Kategoriarkiv: Scotland

Glenallachie, Speyside

Glenallachie 2009 Single Cask

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ABV: 56.2 %
Origin: Speyside
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 distilled in 2009 and aged in an ex-PX puncheon (#5709) for ~13 years. It was bottled in 2022 and released in Sweden. It’s limited to 699 bottles. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Auchentoshan, Lowlands

Auchentoshan Heartwood

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Lowlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and floral. The sherry notes are really dominating but they seem to sit on their own on top of everything. There’s raisins, plums and dades up there. Underneath, the spirit is mild with herbal notes. There’s Coca cola and a hint of butter in the middle.

Mouth: It starts out sweet and a bit spicy on the tounge with a speck of dust passing by. Otherwise it feels somewhat underaged with some spikey notes (even though it’s triple distilled). There’s liquorice, dried herbs and raisins coming through together with the cola note. The oak is somewhat dry and quite bitter and leans towards espresso and cocoa powder.

Finish: The sherry overtone swirls up and then disappears rather quickly. It gets replaced by the same cola and herbal notes as before. The bitterness from the dry oak is not especially pleasant when it sits all alone in the end of the finish.

Additional information
This travel retail release is triple distilled and aged around 7 years in a combination of american ex-bourbon oak barrels and ex-Oloroso sherry butts. It was realeased in 2012.

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Bowmore, Islay

Bowmore Vault Edition First Release – Atlantic Sea Salt

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ABV: 51.5 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is high ABV spicy and sweet. The flavours are muted and it takes some time for them to come through. There’s vanilla and assorted tropical fruits and a small note of salty sea spray. There’s a thin aura of honey, but it never takes over. It’s a very flat array of flavours. There’s basically No peat notes coming through at all. It’s a bit boring.

Mouth: This is a 180 degrees turn from the nosing experience with a massive wall of flavours present. It starts out with a spicy kick and a honey sweetness. It then becomes very salty with tar and leather coming through. The tropical fruitiness is still in there but it sits a small distance away. All flavours get pushed up front and in your face. The oak comes through after a while and it brings a hefty bitterness. This is rowdy and not especially balanced.

Finish: A peppermint schnapps gets chased by bitterness and salt notes. The fruitiness is now a mix of grapefruit and lime. The honey and vanilla botes are nowhere to be found. The peat is not pushing forward but it sort of goes in two different directions; Refined leather and wild medicinal notes. The oak is very bitter and comes with espresso notes. This is Bowmore’s unrefined cousin that bears the same family name.

Additional information
This is the first release in a four part series said to highlight the different characteristics of Bowmore. This is supposed to focus on the salty notes derived from the Atlantic sea’s interaction with whisky matured in their famous No.1 vaults. The cask type used is ex-bourbon barrels.

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Peak 2 Peak, Unspecified

Peak 2 Peak

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Scotland Unspecified
Type: Blended Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and spirity. At first there’s a generic sweetness with a hint of liquorice and a very young spirity distillate. The distillate also brings some green fruits with it. When it settles in the glass the sweetness moves towards honey and creates a better balance overall. The spirit note remains which isn’t all that great. The liquorice is very pronounced and it mixes well with the green fruits and malt. This is a decent nose. It isn’t complex nor especially interesting.

Mouth: It starts out with a hint of coconut and a bitterness in the back. In between there’s a mix of sweetness and a very spirity distillate. It almost comes through as having grain whisky as a component. The bitterness soon become a black coffee note which is quite nice, and the fruitiness is helping it along. The maltiness increases over time as well. It feels weird and doesn’t have a homogenous character.

Finish: The transition is flat and a bit uneventful. The liquorice and fruits remain but the back becomes more sour. There’s a weird cardboard note arriving and at this point it’s not a great experience. The bitter coffee note comes back and at the same time the oakiness starts to appear. At first it’s a bit generic but it slowly moves towards a nice nutty finish. This is a so-and-so whisky. It’s a budget whisky and it really shows.

