On our recent visit to Edinburgh, we did as every good tourist should and paid a visit to the Scotch Whisky Experience, which is at the top of the big hill, next to the big castle, opposite the big hall of mirrors.

There are lots of reasons to go there – not least of which is the opportunity to go on a ride – a proper ’sit in a barrel and hold on’ ride that takes you through the whole experience of whisky being made – but the twist is, that you are one of the ingredients, though we will keep an air of suspense and mystique about which particular whisky ingredient you play the role of (we can’t remember).

There’s also an introduction to the flavours and aromas of whisky, as well as a tasting, a gift shop and a lovely café/bar – but for us the highlight was the largest collection of Scotch single malts and blends on the planet. As Clutch put it, it was like his Fortress of Solitude: a perfect retreat from the world, surrounded by amazing, rare, special and – importantly – floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall whiskies.

What was surprising was how well it had been done. It wasn’t tacky and showy – and nor was it a fusty museum piece. The individual whiskies – and there were almost 3,500 bottles in the collection – were beautifully displayed, each discernible and examinable – and the totality of that collection (officially, the Diageo ‘Claive Vidiz Collection’) was quite overwhelming.

We had to sit down and have a dram to recover from all the awesome.

Make sure you go there if you’re in town.

You’ll notice that this blog post is neither right up to date, nor chronologically sequential with the other recent posts. Or you won’t. At any rate, this pertains to a visit we made to a distillery while we were on our way to St Andrews a couple of weeks back.

Daftmill is the newest distillery in Scotland – as yet, not releasing any stock onto the market – and, officially, not open to the public. But first we managed to convince our designated driver, Craig to take a detour – and then distillery manager Francis to let us in for a look around.

Enjoy.

The Friday night tasting for the Dubber and Clutch St Andrews Golf Open Whisky Fiasco 2010 was a selection of rare and boutique bottlings from Whyte and Mackay – including three new expressions from Isle of Jura and the award-winning 30 year-old blend.

Dalmore 18
Gorgeous. Dubber was tempted to just stay on this one all night. Rich, rewarding and a sherried treat.

Nose: Sherry, fruit, rich cake, spice, a touch of menthol.
Palate: Chocolate and coffee, with licorice and aniseed.
Finish: Smooth and round.

The Dalmore Mackenzie
It turns out that we got our hands on the last two bottles of this limited edition range. What a treat.

Nose: Winter fruits, cake mix, ginger.
Palate: Fresh baked apple tart, pecans, dark chocolate, ginger crunch.
Finish: Maple syrup, leather.

Jura Xu
The first and the youngest of the three new Jura premium expressions – and by far the most peaty Isle of Jura we’ve every tried.

Nose: Smoked bacon, roast pinenuts.
Palate: Peat, ash, a little sweetness and vanilla.
Finish: Long and sharp.

Jura Jo
A 15 year-old finished in a bourbon cask.

Nose: Light sweetness, summer fruits and caramel.
Palate: Some citrus and apple, pear drops and sugarcane. Water opens it up considerably.
Finish: Warm and fruity.

Jura Ji
The oldest member of the family and a sherry cask finish. As with the other new Jura premium bottlings, this is a cask strength.

Nose: Christmas cake, nuts and a strong aroma of the sherry.
Palate: Marzipan, shortbread, raisins and more sherry.
Finish: Long – full of stewed fruit and cinnamon.

Whyte and Mackay 30 year-old blend
The king of blends. Award-winning for good reason and – while it’s outside the scope of most tasting notes, we feel we need to say something about the beautiful packaging. This is a treasure to own.

Nose: Rich and complex.
Palate: Beautifully smooth. Full of rich flavours including toffee, banana, sherry, cigar smoke and cream.
Finish: Lingering, sweet and with a hint of toffee.

