26/05/2018 Campbeltown Festival 2018 (Day 4) After-party #3

VK, DM, Bishlouk, CL and JS join me for a final hurrah. It is relaxed and leisurely.

Dalaruan 12yo (40%, Eaglesome Campbeltown Commemoration, b. ca. 1985) (me): it seems fitting, considering we are on High Street, which is a continuation of the street named Dalaruan. Nose: soaked Smyrna raisins, dried apricots and dried mangoes, Turkish delights. Mouth: soft, velvety, and then it has the bitter and drying characteristics of grape pips. Finish: a pinch of soot in apple juice, a slice of pear and bitter grape skins. This is softer than yesterday's again, weirdly; that is now the second in a row that has such a different profile. Love it. 8/10

Kinloch 12yo (40%, Eaglesome Campbeltown Commemoration, b. ca. 1985) (me): nose: another fruity one, it has plums and peaches. Very fresh! Mouth: peach juice, a hint of nut shells and verdigris. Finish: long and soft with fruit and a little dust. 8/10

Balvenie-Glenlivet 12yo 1979/1992 (59.5%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection 150th Anniversary) (me): nose: oil, pearl onions, mustard; this is hard and difficult a nose. It also has forsythia and honeysuckle in the far back, as well as wood dust. The whole is rather pickled. CL detects sap and wax, long afterwards. Mouth: ginger, wood shavings, aniseed (CL). Later, it turns more fruity. Finish: hot, with soft and sweet notes too, burnt caramel. I would like to spend more time reviewing this one. It is a challenging beast (Bishlouk cannot finish his) and these notes do not do it justice. 7/10

JS pours the next two blind.

Glencadam 14yo 1964/1979 (45.7%, Cadenhead) (JS): I do not try this one, tonight. It is popular. DM notes that the font is the same as on the Tintin covers.

Littlemill 28yo 1985/2013 (50.5%, Robert Graham Treasurer Selection, C#99, 230b) (JS): nose: boom! Tropical fruit to the brim -- nectarines, mangoes, purple passion fruits, carambolas, papayas. There is also a pinch of coffee grounds and mango peels. Mouth: total acidic fruit juice. Bliss. Magnificent, juice-bursting, tropical fruit. Finish: all sorts of tropical-fruit jams -- an explosion of them. This is unbelievable, better than previously, if anything. Oxidation suits it well. I still firmly believe this is the best Littlemill ever bottled. 10/10

The evening is still young. Bishlouk and CL have an early start and leave; JS goes to bed, but VK, DM and I carry on.

Longrow 12yo (40%, Eaglesome Campbeltown Commemoration, b. ca. 1985) (me): we have the hardest time opening this one. Fortunately, VK finds pliers in the kitchen. We damage the cap, but the bugger is open alright! Nose: tractor tyres and nail varnish, farm paths, shoe polish. It seems to have more to it than the current Longrow (according to the label, this is not the Springbank-distilled, heavily-peated version made since 1973, but a blended malt). It also has rhubarb and a hint of rubber. Mouth: soft and velvety, if quietly powerful. A tranquil force, really. The shoe-polish note comes back to the fore. Finish: long, sherry-driven, with dried dates, nuts and walnut stain. Excellent. 8/10

Toberanrigh 12yo (40%, Eaglesome Campbeltown Commemoration, b. ca. 1985) (me): nose: faded leather, nut liqueur, apricot stone, furniture polish, the dashboard of a Jaguar XK140. Mouth: more of that lovely walnut liqueur, with the syrupy sugar associated. Shoe polish again? No! Furniture polish and walnut paste. Finish: slightly sweet, with candied nuts, syrup, caramelised fig relish and char-grilled chestnuts. Another fantastic dram. This collection is amazing! 8/10

That concludes our Campbeltown adventures for this year. Tomorrow is the MOK Run (I do not take part), and the day after, the thirteen-hour journey back to the big city.

