Author Archives: Yoav @ Whisky Gospel

The Gauldrons (Remarkable Regional Malts) Review

Last month Douglas Laing has released the last missing piece of their Remarkable Regional Malt series, The Gauldrons, representing the Campbeltown region.

The Gauldrons in Gaelic means “bay of storms” and this is the bay located west to Campbeltown. The legend says that Robert the Bruce was inspired there by a spider rebuilding his net to keep fighting, hence the golden web on the bottle label and tube.

Since there are only three distilleries in the region, I think we can quite safely assume that 99% (if not 100%) of this blend comes from Glen Scotia and Springbank due to the limited supply from Glengyle which is kept for internal usage. Let’s check just how Campbeltown-y is it.

The Gauldrons (46.2%, £49.99/€54,49)

Nose: Hits the nose with Campbeltown dirtiness with a big infusion of Springbank character, peat and oils but on the other hand is missing most of the greenery and the damp earthy peat (thanks to the Glen Scotia malt in this whisky). Malty with big dose of pastry dough, honey and lemon and a sprinkle of salt. After a few minutes, some of that missing greenery comes up (can’t stop that Springbank!). Continue reading →

Glenfiddich Project XX (Experimental Series #2) In Depth Review

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Last week, Struan Grant Ralph, Global Brand Ambassador for Glenfiddich stopped in our small country during one of his global tour for a series of events organized by the “Hacerem”, the local Glenfiddich Importer. The events focused on the Glenfiddich Experimental Series along with a bonus of rare view on the whisky making progress for Glenfiddich 21 Year Old Reserva Rum Cask Finish.

So it seemed like a good idea and timing to (finally) have an in-depth review of the Glenfiddich Project XX, so I sat down with Struan to discuss the experimental series, project XX and Glenfiddich in the hope to learn something new and indeed, at the end I came out wiser, impressed yet also wishing for a change in Glenfiddich.

Struan on the Experimental Series

As we all know by now, the first two expressions in the Experimental were very successful and the third one (Winter Storm), finished in ice wine casks is now hitting the shelves around the globe. Are you wondering what’s the next one in the series? I wondered too, so I bluntly asked him if he can tell me anything on the next one in the series and to my surprise he didn’t declined to answer and revealed it will be centered around PX casks. Continue reading →

Bunnahabhain Stiùireadair Review

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Today under the microscope is the latest official release from Bunnahabhain distillery. Bunnahabhain Stiuireadair is a No-Age-Statement whisky but is also a fully sherried whisky in 1st and 2nd fill Sherry casks although I assume it’s mostly 2nd fill casks. The reason it was born was to replace the staple 12 year old in some markets and to live side-by-side in other markets. All towards the goal of preserving the precious aged stocks despite the rising demand for single malt whisky.

Does it work? Can it truly replace the 12 yo as a daily sipper and help preserve the aged stock?

Bunnahabhain Stiùireadair (46.3%, £38.45/€31,50)

Nose: Malty, nice touch of sweet red fruit, there’s the Bunnahabhain heaviness and oiliness, After a while, more dried fruit, raspberries and strawberry and also getting them in the fresh form. Gentle dark chocolate and caramel.

Palate: Malt and oak spices, cereals porridge, bitter espresso and dark chocolate, prunes, sweet dried fruit towards the end but overall much less noticeable sherry impact on the palate.

Finish: Medium length, malty, lingering bittersweet coffee, chocolate and gentle oak spices.

Thoughts: All in all, I think that the Stiùireadair successfully does what it created to do. It’s a gentle young sherried Bunnahabhain (my guess? a mix of 7-10 year old casks) that can and does shoulder part of the heavy demand for a Bunnahabhain daily sipper. And the price is reasonable (especially in Europe). Personally I’ll still pick up the 12 yo over this one, but in the broader picture and long term goals of Bunnahabhain, it’s a ‘mission accomplished’ whisky.

