"Secret Speyside" launch dinner (Hong Kong) [Tasted #552 - 555]

Things have been a little quiet(er) on the Pernod Ricard whisky front in Hong Kong over the past few years, which is a shame as there had been some great releases and even better events from 2015-2018. Thankfully, that all seems to be over now, with an increasing focus on the HK market - a point punctuated by the recent local launch of the "Secret Speyside" range, a "carefully curated selection of 18–30-year-old whiskies from Speyside’s rarest distilleries: the vanished Caperdonich distillery, the pioneering Longmorn distillery, the landmark Glen Keith distillery and the remote Braes of Glenlivet distillery".

To celebrate the series' launch in Hong Kong, an intimate dinner was held at the recently-opened Ami / Woodear restaurant & bar in Landmark (who, sidenote, this blog was very happy to be able to convince to offer their amazing whisky selection by the half-dram recently). Hosted by Zachary Yu, the dinner paired Ami's modern French cuisine with four whiskies from the new range:

• Longmorn 18 Years Old
• Glen Keith 21 Years Old
• Caperdonich 21 Years Old (Peated)
• Caperdonich 25 Years Old (Peated)

Aside from Longmorn, I'd only tasted the other distilleries as Indie Bottlings, so was keen to see how they fared as OBs (and doing so alongside four courses of Ami Executive Chef's Nicholas Boutin "fine bistronomie" cuisine was certainly a nice way to do it).

Zachary introduced the range, explaining it as a 15 bottle collection in total (each individually numbered and bottled at ABVs ranging from 43% to cask strength, with most in the 48% range), covering the four distilleries to show different sides of Scotland's Speyside region - from the Glen Keith's balanced sweet fruitiness, to the Longmorn's smooth toffee creaminess, to the Caperdonich's complex peat smoke.

With the whiskies introduced (and welcome Longmorn 18 Highballs consumed), it was time to dive in and try each whisky...

Secret Speyside Longmorn 18 Year Old (48% ABV, 18 Years Old, Speyside Scotland, $1,280HKD, £70.38 )
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Nose: Fresh orchard fruit, most notably peaches.

Palate: Citrus zest and slightly earthy stone fruits. Orange cake topped with orange rind. A lesson in citrus - and lovely for it.

Finish: Long, oaked and sweet.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 90/100. Paired with Chutoro tuna, egg & heirlom tomato brought out some sweeter notes in the whisky - quite a good pairing overall.

Secret Speyside Glen Keith 21 Year Old (43% ABV, 21 Years Old, Speyside Scotland, $1,480HKD, £133.33 )
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Nose: Vibrant pear & apple notes (green apples). Fresh, slightly floral. After time, an almond florentine nuttiness emerges to replace the fruitiness.

Palate: Quite complex - the apple notes have become richer, red apples, there's a slight saline note and noticeable viscosity. After time, aged pineapple rings emerge.

Finish: Long, smoked apple tart, with a cashew & almond nuttiness towards the end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100. With Langoustine, seaweed & duck foie gras the whisky's tropical/pineapple notes were ramped up, and chocolate orange notes emerged.

 

Secret Speyside Caperdonich 21 Year Old Peated (48% ABV, 21 Years Old, Speyside Scotland, $2,838HKD, £200)
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Nose: Noticeable fruity peat smoke. Smoked cherry pie. With time, strong notes of pineapple juice (just like I drank as a kid). 

Palate: Initially a meaty smoke, then cherry, strawberry notes emerge but the smoke remains underneath. Some orange rind comes out towards the end.

Finish: Long, berry smoke. 

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100. Wagyu beef cheeks, apple & sea urchin sauce complemented this nicely, with neither whisky nor dish significantly changing the other.

Secret Speyside Caperdonich 25 Year Old Peated (53% ABV, 25 Years Old, Speyside Scotland, $5,898HKD, £404.17)
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Nose: Beautifully floral, fragrant, subtle fruit smoke. With water, slight salinity.

Palate: The peat smoke is more noticeable than on the nose, but still soft and subtle. Apple, pear & peach comes through, and with water, some grape notes.