In terms of high-/lowlights, it is striking that what I enjoyed most this year were the after-parties and the off-festival drams (that Littlemill!!!) What worked least for me was the Springbank Malt Barn dinner: the cask selection, the food and the atmosphere in general were less impressive than last year. I suppose it is all subjective, however.

26/05/2018 Arran tutored tasting

Hot chocolate with Arran Gold

Venison burger

JS, Bishlouk, CL and I took the tour an hour ago (we had food prior). It was a very disappointing experience. A big group, a guide who gave lots of information in what I felt was a very sloppy way, who managed to have a go at Bishlouk and me for venturing five metres away from the group (to take pictures before people would stand in the way), and who, generally speaking, put the spotlight on confusing details: she never mentioned how the barley was ground into grist, yet spent some time trying to remember whether the water discharge into the sea is a twenty-metre pipe, or a forty-metre pipe. Maybe accurate, certainly irrelevant.

The tutored tasting that follows is with the same guide, which we are not very happy about. We all wonder if she has been on the sauce since the morning. We try to make the best of a touchy situation.

Since Bishlouk and I were here last year, we know the formula: four groups of three bottlings each, and we can choose one from each group.

The Arran Malt 18yo (46%, OB, b.2016, 3 16 46 BB): nose: chocolate mousse and cake-y biscuit, orange rinds. Mouth: PiM's cakes, orange rinds, dark chocolate. In the back, I spot a drop of pine sap. Finish: long, warming, it has chocolate shavings, pressed orange segments -- lots of it, actually. Nice. This is very good, as good as in January, likely the best in the current official range. 8/10

The Arran Malt (50%, OB, Amarone Cask Finish, b.2018, 3 09:12 BB): nose: strawberry and whisky-infused jam. It is nice, yet I can feel it becoming tiresome quite quickly. Cloves and cinammon sticks. Mouth: grape juice in texture, velvety and a little tannic. Finish: Fragolino (Italian strawberry wine). The wine influence is huge, drying and tannic. Decent. 6/10

The Peated Arran Malt Machrie Moor (58.1%, OB, B#4, b.2017): nose: burnt hay, manure, straw left in the sun for a day, shoe polish and a touch of smoke. Mouth: big, smoky, kippery, with heat, gingery heat, to be accurate, and soft bandages. Finish: smoked oysters, mussels, kippers; this is surprisingly coastal and bold, yet soft at the same time, with a drop of honey. 7/10

The Arran Malt 10yo 2007/2017 James MacTaggart (54.2%, OB Master of Distilling, First Fill Bourbon Barrels, 12000b): nose: ginger, sawdust and caramelised custard. Mouth: soft, creamy, though sawdust rears its head. It is mildly drying, but mostly accessible. Finish: vanilla, coconut yoghurt and some spices. 7/10

Bishlouk lets me try the following.

The Arran Malt 16yo 2001/2018 (54.9%, OB Single Cask Distillery Exclusive, Bourbon Cask, C#752, 190b, b#112): nose: very woody, with sawdust and wood glue. Crème brûlée, too. Mouth: drying, woody, with verdigris and lemongrass. Finish: disappointing, until a gentle slap of tropical fruit hits you by surprise. 7/10

The Arran Malt 18yo 1999/2018 (53.7%, OB Single Cask Distillery Exclusive, Sherry Cask, C#144, 262b, b#135): nose: rather nutty, this one, with a lick of berry jam. Mouth: lingonberry, dark fruits, decaying. It is very chewy. Finish: dark cherries and other dark fruits and fruit jellies. Nice. 7/10

The tour experience depends on which guide does the tour. The previous two times, I had lots of fun. This time, less so. As for the tasting, the formula does not change, but the bottlings do. The wine casks (Amarone, Port, Sauternes) are the same as last year. The exclusive, of course, change, as do some others. It goes without saying that doing this every week would quickly become monotonous, yet with twelve drams to choose from, there should be enough entertainment to keep the casual taster or chance visitor interested.

