Lagavulin 12 Year Old (Special Releases 2012) Review and notes: Revisiting and faith restoration

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While doing the last two posts, I recalled there was one more I wanted to taste. Actually, to re-taste. Back in 2013 I visited Lagavulin and as part of the premium tasting event I tasted the Lagavulin 12 CS (2012 version). You can read all about it here but it was horrible and vile whisky.

I didn’t have time to investigate it on the spot as we were in a hurry to reach another tour, but later I got feedback and remarks that led me to the conclusion it was probably a improper cleaned glass and so I promised myself to revisit it someday, and that day finally arrived now following all those reviews in the last few days.

Thanks to my friend Michael, I got a small sample of this Lagavulin and tasted it again last night. How was it? vile again or a proper Lagavulin?

Lagavulin 12 Year Old (Special Releases 2012) (56.1%, £84.95/€89.95)

Nose: Big peat note, not so smokey but there’s a nice layed down burnt down wood smoke. It’s very sweet & fruity with a touch of lemon. Oily and even had a passing by note of rubber and liquorice. Continue reading →

Whisky Review & Tasting Notes: Caol Ila Unpeated 15 year old (Special Releases 2014)

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From one Special Releases whisky to another Special Release whisky. In the last few iterations of Diageo Special Releases lineups, we learned to expect two affordable whiskies in the lineup: The Lagavulin 12yo cask strength and the the one we review today – the Caol Ila Unpeated.

The 2014 edition is 15 year old version, matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, where all previous editions were up to 14 years).

Caol Ila Unpeated 15yo (Special Releases 2014) (60.39%, 10,668 bottles ,£72/€89.95)

Nose: Starts with a wave of sweet fruits and it’s very dusty (partially due to the high ABV) and heavy, creamy cereal, lemon and despite it being unpeated, I occasionally do smell some sweet peat. With a few drops of water the ABV drops down and the dusty notes turns to mineral notes with salty touch, it becomes more sweet and fruity with tropical fruits like mango and passion-fruits. Continue reading →

Whisky Review and Tasting Notes – Lagavulin 21 year old (2007)

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Until a couple of years ago there were only two standard Lagavulin releases: the staple 16yo and the Distillers edition. Then came all those special releases whiskies. We’ve got a semi-official bottling of the 12yo cask strength (in yearly batches) and a couple of truly special Lagavulins: a 37yo and two 21yo bottlings.

But it all started with the 2007 release of the 21yo. Distilled in in 1985, matured in sherry casks and although it didn’t sell out immediately like similar bottlings are doing nowadays, it became a cult success and very sought-after whisky and I believe this provided the required spark to all those special releases that came after it.

Thanks to a friend I’ve got a small tasting of this legendary 21yo so without further words, lets see if it does stand up to its reputation:

Lagavulin 21 year old 1985-2007 release (56.5%, £1,200)

Nose: A very Lagavulin nose at first with sweet and gentle peat & smoke. Then the sherry makes its entrance on stage with gentle and deep yet not too strong sherry sweetness. raisins, berries, prunes and gentle spices. It’s so ingrained and balanced with smoked wood on front, sherry and peat a bit behind. What a WOW combo. Continue reading →

Glendarroch 1967 41 year old Review and Notes: In some cases age doesn’t matter

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In a tasting with some local whisky maniacs, one of them brought this bottle: Glendarroch 1967 41 year old and immediately it piqued my interest. It was clear it comes from a distillery who doesn’t want its name on independent bottlings and so I believe there’s a good chance it’s Genfarclas. It’s a 750ml bottle so its geared toward USA market, bottled in 2009 by Duncan Taylor’s prestigious Lonach range.

This range is tribute to the Lonach Gathering (an annual Clan Gathering held at Strathdon in the Highlands of Scotland). In celebration of the Gathering, the Lonach range of exceptional single malt whiskies represents a collection of some of the finest whiskies from Scotland’s leading malt whisky distilleries. The Lonach range provides a vatting of two casks from one particular distillery, each cask type provides its own particular character to the whisky. Occasionally over- and under-strength casks are vatted together. To commemorate each passing year, Duncan Taylor releases a limited number of bottles, specifically to celebrate the Gathering in August. These are exclusively available at the Lonach Gathering for Clansmen and visitors alike.