Finish: Long, savoury with subtle residual smoke. With water, the peat smoke is a little stronger.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 92/100. All up, an incredibly elegant dram. Whilst it paired well with the Guinea fowl & octopus dish, this is a dram to enjoy on its own, with/without a few drops of water as you prefer.

 

It's wonderful to see Pernod Ricard's single malts "back" in a big way in Hong Kong, and we can't wait to try the rest of the "Secret Speyside" range. If these four are anything to go by, there's a great deal of variety (and deliciousness) to enjoy - which is pretty great considering they're all from the same ubiquitous region of Scotland.

A big thanks to Pernod Richard Hong Kong, Asian Vibe & AMI/Woodear for the invitation & wonderful dinner.

Cheers,

Martin.

Tasted #460 - 462: Gordon & Macphail Summer 2019 Collection: Dallas Dhu 1969, Longmorn 1966, St Magdalene 1982

Those who have been following the blog for a while may have noticed we've been fortunate enough to try some incredible drams from Gordon & MacPhail lately. What started as a grocery business over 120 years ago has become a one of the most respected bottlers, distillers, retailers and wholesalers in the industry, with an enviable collection of casks that has allowed us to try beauties such as a 70 Year Old Glen Grant from 1948, a 50 Year Old Caol Ila, 64yo Glenlivet, a pair of 1961 Longmorns, a 46yo Benromach and many others.

Despite this ongoing stream of amazing whisky, it's always a nice surprise when another package arrives, such as it was last week when a box arrived containing a sample of these three gems:

Drinking whiskies at the ages of 36, 50 and 53yo is always going to be a special experience, but in this case especially so, as two of the three whiskies (the Dallas Dhu and St. Magdalene) come from closed distilleries - both having closed in 1983.

One thing I love about receiving these samples is cracking into them on the day they arrive (often mid-week). Some people say whiskies like these should be kept for special occasions. I say the special occasion is the fact that you have whiskies like these in front of you!

..and so it was that last Monday, I pulled out my trusty Glencairns (Crystal - these whiskies deserved it) and set to work, starting with the St. Magdalene... 

Gordon & MacPhail Private Collection 1982 from St. Magdalene Distillery (53% ABV, 36yo, Cask#2092, Lowlands, Scotland, 161 bottles, £1,000 / $13,000HKD)
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Bottled from a refill American hogshead, cask #2092.

Colour: Pale yellow sunset.

Nose: Big and fruity (hello!). Pineapple, rockmelon, baked apple tarts, and a green apple waxiness. After time a sweet, herbal lozenge note emerges.

Palate: Big, sweet candied pineapple chunks, followed by vanilla cream, flambéed banana and Banoffee pie. More pineapple, then some caramel.

Finish: Long but lighter than the palate, with the herbal notes returning, the slightest hint of well-matured tobacco, then a vanilla cream puff. Long, long, long.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 92/100. Delightfully graceful.


Next came the dram I was most excited to try - the Dallas Dhu. Ever since trying a Diageo Rare Malts Dallas Dhu in Italy, I've been hooked, always seeking to try as many different bottlings as I can.

Gordon & MacPhail Private Collection 1969 from Dallas Dhu Distillery (43.1% ABV, 50yo, Cask#1656, Speyside, Scotland, 176 bottles, £6,950 / $75,000HKD)
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Bottled from a refill Sherry hogshead, cask #1656, filled on 10th June 1969.

Colour: Dark rusty copper

Nose: Probably one of the most unique noses I've ever experienced. First up - Vegemite (yeast spread)! Then lots of cola, walnuts, then rich espresso, tobacco and tangerine. A mixed bag, but an enjoyable one.

Palate: Just super elegant sherry - wood polish, cigar humidor, Dakr Fruit'n'Nut chocolate, and Brazil nuts. Then sultanas, and a very slight amaro bitterness. Incredible elegance overall for a 50yo though - no overly dominant notes drowning out the others, and everything in harmony.

Finish: Restrained oak, slight vegetal note. Clean to the very end, with a Vietnamese coffee sweetness emerging at the very end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 94/100. Clean, elegant and hugely complex. Truly a unique and incredible dram. 


