Category Archives: Review

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!

Multi Review: Tasting the fabulous Aberlour range

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This evening I’ve been lucky enough to joining a gaggle of whisky folks online for a Twitter Tasting of most of Aberlour’s range, a distillery in the heart of Speyside, and one of my favourites.

We were lucky to be joined the very lovely and accommodating Ann Miller (represented in notes below as AM), International Brand Ambassador for Chivas Brothers (Aberlour’s owners). I was lucky to meet Ann a few months back for a personal tour of Longmorn!

Let’s take a look at my thoughts…

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Review: Wemyss Malts – Sweet Mint Infusion (Aultmore) – 1991

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sweet-mint-infusionlowresContinuing my look at Wemyss Malts pre-Christmas releases, today I’m reviewing…

Sweet Mint Infusion (Aultmore) – 1991/22yo – 46%

Colour: Pale Straw.
Nose: A nose with some age on it, rather beautiful and keeps you nosing for ages. Sweet and oaky.
Palate: Treats you gently with some spices building after a while when left on the tongue. Full mouthfeel. The pinch of sweet spice and some oak combine to become almost fizzy. Yum. Classic bourbon summer fruits.
Finish: The summer berry fruits come through more on the finish, sweet, malty, and relaxing.
Thoughts: The age has worked well here, it’s a pleasure to drink and is nicely balanced. The official note mentions peppermint, I don’t particularly get that. 86.
Available: Master Of Malt for £98.89

Review: Wemyss Malts – Eastern Promise (Glen Elgin) – 1995

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eastern-promiselowresContinuing my look at Wemyss Malts pre-Christmas releases, today I’m reviewing…

Eastern Promise (Glen Elgin) – 1995/18yo – 46%

Colour: Light Straw Yellow
Nose: Delicate, light malt and faint hints of smoke.
Palate: Sweet, smooth, oily and rich, intermingled with some damp wood, vanilla toffee and gentle spices.
Finish: Strong, long, malty and spiced.
Thoughts: An interesting dram with a touch of class and intrigue. 85.
Available: Drambusters for £66.

Review: Wemyss Malts – Citrus Burst (Linkwood) – 1997

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citrus-burstlowresWemyss has named and bottled 12 single casks for their pre-Christmas releases, and today we take a quick look at…

Citrus Burst (Linkwood) – 1997/16yo – 46%

Colour: Delicate straw.
Nose: Gentle giant, delicate yet strong. Beefy and malty in one go. Late summer evening in a field.
Palate: Instantly spicy on your palate although draws back before it’s too much. Fairly oily. Some citrus.
Finish: Quite a long warming finish packed full of flavour with gentle, sweet oak notes at the end.
Thoughts: What a great Speyside dram, just what you’d hope, although maybe too spicy to actually call it smooth. 84.
Available: The Whisky Barrel for £69.12.

News and Review: Glenfiddich – The Cask Collection

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(Scroll on down for my review…)

Glenfiddich has launched The Cask Collection, three new whiskies comprising of Glenfiddich Select Cask, Glenfiddich Reserve Cask and Glenfiddich Vintage Cask. These are Glenfiddich’s first no-age-statement range of single malts and have been released into the global travel retail market; a range the company is calling its “most innovative launch of the year”.

The trio will become the core range representing Glenfiddich in travel retail, and will replace 12yo, 15yo Solera and Rich Oak on travel retail shelves.
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Review: Berry Bros. & Rudd – Blue Hanger 7th Release

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bluehangerwebWhile I’m reviewing a selection of blended whiskies, I thought I’d take a moment out to review Berry Bros. & Rudd’s Blue Hanger, 7th Release. A partly useless review for most of my readers, but for any of my US cousins it might be of interest because this has been released exclusively in the US travel retail market. Limited to only 3,088 bottles, Blue Hanger 7 is a blend of Bruichladdich 1990, Bruichladdich 1992, peated Bruichladdich Moine 2006, and Miltonduff 1997. Bottled at 45.6% abv, Blue Hanger is now available in US travel retail at an RRP of US$99.99. It’s natural colour and non chill-filtered.

Let’s take a sip…

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