This was too easy to guess, as it didn’t seem like Bunnahabhain and other than that Bruichladdich is just about the only unpeated malt likely to be in my sample inventory. The nose was very promising and I like what I smelled and how much I smelled. Unfortunately not much of that came through on the palate and it was mostly just malty. If you like that, you’ll really like this. As I’ve grown to appreciate that, I liked it more than I would have, but unfortunately I found the palate a bit boring.
I grabbed this ages ago when I was picking up anything near my area of interest sample-wise, and it’s now finally turned up in an Advent calendar. By the accounts I’ve seen, this is a nice Bowmore and I’m hoping I get to see that blind.
Bowmore 19, 1998 Vintage, The Whisky Agency, Islay Single Malt, 48.8% ABV
Minutia: Distilled in 1998 and matured in a butt for 19 years and bottled in 2018. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.
Guess: Gonna guess it’s a Laddie that has a couple qualities typically associated with peat.
This is interesting after the reveal. This is much more highly rated than the score it got from me, and reviews mention a lot of things I didn’t get anything close to. Either this one isn’t really for, I’m just not in the mood for it/my palate is compromised, or something went wrong with the sample and it didn’t hold up. I’m not saying it’s bad, but from what this looked like it could have been, I am a bit disappointed.
A bit of a bonus “review” to cap off the Skotchtoberfest lineup. Since I had a sample of every cask used in Raasay’s recipe, rather than finish the glass I decanted them into a vessel large enough to hold it. Here’s a quick little review of that for now after a couple days all mingling in there. I have a 1L barrel, but it exploded when someone knocked it off a table and I’m not a copper so it’s back together but decorative as I don’t think it will hold any liquid at this point. I’d already aged some Connemara twice in it after seasoning with cider (excellent after its aging, btw) and with red wine, so it probably didn’t have much left in it anyway. I have ordered another, and it’s been swelling for a couple days now for me to make my own preview into longer-aged Raasay malt. Still undecided how/if I might want to put something into it, so if anyone has ideas, please chime in. Hope you enjoy.
Raasay 2, 2022 Vintage, u/thebonewolf, Island (Mull)/New Jersey Single Malt, 63.5% ABV
Minutia: Distilled on Raasay and matured in various casks for 2 years and combined and bottled by me on October 1, 2022 yielding less than 1 bottle. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Nose: Smoke, wine, wood, spice. A bit of a mess and obviously a new frankenblend but nothing off-putting
Taste: Smoke and pepper. Malty, but weirdly so.
Finish: Nice smoke, but it turns into spice. The smoke comes back with leather and keeps the pepper. Medium-short.
So just dumping the samples together doesn’t do much for them, but the finish was something I could live with in a proper whisky. Hopefully some marrying and aging time in my tiny barrel will get this together.
Score: 74
Musical Evocation: Alice Cooper – “Feed My Frankenstein”
I’ve historically liked expressions that saw some time in wine casks, so these last two, particularly the peated one due up tomorrow, are ones I’ve been particularly looking forward to. Let’s go.
Raasay Unpeated Ex-Bordeaux Red Wine Cask, Island (Raasay) Single Malt, 63.5% ABV
Minutia: Distilled from unpeated barley and matured for 3 years in an ex-Bordeaux red wine cask. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Taste: Winey malt, like it was soaked or marinated in red wine or something. Earthy spices (not each of those notes separately; spices which are earthy).
Finish: Light sweetness, hot/peppery. Medium.
I don’t dislike this, but nothing really calls to me. There’s nothing obviously struggling to get through the ABV, but it does feel like the ABV is running the show, and I wonder how a more aged or diluted version would taste. I’m still anticipating the peated version, by my enthusiasm is a bit tampered.
As far as I know, this is the first exposure to chinkapin oak (as least where they specify it), and one of few if not the only of a Scotch aged only in virgin wood. I’m interested in how this, and the peated one tomorrow, go.
Raasay Unpeated Virgin Chinkapin Oak Cask, Island (Raasay) Single Malt, 63.5% ABV
Minutia: Distilled from unpeated malt and matured for 27 months in a virgin chinkapin oak cask Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Taste: Malty, spicy. Quite hot, really. It’s unfortunate as it hides something interesting that the heat renders too fleeting for me to get a read on it.
