PS: And I almost forgot - the results of the MM Awards 2005
arrived on november 15, 2005. The third edition of our annual
competition produced more winners than ever; over a hundred
whiskies that were submitted earned a medal and the average
level of submissions was higher than ever. Unfortunately, many
of the big winners were limited and/or single cask bottlings, so
only a few hundred bottles of each are available to the public.
Ah well, that makes them extra special, I guess...

And I'm afraid that's just the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
Here are just a few other highlights in this 16th issue;
- Winesky, Woodsky or Weirdsky by Serge Valentin
- Whisky Fringe vs Whisky Live by Ralf Mitchell
- Chocolate & Whisky by Olivier Humbrecht
- Whisky Luncheon by Ho-cheng Yao
- A Funky Brigade by Craig Daniels
- Heaven & Hell by Klaus Everding

Check out the green column at the right for the full contents
of Malt Maniacs #16 - plenty of food for thought, I imagine.
And that's it for now; expect more maniacal reports soon...

Johannes

Oh yeah, I also wrote an article about The Malt Mafia.
In fact, I wrote two articles - part one and part two - on
the results of our research into the source of all evil; the
people behind the numreous 'Italian' fakes on the market.
Was the silence on the Fake Alert page 'before the storm'?

This issue also features the first E-pistles in a new series;
distillery profiles on 'recently' closed distilleries in Scotland.
The distillery data section on Malt Madness contains profiles
on all active distilleries in Scotland (or at least it will when
I'm done), but most of the silent distilleries have just a few
lines devoted to each of them in the 'distilery data' section.
So, I decided to challenge the maniacs - while I'm finishing
up the profiles on the active distilleries they are supposed
to keep up with me - 'alphabetically' speaking, that is...

Another highlight I should mention is Whisky with Jim.
Lawrence Graham toured through Canada with Jim Murray
and wrote a detailed account of their alcoholic adventures.
I'd also like to point you to the Wash 'yer' Wort E-pistle by
foreign correspondent Michel van Meersbergen. It's packed
with useful information about the start of the production
process of Islay whiskies. Michel (and his charming lady
Christel) visited most distilleries on Islay to conduct their
research and the report includes tasting notes for the
fresh wash from four different distilleries on Islay.

Furthermore, we now have our first proper poem on MM!
Indian maniac Krishna has a huge appreciation for all forms
of art and now has actively joined the ranks of the artists
by writing a poem about - you guessed it - whisky. Isn't
that inspirational? If you agree it is (or simply think you
can do better), why don't you submit a poem on whisky
yourself? I don't know much about poetry, so I'll hardly be
able to judge your submission - which means I'll probably
publish it, even if you're 'poetically challenged' ;-)

And then there's the second page of this issue.
It kicks off with the long awaited sequel to Louis Perlman's
funny Enjoying Whisky Without Going Broke or Insane article
in MM#10. Our fictitious hero Harry has grown up and after
he read somewhere that 'a great collection is like great sex'
he felt more than ready to start his own whisky collection.
If only he had read the second part of the quote...

Fortunately, this issue of MM is more than a 'FWP Special'.
Other highlights of MM#16 include a big report from Ho-cheng
about his recent Speyside trip (it's massive!!!), a report about
the Whisky Market & Culture of Korea by foreign correspondent
Chan Gyo Jung and Lex Kraaijeveld's Xtreme Vatting article that
might give you some original ideas for your home blending.
Oh, what an eclectic mixture of malt mania...

So far our Swedish maniac Ulf Buxrud has submitted a profile
for the Banff distillery while Michel van Meersbergen wrote a
profile on Braeval / Braes of Glenlivet. Ha! That means that I
have a comfortable head start with all profiles for the active
distilleries of Scotland in the A-C bracket already 'in the can'.
That would be 25 profiles; Aberlour, Allt A' Bhainne, Ardbeg,
Ardmore, Arran, Auchentoshan, Auchroisk (a.k.a. Singleton),
Aultmore , Balblair, Balmenach, Balvenie, Ben Nevis, Benriach,
Benrinnes, Benromach, Bladnoch, Blair Athol, Bowmore, (Royal)
Brackla, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Cardhu (also
known as Cardow), Clynelish, Cragganmore and Craigellachie.
Just +/- 50 more to go on my end - I'd better get bizzy...

I thought the FWP Wrap-Up was the last we'd
have to say on the topic but another flow of
comments resulted in FWP, The Final Chapter.
Hopefully, that's the last we'll have to write
about the topic. FWP does exist, but maybe
it's not as widespread as some people think.
FWP is 'working its way through the system'.

OK, I'll give you a hint: the 'Lavender Lament'
E-pistle by Dave Broom can be safely classified
as 'useful information'. We have discussed the
FWP phenomenon at length before (please see
E-pistles 14/11, 14/13 and 14/18 for details)
but we hadn't found 'definitive' answers yet.
Dave brought order to the maniacal chaos.

Phew... The Feis Ile 2005 Report was a big hurdle to take but
now we're back on track again with a brand new issue of Malt
Maniacs. Once again we can offer both useful information and
maniacal rantings. You'll just have to figure out which is which.

E-pistle #16/01 - Lavender Lament
Submitted on 01/08/2005 by Dave Broom, UK

The aroma is quite unmistakable.
A light note of lavender, varying in intensity, from toilet water to toilet block.
It isn't the dried lavender note which sometimes drifts into a dram but is pungently artificial.
The phenomenon is often even more noticeable on the palate where it obscures everything else.
People have called it various names, most of them not particulary flattering. I'll stick to perfume.
I've no knowledge as to what fragrance ladies of the night wear in France (or indeed the
rest of the world). I suspect that many of them, however, wear something more classy...
Most of the attention on this aroma occurring in whisky has focussed on one Islay distillery for the simple
reason that its whiskies are the most widely available. What has been overlooked by many people is that
the same note appeared at the same time in that group's Highland distillery. (I've never found it at its
other site, though others have) Neither do I count soapiness as being the same as perfume. It's different.
Neither, as some seem to believe, is this a problem affecting one distiller. Overtly perfumed notes do also
appear in other, non-group, drams. I've recently experienced it in a new whisky from a non-Scottish distiller
[see Whisky Mag 49]. However, for simplicity's sake I've concentrated on the best-known examples here.
The issue is to find out what it is and how it is caused, not to apportion blame. That the same note appeared
at the same time in the product of two distilleries owned by the same distiller suggests to me that it was the
result of a change in distillation practise. What that change could be has resulted in some interesting theories;

Perfumed Soap - A distiller added soap to the wash still to stop foaming.
Instead of using the normal odourless soap he accidentally used perfumed hand soap. Now, while the practise of adding soap to boiling wash used to be widespread (and is still used) this theory is simply absurd. How likely would it be that a distiller, panicking at seeing his wash still on the verge of carryover, would either rush to the chemist and buy the first soap he could get his hands on or pop to the staff toilets and grab the first bar that came to hand? How many distillery workers insist on lavender perfumed soap anyway? Is it likely that the same problem (and bizarre solution) occurred at more than one site at the same time? Maybe head office got a bulk order of perfumed soap at the Barras and no-one thought of questioning using this? No. Soap can be discounted.

Yeast type - It might hold water were all the sites using the same strain. They aren't. The mainland distilleries switched to South African dried, but the Islay plant stayed with the same strain of pressed yeast which is used by the bulk of the industry. There is however a possibility that the way in which yeast is used could have an impact [see below].

Malt - It would only be the case if all the distilleries got their malt from the same supplier, which isn't the case.

Peat - This won't create the aroma [see Malt] but may mask it.

Lively wash (ie when solids mask the surface of the still) - It could cause unwanted aromas and flavours.
However, it won't create perfume.

Switching from direct fire to condensers - On the right lines.
However, the problem could arise by switching from one type of condenser to another [see below].

Cut points - Quite possible... but only if other elements are in place.

Water - Ye-e-e-es. Let's pass on quickly.

Wood - Won't create the aroma but may mask it.

Bad distillery management - This suggestion has spread since one ex-manager left the employ of the company for a rival. It is wrong. What's more, it's potentially libellous. Remember, this note is found at two (some say three) of the same group's distilleries and it appears at the same time. That points to a shift in distilling practise -- a new regime, new equipment. 

It made sense to contact distillers who were au fait with the problem and who, given their areas of expertise, would be able to give a less emotional and more analytical interpretation of what had happened. As ever (these are scientists, remember!) there isn't complete agreement. We'll never know entirely what happened. I do think, however, we're closer to a possible answer.

The hypothesis of one of my sources centres around the teething problems which occurred after the installation of energy-saving systems in the mainland and Islay distillery in the 1980s. Both these distilleries installed energy-saving condensers which are separated into two parts. The first condenser is starved of cooling water, which helps to generate high temperature hot water. If, however, there was an insufficient volume of cooling water in the condenser, when the vapour from the still touched very hot surface of the condenser tubes it was scalded. "Try this at home," my source said. "Heat up a frying pan, pour in a small amount of beer and smell the resulting smoke. You'll be able to detect the same note."

Another contact felt that the problem first occurred at the start of the process and related to a distiller speeding up the mashing and fermentation process. Too high water temperature at mashing can strip out the character from malt and produce a perfumed note (*), while holding on to the sparge for an extended period of time can cause an unwanted note (caused by bacterial problems). Perfumed notes can also be created should a distiller increase the seeding level of the yeast [ie add more] to speed up fermentation.

Now, none of these actually create the perfumed flavour itself, but will help to create compounds which could cause it to appear. They're known as "precursors".

Cutting the boil rate of the stills would increase reflux and allow these lighter perfumed aromas to be concentrated and collected. Tall plain stills will help this. The contact then went on to suggest that the aroma could be produced by triggering these precursors through 'burning' in the still during reflux. Equally, any change in cut points could have an effect. "It's a long-winded way of saying that I'm not sure!"

The problem with whisky is that since everything is interconnected it's impossible (and wrong) to isolate one single specific part of the process and point the finger of blame. These pesky precursors only create the aroma under specific conditions. The distilleries in question were only two (or three) of many in Scotland who installed two-part condensers. To check if the condenser theory holds water (if you pardon the pun) you'd have to compare and contrast the whisky from all these distilleries. The closest I could get to a similar fault was a "soapiness" in one of the others which, while not pleasant, is a different fault. So, the condensers may be part of the problem, but not the sole part. They only come into play if a certain mashing/fermenting/distillation regime is in operation.

This points to a composite theory.
The precursors are produced by speeding up the process: scalding the mash, fast ferment etc.
They're then triggered, in this case, not by the surface of the still during reflux, but by a second 'scalding' in the (too) hot condenser, or by both. It might be of interest -- or a red herring -- that in Cognac recently I was allowed to nose a spirit run. After the cut had been made and the heat turned up, the distillate began to take on an overt and artificial note of violet and lavender. This might be coincidence -- violet is a pleasant aroma created in wine and present in many Cognacs -- but I'll leave it with you.

Why then is the note more obvious in some whiskies than in others? It could simply be down to the relative sensitivity of each consumer's nose. Some people get it, some are deeply offended by it, others miss it completely. It can also be masked by two things. Higher phenol levels in the spirit will often tone it down. Wood can have the same effect. Some Maniacs have noticed more overtly perfumed notes from European oak examples. If true, this wouldn't be from paxerete, but might be the result of the lack of char on the inside of the cask. "Sherry" casks aren't charred, while 'bourbon' casks are. This charcoal layer acts as a filter and removes harsh notes from the young spirit. It might also help to remove some (if not all) of the offending note. I don't know, this is just a thought. As we all know, the influence of the cask will have a significant impact on the aroma and flavour of a whisky. No surprise then that single cask and small batch bottlings might show higher or lower levels of perfume.

Over the past months I've done extensive barrel tastings from the Islay distillery, going back to 1967.
The only one which showed overt lavender notes was a American oak barrel (sorry Serge!) from 1984. I'd therefore concur with Maniacal findings which suggest that the problem started in the mid-80s and was fully resolved by the end of that decade. Certainly the stock from the 1990s onwards is clean and is excellent.

Conclusion?
It looks like that there was a change in distillation regime (coinciding with new condensers) at some point in the 1980s which produced a block of perfumed stock which has drifted through the system. The 12yo and 15yo Islay is clean of perfume. The 17yo has some. As far I can tell the problem occurred, it was noticed and the regime changed. Others may disagree. The questions over whether the process of realisation took too long and whether it could have been managed better we'll leave until another time -- and place.

Dave Broom

* b-carotine/aka blackcurrant or b-ionone/violet
 

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E-pistle #16/02 - Ask an Anorak: FWP Wrap-Up
Submitted on 29/08/2005 by Johannes van den Heuvel, Holland

Before Dave's fairly definitive 'Lavender Lament' E-pistle was published, FWP kept popping up in our discussions.
I think some of the remarks and questions were too interesting to simply dispose of them as 'raw data'.
So, here's an overview of the final nuggets of ignorance and wisdom in the FWP discussion;

Lawrence - All your remarks about FWP so far have prompted some new questions.
Would the FWP not be discovered when the malt was nosed during the maturation process?

Johannes - One would think so, Lawrence. But wrap your mind around this: I tend to agree with Dave that the problem probably isn't caused by the wood, although there might be some interplay. But maybe the 'precursors' Dave mentions need some time to actually evolve into (or act as a katalyst for the development of) the FWP aroma's. In that case it could have taken years for the problem to become apparent. Also, a distillery like Bowmore produces many casks of fresh spirit each day. Even if they discovered the problem after a month they would have hundreds off affected casks in their warehouses by then.

Lawrence continues - And, logically, couldn't it be re-racked in a new cask to reduce or eliminate the effect?

Johannes - Since the problem doesn't seem to be related to the wood, re-racking the whisky wouldn't solve it.
Since many bottlings that had the dreaded FWP were actually released it seems they didn't think of it as a big problem anyway.

Lawrence continues - Also is it possible that it only occurs after bottling?
I realize that this is most likely not the case but the random nature of the FWP, popping up in half open bottles, in freshly open bottles, increasing or decreasing in strength, in OB or IB's makes me think this is a possible answer.

Johannes - Hmmmm... Good point, Lawence!
I guess Dave's on the right track here as well - it's an interplay of different factors.

Klaus - I just want to read a striking argument, why my beloved theory, that the FWP taint might come from the bottling plant is false. Residues left in the pipes, when they cleaned the equipment, could be responsible. Of course such foolishness is barely imaginable but the best argument to destroy my theory were cask samples with FWP aroma.

Johannes - A striking argument, Klaus? How about these three (a little simplified):
1) If the cause lies at the bottling plant, the problem would be related to bottling year instead of distillation year.
2) FWP is also found in some IB's - independent bottlers don't usually use Bowmore's bottling plant, do they?
3) I imagine the bottling process is far simpler than the distillation process. Any problems would be easy to find and solve.