Glendarroch 1967 41 year old (41.4%)

Nose: Old, dusty, sweet apples galore with a dash of lemon, honey – very sweet nose but also very flat and not complex. Might be an inactive cask? Continue reading →

Duo of “youngish” SMWS Karuizawa Review – SMWS 132.4 Rich, brooding and suggestive & SMWS 132.6 Nite Nurse nipped by piranhas

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In the last few years Japanese whisky gained recognition in the western hemisphere and demand is steadily rising. Another trend is the rising prices of whiskies from closed distilleries, fueled by collectors and investors. Now combine both trends and you get the “Karuizawa craze”.

Have you followed what’s happening with new (and old) Karuizawa bottlings? The barrels stock is rapidly dwindling and each new bottling is sought after by thousands of people. According to TWE, there were 6000 registrations to their recent lottery on the new Karuizawa/Hanyu bottles.

Karuizawa prices are on a steep rise. new bottlings are priced at 450 quid and higher and auction prices are in the stratosphere level. Only a year ago, although it does feels like forever in current market condition, there were six new Karuizawa bottlings from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. They seemed to be expensive and overpriced but in hindsight, it was el-cheapo comparing to what’s going on today.

I’ve already reviewed 132.2 here, so lets review the rest of the even numbers in that series – 132.4 and 132.6.

SMWS 132.4 Rich, brooding and suggestive 17 year old (61.7%, 346 bottles)

Photo credit: whiskybase.com

Nose: Intense (high ABV or not?), sweet and rich nose. Sherried with lots of forest berries glazed in dark sweet caramel. Nutmeg and cinnamon, wood polish, sulphur. Continue reading →

Douglas Laing Rock Oyster Review and Notes – NAS the right way

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The NAS rage continues as more NAS whiskies are announced. Talisker Skye, Glenlivet Founders Reserve (which actually replaces the Glenlivet 12yo in some markets!) and more. The NAS topic was already discussed in length on Whisky Gospel and on other blogs but there’s one aspect I didn’t see covered – what about Independent bottlers?

As the demand to single malts soar, even in the current market climate, the stock of aged barrels dwindle down. Distilleries have access to their own warehouse and therefor release NAS whiskies so they can have flexible usage of their own stock and use more young casks instead of aged casks. But Independent bottlers don’t have such free access (unless they pay for it) and they too don’t want to overuse their aged casks which they bought when prices weren’t as high as nowadays. The solution? Vatted malt releases – stick with malts, mix different casks from different distilleries and release a new whisky to satisfy the market demands!

We’ve seen many Vatted malt releases over the last 2 years, with three of them coming from Douglas Laing with the latest one being an Islands themed malt named Rock Oyster.

Rock Oyster promise lots of maritime, sweet peat, smoke, honey and pepper. Shall we put it to the test?

Douglas Laing Rock Oyster (46.8%, £35.95/€43.49 )

Nose: Creamy malt, chimney smoke, peat, sweet lemon cheesecake, sea air. All in all very balanced and cheesy. Continue reading →

Laphroaig QA Cask Review and Notes: A precursor and a field test whisky

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Laphroaig is my favorite distillery and the next whisky I review here was the first one to utterly disappoint me. When it was released it was following the successful Laphroaig PX Cask (which I love) and so I was eager to try the next installment. When the first reviews trickled in I was really surprised to hear how many were regarding this as a bad Laphroaig and so my urge to buy a bottle was curbed down and I didn’t get to taste it till very recently as I got a sample from a friend.

Laphroaig QA cask is initially matured in bourbon barrels before being finished in charred American white oak casks, so supposedly we should have a tamed down Laphroaig expression, richer in vanilla, honey and spices – does it work well?

Laphroaig QA Cask (40%, £56.95/£50 (TR)/€50)

Nose: I instantly recognized the Laphroaig profile. There’re the peat and smoke, it’s very sweet and heavy on vanilla and honey. With some time, smokier, brine, but didn’t find much iodine & TCP. It’s rounded and very tamed comparing to previous OB expressions. Continue reading →

Whisky Review – Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique

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World whisky captured the best whisky title in both Jim Murray latest whisky bible and the Malt Maniacs Awards. Mr. Murray selected a Japanese whisky, the Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013 (which prompted my review of the 2009 version) And the Malt Manicas selected a Taiwanese whisky, the Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask.

