Arran Whisky Tasting at The Rutland Arms

It was the height of the summer heatwave when the sweltering upstairs room of the Rutland Arms played host to David from the Isle of Arran Distillery and Sam from Indie Brands, a distributor focusing on a portfolio of spirits and cocktail producers from around the world, in an evening organised by our favourite spirits shop Starmore Boss.

We opened with the flagship release, the Arran 10 year old, while we were shown a short video about the distillery, based near the village of Lochranza on the north tip of  the Isle of Arran (We visited in 2015). The whisky itself has a smooth sweetness with heaps of vanilla and a little touch of white chocolate, that continues across the palate with apples and custard. The bourbon influence is massive, and we all agreed this was a great way to open the evening and an excellent choice for those not already familiar with the distillery to get a clear idea of its character from the off.

The next dram was a big step in age to the 18 year old release, which is delightfully refined. Finished in sherry casks to help round the flavours and add a wonderful punch of sticky dried fruits, raisins, prunes and a little cherry, bolstering the overall profile which holds a delicious dark chocolate character. The whole thing comes together in a way very much reminiscent of Rocky Road.

The brand new release Brodick Bay followed, the oldest of the evening at 20 years old and one of the most accomplished. The distillery itself being only 23 years old, to have the quality of spirit to release a drink as defined as this one is a monumental feat. This particular release is limited to 9000 bottles and bottled at cask strength of 49.8%. It has been aged for 8 years in ex-bourbon Buffalo Trace casks and sherry hogsheads before being blended and finished in Oloroso sherry casks. The palate holds plenty of dry sherry, but still loads of dried stone fruits, a little touch of spice and perhaps a little cinnamon. The wood character is clear and bold and really transfers a lot of the quality of the wood into the enjoyment of the spirit.

The Amarone is a whisky we've drunk before in the distillery, so there are more detailled notes here. It was interesting to drink this in such a different context, from the cooling winds of the Irish Sea to the sticky stillness of summer time UK '18. This was cleverly paired with a chunk of dark chocolate also made on Arran. The addition of a rich, bitter flavour really opened up some of the finer points of the dram and enhanced the sweeter underrepresented aspects of the whisky, simply wonderful.

The final whisky of the night was Machrie Moor, a NAS peated whisky, that is perfect for those unsure of their peat reek limits - soft and rounded with just a little sweetness, not too much in the way of high alcohols, merely a warmth that comes from its slightly younger age. A very accessible dram.

What really excites us about Arran is the ongoing construction of their second distillery, in which they will focus on producing only peated malt throughout. Although it's going to be a few years in the making, it's definitely one we'll be keeping an eye on and we're looking forward to following their progress.

A big thanks to the Arran team for a well curated selection of drams, to Jeff from Starmore Boss for organising the evening and inviting us along, and to the Rutland for always being top notch hosts.

Slainte!

A Beery Advent - Part 1

For the past two years, we've indulged ourselves in Master of Malt's simply outstanding advent calendars - Jim choosing whisky two years in a row, and Laura sampling both the gin and vodka offerings. This year, however, we've both made the transition in our working lives into the brewing industry, and wanted to celebrate this by sharing some special beers in the run up to Christmas. So here goes...

1. Tempest Brew Co - In The Dark We Live, 7.2%
A bold start to advent with this black IPA! Huge hops and rounded roasted malt on the nose. This follows through on the palate too, with vibrant floral hoppiness giving way to toasty coffee and a robust dry finish. Went amazingly well with a nice bit of Roquefort. We've been consistently impressed by the output from this Scottish brewery this year... looking forward to seeing what 2016 will bring for them!

2.  Six Degrees North - Chopper Stout, 7.0%
We spent one of our favourite evenings of 2015 in the Aberdeen Six Degrees North bar, with this beer being one of many sampled, including as an ingredient in a beef stew! Beautifully Belgian on the aroma with notes of rich caramel and dark chocolate. Slightly burnt flavour (in a pleasant way), really well balanced maltiness and satisfyingly rich. Clean on the finish which prevents it from becoming too heavy. Masterful brewing!

3. Hanging Bat - Fifty Fifty, a Sorachi pale ale, 5.0%
The third in a row of beers selected on account of our Scotland road trip - a definite highlight of 2015! We'd been to Edinburgh before but this was the first time we'd made it to the Hanging Bat. Super fresh aroma, dill tickling the nose. More bitter on the palate than other Sorachi Ace beers we've tried, which overwhelmed the coconut character we're so used to, but this perhaps makes it a more accessible drink... Sorachi Ace is quite the marmite of the hop world! Dry, yet refreshing.

4. Wold Top - Marmalade Porter, 5.0%
Bitter orange apparent, but with boozy, creamy, chocolatey smoothness overriding any sort of fruity nature. A bitter finish evokes marmalade again at the end, but overall it didn't make us come over all Paddington Bear... a very good porter, but wouldn't say that it quite lives up to the name. EXCELLENT alongside a mince pie.

5. Arran Brewery - Sleeping Warrior, 8.3%
This barley wine was brought back from our holiday to this picturesque island in May. It was one we'd thought of ageing, but hey, seven months is a long time too! Full of bonfire toffee on the nose, with rich caramel and smooth espresso (with 2 sugars!) on the palate giving way to a long yet delicate sweet finish. Deliciously boozy but still clean and light to drink. A wonderful barley wine.

Cheers,

L&J

Isle of Arran: Distillery Tour

Set in a stunning valley just outside the small port town of Lochranza at the north point of the wonderful island of Arran, the still pretty youthful distillery of Arran sits. Since opening in 1995, the distillery has grown in capacity steadily, to the point where this year they will be producing 650,000 litres of spirit from their two stills. Yet still, this is the 6th smallest producer of whisky in Scotland.