26/05/2018 One dram while waiting for the ferry

Bishlouk, CL, JS and I are going to Arran. We have a little time in Claonaig, before the ferry arrives, and put it to good use with a Campbeltown Commemoration dram.

Weird stickers, in that shed!

Now seems like a good time to say a little more about this range.

Campbeltown used to be the whisky capital of the world, with thirty-seven distilleries for around 18,000 inhabitants at its peak. It now has closer to 5,000 inhabitants and only three active distilleries (Springbank, Glengyle and Glen Scotia). Those numbers are the basis of nice graphs, certainly, but that is not the point. The point is that between 1890 and 1940, all those distilleries closed down. All of them? Not quite. Springbank soldiered on, with some spells of inactivity from time to time, but no lengthy closure or sale. In fact, it still belongs to the same family that co-founded it (Hedley Wright, whom I met yesterday, is the great-great-great grandson of Archibald Mitchell, who was distilling Springbank before it was licensed). Why there were so many and why the others have closed is the subject of a well-researched book by David Stirk, called: The Distilleries of Campbeltown -- The Rise and Fall of the Whisky Capital of the World, Angels' Share, which comes highly recommended. Not an easy read, but a very informative one.

After the Second World War, J&A Mitchell, owners of Springbank, acquired many of the old distilleries' brands -- that is what allows them to now make Hazelburn and Longrow. In the 1980s, during the Whisky Loch (to simplify: too much offer, too little demand), Springbank was going through a period of inactivity (almost nothing was distilled there between 1979 and 1989) and Glen Scotia was silent. Wright tried to put the spotlight on his region again with this collection of vatted malts (now blended malts) reviving the old names -- twenty-five of them. That is what the Lost Distillery Company (TLDC) does in the twenty-first century, but this collection, here, predates that by thirty years.

As with Longrow and Hazelburn and TLDC today, the concept is interesting, but would anyone be able to tell whether the result is a success or not? Well, one would be hard-pressed to find someone who has tried the original whiskies and testify. But here is the cool bit: Wright, alongside the names, acquired the recipes that all those distilleries were using. More than that, rumour has it that he owns samples of many of those distilleries' original output, which means he could compare his creations to the original indeed. And the result is this collection, about which not much is published, still.

I first discovered it in my first whisky book, Michael Jackson's World Guide to Whisky, Dorling Kindersley. MJ talked about Campbeltown and skimmed over its past glory: "[...] distilleries of Campbeltown renown live on, if only in their names [...]" I remember being puzzled by names like Rieclachan and Drumore, which I had never heard before and could find no other information about. Only twenty-five years later would I unveil a little more (thank you, Internet).
For the longest time, I thought the content of these was the same and only the labels differed. Then I thought they added more or less E150 to this or that bottle to give it a more individual hue (clearly, I did not know J&A Mitchell very well: they have never added colouring to anything). Having now tried several, I can say it is not so: they are all different. How many were there, and when were they released? More questions without answers for many years. Time and Internet have shed light on some aspects, not all.
It is unclear, for example, what whiskies Wright used to reproduce the old profiles. At the time, J&A Mitchell already owned Cadenhead, so it is relatively safe to think it was not only Springbank, but Cadenhead stocks. The Springbank bottling, labelled as the sole survivor, is also labelled as a vatted (blended) malt. Is it so? Springbank stocks were available, at the time, so why recreate the profile from other distillates? What about Longrow, which Springbank started making again in 1973, twelve years prior to this collection? There seems to have been twenty-five labels -- and I am careful with my words, here. However, many, if not all, were released with more than one mix, which one can easily identified by the colour: pale (lemon juice), dark (chestnut), or intermediate (light honey). Potentially, that is seventy-five distinct releases. Were those released at the same time, or in waves? Who knows?

The few reviews that have popped up online have been split, with scores ranging from 60/100 to 95/100, depending on who tried it and which version they tried. My own impressions have been generally good, so far. I do plan a monster session at some point, but for now, it is the sporadic tasting here and there.

