Bottlers Archives - Page 5 of 12 - More Drams, Less Drama

Glenury Royal 1978 Signatory Vintage

30th November 202230th November 2022Coldorak

People learnt a long time ago that drinking an alcoholic beverage was making them feel relaxed, good (unless they’re drinking too much!) and increased their mood. It’s no surprise then that when there’s a call for celebration, people use alcohol to celebrate. I know I do. And I’m not the only one, as alcohol has been used for celebrations and ceremonies for ages, as far back at least than ancient Babylon, around 5000 B.C. Clay tablets found in the ruins of ancient Babylon told about its inhabitants used to brew and drink beer as part of their religious ceremonies. Egyptians did too, and they’d make it by placing crumbled barley bread into jars filled of water, to allow the natural yeast to start fermentation. Fast forward a few thousand years, and we’re using all kinds of alcohols for celebrations. And when I learnt I had passed my Wine and Spirits Trust Education level 2 in spirits with distinction, the result I was looking for, I naturally turned to whisky to celebrate what I had really worked hard to achieve. Yes, tasting and learning about spirits and cocktails can be hard work. And to celebrate, I turned myself towards a whisky from a lost distillery I had never tried anything from before: a Glenury Royal 1978 bottled by Signatory Vintage.

Killyloch 1972 Signatory Vintage

13th November 202214th November 2022Coldorak

Whenever I go to a whisky bar, especially one with a very large menu of old releases, I need quite some time to identify what will be my next dram. I might jump on the occasion to try an old vintage of a favorite distillery. Or, like today, try something from a distillery I have never tried anything from. Especially since I’ve never heard of said distillery. But the good thing with this kind of whisky bar, is that not only they have a great list of whiskies, they also have very knowledgeable staff, who will be able to help you out. They’ll make recommendations, or tell you about the distillery’s profile, or give you some tasting notes and descriptions for this unknown whisky you’re looking out. And that’s how after the Glenfarclas 1971 I reviewed a few days ago, my second dram at the Golden Promise was this Killyloch 1972 bottled by Signatory Vintage.

Port Charlotte 2001 SMWS 127.45

8th November 20228th November 2022Coldorak

We’re back to a Scotch Malt Whisky Society review, with this Port Charlotte 2001 from their Vault collection. We had a younger PC last year with a 2003 Hidden Spirits that was beautiful, so expectations were high with this one. I use the past as I’ve already tasted it a few weeks ago, after purchasing the bottle for a friend, who almost immediately opened it and shared it. Let’s jump to the review of this Port Charlotte 2001 SMWS 127.45 Leviathan, I can’t wait to taste it again.

Compass Box The General

28th October 202228th October 2022Coldorak

The General is unusual as far as how expressions are made at Compass Box. Usually, and as we’ve seen in previous Compass Box reviews here, John Glaser or his other whisky makers select single malts of different profiles and assemble them themselves. Here, Glaser bought casks of whiskies already blended at a young age and left to marry in those casks for a very long time. Two parcels were bought, one being 33 years old at the time of The General’s final blending, and one rumoured to be 40 years old. John Glaser describes the whisky as having an “antique character lovers of old whiskies will seek out”. So let see what we think of this Compass Box The General.

Tennessee Rye Batch 4 TBWC

21st October 202221st October 2022Coldorak

We’re back to That Boutique-y Whisky Company with another whisky from their 10th anniversary lineup. But this time it is something quite different from the previous one (a Chouchen-cask finished Armorik). This time, we’re going to Tennessee, and not for that good ol’ N°7. We’re going to an unnamed distillery, for some rye and some sherry! So we should I think expect something quite different from that Tennessee Rye Batch 4 TBWC!

