It would be fair to say that £100,000 is a lot of money for anything, particularly so for a bottle of whisky, yet Johnnie Walker Diamond Jubilee justifies its stratospheric price tag. Why? Because all the profits from the 60 decanters which have been made of this ultra-rare blend are going to charity.

The concept was initiated by Richard Watling, ex-Diageo director and now chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust [QEST] which provides grants to British craftspeople and in doing so, keeps many highly specialized trades alive. He approached David Gates, who holds the Royal Warrant for Johnnie Walker at Diageo, to see whether the firm would create a blend to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The result is a blend not just of whiskies – all distilled in 1952, the year Queen Elizabeth acceded to the throne – but of a host of different crafts. The crystal diamond-shaped decanter is from Baccarat, its silver collar and stopper has been hand-crafted by Hamilton & Inches in Edinburgh and it resides inside a cabinet which has been made with wood from two of the Queen’s estates: oak from Sandringham and pine from Balmoral. There are two hand-etched Cumbrian crystal glasses and the presentation is completed with a white leather hand-bound book personalized by the Queen’s calligrapher (and former QEST scholar), Sally Mangum.

But what of the liquid? I was invited to Royal Lochnagar, next door to Balmoral, to watch the decanters being filled, have a chat with master blender Jim Beveridge and his assistant Matthew Crow, and, more importantly, taste the liquid.

“The brief was a blank sheet,” says Beveridge prior to the tasting. “but there had to be some connection with 60 years, so we looked to see what whiskies we had from 1952. Not surprisingly, there were only a handful and we even rejected some, as they were too woody.”

After vatting the components together, the blend was rested in two small marrying casks, made by Diageo’s apprentice coopers under the watchful guidance of master cooper David Taylor.  The oak – Quercus Petraea for the geeks among you – came from Sandringham.

“That marrying made a big difference,” says Beveridge, “because it allowed the key component to do its work.” That key element? “Old grain,” he explained. “It softened those crusty old malts and allowed new flavors to sing out. The surprise for me is the freshness, the softness. Old whiskies can be one dimensional, but this has layers.”

He raises the glass and takes a sip. “Aye,” he smiles, “that’s all right.”

93   Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons, 42.5%, £100,000

The bright gold hue is maybe a shock for those who equate age with darkness. The surprises continue as a first sniff immediately reveals amazing freshness. Fruits lead the way, starting with quince, slowly evolving into mango, blueberry, and an almost jammy blackberry note. At the same time, spices begin to build, particularly when the surface is broken with a drop of water; exotic spices at that: Javanese long pepper, cardamom, then vanilla pod notes develop. Complex in other words. In the mouth you can see how that grain is smoothing all the elements, giving an unctuous feel, calmly revealing the blend’s secrets. There’s just sufficient oakiness to give structure, and while there’s smoke, it’s far in the distance. Its different facets weave around each other: velvet texture, the refreshing bitter perfume of spices, pools of soft fruits as it flows down the throat. It is a triumph of the blender’s art.  — Dave Broom

Another ‘country’ joins the whisky diaspora

By Dominic Roskrow

The oldest whisky ever released in ‘England’ has been snapped up after a huge public demand. The whiskey is actually from Cornwall and was the result of a unique partnership of two Cornish drinks producers.

Hicks & Healey Cornish Single Malt 7 Year Old Whiskey, which adopts the Irish/American spelling of the world ‘whiskey,’ is the first new whiskey to be bottled in Cornwall for 300 years, and is three years older than the whisky from St. George’s in Norfolk. It is the result of a partnership between St. Austell Brewery and Healey’s Cyder Farm, and was only available in limited quantities from August.

Cornwall, which has its own language and culture, and which to a great extent has closer ties to the Celts of Brittany and Wales than to England, maintains a degree of independence, and the new whiskey is being promoted distinctly as a Cornish rather than English whisky. But because it is highly unlikely that whiskey from Cornwall or England would have been matured for any length of time 300 years ago, when it was last made, Hicks & Healey can plausibly claim to be the oldest single malt whisky ever produced by either country.

The new malt is the brainchild of highly respected St. Austell Brewery head brewer Roger Ryman, who knew that the humid peninsula air and mild Cornish climate would provide optimum maturing conditions. The partnership brings expertise in brewing and distillation together for the first time in Cornwall.

