What Whisky/Whiskey are we drinking this month?

Fionn1952 wrote: »

On the advice of my lawyer and the poster below you, I'm going to claim I was talking about camels!

Would love to read up on the CWS schebango if anyone has a link?

Not much to it if you ask me.

Female whiskey writer I think her name is Becky Parkin or something called out the author (don’t know his name) of the whiskey bible for his antiquated and supposedly chauvinistic approach to reviewing whiskey.

I don’t read any of what any of these people say in reviews so could be wrong, but you could look at it as part #metoo part cancel culture or whatever, draw your own conclusions because I never followed what any of them said.

Cazale wrote: »

Here is a review which contains some of his views on women.

That would mist up the eyes sure enough.

lawrencesummers wrote:

So I’m not missing anything by missing his reviews. I must say the sexism isnt jumping put at me as much as the general low quality of that as a review, I’ve learned nothing from that review that would help or dissuade me try that particular spirit.

The vast majority of the reviews are standard notes about the whiskey. I think the fact he toasted the life of a woman that clearly had an impact on him with that particular whiskey is a review in itself.

lawrencesummers wrote: »

So I’m not missing anything by missing his reviews. I must say the sexism isnt jumping put at me as much as the general low quality of that as a review, I’ve learned nothing from that review that would help or dissuade me try that particular spirit.

A bit like being a golf commentator It must be a hard job to try and come up with something original to say so often.

It obviously went over your head.

That was a VERY exceptional review for him ,usually theyre far shorter ,sometimes he CAN be a bit sexist but it takes all sorts ...

Following on from the peat chat the other day here is a list of ppm levels. Good way of starting off and going through them. I must try get a Irish one together.


0 ppm—Hazelburn 10 year old
Pears, toffee, herbal tobacco, cinnamon, vanilla, and cocoa powder.

<1 ppm—Old Pulteney 12 year old
Almonds, honey, and nuts with wood spices.

0.5-2 ppm—Bunnahabhain 12 year old
Nutty, toffee, light molasses, vanilla fudge, citrus, dark berries, and a hint of brine.

12-13 ppm—Ardmore Traditional
Sweet notes of toffee and caramel, damp, earthy peat, and bourbon-like notes.

12-20 ppm—Kilchoman 100% Islay
Smoke, lemon curd, vanilla, allspice, baked apples, dark chocolate, and nutty oak.

15 ppm—Tomatin Cù Bòcan
Lemonade, coconut, malt, and honey, plus cinnamon and cloves.

15-25 ppm—Springbank 10 year old
Citrus fruit, cereal, and mildly smoky oak, as well as vanilla toffee, cedar wood, hazelnuts, and coconut.

20 ppm—Arran Machrie Moor
Peat, spicy malt, toffee, lemon, nuts, and chocolate.

20 ppm—Highland Park 12 year old
Fragrant and floral, with hints of heather and spice, as well as honey, citrus fruits, and malt.

25-30 ppm—Bowmore 15 year old
Lush fruit, raisin, pot-still rum, Heath bars, citrus, and wood spices.

30 ppm—Balvenie Peat Week 2003
Islay-like phenols, sweet floral notes, vanilla, citrus fruits, and honey.

35-45 ppm—Ledaig 10 year old
Ripe barley, honeyed vanilla, black licorice stick, espresso bean, and olive brine.

40 ppm—Port Charlotte 10 year old
Maritime notes, with sweet caramel, coconut, and orchard fruits.

40-50 ppm—Laphroaig 10 year old
Iodine, charcoal, seaweed, black pepper, fruit, vanilla, caramel, and sweet oak.

45 ppm—BenRiach 10 year old Curiositas
Earthy peat, hot road tar, honey, tropical and dried fruits, allspice, and oak.

45 ppm—Glenglassaugh Torfa
Heathery peat with dried fruits, malt, cream soda, ripe peaches, chili, and ginger.

50 ppm—Kilchoman Machir Bay
Smoke, sea-washed rock, light flowers, and hot sand; sweet and smoky, with a chalky edge.

55 ppm—Ardbeg 10 year old
Smoked haddock, citrus fruits, milk chocolate, pipe tobacco, black coffee, and licorice.

80 ppm—Longrow 18 year old
Sweet vanilla, ripe apple, chimney soot, charcuterie, licorice, coffee beans, brine, and chili.

>100 ppm—Ardbeg Supernova
Minty and sweet spice, seaweed, smoked fish, and dried grasses.

131 ppm—Octomore 1.1
Cigar smoke and ash, licorice root, bacon fat, Kalamata olive, orchard fruit, honeyed malt, brine, and soft vanilla.

258 ppm—Octomore 6.3
Coastal brine, mint, thyme, grapes, cherries, chocolate, and oak.

309 ppm—Octomore 8.3
Barbecue smokiness, citrus fruit, earthy peat, full-bodied red wine, milk chocolate, ginger, and chili.

Cazale wrote: »

Tried some Tamnavulin Double Cask at a tasting and thought it wasn't bad so when I saw it on offer soon after for twenty pounds I bought a bottle. Went on the shelf to be forgotten about but recently opened it and have been sipping it.

