Kategoriarkiv: Highlands

Blair Athol, Highlands

Blair Athol 10 YO (Lady of the Glen)

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 55.8 %
Origin: Highland
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
This was tasted at a whisky festival. No tasting notes were recorded. The impression was that this is a sweet and fruity whisky with a lot of dark fruit notes mixed of a sticky sweetness with toffee, honey and vanilla.

Additional information
This whisky was distilled in 2010 and bottled in 2020. It’s aged in an ex-bourbon hogshead and finished in a first fill ex-PX sherry cask. Cask No 301290. The bottle tried was 124/274. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

If you like my reviews and wish to offer a small donation, please click the ”donate” button below!

Small Donate Button

Balblair, Highlands

Balblair Vintage 2000 – 2nd Release

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 46 %
Origin: Highland
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
This was tasted at a whisky festival. No tasting notes were recorded. The impression was that this is a sweet and fruity whisky with a mix of malt and darker fruits as the main feature. It’s very subdued on the nose but very rich in texture and taste with leather, dust and floral notes floating around.

Additional information
This whisky was distilled in 2000 and bottled in 2017. It’s aged in ex-bourbon casks and finished in ex-sherry butts. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

If you like my reviews and wish to offer a small donation, please click the ”donate” button below!

Small Donate Button

Highlands, Royal Lochnagar

Royal Lochnagar 16 YO – Special Release 2021

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 57.5 %
Origin: Highland
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
This was tasted at a whisky festival. No tasting notes were recorded. The impression was that this is a sweet and malty whisky with a mix of toffee and apples as the main feature. It’s got a nice chili spicyness and some vanilla, honey and baking spices as well. It’s very straight forward and lacks a bit of complexity which makes it a bit uninteresting.

Additional information
This whisky was distilled in 2004 and then aged in both american and european refill oak casks. It’s part of diageo’s special releases from 2021.

If you like my reviews and wish to offer a small donation, please click the ”donate” button below!

Small Donate Button

Highlands, Teaninich

Teaninich 17 YO – Limited Release (2017)

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 55.9 %
Origin: Highland
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
This was tasted at a whisky festival. No tasting notes were recorded. The impression was that this is a light and fruity whisky with a mix of high impact yellow pears and some tropical fruits. It’s sweet and malty as well. It felt too young for its age and lacked a bit of body. It had a slight cardboard note in the background. It’s still a good whisky but one could expect a bit more of this.

Additional information
This whisky was distilled in 1999 and then aged in refill american oak hogsheads and butts. It’s part of diageo’s special releases from 2017. 5352 bottles were released.

If you like my reviews and wish to offer a small donation, please click the ”donate” button below!

Small Donate Button

Edradour, Highlands

Edradour 10 YO – The Distillery Edition

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 40 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark and sweet. At first there’s a thick top layer of dark fruits and berries, with plums and liqueur-soaked raisins, honey and vanilla. There are assorted baking spices with some cinnamon peeking through. It’s very top heavy and it feels a bit two-dimensional. There’s a menthol layer floating around on top and some fresher fruits as well but there’s no complexity to speak of. This is a nice enough nose which lacks both power and complexity.

Mouth: It starts out very mild and the dark fruits with overripe plums and soaked raisins are first to come through. It’s got a very sweet character with vanilla, honey and brown sugar as well. All the flavours are up front and and the back only deals with a drop of lemon, a fresh oakiness and a hint of sulfur. It just stays the same and never really changes at this point except for a small spicyness in the back.

Finish: The spicyness in the back increases in intensity and becomes a mild chili note. Rest of the flavours just suddenly disappears and leaves a big hole where they used to be. There’s a small coating of the Oloroso sherry left around the edges and there’s still some lemon in the back together with a savory note. The oakiness returns and it’s a standard oakiness which leaves no lastning impression. This is a good whisky but it’s a bit unbalanced and engineered. It’s way too mild and top heavy but as a background dram or for a beginner this will work very nice.

Additional information
This whisky was aged in a mix of ex-bourbon barrels and ex-Oloroso sherry casks. (It’s available in the U.S. with 43 %)

If you like my reviews and wish to offer a small donation, please click the ”donate” button below!

