EDITION 19 SPRING 2003 · PAGE 2 SCOTCH WHISKY REVIEW —␣ LOCH FYNE WHISKIES, INVERARAY, ARGYLL, PA32 8UD We lost track of time when in con-versation with Bill Bergius; here’s

SCOTCH WHISKY REVIEW —␣ LOCH FYNE WHISKIES, INVERARAY, ARGYLL, PA32 8UD PAGE 1

EDITION 19 SPRING 2003

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CAPTION COMPETITIONHere’s a 70cl bottle of rare Port Ellen Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, distilled in1978 and bottled after 24 years at cask strength—59% alcohol, a limited releasefrom a distillery that sadly will never work again; a real treasure.The people ogling it are thought to be politicians.

GLENGOYNEIan MacLeod and Co. have boughtGlengoyne Distillery and the Lang’sbrand that has been associated with it.Glengoyne has been cherished by previ-ous owner Edrington, who have sold itand Bunnahabhain in order to concen-trate on their favoured brands ofMacallan, Highland Park and Grouse.Family owned and highly respected, IanMacLeod & Co. was founded in 1936 byLeonard Russell, the father and grand-father of the present Chairman andManaging Director. Their principal prod-ucts are Isle of Skye and Chieftain’sChoice whiskies, London Hill Gin andWatson’s Rum. Based in Broxburn, westof Edinburgh, they employ 35 people andare a joint owner (with Grant’s ofGlenfarclas) of Broxburn bottlers em-ploying a further 85.Their acquisition of Glengoyne, whichproduces superb whisky, is very goodnews for whisky fans.

BUNNAHABHAINCL World Brands, the Trinidad basednew owner of Burn Stewart PLC, hasrelocated its drinks headquarters toScotland and announced the acquisitionof Islay’s Bunnahabhain Distillery fromEdrington. The distillery’s future hasbeen uncertain for some time despitedevoted fans and industry recognition—their Auld Acquaintance bottling wonthe overall trophy in the 2002 ScottishField Merchant’s Challenge.CL Financial lists its interests as pri-marily insurance and finance but alsoenergy production, real estate, naturalresources and booze. Prior to taking con-trol of Burn Stewart (Scottish Leader,Deanston & Tobermory) in December2002, their main drinks brand wasAngoustoura Bitters but they also pro-duce substantial volumes of bulk rumand white spirits in America and Eu-rope. The East Kilbride headquarterswill administer sales of $230m p.a.

AULTIMATUMSo why don’t we have any officialbottlings from Aultmore—Eh?It’s five years since Bacardi took posses-sion of Brackla, Craigellachie, Aberfeldyand Aultmore distileries as part of theiradoption of Dewar’s—necessary to satisfythe monopolies people who are there toprotect the consumers’ interests.The Miami Mafia have done well withDewar’s, increasing volume satisfacto-rily but their venture into single maltcapitalisation—Dewar ’s World ofWhisky at Aberfeldy—struggles, ashame as it’s a top class display with nofaults except, possibly, location.By now there should be official orblender-authorised bottlings of all theirdistilleries—but nope! Our Stock Listincludes Aberfeldy only by virtue of theenterprise of the distillery management—but why not the other three?Unfortunately there remains a middletier of distillery owners (Bacardi, Allied,Pernod) who are under the illusion thatthey actually own their distilleries.Eejits! This is Scotland! You don’t ownthings here—you are merely custodi-ans! These distilleries are not just com-ponent manufacturers for your blends!They are proud, individual enterprisesdriven by intelligent and conscientiouscommunities born of a heritage thatproduced the world’s great doctors, sol-diers, inventors—lawyers, [okay, 3 outof 4 ain’t bad].In the mid-70s, a blenders’ league of sin-gles was created recognising the desir-ability of distillery products. NowadaysAultmore is the only blenders’ top-classdistillery not bottled by its custodian.We know it’s good, Inverarity’s Ances-tral from Aultmore is testimony to thatbut the ignorant brand-driven alcohol-beverage-industry players that ‘own’Aultmore apparently are not aware ofthis. I suspect they are too busy dispens-ing their short-cut to alcoholism—theBacardi Breezer—and ergo, devoid ofself esteem about their special assets.Either that, or they are simply too idleto do anything about it.

SCOTCH WHISKY REVIEW —␣ LOCH FYNE WHISKIES, INVERARAY, ARGYLL, PA32 8UDPAGE 2

We lost track of time when in con-versation with Bill Bergius; here’s aconcise transcript.

LFW: What is your job?I am Head of Brand Heritage for AlliedDistillers—part of Allied Domeq. Mymain functions are Scotch Whisky train-ing for our people; organising visits toScotland for ‘hearts and minds’ brand ex-periences, and helping our distributorsworldwide to add value to our brands,primarily Ballantine’s but also Teacher’sand Laphroaig.‘Brand Heritage’ came about in the early90s as companies became production-only operations rather than production-distribution-sales-and-marketing.When sales and marketing was movedwe had to convey the imagery andknowledge of our product to those sell-ing it. Scotch needs support from Scot-land, personalities, gravitas—heritage.Most of my time is devoted toBallantine’s, the jewel in our crown—6.5million cases every year, Teacher’s—1.7million cases, mainly in the UK and Bra-zil, and I have a little time for our malts.LFW: Tell us about Allied Domeq.Allied Domeq has been formed by vari-ous consolidations; initially the busi-nesses of George Ballantine, WilliamTeacher and Long John.In 1976 the Teacher family—of which Iam a member—found it tough compet-ing with the massive Distillers’ Com-pany Ltd, despite our selling nearly 2million cases in the UK. For both familyand financial reasons Teacher’s was soldto Allied Brewers (Tetley’s and Skol).In 1982 Allied Brewers bought Lyons(creating Allied Lyons) and after the ac-quisition of Hiram Walker’s drinks in-terests in 1988 Allied Distillers was cre-ated to look after Ballantine’s, Stewart’sCream of the Barley and other Hirambrands such as Maker’s Mark, Kahlúa,Courvoisier and seven distilleries.In 1991 Allied acquired Long John, thespirits interests of Whitbread Brewersincluding Beefeater Gin and Laphroaig.

In the following year came the major ac-quisition of the Domeq Company, theworld’s largest producers of brandy.With Long John came our principalmalt—Laphroaig, already a well-recog-nised, individual and well-promoted sin-gle malt and since 1991 Whitbread havelaid down enough stock to grow thebrand. Without Laphroaig it’s true thatAllied has made no progress in the maltsector over the last ten years.LFW: Ballantine’s is very succesful.Hiram’s novel perspective on selling tookBallantine’s to Europe’s number 1.Hiram Walker of Canada did all theright things from 1970 onwards. TheirAmerican market was struggling butthey realised that as they didn’t havemuch business in Europe they could goout and make some; they were early toestablish good distributors and create asolid ground-breaking whisky market-ing programme that suggested ‘the goodlife’. Even now, Ballantine’s ‘living thegame’ style is not far away from thoseideas—it recognises a truth that menplay in just about everything they do.LFW: Happy accident or genius?It was part of the strategic plan. Theymoved the marketing team to Switzer-land to be closer to the European mar-ket, unlike the rest of the industry thatwas still based in Scotland sending out‘missionaries’.Ballantine’s is a remarkable productrange. They were only in the malt busi-ness until about the 1910s but by 1930they had developed aged blends, longbefore any other—it was the 60s beforethe release of Chivas 12yo. Since thenthey have always planned to sell whiskyof 17 to 30 years, as a result we still fillcasks suited for developing aged whisky.If you are planning a 12yo whisky youdon’t put it in the same cask as a 30yo,the cask would spoil the whisky by thetime it was 30.LFW: How long have you been in theWhisky industry?I joined the family business of Teacher’sScotch Whisky in 1970 after a stretchin the army. Bergius’ have been involvedin distilling for the past 120 years.My great-grandfather married thedaughter of William Teacher, whofounded Teacher’s in 1830. William wasone of those remarkable Victorians whogrew up with very little to become a manof strong principles and be known as agreat reformer. Even the anti-alcohollobby saw him as somebody who, whilehe may be selling drink, did it in such away that got their admiration. His pubshad rules such as no smoking, or notreating—you couldn’t buy anybody-elsea drink as this led to ‘drinking sessions’.He started in the shipbuilding areas ofGlasgow and he knew that the wiveswould be more content if their husbandswent to a Teacher’s pub.Teacher’s Highland Cream was one ofthe first to be registered in the 1880s,

