Diageo Special Releases 2011: Lagavulin 12 Year Old

It's always a pleasure when a younger whisky outstrides its older brothers. The Longrow C.V. jumps to mind as a whisky that outshines all but the glorious 18 year old Longrow. I think younger whiskies have a vibrancy about them that is as desirable in a whisky as the rounding of old age. Furthermore it is important that younger whisky is held in as deep regard as older whisky because it offers a more affordable and often more exciting product than highly aged whisky. The distilleries at Kilchoman and Kilkerran are setting benchmark for young whiskies that can do this. Both offer complexity in youth that many whiskies struggle to achieve in old age. This is why the Lagavulin 12 year old is one of my winners of the Diageo Special Release class of 2011. It has so much more going on than the 16 year old and has none of the failings of the Distiller's Edition. It is a perfectly balanced smoky dram.

Lagavulin 12 Year Old
57.5% - Refill American Oak Casks
Nose: There is a classic peatiness immediately present that promises a satisfying drink. Next there are hay fields, fresh citris notes and raspberry with a touch of mincemeat. There is also a leathery quality that gives this malt a robustness I enjoy in a whisky.
Palate: Raspberry cut with herbs and sweet meat smoked over a wood fire.
Finish: Those leathery notes return couples with olive oil and great length. Smoke stays until the end with a minerally character.
Overall: Such a drinkable dram (like the Caol Ila Unpeated 12 Year Old) I could drink this all night. There is excellent balance of smoke and other intrinsic flavours. Fantastic at cask strength, Lagavulin should be proud of this one!

Youth has no age: Kilkerran Release 3

The new and exciting is a phrase that offers more hype and hyperbole than a story about Katie Price's silicon-to-flesh ratio in the, ever meaningful tabloid, the Sun. It is easy to jump on a bandwagon of exuberant journalism and Internet ecstasy whenever anything new is unleashed upon a world chomping at the bit for something fresher than yesterday's news to derive entertainment and short-term satisfaction from. The consequence is a world motivated by the imminent and short-term. Conversely, the backlash is the cynicism and borderline eroticism of the past. Too often are the good old days referenced, when men were men, women were women and horses were cars. We tend to find comfort in the past and excitement in the future, and for me this leads to an aggravating paradox. I love the idea of rolling fields and old man's pubs but I simultaneously love busy cities and high concept bars.

In the whisky world it is a dilemma I face virtually daily. On the one hand I have ancient whiskies often from distilleries long gone and on the other I have a host of new distilleries and distilling practices offering a step into the future. The balance is hard to maintain, I've had my fair share of over-aged drudge and I've had enough "experimental" drams to turn me into a new-age Michael Jackson (pop-star not critic). So it gives me great pleasure when I find something new that reflects what has gone before. This dram is the latest release from Glengyle, the Kilkerran Release 3. A young whisky that offers something fresh and rewarding with flashbacks to a regional style - the new and old mashed perfectly together.

Kilkerran Release 3
46% - No Age Statement - Bottled at Glengyle
Nose: Gorse puncturing a heathery landscape. Hot cross buns, cardemon and a particular honeyed sweetness follow with salty popcorn and seafood keeping pace behind. Finally gooseberries provide a refreshing vibrancy to a packed nose.
Palate: Spicy, smooth, silky, creamy. A buttery sweetness coats the mouth lightly begging for the next sip.
Finish: A biscuity finish with a coastal quality. A touch of oak is present that doesn't appeal to me greatly but then I never take to oak easilly.
Overall: Spot on, a saltiness and lightness brings me back to the regional style, but its outdoorsy vibrancy keeps me intrigued. A whisky for drinking readily.