Mitchells & Sons Green Spot

Green Spot was one of those whiskies that I kind of had to have a bottle of in my coollection a bit like Johnnie Walker blue Label - a classic of its kind something that in a way is a real cult classic. I had a bottle of the standard Green Spot for about a year - I had managed to source it from Mitchells in Dublin and was pretty pleased with myself for finding the bottle. This was in a time before www.royalmilewhiskies.com and www.potstill.com made it readily available. Anyway I bought another bottle and opened one of them with a bit of hesitation. Green Spot has got a great reputation and therefore my expectations had been raised quite high. Something that I was worried about as if your expectations are too high it can make a very good whisky decidedly average if it doesnt live up to scratch. Anyway I was far from disappointed by Green Spot and would now rate it as one of my favourite whiskiesof all time. Lovely and fresh and zesty with lots peppermint on the nose simply stunning - I need to get me another bottle soon.

What brought me to this point was that i descovered the Mitchells www.mitchellandson.com had brought out two limited edition Green Spots to mark there 200th anniversarry. Great news I though especially when i heard that it would be a 10 and a 12year old bottling - something I could afford. Think again. The 10 year old has came out at 250 Euros and the 12 year old at a staggering 850 euros per bottle. Taking the piss or what. When you consider that the non - age statement bottle (believed to be about an 8 year old) retails for £24.99 then it really does make you laugh. Sorry Mitchells Love your Green Spot but these Limited Editions are beyond a joke.

Expensive Bloody Whisky

Bloody Expensive Whisky Some punter from Surrey paid £32,000 for a bottle of the 62 year old Dalmore - Good news though he drunk it! Imagine having that kind of money to through away on one bottle!! Can you imagine the whisky collection you could build with 32 grand

It would be one of the best collections you could imagine!

http://http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/4095758.stm

Have to say that I do love whisky but I would imagine that you would have to be very very rich to afford this. Fair play that he opened it though just hope that he appreciated it!

Brora Old Malt Cask 1981 - 21 year Old

Enough of this foriegn malarky thought that I had best bring us back to Scotland with a wee dram of Brora This is an Old Malt Cask bottling from 1981 that was bottled in 2002. Bottled at the usual Douglas Laing 50% and the label states that it is from a sherry cask. This bottle was bottled for the American market.

Here goes:

Nose: Very sweet, a little perfumed chlorine, perhaps some chocolate.

Taste: Again very sweet but a light sweetness, some orangey notes and dry smokiness and a little bit spicy.

Finish: Decent length - strangely of smoky plasticene - the waxiness is the only real hint that this has seen a sherry cask - i would imagine that it is from at best a second fill sherry cask.

Comment: Pretty decent but nothing to go wild about, has a good smokiness to it but somehow appears a little flat as if something is missing - would say that selling this as a sherry cask is misleading perhaps - I have no problem with people putting refill sherry on the bottles. Overall a good dram but nothing majorly exciting, they have done better Broras.

Score: 85/100

Glann ar Mor - New Celtic Distillery

Yesterday It was the turn of the Pakastanis and today its the turn of the French. It turns out that the first spirit ran from Glann ar Mor distillery in Brittany on Sunday at 17:05. The distillery is the theresult of a lot of hard work from Jean Donnay who has given us some cracking whiskies through his Celtic Whisky Compagnie - several sauternes finished whiskies and I remember a particularly good vatted Islay. There website http://www.celtic-whisky.com is worth a look. This just shows how the whisky boom is taking off with whisky being produced in a variety of places such as in Belgium where they have the Whisky Pur.e which is just new make spirit with a some caramel in it at the moment but a whisky that may be of some worth in say 5 - 15 years time.
Worm Tub at Glann ar Mor

Hobgoblin

A great beer from wychwood brewery, one of my favourite breweries. Apart from the great taste of this strong ale - I love their advertising - "What's the matter Lagerboy, affraid you might taste something?" Sums things up nicely I think.

Anyway would reccomend that you try this, a beer with a hell of a lot of flavour. www.wychwood.co.uk
Whats the matter lager boy

Bushmills

Diageo have anounced that they are to go into cahoots with Pernod in the Allied purchase in a deal which would see Diageo get Bushmills off of Pernod. The whole slicing and dicing of Allied is begining to look very convienent for all involved. Although obviously they wouldn't really all be wanting to work together a lot of it does make sense. Diageo get Bushmills completing there set as they currently do not have any Irish influence and Pernod complete there whisky category buy getting an Islay in Laphroaig. Pernod will still be by far the biggest player in the Irish market with Jamesons accounting for three quarters of all Irish Whiskey Sales.

To be honest once the slicing and dicing is finished I wouldn't be suprised if Fortune brands get back into whisky by picking up the odd distillery that Diageo and Pernod can't be bothered with.


http://http://www.diageo.com/pageengine.asp?menu_id=0&site_id=1§ion_id=2&page_id=1220

Pakistani Whisky

http://http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=644642005

Staff at Muree distillery - Pakistan are trying to find a name for there new 18 year old Malt whisky - a task that shouldnt really be too challenging when you consider that their two existing malt whisky brands are called Vintage and Classic - hardly the most difficult names to come up with.

Sorry I've not been on for a while.

Pete