If you are lucky enough to visit the Distilleries that are under the Chivas Brothers protective arms you will have the chance to purchase some Cask Strength releases from some of there top Distilieries.
On Friday we were able to put together a tasting of four of these bottles – Strathisla(pictured), Longmorn, Glenlivet and Glenallachie. I have to admit that after a night at Linn House last year that I have been a huge fan of what Chivas Brothers release. For a company of it’s size it is very refreshing to see them push the product forward.
First up was the Strathisla-15yo (Distilled 1991, bottled 2006, 55.4%) – Rich all spice on the nose, dry, then a rush of heather honey. The palate comes forward as powerful coffee that’s been brewed to long. The addition of water adds a vanilla undertone and bananas to the nose and a whiff of smoke to the palate. 90/100
Glenlivet-16 year-old (Distilled 1991, bottled 2008, 59.8%) – A vast impovment on the 12 year-old and the 15 year-old French Oak, I’m thinking that the higher ABV just gives the flavours a little push in the right direction. Again the nose had that sweet style heather honey notes but it was mixed with floral garden notes. The palate continued on with these flavours. Water brought out an extra note of liquorice. 88/100
Longmorn-17 year-old (Distilled 1991, bottled 2008, 49.4%) – This is the bottle that cause the disagreements on the night. To my nose and palate it was a rich, textured dram that was put together with armchair drinkers in mind. The flavours were well integrated and the finish was lingering BUT I just could not pull any individual notes out of the whisky. My vote was that this was a brilliant dram – I don’t need to challenged by everything I drink. 92/100
And to finish our Speyside tasting…..Glenallachie-18 year-old (Distilled 1990, bottled 2008) - One of my favourite drams. Yes it has been in a sherry cask for to long but I just adore all those rich, nutty flavours. Cask Vs Distillery and the cask comes out the winner by a first round knock out. 95/100
Now, as those who know me will know, I am a huge supporter of Bruichladdich Distillery and just to finsih off the evening I brought out a Bruichladdich Valinch "Blandola" that I picked up over Christmas. You really need to see the label to see the sheer brilliance behind the name
http://www.laddieblog.com/laddieblog/Blog/Entries/2008/11/4_Blandola_Valinch.html
Stunning whisky from my top distillery 95/100
On Friday we were able to put together a tasting of four of these bottles – Strathisla(pictured), Longmorn, Glenlivet and Glenallachie. I have to admit that after a night at Linn House last year that I have been a huge fan of what Chivas Brothers release. For a company of it’s size it is very refreshing to see them push the product forward.
First up was the Strathisla-15yo (Distilled 1991, bottled 2006, 55.4%) – Rich all spice on the nose, dry, then a rush of heather honey. The palate comes forward as powerful coffee that’s been brewed to long. The addition of water adds a vanilla undertone and bananas to the nose and a whiff of smoke to the palate. 90/100
Glenlivet-16 year-old (Distilled 1991, bottled 2008, 59.8%) – A vast impovment on the 12 year-old and the 15 year-old French Oak, I’m thinking that the higher ABV just gives the flavours a little push in the right direction. Again the nose had that sweet style heather honey notes but it was mixed with floral garden notes. The palate continued on with these flavours. Water brought out an extra note of liquorice. 88/100
Longmorn-17 year-old (Distilled 1991, bottled 2008, 49.4%) – This is the bottle that cause the disagreements on the night. To my nose and palate it was a rich, textured dram that was put together with armchair drinkers in mind. The flavours were well integrated and the finish was lingering BUT I just could not pull any individual notes out of the whisky. My vote was that this was a brilliant dram – I don’t need to challenged by everything I drink. 92/100
And to finish our Speyside tasting…..Glenallachie-18 year-old (Distilled 1990, bottled 2008) - One of my favourite drams. Yes it has been in a sherry cask for to long but I just adore all those rich, nutty flavours. Cask Vs Distillery and the cask comes out the winner by a first round knock out. 95/100
Now, as those who know me will know, I am a huge supporter of Bruichladdich Distillery and just to finsih off the evening I brought out a Bruichladdich Valinch "Blandola" that I picked up over Christmas. You really need to see the label to see the sheer brilliance behind the name
http://www.laddieblog.com/laddieblog/Blog/Entries/2008/11/4_Blandola_Valinch.html
Stunning whisky from my top distillery 95/100