More Island Malts

Posted on 2004/09/07 19:15:51 (September 2004) by john.

A further foray into the single malts from the islands of Scotland...

Yes that's right, I have a few new bottles of whisky. I have decided to try and branch out from Islay a bit (partly because I've had a bottle from each of the distilleries now), and the natural progression seemed to be to move through some of the other islands first.


First up is a bottle Talisker, from the Isle of Skye. This is a 1990 Distiller's Edition. This is actually the second bottle of Talisker I've owned, and I have to admit, to begin with I didn't get on that well with the first bottle I had. Odd, because Talisker is famously peaty and seaweedy, which are things I usually relish in a malt. I put this down to the fact that Talisker was (I think) only the second bottle of single malt I had ever bought, and so I was still getting used to the whole thing at that time - particularly at the start of the bottle...! Anyway, I have been itching to try Talisker again, now that I am pretty sure whatever the "acquired taste" part was, I have now acquired. As it happens though, this particular expression is quite different to the regular 10 year old. It is finished in Amoroso casks, which makes for a much smoother and sweeter drink. On reflection, I probably bought these bottles the wrong way round - this edition would have made a better introduction to Talisker, before then going for the more familiar "bad boy" 10 year old. Anyway, it makes for an interesting alternative in my collection, a good contrast to the other more basic and "challenging" island malts.


Next Scapa, from Orkney. I bought this recently in Gatwick airport, whilst trying to waste time before getting on a plane to Toulouse. It baffled me why I have to get on a plane somewhere in order to find a whisky shop with a decent selection. Anyhow, rather than go for the regular 12 year old, I opted for an independent (in this case Gordon and Macphail) bottling, thinking it might be harder to find elsewhere. I slightly regret this now, as David Stirk's Malt Whisky Guide seems to suggest the regular bottling is in fact better. I did get a 13 year old rather than the 12, for almost the same price, but whether or not that extra year makes much of a difference I don't know. This is much sharper, a lot less sweet than the other two whiskies on this page. It initially has a smell which is almost hinting at white wine to my uneducated olefactory system, quite sharp, slightly citrusy. It remains quite sharp in the mouth, peppery, and has a bit of an assault on the tastebuds! There is some smoke in there. I think the jury is still out a bit on this one, but it is definitely interesting.


Finally Edradour. It sounds like a name from Lord of the Rings, don't you think? This was a present from a very kind friend of Chie's who had been to visit the distillery recently. The astute among you will notice this is not indeed an island whisky. In fact, the distillery is about as far away from an island as you can get in Scotland. Apparently, Edradour is Scotland's smallest distillery, where just three men do all of the work... but they must work pretty hard, because this little bottle is full of magic. The whisky is very sweet, rich, with quite a lot of vanilla in there. Very smooth and rounded flavour. A long way from the smoky, tarry old devils I have come to love of late, and yet somehow still really marvellous.

What time do you usually start work?

Posted by Karl at 2004/09/09 01:15:40.

Not sure what you're implying here.... Is it (A) that I might start work late because I'm frequently hung over from the night before thanks to all this whisky or (B) that I might start work late because I have to fit in a few quick drinks around 9AM....?

Posted by John at 2004/09/09 09:30:47.

Hadn't thought of (B).

Posted by Karl at 2004/09/10 01:58:12.

Note also, that I said, 'what time do you start work', not when do you get into work!

Posted by Karl at 2004/09/10 02:00:13.

Nearly the weekend, time to start the 'whoopee' machine!!!

Posted by Karl at 2004/09/10 02:01:22.

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