It brings one interesting question to the forground, though: Do Auchentoshan, Bowmore and Glen Garioch all use the same bottling plant? If so, Dave's remark about a combination of different factors could apply here (one of the factors that work together to produce FWP could have its effect at the bottling stage) but at this point I'm inclined to believe that FWP isn't related to the bottling plant. Like Dave said, I don't think the answer is that 'simple'...

Davin - To address Klaus' point, I noticed that Gordon & MacPhail did not change the (rather crude - cheesecloth) final filter when they changed from one malt to another and wondered if traces of an earlier malt may be carried over into the next. The filter was filthy. Derek said that for that reason they start with less flavourful malts and proceed to more flavourful across the day.

Thomas - Hi Maniacs, on Bruichladdich's open day Johannes told me that Serge had asked Jim McEwan about Bowmore's FWP problem. Obviously Jim hadn't taken this innocent little question very well to put it mildly. Now something interesting I read on a German discussion board. Some were reasoning that some newer Bruichladdich bottlings (Cairdean, Links II) were also showing perfume notes and since Jim McEwan used to be with Bowmore….

Ho-cheng - I am not sure if some Bruichladdichs have the FWP.
But even if they have, it has nothing to do with Jim McEwan. Please don't forget he joined Bruichladdich in 2001. And if FWP has something to do with the yeast, then a reasonable explaination is the yeast they are using at that time is very special. If we really want to dig it out, we may need to research what kind of yeast the industry was using in the late 80's. Especially Bowmore.

Dave - Weell.... Yeast would be possible if all three used the same one.
Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch both changed to dried yeast .. but Bowmore didn't. Whatever the case, overtly perfumed notes was a temporary problem (late 80s) which has long been sorted at distillation stage. Maybe it's the magic water!!

Johannes - Hmmm.... I don't want to complicate the discussion even further, but this is interesting.
I received a message from Jesper Hulten about out discussions that contains some relevant information.

Jesper - Hello Johannes, I took part in the FWP debate at MALTS-L in the late 1990's to early 2000's.
I think it was Brian McHenry or someone at PLOWED who coined the expression. We never managed to pinpoint the cause to this off-note. However, I have some thoughts that you might like to hear. It seems to me that as many as one in four (or more) can't detect FWP. And those who say they like a certain FWP Bowmore bottling don't appear to be able to describe FWP correctly, which of course is somewhat difficult. The closest I have come, is to say that it resembles the taste of a Swedish candy called "polkagris", which is a type of peppermint rock. It has got nothing to with violets. The Bowmore Sea Dragon 30yo has loads of violets in it. Not very much on the nose, but when it detonates on the palate, there is a very strong taste of violets at ground-zero. And it is a lovely whisky – I would give it 90 points. (The best Bowmore I have ever tasted is the 21yo 1971 OB, which I would give 94 points.)

I too have now detected it in the 17yo. In the late 1990's, it was the 10- and the 12yo's that were tainted with it. I have also found it in the Bowmore Darkest and in the 56 % cask strength version. Since FWP has made me avoid Bowmore, I don't know if the current 12yo's are tainted. It would be interesting to know how wide in time this FWP window is - if it has disappeared from the younger bottlings, that is. If it was the result of the brewing or distillation process, surely someone would have detected it in the new-make? I think one should look in the direction of either cask treatment or caramel use. However, I didn't manage to taste anything similar, when I conducted experiments with E150 – see the link below.
https://www.lists.uni-karlsruhe.de/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0110&L=malts-l&P=R13370
 
Kind regards,

JESPER HULTÉN a.k.a. J. Stephen Lure (my anagram pseudonym)

Johannes - Hey.... Caramel? As a matter of fact, I think there's a maniacal report on the topic coming up.
But that's an entirely different topic; we should focus on the FWP part in this E-pistle. Cask treatment could be a candidate, though... Assuming they only check maturing casks once every few years, that would account for the many bottlings that have the FWP. Of course, 'many' is a relative term - the only bottlings that were seriously 'over the top' were batches of the Darkest and 17yo.

Lawrence - From the book "Wort, Worms & Washbacks" By John McDougall & Gavin Smith on page 107, John writes, during his time as Manager of Laphroaig, and about the need for a new peat source because they had doubled production and thus doubled the amount peat needed; "It was important that the new peat land should be close to the existing one, because that way it should have had no higher a sulpher content than the old, as you get closer to Bowmore along the part of the coast known as the "Big Strand" you came into more sulphurous peat. Sulphurous peat can impart a flavour of sulphur right into the whisky in the bottle, and it gives the whisky a 'rubbery' nose." For me that is the FWP answer I've been looking for.

Dave - Sulphur = rubber for sure, but neither of these could remotely be considered perfumed!
Nice try, but this one doesn't convince me. In any case as far as I can recollect, Bowmore's peat doesn't come from the Strand. Sulphur doesn't come from peat but from lack of copper contact in the still and condensing system. Worm tub distilleries can produce a sulphury new make: Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Cragganmore, Mortlach. Unlike the perfume, sulphur in new make shouldn't be seen as a fault. It disappears during maturation (providing the cask isn't knackered)

Davin - A few quick thoughts on FWP:

1. If you are not sure if FWP is there, then it isn't. It is unmistakable.
2. Floral scents and flavours can be very pleasant in malts. Floral flavours alone do not indicate FWP.
3. Perfumy scents and flavours can be very pleasant as well.
Perfumy scents or flavours alone do not indicate an inclination towards FWP.
4. FWP has both floral and particularly perfumy scents and flavours, but it is the accompanying astringency that is objectionable.  If in doubt, take the 'Timmermans' test: as Luc says – it's like kissing your wife's neck right after she has applied a cheap perfume.
5. I tasted many floral and perfumy malts on Islay this year, but NONE had anything even close to FWP.
6. Dave says the problem has long since been fixed and I would tend to agree, although tainted batches are still passing through the system such as the Cask Strength they served at Feis Ile 2004 at the distillery. I have a bottle of Bowmore Cask Strength however, that is just excellent. Go figure.
7. Michael Jackson found lots of pleasant floral notes in Bowmore in the pre-FWP late 1980's (pre-FWP bottling dates) so I think we must be doubly careful not to assume that flowery Bowmores have FWP. In fact, I don't think we should go looking for it lest our search begets a self-fulfilling prophecy.

To our readers: I am told that in writing, I can sound a bit critical of others' opinions, so don't take this personally if you are among the many, many people who have not tasted FWP. I hope you never do taste it, but unless you do, I also hope you'll be very careful in commenting or hypothesizing as to the taste, cause or consequences so as not to feed the rumour mill. I think there is some kind of mystique status to FWP now. For sure there are lots of newbies on the chat boards who want to say they have tasted it just so they can add some cachet to their tasting experience. Try not to be among that echelon. I think it is much less common than the chats and so on would lead us to believe and overall there are lots of just smashing good Bowmores out there. These comments are not intended to stifle discussion, just to encourage one and all to stick to reporting and interpreting the facts.

- - -

Johannes - properly scolded by Davin, we all returned to the soapboxes in our corners to think about our sins.
After a period of reflection we were awoken by Dave's 'Lavender Lament' - time for the final (?) round.

Charlie - Brilliant, Dave! Thoroughly researched. Even-handed. Elegant and clearly expressed.
Have you shown it to the production team responsible for the distilleries in question? Any reaction?

Serge - Absolutely, agreed, Charlie! And yes it would be great to get some reactions from MB's or even Jim.
Okay, next: I got some PPP in a Glenfiddich last time (Polish Prostitute Perfume) and I was wondering...

Davin - I thought the prostitutes in Poland dabbed Brora behind their ears, Serge!

Craig - Hi all, I always figured it had to be a production issue (or fault) rather than the wood regime or a bottling problem (mainly because it was too widespread) and only seemed to affect whiskies of a certain production age, rather than date of bottling.
Well done - Dave's explanation is more than merely plausible.

Dave - Thanks for the kind comments.
Will send it to the relevant people and await the response .. and, obviously, let you all know.

Ulf - Hello Dave, Thanks for a not only a masterly preformed research but also for the digestable way it was written.
By the way, the composite theory with overheated mash and fermentation in conjunction with scalding by condensers or post stills must be rather trivial incidents/accidents within the trade. I assume this is not a 'new' phenomenon and is, hence, curious how others have handled similar upcoming situations over time. Have they had a more rigorous quality control and simply discarded the run or what? Seems I have to abolish the story I have propagated, which someone at Bowmore told me years ago, that the incident occurred when the regular refilling of the Group's stock of soap was by mistake made by perfumed ones sometimes during the mid 80's.

Absurd, yes, but aren't mistakes often like that?

Johannes - Well Ulf, I suppose lack of 'rigorous quality control' could be part of the complex of factors - after all, Bowmore didn't release just one 'FWP' bottling, they released many over quite a long period of time. Clearly they didn't feel these bottles were unfit to be sold to the public. In Bowmore's defence: like Dave points out not everybody is offended by it, and I suppose there are some people who actually like it. After all, Loch Dhu has some die-hard fans as well.

As for the soap story: I really think we can discard that as an urban myth - or maybe even a flat out lie if someone at Bowmore told it. In fact, if I remember correctly Jim McEwan also classified the story as bogus when we foolishly asked him about it on Islay. And you'll have to admit it's pretty far-fetched. First of all, I don't know how many 'industrial' soap they used for each run in the 1980's (Davin already mentioned the liquid stuff they mostly use these days), but I imagine the distillery worker would have had to collect quite a few 'Lux' bars before he had the equivalent of the normal amount of soap. Also, I would imagine that perfumed hand soap may contain substances that actually induce frothing and boiling over instead of prevent it, but that's just a wild guess.

The most important argument against the 'soap' story is the fact that it supposedly happened once.
Let's say they got 5,000 litres of spirit out of that run and filled it into 25 200 litre casks. And then let's say each of these casks later ended up in another vatting or single cask bottling, resulting in a 'Lux' character to some extent. Surely, the phenomenon has now been found in more than 25 different bottlings and batches?

Anyway - I'm glad to hear the FWP problem has (almost) worked its way through the system.
If the 'bad years' of Bowmore are indeed the second half of the 1980's that would certainly explain why I only became aware of the phenomenon around the year 2000 when I tried a bad 'Darkest' and a 17yo released around 2001. Hey, wait a minute... Given that the 17yo also had the FWP it seems the problem might have started a little before 1985. Nevertheless, let's for now assume that this problem did indeed end in 1990 and will become a thing of the past as all the FWP'd casks will have eventually been bottled.

If the FWP pops up in recent bottlings of the 21yo OB I'd say Dave's theory has its proof...

And that's all about this topic for now.

Sweet drams,

Johannes
 

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E-pistle #16/03 - Whisky Market & Culture of Korea
Submitted on 30/08/2005 by Chan Gyo Jung , Korea

A Briefing on Whisky Market & Culture of Korea - and My Single Malt Voyage
by Chan Gyo Jung, Taiwan (cgjung@kornet.net)

Korea has an interesting drinking culture, which is very different from the Japanese or Chinese.
If you came to Korea, you might be astonished to learn that Koreans drink so much and drink in an odd way. When it comes to the amount of drinking, Russians may be first, but Koreans are second. In 2003, the average Korean drank 61.1 bottles of Soju (Soju is typical Korean spirit, 360ml), 74.4 bottles of beer (500ml) and 1.21 bottles of whisky (500ml). This number is out of the total amount of consumption divided by population, including the number of people who can't drink alcohol like babies and children.

Excessive drinking is partially caused by Korean traditional drinking culture.
From old times, Koreans regard offering alcohol to others as a virtue. It is so difficult for guests to deny warm-hearted offerings. So we Koreans always offer a glass to others. Have you ever heard about 'glass rounding'? In old times, the King and his subjects drank from the same glass for solidarity. This tradition lives on in today's 'glass rounding'. When you received a glass which the other drank from, you might feel not good, sometimes feel disgusting thinking about germs and spittle of others. But you should not show your feelings. Because when you showed your uncomfortable feelings, it is like so saying 'I don't want to be your friend' and it means breaking of relations. Restless glass rounding makes excessive drinking.

Most of Korean drinkers don't like whisky. They think of whiskies as raw material for making 'Bomb'!
Bomb is beer mixed with whisky. The standard recipe is 150-180 ml beer plus one regular shot of whisky.
The carbonic acid of beer accelerate the absorption of alcohol of whisky, so 'Bomb' is just for getting drunk not for taste. For me, I drank over 10 glasses of 'Bomb' in a night. Not because I have a kind of queer taste, but because I don't want be left out. Public prosecutors of Korea are inventers of 'Bomb'. They are always worn to a frazzle by hard work, so they don't have enough time to drink. After all they searched the way to make them drunken in minimum time, and made the 'Bomb'.

Korean drinkers cling to the years of whisky maturity. Do you know why?
It is because the older whisky is easier to drink when drinking 'Bombs'. You may not believe it, but one of my friends and his business partners drank 5 bottles of Ballentine's 30 years old for 'Bomb' in a night. Drinking bomb cuts you off from appreciating whiskies properly. When I attend a drinking party, I relish whiskies straight, but to others it looks so strange. Always they offer ice or beer. In short, most Korean drinkers don't know how to drink whisky and don't like whisky itself.

As you can imagine, single malts are so strange to the Korean market.
You can buy just Glennfidich and Macallan. There's no Laphroaig or Ardbeg. Recently, the importer of Macallan had a sales promotion. But most Koreans know Macallan as a kind of blended whisky. I buy single malts in Japan by the help of my friends. Sometimes I consider importing single malts to Korea by myself, but it's not a simple job. For importing, I should get many official permissions and have a garage.

There's a place to drink single malts in Seoul,
the capital city of Korea. I always call the bar
'my hide-out'. There's over 50 single malts
including Japanese malts. The owner of this
bar is an architect, who has a Japanese malt
maniac friend. His kind friend supplies him with
single malts. But, between ourselves, that's an
illegal business. Because it's illegal for selling
whiskies without paying customs in Korea.
Fortunately most customers drink wines
instead of single malts. I don't want to
imagine my supply of lovely single malts
running out. I've tasted over 50 different single
malts so far. It's not my nature to take notes in
detail, but I will keep my liquid log like Johannes.
Because I know exactly that keeping my own
datas help for widening my single malt world.
I called myself a single malt maniac, but frankly,
I'm a Islay single malt maniac. I have to confess
that I have some bias for loving Islay single malt.

From the moment I tasted Bowmore 21yo (my first single malt), I fell in love with Islay single malts.
Their strong peaty scent fascinated me, and my first love impression was so intense that I can't fall in love with another single malt anymore. So, I always choose Laphoroaig, Ardbeg and Caol Ila rather than Highland Park or Springbank. My favourite is Laphroaig 10yo (43%, OB), that's a wonderful single malt considering its price. And sometimes I drink Japanese malt (Suntory, Nikka, etc.) which have such a crisp taste like Japanese beers.

