Alright, let’s bring my reviews of old single grain whiskies to a close. Today’s whisky is older than both the others I’ve reviewed this week (this Cameronbridge and this Cambus) and also all three of the considerably older single grains I reviewed in October (this Invergordon, this North of Scotland, and this Caledonian). It’s a 45 yo from Carsebridge, distilled in 1973 and bottled by the Thompson Bros. of Dornoch in 2018. Whiskybase lists it as being from a sherry butt but lists an outturn of only 349 bottles. Might have been a cask split with someone else? They did bottle another 1973 Carsebridge the next year with an outturn of 437 bottles (and a much higher abv); but 349+437 adds up to a lot of bottles, even for a sherry butt. If anyone knows where the rest of this cask went, do right in to the comments. Anyway, I liked both the Cameronbridge and the Cambus and hope this Carsebridge will take us out on an even higher note. Let’s see. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Single Grain
Cambus 30, 1989 (Alambic Classique)
My second week of reviews of older single grain whiskies got off to a decent start with the Cameronbridge 27, 1990 bottled by Jack Wieber for their 20th anniversary. Here now is another sherried single grain bottled for another German indie, Alambic Classique. Where the Cameronbridge was a sherry finish, this 30 yo Cambus was entirely matured in a sherry cask (or so I think anyway). The Cameronbridge was let down a bit by sherry separation; in theory at least that shouldn’t happen here. Let’s see if that’s the case.
Cambus 30, 1989 (61.1%; Alambic Classique; sherry cask 19094; from a bottle split)
Nose: Bright orange and polished oak on the first sniff; some brandied raisins on the second. The oak expands a little as it sits and then there are hints of sweeter, muskier fruit (roasted pineapple?) and some cereals. Bitter caramel here too with time. A few drops of water push the oak and caramel back and bring out some apricot and more orange and also some toffee. Continue reading
Cameronbridge 27, 1990 (Jack Wieber)
I did a week of reviews of old single grain Scotch whiskies in October: a 43 yo North of Scotland, a 43 yo Invergordon, and a 40 yo Caledonian. Of the three, I was only particularly enthused by the Caledonian. Best to quit while ahead, you might say. Accordingly, here is another week of reviews of old single grain Scotch whiskies. Three completely different distilleries this time, all of whose names start with “c” (a good omen perhaps). They’re also all either from sherry casks or sherry finishes (the previous trio were all ex-bourbon). They’re also not quite as old as that 40-something trio. Well, one of them is older than all three of those but the other two are quite a bit younger. We’ll start the week with the youngest, a 27 yo Cameronbridge that was distilled in 1990 and received a sherry finish (of what duration, I do not know) before it was bottled in 2017 by the German bottler, Jack Wieber on the occasion of their 20th anniversary. You’d expect a quality pick for the occasion. Let’s see what I make of it. Continue reading
Caledonian 40, 1974, “The Cally”
Old single grain whisky week began on Monday with a 43 yo North of Scotland, distilled in 1973 and bottled by Gordon & Company. I quite liked that one. The series continued on Wednesday with another 43 yo distilled in 1973, this time an Invergordon bottled by the Whisky Agency. I didn’t like that one quite as much. Let’s end the week with a whisky distilled a year later in 1974 but three years younger than the others at 40 years of age. It’s also unlike the others in that it is an official release: not from the distillery per se but from Diageo who own the distillery and made this 40 yo part of their special release slate in 2015, calling it “The Cally”. It’s not, therefore, a single cask but a vatting of several bourbon hogsheads. I could be wrong but I think it might have been the first time a single grain whisky was part of the special release slate. If I am wrong about that, I trust someone will write in and let me know. If I remember to check later, I’ll look it up myself and amend if necessary. Anyway, let’s see what it’s like. Continue reading
Invergordon 43, 1973 (The Whisky Agency)
This week of reviews of old single grain whiskies got off to a good start on Monday with a North of Scotland 43, 1971 bottled by Gordon & Company. Let’s see if the streak continues with this Invergordon, also 43 years old but distilled a couple of years later. The bottler is the Whisky Agency, once one of the biggest names in independent bottling in Europe. Now that I’ve stopped buying whisky from Europe, I’m no longer sure which bottlers are still active or as active as they used to be. Is the Whisky Agency still a big name? This is not my first review of an old Invergordon, by the way. I’ve also reviewed another 1973, a 39 yo bottled by Malts of Scotland, another German bottler that was a big name back in the day. No idea if they’re still as active either. I do know I didn’t care very much for that 39 yo. Let’s see if this 43 yo is any better.
