E-pistle #18/14 - Never Forget To Get Rid Of Your Receipt
Submitted on 21/07/2006 by Michel van Meersbergen, Holland

Never Forget To Get Rid Of Your Receipt - or get your relationship refurbished if you're lucky...

A short while ago Bert Bruyneel from Lindores Whisky Society and I agreed to go to Limburg, Germany to visit the vaults of Mara. Most of you know that nifty little shop, the cellar where you can spend hours and hours cruising thru shelves pilled with antique bottles, the place where you happily spend a year's income and not feel sorry about, let alone feel guilty to other members of your household. Now you might understand why I sometimes name this place, this epicentre of all that whisky holiness, 'The Shrine Of Greed'.

It's always a good thing to get something in your stomach before entering the Mara cellars, so when Bert, Christel, my beloved girlfriend who points a gun at me now..., and I met at the hotel in Limburg had a little lunch where we were joined by Astrid Ohl, aka The Whisky Witch. After a 'beefy' Cordon Blue and 5 Cokes it was time to leave to Mara. Christel stayed in town to do some shopping, Astrid had to hurry because she had to host a BBQ at her place. The ones who've actually read some of my e-pistles before know I have this thing of being very excited if  a large scale whisky thing is about to happen. Combine this with a unhealthy 32 degrees Celsius and the problems I have with these temperatures, one can only imagine the 15 minute walk to Mara was a challenging experience...

Mara's Carsten Ehrlich gave us a warm welcome and soon we descended to the cellars where for the first minute one can only stare in bewilderment to the bottles, arranged in the most nonchalant way (which might account for the fact that at the end of the visit you pull your wallet and get your money out in an equally nonchalant way). The second minute you can only wonder why on earth you'd ever let go of that childhood ambition of becoming the richest man on earth because you know your today's finances are not up to the task of serving your desire to own every single bottle you see in this place. These are the times I get greedy, real greedy...

When we got back to ourselves Bert and I made our first little round to scan the immediate pleasers, a classic Bowmore, a desired Longmorn, an overlooked Glenugie and so on. In the meantime Carsten poured the first dram. 'Here guys, what do you think of this?' It was easy to nail it down as a Islay malt, no doubt in my mind at all. Caol Ila, perhaps Ardbeg... to ferny to be a Laphroaig... Carsten showed us a golden decanter... it's a Caol Ila! and a special one as well.

Caol Ila 15yo (43%, OB - Bulloch Lade, Ceramic 75cl, 1980's)
Very soft and highly enjoyable dram. All the aspects of good Caol Ila are present and proofs once more Caol Ila can compete with Ardbeg in terms of refinement and complexity. Very soft, fruity and ferny. Underlayment of olives, tobacco and cedar wood. 90pts and could have scored higher if temperatures were a bit lower...

In the meantime I found my first object to ease my buying desire: Bowmore 18yo 1971 (57.3%, Sestante 75cl) I had the 40% version on the Limburg Fair and was very impressed. I had to try one of the cask strength versions from this family... Carsten poured us the second dram.

Rosebank 15yo (50%, OB for Zenith, ceramic 75cl, 1980's)
Highly enjoyable dram. Lots of waxy fruit, vegetal notes and tropical fruits here. A palate with heaps of Turkish delight, mandarin while the oak gives a solid body. Nice citrussy finish. 90pts again. As with the Caol Ila, perhaps an even higher score was possible if conditions were just a bit better. Even in these conditions it shows the Zenith Rosebanks are in a class of their own.

Bert and I were getting into higher spirits because of this Rosebank.
He was screaming thru his mileage list to come up with other scores for Zenith Rosebanks, I was very happy to find out that memory still serves me well, as I could spit out the scores with any written reference... The third dram was in front of us.

Mortlach 21yo 1970/1991 (56.7%, G&M for Intertrade)
Wonderful nose with garden herbs and subtle yet powerful notes on honey. Lots of pollen, blossoms, wax and polished oak end in a long finish on candied peel. Solid Mortlach. 88pts. Just a tad to simple to get into the 90's but it has a great mouth feel and the honeyed, waxed malts on the palate really zoomed it into the upper 80's.

I had tried the next malt before although I couldn't remember that one. Memory fails sometime... I brought it from the Limburg Fair and tried it in perfect conditions and had given it enough time. I was very happy to find out I gave it exact the same score both times proofing my abilities to score did not suffer from the heat or general excitement...

Balmenach-Glenlivet 14yo 1971 (57.5%, Sestante)
After the Mortlach this shows its dirty side a bit. Rubbery and matchsticks with hazelnut cream behind that. The palate is vegetal and slightly perfumed. Not a bad dram at all, solid performance that could have used some freshness... 84pts. That's why I could not remember it. It's a sold malt, but it just fails to impress or make a click.

I felt it was time to make a round thru the cellars again, what to buy, what to buy??
On a bottom shelve I found a Sheriff's Bowmore 7yo... a very sexy bottle, on the edge of being vulgar, the kind of thing that makes you believe hard materialism is the and only way to go. When asking about the price I was happy to put it back where I found it and was evenly happy to declare that vulgar objects won't make it in my life... Carsten poured me something to come at easy with myself. While Ronald Puhl, the other half of Mara entered the cellars.

Clynelish 32yo 1974/2006 (58.6%, Whisky Fair, D 02/'74 - B 04/'06, 266bts)
Given enough time this is a great Clynelish. First there's some wet oak and humus, behind that mango, grapefruit and apricot. All carried by enjoyable wet slightly moulded oak. Nice body and highly drinkable... 91pts. Potentially this could reach to 92 or 93pts. It was still evolving when I emptied my glass when we had to try something Carsten and Ronald were very happy about.

Glen Scotia 30yo 1975/2006 (47.5%, Whisky Fair, rum matured, D 01/'75 - B 06/'06, 96bts)
Special dram. Fruit sugar, dextrose, wine gums and subtle notes on pear juice. Lots of cane and powdered sugar on the palate, slightly spiced notes, to bad the finish is rather short. Lots of personality for the Glen Scotia. 87pts. It's completely different from any malt I had tried so far, and a whole lot better than a 29yo version I tried from Dun Bheagan last year. Carsten and Roland already were having fun to put this somewhere in a tasting, just to shake people up a bit. I feel this is the best way to use this malt, because of it's extreme character (not powerful or what so-ever, just its flavours) I won't be able to empty a bottle of this malt ever!

The next one was also comming from Glen Scotia.
The word 'Peated' on the label made me worry a bit... Not another one...

Glen Scotia 1999/2006 (52.7%, OB for Whisky Fair, peated, D 07/'99 - B 06/'06, casks #1999/541 & 542, 464bts)
Young and peaty. The good thing is that behind all the obvious notes you can still find the subtle notes of a regular Glen Scotia like powdered sugar and subtle spices. The finish is quite heavy, bonfire and some charcoal. Very interesting dram. 85pts. I was very surprised by this two-faced Scotia. This will do well at tastings, just like it's rum matured uncle. One of the better peaty experiments so far!! Kudos to Carsten and Roland for their courage to market this malt!

Time for another Whisky Fair bottle...

Laphroaig 8yo 1998/2006 (48.5%, Whisky Fair Artist Edition, D 04/'98 - B 06/'06, 420bts)
Very straightforward. In yer face peat and smoke, bonfire while some added water brings out subtle rubbery notes and some mint or eucalyptus as well. The finish is very, very smoky. Monolith of a Laphroaig. Well... peat heads will be screaming for this Laphroaig. I find this too one-dimensional and to simple in style. I settle for 81pts. The few things that are present are of a good quality...

In the meantime Bert had selected a few Longmorns, so conversation quickly went to what makes a good Longmorn. Opinions differed big time, some like them sherried, some ultra clean. We tried a clean version first.

Longmorn 1967/2002 (57.1%, James McArthur, cask #579)
Big on peppery ginger, honey, lime peel and coffee. Ashes, beeswax, polished wood, lime peel and mandarin on the palate while Ginger, soft cinnamon, crème brulée, syrupy, passion fruits, pepper and soft oak round the whole off. 90pts. I tried this one before and scored it 91pts. Due to the Laphroaig before I'll stick with the 91pts in my list.

Now for a more dirty version...

Longmorn 1969/1991 (61%, G&M Cask)
Whaahhh. Great one. First you have to dig thru some sherry to find lovely cherries and goes on and on with a huge choice of tropical fruits and jams towards an big end. 94pts One of those malts... For me and Carsten this is one of the great Longmorns.

