Kategoriarkiv: Islands

Islands, Talisker

Talisker 25 YO Cask Strength (Special Release 2004)

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ABV: 57.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet fruits and peat. At first there’s a sweet mix of honey, vanilla and peaches. There’s a minerality inside as well as a hint of dry soil. When it starts to settle the peatiness moves up along the edges and brings some coastal notes with it. It feels a bit fresher than its age but it does have a deeper side and complexity to it. The old oakiness slowly emerges with a good portion of time in the glass. This is a fantastic nose with a lot to offer to both the casual drinker and the explorer.

Mouth: It starts out with the peat around the edges. It has a lot more smokiness to it than on the nose and it’s still mineral rich. The center part is spicy, yet brings forward peaches and honey. It’s here the age shows itself as well with old oak and dusty leather bound books. The background notes are slightly bitter and nutty with coffee and walnuts. The high ABV never mellows and it’s an extremely powerful experience.

Finish: The transition is very logical and it doesn’t move too far in any direction. The peaches and honey, together with vanilla and old oak, create the first part of the finish, while the peat slowly moves back. The minerality disappears and gives way to some coastal notes, but it still maintains the same overall character. The oakiness is now spreading out on the palate and joins the walnuts and coffee for a very long and rewarding finish which seems to last forever. This is an absolutely marvellous dram overall.

Additional information
This whisky was aged for in refill ex-sherry casks. It’s a 2004 diageo special release limited to 21000 bottles.

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Islands, Talisker

Talisker Distiller’s Edition 2010/2020

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ABV: 45.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and peaty. At first, there’s a mix of darker red berries and dried fruits. Behind there’s a layer of vanilla and honey with some salt and dry soil. Even further back there are some brighter fruits like green apples. The peatiness is creating a an outside layer of tobacco and woodfire smoke. A medicinal note comes through after some time in the glass.

Mouth: At first there’s a syrypy sweetness together with a touch of black pepper. The darker fruit notes are up front and after a second or two the peatiness starts to build up once again. The tobacco is present as well as the coastal salty notes. There’s some vanilla coming through as well as salted caramel. There’s a thin note of tropical fruitiness peeking through as well.

Finish: Black pepper together with the coastal notes lead way into the finish. There’s a quite noticable saltiness and it’s still got an earthy feel to it. The sherry is now a bit toned down and the fruitiness is much brighter than before with dried apricots and dried red berries. After some time the oak comes through. It’s a mild oakiness accompanied by the coastal notes all the way to the end. In the late finish the tobacco notes reappear as well as some walnuts. This is a great whisky with a nice fruity twist to an otherwise rowdy experience.

Additional information
This is basically the Talisker 10 YO finished for about a year in ex-Amaroso sherry casks. It has around 20 ppm. It’s aged for 10 years in reconstructed american ex-bourbon oak barrels before the finishing period.

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Islands, Talisker

Talisker x Parlay Wilder Seas

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ABV: 48.6 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

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Additional information
This limited release whisky was first aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in ex-french oak XO Cognac casks.

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Islands, Jura

Jura 12 YO Sherry Cask

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ABV: 43.5 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

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Additional information
This whisky was first aged for 10 years in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished for 2 years in ex-Oloroso casks from Jerez, Spain. It was released for the swedish market.

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Islands, Talisker

Talisker Skye

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ABV: 45.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first there’s a slightly wet peatiness and a mild honey sweetness. Underneath there’s a thin peachy fruitiness. There are salty coastal notes on top. It feels slightly spirity and the whole doesn’t pop out of the glass from the start. When it starts to open up ginger and toffee arrives in the center, but it never loses the spirity feel. This is a decent nose which feels unbalanced, young and with the components in disarray.

