Thursday 31 October 2019

Cask Islay (A.D. Rattray) Review

Hi everyone,

Random review I’d skipped over today.
Another one of those mystery Islay’s that many people do. This particular version comes to us from A.D. Rattray and I found it in Majestic here in the UK.

Cask Islay 46%
Colour: E150a
Body: Full
Nose: Oily, earthy and citrusy. Very Lagavulin. Lime, lemon, burnt caramel, peat fires.
Taste: Very oily and citrusy. Lemon, lime, burnt caramel and toffee, strong peat smoke, sappy oak. Burning hay and malt.
Finish: Medium length. Sappy oak and peat smoke.
When I first tried this I thought it was definitely Lagavulin. Quite young but great at 46%, better than the 16yo I thought!
Now heard last year that it is in fact Caol Ila these days, and probably was then too.
74/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #803
Whisky Network Review #957

Network Average: 75.1
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Wednesday 30 October 2019

Paul John Chirstmas Edition 2019 & 7 Cadenhead's Reviews

Hi everyone,

I seem to taste a lot more Paul John than Amrut for whatever reason.
I’ve found that I prefer the core expressions from Amrut but the really good whiskies from Paul John are stunning and have outdone Amrut for the moment.
Here’s two new ones, one official and one independent.

Paul John Christmas Edition 2019 46%
Colour: Bronze
Body: Medium/Full
Nose: Sweet orange and dark raisin, sweet & sour Chinese sauce?, brandy and Christmas cake, orange chewing gum and dry oak, none of the smoke I got on the last one.
Taste: Sweet and v soft arrival, lacking some power, then chewy orange, grape juice, quite dry, some oak, lots of dark chocolate coming in with dry spice, cinnamon,.
Finish: Medium/Long length. Chocolate orange, oily oak, a little out of balance here.
Finished in PX Sherry casks (whereas last year’s was Oloroso) with a small proportion of peated malt (which I didn't really get). Don’t think this is out yet but will be shortly. Last years seemed more peaty and a touch better. Its close though and both are good. This should be around £50. Thanks to PJ's Craig for the sample.
75/100

Paul John 7 Cadenhead’s 55.4%
Colour: Bronze
Body: Medium
Nose: Creamy and buttery nose, dry sauna wood, corn on the cob, some basil, white pepper, a little smoky actually with a small ash note, eucalyptus. With a bit of coaxing there’s more fruit with delicious dried apricot, vanilla and exotic spices. Interesting and complex nose.
Taste: Soft and oily, fantastic arrival just on the oils, great mouthfeel, nice development with vanilla cream, butter, plenty of dry wood coming in, white pepper, dried mango and some turmeric.
Finish: Medium length. Ginger and white pepper, dry wood again, a tiny hint of cherry maybe, orange perhaps. A little too dry here but I’m nitpicking.
Released 2019, I suspect matured in Scotland for 2 years. Best Indian whisky I’ve had so far. A small step up from the German exclusive single cask I tried a while back. Big, dry whiskies both but there’s an excellent dried fruitiness (mango especially) to this that I love.
86/100

Indian Reviews #12-#13
Whisky Network Reviews #955-#956

Network Average: 75.1
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Tuesday 29 October 2019

Ardmore 1996 BBR & 2002 Hidden Spirits Reviews

Hi everyone,

Do we love Ardmore? Yes, we do.
Why, I hear you ask? Because its good whisky young, its good old. Its peaty and smoky and savoury and buttery and fishy and fruity and everything else you could want from a peaty highlander. Yes, I’m a little biased because I own a barrel of the stuff…
Anywho, these are two expressions that I tried recently, both independent bottlings and both slightly older bottlings. Both pretty expensive but both very good.
What is interesting with the comparison between these two is that the 1996 would have been distilled using direct fired stills, while the 2002 is from steam heated stills (Ardmore converted in 2001).

Ardmore 1996 Berry Bros & Rudd 60.1%
Colour: Light Gold
Body: Full
Nose: Quite a clean nose, spring onion, caramelised green apple, light smoke wisps, heather, dark chocolate. Darker as it opens up actually with plum sauce and roast duck joining the spring onions. Literally, I could be sitting in a Chinese takeaway waiting for my food!
Water: More savoury and smoky, more green apple.
Taste: Clean arrival, lemon and lime, green apple, that savoury spring onion note again, lovely heather-y spice, burnt heather, a little burnt wood. Great mouthfeel.
Water: Much softer start, green apple, more dry oak and less of the savoury notes. Brighter and fresher.
Finish: More smoke here. Mineral, lemon peel, oily and then dry at the end.
Exclusive for the Old & Rare Show 2018. Love the nose on this, very unique. Preferred it neat.
79/100
 
