Whisky of the Month: July 2020
Last month saw the inaugural WotM here at No Nonsense Whisky. If you missed it, you can check out the entry here.
Ordinarily, I would have to pick from up to 9 different whiskies depending on how the days of month fell with video releases, but this month there we’re only 5 drams to pick from. Before we get into the winner, it seems fair to talk about each of the other drams this month and why they didn’t quite cut the mustard on this occasion. As always, you can click the link of each of the whiskies to open a new window to my review of them.
First up we had Gulliver’s 47 4 yrs. This little beaut is from an English Indie bottler, Samuel Gulliver & Co. A company originally started in 1747 and resurrected by descendants of the original owner. It’s actually spirit made at the St George’s Distillery in Norfolk and its a lovely drop. The fact that this didn’t win has nothing to do with it’s age, as you’ll see the winner is only a few years older, it was all to do with what the winner offers. More on that later.
Next we had the June release from Summerton Club (a UK subscription service that sends full bottles out every two months). This time around it was an astounding 5 Year Glen Ord bottled by The Single Cask. An incredible opportunity to try a distillery that mainly produces whisky for blends. Mix that with the transparent approach to bottling that TSC takes, and it really is a top quality whisky. Just like the Gulliver’s, it really was only a hair away from the top spot.
After, we have something from a little further afield. The Gjoleid Praksis 2.1 is a Norwegian Whisky from the Arcus Distillery. Sadly, it’s only available in Norway right now, and its quite expensive. But I greatly enjoyed trying it for the channel and I’ll look forward to sharing it with friends soon.
And just before the winner we have the Jura Journey. I have to say, this is firmly ‘OK’ for its price bracket. But, up against the others this month it was just completely outclassed. That said, its cheaper than the others by a country mile so if it’s cheap and guilt free sipping you’re after, it could be a winner.
Finally then, the winner. No surprises it’s another from Bruichladdich. That’s two for two on NNW Whisky of the Month now, but it’s unlikely to be a habit as I don’t currently have any more bottles by them in my stock! In any case, the Port Charlotte Islay Barley Heavily Peated 2008 gets the top stop from me this month. The transparency of the liquid, coupled with the glorious heavy peat just nudged it ahead this time.
But the take home really must be that there wasn’t much in it. Boil it down to your own peat preference. If you love peat, look no further than the PC. If you like a little peat then the Gulliver’s is a winner and if you don’t like peat at all then the Glen Ord might have won it for you. The Jura, well, it never had a look in this month.