Healey’s Cyder Farm near Truro makes apple brandy in a unique, traditional copper pot still which was made by Rothes coppersmiths Forsyths, where most Scottish stills are made. At only 1,200 liters, it’s one of the smallest legal stills in the country.

The Cornish whiskey is made with Maris Otter barley grown in Trerulefoot, south-east Cornwall. The wash is mixed at St. Austell Brewery’s traditional Victorian brew-house, before being transferred to Healey’s Farm.

Although the new release will be seven years old, the partnership has been making batches of whiskey for much longer. Six years ago, I tasted malt spirit and whiskey aged from new make to 4 years old, but felt some of them were too flabby and appley. But the new make and the year old spirit — the latter the source for this particular whiskey — were very good indeed.

A new batch of Hicks & Healey Cornish Single Malt Whiskey will be released again next year, and will be available from Healey’s Cyder Farm and the St. Austell Brewery Visitor Center, and online at www.thecornishcyderfarm.co.uk  and www.staustellbreweryshop.co.uk

That’s the end of vat…

By Dominic Roskrow

Few companies have done more to further the cause of vatted malt whisky than London-based producer Compass Box. So it was fitting that when the term was consigned to the dustbin of history by the British Government, whisky maker John Glaser and supporters were on hand to mark the occasion.

Assorted Compass Box staff, bloggers, and retailers marched to the British Parliament buildings at Westminster on a warm winter evening to watch Glaser mix the last ever vatted malt on Westminster Bridge as the chimes of midnight rang out from Big Ben, marking the official last time that a whisky can be described as a “vatted malt.”

Vatted malts are a mixture of malts from different distilleries; they are distinct from blended whisky because they contain no grain whisky. But a few years ago the Scotch Whisky Association moved to have the term outlawed, and to have it replaced with the term “blended malt whisky.” Critics of the change, including Glaser and Compass Box, were vociferous in their opposition because they argue that the new term is far too similar to the term ‘blended whisky,’ and it is very difficult to explain to people, particularly in languages other than English.

Many of Compass Box’s most successful whiskies are vatted malts, so John Glaser felt it right to mark the occasion in style. “It was in the Houses of Parliament that a term that was almost as old as whisky itself was outlawed,” he said. “So it was only fitting that it was there that we went to mark the end of vatted malts.”

It says much about how trendy quality whisky is today that the protest began with a party at one of Soho’s most fashionable style bars. Cocktails made with Compass Box whisky were served before Glaser appeared, coincidentally arriving as the DJ put on Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.”

From there about 20 supporters walked down to the River Thames and on to the bridge at Westminster. As Big Ben rang out the chimes of midnight Glaser mixed and bottled the last-ever “vatted whisky.”  Both vatted malt and vatted grain whiskies were put on sale by Compass Box, but sold out quickly due to huge demand.

Read what he has to say below. Do you agree with him? Disagree with him? And why?

WHISKY  ‘INVESTMENT’

By Ian Buxton

Can one invest in whisky?  And, if yes, should you?

There’s certainly a lot of excited chatter about this right now, perhaps a measure of the troubled economic times in which we live.  The idea seems to be creeping into the popular imagination that picking the right bottle is a worthwhile, not to say near essential part of your financial planning.

We can argue about the figures.  Elsewhere I’ve taken exception to sloppy journalism and the casual quotation of potential investment gains that ignore transaction costs – and can thus never be achieved in real life.  Call me old-fashioned but I believe readers should be able to trust what they read and citing illusory and unattainable rates of return is misleading at best.

What’s more, simple common sense suggests that returns of over 100% in just two or three years are never going to be sustained in anything but a feverish bubble. When you appreciate that those figures are being most enthusiastically trumpeted by people with a vested interest, such as distillers with a brand to promote, retailers with stock to move or auction houses keen to drum up business you might just want to look twice before committing your 401(k) pot.

But there’s a more fundamental philosophical point that the money men, with their hard, cold souls don’t seem to get: if the whisky you buy is just for investment, then – since it’s never going to be opened – the bottle may as well contain cold tea.  Today whisky; tomorrow pork belly futures.

Whisky is a drink, but it is more than that.  It is a metaphor for the spirit and soul of the people and place that produced it. The distillers of Scotland express part of the austere, Calvinist personality of their land; in Kentucky (as for Rabbie Burns) “freedom and whisky gang  the’gither” and for the brave new distillers in Brittany, France it encapsulates their Breton identity and culture, even their language.

