Springbank 18 & 11 Refill Sauternes Single Cask Reviews

Hi everyone,

Another duo today! This time it’s Springbank’s turn.

It has taken me far too long to get round to trying the 18yo. I can get pretty expensive and although I’d heard that it was great, I didn’t want to risk forking out on a bottle. So I waited patiently but just never got round to it or saw it many places.

I also recently tried a official single cask for the USA.

Springbank 18 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Robust and chiselled, smoky coals, dried apple, musty leather, a little tobacco and cigar smoke, subtle dried banana, standing outside a smoking room, old cigarette smoke.

Taste: Oily with building spices tingling and dry oak, lots of black pepper, a bit industrial with concrete dust and chalky minerality, some dust and leather and old smoke.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Softer, more tobacco and leather here but fades quite quickly.

Shame about the short finish. Everything else is pretty well balanced and interesting, if a little austere.

79/100

 

Springbank 11 Refill Sauternes 57.2%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Soapy but in a really cool way, raisin and passion fruit, rich apricot, dirty orange, good sulphur, dried lavender, bath bombs, intense and full on.

Taste: Soft and oily, orange and mango, super good balance on arrival, great mouthfeel, fruity and intense, soapy again but again it’s good and interesting. Some spices come through towards the end, black pepper and a tiny whiff of smoke.

Finish: Medium/Long length. More soapy here, almost overwhelming it, softer then comes back with the oils.

Nov 2007, bot Nov 2018 from a single refill Sauternes cask, bottled for USA. Some people are gonna hate this, but I love it. Really interesting and full on, in-your-face whisky that grabs your tongue and won’t let go until it’s done with you.

86/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #851-#852

Whisky Network Reviews #1023-#1024

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?

Kilchoman Sauternes Finish, Rum Finish & Machir Bay Cask Strength Reviews

Hi everyone,

Kilchoman have been putting out some new whiskies that I’ve been trying to try as I’m quite a big fan of the distillery and what they put out.

So I’ve got some small batch stuff they released this year for your enjoyment and salivation.

Kilchoman Sauternes Finish 50%

Colour: Yellow-y Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Classically Kilchoman, smoky and sweet, slightly sugary, white sugar, stone fruit, fresh plum, a little funky and sugary candies, Mezcal.

Taste: Mineral arrival, then soft with sea salt and lime, little actual smoke, creamy sweetness, then more minerals come in with lots of smoke.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Peaty and mineral, the smoke really takes over, very little sweetness by this point.

The latest of the Kilchoman small batch releases and unusual in that it’s a finish rather than a full maturation as all the others have been. Nice but doesn't quite pull off the smoke and sweetness together. Here it’s one or the other.

74/100

 

Kilchoman Small Batch Rum Finish 56.2%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Oh so fruity, fresh fruit and peat smoke, kiwi, lime juice and cigarette smoke, PUB LIFE memories, complete with sticky floors, literally smells like a night out. Nougart candy note and banana now too.

Taste: Soft arrival, great transition into white sugar, kiwi, tropical and smoky, quite soft for cask strength, the classic mineral notes coming in now.

Finish: Short/Medium length. More smoke kicks up here, more mineral, some hard candy- candy cane.

4 casks, 2x 2011 & 2x 2012 bottled in late 2018 for the German market. Great unique nose but the taste is a bit out of kilter and lacking some staying power. Was quite excited by this as I hadn’t seen any other Kilchoman from Rum casks… Hypefully (intentional spelling) more of this to come.

77/100

 

Kilchoman Machir Bay Cask Strength 59.8%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Very smoky, very mineral, very intense, cutting lemon citrus and creamy vanilla.

Water: Opens up with time, more creamy biscuit and vanilla blending with the smoke. More citrus and lemon too.

Taste: BIG, malty, lemon juice, mineral notes building. Powerful but lacking in the complexity department.

Water: Tequila, lime, sugar and salt, smoke. Better balanced and opens up.

Finish: Short length. Creamy with vanilla and biscuit and some smoke but it’s gone far too quick.

I preferred the normal Machir Bay I tried back in 2014. This was released as part of the European Tour 2018.

73/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #706-#708

Whisky Network Reviews #843-#845

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?

Tullibardine 225 Review

Hi everyone,

Who doesn’t like Sauternes?

Well, perhaps those who aren’t fans of sweet wines but there shouldn’t really be any of those. Because sweet wines are awesome, particularly Sauternes.

This Tullibardine is finished in Sauternes barrels that are exactly 225 litres, hence the name. This is the one and only Tullibardine I’ve tried so far, so must stand alone. I was curious about this one though because Horst Leuning of Whisky.com fame loved it so much.