Quickly discussion went on with the topic of sherry casks. Bert and I have a slight preference towards bourbon wood, stating that sherry maturing often goes over the top and destroys the distillery character to much. Of course there are many god-like malts that were sherry matured, but I can't help feeling that the cask could have contained any spirit from any distillery to come to this result. As an example of heavy sherry maturation while some distillery character remains Carsten poured us the next dram.

Glen Mhor 34yo 1966/2000 (50%, DL OMC, D 02/'66 - B 07/'00, 396bts)
Clean sherry, crème brulée, caramel and cherries. Has some lovely hazelnut chocolate, pralines and although there's a lot of sherry here some vegetal influences from Glen Mhor are still present. Excellent balance. 90pts . Sweet irony, a Glen Mhor with it's delicate character to show off after 34 years in a sherry cask...

To give my palate a little time to relax I made my second round thru the cellars... The Whisky Fair Clynelish left its mark in my mind so when I saw a Clynelish 24yo 1965-1989 (46%, Cadenhead Brick Label, sherry wood) one can imagine this was going to be my next choice. As destiny would have it I spotted a Caol Ila 16yo 1969 (40%, G&M CC old brown label) as well. It would be the third bottle. Next dram was something coming from the islands. A distillery you don't see to often as an indy-bottled malt and even then fantasy names are used, like Tactical from the Laing Brothers. Carsten and Roland use the name Talimburg.

Talisker 20yo 1986/2006 Talimburg (43,8%, Whisky Fair Artist Edition, D 05/'86 - B 06/'06, 240bts)
Somewhat simple Talisker. Leather, rubber and garden herbs. Develops some ferns and subtle white pepper but fails to impress. Extra point for drink ability. 85pts. Well, not very much happened during those 20 years of maturation. Decent dram, on the light side lacks a bit of Tali-power or complexity.

As it turned out the Talisker was the beginning of a fantastic crescendo and inspiration to make another round. In a dream I grabbed an old Talisker. It carried the label I saw quite often as a kid. My grandmother had her sherry from this bottler so understand sentiment was floating around when I thought Talisker 1953/1975 (43%, Berry Bro's & Rudd Old Bond Street label) would be very nice to have in my collection...

Ben Nevis 34yo 1966/2001 (53.7%, OB for Alambic Classique, cask #4276)
For me personally this has all the classic Ben Nevis notes. Wet carton, wax and pepper. Also on the palate you'll find these with added notes on leather. It's not bad, no way, the carton puts me off a bit... 83pts. It has personality, it's just not my personality...

Still it was a very good follow-up for the Talisker and a great choice for preparation on the next dram.

Ardbeg 27yo 1973/2000 (47.4%, Kingsbury 'Celtic Label', D 09/09/'73 - B '00, 228bts)
Hefty charcoal, butter with a solid smoky fundament, tar, subtle bay leaves, evolves to sharper smoke, rubber and smoked ham. Italian licorice, pine resin, pecan pie and some ammonia. Again hefty charcoal, bay leaves, sea and tar turning into car tires. 93pts. I had this great Ardbeg during last years Limburg Fair and was evenly impressed, gave it 94pts that time tough...

Carsten now pulled the trick of pouring a weaker but much fruitier malt.
It happened quite some times before that after a heavy peated malt a good quality Lowland can really out-shine itself. A H2H between a Laphroaig 30yo OB and a Laphroaig 30yo 1966/1996 SigV followed by a Rosebank 8yo 43% from the Bristol Company was an eye-opener. Not too long ago a St. Magdalene 23yo Rare Malts and a St. Magdalene 19yo Rare Malt was followed by a St. Magdalene 1965/1990 40%!!! G&M CC that blew my mind away. It takes some courage to experiment on this one, but results can be ultra-rewarding! Carsten's choice to let the Ardbeg follow by a 1960's Bowmore was a very good one!

Bowmore 35yo 1968/2004 (40.5%, Whisky Fair, D 10/'68 - B 02/'04, cask 3818, 150bts)
Lots of berries to be found here. Very nice briny background and a little vanilla as well. Perfectly balanced palate, also with lots of berries and briny malts. The finish has some purslane. Lacks a bit in power but still very good stuff. 90pts. A while ago I decided to try smoking a little less. It paid off for being able to taste the subtle side of fruits just that little bit more. What wonderful new dimension in tasting whisky that is!! After the subtle bourbon matured Bowmore it was time to bring in some old skool sherry! One of the highlights of the day (not by points, just for the pleasure and surprise while drinking it)

Bunnahabhain 12yo (43%, OB, 1970's)
Very high standards for Bunna those days. As Carsten rightly said, this is the stuff that lead to the Auld Acquaintance. Great integrated sherry oak (the kind only Bunna seems to have and most of the independents lack), fresh, slightly vegetal on wonderful subtle spices malts combined with all kinds of citrus skins and peel. Has a rubbery edge in the finish. 90pts.  I mean... Bunnahabhain 12yo STANDARD bottle... I wouldn't be surprised if some very old casks (perhaps even ones fallen below 40%) were used. What incredible quality! They might want to think again about the current quality, 'tough I think the newest batches are getting better...

Bert and I made the last round now. I decided a Longmorn 10yo (43%, OB Hill-Thompson, late 1960's) would be the perfect way to end my buying streak. I was desperate, for obvious reasons, well, obvious to some of you, to have paid for these bottles before Christel came to get us into Limburg center for a dinner. Carsten and Roland had to laugh saying it's always the same with these guys... Roland did some calculations on a Post-It sheet and showed me a nice rounded figure. I gave him the money and put the sheet in the breast pocket of my shirt. This was about the most stupid thing I've ever done in my life. Fire-engine red lipstick (the colour Christel refuses to use) on my collar would have been better, even comming home with a striptease's bra around my head would have done... this small yellow piece of paper was the biscuit...

Before the nastiness is unleashed upon you I should mention the farewell dram Carsten poured.

Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength (57.3%, OB, First Edition 100cl, ca. 1994)
This edition is very different from the other Green Stripe editions. It carries much more fruits, Turkish delight and oily leather, some dried garden herbs as well. I really like this as the smoke seems much more a ingredient instead as the carrier it is for most of the recent Laphroaigs. 94pts. According to Carsten it's impossible to have such fruity Laphroaig from the 1980's. He suspects 1970's casks were used in this near perfect 1st batch of cask strength version of the malt we love to love or love to hate. For me? I simply feel in love with it...

Christel came up and we went for a small diner. It was so small we even followed the match between Portugal and England during dinner. Starring football while sitting in a restaurant, man, I really went low that time... To bad a certain person from Germany going by the name of Martin Dieckmann was not there, it would have give me the opportunity to get even on the Groningen debacle and make him shut his mouth about Dutch cuisine for once and for all! For now... I bide my time Martin, just waiting for another chance... One finished we decided it was time to go to the hotel for a small after tasting.

And small it was, temperatures were so high the whisky was luke warm, the room like a sauna the three of us wrecked because of the high humidity... I scored one dram.

Glenfarclas 21yo (51.5%, OB for Edward Giaccone, btld 1980)
Great stuff. Lots of hazelnut cream, cherries, black pepper and subtle mocca. The palate is as nice as the nose. Some furniture polish, subtle and refined sherry, cherries and chocolate. Great Glenfarclas. 93pts. To bad the bottle is near empty now, as I would have loved to try this again at saner temperatures...

We called it a day. Bert got to his room and whilst undressing that yellow note fell from my shirt, Christel picked it up and well, you've got to have been there to see what happened. It was very scary. No shouting, no beating up, no crying, just a look in her eyes that could wipe out whole mankind and her mouth was more like a small pencil stripe on her face. There was no way escaping this... With a calm tone of voice Christel explained what bothered her, what the hell I was thinking and what my plans were. She also added she was not waiting for sweet words because she wouldn't relax until she had a clear understanding I was telling the truth. I spare you the details, but I'm happy to inform you everything is AOK, just spend big bucks on new pillows, mattresses and blankets, lots of other stuff for the house and working my ass off to finish the refurbishment of our house by the end of this year. Hurray!

Before I end this report on my emotional rollercoaster weekend I will you give some advice. Or be totally honest, or buy the book "How To Become A Supreme Bastard In 10 Easy Steps", for those of you still thinking what to do... make sure you throw away your whisky receipts!!

