Aberfeldy 1993 Gordon & MacPhail Review

Hi everyone,

Do you remember that magical time, many years gone, when we could travel the world and go to whisky festivals and events? Do you remember the hubbub of many people filling a room with their whisky-fuelled banter? Do you remember the sound of lip-smacking-good whisky being consumed in great quantities by the multitude?

I do. I remember those times. And I look back on them with sick envy. I didn’t know how good I had it.

And now I sit alone with my hoard of whisky. And I drink it alone. In the dark. Bitterly contemplating the end time that crept up on us like a tiger out of the grass.

 

Anywho, this is a review from the end of 2018 at a German whisky festival.

 

Aberfeldy 1993 Gordon & MacPhail 58.8%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Dark, fruity and sweet. Blackberry, Cassis, black cherry, a touch of singed heather, ethereal spirit lightening everything nicely, black pepper and red apple.

Water: Opens up with more Sherry and oak, more sweetness.

Taste: So soft on the arrival, fruity and sweet, blackberry, beautiful brown sugar, then more oak and Sherry as it develops. Black cherry, amazing oily mouthfeel.

Water: Lovely. More oak, leather and orange.

Finish: Long length. Lovely. More Sherry here with raisin, chocolate, heather and some ginger spice.

Bottled 2018 from a 1st fill Sherry puncheon at 25yo. I'm sorry, did you say Glenfarlcas from a Port cask? Interesting style of Sherry. Always a pleasure to taste something from my birth year and this one was great, though if I remember right, the price was quite high.

84/100

 

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #869

Whisky Network Review #1044

Network Average: 75.2

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?

Hibiki 30 & Yamazaki 25 [Road to #1000, Reviews #997-#998]

Hi everyone,

Today I have two very special whiskies that I tasted last year.

I have mentioned before that I am attempting to complete my edition of Ian Buxton’s 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die and one of the hardest to get hold of and most expensive in there was the Hibiki 30yo.

And I’ve always wanted to try the Yamazaki 25.

Though, to perfectly honest, I didn’t expect to enjoy these whiskies quite as much as I did. I was really expecting to be saying that these are over-oaked, over-Sherried and under-proofed. I wanted to say that the hype is all noise and you can live out your lives in the contentment of knowing that you’ll never have to hunt these down to try them.

Unfortunately, that just isn’t the case…

Hibiki 30 43%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Ridiculously complex. Standing in a carpenter's workshop with loads of different types of wood being worked on, polished oak, pine, as well as loads of others that I couldn't begin to guess at, Acacia honey, leather and cigar box, complex oils, dry forest floor. Menthol and complex herbs and subtle spice, spearmint, freshly crushed mint, chocolate powder too. The balance here is insanely good.

Taste: Dry arrival, incredible balance and silky texture, then more powerful with leather and chilli and ginger spices and old honey, delicate oils, evolves through endless layers. Dried leaves, there is some smoke in there too but its interwoven into the fabric of everything else, dried apple. Slightly sweeter into the finish with very old brandy.

Finish: Long length. Softer, more delicate, very subtle earthy flavours then the most incredibly delicate oak you can imagine. Moving.

Blended? Really, with what? 5% grain whisky? Seriously, this stuff is kinda magical. The heft, weight and poise of this is exquisite for a blended whisky.

92/100

 

Yamazaki 25 43%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Complex herbal and Sherried nose, wood sap and marker pens, pine forest aromas, sweet orange, orange peel, something light and ethereal yet also heavy with burnt thyme, pine smoked ham?, Lapsang Souchong and Ginseng tea, honey comb, some forest floor, something medicinal perhaps? Even more complex as it opens up.

Taste: Full on from the off (despite the 43%) with a great balance of sweet and dry, pine and sap, orange and oak, cherry and cough sweets, very oily mouthfeel- chewy, very old Sherry, dry dark chocolate, raisin and prune, something perfumed then some very slight rubber into the finish.

Finish: Long length. A long slow bleed of sweet and dry, some oak and Sherry, tobacco and all sorts of chocolates. Stunning finish.

Not quite the equal of the also stunning Hibiki 30 but damn close. I really wanted to believe that this would be a little tired and over Sherried like the 18yo but no, alas not.

If the 2013 Sherry Cask is something like this then I can see why Jim Murray would have given his whisky of the year to it.

91/100

Updated Distillery Rankings

Japanese Reviews #25-#26

Whisky Network Reviews #997-#998

Network Average: 75.2

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?

