Macduff 10yo Inverdarach
Inverdarach Editions - Bottled for Ardgowan Hospice | 56% ABV
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
A reminder that quality does not demand complexity
A Single Cask With Purpose
This perhaps isn’t your standard Dramface review, but I’ll offer no apologies.
This purchase was, as we’d say locally, a bit of a punt; a gamble, for those unfamiliar with the vernacular. And yet, it was a gamble underpinned by purpose, as I unabashedly acquired this bottle for the cause it supports.
All proceeds from the single cask bottling go to a local cancer hospice, Ardgowan Hospice, based in Greenock. This is the first time I personally have been aware of a bottling with proceeds used in this way.
Is there a soul reading this who has not, in some way, felt cancer’s shadow? I doubt it. In the UK, the stark reality is that one in two people will face a cancer diagnosis at some point in their lifetime. Here, in the heart of the west of Scotland, we are fortunate to have remarkable charities offering vital support to those affected by this insidious disease. I am deeply humbled to have some involvement with one such organisation, though it is not the fortunate beneficiary of this bottling. Most people reading this will have immediate thoughts about similar organisations which support local people, wherever they live, in whatever country.
Now, we must address the paradox, mustn’t we? Alcohol, the golden elixir that inspires so much joy and conviviality, is also classified as a carcinogen. It’s an uncomfortable truth: as it’s metabolized, it produces toxic acetaldehyde, capable of damaging DNA and proteins, sowing the seeds of cancer. I could wander down a contemplative path debating the ethics of using proceeds from an item that may contribute to such afflictions to fund care for those it affects. Yet, I shan’t tarry there. Such musings are best left to each individual to ponder in their own time.
As with so many pleasures in life, it comes down to balance. A little indulgence, weighed against awareness, can allow us to embrace what we enjoy without losing sight of its potential costs.
Review
Inverdarach Editions 10yo, Macduff, Un-chill filtered, natural colour, 120 bottles outturn, 56% ABV
£80 still available
This is a single cask release from Ardgowan Distillery in Inverkip - as an independent bottling under their Inverdarach branding. It hasn’t been distilled there, I believe that this spirit has originated from the MacDuff Distillery, a Dewars’ distillery more well known for the production of Glen Deveron.
Readers may not be aware of Ardgowan, this newly constructed malt-making complex, named after a local distillery that was destroyed in the World War 2 blitz. The new distillery building at Ardgowan is definitely an impressive sight; a huge copper hued apex building with a large, glassed section in the middle. Worth a look online and a visit once open. With the capacity to produce 1 million litres of spirit per annum, we can only wait to see what the product is like.
I do believe that, in the week of writing this, Ardgowan Distillery have received their first ever delivery of malt and that their first ever mash and distillation process is about to commence.
This single cask bottling is a delight. For anyone who has read previous reviews from me, they will know that I was dodging sherry casks until recently and this - again - proves that decision wrong.
It is deep and complex. At first glance I did have a concern there was colouring, but a search online assures me there is not. And that natural colour is delightfully deep as you may expect from a first fill ex-sherry hogshead.
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
A reminder that quality does not demand complexity
Nose
As you would expect it is very sherry forward, but not overpoweringly so. It smells rich with sultanas and has a light hint of apricot and cherries, with a bit of varnish.
Palate
The first sip made each side of my tongue tingle to an incredible extent, yet the second sip subsides and a real smoothness settles in. The viscosity is good too; top marks.
Taste wise, the highlights for me are apple, vanilla, sultanas and Christmas cake, with chocolate and a hint of loose black tea. The thing that lets it down is a lack of complexity. It is very nice, but as you sit and think about what is missing and why you don’t rate it higher, it just comes down to that; it’s nice, but not complex.
It has real long legs which are very pleasant, yet it isn’t oily or drying on the mouth at all. It is a high ABV at 56% but does not taste like it.
The Dregs
To be perfectly candid, this bottle might never have found its way onto my shelf were it not for its charitable connection. And, with such a minuscule outturn, the odds of encountering it in a hostelry were thinner than the patience of a blender waiting for casks to mature. This was very much above what I expected it to be in terms of taste; it has been sitting unopened for more than a month.
What it has done is again remind me of my love of single casks, the right single casks. I often find that sip rate is a gauge of exactly how good something is - and this has been high.
This gem, at a mere 120 bottles strong, hails from a hogshead and a quick calculation (remembering I’m a lawyer and several people will testify that I should not be allowed to use Excel) reveals that only 84 of the circa 225 litres within made their way into this charitable release with any remainder, presumably, diverted elsewhere.
While all acts of giving are inherently good, one might wonder if dedicating the entire cask to the charity wouldn’t have been an even grander gesture of generosity. Although, I should mention that it’s entirely plausible that a hoggie - after ten years of grind and depending on location and condition - may actually only yield a mere 84 litres.
Anyway, charitable giving is such a personal matter and no one else’s business, but for each of us it is always worth thinking about what we can give from time to time, whether that is our money, or our time.
In this case, it’s both. A win/win?
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. CC
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