News / PR: BenRiach Launches 10 Years Old Single Malt

Posted on by
Reply

BenRiach+10+Years+Old+2New core range expression marks a significant milestone for the Elgin distillery

This release is a momentous high point for the award-winning Elgin distillery as the whisky is the first core range expression to be produced predominantly from spirit distilled under The BenRiach Distillery Company’s eleven-year ownership.

Managing Director Billy Walker and his South African partners Wayne Kieswetter and Geoff Bell acquired BenRiach from Chivas Brothers in April 2004.

Bottled at 43% vol, the BenRiach 10 Years Old is Classic Speyside in character. The cask formula focuses on ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks – exactly the types of wood we favour at BenRiach. This fresh, lively, fruit-laden single malt captures warm oak spices, green apple, dried apricots, peach and banana with subtle touches of aniseed, lemon zest and barley.

Continue reading →

Review: Cu Bocan – Virgin Oak Edition

Posted on by
Reply

CuBocanVintageOakBottleCù Bòcan – Virgin Oak Limited Edition – NAS – 46% abv

Info: Limited edition fully matured in First Fill Virgin Oak casks. More info on SWB here.
Colour: Full, bright and clear gold.
Nose: Vanilla and fresh oak intermingling with gentle smoke and sweet malt.
Palate: A nice thick mouthfeel which quickly makes the fresh woody oak apparent to you; it’s sweet, malty and oaky behind which it’s gently fruity with a touch of spice. The smoke is there, but quite tamed by the variety of other tastes that are going on. There’s a slight BBQy thing going on, something I’ve found in the past from Texan whiskies, good stuff!
Continue reading →

Review: Tomatin Cask Strength Edition

Posted on by
Reply

tomatin-cask-strength-57-point-5-percent-whiskyTomatin Cask Strength Edition – NAS – 57.5% abv

Info: Matured in a combination of Bourbon and Oloroso Sherry Casks, this is a permanent edition to Tomatin’s range. More info on SWB here.
Colour: Fully ripened straw to light gold.
Nose: Toffee pennies (toffee sweets) with light malt notes and a puff of cask char. Slightly spicy with a bit of a bite from the high alcohol. Some classic Tomatin notes, but all turned up a notch.
Palate: Toffee malt hits your palate straight away, followed by slightly hot spirit because of the high abv, it’s spicy but sweet with some good oak notes and some sherry fruits and nuts. You soon become fairly accustomed to the strength which leaves you with fairly thick oils on your tongue.
Continue reading →

Review: Highland Park Odin

Posted on by
Reply

HighlandPark-OdinHighland Park Odin – 55.8% abv

Info: 16yo, created from a combination of Spanish oak sherry casks and re-fill hogsheads.
Colour: Rich autumnal gold, touch of rust.
Nose: A light smokiness leads you in to gentle citrus fruits, tangerines and then back to peaty smokiness again, a light floral peat smoke, not your heavy Islay smoke. In the background there’s touches of fairly old oak soon superseded by milk chocolate notes, then back to citrus.
Palate: Really thick, gently oaky, very oily and peaty; peat almost going to the coal side of things, in a good way… Similar to the nose it’s a very light floral peat, no TCP, the more it opens up a BBQy type peat flavour comes out.
Continue reading →

Multi Review: anCnoc 12yo, 2000 & 18yo

Posted on by
Reply

ancnoc-logo

Multi Review: anCnoc 12yo, 2000 and 18yo
A #ModernTradition Twitter Tasting

As luck would have it, I’ve been invited along to a Twitter Tasting to try out some lovely drams from the Knockdhu distillery, otherwise known as anCnoc on the shelves (so as to not get confused with Knockando).

