Balvenie Single Barrel 12, 15 Sherry & 25: TWE Show Report

Hi everyone,

Back with Balvenie reviews today from my time at The Whisky Exchange Show 2016.

Strangely they didn't have any of the other ranges to try, only the single barrels were available. This is the 'single barrel' range, all from selected single casks or barrels. (duh)

Balvenie 12 Single Barrel 47.8%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Lovely, fresh, honey, sweet floral notes, vanilla, malt, fresh fruit.

Taste: Quite full, fresh fruit, apple and pear, oak spice, vanilla, then more pear.

Finish: Medium length. Malty with oak.

This is from a 1st fill Bourbon barrel. Didn't get the barrel number I'm afraid.

73/100

 

Balvenie 15 Single Barrel 47.8%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Fruity, malty, some light Sherry, probably 2nd fill, cask char.

Taste: Sweet, malty, nutty, slightly rubbery, then tannins.

Finish: Medium length. More tannins, a little harsh bitterness.

From a Sherry cask, I'm guessing 2nd or 3rd fill. There are some of these with a much darker colour.

71/100

Balvenie 25 Single Barrel 47.8%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Lots of oak, dry, honey, spice, dry ginger, pressed flowers.

Taste: A honeyed/floral Balvenie, oak and tannins, spiced with dried orange peel.

Finish: Medium length. Lots of oak in the finish with tannins.

This was from barrel 1868 which was a 3rd full Bourbon barrel. The oak feels.

70/100

Out of these, I think the 12 was my favourite. Although because every barrel is different, it is likely that the quality is quite changeable. I can image that a fresher Sherry 15 would have done better. Oh well, these can be quite expensive anyway, especially the 25.

Reviews #219-#221

Network Average: 75.6

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

Macallan Reviews: 10, 18, Gold, Ruby & 1996 Speymalt

Hello Scotchers,

Continuing with the over-hyped sherried malt theme, today we've got some Macallan from the archives.

Instead of having another rant today, let's just get to the reviews.

Macallan 10 Sherry 40%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Sweet sherry, fresh fruit- Apple, vanilla, bit of toffee, coffee, malt note, caramel. After some time- More coffee and some chocolate, sticky toffee pudding.

Taste: Fresh fruit- Apple, bit of pear, light sherry, bit of chocolate, toffee, coffee, malty note.

Finish: Medium length. Drying with oak and coffee.

69/100

Macallan 18 Sherry 1996 43%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Big, very sweet. Rich exotic spices (cinnamon and saffron) and fruit. Vanilla, thick sweet honey, lots of brown sugar, complex dried fruit- Raisin, dates, fig, red grape, plum, Christmas cake, all soaked in sweet old brandy and rum, old herb cupboard, tonnes of sweet sherry.

Taste: Creamy arrival, staying creamy with lots of complex fruit- Raisin, fig, apple, pear, dates, spice, complex oak, coffee, drying oak, Oloroso sherry, spice and herb cupboard, leather, wood polish, menthol, pipe tobacco, molasses.

Finish: Long length. Coffee, oaky tannins with lasting fruity chocolate.

Notes: 1st time I had this it blew me and the Balvenie 21 Portwood away. 2nd time it was less good, average of the 2 scores.

83/100

Macallan Gold 40%

Colour: Gold

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Fruit, vanilla, sherry notes, almond, marzipan, creamy cream, toffee. Apple pie, malty chocolate, twiggy toffee, sweet red apple, bit of cinnamon.

Taste: Sweet, then nothing for a bit, a bit watery, apple?, pear, bit of spice- Cinnamon, a little cream. Not much body.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Vanilla, sweet then a bit more spice. Dark chocolate and coffee after a bit.

65/100

Macallan Ruby 43%

Colour: Mid Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Fat, Sherried, rich fruit, raisin, lots of fig, blood orange, vanilla, pastry, chocolate cake.

Water: A small drop reveals an earthiness, wet leaves, Autumn, forest floor, red apple, cinnamon and other baking spices.

Taste: Soft arrival, tannins, oak, then a wave of rich dried fruit, raisin, fig, prune, oak still present, sticky PX sherry, raisin juice.

Water: Thinner but actually more nuances, small pockets of fresher fruit, red apple, some baking spices with cinnamon.

Finish: Medium length. Quite thin, oak and tannins.

70/100

Speymalt 1997 43%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Sherry and apple, lovely fruity combo. Raisin, mango, malt, sweet honey, a floral note- Wild heather, quite old school with oily barley, fruit tea, spicy apple tea, cinnamon and ginger. Lovely balance.

Water: As with the Ruby- More reminiscent of Autumn. Forest floor, wet trodden leaves, barley sugar, crystallised honey, golden raisins.

