Arran: A Tasting of Two Dogs

It's hard to believe that Arran Distillery has only been around since 1995. The quality of the produce and the amount of flavours that is in every expression is one hell of a feat. We first encountered Arran back in our Oddbins days when the Arran Founder's Reserve was released to the general public - it was very unbalanced with the youthful fruits fighting to climb above the alcohol and often failing. That's always been the trouble with building a distillery from scratch, there is no mature stock to trade on. You just have to hold the ship steady until you can get to an age that shows the world exactly what you can do.

Arran is about to become 16, and the boys and girls at the distillery have been busy creating a fantastic range of expressions that we knew we had to get into 121. Here are our thoughts on some of the more harder to get bottles.........but in stock at Inverarity121....hahaha

Arran Amarone Cask, 50%abv: This was one that we were not going to stock until we tried it. The colour is more like a rose wine than whisky but that's part of the joy when they don't add any colouring, natural and honest. I thought it was a super soft, attractive malt that was enriched by a red berry fruit and a milk chocolate-a-like finish that made it even more moreish than i would've thought possible. Smiley Pete thought it was so nice and tasty and so rich that it was one of the smoothest malts on the market and he loved the attractive blush from the amarone cask.

And now to the two dogs........

Machrie Moor, 46%abv: Apparently when they were putting the packaging together for the Machrie Moor the printer tried to change the name of the dog on the tin to Brian instead of Bran! I doubt the giant Fingal would've had a dog called Brian! But now, the whisky - a summer dram, lightly peated, 14ppm and the first summer drinking peat whisky I've tried. This was Pete's favourite from the tasting...which is a shame considering there are no more bottles at the distillery and we only have a few left ourselves.

Icons of Arran No. 3 "The Westie", 46abv: ahhhhhhhh it's so cute - love the bottle, wish we had it in stock for mothers day. Put together by James MacTaggart from 22 Ex-Oloroso sherry casks. This is one of those whiskies you wouldn't even have to drink, you could just nose it! Luckily, we're professionals and we also drank it. For you. As research. On the nose it was intensely fruity with tropical notes, and a punnet of pears. Intensely addictive. On the palate, it was drier than you'd expect from an Arran with green herbs (thyme), a lovely balance and a gorgeous long finish. Embrace the westie...we'll take the hair of the dog anyday! We love it and we'll hopefully see you at the Arran Open Day, Sunday 29th May. Please visit http://www.arranwhisky.com/ for detatils

Spirits Master Class @ 121

Pete studies hard for the bombarment of questions at the Naked Spirits Master Class that we had on Wednesday night!

With the increase in the spirits range we thought now was the time to show off some of the new bottles as well as revisit some old friends. We had around 20 people in the room all ready and eager to try some spirits and, hopefully, learn something too.

What we had on the night...

Old Raj Gin, 46%abv: The perfect start to the night. We served it neat straight from the fridge and then offered everyone a wee dash of tonic to complete the deal. Old Raj has become one of our favourite gins and although its great neat it makes damn near the perfect Gin and Tonic that you could taste.

Inverarity Blend, 40%abc: A fantastic wee blend that is very drinkable without being overly complex - think more large measure in front of the TV than tasting sample beside the fire.

Rum......served blind. A possible addition to the range from the West Indies that didn't capture the crowd but we thought it was a great wee sipper! However, we let the public decide and we wont be stocking this one.

Delamain Reserve de la Famille,43%abv: Fantastic! See our last blog for our thoughts.

Bruichladdich First Growth Haut Brion Cask ACE'd, 46%abv: Yum! This is one of the best of the range with just the right amount of tannins on the plate. It would be brilliant to try this next to some Haut Brion but the wine is around four times more expensive than the whisky.

Arran Amerone, 50%abv: This was one malt that we were not going to stock until we were offered a sample by the distillery and fell in love with it. The colour is almost rose pink but thats what happens when distillers don't worry about adding colouring. To taste it is mouth watering good - tonnes of the Arran style flavours but all with undertones of red berry fruit and milk chocolate - we sold out of this one after the tasting....must order more.

Springbank-15 year-old, 46%abv: A constant favourite since we first started stocking it. Much sweeter in style than the Springbank-12 year-old and full of elegance, and citrus richness.

Hazelburn-8 year-old Sauternes Wood Finish, 55.9%abv: We reviewed the complete Hazelburn range at the start of this week and I was more than happy to try it again. Such a complex dram for such a young whisky. See its not always about the age of the whisky but the quality.

So until the next time keep sampling!

Cognac Tasting.....gets the thumbs up!

Not one of the spirits that we head straight to but who could resist the chance to try three fantastic releases from the famous cognac house Delamain.

Founded back 1n 1824(the same year as Macallan!) the house of Delamain has been releasing top range cognacs - their entry level selection is an XO - why bother with VSOP's! What we tried....

Delamain XO "Pale & Dry", 40%abv: A lovely grapey nose with touches of coffee and cream. On the palate more soft grapes and a long soft, silky finish.

Delamain Vesper, 40%abv: More fragrant and integrated than the XO, green grass and subtle oak too. To sip it is sooooo much smoother than the XO but it is a light bit tougher to pull out any distinctive notes but a beautiful drink none the less.

Delamain Reserve de la Famille, 43%abv: This is a single, vineyard, single cask cognac of around 50-60 years old. The nose was impressive with tobacco, soft oak, leather and touch of sulphur. On the palate it was sweet, rich, full of plums, raisins and more tobacco. Sweet oak and dried herbs come just at the finish. smooth and beautiful.

