Glendullan 1996 Cadenhead's Small Batch Review

Hi everyone,

Today I’ve got another obscure distillery that I haven’t reviewed before.

Glendullan, ever heard of it?

Maybe not, but that’s because all of it was used for blends up until very recently when it joined The Singleton range, along with Dufftown and Glen Ord. The Glendullan is saved for the USA market, while Europe get Dufftown and Asia get Glen Ord.

Interestingly, it joined the prestigious ranks of Clynelish/Brora & Linkwood A/B when Diageo built a new distillery next to the old one in 1972. They ran simultaneously until 1985 when ‘Old’ Glendullan was shut down for good. This fits almost exactly the same dates as Linkwood A (1971-1985). It would be very, very interesting to know whether ‘Old’ Glendullan used worm tubs and the ‘New’ Glendullan shell & tube condensers, as that would fit with the other examples.

I wonder if there are any other distilleries that have done this? Anyone want to trawl through MaltMadness profiles for me?

Anyway, this is an indie from Cadenhead’s Small Batch. Which would mean that they’ve taken a small number of casks and vatted them together rather than using them as single casks.

Glendullan 1996 Cadenhead’s Small Batch 55.6%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Light and malty style spirit, lemon, melon, wet chalk, some vanilla, light honey, an oaky alcoholic note.

Water: More oak, floral notes, dried rose petals, lilac, more honey. Watermelon and cucumber after a bit.

Taste: Intense, very malty, chalk, lemon, alcohol taking over with a flinty side, wet stone, slate, nut, oak building, barrel char, lemony oak, more chalk.

Water: Softer, beautiful arrival, lovely floral and citrusy oak, more balance.

Finish: Medium length. Intense oak, refill tannins and some weak coffee.

Bottled 2014 at 18yo.

73/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #431

Whisky Network Review #491

Network Average: 74.3

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?

Glen Deveron 15 Review

Hi everyone,

Today I’ve got another obscure distillery trying to emerge into the light of day. This time Glen Deveron or MacDuff, well, I suppose it is Glen Deveron from MacDuff distillery. It think it’s because Diageo own the trademark for MacDuff so they can’t use the name of the distillery for the whisky. Slightly reminiscent of AnCnoc from Knockdhu.

Anyway, after some rebranding these Glen Deveron’s have been appearing in various places at an older age and for a seemingly good price. Very recently it got another facelift with a blue bottle.

This is an older version though I got in a sample from Master of Malt.

Glen Deveron 15 40%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Pastry, apple pie, pear tart, malt, vanilla, lots of toffee and fudge, charred oak, a little blueberry tart, chocolate biscuit.

Taste: Smooth and gentle. Lots of toffee, fruity with lots of apple, apple pie, pastry, vanilla, nutmeg, Macademia nut. Then oak building with cocoa powder and dark chocolate.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Dark chocolate with a little rough oak.

Fine but fairly forgettable. A very average Speyside whisky.

63/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #430

Whisky Network Review #490

Network Average: 74.3

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?

Glenallachie 2000 Provenance Review

Hi everyone,

Since Glenallachie is about to be thrust into the limelight by Billy Walker & Co., I might as well put up my only review of the stuff.

It’s not like you can’t get hold of Glenallachie but you’d have to go to the independent bottlers, as till very recently there hasn’t been an official.

After the success of BenRiach and Glendronach, I think everyone’s going to be waiting with baited breath to see what can be done with Glenallachie, but were going to be waiting till March next year, according to some articles.

 

Glenallachie 2000 Provenance 46%

Colour: Pale straw

Body: Medium

Nose: Funky, spirit Sulphur, slightly dirty, pastry, biscuit, some dirty fruit- Orange, grapefruit, grape. With water it’s even funkier and dirtier!

Taste: Gentle arrival, quite light with fruit- Pear drops, then developing some spirit Sulphur, good level, dirty orange and grapefruit, some pastry and vanilla, then barrel char and strong oak.

Finish: Medium length. Oak and tannins. Unbalanced and harsh.

Bottled 2011 at 11 years old. Cask 8689. This is very promising; the finish really detracts from this but it’s got character for days. I can’t wait to see what Billy Walker and the team make of this.

64/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #429

Whisky Network Review #489

Network Average: 74.3

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?

Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select Review

Hi everyone,

Today I’ve got the last of my Bourbon backlog, which means I might not be reviewing Bourbon for a while. I promise I’ll buy a proper good bottle of Bourbon at some point, it’s on my list, but probably won’t be till Christmas as I spent my entire year’s whisky budget in one go… but that’s another story to be revealed in review #500.

