
December 19, 2017

More newish Scottish grains

Yes, we keep on going as long as we have to! Indeed, many grains are coming out these days, especially single grains. Remember, ‘single’ is a magic word as far as whisky’s concerned… Let’s try these as they come…

Cambus 24 yo 1993/2017 (52.7%, North Star Spirits, refill PX sherry butt)

Some young or middle-aged Cambus that I’ve tried recently have been rather varnishy and bonbony. Perhaps is it to be noted that 1993 was the distillery very last year of working. Colour: gold. Nose: some whiffs of fresh glue and varnish at first nosing, as expected, then some rather subtle notes of vanilla cake, kougelhopf, and simply sawdust. I wouldn’t say that the PX had much to say in this context, but remember, it’s a refill cask. With water: surprise surprise, we’re in front on some kind of pastry dough, with some gingerbread and some raisins. That is nice. Mouth (neat): rather unusual, with a big oak presence that translates into juniper, curry, caraway, and ginger. A wee feeling of malt whisky, which can’t be bad, and then more black pepper. With water: big cask impact, I’m even wondering if that PX cask wasn’t made out of European oak. Nice gingery and peppery oak. Speculoos. Finish: rather long, spicy, and somewhat ‘Indian’. Caraway, aniseed, masala… Comments: frankly, many grains are boring, but not this one, thanks to the cask. Excellent surprise. SGP:471 - 83 points (which is super-high in this context, really!)

Cambus 25 yo 1991/2017 (52.7%, Liquid Treasures, sherry butt)

There must be something with Cambus these days… Colour: amber. Nose: yeah right, a very good cask. Rum and raisins, maple syrup, millionaire shortbread, sugarcane juice, and only in the distance, a little wood varnish (cellulosic). With water: some light orange notes, a funny wee brine-y touch (or sardines?) Mouth (neat): yes indeed, the cask. More rum, coffee liqueur, panettone, butterscotch, Nutella (apologies)… This would beat many a ‘commercial’ rum. You could even say that it’s akin to a Central-American rum, minus all the sweet sauces and shady concoctions they add to most of those. With water: works very well. One can feel that the spirit behind isn’t very deep, but the whole works well, really well. Finish: medium, on butterscotch and, yes, rum. Comments: surprisingly to my liking, this rum. I mean, this grain whisky. SGP:551 - 83 points.

Girvan 26 yo 1989/2016 (51.5%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, refill hogshead, cask #11061, 224 bottles)

Girvan at a youngish age can be difficult… Colour: white wine. Nose: it’s hard after the two doped-up Cambusses. Ideas of pina colada, perhaps? A little custard, vanilla cream, Starbuck’s café latte… It’s all very soft, almost evanescent. With water: butterscotch and vanilla fudge in a tourist shop in Scotland. Mouth (neat): easy, sweet. Vanilla, coconut, blood oranges, a touch of acacia honey, and indeed a nice balance. With water: careful! Water could flatten it. Finish: a little short, on sweet sawdust and more coconut. Comments: pretty good, flawless and innocuous grain whisky. We’ve known some young bourbons… SGP:530 - 78 points.

Strathclyde 27 yo 1989/2017 (52.8%, Cadenhead, World Whiskies, 156 bottles)

Always funny to see that the stars in Campbeltown keep ranking their Scottish grains among the ‘world whiskies’, as if they were thinking those aren’t really Scotiish… Colour: white wine. Nose: there, warm sawdust, grated coconut, vanilla pods, croissants, and those sparkling, acidic sweets we were having when we were kids. With water: fruits up, pastries down. We shan’t complain. Mouth (neat): undeniably good. More orange sweets, kiwis, rhubarb, grapefruit… And rather less vanilla/coconut (the infernal duo). With water: good, really good. Some depth, a nice freshness, some fruits in syrup (preserved)… All is well. Finish: medium, clean, fruit. Comments: not the first we’re finding some very good Strathclyde. What’s their secret? A matter of column height? Cereals? Reduction? SGP:641 - 85 points.

Dumbarton 30 yo 1987/2017 (55.3%, Hunter Laing The Sovereign for The Whisky Barrel, refill barrel, cask #14247, 160 bottles)

Another one from Ballantine’s former giant distillery. Not the deepest distillate, in general… Colour: gold. Nose: may I see the empty cask? This has some smoke and an obvious medicinal side, which suggests it was an ex-peater cask. Under those conditions, the very light distillate hasn’t much to say (the Bill Wyman of whisky?) while this rather elusive coastal/medicinal smokiness rather works. A very light Islay, if you will. With water: more of all that, even some ashes… Far in the distance, the usual coconut. Mouth (neat): once again it’s the peat that’s doing all the talking. White peaches and peat smoke, we cannot not think of Ardmore. With water: peat up! This is really funny… (and good). Finish: long, smoky, crisp, with notes of lemon. Comments: good fun! But isn’t this a blend? SGP:354 - 85 points.

