Loch Fyne Living Cask Batch 1

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.

Johnnie Walker Blue Label

Bought – Loch Fyne, 19th June 2014

Ratings:
88/100 – Whisky Bible 2014
82/100 – Ralfy, of http://www.ralfy.com
Review: – Ralfy – Johnnie Walker Blue Label – YouTube

It’s time to sell your grandmother, as you reach for a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label off the top shelf. I blame it all on the Green Label bottle I bought last year, which inspired me to want all the colours in the JW range. The Blue is the expensive one, at around £135 for a full 70cl. I paid £45 for my 20cl bottle, and even at that price I need my head seen to! £45 for a quarter bottle of a blend?! And it’s not even the version of the Blue Label that Jim Murray raves about in his Whisky Bible. My version scores a respectable 88/100 with the comment from Jim of “What a frustrating blend! Just so close to brilliance but the nose and finish are slightly out of kilter. Worth the experience of the mouth arrival alone.” He does give the ‘taste’ part of the mark 24/25, which is 96/100, so if I hold my nose and forgive the finish it sounds incredible!

So what is it that Jim Murray loves?! It’s the Blue Label ‘The Casks Edition’ which he scores 97/100. Wow! But unfortunately it’s £300 for a bottle. Double-WOW followed by a “Blimey!” And an “OUCH!”

Kilchoman ‘Machir Bay’ 2014

Bought – Loch Fyne, 19th June 2014

Ratings:
90.5/100 – Whisky Bible 2014 (for the 2013 Machir Bay)

As I’m writing this I have the Machir Bay bottle on display to the right of my monitor. It has a very pleasant, dumpy shape to it. Originally I ordered the 2013 edition of Machir Bay from Loch Fyne but they phoned me to say it was meant to say ‘2014’ on their website. Although they had both listed, and I’d ordered the 2013 mainly because it was £35 and the 2014 was £40. They agreed to give me the 2014 for £35, so £5 off! 🙂 I’m loving this whisky even more!

Jim Murray in his Whisky Bible gives the 2012 version of Machir Bay 93/100 so the 2013 has slipped a bit with 90.5/100. Nevertheless that’s still classed as “brilliant” according to Jim’s ratings. In my hunt for reviews I stumbled across a write-up on Whisky Intelligence (here) that says the 2014 Machir Bay is an improvement on the 2013 which, as Jim Murray highlighted, had slipped a bit since 2012. This all makes good reading to me!

Macallan 12-year-old ‘Fine Oak’ – 5cl

Bought – Loch Fyne, 19th June 2014

Ratings:
95.5/100 – Whisky Bible 2014
82/100 – Whiskybase (average from 3 member votes)
84/100 – Whisky Wise (video below)

I had to rub my eyes in disbelief when I spotted this miniature of the Macallan 12yo ‘Fine Oak’ on the Loch Fyne’s website. With the 12yo now discontinues, finding bottles of any size is becoming rare, or expensive, or both. Although the 10yo ‘Sherry Oak’ is generally considered marginally better than the ‘Fine Oak’ of the same age, it’s the opposite way around with the 12yo. Jim Murray, author of The Whisky Bible, gives the 12yo ‘Sherry Oak’ 93/100 but the 12yo ‘Fine Oak’ 95.5/100.

Jim Murray describes the nose of this Macallan as ‘faultless’ so it’s a bit strange that he only gives it 24/25 rather than 100%. He goes on to say of the taste “a near perfect entry” and “juicy yet enough vanilla to ensure structure and layering.” He then summarises with “a whisky whose quality has hit the stratosphere since I last tasted it.” So I’m glad I found a sample of it, albeit only 5cl. Not that it’s gone forever because I’m sure bottles of the stuff will be appearing in auctions for the rest of my lifetime. Some never being drunk, just passed from collector to collector.

Here’s Jason of Whisky Wise with his thoughts about this Macallan miniature on YouTube (June 2017):