I don't know about art but I know what I like.

And I rather like this whisky, An Cnoc Peter Arkle "Bricks".

The nose is super sweet, in a golden syrup way, with a hint of cedar wood about it. On the palate it's drying, thick, and syrupy, with a little malt in the finish. It takes a generous dash of water superbly well, opening up to show lanolin or beeswax aromas along with biscuity malt, and the palate develops an orange flavour.  As I say, I rather like it.

But I'm not quite sure what to make of the art work.

It is definitely a good thing that the whisky industry is doing well enough to be able to afford the services of talented artists. And, having had a rummage around the web I can say I rather like Peter Arkle's work. But I can't figure out a connection between the liquid in the bottle and the design on the canister.

Obviously, the same argument applies to many other whiskies. And if Knockdhu distillery is going to try and make their whisky stand out on the shelf, then using a proper artist is a commendable choice.

There isn't any conclusion to this line of thought except perhaps, that not everyone can be as distinctive as Bruichladdich.  And to reiterate that I don't know about the artwork but I know that I like this whisky, very much.

An Cnoc Peter Arkle "Bricks", no age statement, 46%, about £50.

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2013

At a Glasgow's Whisky Club tasting, John Campbell, distillery manager at Laphroaig, led us through a tasting of five whiskies, and provided some very interesting background material. We started with the Ten Year Old, which, along with the cask strength Ten and the Quarter Cask, accounts for 95% of the distillery's 3.4 million litres annual output. It is matured exclusively in first fill ex-Bourbon barrels, a policy which has been in place since about 1990 (previously the cask quality was variable).

Mr Campbell emphasised that The Ten Year Old  is the standard by which all other Laphroaigs are measured. No matter what extra flavours they acquire from extended ageing or a change of cask, other bottlings must always express the same sweet, peaty, medicinal character.

There is great balance in the Ten Year Old, with the sweetness reining in the strong earthy peat, and softening the effect of the bitter and dry notes in the finish. The defining flavour of Laphroaig is TCP, a heavy phenolic note which perhaps comes from the deep cut on the spirit still (Laphroaig has the longest foreshots of any Scotch distillery).

To ensure consistency, each batch of the Ten Year Old has about 20% of whisky from the previous batch added to it. It is the distillery's most important product, and until 1980, the only one. Bottled at 40%, chill filtered, coloured, and widely available, for about £33.

The Laphroaig Eighteen Year Old (about £70, 48%), which unlike the Ten is not chill filtered, was until tonight my favourite Laphroaig. The extra ageing adds a depth of fruity and perfumed wood character, and a superb creamy texture. The finish is deeply earthy. John Campbell describes the Eighteen as a “Dry-Sweet” whisky.

Laphroaig Triple Wood (about £45, 48%) was introduced in 2010 (to travel retail, but now generally available). The maturation process is initially the same as for the Quarter Cask, and the whisky is then put to first fill Oloroso sherry hogsheads for two more years.

It's a spicy whisky, with notes of red fruits, and the smokiness seems to have gained a caramel / butterscotch / crème brûlée note. Still very smoky-peaty-medicinal, of course. The first of tonight's drams to seem at all hot, and rather drier in the finish than the previous whiskies.

We were then given the first public tasting of the Laphroaig Cairdeas 2013. Initially the whisky followed the same path as the standard Ten Year Old, ageing in first fill ex-Bourbon, but after eight years it was transferred to 68 first fill Port pipes for 14 months.

The nose is markedly sweeter than the Ten, and milky. There's a lovely strawberry / raspberry fruitiness. The peat seems a little ashy to me, contrasting with the more earthy flavours of tonight's other Laphroaigs. On the palate it's all red fruits, fusty wood, ashy-salty-woody, and earthy peat. There's a sweet cream texture. Delicious, and a great price for a limited edition cask strength whisky (51.3%, about £47)

The last dram was a rare cask sample. John Campbell thinks that no one else in the Scotch whisky industry is using puncheons (a larger barrel-size, which is sometimes only half charred). These barrels were virgin European oak made for Laphroaig, although that must have been a fair while ago, since the dram we tasted is both twenty four years old and refill cask.

