Swedish bottler Svenska Eldvatten is not giving us a distillery name this time, only the indication North Highland . This 18 years old malt from a first fill sherry cask is said to come from a distillery rarely bottled by independents. Make a guess and read on.

North Highland 18 yo 1995 (56,1%, Svenska Eldvatten 2013, first fill sherry butt #233123, 428 btl.)

Nose: toffee apples and rhubarb compote. Sweet and sour. Berries, oranges and vanilla. Some hay and soft minerals. Dried apricots too. A profile that’s very open and inviting but complex at the same time. After a...

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Balblair 2002 is not the first young Balblair I’m trying: I’ve already had the Balblair 2000 and I’ve even reviewed its successor, Balblair 2003 . Now there’s also a duo of Balblair 2004 available in travel retail, one bourbon matured and the other sherry matured (only in Asia).

Balblair 2002 is made up of ex-bourbon casks.

Balblair 2002 (46%, OB 2013)

Nose: malty and sweet, with lots of sugared cereals and quinces. Fairly youngish, with some esthery fruitiness of banana. Lemon and white grapefruit. Sponge cake. A grassy / minty note too. Mouth: malty, sweet and sour. Lemon drops,...

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Another new release from Malts of Scotland : a Tullibardine 1980 .

Tullibardine 34 yo 1980 (48,3%, Malts of Scotland 2014, sherry hogshead, ref. MoS 14023, 146 btl.)

Nose: a bit robust at first, but it unfolds slowly. Varnish and paraffin at first. Hay, a little chalk and flinty notes. Quite some floral notes as well. Spicy oak shavings and eucalyptus. In between there are restrained gusts of fruitiness that are hard to define. Mouth: oily, starts spicy and slightly herbal again. Mint and pepper. Waxy notes. Nutmeg. The nicest part is the shot of pink grapefruits and apricots...

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Another new release from Malts of Scotland : a Tullibardine 1980 .

Tullibardine 34 yo 1980 (48,3%, Malts of Scotland 2014, sherry hogshead, ref. MoS 14023, 146 btl.)

Nose: a bit robust at first, but it unfolds slowly. Varnish and paraffin at first. Hay, a little chalk and flinty notes. Quite some floral notes as well. Spicy oak shavings and eucalyptus. In between there are restrained gusts of fruitiness that are hard to define. Mouth: oily, starts spicy and slightly herbal again. Mint and pepper. Waxy notes. Nutmeg. The nicest part is the shot of pink grapefruits and apricots...

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This is not the legendary Ardbeg 1972 ‘Ardbeggeddon’ for the Plowed society, but a similar release by Douglas Laing in their Old Malt Cask series, bottled a couple of months earlier in augusti 2001. It was finished in a sherry cask for six months before being bottled.

Ardbeg 29 yo 1972 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC 2001, sherry finish, 432 btl.)

Nose: marvellous, a great mix of gentle old peat, spearmint, asphalt and a Brora-esk farminess (stables) in the background, although this fades away. Constantly balancing between a fat (vanilla) creaminess and maritime sharpness. Tarry ropes and sweet seaweed. Smoked bacon....

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The last time this blog featured the independent bottler Malts of Scotland was exactly one year ago. Somehow they weren’t brought to my attention, but I’m happy to have tasted a couple of new releases again.

Images is a relatively new series. The distilleries aren’t mentioned on the label because most casks were intended for the blending industry. However each bottle bears a characteristic image of the production region and this is sometimes enough to narrow down the possibilities.

Ayrshire doesn’t have a lot of active distilleries and the link with Ailsa Bay was easily made. It’s a recent...

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After the excellent surprise that was the Benromach 10 Year Old , we’re now trying another release from the same distillery (Speyside’s smallest operational distillery by the way). It’s the Benromach 1976 , part of the Heritage collection which also includes the 30 Year Old and a 1969 vintage.

Benromach vintage 1976 was matured in first fill and refill sherry hogsheads. Obviously it was produced by the previous owners and even made with different equipment – Gordon & MacPhail installed new stills when they reopened the distillery.

