Author Archives: Steve Prentice

Review: Girvan Patent Still – 25 Year Old

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grain_gir25yoThe Girvan Patent Still – 25yo – 42% abv

Colour: Light and clear gold to straw in colour – natural colouring and nice to see! – Doesn’t the bottle look sexy too eh?

Nose: Light and refreshing, gentle grains encased in perfect amounts of sweet vanilla oak. Well aged but it doesn’t smell old, it’s just had time to breath, relax and let off some alcohol steam.

Palate: Fairly thick feeling oils in your mouth, but they’re easy going on you. Just enough ABV and cask influence to give you a touch of spices and bite, but the over riding thing is a perfect velvety sweetness with a background of grains and oak, vanilla and toffee apples.

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Quick Review: Pig’s Nose – Blended Scotch Whisky

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pigs-nose-whiskyPig’s Nose – Blended Scotch Whisky – 40% ABV

Colour: Golden, slightly caramelly.
Nose: Sweet, rich, sumptuous, a little young. Reminds me a little of Black Bottle.
Palate: Silky smooth and easy. Packed with flavour, caramel, smoke, fruits, butter and a bit of spice.
Finish: There’s some Islay malt in this which with the fruit helps the finish last longer than you’d imagine.
Thoughts: It’s not going to rock your world, but it’s a perfectly nice blend which is more interesting than many. If you liked the old Black Bottle (it’s now changed recipe) then you’d like this.

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Review: Littlemill – Batch 1 (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)

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littlemill-that-boutiquey-whisky-company-whiskyLittlemill Batch 1 (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) – NAS – 50cl, 47.40%

Colour: Light, bright straw.

Nose: Spicey wood, creaminess, vanilla, thinners, farmey barley. Leave it for a good long time to open up, when you do huge citrus is there.

Palate: Interesting! Doesn’t follow the nose too much (at first), on the palate you’ll find buckets of summer citrus fruits and slightly brown bananas. The mouthfeel is pretty thick and oily and the spices found on the nose are really easy going on the palate, it’s smooth and velvety, with slight notes of the type of bourbon maturation that I like in Tomatin.

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Review: Highland Park Freya

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hp_freya_530Highland Park Freya – 15yo – 51.2%

Marketing Blurb: Freya represents the continuation of Highland Park’s Valhalla Collection; a range of four unique whiskies taking inspiration from the legendary Nordic gods of old.  Bottled at 51.2% ABV this limited edition whisky comes housed in the same unique and award winning wooden frame of Thor and Loki, echoing the fearsome contours of a traditional Viking long ship.

Freya will be available from 7th February at a RRP of £140.

Let’s crack on with my review…

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Review: Glenmorangie Companta

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Companta BottleGlenmorangie Companta – 46% ABV, OB, NCF

Marketing Blurb: Glenmorangie has launched it’s fifth annual special edition, Companta (which stands for friendship in Scots Gaelic). Companta has been matured in Grand Cru casks from Clos de Tart and those of a sweet fortified wine from Côtes du Rhône.

Bottled at 46% ABV, and non-chill filtered, for extra body and texture, Glenmorangie Companta is available from specialist retailers and department stores now at £69.99 and is selling out very quickly.

Let’s crack on and take a look!
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Review: Blair Athol – 22yo – IB (The Maltman) – Refill Sherry

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07 Maltman Range-1-1Blair Athol – 22yo – IB (The Maltman) – Refill Sherry Cask – 49.1% NCF

Colour: Full golden.

Nose: Instantly an old dunnage / oak cask nose here that puts you in a relaxed state of mind. Some leather, a touch of polish, a bit of dry must, and after a short moment sweet winter fruits start to come through, stewed fruits in a bowl with a dollop of vanilla custard.
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Review: Ballantine’s Christmas Reserve 2013 Limited Edition

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Ballantine's Christmas ReserveBallantine’s has launched its fourth Christmas Reserve Limited Edition for 2013. Let’s take a look!

Colour: Rich and darkly fully golden.

Nose: Full of autumn fruit smells, sweet caramel, vanilla toffee, touches of smoke amongst malt, slight damp mossiness.

Palate: For something that’s 40% abv (and therefore assume chill-filtered) it has a pretty fair mouth coating to it, fairly rich and oily. It’s sweet and lusciously smooth, with honeyed wood noes coming through the maltiness really nicely. It’s well balanced, doesn’t feel too young, there’s no alcoholic nip to it.
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News & Review: Three new vintages from Balblair (’83, ’90 & ’03)

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BalblairLogoTonight we’ve taken a look at three new vintages from Balblair: 2003 1st Release, 1990 2nd Release & 1983 1st Release.

Here’s the blurb… The latest vintages from Balblair are being launched in the brand’s new premium front-opening gift boxes. Balblair recently changed its 2003 Vintage packaging to a premium front opening box, replacing the regular top opening carton. All bottles (70cl) of Balblair whisky are now available in this style.

The new range of Balblair vintage Highland single malt whiskies (46%abv natural colour non chill-filtered) comprises: Balblair 1990 second release RRP £84.99; Balblair 2003 first release RRP £40.99; and Balblair 1983 first release RRP £200.

All three of the new vintages have been matured in American Bourbon oak casks, with the 1990 also spending some time in Spanish oak ex-Sherry butts.

On to a quick review of the three…

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Review: Wemyss Malts – Seaweed on the Rocks (Bunnahabhain) – 1991

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seaweed-on-the-rockslowresContinuing my look at Wemyss Malts pre-Christmas releases, today I’m reviewing…

Seaweed on the Rocks (Bunnahabhain) – 1991/22yo – 46%

Colour: Yellow to gold.
Nose: Chinese? It’s sweet, and sour! Costal with just a hint of smoke.
Palate: Spices build fairly fast on the palate backed up by damp leather and oak.
Finish: Very subtle but long with the return of slight costal notes and polished oak.
Thoughts: I love a drop of Bunna, and this one doesn’t disappoint me at all! 86.
Available: Sorry, you’ll have to Google this for yourself!