Tag: William Grant and Sons Page 7 of 8

In October 2013, I tasted the William Grant & Sons Monkey Shoulder blended malt expression and loved it. Monkey Shoulder blended malt is a blend of three William Grant single malts. I have various expressions from Glenfiddich and The Balvenie, but I have never heard of the Kininvie distillery.

Lucky for me, on one of John’s business trips to London, he found the Kininvie 17 year old single malt Scotch whisky at Heathrow Airport Duty-Free. Of course, he grabbed it for me. Kininvie is a distillery in Dufftown, which produces single malt Scotch whisky.

The whisky from this distillery is mainly used in William Grant blended whisky brands.  Notably their Grants and Clan Macgregor releases. The Kininvie Distillery, one of the youngest distilleries in Scotland, began production on 4 July 1990.

Kininvie Distillery is built close to The Balvenie distillery, and they share some equipment. Some sources argue Kininvie is not a proper distillery as most of the equipment is owned by Balvenie and that Kininvie is just an extension of Balvenie.

Other people don’t agree and argue that they share the Balvenie mill. Regardless of this, getting this bottle to complete our collection is great. Kininvie itself stopped operating in late 2010.

The Kininvie 17 year old whisky is matured in 80% American oak and 20% Sherry casks.

Related Article:  Glenmorangie Spios whisky

Kininvie 17 year old Whisky Review

It is (only) a 350 ml bottle.

ABV: 42,6%

COLOUR: A light golden coloured. It has a sort of pale gold colour and is quite oily.

NOSE: Brings sweet sherry, candied fruit and malty sweetness. There are notes of toffee, fresh-cut flowers and apples. It has a rich and complex nose.  Adding water enhances the floral notes.

PALATE: On the palate, the Kininvie whisky is spicier than expected. The sweetness suggested by the nose is a lot less pronounced. After the sweet nose, I was expecting quite a sweet whisky. There are notes of wood, fresh fruit and malt.

The toffee and caramel sweetness drifts past in the background. It is a wonderfully smooth and rich whisky. Chewy and full-bodied.

FINISH: Long and lingering. It ends in notes of creamy, spicy malt.

RATING: EXCELLENT

A splendid dram! It is easy to drink, complex and smooth. If only the bottle were bigger. I would love to taste more from this distillery.

Looking around, I see that there is a Kininvie 25 year old single malt  at The Whisky Exchange, and it sounds amazing. However, at £ 399 for a 35cl bottle, it might be slightly out of my price range.

Also Read: Littlemill 25 yo whisky

Today I look at a release from Speyside, the Glenfiddich Rich Oak 14 yo single malt Scotch whisky. The Glenfiddich distillery is one of my favourite distilleries, and I have tasted many of their expressions. I loved the Glenfiddich 18 yo as a wonderful easy drinking dram and have tried the Glenfiddich Age of Discovery Madeira Cask.

Located in Dufftown in the Speyside region of Scotland, the Glenfiddich distillery was founded in 1886. Glenfiddich, together with Kininvie and Balvenie, forms part of the William Grant-owned whisky stable and sit in relative proximity to each other.

The triangular-shaped Glenfiddich has become one of the world’s most recognised whisky bottle shapes. It has been a Glenfiddich feature since 1957. The William Grant company remains independent and family-owned. The Glenfiddich Rick Oak is quite a recent release. It came out during the Spring of 2010. It was aged for 14 years in ex-bourbon casks.

Then followed two separate finishes of 12 weeks in new Spanish oak and 6 weeks in new American oak before bottling. According to Glenfiddich, the American oak adds spice, vanilla and fruit. The Spanish oak brings elegant fruit, spice and complexity.

Related Article:Balvenie Roasted Malt whisky

Glenfiddich Rich Oak Whisky Review

REGION: Speyside

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Dark rich gold. There are long oily fingers in the glass.

NOSE: Sultanas and juicy ‘Moskonfyt” (grape must jelly) mixed with honey sweetness. There is an abundance of oak, spice  and barley.  The oak, however, is wonderfully balanced with fruity sweetness and not overwhelming.

PALATE: Without water, the whisky is sweet and spicy with hints of bubblegum and Muscadel wine.  Adding water releases more pepper heat but also cinnamon and muscovado sugars. The fruitiness from the nose is still around in wafts of berries and grapes. The Glenfiddich Rich Oak is an easy-drinking smooth, nicely balanced dram.

FINISH: Long, memorable and lingers for a while. It ends in notes of wood, toasted nuts and bits of fruit again. A very drinkable whisky.

RATING: EXCELLENT

It has become one of my favourite Glenfiddich drams to relax with. It has a wonderful fruity character and will pair well with cheese. While the Glenfiddich 12 year old is the perfect single malt for a newbie, this Glenfiddich Rich Oak will be the whisky that will take them the next step along the road to whisky enjoyment. This release has made it onto my Top 5 Single Malt whiskies under R500 for 2014 list.