On the bright side of our St Andrews whisky tasting debacle, we did get to sample some very fine drams. Here’s what we made of the Douglas Laing & Co Ltd selection on Thursday night:

Auchentoshan 10 year-old (Provenance bottling)
A good way to start the evening, and a great way to open up the palate. This is a light Lowland malt from the only distillery to practice true triple distillation.

Nose: Sweet, citrus, light esters, honey.
Palate: Fresh, smooth, slightly drying, sherbert, more honey.
Finish: Floral, sharp citrus, lemon rind.

Royal Brackla 12 year-old (Provenance bottling)
A real hit. We liked this a lot. Surprisingly peaty, as the only other Brackla we’d ever had reminded us more of light toffee and white wine.

Nose: Dry and astringent – some sweetness with a little fresh soap.
Palate: Surprisingly leafy, peppery with a touch of cocoa and malt coming through.
Finish: Longer than we would have expected with oak and a medium amount of smoke.

Strathmill 16 year-old (Old Malt Cask)
A bit of a rarity. Normally a very “green” malt, so we were interested to see what a 16 year-old from Strathmill would present.

Nose: Apples, light spice, estery grass, woody notes.
Palate: Sweet, grassy again, a hint of balsamic, oak, vanilla and spice.
Finish: Soft, yet drying

Caol Ila 15 year-old (Old Malt Cask)
This was a sure-fire winner with us, as we’re a fan of the Islay malts in general. This was one of 258 bottles.

Nose: Smoke, floral, lemons.
Palate: Shortbread, buttered toast, a little woodsmoke.
Finish: Medium to long, chorizo and paprika.

Laphroaig 8 year-old
Young for a Laphroaig and we were expecting quite a rough and brash malt. We were not disappointed.

Nose: Pepper, smoke, smoked fish, salt.
Palate: Brine, more smoke.
Finish: Huge burst of peat.

Big Peat
Does what it says on the tin. We’ve had this before and were glad to encounter it again. A blend featuring malts from Port Ellen, Ardbeg, Caol Ila and Bowmore.

Nose: Big and peaty.
Palate: Seashore, smoke.
Finish: Huge. This one goes down kicking.

It was the 150th anniversary of the Golf Open at St Andrews. We came, we saw, and we were utterly conquered.

We may well go down in history as the hosts of the best, most well-organised, well-promoted, best-stocked and WORST-attended whisky tastings of all time.

And we have some very fine and expensive whisky left over to give to you, if you can explain to us what went wrong. We may know our drams (at least, to a respectable standard) and we may be a well-oiled machine when it comes to making sure that the venue, the food, the glassware and the accessories are all in place – but it turns out that events promotion may not be our strong suit, and we want your help.

The planning

All the ingredients were right: a major golfing event in a Scottish town, tens of thousands of wealthy tourists from around the world, business executives darting about in helicopters, a magnificent selection of malts, and a town hall free for booking. We’d done hours of research and preparation, created beautiful presentations, printed tasting note sheets, bought dozens of Glencairn whisky tasting glasses, secured amazing local cheeses and oatcakes, as well as shortbread and bottled water – and had everything in place.

The radio said 300,000 visitors to St Andrews for the golf open this weekend. We figured we should be able to convince a few dozen to pop along to a tasting of twelve of the finest whiskies about over two consecutive nights.

The logistics and marketing were planned down to fractions of a unit. No fewer than 3000 glossy flyers were individually handed to people that looked like they might be up for an evening of the kind of Scottish culture that exceeds 40% alcohol by volume.

The publicity machine

What really fooled us was the enthusiasm. We chatted with literally hundreds of people all day, every day for the past three days – in and around the town, at the golf, in pubs and bars – and in torrential rain, howling wind and, occasionally, in the sunshine.

We shook hands, exchanged names, discussed how great the whiskies were and explained exactly where to go. People took flyers. Some asked for extras.

