Whiskiesl I WHISKY N L V L E Y R G a R R AY a REVIEW
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H FY C N SCOTCH O E whiskiesL I WHISKY N L V L E Y R G A R R AY A REVIEW EDITION 5 SPRING 1996 A CURE FOR WAMBLYING Blended Scotch Whisky—Spey Cast, Black Label and of course a wee Loch Fyne. This is the answer to one of our most frequent questions: Which is your favourite? After a long period of enjoying single malt whiskies I am ‘com- ing out.’ I prefer blends. Looking over the past year and the stocks at home I confess that the small collection of malts remains for very oc- casional use or to entertain house guests. It is the blends that go down at a rate of a dram each night. As Ronnie Martin says in this edition’s interview, ‘blends go down more easily’ and I ap- preciate the prevention of snafflying, impossible with a big cloying sherrywood malt. I also look forward to the reduced risk of whyrling and crumplying in later life. (Madness—maybe, but see page 8 for an explanation). These has never been a better time to buy malt whiskies, nor will there ever be again. For example just recently G&M’s stocks of Kinclaith became ex- hausted and it can no longer be assumed that malt from Kinclaith distillery will be available except as an occasional sin- gle cask bottling. Stocks of other ‘lost’ distilleries are diminishing fast. Fur- thermore producers are determined that prices are to go up after a long freeze and the increase in demand for malts makes this realistic in the near future. Buy now while stocks last... The Scotch Whisky Association must be “PERILOUSLY SMOOTH, MELLOW AND EASY TO DRINK” congratulated for leading the duty lobby on the Government and creating the first A SUPER-PREMIUM BLEND BALBLAIR SOLD drop in UK excise duty for 100 years— Easter 1996 sees the launch of our Inver House Distillers have acquired surely the Chancellor could have seen whisky. Blended for us by Ronnie Mar- Balblair Distillery from Allied Distillers. himself this was blindingly necessary. tin of Inverarity Vaults, The Loch Fyne This follows their acquisition of Pultney The SWA is now campaining for a fur- is a super-premium blend with a qual- Distillery from Allied last year. Allied ther drop of a few percent and here we ity and price position between the pre- suspended distilling at Balblair and differ; with the fortunes being made and mium whiskies (Bell’s, Grouse or Teach- Glendronach for two years in March. lost as a result of cross-border bootleg- er’s) and the Deluxe blends (Black La- Inver House Distillers is the result of a ging (and the slide into lawlessness) bel, Chivas Regal). UK directors buy-out in from Publicker there must be the best possible argu- The presentation reflects the high qual- Distillers, a subsidiary of a US Corset ment for a brave Chancellor to adopt ‘the ity of the whisky and will make an ex- manufacturer, in 1987. They now have Danish Solution’—a 50% cut in excise cellent souvenier of Argyll for visitors to four malt distilleries including Speyburn duty overnight, now. our shop. More on page 4. and An Cnoc. SCOTCH WHISKY REVIEW — LOCH FYNE WHISKIES, INVERARAY, ARGYLL, PA32 8UD PAGE 1 virtue of having no age on the label is designing a drier at Aultmore to convert THE PROFESSOR that you can put a wee bit of youth in to the waste to animal feed. I stayed in a ginger it up a bit rather than just caravan there. I remember the distill- having it all 12 years and over. ery when it had a water wheel, the tun Our whisky is a ‘standard’, as opposed was belt driven and barley came in 1 cwt to a secondary or deluxe. The youngest sacks, taken on backs up stairs to the is five years and the oldest is over ten malting floor, steeped & spread. It was with a spectrum of age, a good scatter called Aultmore-Glenlivet which I think across the range. I believe this range of was a bit of licence—it must be over 20 ages give us a top quality product, miles from the Livet! particularly when compared with other LFW: You must have experienced standard brands. the DCL take-over battle from the Finally we put much reliance on a good front line. dollop of top dressing; it brings the whole Yes I did, but it is all history now. thing up. I consider this critical and I’m You have to remember that the original very pleased with mine. The quality of proposal submitted to and recommended this top dressing is an important factor by the board to the shareholders was for in the creation of The Loch