I first met Selim Evin, founding father of Chapter 7 unbiased whisky bottler, in mid-2020.
Selim and I labored collectively to placed on a tasting of their vary for the London Whisky Membership. I had the unenviable process of bottling up, labelling, and mailing out roughly 600 mini samples around the globe for our on-line occasion, a process acquainted to many whisky lovers and whisky membership members by now.
Selim appeared to have a watch for an attention-grabbing cask, and we’ve stored in contact since. One facet of the model that I do know may be very private to Selim is the hyperlink between the whisky and literature. Impressed initially by the “All of the world’s a stage” monologue, from As You Like It by William Shakespeare, Selim believes {that a} good whisky can have as profound an impact on you as a number of the world’s biggest literature. The passage from Shakespeare is now used to adorn the Chapter 7 bottles in very good and modern model, which makes the bottles fairly charming items for important birthdays.
“All of the world’s a stage,
And all of the women and men merely gamers.
They’ve their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time performs many elements,
His acts being seven ages. At first the toddler,
Mewling and puking within the nurse’s arms.
Then, the whining school-boy along with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like a snail
Unwillingly to high school. After which the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then, a soldier,
Filled with unusual oaths, and bearded just like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden, and fast in quarrel,
Searching for the bubble status
Even within the cannon’s mouth. After which, the justice,
In honest spherical stomach, with capon lin’d,
With eyes extreme, and beard of formal minimize,
Filled with smart saws, and fashionable cases,
And so he performs his half. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,
With spectacles on nostril and pouch on aspect,
His youthful hose, effectively sav’d, a world too vast
For his shrunk shank, and his huge manly voice,
Turning once more towards infantile treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Final scene of all,
That ends this unusual eventful historical past,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans enamel, sans eyes, sans style, sans every part.”
As a person transitioning from stage 4 to five (the justice) “in honest spherical stomach, with capon lin’d. With eyes extreme. And a beard of formal minimize, filled with smart saws,” I really feel effectively positioned to make judgement on the whisky as soon as once more!
Throughout the Chapter 7 vary there are the Monologues Collection of single cask releases, that are distinctive and bottled at cask power, or supreme power for the spirit as judged by Selim himself. The Anecdotes Collection are these batches of bizarre whiskies comparable to unusual restricted blended or whisky uncharacteristic of the supply distillery, the type of factor you’ll be speaking about and sharing for a while. Chronicles are small batches which can be periodically repeated – nearer to a core vary, if you’ll – comparable to Islay blended malt.
Lastly, or not fairly, there may be the Prologue vary which features a blended malt scotch from the Highlands and Speyside which is normally blended type 15 casks, or so and can differ considerably over time. The ultimate instalment, so to talk, is the unique vary for TopWhiskies, which incorporates single casks at eager costs, that are hand-filled and have handwritten label kinds. All Chapter 7 ranges are bottled naturally colored and unchill filtered.
The affiliation between Chapter 7 and TopWhiskies has been a boon for the model, and has actually contributed to the proliferation of bottles within the fingers of eager whisky drinkers. The assorted hanging labels do standout on cabinets, and positively talk the type of important info that whisky lovers search for comparable to vintages, finishes, bottle numbers, cask numbers, and so forth.
Earlier this 12 months, Ed Leigh of TopWhiskies agreed to sponsor and exhibit on the first whisky competition centered on Impartial Bottlers in Newcastle, considerably surprisingly named the “Whisky Indy Love Fest 2022.” The occasion will function lots of the trendiest indie bottlers together with Thompson Bros, Little Brown Canine, Suave Dodger and naturally Chapter 7. The competition is scheduled the day earlier than the Nice North Run, a not solely complimentary pairing, as most attendees will likely be attempting to exert as little as doable the day after the competition, and metropolis lodging will likely be at a premium.
Nonetheless, the competition is effectively timed, as indie bottlers want a good quantity of assist as wholesale cask costs skyrocket – pushed by the funding market – and a discount within the provide of casks as distillers intention to retain extra inventory for their very own single malt traces. You may count on to satisfy Selim Evin from Chapter 7, together with a lot of their current bottlings and maybe a number of particular Chapter 7 treats. I’d love for some readers to report again on this inaugural occasion sooner or later.
The following instalment from Chapter 7 would be the opening of their very own warehouse and bottling plant in Paisley close to Glasgow. As a consequence of begin bottling from August 15th, this new growth will see an growth of the casks delivered to market beneath the Chapter 7 model, permitting extra experimentation with the Anecdotes vary.
Within the second half of this 12 months you’ll be able to count on a variety of attention-grabbing releases from Chapter 7 together with an Indian Single Malt which is in transit from the sub-continent. There may also be a Knockdhu 16, Orkney 16, some a lot older Glenrothes and Tobermory, a beautiful outdated grain from North British, together with a number of different enjoyable sounding releases which I’ll not spoil fully right here.
The Chapter 7 whisky I’m selecting to overview is from Glen Grant distillery, a Speysider, from Rothes. With a wholesome output of virtually 6,000,000 litres annually, Glen Grant is likely one of the most recognisable and well-known whiskies the world over. Gordon and MacPhail have relationship with Glen Grant, leading to a wholesome G&M Glen Grant again catalogue and a few extraordinarily effectively aged expressions, nevertheless different indie bottlings are uncommon.
The fermentation is a commercially handy 40 hours. The stills are assisted by an extra copper air purifier which removes the heavier parts. The size of the distillery features a important quantity of automation together with computer systems making the cuts between the fore pictures, coronary heart, and tails. This usually places official bottlings of Glen Grant on the lighter finish of the whisky market, not significantly favoured by connoisseurs apart from the divisive Jim Murray who repeatedly voted it close to the highest of his annual checklist. This isn’t assisted by the decrease power of official bottlings between 40% and 43%. Right here at Malt, Glen Grant has been pretty missed; apart from a 2021 overview of an official bottling by John, it’s a must to return to 2018 to search out additional critiques.
Chapter 7 Monologue Glen Grant 24 Yr Previous – Assessment
Single Bourbon Hogshead #6454. January 1998 to January 2022. Bottled at 51.1% ABV. £184.
Color: Amber.
On the nostril: Smooth oxidised ripe fruit, minimize pink apple, crushed pear, slightly ethanol, exhausting nectarine, a number of dusty wooden derived baking spices dry and marginally tannic, though a refill cask this wooden has nonetheless been fairly energetic. Just a little creamy and nutty. With time many extra tropical fruits develop; mango, toasted coconut, dried papaya and pineapple cubes.
Within the mouth: Advanced wealthy fruits, then coconut. Paying homage to a Parisian La Durée Pina Colada macaron (Travellers passing via Charles De Gaulle ought to look out for these). Smooth malt, extra nuttiness from floor almonds and honey-soaked baklava. Baking spices, crystalised ginger, a barely creamy end that’s medium size.
Conclusions:
Properly, this isn’t as wooden ahead because the 31 12 months outdated Tormore I reviewed, which was actually attention-grabbing. Neither is it the outdated worn-out refill casks that deliver little or no wooden, simply fantastic tropical fruit notes from the matured spirit. In truth, it’s proper between the 2 kinds and as such is properly balanced deliver each the richness of the wooden and the fragrant tropical fruitiness of the spirit. The end is slightly transient, however that is tremendous whisky.