Buying and hoarding bottles like some latter-day Ebenezer Scrooge while poring over spreadsheets to measure RoI and capital growth tears out whisky’s heart and spirit; confounds its generosity and desecrates the memory, skill and craftsmanship of the people who made it. And, call me a romantic, but that’s just wrong.

If you love whisky, set it free.  Mark my words: this ‘investment’ bubble will end badly and people – and whisky – are going to get hurt.

If you’re like me, you were somewhat stunned by the 2007 discovery of intact cases of Mackinlay’s Highland Malt Whisky, buried in the ice for 100 years under Ernest Shackleton’s long-abandoned Antarctic base camp at Cape Royds. And, if you’re like me, you might have been somewhat stunned by the stream of stories that came out of that discovery. One crate was flown to New Zealand, slowly thawed; three bottles then flown to Scotland (on Dr. Vijay Mallya’s private jet), there to be analyzed by a crew led by Whyte & Mackay master blender Richard Paterson; the project to replicate the character of that whisky… Well, to tell the truth, except for a wee tinge of envy when fellow writer Dominic Roskrow got a tiny sip of the original back in July (lucky bastard!), I somewhat lost interest along the way.

Until, that is, the whisky was announced as “Ready!” Really? I’m all excited again, especially since reports were that the whisky was quite worth the effort. The U.S. launch was set for November 10^th, at — appropriately — the Explorers Club in New York City. I made the trek uptown, and entered the hallowed halls, somewhat awestruck. The first glass of champagne cooled that a bit!

I fell in with Richard Paterson quickly, warmly congratulated him on the accomplishment, and let him continue to be celebrated, very much the man of the hour. Then I fell to chatting with David Robertson, who I hadn’t seen in some years, and who is now Rare Whisky Director for Whyte & Mackay. He provided me with some fascinating bits and pieces about the whisky, such as the analysis having revealed that the light peat in it derived from peat from Orkney — will chemical wonders never cease? — and the wood used to age the whisky having been American white oak in sherry casks. He also told me that the cask of Glen Mhor Richard nosed and selected to recreate the Mackinlay’s was, eerily, cask number 1907.

He also told me that the whisky was a huge success and was selling quite rapidly. The 50,000 bottles, planned for a two year selling period, would likely be all sold in twelve months (five pounds from each bottle goes to the Antarctic Heritage Trust). And you’ve already said you won’t make more, I chided him; but it’s so good, you have to! He rolled his eyes a bit, and said that they had made a promise…but that they might well make another, somewhat different version. It’s certainly hit a sweet spot on price and value and story, it would be a shame for this to be a one-off.

Because, you see, as Paterson explained — to a surprisingly quiet and attentive crowd of Club members, media, industry, and assorted important people (like the Right Honorable Mike Moore, New Zealand’s ambassador to the U.S., who I’m afraid I may have bumped into while trying to get to the bar; sorry, sir) — this is a unique whisky opportunity. The whisky was completely undisturbed at chillingly cold temperatures, but at 47.3% ABV, he said, it never froze. It is intact, almost perfectly preserved from within two years of its bottling.

Still, as Robertson had confided to me earlier, there was a terrible risk. Whyte & Mackay had already committed to making this replica whisky taste exactly like what was in that bottle. “What if it was horrible?” Robertson said, with a look on his face I’m sure he’d had before the bottle was first sampled. “’Richard, would you make us a whisky that tastes exactly that bad?’ I can tell you; he’d have said ‘Put my name on that? No.’”

Happily, that wasn’t an issue. The whisky was, by all reports, quite nice indeed. “Less smoky than we’d expected,” Robertson said, and indeed, there’d been much speculation that it would be a smokier whisky from an earlier time when whisky was burly and men were men… not the case. There was a definite but restrained peat component in the nose, along with vanilla, light fruit, and faint caramel. The flavors were a replication of the nose, with a firm malt bedrock; the smoke revisited on the finish. If the reports on the original were true, the replica was true: quite nice indeed.

After a few more drams of the Mackinlay’s, and a bit more conversation with a nice gentleman from the Antarctic Heritage Trust about the whisky — he was pleased as well — I had to return home from my adventure. Shackleton didn’t make it to the Pole, but I will discover and conquer a bottle of his expedition’s whisky.

