Best Islay Distillery Bottling of the Year - Ardbeg Supernova , Ardbeg Cask 1190
Best Islay Independent Bottling - Bladnoch 1980 29yo Caol Ila (mais on ne sait pas lequel)
Best Non-Islay Distillery Bottling - Amrut Peated Cask Strength Batch 01 , Longmorn Chivas Bros Cask Strength Edition 17yo, Bladnoch 8yo 55% .
Best Non-Islay Independent Bottling - 125.18 (SMWS Glenmorangie)
Best Non Bottled Cask Sample - 1998 Refill Sherry Ardbeg , 2000 1st Fill Bourbon Ardbeg , 1993 Lagavulin , Amrut unpeated 68.9%
Best Event of the Year - 1st Newcastle Whisky Festival
Best Tasting - Birth to Bottling Warehouse Tasting Ardbeg , Committee and Special Bottling tasting at Ardbeg , The Whisky Lounge Berry Bros Tasting , The Whisky Lounge India Vs Scotland Tasting .
Best Whisky Special Event outside a festival - Lagavulins Warehouse Demonstration with Ian "Pinky" MacArthur
Best Meal on Islay - An Taigh Osda , Bridgend Hotel .
Spirit Of Islay Award 2009
Modérateur : Modérateurs
Spirit Of Islay Award 2009
Carpe Diem
"Whisky is the cure for which there is no disease." Robin Laing
"Whisky is the cure for which there is no disease." Robin Laing
Re: Spirit Of Islay Award 2009
Plus de détails:
The 2009 Spirit of Islay Awards
Once again it's that time of the year , no not an Ardbeg Committee release ! But the time when we look back at the past year whisky wise and hand out a few awards to the best of the Best......well not real awards just in name ! Again these are all my personal references so tough !
Best Islay Distillery Bottling of the Year - There hasn't really been a lot of new Standard releases from Islay this year , luckily there have been quite a few specials and Feis Ile bottlings to make up for it ! And it's a Feis Ile Bottling i'm choosing , This is an unusual one as it was a bit of an experiment , it's the Ardbeg Toasted Oak Cask 1190 Bottling ! Most people preferred the sister cask 1189 but i was different and went for this one . Like i said a very unusual Ardbeg and a cracking Dram !
Best Islay Independent Bottling - Quite a congested category , The SMWS as usual fired in a load of Islays , Sukhinder made a late bid with his Excellent SMOS 1979 29yo Bunnahabhain but i shall go with Raymonds Bladnoch Forum Bottling of the 29yo 1980 Caol Ila Cask 4940 . A really stunning old Caol ila that still displays all the hallmarks of a top class CI given it's age !
Best Non-Islay Distillery Bottling of the Year - Another Tough one to call this year , 3 top notch drams were in the running , in the end i called it a dead heat between the Amrut Peated Cask Strength Batch 01 and The first official Bladnoch Bottling the 8yo at 55% ! Both surperb Drams , The Amrut was a revelation at the tasting earlier in the year and Raymonds own brew showed what can be achieved by a true independent Distiller with a great team behind him .
Best Non-Islay Independent Bottling - Since the start of the year there has only been one winner in my mind even though there have been some outstanding bottlings from great independent Bottlers . All the "Berry Owns" i've had spring to mind along with some great ones from the SMWS (52.18 , 7.50 , 2.74 , 63.22 to start with...) but like i said there has only been one winner from the start of the year...... 125.18 (Glenmorangie "Chocolate Valentine") , this was a superb whisky , very Chocolatey , Glad i bought more than one bottle !
Best Meal on Islay - I would have said this would have been a one horse race but during the summer we had a brilliant meal at The Bridgend Hotel which nearly caused a major upset......But in the end we (myself and Mel) decided that once again An Taigh-Osda was the winner . Paul and Joan have kept a very high standard in the 18th Months they've been open and long may it continue !
