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3rd Party Tasting Notes
Nose: Crisp, clean and fruity with a drift of salt breeze
Palate: Fruitiness cut by a slightly dry edge
Finish: Lingering with a coastal, salty tang
Palate: Fruitiness cut by a slightly dry edge
Finish: Lingering with a coastal, salty tang
John Milroy
The Bottler: Berry Bros. & Rudd
| Established: 1698 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 3 St James"s Street, London, SW1A 1EG, UK |
| → website |
The Pre & Post-War Period: 1920 - 1945: Between the two wars the two Berrys and Hugh Rudd had steadily built up an ever larger and more rewarding business. In 1931 they were able to restore the width of No. 3 to the full extent enjoyed by William Pickering and John Clarke. By happy circumstance the new lease was signed by Sir Charles Bunbury, the direct descendant of the original landlord of 1731, but it was not until 1966 that the firm was able to acquire the freehold. A rather good dinner celebrated the 1931 signing and mention must be made of Sergeant Dufty, whose culinary skills became legendary during the 39 years that he worked as chef at No. 3. Two other great characters of the time, Strange and Brown, also worked long contented hours in the shop. Success continued to attend the house, but not always good fortune. In 1936, only five years after his retirement, and at the early age of 59, Francis Lawrence Berry suddenly died. His elder son George Berry was already a junior partner along with Walter"s son, Reginald Berry, and the family"s continuity seemed doubly assured. However, in March 1939, ill health led Reggie to retire, and in 1941 George Berry was killed in action in North Africa. It had been agreed that George"s younger brother, Anthony, should also enter the firm, but as a rating in the R.N.V.R he was called up for service almost immediately. And soon Walter Berry was to be lost to the firm as well. Hugh Rudd managed the business with help from a greatly reduced staff. It cannot have been much fun - rationing, regulations, the need to disappoint customers, and all sorts of other shortages and privations, though bearable taken one at a time, added up to misery in total. The only alleviations were in entertaining Very Important Persons and in reflecting that nothing goes on forever, and to read the roll of V.I.P."s is to read the pages of history. The Post-War Period: In the immediate post-war years the management team at No. 3 consisted of Anthony Berry, Kenneth Upjohn and Leonard Rowell under the guidance of Hugh Rudd, whose son, John, joined in 1948 after completing his military service. For legal and financial reasons the firm had in 1943 become a limited liability company. Hugh Rudd was Chairman and Governing Director. Kenneth Upjohn held a valuable appointment as Clerk of the Royal Cellars and also played a leading role on the export side. Leonard Rowell was the Director and was responsible for the care of the buildings and cellars, which now included No. 4 St James"s Street, brought largely at his instigation during the war. With the U.K. market still strangled by import restrictions and price controls, Berrys looked to develop sales abroad. The drastic reduction in whisky distilling during the war meant that every drop was still precious and it was almost twenty years before supplies of Cutty Sark matched demand. Hugh Rudd had worked stupendously hard during the war and in 1946 he suffered a stroke. Although he lived until April 1949, his illness naturally restricted his capacity and in his absence the four other directors ran the day-to-day business and Mrs. Rudd became a Non-Executive but highly competent Chairman until 1965, when Anthony Berry took over. Anthony Berry was to continue as Chairman for twenty years until handing over to John Rudd and retiring in 1985. Between 1961 and 1971 Cutty Sark totally dominated the U.S. market, with sales rising to more than 2.5 million cases annually. If the 1960s was the decade of USA, the "70s was the decade of Japan. Cutty Sark raced ahead and by 1979 was selling almost half a million cases a year, and challenging the leader in the complicated Japanese market. Meanwhile, the rest of the world was not being neglected; by 1970 Cutty Sark was sold in over a hundred different countries including such unlikely places as New Caledonia, Nepal, Tahiti and Taiwan.
