Among the countless rare malts I enjoyed while browsing around the independently-run Whisky Fair at Limburg were some I hadn’t seen on a Scottish bar shelf for more years than I can count.
The first I spotted was Glen Forres, which (believe it or not) was the banner Edradour was sold under decades ago, and was later used for an eight-year-old blended malt, also long gone. It was delectable and cost a paltry three euros.
I then tried a Glen Flagler, a peaty malt distilled at the vast Garnheath/Inver House distillery at Airdrie, which closed in 1985-86. Bottles of Glenflagler occasionally appear at auction or on websites, the last I saw priced at £500. So you bet I tried a dram—warm, smooth and with only a hint of peat—at 4 euros.
Next came a Glenesk, distilled just north of Montrose and also known as Hillside, closed in the mid-1980s and again one of the most difficult-to-find malts. It had no year on it but by its plain, rather stained label I would have said mid-1970s. It was the best so far and was still only 5 euros.
I then tried a series of malts that, for all the distilleries still exist, are rarely seen in your average pub and all priced at a jaw-dropping two or three euros each. These were a great cask-strength Aultmore —the distillery sits uphill from Keith—followed by a peaty Ballechin (distilled at Edradour), a stonking 19-year-old Glen Scotia (Campbeltown) and a heart-warming Balmenach, from Cromdale on Speyside.
The next day I sampled a silk-smooth Spey Lord Byron, from Speyside Distillery near Kingussie, an impressive organic malt (distillery unknown) and a nip of spirit from the new Ardnamurchan, Scotland’s most westerly mainland distillery. It was superb. Its first malt should appear about 18 months from now and I will ensure I have my name down for a bottle.
All these fascinating drams are just a tiny fraction of the Scotch malts and blends, plus whiskies from many other countries, available to try at Whisky Fair. I just can’t wait to see what will be there next year.