I was very surprised from Mr. Murray selection and I already discussed this in the Yamazaki Sherry Cask review, but wasn’t too surprise to hear about the Kavalan selection in the MMA. Last year, in Whisky Live Tel-Aviv 2014 I had the honor to participate in a masterclass led by Jim Swan, their master blender and taste many Kavalan whiskies and I was very impressed with the Solists that were featured in the show.

Unfortunately, I lost the notes I wrote back then but I had a 2nd opportunity to taste the Solist Vinho Barrique (which is actually a PX cask) in the Nov 2014 meeting of the MMI whisky club.

Yeah, it’s a different cask but it’s more then adequate for getting the drift of this whisky character.

Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique (57.7%, £93.76/€93)

Nose: Punchy blow on first sniff with a big blow of sweetness. It’s not overdoing it as there’s a sour edge that keeps it in check. berries mix and spices with lots of nutmeg and cinnamon. Continue reading →

Whisky Review – Kilchoman 5 Year Old PX Sherry finish For Abbey

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When the topic of whisky independent bottlers is raised, we usually think of the large companies, like Gordon & Macphail, Douglas Laing and the rest of this category. Some people also recognize the lesser known bottlers from UK & Europe such as Van Wees, Blackaddr (and there are many more in this category).

But there’s another category that is mostly overlooked – the whisky and wine shops exclusive releases. Those brave shops owners (or staff members) taste different casks and decide to pick one up, pay the distillery a hefty sum for it , bottle it and to sell it as an exclusive bottle at the shop. It’s not an option for the faint-hearted as it carries some risk like all single cask releases (nobody assure you that your customers would follow you taste) and there’s the “small hurdle” of selling all those bottles!

There are many examples of such shops and bottlings (Green Welly 50th anniversary bottling is the latest example) but in the UK, in the last few years, I think there’s one shop and one guy that stands out above the rest (if you exclude The Whisky Exchange & Master of Malt): Abbey Whisky and its proprietor Mike Sharples. I counted six bottles so far: The rare casks series (four releases so far and a 5th one may be coming), exclusive Glendronach and Kilchoman bottlings – A very respectable turnout!

I’ve been able to lay my hands on a sample of the last release: the Kilchoman one. It has been matured for over four and a half years in a fresh bourbon barrel before being transferred to a Pedro Ximénez cask for a further four months maturation.

Kilchoman 5 Year Old PX Sherry finish For Abbey Whisky (58.3%, 270 bottles, £78.95)

Nose: The familiar Kilchoman profile hits the nose: peat, smoke & ashes, but it’s not harsh and crisp like it used to be as it’s tamed down with sweetness, sultanas, sugar barley & maple syrup. Also make appearance are fresh ripe red berries. Continue reading →

Lagavulin Feis Ile 2014 Review and Notes: How and why you taste whisky makes a BIG difference

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This post has been in the works for a while as this whisky was a bit of a roller-coaster experience.

Back in May 2014, a full Feis Ile bottles share was organized by me and a few buddies led by Chris who did all the hard work of going to Islay and collecting them all (Thanks again Chris!). As whisky geeks, we were curious to taste them all but without going bankrupt (as the average bottle price was about £100). By the time I got my share it was almost unanimously agreed upon, by the other shares members and the general whisky community, that the Lagavulin bottling is the best of them all and it even surpassed the 2013 bottling. As I’ve tasted the 2013 one and it was utterly divine, I was eager to try the 2014 one. I tried a full flight on my Feis Ile 2014 bottlings, keeping the Lagavulin and Octomore to the end, but my palate was tired, so by the time I got to the Lagavulin I only wrote general impression:

Nose: Matured and balanced with peat and sherry.

Palate: Peat and sweet sherry.

Basically it felt balanced and lovely. Good combo of peat and sweet sherry. I then decided to keep the rest of my share for another tasting (where I could take proper tasting notes) later that week. Alas, life and other samples intervened and it didn’t happen and that bottle was gathering dust in my cupboard.

Then the Usquebaugh Society Blind Tasting competition happened.

The Lagavulin Feis Ile 2014 was #17 and these are the tasting notes I wrote down:

Lagavulin Feis Ile 2014 (54.7%)

(Blind tasting notes)

Nose: Bites and punchy, honey, fruits, quite heavy. After a minute or two there is peat and then smoke. With even more time it recedes and we get sweet fruity notes, stone fruits, almonds. Continue reading →