It’s a kinda busy day here so take a quick review of a great Benriach single cask that was bottled exclusively for TWE this summer. It’s a 1998 vintage (17 year old), triple distilled and finished in a PX cask #7758.
Nose: This is quite a malty and soft nose. Full of sweet apricots and fresh (and a tad rich) perfume fruit orchard, zesty citrus peels, ginger and cacao, A lovely nose!
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Following Yesterdays review of the single cask Glendronach, I thought it will be a good idea to bring you an example of a true sherry bomb. If you recall from that review, I said that it felt a bit lighter than a true sherry bomb so today I bring you a review of 100% sherry bomb.
I was debating between two possible reviews but this morning on twitter there was a small discussion on awful sherried Benrinnes whiskies and just like that the die was cast for me as one of the options is an explosive sherried Benrinnes and that should mend the broken opinion on that kind of whiskies 🙂
It’s an indie bottling, as Benrinnes doesn’t have any official bottlings, from the too seldom active The Bottlers company. It’s a November 1982 vintage that spent 26 years in a Refill Sherry Butt before being bottled at 2009 at natural cask strength of 57.4%
Nose: Heavy sherry nose with tons of dried fruits, a bit of smoke, sweet raisins and sultanas, prunes and cinnamon, thick and chewy, muted oak spices. After letting it sit in the glass for a couple of minutes there’s dark caramel and the it is spicier. Hey, there’s tobacco too now!
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A quick review without a lengthy introduction or musings: A Glendronch single cask bottling from 1995. An exclusive bottling for The Whisky Exchange, aged 19yo and packing a 55.4% punch. Gotta be a good sherry bomb, right?
Nose: Yummy! Starts with a heavy PX influence but after a minute you realize it’s not your ordinary sherry bomb. It’s lighter on the red dark fruit front. Instead there are lots of fresh and sweet fruit, sultanas, soaked raisins and dates. There’s a good punch of sherry spices, cinnamon, cloves and some sweet brown sugar. Continue reading
What do whisky geeks look for in a whisky? There are a few possible answers to this question but I think there’s one answer that will resonate true with most: Deeper understanding and new Information on what impacts and builds whisky taste.
Think about it for a moment: What impacts taste and flavor in whisky? We know that barley variant, yeast type, fermentation time (and vessels), still shape, heart cut and casks – all those impact flavor so it’s no wonder that we geeks love masterclasses, special whisky releases and aids that help us deconstruct whisky – to gain a better understanding of how it works and that reveal the innards of good and/or popular whiskies.
Only this week, there was a big uproar when Compass Box revealed the ingredients composing their latest two releases (namely the ages of the different casks that went into the blend). Whisky geeks applauded them despite that fact that a law was broken, because there was transparency and full information was disclosed. It means we know the recipe and we can chug onward toward finding our ultimate whisky and understand even further what makes whisky ‘clicks’.
Tomatin distillery is playing along with us geeks on this front, with special Cu Bocan releases, focusing on the major flavor corners (peat, sherry and bourbon) and now Tomatin Contrast.
Tomatin Contrast gives us whisky aficionados a unique opportunity to compare the effect of Bourbon and Sherry casks on whisky distilled at Tomatin Distillery at the same years. Of all the factors mentioned above, it’s a known fact (or is it an axiom?) that casks impact is the most important factor (between 50% to 80% of the final whisky flavor). The whisky in both Contrast halves was distilled in specific years (1973, 1977, 1988, 1991, 2002 & 2006) and so we are probably looking at a very similar spirit (same barley, yeast and stills), leaving the classroom stage to the casks and their impact.
Nose: First impression is sweetness and fruitiness with lots of tropical fruit notes. Fresh juicy pineapples, papaya and a touch of guava, Vanilla, subtle nuts, oak wood. All nicely balanced. After a few minutes in the glass: perfumed tropical juice, lemon zest and the nose becomes very sweet and like it a lot. Continue reading
Anyone who knows me, personally or follow me via the blog, know that Laphroaig is my favorite distillery. With Laphroaig celebrating 200 years this year I was very excited and keen to try anything new they throw at us: the re-invented 15 Year Old (which I already reviewed here), the 21 Year old (soon to be reviewed) and the ultra premium 32 Year Old.