Old Pulteney 25 & 1983 Reviews

Hi everyone,

Old Pulteney redid their range a little while ago and because I’m not a professional whisky blogger, plus lazy, I haven’t gotten round to reviewing the new range. Yeah, perhaps more the lazy part…

Anyway, I still haven’t got round to reviewing the new range but I did find time to taste some of the new upper tier versions, namely the new 25yo and the 1983 vintage. I got hold of these at a recent whisky festival in Belgium.

Old Pulteney 25 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Soft and tropical, salty and waxy, mango and oak, orange and grape, subtle grassiness, some green and red apples, some florals. Pleasant nose but not that impressive for OP. After time there is a little flatter note of cardboard.

Taste: Soft and light, orange and then more waxy and oily, more grape, red apple, some ginger and apple juice, a little flat in places, little of the classic OP saltiness.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Goes very soft (save the jokes...), with some malt and a little milk chocolate- praline.

A disappointing Pulteney that wasn't perhaps from the best casks. Much preferred the 17 and 21 to this. Disappointed with the lack of salt and waxiness, especially on the finish. Oh, and where’s the cutting lemon citrus? And the fresh tropical fruits?

72/100

 

Old Pulteney 1983 46%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Clynelish? Super waxy and oily, freshly cut red and yellow apples, complex oak, sea air, delicate dry honey, beeswax and honeycomb, lovely old complex nose.

Taste: Soft and sweet, honeycomb and apple then very dry, lots of oak, slightly grassy but also quite flat in places, orange, some chocolate and a little malt.

Finish: Short length. Its gone! A bit of orange, some chocolate.

33yo. A nice nose doesn't save this one from being a little mediocre. I would be more than a little disappointed if I’d paid the money for this. Pulteney is such good whisky, as the nose on this suggests, but the taste and finish are just too flat to ignore. And once again, the tropical, citrus, salty, waxy loveliness, at what point did they kill that off?

71/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #756-#757

Whisky Network Reviews #898-#899

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?

Glen Scotia x4: Victoriana, 15, 18 & 25

Hi everyone,

Glen Scotia is one of those interesting distilleries that tends to get underrated, perhaps because the style of spirit is quite rustic and isn’t quite as glamorous as the big dirty Springbank next door.

I did find out the other day that 7 out of 9 of the Glen Scotia employees are ex-Springbank though, so they should be taking the lessons and applying them anew. In any case, the quality seems to be going up at the moment since the revamp from those hideous cow bottles (with the colours, remember?), and I heard particularly good things about the 15, which turned out to be quite true.

Let’s take it by age:

Glen Scotia Victoriana 51.5%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Odd. Cherry, grass and chalk. A little harsh spice, creamy cereal, weird raspberry, butterscotch. Harsh rose.

Taste: Grassy, weird, orange, oily malt, mineral, chalk, some harsh ginger and oak, then goes quite weak into the finish.

Finish: Short length. Weak here. Really backs off. Some oak? Dry.

30% PX Sherry, 10% 12yo Heavily Peated malt. A bit all over the place. This is being replaced with a cask strength, batch version pretty shortly I’ve heard. Hopefully its better than this…

66/100

 

Glen Scotia 15 46%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Pretty classic Glen Scotia. Funky and musty, Sherry-esque fruit, orange, dusty cupboards, oily malt, icing sugar. More complex as it opens up.

Taste: Soft arrival, burst of orange, amazing oily malt, great balance to it, more chocolate, heather and oils, leather.

Finish: Long length. A burst of malt, then great oils continue, leather and some coffee beans.

Lovely. Great balance here. Pretty sure this is married in Sherry casks for 6 weeks before bottling. I was lucky enough to swap for most of a bottle of this and I’ve been enjoying it at home too.

78/100

 

Glen Scotia 18 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Funky. Orange, strawberry and orange fruit pastilles, vanilla and pastry crust, orange travel sweets (the ones with the powdered sugar), plenty of leather and dusty cupboards too.

Taste: Malty arrival, golden raisin, milk chocolate, heather, leather and orange sweets, musty oak, not quite as balanced as the nose.

Finish: Medium length. More orange sweets, orange juice, a little cinnamon and ginger beer tingling away.

Nice but I think I prefer the 15 still. 17 years in refill and 1 year finish in Sherry.

75/100

 

Glen Scotia 25 48.8%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Quiet at first but opens up. Some ash to begin, oak of course, musty and funky with some classic Scotia cupboards, rum-esque banana, an interesting Tequila/Mezcal note, red apple and black pepper.

Taste: Soft and integrated, amazing arrival, musty oak, banana again, perfumed, lovely oily mouthfeel, spices building with slightly fizzy ginger beer.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Darker with malt and chocolate, heather. Power fades but flavours stay nicely.