prior to that there was little bottling orbranding of Scotch. Apart from HighlandCream there have been other whiskiesincluding ‘Australian Bonded Teach-er’s’—until the Matured Spirits Act of1916 there was no requirement for dis-tillers to age their product, but by ship-ping it round the world and back in caskthe consumer new it wasn’t made lastweek! (I think Australia was a place tostore casks without having to pay rates).Teacher’s had two distilleries, Ardmoreand Glendronach, both always the heartof the Teacher’s flavour since the 1890s.When I joined, Teacher’s was totally self-contained. They originally had bottlingfacilities under the railway arches atKing Street in Glasgow. Very Dicken-sian! In 1962 they opened a big purpose-built operation at Springburn with a ca-pacity of 4 million cases when, for thefirst time, they had enough whisky tomeet demand and they went from100,000 to 1 million cases by 1972. Thatput us into the no 1 UK spot.Teacher’s had been No 1 in the US inthe 1930s. All distillers faced a post-warshortage but Teacher’s was so badly af-fected that other producers were able totake business away that was never re-covered. During my four years we ar-rested our decline but it was difficultagainst Johnny Walker and Dewar’s,whose method was to hold us out bykeeping prices low. Even J & B andCutty Sark had difficulties in the 1980s.My first 4 years was in charge of sellingin the US where I was probably the firstto hold a single malt tasting. I wasn’taware of anyone else doing it at the timeanyway. People paid $30 to come and lis-ten to me in New York. From that werolled out a series of tastings to promoteTeacher’s Scotch Whisky but we endedup being closed down by the Bureau ofAlcohol, Tobacco & Firearms because,since prohibition, tasting of spirits wasnot allowed—you could taste beer andwine but spirits were thought to get yourcustomers drunk and force them to signorders they were not able to make in thefirst place.By the time I left the US in 1976Glendronach was the no. 3 malt—a longway behind Glenlivet and Glenfiddichbut on top of the rest.LFW: Teacher’s has a very distinc-tive, bold flavour.What I think gives Teacher’s its extraor-dinary flavour is the range of malts, butespecially Ardmore. It is not so much thatyou can taste the Ardmore but it is oneof those wonderful whiskies that as a sin-gle is quite exciting; buttery and oily, butit has a flavour that makes all otherwhisky characters change, a great aid tothe blender—a bit like using vanilla incooking. When we add Ardmore it cre-ates the Teacher’s flavour, very difficultto describe—predominantly bitter withan overlay of sweetness that comes fromsherry casks. You get a formation of

THE SURVIVOR


‘heavier’ sugar crystals from the sherrycombining with the sugars of the woodthat are extracted during maturation.LFW: Has the flavour changed?I think all blends have graduallychanged, probably with every secondgeneration; we don’t peat whiskies asheavily as they used to, there aren’t thesame range of whiskies available to theblender and the types of wood haschanged. Whisky came in dark bottlesbecause on a cold night the Scotch wouldcloud or haze. It didn’t look great but itreally didn’t affect the taste.With the invention of chillfiltering in the1920s by Teacher’s to reduce haze therewas a loss of some flavours. The blenderhas to blend additional flavour to be ableto match how the whisky had been withjust barrier filtering.LFW: What? Teacher’s inventedchillfiltering?No, but they pioneered it for Scotch inabout 1924. The rest of the industrycaught up by the 1950s.There is a strong inventive streak in theBergius family. We’ve made Motorcars,marine engines, a method of makingfood from wood and there was oneBergius who won a Nobel prize for con-verting coal into oil. However these areall irrelevant when compared with mygrandfather’s development of the mod-ern cork in 1913! Before that, a bottlehad a driven cork that required a cork-screw. He shortened the cork to reducefriction and topped it with a cap securedby a wooden dowel.LFW: Long John is pretty fierce.It is. It is a blend that has heritage inheavily peated Laphroaig and that givesit distinctiveness but it is not the rich,deep style or complexity of Teacher’s orthe sweetness of Ballantine’s. Long Johnis more in-yer-face.LFW: Do you miss Teacher’s?I very much regret that the family soldthe business. I have such a strong affin-ity with the brand and its quality. I amannoyed that many think ‘there’s BillBergius—he doesn’t have to work’ or,‘Allied’s being nice to him’—not true.Teacher’s was sold for not very much,which was spread thinly between about50 members so I have to work and I wantto work here.LFW: We don’t see much malts ac-tivity from Allied.Everyone knows that Allied has donenothing with its single malts. We are upa tree with our bottoms showing.Our core malts are the pungentLaphroaig, Scapa from Orkney andGlendronach, 100% sherry cask ma-tured. Those three are the strategy ofmalts as created by Jeremy Weather-head before he moved on in 1994. Sincethen we have kept Laphroaig at the fore-front of Islay malts. We have also had‘The Caledonian Malts’, which includedTormore and Miltonduff, but that projectfaded through lack of attention and the

‘Defenders of the Malt’, was a pro-gramme brought together by the mar-ket (America) rather than us. SinceWeatherhead was promoted we havehad a rather appalling turnover of peo-ple in charge of marketing our malts.Laphroaig has done well but we haven’tdone anything with Glendronach exceptsell all we have spare and Scapa justabout sells everything we have. Notmuch of a strategy, just to sell out. It isgoing to change now but somebodyshould have planned it 12 years ago.Allied has been preoccupied with thenineties ethos of profit, consolidation-and focus. We took marketing closer tothe consumer and made the businessmore profitable. In Dumbarton we havea world-class production plant running24 hours a day with a multi-taskingworkforce, the result of the drive for ef-ficiency. Allied owns most of its distri-bution companies around the world giv-ing focussed marketing of our brands.With all this we have forgotten about thesingle malts that are so important towhisky and Scotland.In future we are going to focusGlendronach primarily in Germany,USA, UK and duty free. All other mar-kets will be dried up. Glendronach Dis-tillery is back in operation after nearlysix years closure because it is needed forsingle malt—and for Teacher’s. When abusiness is being hard driven the mind-set is how to cut costs and it’s easy tomake silly decisions and lose sight of thewhole. Glendronach is a good exampleof this; one of the smallest distilleries inScotland, with coal-fired stills and oneof the more expensive to run, a simplecalculation means it has to close. Now ithas reopened with a plan not just to keepit open but also to introduce some heatrecovery systems in order to optimiseflavour and reduce costs. It is the lastdistillery with coal fires still operatingbut that will change too. Two years agowe converted Ardmore from coal tosteam and I initially said ‘this is notArdmore’ but after playing with thesteam and the cut of the spirit I amhappy that it is now identical to the oldcoal-fired Ardmore. We plan to do thesame for Glendronach.LFW: You have other distilleries.We have 1 grain and 10 malt distilleriesof which Glencadam and Imperial aremothballed and Scapa is working occa-sionally. Our other malts; Glenburgie,Glentauchers, Miltonduff, and Tormoreare busy. Not 7 days a week but as busyas we would like. Allied was early tostart closing distilleries in the 1990s —we foresaw an overproduction in the in-dustry and mothballed some and sloweddown others. But as Ballantine’s hasbeen doing consistently well, compound-ing a 6 million case brand by 5% a year,an awful lot more whisky is required.LFW: Laphroaig is an acquired taste.All the beauty of drinking Laphroaig is

