Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (July 7, 2017)

Welcome to Inbox.  For those new to WFE, Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our email inbox. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday.

Have just tried ... North British 30 years old 'Clan Denny'

One of Scotland's largest bottlers
This whisky is released by the Glasgow based independent bottling company Douglas Laing & Co, under their Clan Denny name. This name is used for their ranges of single grain whiskies and a series of vatted malts. The origin of the Clan Denny name is a little hazy, although Douglas Laing tell the story of a Taiwanese businessman who wanted a blended whisky made by them and named after himself. His name was Dennis and he suggested 'MacDennis', which Douglas Laing persuaded him to change to 'Clan Dennis'. Over time this has been adapted to Clan Denny. Douglas Laing & Co were founded in 1948 and are one of Scotland's largest independent whisky bottlers.

Popular for blends
North British is a large distillery that produces single grain whisky, using 100% maize, for a multitude of blended whisky brands. These include heavyweights such as Johnnie Walker Black Label, Chivas Regal, The Famous Grouse, Cutty Sark and J&B Rare. No official distillery bottlings of their whisky exist and the only way to try them is through independent bottling company stock, such as this one from Douglas Laing & Co. Even then, North British whisky is extremely hard to find. This whisky was distilled in 1979 and is bottled at 30 years of age. It has been matured in a single sherry cask and is released at the natural cask strength of 54.2% ABV. A bottle should cost £80-85 from specialist whisky retailers.

Edinburgh's only distillery
The North British distillery was founded in 1885 by three independent blenders - Andrew Usher, Willy Sanderson and John Crabble - who decided to build it in order to produce a constant source of grain whisky for their own ranges of blended whiskies. It is located in Edinburgh and is the last remaining whisky distillery within the city's boundary. North British has been owned by Lothian Distillers since 1993 and is one of Scotland's largest grain whisky production facilities. The current capacity is around 60 million litres per year and the whisky is made by three column stills that are operated 24 hours a day. This design of still is sometimes called a Coffey still and is named after Irishman Aeneas Coffey, who patented its design in 1831.

Our tasting notes
The colour of this North British 30 years old is dark gold with a tint of brown. The nose is intense and packed full of cereal grains (think of a slightly bitter type of grain like rye). There is also plenty of distinct caramel and toffee, along with some dried fruits (especially raisin and orange peel) and heavy wood spices (imagine cinnamon and nutmeg). As the whisky sits in the glass for longer, the whiff of a burnt/charred aroma starts to come through - this is reminiscent of a cross between burnt sugar or treacle and sulphuric matchstick smoke. On the palate, much of the nose is replicated. The whisky is heavy and intense with a ton of cereal grain, woody oak and spice flavours present. These threaten to overpower everything else, although some sweeter elements (especially some dried fruits and zesty orange) manage to get through. The burnt/charred note again appears and increases with time to give a distinct bitter edge. This whisky seems to be much stronger in alcohol than its 54.2% ABV (and that's already strong!), and the prickly heat from the alcohol is evident. The finish begins sweetly (think of caramel), before being overtaken by bitter grains and that sulphuric charred woody note.

What's the verdict?
It is always good to try a whisky from a distillery that you have never previously tried. Grain whiskies are known to be intense with a bitter edge and this North British certainly demonstrates this, only more exaggerated due to its increased age. As a result, its intensity, grainy bitterness, spiciness and dry woody finish make it more of an acquired taste and not particularly user friendly. However, with the addition of water (and it can take a lot of water!), it becomes more accessible, sweeter and softer on the nose and palate but the grains and burnt/charred/sulphuric notes are still in the background. An interesting dram to try but you would have to be a real grain whisky fan to love this.

Have just tried ... North of Scotland 39 years old 'Clan Denny'

North of Scotland was a grain whisky distillery, located close to the Highland town of Alloa to the north of Edinburgh. The distillery was founded in 1958 by a man named George Christie, who later went on to found the Speyside distillery in Speyside (unsurprisingly!). Christie converted some old brewery buildings, dating back to 1786, and installed a special type of column still at the distillery called a Coffey still. This was designed to produce grain whisky, like traditional column stills, but could also produce single malt whisky. The experiment proved a costly failure and after just two years North of Scotland switched to solely producing grain whisky for a number of large blending clients. The distillery closed in 1980 and the equipment was dismantled and sold off in 1993.

