The first thing that struck me on the label is that it says the whisky was aged in “Oak casks for 20 years and then finished in sherry casks” for an undisclosed amount of time. Since all whisky is aged in oak casks, the first statement isn’t very helpful. It should be clear, though, that this was not aged for 20 years in ex-sherry. That means it likely spent that time in ex-bourbon casks or possibly reconditioned (scraped and re-toasted) barrels. This is a departure from Macallan’s Sherry Oak line (10, 12, 18, and 25 year-old official bottlings), which are aged exclusively in sherry, not just finished in it. If this IS Macallan, then Alexander Murray & Co. did something very un-Macallan to it. Maybe that’s why Macallan doesn’t want their name on it?

Color: Dark amber. Considering the aging process described, that means it’s almost certainly colored.

Nose: Unmistakable sherry. Some bright red fruits – currant – on top of a deep, nutty layer of well-rounded malt. By God, this smells like Macallan. There is a distinct lack of rancio, leather, or other telling characteristics of long-term sherry maturation, which is consistent with the idea that the malt was in ex-bourbon (or perhaps reconditioned refill sherry casks) for the lion’s share of its age. That makes it pointless to compare to Macallan’s official bottling range, so drinkers of The Macallan 18 will be disappointed to find this isn’t “as good”. However, from the nose alone this seems like an excellent malt in its own right. The bright, fresh red fruits pop, and the mature malt provides a nutty and not overly-sweet backdrop.

Palate: On the tame side. The fruit here is dried, and somewhat dusty, and there are hints of tobacco, white pepper, and sappy oak. It just doesn’t go anywhere.

Finish: Medium-short. Fruit jam up front, fading into walnut meats, fruitcake, and fig paste. A tinge of charcoal and faint oak tannin – not quite bitter. This doesn’t linger like a GlenDronach or an OB Macallan, but it is straightforward, pleasant, and inoffensive.

With Water: A few drops of water don’t seem to me to make much difference. At 40%, this doesn’t need any further dilution.

Overall: My personal theory is that because this is a malt matured in non-sherry for 20 years and then finished in sherry, The Macallan did not want to tarnish their brand image by allowing Kirkland to name the distillery on the bottle and confuse drinkers accustomed to Macallan’s all-sherry, all-the-time house style. If you associate old sherried malts with notes of leather, rancio, resin, and concentrated fruit reductions (like I do), you will be hard-pressed to reconcile the flavors here – excellent though they might be – with the phrases “sherry cask” and “aged 20 years” on the bottle. It might be more helpful to think of this as a 20 year-old ex-bourbon Speysider with a top-dressing of sherry finish, à la Glenmorangie’s Lasanta.

Bottom-line: This is 20 year-old malt whisky with no major flaws for under $50. That’s unheard-of, especially in today’s overheated scotch market. If your wallet is hurting from the price hikes on official bottlings of your favorite scotches, and you don’t mind a slight downgrade in quality in your value malts, then I recommend grabbing a bottle while it’s still available. Then grab another one after you’ve tasted it. If this thing had The Macallan name on it, it’d be at least $100. If it was actually official Macallan, it’d be $200. Tasting blind, it’s worth at least $60.

Note: The “Must Try” rating refers to my recommendation that you buy a bottle if you’re on the fence, since you’re not likely to find a way to taste it before buying. It’s certainly worth the price.

Bourbon, although on the face of it a simple drink made only of corn, grains, water, yeast, oak, and time, and created only in the United States of America, it still has more capacity to confuse than the ancient and (to some) arcane system of nomenclature used in Scotch distribution. Of course the complexity is mainly due to multiple brands being owned by the same companies, and distilleries making whiskey by contract for other brands… and rye, despite the name, containing as much as 49% bourbon. Bourbon is made only in a small handful of distilleries, and yet is sold by a dizzying array of brands, holding companies, independent bottlers, and blenders. Despite having sampled a lot of bourbon now, and being reasonably firm in my grasp of rye-flavored vs. wheat-flavored bourbon, the difference between Tennessee Whisky and Bourbon (hint: the first is made in Tennessee!), and a reasonable expectation of flavor profiles… I still couldn’t tell you what is made where or by whom. Luckily, David at K&L recently (ok, not so recently – so sue me, I’m behind in my posting) cleared up a lot of my confusion by posting this indispensable guide to bourbon brands. While not an exhaustive list, it taught me the following:

