I had the good fortune to be invited along to the opening of Dalmore’s new Visitor Centre a few weeks ago, and had been looking forward to it from the moment I’d received the invite prior to that. Although I’ve passed that way several times, I’ve never had the opportunity to call in, and it’s set in one of the most spectacular parts of Scotland.

The journey by train took me up through the Cairngorms, and as I passed Dalwhinnie, I began to hanker for a dram, but thought it best to save myself and my palate, as I knew there’d be a couple of treats in store for us Dalmore.

I was staying at the beautiful (and somewhat grander than I’m used to – although I’m happy to beome accustomed to this…) Novar Estate, and once I’d been shown ’round, I headed to my room to get prepared for the tour of the refurbished centre and dinner.

The centre has been very much remodelled in sympathy with the original building, whilst really emphasising the luxury elements that tend to be associated with Dalmore. The very talented and friendly husband and wife team, John and Mary-Louise, who undertook the design and refurb were there, and very graciously took the time to answer some of the questions I had regarding the ins and outs of sourcing certain materials and lighting installation. Having worked in scenic carpentry for a few years, I can be a construction/design-bore in addition to being a whisky-bore. Ever the multi-tasker…

Once the tour had concluded, we made our way back to the Alchemy Room, which is where we were joined by Richard Paterson for an extremely special tutored tasting, which included the superb Dalmore King Alexander III – one big, bold dram, which takes in the flavours of six different vessels in its journey from still to bottle. An amazing feat of blending. Beautiful stuff.

We were treated to a beautiful meal by catering from The Storehouse, and the drams kept coming – an amazing Dalmore 1978 which had been matured in Gonzales Byass Sherry casks for over 30 years. Not the sort of whisky you encounter every day. Rich and luxurious stuff. During the meal, I was sat next to Ian Mackay and got to bend his ear about his days at Invergordon, as well as his role at Dalmore. Luckily, he was another patient soul who put up with my questions without getting irked. I was just happy to have been invited to an event with such a wealth of whisky knowledge around the table. Who wouldn’t use that opportunity to ask a few questions?

If you want to be wowed by luxury, then I’d heartily recommend a visit to Dalmore – but more importantly, the people are friendly, knowledgable and passionate about whisky, and really that’s what’s at the core of this malt. Beneath the bling and theatre, this is a craft with much care invested in it. You can taste that in the results.

We’ve recently been involved in helping to write part of a new book on whisky. A bit exciting to be asked to join the company of more noted writers in the field than ourselves, and somewhat of a challenge to complete these things to deadlines and not just at our own behest (ahem…looks around guiltily).

So off the back of that request, I’ve been having a good look around a few distilleries of late. Some familiar, and others a new experience for me. The thing with distillery tours, is that once you’ve been ’round a couple and got the gist of the process, barring the few idiosyncrasies that their individual kit provides, it’s essentially the same wherever you go (others may disagree, but I’ll admit, I’m generalising here), so all that ever leaves an impression are the stories that you hear from the personalities that you meet.

If you’re very lucky, you’ll get the odd glimmer of insider knowledge – nothing that’s usually fit for printing – but usually something that gives you that little bit of insight into an industry that is at times secretive and opaque. But business is business, right? Perhaps that’s to be expected then.

Preamble over.

So, not for the first time, I arranged to meet Ronnie Routledge, now at Glenglassaugh Distillery, for a quick chat about the various drams I’d be covering for this upcoming book, and also to get a bit of background.

Glenglassaugh’s a little bit special for me, as I used to live at the cottages just across the road from it. I’d whiz past it on my bike on many a journey between Portsoy and Cullen.

Ronnie very kindly took time out of his busy day (it was slap bang in the middle of Spirit Of Speyside Festival when I met with him) and gave me a whirlwind tour of the place, and eventually we ended up on the roof. Doing a full 180 degree turn, you can take in the blue-glass sea at neighbouring Sandend, that ‘Glassaugh itself overlooks, and then the blazing gorse that surrounds the water source as you towards the direction of the Durn Hill.

It’s a very special place to me.

Before I left, Ronnie very kindly talked me through a few of the future releases that Glenglassaugh have prepared, and due to my tardiness in getting ’round to writing about this, it seems that one of them is actually upon us already.

It’s a bottling chosen by Ronnie himself, and it’s from a 35 year old vintage sherry butt, filled in 1976. Only 654 bottles and bottled at a natural strength of 49.6%. It’s out now.

I’m rooting for Glenglassaugh, and I’ll admit I’m biased, but luckily they’re making great whisky, and the stock they inherited is pretty special too. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on more of it in the coming years.

The other week, we had the good fortune to be heading to Glasgow for a rare chance to pick the brains and be entertained by Whyte & Mackay’s Master Blender and raconteur extraordinaire, Richard Paterson.

Dubber was travelling up from Birmingham, and I came a short hop on the train to rendez-vous with him, and also my close friend, Colin Heggie, who’d kindly agreed to come and take some more professional shots than we could ever manage.