 

Tullibardine 225 43%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Light

Nose: Malty with pastry, spirit driven with apple pie, white grape, menthol, Strudel, cinnamon and sugar.

Taste: Light, malty, cherry, a little spirity with apple. Quite a nice arrival but it gets more spirity as it goes on.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Very spirity and quite bitter.

Love the nose on this because I’m a massive Strudel fan. No Strudel on the taste though, and finish definitely doesn’t do it any favours. Just edges into good territory for me.

70/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #583

Whisky Network Review #688

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?

Celebratory Scotch: Glendronach 12 Sauternes, Glen Grant 1996 Adelphi & Longrow 10 100 Proof Reviews

Hi everyone,

More whisky from my birthday on Tuesday, this time the Scotch’s.

If you didn’t see my post on yesterday, I had my exam on my General Certificate in Distilling in the morning and then ran around Bristol looking for Banksy’s street art. We ended up finding a BrewDog with a great selection of whiskies and just had to chill there for a bit. Great, great day.

Really never thought I’d find an independent bottling in a pub either!

Glendronach 12 Sauternes Finish 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Funky! More like a Port Charlotte! Ha. Seriously though, honey glazing, meaty fruit, juicy apricot, pomegranate, a fruity cocktail, nutty, malty Glendronach and Sauternes sweetness of course.

Taste: Soft, very soft arrival, sweetness builds up with crystallised honey, lemon peel, lemon fruit pastilles, nice malty notes develop into the finish. A little harsh oak comes out after a minute though.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Maltiness stays with some spice and dry oak.

Lovely nose but the taste doesn't quite follow it up.

74/100

Glen Grant 1996 Adelphi 54.4%

Colour: Gold

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Light and delicate. Alcohol, floral, freshly washed linen, fruit pastilles, lemon citrus, light vanilla pod, waxy.

Water: Lighter and more floral, but less of everything else.

Taste: Cutting sharp lemon, lemon peel, Cask waxiness comes in to balance it, floral, lavender, violet, candle wax, refill Bourbon's soft vanilla, some spice comes through with light ginger.

Water: Much more spicy with ginger and white pepper then much more dry refill oak. A little harsh at times.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Waxy vanilla and some delicate white pepper spice.

Bottled 2014 at 18yo. Not really my kind of thing, very delicate whisky but undeniably a great Barrel. Better without the water though.

76/100

Longrow 10 100 proof 57%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Immediately funky, smoky, sooty and slightly floral- violet. Some alcohol, that boggy Longrow thing, earthy, charred meat and some red apple. Some chilli chocolate comes through.

Water: More alcohol unfortunately, red apple, soot and singed paper.

Taste: Oily, sooty, sharp as a blade and a lovely acidity normally reserved for Riesling, mineral chalky and hot slate, spicy chilli chocolate and oily black pepper, hot coals.

Water: Pleasingly hot and spicy still. Mineral, chalky and oily.

Finish: Long length. A blast of spicy black pepper more hot coal smoke, then a bit of biting oak.

Very Longrow, very classic. Shame there's a bit of alcohol on the nose.

79/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #353-#355

Whisky Network Reviews #399-#401 (Yay!)

Network Average: 74.5

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

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?

Port Askaig 15 Sherry + Elements of Islay Lg6, PL4 & Oct3 Reviews

Hi everyone,

At Whisky in Leiden last week I was lucky enough to be standing right next to a sales manager from Speciality Drinks, the soon to be renamed independent bottler that is part of the same company as the Whisky Exchange.

She had a couple of whiskies from Elements of Islay, of which I am a big fan, and Port Askaig. I was offered to try some and couldn’t really resist tasting some of these. I mean, it would be rude not to really!

So, many thanks to Myriam for letting me try some of these!

Port Askaig 15 Sherry 45.8%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Lovely stewed raisin, light touch of sulphur, ash, cherry, softly cakey. Balanced.

Taste: Stewed fruit arrival with cherry, building oak and ash, lovely balance with some good but light sulphur.

Finish: Medium/Long length. More dirty and earthy now, a good rubber note.

A mix of heavily peated whisky from 1998 and lightly peated whisky from 2001. This is lovely stuff, the right amount of smoke and sweetness. Would be great at cask strength!

I reckon Caol Ila again. Actually, all of the Port Askaig’s I’ve had (16,19 & 30) I think are Caol Ila. The only one I think isn’t would be the 45yo, which is Bunna I believe.

78/100

Lg⁶ 53.7%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Noses like a younger Laga with lots of fresh fruit, kiwi and melon but with an integrated ash and kiln thing going on, biscuit too. Opens up after a few minutes with Kipper!

