#404 Whiskies from Adelphi

Founded in 1826 in the Gorbals of Glasgow, the Adephi distillery was founded by Charles and David Gray.  The distillery site was once an orchard, and it remained with the family until the 1880s when it was bought by Messrs A. Walker & Co., already the owners of two distilleries in Liverpool and Limerick.  The distillery grew under the ownership of the Walkers, reaching an annual production of over half a million gallons, but when bought again in the early years of the 20th century, after five years, the distillery was closed with the buildings being demolished sixty years later. 

In 1993, the great grandson of Archibald Walker, Jamie, brought back the Adelphi name as an independent bottler, with a focus on quality, finding casks of whisky and bottling them.  Independent bottlers are companies that buy casks of whisky from a variety of sources and bottle them themselves.  They label them under their own brand and depending on the agreement they have with the distillery, a lot of the time put the distillery's name on the label.  Independent bottlers provide a valuable role to the whisky lover as they allow the drinker to experience whiskies that, although being the same spirit as a distillery release, may have been aged for different lengths of time or in different casks.  They can provide cheaper older malts or experimental caskings of younger malts as well - all just adding to the wealth of whiskies to try.

In 2004, after speaking to Jamie about buying a hogshead of whisky, Keith Falconer and Donald Houston ended up buying the company and it remains in their hands today.  Like numerous independent bottlers, they have a policy of leaving the whisky alone, bottling at Cask strength, not chill filtering, not adding colouring but also bottling as single casks.  This means that each whisky Adelphi release is rare, ranging from 200 to 600 bottles only.  It also means that if you love a whisky, you have to buy it up as quickly as possible as it won't be around forever!  The whiskies aren't cheap, but they are of the highest quality and are, I think, the best independent bottlers of single malt whisky in Scotland.  I tried half a dozen whiskies from their range.

Adelphi Blended Whisky (40% vol) 
Bright honey aroma with some slight sweet smoke coming off and a little bit of pear drops and a cream.  Some honey kicks in the back end.  Sweet up front on the palate, lots of bright, heather and honey flavours.  There is a bit of twiggy flavour coming through, charcoal and a little grassy flavour.  Very smooth, very drinkable with a very approachable palate. 87pts

Adelphi Liddesdale 18 Year Old Batch 1, 2962 bottles (46% vol)
Smoked cheese, some rich sweetness and a bit of mint coming off before the sweet sherry notes emerges.  There is a really sweet bonfire smoke coming off , maybe sweetened pipe tobacco too.  Very sweet on the palate, lots of beef jerky, some smoke kicking in with a lot of violets and a kick of plum skin bitterness. 91pts

Adelphi Glen Grant 23 Year Old, 191 bottles Cask 10197 (55.9% vol)
Savoury with some pears and a bit of herb mixed with some corn and bran flakes.  The palate is punchy, alcohol kicks in with some cream, a red berry element as well.  Quite a sweet whisky, lots of rich honey and a kick of burnt wood on the back end, yet despite the sweetness it is a Mans whisky! 89pts

Adelphi Linkwood 1984 27 Year Old, Not released yet (53.2% vol)
Dark toffee and with coffee aromas and then a bit of sweet red berries comes off with chocolate. Tiny amount of smoke comes through and then a floral brightness coming off.  Very rich, some dark leathery elements up front and then more chocolate, some dark leather ans baked meat mixed with some dark spice and leather. Really tasty 92pts

Adelphi Lochside 1965 46 Year Old, Not released yet (53% vol)
Cough sweets meets smoke meets milk chocolate toffees and then with some menthol notes coming through.  There is more of the sweet cough mixture coming off, a touch of herb and then some sweet chocolate, leather, boot polish and then with a dark woody finish.  A really nice malt, dark, brooding and tasty. Alcohol well integrated. 90pts

Adelphi Breath of the Isles 14 Year Old, (58.6% vol)
Smokey bacon crisps, quite light, touch of brine and a bit of heather coming off.  Nice balance, a little sweetness and then some grassy, bright smokey notes.  Lots of grass on the finish, lots of sweet fresh mint and a but of orange peel coming off.  Very well balanced, with savoury notes thoughout.  89pts

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