Today we’ll tackle the mid-fielders in this years releases. Each year there are the mid-aged malts from distilleries that are more commonly associated with bulk and blending than with exceptional single expressions. In the past we’ve seen Glen Spey, Port Dundas, Benrinnes and Pittyvaich to name but a few. This year sees the return of Dalwhinnie and Auchroisk at respectable ages.

One thing that these types of bottling flag up for me is a missed opportunity. The quality of these whiskies is often very high and they are no doubt respectable bottlings. But you can’t help but feel that a Glenlochy, Millburn or Clynelish might have been more favourable for special release status than the distilleries that often seem to be chosen. Of course they are hoping for knock on sales on to their existing brands in lower price brackets and there are none of these for long aged, closed distilleries. That stock is, tragically in my view, earmarked for the likes of Blue Label and other high end blending releases. I had a fascinating conversation with one of the Diageo blenders at the launch. He spoke about how in larger markets of the far east, South America, India and even some sectors of Europe and the US, blends are a drinker’s whole world, single malts don’t even factor in. To them, true passion for whisky is manifest in new expressions of Buchannan’s or Johnnie Walker. This is something that we are all perhaps aware of, and financially the implications of what that means for the majority of single malts in Diageo’s portfolio are pretty clear. The industry is the way it is and there isn’t a lot those of us who love single malts can do about it. There has been a big move in recent years to defend blends, to somehow deify them as better than malts, as works of art. Even if we don’t accept that we malt drinkers are told we should be grateful for blends as we wouldn’t have malts without them. Well, to be honest, I reject all those claims. Attending events such as this one only reaffirms my frustration and general dislike of blends. Many can be great drams no doubt, and for me Diageo produce the best examples hands down. But they will never, in my opinion, match the depth and complexity of good quality single malts. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the high end blend market is the graveyard of great malt whiskies. My frustration or dislike of blends is not born of snobbery or malice, it is merely the rumination of someone a little vexed at the direction this industry has taken over the years. Mercifully, there is no shortage of great malts still to be had, as these special releases annually prove, however, you can’t help but think what might have been or what has been sacrificed at the blending altar over the years. Anyway, lets be grateful for what does get bottled rather than what doesn’t, no point crying over blended malt.

Dalwhinnie 25yo OB Special Releases 2012. Rejuvented American oak hogsheads. 5358bottles. 52.1%. 70cl.

Colour: Light gold

Nose: At first a wonderful combination of beeswax, furniture polish, wet leafs, honeysuckle, digestive biscuits, buttered toast and hints of menthol. A wonderfully inviting nose that combines great freshness and real maturity. Touches of wood spice but not a shred of over powering oak to be seen otherwise. Hints of cocoa, coal dust and more wax. Not sure that it really needs water but lets try all the same… water doesn’t hurt it at all it seems. Now we have more coal, wax, minerals, wet moss, graphite, wild flowers and green tea. Becomes very delicate and beautifully restrained with water.

Palate: Very consistent with the nose, a wonderful honied sweetness that dries towards the swallow with tobacco, mint leaf, mint tea, demerara sugar, glazed hazelnuts, tiramisu, nutmeg and cinnamon. Superbly biting, fresh, alive and drinkable with touches of wood smoke, cured meats, molasses and treacle. Really delicious and almost perfect at cask strength but, as with the nose, lets add water… gets a little oilier in texture and more drying with a little more bite from the wood, dark chocolate, black tea, touches of medicine, pineapple drops and marzipan.

Finish: Long, complex, earthy, waxy, drying, slightly salty, fresh, herbal and gently sooty. Brilliant.

Comments: I loved this when I tried it at the castle first time round and it’s even better in the cold light of day on a fresh palate. I think this is the real sleeper hit and probably the best value one of the lot this year. I liked the other Dalwhinines in this series from previous years but this one just seems to hit that perfect balance of age, maturity, freshness, drinkability, wood impact and distillery character. Brilliant cask selection and a wonderful whisky.

