Dom’s weekly round up of the highlights from the world of whisky

Top drawer

The Whisky Shop has had an excellent working relationship with The Dalmore in the last two years, and the Highland whisky has risen from nowhere to a top selling whisky across the whole Whisky Shop estate.

Brand owner Whyte & Mackay’s other main malt, Isle of Jura, is also a a popular choice among Whisky Shop customers. So it comes as no real surprise to hear how well both malts are doing.  So well in fact that the Dalmore is now officially the world’s fastest growing single malt, according to new figures from leading research analysts IWSR.

The data reveals that the Dalmore is currently the fasting growing malt year on year with value growth of 69 per cent, taking over from Whyte & Mackay’s other single malt brand Jura which is now the second fastest growing malt in the world with value growth of 56 per cent. The phenomenal performance of the two brands compares with average growth of only 12 per cent across the top 25 malt brands globally – which in itself is pretty impressive.

Commenting on the figures, John Beard, Chief Executive of Whyte and Mackay said: “The global whisky market is continuing to experience a significant boom in sales and, within the malt category, competition is fierce to capitalise on this growth. So it’s testament to the hard work of our staff and the consistent quality of product that both of our malt brands are growing faster than any others out there. The Dalmore, in particular, is performing extremely well in this market and we are experiencing a growing demand from the world’s top retailers.”

Great news for a great whisky.

Denny does it every time

If you haven’t tried Clan Denny, then you should. Clan Denny Speyside and Islay are blended malts – a mixture of malts from different distilleries – and they do exactly what they say on the tin, offering the drinker the definitive experience for each regain. I don’t know who’s putting these whiskies together but they have always been good and the latest sample of Clan Denny Islay is the best yet – rich, smoky, peaty, sweet and full bodied.

I’ve been drinking a lot of classic Laphroaig and Ardbeg recently – never a struggle, certainly not a chore for me – and Clan Denny Islay matches up favourably even in this superlative company.

Congratulations Spain and Italy

There are many people who feel that the last two weeks of European football have been a disappointment  but I’m not among them. I’ve loved every moment of the tournament – well most: I’m English – and I’ll miss the nightly pre match ritual of loud rock music and a good whisky before sitting down to invariably choose to support the team which goes on to lose.

I’ve had some great whisky moments over the last two weeks – Redbreast 12 year old before the Ireland games (in one of which a player from my team Leicester City scored a goal), Glen Garioch before German games (don’t ask me why), Glenfarclas before Spain matches (sherry casks, you see), Glenlivet 15 year old before any of the Eastern European countries played and Laphroaig before England’s matches.

I had to listen to the England v Sweden game in the back of a car with John Glaser so rather than drink Mackmyra that win will be associated with Compass Box Spice Tree, though that whisky was my regular choice for Italy matches. Happy days…

But congratulations to Spain and Italy, who reached the final on merit. I love both countries – we have holidayed in either one of them practically every year since we had children 14 years ago – so my loyalties are split.

I’ll make a decision after a Glenfarclas and Spice Tree on Sunday evening. God help whoever I decide to root for.

Welcome to the second part of our new series – Old Flames.

While we should all be very excited that whisky is trending right now and malt whisky has become distinctly fashionable, there’s a danger in winning the attention of the beautiful people who are dedicated followers of fashion.

They are like moths around a light and while everything’s busy in the world of whisky at the moment, sooner or later a brighter light will attract them away again. What’s worse, the fashion crowd, with their clever tweeting and flashy blogs, tend to be over-focused on the newest and latest, demonstrating all but insatiable thirst for the special releases, the rarest malts and the most expensive whiskies.

Not us. As we’ve proved in recent years, we’re in whisky for the long haul. We’re all about brand building, investing lots of our staff time and energy in helping people understand and cherish whisky. We understand, too, that for 99.9 per cent of the whisky enjoying public, bottles costing hundreds of pounds are nothing more than a pipe dream. And that for most people the scores of whisky retailing for under £50 are more than enough to excite and stimulate the novice whisky drinker.

But more than that, we think it is right to return to basics and highlight the many whiskies that are world class, taste great, but have been forgotten in the rush to taste the latest Glen Sexy 72 Year Old finished in diamond encrusted outer Mongolian 500 year old mountain oak.

