Knockdhu was always a fairly unsung single malt but for a faithful few who held it fondly, and if the old limited edition cask strength 23 year old was anything to go by, they had every reason to. Now the whisky finds itself branded as anCnoc – to avoid confusion with Knockando distillery – and is given a much greater presence within the single malt market. The positive reviews are flowing, the awards quotas growing and interest in the distillery has never been higher, which is certainly great news for this small and rather beautiful distillery.

As was touched upon in last week’s musing on Balblair whisky, marketing and people, this trajectory of rejuvenation is a common theme among the distilleries in the Inverhouse stable. Maybe even Balmenach has a similar future to look forward to? The anCnoc range has centred around an often under-rated anCnoc 12 year old, a yearly vintage and a good quality 16 year old over the last years. Older examples had rested on an enjoyable, if slightly tired 30 year old distilled in 1975. This new anCnoc 35 year old effectively replaces that old, leathery gent and brings with it some ultra-modern, crisply designed packaging.

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The ups and downs of the whisky world are very much in evidence in this month’s selection of staff picks. Distilleries open, grow, get mothballed, decline, close, re-emerge and change hands throughout their colourful histories. The four brands on offer here each have a story to tell that illustrates this perfectly.

A few year’s back the idea of a distillery in India producing world class single malt would have been inconceivable, yet now we have Amrut whisky by a distillery very much in its ascendancy and doing just that.

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Visiting distilleries is rarely anything less than a pleasure and a recent trip to the small, East-Highland distillery of Balblair was far from an exception. The rolling landscape of Ross-shire, persistent Highland rain and warm, bright eyed welcome of the staff on such a trip is instantly disarming in its charm, but as a somewhat hardened and faintly cynical whisky lover there is always a sense that things may be less than they seem.

This critical eye of concern is evident all over the whisky world, be it a blogger lamenting the loss of staff and weather beaten worm tubs or the misty eyed, pipe smoking malt-scribe mourning the fading memory of a dramming bell. Such romanticised, evocative regrets are often more than mere wistful idealism though, after all for many a bottle backed by a quaint highland tale of history and permanence there is a computer, an expansion plan and sadly, compromises in quality.

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Putting aside the dubious nature of regional flavour profiles in Scotch, it’s probably fair to suggest that the active Lowland distilleries receive the least attention of any. In the past the styles of whisky being produced in the borders of Scotland were fairly wide ranging, with the likes of St Magdalene distillery and Littlemill producing a spirit that diverges greatly from what is often marketed as the “classic” Lowland style today. Auchentoshan distillery typifies the light, sweet and clean spirit character that is now associated with the region, and while it has some firm followers it is sometimes passed over as a pleasant but ultimately unremarkable single malt.

This entry level distillery bottling might not be the best selection should we wish to dispel the distillery’s reputation for mediocrity, but before we charge into more unusual and older examples of Auchentoshan’s output its worth taking a look at what is a good quality, highly accessible Auchentoshan 12 year old. After all, this type of bottling is a platform for discovering the joys of whisk(e)y, and filtration and colouring apart you could certainly do worse than a dram of this over rocks on a warm summer’s day, or as an introduction for those who might find your cask strength Ardbeg just a little overpowering.

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The island of Jura is a place of deep beauty, feeling far more remote and isolated than its neighbouring Islay and where this Island of peat is home to eight celebrated distilleries Jura boasts only one. It is a significant one in the U.K market though and, in its 10 year old form, is a staple among widely available supermarket malts. However, even with this undoubted success and some peated releases to draw extra interest, Jura whisky remains quite unloved beyond casual whisky drinkers.

The quality of the standard range has risen markedly in recent years, yet only the older official bottlings and interesting examples from the Independents pique the interest of many. Personally I can understand some of the misgivings associated with the Jura 10 year old, but have tasted a few beautiful old Jura’s in the past and feel the distillery often gets rather unfairly overlooked. This is where quality cask selection comes in of course and, having spoken about the Jura Archive bottlings before, we can pour this one with quite some optimism.

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After May’s review of the Glenfarclas 21 year old, it was never going to be long before we began to delve deeper into the distillery’s incomparably vast selection of bottlings to taste the sort of drams that typify Glenfarclas whiskies; long-aged, rich and deeply sherried. The 60s are often thought to have produced some of the distillery’s greatest moments (check out Luc Timmermans’ 1968 bottlings) so this ‘66 seemed like a fair place to start what (I hope) will be the first of many Family Cask reviews.

