I’m not talking about just one whisky, but rather the distillery as a whole. And I’m including all distilling countries here.
Maybe it was a new line of whisky. Maybe they changed the way they make the whisky. Maybe it’s the way they are holding the line on whisky prices. Whatever it is, let’s give credit where credit where credit is due.
There’s been plenty of criticism in your comments recently (much of it deserved), and we can all agree that last year was a rough year for all of us. The whisky companies are listening. Speak up. Let’s say something nice this time.
Which distillery really made you sit back and say: “Wow, they were really impressive!”
Has to be Bladnoch..they released their own whisky at 8yo from their own spirit (previous bottles were from old Diageo stock). Hospitality is always perfect whether it be from Raymond or any of the staff. Good active forum with many fine bottles at a fantastic price..BBQ’s and raft races and the whisky tastes damn good too!!
John,
For me it was Glenglassaugh. For one they’re back in the market. Their whiskies are non-chilfiltered and have no color added, and they’ve been bold enough to release the spirit drink.
I’d also like to mention the arrival of the Laphroaig 25 which I though was a really splendid by itself or with food and last but not the least, thanks to Classic Malts for bringing the Lagavulin 12 back to the US at a better price point.
Best regards,
Amit.
Impressed and surprised!
Tomatin really surprised me. I regarded their bottlings somewhat average, but the new vatting and 46% of their 18year really impressed me
Same goes about Arran and the Arran Peacock
Macdeffe
Bladnoch – the Wigtown Book Festival witnessed the launch of their 8yo in November 2009.
A remarkable achievement from a family-run and privately owned distillery, only one of very few remaining. All due to a sincere and down-to-eath approach to all of its operations, coupled with the hard work of everyone involved. A proudly independent distillery with no marketing waffle, just good honest whisky.
Bladnoch distillery has persevered through almost 200 years of on/off operation, often under the ownership of the Irish, and it is a joy to see it up and running again and sample the new 8yo.
A joy to visit and even better to taste.
Benriach for me – I think the single cask bottlings are simply outstanding and the range of finishes are really very good (if you like finishes that is).
They have really made leaps and bounds in what they are producing in my view.
john, personally having focused on bourbon rather than scotch last year, i’d have to say buffalo trace. the btac continues to impress (except this year’s er 17 was a disappointment like you pointed out – i’m just happy i still have 2 bottles of 2008 left), the pappy van winkles and orvw also continue to be great. also, if they wanted, they could have charged more for their experimental collection but they didn’t (even though the retailers ended up doing so). anyway, consistent high quality and they care about their customers. yes, prices have been going up but they could raise them even more if they wanted to and relatively (to scotch) speaking, their better expressions are a value.
BenRiach has been very impressive recently, with a broad and *affordable* range of classic speyside and peated malts. I also had a chance to visit the distillery last spring during the Spirit of Speyside festival, and Stuart Buchanan led us on a great tour. His passion for the product that they are producing is second to none.
Happy New Year, John!
I agree with earlier commenters: Lagavulin 12 CS for $65-$75; Arran Peacock; and Bladnoch (so proud of them representing Lowlands so well).
Have to mention Amrut, too. An Indian malt that is young, alcoholic and imaginative. Excited to see what they do after a tremendous 2009.
Cheers,
Jason @ WHISKYhost
American Microdistillers.
I have to say that the biggest surprises for me came on Dec 30th at Char 4 in New York City. I tasted the McCarthy’s Oregon Peated Single Malt Whisky and Stranahan’s Single Malt. Both were quite tasty. I think I’m going to have to try some more American single malt this year and take a closer look at the micro distillers.
Like JWC I really focused on bourbons and ryes. I’d have to go with Buffalo Trace, not just for their BTAC, but also for the bog standard Buffalo Trace, which is an amazing whiskey for only $18-$20.
On the SMS side, my last dram of 2009 was Springbank. I have never had a more perfect dram from start to finish. Maybe the next bottle won’t be as good, but I am betting it will be.
Whisky Party – good point about micro distilleries – to your list I would add DryFly in Spokane- Very nice early expression that came out this past year.
Four Roses, first off. Their Small Batch presents a clear, complex, and well defined structure with lightness and grace– No other bourbon I’ve tasted does this. The limited releases I’ve tasted, ’09 single barrel, and the Marriages are likewise way ahead of the pack.. I’m in the middle of a bottle of 2008 Marriage right now– I won’t give notes, but if you see some buy it.
