Reserve Casks | 48% ABV

An Ugly Duckling Comes Good

When we make a mental image of a distillery, a sort of archetype if you will, chances are we’ll end up with a picturesque old building with traditional brickwork, white plastered walls and big, hefty wooden doors and pagoda roofs. This will undoubtedly be set in a welcoming courtyard with nearby dusty, mouldy dunnage warehouses, located in an equally picturesque landscape with glowing hills in the background and preferably a churning river nearby. 

And then there’s Mannochmore, which is just about the exact opposite of this mental image. A no nonsense 1970’s architecture whisky plant with all the charm and charisma of a government administrative building – it’s only redeeming feature being the aesthetically more pleasing Glenlossie distillery, on which premises DCL built this ultra-functional distillery complex in the early 1970’s, when optimism about the future of whisky was as high as what we see today. Talk about bad timing. 

Mannochmore was purpose built and was, and still is, mostly a ‘blend filler’ plant, mostly for the Haig and Dimple brands, and for years the staff at the two sister distilleries would alternate and work each distillery for six months. When the bubble burst (or rather the log overflowed) in the early 1980’s, Mannochmore, like many other distilleries, was mothballed, and between 1985 and 1989 the stills fell silent.

As with quite a few of their other under the radar distilleries, DCL/Diageo decided to give Mannochmore its due attention, and since 1992 it features in the Flora & Fauna series with a 12 yo single malt – its first and only continuous official release. There have been a few other official releases – an 18 yo  from 2009 and a 25 yo cask strength in the annual Special Releases in 2016, but perhaps its biggest claim to fame is the Loch Du black whisky from the late 90’s – a whisky so infamously poor it has achieved cult status and has become, would you believe it, a collector’s item that would fetch you at least some £250 on secondary, should you have one laying around.

Usually, under the radar distilleries tend to be rather popular among indie bottlers – provided the owners are willing to sell casks, that is. Looking at Mannochmore’s production capacity – around 6 million LPA (although, and probably closer to the truth, it is said they produce some 4.5 million LPA), you’d figure there’s plenty to go about, even when most of their whisky ends up in blends. And yet, looking at Whiskybase, the number of releases logged there counts up to some 420 bottlings. To give you an idea, I’ve checked with a few other unsung heroes of the whisky industry: the bottle count for sister distillery Glenlossie stops at 657, Inchgower: just short of 600, Macduff at almost 1100, Dailuaine sits at 939, while Strathmill bags over 500 releases.

So not only is Mannochmore an under the radar distillery for many enthusiasts – I can count the ones I’ve tried on the fingers of one hand, it seems the indies out there don’t have that much of an interest in or access to it either – usual suspects like Gordon & MacPhail and Cadenhead’s left aside.

Review

Elixir Distillers Parcel No.5, 48% ABV
£50-£60 widely available online

So a welcoming surprise it was then to see Elixir Distillers releasing two Mannochmore bottlings in their Parcel Series – a 13 yo in the parcel seven series, and this 11 yo with the parcel five label on it.

I quite like this series, if only for the fact that their labels are simple and factual: you get info on the age, the vintage (2009 – 2021), the number of casks that went in it (7), who picked them (Elixir’s head blender Oliver Chilton) and even the angel’s share (23.57% apparently) gets a mention.

It would of course have been nice to see which casks went into the batch, although pouring a glass is a bit of a dead giveaway: this is so light in colour it practically screams refill bourbon casks.

Nose

Things start soft, sweet and clean. Classic refill bourbon casks with vanilla and honey notes, but then there’s this herbaceous note and things become really interesting from there on. It’s got this delicate soapy, lavender-like touch to it, with hints of greenhouse flowers like geraniums. It evolves further when white and stone fruits emerge – melon, apricot and white grape, which make themselves comfortable as the nose finally settles down. Gentle, almost delicate even, pleasant, elegant and layered as well.

Palate

The ABV makes a stand, quite abruptly at first. This is more ‘spirity’ in every sense of the word as it has both a clear prickly alcohol touch to it, yet also the flavour and character of the new make shine through. Again the fruity elements from melons, apricot and grapes, teaming up with those herbal/floral notes developing into a dense creamy, cheese-like note, ending with something reminiscent of old oak. This translates into the mouthfeel as well, as it’s medium full and dry – almost paper-like, evolving into a dry and woody sensation, leading into a medium-long, spicy and dry finish.

The Dregs

This is not your standard dram, if you’d have a flair for the dramatic, you might even call this a bit enigmatic. This whisky really is a prime example of how refill barrels (my guess mostly 2nd and 3d fill) can work well with a distillery that produces a lighter style of whisky. Leave the talking to the spirit and just have the casks file off the rough edges so to speak. We’ve grown so accustomed to cask policy involving finishing, STR and the use of virgin oak to ‘liven up’ those quieter casks, it almost feels like a breath of fresh air to occasionally stumble upon a whisky that doesn’t bother with all the tricks in the book and just presents itself in an open, honest way. Probably not to everyone’s liking, but should you feel like taking a break from those cask-heavy bottles, I’ll happily recommend this little gem.

Score: 7/10

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. EA