So, after a quick catch up on the train with each other about what had been going on in our lives since we last met, we found ourselves jumping into a taxi at Glasgow, and soon outside the imposing Dalmore House, home of W&M HQ.

For those of you unaware of Richard Paterson, he is one of the most respected, and hard working Master Blenders in the world. It’s apparent from meeting ‘The Nose’ (as he has become known in the whisky industry) that his concern for his work goes beyond any duty to professionalism, it is a sense of family pride – in the best possible sense of the phrase – in that, he cares deeply about whisky and the blends he’s involved in creating, and not just for his reputation’s sake, but because it is most definitely part of who he is. It’s in the blood.

We were introduced to Richard and sat down together to grab a bite to eat. I have to say, I was a wee bit nervous. I’d been extremely excited about the prospect of getting a chance to chat to someone with as much experience within whisky as Richard, as I always see opportunities such as that as a chance to hopefully learn something. Luckily, Richard is a dab hand at putting everyone at ease, so nerves were soon forgotten.

The 9th floor of Dalmore House, holds rows of display cases on the approach to Richard’s blending lab, proudly housing hundreds of important curios in the history of Whyte & Mackay. From antique measuring instruments, to medals and trophies, through to extremely rare examples of old bottlings from the company’s portfolio, it’s part archive, part sweetshop, for anyone with half an interest in the world of whisky.

Upon entering the blending lab where Richard does the majority of his work, you’re immediately aware of the sheer variety of elements he has to work with. Every surface is crammed with neatly labelled bottles and vials of spirit, from every conceivable source.

Without wanting to be cryptic, we were shown a few things that we were sworn to secrecy over. Suffice to say, there is so much history and innovation in that room, that for any whisky fan, it would leave you speechless.

I personally cannot tell you how lucky we were to experience the two hours we spent there. I know we are in a very small minority that get the chance to talk with Richard, and an ever smaller group who have had the good fortune to share a unique view behind the scenes.

As our visit drew to an end, Richard had one last surprise for us. We were each treated to a generous dram of The Dalmore Eos. Spirit that is of a minimum of 59 years old. Words fail us.

It was amazing.

Luckily, The Nose didn’t tell us what we were about to taste, otherwise there may have been some shaky hands. Beyond all the hyperbole, the debate over prices of exclusive whiskies, one thing that was abundantly clear was that this was exceptional whisky. After something like that, you probably have to reconcile yourself with the possibility that you may never taste anything as good as that again in your lifetime.

Personally, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a return visit at some point in the future.

We had a fantastic time, and would like to thank Rob Bruce and Jill Inglis for answering our persistent badgering over setting this up, Colin Heggie for his photo-wizardry, and of course, Richard himself for his time and patience.

The view from here

So, if you’ve been wondering why the silence from this end of the whisky tasting operation, it’s because I’ve been busy renovating, selling and moving house. Something which automatically calls for a dram.

The family and I have relocated to Fife. Rural enough without being remote, and fine for transport in any direction and by any mode, be it winged or wheeled.

And most importantly, closer to the whisky.

In the interim, it appears that Dubber has taken delivery of several samples of the new Dalmore releases – but whilst for the most part, he did the gracious thing and saved me the trouble of tasting them, he managed to send me one to evaluate.

On the rocks

The Dalmore Castle Leod is the second bottling to draw attention to Dalmore’s close historic ties with Clan Mackenzie (see tasting notes for that here… ). The Castle itself has been home to Clan Mackenzie since 1606, and The Mackenzie bottling helped in part to support The Mackenzie Clan Gathering last year.

It’s great that whisky companies appear to be waking up to the fact that their products are synonymously intertwined with culture, and are choosing to associate themselves with important issues and causes. Whilst the more cynical of you may dismiss this as mere marketing, I for one, am happy to see the profile of these causes benefitting from the extra exposure. If you can enjoy a dram whilst helping maintain important cultural iconography, then why not?

As for the dram itself, here’s what I made of it:

Nose: heavy wine notes, pot ale syrup/treacle, chocolate orange, custard creams, dried fruit

Palate: Astringent, big, robust, wine notes, lots of sawn wood, cocoa powder, blackcurrants, copper (?!?)

Finish: More red wine in the finish initially, giving way to chocolate again, back to wine and dried fruit, perhaps tropical fruit, mango, pineapple and the like, quite lengthy

All in all, an unusual whisky, but certainly offering something of the luxurious, as befitting it’s namesake. It would be a great end to a celebratory evening.

You can book a tour of the castle itself if you become one of the Dalmore Custodians. Next time I’m up that direction I intend to check it out.

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!

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!

So, the paternal readership of this will probably be curled up on the sofa with the Sunday papers and a dram in their hand… Doesn’t get much better than that really, eh?

But wait…. Yes it does!

We’ve just been alerted by the lovely people at Jura Distillery, that they’re offering a trip for two to Jura Lodge.

