Don’t settle for rascally liquor next Tuesday
Struggling poet and government exciseman Robert Burns lived in hard times for the whisky industry. Swingeing tax rises had shut down many distillers, and driven the rest underground. The ingenuity deployed in hiding whisky from nosy excisemen became remarkable; under altars, in coffins, haystacks and byres. Distillation moved to remote glens, and took place at night, to hide the smoke from stills (which is of course why illicit drink became known as moonshine). Quality was dire: Burns himself loved a dram (or two) but much of it was, in his words, ‘rascally liquor’.
We live in changed times. As a Scot moving to England, I was surprised (and humbled) by how enthusiastically the English also celebrate Burns Night. It turns out that an appreciation of Robert Burns (and fine whisky) does not stop at Berwick-upon-Tweed. And there is certainly no rascally liquor at Uncorked. Instead what we have is a shelf bursting with single cask malts.
A single malt is a malt whisky made purely from one distillery; it means a more individual whisky than the generic blended brands. A single cask malt is a step up again, one single barrel from one distillery, making something between 200-600 bottles. Only the very best whiskies are bottled this way. They are highly individual takes on the known character of each distillery, and when they are gone, they are gone. Some remarkable, unrepeatable expressions of single cask whisky live in my memory. When it comes to raising a dram on Burns Night next Tuesday 25th, here are a few outstanding examples of the single cask whiskies currently on our shelf…
LINKWOOD – Speyside is the heart of Scottish distilling country, and Linkwood goes all the way back to the time when distillation was still technically illegal. This is a complex bottling, but the overriding note brings to mind the resiny smell of rain in a pine wood.
TOMATIN– one of my vivid childhood memories is taking in the powerful aromas outside an Edinburgh fudge shop. This rich Speyside brings it all back, toffee, fudge and caramel.
RUADH MHOR – think smoke, burning coal, bonfires on the beach. This is a heavily peated malt. Love it or hate it. If you’re not sure, steer clear.
AUCHENTOSHAN – this Glasgow distillery is one of the few surviving Lowland distilleries in Scotland. This bottling of a 23-year-old cask is a true meditation malt, subtle, elegant and extremely complex.
These are only a few examples – see below for a full list of our (mostly) single cask whiskies.
And the last word is – water. Single cask bottlings are bottled at cask strength, which will be somewhere between 55-65% alcohol. They need a splash of water, sometimes a substantial one. Don’t be shy, water will bring the aromas bursting out of the glass. /NT
