Monthly Archives: Dec 2017

Review: Highland Park Magnus

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highland park magnusHighland Park – Magnus – 40%

Info: Only available in North America. Matured in Sherry seasoned American oak casks. No colouring.
Colour: Clear straw.
Nose: Fairly young and sweet malt with a good vanilla hit and great wafts of highland heathland peat, slightly floral.
Palate: Very easy to the palate, you can hold it on your tongue for ages enjoying the gentle spices, malt and peat, which all play together nicely with a slight earthy note. The youngish malt is there, and it’s enjoyable, it really helps show off the distillery character. Continue reading →

Review: Dewar’s 25 Year Old

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Dewar's 25 Year OldDewar’s 25 Year Old – 40% abv

Info: Dewar’s 25 Year Old is a blend of malt and grain whiskies that are 25yo or older that have then been married and then further aged in freshly emptied Royal Brackla casks. Available in Global Travel Retail (i.e airport duty-free) before eventually being available everywhere.
Colour: Golden and bright. Hints of rust.
Nose: Straight away there’s older oak cask notes that happily fill your nose. However you quickly find there’s lovely fresh tones there, light summery fruits, slightly pulped down into a sweet compote of flavour.
Palate: Surprisingly oily considering the 40% abv. It’s sweet, tasty and really easy-going on your tongue. Bags of flavour backed up by well-integrated old oak notes that aren’t dominated by tannin.
Finish: The finish is slow, long and gentle; it’s nicely warming on your chest, with sweet barley oils sticking around for ages. Yum.
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Review: Glen Grant 18yo Rare Edition

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Glen Grant 18yo Rare EditionGlen Grant 18yo Rare Edition – 43% abv

Info: Glen Grant Aged 18 Years Rare Edition was newly released in 2016 and was named Jim Murray’s Second Finest Whisky in the World, as well as his Scotch Whisky of the Year, in his Whisky Bible 2017.
Colour: Lightly golden, ripe straw.
Nose: Fairly complex nose, there’s sweet / candy notes, but they’re not too sweet, tempered by older oak tones. Slight coal hints, probably the cask char coming forward.
Palate: It’s fairly gentle and easy to hold on your tongue to enjoy the flavours that wash forward. There’s sweetness, but that’s balanced with a sourness from oak. The cask char hints from the nose carry on to the palate.
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Quick Review: BenRiach Peated Cask Strength

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BenRiach Peated Cask StrengthBenRiach Peated Cask Strength Batch 1

Info: Made with whiskies drawn from Oloroso Sherry casks and bourbon barrels. 56% abv.
Colour: Light straw gold.
Nose: Darker and more pungent than expected, yum. Sweet autumnal fruit notes, gentle light peat smoke.
Palate: Thick, oily, creamy, sweet and tasty, awesome.
Finish: Fairly gentle, quite sweet, nice and warming. After a few mouthfuls spices build a fair bit.
Thoughts: I’m a really big fan of this, it beats some Feis Ile releases from Islay I’ve had recently for sure.
Available: Master of Malt – £58.84

Thanks to BenRiach for the sample.