Port Charlotte MRC:01 2010 Review

Hi everyone,

Well, r/Scotch has reached 100,000 subscribes! I just wanna let each and every one of you know that I love you all and think that you are amazing despite knowing little or nothing about you and essentially you’re all strangers. We share the same passion though. The passion for repeatedly emptying our wallets, often to our detriment.

This community is so great and has grown a huge amount since I started reviewing here. I am hugely privileged to be a small part of it and I hope that I can continue to contribute my bit.

Think I’m going to get to #1000 reviews then do some more of my Let’s Talk series but for now I’ve got an intense beast of a whisky…

Port Charlotte MRC:01 59.7%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Meaty, red berries, good sulphur, cream soda, cranberry, red grape, dirty orange. Big nose with plenty going on but not particularly balanced.

Water: Softer, more orange, more sulphur, better balanced now.

Taste: Big! Brutally powerful and intense, almost overwhelmingly so. Spicy, smoky, mineral, red grape, orange, black pepper, not too wine-y though, quite dry but not really balanced out.

Water: Buttery, oily, then very dry with wood and spices.

Finish: Long length. Powerful, spices, smoke, pretty brutish here.

Distilled 2010, bottled at 7yo and from 100% Scottish barley. Finished in red wine casks from a certain famous Bordeaux  producer.

Anyone want their palate steamrolled? Really good but doesn't do it for me as its seems like just a wall of brutal power which doesn’t do wonders for the balance. Still, I can imagine some people absolutely loving this one.

77/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #815

Whisky Network Review #971

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?

Bladnoch Samsara, 10, 15 & 17 Reviews

Hi everyone,

Let me start by saying that I like Bladnoch as a whisky. I loved the sheep label 12yo from the old owners.

But Bladnoch has had a turbulent past, and when the last owner decided he could not continue, potential buyers were thin on the ground. David Prior ended up buying the place in 2015 and immediately went about designing a heavy new bottle and planning stupidly expensive special editions.

I got around to trying the new range because I was excited to see what they had done. I shouldn’t have been.

Bladnoch 10 46.7%

Colour: Straw

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Dough and yeast, something savoury like Parmesan cheese, lemon but also a sour note, not really in balance, nettle and mint.

Taste: Sharp arrival, quite sour and astringent, lemon and dough, some yeastiness, weird off note into the finish.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Ugh, odd, metallic.

Oh dear. This was actually the one I was most expecting to like from the new range.

50/100

 

Bladnoch Samsara 46.7%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Similar style to the 10 with yeast and dough but with porridge, some ginger spice, dry oak, a little playdough/putty.

Taste: Crisp arrival, lemon citrus before the fatter doughy notes, quite clean though which is good.

Finish: Medium length. Soft, that clean lemon and porridge, some putty.

More like it but pretty boring. Where is the big Bladnoch character that I loved?

68/100

 

Bladnoch 15 46.7%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Christmas spices and cherry, some chocolatey malt, light orange, a little rubber, cream and nettle.

Taste: Soft and a little flat on the arrival, mouthfeel is thin until the chocolate and malt arrive, cream and nettle, some rubber into the finish.

Finish: Medium length. Some oak, quite dry here, rubbery Sherry.

Fully matured in Sherry but still not enough to save it. My favourite from the new range I've tried but still not great. Again, quite average and also the most expensive.

69/100

 

Bladnoch 17 46.7%

Colour: Dark Gold, Red Tint

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Herbal, dry and spicy, red gummy bears, but also a little rubber, nettle, vanilla, grass, a little porridge in the background.

Taste: Soft and fruity arrival but quite a thin mouthfeel, then dry oak, red gummy bears, cherry lips and astringent rubber.

Finish: Medium/Long length. More astringent rubber and a little harsh oak and spice.

15 years in Bourbon, 2 in Cali red wine. Another uninspired Bladnoch. The red wine has killed off the mouthfeel on the taste I think. Feels like a bit of desperate move to try and save whisky from bad barrels and hasn’t really paid off.

64/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch reviews #759-#762

Whisky Network Reviews #901-#904

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?

Ledaig & Wine: 2007 Pomerol, 2003 Amarone & 2008 Moscatel Reviews

Hi everyone,

Back to a favourite of mine…

Ledaig and wine should work, its worked before with the G&M Hermitage. It should bring out the meat and unami notes, melding with the smoke. For some reason though, it doesn’t always work and here’s two good examples with red wine and one with Moscatel because why the hell not.

More Ledaig on the way too…

Ledaig 2007 Chieftain’s Pomerol Finish 58%

Colour: Orangey-Redish

Body: Full

Nose: Don’t remember being impressed on first nosing but this is better. Ledaig through and through, meaty, pickled lime from the curry house, Ardbeggian notes, a lighter note if vanilla and soft floral oak.

