Review / The Italian Collection by Tomatin

The Highland distillery of Tomatin has revealed a new series of whiskies and details of the trio of bottlings. The Italian Collection celebrates the distillery's long history of importing Italian wine casks and its success in the Italian market. Each of the three whiskies follows the same path - 10 years of maturation in American oak ex-bourbon casks before being tranferred for a two year finish in a different Italian wine barrel. 

The Amarone Edition 12 Years Old uses casks sourced from the Veneto region, the Barolo Edition 12 years Old features casks from the Piedmont region and the Marsala Edition 12 Years Old sees the whisky finished in casks from a Marsala winery in Sicily. 

Review / Tamnavulin White Wine Cask Edition

This new whisky is the latest addition to the core range of Tamnavulin, the up-and-coming Speyside single malt brand. The Tamnavulin White Wine Cask Edition follows a series of successful ex-red wine cask expressions that have been launched over the last two years. The new whisky was initially matured in American white oak ex-bourbon barrels before being transferred for a finishing period in ex-Sauvignon Blanc wine casks. White wine casks are used much less than red or fortified wine casks for maturing whisky. The Tamnavulin White Wine Cask Edition is bottled at 40% ABV and is available now in the UK and USA, and will be shortly available in selected European markets. A bottle will cost £32/ $42 US/ €38.

Review - Benromach Sassicaia 2009 Vintage

This whisky is the latest release in the expanding Wood Finish series from the small Speyside distillery of Benromach. All of the whiskies included in this expression were distilled in 2009 and matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks. These were then hand selected by Keith Cruickshank, the Distillery Manager of Benromach, and transferred to ex-Sassicaia red wine casks sourced from the Bolgheri region of Tuscany in Italy. The finishing period in these casks was 28 months. As with all of the Wood Finish series, this whisky is a limited edition - there are just 7,783 bottles available.

Review - Benromach Hermitage 2007 Vintage

This whisky is the latest expression to be released in the Wood Finish series from the small Speyside distillery of Benromach.  The Hermitage 2007 Vintage has been initially matured in ex-bourbon casks for six years before being transferred to casks that had previously held red wine from the Hermitage Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée in the northern Rhône region of France for 31 months. Benromach is located on the outskirts of the town of Forres in the north of the Speyside region and was founded in 1898 under the name of Forres Distillery.  It was one of the last designed by the renowned Victorian distillery architect Charles Doig.

Review - Benromach Sassicaia Wood Finish

The Sassicaia Wood Finish is a new addition to the single malt range from the small Speyside distillery of Benromach.  The bottling is the latest in a limited edition series of wood finished whiskies, each with part-maturation in a different wine cask. This new expression was distilled in 2007 and has been matured predominantly in first fill ex-bourbon barrels, before being transferred to the ex-Sassicaia wine casks.  Sassicaia is red wine that is produced in the Bolgheri region of Tuscany and is made predominantly using Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.  The wines are rich and spicy and are sometimes referred to as Super Tuscans.

Have just tried – Glen Moray 10 years old Chardonnay Cask and 8 years old Chenin Blanc Cask

Glen Moray distillery is located in the Speyside region of Scotland, sitting on the outskirts of the town of Elgin on the banks of the River Lossie. The distillery started life as a brewery, founded in 1828, which was later converted to become the Glen Moray whisky distillery in 1897.

It is currently owned by French drinks company La Martiniquaise, who took control in 2008 after buying the distillery from Moet Hennessey. Whisky produced and matured at Glen Moray is used for a number of La Martiniquaise's own blended and vatted whiskies that are popular in France, namely Label 5 and Glen Turner, as well as an expanding range of single malts. The main market for Glen Moray single malts is the UK as one of the top 5 for total UK single malt sales in 2010.

For more information on Glen Moray, have a look at the blog post about our visits to the distillery in 2009 and in 2011.

Part of Glen Moray's expanding range includes some rather interesting experiments with maturation of their whisky in wine casks. Back in the late 90s, Ed Dodson, the distillery manager at that time, undertook a program of experiments using non-conventional casks to mature his spirit. The resulting flavour (of the now suitably matured whisky) has impressed the current distillery manager, Graham Coull, so much that he has chosen to bottle these whiskies as limited releases. Have a look at our tasting notes of previous examples of wine cask from Glen Moray - the 8 years old Red Wine Cask and the 13 years old Port Wood finished.

We have been lucky enough to get our hands on samples of two of the latest unique whiskies matured in different white wine casks. The first we shall look at is the 10 years old French Chardonnay Cask matured, the second is the 8 years old Chenin Blanc Cask. The Chardonnay Cask was released in July 2011 and the Chenin Blanc in April 2012.