Small Donate Button

Highlands, Tullibardine

Tullibardine 500 – Sherry Finish

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 43 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a sweet layer of vanilla, honey and coconut sitting on top of a mix of dried fruits and berries. It’s a mix of raisins, apricot and orange marmelade. On top there are spices floating around. It’s leaning towards baking spices but doesn’t reveal any specific kind. It becomes sweeter in the glass over time and it’s a sticky sweetness which becomes a bit overwhelming and makes the whole thing a bit unbalanced. This is a nice nose. It’s not complex nor especially interesting but it does its job competently.

Mouth: It starts out with a mild, very sweet mix of honey, vanilla, oak, coconut and sticky sweet red berries. Underneath there are notes of tobacco, coffee and just a hint of sulfur. It’s quite rich and delivers quite a nice palate. It’s a bit too sweet but it makes up for it with some nice background flavours which balances the whole thing out. There’s still notes of apricots and oranges but they are hiding behind everything else. It’s mild but not boring, with a small, yet pleasant, black pepper note on the edges of the palate.

Finish: It starts out with an increase of the sherry notes and now they come through as a bit darker than before with raisins, figs, coffee and tobacco. The black pepper spicyness sort of glides through the transition without increasing. It’s still mild yet decently rich and the sweetness keeps on delivering the same notes. It takes a surprisingly long time for it to fade and when it does, there’s still the oak impact left. It’s a nice enough oakiness with a fresh woodshop character and the coconut returns in the late finish. This is a really good whisky and hits over its paygrade. It’s a bit too sweet to be really balanced but it still delivers a nice array of flavours.

Additional information
This whisky was released in 2013. It’s aged in ex-bourbon barrels for an undisclosed amount of time and then finished for 12 months in 500-litre ex-sherry casks.

If you like my reviews and wish to offer a small donation, please click the ”donate” button below!

Small Donate Button

Glenmorangie, Highlands

Glenmorangie 12 YO – The Quinta Ruban Port Cask Finish

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 46 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s sweet layer of honey and malt mixed with black and red berries sitting on top of a fresh lemon sourness. The whole feels very cohesive and there are no sharp edges at all. There are som mild baking spices present as well as a more ripe raisiny fruitiness. With time in the glass vanilla starts to get noticed. The main focus lies on the berries and lemon though. This is a very nice nose. It’s not complex but it delivers everything in a very pleasant way.

Mouth: It starts out with a mild dark raisin and coffee note before the sweetness comes creeping up around the edges. After a second or two the sour lemon note starts to take over the background. It creates a nice contrast between the sweet, sour and bitter notes. It’s not as fruity as on the nose and it takes a while for the whole to reach its potential. It’s slightly dusty and the fresh berries do arrive for those who decides to wait. The fruitiness shifts towards liqeuer-soaked cherries after a while as well.

Finish: The dark raisin note shows up in the middle while the coffee bitterness now move to the back of the palate where it meets up with the lemon. All along the sides there’s a nice nutty oak increasing in intensity as well as a honey sweetness. It becomes slightly astringent. The oakiness brings hazelnuts and vanilla to the finish. The cross-section between the oak and the lemon produces a touch of tropical fruits with mango and pineapple. There’s a mild spicyness following along the finish but it never interferes with the rest of the flavours.

Additional information
This is one out of three expressions in the Glenmorangie ”extra matured” series. It’s aged 10 years in ex-bourbon casks and finished for 2 years in ruby port pipes. It’s now replaced by a 14 YO.

Dalmore, Highlands

The Dalmore 10 YO – Vintage 2004

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 46 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. There’s honey, malt and a sort of in-between circle of toffee, caramel, butterscotch and fudge. The fruitiness is also very much in focus, with dried oranges, grapefruit and raisins. There’s also a somewhat odd seaweed note laying on top. This is a decent nose, but it lacks a bit of umpf.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweetness up front and the vanilla is very pronounced and up front. Beneath is the butterscotchy fudge note coming through with a fruity tang to it. There’s dried apples, orange marmelade and lime. The oak is a bit bitter and somewhere in there are cacao and black coffee notes.

Finish: The vanilla is still in charge and behind the sweet front there’s orange marmelade and the butterscotchy fudge note. It disappears quickly and leaves room for a dry and slightly astringent oak. It’s bitter, almost like there’s a dash of tonic water in there. The cacao is still present even though it’s not especially strong. This is a decent whisky which is a bit too mild and a tiny bit uninteresting.

Additional information
This Dalmore expression is matured in american ex-bourbon barrels. For most of its time it rests in refill barrels and then in first fills during a finishing period.

