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Whisky of the Month

Scapa Glansa Single Malt

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Scapa Glansa

Scapa Glansa,

The name Glansa is taken from Old Norse and means ‘shining storm-laden skies’

Limited Availability at the LCBO

40% ABV

$83.60

I’m reminded of an early damp spring morning, with a blustery wind at my back. I have selected my driver as I’m not sure I can reach the par 3 220 yard 10th hole at Orkney Golf Club. This old style classic Scottish links course is providing quite the test for my amateur at best golf skills. With the salted bite of the cool sea air in the breeze, I am reminded of my hip flask full of this warm mysterious dram, picked up on a visit yesterday to the nearby Scapa distillery about 2 kms down the Scottish countryside. I pause to look over the the lush green landscape and the nearby shoreline. I take a swig of the Scapa Glansa… I’m instantly warmed by the light peated flavour and taken back to days gone by.  The sweet palate brings a euphoric sense of pleasure to my taste buds. As the finish finds me like the sunshine that has opened the clouds and has brightened up this old style links course. I am warmed by not only the rays of sunshine, but the warmth of this succulent dram, shame I am drinking it out of the hip flask as this whisky needs a proper Glencairn. I take a deep breath and a whisper of the salty warm delicate smoke fills my nostrils and tickles my senses. I smile and know that this will be a dram that provides the inspiration to approach this daunting par 3. I tee it up and unleash my swing, the swing and contact is pure. The brisk breeze knocks my drive down short of the green but in relative safety. I go for another nip and I am reminded why I made the trip from the mainland to the Orkney Islands during my travels to Scotland last year. As I sit crafting these notes in my basement bar, all it takes is the pop of the cork on my bottle of Scapa Glansa to transport me right back, to a place I would love to visit time and time again. Hey, maybe one of these times I’ll even par that 220 yard par 3.

Scapa Glansa is highly recommended, let this dram transport you on a taste adventure to the Orkney Islands.

For more information visit
http://scapawhisky.com/

Joshua Campbell

Whisky of the Month

Glengoyne 25 Year Old

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On January 26, 2019 we had a the opportunity to have the Glengoyne 25 Year Old as one of our featured tasters as we celebrated our 11 Year Anniversary as a Whisky club.

Club member Tamara has added her notes:

Glengoyne 25 Years

Specs:

Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Aged: 25 years

Matured in: Sherry Cask

Alcohol: 48.0%

Our purchase price: $485 CAD

Glengoyne 25 was not a hard sell on me from the get-go, generally being a fan of sherry casks.

Rich & spicy, with no peat, this whisky is a beautiful and impressive amber colour, a baseline signature of the sherry cask. My first impression, it tastes like it looks! On the brown sugary sweet side, but not too sweet, it reminded me of Grandma’s Christmas fruitcake, which would perennially appear on the kitchen counter around December 25 throughout my childhood, and which would still be there come March, mysteriously intact. I never developed the taste for indestructible cake crammed with old dried fruit, but I’ll take these homey flavours in my whisky. Throw in a little orange flavour, a few nuts (walnuts, almonds?) and bam! A bottle that I certainly would include as a highlight of my personal collection. Apologies however, the LCBO does not carry this bottle, making it difficult to obtain in Ontario.

Other common comments from online reviews are notes of old leather, cinnamon and licorice, which were not the stand out elements for me in sampling this bottle. Kensington Wine Market reviews this whisky on their website as “one of the best releases by any distillery in the last few years”. This whisky also won Gold at both the Asian Spirits Masters 2018 and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2017.

The distillery’s slogan, “Unhurried since 1833”, reflects perfectly in this bottle. Very easy to drink and a definite go-back-for seconds experience. Overall, a great selection for those who want a complex, rich whisky without the smoke. Skip the dessert, just have a Glengoyne!

Wow what an endorsement, if the above notes strike you we would highly recommend this Glengoyne expression.  Cheers!

Whisky of the Month

Craigellachie 23 Year Old Single Malt

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The club recently celebrated our 11 Year Anniversary and this was bottle #2 in our tasting range for the evening, notes by member Adam Buchholtz.

Craigellachie 23 Year Old Single Malt

Specs: Speyside Scotch Whisky

Matured in: American Oak Cask

Alcohol: 46%

Our Purchase Price: $535.85 (LCBO in Ontario)

Nose: The first impression on the nose of this whisky is quite complex. I picked up some peppery notes, with an aromatic spice blend, along with something akin to sulphur. It seemed like quite a pungent smell, with a hint of sea salt mixed in. Absent for me were the fruity notes that are mentioned in many a review of this whisky, however I was so excited to taste it, that it may not have had the requisite time in the glass to fully envelope my senses.

Taste: Immediately I got an old leathery taste, almost rawhide-esk, to go along with a very oily mouthfeel. I was surprised at how different this expression is from their younger age statement bottles. With the taste also came a range of fruits, mostly tropical and citrusy in nature, like pineapple, orange, or even grapefruit. It meshed surprisingly well with the leathery flavours and made for a complex dram.

Finish: Again the oiliness was evident on the finish, with some heat from pepper notes, but also sweet citrus, with a touch of honey. It lasted quite a while, with a dryness to it that allowed it to linger.

Overall: The Craigellachie 23 is a complex scotch, as should be expected from anything that has been matured in American Oak for 23 years. However at the price point, it isn’t a bottle that I would strive to add to my personal collection. It is definitely worth a taste if you should be able, but I would not go out of my way for another dram

Whisky of the Month

Collectivum XXVIII-Special Release 2017

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Background from Mater of Malt website:

There was quite the hullabaloo when Diageo announced that its 2017 Special Releases series would include a blended malt for the first time. Luckily, Collectivum XXVIII lives up to the hype. Not only does the expression include malt from every single operational Diageo distillery*, its also really rather lovely. It’s the only blend of its kind ever released, and at 57.3% ABV, it packs quite the (tasty) punch.