If you’ve ever visited the Wild Turkey distillery outside Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, well, you’ll know I’m not being disrespectful when I say it looked a bit run-down. Big hulking buildings with rusty iron wrappings, a hodge-podge of structures clinging to a cliff over the Kentucky River: thank God they made excellent whiskey, because they for sure were never going to win a beauty contest!

Well…forget all that. As of today, Wild Turkey has the newest distillery in Kentucky, and it is a $50 million beauty. Sited across the road from the old plant, on top of the hill, the new plant is as planned and purposeful as the old one was…er, rambling. The capacity is greatly increased (11 million gallons a year, up from 5 million), the running gear is solid and slick, and there’s a fresh coat of paint on everything. They’ve even put new label designs on the iconic 101 bottling, matched by that on the new 81 proof bottling that was Eddie Russell’s project.

Thank Gruppo Campari. The new owners of Wild Turkey are rightly excited about this project that they inherited from former owners, Pernod Ricard. Their chairman, Luca Garavoglia, and CEO, Bob Kunze-Concewitz, were there for the occasion (as was Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear).  Kunze-Concewitz spoke, and emphasized that GC is here for the long haul. “Rest assured,” he told a crowd of dignitaries and distillery employees. “Your beloved brand is in good hands. We are not going anywhere.” He got another solid round of applause when he mentioned that plans were being contemplated for a new visitor center.

Jimmy Russell, 57 year Wild Turkey employee and iconic master distiller, noted how proud he was of the production team that made the whiskey he’s so closely associated with. He joked with the crowd about the 90 dry counties in Kentucky, pointing out that he himself was a Southern Baptist. “We Baptists make bourbon for medicinal purposes,” he said…and paused to cough. “I try to keep a cough going all the time.”

To the best of anyone’s knowledge at the event – a group that included 87 years of master distiller experience and Kentucky Distillers Association president Eric Gregory – this is the first new, “greenfield” distillery built in Kentucky in decades, possibly as long as 50 years. That’s evidence of the turnaround in the bourbon industry in general.

It was a good day, with plenty of bourbon, barbecue, and bluegrass music…and the breeze, blowing across this hilltop distillery. Jimmy Russell told me once that he liked to have his whiskey warehoused on hilltops, where it can catch the breezes. That makes good bourbon, he said. Now he’s got his distillery up there too.

Photo: Jimmy and Eddie Russell prepare to “christen” a commemorative barrel made by Independent Stave Co. for the occasion – don’t worry, they didn’t break those bottles!

Great Whiskies: 500 of the Best from around the world
Editor-in-Chief Charles MacLean
Published by DK (Dorling Kindersley)
Hardcover
384 pages

My mission is to sift through the new whisky book titles to help you choose the right books for you, in the same way as whisky reviews can be the next best thing to sipping a new release. Hopefully, this will mean everyone gets the most for their dollars and the publishing world will continue to intrigue us with interesting and creative whisky books.

Today’s offering is more suitable for those in the earlier stages of their whisky journeys, or those people who could use a handy reference book in the bar to educate their staff and customers. Dorling Kindersley have filleted World Whisky (DK, 2009) to produce Great Whiskies, a straightforward A-Z handbook of fantastic whisk(e)y brands. One of the pleasures of whisky is the unquenchable capacity for new learning – even the greats of the industry will admit there are always fresh aspects to discover. The achievement of this book is the wealth of information packed into a chunky handbook.

DK are to be congratulated and Charles MacLean, to his great credit, has performed a fine job as editor-in-chief in ensuring the book has a consistency of style that masks the collaborative variance of using multiple authors. This is matched by the clarity of the layout, and the conceptual simplicity and uniformity of the bottle photographs.

Amongst the contributing writers are fellow Malt Advocate regulars Dave Broom and Gavin D Smith who have covered Japanese and American whiskies, respectively. Peter Mulryan manages the Irish whiskies, Tom Bruce-Gardyne covers single malts from Scotland, Ian Buxton acts as the curator of blended whisky, Hans Offringa tackles European whisky whilst MacLean himself has handled Canada, Australasia and Asia.

A concise column on each brand covers history and production in about 100 words, before succinct tasting notes are provided on key bottlings.  Certain world-beating brands are given space over two pages with four reviews. Double spread touring guides of Islay, Speyside, Ireland, Japan and Kentucky periodically interrupt the alphabetical format.