Benromach 1976 (46%, OB 2012)

Nose: creamy start. Tinned peaches and oranges,...

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A totally different side of Jura…

Try to look for Jura 1972 and you’ll probably only find two casks distilled december 1972 and bottled by The Scotch Maltwhisky Society in mars and augusti 1991. That’s about all there is. This is SMWS 31.4, the latter of the two. Rare Jura bottlings, hardly ever seen in auctions or collections.

Isle of Jura 18yo 1972
(55,5%, SMWS 1991, ref. 31.4, 75 cl.)

Nose: starts like a 1960’s-1970’s Islay whisky, with almost no peat but a camphory note, tobacco, cigar boxes and minty dental floss. Leafy notes. A superb fruitiness too,...

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Liquid Art is a project that originated in Mol, Belgium. Although their mission statement also includes beer and regional specialties, the first three releases are whisky bottlings.

The first one is this single cask Glen Elgin 1995 , selected by Bert Dexters and Serge Reijnders of whisky club Cask Six. The label is designed by Raymond Minnen and features a stag beetle, a native of the Lowlands but a nice hint towards Scotland as well.

Glen Elgin is not a big name – it’s mostly known as the base malt for the legendary White Horse blend. By the way, did...

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Jura Origin is the base malt from this distillery. It is 10 years old and aged in ex-bourbon casks.

Jura 10 yo ‘Origin’
(40%, OB 2014)

Nose: a malty sweetness up front, with hints of caramel and baked apples. Some honey and toffee. Also drier notes, say dry leaves and hay, as well as a little musty oak. Relatively young but decent complexity already. After a while there’s a subtle orange blossom note coming through. Mouth: some fudge and sweet barley again. Quite creamy and pretty smooth. Oranges and other – hardly defined – fruits. Honey. A faint salty...

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A new Littlemill 1991 , bottled by Eiling Lim . The fourth release in her series. Yes, a second Littlemill already, in just four bottlings, but it’s different enough from the previous one .

Littlemill 22 yo 1991
(47,2%, Eiling Lim 2013, 40 btl.)

Nose: all sorts of lemon really. Lemon juice, lemon candy, lemon balm, lemon yoghurt… Right, grapefruit as well. Some apple peelings and honey. Evolves to lemon marshmallow, nice. Hints of muesli and dried grass on a second level. Some gravel and dust after a while. Mouth: same story, lemon all over. Sharper zesty notes, crystallized...

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Benromach distillery – like many others – was mothballed in the whisky crisis of the early 1980’s. In 1993 it was picked up by one of the most renowned independent bottlers, Gordon & MacPhail . Production restarted some five years later. Since then they’ve been working hard on branding and promotion, with good-looking bottles.

While the distillery is still not running on its maximum capacity, there’s a clear progression and lots of expressions are available: a young Benromach Traditional , this Benromach 10 Years, a few oldies, a peated version, an organic version and several wine finishes.

Benromach 10 matures...

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A new Glen Garioch 1989 in the Perfect Dram series.

Glen Garioch 24 yo 1989 (51,4%, The Whisky Agency ‘Perfect Dram’ 2014, refill hogshead, 220 btl.)

Nose: starts with a nice combination of sweet apples, majbe some unripe peach, and sharper mineral notes. Wet gravel. I don’t like my whisky really austere, but I find this quite gentle actually. The nicest surprise is in the minty / mentholated notes and the eucalyptus, up to the point where it becomes slightly medicinal. Nice damp oak, a little paraffin and whiffs of smoke as well. Very subtle vanilla in the background....

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It becomes nearly impossible to find / buy 1950’s-1960’s whisky these days – usually bottled a long time ago already. Especially the more established distilleries are out of reach.

Glen Moray isn’t one of them, so it’s usually not outrageously priced. This 30 years old expression was distilled 26 mars 1959 and bottled oktober 1989, so it spent almost the same amount of time in the bottle already.