And we will have one today. We are leaving Kintyre for a few hours. This one seems fitting.

Kintyre 12yo (40%, Eaglesome Campbeltown Commemoration, b. ca. 1985): nose: fresh, fruity and floral, it has cut apples, crisp and sweet. Perhaps the most minute smoke in the distance, and dried honeysuckle. Mouth: a lot softer than the other ones from this series that I have tried, so far. It has more crisp apple, a vaguely mineral note and banana skins. Finish: apple crumble, with custard and a pinch of herbs, and even a gentle note of flint. It leaves the tongue a bit dry and full of lichen. Lovely. 8/10

...aaaaaand, the ferry is here

25/05/2018 Campbeltown Festival 2018 (Day 3 -- Part 2) The Big Cadenhead Tasting

From lunch, we have to walk fast to the warehouse where this tasting is happening. In fact, everyone is there already, although they are queueing outside. The queue is so long that I have more than enough time to run back to meet Hedley Wright (chairman of J&A Mitchell), have a brief but friendly chat with him, and still be on time to find a nice seat.

Meanwhile, BH and BC drink proper stuff

This is a big duel between Jenna McIntosh (JMcI), who is in charge of Cadenhead's own ranges (Authentic Collection, World Whiskies, as well as that range with the closed distilleries and the one with the various cask maturations), and Cameron McGeachy (CMcG), who looks after the international ranges (Small Batch and Single Cask). JMcI is introduced with A-ha - Take On Me, while CMcG walks in, sporting boxing gloves, to the tune of... something no-one recognises. Survivor - The Eye Of The Tiger would have been so adequate, here! Mark Watt (MW) referees the fight, responsible as he is for both those channels.

Risin' up
Back on the streets...

Each of the contestants has brought one bottling available in the shop, one soon-to-be-released bottling for their respective ranges, and one exclusive cask sample.
The tasting is in the remote warehouse where the 175th Anniversary tasting took place last year, and it is fooking hot, inside.

"You don't get this at Springbank," says JMcI, defiantly.

JMcI presents: Macduff 29yo 1989/2018 (55.1%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Refill Sherry Butt, 190b): nose: some vinegar, unripe hazelnut, grape stems and grape pips. Mouth: big, boisterous, even, with hazelnut vinegar, raspberry vinegar and some spices. This is anaesthetising. Finish: softer now, with hazelnut paste and raspberry. This is good, but not balanced. Too hot. I tried it in the shop, a couple of weeks ago, and was not more impressed then. 6/10

CMcG presents: North British 32yo 1985/2018 (55.2%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 1 x Sherry Butt, 582b): nose: solvents and paint stripper, as well as wood lacquer. MW says he "would drink this through a shoe." I hope it says more about his taste than it does about his habits. Mouth: glue and rubber mats. It seems hot, though I am now wondering whether that is the pepper from lunch. Finish: it almost redeems itself, here, with blackcurrant and fruity turnovers. All in all, I do not like it much more than when it came out. 6/10

CMcG presents: Glenturret 31yo 1986/2018 (44.5%, Cadenhead Single Cask, Sherry Hogshead, 210b): nose: fresh cork, soft and plump, alongside waxy apricot. Mouth: much softer than expected, it has squashed apricots again. Finish: more apricots with just a tiny spoonful of hazelnut paste. 7/10

MW: "That's a very good Glenturret. It didn't taste like a Glenturret."

JMcI breaks a glass.

CMcG: "Not the first time Jenna's glassed someone."
MW: "Scotland. The only country that uses 'glass' as a verb."

