Cotswolds Distillery Malt Spirit 3moInfo: Unknown abv, probably into the 60’s. Matured for around 3 to 4 months in a small cask.
Colour: Straw, but bright and light.
Nose: Obviously still a very ‘new make’ nose to this. Barley sweetness with an acidic edge possibly added by the start of the oak interaction. There’s also a buttery creaminess.
Angels’ Nectar – Blended Malt Scotch Whisky – 40% abvInfo: Created from a selection of Speyside and Highland malt whiskies (i.e. there’s no grain whisky in the blend) by Robert Ransom, formerly of Glenfarclas. No colouring added.
Colour: Clear with a hint of yellow, nice and honest.
Nose: Beautifully gentle buttery speyside nose, with a malty, gentle nutty background.
Palate: Fairly thick mouthfeel, especially considering it’s 40%. It’s got a well rounded balance of sweetness, a drop of oak and a hint of spice, along with some stewed fruits and lots of buttery creaminess.
Mortlach 22yo (Old and Rare) – 56.8% abvInfo: Hunter Laing’s Old and Rare platinum range with 120 bottles from a sherry butt. A Whisky Shop exclusive bottling.
Colour: Dark rusty gold.
Nose: Deep and rich, old leather and furniture polish. Autumn stewed fruits and a dollop of vanilla custard.
Palate: Nice and thick, smooth at first with heat and spices building fairly fast, it is quite high strength after all. Once you get used to that you come on to stewed winter fruits and rich old oak flavours.
Hudson Baby Bourbon – 46% abvInfo: “Matured for only four years but aged by sonic maturation, resulting in a very rich oak flavour with hints of caramel and light vanilla.”. The first legal aged grain spirit to be produced in New York since Prohibition ended over 75 years ago. Hudson’s spirit is manufactured in a pot still at the Tuthilltown Distillery and is aged in small new oak casks. 100% corn.
Colour: Rich dark golden with rusty orange tints.
Nose: Rich and deep nose, packed with corn notes and liquorice along with some acetate drops and plenty of fresh new oak flavours.
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Glen Garioch 21 Year Old (LotG) – 56.4% abvInfo: Distilled 1993 and aged in a bourbon cask for 21 years. Cask #798 yielded 250 bottles at natural cask strength. Bottled by Lady of the Glen.
Colour: Straw yellow, very natural looking.
Nose: Strong, creamy and full of sunny citrus tropical. After a moment a gentle smokiness comes out along with dry dunnage warehouse notes.
Palate: Thick and powerful on the palate with plenty of spice, ripe tropical fruits, old malt and some butteriness.
Finish: Spicey and fresher than expected, quite long in length. Old malt sweetness sticks around.
Water: Old drams should not be drowned with water, however this dram is so powerful it can take a reasonable glug, which really helps open it up and smooth it out, bringing out a bit more creaminess and reducing the spices a little. It becomes easier and more enjoyable.
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Talisker Skye – 45.8% abvInfo: NAS. Toasted and refill American oak casks accentuate the sweet, citrus notes of Talisker. More notes on SWB here.
Colour: Orange golden.
Nose: Sweet, malty, some younger spirit. Toffee and caramel notes. Puffs of smoke from the peat.
Palate: A fair pinch of Talisker spices and pepper but with sweet malty caramel tones and puffs of gentle smoke. Quite thick feel.
Finish: Fairly long caramelly smoke with barley malt lasting out.
Water: Brings out a slight chocolate note on the nose. Reduced the spices on the palate, but also reduces the smoky peat.
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BenRiach – 10yo – 43% abvInfo: Produced predominantly from spirit produced under BenRiach’s current owners. More info on SWB here.
Colour: Clear, medium to full golden.
Nose: Good powerful aroma, full bodied and malty. Green and red apples, a hint of ripe banana and a handful of nuts. After a while it becomes quite creamy.
Palate: Fairly full bodied, and quite spicy, although sweet with those apple skins, malt and ripe fruit notes coming through.
Finish: A fairly fresh finish that’s medium in length and gently warming with spices and a hint of tannins going through through to the end.
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February and March saw two sets of single cask releases from Wemyss Malts, a bumper crop which includes two bottlings at cask strength.
[expand title=”Click here to see information about the bottings”]
February Release…
“Kirsch Gateau” 1988 single cask from Bunnahabhain Distilery, Islay, Cask Strength
“Cacao Geyser” 1998 single cask from Bowmore Distillery, Islay
“Snuffed Candle” 1999 singe cask from Aberfeldy Distillery, Highlands
“Dark Treacle Fondant” 2002 single cask from Craigellachie Distillery, Speyside
“Honeysuckle Bower” 1995 single cask from Linkwood Distillery, Speyside
“Caribbean Crème” 1988 single cask from Invergordon Distillery, grain
March Release…
“The Rockpool” 1995 single cask from Bowmore Distilery, Islay, Cask Strength
“Foraged Fruit Fool” 1991 single cask from Blair Athol Distillery, Highlands
“Toffee Tuile” 1999 singe cask from Aberfeldy Distillery, Highlands
“Kumquat Cluster” 1993 single cask from Glenrothes Distillery, Speyside
“Stem Ginger Preserve” 1995 single cask from Mortlach Distillery, Speyside
“Rhubarb Royale” 2001 single cask from Benrinnes Distillery, Speyside[/expand]
I’ve been lucky enough to able to review six of the recent releases, so without further ado, let’s take a look at my thoughts…
Plymouth Gin – Navy Strength – 57% abvIt’s a lovely sunny afternoon out, so why not let’s take a break from whisky and have a G&T. Or in my case, probably just the G as I’m not overly fond of T. It’s a G & ice for me please!
Info: For almost two centuries, Her Majesty’s Naval Fleet was sustained by Plymouth Gin and no ship left port without a bottle of Navy Strength 100 proof (57% abv) on board. The Royal Navy Supply Officers, or ‘Pussers’, needed to check that what they were buying was what they had ordered and so used gunpowder to test the alcohol level; if it was over 100 proof it would explode, with no explosion occurring if it was under strength.
Nose: Bright and spirity, a little bite, tonnes of juniper as you’d expect.
Palate: Thick and slightly creamy, the high strength gives the palate a nice bit of fizz. It’s slightly sweeter than the nose would make you suspect. Juniper at the front with just a touch of pepper behind, not too dry which is good in my book.
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Cù Bòcan – Virgin Oak Limited Edition – NAS – 46% abvInfo: Limited edition fully matured in First Fill Virgin Oak casks. More info on SWB here.
Colour: Full, bright and clear gold.
Nose: Vanilla and fresh oak intermingling with gentle smoke and sweet malt.
Palate: A nice thick mouthfeel which quickly makes the fresh woody oak apparent to you; it’s sweet, malty and oaky behind which it’s gently fruity with a touch of spice. The smoke is there, but quite tamed by the variety of other tastes that are going on. There’s a slight BBQy thing going on, something I’ve found in the past from Texan whiskies, good stuff!
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