Highlands, Tullibardine

Tullibardine Sovereign

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 43 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a layer of sweet vanilla and honey. Underneath lies a young and fruity distillate which gives notes of green apples and pears. The fruitiness increases in intensity over time and a lemon sourness is slowly getting more and more attention. There’s also a floral side to it with a hint of violets coming through after a while. This is a good nose but it feels a bit shallow and lacks a bit of texture and complexity.

Mouth: It starts out with a very mild vanilla and the start is slightly underwhelming. It’s quite ethanol driven and gets a bit prickly and metallic after a few seconds. The honey sweetness is pushed out on the edges. The fruitiness is pushed back and it feels like there’s a cardboard note connected to a chewy oakiness in the back. There’s a savory note somewhere in the back which adds a much needed extra dimension to the whole.

Finish: The fruitiness with vanilla increase in intensity for a second or two before it returns to the previous state, once again with the young and metallic distillate up front and the cardboard, oak and the savory note in the back. It disintegrates rather quickly and leaves the oakiness to fend for itself. The metallic sour note is still in there for the late finish and it doesn’t help the rather uninteresting oakiness along. This is a so-and-so whisky with a nice nose.

Additional information
This whisky is the entry level in the Tullibardine core range. It was aged in ex-bourbon barrels for about 5 years. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

If you like my reviews and wish to offer a small donation, please click the ”donate” button below!

Small Donate Button

Dalmore, Highlands

The Dalmore 12 YO

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 40 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark, fruity and sweet. It’s full of raisins and honey. The sweetness is very pronounced. There’s also a savory note in the back. The fruitiness consists of ripe plums, red apples and liqueur-soaked cherries and a bittersweet marmelade. There are hints of leather and oak in the background creating a complex backdrop. It grows sweeter with time in the glass.

Mouth: There’s an immediate bitterness hitting the palate but it’s still filled with honey and fruits. After a second or two it becomes vanilla heavy and marmelade with orange peel becomes the common denominator between the sweetness, bitterness and the fruitiness. There’s still a handful of raisins and the oak comes through pretty quick bringing a cup of coffee and some walnuts to the table. There’s no astringency and just a smidge of spicyness.

Finish: It starts out very mild and a touch waxy. The oak is in front with bitter notes of cocoa, walnuts and coffee. The sweetness is not as pronounced in the finish as in the mouth but notes of honey, raisins and orange peel still persist. In the end, the oak is left all by itself. There’s still no astringency and the somewhat hefty bitterness is still very nice. It’s a very pleasant finish.

Additional information
This version of the Dalmore 12 YO was released in 2008. It’s aged for 9 years in american ex-bourbon barrels. Half of the whisky is then moved into ex-Matusalem Oloroso sherry casks. After being aged for an additional 3 years the two parts are remarried.

Ballechin, Edradour, Highlands

Ballechin 15 YO – Small Batch Cask Strength

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 59.4 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first there’s a sweet, burnt oak with vanilla and caramel attached to it. On top there’s a nail polish remover sharpness and underneath there’s a mixed fruitiness. There are baked red apples, ripe red berries and a mild lime sourness. There’s a chalky/ashy note within as well but it takes a few seconds before it arrives. There are also notes of cinnamon and almond floating around. This is a nice but rather sharp nose with a nice balance underneath.

Mouth: It starts out with an immidiate spicyness and an ashy peat covering the outside of the palate. In the center part it’s a mix of fresh mango, apples, honey and milk chocolate. It’s slightly soapy. The burnt vanilla oakiness is acting like a bridge between the ashy peat and the fruitiness. There’s also a rounded maltiness as well as bitter notes and black liquorice. It still feels quite sharp, but underneath the balance is very nice between the flavour components.

Finish: The nail polish remover note slowly transitions into a menthol cloud while the fruitiness in the center slowly turns a bit darker and riper. It feels quite soapy at this point. There’s still a burnt vanilla oakiness as well as a bitterness. The liquorice note is still in the mix. It’s astringent and when the oak starts to take over it brings the soapy note along for the late finish. This is a good, but somewhat weird, whisky. The soapy note and the sharpness brings it down a notch or two.

