Wolfburn Morven & Langskip Reviews

Hi everyone,

Couple of things have really impressed me about Wolfburn. That they have been able to release so many different versions having only started the distillery in 2013. That they already released a five year old whisky like it was no big deal. And the quality seems good, reminding me more of Campbeltown than the Highlands.

Here’s two more and I look forward to tasting some more as they get released.

Wolfburn Morven 46%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium

Nose: Hay, grass, lemon candy, chewing gum, light nose, lacking complexity in its youth it feels like.

Taste: Citrus arrival, chewing gum, bubblegum, then chocolate, coffee and malt coming in with the peat growing.

Finish: Medium/Long length. More peaty bubblegum.

The lightly peaty version Wolfburn have put out. I know they’ve used Laphroaig quarter casks to mature the whisky in the past but its unclear whether that’s been done here. I often get those bubblegum notes with NMS and very young whiskies but it doesn’t do too badly here.

69/100

Wolfburn Langskip 58%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Quite traditional and austere, malt and lemon, very slightly mineral. It's interesting that the Aurora I thought was Kilkerran 12 and this is a carbon copy of Springbank Local Barley, some sour overripe peach?

Taste: Malt, lemon, orange then fizzy lime coming through, some chocolate and more malty, not particularly complex as its quite austere again but its got a got balance.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Fizzles out leaving some oak, chocolate and malt. Weakest here.

5ish years old. Finish lets this down a bit but I am really impressed with what this distillery is doing already.

75/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #763-#764

Whisky Network Reviews #908-#909

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?

Clynelish 1997 Whiskybase Gathering 2017 & Wolfburn 2013 Single Cask for Whiskysite.nl Reviews

Hi everyone,

After finishing at The Haig whisky festival, I was back in The Netherlands only a few days later for the Whiskybase Gathering in Rotterdam.

If you haven’t heard of whiskybase.com, get over there right now. NO, wait. After you’ve read this instead. Great resource over there, filled with reviews of almost every whisky that’s ever existed. Also, you can add bottles to your collection and build a virtual picture of what bottles you have. You know, if you’ve lost track in reality. It also keeps a handy estimate of how much your closed bottles are worth, if you need a reminder of how much money you’ve throw into the rabbit hole.

We popped over to their shop for a look and got to try a new Clynelish released for the Gathering then headed to Whiskysite.nl and a taster of a Wolfburn single cask. Both are completely sold out long ago, but here are my notes anyways.

Clynelish 1997 Archives 55.8%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Spicy red apple and waxiness. Honey.

Taste: Nice level of heat, black pepper, red apple, heavy wax.

Finish: Long length. Spicy and intense.

Release for the Whiskybase gathering 2017. Great Clynelish but a little hot at times. Only 80 bottles!! And all sold out long ago.

81/100

 

Wolfburn 2013 for whiskysite.nl 55.9%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Cherry, loads of ripe cherry. Then mint and liquorice. Spearmint.

Taste: Cherry, some raisin but very fresh Sherry style, not too rich but not youthful either. Could be 9yo.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Nice, more soft cherries.

The first ever Wolfburn single cask pick, for The Netherlands. A real cherry bomb. Lovely young stuff.

78/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #543-#544

Whisky Network Reviews #638-#639

Network Average: 74.6

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?

Wolfburn Review

Hey everyone,

Another one today and this really ends a long journey for me.

This year I had a goal to try a whisky from every distillery in Scotland currently available. I was pretty close but then Ailsa Bay and Wolfburn came out. I bought a bottle of Ailsa but the Wolfburn eluded me for a while. Finally, when ordering my Kilkerran 12 from Master of Malt I spied a sample!

So this is it, I've now tried at least one whisky from every distillery currently releasing their whisky.

Wolfburn is a new distillery, the northernmost in mainland Scotland. It has just started releasing their whisky, so this is one of the first releases really. This was partially matured in ex-Peated Quarter casks, probably from Laphroaig.

Wolfburn 46%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium

Nose: Young, light fruit, light smoke, seaweed, driftwood.

Water: NMS, clean and bubblegum like.

Taste: Soft arrival, young fruit, pear, some smoke, seaweed, ginger, ginseng tea.

Water: Softly smoky, NMS notes, bubblegum, some spice and oak.

Finish: Medium length. More smoke and ash kicks up.

62/100

Alright for 3 years old but glad I didn't pay the money for a full bottle.

Review #183

Score Average: 74.4

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