Best Non Bottled Cask Sample - There have been a few outstanding Cask samples i've tried this year (mainly at the Feis Ile ) but one highly recommended one was the Amrut unpeated at 68.9% thrust into my hand by Ashok at his tasting in Newcastle earlier in the year , outstanding stuff , especially as the ABV had went up in the Maturation ! Unfortunately i'm giving the award to an old favourite , An Ardbeg 1998 from a Sherry cask ! This was the perfect combination of Sherry and Ardbeg , unbelievable !
Best Tasting of the Year - This was a very hard Category , Ardbeg had two superb tastings at the Feis Ile , The Birth to Bottling Warehouse Tasting and the Committee and Special Bottling tasting . The Whisky Lounge had two outstanding tastings one with Ed Bates from Berry Bros and Ashoks India Vs Scotland Tasting . I couldn't decide in the end between the Berrys and Amrut tasting so i'll give it to them both ! Once again Ed didn't disappoint with his selection for this tasting , a great cross section of malts from Berrys Own Selection . Ashok and Amrut have been the surprise bundle of the year , The Amrut absolutely trounced the Scotch selection in the Blind tastings and no reason why it shouldn't , they can definitely hold their own , especially the Cask Strength Peated !
Best Whisky Special Event outside a festival - This was an absolute brain wave by Ewan Mackintosh ! Lets hold a Feis Ile event , twice a week through the summer and keep the cost down ! The Lagavulins Warehouse Demonstration with Ian "Pinky" MacArthur was a tremendous success with everyone i know who attended it , where else could you get 5 Lagas straight from a Cask and a Distillers Edition for £ 12.50 ! Best Wishes to Ewan and his family who have now returned to Oban , hope you're not missing Islay too much !
Event of the Year (outside a normal tour) - If you don't live in London , Glasgow or Edinburgh you could only dream about having a proper whisky festival in your home city , that was until Eddie Ludlow madyou dream come true ! The Event of the year for me has been the 1st Newcastle Whisky Festival , Eddie pulled out all the stops on this one , he got some producers to come who i didn't think it was possible to get , he even got Raymond to come across from Bladnoch ! That may not sound like much but believe you me , it is ! Congratulations to Eddie on a great day and here's looking forward to next years !
Islay Distillery of the year - I'm going to give this to Lagavulin this year , simply because of the aforementioned warehouse tour and they are thoroughly nice people who always gave you a very warm welcome and rarely seem to get praised anywhere ! Congratulations to Peter , Marjory , Pinkie and all !
Outstanding Contribution to the Whisky Year - A Special award this year for someone who has already got a lot of mentions in this years awards . A true Whisky Evangelist , a man who i know is well thought of on Islay , a man who has fetched Malt whisky to not only the whisky loving Geordies , but Mancs as well (not forgetting his sermons in York , Lancaster and London as well !) . He also made my year by getting the Producers to come into my own back yard ! Eddie Ludlow , take a bow !
Distillery Personality of the Year - Bruichladdich has held this award for the past two years , this year i'm giving it to someone from my favourite Distillery , Since he took over the reins at Ardbeg he's become a very good friend , A thoroughly nice guy , he always has time for a natter , he's a regular visitor to the Wednesday night chat , he genuinely want's to know what you think of his distilleries product , He was daft enough to drag me up to Uigeadail earlier in the year , even though i'm nowhere near as fit as he is ! Thanks for another Great year at Ardbeg Mickey Heads , my Distillery Personality of the Year !
Well that's it for another year , everything expressed here is my own opinion , it's been a great year and here's to the next one !
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SMWS Christmas Preview Tasting , Newcastle 4th December
Once again we headed off to the Northern Counties Club for the last SMWS tasting of the year , this one was a preview of the Christmas Releases . Once again it was hosted by the Society Ambassador John Kirk and his wife Shirley .