From time to time I lead my friends to a heresy named single malt, and of course, most of them accept single malt as their creed. Yes, I am an evangelist of single malt and I almost always succeed in my my mission. But, I have to quit my mission temporally. You know why? Most of single malts in my hide-out are getting empty and there's some problem in supply of new single malt.

Yes, Korea is not a good place to live for a single malt maniacs.
But, I can't stop loving single malt which captivated my soul.  

Thanks my fellow evangelists for reading.

Good dram!

Chan
 

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E-pistle #16/04 - Spirits in Los Angeles
Submitted on 30/08/2005 by Louis Perlman, USA

Last month, my wife and I were on vacation in Los Angeles. Highlights of the trip, not counting the Paris Hilton encounter (only joking), were visits to the Wine and Liquor Depot and 1000 Malts, the West Coast Plowed headquarters (aka HiQ AV Systems). Marty generously hosted the evening, and a few other Plowedsters showed up as well.

W&L is incredible; one of the top handful of SMS purveyors in the US.
The picture shows what's out front. I also got to see their inventory.
Tons of older bottles are spirited (bad pun) back there. There were
a couple of cases of Laphroaig 40, for example. And it turns out that
I only saw half of the stock back there, Gulp!!

Then we headed to Thousand Malts, 20 miles away or so.
I got to meet the world famous Foaf, and also recent member Jerry
(who has managed to amass 300 bottles in less than 2 years, all of
them opened and sampled). The evening went on until 2:30 AM, my
wife was the designated driver, so she had to settle for a single
wee dram, and Food Network on a 53" TV set.

Listed below are some brief notes.
I gave 1-3 stars for the more interesting drams that I hadn't tried
before, I wasn't in any condition to come up with consistent ratings.

Murray McDavid Mission:

Glenlivet 28yo 1972 - expected a bit more
Royal Brackla 27yo 1975 - decent *
Clynelish 30yo 1972 - really good, lives up to it's billing ***
Highland Park 23yo 1972 - not quite in the same league as the Clynelish
Dallas Dhu 23yo 1979 - a pleasant surprise, #2 in my pecking order **

Springbanks:

Springback 1969/1993 'Cuvee' (Murray McDavid) - nothing registered, too bad
Springbank 17yo 1984 (50%, OMC) - OK
Springbank 12yo Rum Cask (54.6%, OB UK release) - better than Malt Advocate review. *
Springbank Port Wood (52.5%, OB, US release) - OK *
Springbank Port Wood (54.2%, OB, UK release) - I didn't find notable difference after this many drams

Peaty: (Even in the summer with no A/C)

Laphroaig 10yo Quarter Cask (43%, OB) - GREAT STUFF, not mellow like the ad says. What a 10yo Laphroaig should be. *
Ardbeg 10yo 1992 (57.1%, Straight From The Cask) - HOLY COW, can't imagine how a young Ardbeg could be any better. **
Brora 21yo 1981 (58.3, SFTC) - Good *
Yoichi 1989/2003 (62.3%, OB cask 228276) - YEAH BABY, super peat monster **
Isle of Jura 5yo (60%, TWS bottling) - UH-HUH keep it coming **
Bowmore 1984 (58.8%, OB European release) - Whatever, uninspired
Bruichladdich 1970 - No additional superlatives needed
Bowmore 1968/38 (40.2%, Hart Brothers) - No peat left, tons of fruit **

Other:

Glenglassaugh 1973 40% Family Silver - sweet, malty. very nice dram **
Longmorn 31yo 1972 (45%, Blackadder 'Raw Cask' C#1101) - Superbly balanced and not over-sherried. ***
Benriach-GL 21yo 1966 (46%, Cadenhead) - ehh, similar to 10yo OB
Longmorn 23yo 1973 (56.6%, Signatory dumpy bottle) - almost as good as the Raw Cask, w/o grapefruit **
Glen Grant 31yo 1971 (55.7%, Blackadder 'Raw cask') - didn't exactly light my fire.
Glen Grant 36yo 1954 (40%, G&M) - but this one did!!!  **
Glenfarclas 32yo 1968 (43%, OB) - as expected.
Tomatin 23yo 1976 (50%, OMC) - family resemblance
Linkwood 13yo 1986 (50%, OMC rum finish) - unremarkable

Louis
 

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E-pistle #16/05 - Kingfisher's Speyside Trip
Submitted on 30/08/2005 by Ho-cheng Yao, Taiwan

Unfortunately, our Taiwanese maniac Ho-cheng couldn't make it to the Islay festival this year.
However, he did manage to make a pilgrammage to Speyside a few weeks later together with his family.
Here's Ho-cheng's full report;
 

July 8, 2005:  London – Edinburgh

Arrived London in the early morning. Our flight to Edinburgh was delayed for 30 minutes but it had nothing to do with the bombs in London one day earlier. Our hotel in Edinburgh is the Holiday Inn, just next to the Edinburgh Zoo. Our plan is to visit the zoo in the afternoon.  Edinburgh Zoo is quite famous as it's well organized for family visits. This zoo is quite different from the ones I've visited earlier, very ROYAL I'd say. My kids were quite excited to see the famous penguin parade but I was a little bit disappointed as I thought all the penguins would come out, but only 8 were out for a 100 meter walk. The Holiday Inn offers a very small family room at UK$153 per night. Just enough to put in a full size bed and two extra single. Since we still had Jet Lag, we all went to bed at 6 o'clock. Before we went back to the room, I had a pint of local beer: Carling.
 

July 9, 2005:  Edinburgh – Pitlochry – Aviemore

Not too surprising that we wake up at 4:30 because of the jet lag, and has to wait until 7:30 for breakfast.
Lucky that we had some cereal for the children. We start to rent a car today at Thrifty, a VW Passat Estate.
Thrifty offers a very good price over the internet and we actually get an up-grade as we reserved a smaller Renalt Laguna Estate.  And it's a very new car, it has only ran for 1,500 miles. Driving on the left is not really a problem to me, as I have the same experience in Australia. However, it is very important to have a partner help you with the map. My wife is very good at it and she checked with the e-map even before we left home.

Our first stop is the Aberfeldy, which is also the home for Dewar's world of whisky. We chose this place to be the first stop not only because it's on the way up to the highland, but also most tour books, not only whisky ones, mentioned that it is quite a good place for family visit. The tour start as a self guided tour in the Dewar's World of Whisky. It is more like an educational museum, containing lots of information about Dewar's history as well as whisky knowledge. It also contains quite a lot interactive computer games to play with.  My daughter had quite some fun but the little one felt quite boring inside. I found most interesting to play on the computer to create your own blend. As a peat freak, I can't help but put lot's of Islay Malt in my blends and not too surprise to get a comments saying that this blend is too smoky to drink.

After the self-guided tour, a young man lead us into the Aberfeldy distillery for a well organized tour.
The distillery tour quite covers all the details of single malt production. And I have to say Aberfeldy is so clean that I can't believe it's a working distillery. But it is true that I can still smell the unique flavor in every steps. I was also very surprised to learn that Aberfeldy don't fill the new spirit in cask on site. The new spirit ships out in tanks to be filled in the casks in Stirling. I later found out this practice is already quite common for many distilleries. The tour ends back to the Café to have a dram at your choice of Aberfeldy 12yo or Dewars white label or Dewars 12yo. The tasting area also provides 10 different nosing samples to help you understand the aromas as well as a very well organized explanation. The visitor center also offers a wide range of unusual Aberfeldy bottles as Cask Strength, 25yo, vintage 1991? Seems only available here. And I finally have my first tasting this time:

Aberfeldy 12yo (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 2005) - 80 points
Golden, Vanilla, very fruity. Citrus, hint of chocolate.
Medium body.  Quite easy to drink, very pleasant one. Medium finish. A little bit light in style.

We then went directly to Pitlochry for lunch. Pitlochry is quite a touristic town for fishing as well as art.
It has lots of small Inns and restaurants and has two distilleries around town. We stopped by the local famous Fisher's House Inn and surprise to found the Kingfisher's Bar (some people know me as Kingfisher).  Another interesting thing I found in Pitlochry is a small whisky shop. I don't remember the name but the owner has quite a collection of old miniatures.  He even has the whole set of the famous Signatory Wildlife series for sale. He put most of his collections in a rotating equipment and you can scroll by yourself to see the collection. I think serious miniature collectors should pay a visit sometime.

As I have only two hours left before drive to the hotel before dinner
it is a logical choice to go to Edradour instead of Blair Athol because
Edradour is simply the smallest distillery in Scotland. As you can imagine
I was quite surprised to found lots of visitors at the Edradour distillery.
But remember, it just won the best visiting distillery on Whisky Magazine.
Edradour offers free tour every 20 minutes. It looks like every employees
need to take turns to lead the tour. And as the smallest distillery, it may
only need 3 people to produce, it uses much more people to take care
the visitors. Although I've seen the pictures, I was still quite surprise to
see such small stills here. The most interesting thing to see is the "Worm
Tub" outside to act as a condenser. The guide told us there is only two
distilleries left still using worm tubs, the other one should be Dalwhinnie.
(Editor's note: I think the guide was blowing smoke up your arse here,
Ho-cheng; to the best of my knowledge there are about a dozen worm
tubs left, including at Oban as the pictures in my Feis Ile report testify.)
I think the "Worm Tub" must have some influence on the whisky, it relies
more on the outside temperature, I can imagine that the spirit distilled during
the summer and the winter must have quite large different. The store sold quite
some strange version of Edradour, mainly in different wood finish as well as in different ABV.
I also found several interesting Signatory miniatures and the most interesting two are sold in set and bottled in 1995, one is Port Ellen, another one is Linkwood.  Both ones hasn't been tasted by any Maniacs. And of course, we sampled the Edradour 10yo at the beginning of the tour, but very strange, they serve it with the tumbler, not the nosing glass.

Edradour 10yo (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 2005) - 78 points
Brown in color.  Toffee, caramel, citrus, Quite robust, no balance.
It seems that they'd like to attract people with an easy dram but Edradour's house style seems not that easy for beginner, I doubt what the non-whisky visitors think about it?  A little bit smokiness, adding water just gone.

After the visit, it's already 3:30. We went to Blair Athol for a quick photo and get a standard 12yo mini and head to the hotel.  Blair Athol has lot's visitors, too. Remember, it is also home to Bell's whisky. And Bell's has quite some collector fans. Our hotel at Aviemore is the Hilton and full of children wait to attend this weekend's "A Day Out with Thomas". The weather get so hot that I can't help to find some beer. I can understand that there is no need to have air-conditioners but it's 32 degree outside, I just need to cool down.  Micro brewing seems not so well developed in Scotland as I can see "Tennent" everywhere and people do recognize it as a local beer.  The restaurant was too full that we decided to order room service. My dish was a "Lamb Casserole", a traditional Scottish dish made by diced lamb. Yummy! And my good night dram is:

Blair Athol 12yo (43%, OB, new Flaura & Fauna, miniature) - 73 points
This one was put as a new OB series in MJ and put as new Flaura & Fauna in Monitor.
Brown in color, a little bit orange like.  Very clear citrus, quite clear sherry influence, toffee, quite sweet. 
A little bit nutty palate.  Not the kind I like.  Finished a little bitter and clear caramel.
 

July 10, 2005:  Aviemore

Our main activity today is "A Day out with Thomas".
Aviemore is famous as a ski town as well as the home of
the steam engine.  The railroad is operated by the Strathspey
Railway from March to October by using Steam and Diesel Engine.
It starts from Aviemore to Boat of Garden to Broomhill.  As this
year is the 60 anniversary of Thomas the Tank Engine, "A day
go out the Thomas and his friend" are held all over UK.
The most exciting one is the one in Avimore as the original
steam engine will be painted as the real Thomas.  My kids are
the real fans of Thomas the Tank Engine.  My wife found the
news earlier by chance as she was surfing on the internet
trying to find a good hotel between Elgin and Edinburgh.
We were so excited that we book the tickets immediately.

Though the first train leave Avimore was 10:30, as we have
nothing to do, we left the hotel almost right after the breakfast.
It was quite a surprise when we entered the platform by 9:30 to
take Diesel and Edwin to see lots of different tank engines.

The REAL Thomas, (oops, sorry!  the FAKE maniacal Thomas!), arrived in the station by 10:20.  I have to admit that I am as excited as my kids when I saw the smiling face moving slowing to me.  The kids just can't wait and get on board immediately.  As the train move towards Boat of Garden, Sir Steinfenson walk along the train and say hello to every one.  The journey only last for 20 minuets and we have to change to Daisy to Broomhill. Broomhill was at nowhere but was famous as the shooting station for a BBC film, Monarch of the Glen.  They also have Percy stay by the platform for photos.  The kids took the train back and forth until 3:00 and we head back to the hotel and jump to the swimming pool directly.
 

July 11, 2005:  Aviemore – Tain – Elgin

Our plan today was to arrived Edinburgh before 2:00 to meet the other Taiwanese to go clay pigeon shooting.
I forget if I mentioned earlier that my trip is partially sponsored by Caldbecks Taiwan, a join venture of William Grant & Son and Bacard.  I should meet other people in the industry to "enjoy" three days of luxury tour. However, I got the call from Jamie, Glenfiddich brand manger of Taiwan, saying that they didn't leave Taiwan as most of the guests are scared of the London bombing on July 7th and she feel sorry about it but she has arrange the accommodation and the distillery tour for me. As I don't have the clay shooting in the afternoon, I changed my plan immediately and head north.

My first stop today was Tomatin.
Tomatin's tour doesn't get much positive point on the reviews.
However, I personally think it still worth a short stop because
of the friendly tour guide and visitor center workers. The tour is
free and starts with a well organized video, the most interesting
part in the video is it kept saying Tomatin sold quite well in
Gorden & MaphPhail and in Royal Mile Whisky, as if they are
afraid visitors take Tomatin as an un-famous single malt.
I was quite surprised to learn that Tomatin is the biggest
single malt distillery in terms of production volume. Our tour
doesn't go through the working process but we can at least
see the stills in a distance, though unable to take pictures.
After a detailed explanation, we move to a traditional dunnage
warehouse, especially prepared for the visitors, where you can
sit on casks of 1965 Tomatin for pictures and then smell it.
Oh! It smells so good. Our guide said they intend to let it mature
for a few more years and see if they can stand until 50 years old.

I was also very surprised to learn that Tomatin mainly use Sherry Cask to mature.
I quite doubt it as it has such high production volume and it is not possible to get all those sherry casks.  Another surprised was the fact the Tomatin said it was lightly peated but I can hardly feel it.  The tour guide said they also have some heavily peated ones but in a very small portion.  Then the kids are happy as they bought the highland cow toys while we enjoy our wee dram of:

Tomatin 12yo (40%, OB) - 83 points
Brown in color.  Quite sweet with a hint of smokeness.
Sherry influence a lot.  Some fruitiness, very easy yet strong body.
Balanced. Quite change my view about it!

