Category Archives: MacKillop’s Choice

Caol Ila 22, 1990 (Mackillop’s Choice)

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This week of Mackillop’s Choice releases comes to a close with the oldest of the trio: a 22 year old Caol Ila. Monday’s 19 year old Scapa was very good; Tuesday’s 20 year old Bowmore, less so….Hopefully, this Caol Ila will give the week a good ending. Let’s see. By the way, unlike the other two (or, for that matter, the three I reviewed in May—here, here and here), it was bottled at 46%.

Caol Ila 22, 1990 (46%; Mackillop’s Choice; from a bottle split)

Nose: Mineral peat, olive brine, a touch of lemon. On the second sniff there’s ashy smoke and more of the coastal complex (kelp, oysters). More “green”/vegetal notes as it sits and then some sweeter notes (wet stones, apples). Softer with a drop of water: smoked cream.

Palate: The smoke starts out sharp but turns sweet as I swallow. A good drinking strength; rich texture. As it sits, there’s a mix of soot, coal and ash on the smoke front, more of the wet stones, and some cracked pepper. Water emphasizes the pepper. Continue reading →

Bowmore 20, 1983 (Mackillop’s Choice)

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My second week of reviews of releases from Mackillop’s Choice got off to a strong start yesterday with a 19 yo Scapa (see here, here and here for the reviews from the first Mackillop’s Choice week back in May). We’re now on shakier ground for the second review. It’s of a Bowmore that’s a year older than the Scapa but was distilled right in the thick of Bowmore’s dangerous decade: the 1980s. Much—though, it must be said, not all—of the whisky distilled in this period at the great Islay distillery has been marred to some degree or the other by a soapy, artificially floral character.

The problem had begun to sort itself out by the end of the decade—and was mostly gone by the early 1990s—but today’s whisky was distilled in 1983. Will it be an exception or an exemplar of everything people dislike about Bowmore from that era? Only one way to find out. Continue reading →

Scapa 19, 1989 (Mackillop’s Choice)

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After a week in the Speyside (at Dailuaine, Craigellachie and Glenlivet), let’s go further north to Orkney. Not for the whole week, mind. This is the first of a Mackillop’s Choice trio this week. I did another trio back in May. Those included a Tomintoul from the 1960s, a Glenlivet from the 1970s and a Highland Park from the early 1980s. This second trio is younger from the point of view of vintage. We’ll begin with a Scapa that was distilled in 1989 and bottled at the age of 19. No cask type is specified.

Scapa 19, 1989 (43%; Mackillop’s Choice; from a bottle split)

Nose: Lovely mix of malt, brown sugar and fruit (apples, bananas, lemon). The malt expands as it sits and is joined by toasted oak. A few drops of water push the oak back and pull out melon and some peach jam (on buttered toast). Continue reading →

Highland Park 28, 1980 (Mackillop’s Choice)

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A week of reviews of late 2000s releases by Mackillop’s Choice comes to a close today. You will recall that these are all older whiskies and distilled in successive decades. Monday’s review was of a Tomintoul 41, 1966. Wednesday’s review was of a Glenlivet 30, 1977. Today’s review is of the youngest in the set, a Highland Park 28, 1980. Will it scale the heights of that Tomintoul? Well, if it’s as good as the Glenlivet I’ll be happy enough.

Highland Park 28, 1980 (43%; Mackillop’s Choice; from a bottle split)

Nose: That prickly, lightly smoky, heathery Highland Park thing off the top. Earthier on the second sniff, even as some creme brulee emerges on top: the peat is more vegetal now and there’s some shoe polish and some greased metal. Continues in this vein. With a drop of water there’s more of the creme brulee. Continue reading →

Glenlivet 30, 1977 (Mackillop’s Choice)

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I remind you that the theme for this week’s reviews is older whiskies bottled by Mackillop’s Choice. And they were distilled in consecutive decades. First up on Monday was a 41 yo Tomintoul that was distilled in 1966. Next up is a Glenlivet that is roughly a decade younger and was distilled roughly a decade later. This is not my first review, as it happens, of a Glenlivet distilled in 1977. I’ve previously reviewed a 1977-2004 release from Scott’s Selection—who, like Mackillop’s Choice—were once a reliable source in the US for solid older whiskies at reasonable prices. Unlike Scott’s Selection, however, Mackillop’s Choice is still a going concern—or at least it was a few years ago. If anyone knows if they’re still bottling casks on the regular, please write in below. Anyway, I quite liked that Scott’s Selection Glenlivet 1977-2004, even as I noted that it was quite oak-forward. I’m hoping that this cask might have a little less oak and a little more fruit. Let’s see if that pans out at all. Continue reading →

Tomintoul 41, 1966 (Mackillop’s Choice)