Happy dramming!

Michel
 

Note on the notes: Mara dramming can be a high octane, speedy and hectic experience.
I only wrote an impression of the malts tasted, therefore the notes are far from complete. Scores are solid, much to my surprise as I scored some of the malts tasted that day before in perfect conditions and gave them almost the same points, with a largest offbeat of 2 points...
 

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E-pistle #18/15 - Glen Keith Distillery Profile
Submitted on 11/09/2006 by Martine Nouet, France 

Like all professional writers on the team, Martine seems to have a hard time delivering her homework on time ;-)
However, when she finally delivered, it turned out to be one of the most thorough profiles so far. Good work! - Johannes
 

Operational:  1959 – 1999
Région:  Speyside
Neighbours:  Strathisla
Address:  Station Road, Keith, Morayshire, AB55 3BU
Last Known owner:   Pernod-Ricard SA (from 2001)
 

Glen Keith… the secret laboratory

There is always a sad feeling about seeing a closed distillery.
In Glen Keith's case, the cast iron gates firmly closed by a huge brass
tadlock convey an even stronger impression of desertion and doom
laden fate. Not that the buildings themselves look bleak or grim.
They are well-maintained and the splendid architecture of that ancient
meal-mill (a corn one) is a real delight. I was probably conditioned by
my conversation with Alan Winchester, recently promoted production
manager for all the Chivas distilleries after having managed Aberlour
distillery for a number of years) prior to my visit of Glen Keith last may.

What I gathered on Glen Keith was a revelation for me, Glen Keith was not just a distillery. It was Chivas living laboratory where they experimented all sorts of productions and processing systems. A sort of apprentice sorcerer's secret research laboratory (well, I admit my writer's imagination tends to bring a dramatic ingredient which might not be in the recipe !). When Chivas opened Glen Keith distillery in 1959 (with an official opening in 1960), they made it clear the entire production was aimed for blending purposes. The whisky was to be an important ingredient for Chivas Regal (but also Passport and 100 pipers). The distillery stands in the shadow of Strathisla, heart of Chivas and one of the most visited in Speyside. I have never met anyone who resisted the charm of this dollhouse distillery. Its whisky makes up the heart of Chivas with, for resulting effect, a total underating of Strathisla single malt.

Located on the bank of the small river Isla, Glen Keith stands at the back of Strathisla.
It took its name from the city (the name Keith coming from the gaelic translation of wood, according to Misako Udo). It was named « Glen Keith-Glenlivet » until 1978, when, as for many distilleries of the region, the « Glenlivet » was dropped.

The previous function of the buildings explain the location by the river. They sheltered a meal-mill which was converted into a distillery between 1957 (date of purchase of the Angus Milling Company) and 1960. In fact, most of the buildings had been demolished. But all the front part had been kept with its stone walls and a superb paved yard. The back part (mash house and malt area) was build in concrete. The owners (Seagram at that time) also built large racked warehouses by the side as a storage area for Glen Keith but also for the other malts of the group. Today, it is also the filling-store for Strathisla, the new make is piped in.

Glen Keith was the first « new » malt distillery opened in Scotland since the boom of victorian times in the 1890s. Glen Keith started with a set of three stills as it was to be triple-distilled (fulfilling the needs of the blending industry for a light and fruity spirit). It was also the first distillery to experiment automation for the mashing then the distilling in the 1980s. In fact, Glen Keith was the experimental ground of Seagram company. The idea being to test on a small scale what would be developped on a bigger one.

The stills

Alan Winchester compares Glen Keith installations to those of Bushmills.
« There was a wee pot-still we used to call the Irish still », he says.
Glen Keith turned to complete double distillation in the 1980s. Two new stills
were added in 1970 and for ten years, triple and double distillation were alterned.
The Spirit Stills have bowl necks whereas the Wash Stills are onion-shaped.
There was also a column installed on N°3 still. It has been removed in the 1980s.

Glen Keith stills were the first gas-fired stills to be installed in Scotland in 1971.
Three years later, they were converted to steam coils. As among the many
experiments which were conducted, wheat mashes were made at Strathisla and
Glen Keith. There are somewhere in the warehouses casks of « mashed wheated
Strathisla » (which could not be called so of course) and which probably go into
blending. The stills have a very long lyne arm which makes quite a right angle.

The saladin boxes

Glen Keith used to practise its own malting in saladin boxes. The maltings also
provided Strathisla with malt (the malt was blown to the distillery through pipes).
The Saladin boxes were closed in 1976 (but they could still be used). The mash
house was originally located where the laboratories still are. Then it was transferred upstairs, near the Saladin boxe and the kiln.

The peated malt - Glenisla / Craigduff

A peated single malt was produced at Glen Keith for a number of years. It as been bottled by ID (Gordon and MacPhail) under the name Glenisla. But the peatiness came from the water and not from the malted barley. The peat came from Stornoway on Lewis island (outer hebrides). Alan Winchester cannot explain why they chose peat from so far away. All these experiments were led by the Americans in Seagram headquarters. The peat was burnt and the peatsmoke passed through the water (making a sort of tary solution) which was then used in the making process. Signatory Vintage has also bottled a peated version of Glen Keith (this time made with peated malted barley).

The yeast

Another very interesting aspect of Glen Keith experiments was all what they did about yeast. They produced their own strains, from the wort first, then from the pot-ale. That yeast was used by the distilleries of the group, especially Strathisla and Glen Grant. Nothing has ever been said about those experiments which were conducted by a foremost authority on yeast, DrWatson (who is still with Chivas company). Now as most distilleries, Chivas use commercial strains from Quest and Maury. But the strains have been pasteurized and are kept in the yeast library. It would be interesting to learn more about the subject. Alan says that the experiments were conducted to produce specific flavours. He agrees to say that yeast is very important in the making of the aromatic profile (I have always a deny on that question each time I have raised it with distillers and I regret not to have the scientific understanding of the subject. I only apprehend it from the aromatic aspect). 

Conclusion

Glen Keith was mothballed in 1999 by Seagram. Since it was bought by Pernod Ricard (2001), nothing has changed. The inside buildings suffer from desertion. It is such a pity to see that beautiful stillhouse deserted (the stills are there and could be operational easily). The mash tun and washbacks are also not too badly maintained. Pigeons seem to have adopted the place ! The outside building are really superb. I could easily imagine a conversion to artist lofts or a cooking school (sorry, fantasies here !!!).

And what about all these experiments ? The laboratories still exist. There are casks containing these experiments. There sems to be a secret about all these (as if they were intentionally hidden). Was a « frankenstein whisky » produced here ? The visit of the place conveys that sense of mystery and secret… or is it my brewing imagination which could see the ghost of a malt Dr Jekyll ???

Any chanced of seing Glen keith reopened ? Very unlikely as allt-a-Bhainne was chosen for re-opening as it is a distillery which can easily be converted to a single man operation.

Thank you to Ann Miller who took me round and to Alain Winchester (our « well of science ») who is certainly the most documented source on Speyside distllery. Alan started his career as an apprentice brewer at Glen Keith.

Martine, Sept 2006
 

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E-pistle #18/16 - An Interview with Billy Walker
Submitted on 31/07/2006 by Bert Bruyneel, Belgium

This interview with Billy Walker was conducted by Bert Bruyneel shortly before he 'officially' became a certified malt maniac.

Question 1 - What did you do before being in the whisky industry?
How did you 'fall into it'?
I graduated from Glasgow University with a B.Sc (Hons) in Chemistry.
For almost 4 years I worked as a Research Chemist with Organon Laboratories.
However, I spent my formative years in the town of Dumbarton, which is the
home of Ballantines Scotch Whisky. So I had a strong association with Scotch
whisky, and it was a natural step for me to join Ballantines.

Question 2 - What are the steps you have taken in the whisky industry
to arrive being co-owner of BenRiach?
I spent 4 years working with Ballantines, (1971 – 1975) and got a fantastic
training in all aspects of Scotch Whisky Production (both grain and malt whisky)
and blending. I moved briefly to Beecham Pharmaceuticals as Technical Manager
for their Penicillin Fermentation Unit. I then joined Inver House as their Master
Blender – Technical Manager, and enjoyed a wonderful seven years with I.H.D.