Finish: Bubblegum. Woody and tannic. Medium-short.
Interesting, and overall a positive first exposure to this wood. It’s not as together as it could be (expected given the nature of what it is, of course), but I can say I’d love a proper bottling of this style of spirit. Particularly aged long enough to mute that ethanol without taking away what I was trying to find on the palate. I think it’s also the first time I’ve gotten an obvious and strong bubblegum note in a whisky.
I mostly got this because of the glassware that came in the set. The three 100ml sample bottled (which I believe come from casks which were only meant for these bottles rather than as part of a typical outturn) was just gravy, particularly with the spread as there is a heavily peated one, which I expect to like, and two unpeated ones which I’ve been growing more interested in exploring.
Miltonduff 7, 2011 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 72.92, Speyside Single Malt, 62.2% ABV
Minutia: Distilled in March 2011 and matured in a 1st-fill barrel for 7 years. This is part of the Young & Spritely flavor profile named “A wonderful welcome”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Nose: Strong, malt behind the ethanol and juniper. Herbal and some fruit.
Taste: Honey, gin. Malt.
Finish: Slightly hot malt. Vanilla. Dry-ish. Apple skin. Medium.
This isn’t bad, but it is young, and I think the new-makey qualities are coming through as gin to me. (Initially I figured it was part of the spirit or cask influence, but I got a similar note in the other two bottles that came in the set, also similarly young.)
Score: 72
Musical Evocation: Pink Floyd – “Welcome to the Machine”
Another one where the petrichor in the name got me, but as a peat fan who really liked aDalmoreI’m hoping this unpeated malt has some similar qualities to that one.
Glenlossie 9, 2010 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 46.98, Speyside Single Malt, 57.1% ABV
Minutia: Distilled on December 14, 2010 and matured in a 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel for 9 years yielding 233 bottles. This is part of the Young & Spritely flavor profile named “Petrichor vindaloo”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
The third of four of the Dalmore sample kit I picked up. This is the one I was least interested in, though it’s one of the more expensive ones which I’d never bother to try for the price otherwise, so that’s nice. It’s also nice to try one of the core range that doesn’t have some ‘special’ thing to it. So let’s get to it.
Dalmore 18, Highland Single Malt, 43% ABV
Minutia: Matured for a total of 18 years in various casks. I’ve read it spends 14 years in American oak ex-bourbon barrels, 3 years in Matusalem Oloroso Sherry casks, and a final year in other Sherry casks, but Dalmore’s website only mentioned the first two kinds of casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Taste: Quite a bit going on. It’s fruity, nutty, a bit sweet, spices and herbs, and they dance back and forth in prominence.
Finish: Nutty, warm. A bit like chocolate. It tapers down after a short while to a mild nut flavor with some spices there now and again. Medium-long.
It’s not quite for me as I strongly prefer peat, but I was pleasantly surprised by this. It’s interesting enough to be enjoyable even without my preferred flavor elements. A far cry from a good value, but a nice dram.
I was placing an order from a UK retailer for some Irish whiskeys I was interested (reviews for those coming over the coming weeks over atr/worldwhisky) and they had a Dalmore sampler pack so I grabbed it for a few reasons. First, the more you order from overseas, often the better the shipping looks. Second, at the time an SMWS Dalmore was one of my favorite whiskies (spoiler alert: still is) and as a peat fan it was from a distillery I’d never really have bothered to try if not for the name and description selling me on it so I did want to get some familiarity with their releases. And finally, there was a King Alexander sample in the pack and for the price it was tough to say no as I’d never pay a typical rate to try that. Anyway, here's the first of those Dalmore reviews.
Dalmore Port Wood Reserve, Highland Single Malt, 46.5% ABV
Minutia: Matured in ex-bourbon casks with half of the casks being transferred for finishing in Tawny Port casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn. Molasses.
Nose: Toffee, chocolate. Dark fruits. A bit of a woody note which is floral in character.
Taste: Almost like rye, some spices with a fruity tone.
Finish: Nutty and fruity. Floral and herbal. Medium.
