Author Archives: Yoav @ Whisky Gospel

Miltonduff 2008 12 Year Old Sherry Finished (Blackadder)

Following the Blackadder Benrinnes review here’s another Blackadder whisky review.

We’re staying in the Speyside region and check out a whisky from Miltonduff Distillery. This whisky was distilled back in 05.03.2008, was filled into a bourbon cask and then was finished in a Sherry hogshead before being bottled last September.

This Hogshead (#1001) yielded 287 bottles at 58.2%

Blackadder Miltonduff 2008 12 Year Old (58.2%)

Photo: clydesdale.se

Nose: Clean and fresh nose, dried red berries with mainly raspberries and strawberries, berries marmalade, then the bourbon cask comes to play: intense, and honey (reminds me the Benrinnes reviewed yesterday). The sherry cask then replies back with dark chocolate, cinnamon and nutmeg. Continue reading →

Benrinnes 2010 10 Year Old (Blackadder)

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Benrinnes is a distillery more known to whisky geeks and afficionados as most of their whisky goes into blends. Their whisky is big and muscular and I usually enjoy my Benrinnes when it’s far more older then this specimen bottled by Backadder.

This is a 10 Year Old Benrinnes distilled 21.06.2010 and bottled in August 2020 after maturing in a straightforward ex-bourbon cask (number #306695).

This hogshead yielded 321 bottles at 58.1% and now it’s time to see how this whisky fares even at this tender age.

Blackadder Benrinnes 2010 10 Year Old (58.1%)

Photo: whiskybase.com

Nose: It’s a young Benrinnes and the toughness is on display. Straw, honey, rocks dust and green pears. Then it gets herbal with lavender, a touch of soap, herbal perfume. Cereals, bread, bakery fresh dough, kiwi and papaya, vanilla pods and all this time the tough backbone is there. This is not a soft whisky, it’s one with bulging muscles. Continue reading →

Golani ‘Out of the blue’ by Mashing

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An independent Golan Heights Distllery whisky. Didn’t think it will happen anytime soon, but there it is – the first indie Golani is out there by a Mashing, a new independent bottler (disclosure: I know one of the founders and we’re in the same whisky groups and circles).

This 3 Year Old two grains Golani (3 years and 10 months so almost 4 Year Old), is their first release and also the first one in a planned experiment cask series. How experimental is this whisky? Take a deep breath:

It started out its life in a high-end Cabernet Sauvignon red wine case from Golan Height Winery. After 3 years it was finished for 10 months in a 110 liter cask nicknamed “Unicorn cask” that started as a Tchelet wine cask (a naturally fermented wine) from Tanya winery and was used once to age very lightly peated singe mat Golani whisky before being put to use here (so basically it’s a finish in a refill Unicorn cask).

Complex setup? Indeed it is. Was is worth it?

Golani ‘Out of the blue’ by Mashing (66.2%, Cask #25)

Nose: Powerful, red wine, here comes the Golani trademark of dirt and licorice, a wee touch of grain, marmalade, berries filled chocolate and tannins. After a few minutes, dried berries, espresso, chocolate (familiar notes from the previous usage of this unicorn cask), fresh berries of raspberry, cherries, gooseberry and cranberries, at this stage I barely notice the grain.

Palate: The unicorn cask is dominant here with very strong chocolate and espresso impact, dried berries, licorice, oak and mint freshness. Then it recedes to reveal more gentle oak spice, tannins, mint leftovers and drying sensation.

Finish: Long finish, not as powerful as on the Palate but lingering chocolate, espresso and dried berries.

Thoughts: This dram easily rocked up to the top 2 Golani I ever tasted (and the 2nd one was a single malt). It’s powerful, packing lots of favors – fruits, chocolate and espresso with a touch of Golani licorice and mint. It’s an excellent whisky, always a good sign to start a new business like that.