Last of all it was time to move onto the oldest of the trio - the 1966 Longmorn, at 53yo.

Gordon & MacPhail Private Collection 1966 from Longmorn Distillery (46% ABV, 53yo, Cask#610, Speyside, Scotland, 398 bottles, £6,950 / $74,000HKD)
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Bottled from a first-fill Sherry butt, cask #610.

Colour: Close enough to Coca-Cola. Deep brown mahogany.

Nose: Huge sherry notes (sultanas, muscovado sugar, glacé cherries, Christmas cake) but with an underlying herbal, almost spearmint note. After time, freshly cut flowers and sweet marshmallow.

Palate: Rich and creamy, yet subtle. All the trademark notes are there from a well-aged 1st fill sherry butt - coffee beans, sultanas, more Christmas cake, along with cherries, Espresso cream, some tobacco, caramel, rocky road and raspberries. 

Finish: Slight oak tannins behing to emerge, but a residual juiciness remains. Strong espresso notes round things out, with slightly dry oak at the very end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100. A lovely sherried whisky made even more impressive by the fact that 53 years in a first-fill butt hasn't overpowered it! For me, not as complex as the other two, but still an impressive whisky.


A big thanks must again go to G&M for the drams, a diverse, unique and utterly delicious trio. The Dallas Dhu and St. Magdalene are likely to suit fans of the distillery (despite the latter being a departure from the often-sherried bottlings we see released), and the Longmorn is just a beautiful example of long-term sherry maturation done right.

Cheers,
Martin.

Tasted #405 - 406: 1973 42yo Longmorn and 1976 37yo Mortlach (bottled by Gordon & MacPhail)

Whilst trying the Gordon & Macphail 1961 "Private Collection" Longmorn twin casks a few weeks ago was a pretty special experience, they weren't the only drams we tried on the night. As a prelude to the two, we were treated to another well-aged Longmorn (a 1973, bottled in 2015) and a 1976 Mortlach (bottled in 2013).

Both enjoyable drams in their own right, I felt they deserved their own post...

Gordon & Macphail "Distillery Label" 1976 Mortlach (bottled 2013) (43% ABV, 37yo, Speyside, Scotland, no longer available)

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Colour: Honey gold.

Nose: Sweet raisins, clean and sharp. Cherries and treacle. Peach, then other stone fruits - pear, apricot. Some oak but nothing overpowering.

Palate: Rich and fruity - stewed pears, peach pie, apricot purée. Fruit compote with sherry-soaked apple rings and pear halves (just like mum used to make at Christmas).

Finish: Long, surprisingly spirity with some oak at the very end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 90/100. A lovely dram and an interesting twist on the usual Mortlach meatiness, but the finish didn't quite live up to the rest.

Gordon & Macphail "Distillery Label" 1973 Longmorn (bottled 2015) (43% ABV, 42yo, Speyside, Scotland, no longer available)

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Colour: Orange gold.

Nose: Cinnamon and dried apple rings. Caramel chews. Slightly dusty / earthy notes.

Palate: Slightly thin at first, then notes of spiced mince pie, apple pie, and caramel emerge. Raisings and ginger too.

Finish: Long, cinnamon spiced with hints of ginger and raisins.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 88/100.

Tasting notes on the 1961 Twin Cask Longmorn set can be found here.

Cheers,

Martin.

Gordon & MacPhail Private Collection Twin Casks - Longmorn 1961 Casks #508 and #512 (Tasted #403 - 404)

A lot of great tasting invitations pass across the desks of TimeforWhisky, but it's not every day those invitations involve trying a pair of 57 year old whiskies (filled into two different casks on the same day, way back in 1961) costing £30,000, in the presence of the two brothers who selected them.

This one did, though. I'm talking of course about Gordon & Macphail's new Private Collection 1961 Longmorn twin casks, released recently as a set of two decanters, both distilled on 2nd Feb 1961, both bottled 57 years later on 2nd Feb 2018, in a release of only 97 sets globally.