Additional information
This whisky is made from a mix of Highland, Speyside and Lowland whisky. It was aged in a mix of ex-bourbon barrels and ex-Oloroso casks.

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Ileach, Islay, Unspecified Distillery

The Ileach

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 6
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first, the peat with notes of hay and vanilla incense fills the nose. When the first impact resides it reveals a fruity middle layer. It’s ripe raspberries and a sweet and sour lemon freshness. The backdrop consists of a dry earthiness and cold ashes. With time in the glass it grows sweeter and a honey note comes through. This is a nice nose with enough things to find to make it interesting.

Mouth: It starts out very sweet with a full impact of ashy peat. After it settles it brings notes of honey-glazed barbeque meat with the fresh lemon note in the background. The red berry note is not as pronounced as on the nose, but it still in there to find. The background is still earthy and now also slightly medicinal. After a few seconds it starts to lean over towards a vanilla note. It never feels watery or too mild.

Finish: At first there’s just a second or two without anything happening. First to arrive is a bitter note and oak together with a medicinal peatiness. The fruitiness is gone and it’s basically a decent oakiness and the peatiness from here on out. The oak surpasses the peat in the end. This feels somewhat young but it is very much a bang-for-the-buck whisky.

Additional information
The Ileach is a single malt made by an undisclosed islay distillery. It’s bottled by the independent bottler Vintage Malt Whisky Co’s sister company Highlands & Islands Whisky Co. There is a cask strength version available too.

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Glen Moray, Speyside

Glen Moray Elgin Classic – Chardonnay Cask Finish

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and sour. At first there’s a layer of malt and honey up front and a candy sourness in the back. The sweet front slowly evolves into a butterscotch note, while the sour background eventually turns more into a green fruit sourness, like sour green apples, but the candy-esque feel to it remains. There is a sprinkle of dust and just a hint of liquorice coming through near the edges of the glass. This is a very nice and easy approachable nose.

Mouth: It starts out a little less sweet than on the nose but still has honey and malt up front. A tiny spicyness slowly buildsup but never really amounts to anything. There’s vanilla and a sour note, but the sourness is slightly different in taste and it’s somewhat complex. A thin line of something that isn’t so pleasant accompanies the sourness. There are grapes and the candy notes are still in there and with time it comes floral. In the background a metallic note is coating the back of the mouth.

Finish: A quick visit from the sweetness pass by and then it becomes very sour. It’s sour green apples and grapes. There’s a lemon note as well and it’s attached to the metallic note in the back which lingers all the way through the finish. It’s an ethanol driven finish and the oakiness fight to come through. It’s a dry oakiness and it somewhat lacks in character, but it’s not bad at all. The metallic note stays long after everything else dies down. This is a decent whisky, but the Chardonnay finish isn’t the best companion to this single malt.

Additional information
This expression has been double matured, first in ex-bourbon american oak barrels for an unknown period, then finished for 8 months in Chardonnay casks. This version of the Elgin Classic was released in January 2016.

Bowmore, Islay

Bowmore 10 YO – Tempest I

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ABV: 55.3 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first there’s a layer of honey, vanilla and sweet liquorice. Underneath lies a mix of tropical fruits, lemon and a mild leathery peat. It’s malty and round in the middle and the whole thing comes through as warm and welcoming. There’s a mixed spices note coming through towards the edges as well. With time in the glass the vanilla and honey sweetness grows bigger. This is a great nose which makes a good introduction to the rest of the journey.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweetness up front and the peatiness sitting in the back together with a lemon note. The peat is now a mix of leather and campfire smoke. It’s a lot more powerful and rich compared to the nose but a bit less sweet and a bit more mineraly. There’s a nice and mellow bitter note in the background and a sprinkle of seasalt too, which adds another dimension to the otherwise dessert-like character.

