim Murray’s 2011 Whisky Bible, he also rates the Aberlour 18 a 91, with these notes: “Nose: Thick milkshake with various fruits and vanilla. Taste: Immediate fresh juice which curdles beautifully as the vanilla is added. Finish: Wonderful fruit-chocolate fudge development: long and guided by gentle oiliness. Balance: Another high-performance distillery age-stated bottling.

It scores and 84 in the 6th Edition of Michael Jackson’s Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch.

Aberlour tasting notes from IWSC competition: Inviting nose with rich tropical fruit including banana, mango and dark honey. Followed by fruit-cake and orange with liquorice and dried apricot. Floral note with honeysuckle and violets. Deep, well rounded mouth brings more fruit with peach and pear with soft sherry notes. Creamy, rich flow and deep texture. Beautifully balanced and deep warming mouthfeel.

(Available at Binny’s, on the web, and elsewhere, but not available locally)

About $100, with shipping

Sounds pretty tasty! Let’s move on to our Islay drams.

We’ll start off with the newest Islay distillery, Kilchoman. I’ve tasted this one before but it is a new dram for the BUMS as a group.  Islay is one of the islands off the west coast of the Scottish mainland and part of the Inner Hebrides islands. (See Slideshow, below)

Kilchoman was established in 2005 by Anthony Wills and other investors and since 2009 has been bottling their spirit. They fill their spirit into 1st refill barrels from Buffalo Trace and Olorosso Sherry butts from Miguel Martin, Jerez, Spain. One of the nice things about this bottling is that it is a marriage of 3- (70%) and 4-year old spirit (30%) which gives a complexity that has been missing in many of their bottlings, including a recent single cask, cask strength bottling done for Wine Merchant. In this case the 4-year old spirit also spent an additional 5 weeks in Olorosso Sherry Butts.

John Hansell of Whisky Advocate, formerly Malt Advocate gives this dram an 89 with these notes: “A marriage of 3 and 4 year old whisky aged in first-fill bourbon barrels, with the 4 year old portion being finished in olorosso sherry casks. Among the best of the Kilchoman releases, to date. The first-fill bourbon packs a flavor punch, while the sherry softens, rounds, and adds complexity. Barrel char, burnt raisin, boat dock, and tarry rope, softened by caramel and enhanced with notes of tropical fruit. Surprisingly mature for its age and very distinctive.”

Rated 86 by the Casks website. Full, rambling review here: http://thecasks.com/2011/08/05/kilchoman-spring-2011-release-review/

Kilchoman tasting notes from IWSC competition: Dramatic nose that embodies all that Islay can offer in genteel form. Strong peaty aromatics, ripe fruit, rich tropical notes and butterscotch. Lively entry into the mouth, where soft flow across the palate leaves complex mix of ripe fruit flavours. The peat is ever present and is well balanced by fine oak. Youthful, lively finish.

(Available at Wine Merchant and elsewhere, but quantities are limited)

About $68

For Slide show of Hebrides Isles Click here.

Finally, we have a new Laphroaig expression, Triple Wood. Laphroaig (pronounced la-FROYG) Triple Wood, 48% ABV, non-chill filtered, is aged first in ex Maker’s Mark barrels, then in custom made quarter casks (giving more exposure of the whisky to wood) and finally in Olorosso sherry butts (adding the sweet dark fruity character of sherry). (Audio pronunciation here)

Today, it is owned by Beam Global Spirits but was owned by Allied Domeq in the 90’s.  Beam also owns Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Canadian Club, Teacher’s, Courvoisier, Sauza, DYC Blended Whisky, Ardmore, (RI), Windsor Canadian, Lord Calvert Canadian, Kessler Blended Whiskey, Old Overholt Rye, Alberta Premium and Tangle Ridge.

It is among the top ten single malts despite or perhaps because of its unusual flavor. During Prohibition the US allowed the import of Laphroaig because they figured that anything that tasted as it does had to be medicine. Laphroaig still supplies some of its own malt needs (most floor maltings at distilleries have been discontinued) through its old-fashioned floor maltings with the rest (70%) coming from Port Ellen maltings on Islay. Laphroaig is a favorite of blenders and since it has such a huge smoky hit just a little can make a big impression.

At Laphroaig, their Malt (sprouted barley grain) is dried for 18 hours over a peat fire and a further 15 hours using warm air. Standard bottlings are 10-year old, 10-year cask strength, Quarter-Cask, 18-year old and Triple Wood. They have also done 12- and 30-year old and no-age statement Cairdeas (means friendship) bottlings. The NAS is cask strength. The 30-year old looks to have a very high percentage of sherry cask aging.

Dominic Roskrow of Whisky Advocate formerly Malt Advocate gave the Triple Wood a 94 with these notes: “This is the first time I’ve been up for reviews here [Whisky Advocate magazine] so I had a game plan: play it cool, mark tightly, let everyone know I’m hard to please. Then they gave me this, the whisky equivalent to front row tickets to Neil Young on his current Twisted Road tour: not just a chance to get up close and personal with an old favorite, but to do so with an old favorite who’s on fire. Laphroaig’s owners are intent on ensuring a big peaty engine for any new release, but this is a monster by anyone’s standards. It’s essentially Quarter Cask finished in olorosso sherry casks, so in addition to the intense charcoal smoke attack there are rich fruity notes; blackcurrant and berries. It’s an evening barbecue whisky. Grill that fish until it’s blackened and crispy, drizzle on lemon, and as the smoke rears up in protest, sip this. Big, moody, broody, fruity, and rich: what’s not to love?”

Laphroaig tasting notes from IWSC competition: Complex nose where peat and smoky oatmeal are the main features with soft oak and barley with beautiful balance from ripe fruit. Soft and smooth through the mouth, with varying levels of peat intensity. Hints of sherry emerge in long, concentrated finish.

(Available at Binny’s, on the web, and elsewhere, but not yet available locally.)

About $70, with shipping.