Your guide to The Classic Malts

Your guide to The Classic Malts
Classic Malts Tasting notes
Here at the Classic Malts, we believe that comparing different Single Malt Scotch Whiskies
is something to be shared amongst Friends.
Whether you’re relatively new to Single Malts, or you consider yourself a bit of an expert,
we’ve outlined some useful tasting notes and a little background on each of the distilleries below.
These notes will give you a start point for each whisky from our Classic Malts Selection.
Where you end up is down to you!
Having said that, it’s always best to start with lighter whiskies and end with rich and smoky ones.
Choose one malt Whisky from each of these four flavour profiles for your tasting.
Light & Floral:
Glenkinchie® 12 Year Old
Knockando® 12 Year Old
Fruity & Spicy:
Cardhu® 12 Year Old
Clynelish ® 14 Year Old
Cragganmore® 12 Year Old
Dalwhinnie® 15 Year Old
Glen Elgin® 12 Year Old
Oban® 14 Year Old
Royal Lochnagar® 12 Year Old
Rich & Rounded:
The Singleton® of Dufftown 12 Year Old
Full-Bodied & Smoky: Talisker® 10 Year Old
Caol Ila® 12 Year Old
Lagavulin® 16 Year Old
Glenkinchie, Knockando, Cardhu, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glen Elgin, Oban, Royal Lochnagar, The Singleton of Dufftown,
Talisker, Caol Ila, Lagavulin the Flavour Map device, the Quaich device and associated logos are trade marks. Diageo © 2010
Region
Glenkinchie® 12 Yr Old
LOWLAND
Flavour
Light & Floral
One of the few remaining Lowland distilleries, Glenkinchie’s rural location amid fields of barley,
just twenty miles from the hustle and bustle of the capital, makes this “The Edinburgh Malt”.
Founded in 1825, the distillery was later purchased and restored by an association of whisky
merchants and blenders from Edinburgh in the 1890s. It took ten years but the result was the
Victorian distillery that we know today, with its characteristic red-brick buildings, houses for
workers and even its own bowling green.
Glenkinchie is a light, delicate whisky; Sweet and creamy with a subtle floral fragrance .
Strength:
43% ABV
Appearance:
Pale gold
Nose:
Aromatic, vanilla, cut flowers and beneath, a clean, toasty note. Increasingly sweet and
creamy with fresh citrus; lemon cheesecake.
Body:
Light, smooth
Palate:
Sweet, soft start becoming flowery. Crisp mid-palate then butter icing, lemon cheesecake
and freesias.
Finish:
Food:
Herbal and drying, a little like pot pourri.
Ideal with either raw or spicy fish. Try it with sushi; scallops wrapped in bacon, or tempura prawns.
Region
Knockando® 12 Yr Old
Flavour
SPEYSIDE
Light & Floral
Built by John Thompson in 1898, the Knockando distillery lies in the village of the same name,
derived from the Gaelic ‘Cnoc-an-dhu’ meaning ‘little black hill’.
Although distillation continues throughout the year, each year of production is still referred to as a
Season at Knockando distillery. In each bottle you will only ever find the produce of one single Season
- a practice which continues to distinguish Knockando™ from almost all other single malts.
“We tend to choose casks that are at their peak. On occasion this means that one bottle will differ
subtly from another – but the distillery character remains the same.”
Innes Shaw (Manager, Knockando Distillery 1978-2006).
Smooth but complex layers of flowery, nutty and slightly smoky notes.
Strength:
40% ABV
Appearance:
Pale amber
Nose:
Fruity floral with a hint of blackcurrant. Some ash, then traces of damp linen. Water brings out cereal
notes and meaty aromas. Develops towards scorched paper.
Body:
Light
Palate:
Light mouthfeel with a pleasantly sweet, central palate. Drying lightly with a taste of acidity.
Finish:
Relatively short. Clean and easy to drink.
Food :
Try Knockando poured over traditional Scottish haggis, or alongside bratwurst with sweet mustard.