Score: 91/100

Auchroisk 30yo 1982 OB Special Releases 2012. Refill US and European Oak. 2976 bottles. 54.7%. 70cl. 

Colour: Light Amber

Nose: Quite antique on the nose, lots of leaf mulch, resin, old cognac, dusty books, wood spice, cloves, touches of tar, sultanas and stewed apples. Hints of custard, aged rums, mead, wax and old dessert wines. Nice but not particularly distinctive or complex, its just good old malt whisky at first nosing. Goes on with some nice notes of mirabelle and quince with touches of fruit compote and dried herbs. With water: softer and more luscious with notes of fresh figs, prune juice, flat cola, horse stables and some very nice garden fruits.

Palate: The oak is very biting here, quite a big, staunch chalkiness with tannic chocolate notes, flints and a thick earthiness. Hard to get through that really. Touches of very rich game, meat broth, bay leaves and over aged pinot noir. It’s good but the aggression of the oak is a bit overpowering, Lets try with water: water simmers the oak down to very warming spiciness and brings our more chocolate, treacle, malt extract and black tea with notes of fruit syrup and caraway. Also touches of chartreuse and other sweet herb liqueurs.

Finish: Quite drying, gently tannic, woody, earthy, mulchy and full of dried mushrooms, hints of truffle and olive oil.

Comments: I like it but it’s nothing like as good as the Dalwhinnie. It still feels like just a decent old malt that wears its wood on its sleeve. Again, I refer to my comments at the top, I’d rather they bottled Glenlochy, Clynelish or Coleburn than Auchroisk, I really think it suffers from a little lack of personality.

Score: 85/100

Lets do the Lagavulin today as well. I’m in the mood for some peat after that…

Lagavulin 21yo 1991 OB Special Releases 2012. 1st fill European Oak Sherry. 2772 bottles. 52%. 70cl.

Colour: Amber

Nose: A super clean mix of crisp smoky bacon, sea salt, preserved lemons, engine oil, old phenols, peat oils and smoked wax (if such a thing exists). This bears instant resemblance to the old 21yo from 2007 but it is quite a bit lighter to my mind with a much more elegant, organic earthy/leafy quality. Wet soil, seaweed, pebbles, minerals, mutton, some kind of concentrated peat liqueur, creosote and tar. A wonderfully concentrated and elegant mix of sherry and peat in this one. With water: gets gristier, smokier and kind of younger with more of these leafy tobacco notes and touches of kippers, brine and more seaweed.

Palate: Quite restrained in strength the gristy, oiliness of the peat comes shining through though, notes of game, cannabis, smoked oats, dried seaweed, green olives, anchovies, chartreuse, tar and rancio. Lots of mulch, old pipe tobacco, tcp, iodine, menthol and then some quite heavy, earthy dirtiness, the good kind. With water: more salty, briny and green with more notes of green olives, mixed peppercorns, camphor and a resinous, lingering peat. Wonderful whisky.

Finish: Long, earthy, peaty, syrupy, leafy and coastal with lingering, thick, dark fruity embers from the sherry glowing in the background.

Commetns: Another great lagavulin. I don’t think it approached the majesty of the old 21yo but it is a real class act and a masterclass in   the balancing act of matching heavy peat with sherry. I love it, highly quaffable with or without water.

Score: 91/100

It’s fortunate that I just so happen to have a sample of the original 21yo to hand. I already wrote notes for it quite some time ago but lets give another quick whirl for sake of comparison.

Lagavulin 21yo 1985 OB 2007 Special Releases. 6642 bottles. 56.5%. 70cl. 

Colour: Light copper

Nose: This is obviously the same distillery but it just has everything from the 2012 version only in far greater concentration, its meatier, earthier, saltier, richer, oilier and peatier in spades. These huge notes of herbs, game, cured meats, wax, peat oils, farmyards, manure, hay, dunnage warehouses, tar, all kinds of medicine, metal and even flickers of green and tropical fruits. I had forgotten what a masterpiece this one really is. ~Water just serves to magnify the herbs, the mint and meat with a more mossy, earthy quality to the peat and the phenolic aspects.