A few weeks ago in private whisky club in HK's Central, I found myself chatting to members of the Gordon & Macphail owning family (and twin brothers) Richard and Stuart Urquhart about these two incredible whiskies, hearing some great stories from the family's history, and then tasting them (alongside a 1973 Longmorn and a 1976 Mortlach, as if these two weren't special enough!)

The brothers explained that the casks (filled by their grandfather in 1961) were an experiment to determine "nature versus nurture" in a whisky context. Both were filled with the same spirit and matured side by side for their entire 57 years - one a European Oak cask, the other American Oak (both first fill Sherry Hogsheads).

57 years after their filling, the brothers each selected the cask that best represented themselves. Richard (elder by a few minutes) selected the cask filled first (#508, European Oak), a stronger and more robust whisky, whereas Stuart's cask (#512, American Oak) is a spicier, drier cask said to reflect Stuart's drier sense of humour.

(Of course, inevitable "stronger vs weaker" jokes were bandied back and forth between the brothers too..)

I've met Richard a few times over the years, and always respected his passion for whisky, and respect for the family's history. Stuart was no different, and it was fantastic to hear stories of their forefathers' foresight in laying down casks like these - all of which are owned by G&M from the day they're filled (the family doesn't buy pre-matured casks).

Of course, it's one thing to hear stories about rare whiskies like these, but another thing entirely to taste them. So on that note...

Gordon & Macphail "Private Collection" 1961 Longmorn Twin Casks - Cask #512 American Oak (40.8% ABV, 57yo, Speyside, Scotland, Cask #512, 1 of 97 bottles, £30,000 sold as a pair (UK), HK pricing available on request from Fine Vintage)

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Colour: Rich brown treacle.

Nose: Delicate, but with lots going on. Floral notes of potpourri, some varnish and saw dust. Then some vegetal notes. Fruit - dried apricots and prunes at first, then some tropical mango and guava. Lots of flamed orange peel, then some sweeter notes emerge - candied almonds and marzipan.

Palate: Sweet initially, with some slightly bitter herbal tannins, giving way to pineapple, raisins, and more oranges (whole and peel). There's some milk chocolate, slight hints of earthy smoke, at time some rum-soaked banana, and lemon notes. Many different notes, but integrated very well.

Finish: Long, tropical, with orange peel and dark (not milk anymore) chocolate most predominantly. The bitterness lingers (in a nice way) - not overly different to a bitter orange liqueur like say Campari.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 92/100. An absolutely stunning nose, followed by a delicious and complex palate and long lingering finish.

Gordon & Macphail "Private Collection" 1961 Longmorn Twin Casks - Cask #508 European Oak (45% ABV, 57yo, Speyside, Scotland, Cask #508, 1 of 97 bottles, £30,000 sold as a pair (UK), HK pricing available on request from Fine Vintage)

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Colour: Deep coffee-copper with red tinges.

Nose: World's apart from the American Oak. Big, bold, sherried. Nutty, cherries, some allspice. Huge milk chocolate notes, Vietnamese coffee, lots of rum and raisin. Varnish and oak, but sweet, not dry or bitter.

Palate: Huge! The tannins are noticeable, but the sherry notes are super clean. Hazelnuts and orange peel (fresh, not flamed), lots of raisin and strong black espresso notes. Rum n Raisin. At times I'm reminded of some of my favourite Italian herbal digestifs - Averna (the barrel-aged variety only available in Italy), Cynar etc..

Finish: Long, warming, creamy and oaked. Hints of dark orange chocolate at the very end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100. Definitely the more robust of the two, and whilst the oak shows, it doesn't overpower the whisky too much, and allows all the other notes (and wow, there are a lot) to shine through.

57 years is a long time for any whisky to spend in a cask - especially in a first fill sherry cask. These whiskies could have so easily been overpowered by oaky tannins, or some of the less pleasant notes that appear on some sherry casks (sulphur, etc) and yet, they didn't. They remained clean, complex, delicious, and each incredibly unique.

Fine Vintage in Hong Kong have an (understandably very limited) number of these sets available for purchase, should anyone be interested.