One missed opportunity was to not update the information from World Whisky before pulling this text together so for example, tasting notes for the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection are from the 2008 releases.  On occasion, this can make the page look slightly dated particularly when examining the newer distillers (where we are shown Mackmyra Preludium or Kilchoman New Make Spirit products) or the brands benefitting from recent repackaging initiatives (see Deanston, Tobermory or Fettercairn).

While there are 500 listed bottlings in Great Whiskies (but not 500 brands), there is no mention of the criteria used to define their greatness. The most obvious parallels are with Ian Buxton’s 101 Whiskies to try before you die but the whiskies chosen here have a broader price range (the most expensive is probably The Last Drop) and the range of blends marketed the world over mean that you’re not going to be able to easily get your hands on certain bottles.

This is the perfect topic crying out for an e-book version for easy reference on the move – how about it DK?

EDITOR’S NOTE: While the author does hint that some of the material is outdated, please see the comment thread below for more information.

Smokeheads
by Doug Johnstone
Published by Faber & Faber Limited
Available in Hardcover and Kindle versions
291 pages

“Four friends. One weekend. Gallons of whisky. What could go wrong?” asks the cover of Doug Johnstone’s third novel. These thirty-somethings, all former Edinburgh University buddies catch the ferry to Islay anticipating a weekend of great drams and distillery visits. Adam is the main protagonist, a short balding anti-hero with big plans who labors as a retail worker in a whisky shop on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile (and detests its tourist clientele for their whisky naivety). His whisky compadres are Rory, a charmless millionaire fund manager and boorish misogynist and Ethan and Luke, two rather flimsy characters who act more as plot devices than fully-fledged individuals. Taciturn Luke is a stoner musician and you know this because he says the word “man” after most of his dialogue.

During the early chapters the group tour Laphroaig distillery, meeting Molly, a distillery guide whom Adam has met on earlier visits while she was still married and their mutual attraction lingers. Not long after landing on Islay, Rory’s driving attracts the wrath of the local police in the form of Joe, a brutish and corrupt cop and coincidently, Molly’s ex-husband. Without revealing the subsequent plot twists and turns of this Tartan Noir thriller, Adam reveals the pretence under which he’s invited these friends to the island and the scene is set for fallout and mayhem.

The whisky writing is authentic and the guys enjoy sipping a 27 year old single cask Port Ellen on the ferry, a Laphroaig 30 year old, Bruichladdich Deliverance X4 and Laphroaig Quarter cask and from the descriptions of Islay, distilleries and the drams, you trust the author is no stranger to the subject matter. However, amidst the chaos of murder and destruction, there is a moment where Adam and Rory share some preposterously asinine tasting notes which seem excessively crass. As a work of fiction, the plot twists are often heavy-handed and you can see them coming a mile off. The cartoon violence is frequent, bloody and casually grotesque and the swearing is prolific.

I found the stamina and endurance of the characters in Smokeheads (both the good guys and the bad) pushed the limits of plausibility at times, a consequence of the incessant action sequences written with a certain televisual quality. Molly emerges as the strong female lead, cool under pressure unlike Rory who has few redeeming qualities and a relentless cocaine habit (drug use being a topic of Johnstone’s earlier work, The Ossians). However, I enjoyed how the text cleverly manages to convey a sense of fearful claustrophobia to the Oa pennisula, one of the wildest and most remote parts of the island.

Right to the end, the author maintains his grip on the tension which will have you turning the pages to see if they will get away with it all. I would love to know what Ileachs think of the depiction of them and their island. While sharing some genre similarities of gore and pace, Johnstone’s style does not match the comic wit and elements of surprise that marks out Christopher Brookmyre at his best, nor the menacing dark inventiveness of the early Colin Bateman books. However, with malt whisky at its core, this book will make enjoyable summer vacation reading for whisky fans although it’s not going to appeal to everyone.

Tell us, have any of you read this book and what did you think?  Can anyone recommend any other good novels that focus on whisky?

Whisky. The Islay Edition.
Blu-Ray and DVD (Limited release of 7000)
www.whiskyseries.com          
P-O-K Productions | 60 minutes

Can I have a show of hands as to how many of you would rather be on Islay right now compared to wherever you are at the moment? Really? Almost everyone! If you’re a single malt lover, then making the trip to Islay is something you’ve got to do at least once in your lifetime. Every sip of gentle Bunnahabhain coaxes you to make plans, every glass of Laphroaig insists you pay a visit and that’s before the heavy(ly peated) mob like Ardbeg Supernova and Octomore muscle in to make you an offer you can’t refuse.

