The Epicurean Glasgow Ed. Review

Hi everyone,

Happy new year! Hope everyone has had a great time over the holidays.

Today I’ve got a whisky that I was given 2/3 of a bottle of at the end of a festival. But immediately gave to a friend because I thought they might enjoy it more than me.

This is one of Douglas Laing’s blended malts that they have done focussing on different regions, this one on the Lowlands. Which puts it in the interesting position of not having that many distilleries to source whisky from. Glenkinchie, Bladnoch and Auchentoshan seem like the only likely options.

The Epicurean Glasgow Edition 58.6%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium

Nose: Umm, milky at first nosing. Like sour milk, which is weird. Some lemon, green apple and also, well, cheese. Malt is there, very light touch of oak but remains pretty lactic. Really not a fan of the nose.

Water: Green apple and milk in a blender, throw in a pack of bubblegum too. And some yeast. You know, because why not?

Taste: Soft with a nice mouthfeel to start, fresh and zesty with green apple and zingy lemon citrus, then a little darker with the malt and a bit of white pepper spice making an appearance. There is more of a lactic thing coming out nearer the end into the finish.

Water: Again, nice arrival but the development goes astray with spiced cardboard and a bit of plastic.

Finish: Medium length. Malt and some milk chocolate, doesn't quite go into the lactic territory again but there's something harsher going on with the spice.

The lactic and milky notes on this were totally unexpected to me and I don’t think I’ve had anything like this in a whisky before, even from Bruichladdich. It isn’t even that unpleasant, but it’s kind of unsettling and weird.

61/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #836

Whisky Network Review #1001

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?

Wardhead 1997 & Ardmore 2008 for r/Scotch Reviews

Hi everyone,

Okay, bit of back story first… Last year we managed to get two samples from Hunter Laing (Sherry cask Blair Athol and an Inchgower, both over 20 years old). They were rejected for not being good enough.

I organised two more samples from The Single Cask to be sent to u/scotch_fanatic. Once again, not good enough.

u/t8ke then gets Morrison MacKay on board and they send us 9 samples from casks they have that we could bottle. They are sent out blind and we (the tasting panel) taste them, rate them, etc.

Our favourite being an older single grain, we decided that the best course of action was to bottle the second and third favourites.

To be perfectly honest, I didn’t rate anything in the blind tasting super high and I gave both of these 7.5/10. I have lost my notes from the blind tasting but I remember guessing the Ardmore was a Croftengea and the Wardhead as some young Speysider. But blind tastings can be deceiving and stuff changes sometimes when it’s bottled as well as changing as it opens up and you spend more time with it. So let us see what the r/Scotch bottlings offer!

Also, this was a huge load of fun and I have to thank u/t8ke and u/scotch_fanatic for generally being awesome, organising this and including me as a part of it. It has been a privilege and an honour and I can’t wait for more bottlings in the future!

Wardhead 1997 for r/Scotch 54.7%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Fresh nose, younger than its years. Green apple and malt first off, grassy, very clean, milk chocolate, hot chocolate froth and some heather, honey. Creamy with vanilla after a minute. Under ripe orange and green grape appearing. Malted milk biscuits too.

Taste: Really wonderful clean arrival, lovely mouthfeel with oils and malt, then a burst of fresh fruit with green apple and lemon, milk chocolate, heather, some oak and spices, some white pepper, stem ginger, softening again into the finish.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Darker and more malty here, malt biscuits, a little cocoa powder, more oak.

Hogshead #40, bottled at 22yo. The nose and the beginning of the taste here are a lot better than I remember from blind tasting. The mid-palate goes into some average territory with the spices and oak just a little flat. Still, a great release worth picking up. Water made the nose much fresher and fruitier but I found it lost body and depth on the taste.

77/100

 

Ardmore 2008 for r/Scotch 57%

Colour: Straw

Body: Full

Nose: I remember first tasting this blind and then the first taste out of the bottle thinking that this was just another pretty average peated whisky. But the nose keeps opening up more... Creamy, lemon citrus, the malt is there quite gristy giving a complexity and body, an Agave note- maybe kinda Mezcal-like, some ash, a little white grapefruit, maritime notes of cold seafood buffet, lobster and crab flesh with cracked black pepper. The more you dig and pay attention, the more you get.

Taste: Clean arrival, oily, lemon citrus and then BIG peat, lots of intense minerality and rocky seashore notes, licking the inside of old shells, chewy mouthfeel. Great, and again, very different from my blind tasting and first pours.