So three cognac and thumbs up all round - no wonder Pete looks so happy.

A Trio of Hazelburns....

We got a lovely surprise when Springbank popped some samples through our door and an even bigger smile when we realised that we can now have a go at a vertical Hazelburn tasting.

For those in the 'know' Hazelburn is the name used for the un-peated triple distilled malt from Sprinbank. Taking the name from one of the number of Campbeltown whisky distilleries that closed down in the 1920's. They have only been producing the Hazelburn since 1997.

So now the whiskies.....

Hazelburn-8 year-old, 46%abv: Sweet styled, vanilla pods and short bread. On the plate there is a real sweetness that just makes the mouth water.

Hazelburn-12 year-old, 46%abv: I thought that the nose was not as distinctive as the 8 year-old but on the palate - WOW - It's still sweet but now its massive! Vanilla, sweet oak, chocolate, oranges and some dried spices.
For another opinion check out Ralfy's review of the Hazelburn-12 year-old http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhnyjwYT6w4

Hazelburn-8 year-old Sauternes Wood, 55.9%abv: A limited edition expression (9180 bottles world-wide) that has spent 5 years in Refill Bourbon Cask and a further 3 years in Sauternes Cask...........a heavenly experience in a glass! The nose is rich and strong with aromas of oranges, raisins and a lovely touch of salt that stops it becoming too sweet. On the palate it really has a great mouth feel, it also has a lovely whiff of smoke at the back.

And after all that hard work I think I deserve a wee glass of Old Raj Gin!!

Japan Whisky Experiance - Story & Taste

I was lucky enough to to be able to attend this talk and tasting hosted by Dr Koichi Inatomi , a senior advisor for Suntory.

We covered the history of Suntory from building Yamazki Distillery in 1923 -it's first manager Masataka Taketsura was an apprentice at Hazelburn in Campbeltown- to a tasting of some of the modern expressions.

The presentation was very informative but still with a relaxed atmosphere that helped us all get a real feel for Japanese whisky.

What we tasted.....

Yamazaki-12 year-old, 43%abv: A light, soft malt that has a very Speyside freshness to it. It is drenched in tropical fruits and pineapples.

Hakushu-12 year-old, 43%abv: Still very fruity but more pronuced than the first whisky, this time the main fruits were more plums and raisons. On the palate more of the same fruit but with a very smokey edge - lovely.

Yamazaki-18 year-old, 43%abv: Not as quick to jump out the glass but a wonderfull well integrated malt. Lovely richness of raisins, cherries, coffee and chocolate. A sweet styled malt but worht it.

Hakushu Peated, 48%abv: Peated up to 25 p.p.m. for that Islay-styled whisky. I thought it was like a more fruit driven version of Laphroaig but with red currants and a dash of lime.


A huge thank you goes out to University of Glasgow's School of Education for putting this event on - Many Thanks.

We've have been busy.....

Hi folks...sorry its been so long since our last post - expect more to start popping up over the next few days.

So what have we been doing since the last time we blogged, more tastings, more sales and, even better, more stock.

Over the past few weeks we have increased the range that we carry in the shop by a factor of 10.

Pete was beside himself with excitment when the new German and Austrian wines came in - Siegal Reisling 2009, Louis Dry Reisling 2009, Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett 2009, Karl H Johner Pinot Blanc/Chardonnay 2007 and the Pinot Noir 2007 from German and Little J Gruner Veltliner 2009 and Zweigelt 2007 from Austria. Expect a full report from Pete soon.

My excitment came in the form of the increase of the whiskies that we now stock. Our plan was to concentrate on the West Coast independants and increase the range when we can. In the past couple of weeks we added Arran-10 year-old, 14 year-old, the Amarone Cask and a small order of Machrie Moor. From Bruichladdich we concentrated on the First Growth range and brought in the Lafite, Margaux and Haut Brion ACE'd casks and from Springbank we were able to increase our range and get in the Hazelburn-8 year-old Sauternes Wood.

We were also able to get some old and new vintages of some of our top wines...

New vintages of Meerlust Red, Rodney Strong Charlotte's Home Sauvignon, Rusden Boundaries Cabernet and also the new La Nina Verdelho from Argentina.

Old friends that we have managed to rescue from the back of our warehouse include a large selection of Rhone wines including PJA Condrieu Les Cassines 2006, PJA Cote Rotie Les Jumelles 1998 and 1999, PJA Chateauneuf Du Pape Les Cedres 2006 and the excellent PJA Hermitage Le Taurobole 2001.

Next time your passing just stop in and we can show you everything else.

Andy

Dalmore: The King in his Castle

A very generous friend dropped off a wee sample of the new Dalmore Castle Leod for us to try and asked us for our thoughts..............

Andy: I've always been a large fan of Dalmore (even popped into to the Distillery on my honeymoon - thanks Gillian). The 12 year-old is a dark chocolate fruit filled delight and affordable enough to find its way into my drinks cupboard every now and again. I'm also very lucky to right now have a 20 year-old cask strength and a 21 year-old bottled for the American market - a report on them to follow.

Now Castle Leod.....its definitely a Dalmore! The nose is attractive, clean full powered with raspberries and fresh strawberries mixing with chocolate orange. On the palate its got a touch of spice and more dark chocolate with a red berry juice undercurrent. All in all it's another fantastic malt from up north.


Pete: Has yet to try his sample but we'll keep you updated.