contained in the 10yo. There are somefanatics who want more ‘raw’ Laphroaig.When you open it, it is not just smoky;it’s like my granny’s peat fire—blue peatsmoke, an extraordinary whisky thatsmells like hospitals yet when you tasteit, gives a burst of incredible sweetness,then spice, smoke and eventually salt.It is nice to have 15yo, it is easier todrink because the smoke is less. (I sus-pect that some 15yo drinkers can’t standthe smell and taste of a peat fire—in factthey can’t stand Laphroaig!) But thereis nothing like the 10yo.LFW: Is the 10yo deliberately lesspungent than the ‘Cask Strength’?‘Cask Strength’ is only barrier filtered;the other is chillfiltered at 2ºC. At below50% alc. you will get a haze, particularlyin Glendronach and Laphroaig. Somepeople jump to conclusions that becauseit is chillfiltered it is not good. I don’tagree—it is different. In ‘cask strength’the smoke smell is not more intense yetdeeper, there are more things going on.The taste is simply explosive! If youdrink it at 57%, when you put it in yourmouth that little bit of reduction releasesso many things. 10yo Laphroaig is agreat representative product and ‘CaskStrength’ is for those who want it; I don’tbelieve we are depriving anyone bychillfiltering Laphroaig.LFW: Laphroaig has done well de-spite Allied’s lack of malt effort.Allied owes the success of Laphroaig totwo men, Jeremy Weatherhead and IainHenderson, the young turk and the dis-tillery manager. They created theFriends of Laphroaig with Iain as the‘head of the family’—it worked excep-tionally well and Iain is very adept athandling visitors. (He also has the ben-efit of Carol, an outstanding hostess).I am really sorry that we couldn’t haveIain continue as a consultant. Allied’s re-tirement rules (somewhat cruelly) wouldnot allow him to continue as a distillerymanager. I suspect he’s happier now atEdradour, dirty hands and all that.Robin Shields starts at Laphroaig aboutnow and as I have worked with him forthe last few months I am very comfort-able that the future of Laphroaig andits public face are in excellent hands.LFW: Your desert Island dram?Teacher’s Highland Cream. I can drinkthat on an everyday basis, enough toexcite the palate but as with any goodblend it fades away soon leaving my pal-ate fresh and ready for the next sip.For a single malt; Ardmore—when it wasbottled for Teacher’s Board of Directorsfrom a sherry cask, a first fill Oloroso—a magic drink! And now Laphroaig—areminder of granny’s peat fire!For variety, I would hope somebody hadhidden a bottle of Ballantine’s 17yo.LFW: Thank you.

You can read the full version of this long andwide-ranging discussion at lfw.co.uk/swr.


DEVIL’S ADVOCATE

Turnbull Hutton

INVESTOR’S CHRONICLEI’m not consulted often as to what peo-ple should do with their money. Mindyou, this could have something to dowith my track record. Let’s leave asidefor the moment my portfolio of shares,where some wide-boy has successfullymanaged to lose half the value of my in-vestment. Nothing odd there you maysay, hasn’t everyone’s portfolio sufferedsimilarly? Probably, but that may be dueas much to following the herd instinctas against picking bummers in terms ofcompanies or indeed sectors. I’m sure ifI had left my investments in certaindrinks companies I would not have hadthe losses I now sadly contemplate. So Iam probably a supporter of drinks intheir widest sense… in more ways thanone perhaps.However I was really referring in theopening paragraph to my other majorself managed investments, and thesecould give the first clue as to why I amnot called upon often to dispense finan-cial advice. You’ll want to know whatthese blue chip investments are nodoubt: well, with not a little embarrass-ment, I’ll tell you—if you promise not tospread it around.How’s about a 25% stake in the holdingcompany which has a controlling inter-est in a Second Division Scottish Leaguefootball team. A “ stormer” that one… alicence to print money. Or there’s myclassic car… never depreciates… ahedge against the vagaries of the stockmarket. If one forgets about the neverending garage bills, the rebuilds, theentry fees for the odd event or two andthe other costs associated with keepinggoing a 38 year old example of Britishengineering at its best… I really can’tlose with this one either. Then there isthe racehorse—well two of them actu-ally—although one is almost constantlyinjured and doesn’t do a lot other thaneat regularly and get new shoes... often!And there are another three joint own-ers to share the costs—and the glory—with, so I’ve cleverly minimised my ex-posure. I’m really something of a guruthen when it comes to investing. So payattention.I note with interest the spectacular in-vestment opportunities that are cur-rently being touted in other whisky pub-

lications. You know the kind of thing...a bond payment... anything from £500to £2000. Unique club membership, bot-tles now or at some time in the future.Some cleverly worded blurb that the as-yet unbuilt distillery will make the prod-uct in the original way... whatever thehell that means. Some implied criticism(a Grouse perhaps?) of the way existingdistillery owners go about their busi-ness... and a promise of great future op-portunities specific to the bondholder.Bells are ringing here – and I don’t meanthe UK’s no 1 blend either.

A choice ofselected malts,cask strength,filtered only

throughunwashed

ladies tightsIt’s not that many years ago we wereurged to buy casks of whisky for invest-ment purposes. Remember that one?That was where the major companiesallegedly never carried sufficient stocksfor their future sales and thereforebought from the market in future years.The returns were mindblowing. Sadly,however, the arithmetic—whilst cor-rect—was based on seriously unrelatednumbers. It was easy to get a 2- or 300%“return” on investment if one startedwith a filling price from the distillery (noduty, no warehouse rent) and then workup the numbers of bottles one could ex-pect from the cask in 5, 8 or 12 yearstime multiplied by the selling price of a5, 8 or 12 year bottle of an equivalentproduct... this time inclusive of duty!“Investors” also had “opportunities” tobuy young previously distilled spirit.This was based on someone’s perceptionof “market price”—and other examplesof market prices were often quoted dem-onstrating what the “investment” wouldbe worth if you simply sat tight. Maybethey forgot to explain warehouse rentalcharges, or that market prices—like myshares—can fluctuate wildly.Many “investors” wanted out after ayear or two. It was then that they dis-covered that the major whisky compa-nies had no need or desire to purchasecasks of whisky. Even if they did, “mar-ket prices” were far lower than the “in-

vestors” had been led to believe. A contrick they cried... groupings came to-gether to seek justice. Too late, TheScotch Whisky Association made a state-ment warning the gullible. The damagewas done however. The Serious FraudSquad became involved... arrests in Lon-don, and Gibraltar... companies woundup... eventually jail sentences for someand others on the periphery of all theshenanigans desperately buying backstocks from disillusioned investors.Now, far be it from me to suggest that“investing” in new distilleries—as yetunbuilt—is in any way risky. Far be itfrom me to link the investment scams ofthe 90s to the new thinking around bou-tique distilleries in hitherto virgin areasof Scotland. But go in with your eyeswide open. Do remember these other “in-vestment opportunities” of past years.There are still people out there hurting...and I am something of an expert on hurt-ing given the investments I have!Why bother “owning” a distillery... it’sonly a factory after all. A means to anend. Save your money on the factory in-vestment... buy a bottle or two of theoutput from many years ago instead.The mighty Loch Fyne Whiskies will bedelighted to advise... hell the editor willparcel and post your order to you per-sonally! You’ll also be able to partake ofyour purchase there and then... no wait-ing till it matures!

— or shouldthat be ladies

unwashedtights?

If you crave club membership... join theScotch Malt Whisky Society. A choice ofselected single malts, cask strength, fil-tered only through unwashed ladiestights—or should that have been ladiesunwashed tights—whatever! They haveClub Rooms, newsletter, special offers...even accommodation. They don’t need toown the factory... if they don’t, whyshould you?If, however, you are determined to goahead, if you have money burning a holein your pocket, if you crave club mem-bership, if you need a conversation stop-per at parties... maybe I can help. Sharescan be made available in Raith RoversFootball Club. You may want to sponsora wheel or a wing on a 1965 Mini CooperS. Or hows about a fetlock or two on acouple of racehorses? I know the editorwill pass on to me all of your enquiries.I look forward to hearing from you.[Likewise—Ed.]


“A friend of mine held some mixed ClyneLish and Glenlivet of mine to be the bestwhisky he had ever drunk”.

George SaintsburyNotes on a Cellar -book - 1921

To celebrate our ten years survival weare organising a couple of interestingand unique bottlings that will be re-leased over the next few months.

SAINTSBURY’S BESTSignatory’s warehouse is home to a hogs-head of an equal mix of old Brora andsherry cask matured Glenlivet, marry-ing in accordance with GeorgeSaintsbury’s instructions for a specialLiving Cask (see also page 10). [Clyne-lish was the name for the now closed andrenamed Brora distillery.] The cask hasbeen marrying for six months now andis very promising [well, great!—actu-ally]; neither the peat nor the sherry isdiminished by the amalgamation.

DECADENCE!At the 1999 International Wine & SpiritCompetition, a bottling of Inverarity An-cestral from Aultmore Distillery won theGold award. That’s now exhausted butInverarity have confessed to hoarding acask of the same whisky which has beenmaturing at reduced strength of 40% fora further four years. This whisky is trulyspectacular and we are honoured to haveit bottled for our tenth anniversary.Check the shop or lfw.co.uk/news overthe summer for details of availability.