We talked about it at length online. Our 1,000+ followers on Twhisky had repeated invitations and reminders. Richard Paterson, Whyte & Mackay’s master blender and celebrity whisky personality put the call out to his 7,000 followers. Golf blogger Andy Brown circulated the message to his substantial mailing list.

The Scottish Tourism Board got involved, as did major Scottish newspapers. The tourism information centre were actively promoting us, and we even had insiders in the corporate hospitality tents encouraging their fellow VIPs to attend.

In all, we personally collected around 400 excited and genuinely keen promises to attend with gusto, as well as with friends and family members in tow. We needed just 30 to make good on those promises over two nights to break even.

The turnout

Competition winner Stuart Maclaughlin enjoys a dram

The first night, three came. Two of them had won their tickets in an online competition. The other was virtually dragged off the street – and in the end, we didn’t have the heart to charge him the entry fee. We closed the doors, had a dram or three, and a magnificent time with a terribly small but fantastic group of people – and then went home dejected.

We doubled our efforts the next day – determined to personally carry people into the building on our shoulders if necessary. Everyone was friendly and everyone was enthusiastic. We had cast iron guarantees of attendance from at least 40 people.

Not one came. Not one. WTF.

The explanation

We have theories. Something about the weather, the starting time or possibly the venue. None of these theories are very good – and certainly none explain a total washout. Poor attendance maybe, but not an absolutely zero turnout.

The price was £39 a head. Steep for your usual night out, admittedly – but given the circumstances and the clientele, it wasn’t outrageous. The feedback we had was that for six drams of bottles this great over the course of an evening, it was not an issue – but it is something we’re prepared to review.

The whisky itself was, of course, a massive drawcard. These are, it has to be said, some of the finest drams we’ve ever encountered. But even that was not enough to get people to actually walk through the doors.

Since we opened one of each bottle in preparation for our attendees each night, we’ve had our own tasting, and we’re very glad we did. Had the whole debacle not been a financial catastrophe for a couple of blokes who could ill afford it, then that alone would have been more than enough compensation for our battered egos.

We’ll post the tasting notes from each of the fine whiskies we’ve tasted (yes, just us, alone in a town hall) here on the blog over the next couple of days.

In the meantime – we want to hear what you think. What could we have done differently? Your positive advice and helpful suggestions would be most welcome. In fact, we’re so keen to get this right in future, we have a complete set of the three new Jura expressions we were tasting on the night to give away.

That’s around £180 worth of premium whisky for your best explanation or critique of the Dubber & Clutch St Andrews Golf Open Whisky Fiasco 2010.

We’re excited to announce that we’ll be doing a couple of tasting events in St Andrews during the golf open this week. Two nights of the very best of Scottish culture, taking in the history and folklore surrounding some of Scotland’s finest drams.

Thursday 15th July:
This evening presents a wide selection of stunning malts from throughout the Douglas Laing & Co. Ltd range, including Provenance and Old Malt Cask bottlings. Rare, unusual and fascinating.

- Auchentoshan 10 year-old
- Royal Brackla 12 year-old
- Strathmill 16 year-old
- Caol Ila 15 year-old
- Laphroaig 8 year-old
- Big Peat

Tickets are £39 and you can book for this tasting here.

Friday 16th July:
This evening showcases some of the most beautiful, expertly crafted whiskies available today. Some boutique and rare bottlings, unlikely to be seen again – and the king of blends to crown the night.

- The Dalmore 18 year-old
- The Dalmore Mackenzie
- Jura Xu 1999
- Jura Jo 1995
- Jura Ji 1993
- Whyte & Mackay 30 year-old blend

Again, tickets are £39 and you can book for this tasting here.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Partly to celebrate St David’s Day today – but mostly because it was long overdue, Clutch and I decided to try the samples of Penderyn that the Welsh Whisky company had kindly sent us.

Nose:
Custard, vanilla, tangerine, honey-roasted peanuts, tiny touch of smoke.

Palate:
Flumps. Seriously: Flumps. Also, condensed milk, cream toffee… Penderyn is a dessert whisky.

