Singleton, Speyside

The Singleton of Dufftown Malt Master’s Selection

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a heavy vanilla sweetness with a young spirity note on top. After a while it shifts towards caramel with a hint of fruits underneath. It takes a while before the fruitiness turns into something substantial and when it does, it’s an apples and pears mix. When it finally settles in the glass there’s a decent balance overall. This is an okey nose. It lacks a bit of flavour, complexity and comes through as too mild to be interesting.

Mouth: It starts out with a few seconds of nothingness and a young spirit note before a rush of flavour components start to compete to reach the front. There’s a black pepper spicyness on top of some fresh fruits. Underneath lies a mix of ripe fruits and a very bitter coffee note. There are pears, bananas and overripe plums coming through. It’s much more flavourful in taste than on the nose. It feels a bit all over the place though, with a lack of general direction.

Finish: The transition really highlights the overripe plums and the caramel. Soon it reveals a bitter and nutty oakiness and a lemon sourness in the back. The spirity note is sitting on top of everything throughout the finish. After that it really doubles down on a grey old bitter oakiness which actually works pretty well. This is a good whisky with a nice array of flavours. It lacks power, complexity, age and balance.

Additional information
This entry level whisky was aged in refill casks, ex-bourbon barrels and ex-sherry casks for an undisclosed anoumt of time. The bottle tried is apparently from batch 1106.

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Cragganmore, Speyside

Cragganmore Distiller’s Edition 2009/2021

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a sweet honey and vanilla sweetness with cinnamon and red berries within. There are raspberries and strawberries and they are very pronounced. Everything seems like it’s coated in a small tobacco and leather note coming through. When it settles everything becomes more balanced and notes of white wine and liquorice emerges. There’s also a lemon note floating around out on the edges. This is a great nose with a lot of nice and balanced flavours. It could use a bit more power to really pop out of the glass.

Mouth: It starts out very mild with a lemon freshness on the outside and a ripe funky adventure in the center. There are tobacco, leather and overripe fruits which makes up the funky part. The sweetness with honey, vanilla and cinnamon is still in there as well as a bit of oak. The whole is very well put together, but still lacks a bit of power. It feels like there are oranges within as well.

Finish: The transition is very mild and a malty vanilla and fudge center is first out of the gates. A hint of the dark fruits mixed with oak is in there, but the fresher, brighter fruits are now downgraded. The oak eventually takes over and brings a nutty touch with hazelnuts which makes the tail somewhat dry. The smokiness gets more noticable in the later part of the finish. This is a good whisky. It’s a bit too round and mild to be interesting but it’s a nice and easy sipper.

Additional information
The Distiller’s Edition is a limited yearly release of the Diageo series ”The classic malts of Scotland” finished in special ways. This is matured in american ex-bourbon barrels and finished in port pipes.

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Glenturret, Highlands

Glenturret Triple Wood Batch 3

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a vanilla and red apple center part with baking spices sprinkled on top. There’s honey and a slightly funky maltiness as well. It feels slightly young and spirity, but that isn’t overpowering the character as a whole. With time in the glass the sherry notes start to take up more space with ripe and dried darker fruits and berries. It feels like a hint of peat is in there as well but it might be a tobacco note from the sherry. It feels decently balanced overall. This is a nice nose. It lacks a bit of complexity and age, but it’s pleasant enough.

Mouth: It starts out slightly flat with a spirit driven frontside and a bitterness in the background as a starting point. It does increase in intensity a bit and there are notes of caramel, cocnut and vanilla coming through. It feels a bit boring at this point but the tobacco note and the funky malt do arrive and make it somewhat better. The fruitiness is almost hiding far back and the baking spices, although detectable, doesn’t bring much to the table.

Finish: The transition is logical and just a continuation from the mouth. There’s an immidiate wood spicyness spreading out and it doesn’t give much of the other flavours any chance to follow along down the finish. The bitter note, maybe dark chocolate, do follow as well as a small hint of the dark fruits, but the main event is a very aromatic and sawdusty oakiness. There’s some bad refill casks involved as well it seems. This is a decent whisky, but it lacks power, complexity and depth to be great.