Palate: This one is just on another planet all together. Beautiful, beautiful sherry and peat, its perfectly dirty, intense, syrupy, mouth coating, fat, oily, dense and powerful. One of those rare malts where the flavour completely dominates the high alcohol and you barely register that its over 56%. With water: there’s not much point going on. Censored.

Finish: Jam packed, endless and brilliant. A big parade of all thats gone before.

Comments: Some people will love the more delicate approach that the new 21yo has to this particular style but I think this first 21yo is really utterly uncompromising and so intensely flavoured. It just seems to be a bottomless peat bog of personality and character. I know there are those that dislike it but for me it’s up there with the best of the special releases. Only the early Brora 30s can touch it as far as I’m concerned.

Score: 95/100 (that’s 1 point up from last time, and quite right too).

Drummuir Castle: kind of like Diageo's 'Room 101' for brand loyalty and allocation acceptance.

It’s that time of year again. I was recently fortunate enough to attend the Scottish launch of Diageo’s annual high-end stocking filler extravaganza, or, to give them their boring name: The Special Releases 2012. It was held in the jaw-plummetingly plush Drummuir Castle which, if you’ve never been there, is a bit like being in an episode of Monarch Of The Glen. Except with more middle aged men complaining about pricing structures and allocations and less grizzly highland ghillies or constantly reappearing long-lost relatives. It’s quite a fun night in some lovely surroundings with the full power of Diageo’s hospitality machine constantly battering you about the head like velvet pillow laced with 1970s Brora. Their plan is ingenious, gather together a bundle of cantankerous and grumble-prone retailers, point them in the direction of a wall of ancient and rare single malts, tell them to help themselves, then shepherd them all to another room to quaff the new bottlings, then feed them a three course Michelin star meal, then promptly return them all to the first room and tell them to continue with part 1. The result is an exceptionally fine communal hangover and a nagging, but ever so bewildering, feeling that you’ve somehow been tricked into having a good time. One thing Diageo do exceptionally well is hospitality, for a company that absorbs so much flak, they certainly know how to look after people when they want to, something they never really get much credit for. For my part, it was largely a big heap of fun, mainly because I’m not a retailer (thank God) and therefor don’t have to fight a constant uphill struggle against the booze-monolith that is Diageo, or any of the other hulking great drinks companies for that matter. Instead I simply wandered about casually quaffing the best part of a bottle of 32yo Mortlach and winding up as many people as I considered realistically possible. There was one dismal moment whereupon I wounded the inside of my mouth on a particularly sharp roast potato during dinner but it was otherwise a mirthsome evening. Anyway, what follows are my notes for this year’s releases. I never published notes for last year’s so, where possible, I’ve included some of those as well for comparison. I won’t be cramming them all into one ungainly post so we’ll do it in two (or maybe three parts) I haven’t decided yet, we’ll see how the tasting goes. But enough wittering from me, on with the scribbles…

Lets start with the Caol Ila.

Caol Ila 14yo 1997 OB Special Releases 2012. 1st Fill European Oak Sherry casks. 5958 bottles. 59.3%. 70cl.

Colour: A woody chardonnay

Nose: Big. A lot of cream, fudge, linseed oil, touches of old rags and a background boiler smokiness. Quite a pungent wee bugger at first but enthralling none the less. Big notes of watercress, mustard seed, coal fires, butter, cabbage and cut grass. Very entertaining and more enjoyable on first impressions from previous examples that I’ve tried in this series. With water: some soft antiseptic, watered down bleach, plasticine, very acrid, a little salty and even quite aggressive in some parts. Water doesn’t seem to do it too many favours. With time some nice notes of lemon rind emerge but its not enough really.

Palate: Soggy brown bread, sunflower seeds, vinaigrette, alcohol, touches of tcp, lots of sea salt, an old chip wrapper and something slightly sappy. Not as striking at the nose really. Even becomes a little cheesy and acrid in some parts. Lets try with water: not much change, some nice notes of white balsamic vinegar, rapeseed oil, touches of hummus and a pepperyness like chewing rocket. Not bad but not stellar either.