Balvenie Peat Week 14 Year Old (2002 Vintage) Review

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Until recently, the only peated Balvenie we had were the long gone limited edition Balvenie Peated Cask 17 Year Old (which I reviewed a few years ago) and the Islay Cask 17 Year Old. But states has changed recently with two new peated Balvenies, both 14 year old expressions, were released to markets. The first is a Triple Cask 14 Year Old for Travel Retail market and a globally released 14 year old named Peat Week as Balvenie produces peated whisky for one week a year (and not every year), naturally called named ‘Peat Week’.

Today I’m checking out the Peat Week 14 Year old that was distilled in 2002 and has been aged in American Bourbon oak for 14 years.

Balvenie Peat Week 14 yo 2002 Vintage (48.3%, £56.95/$99.99)

Nose: Like all Balvenies I had tasted to day, it has that soft nose I associate with Balvenie and this time it’s full of sweet honey and gentle peat, then sweet fruit – citrus, pears and peaches and finally soft nuttiness. Continue reading →

Bruichladdich Octomore 7.1 Scottish Barley Review

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It was confirmed earlier today that we will see some Octomores on the shelves here next month. Hurray! And while celebrating this piece of news, I’ve noticed that I had neglected to post notes for Octomore 7.1 while reviewing 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4, so it’s time to get it fixed.

Octomore 7.1 was the last Octomore that Jim McEwan did for Bruichladdich before he retired after more than 50 years in the industry. It was made using Scottish barley peated to a then high record of 208 ppm and then was matured for 5 years in American oak barrels.

Bruichladdich Octomore 7.1 (59.5%, £107/€128,05)

Nose: Sweet smoke, peat, honey, vanilla pods, half cured half raw meat. After a few minutes getting red fruit: plums and red apples and also peaches marmalade with a honeyed perfume. Continue reading →

Glenmorangie 18 Year Old Review

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Tasting and reviewing the Macallan Sienna, got me craving for some whiskies I didn’t taste in a long time. Yeah, you can definitely become nostalgic for drams you tasted earlier in your whisky journey and aren’t in your whisky cabinet at the moment.

So I decided to try another one or two whiskies from my archive which I didn’t review here yet, and the first one I went for was Glenmorangie 18 Year Old. Why? I assure you it’s not because it’s Extremely Rare like they claim it to be. it’s not that rare if you really wondered as it’s in the market for years albeit for a tad higher price tag than most of its age bracket siblings from other distilleries. No, the real reason is that it was on the front row of my archive shelf 😀

Glenmorangie 18 Year Old (43%, £80.90/€68,90/$89.95/445₪)

Nose: That sweet and delicate Glenmorangie profile is up-front here, barley sugar, sweet honey, vanilla, citrus, Brasil nuts and walnuts, a pinch of white pepper and cinnamon, pears, rich and velvety coupled with dry oakiness.

Palate: Sweet velvety honey, then pears and granny smith apples peels, some sour greenery, oranges, barley sugar, ends with spices mostly white pepper and gentle oak spices, gentle nuts mix bowl.

Finish: Medium length, lingering sweetness, pears drops, nuttiness , oak spices and white pepper.

Thoughts: Solid offering from Glenmorangie with the trademark flavor profile of the distillery we all know from the 10 Year Old with added spices and time effect. While it’s not exactly Extremely Rare nor a groundbreaking whisky it’s still a nice 18 year old that competes successfully in this age bracket.

The Macallan Sienna Review

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Last week Macallan announced a new series with four expressions, all without age statement, in 4 different price points. Are you having some deja vu? Because I did.

For a moment I thought it must be some reposting of the original 1824 series announcement which incidentally happened exactly 4 years ago in October. But a second and deeper look revealed the truth of a new Travel Retail series which will completely replace the 1824 series and all other TR expression starting January 2018.

But the discussion on this series in one of my whisky FB groups, turned to the 1824 series faster than you could say Jack Robinson. Not too many people here tasted because the 1824 series didn’t reached us and didn’t show up on shelves. Yes, it means we’re still ‘stuck’ with the Fine Oak series, although I’m not sure if that’s a bad thing or a good thing :-D. To make a long story short, we all pretty much agreed that the 1824 series was a forgettable one exception of the Sienna which was quite decent relatively to its price (Ruby excluded from the discussion for it’s the premium offering).

I then looked at my notes and found that I never published them on the blog, so in ‘celebration’ of the new Macallan Quest series, I took out my Sienna archive sample, opened and re-tasted it to see if our memory of its decency was real.

The Macallan Sienna (43%, £74.55/€76,98)

Nose: Dried red fruit, vanilla and sweet maltiness to balance the sweetness, baked nutmeg, white pepper, milk chocolate and after a while, a bit of dried strawberries and cinnamon. Continue reading →

Glen Scotia 18 Year Old (2017) Review

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Last month Glen Scotia distillery, one of three Campbeltown distilleries, relaunched their Glen Scotia 18 Year Old expression. It’s replacing the old 18 Year old expression that exists since 2013 which may be familiar to you because of the blue colors theme of the bottle and label (see image on the right).

So only 4 years later, the expression is coming back in a new and more mainstream-y (or perhaps should we see less avant-garde?) packaging and coloring. But the big news are that it also boasts a new liquid recipe. the old version was matured exclusively in ex-bourbon casks and this time the spirit was matured for 17 years in ex-bourbon casks, before married together and finished in Oloroso sherry casks for 12 months.

I guess the older version wasn’t doing so well so they tried something else and see if they can come with a better whisky. Did it work for them?

Glen Scotia 18 Year Old 2017 (46%, £85.95/€67,90)

Nose: Bright and fruity with sooty smoke, very punchy at first even at 46%. Dusty, salt and minerals, pears, toffee and honey. After a while some sherry notes shows up: dried red fruit interwoven with the bright and fresh honey, cinnamon and nutmeg spices. nose is going back and forth between the delicate sherry notes the bourbon impact notes. Continue reading →

anCnoc 24 Year Old Review

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The core range of anCnoc whiskies is reaching our shores in a few weeks. AnCnoc (pronounced AH-nock) is the brand name for the whisky distilled in Knockdhu distillery from the Highlands region, The distillery is owned by Inverhouse Distillers who also control Old Pulteney, Balblair and two more far less familiar distilleries.

Since Old Pulteney stopped producing the Old Pulteney 21 (now replaced by a far more expensive 25 year old whisky), the anCnoc 24 seems like a good candidate to replace the OP 21 as the matured and affordable whisky of choice in this region.

The anCnoc 24, released back in 2015, is a combination of ex-bourbon casks and sherry-treated casks and thankfully it’s not being chill-filtered nor coloured and it’s also bottled at 46%. This is what I think we should expect as the minimum from a whisky bottle.

anCnoc 24 Year Old (46%, £116/€129,90/$129.69)

Nose: Gentle oak spices, sweet gluhwein (Mulled wine), candied and sugared orange peels, orange marmalade, leather, vanilla, honey, creamy. After a few minutes there’s more sherry influence with sweet dried fruit, nuts and fruit cake. Continue reading →

The Macallan Edition No. 2 Review

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How about a Macallan review to close the weekend? Let’s have a look at Macallan Edition No.2, the second release in an annual limited edition in which Macallan partner with somebody to create this edition. In this case of the Macallan Edition No.2, it’s a collaboration between Macallan master blender Bob Dalgarno and the Spanish chefs Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca, co-founders of El Celler de Can Roca, which was twice named best restaurant in the world.

It’s a NAS whisky (no real surprise from Macallan of the last few years), with seven different oak cask types (European and American oak casks) from four different bodegas.

The Macallan Edition No. 2 (48.2%, £81.95/€97.49)

Nose: Lovely sherried nose, dried fruit, gooseberries, blackberries, cooked plums, soaked raisins (don’t get those much lately in new sherried whiskies), cinnamon, milk chocolate, velvety and with some fresh and light side. After a few minutes, getting more chocolate and coffee, berries pastry, malt, honey and buttery feeling. Continue reading →