Glenmorangie "A Tale of Tokyo" [Tasted #656]

Glenmorangie’s recently dropped their latest release - “A Tale of Tokyo”, the fourth in the “Tale of” series which continues to explore the magic of Dr Bill Lumsden’s experimentations, initially popularised by the “Private Edition” series. The series kicked of with "A Tale of Cake" (tasting notes), then moved onto "A Tale of Winter", then last year's "A Tale of the Forest" (tasting notes).

This time Dr Bill has gotten his hands on some Mizunara casks (not an easy task), to explore the influence the fascinating and unique wood has on Glenmo’s spirit, in honour of one of his favourite places (I mean, can you blame him? Japan is a whisky lovers’ playground!)

Says Dr Bill:


“I partly matured a proportion of Glenmorangie spirit in rare Japanese mizunara oak casks, which I’ve been curious to experiment with for some time. The influence of this wood is incredibly complex and unusual; it required balance and softening with Glenmorangie matured in bourbon and sherry casks, and the result is a dram as full of delicious sensory contrasts as a trip to Tokyo.”

 

So...was this a Mizunara bomb like my all-time favourite Mizunara-matured whisky (or its close runner-up), a Mizunara-non-event like a certain blended Scotch with a turquoise label, or somewhere in between? Read on...

Glenmorangie "A Tale of Tokyo" (46% ABV, Single Malt, NAS, Highlands Scotland, $980HKD / AU pricing TBC / £63.29)
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Colour: Orange gold

Nose: Sharp, fresh oak, pencil shavings, orange flambé, flamed orange peel, and some vanilla.

Palate: Youthful and light, with citrus and oak spice, then hints of sandalwood, and some slight floral / herbal notes. Light throughout, with some honey and mandarin towards the end. With some time in glass (and later some airspace in the bottle) the mandarin becomes a bit sweeter, a bit more prominent.

Finish: Medium in length, with a slight oak astringency towards the end. 

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 87/100 (Martin). A perfectly enjoyable dram, and another successful attempt at matching up trademark Glenmorangie notes with something a bit left-field. Personally though (and I think I'm in the minority here) I preferred last year's "A Tale of the Forest" (tasting notes).

Thanks to Glenmorangie & Flare Communications for the review bottle.

Cheers,

Martin.

Why Glenmorangie's new 2019 Private Edition "Allta" is a good thing for whisky (Tasted #438)

If you follow any form of whisky social media (especially the more active Facebook groups), it seems that when it comes to limited edition whiskies, distilleries just can't win these days. They either release a whisky in a truly limited outturn (i.e. a few hundred bottles not 10,000+, perhaps from a single cask), and it sells out in a heartbeat (usually accompanied by a crashed website or traffic jam), with bottles ending up at auction the next month for 3-4x their retail price..

..and people complain.

OR they make it a more accessible release. Usually NAS, often without a stated outturn, but with unique properties, keen pricing and relative accessibility to whisky markets around the world...

..and still people complain.

Moët Hennessy clearly take the latter approach each year, with both their annual Ardbeg Day and Glenmorangie Private Edition releases, and whilst people may whinge that they're not "special" enough, or don't carry an age, or whatever, I think that's what makes them great. These, in my opinion, are whiskies made for drinking. Maybe now, or maybe in the future, but they're not whiskies to flip for 5x their asking price after 1 month, or to sell in 10 years to fund your kid's tertiary education. They're also whiskies you stand a chance of actually obtaining, without emptying your bank account.

Buy them, open them, enjoy them.

...which is the approach we've taken to Glenmorangie Private Editions for a few years now, starting with 2013's Ealanta, 2014's Companta, 2015's Tùsail, 2016's Milsean 2017's Bacalta and last year's 2018 Spios.

..and now, 2019's "Allta", which was released this month in Hong Kong and Australia.

I've always respected Glenmorangie's Private Editions, not just for the reasons outlined above, but because they genuinely are unique departures from the core Glenmorangie range, and often involve significant foresight and planning, more than simply giving the whisky a finish for a few months.

(Last year's Spios for example was wholly aged in ex-Rye casks for 10ish years, whilst 2015's Tùsail involved the use of a unique strain of barley.)