I remember reading a review saying there is no bad whiskey but rather timing, mood or environment can affect the cheapest or most expensive whiskey positively or negatively depending on the circumstance. I found that this rang true until now.

Unpleasant raw alcohol and over oaked from poor casks. This stuff is terrible and it could be the first bottle I don't finish. Even worse I'm thinking of throwing it down the sink.

I tried this originally as a 17.5ml sample. It does illustrate to me how limited sampling of whiskey might not always give a true reflection. Sometimes living with the whiskey for a few nights is the better option.

I think we did the same tasting and the Tamnavulin was a big favourite across the board that night.

So I have been researching a bit more on ppm and peated whiskey. Here are some of my notes I took on Scottish peat for anyone interested. I had a couple of glasses of Talisker 10 to keep in with the theme of the thread.

Most Scotch Single Malt is actually made with unpeated barley. Peat is used mainly in the distilleries located in the islands of Skye, Orkney, Mull and Islay.

The ppm values used by the distilleries to promote their product usually refer the concentration of total phenols in the barley and not in the distillate.

Different distilleries measure ppm at different stages. Bruichladdich measure numbers when they read the highest. They have tall stills and run a very slow distillation which cuts down the phenols that make it through the spirit safe.

Terroir. Peat from Speyside has very different composition to peat from Orkney or Islay. Peat coming from different locations contribute to specific flavours.

Water used in distillation may run over peat beds so even many unpeated whiskies still have phenolic character.

The same PPM level can vary widely in flavor profile and smokiness. Not one type of phenol. Certain types of phenols might be more smoky/meaty while others are more medicinal. PPM doesn't differentiate between different types. Doesn't always equate to the actual peatiness of the final product

Double vs triple distillation can make a difference. As do cut points. The lower you cut, the more peatiness remains in the spirit.

That’s partly how Octomore is so drinkable at 200+ ppm at only 5 years of age. High cut points.

Drying the malted barley with peat gives some pleasant smoky flavours to the spirit and allows a better storage than non-peated malt, but might also reduce the yield (number of litres of pure alcohol by tonne of malt).

Distilleries prefer to use the upper part of the cut peat because the top layers are richer and more rooty. The upper peat layer generates more smoke and is ideal for flavouring the barley.

For domestic use, the lower part is preferred; since it will burn better, generate more heat and less smoke.

Depending on the degree of peatiness, peat can be from any time for up to 48h. After 48h, the husk (envelope) of the barley grain will be dry and prolonging the exposure of the barley to the peat smoke will not increase the peaty character of the spirit.

The ppm used for the different distilleries given are usually the concentration of phenol of the barley used by the distillery before milling and distillation.

The concentration in phenols in the distillate flowing out of the still is between 30 and 50 percent of the initial barley concentration.

For example, the barley for Ardbeg is peated
to 54 ppm of phenol and the final concentration in the new make is between 23-24 ppm.

Malt Phenols
Ardbeg: 54 ppm
Bowmore: 25 ppm
Bruichladdich: 3 - 4 ppm
Port Charlotte: 40 ppm
Octomore: 129 ppm
Lagavulin: 35 ppm
Laphroaig: 43 ppm

Distillate Phenols
Ardbeg: 23-24 ppm
Bowmore: 8-10 ppm
Bruichladdich: trace
Port Charlotte: 20 - 25 ppm
Octomore: 46.4 ppm
Lagavulin: 16-18 ppm
Laphroaig: 25 ppm

The peatiness of the barley can be controlled by the amount of peat burnt, the duration of the peat smoke and by the humidity (moisture) of the barley. The optimal moisture is about 25%.

Changing the temperature of the peat fire between 400 and 750°C can significantly modify the balance of phenol

The heavily peated single-malts are made of
barley of more than 30 ppm of phenol, medium-peated barley of about 20 ppm and lightly peated below 15 ppm.

The concentration of phenols contributing to the peaty character decreases with time. For example, Laphroaig’s barley is 40 ppm, the new make spirit is 25 ppm. The phenol content drops to 8-10 ppm in the 10 year old and down to 6 ppm in the 30 year old.

Depending on the structure and the origin of the peat, the duration and temperature of the peat fire, and the distillation, the peaty character might be quite different between the products of two distilleries.

That's a great read lad. Cheers.

Just 26 days to go before I can crack open a bottle again...

Cazale wrote: »

As alluded to before I'm gonna launch a blog on.whiskey one day. As part of that I had an interesting chat with the former Distillery Manager at Great Northern and also the owner of W.D. O’Connell Whiskey Merchants on Irish peated whiskey. Some quotes below:

I decided to measure the ppm of the distillate as there wasn’t too much or any current data on triple distilled peated whiskey in Ireland - Allan Anderson former Distillery Manager at The Great Northern Distillery.

PPMs are not an exact science. We don’t check them regularly. The last lab analysis done was in 2019 on the ‘16 distillate [Bill Phil] and it was at 16.7 PPM. A good rule of thumb for triple distillation is 1/3 of the starting point which in this case was 55ppm so it’s pretty accurate - Daithí O’Connell founder of W.D. O’Connell Whiskey Merchants.

