The Spirit Specialist reviews Isle of Harris The Hearach Scotch Single Malt Whisky
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- čas přidán 5. 10. 2023
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Founded as a business in 2007 by Anderson ‘Burr’ Bakewell, the Isle of Harris Distillery, situated in the capital town of Tarbert, didn’t officially open until September 2015, and a few weeks later their first product, a soft gin in a highly distinctive bottle, was launched to the public. Bakewell, an Anglo-American musicologist, cares deeply about the island and the venture aims to not only provide long term employment opportunities but also provide a focal point for the local population to rally around - it has often been dubbed a ‘social distillery’ with spirit made for the community, by the community. Simon Erlanger, who had previously worked with Diageo and Glenmorangie, was brought on board as Managing Director to lead the operation.
‘Hearach’ translates from Scottish Gaelic as ‘a Harris islander’ and is the first Single Malt whisky release from the distillery. 100% Scottish barley is used and 8 batches have been released in quantities of around 13,000 bottles each, with the marriage of casks being overseen by chief blender and Hearach Shona MacLeod, who herself is mentored by Dr Gordon Steele, well-known within the industry for his expertise on flavour profiling.
The whisky is a minimum of 4 years old and maturation takes place in a combination of first-fill ex-Bourbon casks sourced from Buffalo Trace and Heaven Hill alongside ex-Oloroso and ex-Fino Sherry barrels. A small amount of peated barley is also used to introduce a slightly smoky element, with a phenol level of around 12 to 15 PPM. Isle of Harris The Hearach has no colour added and no chill-filtration takes place, and it is bottled at 46% ABV.
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Thanks so much for the review, Ben, and for the rant. In Australia, I have relied on your counterparts, the independent retailers here, to help me on my whisky hobby journey. Most of the bottles in my collection have a connection to a real person who sold them to me. I even have personal relationships with some of these folk. I know they taste what they sell and that they know their topic. Best of luck with the shop, sir.
Thank you so much, and thank you also for continuing to support independent retailers!
It was very interesting and a very detailed review and of course, just your opinion. Everyone smells and tastes differently this is why someone may like one whisky over another. I am certainly not a whisky expert, however anyone can say something smells like that or tastes like that it would be impossible to say they are talking rubbish. In the past I used to put coca cola into whisky until my wife's uncle John said, that is terrible to do that to whisky, a little water is better. So I set about learning how to drink whisky without putting coca cola into the whisky. This all changed when I actually visited my wife's family in Harris and I visited the Harris Distillery in 2015, I was actually able to taste the Hearach before it went into the barrel and it nearly took my throat lining away until Shona Macleod said put a little water in the whisky and wow what a difference. My wife's uncle John was so right as he said to me originally, just put a little water in the whisky and you will release all the flavours and remove the after burn. Uncle John Macleod was from the Isle of Harris and the father of Shona MacLeod who is shown in your video and is one of the original 10 employees. The old man you see on the front cover is the grandfather of my wife Kirsteen and Shona. I have tried a huge amount of blended whisky's and single malts and the Hearach is up there with my all time favourites like Balvenie 12. I was lucky enough to secure a bottle 2 days ago which I think is utterly amazing without water, no burn, just a very soothing smooth drink. I have no fancy words to describe the Hearach other than I love how it tastes as long as you use the correct glass to drink it out of and hold it in your mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. As far as packaging is concerned it is simply the best and very complex instead of the usual crappy box that most malts come in. The first thing I do when I buy a malt like Glen Morange is toss the box in the bin there is no way I will do this with the Hearach box is is a work of art. The only box I have ever kept is the Belvenie case, which is round and very bonnie to look at. The Hearach box is just amazing like the whisky itself. All I have to say now is well done to all the people of the Harris distillery and the the people of Harris and taste is always subjective. I do agree with you as this whisky gets older it will be even better. Eddie of the Highlands of Scotland, Inverness.
I like the box with environment friendly card box only. Not magnet. I am not a collector of boxes at all. I opened by boxes without knowing about the problems others experienced and had not problems.
I get your point but you are lucky. I’m in America and can’t get it. I have a cask at the distillery and this early bottle is different…so enjoy.
I think I narrowly avoided a disaster, as I had already seen someone struggle with that box - I hope nobody has actually lost a bottle on the floor due to the poor design (I've had a couple of boxes/tubes that could have benefitted from a warning of having tops you shouldn't lift by, but only Annandale and Teerenpeli from Finland spring to mind as having worse boxes). The bottle itself looks nice, but I'd prefer a better pourer. Still, at least they are making decent whisky... 😉
Oh man, those Annandale boxes are an absolute NIGHTMARE
@@TheSpiritSpecialist Well, I've tried it now and I have to say the bottle is even more difficult to pour from than The Sexton (something I never thought I'd say!), but thank goodness the whisky inside is pretty good (on par with some of anCnoc's peated expressions).
What batch were you tasting / allocated?
"It's batch 7"
This is where it’s all going to get messy then - presumably these 8 batches wil then become 16 / 32 etc.
@@douglasshirlaw I’ve got 1-3 waiting for me, as my parents wonderfully went to Tarbert on the day. But my suspicion is that it’s not going to be substantially different; just an acceptance that there’s a tiny element of uniqueness in every one.
@@IainLambert I managed to get a batch 3. Will be interesting to hear if they are anything like their tasting notes.
Whine, whine, whine.
Great whisky - box rubbish. First time I opened it I did exactly what you showed except in addition to the little card disc coming away from the box it dragged with it several cms of the paper wrapping. As I said great whisky - box in the recycling. Great review.