Batch 1 | Whisky Den

Bought: The Whisky Shop, 27^th October 2015

Ratings:
92/100 – Whisky Bible 2016
86/100 – Whiskybase (from 1 member vote)

I like the idea of a ‘Living Cask’. Initially I thought it was a bit of a gimmick until I read more about it. It’s a vatting together of malts where part of the cask is drawn off and bottled up before more malt is added, so some of the whisky lives on, mixed with the new. The ‘Living Cask’ concept is used here by Richard Joynson, the owner and founder of Loch Fynes Whisky, which he opened in Inveraray, West Scotland, in 1993.

Jim Murray, author of the Whisky Bible, has loved nearly every versions of the Living Cask he’s reviewed over the years. The ‘Anniversary Offering’ listed in the 2006 Bible only scored 79/100 but most other versions score 90/100 or above. In the 2016 Bible the taste of my Batch 1 reads “a volley of intense sugars, further enlivened by prickly spice makes for a memorable kick off. The smoke continues to drift and offer anchor; unusually, the texture actually becomes silkier as the flavours develop.” Mr Murray concludes with “absolutely charming” and 92/100 classifies this dram as “brilliant”.

This vatted malt, gimmick or not, certainly gets good reviews. Whether that justifies a price tag of £42 given it’s only 50cl rather than 70cl is debatable especially when you consider the many wonderful single malts you can buy for a similar price. But if you’ve tried all those and fancy something different, the Living Cask certainly ticks the boxes for uniqueness and quality.

Loch Fyne Living Cask Batch 1 NAS 50cl

Bought: Amazon, 21^st November 2014

Ratings:
89/100 – Whisky Bible 2015
86.5/100 – Whiskybase (average from two member votes)

I’ve had my eye on the independent bottler ‘That Boutique-y Whisky Company’ for a while. On the downside, all their offerings are NAS, assuming you consider an age statement important. Personally I don’t care, so long as the whisky tastes nice. Certainly one negative is the bottle volume of 50cl rather than the more standard 70cl. So, at a diminutive size, what’s inside needs to be better than average. Things start to improve when you discover that most, if not all Boutique-y’s whiskies are cask strength. And lastly, the company generally gets excellent reviews.

Speaking of reviews, Jim Murray says of this Ben Nevis in his Whisky Bible “massive chunky delivery. All kinds of fruit in play, as well as barley sugar concentrate” and “a malt to match the mountain: just…big!” Then he scores it 89/100 which is “very good to excellent whisky definitely worth buying”.

You can’t help but notice the naïve, almost VIZ-like cartoons on the bottle labels, all of which tell a quirky story and relate to those involved in the bottling process. Initially I didn’t like the artwork but I’m warming to it now. It’s certainly unique in the world of whisky, which adds a certain charm. I got bottle no.129 of only 161 released so there aren’t many opportunities to get a taste of this interesting whisky.