Taste: Sweet arrival with barley sugar, then sweeter fruit, red and green apples, sour lemon citrus, malty, nutty dry oak, quite oily, honey and beeswax, building spicy ginger and white pepper, a small spirity note- vodka, some light bitterness coming out with some dark chocolate and liquorice, then toffee into the finish.

Water: Soft, building up with orchard fruit, red apple, golden raisins, soft spice, lovely fresh orange then some oak goes into the finish but not as bitter as before.

Finish: Medium length. Warming with bright toffee and a little dry oak.

Notes: Bottled 2015 at 18 years from Gordon & MacPhail. One of the few indie bottlers of Macallan, maybe the only regular. From Sherry and Bourbon barrels I believe. Nose is a stunner but the taste is a little worse and the finish is a little worse again.

75/100

Reviews #138-142

Network Average: 74.6

Best Score: 91

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

Dalmore Vertical: 12yo, 15yo, 18yo & Signatory 1990

Dalmore… 

Just the name evokes… premium. The magic word in whisky really. Well, in reality Dalmore is super-premium and ultra-premium. The whisky for the Ferrari driving masses. It makes the people buying it look like they have money and are rather stylish, much like said Ferrari.

For the whisky enthusiast, Dalmore is a bit of a dirty word. Overpriced and lacking in craft, it’s a brand that has been really trying a bit too hard to be the whisky for the guy with more money than sense (just look at the Constellation collection!). It’s also probably why Macallan went in the same direction. Or did Dalmore follow Macallan...?

Enough. Here’s my reviews:

Dalmore 12 year old 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Honey and Sherry. Lots of chocolate orange.

Taste: Sherry and vanilla, oranges and dark chocolate. Chocolate orange.

Finish: Short length. Gentle with sweetness and caramel.

69/100

Dalmore 15 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Sweet, honey, caramel, sherry, light pastry/biscuit note, stewed fruit- Apple, blackcurrant and plum, vanilla, some spice. Very Dalmore.

Taste: Initial sherry and honey sweetness then building dry spice with oak. Cinnamon bark. Less fruity than the nose- Apple and blackcurrant crumble.

Finish: Medium length. Woody, oaky and spicy.

Notes: More oaky and dry but less bitter than the 18. Same score though.
71/100

Dalmore 18 year old 43%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Fruity with port, blueberry, tonnes of fruit and creaminess.

Taste: Similar to the nose. Lacking in mouthfeel. Blueberry, blackberry, plum. Quite bitter, especially into the finish.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Very bitter with lots of plum.

71/100

A natural one to finish, please!

Dalmore 1990 Signatory Cask Strength Collection 57.7%

Image courtesy of Master of Malt

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Strong alcohol. Yeasty and malty. Rising bread, warm dough, lemony citrus, raspberry vodka, floral- Buttercups, orange chocolate, chocolate biscuit and herbal fruit tea.

Water: More lemon and citrus, some lime developing, clotted cream, cream tea (Raspberry jam, scones and cream), lemon drizzle cake, lemon fancies. All sorts of lemony, cakey, tarty things!

Taste: Sherry, sweet fruit, orange marmalade, lemon sherbet, a biscuity note.

Water: Orange peel, brown sugar, lots of dark chocolate, raspberry, a little blackberry, cream, Creme Brulee, vanilla, lemon curd.

Finish: Very Short length. Gone, it's just gone!

With water the finish becomes a short length. Doughy with some lingering sweetness and coffee.

Notes: Distilled 1990, bottled 2012. 22yo from a refill Sherry cask. Multiple refill I think. Bit of time, bit of water and this opens up nicely.

73/100

Reviews #134-#137

Network Average: 74.7

Best Score: 91

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

Bowmore Vertical: 12, 15 Darkest & 18 Reviews

Bowmore... The distillery r/Scotch loves to hate. French whores, chill filtration and colouring aplenty. It's got it all. However, lets not moan too much as there's some great ones out there!

Let's start with the 12yo.

It's a bit of an odd one because I had a good batch in 2014 that impressed me and I had it again when I visited the distillery and it was very one dimensional. The notes and score are a combination of the two.

Bowmore 12 year old 40%

Image courtesy of Master of Malt

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: 

2015: Oily, waxy, candles, malty, cereal, brooding smoke, ash, grassy heather and hay.

2016: Marzipan and more marzipan. Some smoke.

Taste: 

2015: More smoky than the nose. Quite oily, grass, hay, peat smoke, burnt twigs, salt, black pepper, toffee and a metallic note- iron.

2016: Marzipan and honeyed sweetness. A bit flat from the abv without much development.