Taste: Bam. Great power. Smoke, kiln, lovely fruit balance, ashy and marine with a salted fish note, salt and lemon and white pepper, then fruit again. Continue back and forth with fruit then smoke. Complex and long.

Finish: Long length. Lovely lemon oil, cutting into a lemon and that spray you get off it, very oily.

Strange… Could have sworn it was Lg7, which hasn't existed yet! I was told it was from 1999 too...

Equally, the photo I took of one of the bottles is Lg6, which is mostly young and some older, which would make sense with the notes. Yeah, I’d been up at 3am that morning. Give me a break.

83/100

PL⁴ 61.2%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Sulphury at first. It fades after a few minutes to reveal strawberries and clotted cream, fusty wool, vanilla and dry oak. More floral after a bit more time with lavender.

Taste: Strong (duh), powerful, sweetness builds, ash and peat, good sulphur, then developing spicy notes, peppery, gingery spice.

Finish: Long length. Oily and floral with lavender and a Sauternes sweetness.

From 2 Chateau Margaux (1st Growth Bordeaux) red wine casks. Water gives a more floral nose but a tad too much sulphur in the taste and finish. Also it is strange that the red wine doesn’t really come through much, but a desert wine sweetness does.

80/100

Oct³ 60.3%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Closed. Alcohol and some Sauternes sweetness.

Water: Some kind of hyper Sauternes with added peat complexity, some good sulphur, liqueur-esque honey, rotting white grapes.

Taste: Intense, mineral, white grape, Sauternes comes through, but as with the nose it’s quite closed.

Water: The hyper Sauternes returns! Come on guys, did you actually just pour some Chateau D'Yquem in here?! Honey, sweet grape notes, the peat takes a back seat.

Finish: Long length. Marzipan and nut, mineral smoke.

Water: Softer and more balance, less smoke and more Sauternes sweetness.

2009 and 2010 from 1st Fill Bourbon and Sauternes barrels. Think those Sauternes barrels were pretty fresh! Thankfully the Sauternes was great quality because it really took over!

82/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #340-#343

Whisky Network Reviews #376-#379

Network Average: 74.5

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

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. 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?

Kilchoman Cask Strength, Sauternes, Loch Gorm & Sanaig: TWE Show Report

Hello again all,

Continuing with the London Whisky Show 2016 reviews today, we come to Kilchoman. The small distillery we love to love. 

Antony Will’s (The Founder) was on the table and it was great to have a (quick) chat with someone who is obviously so passionate about everything Kilchoman.

Onto the whiskies:

Kilchoman Sanaig 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Quite big spicy and oaky notes, liquorice, some meaty Sherry, raisin, Kilchoman smoke.

Taste: Soft arrival, then BAM!, meaty Sherry, big mineral Kilchoman smoke, very mineral actually with these rocky notes.

Finish: Long length. Mineral, more malty, smoke.

Much more Sherry cask involvement with this one, but less than Loch Gorm. It’s quite muscular and aggressive but good stuff.

74/100

Kilchoman Sauternes Matured 2011 50%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Similar to the Madeira edition from last year. Very sweet with fresh fruit, a bit unbalanced on the sweet side though.

Taste: Sweetness from the off, peat coming through, mineral notes with white wine sweetness.

Finish: Long length. Mineral with lots of fresh fruit.
Released 2016. A little too on the sweet side for me.

75/100

Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2016 Ed. 46%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: A bakery that uses peat (wut?), lots of rising dough, pastry smells, cinnamon.

Taste: Cinnamon, peat smoke comes through big with lovely fruity notes.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Great.

2010 vintage. You’ll remember I reviewed a different edition before but never found out the year/batch. This is completely different. While that was sulphury and rubbery this is a great fruity/peat combo.

82/100

Kilchoman Original Cask Strength 2016 Ed. 56.9%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Lovely. Fruit, peat, sweetness, very fruity with a great balance. Malty with water.

Taste: AMAZING stuff. Lovely fresh fruit, big peat and mineral notes. Amazing with water too, lovely citrus notes come out.

Finish: Long length. A very mineral finish, but great.

2010 vintage. This is wonderful and gives a clue at how Kilchoman will taste at an older age I think as it was fully matured in quarter casks for 6 years.

85/100

The Original Cask Strength really takes the hat here. It’s great and pretty reasonably priced (around £70). I would be tempted to buy one if I wasn’t on such a huge Ledaig spree at the moment.

Thanks for reading!

Reviews #201-#204

Network Average: 75.2

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

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