Octomore 8.4 Masterclass Review

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It’s a very slow Sunday here so I think it’s a good time to review a punchy whisky to wake up the spirit and eventually I settled on some heavily peated whisky. Yes you guessed right – an Octomore. I have a few of those ready to be published so let’s review Octomore 8.4 today. I know it’s not a recent release (we already have the 9.x series out there for a while and the 10.x series coming soon) but since it’s still available out there for purchase, why not?

It’s the x.4 designation and it means that Otomore 8.4 is matured in virgin oak casks. But it’s not so simple or straight forward. Pay attention: 20% were matured in virgin oak casks and 80% were matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks and then finished in second-fill virgin oak but those second-fill casks are in fact the Octomore 7.4 virgin oak casks! So even if it’s 8 years old, it should retain some of the Phenols as the barley was peated to 170ppm and we don’t have 100% turbo charged casks to suck all the Phenols.

Octomore 8.4 (Masterclass) (58.7%, £150/€148)

Nose: Vanilla and lemon, very sweet. Coconut and sweet oak extracts, sweet peat, even a bit aggressive peat. seaside air and saltiness. After a few minutes there’s also sweet smoke, brine, vinegar and spiciness led by cloves and cinnamon. Continue reading →

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Mortlach 16 Year Old (Distiller’s Dram) Review

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After reviewing last week the new entry level Mortlach 12 Year Old, it’s time to tackle the next step on the Mortlach ladder – the new Mortlach 16 Year Old.

The new Mortlach 16 Year Old is the litmus test of the new line up as Inevitably it’s compared to the classic Flora & Fauna Mortlach 16 Year Old which was a loved whisky (even I liked it) and then became a cult and sought after bottle when it was dropped from production in favor of the older (and failed) line up.

Unlike the 12 Year Old which is from ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, the 16 Year Old is from first-fill and refill sherry casks – far more promising combo when looking for the old glory of Mortlach.

Mortlach 16 Year Old (Distiller’s Dram) (43.4%, £81.75/€67.95)

Nose: The exclusive sherry casks usage is very noticeable here with depth and complexity of sweet dried fruit, red apples peels, baked cinnamon, milk chocolate followed by dark bitter chocolate. After a few minutes in the glass it’s getting nutty and more ‘Mortlach-y’. Meaty, extra depth and darker and sweeter shades of berries, chocolate and meat. Continue reading →

Mortlach 12 Year Old (The Wee Witchie) Review

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Many words were written and many pixels were darkened discussing and dissecting Diageo change of heart with Mortlach and rebooting the entire line up after the move towards premiumization of the distillery failed.

The new line up is back to basics with 700 ml bottles, age statements and using more sherry casks to restore some of the glory Mortlach achieved with their meaty and sherry whiskies.

The entry level in this new line up is the 12 Year Old which employ both ex-bourbon casks and ex-sherry casks. It’s named ‘The Wee Witchie‘ after the smallest Mortlach pot still (must be because it’s the youngest offering in the new line up).

Mortlach 12 Year Old (The Wee Witchie) (43.4%, £50.75/€46.95)

Nose: Bright, fresh and sweet with vanilla and sweet berries, strawberry, raspberry and gooseberry – lightly jammy. Cinnamon and cloves, cereals almost cake-y, oak spice, all-spice and nutmeg. After a few minutes lovely red apples peels and meatiness. Continue reading →

Caroni Rum 1998 21 Year Old (The Duchess) Review

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It’s been a while since we had a non-whisky review and once again I turn to a Rum bottled by The Duchess, this time their recent 21 Year Old Caroni.

This Caroni was distilled 02/1998, then matured for 21 years in cask #20 before finally being bottled on 05/03/2019, yielding 245 bottles from the cask (so not 100% tropical weather maturation).