We managed to arrive at Glenmorangie by 11:30, just in time
to join the 11:45 tour. The distillery tour costs 2.50 pounds but
the money is redeemable at the shop. The tour starts in the
Glenmorangie Museum by a film. Then our beautiful tour guide
showed is around the distillery. She was quite nervous as she
was new to the distillery. However, she still tried to answer our
questions and asked the stillman when she couldn't answer.
It is a pity that she can't talk more about their wood finish
strategy but as a newbie, she performs quite well. I also think
Glenmorangie is a very beautiful place for photography, I wish
I had more time here. Fortunately, I had my dram of:

Glenmorangie 15yo (43%, OB) - 84 points
Golden. Very Fruity. Citrus.  Light, yet elegant. Easy.
A little flowerish. Quite warm in the mouth.
Finished extremely long.  Adding water get some candy? 
I think it taste even better than the 18yo. Elegant yet powerful.

We then headed to Tain for lunch.
Tain is extremely quite, not as I thought, only a few teenagers walking on the streets.
Our lunch was at the Royal Hotel, it is probably the best lunch we had in Scotland, highly recommended. Our next stop is Dalmore.  Dalmore is locate on the Black Isle and can see lots of Oil Drills just beside the distillery. Dalmore is much more beautiful than I thought, probably because of the good weather. The tour is free and our tour guide lead us through every step and finally to see the unique pot still.  I think the shape makes Dalmore so unique. I don't quite like Dalmore but I do think Dalmore stand quite different then other distilleries, of course not because of the Oil Drill. I was quite surprise to learn that Dalmore was not peated at all. I mean, I can understand the sea influence but I think in old Dalmore there were some peat influence, but I am not that sure, probably because of the old Dalmore. The tour guide said they only uses gas in kilning, right now, no peat at all. Another surprise is the water coming from the stream just beside the distillery, it looks full of peat as it not that clear. I wonder if it contains some peat inside, this is also the question the guide can't answer..  As it's a private tour of my family, we had the chance to taste the new make, that's quite a plus.  The new make is very fruity and sweet, can't taste any peat at all for sure. And to speak honestly, it's quite nice and gentle. After go back to the shop, the children was given some apple juice while my wife and I enjoyed our dram of:

Dalmore 12yo (43%, OB) - 78 points
It contains 30% sherry cask and 70% bourbon cask. 
Nothing too special.  Very similar like what I remembered.

My wife actually believed Dalmore offers the best tour for our family, but I think it is partially because of the beautiful sunny day.  Something to notice, there were two special 12yo edition, one is Black Pearl and another is Black Isle. Both editions contains more sherry casks and has different label. The Black Pearl is all sold out and seems has no plan to bottle in the near future. I only got the Black Isle miniature back but not yet tasted.

Then we head to Elgin.  Our hotel tonight is the Mansefield Hotel.
Though I didn't meet other Taiwanese, I met Mr. Kevin Fong, the Regional Director of Asian Director of William Grant & Son. Kevin is based in Hong Kong but is a true Taiwanese. We had some delicious Angus beef in the Sunny Hill Hotel, not too far away. In fact, it's full of local people and seems to be the best restaurant in Elgin. It is the first time we met each other, we had some basic chat and head back to the hotel for some drinks. My first drink tonight was a:

Benrinnes 15yo (43%, Flora & Fauna) - 80 points
Clear yellow, quite smoky. Fruity, citrus! Malty. Quite simple but nice.

Along the drink, we had some serious discussion about the whisky industry. Kevin is quite a clever man and is pretty open-minded. He first comes touch the alcohol industry with beer than works for Chivas and Macallan in Taiwan (not directly). I heard about him before but I didn't know he works for William Grant & Son right now. He probably the one to create the boom of the whisky in the Taiwanese market. I was very surprised to know that he, as a marketing guy, is not that appreciate the single malt, I personally found that he may like beer more than single malt, but that does not effect his decision. He likes to talk with people like me to discover what we thought. However, it is also sad to found that he has already know all the answers I'd say. For him, it is more like to confirm and to remind him what he should do. He admit that as a marketing guy, also the directors in the board. He only look at the numbers, He decides the strategies to sell. And I believe the corporate need people like him, and he sure did a great job. BUT, that's not what I want. I would like to see a man with passion of single malt to run the business. But maybe, it will finally fall into the hand of multi-national groups. I truly appreciate that he takes time to discuss with me and thanks me for reminds him how good is their whisky.  He said, it is important for me, as a whisky lover to remind him about it, otherwise, he just forget how good is the product they have. It is also a little bit sad that I know he is probably the only one in the industry to be brave enough to admit the truth.

Anyway, it's quite a un-normal discussion. I asked Kevin if I'll have the chance to taste Kininvie?
He is not so sure as even for himself has only tried once before. But he mentioned that the new vatted malt "Monkey Shoulder", which just hit the London market two weeks ago, has the major portion comes from Kininvie. (People said it's a vatted malt and comes from the only three malt distilleries they have.)  I might got some feeling about it by tasting that one. Unfortunately, I didn't found any during my visit this time. Then Kevin was very kind to buy me a dram of:

Ladyburn 1973 (50.4%, OB, Cask #3200) - 83 points
According to MJ 5th edition, this one was released in year 2000 but not being shown on the label.
It's light yellow. Quite smoky at the first impression. Then pure maltiness. Actually very Lowland style for me.
A little bit simple, quite woody. It costs 35 pounds per dram, quite a collectors item.

As I taste the Ladyburn, the hotel owner came to chat with us as he was so bored to treat his old friend, Mr. Buxer, the one sell the canned soup and jam. Mr. Buxer brings some friends for dinner and even came out to chat with us for a while. The hotel owner (sorry don't have the name), found out that I am tasting the Ladyburn and start the chat, he later found out Kevin is a mechanic watch collector as him, then you know, I have no word to cut though. But lucky I was able to taste free for this:

Maphail's Malt Whisky '100 Centenary' 1995 (40%, G&M, bottled 10/10/1995) - 75 points
This comes in a Blue cermaic bottle. Sweet, easy, just a easy vatted malt comes from 100 distilleries.

Our pleasant time get even better when Kevin met Paul Ross, Martin Reimann and Hiro Miyamori. 
Paul and Martin are with Edrington Group, Paul is the Director of Sales and Marketing for most part of the world and Martin is the Regional Managing Director for Asia Pacific. They both are now taking care of the Suntory people lead by Hiro, who is the Import Executive GM of Suntory. Four of them are old good friends, Kevin used to be Maximm's Great China manager. (Maxxium is the sole agent for Edrington Group in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong.)  I was very surprised to learn that William Grant and Son now owns 30% share of Edrington group, while Suntory only got 20%. And the most interesting part is the Suntory group taking care by Paul and Martin tonight will be hand over to Kevin after tomorrow's lunch, and later on, the Suntory people will keep on their trip by visiting  Bowmore  I must say it is truly a "small industry", maybe a small world. In order to be a good host, Paul and Martin brings out 3 bottles of Macallan 1946. I must thank to the Suntory group that they are too tired to appreciate this old whisky.
They only drank half bottle and I have my wee dram of:

Macallan 52yo 1946 (40%, OB, Bottle #2516) - 90 points
Very smoky is the first impression, you can feel it is lightly peated. Paul told me that it comes from the time right after the WW II, when they have no gas to kiln. Thus back to that time Macallan is actually heavily peated. More over, you can see the color is only light yellow but remember, back to that time, they haven't use bourbon cask, the reason for the light colored sherry cask bottling is because Spain was in Civil War during the 1930s followed by WW II immediately. Thus, the distilleries simple do not have any new sherry butt to use. Any bottles comes from those years has similar situation. This is also the reason why most people can't accept the Thirties and Forties in the Macallan travel series.  Because they have tried to add peat in, and as a result, not too pleasant I must say. Very interesting story. As an 52yo malt, this one is a little bit over the best year but still quite pleasant. Smoky first, some creaming woodiness follows, then the cereal maltiness with some hint of apple fruit. But you can still feel some standard Macallan house style at the back.

What a Day!
 

July 12, 2005:  Elgin – Dufftown – Elgin

Glenfiddich sent a driver to pick me up at 9:30 from the hotel. This nice lady (sorry I forget to write down her name) often takes different people to the distillery. She particulary likes our fellow maniac Martin Nouet. She also mentioned that the famous Michael Jackson is a nice fellow, very kind and interesting. We had some quite pleasant talk along the way. She is also an Islay fan, and particular interested at my Bruichladdich Academy experience. My tour start at the VIP rooms, which has all of the core range product of William Grant and Sons. My guide Kyla (?, a strange name if my memory was right, an old lady) let me sit down and relax to enjoy some tea. We had some basic talk and then enjoyed my first dram of:

Glenfiddich 12yo 'Caoran Reserve' (40%, OB) - 83 points
This peated version was never shown in Taiwan. Kevin told me last night that they'll soon stop producing it as it's not performing good enough. This malt is actually peatier then I thought. Golden in color, quite standard citrus fruit with balanced peat influence. It also get some bitter peat feel in the palate. Adding water produces more fruit. Still quite 'Glenfiddich'.

We then head for the distillery tour. Glenfiddich is said to be the most visited distillery in Scotland. The tour is free, 40 guides are ready to set out anytime. The layout is very organized and covered all the process. I quite enjoyed the tour and certainly good for any level visitors. The distillery is large and clean. Even the mash tun and wash back installed a glass window with wipers to let you see through easily. And yes they still use direct firing for Glenfiddich, while using the extra heat from Glenfiddich to provide Balvenie.  But this is the part I don't quite understand, as it seems quite a long distance to transfer the steam from Glenfiddich to Balvenie.  Does not really make sense. It is also important to know that they use two different shapes of wash stills, then they mix the low wine receiving from the two stills to go through the same shape spirit stills. I think I need to do more homework for this part as it's new to me. Before we head to the Balvenie. I had a dram of:

Glenfiddich 15yo Solera Reserve (40%, OB) - 83 points
A normal wee dram should be 12yo but as I am the VIP, they take the 15yo out to end the tour.
Still quite enjoyable and easy drinking one.

It is interesting to know that no matter you are an employee or a visitor, you have to wear a safety vest to walk between the two distilleries. It is both for safety and for security, as there are so many visitors at the site any time. There are always someone trying to sneak into Balvenie, according to my guide. Balvenie is not doing floor malting during the summer. It is mainly because of the hot weather, it's very difficult to control the floor malting process and the fungus becomes very troublesome during this season . After a shot visit to the Balvenie still house, we head back to the store, where I manage to get my Vintage Cask 1971. It is a new release and selected by the old bond officer to thank him for the contribution of the article in the distillery book "Whisky Companion". As 1971 is my birth year, this is my target even before I leave home. Then we head back to the VIP room to have my final dram here.

Balvenie 1991 Portwood (40%, OB) - 83 points
This bottle replace the 1989 Portwood. Mild, quite clear port influence, sweet! But it has more clear fruity influence.
Adding water get more orange feel. Absolutely better than 1989 Portwood.

After I went back to Elgin, I finally has the chance to visit the famous Gordon & MacPhail store.
Although I know G&M start the business as a grocery store, I was still very surprise to see a comparing large portion of food sector in the store. The whisky shop was hidden at the back and contains far less bottles than I thought. However, I still manage to get 2 G&M Ardbeg miniatures to bring back. Since I still got some time after the shopping, I drive to Glen Moray. Glen Moray is actually located in the city. Nothing too much to mention except the shop provide quite some unique bottles. The guide explained quite clear but the visitors here seems quite advanced but has nothing too much to ask. It's quite like 'show me the place and that's all I need'. It's also interesting that my questions were answered by other visitors in the group, very unusual. I personally found it quite strange that the warehouse we visited was extreamly hot, unlike any other dunnage warehouse and it's the oldest one in the distillery. Probably because they changed the roof to be the normally plastic one. (I don't know the name in English.)  Not a good idea, some people told me it's because of the flood back in the 90s in Elgin, when Glen Moray lost most of their casks. I certainly don't know if it's true or not.  One thing further, the guide told me that the famous "Serendipity" was actually a real mistake. And it was really the Ardbeg 17yo which blend in, it's not a marketing trick. One thing I am not aware is that they claim to be a peat free malt as they only use steam in kiln. My free dram for the tour is:

Glen Moray 16yo (40%, OB) - 75 points
Quite robust as a 16yo malt. Not too pleasant and certainly too easy.

We had the dinner at the hotel restaurants, very normal and no wonder Kevin wanted to take us out for dinner last night. Although Mansefield Hotel has quite the first class design, the food is not good enough and there is a lack of waitresses. I certainly think they can improve this part to be the really first class hotel. My good night dram was:

Glengoyne 1969 Vintage Reserve (47%, OB, 2742 Bottles) - 91 points
Golden brown color. Smokey. A little pepper? Citrus fruit. Vanilla. Quite strong. Dry in palate and finish.
But finished long.  Extremely pleasant one. Very nice and enjoyable. Adding water gets more citrus.

BTW, Glenfiddich should only sponsored me for the accommodation for these two nights, but the hotel send all the bill to Glenfiddich even before I checked out. The bill contains a dinner with a bottle of wine and the Glengoyne 1969. I hope they won't be too angry when they received the bill.
 

July 13, 2005:  Elgin – Keith – Elgin

I decided to take the kids to see the dolphin. But before we drive out, we stopped by the Johnson's Cashmere.
The factory offers free tour to show you the process of making cashmere product, and it is much more fun for the kids then the distillery tours. The shops also provide quality product with discount. The beautiful Elgin cathedral located next to the factory is worth to stop by. We then went to the Moray Firth Wildlife Center, which is just at the Spey Bay, where the spey river reach the sea. I didn't expect this wild life center that wild. I though there were at least something easily to be seen. Lucky I brought two binoculars with me and I am still a birdwatcher after all. It is a quite nice spot for birdwatchers and according to the notes in the center, they also records dolphins almost everyday, but not yet this morning. We didn't have the chance to see the dolphin for our short stay, but the kids quite enjoyed the activity in the small center and they saw an osprey and see gulls when we are searching the dolphins. The road then lead us to Keith, where I finally saw Strathisla.

Strathisla looks just like the pictures but seems to be much smaller but more beautiful.
It is not the working season but they still offers tour to go through the whole process. My personal guide, Mathew, is doing a summer job here. He explained in detail and answers most of my question. Later I found out that his mother also works in Macallan as a tour guide for quite a long time. No wonder he is very familiar with this job. Strathisla's stills are to small to believe. The mash tun is the old fashion one just like the Bruichladdich's but with a cover. The ceiling in the sill house is wooden like a farm house and the still has almost reach the roof. The warehouse is just for demonstration purpose and contains more Chivas Brothers then single malt. I don't know if it is for real, because I saw the Chivas 100 cask, Chivas 50yo, Chivas 38yo etc. But as far as I know, they have all been bottled. So, what's left here is really a mystery. (Or maybe what's already bottled is a mystery? Or maybe the limited bottles are not limited?) The tour should have begun with a free Chivas 12yo and ends with Chivas 18yo. But I asked to change the Chivas 18yo to Strathisla 12yo. I also noticed that there were some cask strength bottles, which can only be bought at the distilleries, already opened in the tasting room. But I guess it is only for the VIPs and certainly I am not one of them.

