In November 2023 the book The Distillation of Whisky 1927–1931 hit the shelves , released by botllers James Eadie. Although it steps outside their usual territory, the book follows their first release, The Distilleries of Great Britain & Ireland: A Journey Through the Heartlands of Whisky 1922–1929. While the first focused on the distilleries themselves, this sequel reveals how whisky was actually produced in the 1920s.
James Eadie’s Project 1927 tries to replicate the style of whisky from the 1920s by following the ideas and practices described in this book. The whiskies were distilled between autumn 2023 and spring 2024 at Ardnamurchan, Dornoch, Holyrood, InchDairnie, Lochlea, and an unnamed farm distillery in Fife. Each distillery used locally grown barley or heritage 1920s varieties, along with brewer’s yeast — a staple back then but rarely used in whisky-making today. The team filled them into refill American new oak and refill oloroso European oak casks.
The entire set is still available from Royal Mile Whiskies among others.
Ardnamurchan new make (63,4%, James Edie ‘Project 1927’)
Nose: the first thing that struck me was the vegetal side. Hints of boiled beans and something fatty. However, these are common newmake notes and – especially in comparison to the others – this is a bold spirit but actually quite fresh. Beer mash and corn flakes, along with hints of dried herbs (cumin) and lemons clearly lifting this spirit. Then in the background there’s a vague roasted note and something lightly cheesy. Overall a nicely oily impression and a nice herbal freshness.
Mouth: quite weighty and thick, despite the obvious alcohol. The herbal character quickly comes out, along with a mineral / stoney quality. Black pepper heat, a briny note and scorched rosemary. Leather. Underneath there’s a fresher (sourish) hint of grapefruit and green apple.
Finish: medium length, bittersweet, also showing mint and pepper. Turpentine and drying cocoa in the end.
On the nose I really liked this Ardnamurchan spirit a lot. On the palate I found the sharpness a little less impressive, even though the weight is usually a nice sign for ageing potential. Score: ++
Dornoch new make (63,4%, James Edie ‘Project 1927’)
Nose: slightly sweeter and less herbal than the Ardnamurchan spirit, with a mild hint of mashed banana and kiwi. Then also green orange peels, plenty of green bell peppers, hints of mezcal and some herbs. Big mashy notes too, with vague hints of fruitiness already down there.
Mouth: still rich, but clearly juicier than the Ardnamurchan. Briny herbs again, but also hints of fruit eau-de-vie at some point, albeit with a mineral fingerprint and a vague smoky echo. Very young orujo notes. Some pepper, pickles and gin-like botanicals like juniper and mint.
Finish: medium length, still quite vibrant. Also leathery notes and a mild toffee sweetness. Back to leafy / vegetal notes in the end.
A very characterful spirit, as expected from the Thompson brothers. At some point it reminded me of not-yet-whiskies from Asia, such as Shizuoka. Only the Lochlea spirit topped this one, it will be interesting how they evolve in wood. Score: +++
Holyrood new make (63,4%, James Edie ‘Project 1927’)
Nose: agave notes and lemons, then more cabbage and creamy malt, with a clear cheesy hint up front. It settles down though, bringing along hints of thyme and mint leaves. A bit flatter than the others perhaps, but again there’s an onset of (pineapple) fruitiness in the background.
Mouth: one of the fruitier spirits. Perhaps a hint of peach eau-de-vie and citrus, really nice. Mid-palate a peatier element sets in, with hints of roasted grains and firm hints of liquorice. A faint hint of mouldy flowers too.
Finish: quite long and medicinal, on sweet citrus, grapes, herbal bitters and hints of agave.
Certainly funky on the nose, but the innate fruity note makes up for part of it. Initially it made a nice impression, but the longer I worked on them, the more it was overtaken by others. Complexity isn’t the highest either. Score: ++
Balgothrie / Inchdairnie new make (63,4%, James Edie ‘Project 1927’)
Nose: far less vegetal now, far less ‘old era’ too. This starts with some dusty grains, leather, chalky notes and citrus. Then papery elements, something vaguely woody (balsa), subtle botanicals and an inviting sweetness that almost hints at vanilla custard.