That enterprising spirit that Dr Bill (and now Brendan McCarron) are known for is perhaps no more evident than in this year's release, which moves the focus to yeast rather than maturation, barley or finishing. It all started 20 years ago, when a discussion between the late whisky writer Michael Jackson and Dr Bill (himself a yeast physiologist) about a since-forgotten "house" yeast strain which Glenmorangie used to possess got Dr Bill thinking more about yeast, and specifically how, in his words, "yeast’s influence on taste has been overlooked for years".

That led to Dr Bill to discover a new species of wild yeast ("Saccharomyces diaemath" if you must know), growing on the distillery's Cadboll barley, which was subsequently cultivated, and brought together with the barley itself to distill a unique, brand new Glenmorangie spirit.

That spirit was then matured in a mixture of refill and 2nd fill ex-Bourbon barrels (allowing the spirit to do the talking, rather than the oak), originally intended to be 15 years apparently, but bottled "earlier" as it was thought to be at its peak.

Finally, the spirit was then bottled at 51.2% (a departure from the usual 46% of recent Private Editions) and non chill-filtered...all of which makes for a very interesting whisky.

....but does it make for a great tasting whisky? Let's find out - both Hendy and I have included our notes below.

Glenmorangie "Allta" 10th Priviate Edition 2019 Release (51.2% ABV, NAS, Highlands, HK pricing TBC / $150AUD / £65.70 ex-VAT)

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Colour: Deep orange gold.

Nose: Cereal-like at first - porridge with vanilla essence, and Arnotts cream biscuits (orange cream especially). There's some barley sugar too (the type your parents would buy you from the chemist when you were sick), and with water, significantly more perfumed, floral notes.
Hendy: The nose is sweet and enticing. Dessert has been served. Loads of vanilla milkshake, milk chocolate, bubble tea followed by orange and citrus notes. There is a hint of earthiness on the nose towards the end.

Palate: The biscuit notes continue, with some strawberry and peach fruitiness. There's an earthiness underlying the whole thing too, and a robust viscosity throughout, although you wouldn't necessarily pick it as 51%+ - the alcohol content never feels harsh. With a few drops of water, the aforementioned fruity notes are brought to the fore even more.
Hendy: Spelled delicious. The palate is creamy and floral. Sweet strawberry jam biscuits, "strawberry" jam drops coupled with orange cake lapped with a bit of orange icing. The palate then eases into some cinnamon and nutmeg spices and becomes quite tannic and dry.

Finish: Long, with some grapefruit (flesh not peel), underlying oak (never dominating) and a slight earthy peppermint note to finish.
Hendy: Long with everlasting citrus and dry spices that remain.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale):  90/100. A delicious dram (we'll have no trouble finishing the bottle!) and more importantly, a unique and interesting departure from the core Glenmorangie range, which still clearly a Glenmo.

Allta is available now in Hong Kong and Australia. Many thanks to MHDHK for the bottle of Allta provided for review in HK, and MH Australia for the sample bottle in Sydney.

Cheers,
Martin.

Glenmorangie "Spios" - 9th Private Edition launch in Hong Kong and Sydney (Tasted #383)

As a whisky fan, there are a few regular events each year you tend to look forward to. Moët Hennessy are particularly good at organising these - perhaps the most obvious (and fun) example being Ardbeg Day, but another (with slightly less shenanigans) being the annual launch of Glenmorangie's "Private Edition" releases.

We've covered a few of these over the years - 2013's Ealanta, 2014's Companta, 2015's Tusail, 2016's Milsean and 2017's Bacalta, so it was a pleasure to learn that not only would we be celebrating the launch of 2018's "Spios", Hendy and I would be doing so together, remotely, via video conferencing!

Moët Hennessy had cleverly arranged for the launch event to be held simultaneously in Hong Kong, Sydney, Seoul and Singapore, with each location video conferenced in with Dr Bill Lumsden and Brendan McCarron for a simultaneous live tasting.

All four locations were treated to the same lineup of drams - Glenmorangie Original, Nectar D'Or, and finally the new Private Edition - Spios. Whilst none of us had tried the latter, the name ("Spicy" in gaelic) gave us some clues as to what to expect.

After Dr Bill leading us through the Original (describing it as the whisky he "interferes with the least"), and Brendan taking us through the Nectar D'Or, it was time to learn about Spios.

