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Originally Posted by kayaker
I was trying to find out more about the McClelland's line, but my source is out of the country right now. Basically each of these regional malts is a young version from a more popular distillery. For example, I do remember being told that the Islay one is a young Bowmore. The actual age I don't know, but it has to be at least 3 years and is likely younger than 10. But I can't remember what distilleries are used for the other regions.
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That is interesting. Like I said I found the McClelland's Islay very similar to the Bowmore Islay, but without as much complexity so it being from the distellery but with less age that definitly adds up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kayaker
With regards to highland malts, they tend to be rich and robust. I think about Highland Park and Glenfarclas. I guess they can be considered a little sweet too. However, each region has scotch that may not show itself as a typical example.
One thing I wonder about is whether or not spirit caramel was used in the one you are talking about. It's the only ingredient that is allowed to be added to scotch that is not a necessary part of the process. The caramel adds colour making whisky look richer, but it may also make it sweeter. All the natural colour in Scotch comes from the barrel during the aging process. Therefore a younger whisky would have even less colour naturally and might require more caramel to make it look richer.
I don't know if this is the case here. I will drop by a liquor store to take a look at the bottles myself, and I will see if I can track down my source for more info.
Hope this helps.
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I guess the addition of caramel is not something that is easy to find out about. For what it's worth I just looked at all three bottles under a light and there are no difference of color that I can see with my eyes. So if they used that caramel to darken the Highland it didn't make a difference that I can see.
I am trying a dram of the Lowland now. Right off the bat there more of a discernable whiskey smell than the Highland or the Islay. There is almost no saltyness and the finish is sweet in the cirtrisy way that I enjoyed with the Highland and much less of the syrpy sweetness that I didn't like. This one is the spiciest of the three as well. I will reserve my final impression until I finish the glass but I would put this one 2nd behind the Islay with the Highland in thrid.
Big help as always thanks Kayaker.