Matt's Blog

18 March 2007

This week saw us back over at the conservatory of our local Thistle Hotel for another Whisky extravaganza.  We were delighted to Welcome Susan Webster, brands Ambassador of Douglas Laing to entertain the masses.  Now, in 9 years of hosting Whisky events, normally on a monthly basis, Susan became only the third woman ever to stand up and brave the Whisky hardcore and we had to agree, she did an amazing job, injecting a little humour here and there and generally keeping everyone listening intently, which we believe puts her right up there with the Richard Pattersons and Jim McEwans of this world.  People arrived at the Thistle for a pint or two at the bar at 7:30pm before heading through to the conservatory.  8pm, we were all there, the room completely full and the door was closed.  Mark did his bit, introducing the idea of independent bottlers, their part in the Whisky trade and more specifically about Douglas Laing and Susan herself.  Now it was over to Susan and she gave her opening gambit by amusingly justifying her right to be there, being a ‘girl’ (it’s probably worth mentioning that at the age of 26 she is also very young to be doing the job she does and I would hazard a guess that she was the youngest person in the room) standing in front of a room full of men (to be fair there were 3 women, but that did make a men to women ratio of almost 20 to 1) talking about Whisky; this she did very well which was understandable considering her background in that she’s born and bred Dufftown and has worked in the Whisky trade all her life.  She introduced the company Douglas Laing & Co. Ltd and explained how they work and gave some more information on independent bottlers and introduced the range that we were tasting that evening:  ‘The Old Malt Cask’, before we were ready for Whisky number 1 and what a good start it was:  A 16 year old Glenturret (RRP £56.99), bottled, as all of the Old Malt Cask Whiskies were, at 50% ABV.  Susan gave the background of Glenturret distillery and explained its current position, being known as the ‘House of Grouse’, as it’s the location of the ‘Famous Grouse Experience’, being that Glenturret is a main component of the famous blend.  On the Whisky itself - this was with very little exception highly enjoyed by the entire room, understandable given its quality.  On the nose this stunner was crisp and floral with notes of sweet malt, ginger and toffee apples, a malty, chewy and mouth coating palate offered spiced ginger notes before leading to a smooth, lightly short but sweetly spiced finish.  Delicious. 

Whisky number 2, next up, sticking in the Highlands but moving slightly North into Speyside… A 12 year old Sherry butt expression of Mortlach (RRP £43.59).  Again, this was very well-perceived and ranked about as highly as the Glenturret among the people in the room.  On the nose, this malt was rich, sweetly fruity and malty with an elegant, spicy palate, leading to a finish that was delicately smoky with a grape and cinnamon aspect.

We moved on, still in Speyside, often cited as the King of the Speysiders, we had a Macallan.  This, however, was no ordinary Macallan, being a Bourbon cask 25 year old Macallan (RRP £99.99).  A fresh and floral nose on this one with a malty palate and an almost everlasting, lingering but dry finish.  An exceptional dram that was generally well received, although the price put a few people off (it is worth mentioning however, as Susan did, that the distillery bottling of Macallan 25 will set you back more than twice the price of this one, so if you want to try old Macallan, you’re far better off with an independent).

Time for a break, a quick round of beers and food was served, roasted loin of Pork with all the trimmings; not your usual Whisky fodder but Susan was quite relieved, I guess her job provides far too much haggis, neeps and tatties than you might desire.

We poured and distributed Whiskies 4, 5 and 6 and handed back over to Susan to continue discussions.

Whisky 4… very interestingly was a 10 year old Claret cask Ben Nevis (RRP £45.99).  And I don’t think I’ve seen a Whisky this pink before, it was truly Salmon in colour and just looked gorgeous in the glass.  On the nose this Whisky was immediately big on red berries with a wine and slightly herbal quality.  The palate was mouth coating and fruity but attractively dry, leading to a herbal and dry, slightly smoky finish.  Well perceived by most people and in terms of sales was the most successful of the night.

Whisky 5… ok, we were on to the Islays and Susan had already made it very clear she was a Speyside girl, next up:  Bowmore 12 Year Old (RRP £48.99).  Initially fresh and sea-salty with a rich, peaty palate, this great dram  had an incredibly long, dry, smoky finish reminiscent of tar and iodine.  An exceptional dram but slightly peatier that you might expect in a Bowmore.  Well received by the majority, disliked by a few. Susan didn't seem keen.

Next up we had a Laphroaig (pronounced Laf-fr-oy-g and not Laf-fwo-oige as someone in the room tried to wind Susan up by pronouncing it that way), this one being a 12 year old Laphoraig (RRP £56.99).  This mighty Islay was a mouth coating fairground ride of sweet peat, smoke, iodine and tar with an exceptionally long, phenolic and medicinal finish guaranteed to split the room comfortably into two groups, those who fell in love with it and those who turned green.

At this stage Susan revealed a 7th dram as a treat for the evening.  This was poured blind and enjoyed before Susan announced that it was a 28 year old Brora from their Platinum range bottled straight from the cask at 60.1% ABV, distilled in 1972.  This was an amazing dram to finish on from this now long gone distillery, meaning we were drinking history itself. This dram had a very expressive nose, somewhere between salt, pepper and peat smoke, but much more. A hint of plum, liquorice and a remote impression of hay with a great balance of fragrances. On the palate, the first impression is a bit of dryness, but very soon a pleasant mix of peat with a hint of sweet tangerine appears, followed by some discrete woody hints, slightly dominated by pepper and spices, giving it an unusual complexity. This stunner had a remarkable balance too, where all the impressions are clearly present, but where none of them clearly dominates the other ones. The finish was exceptionally long and again characterized by this remarkable balance between fine and discrete wood, smoke and very discrete hints of citrus as well.  Amazing.

We drew the evening’s proceedings to a close providing Susan with a very well-deserved round of applause before retiring to the bar for a quick pint after which everyone headed home, with the clock barely past 11, concluding not only one of our finest tastings to date, but also one of our most civilised.

We look forward to our next outing on April 26th, when we will be performing our first ever super tasting.

We very much hope to see you there,

Slainte,
Matt.