So let me introduce Old Flames – a back to basics look at some of the heavyweight heroes which while not actually unsung,  but which may have been overlooked a little in the current faddy whisky rush.

If you’re new to whisky, then each week we’ll pick a whisky which is fully recommended by The Whisky Shop team and I. If you’re an old hand, our advice is step back, pour a dram of our whisky choice, find a quiet space or a darkened room, and reacquaint yourself with what may well have been one of your first loves. Rediscover what excited you about an Old Flame. Share a moment. Make friends again. Feels good, doesn’t it?

If you’re new toy whisky, then each week join me as we go a journey through a malt whisky greatest hits package. Every one of these choices comes thoroughly recommended and won’t break the bank.

This week: Bowmore 12 Year Old

Whisky’s version of the US-Soviet star wars programme during the second half of the 20th century has been waged in the field of peat. Two companies in particular have been hell-bent on out peating each other.

In many ways, though, they’ve missed the point. It’s like adding ever hotter  chilis to your curry – the heat goes up, the burn on the tongue gets more intense, but you don’t necessarily end up with a better meal. Indeed ‘hot’ and ‘burn’ are different things entirely and when hot chill flavours are cooked in to the food properly and the flavours are balanced and integrated it’s possible to eat considerably hotter curries without the harsh burn.

So it is with peated barley. The great peated whiskies – Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin – offer more than just peat. There are complexities in the taste that have won the malts a loyal worldwide following – followers who never get bored of the flavours.

Step back a bit, travel down the isle of Islay a few miles,  past the airport and to Bowmore – a midpoint on Islay and a midpoint on the peaty scale. But dismissing this malt as a lightweight because it doesn’t hit the peaty highs of its southerly neighbours is a bit like dismissing Bruce Springsteen because  he doesn’t rock out like Iron Maiden.

Bowmore 12 doesn’t just rock in its own, instinctive Islay way, but it brings nuance and innuendo to the party. For a novice it’s still a challenge and if you’re now the other side of experienced and haven’t tasted this in quite a bit, then you might be surprised at how gritty and imposing it is. There is sea spray, sea weed, beach barbecue and campfire smoke on the nose, and the peat on the palate is clean, crisp and bracing. But it gives way to a hint of hickory, some delightful yellow and exotic fruits and some spice. It occupies a unique place in the Islay repertoire and in my humble opinion, the current bottlings are richer and fuller than they have been for a while.

Why not pop along to a Whisky Shop and revisit it?

Whisky’s answer to a fruity chicken Ceylon. Praise doesn’t come much higher than that.

Andy Simpson reports on the latest auction news:

“Firstly, following on from my comments last week, it’s interesting to see the effect a flooded market has on bottles of whisky. The Macallan Easter Elchies Cask release sold at auction last week for the equivalent of its original £145 retail cost. Granted, it was the full sized bottle without the mini but that’s a completely different ball park to the first recorded sale of £345.

This years release of Springbank 21 year old is also seeing some cooling in values with a sale of £195 following its early peak of £275.

Onto other auction prices:

Ardbeg
The Ardbeg 17 year old seems to be lifting back up a little with a sale of £190 being the highest recorded since October last year.

Another Ardbeg hit new highs last week with a bottle of ‘Almost There’ selling for just shy of £90. In 2008 these were changing hands at auction for £35 – £40.

Glenmorangie
Staying with LVMH, it’s good to see a new Glenmorangie record at £205 for the 1987 Managers Choice (bottled 2001). Might there be a more general upturn in older Glenmorangie prices? It would be nice to see.

Glenfiddich
Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix seems to have moved up to a consistent new trading level of around £100. That said, when there are a high number in the market at the same time, this bottle does experience significant price volatility and tends to see a downward spike to around £60.

Talisker
The final bottle this week is the supremely divine Talisker 1981 20 year old (the one with the gold map of Skye on the label). This just goes to show how important the quality of the whisky is when looking at what to buy. Back in 2008, believe it or not, you could pick these up for well under £100. One sold over the weekend for £450! From memory, these bottles retailed for £70 which represents an increase of 543%. I was going to drink my last bottle but I think I’ll hang into it now!