Additional information
This whisky was aged in a mix of ex-bourbon barrels and sherry seasoned european and american oak casks. The bottle tested is from batch 3.

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Balvenie, Speyside

The Balvenie 12 YO – Single Barrel (6544/164)

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ABV: 47.8 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and citrus fruity. A big wall of honey and lemon obscures everything else from the start. After a few second it opens up and vanilla, oranges and grapefruit comes through. It’s still very sweet though. There’s a veil of menthol creating a cooling effect and a fudge note develops with time in the glass. This is not complex but really pleasant on the nose.

Mouth: It starts out thick and honey sweet. A black pepper spicyness slowly builds up on the sides while bitter lemon and orange peel comes through in the center. There’s a dustiness sitting on top and a hint of tropical fruits in the back. Just as on the nose, fudge comes through after a few seconds. It’s slightly astringent, but the oakiness isn’t noticable.

Finish: A small wave of black pepper goes by and gets replaced by a dusty vanilla and some grapefruits. The oak comes through very fast and it’s a nice fresh oakiness with a softer mellow side to it. The bitter fruit notes create a walnut nuttiness together with the oak. The late finish is driven by oak and a lemon zest. This is well put together and there’s good cask influence, but it feels a tiny bit one-dimensional.

Additional information
In 1993 Balvenie started with limited single barrel releases. This bottle is drawn from a first fill ex-bourbon barrel. The cask number is 6544 and this is bottle no. 164 out of a maximum of 300 bottles.

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Highlands, Inchmurrin, Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond Inchmurrin

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Highland
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 quick, fresh fruitiness which almost immidiately gets overrun by a sweet and malty center part and a spirity top layer. It takes a few seconds before a milder fruitiness returns. When it settles in the glass the sweet core delivers a nice honey, vanilla and butterscotch mix while the fruitiness is lemon and apple with a hint of smoke within. The spirity top layer disappears and the nose is actually very pleasant at this point. This is a nice nose. It lacks some depth and complexity, but this is a budget alternative so it makes sense.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweet butterscotch layer which seems a bit two-dimensional and slightly soapy. It does deliver a lot of nice flavours and the hint of peat is more noticable in the mouth. There’s also a sour lemon in the back and sweet yellow pears fruits up front. Everything does get a bit shaded by the fact that it’s a rather unpleasant young and spirity distillate and delivers some less than desirable notes which brings it down a bit.

Finish: The fruitiness increases through the transition and pushes the butterscotch layer back together with the peat. This gives room for a cinnamon spicyness and a mild oakiness to come through. It’s still a young and spirity experience, but the base notes behind it is actually nice. The finish soon comes tumbling down and leaves the oakiness to fend for itself. It’s a competent oak character which feels like a mix of old and new. This is a good budget whisky. It lacks complexity and it is a bit rough and spirity. It comes through as a bit better than other whiskies in the same catergory.

Additional information
This whisky is a Sweden exclusive release. It’s aged in ex-bourbon, refill ex-bourbon and recharred bourbon barrels for an undisclosed amount of time.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

Arran Small Batch – Heavily Peated Sherry Casks

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ABV: 50 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 4
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark fruits and peat. At first there’s a layer of sweet dark fruits with raisins, overripe plums and coffee liqeuer. On top lies a thin fresh oakiness and underneath lies a peat note and a sweet and sour mix of fresher fruits. Soon the peat starts to merge with the dark fruits and it’s creating tobacco and leather notes within. When it’s settled it becomes sweeter and vanilla and honey are added to the mix. This is a great nose. It’s young and lively but offers a pretty good balance between the flavour components.

Mouth: It starts out with a sour note in the back and a dark fruits and coffee mix up front. It’s quite spicy from the start. It hasn’t got a sweet character. The peat is creating a somewhat weird layer around the edges together with the sour note, which now is coming through as bitter lemon peel. It’s a lot brighter compared to the nose and the Arran house style shines through clearly. There’s a lot of sensations peaking at the same time and it’s a bit hard to navigate through it.

