Yoichi 15 Review

Hi everyone,

Yes, Japanese whisky has gone nuts. Some nice standard releases from Yoichi and Miyagikyo disappeared very, very quickly, including this one. For those that don’t know, Yoichi and Miyagikyo are two of Nikka’s actual Japanese distilleries (I.e. not Ben Nevis with Japanese water added).

I was fortunate to try this in Germany last year, courtesy of my friend Michael.

 

Yoichi 15 45%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Fragrant and fruity, full and oily, reminiscent of Springbank, a heaviness of the malt, vanilla pod, slightly dirty smoke, light chocolate and milky coffee. A very little grassy.

Taste: Soft then oily, great oils, some spices coming in, dry oak, vanilla pod, orange, some dirty smoke.

Finish: Medium length. More fruity with lemon and orange, drying oak.

Quite complex for 15, more smoke than the 10. Should you add it to your Japanese whisky investment portfolio? Probably not at today’s prices.

77/100

 

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Japanese Review #27

Whisky Network Review #1031

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?

Lakes Whiskymaker's Reserve No. 2 Review

Hi everyone,

Been taking a bit of a break from reviewing at the moment, despite much more time on my hands with lockdown. Been opening a few new bottles though, so I have been reviewing some whiskies, just haven’t been that motivated to post to Reddit.

Anyway, here we have one of the first releases from the Lakes Distillery. After taking on Dhavall Gandhi as Master Blender (an ex-blender at Macallan), the Lakes seemed to have gone with trying to Macallanise their whisky in terms of taste and premiumisation.

We’ll see if that pays off in the long run as young Macallan isn’t all that great in my opinion. As well as being overpriced of course.

Lakes Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.2 60.9%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Sweet, cherry, cherry sauce, but of nose prickle, some oak, obvious vanilla, creamy.

Water: Better, more rounded with raisin and malt. You can see it trying to imitate Macallan here.

Taste: Sharp arrival, bite of alcohol then cherry sauce and a little touch of STR-esque oak, quite dry.

Water: Better balanced, more well rounded arrival, chewy ripe cherry and plum. Still a little sharp but also flat in the mid-palate.

Finish: Long length. Stays well with some alcohol and more cherry, a little vanilla.

A mix of PX, red wine and Bourbon casks. But the PX is what stands out to me. Reminds me of a 3yo Wolfburn Sherry single cask I tried.

68/100

Thanks for reading!

English Whisky Review #5

Whisky Network Review #1025

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?

Paul John Oloroso & PX Select Reviews

Hi everyone,

Paul John seems to have gone from strength to strength with its special editions and they’ve come out with two new ones that are a bit more heavily Sherried than their normal stuff, which I was really excited about!

Not sure how widely distributed these are going to be or if they are limited but they came out here in the UK a few weeks ago.

Anyway, let’s see how they taste…

Paul John Oloroso Select 48%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Full of rich Sherry and spicy oak, loads of complex orange, orange blossom, orange marmalade, black pepper, fresh ginger.

Taste: Immediately drying with more sweet elements developing. Loads of orange, spicy with black pepper and grapefruit, ginger, orange marmalade,

Finish: Medium/Long length. Lovely, darker and more malty, slightly burnt chocolate.

4 year finish. I really like this. You have to enjoy spicy whisky but it works really well. Impressive and fun.

78/100

 

Paul John PX Select 48%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Sweeter than the Oloroso but more Paul John character too, thick raisin and prune, figs, but also some corn (which I often get from PJ), resinous and oily, something herbal coming out, maybe basil or coriander. Black coffee too. Butter.

Taste: Thick and sweet, stewed raisin and prune, fig, lots of sweet Sherry, then goes into more spicy and dry woodiness, little herbal, basil?

Finish: Medium/Long length. Black pepper and ginger spice, late orange.

Very rich Sherry bomb but with something different. If you like your sweet Sherry character, you’ll love this. I prefer this to the Oloroso but only by a little. Think this one was also a touch more expensive.

79/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Indian Reviews #15-#16

Whisky Network Reviews #1017-#1018

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?

Rauchkofel Batch 3 Sherry Finish Review

Hi everyone,

There is so much activity taking place with world whisky that it is hard to keep up. Too hard. There are hundreds of new distilleries from every country under the sun and whenever I am handed something new there is a little nervousness and anticipation of whether it is going to be okay or melt my tongue off.

This one, from Austria, is the produce of a Schnapps distillery that started making whisky.

First going into virgin oak casks and then finished in various others.

 

Rauchkofel Batch 3 Sherry Finish 43%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Rubber, new wet suit, really super cheap cola, burnt gummy bears.

Taste: Soft and sweet, orange, then weird rubber, cherry, cheap Schnapps.

Finish: Medium length. Very odd here, melted gummy bears served on cardboard might be close.

Austrian whisky, Sherry Finish. This has picked up some awards at the IWSC but I wasn’t impressed with this one at all. Very odd. Small stills and virgin oak again creating some weird off notes.

51/100

Thanks for reading!

Austrian Review #1

Whisky Network Review #1006

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?

The Sexton Irish Whiskey Review

Hi everyone,

We continue the theme of low scores today with an Irish whiskey.