I'm gonna try have a conversation with a few others involved in Irish peated whiskey as it's one of my favourite parts of the Irish whiskey revival. Here is a snippet of a draft from a much longer review of Teeling Blackpitts.

Heavily peated malt at 55ppm Blackpitts is distilled from an initial abv of 8% to 82%. The peat is reduced to 15ppm on the third distillation which reduces some of the traditional medicinal character you would associate with double distilled Scottish Peated Single Malt. The triple distillation will also concentrate more fruit notes from the fermentation process and allows the barbeque smoke characteristics to come to the fore.

Teeling were unable to source the 150-200 tonnes of peated malt they require in Ireland. Seemingly no suppliers were willing to risk contaminating barley delivered to Guinness and Heineken so the peated malt comes from Glenesk in Speyside which is a woody turf closest to Irish peat.

Nose – Sweet fruitiness with a hint of barbeque smoke. The smoke lingers rather than the upfront aggressiveness you get from an Islay peat. Chocolate, butterscotch, cloves, resin.

Mouth - Barbequed meats, grilled pineapple, sweet fruits, caramel, honey

Finish – Medium finish of savoury smoked bacon, salted caramel and sweet pineapple

Good write up.

I was given a bottle of Blackpitts for Christmas and i didnt like it one bit. Its obviously a very young whiskey with a very artificial and weak peat finish.

Another poor Teeling offering in my opinion. I didnt enjoy the Single Malts or the Brabazon versions they have or the small batch stuff. A brand i just cant get my head around as most people tend to enjoy Teeling.

Edit - i do get a smokey pineapple finish also, so we're not far off there.

Very fascinating write-up Cazale, thanks!

Slattsy wrote: »

I was given a bottle of Blackpitts for Christmas and i didnt like it one bit. Its obviously a very young whiskey with a very artificial and weak peat finish.

I only had a tasting sample of it but I completely agree. The smoke wasn't well balanced at all but to be honest I don't think I've liked any of Teeling's younger whiskeys. I'm right there with you about Teeling in general; the only whiskey of theirs I've really enjoyed was a seasonal cask malt that you can only get at the distillery.

I'd put the Connemara peated in the same bracket, I think it's just unpleasant to drink.

As regards peated Irish whiskeys I think my favourite I've had so far has been the Dunville's Three Crowns peated cask, where the smokiness comes from the cask instead of the malt, so it's an interesting take on it.

Slightly related, my local distillery (Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk, formerly a Harp Brewery) who usually mostly wholesale whiskey, have a limited exclusive release with Whiskey Factor called An Fear Grinn Against The Grain, which marries a peated malt with a stout cask aged malt. Was gifted a bottle of it and the bottle is a bit weird looking but the whiskey itself is quite nice, the smoke is pretty soft and it's fairly sweet too.

The Two Stacks Smoke & Mirrors sample in December's Three Drams tasting was fairly nice too!

Cazale wrote: »

You off the whiskey for the month?

All alcohol. I do it every January and usually feel the better for it after a typically gluttonous November and December, but this year is a bit different though...

To go from a Dry January after a preceding month in Japan and then into a Pandemic last year was a bit galling it must be said! :(:(:(

Birthday in January so no rest for the wicked... treated myself to a miniatures order from www.drinkshero.com in Cork.

First up, Green Spot Chateau Montelena Finish. Fantastic stuff, much prefer it to standard Green Spot.
Will crib some tasting notes from https://mitchellandson.com/products/green-spot-chateau-montelena
Sweet mouth coating takes on a dry note thanks to the effect of the wine cask. Pot still spices subside with zesty citrus leading to ripe orchard fruit and red berries. A touch of marzipan and toasted oak add to the complexity.
Finish: Satisfyingly long with pot still spices in harmony with the delicate dry wine contribution.

Still to sample... Drumshanbo Pot Still, Grace O'Malley rum cask finish, couple of Waterford Releases, Proclamation blend & Louis Royer XO Cognac.

Still on the to do list... a bottle of wine from Chateau Montelena

odyssey06 wrote: »

Birthday in January so no rest for the wicked... treated myself to a miniatures order from www.drinkshero.com in Cork.

First up, Green Spot Chateau Montelena Finish. Fantastic stuff, much prefer it to standard Green Spot.
Will crib some tasting notes from https://mitchellandson.com/products/green-spot-chateau-montelena
Sweet mouth coating takes on a dry note thanks to the effect of the wine cask. Pot still spices subside with zesty citrus leading to ripe orchard fruit and red berries. A touch of marzipan and toasted oak add to the complexity.
Finish: Satisfyingly long with pot still spices in harmony with the delicate dry wine contribution.

Still to sample... Drumshanbo Pot Still, Grace O'Malley rum cask finish, couple of Waterford Releases, Proclamation blend & Louis Royer XO Cognac.

Still on the to do list... a bottle of wine from Chateau Montelena

Green Spot Chateau Montelena
60 a bottle in Mitchells at present. Post free if U buy two! Happy Birthday!