Who could be against some fun? Let’s try another Sovereign then, you never know…

Carsebridge 44 yo 1973/2017 (50.9%, Hunter Laing The Sovereign for The Whisky Barrel, refill hogshead, cask #14189, 150 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: no peat this time, rather a quite subtle combination involving the usual vanilla and coconut, plus cut grass and some stewed apples. Not very big so far, but I wouldn’t say the age shows much. Perhaps a little shy? With water: more coconut, as (almost) always… Mouth (neat): ah. More proof that grain whisky needs a good cask and a lot of time. Both have been in use here, and you just cannot not fall for this subtle, almost caressing tropicalness. Avocado juice, crushed bananas, a touch of mango and papaya… Extremely good! All you need is a swimming pool, a deckchair, and 35°C in the shade. With water: even more tropical fruits. Shall we call it maracuja-y? I know, I know… Finish: medium, with a sweet sourness that works very well. Comments: one of the much better grains, for sure. But a word of caution, it drinks very well and may bring guilt. SGP:630 - 87 points.

… quit while we're on a roll? Never!...

Dumbarton 30 yo 1987/2017 (56.5%, Hunter Laing The Sovereign for The Whisky Barrel, refill barrel, cask #13436, 197 bottles)

I agree we should have tried this one just after the other Dumbarton 30 by the very same team. Colour: straw. Nose: no smoke and no peat this time, rather a little sweet and rounded varnish, a touch of earth, and quite a lot of custard. Well… With water: ah? Mercurochrome and mud… That’s a bit rugby, isn’t it. BTW, have you seen the French team? They’re terrible these days! Mouth (neat): no, wait, indeed I’m finding a soft smokiness, perhaps a tad Caol-Ila-ish, and a feeling of smoked lemons and apples. Green peppercorn. With water: indeed, it seems that they’ve used some ex-peater cask for this one too, even if that’s much less obvious than with cask #14247 – which I liked better. Finish: medium, perhaps a tad undetermined. So, is it a peater or is it a ‘regular’ grain whisky? Comments: good and, as they say, intriguing. SGP:442 - 82 points.

North British 21 yo 1995/2017 (52.9%, North Star Spirits, bourbon hogshead, 146 bottles)

North British in those old days was made out of maize. I know because I know a guy who used to sell it to them… (that’s first hand information, isn’t it!) Colour: straw. Nose: when you hear maize you think popcorn, but that would be a mistake, as there’s rather some earth, concrete, humus, fermented coconut wine, and just ideas of old chardonnay. In short, it’s complex. With water: well, water makes it simpler. Vanilla, sawdust, coconut, all in sync. Mouth (neat): a tad more varnishy and even bourbony, with some bubblegum and many fruit sweets, pears, pineapples… And yes my friend, some maize! With water: this is funny, it gets more complex again. Sour fruits (fresh pineapples) and some tinned mango juice, with this wee metallic side… Finish: medium, rather tropical. You could mix this with rum and create some kind of easy meta-spirit (S.! Is that supposed to mean anything?) Comments: some good grain. And you do need a bottle of North British, don’t you! SGP:640 - 82 points.

Back to Cambus?

Cambus 27 yo ‘Silent Character’ (52%, The Tweeddale, 564 bottles, 2017)

This is a vatting of two casks. Love it that they would use the word ‘silent’, as I remember I had shocked some friends abroad while using the words ‘silent whisky’ when speaking about some grain whisky they had selected. No, no, grain’s often been called a ‘silent spirit’, that’s purely historical! Colour: straw. Nose: vanilla, sawdust, croissants. I repeat, vanilla, sawdust, croissants. I repeat again… With water: same, more or less. Vanilla, sawdust, croissants. Mouth (neat): ah, this is very good. Perhaps a tad simple, but this creamy fruitiness works extremely well. Apricots in syrup, vanilla, maple syrup… With water: good! Some marzipan, hints of kirsch… We could even call it a tad ‘Slivovitzy’. Finish: medium, with sweet almonds. That’s right, marzipan. Comments: as good as some middle-aged grain whisky can get. But we're running it down now… SGP:541 - 83 points.

That’s it. Good, I don’t think we’ve found any proper duds today. Perhaps did all these distinguished bottlers find out that most grain whiskies were better off in blends? And keep only the very best to bottle as ‘singles’? Or was it pure luck? But we’ve got many more grains, so… stay tuned, as they used to say at Abbey Road Studios, St John’s Wood…

Check the index of all grain whiskies I've tasted so far