Of all the bottles we stock—and thereare plenty of them—we elect one our‘Bottling of the Year’ based on customerreaction in the shop, value and unusu-alness; a democratic selection with (ar-guably) the world’s largest tasting panel!Always a tough decision, the runners upwere the OB Clynelish 14yo, a peatyvariant from Jura called “Superstition”,an un-chillfiltered Signatory Brora(again) and Ledaig 20yo.But this year’s choice is the new CaolIla 18 year old. It may not appeal uni-versally, but to those who enjoy a pow-erful Islay Malt, this is something ratherspecial and worthy of your attention.Typically Caol Ila (‘Cull-eela’—from Kyleof Islay) is an oily heavyweight of a peatypotency just below Laphroaig, Ardbeg orLagavulin but no malt has as persist-ent a finish as Caol Ila—it lasts weeks!Smoky, fishy, rubbery notes make it soappealing (believe it or not).Eighteen years in a plain oak cask hasintroduced a new wood character thatfor other drams often doesn’t work butit does here. It is more complex and bet-ter as a whisky—but not as a typicalCaol Ila; it’s softer. Tight and round.Apples & pears, floral, Parma violets,oak (lots), card, must, grass and a weereek of old fish. If you don’t object to amedicinal dram and haven’t tried it,Caol Ila is an essential. Price is £35.20.Check the shop or lfw.co.uk for occa-sional deals throughout the year.

THE INVERARITY RANGE

adopted as our house maltsThe Inverarity range is bottled byInverarity Vaults and all three havebeen adopted as our ‘house malts’ be-cause of their quality and great value.The three malts, two single and onevatted, complement each other and dem-onstrate the range of styles in maltScotch Whiskies.

INVERARITY 10yoThe 10yo has been our house malt since1995. It is an all-day everyday dramwhich both novice and experiencedwhisky fans enjoy because of its easydrinking Dalwhinnie/Glenmorangiestyle; a real example of quality andvalue. The 10yo is a bourbon cask ma-tured Aultmore, try serving it alongsidea fruit desert—trifle or fruit salad—in-stead of wine!Inverarity 10yo, price £ 19.90.

INVERARITY ANCESTRAL 14yoFor Ancestral—the digestif in therange—Inverarity’s Hamish Martin hasselected a 14yo sherry cask maturedBalmenach. The whisky is ruby-red, ex-tremely smooth with a great strengthand complexity and very slightly sherry-cloying in the mouth; a wonderful afterdinner dram. Add a little while prepar-ing a bramble crumble—honest!The 14yo Ancestral is £ 27.90.

INVERARITY ISLAY 10yoThe Inverarity range is completed byInverarity Islay, a ten year old all-Islayvatted malt made up of four components.A very emphatic phenolic and medicinalcharacter—peat and iodine—classic Is-lay; a good oiliness, powerful flavours yetalso a breeze of fresh air. This is an ex-cellent variation on Islay malts whichprovokes much debate among Islay fansas to where the four components comefrom—and we’re not telling!Inverarity Islay 10 years old, £23.90.


“The wonderful thing aboutwhisky, apart of course, fromdrinking it, is that it containsmore bluffing elements than al-most any other subject—farmore than supply-side econom-ics, more even than wine. Wine

breeds envy, discord and snobbery,whisky promotes fellowship, amiabilityand quiet, unassuming superiority. Sup-ply-side economics produced DonaldTrump.”

David MilsteadBluffer’s Guide to Whisky

NEW CUSTOMER PAGEThe busy summer season in our shopgives us the chance to welcome new cus-tomers to our growing band of happywhisky fans. The following pages are forthose who are developing an interest inthe marvels of Scotch Whisky.We feature some explanation of thebottlings from our Stock List—OB, A, C,G&M, MM, S etc., but we’ll start withby far the most often asked question:I can’t remember the name but itcame in a dumpy green bottle, canyou help?Bunnahabhain! (Boo-na-ha-venn).What is whisky?Literally the alcohol spirit produced bydistilling fermented cereals. Whisky isproduced in many countries, historicallythose with climates more suited to grow-ing cereals rather than grape-into-wineproduction.Scotch Whisky is the world’s most popu-lar spirit and by law must be (amongstother things) made and matured in anoak barrel for not less than three yearsin Scotland, otherwise it cannot be

fying subtlety and complexity.Grain whisky is an accountant’s kindof product; industrially produced in anefficient, continuous process from a va-riety of cereals sourced from around theworld—but always including a measureof malted barley (for bio-chemical rea-sons). This spirit is not fully distilled; adegree of impurity is required to addcharacter—by law.Occasionally you may come across a bot-tle of single grain whisky (which willtaste light and slightly oily) but its useis mainly as a carrier for malts in blends.The fourth category of whisky is avatted malt which is a blend of severalmalts but no grain. Malt bottles lackingthe word ‘single’ may well be vatted;other clues are ‘Pure Malt’ or ‘100%malt’. Some are very good, for exampleFamous Grouse Vintage Malt, our Bot-tling of the Year for 2001.A single malt is a happy accident of sci-ence, nature and circumstance. Blendedand vatted whiskies are one man’s opin-ion of what he thinks you think a goodwhisky should taste like. Many mem-bers of the industry claim to appreciateblended Scotch the most.Why don’t you stock a certain brandI had once?Whisky brands tend to fade away fasterthan get created as the industry changesfrom hundreds of brand owners to justa few. As big companies expand by theacquisition of small, they find that theyhave two brands on the same shop shelfat the same price so one has to go. Somebrands are only available overseas be-cause they are better established therethan in the UK.How many Scotch Whiskies arethere?2,234. Actually nobody knows! It couldbe five times that and there is no way ofcounting them. Consider the number ofsmall brands (like our own Loch Fyne),supermarket brands, specific market(duty-free) brands which come and goand the task is impossible and pointless.Loch Fyne Whiskies has a most compre-hensive range of UK available maltswith examples from about 120 distiller-ies. There are currently about 80 openand working; others are eithermothballed, closed or demolished. Therehave been about 750 distilleries licensedsince Ferintosh in 1689.How am I supposed to drink mymalt whisky?How you like! Although it does seem ashame to mix a £25 malt with a sweet,fizzy mixer. Addition of water (anythingfrom a drop to 50:50, depends on thebottling) often reveals more character.The main compounds responsible for fla-vour (congeners) in whisky are very solu-ble in alcohol but less so in water. Atbottling strength 40% or above, thesecongeners remain locked in the solution(hence the minimum 40%alc. bottlinglaw, agreed by wise men to preserve

called Scotch. It must also be bottled at40% alcohol or more in order to retainflavour—see the note about how to drink.How is whisky made?Easy—mix some processed grain withwater, add yeast and let it ferment inthe same way that beer is produced. Boilup your beer and collect the steam whichwill be mostly alcohol. Voilà, whisky!Throw this away as it is probably poi-sonous, you will go blind, your hair willfall out—and it’s illegal.Scotch whisky must contain barley andMalt Whisky must be made exclusivelyfrom water, malted barley, yeast andnothing else. Maturation (which is thebiggest contributor to flavour) must bein oak, traditionally former sherry orbourbon casks.What is the difference between asingle malt and a double malt?A single malt is the product of one maltwhisky distillery and that one distilleryonly; it is produced by a complex andcumbersome batch process that makesaccountants really squirm. There is nosuch thing as a double malt unless youare with your rich father-in-law at thebar (technically termed ‘a large one’).Single malts attract great acclaim; theyare no longer Scotland’s biggest secret.Their intensity and complexity offlavours, previously thought to be ahandicap to wider sales, are now beingsought throughout the world.Single Malt whisky is one of four typesof Scotch. The most common is blendedwhisky, a mix of many different maltand grain whiskies prepared by ablender using his sense of smell andyears of experience. 95% of all bottledwhisky sold is blended whisky and it isappreciated the world over for its satis-

OFFICIAL, OWNERS OR ORIGINAL BOTTLINGS (OB)When bottled by the owner of the distillery, we call such bottlings official, owners ororiginal bottlings (OB). These are examples of the best in quality, packaging anddesign. Here is a range of OB Bruichladdichs from the last twenty years includinglimited editions, ceramic bottles, wooden boxes and, at the front the most recent withshiny metal tins (inspired by LFW as it happens...)


A C(old) C DL G&M CC Cask MM S (43%) S (46%) S (cask)

INDEPENDENT BOTTLERSoccasionally as high as 67% alcohol. Atover 150 years, Cadenhead is the oldestindependent bottler in Scotland.