Finish:
Very smooth, rounded, unassuming, a little astringent.

Verdict:
Quite quaffable, very enjoyable. A lovely dram that would welcome newcomers to the world of malts… and a lovely way to finish off St David’s Day.

Nauvo in the Turku archipelago

I’m across in Finland at the moment for a project based on The Kalevala. Luckily for me, I have a good friend, Tomas, who’s kindly putting me up during my stay, thus reducing the not-insubstantial cost of living whilst over here. He’s also responsible for some of the best photography I’ve seen, and having offered to document my trip, I thought it only fair that I bring some whisky over with me. Several bottles in fact.

Here’s what I arrived with:

Old Pulteney WK499
Talisker 57° North
Benriach Curiositas
Bunnahabhain 34 Year Old
Glenglassaugh 1973 Family Silver 25 Year Old
Isle Of Jura Paps The Sacred Mountain Barolo Cask Finish
Balvenie Single Barrel 15 Year Old

Admittedly, the last four on that list were small sample bottles, but as whisky is at a premium here, I was immediately popular in the Whitehouse household.

As we’ve been saving some of each back for Tomas’ girlfriend’s father, who’s a big whisky fan, we’d found it necessary to buy a couple of extra bottles; a Caol Ila 12 and an Ardbeg 10. The only place you’re permitted to buy wine and spirits (other than in a bar or restaurant) is the state run off-licence called Alko. The hike in price, for whatever reason be it import cost or tax, equates to roughly an extra tenner on a bottle, and in a bar a single of Laphroaig, for example, is a shade over seven quid. Make no mistake, Helsinki is an expensive place to be a malt lover.

However, the sub-zero temperatures almost demand a dram. Coupled with the sauna culture, where it’s de riguer to bake yourself to a crisp, then thrash about in freezing snow, no matter how much you drink, you do not experience the drunkeness that you’d expect with such consumption. I must make it clear, that the intention was never to get absolutely ratted, but that in visiting an old friend, you do end up having slightly more than your recommended units.

Whisky is something that should always be treated with respect, and I for one, shall be having an almighty detox upon my return home.

A warming dram in a cottage in Nauvo

But in the meantime, Sláinte!

My housemate came back from the Isle of Man, and brought back a bottle of Manx. At first glance, we thought it was new make spirit – whisky that’s not old enough to be called whisky (3 years), but then we looked into it properly and were surprised to learn that it’s not.

It’s something much stranger.

Manx is re-distilled.

They make whisky – proper whisky, aged properly – and then put it back in the stills for another go. The result is a colourless spirit that is a remarkably smooth, whisky-like drink.

There’s no colour to speak of at all. On the nose, it’s light and delicate. The palate is a little honeyed, but not sweet – and there’s a longish, warm finish.

An interesting dram to say the least, and one we were very pleasantly surprised with.

You can find Manx Spirit on the Isle of Man – or here at their website.

Slàinte mhath! A very Happy New Year to you all.

Although we’ve only just said farewell to last year, I’m going to ask you all to come on a journey with me back through time….

Cast your minds back to seven months ago, and some of you may recall that on the 12th June we staged a mammoth tasting of twelve blends. It was a great night, and although it may have taken us a while to collect our thoughts in the few days following, the feedback that we got showed that a lot of you out there welcomed the chance to get more acquainted with the vatted, the grain, and the blends.

So why the big delay in the blogging? Well, between us we’ve been incredibly busy over the last few months. Dubber’s been globetrotting away like there’s no tomorrow (Holland, Denmark, Canada, Germany, Belgium, India) whilst I have been thoroughly consumed by fatherhood and all that that entails. So I’m hoping that you can see your way to excusing us on these grounds….?