Glenfarclas is one of the few distilleries that can reach these advanced ages with considerable ease, even perhaps requiring great lengths of maturation for the best of its richly oily, sherry-oak-friendly spirit to develop. However, this type of whisky isn’t for everyone and while many people adore an old “sherry monster” such as this, others can find the cask influence erodes the spirit character while the age adds too much resinous oak. Personally, I often find myself in the mood for such bottlings and though many tread a fine line, few distilleries pull the style off with the regularity of Glenfarclas.

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Last time we reviewed a BenRiach whisky on the blog it was a prime example of the sheer brilliance of the distillery’s output during the mid-70s. There’s no question that such bottlings are joy to taste and that any opportunity to do so should not be missed, but there is more to this reinvigorated Speyside distillery than the uber-fruity oldies. For around 25 years the distillery has done that which is quite unusual outside of the Scottish Islands and produced batches of peated spirit, originally intended for blending.

Since being taken over in 2004 BenRiach has gone from relative obscurity to a position of great importance as a single malt, thus drawing great interest in their slumbering stock of casks. The peated releases might not have gathered quite the following of the very best single casks, but there is no denying that they show a character all their own, being clearly set apart from the Islay whiskies with little medicinal or coastal presence.

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Glen Garioch is a curious little distillery with a long and varied history. Founded in 1797 and often a key name in discussions about the oldest of Scotland’s distilleries, Glen Garioch distillery is currently in the hands of Suntory alongside Bowmore and Auchentoshan. Like Bowmore, the distillery has a reputation for distinct changes in style between the 70s, 80s and 90s, as peating levels seemed to drop over time and the 80s brought about a sometimes soapy, floral component to the distillery character. Those familiar with Bowmore’s FWP years (take a look at Dave Broom’s E-Pistle for the Malt Maniacs) may approach some 80s Glen Garioch with similar caution.

Happily, the 90s take the comparison further as, like Bowmore whisky, the spirit seems to throw off its frequent lavender-soap associations and returns to an old-school, dusty, faintly smoky highland character. This is great news as some bottles from the 60s and 70s (no need to mention Bowmore again, is there?) have deservedly excellent reputations, and it’s good to see Glen Garioch’s standing among whisky geeks growing once more.

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Ian Buxton is a name that many will already be familiar with, particularly for his recent books chronicling the definitive history of distilleries such as Glenfarclas and Glenglassaugh. Perhaps even more prominent in the minds of whisky fans though will be his 2010 release 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die. The success of this excellent little book with its mix of dry wit, honesty and cutting irreverence was well deserved, and its follow up; 101 World Whiskies to Try Before You Die is reaching shelves now. With that in mind it felt like the perfect time to have a chat with Ian, ask a few questions that have been floating around in my mind for some time and get his views on whisky past and present.

Sadly, no. Though I have worked in and around the drinks industry for more than 30 years, I actually drifted into whisky because I wanted to return to Scotland with my wife and then young family and I couldn’t find a job in the brewing industry here. I joined the blenders Robertson & Baxter and from there moved to Glenmorangie. I set up my own business in 1991 and things have evolved from there.

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After our recent review the very modern, well-presented Glenlivert Nadurra it seemed like a good idea (yes yes, any excuse) to dig out something from the distillery’s earlier years. After-all, despite what marketers might wish you to believe, whisky has changed a great deal over the last 40 or so years. While 1973 was already late enough to have seen the end of Glenlivet’s floor maltings (1966) and the conversion from coal to gas firing (1972), the stills remained direct fired until 1985 and yeast types and barley varieties would certainly have been very different from those commonly found today.

I have spoken in the past about my affection for Berry Bros & Rudd, and while I have tasted many very good casks bottled under their name I can’t deny that examples distilled in the early 70s have an extra allure to them. In this department the good gents of BBR have been rather busy recently having released both this Glenlivet, its sister cask #10822, and a pair of similarly enticing 1974 Glen Grant whiskies (of which the Berry Brother’s Glen Grant 37 year old has already received a very favourable review on the blog a couple of months back.) If anything, I am hoping for even greater things this time around as, at its best, early 70s Glenlivet can be an underrated marvel of fruity elegance.

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