Tasting Aberfeldy 12 YO new edition

After we reviewed the Aultmore 12 YO and the Craigellachie 13 YO, produced by the same company (not distillery..) John Dewar and Sons, it is now time to taste the renewed Aberfeldy 12 YO, number three in the Last Great Malt Series.

The packaging is modernized, which is sort of funny, since it refers a lot more than the old packaging to the history of the distillery. In fact, there's so much on the label, that you need at least one dram to read it all. Smart, very smart guys.
It also says "Limited bottling" on the label, we're not quite sure what that means. Maybe part of the general whisky vocabulary, with words like "select reserve", "special blend", "deluxe" etc.?
This was batch nr 2905 anyway.

Another little secret on the label on the label states that E150 was used for coloring. Not in English by the way, but in German ("Mit Farbstoff"). The German law requires this and cheers to that.
It is bottled at 40%.

(cork is for keeping)

Along with this 12 YO, a 18 YO has been introduced for Travel Retail, as well as a new 21 YO in a deluxe outfit, all very affordable. 

We paid € 32 for our bottle.

Our experience

Color: Amber+/tawny

Nose: Nutmeg, white grapes, baked apple, creme brulee, honey. More sweetness pops up, when you let the glass rest for a while.

Taste: Milk chocolate (or is it Nutella? Well it sure has hazelnuts), sweet, a wiff of leather, charred oak, malty

Finish: round, sweetness keeps on, becomes dry and then a wee salty liquorice kicks in in combination with some bitterness.

It's a pleasant, easy going dram and for that price certainly worth to try, especially when your taste preference lies in the nutty corner of the spectrum. Now that sounds a bit weird, but you know what we're getting at. Glad that the people of John Dewar/Bacardi are putting much effort in this product, together with the other Last Great Malt releases. As soon as we get our hands on the other expressions, you'll find the notes on Whiskytips.

©Whiskytips 2015
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Tasting Craigellachie 13 YO

With Iron Maiden's Alexander The Great as number one in the playlist we are tasting Craigellachie 13 yo.
The Craigellachie 13 YO is a new bottling by John Dewar & Sons and introduced at the same time as the Aultmore 12 YO and a revamped Aberfeldy 12 YO as part of the Last great Malts. Glen Deveron and Royal Brackla will follow.

Craiggelachie is one of the 15 distilleries in Scotland that still use (traditional) wormtubs. To be honest, we couldn't tell you what difference it makes to the spirt or end result for that matter, but according to the information on the tube it gives the whisky "a distinctive and meaty character".
More importantly the label states this whisky is non-chill-filtered. No word about colouring, but maybe whisky friends in Germany of Denmark can comment on that. In these countries adding caramel must legally be displayed on the label.
Another plus is the bottling strength at 46%.
Together with the 13 yo a 17 YO and 23 YO Craigellachie will be released and even a 31 so we were told.
First impression is good, great bottle (with embossed distillery name in the top front), great tube design.
Every bottle is individually numbered.


Our experience:

Color: Deep gold
Nose: Lemoncake, sweet grapes, pineapple, vanilla
Taste: Honey, firm, the burned oak is there. As there is toasted bread. Anis, green tea and almond.
Finish: Oily, a sweet-sour bitterness, cocobutter

A liquid cupcake this is. We were already happy with the Aultmore, but this is even more to our liking. A thick Speysider, sweet, oily character. One to savour before dinner or two after.
Hurray for the chaps at John Dewar's for releasing this expression as a single malt. And at a decent price as well. We will look out for the other expressions and have a wee taste.


www.craigellachie.com

www.lastgreatmalts.com






Source:
Malt Whisky Yearbook 2015- Ingvar Ronde

©Whiskytips 2015

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Tasting Aultmore 12 yo new edition

With Jeff Wayne's Forever Autumn breezing through the speakers, we are inspecting the recently purchased bottle of Aultmore 12 YO.

It looks like an old drugstore bottle with glass embossing letters. We are already thinking of good re-use for this bottle instead of throwing it away in the recycle bin. The bottle has a nice branded cap and every bottle is individually numbered.

The Aultmore is released by John Dewar & Sons in a series called Last Great Malts of Scotland. Next to Aultmore a 13 YO Craigellachie and 12 YO Aberfeldy are brought to market. Royal Brackla and Deveron will follow.
Aultmore was released as an official 12 yo single malt bottling by the (previous) owners before, but the current owners are planning some more expressions next to the new 12 YO.
Allthough most product of Aultmore is tankered away to Glasgow to matures and used in blends, the new packaging show John Dewar are really serious about marketing this malt. Understandable, since Aultmore is considered a Top Class malt by blenders.
This Aultmore is bottled at 46%, has natural colour and no chill-filtering. Hurray from all us whisky-geeks!
Off to savouring a wee dram. This is what we found:
Colour: yellow gold
Nose: pineapple, vanilla, cheesed butter, citrus, sweet
Taste: grassy as promised, barley notes, sugar, spicy, zesty, some marzipan and then vermouth comes to mind
Finish: again sweet, medium long, dry

Conclusion: Very happy with this effort of John Dewar's. Great to see another natural coloured whisky on the shelves. A real spicy Speysider this one. Together with the nice packaging and the decent price (we paid 41 euros) we'd quote our friend Paul: "Cannie go wrong with dat!".


