Whisky Tasting
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SCOTCH WHISKY REVIEW TM TM EDITION 11 SPRING 1999 THE BRAND & THE BLAND LOCH FYNE WHISKIES Let us hope that the global recession and in association with the subsequent poor trading results are The George Hotel, Inveraray the only reasons driving the whisky in- is proud to present the THE GEORGE HOTEL dustry into mediocrity rather than the new managers who, from the outside, 1999 SEASON OF CELEBRITY appear to have reached their coefficient of inefficiency. With the convulsions that surround the WHISKY TASTING diabolical mergers (Highland/Remy/ JBB included), both huge and small, the EVENINGS brand manager is finding the greasy pole (between appointments at Kleenex® and Andrex®) little challenge. Neurotic boardrooms are easy prey when pan- Drinking the health of the Duke of Rothesay, 1872 Highland Society, icked by low shareholder confidence. Diageo, the company formerly known as Grand Metropolitan (for which Scotch Whisky is by far their biggest profit earner), has ground to a complete halt. In UD there was an exciting delivery of new whisky products which improved profits, stayed the competition, pleased the consumer and generated a real sense of excitement for the sector. Now we have inertia, unless you count their dismissed rumours that they are going to develop the UK youth market with a brand launch of J&B. (There is no yoof market for Scotch in the UK; producers should be patient and woo Friday 6th August, 7pm, Price £ 7.00* Friday 28th August, 7pm, Price £ 7.00* Richard Paterson, Esq Dr. Bill Lumsden young drinkers from the sidelines while Master Blender, Whyte & Mackay Head of Distilleries and Maturation, Glenmorangie plc drinking habits mature. Further, J&B “Your Dram” “Woodn’t it be nice?” Richard’s dazzling delivery of the history of Scotch Whisky while tasting A unique chance to explore the exceptional pioneering work on is a naff brand to use, Johnnie Walker some rare samples of blend and malt is acclaimed world-wide. You will maturation, with reference to some hitherto unknown and secret then play master-blender in a practical session to produce your own ideal examples from the Glenmorangie special wood finishes unit. has much more credibility—but then blended Scotch for which prizes will be awarded. Concludes with a light buffet and some exceptional Ardbegs! Evening concludes with a light buffet and further dramming! • that wasn’t a GrandMet brand). • Friday 24th September, 7pm, Price £ 7.00* The brand orientated managers are Friday 13th August, 7pm, Price £ 7.00* MURRAY McDAVID, Esq Jim McEwan, Esq Underworld Bottler bland managers and their domination Distillery Manager, Morrison Bowmore Distillers “Pissst! If anyone asks—I’m not here!” “A tour of Scotch-land” Assisted by Gordon Wright, the notorious McDavid makes a causes a reduction in variety, an irre- You are a passenger on an intimate and relaxed tour of some of the great unique appearance and lifts the lid on the murky world of the malts from Auchentoshan, Glen Garioch and Bowmore distilleries reflecting independent whisky bottler. Lots of malts to taste. versible demise. This is evidenced by the the supreme quality and diversity of the Lowlands, Highlands and Islay. Evening concludes with a light buffet and (possibly) a bungled assault Evening concludes with a light buffet and some very special tastings! by Inveraray C.I.D. & S.W.A.T. teams (should be fun!). low prices seen at Christmas, an unhelp- • • • ful reaction to poor sales. A lack of prof- Date & price to be advised — November/December Iain ‘the sporran’ Stothard, Esq - Gourmet Evening — back by popular demand! its causes inertia. • *Price given is that in advance, price on night will be £9.00. Price includes your whisky. Value for money guaranteed. Senior dismissals and redundancies Tickets from The George or Loch Fyne Whiskies, Inveraray, Argyll, PA32 8UD. Credit Card bookings 01 499 302219. Standing on tables & chairs prohibited. Sporrans over 1.5kg must be muzzled in accordance with local bye-laws. have ripped the business apart. The inadequates have been promoted with no understanding of a very special in- GLEN SCOTIA TO RESUME DISTILLING dustry. They are propelling it into just Campbeltown, one of Scotland’s principal distillate from the distillery. another brand-led mono-business. distilling regions, is bouncing back. Since upgrading in the 1950s, Glen Many of these gits have reached the In early May a team of ‘mercenary dis- Scotia has been poorly managed with boardroom already and the effect is be- tillers’ from Springbank will be employed low yields, but new(ish) owners Glen ginning to show. Time for action! for three months to test the quality of Catrine Bond have plans