Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (July 24, 2020)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. 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. Within Inbox we aim to write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information. Here is the news from this week ...

Have just tried - Taketsuru Pure Malt 12 years old

This is a whisky that is produced by the Nikka Whisky Distilling Company in Japan and is the entry level product in their Taketsuru Pure Malt range.  Nikka own two single malt distilleries - Miyakigyo (pronounced mee-yag-ik-yo) and Yoichi (pronounced yo-ee-chee)- and both are included in this whisky.  The term Pure Malt is used as there is no grain whisky in the product, just single malts.  This 12 years old expression is joined by two others in the Taketsuru Pure Malt range, which have age statements of 17 and 21 years of age.

In the whisky cupboard ... Nikka 'Whisky From The Barrel'

Nikka are one of the biggest producers of single malt whisky in Japan. It is a company that forms part of the massive Asahi Brewery Company and they own two distilleries - Miyagikyo and Yoichi. Miyagikyo is located on the eastern coast of Japan's main island of Honshu to the north of Tokyo and Yoichi can be found on the western side of the northern island of Hokkaido. This 'Whisky From The Barrel' forms part of a series of vatted whiskies that are released by Nikka. Vatted whiskies are produced using single malts that are mixed together. These single malts may be of differing ages and from different distilleries. They are similar to blended whiskies in this respect, but blends include whisky made from other grains. Vatted whiskies only include single malt whisky produced from malted barley. In this case, Nikka have used different ages of single malt from both Miyagikyo and Yoichi and married them together over time. The 'Whisky From The Barrel' is a multi award winning whisky, including scooping the Best Japanese Blended/Vatted Whisky prize at The World Whisky Awards 2007.

This bottle was received recently as a present and has been exclusively labelled for La Maison du Whisky shop in Paris. It is bottled at cask strength (51.4% ABV) and the colour is a golden orange brown with a very pleasant nose. There is plenty of sherry cask influence here with lots of dried fruits (think of raisins and sultanas), candied peel (especially orange), some malted barley (imagine a rustic loaf of bread) and something reminiscent of dark chocolate or espresso coffee. These characteristics are replicated on the palate. It is rich and succulent with a lovely level of sweetness and a touch of spiciness (think of nutmeg or cinammon). This whisky is deceptive and certainly does not taste or feel like cask strength. That could be dangerous on future evenings! With a drop of water, a sugary sweetness appears (imagine caramel) and the candied orange peel springs to life even more. The finish is long, fruity and sumptuous.

'Whisky From The Barrel' is an excellent whisky and one of the best blended or vatted whiskies that I have tried to date. If you have tried the Hibiki 17 years old blend from other Japanese powerhouse whisky company, Suntory, then this is in the same vein (although considerably cheaper!). A great example of how the use of quality sherry casks can influence whisky during maturation. It is still relatively difficult to find but distribution is improving to Europe and the UK. A 500ml bottle should cost £20-25 from selected independent whisky retailers.

Great places to drink whisky ... The Red Lion & Sun, London

The Red Lion & Sun pub can be found in Highgate village in north London. Highgate village is a leafy suburb that has been swallowed up by London sprawling outwards, but still retains a unique character and charm. It was an excellent surprise on a recent visit there to discover that the Red Lion & Sun has had a major revamp. Previously a dusty old place serving up warm real ales with funny names and microwaved food, the place has now been sympathetically modernised. Part of this modernisation includes introducing the residents of Highgate to one of the larger selections of whiskies that we have seen in a pub. There is a whisky menu with around 25 different Scottish malts, about a dozen bourbons, 6 or 7 Japanese whiskies and various others from around the world, all of which are decently priced. The staff are passionate about whisky and they also run a whisky club and tastings (you can sign up for this at info@theredlionandsun.com). We decided to try a few different things that we had not had before.

Glenlivet 12 years old
Glenlivet is one of the most popular whiskies in the world. The distillery is located in Speyside and they produce a light and easy drinking spirit. This 12 years old is light but quite complex and refreshing with lots of fruit and floral notes on the nose and palate. There are apples and pears (a classic Speyside characteristic), some citrus (imagine lemon zest), lots of malted barley and cereals and a distinctive heather element. The finish is light, crisp, dry and good!

Aberlour A'bunadh
Another Speyside distillery, Aberlour is less well known in the UK but very popular in mainland Europe especially France and Spain. Famous for their use of sherry casks for maturation, the A'bunadh (pronounced a-boona) has a massive sherry cask influence and is released as cask strength (over 60% ABV in this case). They release limited batches of this every so often with each batch being slightly different. This is rich and creamy with loads of intense dried fruit, butterscotch, concerntrated citrus flavours (think of orange marmalade) and honey. Adding some water takes away the strength of the alcohol and reveals a gorgeous spiciness (imagine cinnamon and nutmeg). The finish is long, creamy, rich and spicy. Lovely.

