Ardmore 30 1987 Review

Hi everyone,

I had no idea this whisky was coming out until I saw it in Inter. Whisky Frankfurt at the start of December. As it has just come out of Whisky Exchange I thought I’d put up my thoughts.

I’m a big fan of Ardmore. In fact, I have a young barrel of the stuff. The indies are great, the stuff is good quality and they used direct fired stills pre-2002.

There hasn’t been a load of old stuff released and I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Ardmore older than 30 years. Even better, this is at a very reasonable price of £250 and comes in the normal tube and bottle. No fancy decanter and wooden box here, no sir!

 

Ardmore 30 1987 47.2%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Delicate echoes of smoke, sooty, oily and a little waxy. Sea salt, reminiscent of Brora, dried apple, dried banana, quite an understated nose. Subtly creamy too. More complex as it opens up with machine oil and garage rags. Awesome.

Taste: Soft and sweet, a little flat for a brief moment then more fruity with red apple, black pepper and ginger, nice old smoke and sea salt, quite coastal like an old Talisker, waxy.

Finish: Medium length. More salty with more of the faded old smoke, slightly floral, some lemon sherbet.

Late 2018 release. Fantastic nose, love the Brora elements. I was hoping for a touch more power to the taste and for the finish to be longer or more complex. Don’t get me wrong, its great but I quite like the raw power of the young versions too.

84/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #717

Whisky Network Review #854

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?

Glenallachie 10 Cask Strength Batch 2 Review

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas break and/or New Year! Hopefully many decent drams were consumed and shared.

Let’s start 2019 as we mean to go on, by continuing to give fair but objective reviews of whiskies.

We’ll start with a new Glenallachie and I’ll be honest, I was super excited when Billy Walker bought another distillery. Benriach, Glendronach, Glenglassaugh were all fantastic whiskies, very innovative with lots of interesting casks, single cask releases that blew our minds. It was time to see what Billy Walker would make of Glenallachie!

And yet, when it came out, the initial reviews were quite average. The first single casks were super expensive and then the age statement range came out and I realised I didn’t really care that much. I didn’t feel the need to buy a bottle straight away. ‘I’ll try it when I try it’ I thought…

 

Glenallachie 10 Cask Strength Batch 2 54.8%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Quite raw with sharp alcohol at first. Barley mash, lemon, a tiny balsamic note, orange blossom. A very natural nose that stays true to the distillery character but isn’t particularly complex.

Water: You can tame the abv with water but it remains stubbornly simple.

Taste: Sour orange citrus and barley forward spirit, quite spirity and raw but, again, true to the distillery character.

Water: Softer but still simple with barley, orange and oak.

Finish: Long length. Raw spice, oak and spirit. Quite a harsh finish. Better with balance with water.

There's something quite endearing about a whisky that’s so honest... Some dislike Mr. Walker for his Walkerizing^TM of whiskies by dumping them in Sherry or wine casks, completely masking the original style of the spirit. To be fair, that really isn’t the case here but the spirit character just wasn’t that great to begin with IMO (Do remember as well that 10 years ago the distillery was making whisky for blends like Chivas). I am left thinking that the new Glenallachie isn’t necessarily the golden goose I thought it would be.

65/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #716

Whisky Network Review #853

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?

Bowmore 1987 Dimensions, 1996 SMOS & 1995 Carn Mor Reviews

Hi everyone,

Ever heard of the French Whore Perfume Bowmore’s (FWP for short)? Have a read of this if you require some background, but essentially there seems to be a perfumy off-note in Bowmore’s from the 1980’s until the early 90’s.

The distillery denied that such a thing existed and the whole problem spun out of control thanks to the internet.

Now, I don’t think I’ve encountered one of those whiskies that are undrinkably perfumy as some would suggest but I have encountered a little bit of an off-note which comes in the form of a Parma Violet floral note that is quite artificial and odd.

I tasted two recently with this and thought I’d share…

Bowmore 1987 Dimensions 58.4%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Quite intense and peaty, mineral too, light florals in the background, some malt, chocolate and heather, earthy like the SMWS 3.2, pressed flowers, a very vague off note lurking... Rancid, like very far away vomit. The Parma Violets come out over time.

Taste: Intense arrival, smoky and mineral, tannins from the oak, some florals but the minerals have them overwhelmed, oily and earthy, dark chocolate and then a soapy note into the finish.

Finish: Long length. The FWP rears its ugly fishnets, Parma Violets are out in force, lavender. More earthy as it gets some air.

Bottled in 2006 at 18yo. The FWP isn't very bad here until the finish where it kinds of intrudes but this very much balances on a tightrope between brilliance and disaster, ending up being neither.

75/100

 

Bowmore 1996 Single Malts of Scotland 50.4%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Clean nose. Malt and sea spray at first nosing giving a Talisker vibe. Floral under that with Parma Violets, some lemon and cured meat. A bit of a slack nose, the meaty and malty notes are great but the Violets are fighting it, making it kind of 'spongey.'

Taste: Clean, lemon citrus and malt, some smoke building with dry oak and woody spice, ginger and some clove, oily texture, a little chocolate and sea salt, black pepper nearer the end. After a bit there's that floral undertone that is present in the nose, not quite an off note but it’s holding it back.

Finish: Long length. Chewy and oily, lemon and malt, some chocolate and black pepper. Nice finish.