Water: More funky, more of the floral oak and vanilla, some cheese? Moments of wet cardboard?

Taste: Soft arrival with lime juice and then big spices, cinnamon, clove, coriander, some sharp oak, then peppery meat, strong black tea, some vanilla. Lacking the oily mouthfeel of other Ledaigs.

Water: More intense arrival, much more of the wine, sugary with much less spice to it, more balanced and paced development but a sharp cherry note.

Finish: Long length. Powerful but not quite balanced with more curry paste, lime and spices.

June 2007-April 2018. Doesn’t quite hit the right notes. One of those whiskies that should pull all the right punches and doesn’t.

76/100

 

Ledaig 2003 Anam na h-Alba Amarone Finish 58.3%

Colour: Pinkish

Body: Full

Nose: Smoked fruit gums (if there were such a thing), earthy peat but a tad thin like the Chieftain’s Pomerol, small red berries, grapefruit and pomegranate.

Taste: Intense then soft, red berries, a little sour, orange, peat building up, earthy and mineral, granite, pomegranate, pickled lime.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Black pepper spice and raspberry fruit gums.

Bottled 2018 at 15yo, not sure how long the finishing was. This is very similar to the Cheiftain's Pomerol actually. A little thin for a Ledaig and not balanced with the wine like the G&M Hermitage. No meaty notes too!

76/100

 

Ledaig 2008 The Maltman 57.1%

Colour: Straw

Body: Full

Nose: A natural, musky Ledaig with a layer of green grape, slightly floral, butter, white pepper, sooty smoke.

Taste: Great arrival, crystallised lemon peel, lovely oils, sweet grape then buttery Ledaig smoke, more minerals and peat build. A subtle floral note hiding away in there.

Finish: Medium length. The peat goes quite quick but leaves soft florals, soft oak and a little spice.

Bottled 2018 at 10yo. A 4 month Moscatel finish. Interesting although it hasn't had a massive effect, leaving the spirit quite natural.

78/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #737-#739

Whisky Network Reviews #875-#877

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?

Caol Ila 2004 Hermitage G&M & 1991 Cooper's Choice Reviews

Hi everyone,

We’ve got some Caol Ila today. It’s the largest distillery on Islay, pumping out the good stuff for them to cram into Johnnie Walker. But sometimes there’s too much of it, or they don’t need it, or it doesn’t fit into the flavour profile or a company has filling contracts for it.

So they sell it. Quite a bit of it actually, because they can afford to and because they can. So if you see a mystery Islay, there normally isn’t a huge amount of mystery behind it and its Caol Ila. And remember, Caol Ila is hugely versatile and can taste like Laphroaig or Lagavulin if it wants to. So, some sneaky people imply that it’s a more prestigious distillery but most industry insiders know exactly what it is…

These aren’t those mystery’s though. Nope. These are clearly labelled and deliciously matured by two good indie bottlers that seem to know what they’re doing.

Caol Ila 2004 Hermitage Finish 45%

Colour: Redish Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Memories of the Ledaig Hermitage but less intense, funky, meaty smoke, herbal notes and creamy raspberry.

Taste: Soft, sweet, little smoke but red berries, cranberry, some herbal notes in there, the red wine has really softened it actually. Some peppery spice.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Very little here, small berries, a little more smoke than the palate.

3 year Hermitage finish was perhaps a little too long? Not enough to Caol Ila to it and the wine has really shot the finish.

70/100

 

Caol Ila 1991 Cooper's Choice 46%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Old Laphroaig, tropical fruit and dusty peat with sooty undertones, mango and lemon, quite soft, there's a little biscuit. Quite quiet as old Caol Ila often is at first. Some more maritime notes as it opens up with dried seaweed and more oak then also floral notes.

Taste: Soft and textured, lovely oily malt, lemon and some pineapple, then cinnamon, very old Laphroaig-like, sooty, nice strength, excellent balance. Florals underneath with dry oak, Parma Violets, almost old Bowmore like as it develops.

Finish: Long length. Lots of soot, much more earthy with creamy heather and some slight medicinal notes.

Refill butt, bottled 2016 at 25yo. Wonderful example of older Caol Ila and, as I said, when it wants to, Caol Ila can taste like any of the other Islay distilleries.

82/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #709-#710

Whisky Network Reviews #846-#847

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?

Starward New World Projects Review

Hi everyone,

Australian whisky has become bigger and bigger in the last few years but not much of it makes its way to the UK for me to try it.

