The Cask-Strength Blues

If you’re a fan of cask-strength whisky, or you simply want to learn more about the pros and cons of cask-strength whisky, then this article is for you.  However, we first need to give due warning: In deep TV announcer voice-over tone: “The following article contains drug references.  It is intended for mature audiences.  Whisky & Wisdom advises reader discretion.”

I’m reliably informed that alcohol is a drug.  (Stay with us, this will have relevance and make sense in a moment).  People use it, abuse it, rely on it, swear by it, and at it.  It alters our mental state and makes us do things we might not otherwise have done if we were sober or clear-headed.  For example, the other day, with a few single malts under my belt, I found myself drinking a blend.  Fortunately, there were no witnesses…

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Now & Then: Comparing old bottlings with today’s counterparts

Now and then.  Ah, the joys of nostalgia.

If there’s a topic guaranteed to start an argument around the table, it’s when sports enthusiasts try to pick or assert that a particular sporting team from one era was superior to the team from another era.  For example, is the Hawthorn team from the 1980’s better than the Hawthorn team from 2013-2015?  Was Don Bradman’s 1948 “Invincibles” side a better cricket team than the all-conquering Steve Waugh side of 1999-2001? If the two teams were to compete against one another, who would win?

Sadly (or happily?) in the case of such arguments, it is all speculation and conjecture.  For, quite simply, we will never know.  And how do you compare teams across different eras when rules were different, playing conditions differed, and the level of athleticism and professionalism was different.  The discussion is nothing more than hypothetical amusement.

Increasingly of late, similar discussions and assertions are translating across into whisky circles.  For example, a commonly-seen thread in many online whisky groups or forums is the assertion that the whiskies of today are not as good as what they were 20 years ago.  Or that whiskies have changed over the years.

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40% ABV whiskies – friend or foe?

I recently read an online review of a whisky that was written by a blogger.   There were a number of comments and references in the review where it was evident the writer was criticising the whisky for being 40% ABV.  Having such a mindset is a slippery slope – reviewers & commentators need to be careful to distinguish between “I would have preferred to have seen this whisky bottled at a higher strength; I believe it would benefit from being at a higher proof” and criticising or faulting the whisky merely for being 40% ABV, as though it were a flaw or fault in production.

It raises a few interesting points.  There is no doubt that many of us prefer whiskies at higher strengths.   Cask-strength whiskies – which only as recently as 20 years ago were still relatively scarce and harder to come by – are now as common as nude shots of Britney Spears, and once you become accustomed to the higher ABV whiskies, I certainly acknowledge and agree that 40% malts have to work a little harder to keep our tastebuds entertained.

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The three stages of your attitude to Glenfiddich: Like – Hate – Love

Catchy article title, eh? Not sure my former editor would approve of it – it’s hardly a flowing headline.  But there’s not really a more succinct way to say it.  I’ll elaborate:  It’s my opinion that whisky drinkers all go through three very distinct stages in their appreciation of Glenfiddich.   And, depending on what stage you’re up to, this tremendously impacts your attitude to Glenfiddich.   Curious?  Let’s look into this…

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Armorik single malt – the whisky of Brittany

Armorik whisky…oui, it’s a French whisky.  So what’s it all about? Let’s dive in…

With interest in “new world” whiskies exploding everywhere, not to mention a burgeoning craft whisky scene in almost every country around the world, it’s easy to look at a whisky brand you’ve not heard of before and think “Okay, that’s new”. You might also be forgiven for assuming the whisky is young.

This is the challenge for some of the non-Scottish whisky producers that have actually been around the traps for a while and are trying to cement a foothold in the international scene. Such is the challenge for Armorik – the first Breton single malt whisky.

Armorik single malt whisky is distilled at Distillerie Warenghem, an independent, family-owned distillery that was established in 1900.   After 83 years of making all manner of liqueurs, the distillery turned its hand to whisky in 1983.  Whilst their first bottled release in 1987 was a blended whisky, Armorik Single Malt was launched back 1998.  So Armorik is hardly the new kid on the block, despite what many assume.

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Is whisky better or worse today than it was 20 years ago?

If you listen to enough drinkers who’ve been around a while, or read the writings of many in the whisky community, you might be led to believe that Scotch whisky being produced and released today is not as good as it used to be.  Is whisky better or worse today than it was a decade or two ago?