Strathisla 12yo (40%, OB) - 74 points
I finally understand that the cream paper white label was actually bottled before 2002 and the printed-to-bottle one is bottled  after 2003.  This one is in golden brown color.  A little bit too sweet then the one in my memory, too much caramel in the mouth.  Finished long and complex.  But certainly not really too enjoyable for a Strathisla lover like me. Quite disappointing.

We then managed to get to Glen Grant right before the last tour. However, my little boy fell asleep but the elder one couln't get into the distillery with me. Thus, I can only take my daughter to the Glen Grant garden for a walk, while my wife stay in the car with the sleeping boy. This is a nice garden but you can hardly see any flowers. My daughter's impression about the GARDEN is full of flowers, thus she was quite disappointed about the walk. Though I can't get inside, I bought the miniature and had a small tasting section after went back to the hotel with these three drams;

Glen Grant NAS (40%, OB, miniature) - 76 points
Light yellow color. Vanilla. Citrus. A little bit light nut. Mild.
Some kind of flower. Adding water become very fruity and flowerish.

Strathisla 1985 (40%, G&M, miniature) - 81 points
Golden Brown. Quite mint feel at first with some sherry as well. A little bit orange at the back.
Tropical fruit, lightly peated? Finished mild. A little bit too weak in body just like all G&M bottles.

Glen Deveron 10yo (40%, OB, miniature) - 59 points
Brown. Very smoky, very peaty. Tropical fruit. Peat seems over powered and can hardly feel any other aromas.
Too nutty as well. Not balanced at all. Not a happy ending but I am too tired to have another drink.
 

July 14, 2005:  Elgin – Huntly – Craigellachie

I promised Kirsty of Duncan Taylor to visit their store this morning. Huntly is farther then I thought. I didn't meet Kirsty as she was sick and had to stay at home. Hope she'll get well soon. Nathalie is taking care of the store as I walk in, she just met Serge in the Vinexpo. I found out the price here is about 50% cheaper than in Taiwan, too bad I don't have room for these bottles, can only take some miniatures with me. Didn't hear any news this time. Nathalie took a picture for us and post on their website. We then had quite a good time in the Huntly Castle. The castle is quite old but you can climb up to see most of the main structure. The kids kept asking me why there is no prince and princes in the castle? Umm, very hard question for me.

Our appointment at the Macallan is 2 o'clock in the afternoon. As I mentioned the visit to Paul and Martine on Monday. They arranged the visit to be free and left me a bottle of 12yo Fine Oak and a Macallan watch. That's really a surprise to me. It is quite a pity that Macallan is in maintenance and can't get inside. However, we still being able to have a sneak view outside the still house. The coppersmith is changing part of a still. The still is truly quite small no wonder they have to decrease the bottling as I have no idea how they can meet the huge demand in Taiwan, not too mention all over the world. One thing quite nice in Macallan is that you'll be able to see the Golden Promise barley right after you drive in. It's quite a view as I can already see some crops on it. The tour contains a vertical tasting. And the VIP tasting room is just besides the Master's tasting room. You can see Master Bob working inside while we are doing the tasting. Poor Bob, but it's quite unique experience.

Macallan New Make Spirit
Very fruty and very oil. Very thick in body. This is the second time I taste the new make of Macallan. I think this batch is much better the one I tasted earlier in Taiwan. I am much convinced by today's sample for the statement that "Macallan only use 16% of the process to be the middle cut." This statement was mentioned in every Macallan advertisements in Taiwan.

Macallan 12yo Sherry Oak (40%, OB) - 80 points
A little bit better than my last tasting.  Seems from a better batch.

Macallan 15yo Fine Oak (43%, OB) - 85 points
Still quite pleasant, a little chocolate with lot's of fruits.

Macallan 18yo Sherry Oak 1986 (43%, OB) - 83 points
This one performs much better than my last tasting. I found I scored it quite low during the MM awards.
Maybe it's because of the sample I got, I don't know.

Macallan 25yo Sherry Oak (43%, OB) - 86 points
Quite complex and mature.  We didn't have it in the awards.
But this is as good as the Fine Oak 25yo.

Macallan 30yo Fine Oak (43%, OB) - 84 points
This is the one we had in the MM awards. Taste much better then last time, but I still prefer the 25yo.
And I still think this one contains much more sherry casks then bourbon ones.

I called Charles MacLean after I check in the Craigellachie Hotel. Charlie told me he was standing in the middle of the Spey fishing. We conclude that we can have a dram before the dinner at the famous Quaich Bar. It is quite an honor to meet Charlie. He is not only a malt maniac, but also the whisky writer I respect the most. The new whisky manager of the hotel, Martin Markvardsen, saw Charlie coming in and treated us with two generous drams of the Whisky of the Month. (This is new for the Craigellachie Hotel this year that hotel guests can enjoy the legendary whisky at 35 pounds per dram.)

Springbank 35yo 1952/1987 (45.5%, Cadenhead, dumpy bottle) - 92 points
Martin found out there were only 84 bottles released that time. Golden color. Very nice old nose. Not exactly like the other old Springbanks but still quite nice. Some paper, even rice. Very flowerish, ripe flower. Charlie and I thought it comes from a refill sherry cask but later he and Martin can't really be sure about it. Some influence from the sea. Very pleasant and certainly even more enjoyable to have it with Charlie.

Martin just becam the whisky manager this month. I've learned about the news from Malt's L. This is a new position after the left the famous Duncan Elphick. Martin certainly has lot's plans in mind. He plans to bottle more hotel bottles, but in a "bastard" malts way.  The most recently one should be a young Mortlach. He also plans to increase the bar collection to add in most of the old Duncan Tayler bottles. Wow, that really amazing, the Quaich Bar has now over 500 bottles and he plans to increase at least 200 more. One thing more interesting is the possibility to have the Craigellachie Whisky School. In his plan, it will be a week program and has the chance to work in difference distilleries each day. Martin just received three work-in-process cask samples from Glengoyne, which is quite a surprise to Charlie and me because all three are finished versions. These three samples are from Madeira, Rum, and Port Finish, age unknown. I must be honest that I found myself getting hard to like wood finish as time goes by. The Port and Madeira Finish perform quite well, adding the necessary flavors in to increase the complexity. However, the Rum Finish is quite robust and almost just like pour in some Rums directly. Charley believes the best is the Port one while the worst is the Madeira one. We had some quite nice chat for half an hour. Thanks Charlie.

The dinner at the Craigellachie Hotel is still served in the traditional way (maybe?). They want you order the menu up at the bar or library while you can have some drinks, then guide you down to the base floor to sit. This must be the western way, but with kids, it certainly quite difficult for us. The kids were so happy to run and difficult to calm down. But I believe most other people enjoy it!??  Besides this small complain, I like the food very much. Very nice food and service. We've tried almost all the dishes in the menu during our stay. All very delicious. The Craigellachie Hotel also offers a public computer, which has internet access. Although I have world internet access, I didn't release that the telphone plug is different in UK. Thus, I've been out of connection from the e-mail for several days. While I was happy to get connected again, Martin served me Luc's Glenfarclas bottle. Quite a surprise. Thanks Luc.

Glenfarclas 42yo 1959/2002 'Christmas Day' (46%, OB, 96 Bottles) - 94 points
Brown. Very nice nose, heavily sherried. Quite clear mint and flower. Strong body and complex.
A little bit salty. The best malt I've tasted during the trip.

And before I went back to bed, one last dram;

Ardbeg Provenance 1974/2000 (55%, OB) - 92 points
Quite lovely nose. Very Peaty. Nice sherry balance. Sweet. Some interesting pepper?
Then flower. Finished long. Not as strong as I thought, but still a very nice Ardbeg bottle.
 

July 15, 2005:  Craigellachie

With the help of our Mr. Glanfarclas, Luc Timmermans, we had a VIP tour in Glenfarclas with George Grant, the sixth generation of the family. George picked us up at ten o'clock. We thought we can go somewhere else but it is obvious that we were too tired and we woke up too late to do anything else but only the delicious breakfast. (Note: you can't miss the delicious smoked fish, only for breakfast.)  George is quite a nice young man, a little bit shy, but showed us great hospitality. I was quite surprise to know he actually lived in Hong Kong for two years to help expend the far eastern business. And the great news that he'll get married with a Chinese girl, Stephanie, within two weeks. (Congratulations, George! Hope you like the wedding gift I sent after I came back home.)

We stop by the visitor center to see the famous ship room first, then go through a quick distillery tour.
Two things impressed me the most.  The first thing is that George stopped by a "window", which can see through the original stone wall. (Too bad I forget to take a picture.)  George told me this WAS his favorite part of the distillery before UK entered EU.  After that, all the distillery need to fit the EU industrial safety regulations and they have to put cement on the surface of the original stone wall.  It's quite a pity but I can see George's feeling about the distillery through it.  Another interesting thing is the "chain" inside the still.  We all know that Glenfarclas is very famous for it's direct firing still.  It is one of the few distilleries still using direct firing stills and is the only one tried to shift to indirect firing but shift back.  As it is off-season in Glenfarclas, we can watch inside the stills easily.  George wants us to look at the special "chain" beside the wall.  Because of the direct firing, the liquid inside will easily get sticky and the "chain" stirs around to prevent sticky. 

Then, we went to the VIP tasting room, where the kids had some cokes while my wife and I enjoyed these wonderful drams:

Glenfarclas 10yo (40%, OB) - 83 points
This is new to me, not too surprise, but quite nice and complex.

Glenfarclas 105 (60%, OB, Bottled 2004) - 90 points
I liked it a lot. I even gave it two points higher then in the 2004 MM awards.
George was so happy as this is the first bottling that he blended. Good job!

Glenfarclas 21yo (43%, OB) - 84 points
Not particular impressed. Same score as before.

Glenfarclas 30yo (43%, OB) - 88 points
Seems better than I tasted last time. But I heard from some local importer that they don't like the new batch.

Glenfarclas 50yo WIP - 90 points
Will be bottled in September as a 50yo single cask. Possible retailing price at around 1,950 pound.
Very nice, powerful. Complex. Can't believe it's a 50yo malt. Even better than that "a whisky that can't be named".
I ordered one immediately. Same price as Luc, Thanks, Luc.

Glenfarclas 40yo (43%, OB) - I think it over 90 for sure
As I've just had 50yo, I think it's not right to score 40yo, I bottled most of them back but from nosing.

George was very nice to buy us a dinner at a small Inn nearby. Although I know the place very well, but forget to write down the name. I heard it's a place for fishers. But it nice and clean. Food is delicious. After the lunch, we drove to Cardhu just for some pictures. It's quite interesting to see some of the directions in Cardow while some changed back to Cardhu. Then we visited the Speyside Cooperage. It probably good for the ones who want to see coopers' work. But it is kind of boring for me. The kids like it though. For those who'd like to see the real coopers' work might want to pay a visit.

We then paid a visit to the nearby Highlander Inn, where the famous Duncan Elphick just acquired last month.
Almost everyone I met talked about Duncan left Craigellachie Hotel and start his own business. It is too bad that I can't stay in the Craigellachie Hotel when he's still there. But nothing really changed during the past one month, maybe later. When I visited the Highlander Inn's bar, Duncan was not there. I later found out he was in London for the interview with Michael Jackson. Michael would like to write a new book (or an article, I am not that sure) about the barman. Duncan is sure to be the most important one. Anyway, I still have a dram at the bar with a little bit talk to the famous Japanese barman, Tatsuya Minagawa. He's such a nice and kind guy.  No wonder everybody likes him. He said he's not going to build a same bar as the Quaich Bar. They are going to increase the malt collection to around 200. But all are valued choice but good one. Tatsuya said when he worked in the Quaich Bar, some of the collectors bottles were never being ordered.  He want to have something really for drink. I like that. I had a dram of Ardbeg Uigedail at 2.50 pound, I think it's very local price. It's really a bar for everyone. Looking forward to visit the hotel next year. And the good thing I learned from the new whisky manger Martin is that he believes there is enough room in Speyside for two different style bar. He actually still goes to Highland Inn every other day for dinner. Duncan and Martin are good old friends. No need to compete each other.  Martin actually told me it's all by mistake back to the possibility of changing ownership of the Craigellachie Hotel. Martin actually tried to persuade the possible new owner to keep the Quaich Bar and Duncan. But the possible new owner said he's buying the hotel, not the bar. And his new plan does not have Duncan. When it turns out that there would be no change of ownership, it is too late for the old owner, Mr. Gabriel to keep Duncan and Tasuya.

Right before the dinner, we were invited to join the sneak preview of the "Artist in Residency" in Glenfiddich. This is the fourth year of the event and is the first time to have Taiwanese Artist in the event. Our Taiwanese Artist, Hui-chiao Chen was a talented girl and makes good friends with everyone in the distillery. But to speak honest, I really can't understand her work. Others' OK.
My good night dram was:

Balvenie 32yo 1964/1996 Vintage Cask (46.4%, Cask #8997, 158 Bottles) - 90 points
The most expensive dram I had in my life, 95 pounds. But it's a must have as I've looking for this bottle for quite a long time. I only know there is a 1964 but never being able to know the details, not to mention the photo. It's golden brown color. Very lovely as the first impression. Warming. Orange and cereal malt. Even a little bit like refill sherry? But not so sure. Remind me old Springbank, don't know why. Salty? Why? Still very Balvenie. Powerful. Finished long.

As I was enjoying my Balvenie 1964, Mr. Hans Offringa came in with his son. They just have a trip along Islay, west coast, Orkney then finished here. The Barman Morton(?) introduced us and we chatted a little bit about his trip. Very nice guy. (And his 18yo son really looks much older. I can feel he's really proud of his son.)
 

July 16, 2005:  Craigellachie – Tomintoul – Aberlour – Craigellachie

Don't get me wrong, I didn't go for the distillery tour all day. We went to Tomintoul for the annual Highland Game. It is actually not too far from Craigellachie to Tomintoul. However, what we didn't realize is that the Highland Game start from one o'clock in the afternoon.  We arrived Tomintoul at 10:00. It was very quiet and we don't see any muscle men on the streets. After consult with an old man. We realize that the "pipe band" will march along the main streets and have the performance on the town center square. It is very exciting when we see the band march in. It is a pity that I knows very little about the tradition. The only thing I know is that Tomintoul is probably the oldest town to hold the Highland Game in Scotland. And that is also the reason they'll have a large pipe band to start every year.

