Comments on: Malt Advocate Whisky Awards “Scotch Whisky: Single Malt of the Year”: Ardbeg Corryvreckan

By: H.Diaz

H.Diaz — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:28:29 +0000

Go ahead, take a nice – neat dram of Corryvreckan and hold it for a minute or two. Pow. Fireworks. Supernova taken this same way is much – much better. Nearly an hour later, Supernova is still there.

By: Kate Buford

Kate Buford — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:44:39 +0000

Tell us how you came up with the name Corryvreckan. Some of us have a working theory, but want it verified.

Thanks!

By: B.J. Reed

B.J. Reed — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:33:07 +0000

Red, right you are – Its been interesting to watch Ardbeg and Bruichladdich and see how they have handled the low stock issue – Not bad, just different. Bruichladdich has produced lots of finishes of younger whisky, tried the high peat, high alcohol, salutes to golf and yellow submarines – They have done this because they have to keep in business and they cannot do it with 25 YO Bruichladdich – They don’t have it! I give lots of credit to McCuen and Reynier for the guts they have shown even though it doesn’t always work.

Ardbeg, on the other hand has brought us along on the ride with their First Committee bottled and then followed with Still Young…Almost There and so forth. They have now gone to the mixing of older with younger stocks to try and meet demand. Bruichladdich has taken a cue from Ardbeg and is doing the PC series like Ardbeg did the Committee bottlings with a great deal of success (and a great product).

I agree with you that I hope they are putting down stock that they can bring out at a later date – I have this sense that their is a healthy competition between these two distilleries that (Supernova and Octomore) that will be good for the consumer/collector in the long run.

By: Joshua_Bacarolle

Joshua_Bacarolle — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:30:43 +0000

John, again and again your whiskey blog provides a really enriching and vibrant forum for whiskey discussion. In all honesty I think that “splitting hairs” is part of why I read this blog — arguments, concerns, criticisms, and tasting descriptions are all enriched with so many voices and I think arguing over little details is very healthy in this context. And after all, we all come here because, at least we agree about one thing: we love whiskey.
Conferring awards is a tricky business and I think it puts the Conferor (you) automatically in a defensive position, at the very least defending your choice of Corry. And it’s the details of your defense, or the “splitting hairs” part that is really where I gain the most insights and education.

By: Red_Arremer

Red_Arremer — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:22:41 +0000

Unfortunately B.J., they can’t rise to that challenge right now because they don’t have the stocks. They’re lucky that for various reasons they’ve been able to find viability, and in the premium scotch market no less, with their very young whiskies. We’re lucky too because this way they get to stay open.

I only hope their putting some stocks away for more serious maturation.

By: John Hansell

John Hansell — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:04:28 +0000

Responsibility indeed, BJ. A huge responsibility. These decisions were carefully considered. I kvew that Corry would be more controversial. The “easy” pick would have been Brora 30 yr., my second choice. But I was trying to make a point with Corry. We have seen–and will continue to see–many relatively young NAS whiskies coming on the market, many of them peated. I wanted to show the the consumer, press, and trade that there’s a right and wrong way to do it. Corry is the right way.

By: B.J. Reed

B.J. Reed — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:02:23 +0000

Bill Lumsden has really made his mark for Moet-Hennessy in a short period of time. His impact on both Ardbeg and Glenmorangie is pretty extraordinary – Like it or not Glenmorangie has moved upscale quickly which I think was the plan when M-H both them but they have done while experimenting (Astar and Signet).

I think they have been smart to keep Ardbeg true to its roots but have also experimented with flavor profiles that have given us great whiskies including Corry. Key is not to to get too carried away with these variations to the detriment of of the basic brand. That will be the challenge.

By: John Hansell

John Hansell — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:56:54 +0000

Good points!

By: B.J. Reed

B.J. Reed — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:55:49 +0000

This debate is a healthy one I think – I am a big Corry fan and own or have tasted most of the whiskies Red mentions but eventually you have to make a decision and not everyone will agree. John has a high profile so when he makes a call about a whisky it carries weight but it also carries responsibility. In my view our role is to both support and challenge those decisions in a constructive way.

