Ardbeg uigeadail

When it comes to Scotch Whisky, we’re pretty crazy about Ardbeg‘s base 10 year Scotch Whisky. It’s one of the best primary releases in the whisky space and a spirit we’re constantly revisiting. But Ardbeg isn’t the kind of distillery that rests on their laurels. Every once in a while they put out a limited release that is truly special. Previously, these limited releases have included Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist Islay Single Malt Whisky, Ardbeg Rollercoaster and Ardbeg Supernova, all exceptional whiskys worthy of buying and collecting. The Ardbeg Uigeadail Traditional Strength Islay Single Malt Whisky is another in this line of exceptional Ardbeg whiskys. Bottled at a higher proof than the Ardbeg 10 and finished in Sherry casks, the Uigeadail is one of the strongest and best expressions of peat that we’ve seen. Deep, deep smokey notes are supported by the raisin and honey notes from the Sherry casks and it all comes together in a scotch whisky that will blow your tastebuds away.Given the limited nature of Ardbeg’s releases, Ardbeg Uigeadail is the kind of gift that will be sipped and savored, and once it’s vanished from the market you’ll wish you had bought yourself a bottle, too.

Review:

Ardbeg Uigeadail is my favourite malt whisky. When I tasted the first bottle which I bought in September 2010 I went back to the store 5 days later and bought 3 more bottles from the same store off of the same shelf, because I was astonished at how good the Ardbeg Uigeadail was, and I wanted to have that wonderful drink available for drinking for a very long time. Three months later, as my first bottle was nearing the end, I purchased 1 additional bottle from a different liquor store. When my first bottle was empty I opened the single lone bottle which I had purchased the most recently. I sipped first in surprise, then in increasing horror as I did not experience what I had remembered of the flavour and the feeling of my first bottle. Upon further tastings over a couple of weeks the second bottle continued to give me exactly the same less than impressive flavour as it had with the first taste of it. First I asked myself whether this was the flavour that I had experienced from bottle # 1 and maybe my taste had changed in the interval that had elapsed. Finally I decided that I should sample bottle # 3, which had come from the same shelf as the sainted bottle #1. Low and behold bottle # 3 tastes exactly like all of my memories from bottle # 1 and gives me the type of transcendent experience that leads me to rate this whisky at 98 pts. To bottle # 2 I would give about an 86 pt rating, decent, but not at all head of the pack, or close to being an all-time favourite whisky.

Nose: for bottle # 1 & 3, the nose is very brightly perfumed, like carnations with rosewater, peat, pleasant sherry and some briny and medicinal elements. For # 2 the nose is duller, lower pitched, less floral, and sort of muffled in its expression.

Taste: for # 1 & 3 the sweet sherry and the strong peat, medicinal, and briny elements combine into an amazing bright integrated fabric. There is a sort of harmony being played out here between the very high soprano notes of the sherry, and the bass earthy notes brought out through the peat and the briny/iodiny elements. You can still taste some nice malted barley here, sort of closeted between the high winey and low earthy notes. For bottle # 2 the sherry notes fall completely flat. They are not soprano or even alto, but more bass-baritone range. The sherry here is not bright, is not very tasty, and does not offer the beautiful contrast to the bass note elements that is afforded in the other bottles. The overall effect of sipping # 2 is heavy, almost leaden.

Finish: for bottles # 1 & # 3 the finish retains all of the spectacular flavours equally strongly for a very long time. For bottle # 2 the sub-par sherry flavour actually deteriourates somewhat into the finish, and becomes both sour and less tasty. The finish here is also rather long, but it is not balanced, and not so very pleasant.Balance: # 1 & # 3 have everything going for them in all departments. Bottle # 2 is not very balanced, not nearly as pleasant tasting or as appealing to the nose, and then gets somewhat less appealing on the finish. At the end of this experience I am extemely optimistic about the quality of my remaining 3 bottles of Ardbeg Uigeadail, but am completely in doubt about what I will encounter if I am to buy an additional new bottle of that whisky. This experience has led me to reassess some others' lukewarm reviews of Uigeadail, or those who felt that it needed water to open up. I go to water as a last ditch attempt to find a way to enjoy a whisky when I am not satisfied with what comes straight from the bottle. Maybe those others were drinking from the stock of bottle # 2. The summary observation I make from this is to remind myself that whiskies are living beings and not standardized widgets off of an assembly-line. There are definite batch to batch variations, and sometimes bottle to bottle variations. Sometimes those variations are of a very significant magnitude and can make the difference between an outstanding whisky and one which is merely mediocre. (My rating is of bottles # 1 and # 3).

