More young Mannochmore


July 5, 2023

More young Mannochmore
and wood technologies

Gonna be a tough session, don't try this at home! Now Mannochmore is not a top-tier distillery but it remains in permanent recovery mode on WF, since the inception of Loch Dhu 10 Years Old 'The Black Whisky' and what we wrote about it. I think we have a debt, that's why we keep tasting as many Mannochmores as we can, sometimes a little nihilistically. (Photo WF Archive)

Mannochmore 11 yo 2010/2022 (46%, James Eadie, UK, small batch, The Rising Sun, recharred hogsheads)

Mannochmore 11 yo 2010/2022 (46%, James Eadie, UK, small batch, The Rising Sun, recharred hogsheads)
Kings of wood technology and management, but unless I'm wrong once more, they never said malt was only about wood. That's the way, if we humbly may… Colour: white wine. Nose: it's hard to escape and resist these croissants, sourdough, porridge, soot, bananas, apples and fruit peel. There. Mouth: excellent, very malty, very much on cereals, strong ales, chocolaty coffee (or the other way 'round) and salt. Some kind of liquid Scottish moussaka (excuse me?) Finish: rather long and even maltier. Ovaltine/Ovomaltine and Nescafé. Even smoke and ashes in the aftertaste. Comments: perfect on all accounts. I would suspect they've used some kind of AI, no? (nah love you James Eadie). Incredibly good. Man-noch-more, baby!
SGP:562 - 85 points.

And in Mannochmore, there's 'more' (after having been a judge for them for several years, we wanna win the World Whisky Awards' Lousy Blog Post Double Gold Medal this year, or we quit for good and forever!)

Mannochmore 12 yo 2009/2022 (55%, The Red Cask Co., sherry hogshead, cask #9320, 250 bottles)

Mannochmore 12 yo 2009/2022 (55%, The Red Cask Co., sherry hogshead, cask #9320, 250 bottles)
They say it was 'partly matured' in oloroso, which is the honest way while so many distillers and bottlers are using the word 'matured' for anything that's spent more than 3 years in said wood. No, no names, but kudos to whomever is onboard the 'Red Cask Co.' Colour: amber. Nose: fully winey, yet rather classically 'sherry,' complete with tomatoes, tobacco, raspberries, gunpowder, earth and just a lot of charcoal. With water: burnt woods of all kinds, pine and fir, cedar, also lit cigar, basil, more tomato leaves, grilled chorizo (seriously)… Mouth (neat): very rich, you would believe someone's deep-smoked yoghurt, strawberries and goji. I don't think I've ever tasted anything like this. With water: ah good! Spicy fruit creams, popadums, that red Indian sauce or spice mix they put around seekh kebab (help me, Indian friends!)… Love that, I've always believed I must have had some Indian ancestors. And Scottish ones, naturally. Oh and Spanish ones too, as I'm finding some sangria as well. Finish: long, spicy, new, adventurous, creative and innovative. Comments: the European way, I would believe. To be honest, this is absolutely not my favourite style of whisky; on the contrary, but this time I feel I have to bow.
SGP:751 - 83 points.

Mensa 10 yo 2012/2022 '1 122° U.3.1 1971.2' (55.6%, Scotch Universe, decharred - recharred hogshead)

Mind you, probably the first secret Mannochmore ever, almost a marshal's baton for this rather discreet distillery! Well, they could have written 'secret M', everybody would have believed it was M****an, but I think they're more honest than that at Scotch Universe. Colour: white wine. Nose: yeah, porridge and stuff. And gooseberries, cider apples, soot, muesli… With water: total porridge, with a nip of whisky inside (why not Mannochmore). Mouth (neat): much soot, lemons, malt, pepper and, well, pepper. Malt whisky in its most natural form, as they were drinking it around the year 1850. Don't ask, we know, ChatGPT told us. With water: it loves water. Danish pastries, limoncello, sour fruits and herbs, grass, leaves and stems… Finish: rather long, on lemon tarte and hay. Comments: sure it's not Clynelish 1965, but I still love the honesty behind this very fine young malt whisky. Yeah despite that de-charr/re-charred thing, not even sure they should tell us. Cheers good folks!
SGP:551 - 83 points.

