Born and raised in Chesterfield , England now residing in Manchester with my lovely wife Niki. With family roots in Wick, North East Scotland.
I love to get north of the border as often as i can. From the central belt and city breaks, Aberdeen and Speyside to the wilds of Sutherland and Caithness.
The trips usually have a whisky element whether that is a Distillery visit a great whisky bar or a new found bottle shop stacked to the rafters with old and new bottlings.
As well as the whisky my love for the outdoors and nature mean that Scotland especially the highlands is where i feel at home and relaxed.
Balnakeil Bay – Looking back towards Balnakeil House
Welcome to my blog.
I have wanted to start a blog for sometime but words don’t tend to get from my brain to paper or screen very easily. I was never interested in language or literature at school and have always been a numbers person.
So after years of procrastinating I want to push myself into getting some thoughts down, share some photos, words and hopefully some Whisky with you all.
Where to start – Lets start at the beginning (or in this case the end of the road). A place I love to visit and enjoy not only the sheer beauty of the surroundings but the peace and quiet, lack of digital interference (No internet here!) and that link back to nature.
End of the Road
Balnakeil Bay just past Durness really is the end of the road. Wonderful white sands and electric blue seas on a sunny day. Busy on the summer weekends but if you are lucky enough to go on a warm sunny day in May or early June you can often have the whole beach to yourself as we did on the day of the photo.
So my journey has a great starting place, albeit a fair way away from any distilleries (i think on a good day with no traffic you would be hard pressed to get to any even Wolfburn in under 3 hours).
Fear not i am aiming to get to visit, sample or investigate as many as i can and hope you will join me on the journey.
I have always enjoyed whisky from an early age. I have tended to stick to my usual suspects and never really thought of exploring the vast array of tastes and smells that the various distilleries have to offer.
My taste buds have changed a lot in recent years. After years of being a smoker i quit a few years back so the smokey islay drams i liked so much seemed to be too much for my palate. I switched to the sherry bombs of speyside. However i have changed my diet (need to lose a fair few lbs) to a low carb diet – meaning cutting right back on sugary stuff. This has changed my taste buds even more so even something like a carrot tastes very sweet to me now.
This has led me to start my whisky trek again from the beginning. It is a great time to be exploring the complexities different whiskies can offer. New finishing casks, new distilleries and the re awakening of some lost ones is very exciting. Easier access to bottlings from around Scotland and further afield will hopefully aid in my journey.
I have been thinking of a way to cover the long list of distilleries and tick them off on the way. I do have a few different bottlings and have tried many more over the years but i am going to start from scratch.
I think if i start with the SMWS list as reference and make my way through. Not necessarily trying the SMWS versions (good that they are) and not in their order but whatever bottles i have in or see on my travels/surfings. See the Whisky Checklist for my progress.
So every few weeks (when the day job isn’t too busy) I will be doing some investigations on a particular distillery, see what the history and current production is. Also, finding a bottle to taste and review. I am trying to find some non standard stuff from each distillery where possible, hopefully ones you haven’t had before. Then do a mini write up to my blog.
As whisky is always better shared and i would love to get your reviews on these drams as well. I am going to be sharing a handful of drams from each bottle for your thoughts. It will also help me with my tasting notes and review style.
Thank you for reading and there will be some good stuff online soon.
List of SMWS codes I have found so far. Distilleries not on this list I will add as a SW.x at the end. If you have details of UK distilleries not on that list let me know. Once a whisky has been reviewed the number will be updated to the Distillery details.
I won’t rate these by numbers as i don’t think i can benchmark against others to start with. I will let my shelves do the talking.
Split between Top, Middle and Bottom shelves. Top being really enjoyed and would be a first choice dram on a weekend. Middle being a great dram but not one i would reach for first. Bottom shelf is where i would only go back to these for a retasting and reference purposes as my palate memory grows over time.
Along with these ratings I will add if I would like to grab another statement from the distillery or if it is so good if I would try and source another bottle.
These are just my reviews and thoughts which may not be yours but we all have different tastes so welcome any of your feedback.
The 2nd one off my list is going to be the whisky that introduced me into single malts and was my first distillery visit and tour.
Old Pulteney from the Pulteney Distillery in the far north east of Scotland. Until very recently and for a very long time the most northerly distillery on Mainland Scotland.
I have a soft spot for this distillery, not only the great whiskies I have had over the years, the 21yr, 17yr and the 1989 lightly peated releases were standout ones for me but a more personal connection. My maternal family come from a small hamlet of Staxigoe on the outskirts of Wick. This was once home to the largest herring processing plant in Europe. The fishing harbour in Wick was very busy in the height of the silver darling boom, along with the fishing fleet the boats serviced the other local industry of Whisky production. Lack of road and rail transport links to this far northern outreach meant that the only option to get the ingredients in and this Golden liquid to the rest of the world was by boat.
Alas, the fishing boom has long gone as the fish stocks ran dry. Fortunately, the whisky is still being produced. There is the A99 to transport this nowadays but the maritime link that Old Pulteney had is still at the forefront of their business.
Many years ago on a visit to Wick we decided to see if we could find the distillery and have a look around. This was before smart phones and google maps so a bit of investigation and some assistance from the locals we ended up on Huddart Street. Not really a location you would expect for a distillery. If you picture Speyside ones nestled in green Glens or Islay ones on rocky shorelines on the island. This is a million miles away. It is in a semi industrial area past some old rows of terraced housing. The low sprawling warehouses blend in with the surrounding houses and the only real landmark to find the distillery was the old little sign outside the visitors centre. (blink and you will miss it if driving past)
Whisky tourism hadn’t taken off at that time so we were waiting a little while to see if anyone else was arriving to take the tour. Luckily 2 Canadian gents came along to join us.