We had a quiet lunch at the famous local restaurant "the clock tower", very delicious ground beef burger.
Then, the kids go with my wife to see the Game, while I stopped at the Whisky Castle for some quick shopping. The shop owner Mike and Cathy were also in the Feis Ile 2004. He brought back the Ardbeg Feis Ile bottle. I was very happy to see that one as I left earlier last year and can't get it. We chat a little bit and he was very kind to have everyone in the shop to try this nice Port Ellen.

Port Ellen 21yo 1982/2004 (40%, McGibbon's Provenance Autumn, Cask Ref 476, Sherry Cask) - 85 points
Quite standard Port Ellen while a little bit thin. Only slightly sherried.
Medium peat level. Fruity. Weak in finish, but still very nice.

The kids enjoyed the Game fair quite a lot.
It is a pity that we can't stay all day. I reserved the Aberlour tour in the afternoon.
I went to the tour by myself while my kids are playing at the nearby playground. My tour guide Dennies is very experienced. He is probably the best tour guy I met during the tour this time. He knows a lot about the distillery, he loves whisky, and he is fun. I didn't know Aberlour is the best selling single malt in France and Dennies said it is because of Aberlour to attract Penold Ricard step into the whisky industry. Maybe it's true. Maybe. The tour start with a film and a brief introduction. Then we go through the distillery and finally stop at the warehouse No. 1 tasting room, where we have the vertical tasting:

Aberlour New Make (63.5%)
More nutty then other new make I had before.  Robust! Very big.

Aberlour 12yo 1993/2005 (59.1%, OB, Cask #1643, Warehouse No. 1 for distillery visitor only) - 89 points
This is a first fill bourbon barrel. Very fruity. Vanilla, mint, sweet. Mild but finished lovely.
Very nice and enjoyable one.

Aberlour 13yo 1992/2005 (60.4%, OB, Cask #918, Warehouse No. 1 for distillery visitor only) - 88 points
Dark brown, First fill sherry butt.  Clear, quite sherry.  Lot's fruit, , very chocolate in palate.  Woodiness finish.

Aberlour 10yo Double Matured (40%, OB) - 75 points
I learned that the words double matured actually means marrying not finish here.
Caramel sweet. Not good. Adding water get some citrus. Weak.

Aberlour 16yo Double Matured (43%, OB) - 80 points
A little bit better, not too surprised.

Aberlour A'bunadh Batch #14 (59.5%, OB) - 85 points
Golden brown. Very pleasant. Fresh and dried fruit. Very spicy. Mellow.
And nice flowerish. It is said that each batch comes from 50 casks.

I then bottled my only bottle from the sherry butt #918. I actually like the bourbon barrel better but at the same price, I'll take the sherry one. Just before the dinner, I found Hans to have him signed his new book for me. And I also got the honor to meet the hotel owner, Mr. Soren Gabriel, and had a dram of:

Glen Moray 26yo 1978/2004 (57.6%, OB, Cask #7765, 180 Bottles, for Craigellachie Hotel) - 90 points
This is a bourbon cask, very fruity. Vanilla, citrus. Adding water taste better. Very strong and robust one.
Unlike it's age. Very different from the normbal OB.

After the dinner, Martin called to my room and asked if I'd like to go to the Glenfiddich beach party.
That's new to me as we are far away from the sea. It turns our that the beach refers to the Glenfiddich bank.
The set up a big fire to celebrate the finish of the "Artists in Residency." It is supposed to be only for the distillery workers and their friends. I was very lucky to sneak in with Martin and to meet with Ian Millar and Jens Tholstrup. Ian told me he'll visited Taiwan next month and would like to meet with our club members that time. (And lucky that I actually tasted Glenfiddich 40yo and 1937 later in Taiwan.)  It's nice, quiet and beautiful. Before it's going to rain Martin and I stopped by the Fiddichside Inn to chat with the old couples (Dorothy? and her husband).  Dorothy took over the inn from her parents, she only left the place for one month during her life.  It was back to the time that during the war. She joined the army for a short time as a nurse and met her husband. They two soon came back and have taken over the inn since then. This is an old fashioned one and according to Martin, reminds you the old times. It would not be the same if Dorothy was not in charge, said Martin. I totally agree. We had a dram of:

Linkwood 12yo (43%, Flora & Fauna) - 84 points
Still nice and easy in this warm bar.
 

July 17, 2005:  Craigellachie – Ballindalloch Castle- Glenlivet – Kingussie

It is finally time to head south. Since we have nothing to do for Sunday morning. We let the children play at the nearby grass ground for a while, a lovely sunny day. We stopped by the Ballindalloch Castle on the way to Glenlivet. Ballindalloch Castle has been one the TV for several times. It's more like a big mansion and I must say they are very rich. The kids actually like their fancy toy truck better then the tour in the house.

We stopped at the beautiful Livet side to take some pictures about an old bridge.
The Glenlivet distillery does not open until 11:00 on Sunday morning. The distillery has some highland cows and some cute ducklings, a plus for traveling with family like me. The tour is short and very basic. Our tour guide does not talk too much and knows very little. I found a set of stills outside slight different than most of the sets inside. She was very honest to say she didn't even notice about it.  Our trip ends in the visit of the modern racked warehouse. Quite a surprise as almost every distillery tried to show dunnage warehouse to visitors. It is even surprise when I saw several 1962 and 1968 casks there. The guide said it will be bottled later this year. Come on, give me a break. I just heard the 1964 is the oldest Glenlivet so far. Are you going to say the same words again within one year? But generally speaking, a nice short tour for a tired person like me.

Glenlivet 15yo French Oak Reserve (40%, OB, new label 2005) - 78 points
Very sweet, easy. Very fruity. Not really my style.

BTW, the café is actually very nice. Just like what's shown on most reviews.
We kept driving south, seeing many distilleries. Tired of getting out just for a picture, but I was very surprised to see the beautiful Tormore, not open to the public. Pity! We stayed for a night at this small town of Kingussie. This is famous for summer vacation. For us, just a place to stay. Our hotel, the Scot House Hotel, is also famous for the 2 roses restaurant. However, they just change the ownership. Although it's very clean and easy, the new owner still not familiar with the hotel, still has lot's things to learn.
My good night dram at the room;

Glenlivet 35yo 1968/2004 (40.1%, Duncan Taylor, miniature) - 78 points
Golen, lot's of vanilla. Very few citrus. Weak body. Medium finish. Gone. Too old.
 

July 18, 2005:  Kingussie – Edinburgh

Left this small quiet town. Not too far away is the Scotland's highest distillery, Dalwhinnie.
Right after entering the distillery, my wife asked me what's for the two large oak cask outside the still house.
It looks very similar like the mash tun but it can't be. I have a guess of some water tank. Close, but wrong, it's actually the worm tub again, acting as a condenser. Our guide showed us through the distillery quick, but quite covers all the questions. I was very stupid to asked the question when I found they are using liquid yeast like Glenfiddich. I asked why are they choose liquid yeast when most distillery use powder forms. The guide answered interesting: they choose liquid because they found it's performs better, and NO most distilleries use liquid because all Diageo distilleries use liquid. How stupid I am! And I found out most of the distilleries I visited are not under Diageo, that's the reason. Because Diageo is too big and do not really promote their single malt distilleries.

I was also very surprised to learn that Dalwhinnie only has one set of stills. The guide also mentioned that when encountered the high temperature like last week, the worm tub does not work very well, they have to slow down the distilling process and keep pumping water into the worm tub. But generally speaking, it works well most of the time as being the highest distillery in Scotland, the temperature is quite low most of the time. I personally not quite convince about the statement. I think it would be interesting to compare the summer spirit to winter one, but could never being able to find the answer. Another interesting finding: there is a Classical Mat map put on the wall of the warehouse we visited at the end. The Dalwhinnie bottle on it is the Centenary bottling (1983/1998), I later found it costs 300 pounds! The free dram:

Dalwhinnie 15yo (43%, OB, white label, Old) - 85 points
Still very pleasant, fruity. Lots of vanilla. Medium to strong body. Seems better then new label.

I also found some interesting bottles here. The most interesting one is the miniature set of the Classical Malts.
Most of the labels are the old ones. Quite collector's items. We then drive directly to Glenturrent, mainly for the Famous Grouse. My wife and the kids just love the lovely grouse. Though I don't drink it, I just love the cute commercials. I didn't go through the distillery tour, but I take lots of photos. I even bought a DVD of all the Grouse commercials, not to mention 15 Grouse chocolate as gift to friends. Before we drive back to Edinburgh, we stopped by at the Tullibardine shop for a quick visit. I must admit that after one week of distillery tours, I was really tired of going inside. Tullibardine attract me because of the idea to co-op with a shopping center. However, I was very disappointed to find the shopping center is still under construction. Only Tullibardine and a sport shop is open. But I think it will be a hit in the future. The visitor center/shop idea is unique and I quite like the atmosphere.

We return our VW Passat before checking the hotel. Our hotel in Edinburgh is the Holyrood Apartment Hotel. This is a two bedroom apartment, with wireless internet access. Thank God! I'm finally back to the modern world. The original idea was to buy some food in so we can cook by ourselves for these two days. However, we are kind of tired and decided to leave the kitchen alone and get out for dinner. However, we didn't expect that not every restaurant can take children. Most of the bars do not even apply for the license to take kids. But we finally managed to find an Irish Bar good for the family. Crowded, smoky, but good food and not expensive (don't remember the name). My goodnight dram:

Glenturret 10yo (40%, OB, miniature) - 76 points
Vanilla, Caramel, some citrus. Very nutty in palate. Light body. Finish weak. Easy.
Not too bad but lack of personality. Adding water get more pleasant citrus.

Tullibardine 1993 (40%, OB, miniature) - 69 points
Golden brown. Grassy. Woody. Not balanced. Simple. I don't like it.
 

July 19, 2005:  Edinburgh

Our original plan was to go out as early as we can. But it seems everybody was quite tired, we didn't get out until 10:30. We took the sightseeing bus around the city and left at the Edinburgh Castle before noon for the 1 o'clock canon firing. It is said to be a tradition for the sailors to check the time. Edinburgh Castle is full of tourists. We looks around for a while, the kids are happy but do not really interested at the museum inside. We left the castle and went for the lunch at the Tower restaurant. This restaurant is located at the top floor of the Scottish Heritage Museum. It offers European cuisine with some influence from Asian. And here, I experience the most sweet highland water I had so far, the Finlays. We then went to the Children's Museum , here you can see lot's of antique toys for free. The children just love it. A very good place for family travel.

It is also a surprise that the Cadenhead Edinburgh was located very close to my hotel. I was very exciting to see the famous Springbank 1919 OB priced at 14,000 pounds. Our dinner is very international: pizza. My goodnight dram:

Glenlivet 12yo French Oak Finish (40%, OB) - 78 points
Brown, nice first impression. Easy. Similar like the 15 French oak, no finish in throat. Sweet.

This is a strange ending when I look back, the only reason for choosing this one is because I don't have enough box space for this miniature to bring back home. And it is true that I am too tired to try serious drams at this moment. It seemed a good choice to take the Glenlivet.
 

July 20, 2005:  Edinburgh – London – Hong Kong – Taipei

Last day for the vacation. Only for some shopping, then went to the Dynamic Earth Museum.
Very good museum but not good for my kids as they were scared of the loud sounds. One last thing to say: for only one year, the London Heathrow Airport changed the way they put single malts. It used to put by group, right now, they are decorated by area first then from a to z. It is quite a large change and also you can see some of the very rare bottles like Laphroagi 40yo, Dalmore Black Pearl and Highland Park Vintages 1968 and 1977.

Happy vacation!

Ho-cheng; safely back in Taiwan
 

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E-pistle #16/06 - FWP; The Final Chapter (?)
Submitted on 07/09/2005 by Johannes van den Heuvel, Holland

Well, to tell you the truth I didn't really believe that the 'FWP Wrap-Up' would
be the last we'd write on the topic after Dave's Lavender Lament E-pistle put
things into perspective. I've received a lot of responses from 'the public' and if
it wasn't for the fact that this first page of MM#16 is nearly full I would have
published a lot more than the following contributions from Andrew Derbidge
and Jesper Hulten who already joined an earlier discussion on the topic.

Andrew: I was very interested to read Dave's FWP report.  I've been very
involved in fostering discussions at Whisky Magazine about the phenonomen.
The only problem for me is that there is still one thing that is somewhat
unexplained:  Bowmore FWP bottlings have been reported widely in almost
all countries......except Australia. To the best of my knowledge (and perhaps
Craig can comment on this), I know of only one reported instance of an FWP
Bowmore in Australia.  Not unlike Craig, I am regularly in touch with many,
many dedicated malt drinkers and Islay fans all over Australia, and I would
regularly enquire as to whether anyone encountered FWP.  Again, I only
ever heard about one single bottling. Another colleague at the Whisky Mag
site wondered whether it could be possible that the general Australian nose
and palate was just "used" to FWP and/or didn't find it offensive.
As part of an exercise in "research", he sent me a sample bottle of Bowmore
Darkest which he purchased in Belgium, and which he believed was horribly
FWP-tainted.  I collaborated with a few fellow Bowmore fans here in Sydney
to taste the sample and determine whether or not we felt it had FWP.
 
I wrote a report for this exercise and posted it on the Whisky Magazine forum website.
Since it's directly relevant, I've included it in hereunder.
 
Some background first: A few years ago, a couple of Bowmore fans in the USA (members of the PLOWED mob) noticed that one or two bottlings of Bowmore suddenly had a very pronounced and unpleasant perfumey nose that was completely contrary to the delicious and fragrant Bowmore nose that all loved and adored. This phenomenon was a varied and inconsistent affair, turning up in random and varied expressions. The PLOWED guys coined the term FWP (French Whore's Perfume) to describe the phenomenon, and it has now fallen into common usage amongst internet-using whisky enthusiasts, (i.e. we here at the Whisky Magazine forum, Malt Maniacs, etc, etc). FWP-tainted Bowmores appear to be restricted to the official distillery bottlings. As far as I am aware, none of the independent bottlings have been accused or suspected. Now for my money, Bowmore has always had a fragrant, floral nose. Being a generally less heavily peated malt than some of its Islay colleagues, these floral, fragrant notes stand out from the peat, giving it an altogether different nose to, say, Lagavulin or Laphroaig.
 
In the last 12-18 months, several people were contributing to these pages and either querying or confirming an overly perfumed nose they'd experienced on their most recent Bowmore purchase. It appeared to be an international affair, with accused bottles turning up in the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland, and several European countries, (i.e. Belgium, etc). International, that is, except for Australia. I posted numerous times that neither myself, nor any of the serious whisky drinkers I knew in Australia had come across a tainted bottle. We are all very familiar with what overseas drinkers were referring to, but no one here seemed to be unfortunate enough to purchase a tainted bottle.
 