Finish: A big burst of mixed tropical fruits spread across the palate. The spicyness is rather consistant through the transition and so is the peatiness. It still feels very warm and approachable. The campfire smoke side of the peat soon start to take over and mix with the now detectable oakiness and the tropical fruits. This creates an extremely nice and fruity background note with a nice and mellow vanilla oakiness within. This set-up stays for a long and absolutely amazing finish. This is a fantastic whisky through and through.

Additional information
This whisky comes from the first batch of six in the Tempest series. It was aged in first fill ex-bourbon barrels. 12000 bottles were released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Campbeltown, Springbank

Springbank 13 YO – Green

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dirty, dark fruits. At first there’s a top layer of fresh red berries and dried dark fruits. A gritty layer of soil, motoroil and sulfur fills up the background and gives the immidiate feel of depth and complexity. As it opens up there are sweeter notes appearing somewhere in between and sort of ties everything together. There’s a hint of vanilla and a rubber note in there as well. It creates a funky experience overall with a lot to discover. This is a great nose.

Mouth: It starts out with a quick sweetness before the background notes comes rushing forward. The funkiness is really demanding attention and the oily, rubbery, dirty notes are up front. The fruitiness is now residing at the edges and it’s more like a mixed bag of dried fruits with a dash of lemon. Raisins and overripe plums are definitely in there as well as brighter fruits. There is a peppermint element and a thin vanilla sweetness floating around. A thin bitter note can be found in the back and this really involves all the different sensations.

Finish: The finish starts out somewhat uneventful before any flavours start to return. First out is the sweetness and the dried fruits on the edges. The peppermint comes in shortly after and then the complex dirty center come along as well. It’s much more toned down and tame and doesn’t deliver what the nose and mouth promises. That leaves room for the oakiness though and it’s a very pleasant oak with a savory note and hazelnuts as well. There’s a very thin chalk layer on it which isn’t all that great but it disappears down the road. The sherry notes come back as a top layer in the late finish. This is a great, well made whisky but the finish lets it down a tiny bit.

Additional information
This Springbank was released in 2015. It’s made from organic barley and aged in ex-sherry casks for the whole aging period. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Glenlivet, Speyside

Glenlivet 18 YO – Single Cask Edition (13091)

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ABV: 56.9 %
Origin: Speyside
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 dessert-like mix of vanilla and baked apples with a hint of cinnamon on top. It’s very fresh and lively despite its age and the distillate is clearly shining through. With time in the glass it grows to be sweet and sour with the sweetness on top with vanilla and honey and sour lemon in the back. A hint of marzipan can be found in the center part. It’s a very easy and accessable nose. It’s quite pleasant but not especially complex.

Mouth: It starts out with a honey sweetness in front and a sour green apple note in the back. There’s a nice power to it and it’s quite peppery which helps it along. The flavours need the boost. It feels a lot more mature than on the nose with an old dusty, grey wood note in the background. After a second or two it turns towards the sour note and shifts from Green apples to lemon. It’s still not especially complex or evolving but it’s a nice experience nontheless.

Finish: The peppery spicyness spikes through the transition but it settles down quite quick. It stays as a background spicyness for the duration of the finish though. It then reveals the same flavour combinations as before. It’s still a sweet and sour experience with vanilla, honey and baked red apples in contrast to green, sour apples and lemon. There are notes of butterscotch, coconut and marzipan floating in and out. The oakiness is an old and dusty one and it takes over in a nice and mellow way. It’s a walnuts and chalk oakiness which is very nice and it feels like a logical way to finish. This is a great whisky. It borders on being too spicy for a delicate dram but it just about works.

Additional information
This whisky was bottled 11/2020. It was aged in an american oak hogshead. The cask number is 13091. The bottle tried is no. 87/252.

Inchgower, Speyside

Inchgower 27 YO – Limited Release (2018)

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ABV: 55.3 %
Origin: Speyside
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 malty sweetness with vanilla and honey attached to it. There’s a minty overlay and a musty background note as well. The fruitiness leans towards baked apples with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. The nose is quite straight forward and there seem to be lacking signs of age. There’s also a nail polish remover note somewhere within. With time in the glass the vanilla note becomes a lot more pronounced. It greatly improves with time in the glass and the signs of age do show up after about 20 minutes. This is a nice and rich nose, but it seems to be a bit one-dimensional.