Second, Springbank. I’ve tasted several, but the recent Madeira 11 year old was really something special. Cask strength and it spent all of it’s years in Madeira casks– pretty much unheard of! It is such a terrific whisky. I haven’t tasted a new release that I’ve been this impressed by in a while! Also, considering that it’s Springer, the price is surprisingly reasonable.
One other thing, aside from whisky but, which I think may be of interest to many of you– Berkshire Mountain Distillers has released their second annual limited edition of their small batch gin Ethereal . It’s very good, better I think than last years, which was also fascinating.
Even with the recent explosion in Gins, Berkshire Mountain’s project deserves recognition. Check out this excerpt from the back label:
“Due to a strong presence of botanicals in Ethereal you may at times see a haze, this is to be expected and is natural.”
Remind any of you of any thing you see on any of your favorite bottles? Pretty courageous, especially when you consider that gin is supposed to be a white spirit.
The BenRiach for its peated standard and limited editions; also I commend them for taking GlenDronach under wing.
Springbank for its limited edition 18 year old, a stunning dram full of complex surprises in every sip.
John, I’d second the votes for Buffalo Trace and Four Roses (both really going all out for creativity and quality), except for the mention you made of potentially congratulating a company on maintaining price points, which made me think…
Heaven Hill has been the one distillery that has kept their prices in check better than just about anyone, while maintaining an overall quality standard that is top shelf. Sure, some of their premiere bottlings have scraped the American price ceiling, but at the same time, this year’s Parker’s Heritage costs substantially less than last year’s, which I feel was very gracious on their part.
You can buy any number of great whiskeys from HH at less than $30 a bottle. I truly appreciate their deference to a soft economy, and the purchasing ability of the average drinker who is still looking for a good quality whiskey at a fair price.
Texas, you bring up a good point about BT, even their non-premium stuff is great value (to the “regular” BT, i would add er 10 – much better value than 2009 btac er17). texas, i’m assuming that you got your springback at spec’s – i’m going to have to get a bottle and hope/assume they are from the same batch.
My vote is for Ardbeg. The Corryvreckan is the muscular Ardbeg that we haven’t really had in the US. And the Supernova is the perfect complement. Yes, the pair is not cheap, but you’d pay the same $200 for just one bottle of older Ardbeg, even before prices took off.
BTW, it helps that this question is being posed when the temperature is 20 degrees F, with a wind chill factor of 5
Slainte.
Louis
Thanks B.J. I’ll have to check that out.
I almost forgot that I also had some single malt from St. George in California that night, which was also surprisingly good. After trying those three in a row, I really think American microdistillers deserve some more praise – and more customers here in the states. I’d love to see a few more of these on the shelves of my local bars, most of which only carry Tuthilltown (and usually only Baby Bourbon at that).
@Whisky Party and @B.J. Reed:
Steve McCarthy is a lovely man and his peaty 3yr old is fantastic. I took a tour of his distillery in Portland, OR, last year and asked him if he’ll ever release a 5yr old or an 8yr old. He told me that he can’t keep his hands on any of the 3yr old as he sells out every batch! On the flip side, Wasmund’s (VA) and the new release from The Ellensburg Distillery (WA) are terrible. I’m looking to try Dry Fly (WA) and St George (CA) this year.
Like all young industries, we have to take the good with the bad and hope that the ones on the bottom of the pile learn from the ones on the top. The first thing Wasmund’s and Ellensburg could do is stop aging in months and move in to years…
Malt Advocate had a great feature on micro distillers just recently. Well worth a read!
Cheers,
Jason @ WHISKYhost
I was constantly impressed and surprised, as this was my first full year really getting into whisk(e)y as an enthusiast. However, I’m going to jump on the McCarthy’s bandwagon.
I was very impressed with the Islay-like presentation of a peated single malt from an American micro-distillery. More specifically, I think McCarthy’s scratches the same whisky itch that Kilchoman does, which is convenient given the difficulty of getting Kilchoman here in the States.
Jeff
While the new American Craft Distillation movement as whole is amazing, I think the Leopold Bros., now out of Colorado, are incredible. The range of products alone is unreal, but having had a chance to sit down and taste my way though most of them…these guys are good.
I was going to say Bladnoch, because of the reasons stated in other messages above.
But I have to choose Laphroaig. Why?
They consistently kept their price affordable. Even the special Feis Ile bottlings, where other distilleries go over the top by asking more then ?100 for a bottle, Laphroaig kept the price of the Cairdeas to ?45. But also with other bottlings, like the 3 wood or the 18 yo. Not cheap but affordable.
Beside the price, the whisky is consistently of high quality.