By: TheMandarin

TheMandarin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:26:00 +0000

Earlier today, a friend and I were talking about Corry winning Single Malt of the Year, and after thinking about it for a bit, I came to see that the pick speaks volumes.
The way I see it, Corry is being held up as King of the current era, but it’s not a ruling king-of-the-single malts, it really is more of a figure head. Look at what this era meant to the whisky masses, and you’ll see why Corry was the appropriate figurehead for us to look up to…This era was the whisky boom which depleted stocks and raised prices, it was the economic recession which left us with empty pockets, and it was the time when NAS, non-chill filtered, heavily peated whisky came to be seen as the solution: as the bridge between the two. The heavy peat works well with the young spirit, and as one malt advocate poster said many months ago, “a dark time calls for a scarred, smoky profile.” Why is it non chill-filtered?…to acknowledge the demands of newer, well-read connoisseurs .

There was some question as to where the new approach to whisky would bring us good malts or bad malts, but singles like Corry…and let’s be honest, the man Bill Lumsden, has issued a positive and encouraging judgment. Several other quality malts speak to this era, but Corry is debonair, it drinks well at a high proof, and it’s from Ardbeg, the distillery that perhaps best represents the concerns of the current era.

Now this may be neither here nor there, but I can’t help but think how Bill Lumsden wouldn’t have chosen Corry as his favorite new creation. What do you all think?

By: Best in Blog #68: Ardbeg Releases a Rollercoaster; Whisky Bloggers are ‘Pioneers of the Year’ | Whisky Party

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:15:14 +0000

[...] winners since our last post: Ardbeg Corryvreckan gets Scotch Whisky Single Malt of the Year, and Compass Box Peat Monster wins Scotch Whisky Blended Whisky of the [...]

By: John Hansell

John Hansell — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:16:25 +0000

Red, those are all great whiskies, most of which I have rated in the 90s. (You will see some of these on our Top Ten New Whiskies List this coming Thursday.) And as I mentioned in @7 above, the Brora 30 was our runner up. (Too bad we didn’t pick that one. Then people would complain about how we picked an expensive, unaffordable whisky of “prolonged maturation” that’s nearly impossible to find. . You see, no matter what I do, someone will be unhappy.)

The pioneering part of Corry is that they may not to be the first one to to make NAS, relatively young, peated whiskies. I just feel they are doing it better than the other ones you mention. I disagree with you about Supernova and/or Octomore (or PC5 for that matter) being better than Corry. We will also just agree to disagree on this issue.

I really think all this is just splitting hairs, though, as we are debating over highly qualified, very worthy whiskies.

By: Red_Arremer

Red_Arremer — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:26:15 +0000

Corry’s no trendsetter or pioneer– it’s a follower, it settles down comfortably in land cleared by others, in an established community that is just the right size to be very cozy, and feels awfully proud of itself for doing so. Since PC5 there have just been more and more whiskies like this.

Another thing to think about– add the Corry’s award to the Peat Monster’s award and you’ve got the entire world of scotch being “reconized” in two NAS, heavily peated, bourbon casked malts… There’s something pretty off about that– even though i love Compass Box and I think the Corry’s really alright. You’re completely passing over all of the nuances that interesting cask selection and prolonged maturation offer. I don’t understand why…

Here’s a very off-the-cuff list of whiskies released this past year that were surely better with stars next to the best and most viable picks for this actual award:

*Brora 30 (the best)
* Laphroaig 25 (something really special)
* Glenmorangie Signet (you want pioneering…)
* Springbank 11 Madeira Cask (you want individuality and substance)
* Glenmorangie Astar (something really different)
*Ardbeg Supernova and Octomore (both as good or better than Corry– and actually somewhat trendsetting because all the comparison of the two very explicitly set the tone of the new peat race mentality)

By: B.J. Reed

B.J. Reed — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:26:15 +0000

Thanks Alex

By: B.J. Reed

B.J. Reed — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:25:19 +0000

Thanks John