The tour was very informal yet informative with some anecdotes thrown in around the still structure with its bulbous base to a swan kneck (a feature recreated on their bottles). Apparently this was due to the top being cut off to fit in the still house.
A quick nosey around the warehouses on site. The coastal location adds a salty element to the maturation process.
The post tour tasting was down in the visitor centre area that was once the malting floor.
We have been back a few times since and seen the growth of the tourist side of the distillery. If you are ever up this way I would highly recommend a stop off to see how they do things and of course to taste their whiskies.
The Distillery was founded in 1826 by James Henderson in Pulteneytown the south side of Wick. The name is taken from Sir William Pulteney a politician and landowner. As a side personal connection when supporting my wifes rugby team Bath Rugby we often stand on Pulteney Bridge (named after Frances Pulteney wife of Sir William Pulteney) in Bath over the River Avon looking out to the Recreation Ground.
In 1920 James Watson took over control, unfortunately 2 years later Wick became a ‘dry’ town this lasted for 25 years and no alcohol licenses were permitted within the Royal Burgh.
This along with the global economic depression meant that in 1930 the distillery was mothballed.
1951 Robert Cumming acquired the site and production has been ongoing ever since.
1955 the ownership changed to James & George Stoddart.
1995 Inver House Distillers took over and remain to this day.
For this Whisky review I am going out on a limb a little. I have a bottling that has not much information apart from the bottle, carton, labels, excise stamp and a little investigation.
I came across this bottle a couple of months ago. It caught my eye as it wasn’t anything I had seen before. It had Old Pulteney 25 yrs on it and was from a single cask range.
Investigations led me to the following. (and thanks to Angela at Gordon & Macphail for some assistance)
The bottle type, carton and seal are from the G&M single cask range bottled for La Maison Du Whisky.
These usually have unique labels applied to the bottle and carton. However this label suggests it was for a specific event for ‘Puritan’ yacht and is not one G&M had applied.
On further inspection on my bottle the tax seal is an Italian one from mid 2000s onwards and the laser code when checked with G&M suggests this was bottled in 2008.
The label states this is a 25yr old at 45% ABV.
I am going to sample this along side the 17 yr old
17 & 25 year old
25 yr old
colour
pale gold
nose
vanilla
oak
sea ozone
grassy notes
palate
citrus
honey
black pepper
brine
malt
caramel wafers
finish
a medium finish
a little sweet spice
oranges and a hint of chocolate
This is a classic Pulteney with the sweet and salty mix. Not as spicy as other releases i have had but there is a real freshness about this. One i could drink on a laid back evening. Alas i don’t think i could buy another one of these but it is going on my Top Shelf. I will of course be adding to my Old Pulteney collection over the coming months with some cask strengths and other expressions.
17 year old
colour
deep gold
nose
fresh orchard fruits
woody notes
earthy dunnage warehouse
spiced cake
salty sea breeze
palate
a bit more heat in this on the mouth and tongue
cinder toffee
christmas spice and ginger
waxed orange peel
very sweet
finish
again not too much spice
salted caramel
some oak notes
quite drying
I do like the 17 yr old. my bottle was emptied quite a while ago. luckily i had a dram bottle left to try alongside the 25yr.
This one will also go on my top shelf. I do love the 17yr. but think i may opt for a bottle of the 18 year from the new expressions to see how that one is.
I want to bottle a handful of samples of the 25yr to share, if you would like one, are over 18, in the UK and follow me on twitter just DM me that you are interested in the Old Pulteney. I will select a few random folk and get a sample out to you.slàinte
So to begin my whisky rediscovery what better place to start on the SMWS list than at number 1.
Glenfarclas
Not a distillery i have been to visit yet. I have passed by a couple of times but its usually en route to other places of interest. It is on my list of tours to visit next year. The tours and especially the Ships Room look amazing.
I know they are a family run business in the heart of speyside. They do not have to please shareholders so can do things the way they want to and produce some great whiskies.
I have had numerous whiskies from this distillery from the 105s to the 15, 17 and 21 year olds, non of them disappoint but i want to revisit this distillery with something a little different.
A 25 year old distillery bottling for Scotch Whisky Auctions 100th Auction.
This limited edition release earlier this year was something that caught my eye as it’s a higher abv 51% than the standard 25 year old of 43%.
Bottled: 2019
Age: 25 Years Old
Cask Type: Oloroso Sherry Butt
51% ABV / 70cl
Bottle Number: One of only 900 bottles released
Nose
old wood and varnish
musty earthy smell – dunnage warehouse?
melon
a good alcohol hit – not too much
Leather
Palate
Dark sugar
Quite sweet
A small hint of christmas spices
Slight smoke
Plum jam
Finish
long chilli spice finish
Oak
Overall this is a very smooth drinkable dram. It didn’t have strong flavours and was very rounded. I am going to add this to the middle shelf as I have had whiskies that i would much prefer to drink on a regular basis. As this is a first pour from the bottle I will revisit this in a few weeks time. I will certainly be getting more bottlings from Glenfarclas, the family cask range has looked very interesting.
I want to bottle a handful of samples to share, if you would like one, are over 18, in the UK and follow me on twitter just DM me that you are interested in the Glenfarclas. I will select a few random folk and get a sample out to you.slàinte
StewedWhisky 