Region
Cardhu® 12 Yr Old
SPEYSIDE
Flavour
Fruity & Spicy
Cardhu Distillery – previously called Cardow – must be one of the best-located distilleries in Speyside.
High on the hills on the north side of the Spey Valley with extensive views to the south, it is also the
spiritual home of Johnnie Walker; the number one blended Scotch whisky in the world.
By the time John Cumming bought a license for his Cardhu distillery in 1824, he and his wife Helen had
already been producing illicit whisky for 13 years. Whenever the Excise officers passed by, Helen would
disguise the mashing and fermenting as bread-making. Then, while the officers drank the tea she made
for them, she would fly a red flag from the barn to warn their neighbours that revenue men were around.
“Just about the cleanest, most uncluttered, pure, sweet malt you will ever find.”
Jim Murray, Whisky Bible 2008
Strength:
40% ABV
Appearance:
Golden honey
Nose:
At full strength, heady, nose prickle, pear drops and tightly integrated heather and sweet honey-nut
notes. Enticing. With a little water, still harmonious but less pronounced allowing some malt-cereal,
soft, spicy wood, moor-land and faint traces of wood-smoke to appear.
Body:
Soft, pleasing, medium
Palate:
Well balanced, smooth mouthfeel; short punch, sweet and fresh, then a pronounced drying effect.
Enjoyable at any time, with little or no water.
Finish:
Food:
Fantastic with Parma Ham, or try with
figs, foie gras or goats cheese.
Quite short. Some lingering sweet smoke in the attractive, drying aftertaste.
Region
Clynelish® 14 Yr Old
HIGHLAND
Flavour
Fruity & Spicy
The original distillery at Clynelish was purpose built to serve the new farms being established on the fertile
land of Sutherland’s coastal strip. For a cost of just £750 in 1819, the future Duke of Sutherland was able to
provide a ready market for the barley grown by his tenant farmers. It’s from these origins that we’re able to
enjoy the highly regarded Clynelish today.
The economic recession of 1931 forced the distillery to close. Production restarted in 1938, only to shut down
again from May 1941 until November 1945 due to restrictions on the supply of barley during World War two.
In the 1960’s, Clynelish was brought up to date when electricity was installed and still which had previously
been heated by a hand-fired coal burning furnace were converted to internal steam heating. Then, true to its
origins as a model design, Clynelish was replaced by a new distillery built on an adjacent site in 1967-68.
Floral fragrances and maritime flavours with a light, dry finish –
Strength:
Appearance:
Nose:
Body:
Palate:
Finish:
46% ABV
Yellow gold
Light candle wax, with some sugar. A faint floral fragrance. Scented candle wax becomes stronger with water.
Dried flowers on a beach. Later, brown sugar.
Firm, light to medium
Pleasant, creamy mouthfeel; general maritime flavours.
Some salt, dryish yet an attractive, even slightly bitter finish.
Food:
Delicious with fish! Try with tataki of tuna loin with wasabi, barbecued sardines, kedgeree, or potted shrimps
Region
Cragganmore ® 12 Yr Old
SPEYSIDE
Flavour
Fruity & Spicy
The Cragganmore Distillery was founded in 1869 by John Smith, who is said to have been the most experienced
distiller of his day. He had been manager of Macallan, Glenlivet and Wishaw distilleries, and was lease-holder
of Glenfarclas Distillery when he persuaded his landlord, Sir George Macpherson-Grant, to lease him the land
to build a new distillery at Ballindalloch beside the Strathspey railway line.
Cragganmore was the first distillery to be deliberately sited to take advantage of the railway line and a private
siding was built to accommodate distillery traffic. John Smith was a great railway enthusiast, but since he weighed
22 stones (140kg) and was too wide to enter a railway carriage, he was obliged to travel in the Guard’s van.
Nestling on the banks of the legendary salmon river, Cragganmore distillery is, for many,
the home of the definitive Speyside malt. Hugely complex, rich with layers of flavour.
