Glenrothes, Macallan & a Taste of Indiana

Welcome back to another month of delectable samples. This month we have 3 great drams from independent bottlers The, Octave, Master of Malt and Signatory Vintage.

A quick look at last months results for top Dram:

Chorlton Glen Ord 8yr	56%
Obscurities and Curiosities Teaninch 11yr	11%
Daftmill 2010 Winter Batch	33%

Here we go, and this month Mr Dram Man brings to you a month full of dessert induced; sweetness; creaminess; fruity whiskies.

Straight in we have this interesting release from Master of Malt’s exclusive collection: a superb wheated bourbon from Indiana. Known for their smooth texture and reduced spiciness, wheated bourbons replace rye with wheat in their mash bills. In order to be classed as a wheated whisky, a minimum of 51% wheat needs to be used, the rest us usually then made up of corn which gives it the sweetness. This particular bourbon, distilled in 2019, was matured for nearly four years (hence why it says 3 on the bottle), producing 434 bottles from a single cask. What makes this interesting for me, and possibly others, Is that not many American Whiskey's are made with a wheated mash bill, however, the infamous Pappy Van Winkle is, with the Van Winkle family believing that wheated whiskey matured better in the earlier years – so this instantly took my fancy – especially when Pappy Van Winkle are unicorn’s of a bottle to get hold of. (Side-story – I finally got to try a Pappy last year, at ‘The Whisky Jar’ in Manchester, if you haven’t been, it’s worth going with great live music and great range of whisky. The Pappy, it was lovely, but at £28 a measure for the 15yr old, bank breaking, but a good price for a Pappy. However, speaking to the manager as she served me, the only way they get the opportunity to buy a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle is every time they get through 1,000 bottles of Buffalo Trace in a year – that’s just shy of 15,500 measures of Buffalo Trace and you might be entitled to getting 1 bottle of Van Winkle) end of side story.

The aroma opens with inviting notes of banoffee pie, buttery oak and a good cereal bar. Inviting you in to taste. On the palate, enjoy the smooth layers of soft, runny caramel, honeyed nuts, and buttered popcorn. These flavours are complemented by toasted sourdough and juicy peach, all balanced with a touch of cinnamon warmth. The finish is wonderfully long and buttery, featuring flavours of rice crispy cereal bars, cocoa butter, and Lotus biscuits. Underneath, you’ll find hints of candied ginger, sweet toffee, and the waxiness of toasted oak. This would be really interesting to see with a few more years of maturation. 80/100

Straight into the second bottle, an Octave bottling of a Glenrothes 9yr old. Known for their smile size, approximately an eighth of the size of a sherry butt, typically holding 40-50L. producing small batches. What’s the significance of an Octave cask? Evidence of rapid maturation, due to the ratio of liquid to oak surface are of the cask. This particular bottle was matured for 9 years in Oak casks and then some of it was poured out and finished in an Octave cask for 6 months before being bottled at cask strength with and outturn of just 88 bottles.

The nose of full of woody oakiness, banoffee pie and cream. Desserty and sugary. The colour is a dark mahogany brown, scintillating and alluring. Further nosing brings out a scent of fresh nuts. On the palate, we get a sticky, fruit pastry feel that gets all round your mouth, it stays there and evolves, into a nutty maple pecan Danish. Poached fruits and mixed spices of cinnamon and vanilla. The stickiness lengthens the finish prolonging that fruitiness. 87/100

To finish of June’s samples we have the Signatory Vintage (M) (M=Macallan) 12yr old – a precursor to the 17yr old we sampled just over a year ago when I first started Mr Dram Man. Again, left to mature in first-fill oloroso sherry butts, but this time for just 12yrs. I sampled this alongside a small amount of the 17yr old I have left over. There are noticeable differences: the colour, the smell and viscosity. Demerara sugar, dried fruits, and hints of oak seep through on the nose, enticing you in for a taste. The oloroso sherry butts clearly left their mark here.

A comparison here on the casks is that the 17yr old was bottled at a 61%abv cask strength, where as this was bottled at a 48.2%abv – its not like Signatory Vintage bottles to be watered down – so leads me to two things either the cask strength was too harsh it needed bringing down, or the cask was losing a large % to the angels share each year causing it drop sooner than planned so they felt they should bottle sooner rather than later and re-use the cask as a more reliable second fill. The latter seems more likely to me in this situation.

On the palate it holds a traditional Macallan taste of their distilled new-make, punchy but smooths out. You get a lot of biscuity, almost custard cream flavour, pitched with dates, baked apple and light treacle, there is also a slight harshness to the finish which a couple of drops of water might ease out for some, I don’t mind it too much. Although enjoyable, it is nothing overly special, apart from the limited number of bottles available. It is pleasant and for a 12yr old limited release Macallan it’s a fairly good price for around £62-68 (retailer dependant). But definitely does not live up to it’s 17yr old older sister. 81/100

Which was your favourite?

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  The Octave Glenrothes 9yr old
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  Signatory Vintage (M) 12yr old
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  Indiana Wheated Whiskey 3yr