Fyne, giving an overall holding company based in you a unique whisky. Scotland whilst retaining the individual LFW: What are you doing now? boards of both The Distillers Company I set up this company in 1991 after I Ltd and Guinness. For a number of rea- retired as Production Director from sons this never came to pass. United Distillers. Our company is called The result is United Distillers in its Inverarity Vaults and was created with present form which is proving very suc- Ronnie Martin is the creator of our my son Hamish who had been working cessful and I’m not saying this because new Loch Fyne blend of Scotch in the wine trade in London where he I’m a pensioner of theirs! Whisky. gained his wine & spirits diploma. He Their products are good. I had a tasting then joined me at Inverarity in 1992. the other day of the new Johnnie Walker LFW: How do you create a blend? Inverarity was my Grandmother’s name Gold 18yo. That and the Blue label are It’s not a science, it’s your own nose and and it struck me as a good name for our superb products. A lot of good effort has palate that decides what’s right in the venture. There are not many gone into the Classic Six. We were slow end. Inveraritys about. We’ve been market- into malts and had only Cardhu until A well known character in the industry ing a blend and a single malt under that Guinness came along. Malts are now says that to make up a blend there can name for the last four years. up to 10% of total Scotch Whisky sales. be no one single whisky predominating, When you’re starting off, it is an ex- and I agree, it’s a good starting-off point. tremely slow business so we’ve got other There’s an strong argument for having irons in the fire apart from whisky. We “I want a good spread of malts, it can’t be done are the sole agency in Scotland for with just a few. Ruinart Champagne, the oldest Cham- the best The rest is trial and error. The “Pope’s pagne house in the world and also some telephone number” — VAT 69 — was excellent wines including De Loach from created when William Sanderson made California. Champagne, wine and standard up 100 vattings and chose which one he whisky, our three balancing elements! and his chums liked best. I think he was Hamish is 28 now and has a further 40 quite right to do that. The blender for years to achieve our aims and ambitions. blend” VAT 69 used to halve hogsheads. He’d Brand building takes time. LFW: When did you become Director make up a 20,000 gallon vat and actu- LFW: What are those aims? of Production? ally split a hoggie of one malt to get the A return on the capital invested! To pro- I became Managing Director of Scottish ratio right. mote the quality image of our Scotch Malt Distillers in 1979 and Production To create a blend decide on your first Whisky. I was the chairman of the Scotch Director of SMD’s parent, DCL, in highlands, your second highlands, third Whisky definition committee and very 1982—a difficult time. When I took over highlands, then lowlands and Islays— much involved with the quality aspects as Production Director we had 45 malt but be careful with the Islays. We do a of the industry . I’m very keen that what distilleries and closed 21 of them. practical at the University in which we we put into the Inverarity bottles is a Carsebridge grain distillery was closed, give my students a vatted malt, a vatted good representation of quality. and many bonds. Every year we used grain and some Islay whiskies and it can I want the best ‘standard’ blend in blind to buy 200,000 shook bundles, that is be very quickly demonstrated that you tastings against any other standard dismantled casks, and we went from can kill a blend dead with too much Is- blend. Likewise our malt, a single manual to mechanical raising of barrels lay. There are a lot of blends without Speyside, which in my judgement can which unfortunately put a lot of coopers any Islay malt. Keep the Islays under stand comparison with any other malt. out of work. control. We’re very much concerned with quality. In the early 70s we were filling casks Next decide how much malt and how LFW: Why did you choose Aultmore for a projected 8% compound growth in much grain. as your malt? sales, up to 8 or 12 years ahead. We were Then wood selection, the type of cask— As managing director of 45 distilleries, building eight new warehouses a year, Sherry, bourbon, new, refilled, refilled you visit each one every two or three each of 66,000 hogsheads.