This is a blog about the things I like. Whisky, books, cooking and more.
Whiskybase.com is one of the largest online databases of whisky. They have listings for just about every bottle of whisky ever made as well as forums, online marketplace and their own store with it’s own well established bottling label (The Archives). With every 10,000 bottles added to their database they release a special bottling to celebrate.
Continue reading “Whiskybase “Same As 10K” (Laphroaig 6yo)”
I never really thought I’d be making a Port Ellen post. Let alone from my own bottle. For those unfamiliar with the distillery, it was an Islay distillery which shut down in 1983, owned by a company that would eventually become part of Diageo, they left quite a healthy stock of casks which have slowly been bottled over the years. Whisky distilled in a distillery that shut down before I was born is something special indeed.
Continue reading “Port Ellen 1979 Bottling for Whisky Live Tel Aviv 2018”
Apologies for the absence. I had a very busy month with my wedding at the end of it. Hopefully now things are settled down and I can carry on sharing my whisky notes.
I really love Brora, a lot so when a stand at Whisky Live Tel Aviv was selling this off at by the glass, I had to have some. A lot of closed distilleries have a cheaper contemporary parallel with a similar profile, but Brora is just totally unique to me.
Aged 37 years. 50.4% ABV. No colourant added, non-chill filtered and bottled at batch strength
Nose: Burned straw. Honey. Tobaccos. Red fruits. Smoked salmon. Caramel pudding. Wood spice. Cedar oil. Eucalyptus.
Palate: Leather. Wet stone. Burned grass. Slight farminess. Smoke. Wood oils . oil fire. Hard cider. Candy apple.
Finish: Long. Warm cider. Unlit tobacco. Lots of Wood spice. Slight liquorice.
Would I buy this: If I had the money to burn
Would I order this in a bar: Yes
Would I drink this if someone gave me a glass: Yes
VFM: N/A
As always a truly unique dram. The light peat mixes so well with the fruity distillate and wood influence. Delicious.
Thanks to /u/unbreakablesausage from reddit for the sample.
This is one I’ve wanted to try for some time. A few years back I got a a bottle of Glenfiddich 14 Rich Oak, aged in virgin oak casks. I thought it was a gimmicky bottle but ended up being my favourite standard release from the distillery. This one was released for the American market and was aged in first fill bourbon instead of virgin oak and I’ve been curious as to how it stacks up against the other 14 year old.
One category of whisky that is slowly emerging and is of great interest to me is American malt whisky. With the craft brewing and distilling trend over there they have the potential to bring some really interesting and unique things to the market. Sadly aside from one or two well known brands, these things can be extremely hard to find over on this side of the planet.
Continue reading “Pine Barrens American Single Malt Whisky Batch 11”
One of the more interesting stands at Whisky Live Tel Aviv last week wasn’t an importer or a distillery, it was a for a local group organised by some whisky fans to try and increase give a little boost to the increasing interest in quality spirits. The guys behind the group had brought some interesting and unique whiskies from their personal collections to show people what good whisky can be and what it has to offer. One of those whiskies was this older version of Old Pulteney 17 (from the late 2000’s/early 2010’s), which is probably my favourite of their standard range, or was since it’s been discontinued :(. I’m not sure if the recipe changed when they changed to the most recent label design but I know at some point they stopped using PX in the mix of sherry casks, this one should still have that.
A little while ago I attended a TheMacallan tasting organised by a local alcohol group with TheMacallan’s Middle Eastern brand ambassador. Disclaimer before I even get started: I am not a fan of TheMacallan, I think their whisky is obscenely overpriced and that it has taken a hit in quality over the past few years with more emphasis being placed on the brand than on the whisky, just so you know I’ve got a little bit of a bias so please take what I say with a pinch of salt. That said I’ll always open to having my mind changed when it comes to whisky.
We tried the following whiskies:
TheMacallan 12 Fine Oak
Aged 12 years. 40% ABV. No colourant added.
Nose: New make. Boiled sweets. Citrus oil. Toffee. New wood.
Palate: Sticky sweet. Cinnamon candies. Slight sulphur. Waxy citrus peel.
Finish: Short-medium. Rich sweet fruits. Toffee. Marzipan. Dried citrus.