Could this movie be the next best thing to planting your feet on Islay? This ambitious high-quality documentary promises to be the first in a series of whisky films, and the young filmmaker Olav Verhoeven has to be congratulated for his originality and vision. The opening titles would not be out of place in a forensic crime drama with cool, sterile laboratory imagery flickering against tolling piano chords. The film crew have had unfettered access to the distilleries and admirably convey the beauty of the polished copper and the symmetry of the washbacks as each site reveals a different element to whisky production.

The storytelling in the distillery interviews are first rate; Mickey Heads talks in front of an enviable wall of Ardbegs, the respected John MacLellan discusses barley in Kilchoman’s warehouse, Eddie McAffer’s leather armchair sits amongst the germinating grains at Bowmore’s maltings and Bruichladdich’s Jim McEwan enthuses about his passion for casks from the eyrie of his racked warehouse. The managers of Lagavulin and Caol Ila are conspicuously absent however their respective distilleries share equal billing.

The film is hosted by Bob Minnekeer whose grand mustache must be one of the broadest in the whisky world (and that’s up against some pretty stiff competition). Between the distillery set pieces, Bob stalks the land resplendent in a bow tie and three piece suit. One minute he’s crossing fields of barley and peat bogs, the next he’s supping water from a gurgling stream or perusing the Bruichladdich warehouse inventory. He tastes the featured whiskies without water from his large brandy snifter and confesses his penchant for cork sniffing.

An ad-man’s eye is apparent in the beautifully lit product shots making excellent use of narrow focal lengths which excel in the high-definition quality. The voiceover narration is crisp and unhurried with a Scottish delivery imbued with gravitas and emphasis like many a distillery tour film. Unfortunately, the place name pronunciation is a rather irksome with Is-lee rather than Isl-a and the Bow of Bowmore rhyming with how amongst others.

Indubitably, Islay is the star of the film and she’s never looked better. The intensity of the ocean blues, the unmistakable black distillery names on the whitewashed buildings standing defiantly against the elements and the gentle blend of greens and browns on the mountain slopes near Finlaggan Castle cause a deep yearning for the majesty of Islay’s landscapes. Verhoeven’s cinematography creates an authentically vivid feel through the use of accelerated tracking shots as sweeping panoramas are revealed and picturesque time-lapse sequences unfold as the clouds race home when dusk marches across Loch Indaal. Sound quality is superb and supported by a lavish soundtrack that incorporates North African influences and a stirring theme fit for a Hollywood blockbuster.

The product is presented in an elaborate numbered gatefold sleeve which includes both a Blu-Ray disc and DVD version of the movie plus a 40-page color booklet with tasting notes on the eight featured whiskies. The Blu-Ray plays fine in the U.S. but the DVD is in PAL, so depending on your set-up, you may need to play it through a laptop. Perhaps you won’t make it to Islay this year, but you could do a lot worse than opening a bottle of your favourite Islay single malt and experiencing this stylish whisky film with a group of buddies. Drink it all in.

Available for purchase online by clicking here.

MacLean’s Miscellany of Whisky
by Charles MacLean (2^nd revised edition)
Published by Little Books Ltd | 288 pages

Whisky books appeal to those seeking deeper understanding of production subtleties and those who crave facts and figures to memorise but sometimes all you want is a jaunty tome that will entertain and enlighten. MacLean’s Miscellany of Whisky first appeared in 2004, and has been recently updated with additional material and given a handsome new jacket.

Charlie MacLean’s interpretation of a miscellany is an assortment of writing and quotations on whisky (there are a couple of pages on Irish, American and Japanese whiskies, but this is ostensibly a book about Scotch whisky). This neat book is perfectly adept for consumption in 4-5 page sittings; it’s packed with a diversity of topics with cross-referencing to related sections.

Less of a motley anthology than the title suggests however, there is a coherent pathway running through the text from definitions of whisky and raw materials through to production, branding and collecting. Sparkling anecdotes gathered from history form enjoyable digressions along the way, from the tale of how Burns was snubbed in Selkirk to how King George IV drank contraband whisky in Edinburgh in 1822 due to his preferred pure Glenlivet-style whisky being unobtainable. I found the pages on jars, pigs and other vessels and their closures fascinating, the science of viscimetry illuminating and the book concludes with a comical romp through the etymology of inebriation in Scotland. This is the literary equivalent of sinking into a dark leather armchair with a robust Mortlach after a hearty dinner.

