Island Malt Whisky
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Similar to, but distinct from, Islay. One has only to think of Talisker and Arran, for example.
Island Single Malts is a general term for single malt Scotch whiskies produced on the islands around the perimeter of the Scottish mainland. The exception is Islay, which is considered a separate whisky producing region.
The islands are not a recognized whisky producing region as such, but are considered to be part of the Highland region.
The whiskies produced on the Islands are extremely varied and have few similarities to point to.
I keep banging on about how important the cast is for the taste profile of a Malt Whisky. Probably the best ever Whisky I have had the privilege to taste was a 1955 cask strength Talisker bottled by Gordon & MacPhail of Elgin. Neither the 1954 nor the 1956 nor any of the other old Taliskers were ever quite so good. The 18 year old distillery bottling is quite superb, the 25 year old less easy to understand. The 18 year old was rightly voted, in my opinion and also that of a few others, “the best whisky in the world” about 3 years ago.
One of the (until lately at least) great unsung heroes of the Malt world is Highland Park. This Orcadian is wonderful at every age statement – 12, 15, 18, 25, 30 and if one could afford it the 40 year old! But if one were to look at a price/quality ratio, then the best of them all is probably the 12 year old. A lot of fine layers and complexity, honey, heather, toffee (or as Jim Murray says, “vague molasses”) soft leather, cocoa licor, and little interweaves of smoke and peat. Of course this does not mean that the other expressions are any less, only that they cost a lot more. But then to achieve perfection, the law of diminishing returns weighs heavily.
The other Orcadian is Scapa and it too has its followers. The distillery bottling 16 year old is really quite complex and not as “Islandish” as it could lead you to believe. In fact quite fruity and exotic. It was also the fruitiness and indeed sweetness of the 1993 Gordon & MacPhail bottling that attracted me back to this Malt.
The other three Island Malts are Arran, Jura and Mull. The first two I haven’t come to terms with yet. From Mull confusingly we have Tobermory and Ledaig! Both from the same distillery! Tobermory has graduated from being light and slightly lemony to being quite a bit fuller and more honeyed. The Ledaig tries very hard to be Islay-like. An interesting voyage round the West coast of Scotland ending in Orkney.
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