Annandale - 6 Year Old (Peated) – Vintage Bottlers Ltd

Visitors to the cask-filling room at the Annandale distillery in Dumfries & Galloway, south-west Scotland, will find a life-size picture of Rugby Union legend and indefatigable campaigner for Motor Neurone disease, Doddie Weir. Sadly, gentle giant Doddie died in November, but not before he had raised huge amounts for his Foundation and in doing so, inspired many with his bravery and stoic good humour. He is pictured in 2014 hammering the bung into Annandale’s first cask of peated malt – Cask 40.

In December, 2017, by now suffering from MND, he returned to the distillery to broach that same cask. From it, 99 bottles were auctioned and raised £27,800 for the charity. To find the beginnings of his association with Annandale, we must go back to 2007 when the moribund distillery, closed by then owners Johnnie Walker in 1924, was revived by two scientists/business people, Professor David Thomson and Teresa Church; the former looking for a good reason to re-establish roots in his native Scotland, and she passionate about restoring old historic buildings.

With an eye to publicity, the first – unpeated – cask was auctioned and fetched a newsworthy £1 million. Being a big enthusiast for Scottish rugby, Professor Thomson asked Doddie Weir – who incredibly had previously designed the distillery’s effluent system – to come and help fill the first cask of peated malt as a favour.

While the vast proportion of those early 2014 and ’15 vintages is likely to remain a rarity for some time to come, the company reports excellent maturing whiskies from 2016 and ’17 and these will be bottled and released as Founders’ Selection ‘because that’s exactly what they are.’

Of existing offerings, always bottled at cask strength, Man O’Sword is a smoky, peated malt boasting 45ppm phenolics, while Man O’Words is unpeated and fruity. The latter might have gone down well with one long-ago customer at The Globe Inn in nearby Dumfries, now part of the Annandale company. The Globe is said to have been the poet’s favourite howff.

Colour: Deep, bright tawny.

Nose: There is an immediate big hit of a well-smoked Spanish ham joint with a demerara sugar crust. The sweetness is rich, dark and grown-up.

Palate: The sherry of the cask is discernible among the wafting peat smoke that drifts in and out of roasted grains. There is a tantalising final hint of liquorice and raisin toffee. Despite the big, dark flavour spectrum, there is a youthful freshness that permeates throughout.

Finish: The finish is lengthy and flavoursome as the smoke and confectionary take on lighter notes, finally disappearing with the lingering taste of a fine cigar.

Overall comment: My dictionary gives as a definition of 'precocious', developing before the natural season. Quite. At six-years-old, this Lowland malt from Dumfries & Galloway has no right being so mature, so complex, so hugely enjoyable. But then the principals behind the rejuvenated Annandale - founded in 1830 but with a very chequered history including spells as a porridge factory and livestock barn! - take a very scientific approach to distilling. They prefer to pay close attention to the sensory changes taking place within their casks rather than the dates on the outside. A very fine discovery it is, providing further evidence that age does not have a monopoly on good taste.

By Gordon Coxhill, Whisky Enthusiast & Journalist

Annandale Distillery,

Northfield, Annan,

DG12 5LL

Single Ex-Oloroso Sherry Butt