This is a sister cask to the 20 Year Old Caroni The Duchess released last year and I loved it so let’s see how this one with extra year fares:

Caroni 1998 21 Year Old (The Duchess) (64.1%, €199)

Nose: Rich nose! Mahogany furniture, brown sugar, fermented banana, mint freshness, sweet olives, fresh sawed oak, the expected petrol and diesel, plums. After a few minutes it’s getting sweeter with sweet oak extracts, caramel, some burnt wood and eventually perfume-y – balanced and fun! With a few drops of water it’s lively with gentler oakiness. Continue reading →

Compass Box No Name No. 2 Review

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Yesterday we reviewed Compass Box Affinity, their Whisky and Calvados spirit and today we’re checking out their latest (and very peated) release: No Name No. 2,

No Name 1 was released late 2017 and it caught on like fire also because it contained a large portion of Ardbeg malt which we rarely see outside (expensive) single malts (at least back then). I reviewed No Name and didn’t like it much thinking it was a bit one dimensional and peat focused without depth. Seems like Compass Box somewhat agreed with this assessment (even though I’m sure they liked it), as we can see from their description on the second release:

Still very smoky indeed, there is a new depth and delicacy. To borrow a musical analogy, No Name was peat as power chord; No Name, No. 2 has brought some harmonics to the party.

This time, the ingredients are different with the majority coming from refill sherry casks from Caol Ila, along with malts coming from Talisker and Clynelish (and the usual CB blend):

No doubt this is an interesting recipe, full of potential. Let’s check it out.

Compass Box No Name No. 2 (48.9%, €123,95, 8802 bottles)

Nose: Peaty and sweet, beach bonfire, cherry orchard, a bit of wax underneath, sugar iclings, coastal. After a few minutes the nose develops dried red berries and chimney smoke. I can nose this for real long time.

Palate: Sweet and sugary, peat, smoke, dried berries and cherries, again a dry waxy note underneath, sprinkle of salt, sea breeze, peppery and coastal.

Finish: Medium long length, coastal, peat smoke, subtle red berries sweetness and dry waxiness.

Thoughts: This edition totally blows out the 1st edition. There are depth and complexity that were so sorely missed from the first edition. This edition provides a tasty combination of peat, slightly sherry impact, waxiness and coastal-ness. Recommended!

Compass Box Affinity Review

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Officially it’s Springtime but here we’re having some heat waves and already deeply descended into summer time when drinks are considered. One notable new release I was curious about, thinking it may be a good summer drink is the recently released Compass Box Affinity spirit.

Yes, It’s not a whisky but a spirit because it’s a mix of whisky and Calvados. For those who didn’t encounter Calvados in the past, Calvados is a brandy made from apples (and pears) in Normandy region in France.

Here, look at the recipe:

That means we have 37.5% Calvados from Christian Drouin, a very respected and well known Calvados producer and 62.5% whisky .

Total of 6,028 bottles of this ‘Chimera’ were produced and bottled at 46% abv.

Compass Box Affinity (46%, £99.95/€102,90)

Nose: Initially doesn’t smell like whisky at all, it’s kinda spirity at times but then the Calvados notes chime in heavily with tons of apples, banana, honey and Calvados oak spice, with some gentle vanilla and honey. After a few minutes in the glass, the Calvados notes relax a bit (although it’s still very prominent) and we get some spices (with white pepper on the front). Continue reading →

Hazelburn 2005 13 Year Old (Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection) Review

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Yesterday it was Glen Scotia open day at Campbeltown Malts Festival 2019 which we celebreated with a review of a lovely sherried 18 Year Old Glen Scotia from Kintra Spirits.

Today is Springbank Open day at the festival and of course we’ll have a celebratory twofer review: A Springbank whisky bottled by Cadenhead!

This 13 Year Old Hazelburn was distilled back in 2005 and was bottled last winter after 13 years in Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection series at 54.6% abv.

Hazelburn 2005 13 Year Old (Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection) (54.6%)

Photo Credit: whiskybase.com

Nose: Cidar and honey, grease, pears, green with tomatoes vine and green unripe banana, shards of dirtiness, thyme, oily and eventually also sooty. Continue reading →