to reverse that. SCOTCH WHISKY REVIEW — LOCH FYNE WHISKIES, INVERARAY, ARGYLL, PA32 8UD PAGE 1 makes us a small company when com- ery in Scotland. When the distillery was THE ALCHEMIST pared with most of the industry. established in 1843, Mr Matheson, be- We have three distilleries: Glen- ing a canny Scot, acquired second-hand morangie, [pronounced as in orange-y] gin stills from London. They had a char- Glen Moray and recently Islay’s Ardbeg acteristic tall shape designed to give a and in 1996 the company moved to this highly rectified spirit (very tall necks former Bell’s site at Broxburn, west of give a much higher degree of reflux so Edinburgh where the head office is as that heavier or oilier elements do not well as warehousing, blending, bottling make it over into the distillate). This and packaging operations. Our princi- gives a lighter, sweeter and fruitier re- pal blended whiskies are Highland sult which is the house style of Queen (low cost brand), James Martin Glenmorangie; other distillers new- (export) and Bailie Nicol Jarvie (deluxe). make tends to be heavier and oilier. We also produce Crabbies Ginger Wine. The other great influence is the type of We are a branded company although we wood we use for maturation. For many also do a little supermarket own-label years we have been very active in choos- business and a number of other blends. ing the type of wood we use, all ex-Bour- We also trade our whiskies with the in- bon and only first or second fill for sin- dustry, although our principal malt, gle malt production, which is almost Glenmorangie, is not sold as so in the unique in the industry. The wood comes brokerage market in order to maintain from an area in the States and is har- the integrity of the brand. We would not vested to our specification, air seasoned like it to be sold by an independent bot- (not kiln dried), made into hogsheads tler at any substandard quality. and then leased out to a Bourbon com- Dr Bill Lumsden is changing the pany for four years. That wood has a way malt whisky tastes. Somehow unique effect on the whisky and helps he managed to stop and talk to Loch us maintain consistency. Fyne Whiskies. Glenmorangie LFW: Is the type of Bourbon used LFW: What’s your job? relevant? Since June last year my official title is I would say not. I think that as long as ‘Head of Distilleries and Maturation’ at is such it had Bourbon in it to remove some of Glenmorangie plc. I am responsible for the undesirable elements, it doesn’t our three distilleries, for the maturing matter; the Bourbon conditions the wood stock profile of whisky, the quality of a terrific rather than contributes to it. Our ‘de- that maturing stock, the blend styles signer’ hogsheads are leased out to and recipes and the make up of our whis- Heaven Hill distillery and matured in kies, both single and blend. I am also whisky! unheated warehouses and that also has responsible for the purchase of all raw an impact on the wood; the majority of materials; malted barley, wood, yeast LFW: Why do you think American whiskey is matured in heated and such like. I head the teams for the Glenmorangie does so well? warehouses in order to bring about a wet end of new product development, Firstly, along with a couple of other more rapid development of the product. that is new whiskies or other products brands, it was first marketed in the ’70s, LFW: So you don’t use any sherry- and, along with my boss who is the fi- a time when single malt sales were wood at all? nance director, I am responsible for set- about to take off. The trail was blazed In the case of the 18yo we do use some ting up the new filling programme and by Glenfiddich but we were close behind. sherry. The extra six years gives a real inter-industry cross deals for the com- More important now is that it is such a nuttiness and a light spiciness. About pany with a remit to make a certain terrific whisky! Although it is very com- one third of the maturing whisky is amount of profit in the whisky broker- plex and delicate, the bourbon cask transferred into sherry wood for a age market. maturation and the fruitiness gives it a number of years and this adds a slight Basically everything to do with whisky light sweetness that makes it very easy sweetness, a nice delicate raisin and up until it comes to bottling. Prior to that to drink. A lot of the many nuances will caramel note which adds to the overall I was distillery manager at Glen- only be found by the more seasoned complexity of the malt. There is no fixed morangie and I did not think that I whisky drinkers. formula but the amount of sherry matu- would get to this very exciting position Every malt whisky has its own unique ration going into the bottle is only a quite so quickly.