Category Archives: Reviews

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 →

Octomore OBA Concept Review

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Octomore OBA is not a normal Octomore release. In fact you could say it’s kind of a foster child of the family. It’s wasn’t released as a member of the annual series nor did it get any official numerical assignment (x.1 to x.4) but instead it was a separate release with irregular bottle size (which delayed the release).

It’s the Octomore version of the Black Art series (hence the OBA naming), 10 wine casks matured Octomore spirit with a secret recipe. Although Bruichladdich preaches transparency, when it comes to Black Art releases, the leaps are sealed. All we know that it’s a vatting of 10 casks from four different vintages with the youngest vintage hailing from 2008 so it’s a 8-9 years old whisky. What else do we know? that there are six different cask types and all from a single barley strain.

Octomore OBA Concept (59.7%)

Nose: Smoke and sweet honey at first, followed by vanilla and red wine, solid earthy peat, whole black pepper, red fruit, grapes, tannins but it’s pretty rich with dry smoke. After a while it’s smoky sweet red wine with some tannins, smoked meat, getting flatter with time and oxygen. Continue reading →

Benromach 2009 Triple Distilled (Bottled 2017) Review

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Today we’ll have a look at one of the two new Benromach whiskies, the Benromach Triple Distilled.  It’s a limited edition, distilled in 2009 in a wash still once and twice in a spirit still before being matured in first fill bourbon barrels.

Triple distillation usually means more delicatea and lighter spirit but we’re also having a strong first fill bourbon cask impact, so a Benromach for beginners?

Benromach 2009/2017 Triple Distilled (50%, £43.50/€67.00)

Nose: Light smoke and sweet honey, cereals youth, lots of pears and a bit of apricot, bananas, dry sooty smoke, white pepper, limestone dust, minerals, lemon oil. After a while more pronounced dusty feel with pepper  and mint freshness. With water: smokier, younger and malty, pears and honey. Continue reading →

Speyburn 1975 Clan Cask Review

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Today’s review is the 500th post of the blog (only took 4+ years), so I wanted to review something nice (and special) to celebrate the occasion. I rummaged through the samples boxes and came up with a few options but this old Speyburn that was sitting there for years growing cobwebs caught my attention as Speyburn distillery just announced a new 15 Year Old expression, so I thought to myself: why not review a Speyburn?

This 1975 Speyburn, bottled back in 2012 (37 Year Old) was exclusively available to Clan Speyburn, the community for Speyburn lovers. 320 bottles were bottled from this sherry butt.

Speyburn 1975 Clan Cask (55.4%, Cask #3413, £289.95)

Nose: Dried fruit, lots of dates, fresh ripe plums, nutmeg and chestnut, milk chocolate, Chili pepper, big purple cherries, sniffing tobacco, orange and eventually some mint.

Palate: Leather, tobacco, dates, dried fruit paste, orange and ginger marmalade, milk chocolate, nutmeg and white pepper. Very creamy and balanced.

Finish: Medium length, earthy with lingering dried fruit, milk chocolate, nutmeg, tobacco and leather.

Thoughts: This is a magnificent cask. The cask isn’t overpowering with sweet and bold sherry sweetness nor big time spices, stellar and balanced whisky.

(Adrian, Thanks for the sample!)

Ledaig 19 Year Old Marsala Wine Finish Review

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While Tobermory Distillery is closed for renovations lets have a look at Ledaig 19 Year Old Marsala finish. It was distilled back in 1997 and then matured in bourbon barrels and then finished in Marsala wine casks. It was bottled late 2016 before arriving to markets at the beginning of 2017.

I delayed (a lot!) with this review since they whisky was pretty harsh whisky when I initially tasted it but I believed it will be much better with oxidation. So it sat aside and waited for the right time that finally arrived.

Ledaig 19 Year Old Marsala Wine Finish (51%, £124/€159,90)

Nose: Sweet and spicy wine, dry wine tannins, funky herbal and acrid peat, salt, some ashes as well, baked sour red fruit, berries, fresh rich malt and vanilla lurks below the surface, Over time and oxidation getting richer with softer ashes and peat smoke. Continue reading →

Inchmoan 12 Year Old Review

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Today’s review is Inchmoan 12 Year Old, the peated sibling of Inchmurrin from Loch Lomond Distillery. It was distilled using the distillery traditional swan neck and their unique straight neck pot stills (Also known as Lomond Stills). matured for 12 years in re-charred American oak and refill bourbon American oak casks. Bottled at 46% without chill-filtering (although with added caramel). At the moment it’s only available at UK shops but global distribution will follow in the coming months.

Inchmoan 12 Year Old (46%, £44.45)

Nose: Malt and cereals, bright sweetness with touches of floral and vegetal edges, honey, soft clean earthy peat (Islay it’s not…), moss and gentle damp wood which is one of my least favorite notes (to say the least) but it somehow works OK here with the bright sweetness. After a few minutes there’s floral perfume and gentle burnt wood in the background. Continue reading →

The Exclusive Malts Islay Malt 2011 5 Year Old (Whisky in Leiden 2017) Review

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Following the Glentauchers 2008 review that opened the weekend, we’ll end the weekend with another young whisky bottled for Whisky In Leiden 2017 festival.

And it’s one from the other side of the spectrum, opposite of the sherried Speyside there’s a peated Islay malt so nobody get bored. This whisky was distilled in May 2011, matured in refill hogshead (cask 9313) and bottled in early 2017, yielding 306 bottles.

The Exclusive Malts Islay Malt 2011 5 Year Old (Whisky in Leiden 2017) (57.7%, €54,99)

Nose: Sharp oak spices, malt and peat smoke, then honey and vanilla, dry yet very fresh and the smoke which is soft at first then getting sharper. Honey with lemon, then pears. Later on getting minerals and brine along with citrus peels.  Continue reading →