CUTTY SARK 25 Year Old

An old-fashioned lunch in the parlour of 3 St James’s Street in London on 23rd March 1923 changed the course of Scotch whisky history for ever. In attendance were Francis Berry and Hugh Rudd, the partners of the world’s most prestigious wine and spirits merchants, Berry Bros. & Rudd, together with Scottish artist James McBey. The conversation turned, inevitably, to whisky; Berrys’ had been selling its own brands for some time in the UK and a small amount had been exported to the USA to private customers immediately before World War I. Berry Bros. & Rudd, like all good merchants, knew what their customers liked and felt that heavy, dark whiskies would spoil the palate of their wine-loving clientele.

The USA was in the grips of Prohibition but there were signs that this would not last forever; the partners saw an opportunity to create a new type of blended Scotch specifically for an international market. It was suggested that this whisky should differentiate itself from those already available by being lighter in style, blended only from the very finest whiskies. The new blend was to be bottled at its naturally pale colour to avoid the danger of caramel colouring masking its more subtle flavours. Coincidentally, this style of blended whisky would suit their personal tastes as wine drinkers.Other blenders continued to market heavier, darker blends giving the new Berry Bros. & Rudd blend a real point of difference in an already competitive market. All that was missing was a name; the world’s fastest ship – a tea clipper named Cutty Sark – had just returned from many years trading and was much in the news at the time. James McBey, a keen sailor, suggested that this would be an admirable name for the new whisky. He then proceeded to draw a preliminary design on a napkin and used the correct term ‘Scots’ rather than the more common ‘Scotch’ whisky.nc

Glenrothes Single Speyside Malt 1991

In 1879 something new, beautifully crafted and pure entered the world: the first spirit from the stills at The Glenrothes.

That's a while ago now, but this exceptional Single Speyside Malt whisky has been kept pretty much a secret from those outside the industry and a small band of connoisseurs for over a hundred years. But word gets out and once discovered this is a malt people enjoy, and seem to want to share with likeminded folk. Glenrothes think that it's exceptional and of course they would - and it seems other people increasingly think so too.

And so now's the time for you to discover The Glenrothes, share the news and share this malt with likeminded people.

The making of all Scotch Malt Whisky is a story of transformation ? from barley to golden spirit. Along the way the barley is steeped in water, allowed to germinate, dried, milled, mashed, fermented, distilled and then put in casks to mature.

They take exceptional care in the birth of The Glenrothes spirit. Their prime Scottish barley - malted in the traditional way in Saladin boxes - is mashed with pure water from their own springs, the Ardcanny and 'The Lady's Well'.

The Glenrothes Distillery sits beside the Burn of Rothes in the heart of Speyside - the area of the Scottish Highlands universally acknowledged as the heartland of malt distillation. Their private spring, 'The Fairies' (or Lady's) Well', is in the nearby Glen of Dounie, and all the land surrounding this vital source is owned and protected by the distillery.

Distillation began at Glenrothes on Sunday, December 28th 1879. In 1896 the distillery was expanded as demand from blenders grew for this increasingly prized malt whisky.

100 years after the founding, new stills were installed, in 1979.

Since its opening, the distillery was recognised as one of the best; the whisky one of the most sought after on Speyside. The structure, flavour and body of The Glenrothes makes it a 'top dresser' or quality enhancer found at the heart of some of the world's finest blends such as Cutty Sark and The Famous Grouse. Expert distillers and blenders claim that it produces one of the finest and most accomplished of malt whiskies.

The distillery is not open to the general public although sometimes special guests are invited to Rothes House and to visit the distillery