Four Roses Distillery makes Four Roses and also distills Bulleit bourbon for Diageo. Buffalo Trace makes Buffalo Trace, Elmer T Lee, Eagle Rare, Weller, Rock Hill Farms, Blanton’s, George T. Stagg, Tom Handy Rye, Pappy Van Winkle bourbon, and Sazerac Rye. Heaven Hill makes Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, and Parker’s Heritage, and Rittenhouse Rye (which has also been made elsewhere in the past). Wild Turkey Distillery makes Wild Turkey and Russell’s Reserve. Maker’s Mark Distillery makes Maker’s Mark. (Say that three times fast). Brown-Forman makes Old Forester and a proportion of Woodford Reserve, the rest of which is made at… Woodford Reserve Distillery. Jim Beam Distilleries (there are two) make Jim Beam, Knob Creek, Booker’s, Baker’s, Old Overholt Rye and Old Grand Dad. LDI (Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana) makes High West Rye, Redemption Rye, Willett Rye, Templeton Rye, and Bulleit Rye.

Noah’s Mill, Rowan’s Creek, Pure Kentucky, Willett bourbon, Johnny Drum, Black Maple Hill, and Michter’s (all products of the Willet Family’s Kentucky Bourbon Distillers – KBD) were all sourced from various distilleries, and it’s anybody’s guess which brand comes from which distillery (or distilleries, some are definitely blends). This is of course also true of the other independent bottlers on the market, who (like Scotch independent bottlers) buy barrels from producers and market their own blends without disclosing their sources.

It’s worth remembering that although many different brands of whiskies are made on the same exact stills, the recipes (which include the mashbills, source of water, yeasts, fermentation procedures, distillation variants, cooling and cutting variants, aging and bottling strength, and more) are very different. The most illustrative example of this (for me), is the Pappy Van Winkle thing – made for many years at the old Stitzel-Weller Distillery until it was dismantled, Pappy bourbon was one-of-a-kind… until Buffalo Trace began distilling it on behalf of the Van Winkle family, using the same wheated recipe used at SW. Now, only your most jaded bourbon drinker would be able to detect the difference. Sure, there was some “secret sauce” going on at SW, but BT managed to replicate it pretty successfully, even with different stills and stillmen. Perhaps that says something about “terrior” in whiskey!

When I purchased a bottle of Macallan 15-year bottled by little-known independent bottler Alchemist, I was somewhat skeptical. I had tasted independent bottlings before, but this would be the first time I would pony up the sum to acquire a full bottle of one. In fact, based solely on the bargain pricing and the rave reviews of the retailer, I also purchased a bottle of Highland Park 16 finished in a Calvados (French apple brandy) cask, by the same bottler.

The Macallan 15 was just OK. Its interesting notes (jerky/teriyaki and a certain oiliness) are readily available (for less money) in GlenDronach 12. This is often the case with independent bottlings – you pay more… sometimes for cask-strength or non-chillfiltered bottles of your favorite distilleries… or perhaps for non-standard ages (extra young like an 8 year-old Ardbeg or extra old like a 35 year-old Macallan). Or, sometimes, you pay less, likely for a slightly inferior cask or somewhat failed cask experiment, or maybe for a surplus cask of a less-popular distillery. Either way, it’s a crap shoot. Are you paying more and getting less for distillery throwaways? Or will you get lucky and pay bargain dollars for something fantastic that will be gone forever once the last drop is consumed? For some (including me), that’s a lot of gamble for upwards of $50 to $80. On this particular day, I got lucky.

As I said, the Macallan 15 was just OK. The Highland Park 16, however, was glorious. Thus far in my whisky-drinking career, this Alchemist Highland Park 16 finished in a Calvados cask remains my favorite whisky of all time. I nearly shed a tear when I finished the final glass, tonight. I honestly raised a salute to the whisky gods that saw fit to bless me with this unbelievable bottle, for as long as it lasted. Sweet and fruity but not cloying, tart and bursting with green apples and earthy, raw oxidized cider. It retained the Highland Park character with spikes of citrusy peat and heather, but totally without the bitterness I associate with the 12 year. Several times, I’ve overheard or participated in conversations at K&L Wine Merchants in Redwood City, CA, where the Alchemist Highland Park 16 came up. Hardened scotch connoisseurs and picky whisky geeks alike nodded sagely, rolled their eyes skyward, and uttered phrases like “yeah… that was a good ‘un.” I mean, what better praise?