Ardbeg is always a special treat for me and today the visit is made even more special and poignant than normal because I bring with me a message from the family of Alan Lodge, my deputy editor on The Spirits Business, who loved whisky in general, peated whisky in particular, and Ardbeg more than any other. He died suddenly of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 29 and at his celebration service last week a letter from Ardbeg distillery was read out. The family was deeply touched, so I am here to pass on the family’s thanks and to toast Alan for the very last time with a glass of Uigedail.

Despite the above, this visit, as always, turns out to be the funniest and most fun visit of them all.  The distillery has been expanded but it’s still only making 800,000 litres of spirit, and the heart and soul of the distillery remains undampened. Ardbeg is an oddball, slightly crazy whisky  which doesn’t take itself too seriously. It isn’t disrespectful of its past, embraces its army of fans in the present, and has one eye on the next slice of  innovation for the future.

Nothing encapsulates this more than Jackie Thomson, a force of nature who is at the epicentre of everything that is Ardbeg. You suspect that she has an efficient and potentially fierce business streak, but there’s a hippy girly-ness about her too, and she is utterly seductive, a one woman whisky roadshow of anecdotes, impressions and jokes. I hadn’t expected her to give us a personal tour but she does, and she is very generous with her time, regaling us with stories as she takes us through the distillery showing us the gaping hole where a wash back should be – the distillery isn’t in production just now – and telling us of how the distillery is now hitting its stride. And she shows us the latest addition to Ardbeg – a disgorging machine: “Whatever that is. But I’m sure it’s there for as purpose and we need disgorging.”

Our visit ends with a wee tasting – but what a tasting it is.

Firstly, Ardbeg Kildalton 1981, a 25 year old forerunner of Ardbeg Blasda, a lightly peated Ardbeg. If that sounds dull, it isn’t – it’s packed with melon and tropical fruit flavours, some menthol, and the most delightful sherbet hit. It’s very different but absolutely stunning.

Next up is Ardbeg Alligator – named after the heavily charred inside of the cask which looks like the back of  an alliator. This is burnt barbecued steak in a glass, and a real favourite of mine. Wonderful charcoally, peaty, whisky.

And finally the now unavailable Lord of The Isles – a rare Ardbeg packed with very old malts and as smooth and honeyed as a peaty whisky has any right to be. The few bottles of this that are left fetch hundreds of pounds and this is my first taste of it –  and it doesn’t disappoint.

It’s a great way to end our trip but before we leave Jackie has one more gift for me. She tells me this story:

“One day a big group of pretty scary Swedish men turned up,” she says. “They were all tall, and had long hair, tattoos, piercings, strange clothes, really intimidating. I think some of the people eating in the cafe thought that they were invading us, coming back after all the years to finish the job off. But if ever there was a case that you can’t judge a book by its cover, this was it. They were polite, erudite, very interested in the whisky and very knowledgeable. and it turns out they were all members of the Swedish Single Malt and Heavy Metal Society.”

Wow – that sounds perfect to me. Iron Maiden and Ardbeg? I’m there – and I’m going to find these guys and ask for honorary membership!

Ardbeg’s Jackie Thomson shows us a hole where a washback should be…

We need a a stroke of luck on our final day on Islay and we get it – big time.

Our decision to delay going out until after breakfast is vindicated by grim conditions at 6am but a bright dawn and even sunshine by 8am. And day three turns out to be our best day yet, giving us a hattrick of dry days -the first time that’s happened on Islay in about eight months.

The plan today is to head down to the holy trinity of distilleries to the south of Islay – Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg-  so we say goodbye to our new bartending friends – well those of them who managed to make an appearance at breakfast and can speak – as they depart for Auchentoshan and off we go.

Laphroaig is the game clincher as far as photography for the trip is concerned. We are given permission to wander at will so while I go down to the beach and stare out over the rocky outcrops, Colin and Simon set about filming first in the still room and then in the maltings. In the latter they hit paydirt – the kilns have been fired up and Colin gets dramatic shots of peat flame and smoke. These pictures are, he says, the best he’s taken so far, and they are definitively Islay.

He’s happier than he’s been on the whiole trip from a professional point of view. It’s only mid morning but we’re already in the home strait…

Click here to read the next diary entry from the Islay whisky trip