A first in a new venue for the club, and a new event type for the new venue
When: 4th April 2025
Where: The Yard, Ely
Host: Elliott Drinks Whisky
Organised and agreed before the club fully came to fruition, this event was more a launch for whisky tastings at The Yard in Ely, but it was certainly great to get my name, logo and face out there. Open for a little over 2 years now, the folks at The Yard know what they’re doing in how to bring events to Ely. And following the continued sell-out success of their wine nights, they reached out to me to work together on a whisky tasting to test the waters.
I knew immediately what theme to go for with my line-up: What is Whisky? It’s a tasting theme I love presenting, because it opens up the whole world of whisky production for selection. For a new venue and a new audience, where I’m feeling out the experience and familiarity levels, this approach allows me to speak at a level that appeals to everyone, whatever that turns out to be. Focusing on introducing the styles and standards of whisky with a generalist hat on means each bottle should feel very different in contrast to the others; that hopefully leads to a memorable experience for my guests, both in terms of the information I can impart, but also in tasting first-hand how varied the spirit can be.
The Whisky
(Click on the images to buy a bottle)
Teeling – Single Pot Still
Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey – 46%
Justification: Irish whisky
One of the early presences in the Irish whisky resurgence. The Teeling family name has also had a long history in the industry, but the current distillery has been open since 2015 – the first new distillery in Dublin for 125 years. Starting with a stock of 16,000 barrels negotiated out of the sale of their father’s Cooley distillery, the current Teeling brothers are now making grain, malt, and pot still whiskies.
This release was Dublin’s first pot still whisky in 50 years. It uses a mash bill of 50% malted, 50% unmalted barley, aged in a mixture of American virgin oak, ex-bourbon and ex-sherry barrels.
Notes: Cereal but not bread. Ginger beer with a touch of effervescence. Damp rope, dry peach.
James Eadie – Mannochmore 12yo
Small batch, single malt Scotch whisky – 46%
Justification: Scotch whisky
Mannochmore is a Diageo-owned ‘factory’ distillery (as opposed to a pretty ‘visitable’ distillery) in the Speyside region. Opened in 1971, it’s predominantly a blending component, typically only seen in single malt form thanks to independent bottlers.
The bottler in this case is James Eadie. The brand, in its current iteration, has been around since the 2010’s, but originally belonged to the eponymous 20th century brewer and publican who produced a fairly successful blend which was on the market until the 60s. Besides the name (and the reintroduced blend), the current company pay homage to the past with their bottle labels representing pubs from the old portfolio: here, we have the Barley Mow.
Notes: Fragrant, woody/pepper/cardboard, orange. Noticeably more impactful than the previous bottle.
Umiki
Japanese malt, world grain blend – 46%
Justification: Experimental & Japanese*
Japanese whisky is having a moment. It has been having a moment since the early 00s when the awards started to roll in, and demand skyrocketed. That demand has somewhat outstripped supply, and as prices continue to climb, more distilleries are opening and laying down spirit to catch up.
The other side-effect of this boom is the rise in not-quite-Japanese whisky: spirit sourced from elsewhere, bottled in Japan (for example). New labelling guidelines and logos are being pushed by the responsible trade body, but without a legally enforceable Geographical Indicator, there’s little they can do.
This blended bottle is labelled, honestly, as a product of Japan, not Japanese whisky. The honesty continues with the contents being detailed as coastal Japanese malt whiskies and imported world grain whisky. The draw to this bottle, then, if it’s not a ‘real’ Japanese whisky? 2 firsts: pinewood finishing & filtered, desalinated seawater for bringing to bottling strength. Genuinely unique and interesting experimentation that deserved a taste!
Notes: Herbal, seaweed, sweet, banana sweets. A clear twist in the glass from the pine finish
Master of Malt – Coppersea – 3yo
American rye whisky – 51.6%
Justification: A different grain
Finding a distillery’s website offline always stings a little when you’re researching a bottle for presentation. Then, realising that the majority of the reviews out there are 3 to 5 years old pushes you towards the “not much to say about this” approach.
Coppersea are a small farm distillery, operating a mostly grain-to-glass approach with their bourbon, corn and rye whiskies with mashbills including corn, rye and barley.
Bottled by Master of Malt, this is a 3 year old, 100% malted rye aged in a single virgin American oak cask, yielding only 120 bottles.
Notes: Furniture polish/shop, creosote, cola. Rye bread, chilli, and aniseed.
Amrut – Peated
Indian single malt whisky – 46%
Justification: Light peat & Indian
Trying not to include too many bottles of Scotch in a line-up for this theme tends to pose a bit of a problem with the peaty side of things. Most peated whisky comes from Scotland, and most peat for whisky tends to come from Scotland too. It’s fun exploring peat alternatives and countries harvesting it themselves, but that greatly adds to the line-up cost.
Here we have an Indian whisky made from peated Scottish barley, aged for around 6 years in ex-bourbon barrels. There are plenty of homegrown Indian whiskies, but in this case, the tropical maturation and story of the country’s whisky importance serve the line-up slot well.
Notes: Sweet ashy pork chop. Bit of cheap milk chocolate. Little salt, and some tropical fruit hints.
Living Souls – Ninety-nine & one
Blended Scotch whisky – 46.3%
Justification: Heavy peat & blend
Accidents happen. We’re told we learn from our mistakes, even if they can be costly. This ‘teaspoon’ blend, from a new bottler, is brought to us thanks to a bottling hall accident when a small amount of 3yo grain whisky was mixed into a vat of heavily peated 18yo island malt whisky.
The working theory is that we have a bottle of mostly Ledaig (Tobermory’s peated output), aged for 16 years in refill bourbon barrels, followed by a 2 year finish in sherry casks. And we don’t know about the young grain. For reference, an 18yo Ledaig typically goes for around £100, compared to the release price of this bottle being more like £60.
Notes: Bitter grape, smoke approaching medicinal. Some sticky sherry, orange. Bit jammy, but there’s always a stale smoke.
The Winners
Vote Winner: Bottle #3 – Umiki
Close Contenders: Bottles #4 – Coppersea & #6 – Living Souls
The room was not generally a fan of smoke, so the product of Japan took the crown, with its unusual results of the pinewood finishing. Vindication for me selecting a 4:2 line-up light on smoke. To my mind/palate, though, the depth in the Coppersea rye, and the affordability & attitude with the Living Souls ‘mostly’ Ledaig were really impressive too.