MURRAY McDAVID (MM)The most recently incorporated on ourlist, Murray McDavid is gaining greatrespect for a small range of excellent andunusual whiskies bottled at 46% and notchill-filtered. In our view this is the per-fect bottling strength, just strong enoughto tingle the tongue!

DOUGLAS LAING & Co. (MP, OMC)A long established firm of blenderswhich has moved recently into singlemalts with two jazzily presented expres-sions: McGibbon’s Provenance is bottledat 43%, Old Malt Cask at 50% (or less ifthe cask is not up to that strength). Asblenders they have access to some rareand unusual stocks.

GORDON & MACPHAIL (CC, Cask, G&M)The leading and most respected inde-pendent bottler with a huge range of

(Where’s Cadenhead’s/Connois-seurs Choice/Gordon & MacPhail’sDistillery?)Loch Fyne Whiskies favours a few in-dependent bottlers who buy the maltwhisky from a distillery by the caskand bottle outwith the supervision ofthe distillery owner. With all independ-ent bottlings look for the distilleryname which will be in smaller print.

ADELPHI (A)A relative newcomer to the sector, TheAdelphi Distillery Company has no dis-tillery but is very fussy about the qual-ity of the malt they bottle at caskstrength and so their releases are onlyoccasional. Their minimalist labellingallows the whisky to sell itself.

CADENHEAD (C)Campbeltown in Argyll is home toCadenhead, who buy and also maturecasks of whisky and bottle each caskindividually at natural cask strength,

malts and blends, G&M bottle a bewil-dering range of single, vatted andblended whiskies from their Elginhome. G&M are unique amongst inde-pendent bottlers in that they mature alltheir whiskies from new and have doneso for over 100 years. G&M still holdstocks of long gone distilleries—historyto take advantage of! In 1998 G&M be-came distillers with the revival ofBenromach Distillery. Shown above areexamples of their G&M, Cask and Con-noisseurs Choice ranges.

SIGNATORY (S)For ten years Signatory of Edinburghhave bottled malts at 43% and at caskstrength and now also at 46% withoutchill-filtration. They have producedsome outstanding and very rare whis-kies and are consistently good value.Signatory has twice been voted ‘Bottlerof the Year’ in Whisky Magazine’sWhisky Academy awards.

quality). When water is added, the con-geners become less soluble and are re-leased as vapours into the atmosphere.So experiment with each new bottling.Bear in mind you have four senses oftaste and these are on your tongue, notin the back of your throat. Plus you havesome 30 or more senses of smell—so usethe schnoz. Ice in malts is a no-no; youput ice on bruises and in blended Scotchin hot climates.Part of the fun of malt whisky is the test-ing and breaking of these rules! Try ice!or mixing two different malts together.How do I know which malts I willlike?Most single malts will have the regionof origin on the label (either Lowland,Highland, Speyside or Islay) and thesegive a clue to the character of the con-tents—but there are many exceptions tothe rule. The Lowlands are the mostgentle; mild, almost wine-like. TheHighlands can be further divided; thosefrom the south are akin to the Lowlands,those from the north are fuller flavoured.Speyside is a category of its own withinthe Highlands. These whiskies are com-plex and half of Scotland’s distilleries arefound here. The most fully flavouredwhisky is produced on the island of Is-lay (pronounced eye-la). Islay whiskiesare unguided missiles in the wronghands—you will either love them or

wonder what the attraction is in smell-ing hospitals.How come they taste so different?Malted (germinated) barley has to bedried before milling and fermentationand traditionally this has been done overan open fire. In Scotland a variety of fu-els is found locally including peat (de-composing heather) and coal. Theamount of peat that is used to dry thebarley has a big influence (on Islay it isthe only source of fuel). Other influencesare the style of apparatus employed inthe production, particularly the still andhow that still is operated by the stillman.The final major influence is the type ofcask or barrel employed to mature thespirit; it could be one of many catego-ries from a brand new barrel to a well-used second-hand ex-sherry or bourboncask. A recent development in malt whis-kies is the production of ‘finishes’ wherethe whisky has had some of its matura-tion in a cask that has previously held awine or port for example. This creates ahuge potential for further variety.What are ‘Cask Strength’ Whiskies?Whisky matures in the barrel at about65%. Typically, prior to bottling it is di-luted to 40-43% so as to incur the leastalcohol duty (originally a wartime meas-ure). Cask strength whiskies are atnatural, barrel strength which providesmore impact and concentration of

flavour. These whiskies should be dilutedin the glass after exploratory sips other-wise anaesthesia will numb the pleas-ure. Because of the variety of casks em-ployed in the industry, each single-caskbottling will have the character of thebarrel variety as well as that of the dis-tillery so there is great variation.What’s this about ‘chill-filtering’?Untreated, whisky at 40% alcohol willcloud at low temperatures. In the mid-1960s, the Scotch Whisky industry in-troduced a policy of chill-filtering theirwhiskies to improve clarity and bright-ness. This prevented quality rejection in(cold) warehouses and clouding when iceis added in the glass. The process is doneby reducing the temperature to as lowas minus 8-10°C (typically in malts atplus 2-5°C) then filtering to remove theoils that emulsify at such low tempera-tures and so eliminating clouding.The process also removes many of theelements of flavour (congeners) from thewhisky and now, after the lead set by PipHills and the Scotch Malt Whisky Soci-ety, many independent bottlings andsome official bottlings (e.g. the newBruichladdichs or Ardbeg 10yo) are in-creasingly not chill-filtered, a trend thatwe applaud. Such bottlings should be atover 46%alc as this helps keep the con-geners in solution and clear.For reasons of ‘purity’ there is currently


a move away from the use of spirit-caramel colouring in single malts. Thisis employed to standardise colour in thebottle, (some whiskies can be quite pale,)but in most cases caramel has little ef-fect on flavour.Why are some whiskies so expensive?The first thing to check is the age of thewhisky. If it is say 21 years old (the timespent in the cask—once bottled it doesnot ‘age’) it will be dearer because of theadditional storage required. Also whiskyevaporates in the barrel by about 2%each year so after 21 years only twothirds remain. The other thing to lookout for is the degree of alcohol strengthas duty is applied according to percent-age alcohol. Most whiskies are bottledat 40% alcohol by volume (abv), some at43% or 46%—15% stronger and sodearer than the 40%. We stock manywhiskies with strengths of up to 65% sothese are the equivalent of over a bottleand a half! Finally there is a collector’smarket for whisky—that explains themore extreme prices!Does a whisky improve with age af-ter bottling?No. Unlike wine, spirits are fixed oncein the bottle and there is no benefit inkeeping it. You should open and enjoy itas soon as possible!How long can I keep the whisky inthe bottle?Unopened, a bottle should stay as goodas when bottled assuming the seal is ingood condition. Keep the bottle awayfrom direct sunlight, heat or variationsin condition. Once opened, oxidationwill act on the whisky with a noticeableeffect in between one and three years.The balance of characters may change,not always for the worse, but eventu-ally a whisky may become ‘flat’—an-other good reason for enjoying yourdram without delay. Saving the lastinch of a very special malt is usuallydisappointing when finally poured, soenjoy it now!Books are useful sources of informa-tion and we recommend in particular:Most informed—Charles MacLean’sMalt Whisky £ 25.00 or Scotch WhiskyPocket Guide £ 8.99.The Taster’s bible—Michael Jackson’sMalt Whisky Companion £ 12.99.Whisky Magazine is published seventtimes a year. Other book recommenda-tions are shown in bold in our Stock List.To keep you up to date visit our website:lfw.co.uk.

“The proper drinking of Scotch Whiskyis more than indulgence: it is a toast tocivilisation, a tribute to the continuity ofculture, a manifesto of man’s determina-tion to use the resources of natureto refresh mind and body and toenjoy to the full the senses withwhich he has been endowed.”