Mouth: It starts out with a big hit of ABV spicyness. It soon settles and the spicyness becomes a nice outer layer of black pepper. In the middle, it feels quite green and herbal as well as lemon sour. The vanilla and the sweetness are nowhere near what was presented on the nose. There are notes of pine and anis root. In the back there’s a small bitter note slowly increasing over time. The fruitiness do come through with a mixed variety. It still lacks some of the telltale signs of age, but they do show up after a few sips. It’s very fresh and lively.

Finish: The ABV increases in intensity through the transition. The first things popping up after it settles are the pine note and the bitterness. It takes a few seconds but then the fruitiness reappears as well as the lemon note. It doesn’t take long for the oakiness to take over though and it delivers a mix of pine, oak, tropical fruits and a very nice nuttiness. It’s a very aggressive oakiness and it brings the first clear signs of the long maturation period. The finish is the best part of the journey. This is a very good whisky. It’s a really weird one which gives it a nice exploration quality. It really needs time in the glass.

Additional information
This whisky was distilled in 1990 and aged in refill american oak hogsheads. It’s one of Diageo’s special releases for 2018. The Bottle tried is 0067/8544.

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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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Ardbeg, Islay

Ardbeg Auriverdes

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ABV: 49.9 %
Origin: Islay
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 mineral rich peatiness with honey and burnt oak within. On top there’s a menthol layer which mixes with a mild vanilla note. When it settles there are notes of coastal air, with a hint of saltiness, coming through while the oakiness increases in intensity. The and sweet notes move backwards and create a solid background. This is a great nose. It’s a bit unbalanced overall but still makes an impact. It’s quite straight forward though.

Mouth: It starts out with spicy black pepper on top, a sweet peatiness within and a lemon note in the back. After a few seconds it becomes bitter and a coffee note forms in the back. The menthol note becomes pepparmint and the oakiness slowly coats most of the palate. It feels quite savory in the back at this point, yet there’s a dry soil note as well and it works as a contrast. It feels a bit messy and there’s a lot of flavours, but they are all over the place.

Finish: The peppermint spreads out over the palate as the bitter coffee and oak notes continue to fill up the background. The lemon note has disappeared. The peat is now very dry and it comes through as a burning campfire with emphasis on the burnt oak. The sweetness is gone but the coastal notes pop up down the line. The late finish is peat and oak with the lemon sourness returning in the back. This is a great whisky. It’s a bit chaotic and the flavours are moving around which makes it a bit hard to follow along.

Additional information
This whisky was released in 2014. It’s aged in ex-bourbon barrels with heavily roasted cask lids. The release was limited. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Ardbeg, Islay

Ardbeg Perpetuum

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ABV: 47.4 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. A heavy layer of vanilla and an ashes from a recently burnt out campfire is dominating the first impression. The vanilla has an unscented lotion vibe to it, which isn’t a bad thing. There’s a saltiness and a medicinal note sitting somewhere in the middle. The sherry cask influence is very subtle but there is a small scent of raspberries coming through. This is very pleasant.

Mouth: The arrival is very medicinal with a touch of black pepper and a honey sweetness. After that it takes a while for the peat to create an ashy outer layer and, when it settles, a quite fruity inside. Raspberries are still dominating but there are some darker fruit notes detectable. It’s got an oily texture. Lemon, vanilla and just a hint of the oakiness come through after a few seconds without pushing any of the other flavours aside.

Finish: A burst of black pepper passes by before it returns to the ashy peat that are mixed with a nice vanilla driven oakiness and some chocolate. The lemon note still sits in the back and it’s still medicinal. The finish is complex and there are many flavours following along far down the road. The flavours somehow switch halfway down the road and the darker fruits is now creating a layer surrounding the oak, the peat and a sweet honey note. This is a beast in formal wear. Pure excellence.