Finish: The spicyness flare up through the transition while the sweet vanilla and dark fruits move towards the edges. Left in the middle is a mix of fresher assorted fruits and sour bitter lemon. The peat is in there as well but it’s not the main attraction. A savory note pops up in the back together with the oakiness. It’s a very fresh and uninteresting oak which lacks a bit of character. This is a very good whisky but it lacks a bit of structure and balance. It’s just a big pile of flavours stacked upon each other. It still makes it a great experience overall.

Additional information
This whisky is a Sweden exclusive release. It’s aged for at least 7 years in heavily saturated ex-Oloroso sherry casks. It’s nicknamed ”The Crazy Swede”. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Ardbeg, Islay

Ardbeg Scorch Committee Release

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ABV: 51,7 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is oaky and peaty. At first there’s a heavy impact from a hot burning woodfire with a sweet honey and vanilla baseline. Underneath a mineral rich peatiness struggles to keep up and it takes some time in the glass before the whole becomes balanced. There’s iodine and coastal notes floating around as well. With time the vanilla becomes more noticable. There’s black liquorice and a tiny hint of fresh fruits coming through from the back and with time the liquorice note becomes dominant. This is a great, heavily peated nose with a nice balance between the peat and oak.

Mouth: At first it’s spicy and mineral rich with top notes of fresh oak and honey. The iodine is very pronounced and it takes a few seconds before it’s pushed back by the sweetness, charred oak and peat. The whole is vanilla and liquorice heavy. In the center there’s a nice maltiness peeking through as well. The charred oak becomes quite sooty over time. There’s also a fresh fruitiness, leaning towards grilled pineapple, in the background.

Finish: It starts out with a joint surge of wood spices and ABV spicyness. The burning woodfire is covering most of the palate at this point and the iodine and coastal notes have taken a few steps back. The liquorice is now also residing in the back. After a few seconds there’s a smoky woodfire exterior and a fresh oak center with a tropical fruitiness within. The late finish becomes a bit too oaky. This is a great whisky which does a nice job of balancing extreme flavours against each other. Time in the glass before drinking is recommended.

Additional information
This was released for Ardbeg Day 2021. It’s aged for an undisclosed amount of time in heavily charred ex-bourbon barrels. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Mannochmore, Speyside

Mannochmore 12 YO Flora & Fauna (2023)

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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 fruity. At first there’s a mix of fresh fruits and sweetness and vanilla. It’s a mix of baked caramel, apples and oranges. There are notes of marzipan and custard and it’s very dessert-like. It’s somewhat spirity at this point. With time in the glass it becomes more floral and the oranges turns to lemon. There are notes of honey, heather and a hint of sweet liquorice coming through as well. This is a very good nose. It lacks depth, power and complexity, but it really is a pleasant thing to nose.

Mouth: It starts out with a dusty malt up front, a hint of oak and a lot of lemon in the back. It’s quite floral and the lemon note is strong. There are notes of honey, ginger and vanilla holding everything together. The sprawling fresh fruitiness from the nose doesn’t carry over which is a bit of a disappointment. After a while there’s a generic bitterness starting to come through in the back.

Finish: The transition is gentle and there’s a small spicyness spreading out over the palate. The fresh fruitiness found on the nose returns and brings cinnamon and marzipan along. Unfortunatly the bitterness grows in intensity and sort of break the illusion of a nice fruity dram. The vanilla, honey and dusty malt carries over as well. The finish reveals a quite perfumey and bitter oakiness. It does have a slight nuttiness to it which is a nice addition. This is a very good whisky. It’s has a lot of faults and is watered down too much, but it ought to be good dram for people new to whisky.

Additional information
There is no information to be found on the aging process of this whisky. It’s the only standard release of Mannochmore, yet it is limited.