Mouth: It starts out with the wet peatiness and a mix of tobacco and toasted bread within. There’s a hint of the toffee and fruits, but the mouth goes dry almost immidiatly and the mouthfeel isn’t the greatest. The burnt oakiness is already taking over which is a bad sign for the rest of the journey. It’s salty and the coastal notes are still sitting on top, but the mix of oak spices and the young spirity notes ramps up the oakiness even more when it sets of.

Finish: The oak makes the transisiton very spicy and dry. The other flavours doesn’t seem to be able to push through. There’s an apricot fruitiness floating around on top when it finally starts to calm down. There’s still a saltiness, but the peatiness shifts and becomes more mineraly in the late finish. The toasted oak is just too strong to make everything accessible. This is a so-and-so whisky which feels over-oaked and unbalanced.

Additional information
The Skye was released in 2015. It’s matured in a combination of refill and toasted american oak casks with a slightly higher proportion of toasted casks. It’s unchillfiltered.

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Arran Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt 10 YO – Master of Distilling Jim McTaggart’s 10th Anniversary Limited Edition

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ABV: 54.2 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is rich honey sweetness and vanilla with a minty overlay. Black liquorice and a hint of anise create depth and adds to the sweetness. A brighter fruitiness is hiding in the background. It’s quite hard to break it down but there’s some green apples and a hint of lemon. The cask influence is amazing.

Mouth: Dense sweetness and black liquorice. The high ABV creates a layer of spicy chili pepper and it comes rushing in quite fast. It rests on a base of vanilla and honey and a hint of tropical fruitiness with pineapples and lemon zest shine through. A discreet savory note sits in the back. A small note of bitterness comes through. It’s dusty and the texture is oily and thick.

Finish: First comes a spicy kick, then a chalk note. The sweetness and black liquorice return together with the tropical fruitiness. The oak comes fashionably late. It’s a very pleasant oakiness, just a smidge dry and without astringency. There’s hazelnuts coming through in the late finish. This is an absolutely fantastic whisky.

Additional information
This whisky comes from the first casks filled by James McTaggart when he started working at the Arran distillery in 2007. It’s matured in first fill american ex-bourbon oak barrels. It’s a limited edition with just 12 000 bottles released worldwide.

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Islands, Talisker

Talisker 8 YO – Special Release 2021

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ABV: 59.7 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

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Additional information
This whisky is one of Diageo’s special releases 2021. The is no information about which casks are used. It’s bottled at natural cask strength.

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Islands, Talisker

Talisker Dark Storm

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ABV: 45,8 %
Origin: Islands
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 deep sweetness with a fresh tropical fruitiness attached to it. There’s a nice dollop of peat which feels very integrated with the other flavours. It’s a mix of coastal notes, tobacco and leather. The charred oak comes through after a few seconds and adds vanilla and a hint of cocnut to the mix. With time in the glass the fruitiness becomes more and more noticable. This is a great nose with a lot of dimensions to it even though they all seem to fit nicely together.

Mouth: It starts out a lot less sweet. The peat is now much more dominant and rowdy with salty coastal notes as the main feature. The fruitiness is pushed back and becomes lemon and orange peel in the background. It still feels vibrant and fresh without feeling too young. In the middle there seem to be a textured and dusty vanilla with some cask char and a hint of honey floating around. There’s a spicyness slowly increasing in intensity over time as well.

Finish: The finish starts out with vanilla and oak in the back together with the orange peel bitterness. The spicyness and the peat sit on top. For the first time it doesn’t feel quite as balanced and most of the notes stay far back on the palate. The only thing happening in the later parts of the finish is that the oakiness increases in intensity and it almost feels too oaky after a while. It’s a fresh sawdust oakiness and the char notes are certainly present. The coconut flashes by briefly but it just feels like chewing on a piece of wood in the end. This is a very good whisky but it’s not without flaws. The nose is by far the best part of the journey.

Additional information
This is a travel retail exclusive release first launched in 2013. It’s aged for an undisclosed time in heavily charred oak casks.