David DaichesScotch Whisky, Its Past and Present

Who or what is LFW?Loch Fyne Whiskies is a small privatelyowned shop in Inveraray, a popular visi-tor stop in the West Highlands of Scot-land. The business is owned and man-aged by Richard & Lyndsay Joynson andis not part of a chain, has no sharehold-ers to satisfy and does not have anybranches (we hear mutterings of ‘onecentre of excellence’).Working with us are Andy Burns, PeteCurrie and Laura Simpson plus our newgreeter Hamish-of-the-Isles (but it’sokay he doesn’t drink) pictured above.Hamish is ‘voluntary’ rather than em-ployed; his job is distributing drams ofthe Loch Fyne.Our shop stocks all the whiskies in ourStock List, at the published price, as wellas a range of other whisky relateditems—glassware, hip flasks, whisky fla-voured confectionery and preserves andthe most comprehensive whisky bookshelf possible.There is also a gallery of collectors’ andrare bottles on display plus a selectionof whiskies from around the world do-nated by customers featuring such un-likely products as Maltese, Polish andSouth African whiskies!Visitors to our shop enjoy the atmos-phere and our service and most get todo some sampling from our extensivetasting stock before they buy. Our (muchimitated) web-site lfw.co.uk is acclaimedand thought to be ground-breaking byvirtue of its simplicity!We pride ourselves on our attention toour customer requirements, principallysound knowledge of our products, a fairprice for our goods and a top class andspeedy mail order service which nowmakes up half of our business.In 2000 Richard was inducted (induced?)as a Keeper of the Quaich, a unique or-ganisation which recognises those whohave contributed to the good standingof the Scotch Whisky Industry.In 2002, at the inaugural Whisky Acad-emy awards organised by Whisky Maga-zine, a panel of members of the whiskyindustry voted us ‘Retailer of the Year’.We are proud of our business and therespect we have earned, this newsletter,our blend ‘The Loch Fyne’ and unique‘Living Cask’. Be assured that when youdeal with Loch Fyne Whiskies you aredealing with the best!Our customers are worldwide, very loyaland very much appreciated.

COLLECTING WHISKIESSome points to consider

The satisfaction of collecting whiskiesholds considerably more pleasure thanall of today’s ‘manufactured’ collectables—plates, thimbles or die-cast models—as here we have a legitimate and schol-arly subject with no less than five hun-dred years of provenance.But wait!If you want to buy whisky as an invest-ment—walk away now, buy lottery tick-ets. Every collector has gems worth sev-eral times their cost but it is possiblethe whole collection will not have appre-ciated at all. Assemble your collection foryour pleasure and not for your future.So what do you want to collect? It’s aquestion worth considering early on, oth-erwise you will create a diverse, con-fused collection which has near bank-rupted you in its creation.The sooner you can focus, the morepleasurable your collection will be. Spe-cialise, create a set of rules and try tostick to it. Generally the thoughts are:malt or blend? (usually malt); only offi-cial bottlings or any? (usually OB firstchoice, then independent if necessary);what top price? (are you prepared to bevictim to a lavishly presented rarity, fiftytimes more expensive than the norm?)Simple specialisations may be a specificregion, fancy shaped bottles or rangessuch as the Rare Malts series.One popular choice is to seek a repre-sentative of every possible distillery, firstchoice being the official bottling but itwill be necessary to default to independ-ent bottlings in some cases. Some maythen go on to collect cask strengthbottlings only, trading in their first spe-cialisation to finance the next project.Others home in on one region or evenone distillery; Ardbeg, Bowmore &Springbank are favoured for a steadytrickle of interesting releases. Macallanhave recently released too many, exces-sively expensive bottlings. Greed has de-stroyed their market for new bottlings(old Macallan bottles are doing well).Astute buying of ‘ordinary’ bottlings cando well; as they get repackaged or dis-continued they become desirable withtime. For premium priced ‘collectables’the ratio of number of bottles releasedto price is an important factor. Considerthe total number produced. A release ofup to 600 uniquely presented bottles isscarce; 2,000 bottles and a sensible priceis worthwhile. Bowmore’s 40yo releaseof 300 bottles at £4,000 is wrong (therearen’t that many mugs in the world),however their ‘Black Bowmore’ series ofthree would have set you back £ 300 andnow realises £ 4,000!Whatever your choice, you are guaran-teed much pleasure in something thatwill add decoration and interest to yourhome, and done sensibly you shouldn’tlose money to boot!


We’re delighted with our unique blendcreated for us by Professor Ronnie Mar-tin, O.B.E., former Production Directorof industry leader United Distillers.Slightly sweet and slightly smoky, TheLoch Fyne (£ 15.30) appeals to maltwhisky fans as an easy-drinking, wellflavoured blended whisky; something todrink and enjoy rather than concentrateon. We have given The Loch Fyne to thethree top professional tasting writersand while all enjoy it, their tasting notesare completely different—proof that itis something for everyone!Michael Jackson’s note is characteristi-cally analytical;

Colour: rich, sunny, gold.Aroma: fruity (honeydew melon?)

Body: medium, slightly syrupy.Flavours: light heather-honey,

grassy, fragrant, smokiness develops,especially in the finish.

With typical eloquence, CharlieMacLean’s tasting note wins by a nose:“The deep amber colour of this whisky,(darker than many blends) implies age andthis is supported by the (undilute) nose,which is rich and vinous, with no trace ofgrain. All the indications of mature fillings.There is an interesting aroma of appledumpling (suet crust), and this remainswhen water is added, enlivened by lightercitric notes (oranges and tangerines), andby some oil-related aromas (walnuts, lin-seed oil). Phenolic notes are slight, andexpress themselves more as ‘roast meat’than peat smoke. Medicinal phenols arepresent in a very slight trace of oilskins.Overall the nose is subtle and relativelyclosed. Not much water is needed forthis whisky.The mouth-feel is smooth and well bal-anced, engaging the whole palate withacidic, salty, sweet and dry flavours, andcoming down ultimately on the side ofsweetness. The overall impression isfresh and smooth—mellow without be-ing flat. The finish is quick and clean, andsurprisingly warming. It is extremely easyto drink.Conclusion: A true premium blend whichhas clearly used well matured fillings.There is no harshness in it, no cereal notesor feints, no artificial caramel notes. Awhisky which is appropriate for any timeof the day.Perilously smooth, mellow and easy todrink.”

THE MALT DRINKERS BLEND™THE DISTILLERY

Our label depicts the Glendarroch Dis-tillery sited on the Crinan Canal whichlinks Loch Fyne with the Sound of Jura.Also known as Glenfyne, the distillerywas built in 1831. A succession of own-ers held the distillery until 1919 whenit came under the ownership of theGlenfyne Distillery Co.The cameo by Gail Gordon depicts thedistillery at the time of Alfred Barnard’svisit in 1885. Barnard’s detailed descrip-tion of the buildings enabled us to rec-reate the floor plan and Gail was able tocomplete her task from this combinedwith etchings in his book.Barnard was clearly taken by the set-ting, the distillery and hospitality af-forded him. His book devotes six pagesto his visit, much taken up with detailsof the buildings e.g. “a new kiln, one ofthe finest we have seen in Scotland, it is51 feet square” but also with the loca-tion: “It is built at the foot of the Rob-ber’s Glen which runs upwards from thebanks of the canal into the heart of thehills in the background; this glen wasonce the haunt of smugglers, and nomore romantic spot could have been cho-sen for the distillery.”Glendarroch was complete and well laidout. Barley was unloaded from the ca-nal direct to the malt barns then movedthrough the process clockwise around acourtyard to the kiln, tun room, stillhouse and warehouses. Whisky wasthen shipped to market via the canal.Eight houses were available for theworkers and two for the excisemen.There was also Glengilp House andGlendarroch House for the manager andthe owner respectively. At the end of hisday’s visit Barnard’s party “donned our‘war paint’ and proceeded to GlendarrochHouse to enjoy the hospitality of theowner.”The distillery closed in 1937, unusuallyas there was a distilling boom at thattime, although the warehouses contin-ued to be used for storing whisky untilthe mid seventies. A brief life as a join-ery followed until the eighties when asalmon hatchery made use of the build-ings and water which was also the drink-ing water supply for Lochgilphead.In 1990 the Regional Council acquiredthe water rights and every last trace ofthe distillery has since been removed.

Additional InformationBrian Townsend, SCOTCH MISSED.