As you would expect in a twenty-four year old whisky there is indeed a ton of woody character, but there are also attractive floral notes of hyacinth or violet, and the whisky is still very bright and fresh. On the palate is has a meaty note which wasn't in the younger whiskies. There is still plenty of peat, fruit, and cereal. The finish is bitter burnt.

We finished the tasting with an old Ten Year old Laphroaig (probably bottled in the 1990s, pre-Royal Warrant, and 43%ABV). Apart from what I took to be a couple of signs of bottle ageing (a cabbage-y note, and a much softer mouth feel), the main difference compared with today's Ten Year Old seems to be that the smokiness is a little less earthy, a little more charred wood. A tribute to the consistency of Laphroaig?

In another millennium I used to be a Laphroaig bore, finding other whiskies to be lacking in flavour. Whilst I certainly wouldn't go back to that position, I do think the Cairdeas 2013 is an outstanding dram. If you are on Islay this week or next for the Fèis Ìle, it's the bottle to buy. The rest of us will get a chance when it is offered to the Friends of Laphroaig in June.

Le Clos Du Serres Les Maros 2011

The whole time I was drinking this  - two bottles, two occasions - I was thinking, "Châteauneuf". I really did think it was that good

Le Clos du Serres "Les Maros" is 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and 20% Carignan, from a single vineyard site on the Terrasses de Larzac, which is a highly regarded sub-zone within Languedoc.

The wine is dark, almost purple. The shorthand description of the aroma would be Fruits of the Forest Yoghurt.

It tastes lovely. Strawberry, bramble, creamy yoghurt, ultra ripe soft tannins. But the main attraction is its sheer welcoming drinkability. I don't think it's a wine to age, but given its present deliciousness, that really doesn't matter.

For another take on this wine, here's my video review.

And you can watch Nicolas Mollard of Le Clos du Serres talking about another of their wines, Le Clos, here.

Domaine Bachelet Maury 1929

We had convened with but one wine in mind, an 83 year old Grenache Vin Doux Naturel. But one bottle doth not a tasting make; and so there were ten sweet wines lined up for us to try. Such a lovely selection of wines, and so very sweet that for the half hour or so after the tasting it seemed to me that the world was sparkling and glittery.

We started with two supermarket muscats from Southern France. A Rivesaltes with an annoyingly punctuated name, Mu: is for Muscat (Waitrose) and a St Jean de Minervois (Sainsbury) . The former was dried tropical fruit and rose scented talc, the latter was fresh elderflower, but there was a spicy note in both. The Sainsbury bottle had a terrible whiff of cabbage about it when opened, but that was gone after an hour.

Then came two Chenins, one aged 27 and the other just 2 years old. The elder, Moulin Touchais Coteaux de Layon 1985, had lost interest in its original fruit character in favour of distinguished age, while the younger, Château de la Roulerie Coteaux de Layon Chaume 2010 complemented the typical green apple notes with a peachy touch and intense sweetness. In a double handful of sweet wines, this one seemed the sweetest by a country mile.

The main attraction and purpose of our meeting, Domaine Bachelet Maury 1929, still had some red glints in the depths. The nose was of middling intensity, with the dried fruit and wood richness of old armagnac, edging into rancio.

Very mellow, although still having enough smooth tannin to give it structure, the palate was in harmonious agreement with the nose. Lots of rich dried fruits, prunes, and red berries.There was a bitter note in the finish, but overall a very good to excellent wine, and a rare treat to have such an ancient.

Wine six was a surprise. Pure cherry juice, backed by cedar and meaty notes; Corte Sant'Alda Recioto della Valpollicella 2008 seemed very different from a previous tasting. Vintage variation or just age difference? I don't know.

The next two were also Italian, and served to demonstrate the lightly regulated and heterogeneous nature of the sweet wines of the Appenine peninsula. Maculan Torcolato 2003 managed the clever trick of being simultaneously buttery, petrolly, and minty. I should note here that it goes fantastically well with honey-sweetened goats cheese. Castillo de Querceto Vin Santo di Chianti Classico 2008 was so aromatic that we seriously considered the possibility that it might be aromatised. Coriander, fennel,walnut skins, plus a sherried note made for a delicious and very unusual wine.

The Mission Hill Reserve Riesling Icewine 2003 seemed very fresh. The nose was pure strawberry jam, but oddly the palate was very clear-cut pineapple juice - an unlikely combination of flavours, no? Not very Riesling-y, but very very lovely.