Strength:
Appearance:
Nose:
Body:
Palate:
Finish:
40% ABV
Gold
A combination of sweet floral fragrances, riverside herbs and flowers with some honey and vanilla.
“The most complex nose of any malt whisky”. Michael Jackson, Whisky Writer
Firm, rounded, light to medium
A strong malty taste with hints of sweet wood smoke and sandalwood.
A long, malt-driven finish with light smoke and hints of sweetness.
Food:
Ideal with rich meat tastes. Try with Cumberland sausage, prunes in bacon, or Chinese beef in Oyster Sauce
Region
Dalwhinnie® 15 Yr Old
Flavour
HIGHLAND
Fruity & Spicy
The distillery was founded by Grant, Mackenzie and Sellar in 1898 (when known as Strathspey distillery).
Its name derives from the Gaelic for a ‘meeting place’ of sheep and cattle drovers. It is incredibly remote but
was purpose built to be close to the geographic centre of the Highlands and enjoy easy access to the reliable
link to market offered by the new Highland Railway. This helped the distillery to survive its fragile beginnings.
As well as being a fine distillery, Dalwhinnie also has the distinction of being an official weather station, with
one of the lowest recorded average temperatures in Great Britain.
In 1979, the private railway was closed and a new stretch of the A9 road took its place.
One of the highest of all Highland distilleries, Dalwhinnie produces a welcomingly gentle
spirit that's full of character. Smooth and soft with heather, honey and delicate spice.
Strength:
Appearance:
Nose:
Body:
Palate:
Finish:
43% ABV
Gold
A big, crisp, dry and very aromatic nose with hints of heather and peat.
Light to medium
Smooth, soft and lasting flavours of heather, honey-sweetness and vanilla followed by deeper citrus fruit
flavours and hints of malted bread.
Long, lingering, surprisingly intense finish that starts sweetly, then gives way to smoke, peat and malt.
Food:
Dalwhinnie goes especially well with chocolate cake and other chocolate desserts, especially if served chilled.
Region
Glen Elgin® 12 Yr Old
SPEYSIDE
Flavour
Fruity & Spicy
Glen Elgin Single Malt Scotch Whisky is an unusually distinctive Speyside single malt, from a little known
traditional distillery, that finds its home 10 miles south of where the river Lossie exits to the sea and about
40 miles east of Inverness.
In 1898, Glen Elgin’s designer, the renowned Elgin architect Charles Doig, made the prediction, that this would
be the last distillery built on Speyside for fifty years. Even this turned out to be conservative; it was actually 60
years before Tormore became the next.
In the 1930s, it became part of Scottish Malt Distillers, for whom it was an important component of the
well-known White Horse blend.
Tangerine fruitiness is the hand-crafted Glen Elgin’s “signature”, born of long and precise
fermentation. An easily accessible single malt with Speyside fruit and sweetness.
Strength:
Appearance:
Nose:
Body:
Palate:
Finish:
43% ABV
Full gold
Sweet. Almonds, or possibly marzipan. Some orange juice. Perhaps a trace of sawn wood. With water, nut
oil and buttery fat, prawn crackers, traces of fresh pears and a whiff of smoke.
Smooth, medium
Pleasant mouthfeel: sweetish than dry, with some acidity in between. Well balanced.
Dry but balanced.
Food:
Ideal with sweet savoury tastes: chicken satay and Spanish omelette.
Region
Oban® 14 Yr Old
HIGHLAND
Flavour
Fruity & Spicy
Fine single malt whisky has been made here in Oban for over 200 years, in one of the oldest licensed distilleries
in Scotland. In effect, the town grew up around the distillery and since its foundation in 1794 it has played a
crucial role in local life. Oban is the frontier between the West Highlands and the Islands; the meeting place
between land and sea.
In 1883 the unforgettably named J. Walter Higgin bought the distillery. Between 1890 and 1894 he dismantled
and rebuilt it bit by bit, in order to keep it in production - such was the demand for Oban Single Malt Scotch
Whisky. He carefully replicated the famously small stills and other traditional features in order to preserve the
quality of the whisky.