Today: The Board of Berry Bros. & Rudd today consists of Chairman Simon Berry, Deputy Chairman Elizabeth Rudd, Managing Director Hugh Sturges, and Non Executive Directors Mr F. C. D Berry Green, Mr A. W. Easter, Mr J. R. Rudd, Mr Edward Rudd, Mr David Berry Green, Mr Simon Robertson, Mr Philip Bowman and Mr Richard Moyse. The Georgian ambiance of Number Three St James"s Street and Berrys uniquely historic image disguise the modern business methods and systems which now hide behind the facade. The physical atmosphere of oak panelling and quill pens may remain but in fact the business is conducted and controlled in a very up-to-date fashion. On the wine side, a temperature-controlled wine cellar was built in Basingstoke in 1967 and since then the premises have been greatly extended to include a bonded section, additional offices, a modern tasting room and a retail shop. In Scotland the huge stacks of Cutty Sark awaiting shipment to all parts of the world are similarly well-ordered. The Widow Bourne and William Pickering, who started humbly enough under the sign of the Coffee Mill, may take comfort in the thought that Berrys huge expansion over the years has not been at the expense of its unique character or its reputation. Berrys acknowledges the enormous part played in its prosperity by "Cutty Sark" but it also recognises the value of its traditional approach to wine. It sells not on cut prices or catchpenny appeals but on merit, value and quality of service. This is an approach epitomised by the firm"s tasting panel, which makes visits to many overseas vineyards and meets regularly to taste and choose or reject many hundreds of different wines each year. "If you penetrate behind the famous shop-front at 3, St James"s Street you find that Berry Bros. are a firm of surprising contrasts. The list of their clientele since 1698 reads like the index to a politico-social history of England: yet, today any number of regular customers drop in and take away a bottle or two in a carrier bag. Moreover they receive as warm a welcome as a millionaire restocking his cellar" (The Times)
The Rudds: Until 1914 Hugh Rudd had worked in the Wine Trade, first in London, then on the Continent, and from 1903 with his father in R.G. Rudd & Son, Wine Merchants of Norwich. But after the war, Norwich ceased to hold its former important place in wine. By agreement with his father Major Rudd then came to London to join Berry Brothers and Company as the junior partner. His arrival at No. 3 was timely. He was, like both Walter and Francis Berry, a fine judge of claret, and this was of course an essential qualification at Berry Brothers. However, he also had an unsurpassed knowledge of German wines, embracing every conceivable facet of viticulture, vinification and development in every region of the Rhine and Moselle. His palate was as accurate as his knowledge, so that when the outstanding vintage of 1921 came on the market, his advice enabled Berrys to make a selection of such supreme and unequalled merits as to secure for themselves yet another reputation, to add to the ones they already enjoyed.
Cutty Sark: On the 23rd March 1923, an important piece of Berry"s history was made.Seated round a table at lunch discussing whisky were the partners together with James McBey, the well-known Scottish artist. Berrys was already selling their own brands of Scotch Whisky to customers at home, and just a little had been sold before the war to private customers in the U.S.A. There were signs that the disastrous experiment of Prohibition would not last for ever and they now sought a new and different blend for the export trade. Like his cousin Walter, Francis Berry was an authority on fine Cognac and he supported the suggestion that they should choose a blend made up from only the very finest and most delicate whiskies. It would be bottled at its natural pale colour to avoid the danger of the caramel colouring masking or destroying the gentle and crisp flavour which they enjoyed so much - but which was far away from the fashionable idea of dark, heavy and oily Scotch whisky. All the new Scotch whisky blend lacked was a name and a symbol. At the time, the famous clipper ship "Cutty Sark" was much in the news as she had just returned to England after many years trading under the Portuguese flag. McBey, who was a keen sailor, suggested that this would be an admirable name for the new whisky. Appropriate too, for nothing could seem more Scottish, the name being taken from Robert Burns" "Tam O"Shanter" (Cutty Sark means "short shift" or "the abbreviated chemise of a winsome wench"). McBey also volunteered to design the label which remains today almost exactly as he originally drew it, even to the hand-drawn lettering and the use of the correct descriptive word "Scots" rather than the Sassenach"s "Scotch". Only the colour of the label is different. McBey had suggested a creamy shade to imply age. The printers, by accident, used a bright yellow so striking in its effect that the partners decided to keep it.
