Connemara 'Turf Mór' Heavily Peated

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Yes Iain stated PPM levels are pretty meaningless in a way and as you say there are many factors to how the peat comes through (or does not for that matter).

Size and shape of stills have a lot to do with it as does wood quality and the age of the malt (In general the peat ppm levels fall with age).

In relation to the PPM level in the spirit not being calculated I was wrong and I obviously did not logically think about it too long. It can be calculated by chemists but I don't think the Distilleries bother and prefer just to stick to the PPM peat levels of the original malt.

So this got me thinking is there any facts and figures out there and I did a few googles.

I came across an interesting article about research done on PPM phenol levels (in regards topeat) in malt and new spirit and then whisky.

Laphroaig uses malt circa 35-40ppm but the new make is measured at about 25ppm (71.4-62.5% of original levels).
Yet Ardbeg uses a malt with 50ppm peat levels and new make is surprisingly only 17-24ppm (34-48%) (this rings true for me as I find Laph more peaty in general)
This is in stark contrast to Bruichladdich Octomore (First batch) which had a Malt peat PPM level of 80.5 yet the New make was only 29.6ppm (36.7%).
Batch 2 was 167ppm with spirit comanding a level of 46.4ppm (27.8%) so as you can see even the same distillery cannot maintain it's ratio's.

In the case of Laphroaig and age the phenol levels drops to 8-10ppm after 10years in wood and down to 6ppm at 30years.

But even facts like these I don't think tell the full story ... the actual spirit it self, maturation and cask type can play a big part on the peat effect. A whiskey may have an equally high PPM level with another whiskey but not neccessairly show the same effect. Laphroaig and Lagavulin have similar if not identical ppm levels but reveal the peat on the palate in totally different ways. We all know the 16yo Laga but I've tasted but yet the 18yo Laph seem to have a more agressive peatiness eventhough it is older. A very interesting topic and one I'd love to learn more about.

Hopefully Turf Mór is a cracking peat monster

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Interesting post IWC, informative thanks. The method that Bruichladdich quote for measuring phenols in ppm is 'HPLC' i.e. high pressure liquid chromatography.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Interesting post IWC, informative thanks. The method that Bruichladdich quote for measuring phenols in ppm is 'HPLC' i.e. high pressure liquid chromatography.

Yes came across the HPLC term too and that is what was used in the research that I was reading about. But Briuchladdich are the masters of propaganda in the Whisky world and proclaimed with great aplom their 80ppm level on the malt but ignored the fact that the spirit ended up only 29.6ppm. Further they sell Octomore at what I gather is only around a 5yo for a stagering 80-100 sterling Yet the original (Batch 1) as an end product is no more peated that a laphroig. They obviously learned from their mistakes though and have had to up the PPM levels substantially to actually make it more peaty ... I suppose fair play for creating the hype and cashing in on it but I won't be buying their over priced 5yo whisky .

[TheWhiskeyBro]

And that begs the question about the age of Turf Mór (as well as the probable price?)

[DavidH]

And that begs the question about the age of Turf Mór (as well as the probable price?)

3 years old? Seems unlikely, I know. But my notes have the use of 58ppm malt no earlier than 2007. 2010 is much earlier than we were expecting the high ppm to come out.

[Fionnán]

I'm no expert on scotch but a 50 ppm (parts per million) whiskey is well above most distillery bottlings even from Islay. Can anyone share where this lies in the scale of super peated whiskies.

To answer your question, Lagavulin and Coal Ila both hit around 35 ppm, and, if memory serves me correctly, Ardbeg is 54 ppm.

Of course, as mentioned elsewhere, ppm isnt everything. we should never forget that phenols, as a chemical compound, are produced by the act of burning the peat, they're not what's intrinsically inside the peat in the first place.

[Fionnán]

although its worth mentioning that lagavulin apparently only dropped down to 35 within the last 8 or so years, so the current 16 yr old bottlings are probably stronger. no idea about coal ila

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

although its worth mentioning that lagavulin apparently only dropped down to 35 within the last 8 or so years, so the current 16 yr old bottlings are probably stronger. no idea about coal ila

That's interesting about Lagavulin ... however even in saying that I have felt Laga 16 has been dumbed down for the last few years maybe nothing to do with the Peat levels but certainly not what it used to be in my opinion.

[Dugarry]

Is there any news on this one to when it will become available to buy?

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Rumour has it that it will be out in November, have your Ardbeg 10 or Lagavulin on standby for comparison...

Will post here when we hear of a release date...