The tour itself, which started from beside the impressive indoor waterfall in the centre of the award winning visitor centre, opened with an introduction from our charismatic bearded host Stewart, a pre-midday dram of the Arran 14 year old, and a short informative video to give a background to Arran's colourful distilling history - smugglers and household pot stills having been absolutely rife in the past! After the introduction, we moved on to the only production building in the distillery, housing everything from the grist mill right through to the spirit safe. 

As you can imagine, the smell in the building was intoxicating. Starting with 2.5 tonnes of malted barley in the mash, with 13,000 litres of water, it's undoubtedly a busy little place - continually mashing in sometimes up to 13 times a week to keep up with demand. Imported barley is used, as we learned that the proximity to the Gulf Stream means that barley grown on the island is not suitable for whisky production, as the warm climate leaves the grain low in the sugars needed for making the required alcohols. The six wash backs vary in age, again a reflection on the amount the distillery has grown over the past twenty years. The stills looked vaguely familiar to us, and we discovered that this is because they are modelled roughly on the shape of Bowmore's stills - the master distiller, James MacTaggart, having spent the first part of his whisky career there.

Back to the tasting bar, for a nip of Arran Gold - a whisky cream liqueur made with Arran 10. Not being quite Jim's thing, Laura enjoyed a duo of these! After the standard tour was finished, we stayed behind with our bewhiskered host and a couple of other visitors to taste a few more. With three choices each, we had the opportunity to taste some of the excellent finishes that the distillery has to offer...

Amarone Cask Finish - 50% 

Colour: Sparkling ruby

Nose: A wave of sugared almonds and oodles of honey gush forward initially, with lashings of sour fruits. The dry red wine cask is certainly apparent with a distinctive grape-iness that carries delicately with unsweetened cocoa.

Palate: A level of spice that was not apparent on the nose opens up on the tongue, with cinnamon and liquorice root, stewed dark fruits such as plums and cherries follow up with a prickle of spice. The cocoa from the nose evolves into a rich dark chocolate, with a little more sweetness.

Finish: The spice remains on the tongue for a good 15 seconds accompanied with a sweetness that engulfs the mouth.

Single Cask Bourbon 1999 - 58%

Colour: Polished copper

Nose: The American oak is a big part of the nose, as you would expect - the wood sings sweetly from the glass, with vanilla and an almost toffee sweetness along for the ride.

Palate: To drink it is almost creamy in texture from 15 years in the barrel, but maintains a zesty freshness reminiscent of citrus peel. Vanilla pod luxury marries beautifully with a nutty oak characteristic.

Finish: A full, fresh mouth for a short moment, that ebbs gradually away with a sweet creaminess.

Machrie Moor (Cask Strength edition) - 58.4%

Colour: Golden barley

Nose: A sweet smoke nose initially, with tropical fruits coming later. The blend is intoxicating, like chargrilled pineapple.

Palate:  Vanilla custard becomes a large part of the taste, with more BBQ'd fruit, this time bananas by the fireside. Unmistakably peat and as it's the only peated release from the distillery, this seems to be MacTaggart's homage to his Islay heritage. The ABV certainly helps to carry great waves of peat but does so beautifully, without becoming over powering.

Finish: Much like you can still smell the smoke from a BBQ days after, the peat lingers beautifully in the mouth, but with a sweet accompaniment of dark dried fruit.

Between us we also sampled the Sauternes cask finish and a Private Cask bottling for Glasgow's Whisky Club (both of which we bought bottles of, so reviews to follow!).

Afterward we were treated to a sneak peek in the warehouses, past warehouse six, the newest and last to be built on the site, to warehouse two and three which contained some of the more famous private casks, including a cask belonging to Ewan McGregor.

Finishing off with a delicious lunch at Cask cafe, a great afternoon was definitely had by all.

Cheers,

J&L

Burns Night 2015

"There's a lot you can do with a haggis." This was to become the motif of the evening, as quoted on numerous occasions by our new friend Martin - true Scot, Robbie Burns fanatic and Master of Ceremonies for the night.

Regular visitors to the page will know that we tend to enjoy the whisky tastings held at the Broadfield, and for January they'd decided to do something a bit different. In celebration of Burns Night, a four course meal with traditional Scottish fayre (and whiskies to accompany of course) was on offer. We arrived to an absolutely packed dining room, with the sound of bagpipes blaring and a proper party atmosphere.

A poetry reading from Martin's well-thumbed, 40-year old collection of Burns' works, finished off setting the tone for the evening, before the food started to arrive. The first course was black and white pudding in blankets, rich and hearty with the bacon being a great addition.

The fish course was next, and our favourite dish of the night - the Broadfield's take on an Arbroath smokie, served atop a tattie scone with a perfectly poached egg and Hollandaise sauce.

At this point, Martin returned on top form to read "Address to the Haggis" whilst our main course was brought out... haggis, neeps and tatties, of course, with crispy fried leeks. To toast, we were presented with a dram of Auchentoshan Three Wood, which was powerful enough to stand up to the hearty flavours of the meat with just enough sweetness from the Pedro Ximinez casks to cut through for balance. Martin's monologue on the versatility of haggis provoked a healthy discussion amongst our table on just exactly what could be done with this little mountain of offal-y joy... haggis ice cream, anyone?!


Before pudding was brought out, Martin read out his own Address to the Lassies, as we raised a dram of Arran's Robert Burns Single Malt - light and fruity, with a sumptuous orchardy undertone. Dessert was a beautifully flaky Ecclefechan tart, stuffed full of sweet dried fruits, nuts and cherries, with a generous dollop of whisky cream to serve.

The night overall was an ideal warm-up to Burns Night itself, with top-quality traditional food and classic whiskies to accompany. We'll definitely be raising a few more drams tonight.

Cheers,

J&L