Our tasting notes - 10 years old Chardonnay Cask 
This 40% ABV whisky is golden yellow with a sweet nose of white fruit (pears and apples), toffee, sultana grapes and buttery yeastiness mixed with some warm nutmeg-type spice which makes us think of biscuits. On the palate the sweetness comes through with velvety and creamy softness that coats your mouth. The fruitiness of apples, pears and grapes plus the sweetness of butterscotch and honey from the nose are also delivered upfront. The finish however turns drier and spicier with more woodiness and a touch of white pepper. This stops the whisky feeling to overly sweet, adds needed depth and complexity and lingers for long enough to leave your mouth watering.

Our tasting notes - 8 years old Chenin Blanc Cask
Available for around £60 only from the distillery shop. This limited release of 260 bottles has a hearty ABV of 60.7%. It is a rich auburn colour with a very feisty nose of that is obviously high ABV. Without water the nose shows spicy, pine/eucalypt oak, sweetness of caramel and citrus oil. With water the spiced apple and cinnamon caramel notes (reminiscent of mulled cider) show through. As for the palate, without water the high ABV hits with alcohol astringency on the palate and is quite overwhelming. The flavours that come through are of caramel, sultanas and honey, and remind us of glaced fruits. With a dash of water it remains the feisty edge but apple and grapefruit notes start to combine with the richer and sweeter fruits. With a hearty splash of water the spiciness pulls back and the whisky takes on a softer creamier feel with apple notes showing through to match with sweet toffee and vanilla oak notes (sweet Madeira wine). Throughout this whisky has a viscous and mouth-coating feel. Without water the finish is dominated by the heat of the alcohol but when water is added the finish is quite sweet and pleasant.

What's the verdict?
While both whiskies are matured in white wine casks, the remarkably different ABV strengths out of the bottle (the Chenin Blanc cask is 50% stronger in the bottle than the Chardonnay cask) lead to the two having characters that are really hard to compare. Adding after adding quite a splash of water to Chenin Blanc cask that you start to compare the two whiskies.

The Chardonnay cask delivers an tasting experience closer to what we expected from a wine cask whisky, while the Chenin Blanc cask reminds more of a sweet wine rather than a whisky. Of the two, for us the Chardonnay cask was the easier drinking of the two and we found that we would happily sit and enjoy a dram of this over a quiet and relaxed evening. The Chenin Blanc cask challenged our concept of what a whisky could offer and for us that made for an exciting experience. We have heard people say that wine finished whiskies are all the same and in this we have a whisky to prove them very wrong. It is good to see Glen Moray releasing these 'innovative and experimental' casks so that we can try, without restrictive expense, the effect that maturation (as well as finishing) in a wine cask provides.

The Chardonnay cask is available for around £25 from selected specialist retailers as well as the distillery shop. The Chenin Blanc cask is available for around £60 only the distillery shop. You will need to get in touch with the shop via phone or the distillery website to purchase either bottling.

Experience a tutored tasting of the 10 years old Chardonnay Cask with Graham Coull at the product launch held in the distillery's visitor centre.

New releases ... Springbank 12 years old Claret Wood

A small, almost unique distillery
The cult Springbank distillery is located in the town of Campbeltown, which is located on a narrow peninsula on the west Highland coast of Scotland. It is Scotland's oldest distillery that has been under the same continuous family ownership, the Mitchell's. Springbank was set up in 1828 by the Reid family (they were related to the Mitchell's by marriage) and it later passed fully to the Mitchell family. Springbank has a small capacity with a maximum production capacity of 750,000 litres per year and is one of the few distilleries to do all parts of production on their own site including malting the barley, distillation and bottling.

Details of Claret Wood
This 12 years old joins an expanding list of innovative limited edition whiskies in Springbank's Wood Finishes range. It was recently previewed at Whisky Live London 2010 and there are just 2360 bottles. The whisky is bottled at cask strength (54.4% ABV) and has been matured for nine years in ex-bourbon casks before being transferred to ex-Claret red wine casks from Bordeaux for three years. A bottle should cost around £40-45 from specialist whisky retailers.

Our tasting notes
The colour is amber with a reddish hue and the nose is rich and fruity. There are a pleasant combination of aromas present - butterscotch, caramel, cereals, plenty of dried fruits (imagine raisins, prunes and dried peel) and a whiff of slightly sulphuric coal smoke. On the palate this whisky is fresh and vibrant, with an initial lovely sweetness. There is plenty of juicy fresh red fruit (think of red berries and plums) underpinned by vanilla, caramel, dried fruits (the raisins and prunes again), orange peel, some saltiness (think of brine) and woody, earthy spice notes (imagine cinnamon, ginger, peppercorns and nutmeg). Finally, a hint of the smoke from the nose appears. The finish is drier and spicier (more nutmeg and pepper) than expected. It is long and very enjoyable, with the whiff of earthy smoke slightly more prominent than before.

What's the verdict?
This is a possibly our favourite Springbank to date - it offers rich complexity, intense flavours and good value for money (considering that it is cask strength and a limited release). This whisky would give a good introduction to the relatively new phenomenon of wine cask finishing. It is one of the better examples but sadly, all are not quite so good. The combination of juicy fruits, caramel, spiciness and small amount of smokiness is very good. Grab a bottle while you can!