Caol Ila 13 Year Old Koval Cask Finish (For Northern Whisky Society)

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Caol Ila is the big distillery on Islay and we see many releases in the market from various independent bottlers and we love it!

Today’s review is on a Caol Ila 13 Year Old bottling from The Single Cask Ltd. which was bottled for Northern Whisky Society which I’m member of it since it was founded and also helps managing. As a co-admin I of course was involved in the process of selecting and approving this cask but trust me – the notes are accurate and good thing I don’t dish out marks for whiskies.

This Caol Ila was distilled 28.02.2007 and then matured in Bourbon cask for over 12 years before being finished in Koval cask (From Koval Distillery in Chicago, USA) which probably held Rye whisky and then also briefly held Peated Glenturret (Ruadh Maor) before it was used for this Caol Ila finish process. It was eventually bottled on 16.10.2020 and this 100 Liter cask yielded 137 bottles at 55.7%

Caol Ila 13 Year Old For NWS (55.7%, Cask #303472B)

Nose: Sweet peat smoke combined with herbal smoke and wet peat smoke. Also some coastal side with sea breeze, brine, seashore and shells and seafood. Smoked meat, vanilla and honey, green herbs perfume, lemony, velvety and caressing. Continue reading →

Ardnamurchan AD/09.20:01

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In late 2020, Ardnamurchan distillery had finally released their first legal whisky after a few batches of previews (AD/2016 to AD/2019) and it’s always exciting to have a new distillery reviewed here.

I tasted the two kinds of new make from Ardnamurchan – one peated and one unpeated and liked them very much. Therefor it’s no surprise I was eager to taste their proper whisky and seems like I wasn’t alone as the first batch flew off the shelves and now there’s a new batch AD/01.21:01.

But let’s focus on the first batch, AD/09.20:01. It was distilled in 2014/2015 and was bottled on 22/09/2020, so basically it’s a 5 year old whisky. It’s a 50:50 mix of peated and unpeated spirit matured in bourbon and sherry casks – 65% in Bourbon & 35% in PX & Oloroso Sherry Casks.

Those batches are bottled at 46.8% and their retail price is about £45-£50 (if you manage to get one when they come out that is).

Ardnamurchan AD/09.20:01 (46.8%, 15978 bottles)

Photo: thewhiskyexchange.com

Nose: Oily with the expected honey and vanilla notes of a young whisky, very gentle earthy peat. There’s a very shy side for the sherry casks, with restrained red fruitiness that strengthen over time, also some soursweet berries (raspberry) and more vanilla. Continue reading →

Glenmorangie a Tale of Cake (Tokaji Wine Casks Finish)

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After 10 years of Private Editions, Glenmorangie are taking a break from the series (maybe even for good) and instead we have this limited edition called “Glenmorangie a Tale of Cake” which in short is a whisky that started like the Glenmorangie 10 Traditional and then took a twist with Tokaji wine casks finish.

Tokaji is a dessert wine style from Hungary (and neighbor Slovakia) and we don’t see many whiskies finished in such casks as it’s considered hard to master and get a good taste profile.

The reasoning behind this whisky was to reflect a cake in a bottle:

Dr Bill, found himself musing over how some of his most joyful memories came from cake — from the pineapple upside down cake his daughter made for his birthday to baking with his Granny in her kitchen.

He devised this whisky to conjure the magic of a cake moment, finishing his favourite Glenmorangie Single Malt in the finest Tokaji dessert wine casks.

Glenmorangie a Tale of Cake (46%, £75)

Photo credit: thewhiskyexchange.com

Nose: If the 10yo starts with vanilla, honey and nuts spices, here the nose starts with pears, subtle oak spice, dessert white wine (duh!) which then laces with late coming Glenmorangie classic features of soft honey, vanilla and nuttiness. After a few minutes boom! a bowl of white chocolate, more nuttiness and white pepper. Then some unripe fruits and green melon, ripe pears, sweet grapes and even more honey and spice. Continue reading →

Islay Feis Ile Festival 2021 Bottles

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Welcome to the 2021 edition of the Feis Ile bottles guide!