Additional information
The Perpetuum was released 2015 as a 200-year celebration bottling. This is the 2020 re-release. It’s a mix of both young and very old whisky, matured in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. 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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Ardbeg, Islay

Ardbeg Corryvreckan

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ABV: 57.1 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet, slightly fruity and very peaty. Cold ashes from a burnt out woodfire is dominating the first impression. There are vanilla and, both fresh and ripe, dark berries lurking in the background. It’s got a coastal character and it’s very medicinal. The oak is coming through around the edges of the glass. The vanilla grows more pronounced over time and the fruity note seems to be leaning towards blueberries. This is a very nice complex nose.

Mouth: It starts with a sweet honey layer on top, but underneath it’s very salty and spicy. After a second or two the full peat impact comes rushing in. The peat is now a bit warmer and rounded, but it stays salty and peaty with a medicinal iodine note. A pine note is now peeking through from the back together with the vanilla. The fruitiness is also found, but it seems to bounce around between the other flavours which makes it hard to pinpoint. It still comes through as berries though.

Finish: A sharp spicyness and black pepper flare up and then the honey, vanilla and pine notes return. The fruitiness is still intertwined with the peat and the medicinal side to it becomes more pronounced. The blueberry note keeps on popping up from time to time, but when the oakiness starts to build up it slowly fades away. The oak brings dark chocolate, black coffee and more of the vanilla. The black pepper stays all the way through the finish. This is a great, complex whisky with a lot of exploring opportunities.

Additional information
The Corryvreckan was originally a committee release but it’s now a part of their core range. It’s aged in american ex-bourbon barrels, european ex-sherry casks and european ex-Burgundy red wine casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colours.

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Benromach, Speyside

Benromach 15 YO

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first there’s a honey and vanilla sweetness surrounded by sweet red fruits, coconut and a mild peat. After a while the different parts start to merge and becomes very rich and three dimensional. The peatiness has a seaside character which balances out the otherwise overly sweet cask maturation. Raspberries give a freshness on top, the center part is vanilla, honey and comes through as fudge. There’s white chocolate note as well. This is a very good nose. It lacks notes of age and comes through as way to simple for its age.

Mouth: It starts out with black pepper and fudge center with a peatiness which is a lot more potent than on the nose. There’s dark chocolate, tobacco and overripe fruits. It’s not as rich, but it comes through as more complex in taste. There’s a hint of oak in the back and a dusty note on top. The sweetness is in there, but everything feels more balanced at this point. The fresh red berries are gone. There’s a small hint of oranges and some sort of roasted malt.

Finish: The transition is gentle and just seems to increase the existing flavours. It does add a bit more acidity to the mix which refreshes the palate. The peatiness is coating the palate while the dark chocolate and the dark fruits slowly give room for the oak to shine through. It’s a nice oakiness which brings some dust, tobacco and coconut with it. The late finish does have a slightly weird flowery note lingering which doesn’t give it the best send-off. This is a great whisky overall though with a nice array of flavours to discover.

Additional information
This whisky was aged in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels and first-fill ex-sherry casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Bruichladdich, Islay, Octomore

Octomore 09.1 – Dialogos

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ABV: 59.1 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

See the queue here.

Additional information
This whisky was distilled in 2012 with a PPM value of 156. It was aged in ex-bourbon barrels for 5 years. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Bladnoch, Lowlands

Bladnoch Samsara

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ABV: 46.7 %
Origin: Lowlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a round sweetness with honey and vanilla fudge in the center. There’s a mixed berry fruitiness sitting in a thin layer surrounding the sweetness. There’s a ginger note and a hint of nail polish remover on top (which mellows out over time). There’s a lemon sourness which increases slowly over time. A weird rubbery side note floats around and it feels really misplaced. This is a decent nose which feels a bit in disarray and weird.