For now, here’s Woodford, unusual in that it’s a triple distilled Bourbon. Well, if you look only a little deeper (say Wikipedia for example), you find that it’s a blend of the triple distilled stuff and column still stuff from another distillery in Kentucky.

How’s the stuff taste anyway?

Woodford Reserve 42.3%

Colour: Bronze

Body: Light

Nose: Lime, light wax, coconut, sugar cane, light nut, vanilla pod, honey, herbal Eucalyptus, sugary lime juice. After time- More aromatic vanilla and some coco.

Taste: Light and very delicate. Creamy smooth arrival with vanilla, creamy oak and some charcoal, maybe some tobacco and leather, developing waxiness and drying rye spice.

Finish: Medium length. Spicy herbal rye fading with charred oak.

The lime notes give this one a nice freshness, but it doesn’t quite find enough balance, or complexity.

The lime notes give this one a nice freshness, but it doesn’t quite find enough balance, or complexity.

65/100

Thanks for reading!

American Whiskey Review #26

Whisky Network Review #488

American Average: 69.4

Network Average: 74.3

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?

Wild Turkey 101 8yo Review

Hey everyone,

Another day, and another Bourbon review.

In the firing line today is Wild Turkey 101, a higher strength version of the 81 (Which, somehow I haven’t tried yet, despite it being everywhere).

This is the 8 year old one too. I don’t know if they dropped the age statement yet, but everyone else seems to be dropping them like there’s no tomorrow.

 

Wild Turkey 101 8yo 50.5%

Colour: Bronze

Body: Light

Nose: Aromatic. Freshly crushed mint, vanilla ice cream, red sealing wax, herbal perfumed note, herb shop (Holland & Barrett), candy shop, something rubbery.

Taste: Oodles of honey, vanilla, mint, wax, vanilla ice cream, building herbal spice, dusty nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. Spicy rye and elastic rubber.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Spices fade to leave minty wax.

Soft for 50%, great classic Bourbon flavours but again, something is lacking. Individuality maybe? Also, the rubber notes detract from this a little.

67/100

Thanks for reading!

American Whiskey Review #25

Whisky Network Review #487

American Average: 69.6

Network Average: 74.3

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?

Maker's Mark Bourbon Review

Hi everyone,

And yet another low end Bourbon here today. Today we have Maker's Mark.

Who was Maker?

What was his mark?

These questions remain unanswered, even by the distillery's own website. Perhaps it's an existential Bourbon from a transcendent Maker?

(BBQ Not Reviewed)

Hold on, hold on. I found it. The founders wife liked some marks on pieces of pewter. Bit random.

Anyway, how's it taste?

Maker's Mark 45%

Colour: Bronze/Gold

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Light and fragrant. Very waxy and herbal- Eucalyptus, Mastiha oil (think pine needles), mineral charcoal note, vanilla, vanilla ice cream, honey, mint, some aromatic spice.

Taste: Good mouthfeel. Waxy and sweet arrival. Sappy green oak, developing charcoal and rye-esque spice.

Finish: Medium length. More generic spiciness and charcoal fade.

Definitely not transcendent. A very average Bourbon I think. Apparently, there's no Rye in the recipe for this so I guess the spiciness I was getting is coming from the oak.

63/100

Thanks for reading!

American Whiskey Review #24

Whisky Network Review #486

American Average: 69.7

Network Average: 74.4

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?

Knob Creek 9 Small Batch Review

Hi everyone,

More Bourbon reviews? From Dave? Never.

Yep, I’ve got about three left after this and then you’re caught up on my experience with Bourbon so far.

So, this is another from Jim Beam, with an age statement and a higher proof. Does that make it better? Does having a funny name make it better? Let’s find out.

Knob Creek 9 50%

Colour: Bronze

Body: Medium

Nose: Lots of freshly crushed mint, vanilla pod, some wax, oaky honey, some rose, caramel, some spicy rye/grainy notes in the background.

Water: More chocolatey and fudge.

Taste: Lots of honey, vanilla, sugary honey, woody maple syrup, some oak, caramel and toffee.

Water: Aromatic oak and sandalwood then herbal.

Finish: Medium length. Lingering oaky spice, a little heat.

Despite the funny name, age statement and higher proof this is a bit ‘meh’ for me. A lot of very average Bourbon flavours. Although I did like the minty-ness on the nose, I don’t feel like the taste brings anything special or different.

65/100

Thanks for reading!

American Whiskey Review #23

Whisky Network Review #485

American Average: 70

Network Average: 74.4

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?