Bill took us back to the 1990s, when he first learned about Rye whisky (then significantly less popular and attainable than it is now) from the legendary whisky writer Michael Jackson. After visiting North American distilleries and trying their ryes, he loved the spicy notes that the extra rye in the mashbill imparted, and years later, sought to procure some ex-rye casks.

He was successful, and 10 years ago (which should give us an idea as to the age of this NAS release) laid down some casks that had previously held 95% rye, with Glenmorangie single malt spirit. That's right - no finishing here, just a full 10 (ish) years in ex-rye!

(Whilst Bill nor Brendan would be drawn on which distillery the casks came from, subsequent discussion online suggests it could only have been MGP of Indiana).

With the backstory explained, there was only one thing left to do - taste it! It was at this point that I was thankful I'd kept some of the Original in my glass. Here we had two Glenmorangie single malts, both having spent ~10 years in American Oak - one in ex-bourbon, and one in ex-rye. This is the sort of comparison us whisky geeks love...

Glenmorangie Spios (46% ABV, NAS, Highlands, Scotland, $1,100HKD, Australian price/availability TBC. Available in HK from 26th February.)

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Colour: Straw with a slight pinkish-gold hue.

Nose: There's no doubt it's a Glenmorangie - there's some honey, and some underlying floral hints, but take away all the sweet vanulla you get on the nose of the Original, and replace it with spice! Also grass, mint, toffee, cherry, and after some time, caramel chews.

Palate: Gentle cinnamon / clove spice - it's there and it's dominant, but its not overpowering, and it's working nicely with the toffee and some sweeter ginger notes that start to come through. There's even a tiny hint of black pepper.

Finish: Long, with lingering earthy sweet smoke and more of that toffee.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale):  92/100. Very good, and fun and fascinating to compare side by side with the Original. "Same same, but very different" sums it up best - it's definitely an ex-American Oak Glenmo, but with plenty of unique characteristics not found on the Original. Delicious.

After the Spios, Bill and Brendan took questions from each city (that's me spying on the good people of the Sydney whisky scene, below), and whilst Bill wasn't giving anything away about future Private Editions, he did confirm that "anything you can think of, I probably am trying it" and the 10th Private Edition will be "extremely innovative".

We can't wait!

Thanks to Moët Hennessy in both Sydney and Hong Kong for the dual-invitation to this innovative and enjoyable event!

Cheers,

Martin.

Ardbeg Day (Night) Sydney 2017 (Tasted #367 - #368)

Ardbeg Day which became a global event in 2012 is now one of the most anticipated whisky events of the year, held as part of Feis Ile; the Islay Festival of Malt and Music that has attracted significant fanfares globally.

Ardbeggians around the world have joined the Ardbeg Committee in huge numbers (currently estimated to be 100,000+) to not only access early exclusive Committee Releases of the annual Ardbeg Day special bottlings, but also to take part in Ardbeg Day (or shall we say Ardbeg Night) gatherings and celebrations around the world.

As is tradition, with Ardbeg Day also comes the annual Ardbeg Day release and it was back in August 2015 when we were the first blog globally to break the news that Ardbeg were playing around with Russian Oak, and suggested that this would likely be a future Ardbeg Day release. Fast forward to 2017 and the Ardbeg Kelpie was unveiled. A limited-edition bottling that saw Ardbeg's malt matured in virgin oak casks sourced from the Adyghe Republic, on the coast of the Black Sea region and married with traditional ex-bourbon Ardbeg malt. In our view, Kelpie was a particularly exciting and unique release.

Black Sea oak is renowned for imparting deep flavour notes and only a handful of whiskies have ever been matured in these casks - hence the excitement. Sweet, powerful, herbal and maritime notes describe the Kelpie. See below for our tasting notes on both the Kelpie Committee Release and Kelpie Retail Release.

So...what's a Kelpie anyway (other than this whisky)? The story goes that kelpie is the name of a mysterious beast that have been said to live beneath the waves. Being a Scottish shape-shifting water spirit, the Kelpie was rumoured to take the form of a horse or a bull and prey on unwitting travellers.