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Islands, Jura

Jura 21 YO

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ABV: 44 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: A very dark and rich approach with an overlay of vanilla and honey. Raisins and ripe plums, sweet thick syryp and grey weathered oak planks makes it very dense. There’s also a brighter fruitiness with some red apples and berries. Dark chocolate sits between the oak and a dusty old leather note. It really shows its age. The sherry notes increases with time in the glass and black liquorice will show up after a while.

Mouth: It starts out mild with a fresh fruitiness but soon it turns very dusty and spicy on the tip of the toungue. This has a complex array of flavours. There’s a funky note of almost molten plums together with vanilla, honey and raisins. A hint of raspberries sits on top. The oak is astringent and the bitterness is just right to give this a nice balance to everything.

Finish: Quite surprisingly the tone changes and a big burst of tropical fruits suddenly appear. There’s mango and pineapple together with nice rich oak flavour with sweetened coffee. It takes a second or two before the dustiness and the darker notes reappear, but when they do, they stay way back on the palate. The wethered oak together with the dark chocolate keep the tropical fruitiness company all the way down this absolutely fantastic finish.

Additional information
First released in 2010 as a 200 year old celebration to the distillery. This 21 YO is a replica and a continuation of that expression. This is aged in ex-bourbon american oak for most of the maturation period and then finished in vintage european ex-sherry oak casks.

Arran Malt, Islands

Arran Sherry Cask – The Bodega

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ABV: 55,8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 2
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark and sweet. At first there’s a thick layer of dark, ripe fruits. There are raisins, overripe plums and dried apricots. It’s very aromatic and there are bakning spices as well as a mild menthol sitting on top of the main flavours. There’s a sweet side to it with brown sugar and vanilla, but the sweetness is mostly coming from the fruits. The background brings a brighter, tropical fruitiness and some apple juice. There’s also a hint of sulfur in the back. This is a sherry bomb and it’s quite fantastic on the nose.

Mouth: It starts out very sweet and dark. Immediatly there’s a black coffee bitterness with the dark fruits close behind. It’s high ABV spicy and it’s quite rich and oily. After a few seconds a dark chocolate note builds up. The tropical fruitiness is not present at this point, but the powerful sherry notes are surpressing most of the other flavours. It’s somewhat astringent and the oakiness is peeking through every once in a while.

Finish: The dark fruits, dark chocolate and black coffee notes start to move towards the edges as soon as the finish starts. This leaves room for vanilla, oak and dried assorted tropical fruits to appear in the center. The sweetness is still sugary with a hint of vanilla. The menthol cloud returns and stays all the way through the finish. The oakiness gains momentum after a few seconds and it’s a dry, slightly nutty oak. This is a fantastic whisky within the sherry bomb category and it’s really well made. Even though it lacks an age statement it doesn’t present itself as young and undermatured.

Additional information
This is part of The Arran Malt’s core range. It’s aged in ex-sherry hogsheads and is presented in natural cask strength. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands, Lagg

Lagg Corriecravie Edition – Sherry Cask Finish

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ABV: 55 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first there’s a vanilla heavy sweetness mixed with a nice vegetal peatiness, iodine and a hint of dry soil. There’s a sourness in the back and some baking spices up front. With time in the glass the sherry notes slowly take over. There’s a hint of chocolate covered raisins, red fresh berries and a hint of tobacco all making the whole a nice solid profile with a nice power to it. This is a great nose with a lot to offer. It’s young and fresh but delivers some depth as well.

Mouth: It starts out with a dry earthy peat and a peppery spicyness from the higher ABV. The palate gets coated with dark flavours like coffee, raisins and tobacco while it still delivers some lemon notes from the back and some iodine rich medicinal peatiness up front. It’s quite rowdy at this point. It’s less sweet than on the nose and it feels very oily and well made. There’s a dampness floating around as well which contributes to the complexity of the whole.

