@ChorltonWhisky is an independent bottler based in Manchester with some really nice bottle labels on each of their drams.
| Dram | Còig Deicheadan 17yo | Ardmore 9yo | Bealach Ruadh (Caol Ila) 10yo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | 46.5% ABV, NCF, Natural colour, 211 bottles | 60.1% ABV, NCF, Natural colour, 153 bottles | 57.1% ABV, NCF, Natural colour, 159 bottles | |
| Distillery info |  |  |  | |
| Appearance |  | |||
| A lovely dark gold in the glass, gravity defying swirls seem to hang for ages then slide down the glass as slow thin legs. Initial nose: musty old book shop. | A very pale dram, swirls leave a delicately thin line on the glass which bead up into tiny slow legs. Initial nose: the ABV hits you but there's loads of floral notes | Another very pale dram but comes out at 57.1%, swirls immediately turn to tiny beads falling as slow thin legs. | ||
| Nose | Brian | The sherry notes some through as strawberry jam, there's some dried fruit and apple in here too! It's the kind of dram you could sit and nose all evening, very complex but not overpowering - hints of honey, toffee, fruit cake and a little orange. I'm getting a little maritime influence - salty seaweed? | Lots of floral notes , heather, wood sap, oak blanketed by a gentle wood smoke. There's a big bubbling porridge note too! | Initial nose ..................... come back to me in an hour! There a lovely balance of peat smoke and salty seaweed here, a hint of orchard fruit and maybe for honey. It's a fantastic Islay nose, not medicinal - reminiscent of Caol Ila 12yo |
| John | Dunnage warehouses, musty, but also some apples and pears and a touch of icing sugar sweetness - nose suggests more than the stated 17 years of age... | This has a real highland earthiness to it, heather, floral and that icing sugar sweetness again, the peat is soft, earthy, big vanillas and maybe a touch of apricot 🤔 | Citrus, lemons, coastal, sea salt, brine, gentle smoke - right up my street! | |
| Paul | Lots of sherry influence in there! :-) Quite fresh, little grassy, bit of menthol but mostly cinnamon, bit of ginger. Dunnage warehouse. Just what you would expect from a sherry matured dram with a good age. | Peated, but it's not just peat, savory notes in there to. Slightly vegital, herbal, little bit of vanilla sweetness and abit of apple/pear thing in there to. | Very coastal, peated but sea side, seaweed, salt? Slight bit of grassynes (thats a word!) green fruits | |
| Scott | Sherry, woody spice, grapes, berries, anyone get something like cumin? Definitely something from the spice rack, musty, damp dunnage warehouse. | Icing sugar, heather smoke, butterscotch Angel Delight, menthol, eucalyptus, blackjack sweeties | Filthy, dirty burning peat field with a newly tarred road burning straight through it. Smoked lemon, wet stones at the beach, brine, grimy old shipping ropes. I love this stuff! | |
| Palate | Brian | Smooth sweet arrival, lots of orange and dried fruit. The sweetness is soon overatken by a lovelt tingling ginger spice which hits the edges of the tongue. A little while in the glass and a few more sips, the dram comes alive with Christmas notes : dried fruit, sherry, spice, pine tree. | Lovely smooth honey arrival, hides it's 60.1% well, a little orchard fruit and barley sugars quickly overtaken by the peat smoke. After a few sips the fruit comes through more and the smoke fades a little. There is a little bitter edge to this - dark chocolate - maybe smoked as @ScotchB78 suggests! | Loads of citrus, maybe with a slightly sour edge - grapefruit? It tickles the edges of your tongue and leaves a lovely glow in your mouth. This soons gives way to the salty smoke but hidden away in there is some oaky notes. Yummy dram! |
| John | Surprisingly fresh and vibrant - zingy almost, in complete contrast to the nose... coats the mouth well and the wood spices start to show | The peat is more evident on the palate but it's in no way overpowering, this is really well balanced - and alarmingly drinkable even at this ABV! Quite soft overall but with a healthy spicy kick | Again there is a real freshness to the palate here, getting that popping candy sensation which I'm putting down to the ABV and the citrus that flows through the palate. | |