Sources: 
Whiskypedia -Charles Maclean
Malt Whisky Yearbook - Ingvar Ronde

©Whiskytips 2014

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Launch of the 8th whisky for the City of Zwolle, Ben Nevis 15 YO

The city of Zwolle lies in the east of the Netherlands at 52°31′N 6°6′E. It has the reputation of being a "gourmet" city and houses several good restaurants, food places and bars.

Eric Bartels of Slijterij Bartels ("slijterij" is the Dutch word for liquor store or drink shop that is licensed to sell alcoholic beverages over 15% alcohol. Supermarkets in the Netherlands are not allowed to sell alcoholic beverages over 15%) took the initiative to bottle a cask of malt whisky for the City of Zwolle in cooperation with Dutch whisky writer Hans Offringa. One of the first bottlings, a Macallan, now has an estimated value of € 200. Other bottlings were Auchentoshan, Aberlour and Highland Park (fantastic dram).

On November 9th 2014 the latest edition was launched in Brasserie Jansen, numer 8 in line, a 15 YO Ben Nevis of 1998 vintage, single cask with an outturn of just 279 bottles, chosen by Hans Offringa. It has matured in a sherry butt, nr 1238. Label design was done by ms Laurien Stam, who also designed the other labels. Reason to introduce this expression in Brasserie was the fact that the facade of the Brasserie Jansen building is on the label.

Bottle no. 1 was presented to ms Elles Hetebrij, of a neighbouring pub, who recently won an important industry prize.

The video impression we made has English subtitles for your convenience.


Single cask bottelingen of Ben Nevis are not common.

Ben Nevis is a distillery located near the highest peak in the UL. It is owned by the Japanese company Nikka .Ben Nevis has a capacity of 1.5 million liters alcohol per annum.





Of course we had a wee sniff'n'taste. A very nice whisky indeed. If you want a bottle either for drinking or collecting (or both..) get in touch with Eric Bartels, because the bottles tend to sell out soon. price should be around € 65.



Here are our notes:

Colour: herbal tea, almost green (it's a non chill filtered Scotch, hurray!)

Nose: definately an autumn dram, apple pie, stewed plum, malt, coconut oil, hazelnut

Taste: creamy, oily/waxy, sweet (cane sugar), dark chocolate

Finish: medium long, pleasant, sweet


Sources: Whiskypedia, revised edition - Charles MacLean

www.bennevisdistillery.com

www.slijterijbartels.nl


©Whiskytips 2014

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Most wanted and famous whiskycollection worldwide bought by Dutchman

The Dutch documentary ‘Nederland Whiskyland’, which premieres on the 20th September at filmfestival ‘Film by the sea’, shows from nearby how Dutch whiskey-expert and investor Michel Kappen outsmarts everybody in buying the most wanted single malt Scottish whiskycollection in the world after years of intensive negotiations. The exact purchase price has not been revealed, but it concerns millions. It is also the only whiskycollection ever that appeared as a book.

Documentarymaker Gwen Jansen followed Michel Kappen with a camera for almost two years in order to be the first and only one to capture the dramatic takeover of the Valentino Zagatti collection. The dramatic takeover had been canceled or postponed several times during this period, because the 83-year old Italian owner Valentino Zagatti, who is blind,  found it extremely difficult to say farewell to his collection of almost 3000 whisky bottles. As the result of a genius move Michel eventually succeeded. The collection has been transferred  to the Scotch Whisky International museum in Sassenheim, and will be displayed there for the next decade.

Blind collector

Valentino Zagatti is an 83-year old Italian who collected the best bottles of whisky from across the world, despite the fact that he has been blind since the age of twelve. The collection containes 3013 bottles of Scottish single malt whisky. Zagatti lives together with his wife in a relatively small familyhouse in Italy. All bottles are closed and cover the wall in his house.

Nederland Whiskyland

With the arrival of the most famous Scottish whiskycollection worldwide, our country is enriched with another whiskeypearl. We already had the world largest whisky fair and the first whisky camping in the world. The documentary ‘Nederland Whiskeyland’ shows the viewer the remarkable rich whiskyculture in the Netherlands. Prominent Scottish whisky experts confirm on camera, slightly astonished, that the Dutch probably know more about Scottish single malt whisky than the Scotch do themselves. More than 2.5 million people drink whisky in our country. Producer of the documentary is JansenJager, Beeldmakers.

