Raasay Unpeated Rye Cask (Skotchtoberfest #10)

Finally the beginning of some reviews I’ve been looking forward to for a while. I ordered a pack of the six different types of casks Raasay uses (three cask types, each with peated and unpeated malt) and the next six days will be each of those, followed by the first two batches. Here we go.

Raasay Unpeated Rye Cask, Island (Raasay) Single Malt, 63.5% ABV

Minutia: Distilled from unpeated malt and matured for 27 months in an ex-Woodford Reserve rye cask. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Jonquil, ripe corn; 0.4.

Nose: Dough, toast. Salt/minerality.

Taste: Dough, spicy.

Finish: Cayenne pepper. Chocolate. Short.

Hmm. It’s got a note I get in Kilkerran, specifically the heavily peated expressions, in the form of a dough. But it’s not quite the fried dough I get from Kilkerran. I suppose that means it’s some new makey stuff coming through, but in the Kilkerran’s it does it in a way pleasing to me. This isn’t offensive, but I’m pretty neutral about it. As a stand alone drink, of course; I wouldn’t be interested in a Na Sia bottle of this, at least this early in Raasay’s life. My take is that this is in the blend to add some spice and a chocolatey-malty note in the finish. While the overall finish is short, that lingers, and surprisingly it’s something I associate with some very well aged unpeated drams, so it’s cool to see it in here and if I weren’t already I’d be interested to see what comes through at various ages as Raasay gets older stock as time goes one..

Score: 70

SMWS 64.108 Mannochmore 10 2008 "Something for the weekend..."

 

A third sample from the package I bought, another from a distillery I haven’t tried and likely wouldn’t have were it not for this package.

Mannochmore 10, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 64.108, Speyside Single Malt, 61% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on March 5, 2008 and matured in a refill ex-bourbon barrel for 10 years yielding 218 bottles. This is part of the Light & Delicate flavor profile named “Something for the weekend…”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Pale gold, 0.3.

Nose: Grassy, malty, putty.

Taste: Fruit, some spices.

Finish: Putty, sweet flowers.

This didn’t have all that much going on with what I tend to like, mostly smoke and peat-associated flavors and aromas. I did find it interesting how it played with my palate when I returned to it a bit after having a rocket pop, though, so that was kind of neat.

Score: 69

Macallan 12 Double Cask

 

I don’t like Macallan. I don’t hate it, but I’ve never felt more than neutral about it. That said, I’ve never really had it on purpose, so I figured it deserved a shot at proper focus removed from intoxication, recent cigarette, etc. Plus it was the last example I needed to complete linking them all in my scale. So, here are my thoughts.

Macallan 12 Double Cask, Highland/Speyside Single Malt, 43% ABV

Minutia: Matured in American and European oak Sherry casks. Reviewed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Tawny, 1.4.

Nose: Malty, cereal honey. Vague apricot.

Taste: Honey, stone fruit (ambiguous).

Finish: Chocolate, malt.

I enjoy this more than I have in the past. It reminds me of when I tried Bunnahabhain 12 and 18 and didn’t like them as much as I’d have thought (as a peat fan that is somewhat expected, and I have become more fond of unpeated whisky since and they warrant a re-review). Except this is missing something that Bunnahabhain’s spirit has that, peat or not, makes it enjoyable to me. While I mostly felt neutral about Macallan in the past, sometimes it was a bit aversive. I did experience that a few drams from this bottle, but not others, particularly the one poured for review. I’ll attribute this more to mood than something like time in bottle.

Score: 69 

Musical Evocation: Amorphis – “The Bee”

Hamiltons The Isles

The second of the cheap blended malts I tried from Total Wine from regions I’ve found I enjoy, the other being Islay. I reviewed this one pretty early in the bottle because, spoilers, there isn’t all that much to explore. BUT, does that mean it’s terrible?

Hamiltons The Isles, Island Blended Malt, 40% ABV

Minutia: A blended malt from distilleries on the Scottish islands. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Russet muscat, 1.3.

Nose: Sweet, honey, sweet malt, floral.

Taste: Sweet, honey, sweet variety of apple (yellow?)

Finish: Some heat, smoke, pepper.

So, it’s not wonderful, the word that really comes to mind is: “meh.” It’s boring but inoffensive. The lack of any discernible peat or smoke until the finish is not at all in my flavor preference, so I was a bit put off at the start. I came around a bit as I found it, as I said, pretty inoffensive. I will say that it is smooth, but that’s what you’re going for in a product like this. This might be a good thing for someone looking to get accustomed to drinking whisky. It’s a pretty poor example of what a good whisky can be, but the neutrality of it I think might lend itself to getting someone accustomed to 40% ABV. Probably also decent in a cocktail since you’ll taste the mixers more.

Score: 66

SMWS Name: Isles haves another, likes, a different ones

Johnnie Walker White Walker

My brother knows I like Scotch and Game of Thrones, so he got this for me for Christmas 2018. He doesn’t know enough about whisky to know I prefer single malts (specifically Islay and island distilleries) to blends, but it still ends up being a decent gift. The bottle suggests you serve it straight out of the freezer, which causes the packaging to change like the mountains on a Coors Light can. It’s obviously gimmicky and I wasn’t expecting much given a price tag of around $35 with some of that likelydefinitely a markup due to the licensing (and just because they can, if we’re honest). This was enjoyed and reviewed out of the freezer over a whisky ball on January 11, 2019.

Johnnie Walker White Walker, Scotland Blended, 41.7% ABV

Color: Pale gold.

Nose: Primarily citrus.

Taste: Fairly citrus/fruity; a tiny bit dry, hard and harsh, herbal; quite hot and malty; fairly oaky and peppery; a bit salty, spicy, creamy, and sweet.

Finish: Peppery malt.

This was better than I expected, going into it with low expectations. The ice melting slowly really changed it over the course of the dram and improved it overall. I think they may have accounted for the recommended serving method in creating the blend. I’m not sure I’ve come across a whisky with more divided opinions than this one. There’s probably a good deal of bias both ways, some thinking a gimmicky release can’t possibly be good, some who love Game of Thrones thinking anything to do with it must be amazing, so I tried to be as impartial as I could and hope I succeeded at that. 

Score: 70