First up was a Glen Moray (35.31 , Speyside , 19yo , 58.4% , 231 bottles £54 ) and what a cracking Start ! From an ex-bourbon cask it was Polished Gold in Colour , the nose was of spices , a strong bourbon Vanilla influence , orange essence and it was quite sweet . It was very spicy on the palate , vanilla and wood (nice wood !) , the finish was long and spicy . It was nice to try an aged Glen Moray , superb stuff !
Second along was an SMWSA bottling , 36.37 (Benrinnes , Speyside , 14yo , 56.5% , 641 Bottles , £40 ) , from a refill sherry butt this was gold with a pink blush in colour . The nose was stewed fruits , pine needles and dark chocolate . Again the palate was of Chocolate but it was very dry to start with . The palate took a little while to open up but when it did it was worth the wait . The finish was longish , sweet and orange . A really good Benrinnes with a lovely nose .
At this point we were served a lovely chicken dinner , then we went on to the 3rd dram , 24.109 (Macallan , Speyside , 24yo , 52.8% , 234 Bottles £81 ) . Orange Marmalade in Colour , this turned out to be a really good Macallan , The nose started off Nail varnish (Acetone) but that soon disappeared and became Strong vanilla , pear drops and Millionaires shortbread . The palate was also Millionaires shortbread (shortbread , caramel and chocolate) with orange coming through late . The finish was long and orangey , definitely one of the best society Macs i've had recently , up there with 24.101 .
The 4th dram was one that has appeared at a previous tasting , now the malts it was on with the last time mustn't have been that good as i liked it then , i didn't like it tonight ! It is a Clynelish ( 26.49 , Highland , 22yo 58.3% , 474 bottles , £59 ) , From a refill butt it was gold in colour , the nose was Acetone with Millionaires shortbread . The palate was of Danish salty Liquorice which i'm not too fond of . The finish was long and salty . Tried it with water which made the nose become smoky and the palate sweet and chocolatey . Like i said at the start i didn't like this on the night and it would have been the worst one of the tasting if it hadn't have been for the last dram......
To finish off the night we had an 18yo Bowmore (3.150 , Islay , 54.5% , 260 Bottles , £57) . Now i used to be a big fan of Bowmore in the late 1990's but this one reminded me why i went off it ! Pale gold in colour it was really flowery / parma violets on the nose , a bit medicinal . The palate was the worst side of Bowmore , really flowery and lavender with the finish being long.........and flowery ! Not a good one at all , too flowery and even adding water didn't do too much to it !
If i hadn't ordered a 7.49 from the list the night before i think i could have went 3 bottles tonight , instead i settled for a bottle each of the first two .
The 2009 Spirit of Islay Awards
Once again it's that time of the year , no not an Ardbeg Committee release ! But the time when we look back at the past year whisky wise and hand out a few awards to the best of the Best......well not real awards just in name ! Again these are all my personal references so tough !
Best Islay Distillery Bottling of the Year - There hasn't really been a lot of new Standard releases from Islay this year , luckily there have been quite a few specials and Feis Ile bottlings to make up for it ! And it's a Feis Ile Bottling i'm choosing , This is an unusual one as it was a bit of an experiment , it's the Ardbeg Toasted Oak Cask 1190 Bottling ! Most people preferred the sister cask 1189 but i was different and went for this one . Like i said a very unusual Ardbeg and a cracking Dram !
Best Islay Independent Bottling - Quite a congested category , The SMWS as usual fired in a load of Islays , Sukhinder made a late bid with his Excellent SMOS 1979 29yo Bunnahabhain but i shall go with Raymonds Bladnoch Forum Bottling of the 29yo 1980 Caol Ila Cask 4940 . A really stunning old Caol ila that still displays all the hallmarks of a top class CI given it's age !
Best Non-Islay Distillery Bottling of the Year - Another Tough one to call this year , 3 top notch drams were in the running , in the end i called it a dead heat between the Amrut Peated Cask Strength Batch 01 and The first official Bladnoch Bottling the 8yo at 55% ! Both surperb Drams , The Amrut was a revelation at the tasting earlier in the year and Raymonds own brew showed what can be achieved by a true independent Distiller with a great team behind him .
