Whisky Review – Auchentoshan 12

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auchentoshan stillsWhen I look back at what I already published on the blog, I have a big pang of guilt for all the drams I tried when I discovered the world of whisky. There were many basic drams I tried and never wrote down notes for them, so it’s a happy moment to try such one again and write proper notes when you have a bit more of experience.

Such one is the Auchentoshan 12. I tried it a few times in the past (once even when I visited the distillery) but never wrote notes for it so was happy to taste it again a while ago with proper glass and with time to write down the notes.

Auchentoshan 12 is the bread and butter of Auchentoshan distillery as it’s their basic age-statement expression and you can find almost everywhere.

Auchentoshan 12 (40%, £30.95)

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Whisky Review – Longrow RED 11 year old (Cabernet Sauvignon)

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Following yesterday review, It’s time to cross off yet another distillery from the my personal unpublished distilleries list – Springbank. But instead of reviewing a ‘straight’ Springbank whisky (that will happen too eventually,  we’ll go for their muscular young brother – the Peated Longrow brand and the Longrow RED 11yo whisky.

It was matured in Bourbon casks for 7 years and then moved to Cabernet Sauvignon Hogsheads for another 4 years for a total of 11 years.

Aren’t you curious to see how the red wine impact meshed here with the peat?

Longrow RED 11yo (52.1%, Cabernet Sauvignon, 9000 bottles, € 69,95)

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Whisky Review – Van Wees Clynelish 1991 22yo

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Another day, another indie bottling from Van Wees and this time – a Clynelish. It’s my first Clynelish taste and review (one more to cross off from the list!).

Unlike the young bunna from yesterday, this one sports the respectable age of 22 years as it was distilled on 30.10.1991 and bottled in November 2013 after spending it in a Hogshead #13216.

The Ultimate Van Wees Clynelish 1991 22yo (46%, 312 bottles, buy for € 56.95 here)

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Whisky Review – Van Wees Bunnahabhain MOINE 2008 5 yo

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In the last year or two there’s a worrying (at least for me) trend of rising whisky prices. The new prices today are, how to say it, a bit on the expensive side. This leads me into serious exploration of independent bottlers which usually have a lesser price tag.

I’ve heard very good things on the Dutch bottler Van Wees but never had the opportunity to taste them as their bottlings are not available locally. But lately a friend brought 2 bottles and I was happy to help him taking care of the bottles 🙂

The first one is  a young Bunnahabhain which carry its young age statement proudly: 5 years old and not hiding behind a NAS excuse.

It was matured in Bourbon cask (#800103), distilled Feb 2008 and bottled Nov 2013. Let’s see how this young one behaves.

The Ultimate Van Wees Bunnahabhain 2008 (46%, 323 bottles, buy for € 32.50 here)

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Whisky Review – Signatory Mortlach 17 YO (The Un-Chillfiltered Collection)

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Let gives Islay a couple of days to recover from Feis Ile 2014 so we’ll put our sights on another region and distillery which have been a lot in the headlines this year – Mortlach. 

Unless you lived under a rock in the last year or just didn’t followed whisky news, you’ve missed a lot of action here when Diageo expanded the distillery (doubled the capacity) and are releasing a set of 4 official bottlings with a new and very expensive price tags.

Since Mortlach are back in focus and due to the fact not many official bottlings exists (except the F&F Mortlach 16), we do get to taste indie bottlings, just like this one – a 1995 vintage, distilled on July 5th, aged for 17 years in two hogsheads and bottled on April 2013 for Signatory.

Signatory Mortlach 17 YO (The Un-Chillfiltered Collection) (46%, 723 bottles)

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Whisky Review – Port Ellen 25 Year Old 1982 Old Malt Cask

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Feis Ile 2014 has ended.

In the last week I’ve went through almost all the distilleries (except Lagavulin as I didn’t have any new Lagavulin dram to review). But before we go back to normal posting, let’s have one last review to close out the series, a tribute and a salute to the iconic islay distillery which isn’t with us anymore – Port Ellen.

port ellen 25 1982 omc

This one is an indie bottling from 2007 for the Old Malt Cask brand of Douglas Laing (Now at the hands of Hunter Laing), one of 594 bottles from a sherry butt. Here are the tasting notes:

Port Ellen 1982 25 year old Old Malt Cask (50%)

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Whisky Review – Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist 17 year old

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It’s the last day of Feis Ile 2014 and as in previous years, it’s Ardbeg distillery open day.

Today I’ll review a bit old ardbeg which was I was delighted to drink during a local whisky tasting last week – the Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist 17 which was bottled by the new ownership at 2007 but was distilled by the previous one at 1990. Lets haste into the tasting notes: Continue reading →

Whisky Review – Bunnahabhain Sgeul na mara (Feis Ile 2013 bottling)

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Feis Ile 2014 is almost behind us with only two more distilleries to visit. Today, the Islay visitors will go east to visit Bunnahabain and what’s better than a review of a Bunnahabhain Feis Ile bottling?

Bunnahabhain Sgeul na mara was the distillery bottling for 2013 and I put my hands on a sample of it with the help of the Whisky Speller tandem (Thanks folks!).

So what do we know on this whisky? On 20th February 2003 it was poured in to sherry butt No. 79 and carefully positioned in warehouse No.7, So it’s a 10yo sherry matured bottled at cask strength. let’s see how it fares the sunlight

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Whisky Review – Kilchoman Coull Point

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Another day in Feis Ile 2014, another distillery open day on Islay. And today it’s Kilchoman distillery. I visited the distillery and took the manager distillery tour (highly recommended! my recap is here). The Kilchoman dram I selected for today is Coull Point – their recent entry to the Travel Retail market. Coull Point is a rugged headland, about half a mile north of Machir Bay, not too far from the distillery. Coull Point is basically a 4 year old whisky (although there’s no age statement on the bottle), vatted from Bourbon Casks and Oloroso Sherry Casks. Continue reading →