We’re going to take a look at the 12yo, the 2000 vintage, and the newish 18yo. So without further ado, let’s get cracking… Continue reading →

Review: Arran 18yo

Posted on by
Reply

Arran18yoBottleThe Arran Malt 18yo – 46% abv

Info: Arran finally comes of age with its release of their 18yo, the third and final release in a trilogy that started with a 16yo which was released two years ago. More info on the 18yo here.
Colour: Light golden with great legs.
Nose: Malty, oily & full. Spicy but sweet, touches of ozone.
Palate: Thick and buttery, and easier on your palate than you would imagine from the slightly spicy nose. There’s malt, but really well balanced with autumn stewed fruits, red berries, gooseberries, blackcurrants and stewed apple, with a small dollop of vanilla custard. Very pleasant.
Finish: Long with a gentle freshness, slightly herbal, smoothly sweet with those late summer fruits lingering for a good while.
Continue reading →

Review: Bruichladdich Classic Laddie Scottish Barley

Posted on by
Reply

bruichladdich-scottish-barley-the-classic-laddie-whiskyBruichladdich Classic Laddie Scottish Barley – 50% abv

Info: “Made from 100% Scottish barley, trickle distilled, then matured for its entire life by the shores of Lochindaal in premium American oak, it is a testament to the quality our ingredients.”. NAS.
Colour: Light straw to gold, classic and natural.
Nose: A slightly more easily accessed nose to the Islay Barley 2007, it’s light, fruity, yet strong and oily. There’s ripe melon and cask char.
Palate: Easy, classic unpeated Bruichladdich, yet the higher abv and cask aging has given it quite some bite and spices. It’s fresh but also with a touch of a coastal nature to it, it’s sweet, with some vanilla and gentle oaks.
Continue reading →

Review: Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2007

Posted on by
Reply

Bruichladdich_Islay_Barley_2007Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2007 – 50% abv

Info: Harvested in 2006 and distilled in 2007, the grain for this whisky was grown for Bruichladdich in the Minister’s Field at Rockside Farm by Mark and Rohaise French.
Colour: Light straw golden, nice and natural.
Nose: It’s got those deep punchy Bruichladdich oil tones all the way through, along with layers of light malt. There’s floral honey tones. Something funky.
Palate: Lovely, thick and warming. Considering it’s 50% it’s really gentle and velvety, very easy to drink and enjoy. It’s beautifully sweet and balanced with those ever present deep Bruichladdich oils there.
Continue reading →

Review: Monkey Shoulder

Posted on by
Reply

monkey-shoulder-blended-scotch-whiskyMonkey Shoulder – Blended Malt Scotch Whisky – 40% abv

Info: Monkey Shoulder, launched in 2005, is a no age statement blend of three different single malts from William Grant, i.e. it’s a mix of Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie; it’s not a blend in the usual way as there’s no grain whisky in it, it’s all single malt. Why’s it got it’s name? The men who used to use shovels to turn the barley on the malting floors would develop large muscles and droopy arms which attracted the nickname of ‘Monkey Shoulder’.
Colour: Golden.
Nose: Surprisingly malty, woody and nutty; a fairly classic, quality speyside profile… gently sweet and fruity.
Continue reading →

Review: Glendronach 20yo (Abbey Whisky)

Posted on by
Reply

GlenDronach-Single-Cask-3400-1994-20-year-old-whisky-380Info: Distilled 1994, bottled 2014. Single Cask #3400, Abbey Whisky exclusive replacing Cask #33. 54.8% abv.

Colour: Rich deep dark copper with reddy tints.

Nose: Deep, rich and gently fruity, with herbal qualities to it. Tonnes of squashed raisins, sultanas and golden syrup.

Palate: Thick and slightly hot at first (due to the strength), but rich and warming. You get used to the strength very quickly and it becomes drinkable at full strength scarily easily…. There’s some spices – but only a pinch; it’s still smooth and well aged, a gentle giant. There’s cask oak, but it’s balanced and in general just adds thickness to the mouthfeel. Lots of raisins and dried fruits as on the nose.

Continue reading →