February 7th, 2012

Whisky Advocate Award: Blended/Blended Malt Whisky of the Year

John Hansell

Compass Box Great King Street, 43%, $45

Two outstanding contenders battled it out for this award this year: The Mackinlays ‘Shackleton’ whisky and The Compass Box Great King Street blend. Both tasted great, both took the category into new territory, and both showed what can be achieved through clever and thoughtful blending.

The Mackinlays ‘Shackleton’ whisky is a blended malt whisky — a mix of malt whiskies with no grain — and recreated the whisky found in the Antarctic camp abandoned by Ernest Shackleton. It was well packaged, was relatively well priced, and tasted great.

But the Mackinlays is all about history and the past. Compass Box Great King Street, a sweet citrusy and vanilla-doused blend, is all about the future. John Glaser and team don’t make bad whiskies, but often they have been esoteric, small batch, and all but unavailable to many of us. This blend is different, and is an attempt by Compass Box to introduce quality blends to a new generation. It had a relatively modest price point and brought the artisan skills of Compass Box to a new audience. It’s that rarity: a blend that drinks well on its own but tastes great when mixed. More than that, it’s perfectly placed to bring blends back into vogue. Anyone for a highball?  —Dominic Roskrow

Tomorrow, the Speyside Single Malt of the Year will be announced.

Category: Awards,Whisky Advocate Magazine,Writers Tags: , , 8 Comments

January 10th, 2012

Cornish whiskey

John Hansell

Today, Dominc Roskrow marks another day in whisky; make that whiskey history. Hicks & Healey Cornish Single Malt 7 Year Old Whiskey, to be exact.

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

Category: English whisky,Guest Blogger,Writers Tags: , 21 Comments

January 6th, 2012

That’s the end of vat…

John Hansell

As of November 23, 2011 the term “vatted” has been declared illegal for use on the label of whisky. Dominic Roskrow reports on this historical day in whisky history.

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.

Category: Guest Blogger,Regulatory issues,Scotch whisky,Writers Tags: , , , 37 Comments

January 4th, 2012

Whisky Advocate writers appearing at WhiskyFest New York 2012

John Hansell

In a previous post, I shared the exciting news about what’s in store for WhiskyFest™ New York 2012. The excitement doesn’t stop there. In fact, that’s just the beginning!  I’m thrilled to announce that we will have several  Whisky Advocate writers in attendance at the Grand Tasting events the evenings of Friday, October 26th and Saturday, October 27th and moderating our seminars during the day on Saturday, October 27th.

Dave Broom, Lew Bryson, Jonny McCormick, Dominic Roskrow, and Gavin Smith will be joining us for this exceptional whisky weekend. Whether you are in the trade (retailers, brand ambassadors, distillers, restaurant owners, etc.), a whisky aficionado, or new to the world of whisky, these are personalities you do not want to miss. You can find them all in one place this entire weekend.  Read more about them here and get all the details on WhiskyFest New York 2012 weekend here.

Coming soon: details on the seminar topics during the day-long program on October 27th.

Category: Special events,WhiskyFest,Writers Tags: , , , , 7 Comments

August 9th, 2010

Guest whisky reviews coming from Dominic Roskrow and Dave Broom

John Hansell

As I mentioned here back in June, Dominic Roskrow and Dave Broom have joined me in reviewing whiskies in Malt Advocate’s Buyer’s Guide. They will be focusing on whiskies not generally available in the U.S. (They have easier access to these whiskies than I do.)

Starting this week, I’ll be posting up reviews by Dominic. Most are Travel Retail exclusive whiskies. Then, I’ll be posting Dave Broom’s reviews of eight different Japanese whiskies during the two weeks following. All these reviews will also be included in the next issue of Malt Advocate, due out in September. I’m giving my WDJK readers a sneak peak here first.

Category: Guest Blogger,Reviews,Writers Tags: , 7 Comments



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