Category Archives: Review

Review: Glen Garioch Virgin Oak

Posted on by
Reply

GariochVirginOakBottleGlen Garioch – Virgin Oak – 48% abv

I’ve previously reviewed quite a few of the Glen Garioch range, but it looks like their Virgin Oak has escaped me publishing my notes. I’m one of what Glen Garioch likes to call their Drambassadors… at least, while Morrison Bowmore Distillers (Glen Garioch’s parent company) was more autonomous I was one, but now they’re part of the mass conglomerate of Beam Suntory I have no idea if I am still one or not! Annnnnyways, on to my notes…

Continue reading →

Press Launch & Review: Glenmorangie Tusail

Posted on by
Reply

GLENMORANGIE LOGO

Glenmorangie Tùsail

Recently Glenmorangie launched Tùsail, the 6th release in their yearly Private Edition series of malts… most of which form some part of experimentation by Glenmo’s main man, Dr Bill Lumsden. (See below for my review tasting notes.)

GlenmoTuasilThis years experiment \ release is comprised of Maris Otter barley, floor-malted by hand, and non chill-filtered.

A rich winter variety of barley first introduced in 1965, Maris Otter was bred specifically to meet the demand for a high quality brewing malt and recognized for its ability to impart rich, rustic malty flavours. The variety at the time was much loved by brewers and created great ale’s, however the variety started to fall out of love and started being replaced with newer varieties that had greater alcohol yields until it was revived by a dedicated company and is now revered as one of the best malts for brewing once again.

Continue reading →

New Release & Review: Rock Oyster Whisky

Posted on by
Reply

Rock Oyster Blended Whisky – 46.8% ABV

Info: “Inspired by the sea, Douglas Laing’s Rock Oyster is a Small Batch bottling created using the finest maritime Malts including those distilled on the Scottish Islands of Jura, Islay, Arran and Orkney.”
Colour: Very light, hints of straw.
Nose: Peaty, mossy smoke comes tumbling out of the glass along with damp grass and barley notes, and some butter.
Palate: Slightly peppery followed by the mossy barley. It’s fairly thick in your mouth, and reasonably sweet.
Finish: The finish is a fine balance of sweet treats and a peaty smoke bonfire on a damp morning. Long and luscious.
Thoughts: Incredibly enjoyable. If you like Big Peat then this is a slight tangent, and for some probably the more accessible of the two drams. A nice accomplished blend from Douglas Laing; a real winner for a good price.
Continue reading →

News & Reviews: Aultmore’s 3 new malts (12yo, 21yo & 25yo)

Posted on by
Reply

Print

Aultmore_12YO

“John Dewar & Sons Ltd. has unveiled a new range of proprietary bottlings from Aultmore distillery, forming part of its ‘Last Great Malts’ of Scotland range, with Aultmore 12-year-old, Aultmore 21-year-old (in Travel Retail only) and Aultmore 25-year-old.”

Back at the end of last year I was lucky enough to go around all of Dewar’s distilleries and I tried the 3 Aultmore’s at that point, you can read about my trip and my initial impressions here. However, below is my further thoughts / tasting notes now that the range has officially been launched.

Continue reading →

Multi Review: Glenmorangie Core Range

Posted on by
Reply

GLENMORANGIE LOGO

Glenmoranie has quite a lot of expressions of varying ages and rarities, and I’ve not really reviewed any of them here before now. I don’t know why not, I’ve enjoyed a good Glenmo for many a year now. So let’s take a little look at four expressions that I think it’s safe to call part of Glenmo’s core range, the 10yo The Original, 12yo The Lasanta, 12yo The Quinta Ruban and 12yo The Nectar D’or. All easily available, affordable whiskies.

So without further ado let’s kick off…

Continue reading →

Review: Port Charlotte 12yo

Posted on by
Reply

PC12BottlePort Charlotte (Bruichladdich) – 12yo – 58.7% abv

Info: This is a Travel Retail release (i.e. you can mostly only get it in airports or at the distillery). It’s being launched tomorrow aboard a Viking Line ferry in the Baltic sea (I hope the storms hold off!).
Colour: Full gold with orangey tints.
Nose: At first maybe slightly closed on the nose; it could be the fairly high ABV, or it could just be that the aging process has given this more of a maturity than you have seen before from Port Charlotte. Given time and warmth there’s a leathery note alongside the gentle beefy peat and thicker oils. A drop of water helps open the nose up a bit.
Continue reading →

Review: Glenkinchie 12yo

Posted on by
Reply

glenkinchie-12-year-old-whiskyGlenkinchie 12yo – 43% abv

Let’s start off 2015 with a readily available malt that’s not to expensive!

Info: One of only a handful of lowland whiskies, Glenkinchie is situated near Edinburgh.
Colour: Fairly honest pale gold.
Nose: Quite fragrant, packed full of malt grass and fruity aromas with a base of toffee and hints of oak.
Palate: At first slightly spicy, followed by plenty of malt. Slightly dry with medium oils.
Continue reading →

Review: Buffalo Trace

Posted on by
Reply

buffalo-trace-whiskeyBuffalo Trace – Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey – 45% ABV

Info: The 45% abv version that’s in review here is sadly not so easy to find any more, it was replaced with the lower 40% version that’s now generally available in the UK. You can take the following as a basis for that 40%, but expect it to be a slight shadow of this version.
Further Info: The 45% version was first introduced in 1999 and is a marriage of no more than 45 barrels of 9 year old whiskey and is bottled by hand.
Continue reading →

Review: Auchentoshan Virgin Oak II

Posted on by
Reply

Auchentoshan_Virgin_Oak_Batch_IIAuchentoshan Virgin Oak Batch 2 – 46% abv

Info: ‘The Auchentoshan Virgin Oak 2 is the second release from this Lowlands distillery that has matured in charred new oak casks. Since 2000 Auchentoshan has matured a limited amount of whisky in such casks of which it releases some every year since 2013. A small batch release that shows that not only maturation in ex-bourbon or ex-sherry casks works with whisky. Time, risk and patience have resulted in a Sienna coloured malt with notes of spicy oranges, maple syrup and a layered complexity.’
Continue reading →

Multi Review: Four Chapter 7 Bottlings (Glentauchers, Tormore, Allt-á-Bhainne & Glen Keith)

Posted on by
Reply

Chapter 7™  is an independent bottler from Switzerland that you may have seen around on the various social medias, good looking bottles in good looking boxes!… But is the whisky also good?! I’ve been lucky enough to have been sent a few samples from Chapter 7™ to find the answer, so without any further ado, let’s take a look at the four samples I’ve been sent…
Continue reading →