Additional information
This whisky was aged in a mix of first fill ex-bourbon barrels and second fill ex-sherry casks. 3126 bottles were released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Glenmorangie, Highlands

Glenmorangie X

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 40 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is mild and sweet. At first there’s just a gentle and sweet vanilla and honey oakiness coming through. There’s also a tiny maltiness in the center. After a while a fresher fruitiness with lemon and a hint of pears starts to emerge but it’s very afraid to make its precence known. The whole is very flat and nothing pops out of the glass in anyway. There’s not much of a journey either. This is not offensive, it’s just a bit boring and uninteresting to explore.

Mouth: It starts out a bit flat and watery with a slight bitterness in the back. A mild and sweet butterscotch and toasted oak arrives almost immidiately though. The butterscotch resides in the center and there is a mild oak spicyness out on the edges. The fruitiness returns and it’s the same lemon and pear notes as on the nose. The fruitiness joins the oak spice on the edges. A honey sweetness comes forward for those who wait.

Finish: The finish is at first sweet and minty. After a few seconds the fruitiness returns as well as the butterscotch but it’s too little, too late. The oakiness takes over and the last part of the finish just gives a toasted oakiness and a gentle minty note which, together with the sweetness, has a tooth paste feel to it. This is a decent whisky with a ”made for mixing” tag on the bottle, which feels accurate. This is not the best neat pour out there, but it can hold its own against a lot of cheap entry malts.

Additional information
This is a whisky made for drinks and cocktails. It’s aged for an undisclosed amount of time in a mix of ex-bourbon and new charred oak casks.

Glencadam, Highlands

Glencadam 13 YO – The Re-awakening (Batch 2)

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 46 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first, honey sweetness and a thick maltiness create a sweet layer on top of a lot of fresh fruits. Watermelon, yellow pears and green apples come through, but it feels like there are more to be found. With time in the glass vanilla arrives, but it never take over from the original flavours. This is a sweet dessert whisky and it’s a very pleasant nose.

Mouth: It starts out sweet and dusty and it feels older than its 13 years. After a few seconds a spicyness prickles the toungue. It’s still malty and fruity. The fruitiness makes it very juicy and it’s now leaning towards sweet ripe clementines, but the fruitiness is now further back than on the nose. The honey and vanilla are slightly toned down which leave room for the oakiness to come through early.

Finish: The finish starts out very bright and spicy. The sweetness starts in the center and then slowly rolls out towards the edges. There’s marzipan and a floral note coming through just before the oak and the fruitiness return. The clementines are still in there but take a background role to a very nice oakiness. There’s just a hint of bitterness coming from the oak, but it’s enough to add some zest to the fruitiness. There are hazelnuts at the tail end and the floral notes survive for a long time. This is a very nice whisky all the way through.

Additional information
This expression is a limited edition bottling. This is batch 2 which consists of 5994 bottles. The bottle tried had no bottle number printed on the label. It’s aged in american ex-Bourbon barrels and it’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Highlands, Tullibardine

Tullibardine 15 YO

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 43 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a rich layer of honey and vanilla with notes of liquorice and baking spices within. It sits on top of a fresh red juicy apple fruitiness. With time it becomes more malty and fruity as the sweet layer seems to mellow down. It feels like a natural progression and when it reaches its final form it feels very well balanced. This is a great nose. It’s not especially complex but still offers a nice journey.

Mouth: It starts out with a very sweet and round center part with butterscotch, vanilla and honey. A thin outer layer offers a fresher lemon but it disappears when the core expands from the center outwards. It’s nicely textured and there’s a mild peppermint cloud floating around on top. It feels somewhat flat due to the rather low ABV, but it never feels watery. It’s still malty all the way through as well. For those who wait there’s liquorice emerging from the back which then moves forwards on the edges of the palate.

Finish: The red apples and sweet liquorice starts the finish from the back of the palate moving forward. The sweet honey, butterscotch and vanilla mix isn’t far behind and neither is the maltiness. The peppermint increases in intensity as the finish progresses and follows along until the oakiness makes a late entrance. It’s a nice fresh oakiness with a nutty hazelnuts quality to it. This is a great whisky with a lot to offer, especially for a sweet tooth.

Additional information
The Tullibardine 15 YO is part of the distillery’s core range. It’s aged exclusively in first-fill american ex-bourbon casks.

If you like my reviews and wish to offer a small donation, please click the ”donate” button below!

Small Donate Button

Highlands, Tullibardine

Tullibardine 225 – Sauternes Finish

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 43 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is very sweet. There are notes of butterscotch, caramel and honey up front with vanilla as a baseplate. This sort of gives it a sponge cake vibe. A hint of seaweed is present and it really doesn’t belong with the other flavours. There’s a fresh distillate with a hint of green fruits coming through from behind. There’s also a salty, buttered popcorn note on top. Altogether it’s very warm and welcoming on the nose.