Glen Moray 30 yo 1959 (40%, Dun Eideann 1989, ref. 84/611-1, 75 cl.)

Nose: perfectly expressive, given the 40%. Guavas, passion fruits and tangerines up front, sort of an old Lochside fruitiness. Then some...

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Whiskyfun was particularly fond of this Teaninich 1983 bottled by Signatory . The distillery maj not enjoy big fame, at least not among single malt lovers, but it’s highly respected by blenders and a standard ‘workhorse’ for Compass Box for example. I don’t think I’ve ever had bad Teaninich and some of them have been really nice surprises.

Teaninich 29 yo 1983 (57,5%, Signatory Vintage 2013, refill butt #8071, 471 btl.)

Nose: graphite and industrial oils. Paraffin and plastics. Limestone and brine. Surprisingly mineral. There’s a sweetness in the background, a slightly synthetic one of unripe pineapple, green banana...

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The Limburg Dramclub was recently founded. For € 99 you get a one year membership, as well as the club bottling (currently this Glenallachie 1999 ), a ticket for the next edition of The Whisky Fair and a 5% discount on releases from The Whisky Agency, The Whisky Fair, Villa Konthor, Sansibar, The Nectar… and other related bottlers.

Glenallachie 15 yo 1999 (57,3%, eSpirits for Limburg Dramclub 2014, ex-sherry cask)

Nose: nice, fairly modern whisky. Candy apples, berries, rum & raisins. Hints of raspberry jam and brown sugar. Honey notes and some leather as well. Sweet and sherried, but...

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Convalmore is   one of the distilleries that were closed during the whisky crisis of the early 1980’s. The site is now owned by William Grant and the abandoned buildings are used to store casks of Glenfiddich and Balvenie.

This is the Convalmore 24 Year Old 1978 that was part of the Rare Malts series.

Convalmore 24 yo 1978
(59,4%, Rare Malts 2003)

Nose: interesting, with hints of unripe banana, dried fruits and soft vanilla but also more austere notes. Tarry ropes, wet limestone, a few metallic notes. Lamp oil. Plenty of medicinal touches as well. Hints of almond...

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There are three new releases by Eiling Lim : a Littlemill 1991, a Clynelish 1997 and – the most uncommon dram if you like – this Ben Nevis 1970 .

We’ve seen single blend Ben Nevis 1970 in the past, but this is a single malt.

Ben Nevis 43 yo 1970
(44,8%, Eiling Lim 2014, 60 btl.)

Nose: smooth and rather fruity, with Williams pears, oranges, bananas and mirabelles. Rhubarb. There’s also this Ben Nevis je-ne-sais-quoi that I can only describe as half metallic, half lipstick. Some chamomile tea and waxed papers. A little nail polish remover. Floral honey....

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A BenRiach 1993 , finished in virgin American oak. It was selected by The Whisky Agency – sister cask #7976 had been bottled last year.

BenRiach 20 yo 1993 (52,3%, OB for The Whisky Agency 2014, cask #7977, Virgin American oak finish, 308 btl.)

Nose: intensely oak-infused, but in a very nice way. Dried coconut, waxed leather, mint syrup and vanilla. Traces of grain whisky, traces of rum, traces of American whiskey too. Apricots and bananas. Quite a lot of sawdust and oak polish. Hints of hay and spices. It’s not your classic Scotch, but it’s really enticing. Mouth:...

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In late 1980’s there were a couple of famous Glen Garioch 21 Year Old releases distilled in 1965 (white label with grey / golden / black letters according to the strength). By 1990 they were replaced by a 21yo with a black label.

We’re trying a rare 1973 vintage bottled in 1995 for the US market.

Glen Garioch 21 yo 1973 (43%, OB for Duggans Distillers NY 1995, 75 cl.)

Nose: flinty and mineral, but elegant at the same time. Waxed papers and linseed oil. Some peat, grapefruit and lemon zest. Leafy notes. Could be mistaken for a...

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