Category Archives: Review

Review: Tomatin Contrast – Bourbon vs Sherry

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Contrast Box & BottlesTomatin Contrast – 46% abv

Info: See the info here, however in short Tomatin have released a set of two 35cl bottles, one fully bourbon matured, and one fully sherry matured. They contain exactly the same make up of whisky so that you can compare how the maturation in different casks has affected things. Great geeky idea! It’s a NAS whisky, but they clearly state the makeup of the years in the malt blend, another thing which I love about this whisky, I wish more NAS releases from other brands would follow suit.
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Review: GlenDronach Cask Strength Batch 4

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the-glendronach-cask-strength-batch-4-whiskyGlenDronach Cask Strength – Batch 4 – 54.7%abv

Info: Matured in a combination of Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks. Non chill filtered, natural colour.
Colour: Summer gold.
Nose: Malty, sherried and fun. Fairly full on, don’t sniff too hard. Nutty apple pie. Fresh with a bit of youth (not in a bad way though) and, after a while, a touch of acetate.
Palate: Easier on the palate than expected, it’s quite gentle to start with, sweet and packed full of fruity flavours and fun. The longer you hold it on the palate the more intense it becomes however.
Finish: The finish goes on for quite some time, it’s sweet, some young touches, and with spices building all the time before eventually fading out.
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Review: GlenDronach ‘The Hielan’ 8yo

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GD8yoBottleGlenDronach – ‘The Hielan’ – 8yo – 46% abv

Info: Matured and married in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks. Non chill fi ltered, natural colour and bottled at 46%.
Colour: Light to medium straw, nice and natural.
Nose: Plenty of fragrant malt, hints of oak, bourbon character at first giving way to the more fruity sherry – a fairly light summer sherry. A nice clean sweet nose.
Palate: Medium to thick, oily and sweet. There’s more spice than I was expecting to find. It gives way to fruity flavours of summer berries, and plenty of malty goodies. There’s a fiery chariness to it at the back.
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Review: Abbey Whisky – Anon. (Batch 1) – 13 year old

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anon-batch-1-13-year-old-the-rare-casks-abbey-whisky-webAbbey Whisky – Anon. (Batch 1) – 13yo – 51.5%abv

Info: “Distilled in 2001 at one of Scotland’s finest distilleries, Anon. Batch 1 has been aged for 13 years in total, with the last 6 months of maturation spent in an Oloroso sherry cask. Bottled in 2015 at cask strength.”
Colour: Light to medium summer gold.
Nose: Rich, fruity malt, loads of malt, and… fruit! Mushed down red apples with some sultanas and custard. Hints of older oak, honey and some smoky hints from cask char.
Palate: Really thick oils coat your tongue with honey flavoured oaky malt. It’s very smooth for the higher than normal strength. A pinch of spices that make it interesting, but also not enough that it overloads your tongue. There’s a slight cardboardy thing going on nearer to the end.
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Review: SWIG and their Amazing Hip Flasks

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“9 months ago, David Galbraith sold everything he owned and moved across the country to pursue his vision of making the world’s best hip flask brand. SWIG® is a seamless stainless-steel Hip Flask which can be supplied with a wide range of personalised genuine leather pouches. The flasks arrive gift boxed, ribbon tied and engraved with a unique serial number that permits lifetime membership to the ‘SWIG Society’ (the global membership club for flask owners – members include the Prime Minister!).”

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Review: Penny Blue Single Estate Rum, Batch No 004

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Penny_Blue_bottlePenny Blue, XO Single Estate, Mauritian Rum, Batch No 004, 43.3% abv

Info: “Penny Blue XO Single Estate Mauritian Rum is distilled from the molasses of our home-grown sugar canes, carefully matured in oak and bottled at the Medine Estate on the tropical island of Mauritius. A true expression of our terroir, Penny Blue can proudly claim to be an authentic Single Estate Mauritian Rum.”. 10,000 bottles, matured in ex-Whisky casks (66%) and ex-Bourbon casks (34%). The oldest rum in this blend is vintage 2003, thus 11 years old.
Colour: Nice bright sunny gold.
Nose: Similarly bright to the colour, there’s hints of tropical fruits, rich brown sugars, some vanilla and oak spices.
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Review: Clan Mackenzie Dinner at Dalmore & The Dalmore Distillery Exclusive 2015

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Clan Mackenzie International Gathering Dinner at The Dalmore Distillery
(plus a review of The Dalmore Distillery Exclusive 2015!)

Autumn in Dalmore

View from Dalmore out over the Cromarty Firth in Autumn

Recently I had the good fortune to be invited along to the Clan Mackenzie International Gathering Dinner at The Dalmore distillery. Hosted by Master Distiller Richard Paterson it was in honour of The Dalmore’s rich history and the fact that The Dalmore distillery was once owned by members of Clan Mackenzie. Clan Mackenzie have an International Gathering every 5 years which involves a week packed full of of events attended by members of the Clan from all around the world, this dinner being one such event.

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Review: Hibiki Japanese Harmony

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hibiki-japanese-harmony-whiskyHibiki Japanese Harmony – 43% abv

Info: Hibiki Japanese Harmony is made with malt whiskies from the Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries, as well as grain whisky from the Chita distillery. The whiskies are drawn from 5 different types of cask, including American white oak casks, Sherry casks and Mizunara oak casks. Presented in the brand’s trademark 24-faceted bottle representing the Japanese seasons. NAS.
Colour: Light to medium gold.
Nose: Light but jam packed with malt and grassy aromas, along with sweet fruits and caramels.
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Review: Oban Little Bay

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ObanLittleBayBottleOban Little Bay – 43% abv

Info: Oban in Gaelic means ‘little bay’, and this release forms a new member of the core family of Oban’s whiskies. It’s made from a range of different ages of whisky which have been matured in three types of casks… European oak ex-sherry casks, re-fill casks with new oak cask ends, and re-fill American oak hogsheads. These have then been combined and married in small oak casks for a short period of time to allow integration of flavours.
Colour: Orangey gold. Looks a little caramelly but who knows.
Nose: All sort of flavours; orange (and candied orange peel), spice, malt, caramel toffee, salt, smouldering hints of smoke, and touches of coffee grouts along with green apples and chocolate hints. In many respects, the regular house style of Oban, but a little mixed up.
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Review: Benromach 10yo and 15yo

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A wee twitter tasting of Benromach is in the offing as I write this, and here’s my thoughts and tasting notes from the evening!

First a little info… Benromach has been making whisky since 1898 using spring water from the nearby Romach Hills. After being bought by Gordon & MacPhail in 1993, the Benromach Distillery was restored & reopened in 1998. Since reopening the distillery has gained a reputation for producing an innovative range of distinctive Speyside whiskies with pre-1960s character. Benromach uses locally grown barley which is malted with a little peat smoke.

On to my notes…

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