Bladnoch 25-year-old (SMWS 50.71)

Bought: Scotch Malt Whisky Society, 30^th November 2015

Ratings:
92/100 – Whiskybase (from 1 member vote)

Bladnoch closed in 1993. In 1994 dynamic Irishman Raymond Armstrong spotted the mothballed distillery when he was on holiday in the Lowlands and he decided to buy it. Lots of work had to be done, which meant whisky production didn’t start again until 2000. Sadly the distillery went into liquidation in 2014 putting the future of Bladnoch in the balance. Thankfully a successful Australian businessman, David Prior bought Bladnoch in July 2015. In September he announced on the distillery’s Facebook page (which hadn’t been updated in over 2 years) that he’d appointed Ian Macmillan as the new master distiller and blender. Another announcement on 24^th December proclaimed the arrival of new single malts in 2016. The future is looking good for Bladnoch once more!

Having said all that about the distillery’s recent history, my bottle by the SMWS entitled ‘Alfresco brunch’ was distilled in 1990, back when Bladnoch were under the ownership of United Distilleries. Someone clearly loves it on Whiskybase with a vote of 92/100. The house style is light-bodied, dry, fruity, fresh, floral and grassy. The SMWS description below mentions a meadow, so there’s the grass element, but bacon, gingerbread and salami don’t sound overly typical of a standard Bladnoch. It goes to show how varied each cask can be!

“We were having a Picnic Brunch in a meadow; the sun had almost burnt off the morning dew and we were looking forward to a glorious day outside. Out of the basket came smoked salmon, gravlax and a bowl of fresh watermelon and Cantaloupe salad with mint and basil vinaigrette. The taste was satisfyingly sweet, like dipping a wooden spoon into a jar of heather honey or a glass of delicious viscous mead. Just a drop of water and meaty aromas appeared; eggs Benedict with bacon, gingerbread pancakes with Parma ham and the taste turned into a spicy salami pizza.”

Octomore 6.2 – Limited Edition (18,000 bottles)

Bought: Whiskysite, Holland, 23^th May 2015

Ratings:
90/100 – Whisky Bible 2015
85.09/100 – Whiskybase (average from 163 member votes)

I decided to get this version of Bruichladdich ‘Octomore’ because of its limited edition status. The two versions of the 6.1 in the Whisky Bible score higher with marks of 91.5/100 and 94/100 but 90/100 still classifies my bottle as ‘brilliant’. The fact that it comes from a cognac cask is a new one to me. Jim Murray the Bible author says of the taste “hard to imagine the smoke playing second fiddle, but it does: the sugars are so intense and the barley so salivating, for a few moments you even forget it is there.” He summarises with “one of the sweetest bottlings from this distillery of all time. Some warming late spice, too.”

Scoring over 85/100 on Whiskybase is an excellent rating although the 6.1 version gets nearly 87/100 and 6.3 is up at a heady 88/100. Nevertheless, comments for the 6.2 include “here’s one expression I hope is around forever as it’s a drinking phenomena”, “again a masterpiece. Heavy peat and sea, mixed with fruits and honey beyond the fire.” and “what’s the deal with the low rating in comparison to other Octomore bottlings? I really don’t see much different. If any I liked this one more than previous bottlings.”

Will it be a good investment? It’s hard to say with the Octomore. With so many versions coming out, even a limited edition is swamped by what’s available. I’m tempted to try it but perhaps at a tasting event, or by getting a 5cl sample rather than cracking open my bottle. At the speed I drink, it would be around for a very long time!

Kavalan ‘Solist’ (ex bourbon casks)

Bought – Online Whisky Auction, 19^th May 2014

84.7/100 – Whiskybase (average from 9 member votes) – 198ml version

Nearly 85/100 on Whiskybase is a very good score where someone comments “Pretty drinkable and enjoyable. Really not bad.” This is for the 198ml bottle. My example is the 48ml miniature which scores 87/100 from one vote here.

Although Jim Murray in his Whisky Bible hasn’t reviewed this specific Taiwanese malt, of the 9 mentioned in the 2014 edition, 7 score over 90/100 and 2 in the high 80s. The ‘ex bourbon oak’ (closest to my version) scores 93/100, although only 46%. My version is cask strength at 58.2%. I was hoping the Malt Maniacs might have reviewed my bottling but sadly they haven’t. Or perhaps that’s a good thing because it shows how rare my version is! 🙂

Kavalan distillery was founded in Taiwan in 2005 and released its first bottlings in 2008. Since then it’s gone from strength to strength, picking up awards and getting comments like “somehow managed to make this Taiwanese malt more top quality Scotch in character than anything of its age you can find in the Highlands” (quote from Jim Murray, Whisky Bible 2014, about the latest Kavalan ‘Sherry Oak’).

If you haven’t tried Kavalan I’d recommend tracking some down. The entry-level NAS (non aged statement) bottle can be found in certain supermarkets here in the UK and is excellent (scoring 91/100 in the latest Whisky Bible).

Tasting notes left on Whiskybase for 198ml version:

Nose: Very rich, intensive sweet wood and vanilla notes, tropical fruits, coconut, ripe bananas, pineapples, pears, flowers
Taste: Punchy, fruity, pears, vanilla, wood notes, oily and liquorice
Finish: Medium long, burning