Here are my notes, for all the good it will do you. The best I can say is – if you see this bottle anywhere, buy it without a moment’s hesitation. It’s worth whatever they’re asking.

Alchemist Highland Park 16
46% ABV
~$70 at K&L in Redwood City, CA.
16 years old, last 2 in ex-Calvados
June 1992 – September 2008

Nose: Ripe red apples, with a lemony twist. Perfect peat integration – that Orkney style of peat intertwines magically with the tart cider notes, at once fruity and tangy, with wisps of ethereal applewood smoke. The sweet & sour interplay keeps coming, with apple cider vinegar and honey, late harvest wine and sour apple candy.

Palate: Medium bodied, with nice smoothness. Minor tongue burn. While there is a little bitterness – bitter almonds? – the sweet & sour motif returns in force. Here the apple is coated in caramel, and the sour note is green apple skins and sour candy (Sour Patch Kids).

Finish: The peat shows itself, turning smoky and dry. Some wood tannin, and a trailing note of apple wine.

Overall: You rarely (if ever?) see a Calvados-finished whisky. I don’t understand why not, this stuff is magic. Something about the Highland Park style of peat plays perfectly off of the sweet/sour effect of the apple brandy. Everyone I’ve asked to taste this has fallen in love with it. Too bad there’s no more around. If you happen to see this in a leftover bin, grab it. I can’t recommend it enough.

With Water: Heightens the sour notes in the nose, lemongrass, grapefruit, and turn the red apple into green apple. On the tongue, it’s somewhat maltier – more cereal grains, butterscotch, and actually less cider. There may be less bitterness. On the finish, the malty notes remain, and you lose some of the sour/peat elements. Not what I’d expect the water to do. I wouldn’t bother with it.

Another side-effect of the boom periods is that whisky prices soar, often accompanied by frenzied inflation in the value of ‘rare’ and collectible bottles. Right now, like it or not, we are experiencing a boom. Distilleries are opening or ramping up production, prices are ratcheting higher, and limited-edition bottles are making headlines with record prices at auction. Many distilleries are riding the boom by releasing special bottlings and limited-editions at inflated prices because they know there’s consumer demand for them.

Just in the last 12 months, I have noticed prices at Costco, Trader Joe’s, and my local K&L Wines & Spirits sliding upwards. Glenlivet 12 used to be $21. It’s now $24. Glenfiddich 18 was $44 at Costco a few months ago. Now it’s $49. Balvenie DoubleWood was $33 at Trader Joe’s for awhile. Now it’s $37. Even Finlaggan Old Reserve snuck up from $17 to $19 when I wasn’t looking.

It’s not just the bottom-end, either. Ardbeg Alligator is absurdly overpriced despite its 11-year age because – why? Because it’s limited. Oh, and they used some new oak barrels. Pssh. So does Jack Daniel’s. Glenfiddich Cask of Dreams is 14 years old and is asking $99. Oh, and it uses new wood too. See David Driscoll’s thoughts on the matter here and here.

Don’t get me wrong – nobody is forcing anybody to buy these higher-priced drams, and many of them are quite good. David says Cask of Dreams is very tasty, and Alligator was nothing to be sniffed at, either. Maybe they’re even worth the price-tag considering their quality. I’m just pointing out that prices are on an upward slope, as are money-grabs like Alligator, the new single pot still Irish whiskies from Midleton, and Buffalo Trace getting consumers to pay for its research & development.

So what’s to be done? I enjoy drinking $50 whisky. I feel guilty drinking $99 whisky. To help make sane decisions when picking out bottles, here are some criteria that I use when judging a whisky’s value (to me):

I’ll pay $30 for a value malt or a decent blend or high-quality bourbon that doesn’t taste like paint thinner. If I can drink it straight without cringing, I’m sold.

I’ll pay $50 for a distillery standard expression between the ages of 10 and 16, especially if I know I like the distillery’s house character. I’ll even consider paying this for a truly excellent blend or well-respected bourbon.