Some of the 80's floral notes here, which I haven't found in many others (even from the 80's). This really took me by surprise because the guys at Elixir Distiller’s (or whatever they call themselves nowdays) are normally really good. This wasn’t cheap either…

72/100

And now let us remind ourselves that Bowmore is amazing:

Bowmore 1995 Carn Mor 48.3%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Ah, a tropical one. Mango, pineapple, soot and ash, cooling mint, cold fireplace, really good nose. Light malt, clean white sugar, pear and apple too. Complex chocolate and engine oil after a bit. Old style Bowmore.

Taste: Soft then building this tropical smoky flavour, mango and pineapple, oily mouthfeel, quite an intense taste, oak and spice balanced awesomely with lifting orange toping it all off!

Finish: Long length. Juicy! Pineapple juice, orange juice and lime juice! So good! A little salt.

Bottled 2018 as a German exclusive. Expensive but 'Old style Bowmore' should be the only note needed to sell it. Remember that the Morrison in ‘Morrison Mackay’ is the same as the Morrison is ‘Morrison Bowmore’ and you might start to see a connection between Carn Mor and stunning Bowmore casks…

86/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #713-#715

Whisky Network Reviews #850-#852

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?

Ledaig 2001 & 1997 Douglas Laing Reviews

Hi everyone,

As you can imagine, I have quite a few Ledaig reviews in the pipeline, mostly because I don’t want to bombard you with them all at once but I’ve got two today that it makes sense to post together as they are both from the same bottler, recent and still available.

If you didn’t know, Douglas Laing’s Old Particular range have two different strengths; the younger, less expensive ones are bottled at 48.4% and the older and more expensive at 51.5% or cask if they’re under that, therefore the different strengths on these.

Ledaig 2001 Douglas Laing 48.4%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Ah, a good one. A funky and slightly rancid but delicious sweetness, rotting orange, cigarette smoke, creamy, vanilla and peaches.

Taste: Lacking a bit of power, orange then building smoke, ashes. Quite oaky and spicy here as it develops but doesn’t quite balance with the rest.

Finish: Medium length. More chocolate orange, dry oak. A distinct lack of smoke here.

15yo. Lovely nose but a disappointing palate. Can't help but think this would have been better kept at cask strength, as we encountered with the other Old Particular Ledaig I’d had.

73/100

 

Ledaig 1997 Douglas Laing 50.6%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Pork crackling, gristy smoke, lemon citrus and sea salt, white sausage and some nice smoked cheese, very savoury nose. Ash and clean peat smoke, sugared almonds.

Taste: Lovely clean arrival, amazingly oily mouthfeel, some drying oak, easy ginger spice, peat, sea salt and lemon, slightly fizzy- lemon sherbet.

Finish: Long length. More peaty with some minerals, lemon and salt. Some black pepper. Talikserishness.

Released 2018 at 21yo. Lovely, a good one from the older ones. Really love the nose because it’s delicious and savoury. Still, not quite up there with the best of them. Still, these older Ledaig’s do seem to struggle to retain the complexity and purity of their youth.

79/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #711-#712

Whisky Network Reviews #848-#849

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?

Caol Ila 2004 Hermitage G&M & 1991 Cooper's Choice Reviews

Hi everyone,

We’ve got some Caol Ila today. It’s the largest distillery on Islay, pumping out the good stuff for them to cram into Johnnie Walker. But sometimes there’s too much of it, or they don’t need it, or it doesn’t fit into the flavour profile or a company has filling contracts for it.

So they sell it. Quite a bit of it actually, because they can afford to and because they can. So if you see a mystery Islay, there normally isn’t a huge amount of mystery behind it and its Caol Ila. And remember, Caol Ila is hugely versatile and can taste like Laphroaig or Lagavulin if it wants to. So, some sneaky people imply that it’s a more prestigious distillery but most industry insiders know exactly what it is…

These aren’t those mystery’s though. Nope. These are clearly labelled and deliciously matured by two good indie bottlers that seem to know what they’re doing.

Caol Ila 2004 Hermitage Finish 45%

Colour: Redish Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Memories of the Ledaig Hermitage but less intense, funky, meaty smoke, herbal notes and creamy raspberry.

Taste: Soft, sweet, little smoke but red berries, cranberry, some herbal notes in there, the red wine has really softened it actually. Some peppery spice.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Very little here, small berries, a little more smoke than the palate.

3 year Hermitage finish was perhaps a little too long? Not enough to Caol Ila to it and the wine has really shot the finish.

70/100

 

Caol Ila 1991 Cooper's Choice 46%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Old Laphroaig, tropical fruit and dusty peat with sooty undertones, mango and lemon, quite soft, there's a little biscuit. Quite quiet as old Caol Ila often is at first. Some more maritime notes as it opens up with dried seaweed and more oak then also floral notes.

Taste: Soft and textured, lovely oily malt, lemon and some pineapple, then cinnamon, very old Laphroaig-like, sooty, nice strength, excellent balance. Florals underneath with dry oak, Parma Violets, almost old Bowmore like as it develops.

Finish: Long length. Lots of soot, much more earthy with creamy heather and some slight medicinal notes.

Refill butt, bottled 2016 at 25yo. Wonderful example of older Caol Ila and, as I said, when it wants to, Caol Ila can taste like any of the other Islay distilleries.

82/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #709-#710

Whisky Network Reviews #846-#847

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?

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?