Thanks to Richard, Stuart and Howard for the invitation to this fantastic tasting. 

Cheers,
Martin.

Tasted #341 - 342: Longmorn 16yo (2016 release) and Scapa Glansa

Two new single malts have launched in Hong Kong recently - Longmorn's new 16yo and Scapa's new NAS "Glansa". The latter I found a truly fascinating whisky which I want to tell you all about, but first the Longmorn...

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It's fair to say that between Longmorn's distillery bottlings (like their previous 16yo) and their independent bottlings, the distillery has gathered quite a loyal fan base over the years. So understandably, some of those fans were a little put out when the new range was announced last year, and the price of the new 16yo jumped from ~£80 to ~£150 ($189USD / $1,580HKD).

The new 16yo was joined by an NAS (£45 rrp) and a 23yo ($1,087USD rrp), all of which featured new packaging and a re-positioning to show off the "luxury" side of the brand. Comparisons with Mortlach were inevitably made.

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To be fair, the new 16yo and 23yo are both non chill-filtered, bottled at a higher-than-usual 48% (as was the old 16yo), and the new packaging is indeed very nice - the leatherette base in particular is a unique touch.

Ultimately though, it all comes down to taste and value for me. Forget what the old version cost, forget what other whiskies cost - simply put, is it a good whisky, and is it worth the asking price? Only one way to find out...

Longmorn 16yo (2016 release) (48% ABV, 16yo, Speyside, Scotland, $1,580HKD / AU pricing not available)

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Colour: Bright sunny gold.

Nose: Apricots and raisins. Slightly floral, vanilla, pears. With some air comes a perfumed sweetness, and some creme brûlée.

Palate: Rich, zesty and buttery. Much sweeter than the nose hints at. Apple Tarte Tatin, and lots of pear. There are noticeable sherry notes, and they're all clean - no sulphur here!

Finish: Quite long, fruity and sweet. Hints of fruit tingles towards the end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 90/100. A well-made, smooth and elegant speyside dram, without a doubt. There are a lot of characteristic Speyside notes here, and the cask selection has clearly been well thought out. For me though, for $1,580HKD / $189USD , I'm looking for something a little more. Maybe that's just my years of drinking weird and wonderful cask strength / single cask whiskies talking. This is a good whisky, and the asking price is not unreasonable. Note: Aussie fans of the previous 16yo can still find it at Dan Murphys for $113AUD.

Now, onto the Scapa Glansa - Scapa's first foray into peated whiskies. The Glansa new make spirit itself wasn't peated, rather the whisky has been finished in casks that previously held peated whisky (similar to expressions released by Balvenie and many others in the past).

It's not being pitched as a high-end malt in the same way Longmorn is, but it costs a very reasonable $598HKD / £40.95 rrp. I say "very reasonable", because I really loved this whisky! Sure, it's not the most complex malt in the world, and I'd like it to be at a higher strength than 40%, but for me, it has these notes that are eminently reminiscent of old bottles of Bowmore (to a small degree) like this beautiful 15yo bottled in the 1980s).

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That might seem like a weird thing to say, but I've revisited it several times now, and I still get these slightly perfumed, earthy, "funky" subtle notes of smoke that I find very prominent on older Bowmore bottles...and that I really enjoy! I wonder if the peated casks used for finishing came from Bowmore...?

Scapa "The Orcadian" Glansa (40% ABV, NAS, Orkney, Scotland, $598HKD / £37.46 / AU pricing not available)

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Colour: Toffee gold.

Nose: Earthy funk, with a hint of perfume. JUST like an old school Bowmore (for me, that's a very, very good thing)! Sour gummy worms, earthy burnt toffee and a little tropical fruit.

Palate: Floral and perfumed, with nectarines, apples and peaches. There are herbal notes, and a slight brininess. Put together those notes might not sound too appealing, but they come together brilliantly. I just wanted to keep going back for more. If I have only one complaint about the palate, it does feel a little thin - I'd love to see this at 46%.

