2020 High-End Single Malt Holiday Tasting
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METRO ATLANTA SCOTCH CLUB 2020 High-End Single Malt Holiday Tasting December 28, 2020 (Monday) @ 7:00 PM - Single Malt Tasting & Heavy Bites - $75 Event Fee Landmark Diner (Buckhead), 3652 Roswell Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30305 - Ph: (404) 816-9090 Pay Online: https://scotchclub.com/event/MON122820HighEnd/ or Pay at the Door Whisky #1 GLENLIVET Single Malt / ‘Nàdurra’ / 1991 Vintage (18-Yr) / 48% ABV / Single Cask #0809A / NCF / OB / Dist Owner: Chivas Brothers Ltd. (Pernod-Ricard S.A.) / Speyside (Livet) The Glenlivet Distillery Ballindalloch, Banffshire AB37 9DB SCOTLAND Pronunciation: Glen-LIVV-it - SWA Whisky Map Location: #71 Translation: ‘The long glen (valley)’ (Glen: a deep narrow mountain valley.) Slogan: “The single malt that started it all” Region (District): Speyside (Livet) Neighbors: Allt-á-Bhainne, Braeval, Tormore, Tomintoul, Tamnavulin Established: 1824 - Founder: In 1817, George ‘2-Guns’ Smith (1792-1871) inherited Upper Drummin farm which his father, Andrew, began operating in 1774. George was the first (1824) to legalize (license) an existent distillery under The Whisky Act of 1823. As the illicit distillers regarded George as a turncoat, they made no secret of their intention to do him great bodily harm and attempted to do so on several occasions. For the purpose of ensuring the survival of his rental income, the Laird of Aberlour gave him 2 pistols which he mastered and worn everywhere. (That’s an accurate history. Moonshiners burnt down many licensed distilleries in those days and, even after that era, a common business tactic was to torch your competitor’s distillery after he locked up for the night. For example, Royal Lochnagar Distillery was thrice burnt down 'in suspicious circumstances' prior to relocating across the river to its current location… right next to the royal residence at Balmoral Castle (an exceedingly well-protected area). Status: Active/Producing Location: Situated in the heart of Speyside in the Glen of the same name, it takes its water from the River Livet which feeds into the River Spey. House Style: Meadow flowers and soft fruits. Older examples are often more sherried. Water Source: Josie’s Well & Blairfindy Well (production); River Livet (cooling) Barley: Oxbridge & Optic; mainly from Crisp Malting of Port Gordon (some Buckie & Pauls) Malt Spec (Phenols): 0-ppm (unpeated) since 1966 (upon closing of its malting floors) Gristmill: 1 Porteus Malt Mill (4-roller) 2 Mash Tuns: 2 full-Lauter Briggs (13.5-ton; charged @ 12.6-ton). 32 Washbacks: 16 Oregon pine & 16 stainless-steel washbacks @ 60,000-L each Fermentation: 50-hours 28 Pot Stills: 7 Wash @ 15,000-L, 7 Spirit @ 10,000-L Casks: 98% ex-Bourbon; 1st & 2nd fill; some Sherry/Port for finishing Nàdurra: Gaelic for “natural”. 19 Warehouses: 1 dunnage WH & 18 palletized WHs (90,000 cask capacity) Barley: Made exclusively from Vatting & Bottling: Any of the centralized PR facilities. Triumph 2-row spring barley. Its Capacity: 21-Mlpa origin dates back to mid-1800 Old Current Output: 16.8-Mlpa (2020 Plan) Haná variety Austria-Hungary/Czechs. Visitor Center/Tours: Yes 4-STARS Serge Valentin - Whisky Fun: OBs: 12, 15 (French Oak), 16 (Nadurra; Cask Strength), 18, 21 (Archive) and XXV (25) and numerous Special Releases including COLOR: Gold. NOSE: Hints of banana acclaimed Cellar Collection skin and vanilla plus quite a few tannins. Gets then very fresh and Blending Role: 30% Single Malt (>50% sold in the USA), 70% Blends mentholated with quite some Blend Partner: Chivas Regal, Queen Anne, Something Special & Royal Salute. papayas and guavas. The fruitiness Parent Owns (13): Aberlour, Allt-á-Bhainne, Braeval, Dalmunach, Glenburgie, Glen Keith, Glenlivet, Glentauchers, Longmorn, never stops getting bigger. With Miltonduff, Scapa, Strathisla & Tormore. water: The same family as the 16yo, Parent Owned Blends: 100 Pipers, Chivas Regal, Clan Campbell, Long John, Passport, Royal Salute & Stewart’s Cream of the only a tad less loud on the fruits. Barley. Maybe little more elegant, in fact. Former Names: ‘Minmore’ and ‘Drummin’ MOUTH (neat): Sweet, creamy, very Notations: (1) In 2014, Chivas Brothers announced that it was considering an expansion to a capacity of 30-Mlpa. They opted fruity, on apricot jam, ripe mirabelles for a smaller expansion to 21-Mlpa. (2) In 2018, Glenlivet was the #2 selling world SM at 14.5 million bottles, but #1 SM in USA. and vanilla. Very good, easy style. Management Team: MOUTH (with water): Its oaky part is Distillery Manager: Hamish Proctor - Brand Ambassador: Ian Logan further revealed. Some green pepper. Blender: Colin Scott - Distiller: Hamish Proctor - Group Distilleries Manager: Alan Winchester FINISH: Long, drier with more tannins Managing Director: Laurent Pillet (UK) - Chairman & CEO: Christian Porta (Parent) (heavy green tea). Comments: very Legal Name of Distillery: The Glenlivet Distilleries Ltd. good, but I’m wondering