Whiskyfun.com's Pete & Jack

PETE McPEAT AND JACK WASHBACK - November 21, 2005

How To Taste A Malt

• Get some single malt whisky. To begin, try some of your friends' favorite whiskies or go to a whisky bar and ask for recommendations. If these options are not available, go to your local liquor store and pick up a cheaper bottle such as Laphroiag 10 Year Old, Balvenie 12 Year Old Double Wood, or Glenmorangie 10 Year Old.


• Buy a good glass. The tulip glass is the preferred style because it focuses the aromas and splashes the spirit onto the tongue in a wide fashion. Some whisky drinkers prefer tumblers or snifters.
  Pour yourself a dram. Depending on your experience and how much you want to drink, this amount can be anywhere from half an ounce to two ounces.


• Tilt and turn the glass. Let the whisky coat the glass so that it can evaporate easily. Observe the consistency as it sticks to the sides of your glass.
  Nose the whisky. Place your nose a few inches away from the glass. What do you smell? Now get a little closer. How is that? Now get as close as you can without letting the alcohol burn interfere. What other aromas are there?


• Add water (optional): as much as half-and-half or as little as a few drops. Adding water depends on the strength and style of the whisky and the taster's preference. Regular bottles contain 40% to 46% alcohol by volume (ABV) while "Cask strength" whiskies are stronger and require more water. Avoid tap water, because the chlorine will interfere with the taste. It is a good idea to add water slowly and watch as it "marries" with the whisky.


• Gently agitate the whisky in the glass and nose it again. Change the angle and distance of the glass to pick up all of the subtle aromas. Continue this for a few minutes while the water marries with the whisky and releases additional aromas you may not have noticed at first. If you have added water, have patience. It takes a good amount of time before the whisky and water are completely married.


• Take a sip. Take just enough to coat your mouth and begin to slowly swirl it around your tongue. Feel the consistency of the whisky. Some feel thicker, oilier, or grittier than others. This is referred to as the "mouthfeel." Try and coat your tongue so that the whisky touches all of your taste buds.
  Taste the whisky. Try to hold the whisky in your mouth as long as it takes to notice all of the different flavors.


• Swallow but try not to open your mouth or close your throat. Let in a tiny amount of air through your mouth and breathe through your nose slowly as the fumes rise up into your sinuses. You may notice different flavors. This is called the "finish." Once the flavors subside, breathe normally.


• Repeat until all of the whisky is gone. Notice how the flavors and aromas change throughout your session.

Source: WikiHow

Talisker 10 Year Old

Talisker is the only distillery on the Isle of Skye, and takes its name from a farm some miles away nearer the village of Carbost.

It was started in 1843 by Hugh and Kenneth MacAskill from Eigg. Hugh was a tacksman (senior tenant farmer, who leased land to others) and acquired the lease of Talisker House and estate of Macleod of Macleod.

After the brothers' deaths the distillery was eventually acquired by a partnership between Grigor Allan, Procurator Fiscal of Morayshire, and Roderick Kemp, a wine and spirits merchant, and substantial sums of money were invested in rebuilding and refitting the distillery. By this time the whisky was gaining a reputation for itself. Robert Louis Stevenson mentioned it in a poem, 'The Scotsman's Return from Abroad' in 1880,

"The king o' drinks, as I conceive it,Talisker, Islay or Glenlivit"

In 1892, Kemp bought the Macallan Distillery on Speyside and Allan took over the entire ownership of Talisker which merged it with Dailuaine to form the Daluaine-Talisker Distilleries Ltd. This company extended the premises at Talisker, built a pier, a tramway to link it to the distillery and houses to accomodate the employees and excise officer.

In 1925 through a previous merger with some of the founding memders of the 'big five' the distillery became fully owned by United Distillers. The distillery was partly rebuilt in 1960 after a fire and its own floor maltings were demolished in 1972. One of the original features of the distillery is the presence of traditional condensers.
In 1988/89, the brand was chosen by United Distillers for their Classic Malts series.

Tasting Notes

REGION: Islands

COLOUR: Gold with amber glint.

NOSE: Wonderful aroma. Pungent, smoke-accented, rounded.

PALATE: Full maltiness, slightly syrupy, with sourness and a very big pepperiness developing.

BODY: ?

FINISH: Very peppery, huge, long.