Finish: The finish starts out with the spicyness floating out gently over the palate which creates a very nice effect. First out is the coffee notes with a bitter background note which mixes with lemon sourness. The raisins, the tobacco and the medicinal peat are joined by a dark chocolate note down the line and create a pleasant, but not easy accessible, finish. The oakiness comes fashionably late and brings the dampness with it, even though there’s a fresher character up front. This is a great whisky overall. It’s young and rowdy, yet it’s wearing a nice set of garments.

Additional information
This whisky was first aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in ex-oloroso hogsheads from Spain. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Islands, Jura

Jura 12 YO

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 2
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is toffee and fruits. At first there’s a thick layer of toffee, honey and vanilla. Fresh red berries create a thin layer behind the thick sweetness. There’s also a whiff of smoke and a hint of nuttiness (with almonds as closest reference). It’s rather rich, but it feels a bit ”manufactured”. After some time in the glass the fruitiness turns a bit darker and raisins and dades start to come through in the back. The main focal point remains the toffee throughout. This is a nice and round nose, but it feels a bit uneventful.

Mouth: It starts out with a second without flavours but then everything comes rolling in like waves. The first thing to come through is an oaky bitterness with the toffee notes on top. Soon after a spicyness start to slowly rise. When it’s on its peak it’s quite intense. In the back there are citrus notes, as well as the same fresh red berries found on the nose. A darker fruitiness do come through for those who wait, but it takes a while for it to show up.

Finish: The transition is uneventful and it soon becomes a round ball of toffee and honey with a slightly dusty surface. The fruitiness is now leaning towards darker fruits and seem to cling to the background. The oakiness start to come through and it soon takes over. It’s a great, fresh and nutty oakiness with a hint of smoke to it. It becomes slightly astringent and dry in the late finish. This is a good whisky with nice flavours and a nice finish. It’s nothing less, nothing more.

Additional information
This expression was released in 2017 and is matured in ex-bourbon barrels and finished in oloroso sherry casks.

Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park Single Cask Series Thyra Danebod – Dronning av Danmark

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ABV: 62.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

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Additional information
This whisky was aged in a refill puncheon for 12 years (2007-2020). This is cask no. 4939 and it’s limited to 568 bottles.

Arran, Arran Malt, Islands, Lagg

Lagg Inaugural Release 2022 Batch 1

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ABV: 50 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is peaty and sour. At first there’s a hefty, yet slightly brittle, peatiness. Underneath lies a sweet and sour honey and lemon mix. The whole thing feels very clean and well made but it is quite simple and straight forward. There’s vanilla, and an ashy side to the peat is coming through, but not much more than that. When it starts to settle in the glass there’s oakiness slowly emerging around the edges. This is a nice nose which feels decently balanced but it lacks complexity and feels a bit boring.

Mouth: It starts out with a much bigger and powerful character compared to the nose. It’s peppery and quite bitter in the background. In the middle the peatiness feels chewy and unrefined. After a while there’s a return of the vanilla. The oakiness is pushing through strong at this point and the whole comes through as a bit unpleasant. Underneath there’s a hint of the sweet and sour notes and a thin green apple note. There’s a weird undefined note floating around in the back as well.

Finish: The spicyness shifts to become a pepparmint throughout the transition. When it settles the peat once again turns a bit brittle and has no chance against a quite strong oakiness. It feels unbalanced and the lack of age is really shining through here. There are notes of leather and hay, but all in all it’s just the oakiness which is left in the end. It’s a bland oakiness which lacks character. This is a good inaugural release which shows some promise going forward. But this as a standalone whisky is not the best thing in the world.

Additional information
This whisky is the first release from Arran’s new distillery. It was aged in ex-bourbon barrels. The PPM value is 50. 10 000 bottles was released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park Spirit of the Bear

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

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Additional information
This was released in 2018 as a travel retail exclusive. It’s aged in a mix of first fill sherry-seasoned european and american oak casks and refill casks. It has a higher proportion of peated malt. It has natural colour.