Therefore, I haven’t had a chance to try any of the big guns like Lark or Sullivan’s Cove but today I’ve got one that I’ve seen quite a bit more of in the UK: Starward.

We usually see the normal one about, but at a festival I was able to try this limited version from red wine casks. Its only 2.25 years old, so isn’t even whisky yet technically.

 

Starward New World Projects 41%

Colour: Dark Gold/Redish

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Red wine dominant but well balanced, some red gummy bears, creamy vanilla, cherry lips, white sugar. Works well.

Taste: Sour arrival with nice cherry, then soft, creamy, red gummy bears, strawberry laces, nice sour Haribo.

Finish: Medium length. More cherry lips, some good oak.

I really wouldn’t have guessed it was that young tasting it blind. The red wine is pretty obvious but actually works really well.

70/100

Thanks for reading!

Australian Review #5

Whisky Network Review #837

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 The Spaniard & Flaming Heart 6th Ed. Reviews

Hi everyone,

I’ve got two newish CB’s today. Always a fan of the more expensive versions and generally their outlook and experimentation.

I was lucky enough to try the new version of Flaming Heart at the Whisky Exchange Show recently and just tried The Spaniard yesterday, so thought I’d put up my notes together.

The 5th edition of Flaming Heart is one of my favourite Compass Box’s and I just love the packaging. Might be one of my favourite packagings on any Scotch actually. Not too overblown, lovely shaded bottle. So I was very curious to see how this new version stacks up.

Compass Box The Spaniard 43%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Really fruity, sweet gummy bears, wax, malt, spice, creamy biscuit, some milk chocolate and heather, quite a complex one actually. A more gristy malt develops.

Taste: Very soft, lacking a touch of power just as it begins, creamy, better mouthfeel as it goes on, malt, more spicy then with nice ginger and black pepper, tingling.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Creamy again with some spice.

48% Spanish wine casks. Quite an average one. Quite a good nose with the fruitiness working well but on the palate you get nice spices but not a huge amount more. This one isn’t too expensive though to be fair.

73/100

 

Compass Box Flaming Heart 6th Ed. 48.9%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: More fruity than I remember the last one being with lots of fresh apple notes, red and green apple, juicy pear, waxy and delicate, light creamy smoke behind, lemon candy.

Taste: Super soft and balanced arrival, creamy then more malty with chocolate then bigger mineral and salty peat, waxy and Brora-like.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Waxy and seashells, Brora. Some spice and oak too.

Glaser's mission to recreate Brora it seems. Fantastic of course, but not the equal of the 5th edition I think. I love the coastal notes here but the last I remember being more complex and kept developing.

83/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #678-#679

Whisky Network Reviews #812-#813

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?

Kavalan Concertmaster, Solist Bourbon & Vinho Barrique Reviews

Hi everyone,

Sorry for not being active recently, been on holiday and life’s been busy buying a house and all.

In the meantime I have more Kavalan to get me to 10 and get that sweet, sweet flag I’ve been chasing!

Kavalan Concertmaster 40%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Quite dense, rich dried fruit- Raisin, plum, fig, grape and cream.

Taste: Sharp at first then creamy and fruity, quite dense again with fig and plum then oak developing and going into the finish.

Finish: Medium length. Oaky.

Finished in port barrels. Amazingly rich for 40%.

72/100

Kavalan Solist Bourbon 57.8%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Fresh and fruity. Alcohol burn, lemon, vanilla, mango, a little spice.

Water: More classic Scotch style. Caramel, toffee, oaky spice,

Taste: Cooling creamy arrival, building spice, fresh fruit, juicy mango, melon, vanilla, cooling menthol and mint, then more lemon, lemon sherbet, quite zesty into the finish.

Water: Almost quite dull arrival, builds more slowly with plain oak planks and oaky spice, ginger.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Lemon zest and some plain oak, oak planks.

B090901025A. There's nothing special about this one really. Interesting to see as we all know Kavalan does well in intense casks.

67/100

Kavalan Vinho Barrique 57.8%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Odd in a good way, burnt BBQ sauce, hot coals, big juicy fig note, plum and blueberry, honey glaze.

Taste: Dry, hot coals, strangely mineral then big balanced fruit followed by plenty of spice, fig, plum, cumin and coriander, nutmeg, vintage Port, big oak.

Finish: Long length. More vintage Port, some spice, big Bourbon-like caramel.

2012-2016. Big stuff, if a little odd.

79/100

Distillery: Kavalan

Average Score: 72.2

Distillery Ranking: 44th/ 66 places

Up/Down: 45>44 (Up 1)

Thanks for reading!

Taiwanese Reviews #8-#10

Whisky Network Review #763-#765

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?