Would I buy this: No
Would I order this in a bar: No
Would I drink this if someone gave me a glass: No
VFM: 2/5
Really not a fan of this one. Tastes younger than 12 years, and very generic.
TheMacallan 12 Sherry Oak
Aged 12 years. 40% ABV. No-colourant added.
Nose: Very funky sherry. Red fruits. Sticky red sauce. Woodspice. Nutmeg.
Palate: Maple. Sticky sherry. Cinnamon. Citrus. Red grapefruit.
Finish: Medium. Cloves. Dried orange peel. Nutty wood.
Would I buy this: No
Would I order this in a bar: No
Would I drink this if someone gave me a glass: Yes
VFM: 1/5
This one was a bit more complex than the fine oak, like there was actually something to be enjoyed here, but I found the sherry way too dominant and unbalanced for my tastes.
The Macallan 18 Fine Oak
Aged 18 years. 43% ABV. No-colourant added.
Nose: Light malt. Green herbs. Hay. Light wood. Toffee. Slight musty sherry. Icing sugar. Marshmallow.
Palate: Chewy red fruits. Toffee. Cinnamon flavouring. Malt. Oranges.
Finish: Medium. Woodspice. Maple syrup. Dry oak.
Would I buy this: No
Would I order this in a bar: No
Would I drink this if someone gave me a glass: No
VFM: 1/5
Well this was a nasty surprise. I had a bottle of this about 4 or 5 years ago and I remember there being a distinctive sherry character to it which I quite liked but that was gone, like the 12 year old, this was very generic and really had nothing going for it over several other whiskies which go for a third of the price.
TheMacallan 18 Sherry Oak
Aged 18 years. 43% ABV. No-colourant added.
Nose: Spicy sherry. Slightly sulphury. Wintergreen. Menthol. Wood oils. Cedar. Stewed fruits. Prunes. Silan.
Palate: Silan. Prunes. Dry sherry. Cough syrup. Cedar wood. Nutty wood. Cinnamon bark. Nutmeg.
Finish: Medium. Cinnamon rolls. Nutmeg. Red liquorice.
Would I buy this: No
Would I order this in a bar: Yes
Would I drink this if someone gave me a glass: Yes
VFM: 1/5
This is more like it. This had all the hallmarks of a really fantastic sherried dram and shows more of what this distillery has built its reputation on. It was complex, rich and balanced, really lovely stuff.
TheMacallan Rare Cask
Aged 3 years*. 43% ABV. No-colourant added.
*for lack of age statement
Nose: Red liquorice. Sweet, sticky raisins. Honey. Toffee. A little too much woodspice.
Palate: Sweet sherry, leads into dry. Marzipan. Cinnamon candy. Cloves. Cherry flavoring.
Finish: Medium. Drying. Stewed fruit. Red liquorice. Woodspice. Nutmeg.
Would I buy this: No
Would I order this in a bar: No
Would I drink this if someone gave me a glass: No
VFM: 1/5
Not a fan of this one. It comes in a very fancy bottle with a very fancy price but what’s inside it very odd, and not in a good way. I found it sickeningly sweet to my tastes and lacking anything else to it really.
I’ve had this bottle for a while now, but on account of Winter I’ve been at the smokey things in my cabinet a little more, and trying to put a dent in my very long backlog of samples, but I finally got round to it this weekend. Continue reading “Golan Heights Distillery 2015 Single Malt”
Thanks to /u/unbreakablesausage from /r/Scotch on reddit for the sample
Glen Keith is a somewhat obscure distillery with quite a rocky history. It’s currently owned by Chivas Brother and is mainly used to beef up their blends, with independent bottlings floating around usually from a few specific distillation year, and some very hard to find original bottlings. This sample is an exclusive bottling from Gordon & Macphail for a specific shop that I got from /u/unbreakablesausage when we did a small in-person swap recently.
Continue reading “Glen Keith 1998 Gordon & Macphail Hopewell Buy-Rite Exclusive”
Thanks to Yosi for the sample (and the image)
I sometimes regret how little love I give to Clynelish, for years my favourite distillery, still is I’ve just added several others to the list as well. This is one of many many bottles of mid to late 90’s distillate put out by Signatory as part of their Cask Strength Collection. It’s one of the independent bottling labels I really feel confident when trying as they’re almost always fantastic and when they’re not they’re still pretty damn good.