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Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park 10 YO – Ambassador’s Choice

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first, vanilla and honey covers a base of assorted red berries and a tiny leathery peat note. After a few seconds black liquorice starts to come through. The flavours slowly build up to become very pronounced but nothing more really happens on the nose. It’s laid back from the start but really opens up with time in the glass.

Mouth: It starts out mild, and the first thing to come through is a dusty honey note. Soon after a maltiness comes through together with some fresh red berries and a spicyness finally shows up. The fruitiness gets more pronounced with strawberries and plums. The small peat note is still found, but it’s sitting a long way back. There’s also a salty note somewhere in the middle of the palate.

Finish: A mix of the leathery peat note and dark fruits flare up. Now it’s ripe plums and raisins and they are accompanied by honey and vanilla. It takes a while for the oak to come through, and when it does it’s quite discreet. It’s sitting underneath the peat note and the dark fruits a long way down the line. It’s a nutty oakiness with hazelnuts. It’s juicy and there’s no astringency. The finish is without question the best part. This is a good solid whisky, but a bit muted and uneventful overall.

Additional information
The Ambassador’s Choice was originally only released in Sweden. It’s aged for 10 years in a mix of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks made out of american oak.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt Finished in a Rum Cask

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ABV: 57.6 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and spicy. At first there’s a layer of vanilla, coconut and sweet fruits underneath a cloud of nail polish remover. When it settles it becomes sweeter and fruitier as well as a bit more acidic. It feels young and vibrant. It takes a while in the glass before it reaches its full potential and when it does, there’s a nice complexity in the back and a nice balance between sweet and sour in the center. At this point the sherry fruitiness, with liqueuer-soaked red berries as its main feature, is creating a thin outside layer towards the edges of the glass. This is a great nose when given time to open up.

Mouth: It starts out with a mix of sweet and dusty vanilla, coconut and a nice powerful, yet pleasant, spicyness. It’s acidic overall and has a lemon sourness which contrasts the sweet flavours. The sherry notes are somewhat subdued and resides in the background together with the sour notes and an elusive cinnamon note. There’s also a small bitterness floating around. It’s not the most interesting development and it feels like the different components compete for attention instead of adding to the whole.

Finish: The transition is very logical. The sweetness increase in intensity as well as the spicyness. It’s not spikes, it’s more of a slow increase. The fruitiness then arrives around the edges and it’s a general fruitiness without any specific recognizable sorts. It still feels more like a fight between components than a cohesive character. The bitterness is still in there and it slowly turns into walnuts. The late finish is a very nutty and frankly amazing oakiness and becomes the best part of the journey. This is a very good whisky, but it feels a bit over-engineered.

Additional information
This is a single cask release. It was aged in an ex-sherry cask and then finished in a rum cask and bottled in 2004. The bottle reviewed has no. 96/260. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt 12 YO – Master of Distilling II The Man With The Golden Glass

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ABV: 51.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark fruits and sweet liquorice. A veil of menthol surrounds everything at first. When it’s lifted the dark fruitiness appears. It’s a two-layered fruitiness with raisins, overripe black grapes and plums on top and a brighter layer with ripe apples and a hint of lemon underneath. The longer it stays in the glass the more a sweet liquorice note takes over. The background consists of a solid backdrop of vanilla, honey and a hint of oak. This is a very pleasant nose.

Mouth: The impact is very immidiate and the mouth fills with menthol and dark fruits. The sweet liquorice is still in there and the background still contains vanilla and honey notes. After a few seconds the fruitiness sort of makes a full 180 and becomes a lot brighter with lemon, oranges and grapefruit. There’s a speck of dust on top and it’s already a touch astringent.

