Category Archives: Review

Quick Review: Angels’ Nectar Cairngorms & Islay Editions

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Angels’ Nectar Cairngorms & Islay Editions

Cairngorms Edition

Info: Bottled in partnership with the Cairngorms Trust, to support environmental and community projects in the Cairngorms National Park. 46% ABV, 11 years old, 263 bottles, single cask.
Colour: Bright gently golden ripe barley.
Nose: Ripe banana and red apples, wet barley, autumn woodland moss and cracked nuts. A hint of hessian.
Palate: Upfront spiciness which soon mellows into autumn fruits and barley. A fairly good oily mouthfeel.
Finish: A subtle, gently warming and smooth finish, fairly long because of the oils. Sweet with a hint of tannin at the end.
Thoughts: An easy drinking quality dram for after dinner; would work well if I had a log fire, unfortunately my house is too modern.
Available: Whisky Castle – £67.99

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Quick Review: The Scalasaig Island Hopper

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The Scalasaig Island Hopper

Info: A blended malt featuring a variety of peated whiskies from the likes of Orkney and Islay, married together in first-fill Spanish sherry casks. 43% ABV.
Colour: Dark golden, very autumnal.
Nose: Pungent, mossy, hessian. Also some lightness there with citrus notes coming though the gentle smoke.
Palate: Sweet, fairly spicy, rich and intense. The mossy peat comes though as if near a bonfire on a beach.
Finish: It seems to get sweeter as it goes on, which it does for quite a long while, very moreish. Some cask tannins and grass / barley at the end.
Thoughts: It’s a whisky that I keep coming back to; packed with flavour that’ll keep you wanting more. For me there’s a vague hint of Black Bottle here, but even better.
Available: Master of Malt – £49.95

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Review: Clynelish Distillery Exclusive Single Malt Bottling 2019

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Clyenlish Distillery Exclusive 2019Info: Matured in a mixture of American ex-bourbon and rejuvenated casks. 6000 bottles available, bottled at 48% ABV. No age statement.
Colour: Natural looking, light straw. You’d hope no colouring here.
Nose: Clean, clear and slightly salty, with gentle wooden dunnage notes and plenty of sweet green ripe fruits among soft waxy hints.
Palate: Bursting with green and red apples and an oily waxyness. It’s warm and tingley on your tongue, with gentle heat and some spice building. Overall it’s nicely sweet and fruity with oaks to back it up.
Finish: The finish at first seems short but quickly comes back with a longer warm sweet fruit and malt note that sticks aronud for a while.
After: It turns more orangey, orange jelly, marmilade. Christmassy!
Thoughts: A slighty sweeter Clynelish than often found, but that suits my pallate just nicely! I really enjoy this dram, snap one up if visiting.
Availalbe: At the distillery, £90 a bottle. Continue reading →

Review: Jura Time & Tide: Two 21 year olds

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Jura Time and Tide

Jure Time and Jura Tide

“A Pair of 21 Year Old whiskies shaped by time, eroded by tide.”

Jura has released two permenant additions to it’s range, a pair of 21yo whiskies; both are non-chillfiltered, just how we like them. ‘Tide’ should be available at your usual specialist whisky retailer, where as ‘Time’ is travel retail only (i.e. airports). What are the differences? Let’s take a look at them…

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Review: Glengoyne Teapot Dram Batch 6

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Glengoyne Teapot Dram Batch 6Glengoyne Teapot Dram Batch 6 – 59.3% abv

Info: “Strictly limited [until the next batch!] release of just four first fill sherry butts and two first fill sherry hogsheads.”
Colour: Medium dark rusty autumnal sunset.
Nose: Plenty of sherried autumn fruit notes, but still a nice sprightly element to this. Sherry outside in a cool autumn shower. Hints of nuts amongst soft creamy vanilla toffee.  Notes of heathery honey. Strong, but not closed, full of flavours wanting to escape with nice rounded wood tones.
Palate: Strong, almost hot, but just backing off enough to remain easily enjoyable while letting flavours flow. It’s really oily, flavour packed; there’s plenty of lush autumn fruits, malty oils and hints of dark chocolate.
Finish: Fresh, fruity, warming and long. Hints of youngish cask wood at the back adding some weight to the dram (in a good way).
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Review: Steel Bonnets

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steel bonnets whiskySteel Bonnets: Blended Malt Whisky

Info: From The Lakes Distillery comes the first ever blend, so the press release says, of English and Scottish malt whiskies, Steel Bonnets. The blend is a combination of The Lakes Single Malt from England and some of the most respected malts from north of the Border. Awarded a gold medal in Spirits Business’ Luxury Masters Awards. 46.6% abv, non chillfiltered, non coloured.
Colour: Golden with a hint of autumn rust.
Nose: An interesting nose that is vibrant and flavourful. There’s some instant sweetness to the nose, possibly showing distillery character from younger (Lakes?) spirit. There is a dollop of sweetened cream with green and red fruits on the nose with smokey hints as a backdrop.
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Review: Deanston Decennary 50th Anniversary

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deanston decennary bottleDeanston Decennary 50th Anniversary – 46.3% abv

Info: Deanston Decennary 50th Anniversary is a marriage of four different casks; Whisky refil from 1977, American Oak from 1982, Port Pipe from 1996 and Pedro Ximenez from 2006. 1400 bottles available exclusively at the distillery. Natural colour, un-chillfiltered.
Colour: Summer gold with a hint of autumn rust.
Nose: The nose here is really autumnal. There’s hints of sharp, cold, clean rain on malt. There’s a bowl full of simmered down autumn fruits with a spoon of thick cream dolloped on top. There’s a nuttyness that’s coming from the casks. You can tell there’s some well aged malt here, but it’s well integrated and keeps a nice natural balance of the malts.
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Quick Review: Syndicate 58/6 12 Year Old

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syndicate 58/6 12 year old whiskySyndicate 58/6 12 year old

Info: Contains 18 single malts and 4 single grains, finished for a year in Oloroso sherry butts. From Douglas Laing, a blend by Richard Patterson.
Colour: End of summer golden.
Nose: Spirited hints of pear, malt and rainy ozone. All backed by gentle sweet berry notes.
Palate: Very gentle sweet berry notes at the fore, it’s not overly oily, but it coats the tongue pleasingly. A hint of lemon.
Finish: Flavourful, with hints of wood and a slight touch of tannin at the end. Not overly long.
Thoughts: It’s a tasty blend at a great price.
Available: Master of Malt – £30 inc free postage.

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