Mouth: Sweet and Spicy. It’s a little bit different than on the nose. There’s a new fruitiness with oranges and grapefruits. The sweetness is still there with honey and vanilla, but now with some orange marmelade added. The oakiness is quite bitter with some cocoa powder and the orange peel from the marmelade mixed in. It’s an astringent oak that sort of surrounds everything.

Finish: A very fresh burst of cirtrus fruits and peppery spices fade away as quickly as it arrives. The finish is all about the astringent oak. It’s a bright and heavy fresh oak, like newly cut oak boards. A hint of grapefruit peeks through somewhere down the line. The astringency increases with every sip. The sweetness is overpowered by the oak all the way through, but when it finally subsides the honey and vanilla notes remind you that they were there all along.

Additional information
The 225 in the name stands for the size of the barrique used for the ex-sauternes cask finish. It starts out for an undisclosed number of years in american ex-bourbon barrels before the 12 months of finishing.

If you like my reviews and wish to offer a small donation, please click the ”donate” button below!

Small Donate Button

Highlands, Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond Signature Blended Scotch Whisky

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 40 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Blended
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a very round vanilla, butterscotch and toffee note with an apple fruitiness within. The grain spirit contributes to the sweetness but it’s not protruding. There’s a mild spicyness hovering above everything else. With time the fruitiness turns to baked apples and it sort of smells like an apple pastry. This is not complex but it’s still a great nose considering it coming from a blended whisky.

Mouth: It starts out with a honey and vanilla sweetness with a black pepper shell around it. It takes a while before other flavours catch up. First one through is the apple fruitiness. It’s back to a fresher profile and there’s a lemon note coming through from the back. The mix between malt and grain spirit feels very balanced. A hint of oak is peeking through as well but it’s not revealing anything special at this point.

Finish: It’s back to the baked apples and the toffee notes. The finish starts out as a pastry but soon turns a bit bitter towards the edges. The grain spirit is for the first time a bit unpleasant on the palate but fortunatley it soon subsides and leaves room for the oakiness which actually is rather nice. It feels like a mix of old and new with a hint of walnuts. It becomes somewhat astringent towards the late finish. This is a good whisky. It’s not complex but it offers a nice array of sweet flavours.

Additional information
This is a blend made from putting both malt and grain spirit through a solera system of 100 casks. The types used are ex-Oloroso casks and recharred american ex-bourbon barrels.

Glenmorangie, Highlands

Glenmorangie 12 YO – The Lasanta

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 43 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a sweet base with malt, vanilla and honey sitting underneath a sweet layer of mixed fruits. There are raisins and raspberries detectable within the fruitiness. There’s also a fresh lemon peeking through from behind as well as an undefinable herbal note. With time the sweetness moves forwards and mixes with the fruits which becomes a bit darker. It feels quite round and accessible. It’s a clean and well behaved dessert in a glass. This is a good nose. It’s not especially complex but does its job competently.

Mouth: It starts out with an outer layer of dark fruitiness surrounding a sweet and malty core. It feels darker and more powerful than on the nose with a contrasting fresh lemon note piercing through the center from the back. It’s leaning more towards vanilla than honey within the core and it’s not as sweet anymore. There’s a bitterness coming from the background and it feels somewhat dusty. It’s a generic bitterness not connected to any other flavour. It still fits in with the rest of the palate though.

Finish: There’s a small flare of spicyness at first but it subsides rather quickly. When it subsides there’s room for the bitterness to increase in intensity. It’s now connected to a nutty oakiness. It feels like a mix of hazelnuts and walnuts. There’s also a fresher oakiness to be found later in the finish. The lemon note is still there as well as the dark fruits, but they are pushed out towards the edges and to the back. This is a very good whisky. It’s not complex but really well put together. It has a light and quite clean character which is in line with its premisses.

Additional information
The Lasanta is a part of Glenmorangie’s Extra Matured series. It’s aged for 10 years in american ex-bourbon barrels and then finished for 2 years in ex-Oloroso sherry casks.

If you like my reviews and wish to offer a small donation, please click the ”donate” button below!