I’ll pay $85 for a special bottling or limited-edition expression if it has something intriguing about it, like a Sauternes finish, fino sherry aging, a really good story, or which is a really spectacular single-barrel or vintage. Same goes for an independent-bottling of one of my favorite distilleries which shows a different side to the product (like an unusual cask finish or age statement).

I’ll pay $99 – $120 (sometimes) for something at or older than 18 years of age, but only if I know in advance that I like it.

I think the key to saving money is knowing what you like, and what’s worth the splurge. Knowing that Springbank really pushes your buttons makes dropping $99 on a fino-finished Springbank a more palatable proposition. Knowing that you’ll never see another Calvados cask finish makes dropping $85 on an Alchemist bottling of Highland Park worthwhile. Knowing which of the many blends provides a relaxing, satisfying sip can help you space out the expensive drams with cheaper ones. If nothing else, remember that this, too, shall pass and we’ll all be in a whisky bust as soon as something else becomes popular with young people in Japan. When açaí eau-de-vie becomes all the rage in the Argentina nightclub scene, it will be time to start thinking about buying up some of those excess casks of Glendronach!

Like the previously-reviewed A.D. Rattray malts, this is bottled at cask-strength (59.6% ABV), and has no color added or chill-filtration. Go A.D. Rattray!

Distilled 8/20/2002, Bottled 5/17/2011

Nose: Anise, Lime juice. Not too prickly, despite youth. Gold raisins. Marshmallow and loads of vanilla frosting.

Palate: Soft, with good alcohol integration for an 8 year-old. Great soft sugars, specifically raw cane and simple syrup. Powdered sugar? Gold raisins.

Finish: Not too much burn, and medium-long. A little wood bitterness on the tail end, the only noticeable flaw.

With Water: The addition of water dulls the bright flavors a bit too much for me. I’d skip the water.

Overall: Nicely complex. This whisky does not toe the line of Speyside style, instead branching out in eclectic ways. Raw cane? Anise and lime juice? I would not have pegged this as a sherried Speysider. Very interesting, although the novelty might wear off after paying $66 for a full bottle. Certainly worth trying, especially if you’d like to cross another distillery off of your bucket list.

ScotchNoob™ Mark:

About The Distillery

A Speysider previously in Diageo’s catalog but sold to Bacardi recently. It was built in the 1890s to make use of the railway lines running to the town of Craigellachie. The use of worm tubs, wooden washbacks, and a distinctive sulfuring process during malting make Craigellachie spirit weighty – some say waxy – and fruity.

This bottle, a sherry-finished expression of Speysider Macduff at 10 years of age, uses craft presentation (cask-strength at 59.8% ABV, without added color or chill-filtration).

Distilled 11/15/2000, Bottled 04/05/2011

Nose: Pine. Vanilla, butterscotch. Where’s the sherry?

Palate: Tongue burn is a little rough, like a younger malt. Touches of grape skins and then light sherry (a little like watered-down red wine). Youngish bright red fruits. A little nutty, plum pits?

Finish: Somewhat continues the burn. Not very smooth. Echoes of palate notes, leaving an impression of sugared plums and tannin from grape skins.

With Water: A little more bitterness develops on the finish. Lemon peel, red berries on the tongue. The body becomes a little meaty, which is nicer. Try it with water.

Overall: Not a great introduction to Macduff. It’s hard to say if the few unpleasant notes were a result of cask choice or simply reflect the distillery style. If I had spent $66 on a bottle of this, I might be disappointed. At least it’s cask strength and craft presentation.

ScotchNoob™ Mark:

About The Distillery

A Speysider owned by Bacardi and often bottled as Glen Deveron. It was built during the whisky boom of the 1960s to capitalize on expanded demand for Scotch. The modern facility is outfitted with relatively high-tech equipment, but remains largely unknown as a single-malt. A large percentage of its production goes into the William Lawson’s blend.

Glen Ord, a northern Highland distillery owned by Diageo, finds itself mostly used for the Dewar’s blend. Its middle-of-the-road highland style of vanilla, bakery sweets, and soft wood make it a perfect candidate for successful blending. Diageo does now release some Glen Ord as a single in its “Hidden Malts” line, and some is available from independent bottlers. I was able to taste an A.D. Rattray bourbon-cask release of 12 year-old Glen Ord at a recent K&L spirits tasting in Redwood City, CA. It was bottled at cask strength (60.1% ABV), with no coloring or chill-filtration. Just the way I like ‘em.

