Between the 16th and 20th of September 2024, my friend John and I were in Campbeltown.
In my research of activities to take part in beyond the three distilleries, I discovered Watt Whisky, I had heard of the Independent Bottler before visiting, however, to be honest, I did not realise they were based in Campbeltown.
After a visit to their website, we found that they held regular whisky tastings of their independent bottles.
For £25 per person, you can't enjoy a flight of 5 whiskies (or other spirits) from their range.
Founders: Mark & Kate Watt
Website: https://wattwhisky.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wattwhisky
Instagram: @wattwhisky
Twitter: @WattWhisky
If you wish to find where to buy their whiskies they provide this page https://wattwhisky.com/where-to-buy
So John and I booked the tasting hosted by Kate Watt at the Commercial Inn, Campbeltown.
With us on the tasting were a group of German Whisky enthusiasts with their guide Bob Bales.
This is a summary of my tasting notes from the evening.
The photo below is an overview of the whiskies & Armagnac tasted:
Each header will take you to each whisky tasting:
Distillery: Glenlossie
Age: 10 Year Old.
Cask: Bourbon
Vintage: 2013
Strength: 57.2% ABV
Outturn: 264 Bottles
RRP: £61.75
Available at The Whisky Exchange
The whisky is a very pale colour. It has not been coloured or had chill filtration.
Nose
I found it quite floral and fruity. Beyond the approachable notes on the nose arises gentle spice perhaps some vegetal elements. It is very delicate.
With water, it becomes even more approachable with some of the alcohol intensity being reduced bringing more juicy fruits out.
Palate
Much like the nose, it is fruity and approachable. The fruit appears to be white berries. There is a spicy kick, mainly pepper. Again, it is very juicy and an easygoing dram.
The addition of water did not appear to change the palate too much.
Overall, this was a very easy and approachable whisky.
It achieves a WhiskyResource value score of 99.8/100 which represents excellent value for money.
Distillery: Invergordon
Type: Single Grain Scotch Whisky
Age: 26 Year Old.
Cask: Bourbon Hogshead
Vintage: 1997
Strength: 52.3% ABV
Outturn: 258 Bottles
RRP: £94.95
Available at The Whisky Exchange
The whisky has a golden colour. Has not been coloured or had chill filtration.
Nose
Initially, the nose had a chemical sweetness, however, this quickly subsided to reveal a grain sweetness.
A musty grape and almond oil note gave the sensation of a warm day out in a meadow, perhaps for a picnic.
Then came the usual grain note of Coconut and the more unusual touch of coastal elements.
Palate
Very similar to the nose, it is sweet from the grain with coconut and that musty grape providing earthiness.
White pepper spice leads into the finish which introduces caramel with oak.
It achieves the WhiskyResource maximum value score of 100/100 you can't argue that a 26-year-old whisky for less than £100 is excellent value. I seriously considered buying this bottle. However, there was only one available at the time and it was nabbed by one of the other tasters.
Distillery: Benrinnes & Glasgow Distillery
Type: Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 6 Year Old.
Cask: Butt - 12 Benrinnes refill sherry butts / 6 Glasgow 1st fill Sherry. Equal 50/50 blend.
Vintage: 1997
Strength: 57.1% ABV
Outturn: 282 Bottles
RRP: £54.95
Available at The Whisky Exchange
The whisky has an amber colour and has not been coloured or had chill filtration.
Nose
On the nose, it began with an intense rubber note. However, it quickly gave way to dark chocolate, burnt caramel and a lovely cherry. There was a very faint note of ethanol.
Palate
I couldn't detect much of the sulfur or rubber on the palate. It was creamy with lots of brown sugar, raisins and sultana. A festive whisky that had oodles of spice and chilli. There was also a green woody twig note hidden amongst the fruit cake notes, which added a dimension to the taste.
This was a decent blended malt. However, the heavy rubber on the nose could be offputting to those who are sensitive to sulphur. The whisky did show some elements of being young.
It achieves the WhiskyResource maximum value score of 98/100.
Distillery: Croftenge (Loch Lomond) Heavily Peated
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 6 Year Old
Cask: Bourbon Barrel
Vintage: 2017
Strength: 57.1% ABV
Outturn: 252 Bottles
RRP: £62
Available at The Whisky Exchange
The whisky has a golden colour and has not been coloured or had chill filtration.
Nose
The nose gave an earthy and vegetal peat smoke. It was sweet, aromatic and very expressive. But the best element was a medicinal note, which came from the fantastic peat element. The nose on this whisky was glorious.
Palate
Sweet, almost a honey-coated sweetcorn kernel that had been on a barbeque grill for some time. Once again, medicinal peat greeted us together with a warming chill spice.
This whisky was fantastic and the show-stopper whisky of the evening. Ignore that it is young at six years old, this just meant that the peat & smoke were more influential in their delivery. I could help nosing this one for quite sometime before taking a sip.
It achieves the WhiskyResource maximum value score of 98/100.
Distillery: Bas Armagnac distilled at Chateau Laubade
Type: Single Grape
Age: 17 Year Old
Cask: Hogshead
Vintage: 2006
Strength: 54.8% ABV
Outturn: 294 Bottles
RRP: £89.95
Available at The Whisky Exchange
The Armagnac has a deep mahogany colour and has not been coloured or had chill filtration.
Nose
It begins with a heavy sensation of polished wood, which relaxes to reveal sweet cherry wood and cherry oil. The alcohol is a little nippy.
Palate
It has deep, rich, and dark flavours, mainly coffee, tropical dark fruits, cherry, and sultana. Then unexpectedly hay and note similar to menthol.
I very much enjoyed the Armagnac, offering something different to the evening and a great dram to finish on.
While the value score was never designed to consider other spirits, applying the same calculation it achieves a WhiskyResource maximum score of 100/100.