My next move was to Burn Stewart (Master Blender / Operations Director /
Sales Director). During this period, we built the business significantly, and in
1987, together with 2 Partners, we bought the company for the Hillman family.
From 1987 to 2002, we grew the business and in the process acquired both
Deanston Distillery and Tobermory Distillery:  this was an exciting and
challenging period, but very enjoyable. Burn Stewart was then acquired by
a Trinidadian Company (C.L. Finance) in December 2002 who decided that I
was surplus to their plans. Together with my South African partners, Geoff Bell
and Wayne Kieswetter, we put a strategy in place to acquire a Malt Whisky
Distillery, with history, quality and available unbroken stock. 

This was a real challenge and led us to the door of Chivas Bros. who after much discussion agreed to sell The BenRiach Distillery.  Chivas were great people to deal with and continue to be both helpful and supportive.

Question 3 - What is the source of the barley used at BenRiach?
The barley is grown locally in Morayshire and is Malted at Port Gordon Maltings which is about 18 kilometres from the Distillery.

Question 4 - If you start up the own floor maltings again, what type of barley would you use and why?
To re-commission The BenRiach Floor Maltings is part of our plan:  we will continue to source the barley locally, varietal Optic or Cellar. Locally produced barley is robust, importantly Speyside and is good yielding and provides the basis for the flavour characteristics we are seeking in The BenRiach distillate.

Question 5 - What is according to you the impact of the source/origin of the barley in making BenRiach?
Sourcing barley locally is true to the history of The BenRiach Distillery:  this is how it was in the 19th Century and it is our commitment to continue this traditional approach.

Question 6 - What would be the eventual difference between own maltings and malts you buy elsewhere?
Malted Barley from commercial Maltsters is both high quality and consistent.  However, it does not carry the unique fingerprint of Malted Barley produced from on-site Distillery Floor Maltings.  However, Malting on-site is not without problems and is let's say "unpredictable", especially at the Kiln process where drying temp., times, peat quality etc. are all important and notoriously difficult to control. However, this is a part of the "romance" and the Malted Barley produced from the Floor Maltings is totally unique in character and exclusive to the Distillery.

Question 7 - How goes the mashing process at BenRiach, how many waters, heat, time, method of draining?
Mashing Cycle: The Mash Tun is traditional in style with a conventional drainage system (it is not a Lauter Tun).  The Mash Tun has a diameter of 5.8 m, with a depth of 1.6m. The actual malted barley grist in the Mash is 5.52 m.T.:  The Mash involves 4 x waters and takes approximately 6 hours. Total time taken to set the wash-back 240 minutes.

Question 8 - What yeast is used during fermentation?
The yeast which we use is Distillers Yeast (saccharomyces cerevisiae): which is semi-bubbed prior to transfer to the Wash Back.

Question 9 - Is there a difference of fermentation time for peated and unpeated BenRiach?
The fermentation pattern for peated and unpeated BenRiach is the same.  The capacity of each wash-back is 30,000 litres. The wort is cooled to approximately 18° C prior transfer to the Wash-Back:  the Original Gravity is around 1058 and the fermentation attenuates to a Final Gravity of 998.5, with a final temperature of around 34° Celsius. The fermentation process is controlled by natural means:  "foaming" is controlled by "switchers" and there is no cooling devices.  The fermentation process takes 48 – 50 hours.

Question 10 - How many stills are at BenRiach, and how are they formed?
The BenRiach Distillery has four stills; 2 Wash Stills and 2 Spirit Stills. The Stills are conventional / traditional shape: the Spirit Stills have no reflux bulbs, and the lyne arm has a very slight downward slope. The condensers are located external to the Still House.

Question 11 - Why does BenRiach go on cask at 63,5%?
BenRiach fills to cask at 63.5% vol.:  this choice of strength is based on long experience of wood management.
The strength of the New Fill is crucial to the extraction profile during the maturation process: if filled at a high strength or lower strength a different extraction profile is achieved.

Question 12 - Do you select the casks yourself, or are you dependent of what can be delivered to you?
All of our casks are sourced through Speyside Cooperage, which is located approximately 8 miles from the Distillery.
We select all of our casks and organoleptically evaluate them at the Cooperage before approving the purchase.

Question 13 - What is your opinion on the current evolution of Scottish whisky to move away from sherried expressions? We have seen Macallan shift to fine oak. A lot of distillers claim sherry casks are not the best to use, are bourbon casks better?
Wood Management is one of the most important factors in ensuring excellence of quality during maturation.   The most important factor is to use top quality casks, Bourbon, Hogsheads, Butts or "Wine Seasoned" Casks (Sherry, Port etc). There is a role in the maturation process for all of these casks. In the case of BenRiach, our plan is to start New Fill in fresh first fill bourbon casks, and re-rack some of these into "Wine Seasoned" casks or traditional hogsheads after approximately 8 years.

Question 14 - Is there, according to you, such a thing as whisky that matures better on bourbon casks, and whisky that matures better on sherry casks? Would there be definite reasons for this?
I personally do not subscribe to the theory that certain Malt Whiskies mature better in bourbon casks, and others better in Sherry Casks. If the Distillery has a Wood Management Plan in place which involves re-racking from bourbon into sherry casks (double wood maturation) at the appropriate time, then it is possible to capture the characteristics of both wood styles to the enhancement of the whisky.  This type of planning is "bespoke" and requires a real hands-on approach to the management of the whisky in wood, which bigger companies can find difficult to manage.

Question 15 - Could you tell us something more on the wood-policy you want to apply in the future?
The BenRiach is fortunate in that it carries age very well:  in addition to the Wood Management strategy outlined above, we are very excited about some of the Fine Wood Finishes which we are trialling

• Oloroso Sherry Butts
• Pedro Ximinez Sherry Butts
• Aged Tawny Port Hogsheads
• Aged Tawny Port Puncheons
• Madeira Barrels
• Jamaican Rum Barrels
• Moscatel Wine Barrels
• Sauterne Wine Barrels
• Claret Wine Barrels
• Burgundy Wine Barrels
• Tokay Wine Barrels
• Barolo (Gaja) Wine Barrels

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E-pistle #18/17 - Glenlochy Distillery Profile
Submitted on 14/08/2006 by Lawrence Graham, Canada

Operational: 4th April, 1901 (Established in 1898).
Closed: 1983
Region: Highland
Last Operational Owner: SMD, a subsidiary of DCL.
Current Owner: Lochaber Housing Association
Address: North Road, Inverlochy, Fort William, Inverness-shire

The original meaning of the name Glen loch dae is "Glen of the Dark Goddess" and the distillery was founded by David McAndie of the inspirationally named Glenlochy-Fort William Distillery Company Limited in 1898 with registered offices at 51 Church Street, Inverness and Hugh M. Graham held the position of Secretary (source: Harper's Directory 1914). The distillery was built in the shadow of the mountain Ben Nevis. For a brief decade Fort William could claim three distilleries, Glenlochy, Ben Nevis and the Nevis Distillery. It was not to last and now only the Ben Nevis distillery, owned by Nikka of Japan, is the last surviving Fort William distillery.

The Glenlochy water source was the River Nevis which today provides quite good day fishing for salmon and sea trout when in spate using fly and worm. However spinning and float fishing are not allowed but fishing for brown trout is allowed but only above the lower falls at Polldubh as migratory fish cannot run beyond the falls and no permit is required above that point. The River Nevis is about 1/2 mile from the town centre and the fishing is controlled by the Fort William Angling Club.
The distillery was silent during World War I, the period from 1919-1924 and 1926-1937.

During its short life the distillery endured a myriad of owners/licensees and in the period between 1934-'37 Thomas Leslie Rankin, motor hirer, used the distillery as a base for his business. In 1937 the distillery was purchased by Train & MacIntyre Limited (included in the shareholders was Joseph Hobbs, the colorful Canadian millionaire who also owned nearby Ben Nevis Distillery) and in 1938 was transferred to its subsidiary Associated Scottish Distillers Limited.

In 1953 the Distillers Company Limited purchased the assets of Train & MacIntyre Limited from its American owners, National Distillers Products Corporation and Glenlochy distillery was transferred to the Scottish Malt Distillers (a subsidiary of the Distillers Company Limited). Also included in the sale were Glenesk, Benromach, Glenury Royal and the Company of Train & MacIntyre was wound up in 1960. In 1968, Glenlochy was once again closed along with Oban and Glengarioch distilleries

The distillery had one wash still and one spirit still and was extensively modernized during in the 1960's and 1970's.  In May 1983 Glenlochy along with Banff, Brora, Dallas Dhu, Glen Albyn, Glen Mohr, Knockdhu, North Port and St. Magdalene were closed and the equipment was quickly removed. 