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Kininvie – The distillery emerges…

Like so many other aspects of the whiskysphere in recent years, there are entities or processes that have been around for a long time, but simply weren’t well known. The internet, combined with a booming market, have resulted in many industry secrets or hidden jewels coming to light.  Distilleries are one such example – if there wasn’t a commercial release available (or widely distributed) on the market, consumers simply didn’t know it existed.  Ailsa Bay, Inchgower, Allt-a-bhaine, etc, are all examples of distilleries that most whisky drinkers simply haven’t heard of, despite the fact they’ve been around for many years.   Kininvie is another example, although that’s now all changing, courtesy of its whiskies suddenly being thrust into the limelight.

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The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve

Before discussing what The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve is all about, it’s important to understand some background:

In the good old days of looking at a whisky brand’s portfolio, it used to be an easy affair to identify and speak about the brand’s “flagship” expression. This was the main expression; its biggest seller; the one that was a constant in all markets and carried the brand. Each of the other expressions in the portfolio were usually older, rarer, and less-often seen.   If you can think back 15 years ago, it was an era where most brands had their ubiquitous 10yo or 12yo flagship expression, and then some brands had an 18yo or a 25yo to offer the connoisseurs some choice.

As the single malt market started to truly boom (and bloom) during 2000-2007, many brands’ portfolios started to widely diversify. Finishes or Extra Matured expressions became more prevalent; a wider and more populated range of age statements appeared; and in the last few years, many brands added one or more NAS expressions to the range. More recently, for some brands, the flagship expression you see may depend on what market you’re in.

Most of this activity is due to marketing and sales opportunities; and some of it is simply cask and stock management: Either dealing with what stocks are currently available, or taking steps to ensure that supply will meet demand in future years.

If you read enough whisky literature, opinions and noise, you’ll be aware that some brands are already having to make hard decisions to ensure supply keeps up with demand. Cutting various product lines or removing an expression from a particular market. Many whisky folks assume this is a new phenomenon, but no, it’s been happening for a while. For example, it was back in 2004/05 that Macallan discontinued its 15yo in order to keep stock back for its more lucrative (and popular) 18yo. More recently, we’re seeing an increasing number of NAS expressions being put forward and marketed, in an attempt to take pressure off the 10yo or 12yo aged statements.   Enter Glenlivet.

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Glenfiddich “The Original”

One of the ironies of having the world’s biggest selling single malt in your portfolio is that your flagship product is everywhere, and people sometimes don’t see the innovative things you do on the side.  Such is the burden of William Grant & Sons and their favourite child, Glenfiddich.  Whilst the ubiquitous 12yo sits proudly in nearly every bottle shop around the world, you sometimes overlook the numerous variations and other expressions of Glenfiddich that have been flying out of the warehouse at increasingly close intervals over the last few years.  For, if there is one word that you can associate with William Grant & Sons, the word is “pioneering”.  And, in a delicious twist of irony, they’ve turned that on its head with the release of a new expression that is, in fact, very much a look back to the past: Glenfiddich The Original.

The Glenfiddich portfolio

Glenfiddich did not invent single malt bottlings.  No, there were bottles of single malt being bought, sold, and traded on this planet long before 1963.  However, it was in 1963 that William Grant & Sons decided to do something radically different and market their single malt as a single malt.  They were the first distillery to stand up and say, “We think our whisky is pretty good and doesn’t need to be blended with other whiskies.  We think you’ll like it straight up, as is.”  Okay, we’re projecting and paraphrasing there, but the message is the same, because that’s more-or-less what happened in 1963 when WG&S launched their Glenfiddich Straight Malt.  The term straight was used because, in the context of a time when virtually all commercially-available whisky was blended, straight was an appropriate and understood term.  Later bottlings of Glenfiddich would use the term Pure Malt, pretty much right up until the term fell foul of the Scotch Whisky Association in 2009.

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The 1980’s heavy metal music guide to whisky

Whisky and heavy metal?  The late whisky writer, Michael Jackson, once compared a particular single malt to a car (e.g. “the Rolls-Royce of whisky”).  Others have since compared certain single malts to particular Grand Cru wines.   More recently, people have started writing tasting notes for whiskies and suggested various songs or bands to match and pair with the whisky.  So, whisky and music is now a thing, right?  Okay then, let’s take it one step further…

No one likes to admit it, but there was once a time when heavy metal music was actually commercially successful, and major record labels were falling over themselves trying to sign up hard rock acts.  The genre is lampooned today, and often labelled dismissively as hair metal or glam metal.  But, like me, you might be from that era when heavy metal artists were actually on top of all the charts and hair metal bands ruled the airwaves.  But has anyone ever compared whisky and heavy metal artists? Or matched the two together?  Perhaps now is the time.  Get out the hair gel, put on your spandex, and take yourself back to the 1980’s…  Continue reading “The 1980’s heavy metal music guide to whisky”