Small Donate Button

Clynelish, Highlands

Clynelish Reserve – Game of Thrones House Tyrell

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 51,2 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and juicy. At first there’s a thick vanilla, honey and butterscotch layer sitting on top of a basket of fresh fruits. It’s mainly oranges, but with a sour lemon in the background. It’s very mild to the nose and there’s no sharp edges anywhere. It’s very concentrated to the center part and lacks some depth. This is a mild, lovely nose without much complexity.

Mouth: It starts out very mild and all the flavours are showing up in the front. It’s sweet and malty and it’s very juicy. It mimics the nose very well with oranges, honey and vanilla. After a few second it starts to spread out over the palate and a zesty bitterness is added to the fruitiness. It feels rich and textured. There’s grapefruit as well. It still has a fairly straight forward and uncomplicated profile.

Finish: The high ABV finally reveals itself and gives it a nice little kick. When it settles, it’s leaning more towards the bitter zesty notes and the sweetness has somewhat subsided. There’s still some orange juice left in the back and when the oak comes through it sort of emerge from the zest. It’s a nice and easy to approach oakiness with a hint of hazelnuts, but mainly just produces a middle of the road oak flavour. This is a very approachable whisky with a great texture to it. It’s a high ABV easy sipper.

Additional information
The Game of Thrones series was released by Diageo in 2018. This Clynelish is a NAS whisky aged in ex-bourbon barrels.

Glen Deveron, Highlands, MacDuff

Glen Deveron 16 YO – Royal Burgh Collection

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 40 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark fruits and honey. At first there’s a dense sweetness with malt, vanilla and honey with a thick layer of dark ripe fruits on the outside. It’s raisins and overripe, almost molten plums together with a black liquorice note. It’s got a dusty and damp feel to it and after it settles it also produces a slightly fresher fruitiness as a nice contrast. It’s fresh, but still dark, berries like blueberries. This is a really nice and rich nose, but it presents itself a bit too mild due to the low ABV.

Mouth: It starts out with a mild and sweet approach. The sherry notes with raisins and plums are next to arrive and they bring a thin layer of sulfur along. After that some kitchen spices and a nice bitter note come through. The dusty feel is still in there, but it’ not as dense as on the nose. The oakiness is detectable and it brings a hint of walnuts to the table. The fresh fruits are not present anymore.

Finish: The first impact is somewhat muted and it’s a seemless trasition to the finish. There is a mild spicyness on top but the main flavours are still the sweet honey and vanilla mix in the middle and the dark fruitiness and sulfur on the outside. It stays that way until the oakiness starts to push through. It’s a nice, slightly astringent oak with hints of walnuts and black coffee. It never turns over to become bitter though and the finish is quite long and rewarding. This is a fantastic whisky, but it’s hurting a little bit by the low ABV. It puts up a fight against it though and delivers quite a lot of flavours.

Additional information
This is made by the Macduff distillery and was released in 2013 as a part of their travel retail exclusive range ”The Royal Burgh Collection”. It’s aged in ex-sherry casks.

Highlands, Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond 15 YO

Lämna en kommentar

ABV: 46 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and mildly peated. At first there’s a center of mixed red fruits with a soft and sweet layer of honey, vanilla and malt surrounding it. The peat is creating an outer layer which also covers the background. It’s a herbaceous peat with a back note of assorted flowers. When it settles it also reveals a lemon note in the back. With time in the glass everything slowly merges together to create a very nice and interesting nose.

Mouth: It starts out with a nutty bitterness in the back and the herbaceaous peatiness on the sides. It takes a second or two for the fruitiness and the sweetness to arrive and when they do, they’re a bit more subdued than on the nose. The fruitiness is a mix of darker dried fruits with a twist of lemon and the sweetness is somewhat undefinable. There’s also a slightly dusty note coming through from behind. A thin butterscotch note makes for a nice surprise for those who are patient.

Finish: It starts out quite dusty with a mild toffee and vanilla sweetness. The fruitiness is still a bag of mixed dried fruits, now with an orange peel bitterness attached to it. The peatiness is still present in the background but it’s a bit less noticable. The oakiness comes through in a very subtle way, emerging through the dust and orange peel. It’s a very pleasant nutty oakiness which never overshadows the other flavours. This is a great whisky with a lot of flavours to find.

Additional information
The Loch Lomond 15 YO was launched in september 2018 as a swedish market exclusive. It’s created by a mix of different unpeated and peated distillates. It’s aged in a mix of refill barrels, refill hogsheads and recharred hogsheads.