In April 1986 an application to demolish was made to the Lochaber District Council which was rejected. The building and 3.5 acre site fell into decay and finally much of the warehouse and building were demolished. The pagoda and maltings remain and in 1992 were sold to West Coast Inns. The most common example of the whisky today is the bottling known as the "Rare Malts" but even the this offering has now expired except in the realm of the collector. The surviving distillery buildings are in the process of being converted into flats for sale and rent, a better fate than being turned into a shopping complex I suspect.

Lawrence

Sources; The Scottish Whisky Distilleries by Misako Udo; Scotch Missed, the Lost Distilleries of Scotland by Brian Townsend; A Century of Whisky by Gavin Smith; The Scotch Whisky Industry Record by H Charles Criag.
 

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E-pistle #18/18 - The Secret Bottler
Introduced on 15/08/2006 by Serge Valentin, France

This is a true story written by an anonymous - but he's got character! - independent bottler and friend of mine who's been working with and within the whisky industry for a very long time. Today he's sharing a first interesting anecdote with us and there will be more in the future! I hope you'll like it…

Santé, Serge.
 

I met Jonathan for the first time fifteen years ago or so. He was a young, enthusiastic marketing man and he was trying to find a French distributor for what was – at the time – a dirty, characterless and rather repulsively presented malt that, moreover, was very expensive: without mentioning any names, Tobermory – again, as it was at that time.

The dreadful packaging was a faithful image of what was inside the bottle. Not a single flavour was managing to stand out in that vile soup distilled in a still that probably hadn't been properly cleaned since its origins and matured in casks that were undoubtedly that old that they were close to being reconverted into garden tubs, in a warehouse where, I suspect, cats used to relief themselves from their post pandial needs and where geraniums and other valerians (herb of cats) were coming into bloom.

That competition piece was calling for the sink and it's that part of our kitchen, precisely, which was to undergo the hardship consisting in absorbing the 69.9cl that were remaining in the bottle after I had been mad enough to taste the lacking 0.1cl, and subsequently to precipitately finish the hardly touched box of bicarbonate of sodium from the medicine chest and to take out again my grandparent's enema syringe from the attic. I almost took to my heels towards he nearest hospital, which I had thought to be qualified to draw up a proper prognosis if not a diagnosis. My life was at stake.

I reported that memorable tasting session to Jonathan whose ethical physical appearance and pallid features seemed to prove that, thanks to his conscientiousness, he used to carry out sustained tastings of what he was trying to sell.

Shortly after that time, the distillery was sold to new owners who were suspected to be big shareholders of Unilever, and a cargo boat full of extreme cleaning agent was sent over, to be followed close behind by a few containers full of steel wool, sweepers, floor cloths, anti-cats stuff, valerian weed-killer and geranium lifters. Those expeditions were to be followed by a massive hiring of workers to rehabilitate the site. One was looking for Mr. Clean like types, strong and vigorous, and they were provided with clothes pegs so that a likely carnage wouldn't happen.

A white-collar master distiller made his appearance afterwards and tried to make these refurbished fittings produce an output that would be drinkable if not gastronomic.

The man made it a point of honour to do all that and, next time I went to Scotland, I was invited to taste the first drams of the 'new spirit', which hadn't prevented some to try to make me buy old stocks beforehand whilst trying to make me believe it was already the new one.

Luckily, there was a robust pot plant in a corner of the room, which stood in for me discretely at that occasion and could take things nice and easy whilst tasting the infernal potion the previous owners used to commit. Sometimes inferior forms of the living world bear easier what humans can hardly ingest without damages. By the way, all what I was asking my leafy hostage was not to pass out before I could leave the room at the end of the tasting session.

I have to say some of that helpful being's yellowing leaves made me think it had already assisted other tasters during the same kind of arduous task but it seemed that it had managed to recover and that it could more or less stand that virulent poison. Besides, it was obviously its main function in a room where it must have been bored with tears.

My host, who was most busy preparing the samples to follow, used to turn his eyes towards them quite frequently, which allowed me to appeal to my assistant as much as I wanted, or let's say he was doing all what was possible to allow me to do it without he could notice. Fair but I was dreading the last sample because my host wouldn't have the opportunity not to notice my behaviour anymore…

Fortunately, that one happened to be the 'new spirit'. It was silky, certainly light but had notes of that inimitable smell of the peaty swamps that occupy a part of the Island of Mull where Tobermory Distillery is located. One explained to me that that was normal, as the water they used to produce that whisky was coming from those peat bogs. Unusual but neither dirty nor unpleasant. A hint of sugar was making the whole even better and rather unctuous – it was probably from a fresh bourbon barrel. That new product appeared to me to be interesting enough to be proposed to our clientele.

I asked the person I was liaising with to bottle it as soon as law permits (right after the mandatory 3 years) while telling him I didn't want it to be called Tobermory, so that the unfortunate former consumers of that product wouldn't run away, provided there was still a few alive.

He asked me for a name and, as I wanted to remain honest, I proposed him 'Ledaig', as Jonathan had told me about very old batches from the distillery, which he used to sell under that name. I was proposed to register the brand name myself but I refused because I didn't want to appropriate what obviously didn't belong to us. So the new owner, his legitimate proprietor, registered the Ledaig brand name.

The distillery changed hands again since that time and Tobermory probably became a good quality malt. In any case, I never heard anybody speaking badly of it but didn't have the opportunity to taste it since these memorable events.

That was the story of the current Ledaig.
 

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E-pistle #18/19 - Glen Mhor Distillery Profile
Submitted on 01/12/2006 by Michel van Meersbergen, Holland

Operational: 1894 - 1983. Demolished 1986
Region: Speyside (Inverness)
Neighbours: Glen Albyn / Millburn
Address: Great North Road, Inverness, IV3 5LU (Co-Op Store)
Ownership: DCL / UDV-Diageo

Glen Mhor (pronounced Glen Vawr, meaning Great Glen…) was initiated in 1892 by John
Birnie and James Mackinlay of Charles Mackinlay & Co, the blenders from Leith. Birnie had
left the Glen Albyn distillery two years earlier after a dispute about shares in the distillery.
Next to Glen Albyn, he and Mackinlay started the Glen Mhor distillery and were distilling from
1894 onwards. Little is known about the equipment but there's no doubt in my mind Birnie
constructed his distillery to the same technical advanced standards as he did with Glen Albyn.

In 1906 the cooperation was made legal by forming a limited company. John Birnie, unlike he did at Glen Albyn, had to swallow his pride now, the Mackinlay Company became the biggest share holder. 1920 was the year for John Birnie, the Glen Mhor Company took over Glen Albyn Distillery and for years the two neighbouring distilleries worked together. In 1954 Glen Mhor caused revolution to be the first distillery to make use of the Saladin Box malting process. In 1972, William Birnie, the 80 years old son of John Birnie sold Glen Mhor and Glen Albyn to DCL. Sources have it DCL seized to use Saladin box malting in 1980 due to high costs and malting was done elsewhere. In 1983, whisky's darkest year, DCL decided to close Glen Mhor. Small output at relative high costs and a possible need for renovation in a down market sealed the faith of this distillery. After 3 years of decay the building were ripped apart to make way for a shopping mall. Just what we needed…

Glen Mhor today

History of Glen Mhor seems to be quite dull most of the times. The acquisition of Glen Albyn and the Saladin box being the two outstanding events of its history. These days we can make things a little bit more exciting. I strongly suggest you do a H2H between Glen Mhor and Glen Albyn. Diageo has an excellent Glen Mhor 22yo 1979/2001 and an evenly excellent Glen Albyn 26yo 1975/2002 in their Rare Malts range. Try to track them down and plunge yourself in some Merkinch District history.