IWSC BRONZE 1996Soon after its launch The Loch Fyne wonthe bronze award in the blended whiskyclass at the influential InternationalWine & Spirit Competition. The GoldMedal went to the world’s top sellingScotch, Johnnie Walker Red Label.More praise comes from Carol Shaw’sCollins Gem Whisky which describesThe Loch Fyne as “A malt drinker’sblend, full flavoured, with a raisiny,sweet spiced nose, mellow smoothness oftaste and a warming finish. A very easyto drink whisky.”Jim Murray lists it in his unique book‘Classic Blended Scotch’ concluding“Highly drinkable”. Whisky Magazinerated it as “a wee cracker” and in a blindtasting of ‘deluxe’ blends in Wine Maga-zine The Loch Fyne (“growly, rich andbalanced”) embarrassed several moreexpensive and older well-known brandsby coming 9th in a field of 21—the high-est scoring unaged blend, beatingChivas Regal 12yo, Ballantine’s 12yoand W&M 30yo among others!All this praise is supported by the rateof sale in the shop after a wee taste!


THE RIGHT TOOLSGLASSWARE

A traditional whisky tumbler is fine,even a pleasure, for a blended whiskybut for malt whisky appreciation thereis a better glass for the job.Malt whisky is best enjoyed with a glassthat will hold aromas, such as our portglass, the new blender’s glass or a clas-sic nosing glass with its generous bellyto accumulate aromas, a narrow rim tofocus those delights for considerationand a lid to keep them for you ratherthan the fairies. Engraved graduationsallow accurate dilution.For more relaxed malt drinking we rec-ommend our port glass. Its wider rimand better balance aid contemplativeenjoyment.We also enjoy using our simple water ca-rafe, far less fuss than a lipped jug.

Blender’s Glass (second left) £ 4.50Classic Nosing Glass (middle) £7.90Port Glass £3.50Water Carafe £3.50When evaluating a dram it is helpful tohave more than one kind in order to pre-vent familiarity setting in. Sampling inincreasing intensity and then going backagain will reveal more than concentrat-ing on one alone. Many LFW customersenjoy ‘one-to-five’ parties where whiskiesare selected according to our taste scoreof 1 to 5 from our stock list for a con-vivial evening of descriptor bandying.

LFW Tasting Mat & Cellar BookThe LFW melamine tasting mat is awhite, wipe clean mat for five glassesand an aide memoire of descriptors toassist discussion and note taking.Finally, to record those inspired sensorydiscoveries, Neil Wilson’s Malt WhiskyCellar Book is a handsome tome to treas-ure those thoughts and memories of yourmost special tasting sessions.LFW Tasting Mat £4.90Malt Whisky Cellar Book £15.00Special! Five classic nosing glasses, a ca-rafe, tasting mat and cellar book £55.00We have other hardware accesories forenjoying your dram, consult lfw.co.uk formore information.

The LIVING CASK™A unique recreation of the storing and

serving of malt whiskyNot a single malt, but a living vattingof suitable malts, The Living Casktakes its inspiration from Notes on aCellar Book by renowned connoisseurProfessor George Saintsbury, pub-lished 1920, in which he writes:“...The more excellent way—formerlypractised by all persons of some senseand some means north of the Tweed—is to establish a cask,... fill it up withgood and drinkable whisky,... stand itup on end, tap it half way down or evena little higher, and, when you get to ornear the tap, fill it up again with whiskyfit to drink, but not too old. You thus es-tablish what is called in the case ofsherry a ‘solera’, in which the constantlychanging character of the old constitu-ents doctors the new accessions, andin which these in turn freshen andstrengthen the old.”And that is what we do. When halfdrawn down a new malt is introducedand the character changes. Each topup is described as a Volume and thisis marked on the ‘spine’ of our book-style label which has Saintsbury’s in-structions on the back. Each ‘Volume’is bottled as a 20cl sample, dated atthe time of drawing from the caskwith the prevailing strength noted. Asthis is the natural strength it is in theregion of 57% alc.Living Cask subscriber Jack Manguswrites, “The folks at Loch Fyne Whis-kies have cleverly produced a continu-ally marketable and intriguing vattedwhisky. I can’t wait for the next vol-ume! Thanks to Professor GeorgeSaintsbury for his inspiration andLFW for The Living Cask!”

Living cask™

ONLY FROM LOCH FYNE WHISKIES

the

A unique recreation of the storage and serving of malt whisky

The LIVING CASK

VOLUME XVAt the time of writing volume XV is al-most depleted but was created by the ad-dition of 24 year old Ardmore.Bill Bergius is right on page 2; Ardmorehas a remarkable contribution to a mixof whiskies. Although not peaty in itselfit creates an intruging peat element tothe dram which in this case has also anorange sweetness and a mouth-feel likea floppy duvet!LIVING CASK— 20cl 56% £14.90

SUBSCRIPTIONSFor the Living Cask enthusiast there isa subscription service where we will au-tomatically send you each new volume,once it has settled in. New subscriberswilling to buy the next five volumes areoffered a FREE copy of The Malt WhiskyCellar Book (£15) that provides space foryou to record your impressions of eachvolume—and more! Ask or checklfw.co.uk for details.We have other items featuring Tipsy, ourLiving Cask Boy: pewter key-rings &bottle stoppers (£4.90 each).Be hip! Show them you’rea whisky lover!


A DYNAMIC DECADEGAVIN D SMITH

Considering that the recorded history ofScotch goes back to 1494, surely very lit-tle can have happened in the decadesince Loch Fyne Whiskies opened itsdoors, and the first four-page ScotchWhisky Review appeared the followingspring. Not so.112 distilleries were represented on theAutumn 1993 Stock List, while today’slist features malts from 119. Additionsinclude the likes of newcomers Arranand Speyside, along with independentbottlings of Allt a Bhainne and Braes ofGlenlivet, plus ‘collectables’ such asLadyburn.The only permanent casualtyhas been Kinclaith—but there have beengreater losses among some of the morebizarre whiskies on offer.In the mid-1990s United Distillers wasat the forefront of experimentation asthe industry faced up to the growingtaste for ‘novelty’ drinks. However, thelives of the new products were short, andin 1998 Bell’s Red Devil, along with ‘pre-mixes’ with Coke or Irn Bru, were aban-doned. Red Devil—made with chilli pep-pers—was championed by the radicalproprietors of LFW, but even such heavy-weight support failed to prevent its de-letion. According to UD’s Dr NickMorgan, “That was the one that the guysat the distilleries absolutely loved”.Loch Dhu lingered for a while before be-ing put out of its misery. Mystery sur-rounds the process that turned anunspectacular but drinkable Speysidewhisky—Mannochmore—into a nearblack, caramel and liquorice-flavouredconfection. Dr. Morgan is quick to pointout that while he was not involved indeveloping it, he did kill it off. “A mis-guided novelty”.There has been a trend for rationalisa-tion and consolidation among the majorplayers. They have closed a number ofdistilleries or sold them on. Many buy-ers have been independent bottlers,which says something about the increas-ing vigour of the market for more exclu-sive single malts.Benromach was the first to be revivedby an independent—Gordon & MacPhailacquired in it 1993 and five years laterthe distillery was officially re-opened byHRH Prince Charles.Morrison Bowmore became wholly-ownedby the Japanese giant Suntory in 1995,and not long afterwards the permanentclosure of Glen Garioch distillery wasannounced—and then reprieved in 1997.MBD has prospered with the financialclout to market Bowmore extensively.Pulteney in Wick was sold by Allied tothe dynamic Inver House in 1995, andsales have since soared. Inver Housethen acquired Balblair from Allied, andin 1997 Balmenach from United Distill-ers. Having revitalised these distilleries,Inver House lost its own independence