The name of Clan Denny is used by Glasgow based independent bottling company Douglas Laing & Co. They use it for their ranges of single grain whiskies and a series of vatted malts. The origin of the name is a little hazy although Douglas Laing tell the story of a Taiwanese businessman who wanted a blended whisky to be made and named after himself. His name was Dennis and his suggestion was MacDennis, which Douglas Laing changed to Clan Dennis. Over time this has been adapted to Clan Denny.

The colour of this North of Scotland grain whisky is golden amber and the nose is fresh and vibrant despite the age of the whisky. It was distilled in 1966, bottled at 39 years of age in 2005 and has an alcohol strength of 44.4% ABV. There is a lovely combination of vanilla, oak, cereal grains, dried fruit (especially sultanas and candied lemon peel) and coconut. On the palate this feels creamy, smooth and mellow. The cereal grains are more prominent and give a slight bitter edge to the other sweeter elements - vanilla, honey, dried fruit (think more of candied orange peel this time, rather than the lemon of the nose). There is also a woody note that adds a spicy edge to the palate (think of a wood spice like cinnamon, some ginger and the oak from the nose). This again balances with the bitter and sweeter notes well. Upon adding a drop of water, the whisky becomes more woody and feels thinner and less pleasant. The finish is long, creamy and lingering with plenty of sweet vanilla, cereals and the woody spiciness.

This was a rare chance to try a grain whisky at such an age and was well worth it. Truly lovely and enjoyable stuff. We must thank Michael Hopert of Royal Mile Whiskies for allowing us a sample of this gorgeous grain whisky from his own personal bottle! It is hard to find, even in specialist whisky retailers, but well worth it if you do. A bottle should cost £130-140.

Have just tried ... Clan Denny vatted malts

The Clan Denny range is released by the Glasgow based independent bottling company Douglas Laing & Co. The name is used for their ranges of single grain whiskies and a series of vatted malts. The origin of the Clan Denny name is a little hazy although Douglas Laing tell the story of a Taiwanese businessman who wanted a blended whisky to be made by them and named after himself. His name was Dennis and his suggestion was MacDennis, which Douglas Laing deemed to be too cheesy so changed it to Clan Dennis. Over time this has been adapted to Clan Denny.

The vatted malt part of the Clan Denny range includes these two whiskies - one in the Speyside style and one in the Islay style. A vatted malt is a whisky that consists of two or more single malt whiskies added together. The major difference between a vatted malt and a blended whisky is that vatted malts only contain single malt whiskies, whereas blends contain a mixture of single malts and grain whisky. Both bottlings retail at £30-35 for a 750ml bottle.

Clan Denny 'Speyside'
This vatted malt contains single malt whiskies from four Speyside distilleries - Dufftown, Glendullan, Linkwood and Mortlach. All four are common in other vatted malts and blends and Speyside is known for its soft, rounded and easy drinking whiskies. The colour is pale gold and the nose is fresh. The obvious note is strong oaky vanilla but behind this is something citrus (think of lemon zest), a hint of dried fruit (sultanas especially), yeast and fresh green fruit (imagine pears and apples). On the palate, this feels thin and spirity with those pears and apples present again (this is a classic sign that some pretty young whisky is included in the vatting process). The vanilla and oakiness again overpower everything, although the other elements from the nose are there but subdued, making it quite one dimensional. The ABV is 46% and with the addition of water it becomes sweeter (think of honey) and slightly more pleasant. The finish is dry (beyond dry if that is possible) and woody but thankfully short. Not my favourite ever dram, to be honest.

Clan Denny 'Islay'
The Islay vatted malt consists of single malts from five of the distilleries on the famous whisky producing island - Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila and Laphroaig. Islay is well known for the production of heavy, smoky, peaty whiskies. The colour of this is darker and more amber (as can be seen on the photo above). The nose is also more appetising with an obvious yet pleasant hit of earthy, peaty smoke. This is backed up by a sweet cereal note (think of barley grains), some vanilla and a whiff of salty sea air. On the palate, this is packed with smokiness that starts off being damp, earthy and mossy and turns quite spicy and hot (think of chilli or peppercorns). It has a distinct salty tang that makes your mouth water and feels creamy and full bodied. There is again some vanilla and cereals and these are joined by a bitter phenolic (almost like antiseptic) note right at the end. With water, the smoke becomes more like coal smoke and the whole dram is much lighter. The finish is long, salty and very smoky, with the peatiness taking ages to fade to nothing. Definately the better out of the two whiskies.