Amrut Peated Cask Strength: TWE Show Report

Hi guys and gals,

Today I’ve got an Amrut review. This was tasted at the Whisky Exchange Show London 2016. 

Amrut enjoys a bit of a reputation and after tasting Fusion back in May I saw why. It was lovely, so I was curious to try more and in the end I went for something I thought would be up my street: Amrut Peated Cask Strength.

Amrut Peated Cask Strength 62.8%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Really intense of course but not on the peaty side weirdly. Very spicy with lots of clove, liquorice and aniseed.

Water: Much lighter with vanilla and caramel.

Taste: Very boozy, alcohol, intense fruit, intense oak and a little smoke. Not really peaty as such, not in an Islay way anyway.

Water: Much lighter again, some smoke, vanilla and toffee.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Boozy, fruit and oak.

This certainly was an interesting experience but was not was I was expecting. I was expecting a peat bomb but this didn’t seem very peaty at all. The oak is very loud and is lacking balance from that I think.

72/100

Thanks for reading!

Review #234

Network Average: 75.9

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

Bunnahabhain 25 + 1989 First Editions: TWE Show Report

Hi everyone,

I’m back today with two more Bunnahabhain’s. I’m not ashamed to say it’s not my favourite distillery really, there tends to be a harsh oiliness that just doesn’t sing in tune.

So why did I go seek it out at the whisky show?

Well, because I want to be proved wrong. I really loved the 12yo actually, but not the 18yo. What is great is that older expressions are relatively available in official or independent variants. So, these two are older ones, 25 years plus actually.

First let’s have the official:

Bunnahabhain 25 46.3% 

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Sweet, Sherry maturation is apparent from the off. Syrupy Sherry, like PX, slight pepper spice, sea salt fudge.

Taste: Very sweet Sherry, complex spices, it is lovely actually. Builds with time in the mouth.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Lots of Sherry with peppery spice.

Colour me impressed, this takes the flavours of the 12yo and amps them up with complexity and balance. Same greatness as Glengoyne 25 and Glenfarclas 25, same mark.

81/100

Now an indie bottling to compare against. This one is a 26 year old newish one from Hunter Laing for their First Editions range. The Laphroaig was brilliant, so I hoped this would follow the same path.

Bunnahabhain 1989 First Editions 49.8%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium

Nose: Oh, a natural fruity one. Very tropical fruit based with pineapple and sea salt.

Taste: Again, more of the same. Salty pineapple, tropical.

Finish: Medium length. Fruit.

I didn’t spend much time with this but managed to scribble some notes. This lacked the oiliness or the peppery-ness that I have come to expect from Bunna, but it detracted from the experience. Paled in comparison to the 25OB really.

76/100

Thanks for reading! More to come of course.

Reviews #232-#233

Network Average: 75.9

Worst Score: 44

Best Score: 92

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

Talisker 2008 Douglas Laing: TWE Show Report

Hello all,

I’ve got a quick Talisker today, one of my favourite distilleries. Independent Talisker is rare as hell, so I jumped on the opportunity to try this one at the Whisky Show. 

This is a bottling by Doulgas Laing for their Provenance series. As with most indie Talisker, its young, this one is 8 years old.

Talisker 2008 Douglas Laing 46%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium

Nose: Woah, very different from the officials. A really fruity Talisker, lots and lots of kiwi, none of the black pepper spice I would expect.

Taste: Again, more of the same. Fruity with lots of kiwi, a little pepper and sea salt into the finish. A little thin for a Talisker though, reminds me of Storm (Not a good thing).

Finish: Short/Medium length. Fruit and oak but unbalanced.

70/100

I really wanted to like this but it feels mediocre compared to the 10yo. I would take Skye over one of these, and that really is a shame because these aren’t cheap either (about £55).

Thanks for reading! More coming up.

Review #231

Caol Ila IB Reviews: TWE Show Report

Hello everyone,

Back with more Caol Ila today. The smoky Diageo workhorse has been surprising me recently, it has its own character but aspects can remind me of Laphroaig or Ardbeg or Bowmore. It can be great young, it can be great old. Bourbon or Sherry. Cask strength or 43%.

First I tried a Gordon & MacPhail bottling exclusive to The Whisky Exchange. These are still available for £50.:

Caol Ila 2004 Gordon & MacPhail for TWE 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: A fruity Caol Ila, very tropical with mango and cinnamon, fruit basket, melon.

Taste: Fruity, melon then some smoke, peat, coal, ash, some pineapple, oak coming in.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Oak and spice.

From Bourbon barrel 306490. A great barrel, could be 30yo!

79/100

Next a Douglas Laing bottling for their Old Particular range:

Caol Ila 19 Douglas Laing 50.7%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Fruity, peat, ash, cooling nose.

Taste: Intense fruit, ash, cooling again, spice then building with some tropical fruit.

Finish: Medium length. Tropical fruit and ash.

A little average in a way. From a refill Hogshead, also the first time I’ve seen a question mark on official tasting notes.