In fact, legend has it that long ago, a farmer walking near Ardbeg's shoreline was almost dragged out to sea by a water bull. Managing to overcome and rope the creature, he locked it in a barn where it cried for mercy. At dusk, the farmer's daughter was chased by a water horse seeking revenge for its kin. The terrified girl ran to the barn and released the water bull, whereupon the malevolent beasts took flight back to the sea.

Interesting folklore to complement an interesting release. In Sydney, the Ardbeg Day celebrations were equally interesting, with the main celebration taking place at Sydney Aquarium and others throughout Ardbeg embassies across town. Ardbeggians were able to score tickets in the weeks leading up to the day through the purchase of Ardbeg cocktails across a selected number of bars around Sydney CBD.



We joined the celebration at Sydney Aquarium where the Kelpie theme was well and truly alive with guests being presented cocktails amongst all the slithering sea creatures that swam around them. It was undoubtedly a unique and once in a lifetime experience to be able to walk the shark tanks at night with an Ardbeg cocktail in hand surrounded by dugong, sharks and all kind of sea creatures swimming about. Kudos to the creativity, ingenuity and passion of the Moet Hennessy team for putting this together for this year's Ardbeg Day.

Guests joined in, with props that breathed life into the Kelpie and maritime theme. Everything from dressing up as seaweed to strewing sea lanterns and fishnets around. Even Shortie joined in hanging out by the tanks with his favourite companion - Ardbeg Ten.

The main event was held at the Great Barrier Reef room with a couple of divers entertaining the guests and crashing a few selfies throughout the night. The unveiling of the Kelpie involved divers stretching out the Ardbeg flag and showcasing the 4.5L Kelpie to the guests before Garth Foster of Moet Hennessy welcomed the guests and spoke about the release.

Nothing like celebrating and sharing a dram with your mates and also a couple of hundred maritime creatures!

Having tasted the Committee Release few months ago, it was interesting to compare it to the Retail release on Ardbeg Day....thoughts below.

Ardbeg "Kelpie" Committee Release (57.1% ABV, NAS, Islay, Scotland, no longer available)
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Colour: Sauvignon Blanc

Nose: Sea breeze with whiff of cured seafood. The nose is pungent - though nice and salty, maritime. There's also an interesting mixture of milk chocolate, smoked / grilled fish, mediterranean spice. I love the nose of this particular release.

Palate: A mixture of chilli spice, beach bonfire, more of the smoked fish and maritime notes come through followed by some sweetness; milk chocolate, perhaps chilli chocolate. Lots of spices; pepper and nutmeg follows.

Finish: The finish is exquisitely long, oily, full of spices from the palate, briny and reeks of dying amber smoke

Rating (on Hendy's very non-scientific scale): 93/10


Ardbeg "Kelpie" Retail Release (46% ABV, NAS, Islay, Scotland, A$169.99)
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Colour: Sauvignon Blanc

Nose: Just like the Committee Release, the smoke is there and there's almost a layer of umami; nori / seaweed with also hints of chocolate. Less smoked fish and maritime than its Committee Release counterpart and bringing it closer to your typical Ardbeg Ten.

Palate: The lower ABV has calmed this expression though there's still plenty of bonfire ash smoke, salted pork. The palate is also oily, maritime, sweet and citrusy and filled with spices. Not as varied as the Committee Release though more balanced and again draws you closer to that typical Ardbeg Ten.

Finish: Lingering smoke and salt with a touch of citrus

Rating (on Hendy's very non-scientific scale): 91/100.

Of the two releases, I personally enjoyed the committee release more where the nose and the palate were both more eccentric and perhaps played to what the black sea casks offer. The retail release is definitely well balanced and brings out more of the typical Ardbeg smoke and characteristics. Nevertheless, I would still have both as my everyday dram - especially in these cold and dark Sydney winter nights. Both releases are interesting in their own right and the use of the black oak casks introduced some maritime and briny characters which were both exciting and surprising.

Until next time Ardbeggians!!

Cheers,
Hendy

Glenmorangie Bacalta Sydney Launch (Tasted #349)

The Glenmorangie Private Edition collection has seen different and unique expressions over the years - all driven by Dr Bill Lumsden's insatiable desire and curiosity to discover new flavours and ways of doing things. There have been a many excellent creations in the collection, with each creation uniquely derived through variation in the distillation or maturation process; be it barley type (Tùsail), wood type (Ealanta), composition (Artein, Finealta), rare wood finish (Sonnalta, Companta) and re-creation of a childhood dream (Milsean). That's right, Milsean was last year's Private Edition release and one that saw Dr Bill Lumsden compared to the likes of Willy Wonka (in my view anyway) as he strived to recreate the experience of being in a lolly shop surrounded by all those jolly good sweet things.

