The Last Drop Distillers is a brand you may not have heard of, much less seen a bottle of at your local liquor outlet. If not by design, then this is certainly by necessity – for this is a label that deals with whisky that is both scarce and small scale.
The story of the company itself is a wonderfully rich, dare I say, romantic tale: Three gentlemen, all long involved in the whisky and drinks trades, had remarkable and successful years and careers in the industry. Between them, they were behind the creation and development of brands such as J&B Rare, Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal, The Classic Malts range, Baileys and Malibu.
And so, despite reaching that time in life when retirement beckons, these gentlemen instead decided to team up in 2008 and form a new force: A company that focussed on the world’s finest, rarest, and most exclusive spirits. The Last Drop Distillers Limited is thus not a distillery, nor a single malt, but a brand and label that sources, bottles, and releases exceptionally old and rare spirits.
To best understand the pedigree and aim of the company, it’s probably easiest to simply reel off their current releases: The 1967 Glen Garioch single malt, 50 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky, 1960 Blended Scotch Whisky, 48yo Blended Scotch Whisky and 1950 Cognac. Nothing young or pedestrian in that line up.
Yes, put simply, it’s old whisky. But – and I can say this with some inside knowledge and experience – anyone can bottle and release old whisky. You can acquire a geriatric cask, market it with a huge price tag and, somewhere in the world, enough people with more dollars than tastebuds will buy it. The real challenge is to release a geriatric cask that’s actually good; one where the quality is exceptional and where the high price is justified, rather than simply opportunistic. And this is where The Last Drop carves its niche. The spirits are top notch and there is no shortage of plaudits, awards, and accolades bestowed on their releases to demonstrate this.
The truth is, the number of casks that can survive to upwards of 40 and 50 years and still keep their spirit fresh and not over-oaked is incredibly small, and this is where (and why) the rarity kicks in. And with some of these aged casks often capable of yielding no more than 50-100 bottles, it makes for incredibly limited releases. I noted with interest that many of the current releases are actually blends or vintage releases (as opposed to single cask releases), which obviously gives The Last Drop the opportunity to combine casks and create releases with a greater number of bottles available.
The Last Drop is now being launched in Australia and two releases are currently available, namely the 1967 Glen Garioch single malt ($9,000) and the 48yo Blended Scotch Whisky ($5,500). Both come with a few ribbons pinned to their chest, and whilst the greater whisky-appreciating community divides its opinion as to the merits of a Jim Murray endorsement, the 48yo Blended Scotch Whisky (reviewed below) was, in fact, awarded 2015 Scotch Blend of the Year in Murray’s 2015 Whisky Bible.
The good folks behind the brand were kind enough to forward a 10ml sample of the 48yo release to Whisky & Wisdom for review, and I sat down recently on a Sunday afternoon to examine this Last Drop whisky and put it to the test. A whisky of this age is not to be taken lightly, and due reverence, attention, and time was paid to the dram. With only 10ml to work with, I elected not to add water but, truth be told, I still wouldn’t have done so even if I’d had a whole 700ml bottle to play with! (Ancient whiskies often struggle to stand up to water, and this particular blend certainly didn’t need taming or reducing). Despite 48 years of maturation, the whisky was still a surprisingly high 48.6% ABV, which perhaps gives some insight into the casks and why this whisky still tastes so fresh for its age.
So here goes…
The Last Drop 48yo Blended Scotch Whisky (48.6% ABV)
Colour: A gorgeous amber.
Nose: Soft, gently polished wooden furniture, but it’s the smell of the timber, rather than the actual polishing agent. Reminds me of walking through a bourbon distillery’s rickhouse (Woodford Reserve, to be precise!) Rose water. Pencil shavings. Crème brulee. Pashmak. Pistachios. Utterly beguiling and sensual. Not surprisingly, you’d expect this dram to evolve as it oxidises, and with time (10 minutes, in this case), it takes on quite a floral character.
Palate: A syrupy mouthfeel delivers deliciously soft spirit that is not a long way removed from a genteel bourbon. There’s milk chocolate, honeyed lozenges, and perhaps – right on the back palate – some dried ginger. On the sweet/dry spectrum, it’s leaning only so slightly to the sweet side. Malt & grain are well combined – in fact, you’d have to say, it’s perfectly and seamlessly integrated.
Finish: The finish is wonderfully long and never bitter, although it goes close to being on the dry side…and yet it isn’t. In other words, the finish remains sweet, but only just. And this is a good thing…there’s enough oak in the finish to deliver the depth and wood influence you’d hope for and expect with a 48yo whisky.
Comments: Well, anyone who thinks blends aren’t any good needs to taste this. It’s mighty fine whisky, regardless of which category it falls in to. Both the colour and the flavour profile suggest that there were no sherry casks in the blend, and the result is a beautifully clean spirit that dovetails with the oak, rather than one that is dominated by it. It’s delicious drinking with a wonderful mouthfeel, and – yes, I’ll say it – it was a luxury experience.
Some final thoughts? Well, it’s a well-made whisky, and certainly a well-crafted blend. At this end of the market, it’s one of the few bottlings that actually delivers what the brand aspires to. No, A$5,500 ain’t cheap, but the quality here is undeniable, and perhaps the market has reached a point now where we no longer blink at such prices for the rare and special whiskies. With only 592 bottles for the world and no doubt only a small handful in Australia, act quickly if you want to grab this release of Last Drop whisky.
For more information on other Last Drop releases, the official website is here.
Cheers,
AD