Finish: Medium length. Not as long as the Wardhead but still plenty going on with salt, peaty malt and the oils coating away. Quite dry too.

Bourbon barrel 702430, bottled 11yo. Love Ardmore and very happy to have a bottle of this. I also have to say that this is supremely drinkable at full strength but doesn’t seem to do well with water.

80/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #813-#814

Whisky Network Reviews #969-#970

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. In this case, I was also a part of selecting these whiskies, so may be even more biased than usual... 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 Perth 23 Blended Malt Review

Hi everyone,

I’ve tried a bunch of this lovely Old Perth line up now, a series that Morrison Mackay have brought us from single casks they’ve somehow managed to acquire that seem to almost always be blended malts (at birth) containing Macallan, Highland park and, sometimes, Glen Grant.

They released three in larger boxes and nicer labels, two of which I have tried, this one completes the set. I remember when they came out that Graeme Mackay had told me that the 23 was his favourite of the set and I was able to try some a while back.

 

Old Perth 23 44.9%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Quite complex but still fresh. Fresh orange, dry malt and oak, chocolate and some Sherry, hot black coffee poured over leather (yes, I know how that sounds), Brandy/red grape, more chocolate powder over time.

Taste: Sweet arrival, malt and gorgeous orange, great development into drier territory with leather and oak, swells really nicely. Could really be 30yo.

Finish: Medium length. Very soft finish, chocolates, chocolate powder, chocolate truffles. A real chocolate bomb on the finish.

1994, single cask blended malt. Dry whisky and great for it. Easily tastes older than 23. I love these older Sherried malts where the whiskies really have a chance to develop with the sherry over a longer time, oxidise and also are able to keep their character. Don’t really know why these haven’t flown off the shelves…

87/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #766

Whisky Network Review #911

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?

Compass Box No Name No. 2 Review

Hi everyone,

Thought some people might appreciate my thoughts on this whisky quickly as it has just come out here in the UK.

I was a big fan of the last No Name from Compass Box but that one had a parcel of Ardbeg, whereas this is mainly Coal Ila with some Talisker attached.

 

Compass Box No Name No. 2 48.9%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Clean smoke, pure lemon, soft soot and charred wood, creamy vanilla, maritime with wet ropes and sails, sea salt crust, little bit of a muted nose.

Taste: Soft, light smoke, chewy oils, then more powerful with smoke and black pepper, ginger and chilli, big salty hit, lemon juice. Softer, more silky and Campbeltown-esque as it opens up.

Finish: Long length. More lemon, more salt, a little oak at the end. Not particularly complex but good.

Lacking the complexity and balance of no1, nice nose, bit too spicy on the taste. I think the Coal Ila comes through very clearly on this one and maybe the spiciness from the Talisker but this was meant to be more complex than No Name 1 (which I loved the purity of) and I didn’t find that it was. Oh, and its £10 more expensive.

76/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #765

Whisky Review #910

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?

Shackleton Mackinlay's & 'The Journey' Reviews

Hi everyone,

There have been several Shackleton whiskies over the last years since they found a box of whisky hidden in Shackleton’s hut in Antarctica.

The first, in the wooden box, you barely see. I managed to get my paws on the other two; a supermarket, cheap release and the second release that is about £120 or something.

These were Christmas presents from my Dad after he went on an Antarctic cruise.

 

Shackleton's Mackinlay's 40%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Buttery, malty, lemon, a little heather, an astringent note, lavender soap and cheap cola sweets, marshmallow.

Taste: Very soft, butter and lemon clashing a bit, heather, some basic and yet harsh spice.

Finish: Medium length. Still harsh with some refill oak.

Not great, quite unbalanced.

54/100

Mackinlay’s ‘The Journey’ 47.3%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Buttery and oily to start, slightly floral, old style machine oil and malt, garage rags and some diesel fumes, a little browning red apple, some older (dry) Amontillado Sherry. Quite old style malt indeed. More Sherry and toffee apples over time.

Taste: Soft start with dry style Fino/Amontillado Sherry, then tingling on the tongue with spices and very old oak, quite robust and austere, then more open with buttery malt, a floral layer, lemon, machine oil, green and red apple before more overt smoke. Maybe a little rubber into the finish.

Finish: Medium length. Some soft pepper, oily smoke, old peat and browning green apple.

A replica of 1897 Glen Mhor. This blended malt includes Peated Dalmore and a cask of actual Glen Mhor from 1980. I wonder if there’s some older Peated Jura too, with some Tamnavulin. I’m surprised by how good this is, really ticks the box of what you’d think a 19th century whisky might taste like! Very interesting and quite delicious, while the attention to detail on the packaging has also been great.