Mouth: oily and sweet, with both the pastry note and a berry sweetness, along with sweet citrus. Then a slight cardboard note, as well as aniseed and black pepper growing stronger. Also a mentholated note.
Finish: not long, back to boozy sweet grains, lemon peels and mild spice.
Surprisingly different from the others, perhaps because of the shorter fermentation and the yeast strain. None of the funky notes that the previous three samples had, making this considerably more easy-going but also less interesting within the entire experiment. Score: ++
Lochlea new make (63,4%, James Edie ‘Project 1927’)
Nose: somewhere in the middle between funk and a more classic style. Very inviting hints of lime and mint leaves, with just a hint of chalk and apple. Also fresh laundry. There’s some of that vegetal character as well, hidden underneath.
Mouth: berry sweetness with plenty of citrus, green apple and even a hint of passion fruits. Hints of bubble gum. Then a little marzipan, more apple (candy), blueberries and the usual spiciness.
Finish: medium and clean, nicely fruity, always very bright and approachable.
So far I haven’t been convinced of Lochlea’s single malts, but this is a nice newmake. Somewhat less complex than others, for sure, but it shows a lot of balance, elegance and very vibrant fruits. My favourite in this series when it comes to instant drinkability. Score: ++++
Unnamed farm distillery in Fife new make (63,4%, James Edie ‘Project 1927’)
Nose: some coppery notes, grapes and vegetal / leafy hints (bell peppers again). Fairly complex and at the same time quite gentle. There’s also an earthy base note, without becoming too heavy. Then drops of honey and cane sugar. Among the nicer noses in the line-up.
Mouth: nice texture, sweet and spicy, with a salty side as well. Still some coppery notes again, along with berries, a bit of pepper and cinnamon. Then it moves towards brown sugar (giving it a rummy character) and back to some very clean barley notes.
Finish: on the short side, with more neutral barley, a caramel-like sweetness and mild nutmeg.
From Daftmill comes this clean and balanced spirit. So balanced in fact that it will almost certainly mature into a beautiful whisky when given enough time in moderately active wood. Not necessarily standing out at this point, unless you’re looking for balance. Score: +++
The last sample in the box is a ‘blended at birth’ spirit. Not all distilleries have an equal part in this: Lochlea and Inchdarnie each contribute 28%, Holyrood 19%, Ardnamurchan 16% and the others just a few percent.
Blended At Birth – six new make spirits (63,4%, James Edie ‘Project 1927’)
Nose: a bit of everything indeed. Citrus brightness stand out, the vegetal notes are rather mellow, there is some aniseed and mint. Then also a mild mineral note, spearmint and vague fruity notes in the background (apple and peach).
Mouth: going in different directions. Now the spicy notes seem to become quite loud (pepper, nutmeg), but also herbal elements that add some bitterness. The more unique fruits are now wiped out, but there is some caramel and berry sweetness. Then also a pungency that I didn’t get in any of the components, but that is probably just the sum of different parts.
Finish: medium to long, still slightly bittersweet, with flashes of citrus and aniseed coming back.
This is a difficult excercise, of course. I was more impressed by the more delicate spirits, but these loose their voice in such a crowded blend. Then again the ones with a peculiar character only have a modest portion. Trying this as a blend is not the point, in my opinion, the individual spirits have more to say on their own. Score: ++
Afterthoughts
I tried these samples in the same order they were in the tasting kit. However I’m not sure that was the right order, as some of the funky spirits came first and the last ones seemed more accessible.
Anyway, how do you score newmake spirits? Is it the quality and complexity of the current product (which would mean they get a 70-ish score), or do you try to think forward and predict the potential evolution, assuming some of the harsh vegetal notes will probably become milder and fruits may become louder? I mostly looked at their current state, since we don’t know the type of wood being used. That said, a vague score seems better here than a specific score on a 0-100 scale.
Overall Project 1927 is an interesting idea, but a tasting kit with seven newmakes is definitely very geeky. Regardless of your experience with (mature) single malts, assessing newmake is an entirely different challenge – overall they’re closer together than most single malts, in my opinion. To be honest I wouldn’t drink any of these spirits on their own – even comparing them at full strength becomes a little tough after a while. So once I had two comparative sessions I had a considerable amount of spirit left. That leaves me wondering about the audience and the interest in such kits.