*There’s 28. We counted them: Auchroisk, Benrinnes, Blair Athol, Caol Ila, Cardhu, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dailuaine, Dalwhinnie, Dufftown, Glendullan, Glen Elgin, Glenkinchie, Glenlossie, Glen Ord, Glen Spey, Inchgower, Knockando, Lagavulin, Linkwood, Mannochmore, Mortlach, Oban, Roseisle, Royal Lochnagar, Strathmill, Talisker and Teaninich.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Chocolate, sweet cake, red berries and  a hint of apples to start. Custard and cocoa sit underneath and a sprinkle of candied lemon lies on top.

Palate: Quite hot to start – it takes water well – with intense cinnamon and nutmeg spiciness. Orchard fruit comes in through the middle, surrounded by lemon and orange. Spice fades and then builds again, with liquorice and hints of smoke at the back.

Finish: Damp leaves and spice fading to chocolate milk.

Comment: A densely packed dram that needs time to reveal itself. A drop of water helps – while it’s great that the Special Releases are bottled at full strength, this one definitely needs a drop to show its full potential.

Bottom line if you have a chance to try it, it’s well worth your time and money, great work on this blend Diageo.

Whisky of the Month

Glenglassaugh Torfa

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Torfa bottling notes: We’ve seen the Revival and the Evolution, and now Glenglassaugh are adding a peated expression to their range. The Torfa (which refers to the Old Norse word for turf or peat) has been matured in ex-bourbon barrels and weighs in at 20 PPM. We love to see that Glenglassaugh is back up and running again after being closed for over 20 years, and they’ve even got enough momentum to try new things, as this is their first peated single malt Scotch whisky!

 

Whisky of the Month

Glenlivet Cipher

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At our May gathering we had the pleasure of tasting the Glenlivet Cipher.  This month we wanted to try out some duelling reviews.  Chad Nagle and Mark Buchholtz offer up some perspectives.

First up Chad:

Glenlivet Cipher

Tasted on May 25th 2018

The idea behind the Glenlivet Cipher is mystery, with no age statement and only information about the casks printed on the bottle left me intrigued. Glenlivet is trying something different this time around, I mean I appreciate consistency, no matter where I am I can get a dram of Glenlivet 15 or at least a 12 year and be content after a long day of travelling or working.

With that in mind, here is what I was able to decipher from Cipher.

Colour:

Nice Dark Amber with rich tones, typical of a Sherry Cask

Palate:

Smooth, Fruity, pears and honey with dark chocolate standing out.

Finish:

Short mild burn, no heat and a quick finish.

Conclusion:

Typical of a Glenlivet, nothing new or surprising about this bottle….

With no age statement on this bottle, I would compare it to their 18 year with a slightly higher price tag.

The marketing, design and presentation of the bottle is very well done, definitely desirable for any collector and with limited availability of the Glenlivet Cipher this will make it surely sought after by collectors. I am a fan of Glenlivet but I was a little disappointed as I was expecting something different or unique out of the Cipher. But as the old adage goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Next up Mark’s take:

For our May 2018 taster we had the pleasure of securing a bottle of Glenlivet Cipher from our club’s friend and Glenlivet brand manager Frank.  The first thing that strikes you is the mysterious box that the bottle comes in. When you angle it in the light letters show up in different shades and you can make our groupings of letters that seem to form words of flavour profiles.  It presents an intriguing proposition right from the get go. The mystery grew deeper when taking the bottle out of the box as it was opaque black and you are unable to see the spirit. This bottle and packaging is truly unique and it will stick out on your whisky shelf/cabinet, and act as an eye catcher and conversation piece.

Bottling and packaging aside let’s get to the spirit.

You could certainly look up tasting details and notes of the bottle before hand but half the fun is drinking it blind.  Upon pulling out the cork of the bottle the nose was soft, smooth, sweet with a subtle bit of spice, certainly mysterious in it’s own right as  I couldn’t quite place a label on the sweetness.

Pouring out a dram into my glass the spirit was amber in colour and I was able to get more of the spicier parts of the nose with a more pronounced swirl of my glass. The aroma was absolutely inviting and it didn’t take long to delve into the first sip.

Initial flavouring was a combination of sweet, spicy and then a little bit of heat (which after reading the notes it was bottled at 48% explained the heat factor) The sweetness reminded me of a sweet apple like the Honey Crisp variety, got some raisin flavours in there as well, hints of toffee almost like a bit of a darker caramel, leaning into the realm of dark chocolate.  All these blended together in a smooth drinkable dram.

The finish was warm with hints of spice, it didn’t linger overly long but that was tough to judge based on my eagerness to drink some more so shortly after the first sip. This expression to me was flawless in its makeup and was all the more exhilarating due to the mystery of the Cipher!

Price point here in Ontario at the LCBO is $199.99, I would highly recommend the purchase should your budget allow.

Details taken from Glenlivets website for further details:  

“Using a combination of casks never seen before in The Glenlivet portfolio, our latest, limited-edition expression is truly unique. First-fill American oak imparts delicious notes of vanilla, honey and spices. First-fill sherry adds the opulence of dark chocolate, toffee and dried fruit. The combination: an intriguing fusion of intense, long-lasting flavours.

The Glenlivet Cipher is not chill filtered, so the full taste profile is maintained. The colours are natural, reflecting the personality of the wood. Bottled at 48%, this expression has the spirit to match its bold, yet balanced, flavours.

Intriguing and original.”

Mark Buchholtz