Two new collections of highly limited old whiskies – one of single malts, the other focused on blends and grain – show just how varied Scotch can be. The single malts are reviewed here…
For a few years, Diageo’s Rare and Exceptional division offered an annual release of eight whiskies called Prima & Ultima, with the premise that every whisky was the first or last of its kind. Just as Radiohead have not actually split up, but last released an album a decade ago, Prima & Ultima is not officially abandoned. However, a collection of eight incredibly rare and high-aged whiskies with a specific theme every year is probably best left in the whisky bubble of 2020-23.
At the unveiling of what is “not” the replacement for Prima & Ultima (but really is) – the Diageo Rare Series – master blender Dr Craig Wilson did not deny that some of the reasons for a liquid being the first or last were occasionally a little bit of a stretch. ‘With this Rare Series, it’s an opportunity, a privilege, to unearth the exceptional Scotch whiskies from 10 million casks across 30 distilleries,’ he says, ‘and showcase rarity, diversity, and meticulous craftsmanship. And some of these could have qualified for a Prima & Ultima – especially the latter, as most are the last stock of their kind.’
There are also only five releases, a calmer pace of release if this is to be annual. That might be a reflection of the market in rare whisky (the cost of being a completist is lower!), but is also a chance to linger over choices and savour the differences.
The collection’s entry point is a 1991 Blair Athol, aged for most of its 34 years in ex-sherry European oak, but finished in Pedro Ximénez-seasoned casks by Wilson (a first that could have worked for Prima & Ultima). ‘We kept the dry, spicy, struck-match character, but I’ve just mellowed that and added in this lovely sweetness,’ he says.
(1)
Talisker 1992 Rare Series (60.1% ABV; 331 bottles; £1,200)
(2)
Glenury Royal 1970 Rare Series (62.4% ABV; 232 bottles; £5,700)
(3)
Clynelish 1983 Rare Series (49.5% ABV; 160 bottles; £3,600)
(4)
Blair Athol 1991 Rare Series (50.8% ABV; 347 bottles; £800)
(1)
Talisker 1992 Rare Series (60.1% ABV; 331 bottles; £1,200)
(2)
Glenury Royal 1970 Rare Series (62.4% ABV; 232 bottles; £5,700)
(3)
Clynelish 1983 Rare Series (49.5% ABV; 160 bottles; £3,600)
(4)
Blair Athol 1991 Rare Series (50.8% ABV; 347 bottles; £800)
The 42YO Caol Ila is unexpected – a vibrant fruity whisky with very little of the expected Islay smoke. That’s because, while some mainland distilleries have a “week of peat” at the end of the annual cycle, Caol Ila once had a month without peat, producing “Highland-style” whisky. Ten months of peated barley in the system means it still has a hint of smoke, as global brand ambassador Ewan Gunn explains: ‘Someone at Caol Ila once compared it to opening a birthday card that has glitter in – you’re never entirely ridding the house of it after that!’
For a more familiar long-aged whisky with some peat in it, there’s a 33YO Talisker, with classic minerality and peppery bite.
No Diageo collection of rarities is complete without something from the stock of the various distilleries closed in the early 1980s by the company’s predecessor, DCL. However, with Port Ellen and Brora (both regulars in the Prima & Ultima collections) reincarnated, there are fewer still in apparition form. Glenury Royal is definitely not returning – there’s a housing estate on its site in Stonehaven now.
The oldest expression in this collection, a 55YO distilled in 1970 has aged unusually for a Scotch, explains Craig Wilson: ‘We brought together several American oak casks with a similar maturation and vatted them into a European oak cask. We put that into a warehouse which had specific conditions, whereby the ABV of this whisky was actually slightly increasing over time. It was quite a well-insulated room and also had very low humidity, so it’s actually losing water faster than it’s losing ABV or flavour. It’s concentrated the flavours and given the whisky a really intense and spicy final character.’
The most memorable of this first set of Rare Series bottles, however, is likely to be the 42YO Clynelish, simply matured in American oak hogsheads for that time. Craig Wilson explains the rarity: ‘The best thing and the worst thing about Clynelish is that it is prized by blenders because it adds such a beautiful, oily, unctuous mouthfeel to a blended whisky. So we have very little left to use as a single malt!’
This edition is the Platonic ideal of Clynelish: waxy, gentle florals, a little earth like a potting shed, lemon sherbet – it is like staying at your grandparents’ house.
Each comes in an understated etched-glass bottle with a granite stopper, inside a simple but elegant recycled-material sleeve with a leather strap to secure it.
Availability is for private clients through enquiry at Justerini & Brooks and other private client teams; rare-series.com