Mannochmore 10 yo 2008/2018 (56.1%, Mossburn, No.16, hogshead, cask #16.0708.16)

Also love it when they bottle Mannochmore as if it were Lagavulin or Springbank, but I swear we have no preconceptions… We bought a bottle of this so that we can show our beginning guests what 'malt whisky' without any brand B.S. or insulting wood really is. The bottle's lovely, though. Colour: white wine. Nose: pure citric porridge, chalk and concrete, beans and peas, proper yoghurt (no supermarket junk), lemon juice, ink. Sums it up nicely, I would say. With water: crayons, plasticine, hay and more porridge. Not the Katy Perry or the Dua Lipa of whisky for sure. Mouth (neat): excellently citrusy and doughy. Lemon brioche – we believe lemon brioche could put an end to any wars. Superb waxiness and green peppers too. With water: there, epitomical malt whisky, a little sweet, a little spicy, a little yeasty, and pretty malty. No complains, no useless praise either. Finish: a little sweet (barley syrup), of moderate length, with ripe apples and a little 7up in the aftertaste. That's the tricky part, I know. Comments: it's just very all right.
SGP:551 – 81 points.

Last one, quickly…

Mannochmore 10 yo 2011/2022 (57.1%, James Eadie, UK, 1st fill bourbon hogshead, cask #6698, 320 bottles)

Right, we know these good folks could make a VW Golf diesel win Le Mans thanks to their bespoke turbos, let us proceed… Colour: gold. Nose: grass, hay, leaves, stems, peels, linoleum… Very austere, that's unexpected. With water: fresh barley, a walk in the fields, a handful of marshmallows in the pocket. Perhaps not totally earthshattering, though. Mouth (neat): lemons and doughs, plus pepper and tiny touches of vanilla and coconut. Again, it's probably not totally Homeric this far. With water: I liked the 'small batch' better, this one being a little 'yawn', honestly. Which distillery was it, by the way? Finish: vanilla and Tesco cakes. Drop of rum, some peaches and melons. What's on Tv tonight, by the way? Comments: peaches and melons saved it but good, I think we still liked the Small Batch ten times better – kind of. Having said that, having five or six young Mannochmore in a raw does trigger this very Nietzschean question, 'Is life not a thousand times too short for us to bore ourselves?' TBD.
SGP:551 - 80 points.

Yeah, all right, but of course, sherry, you're right, what wouldn't we do for our common cause…

Mannochmore 12 yo 2009/2021 (52.5%, The Coopers Choice, refill sherry cask, cask #1446, 264 bottles)

Mannochmore 12 yo 2009/2021 (52.5%, The Coopers Choice, refill sherry cask, cask #1446, 264 bottles)
Always been a fan of The Vintage Malt Whisky Co Ltd. and of their Coopers Choice range, since the early Lagavulins. Colour: gold. Nose: deep porridge, ink, walnut skins, apple peel, mown grass, dry yoghurt and sour juices. Damp clay, chalk and concrete. All right then. With water: butter, vanilla, American lager and grass. Not too sure. Mouth (neat): the sherry sure helped, making it a little sweeter, beyond the chalky and very grassy malt. Nah, it's still tough malt whisky. With water: ah, this is better, with pink grapefruits and Szechuan pepper, but the background is drying, tough and hard. A lot of cardboard. Gets more and more peppery and cardboardy. Finish: rather long, green, bitter, peppery. Pretty tough. Comments: the arrivals on nose and palate are nice and pleasant, but the bitterness is soon to take over. I suppose it's a good way for the otherwise brilliant Coppers Choice to show that malt whiskies aren't obligatorily always brilliant.
SGP:351 - 75 points.

Mannochmore fatigue, most probably. Next session around the year 2035, if grace favours us.

Check the index of all Mannochmore we've tasted so far