WHISKY REVIEWS, NEWS, HISTORY & FOLKLORE
First, a minute of your time…
Things have been a little quiet round these parts of late so apologies if regular readers have been missing the content. I decided to spend the first few weeks of 2024 exploring some new projects and working my way through the many, many samples that were bursting out of my cupboard. I’m pleased to say, however, that regular service is about to resume with a whole new batch of reviews queued up and ready to go.
Before I get onto the whisky, I’d just like to mention that Whisky Reviews now has a companion YouTube channel called “A Scot on Scotch“. I’ll be using it as an alternative platform to comment on various aspects of the whisky world and maybe even recommend a few bottles along the way. It’s very much intended as an addition rather than a replacement for this blog so don’t panic if, like me, you still enjoy the written word. The channel is just a bit of fun but I would nevertheless appreciate if you could head on over to YouTube and subscribe if you think it might interest you.
While you’re at it, if you haven’t already, please also consider subscribing to this blog. It’s getting harder to use social media as an effective way to promote a piece of writing. Facebook and Twitter / X want you to spend all your time on Facebook and Twitter / X and any post that links to another website is throttled by the algorithm. So even though my Facebook page has 12,000 followers, only around 500 people regularly see my posts. So if you’d like to keep up to date with my written content, please subscribe and you’ll receive an email every time I publish something new.
Thanks for reading and now, on with the reviews…
Whisky and the Morrisons
This review features a single malt from Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers, an independent family business with five generations worth of experience in the Scotch industry and a long connection with the isle of Islay. The story of the family’s whisky journey begins with William Walker, a successful whisky broker of the 1920s and ’30s. Walker worked extensively with the Islay distilleries and advocated for them in the States, following the repeal of prohibition in 1933. He later bought a house on the island and was known to support many local causes during his time there.
Walker’s daughter, Elizabeth, married a young employee of her father’s, by the name of Stanley Morrison. Stanley learned the ropes as a trainee broker with T. William Walker & Co Ltd before forming his own business, Stanley P Morrison Ltd in 1951. A chance meeting and an impromptu decision saw him agree to the purchase of Bowmore Distillery in 1963 and his time at the helm of Islay’s oldest distillery is viewed by many as a golden period, with rare bottlings of 1960s Bowmore highly sought after by collectors. Stanley P Morrison Ltd later became Morrison Bowmore and the company expanded with the acquisition of Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch.
Stanley and Elizabeth had two sons, Tim and Brian, who followed their Father into the family business but by then, Morrison Bowmore had become one of the most respected distillers in Scotland and had begun to attract some serious attention. Japanese Distilling giant, Suntory, invested heavily in the business before buying it outright in 1994. Following its sale, Tim and Brian went their separate ways: Tim established A.D. Rattray and later, The Clydeside Distillery in Glasgow, whilst Brian and his son, Jamie, partnered with Kenny MacKay to purchase John Murray & Co and renamed it.
The newly formed Morrison & MacKay was behind the highly successful Bruadar Scotch whisky liqueur, the Old Perth blended malt range and the Càrn Mòr independent bottler. Then, in 2017, it became a distiller in its own right, with the construction of Aberargie in Perth.
The departure of Kenny MacKay in 2018 cleared the way for another name change, as Morrison & MacKay became simply, Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers. Among the company’s brands is an Islay single malt known as Mac-Talla (Scots’ Gaelic for Echo). This series of whiskies from undisclosed distilleries is said to celebrate the island’s whisky and the Morrisons’ long connection with it.
The Whisky
The dram in question is a limited bottling, released for the 2023 edition of the Fèis Ìle. It’s an Islay single malt of undisclosed origin and age. The whisky was matured exclusively in casks that previously held Pedro Ximenez sherry and is bottled at 54.6%.
Smell: I found it hard to determine what jumped out at me first, the sherry or the smoke. It’s like a sensory explosion. After much deliberation, I think the sherry leads the way, by a whisker. I get sultanas and runny honey with barbecue sauce and hoisin. Thick, ashy, chimney smoke. Turning increasingly coastal over time with sea shells and seaweed. Also some pepper. Liquorice. A bit meaty.
Taste: Sticky, smoky barbecue sauce with chilli pepper spice. More hoisin and throw in some aged balsamic. Sultanas, currants and prunes. What a mouthful of flavour! Barbecue coals, smouldering away. Black peppercorns. Some nice saltiness in there. Salted caramel. Dry, oaky, smoke-ridden finish.
Thoughts: When I see Islay and PX-matured on a label, I have a pretty good idea of what to expect, or at least, I know what I’d like to get from the dram. In this case, it certainly delivers . Smoky malt and PX casks come together in a great, big mouthful of intense flavour. Sherry as powerful as this could so easily dominate a Scotch spirit but the peatiness of the Islay ensures it has enough to punch through the blanket of fortified wine. The dram won’t win any prizes for subtlety but it’s glorious in its over the top flavour. A perfect dram for cold winter nights, it’s big and powerful, with the sweet comfort of sherry and the familiar and distinctive peat reek of Islay.
Price: £70. It’s a no-age-statement so there isn’t a lot to go on when determining what it should cost but the quality is there and it compares very positively with other NAS Fèis releases.
For more on Mac-Talla visit here
For more on Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers visit here
Whisky Reviews is free but if you would like to support the upkeep of the blog, you can make a donation below.
Make a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
DonateDonate monthly