Finish: A decent length, lemony, bready, slightly yeasty and very acrid but also a little too mono-dimensional for me.

Comments: I like the fact that this is a big, distillate driven malt that seems to display some quite old-style characteristics at times but it’s just a little to imbalanced and wacky for me. I’ve never been too struck by these un-peated Caol Ilas and this one just feels too much like hard work.

Score: 77/100

Lets compare it to last year’s bottling..

Caol Ila 12yo OB Special Releases 2011. 64.7%. 70cl. 

Colour: Straw

Nose: At first it is really just like a super high octane mix of tequila, sugar syrup, salt, coal and bay leaves. Quite difficult to get underneath that blanket of alcohol. Some white pepper, some lemon juice and sea breeziness but I think water is pretty essential here. With water lots of sea greens, minerals, pebbles, wet rocks, oysters, lemon juice, hints of fresh coriander, wet grains, smoked salmon and stables. Really excellent nose, very chiseled, clean and direct.

Palate: This is much better than the 2012 release, buttery, lemony, herbal and fresh, even at full strength it is quite sippable (if only in small sips). The first impression is one of having just brushed and flossed my teeth, these slightly fresh menthol notes are quite pleasing, add to that white pepper and a little lemon wax and its pretty tasty. With water: big, peppery, green and salty now with notes of green peppercorns in brine, hints of green phenols and youthful peat, coal smoke, tar and a little mead. Gets increasingly savory with brown bread, crushed malt and green apple peelings. More of that lively minerality as well.

Finish: Long, salty, savory, slightly medicinal and sharp. Keeps you on your toes.

Comments: This is easily superior to the 2012 release in my opinion, I think the mix of refill and first fill american oak suits the very specific kind of distillate that is Caol Ila Highland much better. I think you can still buy this one in some places.

Score: 85/100

Lagavulin 12yo OB Special Releases 2012. 31656 bottles. 56.1%. 70cl. 

Colour: White wine

Nose: Typically Lagavulin 12, a big furnace of antiseptic, tar, kippers, brine, wet earth, green peat, seaweed and pepper. Even with out water this is a wonderfully vocal whisky. Big notes of fresh lemon juice, white pepper, touches of hay, all kinds of seashore notes and some herbal liqueur aspects. With water: becomes much more herbal with big notes of tarragon, rosemary and thyme, also a dirtier smokiness, boiler sheds, tar, kreel nets and more industrial qualities. Some really nice interaction between big menthol qualities a heavy notes of hessian and barbeque sauce.

Palate: Lovely, rich, mineral laden peat with big notes of lemon juice, chocolate limes, oysters, caraway, tar, all kinds of drying medical qualities, dried herbs and bonfire smoke. I always find these Lagavulin 12s quite direct and simple but their brilliance lies in their potency, balance and raw power to evoke a place and mood, crashing waves on a shore and all that jazz. With water: mint, eucalyptus, peat resin (whatever that may be), bunsen burners, more caraway, minerals, silage (no I’ve never eaten silage it’s just an impression), touches of orange juice and marzipan. All the while this big bassline of coastal saltiness is rumbling away underneath.

Finish: Salt, old style peat, engine oil, tar, cured meats, salted mutton, peppermint tea, greengages and seaweed.

Comments: I haven’t tried Lagavulin 12 for quite some time and it’s easy to forget just what a great series of whiskies these have been and continue to be. I didn’t try it on the night because there seemed little point as it would have crushed the lighter and older malts. I think these are the sorts of bottles that when put aside of 20-40 years of bottle aging will really start to shine like diamonds. Everyone focuses on collecting the Port Ellen releases, I’d love a full set of these baby’s to be honest with you.

Score: 90/100

Lets see what difference a year makes…

Lagavulin 12yo OB Special Releases 2011. 56.1%. 70cl. 