24 years refill, 1 year 1st fill Bourbon. A nice one but again I find myself comparing it to the 15, which this may well equal but doesn't quite surpase.

78/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #661-#664

Whisky Network Reviews #794-#797

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?

Pittyvaich 25 Review

Hi everyone,

Pittyvaich is quite a rarity these days. The place only ran from 1974 to 1993 and is well known for being one of those distilleries that everyone is glad is closed. Apparently the stuff wasn’t great… The distillery was actually built to supply generic malt for the Bell’s blend, so you can see why.

I wouldn’t know much about all that, having never tasted one so when I spied a bottle at Bristol Whisky Lounge (Thanks to Colin Dunn for the taste), I gave it a go.

 

Pittyvaich 25 49.9%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Quite light and delicate. Fresh green apple, musty oak, a little soap, floral with dried flowers, deodorant- that horrible Lynx chocolate stuff to be exact.

Taste: Sharp arrival with lime and lemon juice, sour, then lots of chocolate, lots of oak, praline and sour oak, bitter almond and a weird green note, green sappy oak?

Finish: Long length. Chocolate soap, more Lynx chocolate deodorant.

1989 from Diageo’s Special Releases. A unique one for sure but the weird soapy notes drag this one into bad funky territory.

67/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #652

Whisky Network Review #777

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?

Chivas Regal 25 Review

Hi everyone,

You might remember I mentioned a while ago about 101 whiskies to try before you die by Ian Buxton. Well, whenever I get the opportunity to try the whiskies in it I make the time to review them. Mainly because I want to finally finish it one day. Of course, some of the whiskies in it have become ridiculously expensive or unavailable. Like the Hibiki 30, which I doubt I’ll ever get to try now.

Anyway, I’m getting there as I’m on about 75ish.

The packaging is pretty cool for this I have to say. Big modern looking box, heavy metal glittery stopper. Really goes with your Ferrari y’know. I was very much expecting style over substance.

Chivas Regal 25 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Sweet, lots of orange, well balanced and soft, quite floral, some oak, some warehouse but the grain keeps it light. Nice nose.

Taste: Soft, sweet, nice balance, orange, floral then oak, juicy orange, quite oily at first then drier. Dried flowers, spicy ginger. The floral notes are very welcome and the grain isn’t very noticeable at all.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Complex oak really comes through. 70% dark chocolate and coffee beans. Quite a simple finish but pretty long for a blend. Again, the malt talking I think.

I was perfectly prepared to hate this but it surprised me. Much greater proportion of malt in this than I was expecting. Mostly Strathisla probably, although I haven’t had much of it to back that claim up.

79/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #518

Whisky Network Review #610

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?

3x Old Bowmore Reviews: 1994, 1991 & 1989 [From Paris with Love]

Hi everyone,

Today I’ve got some older Bowmore’s.

Bowmore is a variable distillery from the indie’s. The 1980’s being the classic example, but the style can change hugely. This trio exemplify this pretty perfectly.

I tried the 1991 at Whisky Live Paris recently, although I can’t remember the name of the bottler. The other two were from Whisky Exchange Show in London.

Bowmore 1991 Butterfly Label 48.7%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Does Bowmore get MORE peaty as it ages?! Very peaty and mineral, sooty chimney, coal, tar, none of the floral notes I was expecting.

Taste: Sweet start, vanilla, honey, then very peaty for old Bowmore, layers of minerality. Sooty with a little orange.

Finish: Long length. Dry, sooty, some oak. A little tropical fruit right at the end. Mango.

25yo, bottled 2017. An old peaty one but not hugely complex. Seems like the peat is covering up the flavours beneath.

79/100

 

Bowmore 1989 'BBQ Mango Salsa' 46%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Slightly rubbery maltiness, cigarette ash, lots of lemon sponge cake.

Taste: Sweet, malt, orange, spicy ginger, Bowmore's malty smoke, lemon then sooty.

Finish: Long length. Smoke kicks up a notch with more soot and slight florals.

Think this was 26 years old. Not nearly as complex or balanced the 87 Wemyss I had, that you might remember got 92.

78/100

 

Bowmore 1994 Single malts of Scotland 52.8%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: An oily, buttery SMWS style, meaty for a Bowmore, also slightly tropical, BBQ and mango. Lovely nose. Slightly Ardbeggian.

Taste: Sweet, tropical, meaty, BBQ ham, pineapple, slightly chalky. A bit of chilli too.

Finish: Medium length. A little spice, oak and chilli.

A really good Bowmore, quite a different style to usual.

83/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #465-#467

Whisky Network Reviews #530-#532

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?