Finish: Medium length. 

2015: Hay and salt.

2016: Marzipan and some smoke.

Wasn't expecting this to be as good as it was, 2014 tasting. 

A much less complex experience at the distillery, 2015 tasting.

Original score: 73 New score: 66

69/100

Darkest... Finished in fine old Sherry casks. Matured in the oldest warehouse, in the oldest casks from the oldest distillery in Scotland! Well, still only 15 years old, no matter how many times you say old. Seems very silly to draw attention to the colour only to add artificial colouring anyway.

I tried this in Whisky Shop in Guildford (over priced but really nice people).

Image courtesy of Master of Malt

Bowmore 15 Darkest 43%

Colour: Dark Amber (E150a)

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Sweet, richly sherried and smoky. Light Bowmore peat smoke, raisin, thick toffee, fudge, grape, orange.

Water: Coffee and chocolate develop.

Taste: Peat smoke and sweet sherry, raisin, orange. Slightly sour notes develop- Sour orange? Going slightly rubbery into the finish.

Water: Softer with chocolate and coffee.

Finish: Medium length. Sour and rubbery sherry.

Matured in Bourbon barrels for 12 years. Finished in sherry casks for 3ish Years.

69/100

Bowmore 18 43%

Image courtesy of Master of Malt

Colour: E150

Body: Medium

Nose: Very fruity, sweet, sherry, spice, sour stone fruit, raisin, plum, slight malty smoke.

Taste: Silky and smooth but not very full. Sweet sherry, raisin, plum, going sour with more plum and some spice. Malty peat smoke.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Disappointing on dark chocolate.

I tried this at Bristol Whisky Lounge last year and found it to be disappointing. This would cost you about £95 and I'd rather have a tonne of other whiskies at this price range.

73/100

Reviews #92-#94

Network Average: 76.1

Best Score: 91

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

Aberlour Vertical: 10, 12, 16 + A'bunadh

Image courtesy of Master of Malt

Hey guys,

Going to be putting up some Aberlour reviews today, starting with the 10 year old.

Aberlour 10 year Old 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Sherry influense evident, spice and tannins, lots of fruit- apples and raisins, quite malty too, fruity sweetness, vanilla, figs, fudgey chocolate-y-ness.

Taste: Bit of rough heat, spicy with tannins, spicy malt, bit of Christmas cake, quite rich. Tones down with some time- Less heat and more fudge.

Finish: Short length. Green wood sap.

A bit artificial but you can get good deals on this (£18).

64/100

Image courtesy of Master of Malt

Thanks to my mate Tom for this sample.

Aberlour 12 year old 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Loads of juicy fruit, especially green apple, plum, raisin, but it's all quite artificial-

candy, apple sours, pear drops, some nuttiness and spice.

Taste: Creamy arrival, lots of fruitiness developing- intense apple and pear hit with spice. More drying and malty towards the finish.

Finish: Short length. Milk chocolate and coffee.

Only just a tad better than the 10yo.

65/100

Another sample from Tom now, with the 16yo.

Aberlour 16 year old 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: A tonne of green apple and menthol, apple sours, pear drops, some artificial citrus. Very sweet but it's very artificial and covers everything else.

Taste: Very sweet again, green apple, menthol, green apple sours, a little oak coming through.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Creamy oak and more green apple.

68/100

This next one was my first experience of cask strength whisky and I loved it. You get so much more for your money. Plus, I'm a big fan of power in a whisky and this really opened my eyes to that. ABERLOUR POWER!!

Image courtesy of Master of Malt

Aberlour A'bunadh Batch 46 60.1%

Colour: Deep Brown

Body: Full

Nose: Sweet, intense sherry and fruit, dark oranges, chocolate, bit of mint, woody oak, liquorice, boiled sweets, spices- ginger, dried fruit- raisins, cream and nuts.

Water: More nuts, more fruit, more light sherry. Still intense but gets more delicious. Classic sherry fruit- Christmas cake, raisin, plum, juicy orange, blood orange, grapefruit, milk chocolate and a bit of caramel. With more water you get even more Christmas cake and fruit.

Taste: Alcohol nip, dark berries, intense cherry, dried fruit, spices- cinnamon, ginger, dark chocolate, creamy and oily with deep sherried oak. Big and mouth-filling.

Water: Caramel, nuts and fruit. Still spicy with chocolate oranges, lots of cream, more oak, dried fruit- raisins, sultanas, fig and tannins.

Finish: Medium length. Spicy with oak. Sometimes quite short and chalky.

A great sherried cask strength whisky for a great price. A less good batch though I think, from what others have said.

75/100

Reviews #88-#91

Network Average: 76.2

Best Score: 91

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