Early Days: Imagine that shortly after the restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, you are standing with your back to St. James"s Palace and looking north towards Piccadilly. Immediately to your left you would see Berkshire House, and to your right at the corner of Pall Mall and St. James"s Street, a long low Tudor building which has now been identified as Henry V111"s tennis court. This was largely still the scene in 1698, when the Widow Bourne occupied No. 3 St James"s St and opened up a grocer"s shop - The Coffee Mill. Today, as in the 1690s, the sign of the Coffee Mill still hangs outside. No. 3 remained in the hands of the Widow Bourne until her daughter, Elizabeth, was successfully wooed by William Pickering, and in 1731 Sir Thomas Hanmer, Speaker of the House of Commons, leased Pickering No. 3 to be rebuilt along with the houses in the court behind, now known as Pickering Place. In 1734, William Pickering died and his widow Elizabeth took over the running of the business until 1737, when she handed over both the grocery and the "arms painting and heraldic furnishing" side to her sons William Junior Pickering and John Pickering. Today the ground floor, entered from St. James"s street, instantly takes you back to the days when the Pickerings weighed famous visitors on the giant weighing beams, registering their weights with quill pens in morocco-bound ledgers. John Pickering died in 1754. With no suitable heir, his brother William took as his partner John Clarke who was distantly related, through his mother, born Mary Crabb. Clarke died in 1788, and while he had no son, his daughter, Mary, had married John Berry, a wine merchant in Exeter, and their son, George Berry, although only one year of age, had already been designated by his grandfather as heir to The Coffee Mill. Before he died John Clarke found as a suitable "caretaker" to manage affairs, the Brownes of Westerham, a rich and prospering family of lawyers and yeomen into which John Berry"s sister had married, and they agreed to look after the business until George was old enough to take over.
The Berrys: George Berry, John Clarke"s grandson, was only sixteen when, in 1803, he made the two day journey from Exeter. For seven years he must have played the part of apprentice, for it was not until 1810 that his name was stretched across the double-fronted facia of No. 3 St James"s Street. In 1838 the Chartist riots raged through provincial England and spread panic in London. Accompanied by his friend Prince Louis Napoleon, George Berry was sworn in as a special constable. This Prince Louis Napoleon, who as Napoleon III founded the Deuxieme Empire in 1851, had a close association with No. 3, as during his two-year stay in London he used the cellars for sundry secret meetings with Sherer the (reputed) editor of the "Standard". In 1854, George Berry died, and was succeeded by two of his sons, George and Henry. The style of "Berry Brothers" thus came into being and remained almost unchanged for almost ninety years. George Berry II had seven children, of whom Henry Berry was chosen to represent the older branch of the family while the younger of the original two brothers was succeeded by his son, one of twelve children, Henry Percival Berry. These two cousins were succeeded in due time by Francis Lawrence Berry of the senior branch, and Charles Walter Berry of the junior. While unusual wines such as Constantia or Tokay or the Tuscan Montepulciano were by this time represented in the Price List, the mainstays of the older lists were Sherries, Madeiras and Ports, wines from the classic regions of France and Germany and brandies, liqueurs and whiskies. Henry Berry was almost certainly the partner who established this policy and was the leading figure at No. 3 between 1880 and 1907. However, both Francis and Walter Berry felt that the firm did need some changes. The creation of The King"s Ginger Liqueur serves to illustrate the differences and strengths of each generation. In the early days of King Edward VII"s reign, the royal doctor approached Berrys for something to ward off the chill felt by His Majesty when out in his "horseless carriage". Henry Berry promptly produced the firm"s brandy and ginger cordial originally known as "Ginger Brandy - Special Liqueur" but in 1906, three years after its creation, it was the younger generation who thought to add it to the Price List and in 1934 rename it "The King"s Ginger Liqueur" as it is known today.