2017 sees a new Private Edition bottling release from Glenmorangie. The Glenmorangie Bacalta drew its inspiration from the Mediterranean island of Madeira, commonly known for its Madeira wines. Bacalta (Gaelic for "baked") is a reference to the the maturation technique used for producing Madeira wine, where the barrelled wine is heat matured over a period of time to oxidise the wine and build up its flavour profile. The heat maturation process can take years and involves storing the barrels in the roof/attic of the vineyard where it can get quite toasty, especially in the Mediterranean.

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Dr Bill Lumsden and Brendan McCarron shared some details of the Bacalta journey at the launch, which was held at The Old Clare Hotel, with Dr Bill and Brendan joining us virtually via Google Hangout. Times have certainly changed when you can have simultaneous global launch events with the one and only Dr Bill at Glasgow. Us folks in Sydney were joined by the folks in Mumbai and Seoul and there were likely other sessions rolling in straight after us.

The Bacalta journey started around seven to eight years ago when the first challenge was making a decision around what barrel structure would be used. The decision was made to go with a 250 litre American Oak hogshead barrel - a relatively small barrel size that can nicely influence any whisky through shorter wood contact time. Once Speyside Cooperage had managed to put together enough hogshead barrels, the subsequent challenge was in finding a Madeira wine producer that would "get in bed" with Dr Bill (in his words) - i.e. producer that would use and return his barrels for subsequent use.

It eventually happened and a Madeira wine producer agreed to season the hogsheads with its Malmsey Madeira wine, a rich and punchy Madeira wine, as compared with other types of Madeira wine. The barrels were then baked, emptied before being re-toasted and filled with Glenmorangie Original in preparation for Bacalta. Dr Bill described the extra maturation process as a rather delicate process that involved sampling the expression quarterly after the first eight months, until it was apparent to him and the team that the whisky had struck the right balance of flavours. The Bacalta is bottled at 46% ABV and is non chill-filtered.

This is certainly not the first time Madeira casks have been used for finishing, as we've seen both Kilchoman and Glenfiddich use Madeira casks for their Kilchoman Madeira Cask and Glenfiddich Age of Discovery Madeira Cask Finish expressions, both of which are well regarded.

The Glenmorangie Bacalta has been delicately planned, with everything from barrel structure to maturation process systematically thought out by Dr Bill and his team. So how does the Glenmorangie Bacalta stack up as a new joiner to the Glenmorangie Private Edition collection?

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Glenmorangie "Bacalta" Private Edition (46% ABV, NAS, Highlands, Scotland, £78.95 / $154.99AUD / HK Pricing TBC)

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Another stellar Private Edition creation that is enjoyable to drink for any occasion with its inherent sweet, floral and creamy notes.

Colour: Gold

Nose: Floral notes fill the initial nosing followed by notes of vanilla essence, honey, orange marmalade, sweet milk bread (few individuals around the table noted brioche), stone fruit and a hint of peppermint or menthol.

Palate: The palate is absolutely rich, velvety and divine, it is creamy with the notable Glenmorangie citrus notes coming through; orange peel, charred lemon followed by some vanilla stone fruit (fig) notes.

Finish: The finish is quite fresh and cooling with the minty, menthol notes, there are hints of eucalyptus, peppermint and the finish does linger for a while with a spiced and peppery finish

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 92/100. The first Private Edition release I tasted was not too long ago with the Túsail, followed by last year's Milsean and I have to say year to year, Glenmorangie has gone from strength to strength. The Bacalta continues that trend, being as delicious as last year's Milsean (if not more so), and certainly on par with my favourite core range Glenmorangie, Quinta Ruban.


A special thanks to EVH and the Moët-Hennessy team for having us at the Bacalta launch event with virtual Dr Bill Lumsden in Sydney.

Cheers

Hendy

Ardbeg An Oa - new addition to the core Ardbeg range?