The distillery buildings and their internal arrangements remain almost the same today as they were
following Higgin's refurbishment.
A bustling seaside resort has grown up around Oban distillery in the two centuries since it
set up home in a fishing village.
Strength:
Appearance:
Nose:
Body:
Palate:
Finish:
43% ABV
Olive gold
Rich sweetness and fruits – oranges, lemons and pears with sea-salt and peaty smokiness..
Full, rich
Mouth filling late autumn fruits – dried figs and honey-sweet spices, followed by a smoky, malty dryness.
Long, smooth-sweet finish with oak-wood, dryness and a grain of salt.
Food:
Try it with buttered tagliatelle and Parmesan, Italian sausage or black pudding great with spaghetti Bolognese.
Region
Royal Lochnagar®12 YO
HIGHLAND
Flavour
Fruity & Spicy
Though the origins of the Lochnagar distillery go back to 1826, it was some 22 years later that its received its
royal approval. In 1848, Queen Victoria selected Balmoral Castle as her holiday residence. Only three days after
she had arrived, the distillery manager John Begg made an invitation to Prince Albert to visit his distillery,
knowing he was interested in all things mechanical. To his surprise, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their
three eldest children visited the next day. The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
So impressed were they with the whisky, John Begg immediately received a Royal Warrant of Appointment
as supplier to the Queen.
A fragrant Highland single malt with a delightful balance of fruit and spices.
Strength:
Appearance:
Nose:
Body:
Palate:
Finish:
Food:
40% ABV
Pale amber
Not obvious to begin with. Planed wood, light toffee, boat varnish. Linseed oil behind and later a lychee-like
acidity. With water the acidity comes through (acid drops), and the nose sweetens. Still a pleasant fresh
woodiness, followed by warm sand. After a while, coffee with brown sugar.
Medium
Pleasant; an initial sweetness is quickly overtaken by acidity.
Dry; medium-length, with an attractive lingering sandalwood aftertaste.
Ideal with meat or savoury / spicy dishes, potato and pea samosas with fresh mint chutney, red Kashmiri
lamb, parma ham or goats cheese
Region
The Singleton®
of Dufftown 12 Yr Old
SPEYSIDE
Flavour
Rich & Rounded
They say Rome was built on seven hills and Dufftown was built on seven stills. Speyside is the whisky heart
of Scotland and Dufftown the heart of Speyside. But only one distillery set out to make the best tasting,
Rich & Rounded malt called Dufftown.
The Singleton of Dufftown has been specifically created by those responsible for more Premium Malts than
any other producer, to deliver an exceptionally smooth taste.
How? First by using their many years of experience to perfect the longer fermentation and slower distilling
periods. Then carefuly balancing the mix of European and American Oak casks for the 12 year maturation.
Perfect for those entering the world of Malts and a fine example for connoisseurs of this famous distillery.
This smooth, naturally rich Single Malt Scotch Whisky has sweet fruity notes
and a lingering, pleasurable warmth.
Strength:
Appearance:
Nose:
Body:
Palate:
Finish:
43% ABV
Deep gold, polished mahogany highlights
Toasted nut and rich fruit aromas. Adding a touch of water brings out the classic Speyside fruit-sweet aromas
Light to medium
Sweetness and crunchy nuts, then smooth fruity richness. Firm, with a balancing sweetness; hints of blackcurrant,
brown sugar and espresso coffee. Warming and pleasant.
Medium to long, elegantly drying and crisp with a delayed, lingering warmth.
Food:
For an incredible sensory experience, try The Singleton of Dufftown with Creme Brulee.
Region
Talisker® 10 Yr Old
ISLANDS
Flavour
Full-bodied & Smoky
Built by the side of Loch Harport on the western shores of the Isle of Skye by Hugh and Kenneth MacGaskill
(sons of the local Doctor) in 1830. The name Talisker comes from the Norse, Thalas Gair, meaning “sloping rock”
In 1880, Robert Louis Stevenson describes it as “the King o’ Drinks” and by 1900 it was already one of the
best selling whiskies in the world.