Also Read: Balblair 15 yo whisky

One of the first bottles that started my whisky collection all those years ago was the Balvenie Portwood 1993 Vintage single malt Scotch whisky. It started not only my collection but also my love affair with the Balvenie distillery.

In the past, I often blogged about one of my favourite distilleries and have 12 different Balvenie releases.I have captured my tasting notes on the Balvenie Single Barrel whisky here.

The Balvenie Portwood is one of our favourite releases of this distillery. The Balvenie distillery is located in Speyside, Scotland and has been around since 1892.

Related Article:  The Balvenie Peated Cask whisky

The distillery was founded by William Grant, who learnt his trade at Mortlach distillery. The Balvenie lies just below the Glenfiddich distillery, sharing its water source, the Robbie Dhu springs. Despite sharing the water, the Balvenie character is very different from Glenfiddich‘s more nutty, fruitier taste.

The 1993 Balvenie Portwood single malt expression has sadly been retired, and Balvenie only releases the Balvenie Portwood 21 yo as part of their core range. To create this single malt, the whisky was matured in traditional oak casks and then transferred for a last period of maturation to port pipes.

Balvenie Portwood 1993 Edition Whisky Review

REGION: Speyside

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: A light amber. It is a medium oily spirit in the glass.

NOSE: Soft juicy raisins, honey, vanilla and spice. In the background, there is oak and butterscotch. Wafts of nuts float around, intermingling with the sweetness.

PALATE: Superb. The Balvenie Portwood has a changing dynamic palate. It is initially sweet and spicy but builds with oak, warming the soul. This is the perfect whisky to enjoy in winter. It is smooth with a pepper and cinnamon bite. All of this without water.

The addition of water took away some of the sweetness and enhanced the wood. Bits of creamy honey and winter fruit floated in the background. The Portwood is a medium-bodied whisky. It is nice and complex.

FINISH: The finish warms the soul for a long time. The finish ends in notes of leather and nuts.

RATING: EXCELLENT

If you can get your hands on a bottle, grab it!  You will not be disappointed. I also tried this Balvenie Portwood whisky with a white rock cheese pairing, and it made a great pairing. The Portwood brings out the fruitiness of the cheese.  The White Rock cheese enriches the port in the whisky and almost makes the whisky sweeter. One of my favourite distilleries.

Also read: The Balvenie Roasted Malt whisky

One of my favourite distilleries is Balvenie. I have quite a few of their releases and have published tasting notes on the Balvenie Doublewood 12 yo and the Balvenie Single Barrel whisky in the past. Today I look at something somewhat different, the Balvenie Roasted Malt 14 year old single malt Scotch whisky.

Balvenie lies in the Convals in Dufftown in the Speyside region of Scotland. William Grant built the distillery in 1892 just below the Glenfiddich distillery.

It shares its water source, the Robbie Dhu springs, with its well-known neighbour. Despite having the same owner, The Balvenie is hugely different in character from  Glenfiddich.

Over the last few years, Balvenie has become the ninth bestselling single malt, and demand is growing. William Grant & Sons still own the distiller. In the summer of 1992, as part of an experimental process, a batch of barley was germinated over 24 hours before being kiln-dried, heated in a roasting drum at a temperature of 200C.

The normal germination period is usually around five days. This batch was then mixed with traditional malted barley before the mashing stage. The barley was roasted to between 1600 and 1800 European Brewing Colour (EBC) units.

Regular malted barley only reaches around 30 units. This dark roasted malted barley is more commonly used in the production of stout beer. Balvenie subsequently made a single batch of just 34 casks from this toasted barley.

When it was finally bottled in 2006, this became the first single malt Scotch whisky to use such a heavy roasting procedure. It was named the Balvenie Roasted Malt whisky.

Related Article: The Macallan 10 yo Whisky

The Balvenie Roasted Malt 14 year old Whisky Review

This limited edition Balvenie Roasted Malt 14 year old whisky is not chill-filtered.

REGION: Speyside

ABV:  47.1%

COLOUR: Dark amber, almost copper colour. It is a thick oily whisky in the glass.

NOSE: On opening the Balvenie Roasted Malt, sweetness and caramel come through. On the nose, there are rich notes of cocoa, honey and vanilla. After adding a few drops of water, the nose has some additional floral and fruity notes. There are little hints of toasted oak and oak spices.

PALATE: The Roasted Malt is a very gentle dram. On the palate, there are notes of caramel and roasted nuts. There are hints of oak and spices intermingling with vanilla. It is a medium-bodied whisky. It starts slowly and builds up to notes of sweet spice and oak.

FINISH: Medium length finish. It ends in notes of nuts and orange marmalade.

RATING: EXCELLENT

It is a wonderful addition to my growing Balvenie collection. The taste is unique and inviting, and I will be sorry to finish this bottle. I paired this Roasted Malt 14 year old with the Anthon Berg Chili & Honey Almond fair trade Dark Chocolate. It made for a delicious pairing.

Also Read: Glenlivet 18 yo whisky