North of Scotland 43, 1971 (Gordon & Company)
Alright after a week of brandy reviews (Armagnac, Calvados and English cider brandy), let’s go back to Scotland for some whisky. But instead of my usual regimen of single malt, this will be a week of reviews of single grain whiskies; and pretty old ones at that. First up is a 43 yo, a North of Scotland distilled in 1973 and bottled by Gordon & Company. I reviewed a grain whisky from Teeling this summer and a few years ago I reviewed another from Nikka; but it’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a Scottish grain whisky. More than eight years, in fact. Coincidentally, that one was a North of Scotland bottled by Gordon & Company as well—though a 42 yo distilled in 1971. I was not overly impressed by it, and, frankly, I don’t believe I’ve ever been very impressed by a grain whisky. But there’s always a first time for everything and I’m hoping this one will exceed my expectations. I do feel nostalgic as I get into it; not on account of the whisky but because of the sample bottles. These are a pair of 20 ml sample bottles from Whiskybase. I’d purchased them back when I used to purchase whisky from Europe—a lot of it from Whiskybase. I haven’t done so in many years now. Shipping became too expensive and whisky became not just expensive but stupid. And, indeed, I don’t think Whiskybase even ships to the US anymore. So it goes. Continue reading
Teeling Single Grain
Well, this wasn’t on the list of potential reviews for July but as I am in Ireland for a spell, it seems appropriate to review some Irish whiskey; and as I am living in Dublin, only 10 minutes walk from the Teeling distillery, it seems all the more appropriate to review something from Teeling. I’ll do you two better: I’ll review three Teeling whiskies this week. Mind, they won’t be anything very exotic. I went over to the distillery a couple of days ago and while they do have a distillery exclusive release, it involves red wine casks and I’m not buying a full bottle of a red wine-bothered whisky without tasting it first. I might yet do so at their bar—but that might depend on what I make of this week’s trio. All of them are whiskies from Teeling’s core portfolio and you don’t have to come to Ireland to drink them—they’re all available in Minnesota. While at the distillery I purchased what they call their “Trinity Pack”, three 50 ml bottles of their Single Grain, Single Malt and Small Batch. First up is their Single Grain, which is a NAS whiskey that is, I think, also a sourced whiskey. My understanding is that the Teeling distillery is only set up to distill single malt and that the grain whiskey—and for that matter, most of the other stuff they put out—is sourced whiskey of one kind or the other. Those who know more about the ins and outs of Teeling should feel free to correct or add detail. Continue reading
Nikka 12, “Woody & Mellow”
I started last week with a review of a Japanese whisky (this Hanyu); I may as well end this week with a review of another. This one is not a single malt. It was one of a series of limited edition whiskies released by Nikka, all of which were 12 years old and all of which were marked by two key characteristics. I’m a bit fuzzy on whether the idea was/is that these are the whiskies that in some combination go into Nikka’s blends or that they were to be purchased as components for home blending—I do believe they were only available at the Yoichi distillery (please correct me if I’m wrong). I’ve previously reviewed the Yoichi “Peaty & Salty” from the same series, and I quite liked that one. This, however, is a grain whisky, and one distilled in a coffey or two-column continuous still that is commonly used in grain whisky distillation. My track record with grain whisky is not very good but, as always, I live in hope. Maybe this will be the best grain whisky I’ve had in a while. Let’s see.
Continue reading
North of Scotland 42, 1971 (Gordon & Company)
Following the very unexciting Invergordon 1973 from last week, here is a slightly older grain whisky from North of Scotland. Despite the name, the distillery was in fact located out near the east coast of Scotland, by Aberdeen. I use the past tense because it was closed in 1980 and dismantled in 1993 (the grounds are now used by Diageo for warehousing purposes). Known as Strathmore when it first opened in 1957, it’s a bit of a curiosity because it initially produced both malt and grain whisky from its column stills. The little that’s still available of its product is all grain though, and there’s not a huge amount of it floating around either by the looks of things. I assume the few very old releases that have come to market recently are from some cache of casks liberated from a broker’s unblended stock. Gordon & Company, who are fairly new on the scene, have released a few of these. This is the first one they put out, I think, and I also think it’s now all gone. Continue reading
Invergordon 39, 1973 (Malts of Scotland)
Invergordon is a grain distillery, the only one, I believe, that’s not located in the Lowlands. It’s located quite far north, actually, up in the vicinity of Glenmorangie. The distillery’s other claim to distinction is that the short-lived Ben Wyvis malt distillery was built inside its grounds. It’s owned by Whyte & Mackay, producing largely, I assume, for their blends (and their production capacity is very high indeed). I’ve not had any of their whisky previously and, indeed, I have had very little single grain whisky from any distillery. So, I have very little frame of reference for this. This should make my opinion of this whisky that much more useful to you (probably a moot point anyway as I don’t think this is still available).
Invergordon 39, 1973 (42%; Malts of Scotland, bourbon hogshead 12063; from a purchased sample) Continue reading