Distilled 03/17/1998, Bottled 10/30/2010 Cask #24

Nose: Unctuous layers of vanilla, white cake batter, vanilla frosting, white peach, and pale soft wood. Very inoffensive and clean.

Palate: More of the same. Light and sweet. Not fruity at all, but reminiscent of angel’s food cake, sugar cookies, and white tea.

Finish: Almond, marzipan… suddenly VERY nutty! Cashew butter? Unexpected nuttiness. Medium-long.

Overall: I don’t really consider mild 12 year-old Highlanders without complexity to be worth $60 a bottle, so I can’t say I would shell out for this. However, there are exactly zero flaws in the presentation here, and if you’re trying to check every distillery off your list, this one may be worth seeking out. Also, it’s surprising how easy-drinking it is, even at cask-strength 60.1% ABV.

ScotchNoob™ Mark:

About The Distillery

A northern Highlands distillery owned by Diageo. Glen Ord’s water flows from the White Burn (Allt Fionnaidh) which takes water from two different lochs: Loch nam Bonnach and Loch nam Eun. The site includes a large drum maltings which supplies both Glen Ord and also other distilleries owned by Diageo. Glen Ord is rarely marketed as a single-malt, and instead can be found occasionally under independent labels, and Diageo’s Hidden Malts series.

Nose: Piquant old concentrated sherry. Meatier than distillery-bottled releases from The Macallan. This is a little more like GlenDronach, with some rubber, caramelized onions, and teriyaki jerky. Underneath there is a strong current of sweet plums, raisins, and smoked nuts. Very heavily sherried, but not as candy-apple sweet as some Macallans.

Palate: On the tongue there is an abundance of nuts, first hazelnut and then some darker notes of roasted almonds and chestnuts, as well as cocoa nibs, dense prunes, brandy, and a touch of molasses. Many of the aromas continue in the latter part of the palate, with dark, resinous, meaty sherry notes.

Finish: A bit more fruity, with the sweeter notes left on the tongue. Cherries, raspberries, and some lingering dried fruits, peanut butter, and a hint of rubber.

With Water: The nose becomes a tad sharper, and only the lighter fruits, some vanilla bean, and a suggestion of rubber become detectable. The palate becomes far sweeter: chocolate-covered cherries, taffy, port wine, and hazelnut butter. The finish is unchanged. Definitely drink your fill without water first, before trying a few drops as a curiosity. It’s better without the water in my opinion.

Overall: A very different and enjoyable alternative to distillery-released Macallan. It clearly deviates from the distillery profile of sweetness, bright red fruit, and elegant old sherry. Here there are wilder notes and sharper edges. Almost savory at times, and eclectic. Luckily, it never goes too far off course, is never bitter or rancid, and doesn’t contain any truly ‘off’ notes. An experience, and an education in the wide range of flavors available from sherried scotch. Note that many of these flavors are available in the cheaper (and more readily available) GlenDronach distillery bottlings, since it would be difficult to locate this particular bottle, now that most of it has sold out.

ScotchNoob™ Mark:

About The Distillery

The Macallan is big. Real big. Prized by collectors, consumed all over the world, The Macallan is a marketing powerhouse, with a very wide range of single-malt expressions targeting local tastes in every major market. Distilling almost continuously since 1824 when Scotland first legalized the production of spirits, The Macallan releases “replicas” of its older bottlings and also continuously experiments with new finishes. With global whisky tastes evolving away from the classic “all Sherry, all the time” style, The Macallan is battling its image as a Sherry Monster by releasing a “Fine Oak” range that focuses on the wood influence, and using a lower proportion of Sherry aging. You can always rely on a flagship Macallan to display big sherry notes of dark fruit, raisins, and spice.

It has occurred to me that in my haste to spread the word about K&L’s Tuesday night whisky tastings in Redwood City, CA, I neglected my duty as a Scotch “Noob” to describe my education in Independent Bottlers. What is an independent bottler?