Back in August 2015, we brought word that Ardbeg were playing around with Russian Oak, and suggested that this would likely be a future Ardbeg Day release. Fast forward 12 months, to August this year, when we brought word of the following label, which appeared on the US TTB site and seemed to back up the theory:

Well, we've just recently attended lunch with...someone who would know, and we can confirm that Ardbeg Kelpie is indeed the Ardbeg Day 2017 release.

What's more though, we also learned that a new, fourth core Ardbeg expression is going to be introduced (joining 10yo, Corryvreckan and Uigeadail), and that it will be called "Ardbeg An Oa".

We have scant little detail on what "An Oa" (which appears to take its name from a peninsula in Islay) will be, or when it will be released, but we certainly can't wait to find out. With the 10yo bringing a balance of sweetness and peat, "Corry" cranking everything up a notch, and "Oogie" bringing the sherry influence, which way will Moët Hennessy go with "An Oa"? Will it carry an age statement? Will it be finished in some exotic casks (probably not too exotic if it's to become a core expression)? Will it follow Lagavulin and be on the younger side, ala their 8 year old?

Time will tell, but unless you heard about it on a German whisky forum, or you found this UK Intellectual Property Office page, you probably heard about it here first!

Cheers,
Martin.

2017 Ardbeg Day release - Ardbeg Kelpie? TimeforWhisky's prediction from 12 months ago coming true?

Just over a year ago, after a lunch with Dr Bill Lumsden we broke the exclusive news that Ardbeg had been playing with Russian Oak, and that we could see the result turn into a future release, perhaps for Ardbeg Day:

"...oh, and about a little experiment Dr Bill is in the middle of, involving Ardbeg aged in Russian Oak. Although coy on the details (when asked for his thoughts on the impact Russian Oak has on the spirit, he said to ask again in 2 years), Dr Bill did suggest that the project (codenamed "Ardbeg KGB" within the distillery), could well be a future Ardbeg Day release. We've seen "Islalympics" (2012), Archaelogy (2013), Soccer World Cup (2014) and Space (2015) as themes, so can we expect to see a Russian-themed Ardbeg Day in the near future? Perhaps."

Fast forward 12 months, and it seems like our prediction may come true in 2017, with these label renderings surfacing today (found in the US TTB database, and flagged to us by good mate The Whisky Ledger):

Now just because Moët Hennessy have filed a few images with the TTB, that doesn't automatically mean we'll see the whisky released, but in the past their database has been a relatively reliable source of information, and the timing seems to line up based on our 2015 discussion with Dr Bill, when he suggested the Russian Oak experiment wasn't quite ready, and to "ask again in 2 years".

If this is indeed going to be a future release, we could see a similar approach to this year's Dark Cove, with a Committee release at a higher ABV (51.7% if the label above is to be believed) and a lower strength "general release".

Whatever the case, it gives us something to speculate over for a little while (whilst we wait to see if that 21 year old Ardbeg actually gets released). I for one would very much love to try a Russian oak-aged Ardbeg!

Cheers,
Martin.

PS: As much as we wanted the label to feature an Australian Kelpie, in this case we suspect the name refers to the mythical Scottish horse-like creature.

Ardbeg Night Sydney 2016 (Tasted #298 - 299)

Inspired by the colour of the new Ardbeg release, this year's annual Ardbeg Day was flipped into a more fitting celebration - Ardbeg Night. The notion of Ardbeg Night, other than to resemble the dark impression of the new Ardbeg "Dark Cove" release, was also to symbolise the gruelling tales from the 19th century when Ardbeg's Islay homeland was used by whisky smugglers as a notorious hideout. Prior to the founding of the Ardbeg Distillery by John McDougall, illicit whisky trade took place within caves and beaches around the site, hidden away from the island's excise officer.

With the increasing popularity of Ardbeg Day over the years (last year Ardbeg Day saw over 15,000 people attend 135 events globally), this year, few lucky Ardbeggians who purchased the Ardbeg Dark Cove Committee Release between March and April 2016 were awarded with tickets to the Ardbeg Night celebrations (our friend Matt Wooler of Distant Thunder Whisky Club (DTWC) was even one of those lucky Ardbeggians). To complement the Committee Release, a regular "Dark Cove" release was also launched. The regular expression is cut at 46.5% ABV whilst its committee brethren is cut at a  higher 55% ABV. See below for tasting notes on both, and here for Martin's earlier tasting notes on the Committee Release.