Finish: The high ABV makes the menthol become really pronounced at first. When it settles it reveals a fruitiness that is even brighter than before. Even though the dark fruitiness still can be found, it’s now leaning heavily towards tropical juice with pineapples, mangos and oranges. There’s still a lemon sourness peeking through. The oak comes through quite clear, and it’s a very nutty oakiness. There’s a big hazelnut flavour and the late finish is absolutely fantastic. This is an amazing whisky.

Additional information
This expression comes from casks filled in 2006. The cask type for the first maturation period isn’t disclosed. It’s then finished in european ex-Palo Cortado sherry casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour. It’s limited to 12 000 bottles worldwide.

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Arran Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt 21 YO – The Explorer’s Series Volume 2: Lochranza Castle

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ABV: 47,2 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a thick layer of honey and dark fruits. There are raisins and overripe plums, but also a layer of dried apricots. There’s a nice balance between the sweetness and the fruitiness. After a few seconds in the glass there are notes of vanilla starting to come through as well as a maltiness. There’s a complexity to it and fleeting notes of leather and tobacco are found in the background. It feels very three-dimensional. This is a very nice nose with a lot to offer.

Mouth: It starts out with a subdued lemon sourness and a sweet honey top layer. The fruitiness is a lot brighter and the darker fruit notes move into the background. There’s a black coffee note somewhere in between and there’s a dusty leather note in there as well. With time it turns darker and at one point it feels like there’s a creamy coffee liqueuer within. There’s also vanilla, sweet liquorice and just a tiny whiff of smoke.

Finish: It starts out with a layer of the dark sherry notes in the back. It takes a second or two for the front layer to appear but when it does, it reveals the same notes once again with coffee, fruits, leather and, once it settles, a nice oakiness. The oak seems to be in balance, it’s present, but it doesn’t overpower the rest of the finish which makes it a long and very rewarding experience. The oakiness is dusty with a hint of hazelnuts and there’s still a whiff of smoke. This is a fantastic whisky. It’s well balanced and full of flavour.

Additional information
This is the second release in the Explorer series. It’s limited to 9000 bottles worldwide. It has been aged in ex-sherry hogsheads and finished in ex-Amontadillo sherry casks from Bodegas Tradicion. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt The Devil’s Punch bowl Chapter II: Angels and Devils

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ABV: 53.1 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet, sour and slightly peaty. At first there’s a mix of honey and vanilla sitting on top of a base of sour candy, raisins, raspberries and a gritty note with peat mixed into it. On top a mix of nail polish remover and menthol is floating around. After a while the vanilla and a malty note increase in intensity, and so do the sherry notes, which adds butterscotch and strawberries. This makes the peatiness move out towards the edges and a chance for the oak to peek through. This is a great and complex nose which retains the Arran house style very well even though it has some unique and strong flavours from the casks.

Mouth: It starts out very sweet with vanilla, coconut and honey, but the sour side isn’t far behind. There’s a tropical fruit basket arriving in the back while a nice black pepper spicyness spreads out over the palate. In between there’s a fresh red fruitiness and some baking spices, butterscotch and malt. It’s got a quite savory background note and a slightly salty overtone. It feels very balanced and the different sensations goes well together. The oakiness is present throughout.

Finish: The sweet and sour notes really push through and takes the tropical fruitiness along. There are cinnamon and oak around the edges and there’s a speck of dust somewhere within. The peatiness is nowhere to be found at this point. When it settles the sherry notes once again come through and they’re pushed back a bit and have more of the fresh berries than the butterscotch now. The finish is long and extremely rewarding. The oakiness shows up together with the peat. It’s an aromatic oakiness with hazelnuts which feels attached to the cinnamon note and the tropical fruits. The peat is nicely balanced to add to the mix instead of taking over. This is an amazing whisky with too many flavours, sensations and small notes to describe them all.

Additional information
This whisky is a vatting of 27 casks (17 sherry hogsheads and 10 ex-bourbon barrels. The different casks holds whiskies, both peated and unpeated, distilled between 1994 and 2004. It was bottled 2013. 6660 bottles were released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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