The Berry Brothers company has a long and proud history in the wine world, but they"ve also been dabbling in whisky for many years. Their little old store in the heart of London is a sight for sore eyes; very little seems to have changed in the more than three centuries since the company was founded in 1698. Since 1760, the company are official suppliers to the British royal household. Apart from their blended whisky "Cutty Sark" the Berry Brothers company carries a range of (usually fairly excellent) independent bottlings, as well as two series of "vatted malts"; Berry"s All Malt and Berry"s Pure Malt. The Berry Brothers & Rudd company also has long lasting ties the Glenrothes distillery in Speyside.
Trivia:
- While the 1887 Company (Edrington and William Grant & Sons) continues to own the actual Glenrothes distillery itself, Berry Bros. & Rudd now owns the Glenrothes brand (since 2010).
- In 2010 the Cutty Sark blended scotch brand was acquired by the Edrington Group, makers of the Famous Grouse and Macallan.
from Malt Madness, bbr.com
The Distillery: Inchgower
| Established: 1871 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Scotland |
The Inchgower distillery was built in 1871 by Alexander Wilson & Co. to replace the Tochineal Distillery. Equipment from this distillery was used for the construction of Inchgower near the fishing village of Buckie; a little to the northeast of the majority of the distilleries in Speyside, along the coast and west of Banff and Glenglassaugh.
Inchgower was fairly self sufficient - the distillery had its own cooperage and forge while housing for distillery workers was part of the buildings too. Unfortunately, this didn't prevent the owners Alexander Wilson & Co. from going bankrupt in 1936. The Inchgower distillery was bought by the Buckie Town Council for the bargain basement price of £1,600. They made a neat little profit when they sold it on to Arthur Bell & Sons in 1938 for 3,000 GBP.
Arthur Bell & Sons made little changes to Inchgower until 1966 when they modernised the distillery and expanded the number of stills from two to four, doubling the capacity. The malt whisky that was distilled at Inchgower eventually became an important component of the Bell's blends. That wasn't the only blend it was used for though - it's part of the Johnnie Walker and White Horse blends too.
n fact, blends have always been very important in the life of Inchgower. After all, only 1% of the total production of the distillery is sold as a single malt whisky. With that in mind, it's hardly surprising that Inchgower malt whisky is very difficult to find at your average liquorist. Official bottlings don't exist, unless you count the 'Flora & Fauna' and 'UD Rare Malts' bottlings as such. There have been some independent bottlings over the years though. I had a quick look at my Track Record and found a few bottlings from Cadenhead's, Adelphi, Hart Brothers, Signatory Vintage and Helen Arthur. Still, there are surprisingly few independent bottlings, given the considerable distillery output.
It's a little strange that not all the whisky in the 13 warehouses is Inchgower malt whisky. While there are a lot of casks from other Diageo distilleries stored in the Inchgower warehouses that offer room for 60,000 casks, most of the Inchgower malt whisky isn't actually matured 'on site' but shipped elsewhere. I can't believe all the moving back-and-forth of casks is good for the environment. What's more, it indicates that 'terroir' isn't really that important.
Anyway - back to the history... In 1985 Arthur Bell & Sons was taken over by Guinness, which evolved into UDV (United Distillers & Vintners) in 1987, together with DCL. This company was one of the predecessors of industry giant Diageo.
Inchgower has a stainless steel semi lauter mash tun and six Oregon pine washbacks. In 2006 and 2007 Inchgower was closed for refurbishment for almost a year. One of the most significant changes was the installation of a so-called 'closed yeast pitching system' that added yeast to the wash automatically. This innovations gives more control over the style of the whisky, but is less 'traditional'. Like in most other modern distilleries, malting of the barley doesn't happen at Inchgower anymore. These days the barley is malted at an external Diageo facility. Inchgower's malt is made at Burghead, 20 miles to the west.
And I guess that's all I can tell you about Inchgower. The distillery may be a little light on history and quirky details, but the malt whisky is of excellent quality - at least the stuff they used to distill around 1980.