Finish: Short to Medium in length, with a subtle, earthy, vegetative (not coastal) smoke.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale):  92/100. Just a really, really lovely drinkable dram. It can be a little "thin" on the palate, and it's not super complex, but I'll happily drink this on a regular basis (and in fact, I have been).

A big thanks must go to Pernod Ricard HK and Mazarine for providing the bottles for review.

Cheers,
Martin.

Chivas Regal Ultis Sydney Launch (Tasted #329)

Walking into Palmer & Co, Merivale's renowned small bar tucked away in one of Sydney’s oldest lanes, one could easily mistake the bar for something more akin to the "House of Chivas Regal". Plastered across the room were Chivas Regal bottles, Chivas Regal mementos and five special Chivas stations. What was about to take place was the special launch of Chivas Regal Ultis, Chivas Regal’s first blended malt expression - though certainly not the first in the industry, with Johnnie Walker Green, Monkey Shoulder and various Compass Box expressions having already represented the segment for some time.

The launch celebration was rather special as not only was the occasion to celebrate the new Ultis expression, but also to celebrate Chris Evans (better known as Captain America) as the new Asia Pacific Ambassador for Chivas Regal, and Michael Klim as the Australian Chivas Regal Ambassador. Both Chris and Michael co-starred in Chivas Regal’s "Win the Right Way campaign" which launched in 2014 to help recognise and advocate for the power of shared success - or simply the message that real success is not measured by a one's wealth alone, but by how many lives one has enriched.

The name Ultis, derived from ‘Ultimate’ and ‘Fortis' (Latin for ‘strength’) was bestowed upon the new blended malt expression, which sees five Speyside malts from Chivas Brothers’ portfolio (Tormore, Longmorn, Strathisla, Allt A’Bhainne and Braeval) selected to form the whisky. The malts were specially selected by Chivas' blending team as a tribute to the work of the five generations of Masters Blenders that have worked on the Chivas brand and its distinct style since 1909. As Chris Evans highlighted on the day, Ultis is simply a "Whisky with people at its heart!”

What I truly loved at the launch were the five Chivas stations with each station representing the individual malts that help form Ultis, along with different sensory experiences that all related to the individual malt. The deliciously fruity and sweet Longmorn was well represented with pears, vanilla pods, honeycomb and milk chocolates whilst over at the Straithisla station we saw stone fruits and nuts visually describing the nutty nature of Chivas’ foundation malt.

Speaking to a few bloggers and Pernod Ricard representatives at the event, we discussed the on-going challenge that the whisky industry has with transparency. This is a topic that is at the heart of Compass Box's continued efforts to challenge the status quo by disclosing additional detail on the composition of their blended malts. The Ultis launch saw a move to do something similar by exposing the five individual malts and allowing an appreciation of the five individual malts in addition to the final blended expression. Although the percentage composition of the five malts was not disclosed, it is perhaps a step in the right direction. Having come onto my whisky journey only a few years ago, I am certainly an advocate for such transparency as it allows a deepening of my appreciation of the final expression.

Check out more photos from the launch event at our Facebook page.

Chivas Regal Ultis (40% ABV, NAS, Speyside, Scotland, AUD$198.90 / ~ AUD$265 for 1L Travel Retail, from December)
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Ultis is a delicious and balanced blended malt and having tasted some of the individual malts at the launch, the final expression clearly reflects different characteristics from the contributing single malts. Time and place? A comfy lounge with few good mates celebrating a momentous occasion.

Colour: Deep, dark caramel.

Nose: The nose is beautiful and loaded with sweet and fruity notes. There are hints of apple, apricot, toffee fudge, vanilla, burnt orange and cinnamon.

Palate: The palate is soft and mellow to start before opening up notes of apple, toffee followed by warming burst of spices; cardamon, cloves and black pepper.

Finish: A warming medium sweet and velvety finish.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100.

Chivas Regal Ultis 700ml will be available from November through selected retailers and from December at Duty Free retailers in a Travellers' Exclusive 1 Litre bottling.

Cheers,
Hendy.

TimeforWhisky.com would like to thank Pernod Ricard and Eva McKenzie of One Green Bean for the invite to the launch of the Chivas Regal Ultis.

