Review: Spice Tree Extravaganza

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compass box spice tree extravaganzaSpice Tree Extravaganza – 45% abv

Info: Spice Tree Extravaganza, sees former banned bottling The Spice Tree reinterpreted with the use of “older components” and a “significant portion” of Sherry-cask matured aged malt whisky. 12,240 bottles, no colouring, no chill filtration.
Colour: Fully golden with autumnal hints.
Nose: The nose is, as you’d expect, spicy! Wood spices galore. With some air you start to get lots of other wonderful aromas, malt and citrus and summer fruits with cream.
Palate: The palate is upfront with spice and oils, it covers your tongue with a tingly spirit that stops getting too spicy that it overpowers you and remains really enjoyable. Wood oaks and sweet fruity malt is there along with a creaminess and hints of char smoke.
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Review: WaggingFinger Gin

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wagging finger bottleWaggingFinger Gin Batch #1 – 44% abv

Info: From over in the Netherlands comes Wagging Finger gin. Check out their site at waggingfinger.com – They’re just getting started, and it looks like it’ll be a fun project!
Nose: Massively full of flavour… I’m not overly versed in gin, but from memory this is the most flavour filled gin I think I’ve yet to find! It smells fizzy (not that you can smell fizzy?!), packed with sweet citrus, and plenty of herbs. The alcohol has enough bite to it to keep you from inhaling too deeply.
Palate: The nose really draws you in to drink some, and when you do you are rewarded by a sweet, yet spiced, powerful spirit that is beautifully smooth and just as flavourful as the nose was. There’s something about the spices in use that reminds me of Coke, but maybe that’s just me. There’s just a hint of something soapy and fragrant at the end as you swallow.
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Review: Three new Wemyss Batch Strength Editions

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wemyss malts logoThree new Wemyss Batch Strength Editions

Wemyss’ core range of blended whiskies covering various regional styles include ‘The Hive’, ‘Spice King’ and ‘Peat Chimney’. They’ve been around for a while, but Wemyss have now released some limited special edition Batch Strength versions

Let’s take a look at them…

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Review: Mount Gay Rum Goodies

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mount gay logo

Mount Gay Rum Twitter Tasting

I’ve been lucky enough to be on a Mount Gay twitter tasting tonight… I’m still quite new to rum, I know I like it, but I haven’t tried many varieties, so it’s great to try a few new ones from this range that I’ve not tried before!

Mount Gay is a fairly small producer, making around 500k cases a year. They mature everything in ex-American whiskey oak barrels.

Traditionally, Bajan rum are blends of pot and column distillates made from molasses.

Without further ado let’s dig in to the goodies…

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Review: The Macallan Edition No. 2

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The Macallan Edition No. 2The Macallan Edition No. 2 – 48.2% abv

Info: The Macallan Edition No. 2 is a collaboration between master blender Bob Delgarno and Spanish chefs Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca. It’s comprised of a combination of sherry puncheons, butts and refill hogsheads.
Colour: Rich rusty autumnal gold.
Nose: Rich, fruity, plump, damp mustiness, earthy raisins. Chocolate and pepper.
Palate: Fairly thick and chewy, there are spices, but they build nicely rather than slapping you in the face. There’s darker sherry fruit notes there, but it remains quite a bright dram.
Finish: Oak lead finish that warms your stomach nicely, leaving a balanced mix of fruits and spices on your palate. There’s a certain grippyness to the finish.
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Review: The Macallan 12 Year Old Double Cask

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macallan 12 yo double caskThe Macallan 12 Year Old Double Cask – 40% abv

Info: Aged in a combination of American oak and European oak ex-sherry casks.
Colour: Lightly golden.
Nose: Nutty, mashed autumn fruits with an oaky backdrop. Slightly dusty, musty.
Palate: Medium thick, and more spicy than expected, it may need a tiny drop of water, or at least holding on your tongue for a bit to dilute. Oily sherry fruit notes.
Finish: The spices help to give this a fairly long and warming finish on your chest.
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Review: Highland Park Fire Edition

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highland park fire bottleHighland Park Fire Edition – 15 Year Old – 45.2% abv

Info: Highland Park Fire Edition is the second of a two part series, which started with Ice Edition. It was matured in 100% refill Port seasoned casks (I’m not totally sure what that means, how long were they seasoned for?). 28,000 bottles, natural colour.

Colour: Gold, with just the smallest hint of pink.

Nose: Musty, dusty, heathery floral malt with hints of sweet smoke, cinnamon and dark chocolate. With enough time hints of barley start to come out. There’s notes of black and red wine gums.
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XMas Ideas: Drinks by the Dram Whisky Advent Calendar

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standard whisky craft advent calendarDrinks by the Dram Christmas 2016 Whisky (and other!) Advent Calendar

It’s that time of the year where the nights have drawn in, and the crazy neighbours may have started adoring their houses with flashing Christmas decorations. With only a few days left before December hits, there’s still time to consider what you might want to do to treat yourself, or a good friend to for Advent… and what better a treat than this year’s Whisky Advent Calendar (other spirits are available). It’s a box full of 25 x 3cl drams, a different whisky (or other spirit) every day, what a good idea! Let’s take a look at some of the official PR blurb: Continue reading →

Review: Lagavulin 25 Year Old (200th Anniversary)

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Lagavulin 25 Year Old (200th Anniversary)Lagavulin 25 Year Old (200th Anniversary) – 51.7% abv

Info: Lagavulin 25 Year Old (200th Anniversary) was released in 2016 as part of the celebrations for the distillery’s anniversary, and lists all the managers over that time on the bottle. It’s aged exclusively in Sherry casks, and released at cask strength. 8000 bottles worldwide.

Colour: Rich dark golden amber, the rusty depths of autumn.

Nose: Powerful, rich, deep, and lively. There’s deep chocolaty raisin notes amongst spadefuls of rich smoked fruitcake (Why can’t I get one of those? That’d be amazing!). The peat is very much tamed here, to more of a relaxing evening ember of a dying fire by the sea. Sweet cured bacon notes pop out at you. Old waxed antique oak in the background.

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Quick Review: Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold

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dalwhinnie winters gold whiskyDalwhinnie Winter’s Gold – 43% abv

Info: No age statement. Suggested to be served frozen.
Colour: Golden, rather caramelly looking.
Nose: Fairly light, nutty with lots of barley notes. A few younger notes, but a generally sweet and pleasant nose.
Palate: Medium, if not slightly thick oils which are fairly spiced, but balanced enough not to annoy. There’s both young and old oak notes that creep out.
Finish: Subtle and medium in length, tannin touches. There’s a tiny bit of heather floral peat left around.
Thoughts: Possibly slightly engineered, but actually a very likable, oak sappy spiced highland dram.
Available: Master of Malt – £38.95 – Thanks to them for the sample!