Engravings add to the historical feel of the book, although they seldom bear a strong relationship to the topic featured on the page (that’s miscellany for you). There are some fascinating late nineteenth century adverts from the archives including one for Grouse as it sought fame, Dewar’s Ancestors campaign and the price list for Chivas Brothers when they were an Aberdeen grocer’s shop and whisky blender. If the distillery engravings such as Lagavulin, Glenturret and Glen Grant seem familiar it is because they are reproductions from Alfred Barnard’s The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom (Birlinn’s elegant 2008 edition is well worth tracking down).

You will have sipped young whiskies that have been distilled and bottled since the first edition of this book appeared. Little of the historical matter at the heart of the text needed updating but there are some minor details trapped in 2004. The listing of vatted malt and pure malt as categories on the “Understanding the Label” section predates the Scotch Whisky Regulations in 2009, and the peat chapter omits Ardbeg Supernova and mentions Bruichladdich Distillery beginning to produce Octomore at peating levels of 60 parts per million (in reality, the first edition claimed barley peated to 131ppm and the third boasted 152ppm).

Similarly, the appendix of Scottish distillery openings and closures needs updating with status changes recognizing the reopening of Glenglassaugh, the closure of Brora, Port Dundas, the mothballing of Tamdhu and Kilchoman’s full opening (no longer under construction). However, forgive the pedantry, for these are tiny details which must not detract you from a rewarding read about Scotch whisky. This charismatic book will furnish the reader with convivial conversation for the whisky club night or enrich those divine moments of mustache-twirling cogitation between drams.

Malt Whisky Yearbook 2011 (edited by Ingvar Ronde)
Published by MagDig Media Limited | 274 pages

For the past few years, this annual has been essential reading for the whisky fraternity. An assembly of essayists bookend a hugely informative guide to the whisky distilleries of the world crammed with facts and statistics; this is a great resource no matter what you may already know about whisky. Only this publication and Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible have created a role for yearly whisky publications and as each year passes, there seems a growing confidence and conviction with the Malt Whisky Yearbook.

This year, Charlie MacLean presents a thoroughly researched article on the dynamic and substantial whisky market in India from the modern day whisky baron Vijay Mallya of United Spirits Ltd, to the high taxes levied against imported Whiskies and the successful degree of marketing and promotion that operates despite the alcohol ban.

Dominic Roskrow revisits repackaging, rebranding and relaunches.

Hans Offringa takes a colourful look at the development of whisky labels including the legal necessities likening the label to a passport for each whisky.

Ian Wisniewski tackles the complexities of successful mashing with enough detail and factual science to keep you going for another year.

Ian Buxton’s piece reviews the polarized views expressed in the light of Chivas Bros “Age Matters” campaign with a balanced and highly entertaining essay including the steadying, cogent arguments proffered by Serge Valentin.

Gavin D. Smith looks at what factors influence cask maturation from wood provenance and the flavour contributions from American, European or Japanese oak, cask size and re-casking maturing whisky to improve the development of new flavours.

Chris Bunting (aka our man in Japan as far as the whisky blogosphere goes) writes about the reversal of fortunes for big brand whiskies in the domestic Japanese market, the optimism in Japanese craft distilling and the slow but eagerly anticipated growth of exports to the USA and Europe (through the efforts of Number One Drinks and La Maison du Whisky, Paris).

The distillery section is dominated by single malt Scotch and Irish distilleries but each year, the list is juggled to reflect active distilleries with a condensed section for closed distilleries and new start-ups.  Each page is combed for updates, new releases and developments are added with a product shot whilst lighter “Meet the Manager” interviews are interspersed between the A-Z list.

The world whiskies section grows larger each year with a deluge of new entries including nine for the USA. If you aren’t sated by now, the yellow pages examine the business of whisky with “The Whisky Year That Was” editorial, statistics and histograms covering consumption, exports and market share together with a list of 500 new whisky releases.

However, these data are fascinating particularly if your trade depends on it, yet most whisky consumers probably don’t give a hoot about forecasted growth in Eastern Europe or Latin America but global distribution and the state of each company does matter, as it ultimately influences what whisky is in your glass.

