ScotchB78

Lindores Abbey is a relatively new distillery, beginning production of spirit in 2017 in the village of Newburgh, Fife.  However, distilling was taking place here as early as 1494. The  earliest written reference to Scotch Whisky (or Aqua Vitae, as it was then known), appears in the Exchequer Roll of the same year. It mentioned a Brother John Cor, a Lindores monk, who was commissioned by King James IV to turn 8 bolls of malt into Aqua Vitae.   That amounts to around 500kg in today's money and would have been enough to make about 400 bottles of whisky. I visited along with a willing fiancee, bulldog and two very unwilling kids in July 2019 for a tour and some lunch afterwards.  Initial impressions on arriving was that the place was immaculate. A lot of care and attention to detail has been incorporated into the design of the building with a lot of the materials used in the build sourced from the local area. The 50 foot long oak table was the mai...

Wednesday, April 10:30 am. Not the usual time to be enjoying a dram (maybe it is for some folk) but here I am sitting sipping a Bowmore Vault First Edition in the distillery bar overlooking Loch Indaal. This is the the Bomore Vaults Secrets tour and already the signs are it's going to be good. It started when the Father in Law and I were called by our guide, Kim, for the tour to find we were the only two on it. A private tour round Islay's oldest distillery? Sign me up! The tour started with us being issued our own Bowmore branded lanyards and Perfect Dram glasses (always a good sign of the amount of whisky you can expect on a tour when you get a lanyard) which were promptly filled with a good measure of Vault First Edition. A nice wee opener and a welcome reward after the grueling 500ft or so walk in the sunshine from our accomodation to the distillery. After the drams, Kim took us from the bar to the Malt Barns which are situated over three levels in a building ...

Another bottling from my growing  Chorlton Whisky  collection . A blend of sherry matured single malts where the Island, Speyside, Highland and Islay regions are all represented in the mix. The latter component is pretty old (The name means five decades in Scottish Gaelic). Age Statement  - 17 years Cask -  Sherry Butt ABV  46.5% Colour  - Brass Nose  - Very fruity, strawberry milkshake, red apple peels, Christmas cake, grapes, spicy notes. All happening in a damp musty dunnage warehouse Palate  - Quite thin, gentle with no alcohol burn. Fresh, orange, bit of ginger, spicy wood Finish  - Medium length, honeycomb, cinder toffee, pine needles Conclusion  -  A delicious blend of old whiskies which for the £75 paid is a bit of a bargain. It only comes out on special  occasions now. Don't just take my word for it, here's a  #MiniTasting  write up from Brian at  Malt Musings  with...

I found Chorlton whisky ( chorltonwhisky.co.uk ) after reading a post on Malt Maniacs FB group asking for independent bottler recommendations. After checking out the site, reading some positive reviews of the various bottlings on other blogs and being a sucker for the amazing label artwork I decided to take a punt on this Bealach Ruadh 10 year old. Luckily Master of Malt had stock and I had a Christmas gift voucher burning a hole in my pocket. So where's this from? Google Maps might give us a clue: Might be something in it though I've not (knowingly) had anything before from Caol Ila so can't really make a judgement, Age Statement  - 10 years Cask -  Bourbon Hogshead. Undiluted, uncoloured, unchilfiltered Region  - Islay ABV  57.1% Colour  - White wine Nose  - Extinguished bonfire, charcoal, smoked malt, lemons, crushed gravel, mineral, wet stone. tar Palate  - Starts sweet, then lemon, more smoke, ash  Finis...

I didn't set out to buy this one when visiting Kilchoman, but they had just ran out the distillery only bottling so my thinking was this was the next best thing. Distilled solely from  barley grown and floor malted at Kilchoman, I decided to complete the process by buying it there as well. Cask -  A vatting of 23 bourbon barrels and 7 oloroso sherry butts  Region  - Islay ABV -  50.% Colour  - Gold Nose  - Vanilla, pineapple, citrus, clothes you were wearing at last nights bonfire, something mineral like in the background Taste - Gentle arrival, quite bitter, lemons, limes, orange pith. A lot of malted barley, ash and some pepper Finish  - Medium length, gentle smoke, slightly dry, green apples Conclusion -   Good but not great. A lot going on, maybe too much so. Very strange combination of bitter/sour fruits with an ashy background. Maybe I need to try more Kilchoman. Gus's Distillery Visit Revi...