In The New Millenium
Inchgower was fairly self sufficient - the distillery had its own cooperage and forge while housing for distillery workers was part of the buildings too. Unfortunately, this didn't prevent the owners Alexander Wilson & Co. from going bankrupt in 1936. The Inchgower distillery was bought by the Buckie Town Council for the bargain basement price of £1,600. They made a neat little profit when they sold it on to Arthur Bell & Sons in 1938 for 3,000 GBP.
Arthur Bell & Sons made little changes to Inchgower until 1966 when they modernised the distillery and expanded the number of stills from two to four, doubling the capacity. The malt whisky that was distilled at Inchgower eventually became an important component of the Bell's blends. That wasn't the only blend it was used for though - it's part of the Johnnie Walker and White Horse blends too.
n fact, blends have always been very important in the life of Inchgower. After all, only 1% of the total production of the distillery is sold as a single malt whisky. With that in mind, it's hardly surprising that Inchgower malt whisky is very difficult to find at your average liquorist. Official bottlings don't exist, unless you count the 'Flora & Fauna' and 'UD Rare Malts' bottlings as such. There have been some independent bottlings over the years though. I had a quick look at my Track Record and found a few bottlings from Cadenhead's, Adelphi, Hart Brothers, Signatory Vintage and Helen Arthur. Still, there are surprisingly few independent bottlings, given the considerable distillery output.
It's a little strange that not all the whisky in the 13 warehouses is Inchgower malt whisky. While there are a lot of casks from other Diageo distilleries stored in the Inchgower warehouses that offer room for 60,000 casks, most of the Inchgower malt whisky isn't actually matured 'on site' but shipped elsewhere. I can't believe all the moving back-and-forth of casks is good for the environment. What's more, it indicates that 'terroir' isn't really that important.
Anyway - back to the history... In 1985 Arthur Bell & Sons was taken over by Guinness, which evolved into UDV (United Distillers & Vintners) in 1987, together with DCL. This company was one of the predecessors of industry giant Diageo.
Inchgower has a stainless steel semi lauter mash tun and six Oregon pine washbacks. In 2006 and 2007 Inchgower was closed for refurbishment for almost a year. One of the most significant changes was the installation of a so-called 'closed yeast pitching system' that added yeast to the wash automatically. This innovations gives more control over the style of the whisky, but is less 'traditional'. Like in most other modern distilleries, malting of the barley doesn't happen at Inchgower anymore. These days the barley is malted at an external Diageo facility. Inchgower's malt is made at Burghead, 20 miles to the west.
And I guess that's all I can tell you about Inchgower. The distillery may be a little light on history and quirky details, but the malt whisky is of excellent quality - at least the stuff they used to distill around 1980.
In The New Millenium
- 2004 - The Inchgower 27yo 1976/2004 (55.6%, UD Rare Malts) is released; the last new semi-official bottling since the 14yo 'Flora & Fauna' bottling (with an Oyster catcher on the label) and the Inchgower 22yo 1974/1997 (55.7%, UD Rare Malts). The 12yo Bell's official bottling that was available since the 1970's has disappeared in the late 1990's.
- 2011 - Two of the washbacks at Inchgower are replaced.
- 2012 - The Inchgower distillery is closed for four months for a extensive renovation of the facility. Combined with a new production schedule, the annual output is increased to almost 3 million litres or spirit.
Trivia:
- Famous whisky writer Alfred Barnard visited Inchgower in 1885 and wrote: "... The buildings which are of stone and slate are erected in the form of an oblong quadrangle and cover nearly four acres of ground…. A modern work, and is fitted up with all the latest improvements of machinery and vessels."
- The 'Flora & Fauna' bottlings of Inchgower malt whisky feature a picture of an Oyster Catcher, a bird that is an annual visitor to this coastal area of the Speyside region.
- In 1966 all stills of Inchgower switched to steam heating - they were heated directly before that.
- There are 13 warehouses on the grounds of Inchgower distillery, offering room for some 60,000 casks. They don't only contain casks of Inchgower malt whisky, but whiskies from other distilleries from Diageo as well.