in 2002 when the company was boughtfor £56 million by the Thai-owned GreatOriole Group. In July 1996 Macallanwas taken over by Highland Distillersand in 1997, Glenmorangie acquired Is-lay’s neglected Ardbeg from Allied.The £27 billion merger of Guinness (UD)and Grand Metropolitan in 1997 broughtabout the creation of Diageo, the larg-est drinks company in the world.Bacardi then bought Dewar’s and fourdistilleries from Diageo in 1998, and in1999 the Edrington Group privatisedHighland Distillers with Macallan,Highland Park and Famous Grouse. A30% shareholder in the venture wasGlenfiddich’s William Grant & Sons.Bladnoch was reopened to distil on amodest scale in 1999, having been soldby UD to businessman RaymondArmstrong. Following Glenmorangie’slead in reviving a highly-regarded Is-lay distillery, independent bottlersMurray McDavid acquired Bruich-laddich in 2001.At the end of 2000, Seagram sold itsdrinks interests and Pernod Ricard tookcontrol of its Chivas Group, instantly be-coming a leading Scotch whisky playerwith 12 distilleries.Subsequently, their tiny Edradour wassold to the bottler Signatory, and to no-body’s great surprise, in October 2002Allt a Bhainne, Braeval, Benriach, andCaperdonich were closed, allegedly onlyon a temporary basis.In 2001, Scotland’s biggest ever manage-ment buy-out took place, when FortuneBrands sold its JBB European subsidi-ary. The new company followed the per-plexing trend of organisations whichditched perfectly sensible names and ac-quired meaningless new ones; ‘Kyndal’.The assets included Whyte & MacKayand Invergordon Distillers’ Dalmore,Jura and Fettercairn distilleries,mothballed Tamnavulin and Tulli-bardine, and also the Invergordon graindistillery.In 2002 Glendronach distillery was re-opened by Allied after six years in moth-balls, though during the same year, Al-lied closed its Dumbarton distillery, in-vesting instead in its Strathclyde grainfacility.Allied has been taking a close look at its‘malt strategy’ of late, and despite LFWhaving noted on a number of occasionsthat they have simply given up in de-spair regarding Allied, who knows whatthe future may hold?Already in 2003 SWR reports more ac-tivity on the distillery-dealing front.A recent development has been the in-dustry’s equivalent of ‘hot desking’. Ateam from Highland Park in Orkney hasbeen along the road to Scapa to distilfor Allied. Similarly, a Springbank teamhas distilled at Glen Scotia.In 1995 Arran came on stream, the thirdnew distillery of the decade afterKininvie and Speyside, and there are

more proposed new distilleries in thepipeline than at any time since the1960s, though which of them will cometo fruition is anyone’s guess.So much for companies and distilleries,but what of the whiskies they produce?A significant trend has been the growthof wood-finishing and Glenmorangie hasbeen among the pioneers of this art, ‘fin-ishing’ in casks that previously containedsherry, port, Madeira, claret et al. In-deed, cask finishing became somethingof an obsession in the industry but somenow consider that we consumers are be-coming weary of the more exotic finishes.The role of whisky as a ‘collectable’ and/or as an investment has been a signifi-cant feature of the past decade. The pub-lication of Christie’s and McTear’s cata-logues, and publicity associated withthese whisky auctions, has given collec-tors a valuable source of information andinspiration; in December of last year, a62 year old bottle of Dalmore sold for arecord of £25,877.50.In 1996 Macallan released a successfulreplica of a 1874 bottling, just one ofmany exclusive releases to show signifi-cant appreciation. ‘Black Bowmore’ isanother good example; in 1993 LFW re-tailed bottles for £95, but four years laterthey were fetching £1,000. Be warned,however, the value of investments cango down as well as up. SWR18 pointedout a 1958 Highland Park initially of-fered at £990 was retailing for £300 less.The increased interest in single maltshas been reflected in an increased inter-est in all aspects of whisky production,and nowhere is this more apparent thanat distillery visitor centres, now patron-ised by more than one million peopleeach year. Whisky related events havemultiplied, with tutored tastings, re-gional ‘WhiskyFests’, ‘Expos’ or ‘WhiskyLives’ abounding world-wide.LFW’s bookshelves sag under a blend ofglossiness and erudition that has tre-bled, while the launch of Malt Advocatein the USA and of Whisky Magazine hasgiven a platform for exploration of thesubject, even if both publications havefollowed where SWR fearlessly led!Whisky information has also burgeonedwith the growth of the internet phenom-enon; lfw.co.uk was one of the earliestwhisky web-sites. Now entering ‘Scotchwhisky’ into the Google search enginebrings no fewer than 118,000 results!And there is a lot of material out there,ranging from the fascinating to the te-dious and frankly weird. There are evenlive web-cams showing whisky beingmade, or more usually showing nothingmuch at all happening.Here’s hoping that the next ten yearswill see as much dynamism in the Scotchwhisky industry as the last ten have,even if nothing much can possibly hap-pen in one paltry decade…Gavin’s full detailed appraisal of the last ten

years can be read at lfw.co.uk/swr


Tel. 01499 302219 e-mail [email protected] FYNE WHISKIES© COPYRIGHT RESERVED 2003

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A USER’S MANUAL

Lfw.co.uk is designed to be simple andquick but here is a guide to give userstips and short cuts.Headings here reflect the left hand navi-gation frame. Tip: if you lose the frame clickon the logo in the top right hand corner.

NewsNews is the busiest part of the site; al-though only one page long (broken upfor speed) it reflects changes in stock asthey happen, updated within hours ofarrival. Many customers check this ona daily basis; it takes seconds to learnof any changes. From here you can checkprevailing Deals and now (at last) anynew miniatures as well.The rest of lfw.co.uk can be consideredto be in two parts: Browse & Buy andthe rest.

Browse & BuyThis is the major part of lfw.co.uk, wherethe biggest investment in time has takenplace. Browse & Buy is an illustratedcatalogue of all our whiskies, books andhardware. It is here that you shouldcheck the current availability of an item.The lobby to Browse & Buy has infor-mation regarding delivery prices andterms of sale for all destinations so besure to check these.To continue to the catalogue check thesecure option. Ordering on lfw.co.uk issecure and certificated by a respectedauthority; click the locked padlock onyour browser for assurance. Tip: If youhave trouble after entry because your compu-ter has security fire-walls in place (should yoube doing this from work?) then the unsecureoption will give hassle-free access, but youshould be cautious about revealing your carddetails if your padlock is ‘open’. You can stillorder without revealing payment instructions.At check-out there is the option to printout a completed order form and fax orpost it to us with card details addedmanually. Some of our repeat custom-ers request that we use card details wehave on file Tip: enter “Use card details on

file” in Special Requests (below your addressdetails) as you start to check out, then choose‘Send Separately’ for card details. You can ofcourse ’phone or fax us as normal.Browse & Buy lists prevailing prices andavailability with our unique commentsthat many find enjoyable to browse with-out buying. Go take a look—no obliga-tion to buy or even show yourself!

Tip: Options along the top include Review Or-der; here you can adjust quantity or cancelitems before checking out.Check-out tip: Once you have entered your carddetails, clicking Next> concludes the transac-tion; there will be no going back. You will thenget an e-mail automatically (unless you havegiven the wrong e-address!).Our practice is to retrieve orders at10am and 3pm and to despatch that day,(but no guarantees); changes should be’phoned, faxed or e-mailed immediately.

SearchIf you know what you want then theSearch function is very useful and veryhighly recommended, the descriptionsfor each whisky have been created withthis facility in mind. A product ordescriptor can be entered with an optionof price range.Keywords employed throughout Browse& Buy include, for example:

‘peaty’ or ‘sherry’ / ‘sherried’ etc.‘ace’—regarding individual bottlings (∆).‘high regard’—regarding distilleries.‘limited’ or ‘collectable’.‘closed’ or ‘mothballed’.Dates, such as ‘1966’ or ‘34yo’.Specifics, such as ‘46%’ or ‘single cask’.

All our distillery profiles include our

unique taste scores as explained on theback of our Stock List. Tip: These can besearched by entering colon+the score you seek—e.g. to view a list of our taste score 2 sug-gestions then enter :2 (no space).

Our ShopThe Loch FyneThe Living CaskHouse Malts from InverarityThese four sections give informationabout us and our specialist items.

Scotch Whisky ReviewAs well as items from the current andback issues of SWR this section includessome entertaining photo diaries ofwhisky happenings (piss-ups) and topi-cal informative items.

Contact UsPlease check in and join our mailing list.List members are not pestered; check-ing our News section each week willkeep you adequately informed. We onlycirculate the list when there is a newitem in short supply that we think sub-scribers deserve to know about first.I value comments and notification ofproblems so please keep me informed;my e-mail address is [email protected]

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After nearly five years’ service welcoming visitors with a dram, Donald R. Greeterhas handed his tray over to his younger, taller cousin, Hamish-of-the-Isles (it’sokay, he doesn’t drink). His many falls and much rain have taken their toll, includ-ing a failing liver (Donald has stood guard alone in the shop each night).By posing with visitors he has raised in excess of £4,000 which has benefited localchildren’s groups. Donald seeks a new home—check lfw.co.uk to see if you can help.

EDITION 19 SPRING 2003 · PAGE 2 SCOTCH WHISKY REVIEW —␣ LOCH FYNE WHISKIES, INVERARAY, ARGYLL, PA32 8UD We lost track of time when in con-versation with Bill Bergius; here’s

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