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This will be a week of reviews of older whiskies, all >25 years old. They were all bottled by Mackillop’s Choice for the US market, and were distilled in successive decades. I’ll begin with the oldest, a 41 yo Tomintoul, distilled in 1966. It was bottled at 42.7%. As I doubt this was an abv arrived at by choice, I assume it was the natural strength of the cask at time of bottling. Casks that have naturally aged down to lower strengths often demonstrate greater depth than those that have been diluted to identical or similar strengths and I’m hoping that will be the case here. It can be depressing to drink a very good older whisky while all the while sensing the great whisky it could have been with a bit more weight. But what is lost in strength can be made up for by aging. 41 years is a long time though and there’s also the risk of far too much oak influence. It’s not the oldest Tomintoul I’ve had—not that I’ve had so very many. I’ve previously reviewed a 45 yo that was distilled in 1968. That one was at a higher strength and thankfully did not demonstrate massive oak impact. I’ve also reviewed another 1960s pair in their 40s (in age and abv). None of those blew me away, though I did like two of them quite a lot. Let’s see if this one improves on them. Continue reading →

Ben Nevis 18, 1991 (Mackillop’s Choice)

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After two weeks in a row of bourbon cask whiskies (from Bladnoch, Linkwood, Dailuaine, Ardmore, Glen Garioch and Teaninich), let’s finish the month, and the year, with a week of sherry-matured whiskies. Instead of going up in age over the course of the week—as I usually do—let’s do them in order of increasing sherry influence. First up, accordingly is a single cask Ben Nevis 18, 1991 that was bottled by Mackillop’s Choice back in 2010. I purchased this bottle not too long after, and as with so many bottles purchased in that time period, I have no idea why I haven’t opened it in all these years—except perhaps that I purchased rather a lot of bottles in that time period. Anyway, it’s open now.

By the way, I was surprised to learn that Mackillop’s Choice is still a going concern—or at least that it was just a few years ago. Whiskybase doesn’t have any listings for 2022 or 2021 releases from the label but there were at least a few releases in 2020. If you’d asked me before I looked it up, I would have guessed they’d long gone the way of Scott’s Selection. Based on Whiskybase listings, the heyday does seem to have ended in the early 2010s, when they were still releasing 20-30 malts in most years. Continue reading →

Linlithgow 28, 1982 (Mackillop’s Choice)

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Last month I reviewed whiskies from Port Ellen and Brora. Here now is a whisky from another distillery that closed in the early 1980s but whose post-closure releases have not developed the aura, on the whole, that the whiskies from Port Ellen and Brora have: the Lowlands distillery, Linlithgow/St. Magdalene. I’ve only reviewed two other Linlithgows (and not had very many more than two). At the time of my first review (also of a 1982 distillation), I noted that I did not know if anything distinguished the malt released under the Linlithgow name from that released as St. Magdalene. Almost six years later, I still don’t; if you know the answer, please write in below. This particular Linlithgow was released in 2011 or 2012 by Mackillop’s Choice. I’m not entirely sure if Mackillop’s Choice is still on the go (another question for the better informed to answer)—at any rate, I don’t see any 2019 releases from them on Whiskybase and there were only a handful in 2018. Anyway, let’s get to the whisky! Continue reading →

Tomatin 25, 1975 (Mackillop’s Choice)

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Tomatin 25, 1975
Mid-1970s Tomatin is as close as you come to a sure thing in the single malt world. Of course, a lot of people say that it’s 1976 Tomatin that’s the sure thing, but, as I’ve noted more than once before, that’s mostly romantic thinking about magic vintages. Anyway, it’s not like Tomatins from even 1976 are easy to find anymore; indeed, the entire decade seems to be exhausted now, with most available casks either bottled as singles or probably blended away. And I’m not referring only to Tomatin—when’s the last time you saw casks of Longmorn or even BenRiach show up in quick succession from the indies? And the little that comes available now costs a king’s ransom. And the tedious, old refrain: just a few years ago this was not true. As it happens, I passed on a chance then to purchase this bottle for not very much money (relatively speaking).

But who knows, maybe there are casks from the late 1980s and early 1990s as well from Tomatin and Longmorn et al that will also astonish us all when they get bottled between 25 and 35 years of age. Of course, I will probably not be able to afford any of those.

Continue reading →

Benrinnes 23, 1988 (Mackillop’s Choice)

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Benrinnes 1988, Mackillop's Choice
Benrinnes is another distillery with which I am not too well acquainted. It is in the Speyside and pumps out a lot of whisky for Diageo’s blends–they’re known for a sherried style and for triple-distillation* (the only Speysider apparently to do this). The only regular official release, I think, is the 15 yo in the Flora & Fauna range. I haven’t had this one, but I’ve had some indies: a younger, more atypical cask strength ex-bourbon 11 yo from Signatory (which I liked fine) and two older releases, one of which I liked well enough (a 26 yo from Chieftain’s), one that I thought was just okay (a 25 yo from the Bladnoch forum). I’m hoping to get to know these distilleries that are relative blindspots for me a little better and so this Mackillop’s Choice bottling.

*Edit: see clarifications in the comments on this score.   Continue reading →