Not bad at all. It has a lot of flavor and I actually find it enjoyable enough (if not exciting due to lack of peat). A good start to this series of Dalmores.
I think this was just a sample I added to an order to make shipping less upsetting. I like Caol Ila so was happy to get a chance to try it.
Caol Ila 9, 2010 Vintage, Signatory Vintage, Islay Single Malt, 60.1% ABV
Minutia: Distilled on September 22, 2010 and matured in cask #316659, a refill Sherry butt, for 9 years and bottled on February 10, 2020 yielding 673 bottles. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.
Nose: Weird fruit, nuts, maybe seafood. Might be some blackberry? This was tough for me to get anything specific, overall sense of something that’s “turned.”
Taste: Quite similar, some spice. Some smoke and wood comes in.
Finish: Smoke, wood, tobacco. Medium.
Guess: Fire & Cane? But it feels higher proof than what I think that’s bottled at. Maybe a weird Bowmore or Laphroaig, possibly peated Bunnahabhain.
This was tough to guess. Almost nothing was familiar to me. It’s ok, but not for me. I didn’t really care for the nose, and I think that hurt the overall experience a bit for me, but the finish kind of saved it.
Score: 73
Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:
I wasn’t the biggest fan of Bunnahabhain 12 when I had it (I’m a peat guy), but I didn’t hate it (love a lot of other things they’ve put out, though). I did, however, want to try this, as exploration is what makes this hobby so great, and as palates change a budget alternative could be good to know about. How was it?
Bunnahabhain Stiùireadair, Islay Single Malt, 46.3% ABV
Minutia: Matured in 1st and 2nd fill Sherry casks. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.
Taste: More malt, nutty, chocolate with cherry goop. Hint of spice.
Finish: Much of the same, More malt, spice replaced with honey. Medium-long. Chocolate much more prevalent on the tail end.
Guess: Unpeated for sure. Bruichladdich or Bunnahabhain, probably a small batch. Nose felt very Laddie, but the palate skewed heavily Bunnahabhain. If it’s a Laddie, maybe it’s a Black Art, but doesn’t feel rich enough to be a release like that. Not a thin mouthfeel, but suggests lower ABV.
Interesting. This specific experience feels better than my memory of the 12. The blindness could affect that, of course. A decent dram, but it doesn’t wow. The fact that this was enjoyable enough further cements my already sturdy position that the 12 and 18 are worth a revisit with my current palate.
Score: 75
Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:
My first foray into whisky Asia (for review, anyway, I’ve had a handful of drams of Japanese and Taiwanese whiskies) and a Cask Strength one at that. I suppose I might prefer to have had the standard proof peated Amrut before, but I like the idea of considering it as its own product rather than a version of another. Anyway, here we go.
Amrut Peated Cask Strength, India Single Malt, 62.8% ABV
Minutia: Distilled from Scottish peated malted barley and matured in India in oak barrels for some amount of time. Bottled in July 2019 as part of batch 51. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Taste: Hot and spicy, similar spices as in the nose.
Finish: Smoke cuts through the spice, spice lingers a bit. Long.
This isn’t entirely off-putting, but as is it’s not for me. Even with water I still found it incredibly hot and that heat and spice remained very present even after the palate was feeling diluted. I’m not super motivated to try this again, but it’s worth noting this was reviewed with covid. I haven’t noticed any compromises in my senses of smell and taste, but given an easy enough opportunity I’d give this another shot. At any rate, it’s not enough for me to write off Indian whisky, or even Amrut, and further exploration is warranted.
Score: 71
Musical Evocation: Drudkh – “Indiánská píseň hrůzy”
The last one from this tasting pack for now (holding off on the Ardbeg, the main reason I was interested in the pack, for a bit later in the summer). This is the first of the bunch with a finish, but also the youngest of them. A couple of these weren’t exactly my cup of tea, so I’m hoping this finishes these 4 on a more positive note.
Glenallachie 7, 2011 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 107.16, Speyside Single Malt, 67% ABV
Minutia: Distilled on April 4, 2011 and matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead for 5 before being transferred into a 2nd fill toasted butt for the duration of its maturation yielding 524 bottles. This is part of the Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits flavor profile named “Truly a fairy tale”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Nose: Sweet, like a dry bourbon. Caramel. Something else in there, a bit non-specific but like Sherry.