Glen Mhor Technical data

Water Source:  Loch Ness (distilling and cooling water for condensers)
Malting: Saladin box (installed 1954, operated until 1980)
Peat Source:  Dava Moor
Wash still:  1 (converted to steam heating in 1963)
Spirit stills:  1 (converted to steam heating in 1963)

Michel van Meersbergen
 

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E-pistle #18/20 - Kate Bush Distilled
Submitted on 15/08/2006 by Lex Kraaijeveld, UK

(A more richly illustrated version of this E-pistle was published on Whiskyfun in August 2006)

Credit where credit is due: this article was inspired by fellow maniac Serge Valentin. Some years ago, in one of his e-pistles for "Malt Maniacs", Serge tasted a range of malt whiskies and tried to 'characterise' them by comparing them to famous singers, actresses or sports stars. When I first heard the news that after a 12 year hiatus my all-time-favourite singer/musician was going to release a new album, I thought I'd follow Serge's example, matching my favourite tipple to my favourite artist, but then in a slightly different way from how Serge did it. Kate Bush's music has been part of my life from the moment she burst on the scene as a teenager more than 25 years ago. And what I'm going to do in this wee piece is try to match Kate's 8 studio albums to date to certain whiskies, trying to capture the essence of spirit and music each time. "If Kate's music is indeed a malt whisky, which one would it be?"

When Kate was interviewed for BBC 4's 'Front Row' programme, broadcast early November 2005, and was asked why making her 8th album, Aerial, took so long, she said: I think in this case we're talking about the kind of distilling process rather than fermenting. So it's like making a whisky really! But beyond the long 'maturation' period of both Kate's music and whisky, the two really have a lot in common. Both have many layers of complexity, both are for real savouring and can only fully be appreciated when you give them time, come back to them time and time again ….

So, first album, The Kick Inside, which she released in 1978. What I want to try and do is build up a mental picture of a malt whisky based on the 'feel' of the album as a whole, rather than focus on specific songs. It's not a 'heavy' album, so a medium-bodied whisky. Probably a Speysider. But a characterful Speysider, one with good malty notes. Kate's voice makes it a whisky on the sweet side, certainly not a dry whisky. What kind of sweetness? Not fruity; Kate weaves around the music and coats it in warm honey .... This honey image clinches it for me: if The Kick Inside were a malt whisky, it would be a Balvenie.

On to Lionheart, also from 1978.To me, this is a delicate and deceptively simple album. It oozes charm and character, in a gentle way. Translating this into a malt whisky is actually pretty straightforward. Delicate, charm, gentle are the typical terms used for Lowland whiskies. And arguably the best Lowland whisky comes from the now sadly closed Rosebank distillery, although fortunately there are still plenty of bottles of Rosebank around. Try some 12 year old Rosebank while playing Lionheart and I hope you'll agree I'm not far off the mark in matching the two. 

With the benefit of hindsight, Never For Ever (released in 1980) offers glimpses of things to come. Some of the album is 'related' to the previous two, other parts move away from those. But the whole is properly balanced, and clearly has a character of its own. So I'm looking for a whisky which has several different aspects: malt, sweetness and 'a bit more'. The one that comes to mind is Highland Park. It's often referred to as one of the best all-rounders; a luscious whisky with malt and sweetness, but also some peat and smoke.
The Dreaming, from 1982, is rich, deep, complex, multi-layered, heavy. The first kind of whisky that comes to mind is one which has matured in casks that have previously contained sherry. And one that is bottled at higher strength than usual. One of the richest, most complex 'sherried' whiskies I have ever tasted is a Blairfindy, distilled in 1964 and bottled by Blackadder at 40 y.o. and 55.3% abv. I can not even begin to describe the complexity of this malt. This is one to savour slowly in order to discover all its layers. A perfect match to The Dreaming for me! 

One of the key aspects of Kate's 1985 album Hounds of Love is the two parts it consists of, 'Hounds of Love' and 'The Ninth Wave', and especially the contrast between those two. If I try to see those two aspects in whisky terms, I see 'power' in Hounds of Love and 'sweetness' in The Ninth Wave. To me, 'power' in whisky comes from plenty of peat smoke. And the best example of a peated malt which provides a perfect balance between plenty of peat and sophisticated sweetness is Ardbeg.

Kate has said in an interview that she considered The Sensual World (1989) her most feminine album. When I put the sensuality and the femininity together and think whisky, I can arrive at only one type of malt whisky: one which has matured for a few years in port casks. Among the more luscious of these port-finished malts is a Glenmorangie, which has been matured for well over 10 years in ex-bourbon casks before being given a few years of extra maturation in port pipes. To me, the velvety rich port influence really captures the sensuality of The Sensual World. 

I really got stuck with The Red Shoes, which saw the light in 1993. What I wanted to do was find a whisky which would capture both the relative accessibility of the music and the pain and raw emotion coming from much of the lyrics. I actually spent time opening and nosing bottle after bottle from my whisky shelves, with The Red Shoes playing at the same time. Nothing clicked. Then I remembered a malt which I had tasted once at a whisky event some time ago, which combined silkiness with darker, more powerful peatiness. Could this be the one? Fortunately, I know the man behind this whisky, and a fresh tasting sample was only one e-mail away. Compass Box's Peat Monster does indeed offer both the aspects I was looking for: accessibility (the silky notes) and raw emotion (the peaty notes).

And then Aerial, Kate's latest (double) album, released late in 2005. Aerial is truly a piece of art. It's Kate painting with music, voices, sounds. And the perfect whisky match for this piece of art is a whisky which I've been lucky enough to taste, and which is probably the best whisky I've ever tasted: Dalmore 50 y.o. Like Aerial, this whisky is a true piece of art. Amazingly rich (especially with chocolate-y and orange-y notes), holding up incredibly well to the half century in the wood, and with a finish which just lasts for ever and ever.

Some of you may completely disagree with my matches of album and whisky. Actually, I hope you disagree with me, because that means I've succeeded in making you think about trying to match music and malt! So, I'd be very curious what your perfect matches look like; please do let me know.
Kate, if you're reading this, about Aerial having taken 12 years, keep in mind that the best whiskies take at least 10 years to mature. And, uhhmmm, there are plenty more good whiskies around, so I'm sure I'll be able to find a match to 'K9' ….

Lex
 

(This article was first published, in a slightly different form, in issue #77 of 'HomeGround', the Kate Bush fan-zine.)
 

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E-pistle #18/21 - Sulphur
Submitted on 15/08/2006 by Johannes van den Heuvel, Holland

When I write this we're about to 'freeze' Malt Mandness and Malt Maniacs for a while for a major reconstruction.
There's one little discussion I'd very much like to share with you before I close the site, though...
It originated from a remark made by Luc about sulphur.

Luc -  Peaty, Grainy, Grassy, Fruity, Floral, Feints, Woody, Sweet, Stale, Sulphury, Cheesy, Oily.
I always had trouble with the "Sulphury" part of this Whisky Flavour wheel......is Sulphury even supposed to be there in the first place....isn't sulphury an off-note?

Davin - No, not always. Not in old sherried whiskies for example. I give extra points for gunpowder. Checking the matrix for that PLOWED Port Ellen, the team seems to be divided into two camps and no one is left in the middle. Very interesting.

Charlie - Luc, You are potentially starting another thread, and opening a discussion which I have never had a final answer to: 'Why are the whiskies from European casks often sulphury'? First, I am astonished you have never come across any sulphur, struck matches, matchbox-striker, even cordite notes in 'sherried' whiskies - not even in some Glenfarclases (or should that be Glenfarclae?) The question is where does it come from. Two answers are commonly supplied:

1) The original spirit was 'sulphury' (like Glenkinchie, surprisingly, or Mortlach), owing to the lack of copper contact during distillation (copper extracts sulphur), and this is not extracted by the butt - which, remember, is toasted not charred (char removes sulphur compounds, which is why you don't find many (any?) sulphury whiskies from American oak casks).

2) The butt has been fumigated with a sulphur candle prior to having been emptied of sherry or wine, and some sulphur compounds have adhered to the walls of the cask, or even some drops of sulphur remained in the cask.

What do you think, guys? No chemist I have spoken to has been able to say for certain what causes sulphury notes, except that they are not uncommin in new-make spirit, and are often lost during the early stages of maturation - especially in an American oak cask.

Luc -  Hi Charlie, Oh yes, I have come across quite some sulphury sherried whiskies.....like in lots of sherried PE's and more in sherry version in my opinion then in Bourbon matured PE's....and less in older sherried whiskies (especially 50's and 60's....)... I would definetely like to find out what caused it....