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Islands, Talisker

Talisker Port Ruighe

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ABV: 45,8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is mixed fruits and mild peat. At first there’s a sweet fruity center with an outside layer of mild tobacco peatiness and dried tropical fruits. The background is salty and coastal and comes through with a hint of toffee. With time in the glass the fruitiness moves forward and reveals red berries and apricots. The peatiness shifts towards dry soil with a feint note of cold ashes. The whole thing is sweet and a vanilla notes comes through towards the edges. The sweetness seems connected to everything else and doesn’t produce notes on its own. This is a nice and pleasant nose which offers opportunity to explore but it feels somewhat subdued.

Mouth: It starts out with a salted caramel center with a coating of sweet dark and ripe fruits. The fresher fruits seem to have disappeared at this point. The peatiness is still earthy and keeps a thin note of tobacco and it stays around the edges. The coastal feeling is still found in the background. The different components feel somewhat separarted and resides in their own space of the palate. There’s a black pepper spicyness to it but it’s very mild and it takes a few seconds for it to show up.

Finish: The finish starts with a fresher fruitiness coming through with a mix of dried tropical fruits and a hint of lemon. The finish starts off quite narrow and it takes a few seconds for the peatiness to once again show up as a surrounding layer. The port cask influence are not very noticable in the finish except for a very nice nutty oakiness. The late finish offers a mix of walnuts, a mild black pepper spicyness and a hint of fruitiness. This is a very good whisky with a lot to offer. It lacks a bit of the rowdy and vibrant heritage and the flavour components could use some more time to merge.

Additional information
The Port Ruighe was released in 2013. It’s aged for an undisclosed time in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in ruby port casks.

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Loch Avon, Scotland, Unspecified

Loch Avon 3 YO

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is harsh and spirity. At first there’s a very muted sweetness covered in harsh grain spirit. It’s very metallic and shiny. There’s a hint of fresh fruits and butterscotch and with some imagination there’s a peatiness within. There’s a pencil note in there as well. The whole is quite unpleasant and lacks both power and flavour. There is a liquorice note coming through after a while as well, but it really doesn’t do much for the overall character. This is a bad nose. The only good thing about it is that it’s very muted.

Mouth: It starts out with a weird butterscotch note with the grain spirit harshness as its main enemy. There’s oak spices joining forces with the otherwise low ABV which gives it a small spicyness. It’s metallic in the back and very grain forward up front. New oak and a hint of peat resides in the back. The butterscotch increase in intensity over time. The fruitiness is not especially noticable at this point and there’s no reason to wait and search for it.

Finish: The transition immidiately push forward the harsh and very unpleasant grain Spirit and it’s a really bad experience. The butterscotch is clingy and follows along and sort of mixes with the oakiness at one point. There’s a bitterness coming through from the back at this point and it just makes everything weirder and more unpleasant. The peat and the fruits seem to be too ashamed to be a part of the finish and never reveal themselves. The late finish is a mix of new woodshop oakiness and totally dead, bitter refill barrels. This is a bad whisky. It should not be had neat.

Additional information
There’s no information on origin nor aging process. It’s a peated blend released on the swedish market.

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Unspecified, Unspecified Distillery, Waterproof

Waterproof

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ABV: 45.8 %
Origin: Scotland unspecified
Type: Blended Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and spirity. At first there’s a layer of ethanol sitting on top of a sweet vanilla center part. When it starts to settle there’s a fresh yellow pear fruitiness added and the spirity layer decreases in intensity. There are baking spices slowly rising up with mainly a cinnamon note. Other notes found are ginger, grass, mixed dried fruits and an unidentified perfumey note. This is a straight forward nose. There’s a good amount of small things to discover, but it doesn’t feel deep or complex.

Mouth: It starts out with a mild toffee note and a spicy kick. After that there’s a mild peaty note coming up from behind as well as some darker ripe berry notes. It feels quite young at heart but it does carry some substance. Raisins, hazelnuts on one hand and fresher fruits and vanilla on the other. The oakiness is already detectable and it brings some new oak vibes along.

Finish: The transition carries the spicyness without spikes and emphasis lies on the fresh yellow pears with some cinnamon. The toffee still resides in the center and stays there for a good part of the finish. The oak is astringent and carries a new woodshop oakiness, hazelnuts and also some old oak furniture. The late finish is the best part of the experience. This is a good whisky. It seems like a mix of old and new casks, but the weighting between them feels skewed.

