Highland Park 1995 Carn Mor Sherry [Road to #1000, Review #976]

Hi everyone,

We continue towards 1000 reviews with a great Highland park from a Sherry cask. I’m not certain why HP does so well with Sherry but perhaps it’s because of the heavier style of the spirit combined with light peat smoke, similar to Springbank. Also, we must remember that the stablemalts include Glenrothes and Macallan which also do well in Sherry.

Anyway, this is a release from Carn Mor and would have been quite expensive on release but then, this is better than the last batch of the 30yo OB I tried so there’s that.

Highland Park 1995 Carn Mor 54%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Real fuckin' good! A proper good Sherry cask, clove, cinnamon, no end to the dried fruit- raisin, prune, date, walnut, thick plum sauce on crispy duck! Really rich, a dram to lose yourself in! Singed heather, unami soy sauce, roasted goose leg but sweeter moments of chocolate orange and Kirsch.

Taste: Soft and sweet, building Sherry, dry and sweet, smoke and layers of sweet dried fruit, raisin and prune, sweet orange and singed heather, leather, tobacco and dark chocolate. Wonderfully balanced.

Finish: Long length. Sweet and mouth watering. More orange, dry oak, then chocolate and some heather, malt. Lovely.

Bottled 2018 at 22yo but could easily be 25 or more. Very complex and well timed release. Stunning.

87/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #819

Whisky Network Review #976

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.

Why is this here?

Bowmore 1987 Dimensions, 1996 SMOS & 1995 Carn Mor Reviews

Hi everyone,

Ever heard of the French Whore Perfume Bowmore’s (FWP for short)? Have a read of this if you require some background, but essentially there seems to be a perfumy off-note in Bowmore’s from the 1980’s until the early 90’s.

The distillery denied that such a thing existed and the whole problem spun out of control thanks to the internet.

Now, I don’t think I’ve encountered one of those whiskies that are undrinkably perfumy as some would suggest but I have encountered a little bit of an off-note which comes in the form of a Parma Violet floral note that is quite artificial and odd.

I tasted two recently with this and thought I’d share…

Bowmore 1987 Dimensions 58.4%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Quite intense and peaty, mineral too, light florals in the background, some malt, chocolate and heather, earthy like the SMWS 3.2, pressed flowers, a very vague off note lurking... Rancid, like very far away vomit. The Parma Violets come out over time.

Taste: Intense arrival, smoky and mineral, tannins from the oak, some florals but the minerals have them overwhelmed, oily and earthy, dark chocolate and then a soapy note into the finish.

Finish: Long length. The FWP rears its ugly fishnets, Parma Violets are out in force, lavender. More earthy as it gets some air.

Bottled in 2006 at 18yo. The FWP isn't very bad here until the finish where it kinds of intrudes but this very much balances on a tightrope between brilliance and disaster, ending up being neither.

75/100

 

Bowmore 1996 Single Malts of Scotland 50.4%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Clean nose. Malt and sea spray at first nosing giving a Talisker vibe. Floral under that with Parma Violets, some lemon and cured meat. A bit of a slack nose, the meaty and malty notes are great but the Violets are fighting it, making it kind of 'spongey.'

Taste: Clean, lemon citrus and malt, some smoke building with dry oak and woody spice, ginger and some clove, oily texture, a little chocolate and sea salt, black pepper nearer the end. After a bit there's that floral undertone that is present in the nose, not quite an off note but it’s holding it back.

Finish: Long length. Chewy and oily, lemon and malt, some chocolate and black pepper. Nice finish.

Some of the 80's floral notes here, which I haven't found in many others (even from the 80's). This really took me by surprise because the guys at Elixir Distiller’s (or whatever they call themselves nowdays) are normally really good. This wasn’t cheap either…

72/100

And now let us remind ourselves that Bowmore is amazing:

Bowmore 1995 Carn Mor 48.3%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Ah, a tropical one. Mango, pineapple, soot and ash, cooling mint, cold fireplace, really good nose. Light malt, clean white sugar, pear and apple too. Complex chocolate and engine oil after a bit. Old style Bowmore.