Last up was Kereskedőház Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos 1993. It was dryer than expected (and much less sweet than the Roulerie). In an oxidative style and with notes of raisins, butter, brazil nuts and torrefaction, it was, if not unctuous, certainly very richly textured.

And after all that, as I say, the world sparkled.

Santa Carolina Dry Farmed Carignan 2008

Some of the most exciting flavours I've ever found in a glass have been thanks to Carignan, a Spanish variety which was also, for a time, the most widely planted grape in France.

It was, of course, popular because of the large yields it offered, but it's a truism in wine that quantity and quality are generally in inverse proportion, and tonight's wine, I'm fairly sure, comes from low yielding vines.

Santa Carolina don't give much away on their website, but the vines are said to be 80 years old, and - most unusually for Chile, they are not irrigated, two factors which would lead to smaller crops.

And the wine looks, smells & tastes very concentrated. Initially appearing black, a close examination of the rim shows it to be deepest ruby, and it has legs like a dessert wine.

The aromas are lush and super-concentrated, with black plums and smooth woody spices. There's also a thread of vegetal green, and I found a wee touch of black pepper.

The palate is complex. The attack is sweet, the middle is dry, and the finish is sweet again. Lots of black fruits - more bramble than plum I should say - and creamy flavours. A second mouthful reveals bitter chocolate and dried cherry notes. Peppery notes return in the finish.

While I was tasting this wine I also had a glass of Parducci Mendocino County Zinfandel 2007 (although I wasn't really comparing them - that wouldn't be very fair, since the Zin was half the price of the Carignan).

I tried both as a match for a Raclette salad*. While the Zinfandel was fine, the Carignan was fantastic: the cheese was lifted and less sticky, and the wine seemed to get more red.

Santa Carolina Dry Farmed Carignan 2008, altogether altogether an excellent wine, if a couple of years young for my taste, 3+ -4.

*I know, I know, Pinot Gris.

Macallan 1946 52 Year Old

1946. My dad was still a wee boy. Rationing was still in place. Scottish distilleries were in a bit of a state - in 1943-44 no whisky at all was made, and by 1946-47 output was barely a third what it had been before the war.

1998, the year this whisky was bottled. I was still a Laphroaig bore. Labour were still sticking to the previous government's spending plans. Scotch whisky was flourishing.

2012, at The Macallan distillery for the opening dinner of the Spirit of Speyside festival. The mashman, George, sitting beside me, declared that he didn't like smoky whiskies, so I got an extra measure of this rare gem.

Our table was sending out recce parties to bring back bottles of whisky, and Eddi Reader was giein it laldy in the background, but, nothing daunted, I stuck to my guns and took thorough notes. So how does a £5000 whisky taste?

The nose is smoky, sherried, and powerful. It's a bit spirity, which is surprising in such an old dram. Dried fruits, digestive biscuits. Angelica? Icing sugar. Sweet toffee like a young dram. Lacy smoke like a very old Islay. Sweet cereal notes like a young whisky.

To taste, it is smooth but also has grippy tannins. There is an oily texture, it's sherried, and the smoke comes in at the end.

Retasting, I find maltiness, great finesse, and fresh - zingy - berry fruits; something like raspberry & strawberry fruit ice cream. Then the finish is grippy and woody.

I tasted it alongside the modern 10 Year Old Sherrywood Macallan, and while the older whisky is more complex and has greater finesse, I also found it more powerful. How does that work?

The Edinburgh Raspberry Gin

Unmistakeably gin in all its bitter juniper loveliness, this beautifully coloured drink has a delicate - nay, elusive - red fruit edge.

If you did not know (I didn't - I was handed a glass with instructions to taste it) you might suspect cranberries or pomegranate; anyway, some sort of tangy red fruit.

Made by Spencerfield Spirits, the company responsible for Pig's Nose and Sheep Dip, this stylish bottle is doubtless colonising style bars everywhere. (or so I imagine. My knowledge of style bars is somewhat hypothetical)

It's sweet in the same way that sloe gin is, and with the same bitter backbone. At the second or third nosing the raspberries are there to be found - Himbeergeist is a good comparison.

It is lovely to drink by itself, but I should think this would make an interesting, if rather potent, alternative to red vermouth in, say, a negroni.