.north british - 27yo - 1988 - the grainman

We seem to have received a not yet released sample of the new line from Meadowside Blending. Besides their blended whiskies and their exclusive single malts via the Maltman, they have now released a series of single grains.

50.1% abv, €100
single grain, non-chill filtered, natural colour

Nose: sweet, caramelized brown sugar, ryebread, citrus, lemon zest, sweet tangerines

Palate: sweet, cereals, ryebread, spicy, white pepper, cloves, a hint of cinnamon

Finish: long, sweet, rye bread, citrus, lemon zest, a hint of wood, liquorice, a touch of bitter
Mark: +++++ 

Conclusion: Very nice, the touch of bitter is a bit of an off-note to me, though.

More info: Distilled in October 1988, finished in an ex-Pedro Ximénez Sherry cask #8 for eight months and bottled in March 2016 into 282 bottles.

.port dundas - 1991 - 24yo - the grainman

55.1% abv, €100

single grain, non-chill filtered, natural colour

Nose: glue-ey for quite some time, then sweet, citrus, sweet blood oranges, dried fruits, fat raisins, cranberries, figs, dates, sweet, thick syrup, tobacco leaves, milk chocolate

Palate: sweet, spicy, hot jalapeños, dried fruit, figs, dates, banana chips, citrus, lemon skin, lime juice, milk chocolate

Finish: long, sweet, creamy honey, nuts, hazelnuts, milk chocolate, Nutella basically, a hint of tobacco
Mark: ++++/+

Conclusion: Well, that's nice... If I would have been a little earlier with making my note, I might have had a time to go find and purchase a bottle. My bad, looking forward to other expressions of the Grainman though, there is more where this came from...

More info: distilled in March 1991 finished for four months in an ex-Oloroso Sherry cask #7, bottled into 282 bottles in January 2016.

.mortlach - 16yo - the maltman

Another sample from the vaults of the Maltman. Secrets are to be revealed eventually, such as the whiskies of the Mortlach distillery, kindly given to us by the Maltman's Andrew Hart.

.port charlotte - 10yo - the maltman

From the lovely Bruichladdich distillery on the gorgeous isle of Islay, comes this Port Charlotte, cared for and bottled by the nice people of the Maltman.

.clynelish - 18yo - the maltman

It is no secret I have a weak spot for a good Clynelish. Nice bloke by definition; Andrew Hart of the Maltman was so kind to send us some samples some time ago, one of which was this beauty.

.aberlour - 22yo - the maltman

Aberlour is not easily found as a single malt that is bottled a lot by your average independent bottler. Every now and then, a cask will appear and be bottled for us to enjoy. In this case, the Maltman has surprised us with a 22 year old Sherry bomb.

.glen keith - 21yo - the maltman

My first "official" Glen Keith. I have tasted Glen Keiths before, but somehow, I never got to make a tasting note from one. Seeing the below result, I kind of know why... It is a good dram, but - for me - there seems to be missing something.

.miltonduff - 6yo - the maltman

From the people of, well, Miltonduff, but cared for and bottled by our friends at the Maltman, comes a refreshingly young and age stated (!) six years old. Let's see what that brings us.

.port charlotte - 2001-2014 - the maltman - #846

We do not see very often that an independent bottler releases a whisky from the Bruichladdich distillery, simply because the distillery hardly ever sells a cask. Every now and then - if you are lucky, you can find a bottle that does not have the official, contemporary label on the bottle, but nevertheless is a distillate from the Progressive Hebridean Distillers that somehow slipped through the nets and found its way into the arms of an independent party that decided to cherish the spirit and bottle it on their own terms, at the right time.

This edition of their heavily peated Port Charlotte has been caressed for the past twelve years by our friends at Meadowside blending who bottled it as one of their own, in their "the Maltman" single cask series.