Best Non-Islay Independent Bottling - Since the start of the year there has only been one winner in my mind even though there have been some outstanding bottlings from great independent Bottlers . All the "Berry Owns" i've had spring to mind along with some great ones from the SMWS (52.18 , 7.50 , 2.74 , 63.22 to start with...) but like i said there has only been one winner from the start of the year...... 125.18 (Glenmorangie "Chocolate Valentine") , this was a superb whisky , very Chocolatey , Glad i bought more than one bottle !
Best Meal on Islay - I would have said this would have been a one horse race but during the summer we had a brilliant meal at The Bridgend Hotel which nearly caused a major upset......But in the end we (myself and Mel) decided that once again An Taigh-Osda was the winner . Paul and Joan have kept a very high standard in the 18th Months they've been open and long may it continue !
Best Non Bottled Cask Sample - There have been a few outstanding Cask samples i've tried this year (mainly at the Feis Ile ) but one highly recommended one was the Amrut unpeated at 68.9% thrust into my hand by Ashok at his tasting in Newcastle earlier in the year , outstanding stuff , especially as the ABV had went up in the Maturation ! Unfortunately i'm giving the award to an old favourite , An Ardbeg 1998 from a Sherry cask ! This was the perfect combination of Sherry and Ardbeg , unbelievable !
Best Tasting of the Year - This was a very hard Category , Ardbeg had two superb tastings at the Feis Ile , The Birth to Bottling Warehouse Tasting and the Committee and Special Bottling tasting . The Whisky Lounge had two outstanding tastings one with Ed Bates from Berry Bros and Ashoks India Vs Scotland Tasting . I couldn't decide in the end between the Berrys and Amrut tasting so i'll give it to them both ! Once again Ed didn't disappoint with his selection for this tasting , a great cross section of malts from Berrys Own Selection . Ashok and Amrut have been the surprise bundle of the year , The Amrut absolutely trounced the Scotch selection in the Blind tastings and no reason why it shouldn't , they can definitely hold their own , especially the Cask Strength Peated !
Best Whisky Special Event outside a festival - This was an absolute brain wave by Ewan Mackintosh ! Lets hold a Feis Ile event , twice a week through the summer and keep the cost down ! The Lagavulins Warehouse Demonstration with Ian "Pinky" MacArthur was a tremendous success with everyone i know who attended it , where else could you get 5 Lagas straight from a Cask and a Distillers Edition for £ 12.50 ! Best Wishes to Ewan and his family who have now returned to Oban , hope you're not missing Islay too much !
Event of the Year (outside a normal tour) - If you don't live in London , Glasgow or Edinburgh you could only dream about having a proper whisky festival in your home city , that was until Eddie Ludlow madyou dream come true ! The Event of the year for me has been the 1st Newcastle Whisky Festival , Eddie pulled out all the stops on this one , he got some producers to come who i didn't think it was possible to get , he even got Raymond to come across from Bladnoch ! That may not sound like much but believe you me , it is ! Congratulations to Eddie on a great day and here's looking forward to next years !
Islay Distillery of the year - I'm going to give this to Lagavulin this year , simply because of the aforementioned warehouse tour and they are thoroughly nice people who always gave you a very warm welcome and rarely seem to get praised anywhere ! Congratulations to Peter , Marjory , Pinkie and all !
Outstanding Contribution to the Whisky Year - A Special award this year for someone who has already got a lot of mentions in this years awards . A true Whisky Evangelist , a man who i know is well thought of on Islay , a man who has fetched Malt whisky to not only the whisky loving Geordies , but Mancs as well (not forgetting his sermons in York , Lancaster and London as well !) . He also made my year by getting the Producers to come into my own back yard ! Eddie Ludlow , take a bow !