 

 

Gwen Jansen & crowdfunding
It is the first long documentary filmed by Gwen Jansen (40). She was a succesful entrepreneur in the automotive branche. Three years ago she sold her companies, which made it possible for her to focus on her biggest passion, namely making films. She launched the website www.nederlandwhiskyland.nl and started a crowdfund campaign in order to gather the required capital to make films without subsidies. Many private investors decided to participate, and especially with the support of Scotch Whisky International and Maxxium Nederland/World of Whisky, she managed to put the required capital on the table. There was also support from other organisations, such as Moët Hennessy Nederland, De Monnik Dranken, Infinity Nederland, VKV Groep, De Lunterse Boer, Intercaves en WhiskyPassion. All parties signed an agreemeent that kept Gwen Jansen in charge of the content of the movie. Jansen also instituted a Board of Advisory with independent experts from the whiskeyworld to ensure full independency of the film. 
Whiskytips is proud to be a member of the Board.

©Whiskytips 2014

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Tasting Kings County Distillery chocolate “flavored” whiskey

On a sunny Saturday we made our way to Brooklyn NYC coming from Manhattan.

As real Dutchies by bicycle of course. Check out the GoPro video we made crossing the Brooklyn Bridge accompanied by music of Grandmaster Flash.

Video Bike Tour Brooklyn Bridge

Going around on a bicycle in NYC is simply great. You get much better views on the city and it’s an easy town to cycle. More and more New Yorker discover the advantages of cycling. It’s fast, clean and you get a free work-out at the same time.

Our main target was Kings County Distillery located on the Brooklyn Navy Yard in the former Paymaster Building. The Brooklyn Navy Yard is located between the Brooklyn Bridge and Williamsburg bridge and looks out over Manhattan.

Kings County Distillery was founded in 2010 by Colin Spoelman and David Haskell. They are also the authors of: The Kings County Distillery Guide to Urban Moonshining: How to make and drink whiskey.

A craft distillery, with growing potential. But they are not in a rush, as Colin stated to us. Colin guided us around the distillery; we were able to shoot some videofootage before the official tour.

Kings County Distillery offers a range of products, like bourbon and moonshine.

Their most remarkable product in our humble opinion the chocolate “flavored” whiskey. It is basically moonshine, infused with ground cacao bean husks from Mast Brothers Chocolate, whose factory is nearby.

Without exaggeration this stuff can be put right next to Cointreau or Kahlua, perfect after dinner with a cup of coffee. The bottle we bought was empty even before we left the States. That was a shame, cause this fantastic product is not yet available in the Netherlands. Understandable however, because everyone in the States wants it. Anyway, we urge Dutch importers to get their hands on a few cases, we will order 6 bottles in advance thank you.
And Colin, please do pop over to introduce your products on one of the whisky festivals over here. We'll help you out!

Tasting notes:

Colour: dark sherry

Nose: pure chocolate, vanilla, pinewood, laurel, espresso coffee, wet tobacco

Taste: chocolate, sweet, the bourbon comes through, liquorice

Finish: the chocolate holds on for a comfortable long time, slightly salty, sweet bitterness, hint of white pepper

Conclusion: This is going to be a major hit, no doubt. One more reason to go back to NYC..

©Whiskytips 2014

Website of King County Distillery, NYC

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Tasting Bowmore Small Batch

With Donna Summer's Grand Illusion pounding through our stereo we are opening the cardbox of a new Bowmore expression called the Small Batch.
Bowmore is the oldest distillery on Islay, founded in 1779 and part of Morrison Bowmore Distillers, who are owned by Suntory.
We were lucky enough to visit the distillery in May. A video of that visit will soon follow.

Small Batch has matured on first and second fill bourbon casks.
In a video we made earlier this year you can watch the findings on Bowmore Small Batch by European Brand Ambassador Ally Dickinson.

 We tried the combination with oysters and indeed it's a fine experience.

These are our findings of this new Bowmore:

Colour:yellow gold

Nose: grapefruit, vanilla, cereal, gooseberry, gewurztraminer, monoi de tahiti

Taste: cremay, lightly peated, salt, pear, Spanish melon

Finish:maritime, pleasant smokiness, medium dry


Conclusion: A creamy, lightly smoked, fresh whisky. Certainly well suited to drink in summer time. Also good for people who are used to Speyside malts and want to get introduced to more peaty or smoky whiskies.

©Whiskytips 2014

Special thanks to Intercaves and WhiskyEtc magazine.

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