JMcI presents: The English Whisky d.2009 (61.9%, cask sample, C#18/50-1): a peaty expression. Nose: leather and cow stable, dry hay, flames. Mouth: smoke, of course, but it is subdued. Lots of boiled sweets are the centrepiece. Finish: cereals, burning hay and melted boiled sweets. 7/10

JMcI presents: Aberfeldy 22yo (52.2%, cask sample): nose: fresh and youthful, with honeysuckle buds and Virginia tobacco. Mouth: soft, sweet, it has raspberry jam. Finish: honey, caramelised puffed rice (Kellogg's Smacks), and even coffee beans. This works less well, for me. 6/10

MW (to the room): "I'm looking forward to you trying to flip a bottle of Aberfeldy!"

CMcG presents: Bowmore 17yo (54.2%, cask sample): nose dry earth and lovely fruit, in the back. Mouth: big, pungent and elegant, with some smoke and lots of fruit. Finish: long, wide, earthy and well fruity, with whispers of mango and maracuja. 8/10

The tasting finishes. Queues start to form to buy the exclusive whiskies. The Bowmore, in particular, proves popular. I kept a drop of everything for MSo to try, since he could not make it in. When he joins me, he is only interested in the Bowmore, the label-drinker -- what a shame!

A lot of people I meet after the tasting are disappointed with the event and the selection. They feel they were let down. Dicks. Yes, the 2017 edition was more special. Cadenhead was 175 and pulled all the stops to impress the world. It worked: that was a legendary tasting. The company is now 176, hardly a milestone. Someone's forty-first birthday is rarely as baroque as their fortieth. Fact of life. Get over it. It is good to come back to reality, actually. That makes the really special events even more special.
And screw those who complained that, "there was not even a Littlemill, this year." Spoiled brats.

Whilst the lot is queueing for bottles, I sit on the lawn and pour whisky to friends -- Balvenie-Glenlivet 12yo 1979/1992 (59.5%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection 150th Anniversary). That, of course, attracts attention. Someone approaches me and asks if I would pour it to him, were he to give me some money. I tell him to pass his glass and ask where he is from. He turns out to be florian09, who has been looking for me for two days. Once he is done with the Balvenie, we have...

Ardlussa 12yo (40%, Eaglesome Campbeltown Commemoration, b. ca. 1985): nose: honey, hay and soot. Mouth: soft, honey-like, though much more assertive than the ABV suggests (bear in mind we have had cask-strength whiskies for several hours too). Finish: big, slightly drying, with lots of juicy apple and crumbly pear. 8/10

The afternoon unfolds, lazy and comfortable, on the sunny lawn. Life does not suck, right now.
Many (the Swissky Mafia, jazzpianofingers, the French contingent) soon make their way to Islay, though.

I am not attending the closing dinner, tonight, and there will be no after-party either (until tomorrow). The festival draws to a close, as far as I am concerned. Once again, I did not have one drink from the bar, sadly. The one time I considered it, everything was crossed out as unavailable.

25/05/2018 Campbeltown Festival 2018 (Day 3 -- Part 1) Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting

Up bright and early *ahem*, we have just enough time to go to the warehouse tasting at 10:00. In fact, we have to run the last few metres. JS and I walk past several friends who are on the 10:15 tasting. This one is done by Jenna McIntosh (JMcI) and Donald Brown (DB).
Last year's edition was one of the highlights, in terms of giggle-for-buck ratio, with classics, such as "I came with the school bus" and "would you say this is the best thing to come out of New Zealand." Expectations are therefore high.

JMcI explains last year was her first warehouse tasting, that she was shy and innocent, but is now more relaxed. She spots the London crew, rowdy that we are.

JMcI: "We all know Cameron. We could take the piss out of him all day, but that'd be a shame. We'll leave that for the 13:15."

JMcI: "What's your job title?"
DB: "...I'm complex."