Once again, this year the festival goes virtual as the Covid-19 pandemic is still raging around the world and surely no big crowds will be allowed in such public events.

This post will detail all the available information on the festival bottles and will be update each time more details will be revealed.

Updates:

28/02/2021 – Added SMWS Caol Ila bottle
08/02/2021 – Initial update with Ardbeg and a few SMWS bottles

So here’s the list of Feis Ile 2020 bottlings and the available information:

Lagavulin – Open day on Saturday 29th May 2021

Continue reading →

Bunnahabhain 2002 Madeira Finish Fèis Ìle 2020

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After a long hiatus due to COVID-19 mood and because things got busy at work it’s time to resume some whisky writing besides posting some news on the Facebook page.

I was in the midst of writing the second Bunnahabhain Feis Ie 2020 review so let’s complete it and then resume normal bog operation (with the Laphroaig bottling waiting for a future special Laphroaig project).

This Bunnahabhain was the older (and more expensive) botting available before the open day (when the distillery released a third whisky, expensive and super premium). It’s a 17-18 Year old unpeated whisky, finished in Madeira casks.

Bunnahabhain 2002 Madeira Finish Fèis Ìle 2020 (53%, £199, 1164 bottles)

Nose: Oily, sweet pungent, dunnage warehouse, honey and flower petals, milk chocolate, cranberries and peaches, almonds, cookies dough, clearly distinct roses petal, oily did we say? also quite heavy, marzipan. After a while there’s more chocolate, the floral side get stronger, darker honeyed fruits and pastries. There’s depth and complexity here. Continue reading →

Bunnahabhain Mòine 2010 Amontillado Finish Fèis Ìle 2020

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The Kilchoman Fèis Ìle 2020 festival bottling was good – can we continue this trend with the Bunnahabhain festival bottlings? There were 3 festival bottlings this year, two were announced before the festival and one was released as a surprise during the virtual open day.

The more accessible festival bottle, just like previous years, was a Bunnahabhain Moine. This time it was a 2010 vintage finished in Amontillado sherry casks.

Let’s check it out:

Bunnahabhain Mòine 2010 Amontillado Fèis Ìle 2020 (56.9%, £99, 1658 bottles)

Nose: soft smoke, sweet grapes, fermented grapes, oily, slightly toasted nuts, a bit of salted fish carpaccio, grapes peels (yeah, a lot of grapes related notes), tobacco smoke behind, fresh, dough, cereals, fresh with some sour sweet juice, vanilla, green fruits, artificial canned tropical juice, apricots, whiffs of char and well defined smoke. Continue reading →

Kilchoman 12 Year Old Fèis Ìle 2020

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After getting disappointed from Ardbeg BlaaacK, it’s time to move on to another Fèis Ìle 2020 festival bottling, hoping it will be better and today’s candidate to improve the mood is the Kilchoman bottling.

This year Anthony Wills has selected a few Ex-Bourbon Barrels to be bottled as the festival offering and so we got a Kilchoman 12 Year Old limited edition (2,630 bottles) for the festival.

After a failed first try to sell the bottle online where the website couldn’t cope with the load, it got sold out within 15 minutes on the second try.

Kilchoman 12 Year Old Fèis Ìle 2020 (54.2%, £108, 2630 bottles)

Nose: Rich and sweet, smoke and peat, honey, vanilla, rich and pungent. And at first it smells lightly peated instead of a heavy peat bomb. After all it’s a 12 Year Old Kilchoman. Pears and peaches, somewhat unripe tropical fruits and kiwi. After a few minutes of swirling the glass more pronounced and sharper peat smoke. Eventually a bit of honeyed fruits perfume and buttery dough. Really good and enchanting nose. Continue reading →