The 2016 Ardbeg Night Sydney was held on 28 May 2016, coinciding with the final day of Feis Ile 2016.

As Martin covered in the last post, the inaugural Hong Kong Ardbeg Night was held the night before at a venue known as "The Warehouse." Although there was no mention of the new Ardbeg "Dark Cove" release, the night appeared to be a success. 

In Sydney, no details were provided ahead of the day, other than for us Ardbeggians to congregate at Millers Point wharf at a set time. Boarding the chartered ferry at Millers Point, none of us were told where we were headed. It wasn't until I opened Google Maps upon docking that I realised we'd all been taken to an island not far from Millers Point; Goat Island. The warehouse on Goat Island was lit with a giant Ardbeg display and the setup even gave Vivid Sydney a run for its money.

Inside the warehouse, the atmosphere was "electrical". Old lanterns were scattered across the warehouse, giving it an eerie, dark and mysterious feel. The main bar was located at the centre of the warehouse and along the warehouse perimeter were activity stations where Ardbeggians could compete in everything from quoits to tug of war. The best part, (almost) everyone won. Some of the giveaways included Ardbeg umbrellas, Ardbeg beanies and a plush Shorties. Sadly, I only walked away with a beanie.



Upon arrival, Ardbeggians were spoiled with three different Ardbeg 10yo based cocktails:

• Ardbeg Lunar Eclipse; concoction of Ardbeg 10yo, apple juice, yuzu and sugar syrup 
• Peat'v Green; Ardbeg 10yo, elderflower, fennel syrup, cucumber juice
• Fashionable Smuggler; Ardbeg 10yo, Montenegro Amaro, coconut fat wash, pineapple syrup, chocolate bitters

All three cocktails were created by The Whisky Room and made good use of the classic Ardbeg 10yo as a base. The Lunar Eclipse was certainly refreshing. The others, sadly, I didn't get my hands on them though rumour has it that the favourite amongst the crowd was the Fashionable Smuggler.

As with last year's Ardbeg Day, Andrew Derbidge of Whisky and Wisdom (and Cellarmaster of the SMWS) was the honorary guest that had been bestowed with the responsibility of unveiling the new Dark Cove.

"Dark Cove" was described by Andrew as rich, filled with dark chocolate and cured ham. The general release of the expression was the one that had been previewed on the night with the Committee Release MIA. The expression saw maturation in both ex-bourbon and ex-dark sherry barrels. The darker appearance is what gives Dark Cove its name. 

Garth, the Ardbeg Ambassador was busy pouring out refills of the Dark Cove release (from a 4.5L Jeroboam) all night long.

 

Before delving into my personal notes on the general release, I compared my committee release notes against those from Martin's (below) from the time when Dark Cove was first released to the Ardbeg Committee back in March 2016. For comparison, here are my notes:

Ardbeg "Dark Cove" Committee Release (55% ABV, NAS, Islay, Scotland, no longer available)
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The Dark Cove release, to me, is one bold Ardbeg, punching the Ardbeg smoke yet showcasing other pleasant, fresh and crisp notes. This is an Ardbeg that you can love any day of the week.

Colour: Deep, orange copper (tinge of amber)

Nose: Rich, creamy, loads of raisins. The maritime note are subtle, so is the peat. The whiff is crisp and clean like fresh winter morning. 

Palate: Creamy and rich on the palate with summer berries, toffee, chocolate (chocolate berry tart?) coming through at first, followed by the Ardbeg campfire smoke; the peat. As the palate develops, it is then balanced with sweet peanut brittles and spices closely resembling nutmeg and cloves. 

Finish: Very long and smoky, ashy with fading maritime and spice notes. This fella sticks with you for a while.

Rating (on Hendy's very non-scientific scale): 92/100 (not vastly different and the sherry influence does make this Dark Cove that extra bit special).

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Martin's "Dark Cove" Notes - originally posted in March

Colour: The darkest Ardbeg ever? Darker than the current regular line-up, for sure, but not quite El Diablo territory, and not as dark as some recent SMWS bottlings. Deep amber.