Taste: Soft then building this tropical smoky flavour, mango and pineapple, oily mouthfeel, quite an intense taste, oak and spice balanced awesomely with lifting orange toping it all off!

Finish: Long length. Juicy! Pineapple juice, orange juice and lime juice! So good! A little salt.

Bottled 2018 as a German exclusive. Expensive but 'Old style Bowmore' should be the only note needed to sell it. Remember that the Morrison in ‘Morrison Mackay’ is the same as the Morrison is ‘Morrison Bowmore’ and you might start to see a connection between Carn Mor and stunning Bowmore casks…

86/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #713-#715

Whisky Network Reviews #850-#852

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 a 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.

Why is this here?

Tobermory 1995 TWA for TWS [Mystery Review]

Hi everyone,

Remember back when the guys at Toronto Whisky Society had a whisky specially bottled for them, then kept shoving it in our faces by reviewing it? (Definitely not jealous)

Well, I was lucky enough to try it too. Many thanks to u/xile_ for sharing this with me, you are a legend sir.

This was actually provided in the form of a mystery, so I had no idea what it was other than TWS on the label (may have been too much of a clue) and the comment ‘There’s a whisky I might like your opinion on.’

 

Tobermory 1995 The Whisky Agency for Toronto Whisky Society 51.9%

Colour: Light Gold

Viscosity: Very High

Nose: Nice nose. I got a whiff of cheese at first, but now it’s much cleaner with malt, porridge, fresh green apple, slightly grassy, dry oak. Some leather and smoked cheese coming out now. Very subtly mineral. Interesting nose that keeps you digging.

Taste: Soft arrival and builds nicely, clean malt, lots of green apple, lovely fresh lemon citrus, subtle smoke and becoming more and more into the finish. Lots of sea salt too with some white pepper and dry oak. Slightly more herbal and earthy as it opens up with a Mezcal-type note to it.

Finish: Medium/Long length. More smoky here with grass and ash then great dark chocolate, oak and black coffee.

A very nice example of a whisky with a lot of character but still clean and light. Or an older whisky with a lot of freshness.

With the cheese I thought it could be Tobermory, then the cheese went away and I thought it could be Glen Scotia. Then the finish came in with the smoke and I had a funny feeling in my elbow that I now recognise as my whisky sense. It asked me: ‘Wasn’t there a Tobermory that was bottled for the Toronto Whisky Society that was meant to be lightly peated?’

Yes, there was weird whisky elbow. Yes, there was…

84/100

Guess: Single Malt Scotch, 18-21yo, cask strength, independent bottling from an Island/Campebeltown distillery.

Could be an older Hogshead Glen Scotia or Tobermory.

TWS on the label would lead me to believe it’s the Toronto Whisky Society bottling of a 21yo Tobermory.

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #703

Whisky Network Review #840

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 a 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.

Why is this here?

Lagavulin 2007 & 1995 Warehouse Tastings Reviews

Hi everyone,

I’ve got two rare Lagavulin’s that have been lugged back from Islay and Campbeltown for me to taste. There will be much thanking of Mike for this feat, as he was the one there and very kindly let me taste them.

I missed out on Lagavulin on my own Islay trip as it was undergoing maintenance, and I didn’t know about the most talked about tour on the whole of Islay; the legendary warehouse tasting with Iain MacArthur. My mistake but I did pop into the shop and get the 12yo cask strength, which really impressed me.

A little wiser now, I know that Lagavulin can be just as good as Laphroaig and Ardbeg, which these really prove:

Cadenhead’s Islay Single Malt Warehouse Tasting 58.8%

Colour: Straw

Body: Full

Nose: Raw and coastal, lots of peat, some malt, clean Riesling-like minerality, lemon juice behind, slightly savoury as it opens up.

Water: Chimney soot, ash, put out fire, a dirtier minerality.