Colour: White wine

Nose: Perhaps a little sharper than the 2012 release, maybe more of a salt n vinegar or pickled onion tang about this one but it’s otherwise almost the same whisky. The menthol is a little richer here at first nosing with more restrained saltiness and an oilier, heavier peat phenol profile. Frying bacon, salted almonds, sundried seaweed (it exists), anchovies and finally a growing, fat saltiness. With water: sea greens, sea salt, brine, white wine vinegar, hints of cigar smoke, boiler sheds, smoked mussels and taramasalata. The oiliness of the phenols remains joyously intact.

Palate: Again, incredibly similar but the peat has a more jelly-like, oily and mouth-coating presence with crushed green peppercorns, kippers in lemon juice, bay leaves, TCP, iodine and mouthwash. With water: green, peppery, wild, herbaceous and thick with soft notes of cola cubes, root beer, tcp, liquorice and pork scratchings. I think this one is just a notch bette than the 2012 release.

Finish: Long, earthy, green, sticky peat just lingers for ages with this one, salt, pepper, seaweed, crab meat, coke, mint and olive oil all knocking about in an old vinegar bottle. Brilliant.

Comments: See above for all the praise. I like this one even better than the 2012, that oily concentration of the peat and coastal characteristics is just that bit tighter and more focused. Really brilliant whisky, bursting with distillery character.

Score: 91/100

Tomorrow we’ll get stuck into some of the older ones. Stay tuned…

Many you will have seen the ‘Syndicate’ bottlings of Lagavulin that have been floating about over the past year or so. These are bottlings that came from stock laid down in 1979 and 1990 by James MacTaggart of Islay. They were bottled for him and his chums to have some serious private glugging whisky and, eventually, many made their way onto the open market via the Bruichladdich distillery visitor center through which they were sold. Now you can find them through specialist retailers and auction sites for ever increasing quantities of money. Today we’ll try four of them and see if they’re any good.

Lagavulin 14yo 1990. ‘Syndicate’. 46%. 70cl.

Colour: Chardonnay

Nose: It’s a pleasant and pristine modern Islay profile, all on wet rocks, mineral, glycerol green peat, ashes, brine, sea air and touches of coal tar soap. Actually this one really reminds me more of a Caol Ila than a Lagavulin. That super clean, coastal, lemony and ashy profile is very in keeping with Caol Ilas of a similar age. Goes on with notes of wet grains, parma ham, salted peanuts and touches of seaweed. Very pleasant and super clean but, dare I say it, maybe just a little too boring.

Palate: It’s almost identical to the palate, like an ashtray full of lemon juice and pebbles. Some hints of antiseptic, mouthwash and eucalyptus with more of these typical coastal qualities like raw oysters, brine, sea water and bonfire smoke. It also becomes quite tarry with notes of creosote, kind of like licking a kreel net. A good, basic modern Islay whisky but it doesn’t seem to be doing anything particularly spectacular or noteworthy.

Finish: Long, drying and salty with a big fragrant smokiness.

Comments: Technically its pretty flawless but its just not very inspiring that’s the trouble. Oh well. Lets see if another six years of maturation will make a difference…

Score: 80/100

Lagavulin 20yo 1990. Syndicate. 48.1%. 70cl.

Colour: Gold

Nose: Much better, the peat is more defined, like chiseled leather (whatever that means) with a fatter, oilier quality to it. Still not very ‘Lagavulinesque’ but it certainly has a fair whack of character to it. Notes of smoked tea, minerals, hints of sea shore, wild flowers, mustard seed and something quite minty and herbal, like a throat sweet liqueur. With time notes of paprika, chili infused dark chocolate and turkish delight all start to emerge. This minty/coastal quality still persists very beautifully. With water it seems to revert back to a very similar profile to the 14yo, all on lemons, ashes and salt.

Palate: Oh dear, that’s a bit odd. Quite an astringent and vinous delivery at first, almost like its been is some really odd red wine cask. Notes of green wood, ground pepper, tar, goats cheese, smoked paprika, turmeric and touches of cardboard. This is really weird. Maybe some water is needed… nope. Water makes it cheesier, dryer and stranger with notes of boiled ham, sour mead and cod liver oil. This is so strange and becoming increasingly unpleasant.