Serge - Charlie, I can't really think of anything to add to this short and brilliant summary (lots of things I didn't know), except this small typo: I believe sulphur is burnt after the casks have been emptied rather than prior. They use different systems and yes, one can leave drops on the bottom of the cask (the 'candles').

Basically, the problem, again, is that a winemaker who'll re-use such casks will rinse them properly, because he's not interested at all in what was in the cask before (quite the contrary) whilst the whiskymaker may be interested in what the casks did contain, and hence might do anything to 'keep it' (i.e. just nothing!). That's particularly true if you think 'finishing'.

Some wines may get 'sulphurised' (to prevent oxidation) before they go into the casks as well but I'm not that sure whether that's done before or after cask filling – Olivier will tell us. That's why we can now all read 'contains sulfites' on our labels. I think this sulphur is then undetectable in the whisky (it's not even detectable in the wines, or rarely).

Lawrence - Charlie, that is an excellent answer, I have experienced a few bottles with sulphur in the last few months and have know about the candles etc but had not realized about its absence in American casks.

Mark - I , too, join the MMchoir of thanks to Charlie for his well stated sulfur bit.
Sulfur pops its head up fairly regularly in my dramming. Anyone dramming with me has heard me say "ew! squished bug!", or "spent solid rocket motor", and "freshly fired ammo casing". These all must be sulfurous in origin. The one which I like the most, even to the point of buying more bottles of it just to get the high again, is the spent solid rocket motor. That stuff rocks!!!
Btw, I thought Serge and Olivier's Marc Gewurtz new make exhibited some sulfur.

Johannes - Whoa!!! Squashed bug? That reminds me of another weird descriptor I sometimes find: ant acid.
Very distinctive - you can often smell an ant hill from quite a distance on a good nose day.

Davin - Yes that's Formic Acid.

Dave - Sulphur = rubber for sure but neither of these could remotely be considered perfumed!
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)

Michel - Ever since I had a anti-biotics treatment last year I'm very sensitive to sulphur.
I got three types of sulphur in my notes...

1) Sulphur as off-note is IMHO So2 (rotten eggs in worst case)
2) Sulphur as acceptable off-note: rubber (Port Ellen, anyone?)
3) Sulphur as 'added' note (S). 'Clean' sulphur acts as very refined white pepper, leaving an ultra narrow burn on my tounge.

Funny thing is, that what I consider a clean version of sulphur, it seems to give an otherwise lean malt the feeling of being 'bodied' and 'shouldered'.

Thomas - Michel wrote: "Rubbery sulphur as with rubber bands..."
Interesting. I get these 'rubberband' aromas a lot, too, and usually I don't like them.
But I would have described them as feinty or even estery (because of the 'chemical' character) rather than sulphury.

Serge - Very right, Michel. I always feel the need to add 'in a nice way' when I detect sulphury notes that I like, and 'too sulphury' when it's not the case. I believe there's two kinds of sulphur to be found:

    * Sulphur because there was actually lots of sulphur in the cask (especially ex sweet wine casks)
    * Sulphur because it's one of the malt's markers (yes, Port Ellen)

On the nose, maybe we can get:

    * Burnt sulphur, yes often like H2S (rather than SO2?) - I don't like that.
       Probably from poorly managed casks (not properly rinsed).
    * Plain sulphur – I admit I don't quite get it in fact, I have to work on that.
    * Rubbery sulphur as with new tyres – I like that
    * Rubbery sulphur as with rubber bands – sometimes it's OK, sometimes I feel it's a flaw.

And again, I agree it can give quite some structure to a malt that would otherwise be too sweetish.

Luc -  Oh yes, very right indeed Serge....
But I don't agree that Port Ellen has this marker in its profile.....
The Port Ellen 22yo 1978/2000 (60,5%, Rare Malts Selection) does not have any sulphury notes if you ask me, nor has the Port Ellen 24yo 1978/2002 (57,9%, DL Platinum for 10th Anniversary Bottling The Whisky Shop, 602 b.) or for that matter the Port Ellen 1982/2005 (55,7%, M&H Cask Selection, Bourbon Cask, 240 b.)...... and many many others for that fact.

But these are full of sulphur and with some of these I have a lot of difficulties.....
Port Ellen 22yo 1982/2004 (61.1%, Douglas Laing for PLOWED, sherry cask #748, 264 bottles) was loaded with sulphury notes, the rubbery kind, the burnt tyres, but I ask myself whether this is still bearable...... Port Ellen 23yo 1979/2003 (46%, Wilson & Morgan, butt #6769) had quite some sulphury notes too.....questionable.... My first impression is that it comes in PE sherry casks....so for me this is not a PE profile marker but rather a result from the cask.... Same with Highland Park..... Some are loaded with sulphur, although HP does not have that in its profile.....so, still for me subject to discussion whether this is an "off" or an on-note for that matter.....

I admit that in the past these notes did not bother me that much.... I even scored malts high having loads of burnt tyres, sulphury notes....like the PE Plowed....but now these same notes disturb me more and more...resulting in a much lower scores for these malts, since I don't like them anymore.....

Even yesterday evening, I tasted the Macallan 14yo 1990/2005 (46%, Whisky-Doris, Sherry cask).
Here the results: Nose: Malty grainy start, cereals, quite some hay and grass with a sweet mineral touch, quite some vanilla wood, butter and candy sweet, some fainted woodsmoke even, a little crême brulée, nice and delicate (22). Taste : Bold and coating start, starts malty sweet buttery but then bang, bah, sulphury notes take over, all rubery now, this ruins my palate (19). Finish : Oh no, those bittery notes, rubbery sulphury notes stick now, feinty too....(18).
B/C : Nose was promising........(17) Total points : 76/100 (perhaps even too much.....)

A few days ago I retried the Highland Park 26yo 1977/2003 (52.1%, OB, Cask 4258, Scottish field merchant's cask), which I had 2 years ago for the first time in the Craig hotel.....and yes, this time I dedected for the first time some rubbery/sulphury notes.....drawing my immediate attention.....my tendance is to lower the score (which I had at 92) for this.....or I'm getting too much focussed on these notes now that they are troubling my mindset.....I don't know....but it is a fact and it happens with a lot of whisky-enthousiasts......we should invite Carsten Ehrlich (from Mara) with whom I had a lot of interesting discussions on this matter too.......

Same with the recent released Ledaig 32yo 1972/2005 (48,9%, Alambic Classique Collection, Oloroso Sherry butt #8721, 396 b.), some love and adore this one for its rubbery undertone....but quite some enthousiasts.....hate this one for those aspects too.......I had the sulphury notes the first tasting right away.....but they did not trouble me that much .... but again the more you drink it, the more they start disturbing you.....and the lesser points I would give to this malt..... Interesting subject, which is amongst whisky-enthousiast nowaydays a topic that is being discussed heavily, especially during tasting sessions and festivals....... But again....MHO

Thomas - Indeed that Laphroaig from the awards had some sulphury notes too.......the reason why a good friend of mine also blind detected these as off-notes.........  I still consider this Laphroaig as a stellar malt, but the more you try it, you get tendancy to detect these notes more and more pronounced....." Finally, another voice of reason. Oh, it's from the Scapa master.
Never mind...  ;-) As for sulphur, I agree with Michel and Luc. Very often I find these notes in sherry casks.

Michel - I think PE, sherry casks and sulphur is spot on, Luc!!!! As far as I know PE was handed 2nd choice casks from Lagavullin. No doubt most of those were poluted with some sulphur from cleaning with candles. Personally I like vattings between bourbon and sherry from PE. Altough there's a romatic side to that. Standing by the PE warehouses, wind comming from Port Ellen Bay. It can be a smelly experience (dead algea and rotting seeweed) Everytime I have a 'sulphury' PE I'm at that spot on Islay...
Anyway, personally I think it's the poor choice of casks that gives PE its personality...

Davin - Well, there are a lot of big PE fans out there - just check the Matrix/Monitor - so if poor choice of casks is the secret to the PE personality let's hope everyone else starts choosing poor casks.

Johannes - Erm... I don't want to nitpick here, but I think we should distinguish between two things here...
First, there is the 'quality' of the cask itself - and I guess you could measure 'quality' in a few different ways.
And then there's the SELECTION of casks available to the people at the distillery - measured in quantity and/or quality... But maybe that's a topic for another discussion... Erm, sorry - carry on...

Michel - A poor cask in this case is something different from a BAD cask... ;-)
Anyway, personally I think it's the poor choice of casks that gives PE its personality...