Taste: Soft, beautifully balanced arrival, malty, great minerality, heaps of peat and smoke, more juicy lemon then with a real edge to it like you literally just bit into one. Great!

Water: Still great. A little dirtier with soot.

Finish: Long length. Powerful, balanced, great transition, malty, sea salt, lemon juice.

Absolutely definitely a Laga, so says Mike. A really fun, awesome whisky that reminds you of the raw power of Islay.

85/100

Lagavulin 23yo Warehouse Tasting 54%ish

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Immediately complex, balanced and interesting. There's still freshness here with lime and lemon rind citrus, spearmint, beautiful soft ash, lovely light sweetness from the Sherry and a little funky seashore bringing complexity, sea salt, a little seaweed left on the beach for a little too long, crystallised honey, really lovely dried apricot and a little vanilla with icing sugar. Fantastic nose, if there's a flaw here I can't detect it.

Taste: Intense arrival then soft and then grows back up again. A whisky that really knows what’s its doing with development and structure. Waves of complex flavour but really kicks up after a few more seconds with a lot of Laphroaig-like seashore notes and minerality, there's some discreet oak drying, dried seaweed. Lime juice, sea salt, a little earthiness, dried apricot again, some ash and soot coming more into the finish. Doesn't quite deliver on the promises of the nose though, it’s just a tad too dry and the oily mouthfeel has been dulled a bit. Minor things though, minor things.

Finish: Medium/Long length. More of the lime juice, more oak here too with this sooty cooling mint thing going on.

Refill Sherry Cask. Many, many thanks to Mike for bringing back this one. The nose is the equal of the Laga 25 200th but the oak has gotten to the taste a little more. A shame, but still, Lagavulin is always a pleasure to taste at this age, especially straight from the cask, or as near to as possible considering you're trapped in Wales.

89/100

Distillery: Lagavulin

Average Score: 81.7

Distillery Ranking 5th/ 62 places

Up/Down: 11>5 (Up 6)

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #653-#654

Whisky Network Reviews #783-#784

Network Average: 75.0

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 a 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.

Why is this here?

Imperial 1995 G&M Review

Hi everyone,

Imperial is one of those closed distilleries that’s never quite achieved the same level of hype as others and prices have stayed pretty reasonable. That’s despite it being closed 1985-1989 and 1998, finally being demolished in 2013 only to have Dalmunach built right on top of it in 2014. Although to be fair it’s cool looking with that glass.

Only being closed in the late 90’s also means that there’s a bit more stock than Brora or Port Ellen, and of the stocks left, the most coveted are the 95’s. I don’t know why, but it seems similar to 97 Clynelish. They were just making some great whisky that year.

Gordon & MacPhail seem to still have quite a lot of the stuff, because they’re still releasing it under their ‘distillery labels’ series.

 

Imperial 1995 G&M 43%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Red apple, oak, old warehouse and dunnage, iron, almost blood-like! Which is very unique. Grapefruit and white pepper. Great nose.

Taste: Sweet orange, old, complex oak, musty dunnage, grapefruit, lime peel, a little iron and blood. Great balance of the old, musty oak and the fresh grapefruit.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Spiced orange, but a bit flat unfortunately.

Bottled 2014 from Sherry Butts. Great, great whisky until the finish. Really lets this down unfortunately, but I’m really impressed by what I’ve tried from Imperial so far.

79/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #522

Whisky Network Review #615

Network Average: 74.6

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

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 a 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 am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Imperial 1995 The Ultimate, Review

Hi everyone,

Another whisky review coming at you today. It’s from a closed distillery but one of those ones that’s closed relatively recently and so is still relatively available.

If you hadn’t heard of Imperial Distillery, I wouldn’t blame you. It was defunct for a number of years, only really producing between 1991 and 1998. It was never really available on its own and is only available through the independent bottlers. It was demolished in 2013 and a new distillery was built on the site, Dalmunach.