Aultmore 21yo (53.2%, cask sample, C#17 136): nose: fresh, light, with a touch of sulphur. Mouth: crisp apples, sweet lemon drizzle, grape juice, vendanges-tardives style. Finish: sweet, it has a softly drying touch, lichen on stave or verdigris. Nice. 7/10

Strathclyde 29yo d.1989 (52.7%, cask sample, C#54009): nose: lemon cake, lemon zest, shortcrust pastry. Mouth: very, very sweet, it has stollen and sugar-y kramiek (a type of raisin bread). Finish: ginger bread and muscovado sugar, with a gentle drying aftertaste. I love this. 8/10

I learn later on that the 10:15 tasting has a Caledonian 31yo to replace the Strathclyde. Being a ghost hunter, I am jealous, because Caledonian is closed, and Strathclyde is not.

Highland Park 25yo (59.8%, cask sample, Barrel): nose: leather and custard gone off, then dried heather and honey. Mouth: hot, it has heather, honey and white pepper. Finish: long, with milk chocolate and pink peppercorns. This is big and intimidating. It leaves the lips numb for ever and after. 7/10

JMcI: "I say arr-chives, so I can spell it properly."

JMcI: "I'm useless with dates."

Laughters all around.

No clue if this is a picture of the right cask

Paul John 6yo (56.7%, cask sample): matured for five years in Goa, and one year in Campbeltown. Nose: light smoke, cereals, corn on the cob, straw and juicy fruit. Mouth: soft and fruity, it has hay on top. Finish: big, farm-y, with hay and dry fields. 7/10

DH: "You said this is peaty. Where do Indians get their peat from?"
DB: Peat comes from the ground!"

JMcI: "It blew my mind away. It doesn't take much."

Springbank 14yo d.2002 (57%, cask sample, Rum Barrel Finish, C#1704 I think): nose: another farm-y number, with tractor saddles. Mouth: sharp, crisp, apple-y. Finish: more apples, apple tart. Simple and efficient. 7/10

JMcI: "I take my wee sister everywhere."
DB: "That's because she can't get a date."

JMcI: "Donald's about to do some sucking, if you want to video."

Caroni 19yo (66.5%, cask sample): nose: very sweet and soft, with lots of fluffy grapes. Mouth: soft and velvety. Finish: sweet, with molasses, peaches and caramelised apricot. Dram of the day. A rum, if you please! 8/10

JMcI: "As soon as you go out and hit the sun, you'll be lying down on your back."
DB: "You hope they are!"

Lots of hilarious banter, usually un-PC, that would probably have HR's phone red-hot with complaints in less-relaxed parts of the world.

CD and PG whisk JS and me to the Harbourview Grille for a quick haggis nachos (bitch3s!) A great idea it is too! With another big tasting to come, we need to soak the alcohol a little.

24/05/2018 Campbeltown Festival 2018 (Day 2 -- Part 3) After-party #2

The attentive reader will notice there was no account of After-party #1. It was held last night, and I took no notes.

What a day! It takes me a few hours to recover my senses. The pours at Glen Scotia were huge, and following up with the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, full of heavy-hitters, proved challenging for the clarity of my mind. I spend the rest of the afternoon getting over the effects of alcohol, meeting friends (the Franco-Swiss contingent and others) and pouring Aberlour 23yo 1989/2013 (54.9%, Cadenhead Small Batch, Bourbon Hogsheads, 522b)
We have plans for supper, though. Last pour rings at the distillery and we head to the harbour, where the Swissky Mafia is having an apéritif. They invite us to join them. We try a very good Glendronach 1992 and an excellent Glen Grant 1960.

I wish you were whisky
Och, aye!

Then, it is time for food. And, on the Thursday at the Campbeltown festial, food means one thing: HAGGIS NACHOS, BITCH3S!

I have booked a table for six at 19:30. There are nine of us, and it is 18:50. Regardless, the staff at the Harbourview Grille accommodate us, much to our relief. JS, CD, PG, MD, CL, Bishlouk and two other Swissky Mafiosi (R and B) accompany me for a decadent supper to pump life (and thirst) back into our systems.

Haggis...

...effing nachos!

Campbeltown seafood pie

JS has a Kintyre salad...
...to eat light!