W. L. Weller Special Reserve
The Weller distillery closed in 1991. This American bourbon is now made at the Buffalo Trace distillery in Kentucky using the traditional recipe and grain mix. This special reserve is released at seven years of age and is light and refreshing. The nose and palate are full of woodiness and vanilla. There is a very nice creaminess in the mouth with a note of honey coming through with something spicy at the end (think of cinnamon and nutmeg again). The finish is crisp with lots of wood and sweet vanilla with an interesting bitterness, that reminded me of a dark chocolate or black coffee. Very drinkable but you would really have to like that woody taste to enjoy it fully.

Nikka 'Straight from the barrel'
This Japanese whisky is cask strength vatting made up of whisky from Nikka's two distilleries - Miyagikyo and Yoichi. It is rich with strong elements of vanilla and fresh fruits (imagine apples and pears). There is also something nutty (reminding me of hazelnuts and almonds, i think), some caramel/butterscotch and just a hint of some smokiness. The finish is sweet, spicy (think of something warm like ginger) and refreshing.

Distil 2008

Distil 2008 is a trade only show that is held annually at the Excel exhibition centre in London. It is run in conjunction with the London International Wine Fair (LIWF), with the idea to showcase new and unusual products to retailers, restaurants etc. Myself and Matt (one of my colleagues from Royal Mile Whiskies) went to the show and sampled some of the products on offer. We tried a number of whiskies, which I have listed below with some basic tasting notes and thoughts. As and when I taste them again, then I will expand these notes and give more detail and distillery information. We began on a supplier stand who had a large range of award winning American whiskies (commonly called bourbons) and worked from there!

Elijah Craig 12 years old
This bourbon is rich and complex with some sweet caramel, vanilla and coconut flavours present. Age has done this a lot of favours and it is so smooth. It would be very easy to drink loads of this. It is thick, creamy and full bodied with a nice finish that has just a hint of aniseed.

Old Fitzgerald 1849
This one is an 8 years old bourbon that is really good as well. The nose has sweet grain on it, mixed with a nutty element (walnuts, I think), vanilla oakiness and almost a hint of something smoky. This is rich on the palate with lots of woodiness (this always reminds me of coconut), vanilla and caramel. That hint of smoke is there on the finish also. very interesting.

Evan Williams 1996 single barrel
Another bourbon that has been aged for 12 years in fresh oak and the vanilla and coconut flavours are very prominent here. This is very well balanced and feels smooth and luxurious on the palate. It is a limited release due to being from a single barrel.

Parker's Heritage Collection
A great example of a bourbon. Bottled at cask strength, this was full in flavour and body. The marriage of the sweetness from grains used and the influence of the wood was perfect. Lots of vanilla and coconut but also an interesting hint of nuts (something like walnuts and almonds). On adding water, it becomes almost too perfect and creamy. I need to hunt down a bottle of this one because it is fantastic.

Yoichi 10 years old
Having not tasted many Japanese whiskies, I was interested to try this one. Japan is only second to Scotland in the amount of whisky produced and generally the standard is high. The nose has a hint of peat smoke and earth to it with some interesting sweetness. On the palate, it is quite fruity (dried fruit though) and citrusy (think of orange marmalade). It feels creamy and smooth with quite a dry finish where the peat smoke takes over. Really nice.

Jura 16 years old
A nice and crisp whisky from the distillery on the isle of Jura. Their younger releases can have too much raw spirit for some people's tastes but this is much smoother and richer, due to the extra age. There is a hint of smokiness mixed with quite a fruity (sultanas, I think) and malty sweetness. This is quite nice but then I tried ...

Jura 18 years old
This had moved the 16 years old on to another level. Part maturation in sherry casks make this certainly more complex. It is richer and creamier in the mouth and with a nice level of sweetness, vanilla and something nutty (maybe almonds?). This is mixed with just a whiff of smokiness. It also had an interesting salty tang to it which complimented the rich caramel and sherry notes. On the finish there is also a hint of aniseed. Very good indeed!

Tyrconnell 10 years old Madiera finish
We moved on to the Cooley distillery stand where we tried this and the following two whiskies. This has been finished in Madiera casks and this gives the whiskey some great dried fruit notes (think of raisins, apricots, pears). It is rich, creamy and sweet with some lovely caramel and vanilla as well. A really, really good whiskey and a great example of how a cask finish can influence the final product.

Greenore 15 years old
This is a newly released and very limited batch single grain whiskey. These contain no barley and are rare. It is smooth and sweet with lots of vanilla, honey and almonds. Very full bodied and it just melts in your mouth. I had never properly tried grain whiskey before and this is an excellent example of one.

Kilbeggan 15 years old
Another very limited release of only 1000 bottles. This is the best Irish whiskey that I have tasted to date. It is rich, creamy and smooth with lots of vanilla, honey and sweet maltiness mixed with an interesting dryness and some spiciness (like nutmeg, I think and maybe just a hint of ginger). Very well balanced and truly great.

After this, myself and Matt went on to try some rums and then made our way to the wine fair, at which point the afternoon started getting hazier and hazier ....