Tales from the city, tales from the sea
From the Cairngorms to the Caribbean (with a brief detour to the Liverpool docks), the new collection from The Last Drop is an exquisite historical journey of discovery. Gordon Thomson gets spirited away. Photographs by Marcus Dawes
Colin Scott is talking about Tomintoul, the youthful Speyside distillery born at the height of the Swinging Sixties, and still cutting a dash decades later. Located on a summit in the heart of the Cairngorms in a soul-rousingly beautiful area notorious for its wild weather, it was, he says, and still is, often the first place in the UK to be regularly cut off by snow in the depths of the Scottish winter. Keeping production at Tomintoul going was no mean feat, but then whisky-making in this part of the world has always thrived on adversity and a good slug of stoic endurance. It’s a tale that resonates with me. I grew up not far from here and as boy attending a remote Highland primary school would frequently find the route to class barricaded by snow drifts. If I’d been old enough, I think I’d have been happy on those dark snowbound days sequestered indoors sipping on a Tomintoul or two. Instead, I was most likely attending to jotters full of long division with a warming cup of bovril.
Fifty years a whisky man and master blender, Scott has an easygoing, boyish manner, russet cheeks and expressive eyes that jump and sparkle as he speaks. Born and raised in Orkney, he contemplated retirement in 2019 after decades at the peak of the industry, most of it making magic on an epic scale at Chivas Bros., but was persuaded to keep on sniffing and sipping out exceptional liquids for The Last Drop, partly because of his friendship with Tom Jago (co- founder of the company), partly because, well, he just loves making whisky. And you can only play so much golf.
His job as master blender is to select from the brand’s extensive library of maturing Scotch casks to create original blends. On this showing, they’re very lucky to have him. Not that he’d ever admit it.
Blending, Scott says, is akin to having a football team. ‘You’ve got your star player but then you’ve got the workhorse behind them — similarly you’ve got whiskies that keep everything right and then ones that you then have to control.’
‘Fittingly, for such an elevated tasting, we are up high, in the expansive and expensive eerie of a hotel, gawping at the unbroken views across Tower Bridge and the sprawl of London’
The Last Drop 2024 Collection, curated by Colin, comprises a trio of exceptional spirits from around the world (I can recognise plenty of star players but I’m struggling to spot any workhorses in the mix). This evening a happy throng of writers, industry movers and shakers and Last Drop staffers gather to get the first try of them all. Fittingly, for such an elevated tasting, we are up high, in the expansive and expensive eerie of a hotel, 10 Trinity Square, gawping at the unbroken views across Tower Bridge and the sprawl of London as the early spring evening fades into a watery sunset.
Whisky is not lacking at the luxury end of the market. A quick browse on Google or a click of your inbox and you’ll find an array of seemingly tantalising offers to buy a rare bottle or a cask for a king’s ransom. You may not alway find a similar degree of enthusiasm for communicating provenance or pedigree. The Last Drop is different. Yes, their whisky is expensive and exclusive. You probably don’t have £2,000 or more (the 55 Year Old Tomintoul has a suggested retail price of £6,600) to spare to buy a bottle. But this is a whisky outfit that is discerning about its output (just 36 limited bottlings across Scotch Whisky, Cognac, Rum, Japanese Whisky and Irish Whiskey have been released since 2008) and that was built by two icons of the industry (Tom Jago and James Espey) with over 80 years of experience between them. Add in a master blender of unimpeachable rank, and you have a company of unrivalled integrity and deep knowledge. Albeit one whose spirits are very much for those with deep pockets.
‘So far, so exotic and decidedly yummy rummy — this drink is your friend at the end of a meal, when a dense, fruit-filled pudding is served and a deep, soothing spirit of the sea is all that is required for serenity’
Given that baby-booming Tomintoul didn’t start production until the mid 1960s, it’s intriguing to discover that the 55 year old Single Malt Whisky made there is now the oldest single malt release to date from The Last Drop. Aged for more than 53 years in six oak cask, the remaining liquid was married into an Amoroso butt for a further 20 months, resulting in a spirit of richness and complexity, and yielding 582 bottles.
We drink it with a bosky Beef Wellington, Truffle Ceps and Potato Fondant and it pairs superbly. Scott describes the whisky as ‘an explosion of ripe fruits and richly caramelised apples….a dance of spices and herbs tingles on the tongue.’ The finish is sweet and long and intensely satisfying.
Beef Wellington, Truffle Ceps and Fondant Potato – paired perfectly with The Last Drop’s 55 year old Single Malt Whisky from Tomintoul
A happy murmur rises in the room as the second release is unveiled and Rebecca Jago — the charming and erudite daughter of James who has run the operation since 2014 — begins to talk us through the story of what we are about to drink. It’s a rum this time, 22 years old, more specifically a global alchemy of rums from Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad, Venezuela, Guadeloupe, Brazil and Fiji. So far, so exotic and decidedly yummy rummy — this drink is your friend at the end of a meal, when a dense, fruit-filled pudding is served and a deep, soothing spirit of the sea is all that is required for serenity.
The distant ports of the Caribbean and South America sing a sweet but fiery song from the glass, but it’s a great maritime centre much closer to home that holds the key to this release. Jago explains that the oak rum cask into which these hundreds of duty-suspended, free-spirited samples were sealed in 2000, was interred in a warehouse on the Liverpool docks. Left untouched since then, this is their moment in the sun. A rum tale for sure. And the perfect companion to the Chocolate Rhum Baba with Passion Fruit Confit we are served for dessert.
Rebecca Jago, MD of The Last Drop with Master Blender Colin Scott
I like the Tomintoul and the rum very much but my favourite of the three is the Auchentoshan (Gaelic for ‘corner of the field’ - you learn something every day), one of the few remaining Lowland distilleries, and a place that produces many whiskies I have enjoyed, most of them typically light and floral in character. The 40 year old, however, is a dark-bellied belter, an ex-Bourbon cask cracker, that lights up your mouth with a riot of cherries, raisins, hazelnut and chewy toffee. Rebecca Jago explains that the angels snaffled over 80% of the spirit by the time it was rescued from its barrels, leaving enough for just 72 bottles. Lucky angels. I nose mine neat for a blissful minute, take a long sip like that too, and then add a small splash of water, thinking all the while of romantic Loch Katrine, which supplies the distillery, and Walter Scott’s Lady of the Lake. People, places, stories — you don’t have to look far for them in whisky.
‘The angels snaffled over 80% of the spirit by the time it was rescued from its barrels, leaving enough for just 72 bottles’
At the end of the evening, we sipped a 154 year old Colheita Tawny port and it was sublime, described succinctly by Jago as a heady mix of sweet and savoury. ‘There’s umami in there, can you taste it?’ she said. Nate Lithgow, from the Connaught’s superb Coburg bar, nodded and smiled. He could feel a distinct mushroom flavour on the palate. ‘Yes!’ exclaimed Jago. ‘That’s it!’ He’s a man of good taste, and The Last Drop has plenty of it to share.
Release No 34, a 40 year old Single Malt Scotch whisky from the Auchentoshan Distillery. 72 bottles
Release No 35, a 20 year old ‘Infinitum Rum’ sourced from many different countries. 136 bottles.
Release No 36, a 55 year old Single Malt Scotch whisky from the Tomintoul Distillery. 582 bottles.
The collection is now available from Hedonism
