Banff 1975 Duncan Taylor Review

Hi everyone,

If you’re ever in D.C., do yourself a favour; dump the wife, dump the kids, dump your plans to go see the White House or Lincoln memorial, don’t bother with the museums or parks. Do one thing and one thing only, get your wallet and head on over to Jack Rose Dining Saloon.

Food is amazing. Atmosphere is great. And the whisky—oh, the whisky!

This one is my first Banff, a long closed distillery that we don’t see much of any more. Don’t know much about the distillery itself, other than it was blown up several times (by fires as well as bombs!).

 

Banff 1975 Duncan Taylor 45.4%

Colour: Gold

Body: Light

Nose: Old & soft, oaky, silky, floral tones, pressed flowers & homemade paper, kinda intoxicating, old Bowmore-esque, perfumes orange peel, antique furniture, super complex old nose.

Taste: Old and silky, not much power and feels a bit tired, big oak, floral here too, Wood and spice, slightly soapy lavender, Parma violets. It’s definitely over the hill though. Like an 80’s Bowmore without the smoke.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Soft and a bit flat here, loses its oomph.

My first Banff! 35yo, bottled 2011. Rarest of the Rare. Better as it opened up, though the taste and finish just remained a little lacking.

75/100

Thanks for reading! 

Scotch Review #862

Whisky Network Review #1036

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?

Royal Brackla 1997 NC2 Review (plus blind review video)

Image courtesy of Master of Malt

Hi everyone,

Blind tasting is a really funny thing. Expensive whiskies that normally get huge praise get thrown aside as harsh, and cheap stuff that is usually crapped on is held in high regard. Equally I’m discovering another facet to it. Whiskies can taste very different from what you remember of them.

This one I remembered being nothing special. An under-matured, spirity whiskies without the character to back it up. Was I wrong about that? Blind review me seems to think so. He found it quite nice. Nice enough to think it was an 18yo Glentauchers at 48.8%. Which I had given a higher score to.

So here’s blind review me doing a review, and my non-blind notes:

Royal Brackla 1997 NC² (Duncan Taylor) 46%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Light

Nose: Very clean. Ethanol, light pear, light green apple, very light vanilla, lemon juice. On the blind review I was getting much more maltiness.

Taste: Light, crisp and fresh. Green apple, pear, lemon, lemon juice, some vanilla and caramel developing with a little spice. Smooth and light.

Finish: Medium length. Peppery then soft oak. Again, on the blind review I got a nicer finish with a very good transition of flavours.

NC² bottling from Duncan Taylor, 13 year old. This seems to have improved with oxygen and has definitely made me reconsider Royal Brackla.

69/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #578

Whisky Network Review #683

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 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?

Islay Blended Malt 1997 Octaves [From Paris with Love]

Hi everyone,

Today is the last of the Paris notes (London to come!), and the one I finished with was another Duncan Taylor from the Octaves range. This one though, isn’t a Single Malt but a Blended Malt, all from Islay.

Just to remind you, an Octave is a smaller barrel that’s around 50L.

 

Islay Blended Malt 1997 Octaves 50%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Really intensely peaty! Metallic and medicinal.

Taste: Intense peat with sweet orange, malty, some nuttiness, nutmeg spice, oak.

Finish: Medium length. Much more sweetness, orange, slightly rubbery. Not as good in the finish though.

17yo, with 7 months in the Octave. Can't really get behind the smoke on the nose, which is a shame because it seems like there’s complexity behind.

74/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #474

Whisky Network Review #541

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?

Glenallachie 2008 Octaves Review [From Paris with Love]

Hi everyone,

Have you ever heard of an Octave cask?

Maybe not.

Have you ever heard of Glenallachie?

You might have, if you paid attention to whisky news circles. It was bought recently by the team that turned Glendronach and BenRiach into those hype hugging, single cask canoodling distilleries that we all love to love.

But they sold them. And now they have Glenallachie. But the whisky isn’t due out until next year. Luckily, there’s plenty of indies to try and this is one such whisky.

It was finished in a Sherry Octave cask, which is much smaller than a regular cask or barrel (around 50L).

Glenallchie 2008 Octaves 54.1%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Old school Macallan-ish, very lovely malty notes, honey, beeswax, very nice nose. Orange.

Taste: Intense, malty, honey, beeswax, some chocolate, loads of orange, rubbery Sherry and spicy ginger, black pepper.

Finish: Medium length. A little harsh, heather and lots of chocolate.

Great nose, taste and finish don't quite live up to it. Still, good stuff and a great alternative to Macallan IMO, similar style.

74/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #469

Whisky Network Review #536

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?