Mouth: It starts out with a chili spicyness together with an umami/bitterness mix in the back. Up front a fresher berry fruitiness resides. It lacks sweetness though. The bitterness increases and the oak arrives fairly quickly and makes the whole dry and astringent. Hints of vanilla and honey is in there but really doesn’t contribute to the whole. Black liquorice is also found, as well as the same weird rubbery side note as was found on the nose.

Finish: The transition is very dry and oaky from the get-go. The lemon note is static in the back throughout. The astringency makes it hard to savor the rest of the finish, but the vanilla fudge returns as well as the weird rubbery note and the red berries. The late finish is just a dry and astringent, slightly unpleasant oakiness. This is a decent whisky. It feels unlogical and comes through as unbalanced and too oaky.

Additional information
This whisky was aged in ex-bourbon barrels and californian red wine casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Glenglassaugh, Highlands

Glennglassaugh Portsoy

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ABV: 49.1 %
Origin: Highland
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first there’s a mineral rich peatiness sitting in the center with a soft coating of red, ripe berries. Vanilla, honey and a hint of ginger are also found within. When it settles roasted almonds, chalk and sweet liquorice are added to the mix as well as a fresher lemony fruitiness. Time in the glass makes this a very complex experience. This is a great nose with a lot to offer to those who are patient.

Mouth: It starts out with a dusty and sweet center with an outside layer of assorted dry and fresh berries and lemon. It’s quite dry. There’s a note of leather and tobacco in the center as well as a funky background note coming from the peat. The sweet liquorice resides on the outside and covers the palate together with the honey and vanilla. There’s a lot of complexity within which makes it very fun and interesting at this point.

Finish: The transisiton sees black pepper and sweet liquorice increasing in intensity. The lemon note is in the back and the dusty layer comes through in the center together with the ripe fruits and the leather note. After a few seconds there’s an oakiness arriving which really feels misplaced due to it’s new oak character. Everything else feels balanced, ripe and well made, but the oak character feels wrong and too pronounced. The late finish is all about that oakiness with a background note of ripe and sweet red berries. This is a very good whisky which has a slightly disappointing finish.

Additional information
This whisky was aged for 12 years in a mix of ex-bourbon barrels, ex-sherry and ex-port casks.

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Bruichladdich, Islay, Octomore

Octomore 12.3

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ABV: 62.1 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and heavily peated. At first there’s a very sooty peat and a honey and vanilla sweetness coming out of the glass. Underneath lies some coastal notes like ocean air and a hint of seaweed. When it starts to settle and the nose gets accustomed to the intense flavours there’s a floral note on top and some sweet, mild berries underneath arriving slowly. It’s very approachable and the high ABV is just creating a mellow minty layer on top. There are many notes floating by, such as chocolate, iodine, violets, oak etc. This makes the experience feel like a treasure hunt. This is a great nose. It’s incredibly rich and interesting to explore.

Mouth: It starts out with a chili spicyness surrounding the palate while the center part immidiately grows into a big ball of honey, vanilla and a sooty, mineral rich peatiness. In the background there’s a savory note as well as a black coffee/dark chocolate bitterness sitting together with some ripe berries. There are hints of assorted nuts and the oakiness is slowly arriving out towards the edges. A lemon peel note is found in the background mix as well. The heavy peat seems to merge with everything else and it doesn’t feel as peaty as on the nose.

Finish: The transition starts with a quick flare of the red berries and lemon before the chili spicyness returns. The sweet center never really reaches the same height as before which gives room for a mix of coastal notes, iodine, lemon, coffee, soot and oak. These notes lasts for a long time before the finish starts to fade. It becomes slightly dry and astringent in the late finish and the oakiness is fresh and decent. It’s not the most characterful oakiness, but it does its job while the sooty peat lingers. This is a fantastic and powerful whisky with a lot to offer to those who dare to venture beyond the peat. It’s an extremely flavourful experience.

Additional information
This whisky was aged for 5 years in first fill ex-american whiskey casks (75%) and first fill ex-PX sherry casks (25%). The PPM value is 118.1. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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