Taste: Butterscotch, spice.
Finish: Malt, nuts. Slightly hot. Medium.
I enjoyed this well enough without peat. The proof gave it enough oomph to compensate for the lack of peat I prefer, and I really liked the butteriness of the palate.
The second from the pack of samples I picked up letting me dip my toe outside my normal peat pool.
Craigellachie 14, 2004 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 44.99, Speyside Single Malt, 55.9% ABV
Minutia: Distilled on June 9, 2004 and matured in a refill ex-bourbon barrel for 14 years yielding 188 bottles. This is part of the Spicy & Dry flavor profile named “A real cracker”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Another one that didn’t quite hit the notes I like most, but did work for me a bit. I suspect those who aren’t very big on peat would enjoy this a good deal.
I nabbed this sample pack at an auction because it featured the Ardbeg with a name I found really enjoyable, plus it gave me 4 other samples from distilleries I’d otherwise have been unlikely to try. Here’s the first of them.
Glen Moray 23, 1995 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 35.239, Speyside Single Malt, 52.9% ABV
Minutia: Distilled on October 27, 1995 and matured in a 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel for 23 years yielding 202 bottles. This is part of the Old & Dignified flavor profile named “Sweet seduction”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
This is alright, it doesn’t hit the smoky notes I prefer, but I like it well enough. Has me looking forward to a bottle I took a chance on a few months ago.
While getting a bottle of every harvest/vintage they released is too impractical, I did manage to get a number of samples of Waterford, including this from their inaugural set of releases. I’m very interested in how each farm changes over time, but also how the farms differ with the same process. Not a proper side by side, but I will be mentally comparing this toBannow Island 1.1.
Waterford Ballykilcavan, Ireland Single Malt, 50% ABV
Minutia: Distilled on February 9, 2016 from Taberna barley from Ballykilcavan farm - sown on March 19, 2015 and harvested August 17, 2015 - fermented with Mauri distiller’s yeast for 150.5 hours and matured in American oak, French oak, and Vin Doux Naturel casks for 3 years, 11 months, and 18 days before bottling in June 2020 producing 8,640 bottles. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Nose: Butter cookie, fried dough, fruit tries to sneak in.
Taste: Malty. Green fruit, honey. Off note under it all.
Finish: Off malt, grass, honey.
I’ve read that some of their wine casks early on had issues with sulphur, and I wonder if that is that off note I got. It diminished/I got acclimated before the end of the dram, and toward the end that note in the finish almost became pleasant, but it was still prevalent enough to knock it down a peg for me. Without that it would have been quite enjoyable, though young. Nose-wise it was pretty similar to the Bannow Island 1.1, with a bit of difference, but this also had a different cask makeup as virgin oak wasn’t available at the time this went into casks. That off note (by the way, totally not present in the nose) did stop me from being able to do any real comparisons on the palate. I still think this will be a great distillery once the spirit has had time to age more. I’m also pleased that the nose was really very similar, so even though they’re doing a lot with terroir and trying to demonstrate the differences between the barley type, farms, harvests, etc., there does seem to be a “house style” so I’m expecting a fair amount of consistency going forward without every single expression being drastically unique. In short, if you find you do or don’t like one Waterford release, you can probably expect the same on others (though that could change if more aging brings it around, or they do something wildly different with one batch, such as peating the barley).
Score: 74
Musical Evocation: Haggard – “Awaking the Centuries”
Wow, pretty far off. I had a couple moments of thinking “Is this smoke?” but got a more woody flavor. That kind of makes sense with the heavy char making the oakiness mask the peat. The pepper might have been another clue I missed. Based on my experience with Talisker this is a bit of a let down for me. I thoroughly enjoyed Ardbeg Alligator and Octomore 10.4, both of which featured highly charred casks, so I’d have anticipated liking this a bit more. I’d give it another chance if the opportunity presented itself, but I’m not inclined to seek that out. It does taste a bit smokier after the reveal that it is Talisker, so that speaks to the benefits of trying whisky with and without expectations going in. This wasn’t bad by any means, just short of my expectations for Talisker.
Score: 74
Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:
