Loch Fyne Whiskies - Scotch Whisky Review - Edition 18

“The leggy blond appears to have got up and walked.” “It’s silky and sensuous”. Anyone peeping round the door seeing 35 men seated in a room looking up at a top table of six men and one woman and hearing these expressions could have been forgiven for thinking they had interrupted some sort of sex therapy meeting. Not so.

This was Ulf Buxrud’s mammoth Macallan tasting for a group of his friends and also to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, at the Landmark Hotel in London. Ulf is a whisky collector and connoisseur from Malmo in Sweden.

Ulf was born in 1942—a year when very few whisky companies were able to distil. Macallan was one of the few. He bought a bottle of the Macallan 1942 for £300—today it is worth £3,000—but Ulf’s isn’t worth that anymore because it was one of the whiskies included in the tasting. It would be interesting to speculate the value of all the whiskies we tasted, but perhaps we would all feel terrible if we knew the truth as much was thrown away at the end!

The tasting started with the 1942 and other vintages. Then a series of 18yos from 1960 to 1984, then younger cask strength samples plus three of new spirit from 2000 onwards. In total 53 whiskies were sampled.
And the leggy blonde? Well the Chairwoman (and your correspondent) was describing a 1978 18yo which belied its age and appeared to have no legs.

Michael Jackson also chose to use more sensual imagery to depict the whiskies: An 18yo from 1963 as ‘having a very smooth body—silky—difficult when talking about body in this way but it slides like silk—you know what I mean.’ When talking about the younger whiskies he spoke about the thrill of getting younger—if only he could!

Charles MacLean seemed to get into a German rubber tack for a 1972 18yo; ‘the Germans adore rubber… in whisky you understand—and they would enjoy the hint of rubber in this from the European oak.’ By the time he got to the younger whiskies he was enthusing about engine oil and polished oak. Listeners at the keyhole were left to wonder.

John Hansell from Malt Advocate Magazine said that by the fourth set of 10 glasses he ‘felt like the guy in Groundhog Day—I keep seeing ten whiskies, have a taste, go to the bathroom, come back and there’s 10 more! This is fun!’

Ulf of course had to keep having his say—and the Chair struggled to control his enthusiasm—much to the amusement of all others.

One clear lesson learned. Don’t add water! At least not to all of your sample, many of the older whiskies simply fell apart and faded away.

* Helen Arthur is a writer of whisky books and a director of Distilley Destinations - The specialist Scotch Whisky Tour Operator, run by whisky experts. They can take you all over Scotland and have access to some exclusive venues. See their web site for samples or have a tour created for you. They are the people to contact for Islay Festival trips for tastings for leisure groups or corporate events and provide education for the licensed trade.


		TALKING GERMAN RUBBER Helen Arthur* “The leggy blond appears to have got up and walked.” “It’s silky and sensuous”. Anyone peeping round the door seeing 35 men seated in a room looking up at a top table of six men and one woman and hearing these expressions could have been forgiven for thinking they had interrupted some sort of sex therapy meeting. Not so. This was Ulf Buxrud’s mammoth Macallan tasting for a group of his friends and also to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, at the Landmark Hotel in London. Ulf is a whisky collector and connoisseur from Malmo in Sweden. Ulf was born in 1942—a year when very few whisky companies were able to distil. Macallan was one of the few. He bought a bottle of the Macallan 1942 for £300—today it is worth £3,000—but Ulf’s isn’t worth that anymore because it was one of the whiskies included in the tasting. It would be interesting to speculate the value of all the whiskies we tasted, but perhaps we would all feel terrible if we knew the truth as much was thrown away at the end! The tasting started with the 1942 and other vintages. Then a series of 18yos from 1960 to 1984, then younger cask strength samples plus three of new spirit from 2000 onwards. In total 53 whiskies were sampled. And the leggy blonde? Well the Chairwoman (and your correspondent) was describing a 1978 18yo which belied its age and appeared to have no legs. Michael Jackson also chose to use more sensual imagery to depict the whiskies: An 18yo from 1963 as ‘having a very smooth body—silky—difficult when talking about body in this way but it slides like silk—you know what I mean.’ When talking about the younger whiskies he spoke about the thrill of getting younger—if only he could! Charles MacLean seemed to get into a German rubber tack for a 1972 18yo; ‘the Germans adore rubber… in whisky you understand—and they would enjoy the hint of rubber in this from the European oak.’ By the time he got to the younger whiskies he was enthusing about engine oil and polished oak. Listeners at the keyhole were left to wonder. John Hansell from Malt Advocate Magazine said that by the fourth set of 10 glasses he ‘felt like the guy in Groundhog Day—I keep seeing ten whiskies, have a taste, go to the bathroom, come back and there’s 10 more! This is fun!’ Ulf of course had to keep having his say—and the Chair struggled to control his enthusiasm—much to the amusement of all others. One clear lesson learned. Don’t add water! At least not to all of your sample, many of the older whiskies simply fell apart and faded away. * Helen Arthur is a writer of whisky books and a director of Distilley Destinations - The specialist Scotch Whisky Tour Operator, run by whisky experts. They can take you all over Scotland and have access to some exclusive venues. See their web site for samples or have a tour created for you. They are the people to contact for Islay Festival trips for tastings for leisure groups or corporate events and provide education for the licensed trade.