Other than becoming a Whisk(e)y Yearbook and embracing bourbon and rye, there is little this book doesn’t do. I hope I’m preaching to the converted, but if you’ve not explored the Malt Whisky Yearbook by now, you really ought to get on board.

The Belgian Owl, 4 year old, 46%, €46
Distiller Etienne Bouillon and two partners, farmer Pierre Roberti and financier Luc Foubert established Belgian Owl in 2004 in the barley-growing region of Hesbay, pressing a 19th century Swiss ambulatory alembic into service. Bouillon studied with Jim McEwan at Bruichladdich, and The Belgian Owl shows something of the Laddie’s master distiller’s love of sweet spirit aged in first-fill American oak. Stir in some cream, sweet peach, guava, and mango and you have a lush palate. The youth is indicated by a little green almond, while there is a soft crunch of barley on the tongue. (Dave Broom)

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 82

Sullivan’s Cove, Bourbon Cask HH0104, 60%, €95
Patrick Maguire, who now heads up Hobart’s Sullivan’s Cove distillery started work with Bill Lark before taking over Sullivan’s Cove in 2003. A French-design brandy still produces a very floral, sweet, and full-flavored spirit with notes of lime blossom and wood sap. It’s a bold distillate, but there’s sufficient sweetness and fragrant spice to balance.  (Dave Broom)

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 86

Lark Single Cask LD126, 43%, €99
Although the Aussie whisky-making industry started in Tasmania, the distilling bug is spreading across the country. Small-scale the distilleries may be, but the use of brewer’s yeast, local peat (in Tasmania’s case), and wood sourced from the wine industry has immediately given Aussie whisky an identity of its own. Yes, it’s tiny, but every great new whisky, no matter where it is from, chips away at Scotch whisky’s hegemony. Tasmanian-based Bill Lark is the founding father of the modern Australian whisky industry. He uses local peat and ages in small casks — and only does single cask releases. This means that by the time a tasting note is written the whisky has gone, but here’s what I thought of one of them. There’s a glimpse of some fresh malt, but it is the heightened aromatics that are the most interesting here. Lark points to the yeast mix as the origin of this scent. His small stills, however, give a muscularity to the palate, while the oak is in balance.  (Dave Broom)

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 84

Bakery Hill, Double Wood, 46%, $71
Tasmania may be setting itself up as the Speyside of Australia, but there are a growing number of distilleries on the mainland, such as Bakery Hill in Bayswater on the Dadenong foothills of Victoria, which was started by David Baker in 1999. Working with tall stills, his aim is to make a lightly fragrant spirit, and certainly that intense banana-like quality is there on nose and palate while the use of sherry casks adds a fruitcake and golden raisin depth.  (Dave Broom)

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 82

Kavalan single malt, 40%, $65
When the news arrived that a distillery was being built in Taiwan, the whisky world pretty much dismissed it. When Kavalan appeared at a precocious 42 months, it sat up and took notice. Owned by food and beverage conglomerate King Car, Kavalan started producing in 2006 with blender Ian Chang at the helm — and a hotline to consultant Dr. Jim Swan. Taiwan’s tropical climate pushes the maturation cycle along at a ferocious rate, but the key here is its complexity. Maybe it’s auto-suggestion, but I could swear there’s ginseng in here, as well as honeycomb and black cherry pie filling. Fresh and clean, the spirit is rich and accompanied with great wood.  Mature whisky in three years? It’s an accountant’s dream! (Dave Broom)

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 90

Kavalan Port Cask finish, 40%, $65 (approx)
Here Jim Swan has taken the bold step of double maturing an already quick maturing spirit, but it works. Blueberries and rich oak are to the fore, while Kavalan’s cherry accents act as the link between spirit and Port. Think rosehips and crème de mures. Thick and liquorous. (Dave Broom)

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 90

St. George’s Chapter 6, 3 year old, £38
England’s sole whisky distillery (currently, at any rate; anything could and probably will happen) is located in Norfolk, where farmer Andrew Nelstrop started distilling in November 2006. Small batches have been released in ‘Chapters,’ giving whisky lovers teasing glimpses of how the spirit is maturing. Light and delicate — there’s also a peated variant — Nelstrop reckons it will hit its peak in its early teens. I see no reason to dispute him. This chapter is picking up a straw color and has a nose that’s reminiscent of fresh barley, while a little citrus hangs around at the back. Young — think green apple and green grass with milled flour on the tongue — it’s a whistle-clean whisky. (Dave Broom)

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 80