Additional information
The origins of this blended malt is not disclosed but it’s produced by Macduff International. It’s finished in traditional oak and ex-sherry casks.

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Bunnahabhain, Islay

Bunnahabhain An Cladach

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ABV: 50 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and oaky. At first there’s a honey sweetness with vanilla and a piney new oak note within. Those three flavours are exeptionally strong, which is good when it comes to the first two. The pine note is not all that pleasant. There is a mix of fresh and ripe red berries underneath but they are more like an accent than anything else. The sweetness and the vanilla merge to a fudge note after a while. This is a weird nose which feels a bit over-oaked, and the oak delivers not so good flavours.

Mouth: It starts out with a sour background note and a sweet center. There’s a nice spicyness slowly spreading out over the palate. There are lemon, honey, vanilla and the same piney oak as on the nose. It feels young and a bit spirity underneath. There’s still caramel in the center part but it feels slightly cardboardy and salty. There’s a speck of dust and a hint of rapsberries and dried fruits as well. After some time there’s a ripe fruitiness arriving in the back.

Finish: The transition is slightly weird and for a second or two everything dips and feels slightly thin. The ripe and dried fruits are now coating the mouth while the fudge fights with the piney oakiness for attention in the center. Unfortunatly the wood notes win all too quickly and leaves a piece of astringent wood left in the mouth. This is a weird whisky from Bunnahabhain. It most certainly is a cask selection cover-up job, but the thing used as a cover isn’t good enough.

Additional information
This whisky is a limited travel retail exclusive release. There is no information about maturation period or casks used, but there are ex-sherry casks involved. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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BenRiach, Speyside

Benriach Quarter Cask

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ABV: 46 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and oaky. At first there’s a malty, young center with honey and vanilla. On the outside there’s a fresh oakiness and a fruitiness as well and it’s mainly red apples. When it settles there are mixed baking and wood spices coming through and the oak and the vanilla join forces and becomes a strong note as an outside layer. That’s basically it. There’s no complexity nor depth. This is a decent nose though. It’s a bit too oaky to be balanced.

Mouth: It starts out with a spicy kick and vanilla before moving on to a funky maltiness, which isn’t the greatest addition. There are honey and oak and as time passes the oakiness grows stronger and takes over. There are zesty notes in the back and a tiny apple note too. It almost feels a bit hot and it really lacks elegance. The wood note is almost more like cedar wood than oak at this point.

Finish: The transition is quite logical and everything carries over seamlessly. The funky maltiness disappears fairly quickly but the spicyness remain. It doesn’t take long before it’s a mix of honey, vanilla and new oak remaining. There’s a weird soapy note suddenly appearing in the late finish which certainly doesn’t belong there. This is a weird whisky. It’s young, way too oaky and simple. It still drinks fairly okey though.

Additional information
This travel retail exclusive was aged in a mix of ex-bourbon barrels and quarter casks. It has natural colour.

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Highlands, Old Pulteney

Old Pulteney 12 YO

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 3
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and coastal. The first impact comes from ripe apples and lemons with a backdrop of honey and vanilla. There’s an outer layer of coastal notes like ocean air and sea salt. There’s also black liquorice floating around somewhere in between. A thin note of the oak is coming through very early. This is mild, but has a nice contrasting character which makes it a very nice nose.

Mouth: It starts out with sweet butterscotch and honey. The ripe apples are next to come through together with a dusty note. It’s not as fruity as on the nose. The coastal notes are still a nice feature and there’s also a medicinal iodine note surrounding everything on the outside. The black liquorice slowly appears and moves forward with time. The oak is noticable, but it stays in the back and never really moves forward.

Finish: Lemons and apples come up in a spike before the sweeter butterscotch and honey notes return. The apples disappear, but the lemons stay when the coastal notes start to take over. They do so together with a dry driftwood oakiness. It’s grey oak planks with a slightly nutty side to it, which is close to the taste of brazil nuts. The liquorice note stays for a long time down the line. This is a well made whisky with a lot to offer despite the low ABV. The contrasting flavours makes this a nice experience.