I can’t remember being disappointed in Laphroaig.
My only wish is that they pump up the entry level 10 yo to 43 or 46 %.
That is one expression I don’t buy, but thankfully they produce the 10 yo Cask Strength.
So Laphroaig and Bladnoch, my favorite distilleries!
Glendronach, for me.
For me, last year, my two surprises were Glendronach and Glenglassaugh.
At Glenglassaugh, Stuart Nickelson and Graham Eunson made a superb job at restarting the distillery. They invested a lot of effort in the distillery located in a beautiful surrounding and the quality of the bottled whiskies is really good.
At Glendronach, Billy and his team made also major efforts in upgrading the distillery and decided to take the financial risk in investing major capital in the purchase of the sherry casks. They want to keep the spirit of Glendronach as it was and to ensure the quality will be as good as it was or even better. The first batch, in particular the 1972 were excellent.
And to close this topic, I might add Kilchoman and Anthony Wills for releasing a well made 3 YO whisky. A young whisky, but full of promises!
I’d go with Glenglassaugh for releasing new spirit and their creative Octave cask program.
States-side I’ll go with Tuthilltown Distillery in the Hudson Valley of NY. Really great whisky they are putting out.. and really good program of aging in smaller barrels to age things quicker. Quality does not suffer at all from that.
I agree with the BenRiach and Spingbank shouts.
I’ll add Amrut, for making a quite admirable range of Indian whiskies.
Also, Tuthilltown Spirits, as one of the growing American artisan distillers of note.
Ah, Rick, now I see you mentioned Tuthilltown as well. Delightful whiskies.
Rick, apropos of Tullithtown, I have to say I think that the aging in the small casks doesn’t work at all the same. Some sort of “Wood Influence” does have a greater impact, but it is not at all as if a 1/2 size barrel will impart the same character in 8 years that a full size one does in 16. I have some ideas about why this might be, but I am sure that I don’t understand all the variables. I’m just speaking from personal tasting experience.
I’ll second both Bladnoch and Glenglassaugh, both of which I visited this year. We can all feel grateful to those who have gone to great lengths to keep such important bits of Scotland’s distilling heritage alive. I think the latter is going to have a tough row to hoe due to the very limited supply of back stock, but I will be very interested to follow their progress. There are places one feels compelled to revisit as much as circumstances allow, just to see how things are coming along, and these are two for me. And you can add Clear Creek to the list, as well–I first visited them a couple of years ago, and in fact hope to drop in there this week.
Um, that would be “last year” now.
I would also vote for Buffalo Trace. They have 15 brands, all of very good to great quality. I think they have kept their prices in check for the most part. The BTAC is veryr reasonably priced when you compare it to the Parkers Heritage collection and the Wild Turkey Tradition.
I’ve been very impressed with The Arran single cask releases. Most have been quite unique finishes and at cask strength are very flavorful. Pricing has been very reasonable as well.
Ardbeg Corryvreckan, Four Roses Single Barrel and Buffalo Trace-especially the BTAC. All outstanding expressions. Some more reasonably priced than others.
I would also agree with a vote in for Laphroaig for keeping the price of the 10, 10 CS, and QC relatively low.
I’ll add my vote for Bladnoch too. I really felt welcome there when I visited and was able to view and take photos of anywhere I liked, unlike some of the other distilleries where you are simply another tourist doing the tour.
Raymond and Florence always have time for you when you visit and their whisky is superb, and affordable, too – not just their own but also the other bottlings they do. Top marks all round!
Got to be Cooley, hasn’t it?
Awards out the wazoo last year, for what that’s worth.
But producing an almost bewildering array of whiskeys, and now at two distillery sites.
All drams made for all men, really, and still reasonably priced even at the very top end, compared to the other two Irish distilleries.
Plus, they were utterly brilliant with the Irish Whiskey Society this year (as in fairness were Diageo too.)
But Cooley excelled for me in how they worked with us to create the ‘Grand Crew’ single malt to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of commercial traffic (including Kilbeggan whiskey) along Ireland’s Grand Canal.
I just wish they’d make a proper potstill, then they’d have pretty much all bases covered.
Great feedback here. There’s a lot of good things happening still in the whisky industry.
Let’s hear some more opinions…
…and from a non distilery angle I would vote for Compass Box. John is producing fine stuff time and time again with a genuine passion. And he aye does tastings for our university tasting group…and comes out for a pint afterwards!
Lavinia, I envy you!
