Jameson 18 Limited Reserve & Cooley 1992 Cadenhead's Reviews

Hi everyone,

I don’t try a huge number of Irish whiskies. I just don’t tend to seek them out and there’s not a huge number available in UK and the festivals I attend in Europe.

Or perhaps, there aren’t a huge number of the independent, older, cask strength, single cask releases I tend to be looking out for…

Anyway, I was doing a tasting at the Whisky Museum in Salzburg recently (great place), which also happens to be an Irish pub.

The Jameson had been on my list for a while, because its part of the 101 whiskies to try before you die, but I’d never actually seen it in person. The Cadenhead’s speaks for itself (Many thanks to Chris for pouring me that one).

Jameson 18 Limited Reserve 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Light and fruity, gummy bears, tropical, expressive and floral. Nice nose but feels like it lacking something to balance it out.

Taste: Light and creamy, lacks a little power then dry oak, better balance into the finish with chocolate coming in. More bitter and dry as it opens up actually. Ground coffee beans.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Creamy chocolate, oily, dry leaves. Again, not particularly balanced.

Nice in places as does have complexity but harsh and bitter too. Funny to find this one quite dry after the tropical fruity nose. Anyway, glad I tried this.

72/100

 

Cooley Single Malt 1992 Cadenhead's 52.3%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Yeah great. Complex, fruity and sweet, creamy, custard creams, green apple, something subtly savoury.

Taste: Awesome arrival, very very balanced, hugely fruity and complex oak, creamy and oily.

Finish: Medium length. Really soft here, lovely, tropical fruit. Pineapple and mango.

26yo. What a gorgeous Irish whiskey! Everything I expected from the 1989 TWA release but didn’t quite get.

85/100

Thanks for reading!

Irish Reviews #24-#25

Whisky Network Reviews #830-#831

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?

Glentauchers 1989 Cadenheads Cask Ends Review

Hi everyone,

Another whisky review today, again coming in the form of a crazy exclusive, you’ll probably never get to try. A single cask sample from the Cadenheads warehouse.

I think these ‘cask end’ bottlings are from when they’ve emptied the cask into bottles and there is an awkward amount left over that they leave for visitors. Could be completely off on that though, I don’t know everything it turns out.

 

Glentauchers 1989 CA Cask Ends 52.4%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: A lactic oak note hits first, green apple, really fresh fruit, a little tropical, mango, quite complex, quite delicious too, a little fresh leather and a tiny hint of ash.

Taste: Soft and very tasty with plenty of red apple, oak, then slightly tropical mango building, some dry oak, some white florals, a little honey, quite a complex one while still managing to be very delicious.

Finish: Long. Tropical mango, milk bottle sweets, oak and some green apple peel.

26yo HHD. This one is very good, but the lactic note holds it back a tad on the nose. These Glentauchers do seem to do well with some age to ‘em.

81/100

Distillery: Glentauchers

Average Score: 78

Distillery Ranking: 17th/ 62 places

Up/Down: 24>17 (Up 7)

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #631

Whisky Network Review #751

Network Average: 74.9

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?

Blair Athol 1991 Carn Mor Review

Hi everyone,

I’ve always enjoyed the stuff I’ve tried from Blair Athol, although that’s really only independent bottlings because the only official is the flora & fauna (which I’m not such a big fan of) and the recent special releases which was a ridiculous price.

Luckily there are plenty of indies and I do recommend you seek them out. They tend to be at an ok price because Blair Athol isn’t that well known but the distillery character seems to be quite complex and malty.

This one in particular I tried recently at Inter. Whisky Frankfurt and is the oldest Blair Athol I’ve tried so far.

 

Blair Athol 1991 Carn Mor 52.7%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Medicinal, malty, fruity, dry, oaky, cherry lip gloss, orange peel, herbal, fresh mint, oats and porridge, green leaf, lemon peel, green banana. Complex nose with lots going on and some pretty unique combos going on.

Taste: Soft and intense, loads of malt, vanilla, juicy pear, soft oak, sour grape, orange, orange peel, fresh mint, paprika, some green banana.

Finish: Long length. Malty, soft chocolate and some heather. Not so complex as the rest here but nice.

26 years old, from 1991 to 2017. Quite complex and unusual, I’m not sure if that’s the spirit talking or the cask but I like it. The price on this Carn Mor is a bit higher though compared to others like Signatory.

79/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #560

Whisky Network Review #663

Network Average: 74.7

Best Score: 93

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?

Bowmore 1990 Adelphi Review

Hi everyone,

I am of the opinion that there is no better age for Bowmore than 26 years, especially from a barrel or Hogshead. One of the best whiskies I’ve ever tried was a 26yo Bowmore and whenever I see them, I make an effort to try and try them.

That rule tends to only apply to the IB’s, there’s nothing exciting in the OB’s at the moment (as far as I’ve tried, yes yes, not that many).

Also Adelphi is known for great quality whisky, and I did hear from an industry insider that they source their casks from a different source to most, with higher quality than others. No idea if that’s true but that’s the word on the street. Always been a fan of the bottle design too.

 

Bowmore 1990 Adelphi 48.9%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Carbolic, sooty, burnt down building, old style soap block, tropical fruit behind, BBQ char, mango, clean laundry, love hearts. More tropical as it opens up.

Taste: Soft, nice arrival, fruit then more spice and lots of dry oak, tropical mango and soot, unripe mango, some orange, lemon juice and peel, ginger cake, ginger beer.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Good stuff, waves of leather, some cocoa, slightly earthy, some lemon still and ginger/white pepper. Best part of this whisky right here.

Bottled 2017 at 26yo. Great whisky but I was expecting more from this, being a 26yo Bowmore and all. Very expensive whisky again too.

86/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #539

Whisky Network Review #634

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?