Additional information
This expression is aged in american ex-bourbon oak barrels. The biggest part of the barrels used are second fills.

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Bruichladdich, Islay

Bruichladdich Islay Waves – The Rhinns Edition

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is honey sweet with warm peat notes. The peat brings gentle notes of leather and a warm burning woodfire. The sweet layer consists of vanilla, honey and a small hint of caramel. In the back there’s a very clean distillate note with just a small hint of lemon and heather.

Mouth: At first a small hint of the leather pass by before a very nice spicyness takes control. There are honey and tobacco notes together with some dry soil, dust and a touch of seasalt. The lemon note is still found in the back and some sweet liquorice move forward with time in the glass. The texture is quite thick and oily.

Finish: The leather and a quite savory, meaty note take lead. There are some overly ripe fruits coming through somewhere in the back. It’s now more salty with an ashy note and it stays that way for a while before moving over to the fashionably late oakiness. The oak is fresh and slightly dry. It stays for a long time and the earthy part of the peatiness return late in the finish. This is a well made, very sippable dram.

Additional information
This version of Bruichladdich was released in 2012 and is aged in american ex-bourbon barrels and ex-wine casks. The PPM level is 15. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Speyside, Tamnavulin

Tamnavulin Double Cask

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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 fresh fruits and vanilla. At first there’s a perfumey fruitiness sitting up front. Beneath that, a layer of vanilla and a hint of honey create a shallow but pleasant background. The fruitiness is a mix of lemon and fresh red berries, mainly raspberries. The vanilla and the sweetness grows into a butterscotch note with time in the glass. This is a pleasant and welcoming nose, but it isn’t especially complex or interesting.

Mouth: It starts out with an outer layer of lemons and a sweet butterscotch and malt center. It feels a bit dusty and there are notes of darker fruits in there as well as black liquorice. There is an oily and rubbery note in the background which gives it a nice depth and some complexity. It’s got a nice texture and it’s a lot richer than the nose.

Finish: The darker fruitiness as well as the oily rubber note take lead. It’s raisins and plums and after a few seconds the vanilla and butterscotch return, but it adds to the palate without overshadowing anything. The oakiness starts out in the background and moves slowly forward. It’s a very nice oakiness and it comes with walnuts and a black coffee bitterness. This is a great whisky and it gives away a lot of nice flavour and some complexity even though it’s a low ABV rather low-priced whisky.

Additional information
This is the first release in over a decade from the distillery, which is owned by Whyte & McKay. It’s aged in ex-bourbon american oak and finished in ex-sherry butts.

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Ardbeg, Islay

Ardbeg Uigeadail

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ABV: 54.1 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet och peaty. Sweet savory smokiness from a recently put out campfire mixed with green fruits, vanilla, honey, plums, raisins and a quite tangy overtone. There’s a note that reminds me of being on an early morning sea shore walk.

Mouth: Sweet and quite spicy, turns to brine, ashy smoke flavours, vanilla and ripe red fruits. The sherry casks are dominant and gives plums, raisins and a hint of liquorice.

Finish: The smokiness takes a turn to the ashy side after swallowing. It’s a mouth watering finish with a sweet yet slightly bitter oakiness as the main flavour. Walnuts and dark chocolate can be detected after a few seconds. The finish is long and very satisfying. Very well balanced.

Additional information
Uigeadail is the lake from where Ardbeg takes the water to produce whisky. This expression is a vat between whisky aged in ex-bourbon barrels and ex-sherry butts. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Caol Ila, Islay

Caol Ila Distiller’s Edition 2006/2017

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is peat and fruits. At first there’s a varm and sweet herbal and earthy peatiness with hay as a main direction. Inside there’s a mix of honey, green grapes, green apples and yellow pears. There’s a perfumey note on top and a funky complex note within. The moscatel finish really comes through the heavy peat. This is a great nose with a lot to explore. It feels balanced overall.