Yes, you too can re-enact the shambolic happenings that we forced the patient locals to endure – or, perhaps you can behave in an altogether more civilized fashion, and restore their faith in humanity…?

Regardless of your course of action, we guarantee that you’ll have a wonderful time amidst some of the most bewitching scenery Scotland has to offer.

There will also be some pretty spectacular whisky involved.

To enter, all you need to do is check out the official blurb:

“Stories, myths and folklore abound on Jura. To sample its idiosyncratic delights first hand we’d like to hear one about you and your father. In 300 words or less weave a tale that involves the pair of you, a little luck and perhaps some Jura. That done and you could be the very fortunate recipient of a stay in the eclectic and unforgettable Jura Lodge on the island itself. It’s a place like no other on an island like no other.”

So get typing, entitle your email “Father’s Day Tale”, and send it to info@isleofjura.com before the 1st August 2009, and if you win, you have to take me. That’s in the rules.*

*It’s not actually in the rules…

In some circles, known as simply ‘The Nose’. Richard Paterson will bring a wealth of experience to tomorrow night’s proceedings.

Richard’s worked with Bruichladdich, Tamnavulin, Tullibardine and Tomintoul, and now heads up the selection process for what goes into the finest blends in the Whyte & Mackay portfolio, and also cask selection for the single malts of Isle of Jura, Dalmore and Old Fettercairn.

This is a great chance to ask someone with true industry expertise any burning questions you have about the blending or cask selection process.

Richard Paterson will be joining us from 8:30pm GMT online, so make sure you’re there…

You’ll find all the action under the usual hashtag, #twhisky.

Join us in an epic battle, which will basically consist of trying to get though this colossal list of whiskies…

We’ve all done it; thinking we know best and turning our noses up at the proffered dram from a bottle that says BLEND on it. But there’s more to it than that.

Vatted, Malt, Blend, Grain – the distinctions will be made, compared and contrasted, and hopefully explained. We’re out to investigate these fickle beasties properly this time, without the aid of cola or Canada Dry, and I already know that there are some that would give even the pricier single malts a run for their money.

As ever, we’ll be tweeting live, going through the tried and tested format of nose/palate/finish under the #twhisky hashtag, so spread the word (and the cost – if you rope a couple of mates in…) and get your weekend off to a sociable start, with a wee bit of knowledge and a couple of opinions thrown in for good measure…

Here are the candidates (you’re bound to be able to lay your hands on at least one of these!):

Whyte & Mackay Old Luxury 19 Year Old
Whyte & Mackay Supreme 22 Year Old
Monkey Shoulder
Pig’s Nose
Sheep Dip
Compass Box Peat Monster
Compass Box Peat Monster Reserve
Compass Box Flaming Heart
Compass Box Asyla
Compass Box Hedonism
Compass Box Oak Cross
Black Bottle

There may be more. There may be special guests.

Look forward to seeing you on the internets.

The real reason we were on Jura a couple of weeks back was to be the first bloggers (and among the very first people in general) to taste the limited edition Paps of Jura bottlings.

The bottles are all signed by Master Distiller Willie Cochrane (he told us it took him three days to sign 1600+ bottles of each one) – and there are, like the mountains themselves, three in the range.

They are from left to right above:

Sacred Mountain: Barolo finish
Colour: Golden hay
Nose: Citrus and cinnamon with lavender.
Palate: Fudge, oranges, fruit salad.
Finish: Short finish, sweet – almost honey.

Mountain of Sound – Claret finish
Colour: Coppery highlights
Nose: Nuts, cloves, citrus peel, grandma’s kitchen.
Palate: Red wine, dark chocolate, caramel, christmas cake.
Finish: Rich and warm, Christmas – nutmeg, eggnog.

Mountain of Gold: Pinot Noir finish
Colour: Golden with ruby highlights.
Nose: Cocoa, exotic fruit, rose.
Palate: Mulled wine, marmalade, aniseed, berries, ground pepper.
Finish: Dry and a little astringent. The pepper remains.

Overall: Of the three, we strongly preferred the Mountain of Sound. That said, it’s not the jewel in Jura’s crown. That honour goes to the 16 year-old. Our favourite of the Jura range, however, is the Earth bottling from the Elements range – which appeals to our taste for the peatier end of the spectrum – and the Super Strength Superstition is something we’re awaiting with bated breath.

For drinking, I’d be hard pushed to justify that type of expenditure on a bottle, but the attraction here is definitely the trio as a centerpiece for the enthusiast’s collection. However, if you’re lucky enough to have that sort of spending cash hanging around, there are not many better choices in this budget range that you could crack open and be assured of not only a talking point due to it’s lovely packaging, but an idiosyncratic dram that truly reflects a part of Jura’s unique character – both the island, and the distillery.

If we ever encounter these bottlings again, I know we’d be instantly reminded of the rugged skyline, and the kindness we were shown, and for me, those are the kind of experiences I treasure when being introduced to something, be it friend, place, or dram.