[Dugarry]

Rumour has it that it will be out in November, have your Ardbeg 10 or Lagavulin on standby for comparison...

Will post here when we hear of a release date...

Great, I think this will be my first Irish whisky in 3 years - I am hoping for something similar to Ardbeg or Laphroaig.

[DavidH]

According to this article, the Turf Mór is finished in sherry casks. Distilled, finished and bottled in 3 years... can this be right?

[JohnM]

According to this article, the Turf Mór is finished in sherry casks. Distilled, finished and bottled in 3 years... can this be right?

I think so. Might only take a few months in a sherry cask. And it could have been over three years when they put it in the sherry cask.

[DavidH]

This must change the economics of making whiskey. We tried the cask version of Turf Mór at the last tasting and it was very nice indeed. So I don't think this is a compromised bottling at all. But if they can produce more specials in 3 years (the Kilbeggan Distillery Reserve is 3 years old too) then that has to be good for variety and pricing to the public.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

This must change the economics of making whiskey. We tried the cask version of Turf Mór at the last tasting and it was very nice indeed. So I don't think this is a compromised bottling at all. But if they can produce more specials in 3 years (the Kilbeggan Distillery Reserve is 3 years old too) then that has to be good for variety and pricing to the public.

I think it is more about getting a product out there to meet the market demands as quickly as possibly as is possibly the case with Turf Mór however there could be another reason .. due to the light and fruity nature of Cooley spirit the youthfulness of a young whiskey on top of the heavier peat will give it the extra edge that is craved by peat heads and this is possibly what they are aiming for. Just guestimations on my part but it would be interesting if they are going to stick with the 3-4yo age or going to build the age up over time. In the case of finishes they very rarely go over 6 months anyway so the 3 month finishing time is not unusual. In this case however sherry maybe used to round off a bit of the rawness yet retaining the potency of such a young whiskey. I have actually not tasted this so as I say just try to logcally work out why it is being done so.

In the case of Kilbeggan it may simply be wanting to have a genuine product from the distillery to be available with the advent of the complete distillery up and running and in this case I would be very surprised if they did not build up the age over time. Personally I thought the Kilbeggan Disitllery Malt had a few flaws and could possibly be down to bottling too young but still well worth the experience and not bad by any means.

[Malt-Teaser]

I can reliably inform you (or so I thought) that this exciting Connemara is not yet bottled, so I cannot add to your knowledge with an actual release date as yet, but I am really looking forward to this one. Really!

Edit: I have just seen that your latest tasting included this bottling

According to a rather well-informed e-mail I received only today it hasn't been bottled yet.
Hmmmm, the sender should know.

[DavidH]

Right, we had a preview.

And it turns out it's not finished in a sherry cask. 100% bourbon according to the Cooley representative there last night.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Edit: I have just seen that your latest tasting included this bottling

According to a rather well-informed e-mail I received only today it hasn't been bottled yet.
Hmmmm, the sender should know.

Your source may well be correct ....

We have our ways

In all fairness the 3 distilleries are treating us very well and we have a lot to be thankful to them for.

[TheWhiskeyBro]

It may even have been due to be bottled today!!!

[jcskinner]

It was an eyeopener of a dram for me. I'm not a smokey whiskey fan in general, but I really thought that the added 'kick' of peat made the Turf Mor. I think the standard Connemara is a little more sweet than smokey, and can betray its youthfulness. But the added peat really made it a much more assertive dram. Very impressive, and it would be fascinating to see how it ages.

Even more so, I'd love them to release that Bog Oak experiment. That is something utterly unique, and it had tremendous balance between the sweet spirit, the peat and that intriguing spiciness from the bog oak. I'd love to sit over two or three drams of it and really get into it. On initial tasting, it seemed unusually complex and interesting.

[DavidH]

I just corrected the Turf Mór entry on my blog. The price we were quoted at the tasting was ex-distilllery, and not the recommended retail price. It will still be good value but not the amazing steal it sounded like at first

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I would not get overly excited about the price ...

My guess will be same point as Connemara plus a premium so more likely to be close to €40

[John]

I thought that price sounded incredibly cheap alright It'll be interesting to see what it is eventually sold at
J.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I thought that price sounded incredibly cheap alright It'll be interesting to see what it is eventually sold at
J.

You would imagine that it should be their cheapest connemara as it is only a 3yo but unfortunately anything new seems to hold a premium these days ...

However the "down turn" may stay their hand ...

[Malt-Teaser]

I understand the official release date wil now be end Nov. 2010.