1 December 2010 Ruben * Whisky News

Malt Maniacs Awards 2010

Here are the Gold medal winners of this year’s Malt Maniacs Awards (no less than 12):

GlenDronach 1972/2010 (cask #700) for Taiwan
Longmorn 1964/2010 G&M for LMdW (cask #1034)
Macallan 1970/2010 G&M for LMdW (cask #10031)
Karuizawa 1977/2010 Noh (No.1 Drinks – cask #4592)
Karuizawa 1975/2010 for LMdW (cask #6736)
Glengoyne 1972/2010 The Perfect Dram
Kawasaki ‘Ichiro’s Choice’ 1981/2009 for LMdW
Glenfarclas 40 yo OB
Caperdonich 1972/2010 (Duncan Taylor cask #7420)
Glen Scotia 1977/2010 (A.D. Rattray cask #985)
Karuizawa 1976/2009 Noh (No.1 Drinks – cask 6719)
Port Ellen PE2 (The Whisky Exchange)

Of 262 entries, 219 received a medal. Yes, I also find that a high percentage but remember that bottlers and distilleries are sending their “best of the best”.

The conclusions are remarkably similar to last year: GlenDronach came in first with one of its (already legendary) 1972 releases. Congratulations to them, it’s clear that they have some stunning 1970’s casks waiting to be bottled. Also, it’s obvious that Karuizawa (as well as other Japanese brands) is still very popular. Note that the new Karuizawa 1968 came in below a few 1970’s bottlings. La Maison du Whisky is still the king of proprietary independent releases.

Kudos to Glenfarclas for its 40yo! It’s not very common for a (large batch) standard bottling to get such a high score.

I’m glad I already picked up the Caperdonich 1972 by Duncan Taylor – by far the cheapest option in this list, which gives it the best quality / price ratio (as often with old Caperdonich).

23Comments

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1

Michael on 1 December 2010 at 21:23

This sealed a purchase of Glenfarclas 40YO for me 🙂
I missed Karuizawa 1975 (I thought at that time that I bought too many Karuizawa bottles and was afraid that my wife would lose it ;-))
2

Ruben on 2 December 2010 at 09:28

Concerning the Sonnalta: I can understand that this modern kind of sherry maturation is great for some people but strange for others.
3

Jonathan Matthews on 2 December 2010 at 12:57

As a frequent/occasional visitor to Sherry country in and around Jerez de la Frontera in south-west Spain I have had the pleasure of visiting some of the finest bodegas in this area over a period of many years: Gonzalez Byass (who, incidentally, have just opened their new Sherry and tapas bar, Bar Pepito, in Kings Cross – I can heartily recommend it), Harveys, Garveys, Sandeman, and also one or two of the smaller independent cellars that still operate within the old town. However, as a new convert to the wonders of single malts – I know, I know, converts make the worst fanatics, especially when they start late in life – it came as a welcome surprise that there were so many malts which had been finished with Sherry, such as Oloroso, Pedro Ximenez and I understand, even a Manzanilla from the coastal town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

So while having a few drams of The Macallan Sherry Oak with some friends of mine recently we got to discussing the role of sherry in finishing malt whiskies. Judging by the recent sale of the Macallan 64 year old at auction in Sotheby´s, New York, for the princely sum of 460,000$ it seems clear that Sherry oak casks have played a very significant part in shaping the character of certain malts. According to their website ´the Macallan 64 years old is the oldest Macallan ever released by the distillery in its 186 year old history. It has been vatted from three casks all built from sherry seasoned Spanish oak. The first was filled in 1942, the second in 1945 and the third in 1946).

From what I can tell most single malts can be finished in any one of a variety of American bourbon casks, American and European oak sherry butts, French Limousin oak barrels or even Portuguese port pipes – clearly somethng for all tastes, Old World or New.
As we were sipping away the debate centred on which of the two, sherry or wood, played the biggest role in shaping and defining the malt´s final character.

However, as the evening drew to a close we were still no clearer on which of the two was the major player.
Presumably the wood can be sourced from any forest and then is subejct to the tender loving care of the cooperages in their respective regions: Louisville for Bourbon in Kentucky, Jerez for Oloroso etc in Andalucía, and so on. But what about the liquid itself? Is a Bourbon from outside Kentucky as good/authentic as a Bourbon from Kentucky.
Equally, if the wood comes from a Jerez cooperage can a wine similar to Sherry eg. Montilla from Córdoba, be used to season the butts?
Having looked at the fine array of single malts currently on the market which are labelled as matured in Sherry oak barrels, The Macallan Sherry Oak, Old Pulteney 23 year Old Limited Edition, Laphroaig Three Wood, to name but a few, Sherry seems to occupy a pre-eminent position in the finishing process.

I would be grateful if someone could clarify this matter about the provenance of the respective fillings for both Bourbon barrels and Sherry casks.
Many thanks,

Jon Matthews
4

Ruben on 2 December 2010 at 13:41

That is like asking to clarify the importance of the grape variety in wine. Small libraries have been written about this subject.
In a way the wood is simply the transporter and a filter for the sherry flavours that are transmitted to the whisky. Fino and oloroso finished whisky can be totally different, even if they both use Spanish Oak, so the type of sherry is probably more important for the end result than the type of wood that was used.
Surely Montilla-Moriles “sherry” is used to season whisky casks, Oban Distillers Edition clearly does and I’m sure many others do so without actually admitting it.
5

Duffer_dk on 2 December 2010 at 13:52

I’m a great fan of sherry casks – especially Oloroso.
Funny you should mention Oban Distillers Edition, I just tasted that one (1993) yesterday. That was an experience I could do without… !!! Yakk…
6

Michael on 2 December 2010 at 13:52

I was very hesitant to comment on it but I do find a spread of scores, in this and other tastings a bit puzzling:

Yamazaki 1995/2010 – lowest 78, highest 93
Hanyu 21yo 1988/2009 ‘Noh’ – lowest 70, highest 94

That is why, I do not “trust” many tests and I come back to this and one other whisky Web site.
7

Ruben on 2 December 2010 at 14:00

I don’t see the problem with a bit of diversity in the scores. It just takes some time and effort to get to know all the Maniacs and to find out whose preference you can relate to.
It could be interesting to make some kind of profile for each of the MM’s 🙂
8

Michael on 2 December 2010 at 14:07

Absolutely, Ruben. I see that BB does not like Karuizawa but 68 points for Karuizawa 1985/2009 … 😉
9

Ruben on 2 December 2010 at 14:35

Well, Bert is known for making bold statements once in a while 😉
10

MARS on 2 December 2010 at 18:21

Bert was hard with his rating with almost all the whiskies.

Some whiskies are not consensual and some poeple will like and others will hait the very same whisky.
It’s also more easy to give a bad note when it’s tatsted blind.

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