Bowmore Stillmen’s Selection – 17yo – 53.1% abvInfo: Distilled on 22nd June 1998 and matured in Bordeaux wine barriques. Limited release, distillery exclusive of 1,500 numbered bottles.
Colour: Dark but bright with ruddy red tints.
Nose: Evocative Islay in a glass! There’s a great medium level of peat, but hiding behind that is a rich and fresh coastal spirit that has intertwined well with late summer red berries, black and red currants.
BenRiach 21yo Tawny Port – 46% abvInfo: Matured in American bourbon barrels and then finished in Tawny Port casks sourced from the Douro region in the north of Portugal. Replaces the 15YO Tawny Port finish. Bottled at 46% vol.
Colour: Late summer setting sun gold, slight red tints.
Nose: Meaty, punchy, and fruity. Also damp wood and dunnage floors. A (vanilla) creaminess soon comes out.
Palate: Nice and smooth, easily introduced to your tongue with fairly thick oils. You naturally want to hold this on your tongue for a long time, and after a while slight smoky hints come out, possibly from the cask char. It’s not overly sweet, but instead a temptingly balanced sweetness, with a hint of cream to keep it in balance. It’s fairly easy on the spices and wood tannins.
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BenRiach 17yo Pedro Ximénez – 46% abvInfo: Matured in American bourbon barrels, and finished in Pedro Ximenez Sherry casks sourced from the bodegas of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalucia, Southern Spain. This replaces the renowned 15YO expression. Bottled at 46%.
Colour: Rich, dark golden autumnal gold.
Nose: More than anything you can smell the punchy PX sherry notes, autumn fruits, rich christmas cake, ripe raisins. It’s kind of meaty, has leathery tones, creamy spice.
Palate: The punchy nose is tamed a little on your palate to become fairly gentle and relaxed. Chocolaty, rich fruit notes are there, but held in check and not overpowering.
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GlenDronach 14yo Virgin Oak – 46% abvInfo: This is a re-release of the critically-acclaimed 14YO Virgin Oak first issued in July 2010. It’s bottled at 46% abv, non chill filtered and with natural colour. Matured initially in European Oak casks and then finished in Virgin Oak casks.
Colour: Fully golden, with hints of orange rust.
Nose: There’s a good grippy nose to this, which very quickly shows off those virgin notes, with hints of what you might expect from a bourbon whiskey. There’s a light bouncy, sweet toffee note, with hints of melon and ripe banana.
Palate: Thick and oily, with spices which build fairly quickly. Packed full of flavours, the virgin oak not dominating instead being well integrated along with malt, oak and fruits.
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BenRiach 18yo Latada – 46% abvInfo: This BenRiach limited edition 18yo peated single malt is bottled at 46% abv, at natural colour and non chill filtered. Latada is distilled from peated malted barley matured in American oak casks before being finished in Madeira casks.
Colour: Bright and sunny golden.
Nose: Good earthy, peaty nose with some sweeter citrus notes.
Palate: Creamy oils lead into a spiced earthy sweet and citrus malt. Held for a while syrupy banana fruits come out.
Finish: The finish shows more fruit than the rest of the dram, with the campfire smoke lingering around for a long time.
Thoughts: I’m a big fan of BenRiach, especially of peated BenRiach, and this one doesn’t let me down, very enjoyable.
Available: The Whisky Exchange – £71.45.
Diageo Special Releases 2016Lucky old me, I got invited to join the press launch of the Diageo Special Releases 2016 this year, up in that there London.
It’s a great event that has been happening over the last 15 years, showcasing some of the less well known distilleries in Diageo’s portfolio.
So.. here’s my hastily typed notes whilst mingling with fellow bloggers on the night…
Cù Bòcan 2005 Vintage Limited Edition – 50% abvInfo: Bottled at 50% abv, this whisky is stronger than its core range counterpart, and is matured in ex-Bourbon and Sherry casks. 11,400 bottles, limited edition. Over 11 years old.
Colour: Sprightly and golden.
Nose: Very light smoke here, the dominant nose being a heady mix american and european oaks, of bourbon and sherry. There’s a slight farm nose, followed by cream & mushed autumn fruits, and dying fire embers.
Palate: At 50% this is still surprisingly easy on your palate, although the higher abv and the use of european oak help to give a nice drop of spices along with the other mushed fruit notes.
Finish: The finish is creamy, and long, with just a mere hint of the peaty puffs left hanging around. Lots of flavours to explore.
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In August, Tomatin Distillery launched a trio of special edition bottlings including a 14 year old Cabernet Sauvignon, 9 year old Caribbean Rum and 21 year old Oloroso Sherry single malt.
Let’s look at their individual information, and my review of them all…
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Just a quick post this one… but today I seem to have accidentally invented a new term: “Cash Strength”. This generally refers to new releases that *aren’t* Cask Strength, but certainly appear to priced as if they were! 🙂 I’ll be attempting to use this terminology from now on…
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Loch Lomond Single Grain Scotch Whisky – 46% abvInfo: Loch Lomond Single Grain Scotch Whisky. Distilled with malted barley (like a single malt), but distilled in a coffey still rather than the usual pot still, hence why it has to be called Single Grain. Non Chill Filtered, 46% abv.
Colour: Light summer straw with golden sunlight.
Nose: Light but oily, packed full of sweet citrus tones and a little grist. Candy floss. Backed up by a little american oak, and the nutty notes that can bring with it. Slightly buttery.
Palate: Oily and buttery, with plenty of sweetness and hints of spice. There’s a slight metallic note to it which soon fades. Hints of wispy smoke, probably from cask char along with spices.
SWB | Somerset Whisky Blog 