Glen Mhor 1978 14-year-old, Signatory

Bought: Whisky Auction, 22^nd November 2016

Ratings:
76/100 – Serge Valentin (Whiskyfun.com)
83/100 – Whiskybase (average from 2 member votes)

Glen Mhor was one of many Scottish distilleries to feel the brunt of the whisky slump of the early 1980s, closing in 1983 and being demolished in 1988. Whiskybase currently have 170 different bottles of Glen Mhor listed on their database, 10 by the distillery and the remaining 160 by independent bottlers. The top three independents are Gordon & MacPhail (38), Signatory Vintage (22) and Cadenhead (14). My miniature is by Signatory and at 14-years-old it’s the youngest of the 22 listed on Whiskybase. Although 83/100 is a reasonable score it’s the second lowest of Signatory’s 22 versions of Glen Mhor with 5 bottles scoring a very impressive 89/100 or more.

Serge Valentin of Whisky Fun (and one of the Malt Maniacs) reviewed this Glen Mhor in 2005 and gave these tasting notes:
Nose: rather fresh starting on some fruity notes like green apple, kiwi, pink grapefruit and also some sherry. Develops on cereals: grain, muesli… It goes on with some porridge, yoghurt, caramel. Whiffs of white pepper. Really fresh, fruity and lively, with some jolly nice yeasty notes. Just a bit dusty, but the cask was still very neutral, it appears… Oh, some nice and bold vanilla fudge developing after fifteen minutes or so.
Palate: the mouth feel is quite powerful, the attack being little sour and unbalanced. Certainly less clean and fresh than the nose suggested. Some hot milk, brioche, yeast… Green vegetables, hydromel, bitter beer (like Bombardier). It gets even sourer after a while, and drying at the same time. A bit of apple vinegar… Too bad, it gets then even worse, with some disturbing offbeat notes.
Finish: is very sour, on green tomatoes and over-infused tealeaves

Banff 1978 18-year-old

Bought: Online Whisky Auction, 16^th December 2015

Ratings:
80/100 – Whiskybase (average from 2 member votes)

It’s only a few weeks since I blogged about my first Banff whisky in my collection and here comes another one, albeit a 5cl miniature. My previous bottling was by Gordon & MacPhail but this younger example is by the independent bottler Signatory.

Released in 1997, 2460 miniatures were issued (mine is number 1351), with only 240 full-size 70cl bottles from the same cask.

80/100 on Whiskybase is a so-so score with one member, MaltMartin, kindly leaving these thoughts:

Nose: Starts with a lot of plastic. Like stepping into a new brand car. Chalky as well. Clay. Later on more grassy notes. Pear and melon at the background.

Taste: Much more fruity sweetness now. Also nail polish and aceton. A bit perfumy (like in these old Aberlour 9yo cube bottles of the past). Mustardy. Schweppes tonic.

Finish: Quite short. Slightly metallic. Pepper and nutmeg. Developing into more salty notes.

Comments: One of those quirky Banff’s… Totally out of balance, but fun to taste.

Glenury Royal 1978 14-year-old

Bought: The Wright Wine Company, 2^nd October 2015

Ratings:
0/100 – Whiskybase (no rating yet)

Glenury Royal distillery was based in Stonehaven, a coastal town in northeast Scotland, 15 miles south of Aberdeen. The distillery was founded in 1825 by Captain Robert Barclay and closed in 1985. Captain Barclay was a member of parliament, which probably explains how he got permission from the king to put “royal” in the distillery’s name. Unfortunately the distillery was sold for property development and turned into apartments in the 1990s so we wont see the return of Glenury Royal.

My 14yo example was bottled in 1993 so it has remained unopened for 22 years. In all those years the neck level has stayed high, which is a good sign that it’s been stored well and the seal is nice and tight. Unfortunately I’ve been unable to find any reviews but an almost identical 14yo from the same period (1978-1993), also by Signatory, scores 87.5/100 from two voters on Whiskybase (here). This is also the same strength and matured in identical wood (oak cask). In general, most Glenury Royal bottlings get good reviews but they’re becoming increasingly hard to find. Miniatures (5cl) can still be found at auction for about £12 each, depending on age and rarity.

Port Ellen 27-year-old 6th Release

Bought: Whisky Galore, 7^th August 2015

Ratings:
94/100 – Whisky Bible 2008
90/100 – Malt Maniacs (average from 8 member votes)
91.89/100 – Whiskybase (average from 68 member votes)

No, this is only a 20cl rather than 70cl of this rare Port Ellen. Nevertheless it’s one of the most expensive whiskies in my collection. I felt I had to get an example from this legendary distillery before even a miniature cost the same price as a Manchester United season ticket (and just as hard to acquire!). At the time of writing this you’d do well to buy a 5cl of Port Ellen at auction for under £50. Even if you acquire one, will you be able to bring yourself to drink it at the price you paid?

I had to go back to the Whisky Bible 2008 to find Jim Murray’s review for this Port Ellen as release 6 came out in 2006. 94/100 classifies this dram as a “superstar whisky that gives us all a reason to live”. Hardly surprising for a distillery closed in 1983, which is now considered the connoisseur’s choice. So intimidated am I by this whisky that I wouldn’t dream of drinking any unless I felt my taste buds were finely tuned and having an exceptionally good day. Otherwise I’d feel I was wasting it.

I can only find 8 of the 14 releases likely to be covered by the Whisky Bibles in my possession and Jim Murray only scores the 4^th release higher than the 6^th with a score of 95/100. For my bottle he says of the taste “sweet delivery: the peat alternates with the soft Demerara for custody of the middle ground; spices abound” and summarises with “a luxurious malt and worth an hour of anybody’s valuable time.” Don’t worry Jim I have no intension of slugging it back with a dash of coke and a few ice cubes!

The Malt Maniacs (a group of very experienced whisky drinkers) provide ratings for the first 12 releases. 90/100 is slightly above average but equal with releases 2, 5, 7 and 12. Only 3 releases score higher – 11^th (91/100), 9^th (92/100) and 10^th (93/100). On Whiskybase, 92/100 is very much the par score across all the releases but the 10^th, 11^th and 12^th releases go up to 93/100. These are older whiskies, over 30 years, and in the video below by Donald Renwick (distillery manager at Royal Lochnagar) he mentions how well Port Ellen matures. He knew people who worked at the distillery and back then the spirit they produced wasn’t highly regarded. It’s sad that the world only found out how good old single malt from Port Ellen could be 20+ years after it closed. Bring the distillery back! And make it cheaper!