In 1960, the still house was completely destroyed by fire. Two years later, the distillery re-opened, the old
stills having been replaced with exact copies.
Talisker is the only Single Malt Scotch Whisky made by the sea on the shores of the Isle of Skye.
Strength:
Appearance:
Nose:
Body:
Palate:
Finish:
Food:
45.8% ABV
Brilliant Gold
Powerful peat smoke with just a hint of sea-water saltiness, fresh oysters and a citrus sweetness
Full
A rich dried-fruit sweetness with clouds of smoke and strong barley-malt flavours, warming and intense.
Pepper at the back of the mouth.
Huge, long, warming and peppery in the finish with an appetising sweetness.
Try with a sip of Talisker 10 Year Old with a morsel of strong blue cheese and let it dissolve slowly
in the mouth to appreciate the best of both worlds.
Region
Caol Ila® 12 Yr Old
ISLANDS
Flavour
Full-bodied & Smoky
Caol Ila is the Gaelic name for the Sound of Islay, which separates the island from Jura in one of the most remote
and beautiful parts of Scotland's West Coast. Caol Ila is the only distillery on Islay to face due east, and every
morning the six stills are the first to feel the dawn of the day on their copper faces.
Nestled in a hidden cove near Port Askaig, the Caol Ila (pronounced “Cull Eela”) distillery sent its whisky to
market by sea for over a hundred years.
Billy Stitchell is the manager of the distillery and has worked there for years, as did his father, both his grandfathers and his great-grandfather. Their unbroken line is proof that tradition and expertise matter at Caol Ila.
Fresh, sweetly fruity and smooth-bodied, with a delicate balance of tastes.
Strength:
Appearance:
Nose:
Body:
Palate:
Finish:
Food:
.
43% ABV
Pale Straw
Subdued, citric fruitiness; a whiff of bath oil and dentist's mouthwash. A fresh and appetising nose, with little
or no trace of smoke. A little water raises almond oil and old-fashioned oilskins; still a fresh fruitiness
(lychees maybe), a trace of olive oil, and after a while pot pourri or scented hand-soap.
Firm, smooth, light to medium
Drinks well at natural strength; sweet start; pleasant, light fragrant smokiness and a lengthy finish. Smooth,
pleasant mouth-feel.. A complex balance of primary tastes.
Sweet smokiness in the lingering, slightly sour finish
All Caol Ila expressions are particularly enjoyable alongside fish dishes.
Try it with gravadlax, roll-mops or taramasalata. Also enjoyable with chorizo sausage.
Region
Lagavulin® 16 Yr Old
ISLANDS
Flavour
Full-bodied & Smoky
Founded in 1816 by local farmer John Johnston, succeeding more than 10 illicit stills that had previously been
on the site. Now one of eight operating distilleries on Islay off the west coast of Scotland
Named Lagavulin after a Gaelic word meaning “the hollow where the mill is”
Aged in ex bourbon casks, the high levels of peat, coupled with its rich flavours make this the definitive Islay
malt and the Holy Grail for many whisky drinkers.
Lagavulin is an intense, smoky-sweet single malt with seaweed flavours and a huge finish,
aged in oak casks for at least sixteen years.
Strength:
Appearance:
Nose:
Body:
Palate:
Finish:
Food:
.
43% ABV
Deep amber gold
Intense peat-smoke with iodine, seaweed and a rich, deep sweetness.
Full
A rich, dried fruit sweetness with clouds of smoke and strong barley-malt flavours – strong and intense.
At the back of the mouth is an explosion of peppery smoke.
Huge, long and warming. Peppery with a distinct appetising sweetness.
Works in an extraordinary way with intensely flavoured salty blue cheeses – Roquefort, Stilton,
Gorgonzola and Lanark Blue. Also excellent with anchovies on toast.