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Illicit, then legal as Burnfoot Distillery in 1833, then a change to Glenguin and eventually Glengoyne in 1905….

I visited this distillery for the first time in June 2010 for a 7 hour tasting course that included the current distillery expressions along with three future bottlings of cask strength special releases, a blending experience in their exquisitely appointed tasting room and the highlight for me, a tasting of six sherries from Jerez in Spain that reflected the various styles of European oak casks that Glengoyne whisky is matured in.

Glengoyne Distillery
Our host, the lovely Lauren Wylie
Glengoyne’s still room
Glengoyne’s spectacular tasting room


Glengoyne Burnfoot Single Malt 40%
Bags of barley, charred oak, vanilla, honey sweet and a little sulphury. Then sherry emerges with a little toffee.
The intense sweetness and chilli mid-palate smacks of Glengoyne albeit a younger one with a slight vegetal note prevalent on the finish.
Water is definitely an aid to this dram, soothing the chilli and calming the youthful character. 78

Glengoyne 10yo Single malt 43%
Masses of sweet malted barley, dark roast coffee and mocha.
Sweet as honey on the tongue, the chilli and chocolate drying on the finish.
No water required. 84
Glengoyne 12yo Cask Strength Single Malt 57.2%
Toffee in a Glengoyne marinade, butterscotch and barley.
The honey on the palate incredibly overwhelms the abv with an intense luxurious sweetness.
An exquisite dram, rich with a gorgeous mix of vanilla, a dark fruit stew of raisins and prunes coated with icing sugar and a mouth-watering walnut finish.
Don’t add water to this precious dram. 90
Glengoyne 17yo Single Malt 43%
Chocolate with a condensed milk centre sprinkled with mocha powder..WOW! What a nose, then the signature unpeated Glengoyne blasts through with the intense honeyed barley.
The palate really shows what a class act this dram is, with initially the vanilla and barley, then a mid-palate of bitter chocolate, finishing with an apricot liqueur finish.
A whisky of considerable finesse and balance.
No dash of water required! 92

Glengoyne 1999 11yo Single Malt Cask No: 500781 46% Berry’s Own Selection.
Vanilla pod with a little barley and spice.
Recognizable as a Glengoyne on the palate with the intensely sweet honeyed barley and oak and the peppery mid-palate but this dram is rather thin in texture and watery on the finish.
A cask strength version would probably have been more fun and interesting… 77
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Our close encounter of the X4+3 kind……

We arrived at Bruichladdich on a stunning spring day in 2009, met the iconic maverick Jim McEwan, the distillery’s production director, who raised more than two eyebrows at Steve’s Ardbeg jacket and informed us to prepare ourselves for the mother of all tours…….

Bruichladdich Distillery
Equipped with our Bruichladdich glencairn glasses we followed our host into one of the dunnage warehouses.
The entrance to the wizard’s lair.
As we entered our nostrils were assailed by an atmosphere drenched in maturing whisky. These were not just Bruichladdich casks but whisky from many other distilleries that Murray McDavid, the current owners of Bruichladdich, might release as independent bottlings.
Jim, Steve and Les investigating an 18yo Lagavulin with Eve recording the evidence.
A little further into the warehouse Jim stopped next to a 100 litre cask dwarfed by the hoggies around it. Jim paused, looked at each one of us and in the musty silence that followed, released the stopper on the cask, dipped his valinch into the contents and with genuine reverence, dipped his finger into the liquid, then annointed each one of us with a cross on the forehead.
Jim McEwan and the X4+3
He then announced that this was his X4+3, the original quadruple distilled new make from 2006 that had matured for three years in this small amontillado cask and had an abv of 83%. A dram was poured into each of our glasses and the response was a unanimous “Oh, my God!” Despite the strength, the whisky was explosive in the fruity velvet flavours that coated every inch of every sense, A superlative like ‘stunning’ doesn’t even come close….
Steve, Eve, Dave & Les post X4+3, taken by Jim McEwan.
Bruichladdich X4+3 Perilous Spirit Quadruple Distilled & 3 Aged Years in Ex-Bourbon and Virgin Oak 63.5%”…from an original 1695 recipe”
Vanilla custard and a hint of ripe marula, grapefruit and coconut.
The palate has icing sugar sprinkled on vodka marinated grapefruit.
A dash of water appears to morph the tropical fruits to tropical flowers with hints of frangipani, then the vanilla custard squeezes through in shiel loads.
The palate now sweeter with a nod at its youth as notes of new make start to arrive and the grapefruit finishes less bitter. 83
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Searching the liquid attic I found more Mortlachs and unfortunately another reckless Jim Murray comment….

Mortlach 18yo Single Malt 1990 Butt04422 56.8% Wilson & Morgan
Heavily sherried Spanish wood, matabele ant, inky, richly spiced, stewed dark fruits with dark toffee and molasses in the depths.
Cloyingly sherry-rich on the palate. This first-fill sherry cask way too dominant for my liking leaving a metallic sulphury finish.
Water sweetens, with pepper spice but there is no escaping how over-sherried this dram is. 75
Mortlach 11yo Single malt 1993 Bourbon & Port Casks 46% Murray McDavid
Honey sweet vanilla, jasmine and a feint sweet sherry note bubbling under a layer of clean sweetened malted barley…visions of dripping, thick golden honey.
Dense oily texture on the tongue with the vanillas initially prevalent but then dominated by the chilli mid-palate and bitter European oak on the finish. 78
A stunning nose but the palate disappoints. However a touch of water turns the honey to butterscotch and creme brulee and rescues the palate by tempering the dry and bitter mid-palate and finish. 82

