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We've got 4 pint jugs to take away real ale and cider!
Come up to the top of Halkyn Mountain and join us as we drink in the atmosphere of the house of ale repute
20p per pint discount on cider for card carrying WPCS* members
and on cask ale too for CAMRA* members
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 We try and keep an interesting mix of non-chill filtered whiskies and we are deeply indebted to David Wishart whose book Whisky Classified comes highly recommended and has allowed us to use his notes to add more detail to each whisky description. The book is available from behind the bar and you're welcome to have a look. It details whisky from the perspective of flavour and not area, it also helps you choose a single malt whisky that suits your palate, not someone else's! Have a read and you'll understand the letters (in brackets) after each whisky from Tullibardine (A) to Ardbeg (J)!
The conventional way to classify Scotch malt whiskies is by region - Highland, Lowland, Speyside, Islay and Campbeltown. But knowing where they are made doesn't explain how they taste. Many distilleries today can produce a variety of flavours, peatiness (or lack of it) and this book guides the reader through the process.
How do you drink yours? Everyone's preference differs, personally I choose to add a drop of water to release the esters that would otherwise never surface and so enjoy a fuller and flavoursome experience. I wouldn't add ice as that clouds the taste buds and drinking a neat 46%abv+ whisky is not for me. I'll not take issue with how you like yours though! Steve
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Reviews Whisky -
Whisky - we've had
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Distilled in 17th August 1999 at the Caol Ila distillery in Islay and then bottled in June 2011. This single malt whisky is a stunning young Caol Ila from a really good Sherry hogshead cask refill (cask No 305336 if you really need to know)! The bottling is a Gordon & Macphail Exclusive for The Whisky Castle.
Mike at The Whisky Castle says, "we seldom find a cask that has married with Caol Ila spirit in a more rounded manner. The dram is complex yet soft and has some very original notes where fruits are integrated with cracked peppers."
Where an Ardbeg gives you a full on flavour the Caol Ila is a more refined and subtle Islay and for my palate all the more drinkable! Steve
Click READ MORE for tasting notes...
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Caol Ila was founded to the North of Islay in 1846 by the pleasingly-named Hector Henderson. It is located near Port Askaig and sits in lush, floral surroundings, overlooking the cove and the Paps of southern Jura.The distillery draws its water from Loch Nam Ban, whose waters travel through limestone and peat before reaching their beneficiary, Caol Ila.
The whisky distillery was sold to Norman Buchanan in 1852 and then, following monetary hardship, to the Glasgow-based blenders Bulloch, Lade and Co who renovated the buildings in 1879. Following liquidation, Distillers Company Ltd acquired Caol Ila and the distillery was subsequently transferred to Scottish Malt Distillers.
The capacity is moderate at 3.65 million litres annually, the majority of which is used in Johnnie Walker blends. Just 5% is kept for maturation as single malt. From 1999, unpeated single malts have been experimented with and in 2006 the first unpeated bottling was released in the form of an eight year-old. Caol Ila, whose name derives from the Gaelic for ‘Sound of Islay’, has been included in the Diageo Classic Malts range, exhibiting twelve and eighteen year-old expressions as well as a Moscatel-finished Distillers Edition. Independent bottlings such as this from Gordon & Macphail can also be found.
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The following tasting notes by Steve Marquis...
Caol Ila 12 years old
Cluster C
Bottled By: Gordon & Macphail
Region: Islay
Distillery: Caol Ila
Age:12 years old
Strength: 46% vol
Colour: Dark Straw
Chill Filtered: No
Cask: Refill Sherry Hogshead.
Nose: Soft with fresh notes. Bursts of sweetness and peat smoke emerge. Smoky and spicy, a malty sweetness and a whiff of sea breeze.
Taste: Hints of black cracked pepper, peat and cigar notes with a rounded sweetness present with hints of nuts, lemons and cloves.
Finish: .
Only available at The Whisky Castle (and here of course).
Steve Marquis
21/9/2008
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From Whisky Classified
& Whisky Analyst
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Open from 5pm Monday to Friday (closed on Tuesdays) and 12pm Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays.
Coaches welcome by appointment. - We take most major credit and debit cards.
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Copyright © 2005-2012 Blue Bell Inn, Halkyn.
This site is authored by Steve Marquis for the Blue Bell Inn
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E&OE - While we endeavour to get things right we are only human and errors might
inadvertently creep in so sorry in advance! Please let us know!
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