Distillery Personality of the Year - Bruichladdich has held this award for the past two years , this year i'm giving it to someone from my favourite Distillery , Since he took over the reins at Ardbeg he's become a very good friend , A thoroughly nice guy , he always has time for a natter , he's a regular visitor to the Wednesday night chat , he genuinely want's to know what you think of his distilleries product , He was daft enough to drag me up to Uigeadail earlier in the year , even though i'm nowhere near as fit as he is ! Thanks for another Great year at Ardbeg Mickey Heads , my Distillery Personality of the Year !
Well that's it for another year , everything expressed here is my own opinion , it's been a great year and here's to the next one !
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SMWS Christmas Preview Tasting , Newcastle 4th December
Once again we headed off to the Northern Counties Club for the last SMWS tasting of the year , this one was a preview of the Christmas Releases . Once again it was hosted by the Society Ambassador John Kirk and his wife Shirley .
First up was a Glen Moray (35.31 , Speyside , 19yo , 58.4% , 231 bottles £54 ) and what a cracking Start ! From an ex-bourbon cask it was Polished Gold in Colour , the nose was of spices , a strong bourbon Vanilla influence , orange essence and it was quite sweet . It was very spicy on the palate , vanilla and wood (nice wood !) , the finish was long and spicy . It was nice to try an aged Glen Moray , superb stuff !
Second along was an SMWSA bottling , 36.37 (Benrinnes , Speyside , 14yo , 56.5% , 641 Bottles , £40 ) , from a refill sherry butt this was gold with a pink blush in colour . The nose was stewed fruits , pine needles and dark chocolate . Again the palate was of Chocolate but it was very dry to start with . The palate took a little while to open up but when it did it was worth the wait . The finish was longish , sweet and orange . A really good Benrinnes with a lovely nose .
At this point we were served a lovely chicken dinner , then we went on to the 3rd dram , 24.109 (Macallan , Speyside , 24yo , 52.8% , 234 Bottles £81 ) . Orange Marmalade in Colour , this turned out to be a really good Macallan , The nose started off Nail varnish (Acetone) but that soon disappeared and became Strong vanilla , pear drops and Millionaires shortbread . The palate was also Millionaires shortbread (shortbread , caramel and chocolate) with orange coming through late . The finish was long and orangey , definitely one of the best society Macs i've had recently , up there with 24.101 .
The 4th dram was one that has appeared at a previous tasting , now the malts it was on with the last time mustn't have been that good as i liked it then , i didn't like it tonight ! It is a Clynelish ( 26.49 , Highland , 22yo 58.3% , 474 bottles , £59 ) , From a refill butt it was gold in colour , the nose was Acetone with Millionaires shortbread . The palate was of Danish salty Liquorice which i'm not too fond of . The finish was long and salty . Tried it with water which made the nose become smoky and the palate sweet and chocolatey . Like i said at the start i didn't like this on the night and it would have been the worst one of the tasting if it hadn't have been for the last dram......
To finish off the night we had an 18yo Bowmore (3.150 , Islay , 54.5% , 260 Bottles , £57) . Now i used to be a big fan of Bowmore in the late 1990's but this one reminded me why i went off it ! Pale gold in colour it was really flowery / parma violets on the nose , a bit medicinal . The palate was the worst side of Bowmore , really flowery and lavender with the finish being long.........and flowery ! Not a good one at all , too flowery and even adding water didn't do too much to it !
If i hadn't ordered a 7.49 from the list the night before i think i could have went 3 bottles tonight , instead i settled for a bottle each of the first two .
Carpe Diem
"Whisky is the cure for which there is no disease." Robin Laing
"Whisky is the cure for which there is no disease." Robin Laing
Re: Spirit Of Islay Award 2009
Merci pour toutes ces infos.
Je pense qu'il y a eut de meilleurs Islay chez les indépendants.
Je pense qu'il y a eut de meilleurs Islay chez les indépendants.
Liste des Samples disponibles pour achat ou échange
Mise à jour le 24/3/2016
Mise à jour le 24/3/2016