Gin... A New Beginning

Consistency prevails, as once again

it’s “the usual suspects.”

If you’re a single malt scotchophile, chances are good you drink 18-year-old malt, considered to be arguably the ideal age for great malt whisky. The adage that 10- and 12-year-old single malt whiskies are for drinking, 18 year old for tasting, works for us. Single malt 18-year-old whisky is an engagement, the way great wine can be: it invites intimacy and warmth. The golden and amber colors are more attractive; the aromas of spice, honey, and nuttiness are more forthcoming; the flavors of peat, heather, honey, and nuttiness reveal a body that is richer and fuller; the finish is engaging, complex, meditative. Consumers not drinking 18-year-old single malts and who are looking for a richer malt scotch experience would be wise to trade up to 18-year-old. It’s a higher orbit; it’s an indulgence with a difference.

The term “single malt whisky” is often misunderstood, even among veteran drinkers. It means that malt whisky comes from a “single” distillery. Malt whisky is barley steeped in water; the barley is allowed to partially sprout; when it does, it is dried and at a specified temperature is arrested and placed in a kiln. Water, barley, and peat — the soil, the environment, the terroir — are the essences of great malt, and for us many of the finest of these expressions come from Scotland’s Highlands. To that end, we tasted only Highland single malt whiskies, and, as with all QRW tastings, only those that are readily available nationally at retail.

We started with 24 18-year-old single malts, and at our “pre-taste” narrowed that number down to nine. Alphabetically, they were Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Dufftown, Glendronach, Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, Glenrothes, Highland Park, and Macallan. From these, we selected the top five.

The results can be easily summarized: “round up the usual suspects.” You still can’t buy better, more consistent 18-year-old single malt whisky than Highland Park, Macallan, Glenmorangie, Glenfiddich, and Glenrothes. Put another way, the single malts that have dominated the market for years, continue to do so, and for good reason: they deliver.

The Tasting

The tasting was blind. Riedel malt glasses were used. Tasters either drank neat or added a splash of bottled spring water. Crusts of bread, dry crackers, and sparkling water were palate cleansers.

The Results

The results show that choices were anything but easy, and we were not hedging in the least. The fact is that the malts below are all so good that there was only a half point difference between the best and second place. One taster’s note concluded “it was like selecting a Rolls or a Bentley.” Malts were tasted on a ten-point scale: two for color; two for aroma; three for flavor; three for finish. Please note: prices may vary from region to region.

Best of Show:

Highland Park 18 year old (Orkney Island), $90.

Soft gold color, rich honey tones, gentle peat notes, well rounded body, with nutty flavors, accompanied by rich spice, honey, and perfect peat that were deliciously deep. Wonderful complexity of finish. 9 points.

2nd Place (tie):

Glenmorangie 18 year old (Northern Highlands), $135, and Macallan 18 year old (Speyside region), $160. 

Both malts are as superb and as reliable as ever:

Glenmorangie has an attractive amber hue, with aromas of almonds, spice and mint; robust flavors of spice, honey, heather, and easy peat; generous texture, softly sweet with a deep and engaging finish. 8+ points

Macallan is amber in color, with gentle smokiness, generous body, rich character, gentle peat flavors, with rich toffee tones with a very stylish and satisfying finish. 8+ points

3rd Place (tie):

Glenfiddich 18 year old (Speyside/Dufftown), $90, and Glenrothes 1991 (Speyside), $70. 

Glenfiddich is a fragrant malt, with good body, easy peat, and lingering mellowness. The finish is not particularly firm or long, but is delicious and very satisfying. 8 points

Glenrothes 1991 has amber and gold hues, berry and sherry nose, spice, with soft peat. Butterscotch. Zesty and delicious. Finish is long and generous. 8 points BEST BUY FOR SINGLE MALT WHISKEY

This is a single malt lover’s dream:

complex, seductive and smoothly integrated.

Over the decades, the Macallan distillery has been offering limited lots of their older malts from 1926 to 1972. They are, of course, highly collectable malts selling in the thousands of dollars. They have now turned to the 1975, which is mighty and forthright and assertive. The malt scotch is 30 years young, which is no cliché: the malt has youth and vibrance, with very many summers ahead of it. Malt maker at The Macallan, Bob Dalgarro, says, “The cask selected was 8845, an American hogshead previously seasoned with Bourbon. Our 1975 has remained undisturbed for 30 years.”

The Macallan 1975 is said to be in the Fine Oak style (softer and more approachable malt) which was launched in 2004. It is, but it is more. Our tasting shows The 1975 Macallan having more body, more gusto, more complexity of flavors. In color (which is always natural at The Macallan — a conjoining and interaction of wood and spirit), it is surely like the Fine Oak Macallan: soft gold and wonderfully aromatic. The tastes, however, are deeper and more intense: caramel, with ample fruit notes of banana, apple, and grapefruit. The finish is even more complex: ginger, chocolate, and seductive soft peat, spice and oak, all smoothly integrated. A malt for heroes.

Malt maker Dalgarro says that only 185 bottles will be available, selling for approximately $1,200 each. Buyers will have their bottles registered with the distillery, and they will be invited to sign the register held at Easter Elchies House, Macallan’s spiritual home built in 1700, which records vintage Macallan owners worldwide. This is a malt collector’s dream, a prized collectable, and important piece of malt scotch history. Further, it will be a great investment and auctionable malt, for which the main auction houses yearn. For information, or to place an order: www.themacallan.com. Rémy Cointreau of New York imports Macallan. Fine wine and spirits shop retailers may be able to obtain a bottle as well.

© 2007 Tasters Guild Orlando