#no-age

This week's topic of conversation, snappy titles aside, is that of young and no-age statement whiskies. So let us begin with the former - young whisky. With the (relatively) recent resurgence of scotch whisky and its growing popularity, there have been several new distilleries opened/reopened around the world. However, although reopened distilleries like Bruichladdich, Bladnoch, etc. can carefully release old stocks bought with the distillery, those who are brand new have no such option. So that leaves them with a couple of different options to monetise their whisky quickly; the most straightforward is to simply release young whiskies, many new distilleries have a significant investment and some money to play with and as such can spend the necessary bit extra to buy the best quality casks they can. By doing this, even after a relatively short time in the cask, the whisky can take on plenty of flavour and be ready to sell. Here are 2 of my favourites:

Kilkerran (Glengyle) Work in Progress #6 - Bourbon

The Glengyle distillery was rebuilt (from nothing, so is essentially a new distillery) back in 2004, and began distilling soon after. The name Glengyle is actually already trademarked by another company for a blended whisky, so the single malt from here is released under the name Kilkerran. Starting with a 5 year old released as a "work in progress", as the distillery builds up to a fully-fledged 12 year old, they have been releasing these gradual improvements over the years not only to drum up some enthusiasm for the 12 year old, but also to help bring money into the distillery along the way (12 years is a long time to wait with no money coming in!) This is the already sold-out 6th release, which came in the form of both a bourbon and sherry matured whisky, and it's getting ever closer to being a cracking 12 year old single malt

Nose: Warm, slightly spicy with ripe orchard fruits, green apple skins, and brown sugar.

Taste: Oily and nutty on the palate with some initially light spice notes. Apricot tart and toasted almonds, with vanilla custard. After a little while the oak spices notes develop a little more, bringing with them notes of sticky toffee and toasted brown bread.

Finish: Long, nutty and spicy. Sticky, cinnamon roasted nuts. 

Overall, this is a brilliant whisky in its own right, regardless of whatever its age may be. However, this is not a whisky that will continue to be released I fear, once their stocks are old enough it will disappear, barely more than a marketing exercise for the new distillery sadly. On the other hand, some distilleries that are doing essentially the same thing avoid labelling it in that way, which is something I rather like. Rather than painting the young whisky as somehow inferior to what will be the finished product, they proudly bottle it as a great whisky in its own right... so what if it's only 5 years old?

Kilchoman Machir Bay

This is one of the very best examples around of a young whisky. The current 2014 edition (pictured above) is a vatting of mostly 5 and 6 year old whiskies from bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks but earlier releases have been as young as just 3 years old! Named after the nearby beach on Islay, this youthful dram has a medium peatiness to it and a pleasant salinity which when coupled with the slightly aggressive power of such a young spirit makes for a delicious whisky!

Nose: Youthful, exuberant and just a little aggressive; this really jumps out of the glass at you, packed full of slightly medicinal peat smoke which makes way for a softer marmalade and vanilla with a briny background aroma.

Taste: The mouthfeel is oily and coats the tongue well, with the palate being surprisingly mellow for what the nose was. Well balanced fruit with a bourbon like vanilla and toffee flavour which is followed by the sherry influence of oak, pepper and Christmas spices. The smoke permeates throughout.

Finish: Long and spicy, with iodine and hints of chilli coated nuts.

Another young whisky that, in my opinion, stands up against any whisky that's ten years old or more. Another way round the problem of releasing young whisky is the use of smaller casks, usually quarter casks, which hold around 125 litres. These casks are significantly smaller than the hogsheads and butts usually used to mature whisky, and as such there is a much higher ratio of wood in contact with the spirit. This encourages flavours to impart into the whisky much quicker and effectively speeds up the maturation process. Laphroaig famously pioneered this idea with their quarter cask release, but there are other malts out there using the technique to great effect, such as:

Ardmore Traditional Cask

A firm favourite ever since my first time trying this whisky. Ardmore spend almost nothing on marketing or advertising, relying purely on word of mouth and reputation to get there product out there. They let the whisky do the talking, and it does rather a good job of it. The chaps at Ardmore make use of traditional methods all the way through the whisky making process, including the use of these quarter casks. The process isn't cheap, as hand-making these smaller casks takes time and expertise, but the result is a faster maturation in which a deeper, fuller flavour can be created in less time.

Nose: A classic, woody bourbon maturation on the nose with plenty of caramel, toffee, hints of vanilla and also an ever-so-subtle waft of peat towards the end.

Taste: More of the same on the palate, the bourbon influence is the star of the show, but now there’s an added malty flavour to the sweetness and the spicy character of the oak starts to show through just enough to begin to balance the caramel/vanilla/barley sugar with a little help from the gentle peat smoke.

Finish: Medium in length but full in flavour, the smoke continues to linger right to the very end, tying together a sort of greatest hits from the nose and palate, caramel and vanilla at first with barley and cereals following into a dry and slightly citrusy end.

Initially out of necessity, this expression remains at the heart of Ardmore's core range and doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon; testament to the quality that they've managed to achieve without the years.

Finally, perhaps the more important side of the issue, which is no-age statement whiskies. First and foremost, I will admit to perhaps being biased here, I have long been a fan of some no-age statement whiskies and indeed one of my all-time favourite whiskies (Ardbeg Uigeadail) carries with it no age on the bottle. Lately, The Macallan have been the ones stirring up controversy by switching to an entirely NAS range of expressions. Known as the 1824 series, the whiskies are identified solely by colour (gold, amber, sienna, ruby), not age. The idea being that if all the whiskies are sherry matured and of natural colour, then the hue would indicate the age. This also however, as critics rightly point out, means that they can put in younger (read: cheaper) whiskies in order to save money and charge the same. Both sides have a valid point here, and you'll never get anyone from Macallan to admit the latter, so I guess we'll never know. In the mean time though, we may as well drink it right?

The Macallan Sienna

So... all debate aside about marketing, money, value etc etc etc. At the heart of everything is the whisky. The Sienna is the upper end (but not the top) of the 1824 series, sitting a little below the Ruby. Roughly speaking... it weighs in roughly around what the much lover 18 year old did in terms of price and quality.

Nose: A big, rich and sweet nose. Candied orange peels with hints of vanilla, toasted oak and faint wintery spices all colliding together in one big bouquet.

Taste: A deep, thick palate of dark fruits, raisins and winter spices. Hints of peach melba, caramelised brown sugar and toasty malt sweetness all balanced by subtle notes of citrus oils and liquorice.

Finish: Long and fruity finish, which dries out with oak spices and nutmeg.

For my money, this is the best of the bunch in the new Macallan range, but the really important thing about it is the taste. This is a fabulous whisky, and at the price it retails for it doesn't disappoint! There's no room for snobbery here, there are plenty of great whiskies that are young, and some old, and some both. 

All in all though, despite it sometimes being a necessity for a new distillery to release a young whisky, sometimes it might be an established one looking to make more profit, let's not forget that whisky is still whisky. No distillery in their right mind would waste their precious young whisky - with all its potential - on producing a bad single malt.