This one is made at Bushmills, though is not their own branding. It is instead the creation of Alex Thomas, an ex-employee of Bushmills, that is allowed to do her own distillations on their equipment and has a warehouse on their site (If I’m reading this article right).

Sexton Irish Single Malt 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Blended Scotch at first, then some Irish-style fresh green fruit coming out, pear drops, green apple bubblegum, a little malt, standard vanilla.

Taste: Soft but not watery, green apple bubblegum, sour green apple sweets, a little astringent, dry new oak, a bit sappy perhaps.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Some malt and more green apple, a bit of rubber.

Tastes like a cheap blended Scotch blended with some Irish whiskey. The result is not fantastic but isn’t quite terrible either. Apparently this is matured in second and third fill Oloroso Sherry casks, which I got absolutely none of.

59/100

Thanks for reading!

Irish Review #30

Whisky Network Review #1003

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?

Karuizawa 1990 for Whisky Live Japan 2009 [Road to #1000, Review #992]

Hi everyone,

Welcome.

Take a deep breath in. Let it go, out…

There is a scent of pine needles underfoot, the wind is rustling cherry blossoms nearby. Above you a vast volcano looms with some form of inner darkness that you cannot comprehend fully.

Karuizawa

The name is but a breath upon the gentlest wind.

Karuizawa

More forceful now. Impatient. Impossible to ignore.

Karuizawa

Volcanic. Muscular. Now supple and teasing, now devastating.

Karuizawaaaa…

Karuizawa 1990 for Whisky Live Japan 2009 60%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Beautiful nose, fresh wild strawberries, orange and raisin, ethereal juiciness and cherry, malt, leather and cologne. Its all pretty muscular and salivating. Mead and old wood and browning red apple and golden raisin and brandy and perfumed wood. Yeah, complex.

Water: Darker, more cherry, black coffee, and very dark chocolate.

Taste: Sweet start, raisin, great oils and dryness, some brandy and leather, plenty of oak, some chilli chocolate, black pepper, orange peel, cherry into the finish.

Water: Still some spices but finds a nice sweet balance, less oak.

Finish: Medium length. More oils, more cherry, some oak, leather and chocolate.

Bottled 2009 at 19yo from a Sherry cask. Incredible nose, taste is a little dry. My second experience with Karuizawa and I was not disappointed in any way. This stuff is amazing. Not quite as amazing as the 1983 I tired but if the taste was on par with the nose, it would be well on its way.

85/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Japanese Review #24

Whisky Network Review #992

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?

Chichibu 2010 Single Cask [Road to #1000, Review #988]

Hi everyone,

Chichibu is a fascinating distillery for me, because the whisky is delicious and crazy good at such a young age.

I really don’t know how they do it. Perhaps it’s the attention to detail and the intense focus on quality? Or the Mizunara oak washbacks? Super good casks? All of the above maybe.

Problem is, it’s also crazy hard to get hold of and if you do find it, it’ll cost you a bomb for a full bottle.

So when I saw that this one was over eight years old and a reasonable price at a bar in California, I knew I had to taste it. It didn’t disappoint…

Chichibu 2010 Single Cask 60.6%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Complex, you’ve just walked into a high end carpenters, with polished and sawn oak, some malt, light orange peel. Seemed standard to start with, more complex as it opens up.

Taste: Oily and malty, golden raisin, hefty and supple, amazing here. All about form, structure and mouthfeel. Old whisky white pepper spice.

Finish: Long length. More complexly woody, more carpenters workshop here, dry and again way way older than it’s years.

Bottled 2018 at 8yo for US market. Like a 70’s Bourbon matured Macallan. Which is insane… I really don’t understand how they pack this much maturity into a whisky this young.

85/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Japanese Review #23

Whisky Network Review #988

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?

Amrut Spectrum Batch 1 Review

Hi everyone,

One more from the generous people that are the Toronto Whisky Society, in particular u/devoz.

Now I know you’re probably thinking: ‘How many whiskies did they taste that night?’ The answer is a lot, but I stopped making notes because I realised that they weren’t coherent anymore.

Anyway, this is one that I’ve trying to get my hands on for ages because of a load of good reviews. It’s an Amrut matured in Frankenstein barrels that have staves from different types of wood and held different things before, all shoved together. There have been some different batches but this was the first.

Amrut Spectrum Batch 1 50%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Dark and grainy, Trinidad rum, dark spiced rum, stewed fruit, raisin and fig, prune, rich spices, cinnamon banana bread, lots of complexity here, quite corn whiskey-like actually which I often find with some of the Indian single malts.

Taste: Rich and sweet, rum notes appear again- banana and oily rags like a Caroni, raisin and fig, very dark aged Trinidad rum, chewy mouthfeel, black liquorice.

Finish: Medium length. Sweet and spicy, more liquorice. Quite soft here, the power fades out quite quickly.

Hmmmm, really expected to love this but its not really my thing. Kinda reminds me of the Kavalan Vinho Barrique in that respect. Big, big whisky, very dark flavour but doesn't reach the balance that I like.

79/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Indian Review #14

Whisky Network Review #973

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?