Ardmore 2002 Hidden Spirits 52.7%
Colour: Light Gold
Body: Full
Nose: Buttered kippers! Delicious and unique, battered whitebait, fishy to say the least, clean spirit and a little meaty too. Again, Ardmore showing off its insane complexity and unique spirit.
Taste: Clean arrival, soft oils, dry, wood then smoke and peat, salty and malty, builds with plenty of power, a charred BBQ meat note.
Finish: Long length. Amazing here, very oily and viscous, dark malt, some chocolate and ginger.
Bottled 2019 at 17yo. Mid-palate is a tad clean for my tastes, but the nose and finish are stunning. Another awesome whisky from Andrea! Hidden Spirits has, quite rightly, been thrust into the limelight at the moment because Serge of Whiskyfun gave the 26yo Clynelish a huge score but they select some great stuff.
83/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #801-#802
Whisky Network Reviews #953-#954

Network Average: 75.1
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Monday 28 October 2019

Bowmore 12 (1980's), 1990 Wemyss & 1992 Red Wine [Review #800]

Hi everyone,

What better way to go into 800 Scotch reviews than Bowmore, the supremely hate-able distillery that made some of the best whiskies ever created, then some of the worst and now some of the most mediocre.
The 80’s was a hard time for Bowmore, made worse by the denial of an obvious problem. But thankfully they managed to make some better whiskies into the 90’s.
The problem was dubbed ‘French Whore Perfume’ or FWP by one creative whisky blogger and the name has stuck.
Today I’ve got three from the 80’s and early 90’s.

Bowmore 12 (1980's) 40%
Colour: Gold
Body: Full
Nose: Woah! Very odd, metallic and floral, soapy in the extreme, complex though in its own way, slightly meaty, parma violets (of course), watery perfume, some floral soft smoke.
Taste: Weird, strange mouthfeel I've never had from a whisky before, floral and super FWP, parma violets, bath bombs, lavender and violet, metallic mouthfeel and thin, very thin. No Smoke.
Finish: Medium/Long length. Some floral smoke and spice, weird. Ugh.
Unscoreable! Haha No, it’s just very very odd. Very much the ugly side of FWP.
61/100
 
Bowmore 1990 ‘Earth, Wind, Fire!’ 46%
Colour: Gold
Body: Medium
Nose: Tropical, salty with ozone and v Bowmore, quite complexly floral w/ some violet, daffodil and sunflower, darker oakiness but mostly quite bright, lemon peel, aged ham maybe?
Taste: Soft arrival, lemon cake, salty with smoked fish and then amazing chocolate, malt and peat, dark earthiness with some heather, growing oils with more peat.
Finish: Medium length. Very soft finish, mostly about the mouthfeel and oils.
Bottled late 2018 from Wemyss. A little out of balance early/middle of the palate. I’ve tried a few of these older Bowmore’s from Wemyss now and none have lived up to the incredible 1987 ‘Sweet, Peat Posy.’ They just haven’t been as peaty it seems, and therefore haven’t aged as powerfully or as complex.
80/100
 
Bowmore 1992 Red Wine Matured 53.5%
Colour: Amber
Body: Full
Nose: Meaty, muscular and bold. Red wine put out fire, coals and ash and soot, quite powerful, blood orange, cigar, leather, very dark chocolate and espresso. A few florals hidden underneath. Chocolate mousse. Really great meld of red wine and spirit. Dirty in a good way too.
Taste: Soft and sweet, blood orange, chocolate, peaty malt, coals and ash, black pepper, orange liqueur, pretty peaty and intense for Bowmore actually, brown sugar, molasses.
Finish: Short/Medium length. A bust of fruit, then burnt heather and malt and chocolate.
Bottled at 16yo. Good to remind ourselves that they make some of the best whisky in the world occasionally! This whisky not only surprised me but really amazed. I’m not normally a big fan of red wine and peat (or red wine finishes on whisky at all really) because balance is hard to reach, but this one makes it seem easy.
86/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #798-#800
Whisky Network Reviews #950-#952

Network Average: 75.1
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Saturday 26 October 2019

Kilkerran 8CS Sherry 2019 & 15yo Single Cask UK Reviews

Hi everyone,

Kilkerran proved to be one of my new favourites when it first appeared a few years ago now. The 12 and 8yo cask strength really impressed me, while a rum cask sample I got to try (that I assume is still in a cask somewhere) was incredible. The future looked bright…
To celebrate their 15th anniversary, Kilkerran decided to release a load of single casks, all 15 years old to different markets. Other 15 year olds have started appearing in other special editions and have received mixed reviews.
The distillery is not only small, but is barely running at all. I believe they were running 3 months of the year—then it was reduced even further.
Anyway, here’s some new ones.