R, B and MD leave us shortly after that, broken by around twenty-four hours of driving. The rest of us retreat to our accommodation for a few drams.

Burnside 12yo (40%, Eaglesome Campbeltown Commemoration, b. ca. 1985) (me): nose: coal dust and hot sand. Mouth: hot, with green chilli, custard and caster sugar. Finish: soft, sweet, cake-y, with pudding and dried lime cubes. 7/10

Argyll 12yo (40%, Eaglesome Campbeltown Commemoration, b. ca. 1985) (me): nose: hay, caster sugar. Mouth: so sweet and almost rum-y, this is sugary. It is also big and robust, with lots of gingery heat. Finish: rough, full and sugary. Very rum-like, this one. 7/10

Glencadam 14yo 1964/1979 (45.7%, Cadenhead) (JS): someone else will observe in a couple of days that the font is closed to that of the Tintin covers. Nose: soft, delicate, with lots of flowers, jasmine, honeysuckle and yellow fruit (peach and apricot). Mouth: very fruity, it has melon, papaya, a dash of pepper. Preserved, char-grilled red peppers (sweetened by the char-grilling) and cooked courgettes. Finish: long, fresh, fruity, with lots of melon, watermelon juice, pomelo and sugar-cane juice. This is amazing! 9/10

Loch Lomond 33yo 1984/2017 (47.9%, Edition Spirits The First Editions for Belgium, Refill Hogshead, C#HL13287, 120b) (Bishlouk): nose: grassy and fruity at first, it soon becomes more leathery, only to flip back to grass and lots of citrus fruit. Mouth: yoghurt, then citrus (lime and pomelo). It has horsepower too. Finish: very fruity, acidic, again, with lime and unripe pomelo. 8/10

I suppose I am a bit pissed again.

CD: "Being pissed off is better than being pissed on."
tOMoH: "Germany produced great philosophers."

Glentauchers 41yo 1976/2017 (42%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection 175th Anniversary, Bourbon Hogshead, 126b) (Bishlouk): nose: vanilla and raspberry ice cream. Mouth: milky and acidic, full of lime and pomelo. Finish: long and lingering, it is citrus-y, with lime, pomelo and lime pith. 9/10



Others have Lochside 49yo 1964/2015 (41.2%, The Vintage Mal Whisky Co. The Cooper's Choice, Sherry Butt, C#6799, 540b) (Bishlouk). I have reached my limit, perhaps put off by CD's stroking the cock all night. :-)

I swear it made sense, on the night...

24/05/2018 Campbeltown Festival 2018 (Day 2 -- Part 2) The Directors Cut (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly)

JS and I rush down a sandwich on the way to the tasting. I spot the proprietor of Springbank from a distance, but no time to say hello. We make it to the last remaining seats just on time. The guy next to me complains that my food box is on the table, ruining the smells. I tell him it is empty, but will put it elsewhere. Five minutes later, he realises the smell comes from the burger stall outside and apologises -- mine was not even a burger!
The event takes a lot of time to start -- so long I have to run to the loo. I come back as it begins.

Mark Watt (MW -- head honcho of cask selection for Cadenhead), Findlay Ross (FR -- Springbank distillery manager) and Ranald Watson (RW -- Springbank director of sales and marketing) are MCing this. We are never told who is the Good, the Bad or the Ugly. Each has selected two casks for today, and it is a battle of sorts.

Remember I am tipsy. Notes are therefore short and not very good.

