All anCnoc Single Malt is distilled using traditional methods and aged on site at the Knockdhu Distillery in the village of Knock, Aberdeenshire. anCnoc 22 Year Old was matured predominantly in top quality American ex-bourbon casks but some Spanish casks seasoned for two years with Oloroso sherry were also used. The whisky is bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered and presented at its natural colour.
Read on for my tasting notes: Continue reading
Bowmore is offering two lucky winners the chance to take part in a very special Valentines Twitter tasting date with their Master Blender, Rachel Barrie, and a select panel of 13 experts from the world of whisky.
The two lucky winners will receive a very special Valentine’s whisky bouquet containing three classic Bowmore tasting expressions and one exclusive, unreleased, ‘work in progress’.
The exclusive competition is only open until Monday at 11am so there’s only a short time to enter, and the tasting will take place on Wednesday 13th February at 7pm, good luck!
https://www.facebook.com/bowmore/app_439628179438049
(That link only works on a PC, it’ll probably show an error via a mobile)
Tobermory – 17yo/1995 – Master of Malt – 57%
Light straw yellow in colour.
A fairly strong but light tropical vanilla nose, sweet and doughy with malty notes.
The age works nicely, it hits just the right part of your tongue and is warm to hot and spicy with a great mouth feel coating. A touch of water may be needed here. There are slight cardboard notes at the back of the palate, soon however replaced with the tropical fruity notes that you often find in bourbon matured whisky.
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Aultmore – Batch 1 – That Boutique-y Whisky Company – 53.4%
Dark yellow to gold in colour. Buttery on the nose, vanillary. Almost like a touch of wine cask somewhere in the background. Defo some wood and white chocolate.
On the palate a warming spicy Speysider comes through happily, fairly thick and moorish, it covers your tongue in a spiced buttery fruit cocktail with nicely balanced wood notes coming through.
A long pleasant and warming finish comes through, possibly eluding to some middle aged whisky in this NAS bottling. A refreshing note near the end comes through beckoning you back for another sip.
MacDuff International (independent Scotch Whisky blenders) announce the first new addition to the Islay Mist range in almost 10 years. Islay Mist Peated Reserve adds a smokier finish while retaining Islay Mist’s unique balance. Created by master blender, Gilmour Burnett, this premium blend will be available in shops in the coming weeks in 700ml size and will soon also be produced in litre size for travel retail.
Islay Mist was created in 1922 in Islay to celebrate the 21st birthday of Lord Margadale. It was thought that the local single malt scotch, Laphroaig, might be too heavy for all the guests’ taste so this rare blend of Laphroaig with Speyside malts and grain whisky was born.
Glenmorangie Ealanta – 19yo – 46%
Blurb: Ealanta is 19 years old and matured virgin American oak casks selected from the forests of the Ozark Mountains in Missouri, which were filled in 1993 as part of an experiment by Dr Bill Lumsden, Director of Distilling and whisky creation at Glenmorangie.
Yellow to golden in colour. Fresh nose, light fruity notes with vanilla sweets and young wood shavings. Peppery and strong on the palate, again fresh woody notes on the finish, like a brand new pencil being sharpened to a fine point. It’s sweet, but not as sweet as I was expecting from reading other comments.
On 20th January 2013 New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key returned 3 bottles of more than 100 year-old whisky to the Antarctic Heritage Trust in Antarctica. The 3 bottles are from whisky crates excavated from under explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s only Antarctic expedition base by Trust conservators in 2010. Continue reading
Bowmore – Batch 1, That Boutique-y Whisky Company. 48.7%. No Age Statement. Golden colour with an unmistakable kick of sherry and peat on the nose. This may not be immediately detectable as a Bowmore, however it’s most definitely an Islay dram through and through but there’s increased phenolic notes that some distillery bottlings of Bowmore’s don’t always have.
A good costal note that could come from further south on the island! Dried fruits soon make an appearance, dried apple, dates and plump raisins.
The nose and palate benefit from the craft presentation here giving a fuller experience than you don’t often get with a distillery bottled Bowmore.
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Invergordon – Batch 1, That Boutique-y Whisky Company. 41.6%. Although there is no age statement for this release, I know this contains quite a lot of 41yo Invergordon. The bottle has a wonderful illustration of a Coffey still showing the process to produce a grain whisky.
The dram is light to medium gold in colour. At first it smells maybe higher ABV than it is, but at the back there is the unmistakable smell of grain and wood, nice old piles of woody goodness, like an ancient pencil has recently been sharpened. Notes of creamy vanilla come through as if you’ve dropped a good dollop of real vanilla Cornish clotted cream ice-cream into your dram. With a bit more time passing it appears some salt and pepper has been cracked on to the top.
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Cragganmore 20yo/1991 cask 1146 MoM – 53.5% – Straw in colour, indicating bourbon finish. Classic dunnage warehouse smells; earthy, slightly woody and damp, and a big dollop of barley maltiness. A nice age on the palate, easy to drink as is. The palate follows very much on from the nose… It’s fairly thick, lightly fruity, a bit spicy and warming, the age seems to work perfectly for it. There’s a good long finish which is reasonably complex and moorish. Enjoyable dram with a slight tropical note at the end. Sadly now sold out / discontinued, but keep and eye out for any future similar bottlings. A classy, quality Speysider, I expect nothing else from the chaps at master of malt!
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