Kilkerran 8 Cask Strength 2019 57.1%
Colour: Amber
Body: Full
Nose: Chocolate coated cherry, mocha, a bit of rubbery/spicy thing going on, some plastic, dirty orange, a little soot. Nice nose though, despite the off notes. Chilli and liquorice, darker as it opens up.
Water: More soapy.
Taste: Dry, cherry stones, old wood, soot and chilli chocolate, orange and ginger, quite spicy and dry, liquorice, a little soap?
Water: Less spicy, more oils, better balanced but a lot more soap comes out towards the end.
Finish: Long length. Dry spices and wood, chocolate, a bit of soap.
Full eight years in recharred sherry casks. This isn’t actually released yet but is on the way. An odd one. From the notes it probably sounds like it doesn't work but it kinda does. Its good stuff and mixes things up from the usual 8 CS, although I preferred that. This will sell like hot-cakes though with that colour.
77/100
 
Kilkerran 15 Single Cask 53.1%
Colour: Gold
Body: Medium/Full
Nose: Plastic sheets, creamy vanilla, austere, light peach, light ash, chalk, more smoke as it opens up, quite peaty for 15 though.
Taste: Smoky initially, austere, a little malt, some orange then spice and malt, more smoke but a little plastic again. Surprisingly peaty.
Finish: Long length. Plastic, orange and malt.
10 years in a Bourbon Puncheon (wait...what?!) then 5 in a refill Hoggie. Exclusive for the UK. A little sharp in places and not what I was expecting, much more peat and more plastic. Think this has already sold out everywhere anyway though.
71/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #796-#797
Whisky Network Reviews #948-#949

Network Average: 75.1
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Friday 25 October 2019

Caol Ila 9 Magic of the Cask (Whisky Exchange Show 2019) Review

Hi everyone,

A big attraction of the Whisky Exchange Show is the Whisky Exchange’s show bottlings. Last year there were some crackers, as well as cool holographic labels.
Of course, this year they had to go one better and do UV labels!
The theme was the magic of the cask and this Caol Ila was the only one I had the time to try. All are sold out anyway I think. Anyway, this Caol Ila was reportedly from a very old refill Sherry cask, having a name on the end that hadn’t been used for over 100 years. Yeah, very old Sherry cask then.

Caol Ila 9 Magic of the Cask 58.7%
Colour: Dark Gold
Body: Full
Nose: Lightly meaty, gristy malt, soft smoke and citrus, menthol, almost Ledaig or Ardbeggian character to it, quite light nose though.
Taste: Great arrival, zingy citrus, lime and lemon, great balance of smoke, malt, sweet honey, golden syrup, maple syrup, golden raisin, very oily.
Finish: Medium/Long length. Drying but sweet still, honey, butter, oils.
Released for the Whisky Exchange Show 2019. Really great, lovely balance of the oils and smoke with the citrus and sweet elements but too expensive for what it is IMO at £85. UV labels are expensive though!
81/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #795
Whisky Network Review #947

Network Average: 75.1
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Thursday 24 October 2019

Glenallachie 15 Review

Hi everyone,

Billy Walker, who had owned Glendronach, BenRiach and Glenglassaugh, went on to sell those and buy Glenallachie.
Glendronach having gained so many fans, it was a surprise to me to see that most of the first releases of Glenallachie were from refill and Bourbon barrels rather than sherry but Billy seems to have found some sherry casks now.
The latest batch of single casks are dark as hell and this 15yo was released. I was keen to try, as I’d ended up disappointed with the 12 cask strength and 25 that I’d tried.

Glenallachie 15 46%
Colour: Amber
Body: Full
Nose: Heavy malt, Sherry sweetness, dark and rich, very earthy, heather, dark chocolate, faint baking spices, quite dominated by that earthy note though.
Taste: Sweet arrival, PX Sherry, black raisin, very rich in the mouth, juicy raisin, prune, fig, black cherry, good development.
Finish: Medium length. Quite soft into the finish but then develops more earthy malt and orange juice. Doesn't quite do it for me here.
An obvious nod to the Glendronach 15. Mix of Sherry finish and fully PX matured. I really like the heavy earthy nose and the arrival and development do a good job too, I just think this loses points in the finish. Not as good as the old Glendronach 15 of course.
76/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #794
Whisky Network Review #946

Network Average: 75.1
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

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