ABV: 45.8%

Whiskyfun.com's Pete & Jack

PETE McPEAT AND JACK WASHBACK - November 11, 2005

Whiskyfun.com's Pete & Jack

PETE McPEAT AND JACK WASHBACK - October 13, 2005

A Scotsman's Return?

Is prominent Indian brewer-politician Vijay Mallya in the run to purchase Scotland-based Invergordon Distillery - Europe's largest grain distillery?

The distillery, on the Cromarty Firth in Ross-shire, was put up for sale by owner Whyte and Mackay for a price tag of nearly 200 million pounds.

Industry sources told IANS that Mallya's United Breweries, the world's second biggest distiller, was on the shortlist to purchase the distillery. Whyte and Mackay announced the sale in December 2005. However, a company spokesman refused to comment on negotiations with potential buyers.

The brewer, United Breweries, was founded by a Scotsman who amalgamated 4 breweries in India around 1915. Meglomania has been well recorded within the growth of many Scottish whisky companies. So collecting drinks companies will have gone full circle if the deal completes.

This means the end of any significant Scotch whisky group, other than Edrington (Famous Grouse, Macallan and Highland Park) being controlled from a Scottish headquarters. The destiny of 75 Single malt distilleries is now outwith the country. Luckily 17 other distilleries are now in smaller family controlled companies, most of whom have only one distillery.

Whyte & MacKay owns the famous Single malt distilleries of Isle of Jura and Dalmore. India has a significant whisky industry of its own, greater in volume than that of Scotland, so this is an interesting takeover. For example their Indian whisky called Bagpiper sells over 10 million cases. United Breweries own a significant number of brands, some French vineyards and a craft-brewery in California called Mendochino (formed from the first Brewpub in California).

Furthermore, United Breweries already has a strategic alliance with Scottish and Newcastle, one of the top 10 brewers in the world. The alliance allows Scottish and Newcastle to market its international brands in India and United Breweries to utilise the former's global network to distribute its Kingfisher brand. Scottish and Newcastle own a range of international beer brands, including Kronenbourg, Newcastle and Brown ale and have exclusive rights to the Fosters brand in Europe.

So overall the deal must make complete sense!

Charles MacLean’s Nosing Course

Charles MacLean, editor of Whisky Magazine and Scotland’s leading whisky writer published a set of 5 articles on nosing and tasting in the first 5 issued of Whisky Magazine. The focus of these articles was to help the enthusiast understand the signals when you nose and taste a whisky and interpret them the way the experts do and make notes on your favourites. It also accompanies a special note from Michael Jackson on the criteria he uses while assessing and rating a whisky.

Follow this link to a world of nosing and tasting the experts way... Introduction to the Nosing and Tasting Course

Laphroaig 10 Year Old Original Cask Strength

Awarded Best Single Malt in the World in 2005 by Whisky Magazine, Original Cask Strength Laphroaig is bottled at natural distillery strength with all the depth of genuine taste and texture normally associated with sampling whisky at source.

Laphroaig is matured in seasoned oak barrels, charred before filling to impart a slight sweet vanilla nuttiness. Original Cask Strength Laphroaig is barrier-filtered only just, to remove the small char particles present. This means you will enjoy Laphroaig exactly as they made it. In extremes of temperature and when you add water it may appear a little cloudy - this is the natural condition of a malt of such a peaty pungence and uncompromising purity.

Adding a little water releases a rich aroma of peat smoke with some sweetness and strong hints of the sea. Emphatic, full bodied and utterly unforgettable. Simply 'The Best'.

Cask Strength picked as Best of the best all Single Malt Scotch whiskies!
Laphroaig Cask Strength has been voted "The Best of The Best" Single malt by over 100 judges in 5 countries testing malts in a "blind tasting" - all the samples were given to them without knowing which whisky they were testing.Read the extract from the defining Whisky Magazine (March issue #46) article.

Tasting Notes
To taste Malt Whisky add a few drops of water to help awaken the bouquet of the malt and bring out the aromatics.

REGION: Islay.
COLOUR: Rich deep gold.
NOSE: Very powerful, "medicine", smoke, seaweed and ozone characters overlaying a sweetness.
BODY: Full and strong.
PALATE: A massive peated burst of flavour with hints of sweetness at the end.
FINISH: Long and savoury.
ABV: 55.7%

Source: Laphroaig