| Paul | Wood spice, imo indicating some old whisky in there. Boiled sweets. Red fruits, bit of pears, grapefruit. Icing sugar. | Wow, hides that abv really well! Ginger again, burnt sugar. Smoked salted milk chocolate (is that a thing?) Enjoying this one as well. | Hides its 57.1% abv again! Interestingly slight icing sugar. But just think coastal here. Little bit of ash. Lots of peat. Seaweed, sea salt and still getting that grassyness (...its still a word) green fruits. | |
| Scott | Agree, sweet arrival, sherry, ginger. | Big ginger hit, develops into smoked hay, burnt cherries, smoked dark chocolate, smoked nuts. Yes smoke. Love it.Really easy drinker at 60.1%. | Initially sweet, then more dirty ashy smoke, lemon, lime, ginger, something metallic, rust like even. | |
| Finish | Brian | A lovely balance of sweet honey and spicy ginger, long and warming - a perfect Winter's night dram. | Long sweet and smoky, a little of the orchard fruit from the palate and a pleasing kick of chilli spice. | Long warming and smoky - the maritime influence is left on the palate and the smoke really takes over on the finish - a lovely smoke chimney effect as the liquid rolls down your throat! |
| John | Lovely warmth to the finish and a touch peppery and those spices continue from the palate, getting more oak right at the end - finish is a good length. | Medium finish on this, getting the warmth again and the spices and maybe a touch of baked apple too - like this 😀 | This is lovely stuff... smoked salmon anyone? | |
| Paul | Long Medium ish. Cinnamon, ginger, red fruits again, slight burnt toffee? Then getting the wood right at the end. Lovely dram, very much enjoyed that one. Real Christmas cake dram. | Long! Seems to change from savory to sweet. Peat is still there but in the background. Sweet, green fruits. Still really sweet and chocolaty. Very tasty dram. Would put that at more than 9 years old to. £55 is abit of a bargain imo. Hides the abv so well! | Wood / pencil shavings? | |
| Scott | Moving to an almost pine cone like finish. | Smoked grains on the finish, slightly drying, very moreish. If it wasn't a school night i would have another | Like a coal fire in the morning! | |
| Overall | Brian | The name "Còig Deicheadan" is Scottish Gaelic for "five decades", referring to the age of one of the components. What a yummy dram! | There's no way you would guess this was 60% - wonderfully drinkable! Yummy dram - opens your eyes to what Ardmore are capable of rather than the 40% Legacy..... | Bealach Ruadh, a mystery 10yo from Islay..... a quick google reveals that it's the name of the A846 road running from the Jura ferry port on Islay. The nearest distillery to there is Caol Ila - just a suggestion! Great dram! |
| John | Really enjoyed this one! | Enjoyed the nose on this, lots going on... Ardmore is not a go to distillery for me but this dram is going some way to changing that. | All of them have been great, hard to pick a winner tonight...but it's probably this one! | |
| Paul | £75 - I think that's well priced considering the age of the whiskies in it! | Just pop 19 on the label instead, it will fly out and id bet no one would know the difference. No way would I ever have thought that was 9 y/o.# Best of the night! | Some lovely drams in there, really enjoyed them! | |
| Scott | This was intended to be the Christmas release but was delayed till early Feb. My understanding is that this is a blend of HP, Glenturret,, Macallan and Bunnahabhain | It's a stunner! | Ardmore Highland Peat = Big, kilted muscular warrior sworn to protect you. Bealach Ruadh Islay Peat = wee ned who will give you a good doing and take your wallet! | |
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| 📷Scott |
David from @ChorltonWhisky and @DavidJBrodie from Bunnahabhain helped with some of the pronunciations:
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