Tasted #260 - #263: Chivas Regal "The Icon" (and Strathisla, Glen Keith and Longmorn single casks)

Back in December last year we attended the Hong Kong launch of Chivas Regal "The Icon", which launched in Australia and Hong Kong last year and is shortly to launch in the UK.

The launch event was incredible, but the real treat came after lunch, when ourselves and 7 lucky other individuals were treated to a tasting of The Icon with Master Blender Colin Scott. Held in one of Foxglove's many stunning private rooms, the tasting was opened by Stephen Notman (IWSC judge and founder of Whisky Live Shanghai / Taipei and "Whisky L") who took us back 100 years, describing the origins of Scotch whisky as we know it (and the 3 year minimum aging rule set by the Immature Spirits Act), the rise of Scotch throughout the 1900s, and the more recent rise of "ultra premium blends".

Colin then took the stage, to talk us through the origins of "The Icon" (the idea of which was first hatched in 2014, designed to feature "nuggets" of mothballed / closed distilleries), an overview of Chivas Brothers' immense selection of casks, which total over 6 million, and left us with a quote that, whilst simple, we thought neatly summed up the difference in character between blends and single malts:

"A blend is looking at a person, a single malt is looking at a distillery"

Simple, but true.

It was then time to dive into our tasting of "The Icon", but not before the rare opportunity to taste three unique single cask expressions of Strathisla, Glen Keith and Longmorn - malt whiskies which all help to make up Chivas Regal blends.

Glen Keith 1990 single cask - 1st fill ex-Bourbon barrel (40% ABV, 26yo, Speyside, Scotland, not commercially available)
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Colour: Bright yellow gold.
Nose: A real "summertime whisky". Passionfruit, vanilla cream. Lots of peaches, some strawberry, and even some pine needles.
Palate: Oranges, nuttiness (peanuts). Slight hint of smoke. More peaches. Orange taffy. Very smooth and easy drinking (being cut to 40% no doubt helps).
Finish: Long, whole oranges, with hints of asparagus at the very end.
Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100. A fairly complex yet easy drinking, light whisky.

Longmorn 1987 - 2nd fill ex-Oloroso Sherry butt (40% ABV, 29yo, Speyside, Scotland, not commercially available)
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Colour: Copper.
Nose: There are plenty of traditional sherry notes here - rich christmas pudding, cherries, raisins, but there's a freshness too. Fresh laundry(!), with some strawberry hubba bubba.
Palate: Honey, noticeable oak, spice, cinnamon, Sriracha sauce. A few drops of water adds a slightly fruitier, strawberry note.
Finish: Earthy and slightly metallic.
Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 90/100. Nice but in comparison to the amazing 20-30 year old Oloroso-matured whiskies we've tried before, it didn't quite reach the same lofty heights.

Strathisla 1980 - 3rd fill American Oak hogshead (40% ABV, 36yo, Speyside, Scotland, not commercially available)
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Colour: Orange gold-copper.
Nose: Citrus zest - orange peel, and almonds.
Palate: Banana, toffee, caramel and passionfruit.
Finish: Long, tropical, creamy. Passionfruit and whipped cream.
Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 92/100. A real dessert whisky.

Chivas Regal "The Icon" (43% ABV, NAS, Blend, Scotland, $4,699AUD / $28,800HKD / £2000GBP)
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Colour: Golden-copper.
Nose: Stewed pairs, toffee, oranges. Terry's Chocolate orange (loads of it). A honey sweetness.
Palate: Quite sweet, velvety, creamy. Smooth swiss milk chocolate, with a slight nuttiness. A hint of confectionary too - boiled lollies, Allen's Fantales.
Finish: Long and sweet, sherberty, with residual hints of milk chocolate.
Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100. Not quite what I'd expected at first - much sweeter. There's complexity here, sure, and it's an extremely enjoyable dram, but out of this lineup, I'd take another glass of that Strathisla first. I'd love to try the The Icon at a higher ABV though, perhaps 46 or 48%.

Cheers,
Martin.