75/100

And an older Signatory. 1983 seems to be the vintage for Caol Ila. Like 1997 Clynelish, 1998 Laphroaig or 2004/5 Ledaig. I member when these were pretty good value for money, like less than £200 but the prices have been rising a lot and now you are looking at £300+.

Caol Ila 1983 Signatory Cask Strength 49.3%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Tropical older peat, Laphroaig-esque pineapple + mango + cinnamon combo, perfumed.

Taste: Soft arrival, creamy tropical old Laphroaig, mango and cinnamon, perfumed oak.

Finish: Long length. More fruity and oak. Mango.

Could be a 25yo Laphroaig with those tropical fruit notes.

86/100

I’ve just cracked open a 19yo Caol Ila from a Sherry Hogshead which is fantastic too, so that review is coming up at some point.

Thanks for reading!

Reviews #228-#230

Network Average: 75.9

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

Hanyu, Chichibu & Mars: TWE Show Report

Hi everyone,

One stand at the whisky show in particular was very interesting. It was the Chichibu, Mars, Hanyu stand. Mr Ichiro himself was there for a masterclass and was down at the table serving. These really surprised me with the quality, especially the Mars, at such young ages.

If you don’t know the story, Hanyu was a Japanese distillery owned by a Mr Ichiro, Hanyu was unfortunately closed and his son built a new distillery near the site: Chichibu.

First one I tried was the Hanyu. I’d been curious as to why these go for thousands of pounds.

 

Ichiro's Malt 15yo Hanyu 46.5%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Perfumed, floral, lemonade, gummy bears.

Taste: Soft, lemonade, almost fizzy citrus, under ripe orange, lovely.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Orange/lime and lemonade.

This is good quality, the fizzy lemonade thing is quite unique, but I don’t really see why it commands ridiculous prices.

78/100

Then came the Chichibu, bottled for the Whisky Exchange, vintage 2009. One of the oldest Chichibu’s released so far.

Chichibu 2009 TWE Exclusive 61.4%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Sweet grain, light fresh fruit, light oak, lovely floral notes, floral oak.

Taste: Intense, sweet fresh fruit, pineapple and mango, white pepper, oily.

Finish Medium length. Spiced, oak, some fruit.

Great whisky for 7 years old, bottled 2016. These were selling for £140ish, not sure if they were available on the day. I thought that was too much but I later saw them go at auction for £450!

82/100

And then it was onto another new Japanese distillery. Well, Mars was actually running though the 80’s and 90’s I think but was then closed sometime in the late 1990’s. Anyway, they’ve recently reopened.

 

Mars Komagatake (Pink flower on box) 52%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Balanced and integrated, tropical fruit, oriental spice, nutmeg.

Taste: Oily, fruity, sweet, creamy, wonderful tropical fruit, spice.

Finish: Medium length. Soft, amazing balance, sweet.

This is from old and new Mars stock. Lovely stuff, shame that the price is very high (£120). But that’s just what you pay for Japanese whisky these days.

85/100

Then the gentleman on the stand convinced me to try a 3 year old peated single cask. Really expected a huge peat monster at 50ppm, but was very surprised to find little smoke on it.

Mars 2013 Single Cask 59.8%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Sweet liquorice, aniseed, slight floral smoke.

Taste: Soft arrival, building tropical fruit, spice and oak, oily.

Finish: Long length. More oak, spice, and a little less tropical fruit than the taste.

Peated to 50ppm, 3 years old but incredible for that age.

84/100

These few whiskies have really opened my eyes to just how good the Japanese whiskies can be, even at a young age. Chichibu and Mars are going to continue evolving and will probably be fantastic in the future. Unfortunately, they probably won’t be very available and therefore prices are quite high.

Reviews #224-#227

Network Average: 75.8

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

Sherried Ardbeg Reviews: Ar7 + 1976 Feis Ile 2004: TWE Show Report

Hi everyone,

I’ve got some Sherried Ardbeg’s from the Whisky Show today. One of my favourite styles.

First up is the Elements of Islay, 7th edition. These go for about £120 for a 50cl bottle, so let’s hope for 1990’s distillate.

Ar7 56.3%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Lovely, classic Ardy! Lime, Sherry, engine oil, kiln, smoke.

Taste: Full, intense smoke, integrated Sherry, lots of spice, ginger, oak and wood.

Finish: Long length. Very oily, lime and Sherry.

What is there to say, it’s Sherried Ardbeg. It’s great of course. Same score as the Oog though.

84/100

Let compare to some 70’s. A mate at the show got this as his dream dram (thanks Elias!), so I only got to try this very briefly.

Ardbeg 1976 Feis Ile 2004 51.4%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Beautiful. Sherry stewed fruit, lime citrus, peat smoke integrated.

Taste: Hugely oily, amazing lime rind, builds and builds, Sherry, raisin.

Finish: Long length. OMG, amazing, lime.

Single Sherry Cask. Bottled for the Feis Ile festival in 2004 at 27yo.

89/100

An incredible bottling of course, would we expect anything less of Sherried 70’s Ardbeg? No.

More to come!

Reviews #222-#223

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

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