In short, whisky has not always been sold by the distillery which created it. In the hazy, distant past… or really, any time before the last few decades, whisky was distilled by a distillery, barreled, and sold. Often the buyers were wine and spirits shops intent on aging it, bottling it (with or without blending it with grain whisky) and selling the bottles with their own house label. Some of these “house blends” became popular and turned into large, international brands. Cutty Sark, The Famous Grouse, and Johnnie Walker come to mind. Sometimes, the shops came across splendid barrels of single malts which stood on their own. These barrels would be bottled without blending, labeled, and sold to whisky lovers who were interested in the more robust, individualistic flavors and aromas of the unblended singles. The market for these bottles was small, as most of the large-scale distribution of whisky had to do solely with blended products.

As awareness and interest in independently bottled single malts grew, the distilleries got into the game, becoming their own bottlers and developing marketing strategies around their own distillery brand names. The Glenfiddich, owned by William Grant & Sons, was among the first to do this, and William Grant is credited as the pioneer responsible for the current widespread trend in distillery-bottled single malt. In a way, distilleries have become independent bottlers of their own malts. Today, true independent bottlers remain in the market by providing customers a way to taste obscure, experimental, or now-defunct distilleries, as well as expertly aged and bottled single-cask expressions from familiar distilleries. The dizzying array of bottlers and the ephemeral nature of single casks make this a more difficult area of the market to understand, but there are many whisky bloggers on the net that specialize in tasting and rating these whiskies. In general, you can expect such bottlings to be ‘different’ than the standard distillery-labeled expressions, and the risk of a given bottle being inferior (as well as the possibility of finding something fantastic) is greater.

Personally, I avoid independent bottlers for two reasons. One, I’m not sufficiently experienced to sort out the gems from the hastily-bottled rejects. Two, there are still plenty of “official” distillery bottlings that I have yet to explore. The exception to this is when I come across something special in my price range, such as a 16 year-old Calvados-finished Highland Park from Alchemist (an independent bottler) that I picked up last week. I just could not pass up the opportunity to try a Calvados (French apply brandy) finish. Tasting notes for that will be forthcoming.

For more reading on independent bottlers, check this An exhaustive list of Independent Bottlers and then read way more information from Malt Madness on Independents.

Here’s how it works. Martin’s West is a ‘gastropub’ (gourmet bar food and upscale beverages) in Redwood City, CA. Tuesday nights at 6 pm, the bartenders or waiters will (when asked) pour a 1 oz dram of the night’s bottle – supplied by David Driscoll from K&L Wines and Spirits, down the street. They use Glencairn glasses. The charge will be the cost of the bottle, divided by the number of pours (around 25). So, for the $130 Hart Bros. Laphroaig 18, pours were $5. You can order as many pours as you like until they run out (but don’t be greedy!) David will hang out near the bar and answer questions, if you have them. While you’re there, Martin’s West has a very respectable whisky selection (pours of Pappy Van Winkle 15 bourbon for $16? Not bad.) and the food looks delectable. I will be going back to try out the food.

I’m told K&L also runs a similar event at 5:30 PM on Thursday nights out of their San Francisco location, at another local bar – Gitane.

To stay up to date on these tastings (and find out in advance what he’ll be pouring), and read David’s very interesting views on the Spirits world, check out his blog.

Here are my notes from the Laphroaig 18, bottled by Hart Brothers, a Scottish independent bottler and blender. It is 46% ABV and not chill-filtered. Distilled 1990.

Nose: Hello! It’s Laphroaig. Iodine, seaspray, and a big wave of smoky peaty goodness. Behind it lurks some light florals – elderflower? and green tea. Maybe a little touch of honey and green bananas. Mostly the salty peat, though.

Palate: A little rough up front, but resolving into trademark Laphroaig flavors of seaweed, campfire, and bright, acidic peat.

Finish: Long and elegant, and not as bitter as some peat monsters. Evolves out of the peat bog and into a little nuttiness -peanut? on the tail end.

Overall: Very similar to the distillery-bottled 18, in my opinion, which is considerably cheaper. I don’t think I’d pay the $139 for this (compared to some other beauties in that price range). That said, for $5 a pour at a walk-in tasting, it was well worth the drive! Interesting that while this is more subtle and elegant than the distillery 10-year, it’s not really much more complex, nor does it show any increased wood influence. It’s just Laphroaig, with some of the sharp edges sanded down.