We have well over 180 Single Malts to
choose from:
Distillery Bottlings and Hard to find Unique Independent Bottlings
A WORD ABOUT INDEPENDENT BOTTLERS by Robert Kaplan
Next time
you’re perusing a long line of single malts, notice that certain bottles give
prominent age statements but no vintage dating; others give you the year
of
production as well as an age statement. Does a vintage date matter? Why for some
and not for others? Understanding how single malts are produced will clear up
this
question.
By
definition a Single Malts is made from only malted barley and water. Only one
distillery
is the source of the whiskey made, and the date on the bottle signifies the
youngest whisky
used. However, single malts are not the product of a single cask, in fact
operating distilleries
usually have large stocks of their malt at different ages, possibly stored in a
variety of casks.
The distillery’s aim is to create a “house style” that is readily available from
one year to another.
Independent bottlers select and buy single casks from various
distilleries or
spirit brokers,
and then mature and warehouse it themselves. If they have several casks from the
same
distillery they might bottle an assemblage of the casks; they might elect to
bottle a single
cask if they feel that it represents the taste that they consider to be at its
best. In either
case the whiskey is unique and vintage dating makes sense as a person may wish
to find
again his initial tasting experience.
Robert Kaplan
picks two
selections from two of the most experienced and
highest quality Independent
Bottlers:
Gordon & McPhail and Murray McDavid
Jura,
1991, 12 yrs
in oak cask, 43% alc/vol
Gordon & MacPhail
Connoisseurs Choice
….
in the Inner Hebrides, next to
Islay, the isle of Jura is inhabited by 225 people.
Its 150 square miles are mostly a wilderness of rock, moorland and peat. In
taste
Jura is expressive this landscape – on a solitary walk along the rugged coast
with
the briny wind in your face, the faint smell of the peat bog, and the sound of
the
waters flowing over the land.
Longmorn, 1990, 14 yrs
in Bourbon cask,
46% alc/vol, unchilled filtered
Murray McDavid
Soft, clean aromas of fruit, oak and salt with a touch of
liquorice/ aniseed.
The palate is delicate with an intensity that builds nicely to a floral/ fruity
finish
with that hint of salt.