Two Chouchen-Finished Armorik (Official & Boutique-y)

11th October 202211th October 2022Coldorak

Chouchen (or in Breton, Chouchenn) is a kind of mead (‘hydromel’ in French). It is made using honey and water, with either apple juice, apple must or cider added (for the latter, it is then called chufere). What distinguishes chouchen from hydromel is that yeast from apples is used to speed fermentation, whilst for hydromel it’s only honey, wine or beer yeast that do the fermentation. Chouchen is aged in wood casks for several months, before being filtered then bottled, with an ABV between 12 and 15%. Depending on the residual amount of sugar in it, it can be called from dry to sweet, dry being for the one having the less sugar remaining. As chouchenn is a traditional alcohol from Brittany, it is not unexpected that its casks would be used to finish whisky coming from Brittany as well, and that’s what Warenghem distillery has done for some of its Armorik single malt. So let’s try two chouchen-finished Armorik whiskies, an official single cask and one bottled by That Boutique-y Whisky Company for its 10th birthday range.

SMWS Global Gathering 2022

3rd October 20225th October 2022Coldorak

Yesterday 30th of September was the Scotch Malt Whisky Society Global Gathering 2022 event. It’s virtual tasting with John McCheyne, SMWS’s global brand ambassador, and he was joined by five people who were part of the selection of the five drams of the night. Each dram was selected by a tasting panel from a specific country, and chose a name for it in their own language. Then, each dram’s tasting was led by the local brand ambassador, starting… in his or her native language. As it started with the whisky selected by the French panel, some people who joined a bit late were quite surprised to hear the tasting in French, before realising it would switch back in English a few minutes later. Obviously, I had ordered a tasting pack in order to join, so let’s go review those five whiskies chosen for the SMWS Global Gathering 2022.

The Lost Distillery Company Blends

6th September 20226th September 2022Coldorak

The Lost Distillery Company is a… company with the ambition to revive whisky from several long gone distilleries. During the 20th century, many Scotch distilleries shut down, because of wars, prohibition, or because they went bankrupt. They released blends trying to reproduce the production of seven lost distilleries, five out of those being still available. Each of those seven blends was then available in three different editions. The Classic edition is bottled at 43% and is the ‘youngest’ of the editions. The Archivist ones seem to be made from older component as their profile is said as being ‘extra mature’ (the classic is just ‘mature’) and is bottled at 46%. Finally, the Vintage Selection ones are the oldest and are also bottled at 46% ABV. No Vintage on our menu today, but we’ll review today either a Classic or an Archivist batch of all the Lost Distillery Company blends.

Old vs New Glen Grant

24th August 202224th August 2022Coldorak

We’re going to compare today two Glen Grant whiskies, that couldn’t be more different on paper. The first one is an official bottling, reduced to 40% ABV, and has been bottled in the 1970s. The second one is from an independent bottler, Cadenhead’s, at cask strength and bottled in 2022. What is the point of that comparison you will ask? Well, first, I like to do comparisons. Here, I hope to see if I can find similarities despite the huge time frame between the two, but also find what differences will be there. I also want to have comparison points. It’s harder than you’d think to rate a whisky without any reference point. By itself, is this whisky worth 80, 84, more? Now compared to another one, you can already ascertain which one you prefer. Now I must admit, in order to have a more reliable rating system, I should have a common reference point in all my reviews. And unfortunately… I do not. I know some famous whisky reviewers always start their tasting session with a dram of always the same whisky. First it allows them to see if their palate and nose are working correctly as they’ll have that usual reference point. And secondly, this reference point will help them rate correctly the whiskies they’re reviewing. It’s not something I do for now, but I guess I should really consider starting doing that. More whisky spendings incoming I guess… Anyway, for now, no reference point, and anyway, it’s my own objective but still a bit subjective rating system, so you’ll have to bear with it! So let’s do an Old vs New Glen Grant review!

SMWS Whisky Festival 2022

31st July 20229th August 2022Coldorak

A few ~~weeks~~ months ago (I’m late again to publish an article, what a surprise!), the Scotch Malt Whisky Society released a few single malts not as single casks, for once, but as small batches, small vattings of a few casks, for the different whisky festivals of the first half of 2022. For each region of Scotland, in a whisky sense, they released one or several bottlings, all of course with a higher outturn than usual. I ordered a tasting pack containing five out of the six releases, and I also bought a bottle of the sixth one, a Bowmore, so now, let’s review them all. And whilst previously it was Ainulindale reviewing SMWS bottlings, this time it’s my turn!