Nose: Rich, creamy peat....loads of peat. Coastal peat though - more maritime and less "campfire" than you may expect. Banana lollies and an overall freshness. At a guess I'd say there's a fair amount of youngish Ardbeg in here.

Palate: Big, rich and chewy. Peaty caramels (now there's an idea)! There's definite sherry influence, with red berries and a hint of mocha, but also a younger, fresher, sweeter character - licorice allsorts, musk sticks. Loads of coastal peat throughout.

Finish: Long and coastal-smoky. Fish nets, oysters, brine. With water comes a slightly earthier smoke. A hint of tannins at the end.

Rating (on Martin's very non-scientific scale): 91/100. Another very enjoyable Ardbeg, one with a younger, stronger peat influence than some of the previous Ardbeg Day bottlings.

Ardbeg "Dark Cove" Regular Release (46.5% ABV, NAS, Islay, Scotland, A$186)

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In comparison with the Committee Release, the General Release was equally as good though it did not punch as much sherry notes into you in the same way the Committee Release did. Nevertheless, in my view, the general release is equally a very nice and bold Ardbeg. Though given the choice and my preference for cask strength whiskies, I'd choose the Committee Release.

Colour: Deep, orange copper (tinge of amber) - I couldn't see any difference

Nose: Rich, creamy, fresh crisp morning maritime air. There is toffee, peppermint and raisins (though constrained). 

Palate: Similar to the Committee Release, the palate is creamy and rich, filled with child dark chocolate (the Lindt kind), jamón and sea salt. The Ardbeg campfire smoke; the peat is there and not over powering. As the palate develops, the grassy and peppery spices become more prominent. 

Finish: Long and smoky, the finish is dry (almost like dry wood chip smoke) and leaves quite a bit of tannin.

Rating (on Hendy's very non-scientific scale): 92/100

With the excise men about to knock down our door, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank Ardbeg and the folks at EVH PR for their hospitality. Another year, another success. The Ardbeg Night theme was different, eccentric, yet brilliantly thought out. Most importantly the night brought all Australian Ardbeggians together to celebrate this ecciting new release.

Until the next Ardbeg pour, Happy Ardbeg Day Night 2016!

Cheers

Hendy

Tasted #286: Glenmorangie Milsean

As mentioned back in March, Glenmorangie's Milsean recently launched in Australia, and we're now pleased to say it's also launched in Hong Kong. MHDHK were kind enough to send us this lovely gift pack recently, so we could bring you our thoughts on the latest Private Edition.

As with some previous Private Editions (including 2015's Tùsail and 2014's Companta, but unlike 2013's 19 year old Ealanta) the Milsean carries no age statement. What it does carry, though, is Dr Bill's signature of experimentation - this time in the form of finishing in re-toasted Portuguese red wine casks, from Portugal's Duoro Valley. 

With all his experimentation, it wouldn't be inaccurate to consider Dr Bill the "Willy Wonka" of the whisky industry, and never has that been more evident than in this new release. Just look at the packaging for starters...

Clearly we were going to be in for a sweet treat with this one...

Glenmorangie "Milsean" Private Edition (46% ABV, NAS, Highlands, Scotland, $1,130HKD / $159.10AUD / £75.95)

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Colour: Copper-tinged gold.

Nose: Sherbert, candied orange peel, jelly babies (red ones) and Redskins. Yep, it's sweet alright.

Palate: Fruity, spicy and sweet, all at once. Citrus fruits, hints of ginger and Szechuan, and loads of confectionary sweetness. It's unmistakably a Glenmorangie, but adds Asian spices, Saffron, candied ginger, raisins, nectarines and rum-soaked pears as time goes on. There's a fair bit going on, but the underlying theme is definitely "sweet".

Finish: Medium to long length, with a tongue-tickling sherbert-like end to what is a sweet and enjoyable experience.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 90/100. This one definitely sits in the "dessert whisky" category.

Cheers,

Martin.

TimeforWhisky.com would like to thank MHDHK and Why Not? Asia PR for the Milsean gift package. Glenmorangie Milsean is available in Hong Kong at city’super, Rare and Fine Wine, Brix Wine Cellar and Lillion Wine, and currently purchasers will receive a complimentary 75g box of candies from Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe when buying a bottle.