When the 32 Year Old expression was announced, I knew it will be expensive and well beyond me and my poor wallet. After all, it’s not too common to find old age Laphroaig in sherry casks and in the age where old and premium whiskies prices are sky rocketing, it was very slim possibility. It didn’t stop me from having wild dreams where I snap out my credit card, buy a bottle and enjoy it, but of course I then woke up (and sadly without a bottle).
But I got lucky and got a sample, a gift from a friend which was delivered to me as a blind dram (No, I didn’t guessed it to be Laphroaig 32…). So what did I think of it? Should I follow my dreams and buy a bottle while ignoring the hefty price tag?
Nose: Hmm this is one complex nose with everything is meshed together. It needs a few minutes to open up and deliver recognizable notes. First there’s slow, deep and gentle peat with deep dark fruit sweetness that reminds me of first fill bourbon cask impact with some vanilla, but slowly slowly subtle sherry notes shows up, getting stronger with time. There are berries, brown sugar and it stays subtle. Continue reading
Another day in October, another review of a whisky release for the holidays. This time, the latest annual edition of one of the few bottlings that actually admit it’s targeted at Xmas shoppers: Big Peat Xmas Edition and today it’s a review of their new 2015 edition.
Just like the normal Big Peat, it contains malts from various Islay distilleries, and like the previous annual Xmas editions, is bottled at cask strength and this year it’s 53.8%.
Nose: First sniff screams YOUNG! But not all young whiskies are equal so let’s paddle on. Sweet peat and with barely any smoke, malty, lemon, citrus peels, fresh apricots, somehow it feels like a lightweight and fresh whisky, and fresh is the keyword here. Continue reading
Remember Compass Box “This is Not a Luxury Whisky” I reviewed last week? When it was released, to celebrate Compass Box 15th anniversary, there was another whisky release: the 5th edition of Flaming Heart.
Once again, we do get to see what are the ingredients and it and I wish we could see such a list for every whisky. is very interesting composition: old Caol Ila, younger Caol Ila, Large dose of Clynelish and a dash of spicy young highland malt.
There are 12,060 bottles of this whisky, bottled at 48.9%, Not chilled-filtered and Natural color. Let’s dive into it.
Nose: Starts very smoky but the smoke subsides and then
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It’s my birthday so I have an excellent excuse to post a review of a special whisky, one that comes from a closed lowlands distillery, a 32 Year old St. Magdalene Distillery (also known as Linlithgow) whisky.
I had the opportunity to see the old distillery site when my friend Tom took me there two years ago (a few pictures are here) but I didn’t taste any whisky made there until very recently when I finally tasted the 32 yo whisky bottled earlier this year by Cadenhead.
The whisky was distilled in 1982 and bottled in January 2015 at cask strength of 58.1% and only 282 bottles were produced.
Nose: Dusty & sour, even chalky. But then come the fresh and dry cut grass and floral notes, honey, peaches syrup (from a can), gummy bears, lemongrass leaves, thymine spice. With a few drop of water it opens up and deliver perfume, extra floral notes with hints of sweet dried fruit. Continue reading
Remember Ardbeg Dark Cove? A possible new Ardbeg whisky that we discovered last month thanks to the required filling in the American TTB database. There were a lot of speculations about it – is it a new core expression? a replacement for Uigeadail?
Since then the water calmed down and the Ardbeg fans went hibernating but guess what? There’s a new filling for Dark Cove at the TTB database with an updated label!
Today we’ll have a review of a new whisky release targeted at the x-mas/new year holidays shoppers. This time it’s another special edition from Wemyess Malts, Kiln Embers. Kiln Embers release follows Velvet Fig, its very successful predecessor, which I liked a lot and so I had high hopes for this one as well.
This time, Wemyss Malts took different approach and direction, almost 180 degrees of Velvet Fig, going west toward Islay and peat. Yes, it’s true they already have a peated whisky in their portfolio (Peat chimney), but this special edition boast double amount of smoky Islay malt. Let’s check what we have in store here.
Nose: A very malty nose, smoky but the main note for me here was real young, almost new make like, peated spirit. Citrus and lemon, very young and very soft. Continue reading
Whisky Gospel 