Mortlach 18yo Single Malt 1990 Sherry Butt04421 46% Bottled 2009 Coopers Choice
Sweet oloroso, stewed raisins, sultanas and prunes with toffee coming to the fore.
Medium texture on the tongue but everything on the nose dramatically reflected on the palate. Explosive dark fruit flavours with a sweet chilli finish becoming vinous and lingering at the end. 88
P.s. Steve and Eve both rated this dram in the 80’s.
Jim Murray in his inestimable wisdom rated this 57 and said this:”Grimly sulphured for all the big grape breast-beating.” That is not an opinion that is irresponsible journalism…
Mortlach 16yo Single Malt 1991 56.4% Berry’s Own Selection
Heavily sherried with honeyed dried dark fruits, musty, dank, inky, treacle, molasses.
The palate is intensely rich and dark fruit sweet with a soft and dry finish leaving gorgeous sherried Spanish oak that lingers….forever.
A dash of water opens this dram exotically with mocha and iced coffee. 90
P.s. Jim Murray rated this one 66 and had this to say:”A classic example of the old United Distillers wine-treated casks. I need say no more.” I also need to say no more….
Mortlach 27yo Single Malt 1975 56.8% Signatory
Matabele ant, inkwell, musty, mouldy sherried oak. Rich raisin and sultana stew. Barley sprinkled with ginger and allspice then dark toffee develops.
Woah! The fizz on the palate sexes up the mouthfeel of sweet oloroso sherry, burnt brown sugar and eventually dark chilli chocolate on the finish.
Water brings out a sweeter richness of caramelised brown sugar and coconut, then turns the oloroso into PX on the tongue. Chocolate chilli and menthol still evident on the long lingering finish. Simply stunning. 91
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Storm in a teacup…there are many who would vehemently disagree….

Bowmore Tempest 10yo Single Malt Bottled 2009 Batch 1 First Fill Bourbon 55.3%
Lemon vanilla sauce coating a layer cake of lightly peated malted barley, caramel then a picture emerges of a sunny spring day on Loch Indaal and a soft breeze of fresh lemon and salty air with a passing reek of peat smoke.
Mild in texture, the vanilla is only noticeable for a second before the powerful mid-palate of tarry seaweed takes over, then the bottom of the salt shaker fell out, with a lemon pepper finish. 87
Bowmore Tempest 10yo Single Malt Bottled 2010 Batch 2 First Fill Bourbon 56%
A little murky at first, then surprisingly a hint of Bowmore’s trademark horse sweat emerges mingling with the peated barley and a touch of citrus. The smoke more evident on this batch.
With time the dram clears and fresh tobacco dominates with a soft orange caramel in the background.
The palate is velvety vanilla, then a punch of tar and chilli pepper with the peat and and salted seaweed lingering through the finish as more salt is released. 86
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For those of you in the know or those of you who want to experience sex on the tongue, so to speak…..

New bottlings just arrived in the bar are:

Bowmore Tempest 10yo Batch2 56%

Ardbeg Uigeadail 54.2%

Port Charlotte PC7 Sin An Doigh Ileach 61%
We also have a brand new selection of the following to taste:

Bruichladdich X4+3 3yo 63.5%

Port Charlotte An Turas Mor 46%

Octomore 5yo Edition 03.152 59%

Octomore Orpheus 5yo Edition 02.2 61%
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Congratulations to Wild About Whisky for their 2011 Gold Award….

What makes a great bar? There are only a few questions in life that prompt so much debate and frankly this is one of them. Whether it is in a hotel, restaurant or a traditional bar, what gives it that buzz, ambience and pulling power? Four years ago Whisky Magazine launched its quest to honour the greatest bars in the world. The original scheme evolved into our awards programme for bars, hotels and restaurants.
These awards honour the very best venues in the world, and developed out of the Great Whisky Bars of the World series. This comprises an accreditation system to recognise excellence in whisky. With three levels, Gold, Silver and Bronze, we recognise any establishment, no matter how big or small, that celebrates whisky. Any premises that applied were accredited under the programme and received their certificate dependent on their range and quality of whisky.
There are really four tangible areas that make a great whisky bar: glassware; range of whiskies; the venue and the staff. Outside of these areas we get into the subjective realms of feel and ambience. You may feel comfortable in a traditional whisky bar, in say a rural setting, but the next drinker may feel at home in the slick low-lit hotel bars of the big cities. So while these are clearly important factors for the purposes of the accreditation programme we had to stick with less subjective matters.
With glassware we sought venues that offered their whiskies in more than just a tumbler. It was up to the venue what glassware they used but it had to reflect the premium nature of the liquid. To be considered in the accreditation scheme the venue had to carry a range of whiskies; including at least 10 malt whiskies, three blended Scotch whiskies, one bourbon and one Irish whiskey or be an unusual selection overall the selection had to be well balanced.
The venue must also be proactive in the promotion of whisky. It is no use keeping the spirit light under a bushel, the venue has to shout about whisky and encourage new drinkers.
One of the most important considerations is the barman. This is the frontline, the first contact with you, whether a beginner or aficionado. The staff must respond with knowledge to the question which whisky would you recommend; they must display evidence of having been trained in the knowledge of whisky.
So this guide is a listing of all the bars in the world we have found so far, and we have flagged up the ones that have been included in our accreditation scheme. The Gold and Silver winners are listed separately at the front, then included, and highlighted in the main listings, ordered alphabetically by country and then by city. There has never been a better time to get out there and explore some amazing places to drink.
So if we have missed out your favourite bar, or you run a bar that is not included, please let us know and we’ll make sure to include you.

This article care of The Macallan Great Whisky Bars Of The World 2011 – a supplement to