St. George's Chapter 9 Peated Review

Country: England 

Region: Norfolk

Brand: St. George's Chapter 9 (Peated)

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age: NAS (In fact 3 Years)

ABV: 46 %

Date: 30/09/2013

Colour: Pale Straw/White Wine

Nose: Quite Young Earthy Spirit! I find light Smoke and Peat, Plastic/Rubber, Alcohol, Green Oak, Vanilla, Wallpaper Paste, Cured Pork, Pepper, Lemon Peel, Nuts, Resin, Straw and Green Apples. Traces of Honey, Mango and Green Coffee Beans.

Palate: Spicy, Grassy and slightly Medicinal with Pepper, Straw, Alcohol, Malt, light Smoke, Oak, Vanilla, MInt, light Licorice, Lemon Peel and Green Apples.

Finish: Short, Spicy and Edgy with Pepper, Nuts, Oak, Green Coffee Beans, Ginger and Cardamom.

With some added Water, the Nose gets more Malt and Honey. Obviously, the Alcohol is toned down somewhat. But Pepper, Cardamom and Licorice start to dominate Palate and, especially, the Finish. Still, it can be fun to play with a couple of drops in this case.

Rating: 79.5

Nose: 20.5 - Taste: 20 - Finish: 19.5 - Overall: 19.5

General Remarks: St. George's is a very new distillery, founded in 2006 by James and Andrew Nelstrop (The English Whisky Co.) at Roudham, East Harling (Norfolk) in the UK. They were helped by distiller Iain Henderson Ex-Laphroaig who also trained the present distillery-manager David Fitt. So far more than 2000 casks have been produced. All whisky is Batch made by hand, naturally coloured and not Chill-Filtered. Chapter 9 was the first peated English Single Malt. It was distilled in May 2007, bottled in May 2010 and matured in first fill Ex-Bourbon Casks. It sells at around 60 US Dollars.

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay/Good

Conclusion: I can certainly see potential for this young Distillery. Obviously, three years is a short maturation period and the Spirit smells and tastes rather young and unfinished. The Alcohol is not at all integrated. The Finish is really on the Sharp Side. But the Spirit is not artificially coloured, not Chill-Filtered and has a nice high ABV! And the light Peat is well done and adds to the flavour rather than trying to control it. I hope that St. George's finds enough cash to sit on their stocks for a while. Because I would look forward to taste a 12 Year Old from this distillery!

Jan van den Ende                                                        September 2013

Inchgower 1982 Review

Country: Scotland 

Region: Highland - Lower Speyside 

Brand: Inchgower 1982 (Whiskybroker)

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age: 29 Years

ABV: 53.9 % 

Date: 28/09/2013

Colour: Light Gold/Fresh Hay   

Nose: Give it some time to open up! Metallic, Mineral, Waxy and Dry. Quite clean for a 29 year old. The Alcohol still isn't fully integrated. I get Oak, Dried Fruit, Nut Casks, Butter, Malt, Pepper, Ginger, Salt, Herbs, Mint, Stone Fruits, Vanilla and Milk Chocolate. 

Palate: Bitter-Sweet, Fruity and Spicy with Melon, Berries, Oak, Toffee, Vanilla, Malt, Pepper, Mint and Nuts.

Finish: Quite Long with Butterscotch, Almond, Milk Chocolate, Malt, Pepper, Mint, slightly Bitter Oak and a pinch of Salt. Some Perfume towards the very end.

I added a bit of Water and some additional Malt, Butterscotch and Fruit (Peach) appear in the Nose. Palate and Finish get some extra Spices and Perfume. You can certainly experiment with a few drops in this case.

Rating: 83

Nose: 20.5  - Taste: 21 - Finish: 21 - Overall: 20.5

General Remarks: The Inchgower Distillery is located close to Buckie in Moray. It was constructed in 1871. It was bought in 1938 by Arthur Bell & Sons Ltd and until today Inchgower lies at the heart of the Bell's Blend. Today the distillery is part of the Diageo Group.

The Inchgower we are tasting today was distilled on June 30, 1982 and was bottled at Cask Strength by/for Independent Bottler Whiskybroker Co. in the United Kingdom on November 21, 2011. It matured in a Refill Hogshead with Cask # 6690. A mere 190 bottles were offered via Whiskybase in Rotterdam, Holland. The rest of the Cask was marketed via Master of Malt. I don't think it's still available. Lately it was priced at around 90 US Dollars. This whisky is naturally coloured and not Chill-Filtered.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: Very Fresh and Vital for a 29 year old! It's got quite some (Stone) Fruits as well but somehow they smell and taste a bit artificial. In contrast, the Butterscotch and Milk Chocolate are convincing. As a whole I miss a bit of direction and purpose. Interesting to taste and certainly different from your average Speyside. But not a Single Malt I would put on my Wish-List for Christmas.

Jan van den Ende                                                        September 2013