What whisk(e)y are we drinking? (Part 2)
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Had these side by side last night. The Maclean's Nose is very decent for the price, very briney and fruity which works well surprisingly, but the AD is fantastic, wasn't gone on it at the start tasted more like higher proof Ardmore but as the bottles gone down it's a lot more spicy and coastal.
Also opened my first Craigallachie 13 last night. Far too easy to drink and I really got the 'meaty' character they were on about on the label. Lovely stuff.
On black sheep's comment above, I got a couple of those Talisker Skyes stashed away when they were reduced to £20. Shocked that they would be considered better than the new version of Talisker 10 tbh and it's now put me off buying Talisker 10 for a while!!! I always seen the Skye as a kinda weekday sipper that you wouldn't mind getting through
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A great tour of Ardara Distillers once again.
Consistently impressed by their operation. Everything from the energy efficiency of the distillery, its design and cleanliness, to their plans for how it will integrate with the local village, in terms of what is agreed with publicans and cafe owners, regarding working together.
One of the founders, James, was on hand, and gave some really interesting insights into what the future holds.
They continue to source products from Great Northern, for the Silkie range, and I tried a fascinating grain (maize) whisky that is one of the components they buy, that was astonishingly drinkable at 67% abv. Very sweet and mellow, you "could" drink it by itself.
Tasted their own single malt at one year. Showing great promise. I gather they will push hard to bring to the market in 2025, but the product will have to be right, before they commit.
I did politely ask about pricing, since we discussed it here before, and it appears the pricing will be in the middle upper range, in Waterford / Dingle territory. It will not be at the lower end, Teeling / Ferncullen. A variety of factors in play there: As suspected, they have significant costs to manage, and more coming down the tracks, and then some of it is brand strategy and a belief in the quality of what they're going to sell.
When Ardara releases, it will be the peatiest Irish whisky on the market, by a significant margin, the PPM they are working with for the core range is around 50. It will be comparable to Laphroaig levels. The first release will be bourbon and sherry finished. Later they'll play with other options.
I'm told the Kilcar release had an even higher PPM (Towards 100 PPM)!
Below, the 1 year old.
Came away with a very drinkable Red Silkie finished in Pomerol.
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Thanks for the write up and the insider updates! I met James and his wife at the Kinmegar Brewery Christmas Market and they were very nice. I tasted that pomerol silkie you bought (was lovely) and got myself another bottle of the Midnight Silkie. I asked them about their own spirit and they were genuinely enthused that I was asking about and wished they brought some to taste so I must get down there. Excited to hear it's so heavily peated!
In other Donegal Distillery news, one of the owners of Crolly Distillery runs a restaurant in Letterkenny and they make a cocktail with new make or at least young spirit from Crolly that my wife tried one night she was out and loved it. I wonder would it be cheeky to ask for a taste of it at the restaurant hah! 😀 I did get a few Crolly Glasses from there.
Again, in the interests of disclosure, compared to Silkie I think the Crolly Sourced whiskies are at least 20-25 quid overpriced but I am excited to try their pot still.
Really need to get over to visit both distilleries! Here's a pic from the Christmas market.
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