None of them played Morricone

FR presents: Hazelburn d.1997 (52.4%, cask sample, Refill Sherry Cask): the oldest Hazelburn in the warehouse, and possibly one of the earliest distillations. Remember Hazelburn, an old Campbeltown distillery, closed in 1925. Springbank started making whisky in the fashion of Hazelburn in 1997. It is triple-distilled and non-peated. Nose: soft, with apricot pie. Water makes it richer, somehow. Mouth: more softness, pillow-y apricot and peach flesh. Finish: crème brûlée, flan tart and caramelised apricot compote. 7/10

MW presents: Macallan 29yo d.1989 (±44%, cask sample, Bourbon Cask): the room roars with disbelief when MW says what this is. Although tOMoH is completely immune to Macallan, it still has loads and loads of aficionados. Or sheeple who drink labels -- who knows? "This was distilled before the Teletubby distillery was built," starts MW. "I was nine years old when this was distilled. It sat there doing nothing... A bit like myself," he continues. "You wouldn't pick this for a Macallan, as it has no expensive packaging." He knows how to work an audience, MW. Nose: green grapes, perfume, flowers. This is lovely, soft, delicate and fragrant, with hints of cologne. Mouth: soft, sweet and velvety like a vendanges-tardives wine, close to sorbet, or ice-cream shavings. Finish: soft again, with fruit and chocolate. 8/10

MW reminisces his early days at the Craigellachie Hotel: "the only reason I got the job is that I could reach the top shelf... and my sister slept with the manager."

The following day, Facebook is full of messages from Cadenhead's London shop explaining they have no idea what is coming out when and urging people to stop calling them about that Macallan they have never heard of. :-D

The barbecue smell from the burger stall comes back in full swing.

All smell of hamburger, now

RW presents: Springbank 27yo d.1990 (43.7%, cask sample, Refill Oloroso Cask, C#590): the oldest cask of Springbank owned by the distillery. Nose: a walk in an orchard, with added lychee and chocolate-topped custard. Mouth: fruity, lively, fresh and vibrant. Hyperactive grape juice. Finish: super fresh again, with grapes aplenty and apricot stones. Lovely. 8/10

RW: "It's great having a Findlay you can blame everything on."
MW: "I used to have one of them."

RW presents: Springbank d.1991 (48.7%, cask sample, Refill Oloroso Cask, C#5?2): nose: more herbaceous, but it has crisp fruit -- pears, Chinese gooseberries, lime and vanilla pods, or custard. Mouth: the acidity of lime. This is lively and amazing. Finish: bitter as lime peels, grapefruit peels. This is acidic, powerful, yet elegant. Possibly the best dram we will be poured all festival. 9/10

The embarrassing moment when jazzpianofingers and I
run after a guy who is not whom I think he is and struggle
through ten minutes of an awkward conversation

RW: "When you have 13000 casks to choose from, it's not easy to decide which one to choose for a tasting."
MW: "It sounds like an afternoon's work!"

RW: "Frank buggered off to Bushmills, for some reason..."
MW: "And this is a technical term."

RW is talking about Frank MchHardy, who left Campbeltown to go make possibly the best spirit ever to grace the Bushmills stills. McHardy came back to Springbank in 1991. This cask is one of the earliest whisky distilled after his return.

MW: "This is a cask that'll be bottled... soon-ish."
Audience: "When?"
MW: "Like Tuesday, or something."

OO quintuple-fists his exit

MW presents: Kilkerran d.2007 (58.1%, cask sample, Sherry Butt): Springbank allows Cadenhead to bottle one of their whiskies each year. This suggests Cadenhead will bottle a Kilkerran in 2018 -- the first independently-bottled Kilkerran, except for warehouse-tasting bottles. Nose: a creamery, with all sorts of dairy. This is also big and sherried, with lots of tanned leather, prunes in syrup and a whiff of smoke. Mouth: hot, caramelised prunes, pickled, red onions. Finish: big and sherried again, though in a strange, onion-relish sort of way -- smoky relish, that is. 7/10

FR presents: Longrow d.1994 (54.2%, cask sample, Refill Bourbon Cask): FR explains this is the oldest cask of Longrow the distillery owns. It certainly is the oldest Longrow I have had, what with it being 23 or 24. Nose: smoke, of course, but also a pronounced, coastal character -- sea air and seaweed. Mouth: soft, it still has lots of... I do not finish my notes. :-) 7/10

To the courtyard, for some fresh air.