With this in mind, Tom, our Belgium correspondent and active Whisky Mag contributor, approached me and put forward a theory: Could it be that we here in Australia have been drinking FWP-tainted Bowmores, and simply not known it? Could it be that we are so accustomed to it, that we just accept that this is what Bowmore smells and tastes like? Could it be that our geographical isolation and southern hemisphere upbringing has instilled in our nostrils and tastebuds a different tolerance to perfumed whiskies? Tom had a bottle of Bowmore Darkest which he believed was FWP-tainted. As far as Tom was concerned, the bottle was undrinkable, and, in order to research his theory, Tom kindly sent me a 200ml sample from his bottle of Darkest. Coincidentally, I had recently finished a bottle of Darkest. My mission, therefore, was to explore this Belgium-purchased Darkest, and advise whether its characteristics were any different to the Bowmores I was familiar with. In other words, "Do you find this as undrinkable as I do?"
 
The sample bottle arrived, and I immediately "researched" the contents. On first impressions, the nose revealed an out-of-balance sherry trait, and perhaps a little sulphur. However, the peat was there, other aspects of the nose appeared to be in order, and there was nothing offensive in the nose. It certainly was not perfumed or over the top. So on to the palate. Again, it struck me as being poorly balanced. Bowmore Darkest is not what it used to be, and I suspect the quality of the casks being used for the sherry finish has deteriorated significantly since the expression was first launched. However, it was still drinkable!
 
Then something strange happened. It was the early evening, and I stopped for dinner. I followed dinner with a sweet dessert. Later in the evening, about two hours or so after my last visit, I poured a fresh dram to investigate the whisky further. The nose was still as it was before….poorly balanced, a little harsh and sulphury, but no soap or perfume. Then I swallowed. This is where it got interesting….suddenly, the whisky seemed awfully metallic, and the aftertaste on the finish was horribly bitter. Unpleasantly bitter. I don't know whether or not this was because of the sweet dessert my tastebuds had previously enjoyed or not, but nonetheless, the whisky was not a pleasant tasting experience.
 
Over the next few nights, I experimented a few more times – drams before dinner, drams after dinner, fresh palate, tired palate, etc, etc. After a week, I concluded as follows:
 
* There is nothing too unpleasant or overly perfumed about the nose. No hints of soap, or cheap whore's perfume. (Or expensive whore's perfume!). The nose had hints of acetone, and other sharp notes that suggested poor sherry wood.
 
* The palate is not good, but it is drinkable. The sherry is out of balance, lacquered on like a false coat of paint, and the malt is lost behind it. Good Bowmores still have a malty base that integrates well with the peat, but this is not a good Bowmore.
 
* FWP? I don't think so. When the term first came into use, before knowledge of it became widespread, people complained mostly of a horrible nose, overly perfumed or soapy. This whisky did not have those characteristics. I'm a big fan of Bowmore, and it can be a floral whisky, but this was just a very bad bottle, due – I suspect – to very poor use of sherry. Given that the whisky is a no-age-statement, I also strongly suspect that there is a fair portion of young whisky in there. I base this suspicion on the harsher, volatile, metallic elements in the flavour profile.
 
Okay, those were my thoughts. But what about testing it with other knowledgeable palates? About a week later, I served some samples to two colleagues whose palates I greatly respect. One is the Laird of my whisky appreciation club, the other is an accomplished chef, food & spirit critic, and also the Australian Ambassador of the Islay Whisky Club. I did not tell them what they were drinking, so their reactions were not affected by personal bias or preconceived ideas. Both men agreed that it was not a particularly good whisky. Neither commented on the nose being anything special or out of the ordinary, although both were unimpressed with the palate. One, in particular, thought the palate was a little harsh and unpleasant. Most importantly of all though, neither commented on the nose being perfumy, soapy, or unpleasant. When I revealed that the whisky was a Bowmore, one was nonchalant, the other was surprised, e.g. "Bowmores are usually so much better than this!" We then discussed FWP in the context of what we'd just tasted, and came to the following verdict: No FWP, just a poor Bowmore.
 
So, what does this mean then? May I offer the following thoughts:
 
* I believe FWP does exist. I have no doubt that some people have experienced it, and it is a problem that Bowmore have to address. (Attempts by some to discuss the issue with the distillery have been met with denial).
 
* It is clear that Bowmore are bottling some pretty poor whiskies in some of their expressions. Having said that, in the last few months I have had generous tastings of Legend, 12yo, 17yo, and Dawn, and I found all four of these to be either good or fantastic whiskies. My last bottle of Darkest was poor, and certainly the bottle of Darkest that Tom sent me was very poor.
 
* As a distillery per se, Bowmore does not deserve the flak it receives. I regularly taste a lot of independent bottlings of Bowmore, and they are nothing less than absolutely stellar Islay whiskies. They are clearly capable of producing some bloody good whisky. I do not know why some of their official bottlings have been poor lately, but I suspect they face the same pressures and problems that many other distilleries face in trying to produce a consistent product.
 
* Some people have obviously purchased and tasted some of these poorer bottlings, and – together with the signature floral nose that some Bowmores exhibit – have concluded that FWP is the problem. In other words, people are assuming their bottle is FWP-tainted, when it isn't really….it's just poor whisky.
 
* Tom and I have discussed my thoughts prior to me posting this, and it seems we agree on the conclusion. No doubt some here will read all of this and dispute my thoughts, and that's okay…..we're all entitled to our opinion. However, I would like to state that I believe everyone involved in this particular experiment has been objective and rational about it, and – as the saying goes – the proof is in the pudding!
 
My personal thanks go to Tom for conceiving the idea, and for sending me the sample bottle to try.
If anyone else has a bottle of Bowmore that they believe is FWP-tainted, I would welcome them to contact me and we can widen the research….hopefully for the benefit of everyone!

Dave: Thanks for the posting. Quick responses.
 
1) Everyone's nose is different. We are all sensitive to a greater or lesser degree to specific aromas. In wine, for example, my wife is brilliant at detecting TCA at very low levels, she's less sensitive to sulphur .. which I get. Perhaps I am sensitive to perfume. Other people aren't. This isn't good or bad tasting, this is physiological reality. This is also why it is best to taste in a group.
 
2) Everyone's memories are different, therefore everyone's smell associations will be different.
I get lavender, you get violet. Fine. The trick is to know what it means.
 
3) With the greatest respect, a sample of one bottle does not make a scientific experiment! A bottle of finished product where the problem may be masked is hardly the best one to analyse either! A whisky with younger elements in the vatting (which as we know aren't tainted) isn't the right one either. If you want to prove it doesn't exist (and I'm unclear whether Admiral is saying it does or doesn't exist) then you'll have to be a lot of in-depth than that: a range of bottlings from owner and IBs and samples from Glen Garioch.
 
I've been noting this aroma in samples dating back many years. I've got it in cask samples drawn from the barrel in front of my eyes. It exists. I too like Bowmore. I like the people at  Bowmore and I think that some (past and present) have been unfairly castigated for this problem which I believe was sorted a long time ago. Why can't people appreciate this simple fact? It was a batch problem and that batch is moving through the system. Looking for it where it doesn't exist and saying there's no grounds for concern is ridiculous. The fact remains it is there and therefore it is worthy of discussion.
 
I don't mean to seem brusque and apologies if this seems tetchy. Up to my eyes in work...

Lawrence : Great perspective on the post Dave.
You are correct, one sample bottle does not give an accurate picture of a problem. I think we all like Bowmore and in the void of the silence from the distillery I think it's natural for people to find out what has happened to the whisky. As you said, it's there and thus woorthy of dicussion. Quite frankly if this had happened with Caperdonich I don't think anybody would have really made a fuss. Again great comments.

Jesper: Great piece Dave - well written and thoroughly researched!
I have never associated FWP with lavender myself, and I'm familiar with real lavender since we have a very fine specimen at the doorstep of our summer house. (I have not experienced the toilet block variety that someone mentioned – thank God – but I suspect it's more concentrated.) To me, FWP certainly isn't lavender, but it might very well be a marker; I just haven't made that observation myself. But I think you're on to something when you mention scalding. My first attempt to describe FWP was burnt caramel (the candy variety and not spirit caramel). There is something about FWP that makes me associate it with something burnt.

This production process theory you put forward raises at least two interesting questions.
The first one should be fairly easy to answer: 1) How high a temperature can you get in a dry condenser?

The higher up you get in the distillation system, the hotter it gets; and the smaller the volume and the longer distance the vapour travels, the greater the copper contact and thus the greater the heat transfer to the vapour. But does it get warm enough to produce this off-note?

2) If FWP was created in the production process – how on earth did it escape the attention of those filling the casks? Isn't the new-make smelled and tasted pretty much every time? And wouldn't it be tasted thoroughly in times of changes to the process?

I would also like to say that I agree with Davin's observations.
By the way, lavender scented toilet blocks are a pet peeve of mine. Why anyone would like to create an association between toilets and lavender, or for that matter violets or roses, escapes me. I can really understand that those, who have had lavender toilet blocks, are put off by such a note in a whisky.

If I were an "odour designer", my toilet blocks would smell saw dust, resin, pine, tobacco, a lit match-stick, fire-cracker or perhaps asphalt, but certainly not something as fragrant and lovely as lavender. That's an abomination that can lead to a confused sense of odour orientation. Imagine a young boy who has grown up in a home with lavender scented toilet blocks. And imagine him years later, when he's a young man and just has met the most beautiful girl. He has asked her out and she has accepted. On their first date, she turns up wearing her best perfume. It's a perfume of lovely lavender, but the only thing he can think of is the toilets of his childhood...

I don't think there will be any babies made as a result of such an encounter.

Johannes: Interesting, Jesper!
For me, the element that triggered me in the nose is violets - I have a slight case of synaesthesia and I always get a purple feeling when I smell the aroma I call 'FWP' in a malt. Now, the next part is interesting... Jesper mentions burnt caramel. That's EXACTLY what I get on the palate of the 'bad' ones. It's what I call 'Buysman'; an old Dutch brand of burnt caramel that people used to put in their coffee - don't ask me why...

So, thinking about it some more, a FWP experience, for me, needs three triggers.
First here's the 'violets' (sometimes my grandmother's '4711' cologne) in the nose, which I'm not particulary fond of but I could live with. Next, there's a soapy / perfumy impression immediately after sipping it. Not my cup of tea, but still bearable. The real kicker comes in the finish for me - the extreme 'Buysman' bitterness. That brings the whole 'structure' of the malt down for me and instantly promotes it to an 'FWP' experience for me - but perhaps Andrew was right and it's actually a 'bad Bowmore' experience and FWP could be something else. The only reason I gave the Bowmore Darkest I tried 55 points was that the nose actually had a lot to offer besides the perfume. Similar story with a 17yo that had it bad - there was still a lot of good stuff happenening. Still, I feel I should point out that I haven't encountered the phenomenon in Bowmore exclusively!

Ulf: Do not forget that the marketers at Bowmore addressed the 'Plowed Society' as a group of self styled 'connoisseurs'; yes connoisseurs within quotes to show that these guys couldn't tell their asses from their elbows, when they brought up the issue to discussion years ago. Would like to see how they address MM and the group's resurrection of the issue. Perhaps they will give up their childish attitude of 'nothing wrong here' and buy Dave's research as an explanation proper.

Davin: Johannes, you like to avoid politics, but... 
One point that seems to be missed in all this is that the reaction of the anoraks was in part prompted by the condescending response of Morrison Bowmore when Brian McHenry first approached them in early 2000 about this FWP thing.  I think they lost all benefit of the doubt when they threatened to force websites to remove reference to fwp.  Of course the threat had about as much credibility as their maintaining that nothing was amiss with their product. Below is a copy of the MB letter. A search of Malts-L archives just using FWP as the keyword will show a number of posts dating from mid-1999 and show how Derek Gilchrist's response really pissed off the anoraks and achieved exactly the opposite of what it intended.  I wonder if honest attention to Brian's first contact might have brought the anoraks on side with MB instead of fueling a campaign to prove they were more than just self-styled connoisseurs.

TO: Brian McHenry
 
Dear Brian
 
Many thanks for your recent letter outlining your concerns over a perceived character change to certain Bowmore Islay Single Malt Scotch Whiskies and the sample of Bowmore Darkest that was enclosed for our consideration.

We looked at your sample in three ways:
The sample was checked by our Nosing Panel to ensure that the product was producing the recognised characteristics for this particular Bowmore Style. This panel review each of our bottlings or cask samplings on a daily basis and are proficient on the nosing of individual whiskies. Results from this affirmed that the product was in fact consistent with the nose and taste of our Bowmore Darkest - Sherry Finished style. Our panel compared the sample against our library samples from our archive to ensure that the style had remained consistent over the years and, in particular, since our initial production run. This too was found to be correct.
 
To ensure that there was nothing present within the sample that could have been missed by the sensory analysis (i.e. nose and taste) we analysed the whisky in our laboratory, using the recognised GLC (Gas Liquid Chromatography) method to ensure there were no 'odd peaks' which could explain the "artificial perfume character" alluded to in the correspondence. This too confirmed that the sample was identical to the Bowmore Darkest analysis expected.
 
In conclusion we can only report that the sample given to us is a correct and consistent sample of Bowmore Darkest Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Although you have mentioned and highlighted that there have been other 'postings' to MALTS-L saying that certain individuals have perceived changes across the Bowmore range it is not possible to comment further unless they can contact us and provide samples. For our part, we can assure you and any others you may be in contact with, that we, at Morrison Bowmore Distillers, are rigorous in our quality control standards and have the systems in place, backed up by our ISO 9002 quality accreditation, to ensure the consistent quality of our products. Given these high standards we are confident that our brands will continue to receive acclaim from connoisseurs and from our industry peers who judge at such events as the International Wine And Spirit Competition and the International Spirits Challenge. Bowmore Darkest has twice won a Silver Medal in the I.W.S.C. and was awarded a Gold Medal and Trophy in this years International Spirits Challenge.
 
The growth of the World Wide Web has enabled an increasing number of self-styled 'whisky connoisseurs' to comment and debate their views on many subjects, including Malt Whisky. From our own monitoring of this growing phenomenon and from the information you passed to us, we have found that many are either poorly informed or patently mischievous with their comments. Although there are obvious difficulties in maintaining a vigil in this area we, like many other companies around the globe, will be taking steps to ensure that derogatory or potentially harmful postings about either our brands, or our company, are removed from such sites.
 
We do not expect that every person in the world will like our products nor do we expect that every Malt Whisky drinker will consider our brands the best. Each Malt Whisky has a style all of its own and that is the charm of the category. Malt whisky drinkers will 'discover' their own preferences and these may be from a particular region, such as Islay, or from a particular finish, such as Sherry Casked, or from a particular way of drinking, such as with a cigar, after a meal or as an indulgence after a long day.  Viewing the generalisations contained in the MALTS-L forum, our advisors suspect that certain individuals seem to have either a hidden agenda for knocking Bowmore or they are sadly less informed than the true 'connoisseur'.  We would certainly not include you in the former and wish to thank you for both bringing your concerns to our attention and highlighting the initial source of discussion. (...)
 