Finsih: Quite long and actually improving, becoming greener again and cleaner with a nice oily peat and citrus quality.

Comments: This is a barmy whisky. Such a shame about the palate because the nose was initially very beautiful. I just can get over the odd texture and astringency of the palate, not to mention that weird cheesy note. Oh well… just goes to show that even giants of consistency like Lagavulin can’t be great every time.

Score: 68/100

The next couple should fair better (lets hope so)

Lagavulin 15yo 1979. Synidicate. 58.2%. 70cl. 

Colour: Straw

Nose: Now we’re a world apart. A blistering white hot desert of peat, ground pepper, cider vinegar, antiseptic, coal dust, lime zest and then lashings of pink grapefruit, gooseberries and finally touches of lychee and white chocolate. While the 1990s were both more akin to Caol Ila, this reminds me of some early 1970s high strength Port Ellens by G&M. It’s still quite approachable and alluring at full strength though with some spectacular notes of fresh mint toothpaste, frying bacon, clove rock and lemon oil. With water: now it just seems to become spectacularly farmy, oily and slightly industrial with notes of petrol, motor oil and WD40. It also becomes much more organic and herbal with notes of sorrel, fresh rosemary and aniseed liqueur. A truly compelling nose.

Palate: The farmyard and seashore battle it out immediately but the strength in no way overpowers anything. This is really reminiscent of the 30yo version I tasted on Islay back in May except being half the age it is double the intensity. Huge notes of smoked and green teas with preserved lemons, wax, salt, honeycomb, green fruits, more salivating grapefruit acidity and white pepper. Brilliant, slightly old style Islay peat water. Speaking of water… spectacular again, liquid smoke, mint choc chip ice cream, freshly baled hay, dried cereals, pear liqueur, old riesling and something like Castrol GTX motor oil (yes that specific brand, they’re all different you know!)

Finish: Super long, pristine, coastal and decked in minerals and lemon juice. Fat, oily and wonderful.

Comments: What a difference 11 years can make in terms of distillery character. This reminds me of the best, Diageo produced 1970s peated Islay malts, the greatest Caol Ilas, Port Ellens and Lagavulins all share something of this blistering white peat character. Glorious whisky.

Score: 93/100

Lets see if 59.2% can match it…

Lagavulin 15yo 1979. Syndicate. 59.2%. 70cl. 

Colour: Straw (identical to the one above really)

Nose: This one is a little softer and maybe a bit more ‘classical’ but it certainly from the same family as the 58.2 with these plush notes of grapefruit, cider and gooseberries. All kinds of sharp and sour fruit notes with a hyper clean coastal edge and bags of chocolate limes, dried herbs, smoky bacon and background hints of fish and chips. These touches of white chocolate appear again but they are quickly overtaken by these big fishy notes of peppered and smoked mackerel, various fresh shellfish and minerals. It’s almost like a sea salt liqueur. With water: whereas the other one turned into some kind of psychotic farmyard with water this one seems content to explode with mint, smoked sausage, green peppercorns in brine and some wonderfully fatty notes of cured meat and frying bacon.

Palate: A big pile of white pepper, green peats, minerals, menthol chewing gum, ashtrays, antiseptic, herbal toothpaste, mouthwash and salt. Again, this is more typical than the 58.2 version but it is almost flawlessly constructed with bags of big personality to offer. Goes on with notes of bay leaves, a soft spiciness, camphor and treacle. With water: still a bulldozer with this massive arid saltiness and fug of sinewy phenols and green peat but otherwise it is quite straight forward and not quite as complex or beguiling as the 58.2 version.

Finish: My tongue feels like its coated in tar and salt so I’ll just write: long!

Comments: I prefer the 58.2% version but not by much, this is still a fantastic old Islay whisky. If you get the chance both these olf 15yo bottlings are well worth trying in my book.

Score: 91/100