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Lady of the Glen is an independent bottler of Scotch whisky. As such, the team sources casks from distilleries all over Scotland and bottles the spirit when they deem the time to be right. Sometimes the whisky goes straight from cask to bottle, other times the liquid is transferred to another cask to give some additional flavour.
In this review, I’ll be checking out three single casks from this bottler. The drams come from distilleries in Speyside, Islay and the Highlands and each one enjoyed a finishing period, or secondary maturation, before being bottled at a natural colour and at cask strength.
*Full disclosure: the samples featured in this review were sent to me free of charge. As always, I will strive to give an honest opinion on the quality of the whiskies and the value for money they represent.
Royal Brackla – 2014 – 8-year-old
The Royal Brackla Distillery was founded in 1817. Today, it forms part of Bacardi’s John Dewar & Sons portfolio. There is a small selection of official single malt bottlings on the market but they aren’t always widely available. Official bottlings tend to favour a sherry cask maturation and Lady of the Glen seem to have taken a similar approach here. Indeed, the colour of the dram indicates that we could be in for a bit of a sherry bomb.
This bottling came from the remnants of a cask bottled for another purpose. As such, the release is extremely limited to just 49 bottles. The whisky is 8 years old and spent the entirety of its maturation in an oloroso sherry butt.
Smell: We’re in full-on sherry bomb territory here. Beeswax and boot polish. Leather. Walnuts. Raisins and prunes. Varnished oak furniture. Toffee apples. Cinnamon sticks. Maple syrup. Barbecue sauce. Orange liqueur. Oak casks in dunnage warehouses.
Taste: Raisins, sultanas and dark chocolate all burst onto the palate in the first few seconds. They’re followed by some dry spices. Black pepper, aniseed. More barbecue sauce. A bit meaty. Pulled brisket. Turns increasingly oaky towards the back. Dry, sherry oak-dominated finish.
Thoughts: This will be popular. It’s got that stereotypical Christmas Cake in a glass vibe which gives it perfect festive vibes. You could perhaps accuse it of being overdone where the sherry cask is concerned, maybe even a wee bit one dimensional but people love this flavour profile at this time of year and it will find many fans. A bit of a one trick pony, but it’s a good trick.
Price: £70. A decent price for such a limited release, especially from a sherry cask.
Teaninich – 2010 – 13-year-old
Teaninich is an old Highland distillery in the North East of Scotland. By sheer coincidence, it was established in 1817, the same year as Brackla (see above). These days, the distillery serves largely to produce bulk malt for Diageo’s blends, though there is a 10-year-old version available in the Flora & Fauna series. There’s no doubt that this distillery is capable of producing some interesting spirit, however, and independents like Lady of the Glen often provide the best means of checking it out.
The whisky was distilled in 2010. It was then re-racked in 2018 into a Profiler wine barrique. These are casks from the J. Dias Cooperage that have been rejuvenated in a process similar to the STR casks championed by the late Dr Jim Swan. Profilers, however, favour a gentler rejuvenation, leaving more of the residual wine flavours intact. The whisky is bottled at 58% ABV.
Smell: Raspberry and cherries. Cherry bakewell cakes. Almonds. Exotic spices. Nutmeg. Clove. Plums. Toffee. Rye bread, toasted with orange marmalde.
Taste: Raspberry and blackcurrant – Jammy fruits lead the way – followed by some dry, peppery spices. Honey and new oak on the mid-palate. The finish is dry, spicy and woody with some toasted oak notes. Complex and interesting.
Thoughts: My sample was a wee bit closed off to begin with but time in the glass and a drop or two of water brought the whisky to life – and what a dram it turned out to be. The longer it sits, the more it opens and the more facets it reveals. The Profiler cask leads the way but it’s actually quite nicely balanced. You get a distinctive fruitiness from the wine that’s vibrant and juicy and the whole dram feels lively and, for want of a better word, fun.
Price: £76. Decent price, as single casks go. Absolutely full of flavour too. Good buy.
Caol Ila – 2013 – 10-year-old
Caol Ila is Diageo’s Islay workhorse distillery. Whenever you pick up a trace of Islay peat in a blended Scotch, or purchase a bottle of Islay malt from an “undisclosed” distillery, there’s a good chance that Caol Ila was behind it. Its ability to produce quality spirit in bulk sometimes leaves it out of the conversation when the finest distilleries on Islay are discussed and it certainly doesn’t inspire the cultish following of the likes of Bruichladdich or Ardbeg (I said CULTish) but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good dram. In fact, cask strength Caol Ila can be one of the great pleasures of the whisky world.
This single malt is 10 years old with the last 8 months of its maturation spent in a Ruby Port Cask from Josafer Cooperage in Portugal.
Smell: Big smoky nose. Coal fires. Chimney smoke. Brine too and seaweed and sea shells. The port is there too, giving raspberry, brambles and strawberry top notes. There’s also an almond note. Reminded me of marzipan fruits.
Taste: You get the strawberry from the port, followed by earthy peat and peppery spice but it all comes together beautifully. It’s a bit like a peaty strawberry cheesecake. There’s also sea salt and black pepper. A touch of citrus oak and tangy peat with acrid smoke at the end.
Thoughts: This is a beautiful dram. I’ve had a couple of Caol Ila port casks now and it seems to work really well. The Ruby, in particular, has worked some magic here, with its berry fruits contrasting nicely with the distillery’s fire and sea vibes. Indie Caol Ila isn’t exactly uncommon but it’s no wonder bottlers snap up the casks when the quality of the final product is as good as this. A belter.
Price: £82. Another wee step upwards in price, but that’s sadly expected of single cask Islay. Has the quality to back it up, anyway.
For more on Lady of the Glen visit here
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