It being the time for resolutions, we’ve got it in our heads to do a power of blogging this year – and we’ve got some big things planned…

In the meantime, below are our tasting notes from “The Night Of The Twelve Blends”:

Whyte & Mackay Old Luxury 19 Year Old

Nose: sherry, almond, rope, butterscotch, almond, vanilla notes, oak
comes through also, redcurrant, guava, chocolate
Palate: interesting unexpected meaty note, toffee, treacle
Finish: raspberry jam, black pepper, more cocoa, a tiny bit of
salt, orange Chewits

Whyte & Mackay Supreme 22 Year Old

Nose: yacht varnish, acetone note – not unpleasant – giving way to loads of nuts, sherry, slight prickle in the nose, touch more smoke, and pepper, cream top note
Palate: Buttery smooth, floral and light, but also solidly nutty… Madeira cake
Finish: get a load of cocoa, carrot, green apple, rhubarb and vanilla custard

Pig’s Nose

Nose: Milk chews, pannetone, heather, vanilla
Palate: oranges, coconut, marshmallow, cheescake base
Finish: cereal notes, bread and butter pudding, lemon and lime, tamarillos

Sheep Dip

Nose: Sawn timber, raked leaves, oranges again
Palate: Tannin, barley sugars, more citrus, wet cardboard
Finish: Woody, medium length, nutty, slight sherry tone, pistachio, quinine

Black Bottle

Nose: smoke
Palate: leather, brine, smoke, tar, charcoal
Finish: long, Smoke, a touch of chili and chocolate…

Monkey Shoulder

Nose: banana
Palate: honey, heather, gooseberry, cereal
Finish: short – more banana, pineapple – astringent – unremarkable (but quaffable).

Compass Box Oak Cross

Nose: Fresh mint, ginger, cloves, honey, toast, cinnamon, grapes and floral notes. Warm & friendly.
Palate: Soft, grassy, fresh and pleasant. Pine and fruit.
Finish: vanilla, vanilla, vanilla. Overwhelming oak – in a good way. Very enjoyable and approachable.

Compass Box Asyla

Nose: Lemon, Pineapple – fruit salad, custard creams. Very light.
Palate: cereal, cream, vanilla.
Finish: smooth, medium, short, meaty note.

Compass Box Flaming Heart

Nose: prickly, leather, vanilla, a touch of peat smoke. Vanilla really comes through because of the new oak. Root beer.
Palate: Beautiful mix of smoke and wood. Horseradish, apple, licorice…
Finish: menthol, wood smoke again, pepper, extremely long finish. Really amazingly good. We like this one a lot.

Compass Box Hedonism

Nose: colour is very pale, nose is very light. Macaroons, chocolate box, grassy notes…
Palate: Vanilla ice cream, strawberry, butterscotch – touch of pepper, a little almond. Really impressive stuff.
Finish: Meringue, floral soap, long…

Compass Box Peat Monster

Nose: TCP, surgical spirit, charcoal, brine, pepper, honey & vanilla.
Palate: smoke, seaweed, barbeque, chili, malt, cereal notes, treacle toffee… Rolos.
Finish: brine, cocoa, sherbet, smoke, lengthy finish.

Compass Box Peat Monster Reserve

Nose: liniment, celery salt, smoke, tar, rubber, cream, cereal, burnt
toast, acetone.
Palate: boiled sweets, cocoa, seaweed, black pepper, a meaty note.
Finish: salt, honey, tarry smoke, hazelnut, coffee, long.

To sum up, we were heartily in favour of all things Compass Box, in particular their Flaming Heart, and all we can do is marvel at the quality of the casks John Glaser and his team have managed to get their hands on. Very impressive stuff. Of course, Whyte and Mackay are old hands at choosing the right components for their drams. Mr Paterson and co have a couple of winners on their hands with Old Luxury and the Supreme bottlings.

If you get the chance, check out the others also; Spencerfield’s Pig’s Nose and Sheep Dip are great, and should be supported for their independence alone, something that’s worth championing for it’s own merit sometimes, but especially when concerning whisky!