if it swims Owner (Parent): Chivas Brothers Ltd. (Pernod-Ricard S.A., since 2001) well; more water made it a tad too Distiller Licensee: Geo. & J.G. Smith Ltd. drying on the palate, but it’s still very perfectly well-made. Just avoid water, USA Importer: Pernod Ricard USA, Inc. & Pernod Ricard USA, LLC for once! SCORE: 87 points/4-Stars. Elevation: 261.4m MSL (858-feet above mean sea level) Metro Atlanta Scotch Club - Jack Smith, K.Q. - eMail: [email protected] - Page 1 of 6 MASC - High-End Single Malt Tasting & Heavy Bites - 12/28/20 (Monday @ 7PM) - Landmark Diner (BH) - $75 Whisky #2 LITTLEMILL (1792-1992) Single Malt / 1988 Vintage (25-Yr) / CS 54.9% ABV / Sherry Cask #8 (refill) / NCF / IB: Exclusive Malts (for K&L) / Dist Owner: Loch Lomond Group (Hillhouse Capital) / Lowland (Western) Littlemill Distillery Dumbarton Road, Bowling Dunbartonshire G60 5BG SCOTLAND Origin/Pronunciation: Just like it looks - SWA Whisky Map Location: Nearby #39 Established: 1772 Founder: In 1750, George Buchanan, the Laird of the Auchentorlie Estate as well as being a wealthy Glasgow- based maltmaster, acquired the estate and subject site. 1772 records reveal that Mr. Buchanan built houses at the distillery site to accommodate Excise officers (which is earliest official record of Littlemill's existence). The distillery's roots, however, date back much further. According to Misako Udo, Littlemill was converted from a 1750's brewery building and, there is speculation whisky was distilled upon this site as far back as the fourteenth century. History: Littlemill’s somewhat chequered history is a little surprising given its location near the Bowling Railway Station, the Forth & Clyde Canal which merges into the navigable river Clyde, and nearest to the city of Glasgow. One would think that such good transport links and strategic location would have given it a commercial edge. Subsequent owners included, but may not be limited to, Matthew Clark & Co (1817), Jane Macgregor (1824), Hector Henderson (1840), William Hay (1875), Duncan Thomas (1931), Barton Distilling (1971), Amalgamated Distilled Products (1982), the Argyll Group (1984), Gibson International (1989), Loch Lomond (1994). Status: License Surrendered/Non-Producing (Demolished) Date of first Distillation: 1772 - Date of last Distillation: 1992 Region (District): Lowland (Western) Location: Alfred Barnard (visited Littlemill in the 1880‘s): “This Distillery is planted at the base of the Kilpatrick Hills, on the banks of the Clyde, and is close by Bowling Railway Station. It is twelve miles from Glasgow, on the North British Railway, and a quarter of a mile from the Forth and Clyde Canal. The locality abounds in charming landscapes not unlike Richmond on the River Thames. The quiet beauty of the hill slopes and wooded plantations, the hedges covered with summer roses, and the numerous mountain rills, has made this place the favorite resort of artists, whilst at the front flows the great river, with its nautical stir, and the Bowling Bay, with its wharves and shipping, giving lire to the scene.” Neighbors: Loch Lomond and Glengoyne Cask: Sherry HH (refill) Cask #8 Water Source: Its water comes from Kilpatrick Springs located in a shady glen away up in the Kilpatrick Hills Distilled: November 7, 1988 and is brought down to a reservoir close by. Bottled: Not stated Grain Source: Local barley; likely from the Laich of Moray and the Black Isle. Age: 1988 Vintage (25-year) Peat Source: The peat used in drying is brought from Stornoway (Isle of Lewis) and Perthshire (inland central Scotland) Bottler: Exclusive Malts (owned Heat Source: Steam from an oil-fired central boiler; additional power was obtained by a water wheel which by Creative Whisky Co.) for K&L was likely discontinued prior to its closure. NOTES by K&L (CA Retailer): Malt Spec (Phenols): Standard was 0-ppm (Unpeated) The hamlet of Bowling, SCO where Grain Mill: Unknown, but surely a twin-roller Porteus or Boby mill. Littlemill once operated, has built Mashtun: Charged with 7.62-tons of milled barley (350 bushels) affordable housing on its ghostly Washbacks: 8 Douglas fir WBs with a capacity of 19,000L each (5,000 USG) grounds. Some of ruins remain, but Yeast: Apparently, it used a proprietary strain of liquid distiller’s yeast there's nothing left of its significance Yeast Tanks: 2 brewing vats at 7,500L each - Fermentation: Unknown other than a street sign that reads Stills: 3 copper pot stills @ 15,150L (Wash), 5,700L (Low Wines) and ca. 3,500L (Spirit) "Littlemill Place." Onto our 25-year- old Littlemill malt cask. The drinker Condensers: 3 Worm tubs who appreciates the pure malt flavors Spirit Vat: Its spirits receiver had a capacity of 13,000L on the palate, the little hint of vanilla Capacity: Zero (Closed/dismantled; partially demo) - Output: Zero (Closed/dismantled; partially demo) on the back palate, and the burst of OBs: 8, 12 and 17-year-old richness that tickles its lingering finish, Casks: The remaining casks are prominently ex-bourbon, refill and sherry casks.