Davin - So we can say a poor cask produces a rich whisky. Tryin' to get out of the ghetto I suppose. ;-)

Michel - No we can't!
Only thing that's for sure, is that a great cask will turn even poor spirit into something good!! :-)
We all know the standard Lagavulin had no need for huge amounts of great casks, distilling for just three of four (?) days a week. That means a turned down cask by Lagavulin could mean a very agreeable cask somewhere else. From what I've read people at PE were quite frustrated by the fact they had to work with the left-overs from Lagavulin.

Now let me rephrase for my own sake:
'Anyway, personally I think it's the '''''''poor choice'''''' of casks that gives PE its personality...'
Hey, that really helped...

Klaus - Serge, Michel, when I had a glimpse at a heavy duty chemical article about aromas I noticed that a lot of compounds (which are normally not connected wih sulfur aroma) have sulfur atoms, e.g. grapefruit, blackcurrant,...
I associate sulfur in malts with:
- fireworks
- organics (shit, H2S)
- and rubber

Michel - Yes, especially blackcurrants/cherries...
The Longmorn 1972 Serge mentioned on WF had a lot of those. Altough Serge hardly mentions them to my surprise. Govert (owns that bottle, the lucky B.) and I had the feeling we were tasting Crème de Cassis or atrisan Krieken Beer at 60% ABV. (A descriptor close to the 'gunpowder' that Davin mentioned earlier: clay mask - you know, the ones we know our wives are putting on when the bathroom is closed for an hour or so. Serge calls it 'wet chalk'...)

It is however difficult for me to write down such intense fruity aroma's as something as 'earthy' as sulphur.
The signal just takes another path in my brain... It tastes like fruit, my hand writes down accordingly... One exception is Port wood. Smells allright, tastes awfull. My stomach really protests as does my oesophagus (ahem) It gives the same 'sensation' as some sulphury malts do on my tounge... You'll understand why I find port Wood on the jumpy, sulphury side of the spectrum... ;-)

Charlie, would you say a distillery can make a sulphurous run, on demand, to create a spirit that can give some body to another bulk spirit. What I mean, i.e. Speyburn appears quite sulphury, but it's the clean stuff. Acting like a subtle pepper. Speyburn lacks taste but it does have some sort of body which stands out (to my taste). I can imagine a spirit like that can give some muscles to a blend which has to be completely smokeless or easy going if you will... There's a thin line between clean sulphur and 'white pepper', I often pair them in my notes. My feel is that 'white pepper' comes from the oak, being a second or third refill (non juveniled) cask. Lots of the Dewar Rattray and Cadenhead casks appear to be very jumpy and nervous and judging from the colour they must have come from that kind of cask.

Chalie - Michel, Yes, up to a point. By running the stills hot and fast, and running warmer water in the condensers - in other words by reducing the copper uptake in the spirit. But it would be difficult to achieve greater 'weight' where the stills are designed to produce a lot of reflux (Glenmorangie's tall still, for example). Lochnagar is a good example - small stills, worm tubs, wants to make a heavy spirit, but for some reason Diageo demands that the make is 'grassy' (i.e. light and estery). To achieve this, they run hot and fast and allow the water in the worms to warm.

Speyburn has worms, which will lend body (less copper contact). I know what you mean by 'white pepper'. I am not sure whether this is related to sulphur, and like you, I think it may have something to do with maturation.
On the other hand 'chilli pepper' (as in Talisker) is present in the new make.

Luc - BUT BUT Michel, I don't agree with your earlier statement that a sherry cask gives sulphur, they often do........only the bad ones do, no ?  Or is it the combination of a peaty malt on a sherry cask....no I don't think so......the Ardbeg 1976/1999 Manager's choice (56%, OB, 497 bottles, SherryCask n° 2391)  or for that matter the Ardbeg 1976/2002 Feis Isle 2002 (53,1%, OB, 494 bottles, Cask n° 2390) don't have them......and lots of other examples for that matter........

Michel - Hold your horses my dear Luc :-))
I've never said sulphur is tied to sherry casks persé...
No way, the two Ardnbeg's you quote are beauties, without any doubt some of the Great Ardbeg's.
In the case of the Laphroaig 31 sherry cask that won at the awards, I would say it came from the cask...
I agree it's the kind of taste that becomes boring after a while. I have the same problem with peat these days... Ermm... Don't shoot guys!!! I never feel sorry for only having a few ml's from a screamer of a malt. Even if they notch a deserved 93pts... Also, once I got a good feeling for a marker I tend to focus how well in blends with other components, or the way it stands out, or the other way arround, carries the rest of the aroma/taste, harmony and balance in short... Perhaps we've reached parallel stages in our quest?

Luc -  Michel....no shooting here....me too, I have a tendancy even to dislike those young peated beasts.......
Who likes to drink a dram of a VY Ardbeg every evening, not a real enjoyment.....no wonder most people like Speysiders the most and this is the most active region still.....but a fully matured Islay malt that removes these sharp beasty, peaty edges.....can be absolutely adorable..... I could drink a whole day an Ardbeg 1976/1999 Manager's choice (56%, OB, 497 bottles, Cask n° 2391) or a Longmorn 27yo 1969 (43%, Prestonfield, Cask 4252, 296 b.) or a Longmorn 25yo "Centenary edition" (45%, OB, bottled 1994).......but enjoying a Ardbeg 6yo 1998/2004 'Very Young' (58.3%, OB, committee approved) every day... No way......

Michel - My great concern here is that we nail down single cask bottlings as a solid 'expression' of a distillery's marker. I just refuse to do so...  Let me put it this way... The sulphur in Port Ellen is what makes PE errmm PE!! ;-)  A sulphurless PE is in its best a very good to beautifull medium peated Kildalton whisky.

Serge - Gentlemen, I don't want to sound patronising but I feel you're reaching a well-known conclusion: seek variety! Anybody can get fed-up with the nicest things in life, should he have too much of them. It's just the same with caviar, white truffles and God knows what else... (no, not that)  That's why, with Olivier, we changed the way we organize our little tasting sessions. We used to do thing like 'nine Ardbegs from the 70's' and that became very boring (I couldn't have any other Ardbeg for weeks after that, even the grandest). Now we 'work' with very different pairs or triplets and it's much more fun.

As for PE and sulphur - let's rather say indeed 'sulphury' rather than 'sulphur' (like in smoked vs smoke) but I agree it's closer to tar, tarmac, tyres... I find 'sulphury' smells in tarmac, as kind of a sub-aroma, hence find it in many Port Ellens, not just sherried ones. These 'sulphury' aromas are not the same as in 'sulphur from the cask' and that's why I feel the need to divide 'sulphur' into several categories. I guess it's just a matter of definition. Yeah, same, MHO. Serge - who tries to manage his blatant hedonism.

Luc -  Oh yes, Serge I fully agree we should be carefull with the notes and description of these aroma's.....but lots of people nowadays look for that in the description, if they see, sulphury, rubbery....they don't even buy the bottle anymore (and this is very true.......) Another example......the Highland Park 16yo 1989/2005 (57,3%, OB for Belgium, Sherry Cask 4386) was released last year and everybody loved it, the rubbery compounds were detected and everybody loved it........then.....then..... but a few weeks ago Paul De Jong hosted an offnote tasting session (yeah no fun, agree, drinking bad whiskies, but very academic) and guess what...........they all found this one PRETTY BAD !!!  Due to sulphur......bad sherry cask.......I scored it the first time I tasted it only 68 points and for that the organiser of the festival hates me.....but now.....lots of people dislike it....

Davin - Luc, that just proves most people will believe whatever you tell them. They like it when they think everyone else does, then they hate it when they think everyone else does. A good reason for blind tasting without a theme.

Serge - Yeah, Davin, Luc is a genuine trendsetter in Belgium.
He could tell the boys bubblegum in whisky is the thing, they'll all start buying Old Rosdhu... ;-)

Davin - Yeah, Serge, but not necessarily a bad thing.
We all have to start somewhere, but we hope to eventually learn enough to develop our own taste. My biggest breakthrough was losing my inferiority complex over not being able to enjoy Macallan as much as Michael Jackson seemed to.

Johannes - indeed, Davin - and this might be a suitable occasion to wrap up this discussion.
This old site is about to collapse around us, so we'd better pick this up again on the new website....
 
 

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