I would agree with Lavinia, not so much a distillery, but Compass Box has impressed me. Bringing back the Spice Tree & the release of Lady Luck has me excited. I look forward to their outside of the box mentality.
[...] Hansell also wants to know what distilleries impressed you in 2009? I put in my own $.02 for American [...]
I’m going with Benriach, from the perspective that Benriach was a bland, tired whisky under its previous ownership (strain to remember the forgettable dreck with the light blue label that was available just a few years back). Benriach has gone from Glen-like-whatever to releasing some of the most interesting whiskies on the market. The general releases are very good and many of the single cask OBs I have tried are excellent. Binnys also has a number of excellent IB peated Benriach bottlings. I think that the new Benriach exemplifies the power of whisky knowledge and careful cask selection by the Walkers and their staff.
My runner up is Ardbeg. In spite of having very little room to manoeuvre in terms of lacking depth of aged stocks (the 10 year old is now remarkably the oldest whisky in the standard line-up), Ardbeg released two exciting no age statement whiskies in 2009, the Corryvreckan and the Supernova.
I’ll second JC Skinner’s views on Cooley.
As well as Locke’s 9 Year Old “Grand Crew” this year’s 17 Year Old Single Cask Connemara and The Tyrconnell 17 Year Old Single Cask were excellent.
I have to say for a single malt The Dalmore is best in it’s class and I am finding it hard to be beaten by anyother on the market right now. Looking forward to trying the new 18 year old expression
Hmmm…. narrowing it down to one is really difficult. I’d have to say that, for really surprising me with blended quality, I was most impressed with Kittling Ridge in Canada. John Hall is doing some really amazing things up there, and his experiments and blends never cease to surprise and please me.
On the Scotch side, The Dalmore impressed me greatly with their new expressions, crafted by the same master who makes my much-loved Jura Superstition. While I enjoyed some of the peat from BenRiach, and some of the experiments from Bruichladdich, I think the fine crafting of The Dalmore stood out for me.
Bruichladdich is always a favorite – this past year I continued to enjoy Port Charlotte (PC7) and the Octmore 1.1. Always enjoy their non-vintage, multicask bottlings as well and Resurrection dram was a great value bottling.
On the American whisky front, I too enjoyed the McCarthy’s Clear Creek offering – great peated American malt!
Balblair is absolutely top-notch when it comes to treatment of visitors. Not my favourite whisky, but I was really impressed with their hospitality. Generous samples and no restrictions with photography.
I’ve got to agree with past posts about the Bladnoch. Raymond is doing great things there, I am looking forward to some more bottlings from his vast store!
Also, loved the Kilkerran in bourbon from Glen Gyle and Springbank 18.
The first one that popped into my mind? Garrison Brothers in Texas. They have been making and barreling whiskey for about two years now and haven’t released anything yet. They are determined to make a Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey and are taking the time to do it right.
I agree with many of the previous contributors, BenRiach and Springbank have remained steadily impressive the last few years and this past is no exception. I had not been a big fan of the Amrut whiskies until the release of the Fusion this year, which showed previously unseen depth, character and balance. I also really enjoy the new 10 year old cask strength Bowmore Tempest. I have yet to try to the Gold Bowmore, but the Tempest did have shades of the same tropical fruit notes found in the Black and White Bowmores, at a fraction the price.
I would have to say the biggest surprise to me this year were the Kilkerran whiskies from Glengyle in Campbeltown. I have tried a number of different casks and bottlings including the Work in Progress, and am surprised that it didn’t catch on with as much enthusiasm as the Kilchoman. Perhaps they should have built it on Islay!
Slainte!
Andrew Ferguson
Calgary, Canada
I would agree with the comments on Craft Distilling. Some should not even try to get to market in just months. But I guess they are eager to get a return on their investment. Someone mentioned Dry Fly. I had the pleasure of trying it several times while in Seattle and I must say, those Dry Fly guys do it right. Their 100% wheat whiskey is so light and has a lingering caramel type sweetness. Try their vodka and gin sometime too..
Glendronach, I have all of the last year release(some twice). And I will buy all of this year release(some twice again).
MARS
There is so much good new whisky out there that it’s hard to choose. For a distillery – I’ll go with Glendronach based on their new range. I love all of it. For bottlers, that’s more difficult. Great Japanese whisky from Number One and fantastic Scotch from Compass Box. Let’s call it a tie.
Tuthilltown Spirits!
A great microdistillery, easy going people you can reach easily, amazing range of products, nice use of social media (Facebook, and al.)… A+ grade!
Can’t wait to get there in february for my birthday!
http://www.tuthilltown.com/