This is a sample I picked up from FineDrams a while back and is bottled by The Ultimate Whisky Co., who I haven’t seen in the UK but are mostly in Belgium and Holland I think.

Imperial 1995 The Ultimate 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Noses older than 19 years. Dusty fruit, mothballs, dunnage, beeswax polish, old dry wood. Some fresher fruit starting to appear, red apple, soft raisin, some spices too, fresh cut ginger, clove. Liquorice and old homemade limoncello come out after a bit.

Taste: Soft arrival with red apple and fruit, quickly becomes dry with lots of oak and spices, some dunnage, Hessian, then the fruit comes back a bit with dried orange peel but doesn't overcome the spiciness. After some time its softer, lemoncello, very dry old oak, tannins, bitter lemon pith.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Intense spiciness with dry old oak and some old dusty lemon peel.

Bottled at 19yo. Really interesting stuff. Reminds me of Bladnoch or Glen Elgin with the dunnage style. It felt a bit overaged with any water, but neat it was a good example of a more ‘traditional’ tasting whisky.

77/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #433

Whisky Network Review #493

Network Average: 74.3

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

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 a 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 am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Longrow Reviews: NAS, 1995, 18 & Red Pinot Noir

Hi everyone,

We’ve got some Longrows today. The double distilled, heavily peated Springbank. Need you know more?

Yes? Bloody hell, you’re needy today…

Well, as I’ve said before, Springbank is great and although I’m maybe not a massive fan of Longrow in particular, it’s also true that I haven’t tried any single cask/cask strength stuff apart from the Longrow Red, which I found a bit too much. They’ve just brought out a new one though (Malbec cask finish) and I look forward to trying to try it at some point.

 

Longrow NAS 46%

Colour: Light gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Clearly more smoky than Springbank but also cakey with loads of vanilla, fairy cake, so much cake just covers everything, like if you were actually standing inside a giant fairy cake. More herbal vanilla with some water.

Taste: Creamy, light peat, lots of vanilla, fairy cake, oily. Building oily spice with fresh vanilla pods. Creamy and oily but more spiced with water.

Finish: Medium length. The peat hits with drying spice.

A vatting of 7, 10 and 14 year old whiskies. Replaced the CV.

70/100

Longrow 1995 10 year old 46%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Smoky with salt and a strong vegital note. Smoked seaweed, brine soaked driftwood, earthy, boggy heather, wood smoke, green sappy oak and resin, light fruit in the background- Blood orange and cherry. Some chemical, sulphur, melted plastic. Some syrup and brown sugar coming out, ash and soot too.

Taste: Creamy then oily. Building oak and spice- Pepper, then a swelling sweetness with juicy fruit- Orange, white grape, bitter cherry, redcurrent jelly, some lemon, phenolic smoke, paraffin. Sea salt and coastal coming in with a vegital note going into the finish- Boggy heather and seaweed.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Wood smoke fading then some spice with salty seaweed lingering.

Complex with funk but some off notes.

77/100

Longrow 18 2015 Edition 46%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Sweet and old, brown sugar, peat bog, heather, driftwood, sea breeze. Brown bread, more sweet and cakey, vanilla.

Taste: Creamy, almost watery start, going more full with some far away peat smoke, baked apple, raisin, spicy oak, more raisin, brown sugar, fig and date. More floral, heather, oak, bog, vanilla cake and salty driftwood.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Fades easily but steadily with light smoke and sherried spice.

Complex, sweet, floral and smoky. Really tame compared to the ‘Red’ though.

77/100

Longrow Red 12 Pinot Noir Finish 52.8%

Colour: Red

Body: Full

Nose: Meaty red fruit and spice, berries, pomegranate, cheap red wine with raw steak. More raw steak with water.

Taste: Sweet, juicy red berries, cranberry chocolate, peat bog, vegital, burnt heather.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Raw meat, spice and berry juice.

Very odd, too sulphury perhaps?

72/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #360-#363

Whisky Network Reviews #406-#409

Network Average: 74.5

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

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 a 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 am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?