- Only 1% of the total production of the Inchgower distillery is bottled as a single malt whisky. Almost half of the total production is sold on to customers, the rest is used for Diageo blends like Johnnie Walker and White Horse.
from Malt Madness
The Owner: Diageo
| Established: 1997 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 8 Henrietta Place, London, W1G ONB, UK |
| → website |
Diageo also distributes Unicum, its lighter-bodied variant Zwack and Jose Cuervo tequila products in North America. However, Cuervo operates as a separate company in Mexico and is not owned by Diageo. Similarly Grand Marnier is distributed by Diageo in many markets, including exclusively in Canada, and a deal was reached in 2009 to significantly expand this partnership in Europe.
Furthermore, Diageo owns the Gleneagles Hotel.
Diageo was formed in 1997 from the merger of Guinness plc and Grand Metropolitan plc. The creation was driven by the two executives Anthony Greener and Philip Yea at Guinness plus George Bull and John McGrath of Grand Metropolitan. The product portfolios of Guinness and Grand Met were largely complementary with little overlap.
Diageo is the world"s biggest whisky producer with 28 malt distilleries and two grain distilleries.The company operates the Scotch whisky distilleries of Auchroisk, Benrinnes, Blair Athol (situated at Pitlochry), Caol Ila, Cardhu, Knockando, Glen Elgin, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Glen Ord, Lagavulin, Oban, Royal Lochnagar, Strathmill, Talisker, Teaninich, Mannochmore, Mortlach and Glenlossie, which are sold not only under their own name but used to make the various blended scotch whiskies sold by the company, and owns the stock of many closed distilleries such as Port Ellen, Rosebank, Brora, Convalmore, Glen Albyn, North Brechin, Banff, and Linlithgow. The company have opened a new malt distillery adjacent to their maltings at Roseisle (1st new make spirit produced Spring 2009). This will be one of the largest malt distilleries in Scotland. The new building contains 14 traditional copper pot stills. An expansion programme is also underway at its Cameron Bridge Grain Distillery in Fife that will make it the largest grain distillery in Scotland. Diageo also owns the Port Dundas Grain Distillery in Glasgow, and jointly operates the North British Grain Distillery in Gorgie, Edinburgh, with The Edrington Group.
Diageo plc (LSE: DGE, NYSE: DEO) is the largest multinational beer, wine and spirits company in the world. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has American Depositary Receipts listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The word Diageo was formed from the Latin dia (day) and the Greek geo (World), symbolising the use of the company"s brands every day, everywhere. Its head office is located in the City of Westminster in London. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Trivia:
- In December 2003, Diageo provoked controversy over its decision to change its Cardhu brand Scotch whisky from a single malt to a vatted malt (also known as a pure malt) whilst retaining the original name and bottle style. Diageo took this action because it did not have sufficient reserves to meet demand in the Spanish market, where Cardhu had been successful. After a meeting of producers, Diageo agreed to make changes.
- In 2006, the Cardhu brand quietly changed back to being a single malt.
- In July 2009, Diageo announced that, after nearly 200 years of association with the town of Kilmarnock, they would be closing the Johnnie Walker blending and bottling plant as part of restructuring to the business. This would make 700 workers unemployed and caused outrage from press, local people and politicians. A campaign against this decision was launched by the local SNP MSP Willie Coffey and Labour MP Des Browne. A petition was drawn up against the Diageo plans, which also involves the closure of the historic Port Dundas Grain Distillery in Glasgow.
- In February 2009 it was reported in the Guardian that the company had restructured itself so as to avoid paying tax in the U.K., despite much of its profits being generated in the U.K.
- Diageo is engaged in a tax scheme in the United States of America, commonly referred to as the "Rum Bailout", which will guarantee it USD$3 billion in revenues and profits.
- The National Puerto Rican Coalitionplans to run a series of ads in New York City and Puerto Rico urging a boycott of Diageo-owned alcoholic drinks to protest the giant British-owned corporation"s controversial production move of its Captain Morgan rum from Puerto Rico to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
from Wikipedia