Over time, the whisky has not been oxidising great in the bottle. It comes across as slightly harsh at times and theirs is little of the machine oil and rags that I liked about the nose, so…

77/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #735-#736

Whisky Network reviews #873-#874

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?

Old Perth 14, 21, 41 & 46 Blended Malts & Grain Reviews

Hi everyone,

So recently the excellent people at Morrison MacKay have been releasing some excellent whiskies. Following on from the success of their 12, 13 & 21 expressions of their Old Perth series, they decided to do some more.

These are pretty well known to be mostly blends of Macallan and Highland Park, although the older versions (and obviously the blended grain) probably are not.

Anyway, I’ve been very lucky to get to try a whole set of them.

 

Old Perth 14 Blended Malt 43.7%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: A little fresher and more fruity than the 13yo. Sherry, dried apricot, delicate dried flowers/petals, sweet prune, lots of chocolate too with cocoa powder, sweet honey and beeswax.

Taste: Haribo coke bottle arrival, soft, heather, sweet Sherry, a little flat especially for the age then tingling spice and oak. Euro oak, raisin and prune.

Finish: Medium length. Dry, wood and cinnamon spice, a little dried heather.

A blend of Highland Park and Macallan. About double the price of the 13 but quite flat on the palate despite a great nose.

72/100

 

Old Perth 21 Blended Malt 55.2%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: If you distilled coffee to 55%... espresso, very dark and earthy, dark chocolate, dry oak, dark chocolate with orange bits, orange peel, some heather.

Taste: Sweet and soft then more bitterness as it develops, some dark chocolate and intense coffee, espresso, tannins, slightly earthy then nice fresher orange into the finish.

Finish: Long length. Dark, more dark chocolate and coffee, some orange peel and tannins.

Reputedly a combo of Glen Grant and Macallan... from a single cask. Wow, in the same vein as the 13yo. But I think I preferred that one. This seems a little overwhelmed.

79/100

 

Old Perth 41 Blended Malt 45.3%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Wow, complex! What surprises me here is the nice touch of smoke! Strawberry fruit pastilles, fruity Sherry, obvious wood but not overwhelming, leather and tobacco. Very salivating nose, great.

Taste: Soft arrival, strawberry fruit pastilles then the oak comes in balanced by fruity Sherry, developing leather and tobacco and very dark chocolate, great oily mouthfeel too.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Drier, woodier here, dry oak and tobacco. A little out of balance here, just a bit too dry and oaky.

Vintage 1977. Shame the finish throws it off kilter.

86/100

 

Old Perth 46 Blended Grain 49.9%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Retained its freshness remarkably, creamy vanilla, dried raspberry and delicious petrol fumes. Ethereal and complex, old wood and expensive praline chocolates, light raisin from the Sherry.

Taste: Soft and impeccable. Great development with zippy freeze dried raspberry, vanilla, biscuit, dark chocolate, ethereal spirit still intact. The oak is a massive presence and yet also in the background, backing everything up.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Very soft here, whispers away with toffee, dark chocolate and a very light touch of oak.

Vintage 1971. Great old Grain this. Funny that the best Grain whiskies I've had have been blended Grains, almost like the stuff was made to be blended!

82/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #731-#734

Whisky Network Reviews #869-#872

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?

Compass Box Juveniles Review

Hi everyone,

I’m a pretty lucky guy in many, many ways.

One of those being that I normally get to taste the Compass Box releases quite early if I am so inclined. I dimly remembered some talk about this one and saw it pop up recently at a festival I was at.

The bottle is cool. Nice white wax on the top and a bell underneath, because we love a little bit of a joker under the surface. But what about the whisky?

Well, with a little bit of research I found the recipe and, amazingly, its only 30% Clynelish!

34% Strathmill (Hogshead)

34% Balmenach (Hogshead)

30% Clynelish (20% Recharred barrel, 10% refill Sherry)

2% Glendullan (1st fill Sherry)

Compass Box Juveniles 46%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Light and creamy, vanilla and white chocolate, some malt backing it up, lemon peel and icing sugar. Silky soft nose.

Taste: Malt first, more powerful than the nose let on, then creamy white chocolate, ethereal oils and leather then into the finish. The oak seems a little out of place though.

Finish: Medium length. Oily. Red apple, silky and soft but a tad dry.

2018 release. Young but good. Mainly about the mouthfeel and balance as the actual flavour is pretty average.

74/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #695

Whisky Network Review #829

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?