Yours sincerely
 
Derek M. Gilchrist
Marketing Director - Whisky

Serge: Hi Davin and other quaffers,
Well, I had that kind of case happening with several of my clients and sure it's tricky.
Denying is dangerous, admitting as well - whether the customer is right or wrong (which doesn't change much anyway). Usually the old saying "if you can't kill them, make them friends" applies here and that's what most 'advanced' companies do these days.

It appears that what Bowmore didn't get at the time indeed, was the fact that some of their customers were communicating with each other, which implies quite a different kind of damage control than what they/everybody were used to before the Web (like, 'here's a small gift for you and now f*ck off!')  Yet, I'm sure there are some good consultants in the UK for that, aren't there? It's a great job!

Jesper: A friend of mine works with quality control for a company that produces potato crisps, cheese-doodles, et cetera. They consider their customers to be important when it comes to quality control. One time they got a few bags of potato crisps sent back to them, with complaints that the flavour had changed. When they looked into it, it turned out that one of their suppliers of spice-mixes had changed one or two of their suppliers of spices, thus not only changing the taste profile, but also violating existing contracts. The complainants were duly rewarded and things corrected. That is a clever way of responding to "signals from the market". Unfortunately, when it comes to whisky, the time from when things went wrong to the time the consumers discovers this, is long.

So what does a distiller do when he discovers that he has quite a few barrels with an odd flavour note in his warehouses? Tries to mask the flavour by re-racking the whisky into sherry casks and then create a new bottling with a different flavour profile? And/or tries to slip one or two "bad" casks into the vattings of the regular bottlings?

Here in Sweden, one milk-cow in thirteen (or something like that, I don't remember the exact figure anymore) produces milk that tastes of shrimp, due to a mutation. The milk producers' way of dealing with this anomaly has been to do nothing, because the majority of consumers can't detect this off-note when the proportion is one to thirteen.

Dave: What does a distiller do about 'odd casks'? A lot depends on quality control procedures. Most will be noted and blended away. One could say that the surprising number of finishes on the market is another alternative. I couldn't possibly comment! As for re-racking. It is expensive but sometimes it does happen. Irish Distillers is the most notable example of a large firm taking the Augean Stables route. Springbank while not re-racking has thrown all its old wood out (Frank used to work for IDL!) Bruichladdich has embarked on a similar scheme (if Springbank does it... ) and a major purge of old wood is underway and when Nikka took over Ben Nevis the stock was re-racked.
 
But hang on a minute? Milk that tastes of SHRIMP?? This is far more interesting!

Davin : Dave's E-pistle certainly has raised some interesting points and responses.
 
1. To comment on Andrew Derbidge's excellent contribution:
 
a) The original reports of FWP spoke not of the nose, but of the palate.  The flavour was instantly detectable on the tongue.  I had said it was like the taste of stick deodorant, but I prefer Luc's description: like the taste you get when you kiss your wife's neck right after she puts on her perfume.  It is an acrid, astringent taste in the mouth, and it appears instantly.  If you want to taste it just take a small swig of alcohol-based aftershave or cologne.  I doubt the Australian palate is different enough to tolerate this.
 
b) Andrew articulates well what I have unsuccessfully been trying to say for some time:  that a lot of the banter about FWP is coming from people who have never tasted it and just assume any faulted Bowmore has FWP.  If I can paraphrase Andrew, this bears repeating: "It is clear that Bowmore are bottling some pretty poor whiskies in some of their expressions [snip]. . .  My last bottle of Darkest was poor, and certainly the bottle of Darkest that Tom sent me was very poor [snip]. . . Some people have obviously purchased and tasted some of these poorer bottlings, and - together with the signature floral nose that some Bowmores exhibit - have concluded that FWP is the problem. In other words, people are assuming their bottle is FWP-tainted, when it isn't really....it's just poor whisky."
 
c) The floral and perfumey notes found in many Bowmores, especially in the nose, are NOT faults per se and do not indicate the presence of FWP.  I think some people who are not used to perfumed/floral Bowmores have been confused by this.  Personally I like some of them a lot but I think people who have started drinking Bowmore more recently and have read about FWP have assumed a perfumy smell is a fault rather than a characteristic.
 
2. I also appreciated Jesper Hultén's comments.
Jesper asked: "How high a temperature can you get in a dry condenser?" "The higher up you get in the distillation system, the hotter it gets; and the smaller the volume and the longer distance the vapour travels, the greater the copper contact and thus the greater the heat transfer to the vapour. But does it get warm enough to produce this off-note?"
 
My guess is no.  The still is heated to make the wash/spirit boil, but the condenser gets its heat from the vapour itself doesn't it?  If this is the case then the condenser would never be hotter than the vapour so would not cause scalding.
 
3. And finally, to Dave (and anyone else with Bowmore warehouse access):  If you ever again taste FWP again in a barrel sample, please note the filling date so we can isolate better when this FWP thing originated.  Also, I must agree that this is a batch problem which is passing through the system.  Twenty years from now collectors will be searching high and low for FWP'd Bowmores.
 
Davin

Johannes: Hehehe ;-)
You may very well be right there, Davin ;-) 
Let's not forget what happened to the prices of Loch Dhu...

Lawrence: I thought it would be helpful for my understanding to seek another perspective on FWP.
So, I forwarded Dave's piece to a Mike Nicolson, former Islay distillery manager who had spent his entire career working in and running distilleries. His answer was two fold - and note the amusing disclaimer at the very end.

Mike: David's piece was as ever comprehensive.
Masking copper will reduce the energy of the copper to remove flavour and therefore, to lighten the spirit.
Heating copper (as in hot condensers) will stimulate the copper "energy" and will remove flavour components, aggressively. Using overly hot mashing water will have a tendency to reduce distillery yield (efficiency) this being something that Managers are not inclined to do. Adding more yeast to a fermentor will not necessarily speed up the process. If you do want to quicken things then, increasing the temperature of the wort when it meets the yeast, would be the way to do it. In the light of insufficient information and, if I was to get on the speculative "roundabout", then I quite like David's suspicion about innovation (heat recovery systems) and changes in product throughput speed, as likely candidates.

My experience of nosing Bowmore extended to once a month for my last four years.
Toilet block I call it and, it was a signature aroma for me. Personally, I think that if Bowmore thinks it's a good thing to sell liquid that smells like a urinal then, we should let them get on with it.

Disclaimer; Oh, and my last point, on Distillery Managers, being charming, visible, voluble and having good legs for the kilt, does not necessarily make one informed.

Andrew: The 'urinal' remark may not be as funny or as silly as it first seems. Bowmore are clearly trying to align themselves with a flavour profile that is unique, or at least different, to its Kildalton counterparts.  "No point trying to compete on the same level, so let's put out something that's clearly different in the hope we'll attract drinkers who don't care for the other peated Islay malts.
To that end, they've certainly succeeded. :-)

Lawrence: I agree that there are some people out there who have never experienced FWP, and as we used to say in the army, 'that's a personal problem' and really is a distraction to the main FWP question. A large number of people have noticed FWP and have found it unpleasant. However up until now I had always thought of FWP as aberration from Bowmore, I never really considered that it just might be the new house style. If so then what a pity.

Ulf: (...) Scalding is trivia and ought to be, and is, a quality control problem across the trade using 'modern condensers', nothing else. There is no objective proof that scalding by 'overheated' condensers, meaning condensers loaded to the same temperature as the vapour, generates the FWP effect.

The FWP effect is a problem not seen elsewhere except within the Bowmore-Morrison group.
Bowmore is not isolated in the woods or lost on an island or operating a unique facility. Several operators are maneuvering the same type equipment without harvesting a similar type of problem. As it has not occurred elsewhere in the trade I still stick to the perfumed soap hypothesis instead of bending my back to an odd technical excuse. I prefer the theory that someone made a 'mistrake' than letting someone of the hook by an obscure technical explanation. The alternative, following Dave's reasoning, not mine, is to conclude that Bowmore can't tell their ass from their elbows.

Johannes : Pffft... You start off by making a lot of sense, Ulf - The effect has been found in the product of other distilleries as well; notably Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch. But then you mention that silly soap story again. If I remember correctly, this story was even categorically denied by Jim McEwan himself when we foolishly brought up the topic. I just don't see how one 'incidental' mistake would send its ripples through so many bottles over so many years. What's more - you pointed out that the problem has occurred at other Morrison Bowmore distilleries as well. What are the odds of equally misguided employees at Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch using perfumed soap as well? That would only be possible if the use of perfumed soap was a structural practice, not an 'incident'.

But maybe we're starting to repeat ourselves now?
Until we receive new and 'solid' information, I think we've flogged this particular pony long enough.
At this point the phenomenon is either 'working itself through the system' like Dave and others have proposed or simply part of the new Bowmore 'house style'. The proof of the pudding is in the tasting, so in a few years time we'll know if 'FWP' was indeed a problem of the past or simply part of the (new?) official profile that Bowmore wants to present to the public.

So, I'll wrap up the discussion now.

Sweet drams,

Johannes
 

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E-pistle #16/07 - Xtreme Vatting
Submitted on 08/09/2005 by Lex Kraaijeveld, England

Pre-SWA, we used to know exactly what 'vatting' was.
And I'm going to add to the confusion and take vatting to
its extreme. I'm going to indulge myself in extreme vatting!
Those of you familiar with the sport 'extreme ironing' may
think I'm going to carry several bottles of malt whisky up
a steep mountain and vat them together at the top.
Or suspend myself from a rope bridging a canyon and
create my perfect dram while defying gravity there.Wrong!
I'm not even going to leave the comfort of my living room...
 
But one step at the time.
We all know what vatted malts are, right?
Or at least we knew pre-SWA: malt whiskies from different
distilleries mixed together. Take that one step further and
what do we get? Malt whiskies from different countries mixed
together; let's call them 'multivats' (short for 'multinational
vatted malts') for now. One of the first of these multivats was
"Antipodean", also known as "Cradle Mountain Double Malt".
It is a vatting of malt from Tasmania's Cradle Mountain distillery
and Springbank. Even though Cradle Mountain is now closed, bottles of this multinational vatted malt can still be obtained. It's a light malt, with touches of fruit and vanilla on the nose. The palate has a bit of the typical Springbank 'brininess'. The finish is very dry with some woody notes. Another possible multivat is "Nikka White". I say 'possible', because it's very hard to get any solid information on Japanese whiskies. "Nikka White" is said to be a vatting of Caol Ila and Yoichi and/or Sendai. It is a soft and warming dram, with peat and heavy sweetness, and a drier finish.
 
A special type of multivats are so-called 'Celtic Malts': vattings of malts from two or more Celtic regions.
The first of these, to the best of my knowledge, is one called "Celtic Desire". This whisky is bottled in the
Netherlands, and claims to be a 'vatted malt' although no details of the constituent whiskies are given
beyond them being Scottish and Irish. It is quite a full-flavoured whisky, a real all-rounder with some fruit,
some vanilla, and a hint of dry peat. The most recent 'Celtic Malt' was launched on St George's Day:
"Smooth Sweeter One Mark II", a vatting of malts from Cooley and  Bunnahabhain. It is quite light, with
notes of malt, vanilla, and a touch of leather. It's drier than the 1st bottling of "Smooth Sweeter One",
which was a single malt from Cooley.
 
As all the 'Celtic Malts' on the market are Scottish and Irish malts, it's time for some more extreme stuff:
vatting "The Ultimate Celtic Malt"! This is a home-vatting of equal amounts of Laphroaig Cask Strength
from Scotland, Tyrconnell from Ireland, Penderyn from Wales and Armorik from Brittany, with a dash of
Glen Kella to give the Isle of Man some presence. I did ask the Penhallow distillery for a wee drappie of
their Cornish malt to add, but they didn't even bother replying. No point writing down detailed tasting
notes for "The Ultimate Celtic Malt", because it will never be bottled, but it does taste the way you
would expect from such a vatting. The Laphroaig CS clearly makes its presence known, though!
 
 
Let's have a look at the other side of the Atlantic.
The two major whisky types there which differ a lot from each other are bourbon and Canadian whisky.
Although some Canadian whiskies contain up to 9.09% bourbon already, there has never been a really official bourbon - Canadian blend (Or is that a vatting? Don't know any more ....) on the market until very recently. Phillips Union is a mixture (safe term!) of bourbon and Canadian whisky, in unknown proportions. An interesting whisky, not least because it's very unlike what you would expect when you imagine a mixture of bourbon and Canadian whisky. It doesn't taste like a watered-down bourbon or a spiced-up Canadian. It has lots of vanilla, but not the typical bourbon-vanilla. In the nose it's very much like Dutch 'vanillevla', something similar to a vanilla-flavoured custard. On the palate it becomes more spirity and quite similar to Dutch 'advokaat' (a very 'thick' alcoholic drink based on vanilla and eggs). It doesn't have much complexity beyond the vanilla, but it's quite enjoyable and one that is more than the sum of its parts.
 
Now how about some cross-Atlantic blending/vatting/mixing? It will probably surprise many of you, but a malt-bourbon blend did exist in the 1980s and early 1990s. And it was even stranger than fiction .... Glenborough was infused with walnuts! Never got to taste it, so no tasting notes, but by definition it can't be called 'whisky'.
 
 
So all I can do to get an idea as to how a malt-bourbon blend would taste is create some myself.
For this, I used a decent standard malt (Glen Deveron) and a decent standard bourbon (Virginia Gentleman).
Also, I created three different ones: equal parts malt and bourbon, 3 parts malt to 1 part bourbon and 1 part malt to 3 parts bourbon. I was a bit disappointed; it just doesn't work well, I feel. A typical case of the whole being less than the sum of its parts. Also, it shows that bourbon is a more robust whisky than malt, because only in the 3 parts malts to 1 part bourbon does the malt come through. Still this little home-vatting exercise does make me wonder what a peated bourbon would taste like .....

So hold on to your seats for some really extreme vatting!
Again I used Virginia Gentleman as the bourbon, but this time mixed it with pure peat essence (Jim, if you're reading this, look away now .....): some new make Octomore. First about half and half: the peat wins hands down, no trace of bourbony notes. So gradually I added more and more bourbon, nosing and tasting every time .... I don't think the result is worth bottling / marketing, but it is very interesting. At what I would call the equilibrium point (I guess about 3-4 parts bourbon to 1 part Octomore), I get some perfumey notes, but no bourbon, no peat. It really tastes as if the peat and the bourbon were keeping a stranglehold on each other, each determined not to let any notes from the other escape .... Very odd, a very confused whisk(e)y with a clear identity crisis! But I do think I'll enjoy malt and bourbon separate from now on, though ....

Lex
 

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Malt Maniacs #16  -  September 1, 2005

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