Mouth: It starts out very mild with a fruity mix and a sour tang in the back There’s a dusty oak note, it’s malty and there is a sweet chili-like rounded off spicyness. The peat covers the palate but lets the other flavours shine in the middle. There are ashes, warm campfire smoke and hay within. There are also ripe grape notes contrasting the otherwise bright fruitiness.

Finish: The transition is spicy but there’s not enough power in it to excel. It’s dry soil with white wine, a smokiness (like burning yellow grass) and a dusty note. The funky ripe note makes a reappearance but leaves just as fast. The oak brings tropical fruitiness but really never takes over. There’s a slight oak note with a peaty cover left in the mouth when the rest of the flavours fade. This is a great whisky. It could have been really amazing if it had a bit more power.

Additional information
All whiskies in Diageo’s ”The classic malts of Scotland” series are accompanied by a special Distiller’s Edition. This version of Caol Ila is finished in ex-Moscatel wine casks.

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Ireland, Powers

Powers Gold Label

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a bit hit of vanilla and short bread cookies with side notes of grain spirit and fruits. There are bananas, red apples and a squeeze of orange. Sweet liquorice can be found but are not one of the main features. There’s a nice balance between the sweetness and the fruits which makes it very dessert-like and easy to approach. There’s also a creamy feeling overall. This is a very good nose. The grain spirit note brings it down a notch.

Mouth: It starts out with a bready note and a slight spicyness. The fruitiness is fresher and less sweet and brings more citrus notes and apples than bananas, even though they still exist within. There are still notes of vanilla. It’s less sweet than on the nose and a bitter note are starting to create some background noise. It really doesn’t seem to fit in but it does give another dimension to an otherwise quite simple experience. There’s a good portion of maltiness and the grain spirit notes are pushed down in the order, which is a very good thing.

Finish: There’s an increase in the fruitiness at the start of the transition. The malty, bready center also return but it starts to fall apart quite soon. The fruitiness once again become banana forward with citrus notes in the back together with the bitter note. It soon shifts and becomes very oaky. It’s a quite spicy and aggressive new oak which isn’t all that pleasant. After a while it just feels like chewing on raw oak. This is a decent whisky for the premises. The oak infusion helps it along in one end, but makes it hard to endure in the other.

Additional information
This is a blended irish whiskey aged for an undisclosed time in american oak casks.

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Box, High Coast, Sweden

High Coast Harbour Collection 02 – Bönhamn

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ABV: 51 %
Origin: Sweden
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a sweet vanilla and oak center part and a bright fruitiness, with a sour accent, surrounding it. It’s a bit harsh and spicy from the get-go and it needs a good amount of time in the glass to settle down. When it settles a mild peatiness is available. There are also notes of ginger, cinnamon, honey and lemon. Baked pears and marzipan slowly seeps through from the back as well. This is a great nose as long as it gets time to breathe.

Mouth: It starts out with an oakiness out on the edges of the palate. Soon there’s a sweet mix of peat, vanilla and honey building up in the center. There’s bitter dark chocolate in the back which increases in intensity throughout. It’s not as fruity as on the nose and the lemon note is almost gone, but the baked fruits are still in there. The oakiness moves in towards the center and it feels a bit crowded in the middle. The flavours seem to be a bit mismatched. The ginger also return after a while which adds to this notion.

Finish: The transition increases the spicyness a lot. Otherwise, the dark chocolate bitterness in the back just keeps on ramping up. The fruitiness shows up around the edges and the peat is there as well, but it almost feels forgotten at this point. It adds an earthy note to the oakiness though, which finally do beat the dark chocolate note. It leaves a string of bitterness behind though. The oakiness left behind is a decent one but, with everything else in disarray, it almost feels like it’s there to salvage what’s left. It’s a decent oakiness though with a mix of new and old attached to it. This is a good whisky with a great nose. It’s a bit too busy and nothing seem to sit in the right spot.

Additional information
This whisky was aged in a mix of ex-bourbon barrels (80 %) and ex-cognac casks (20 %). The whisky is about 8-9 years old. 5536 bottles were released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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For the love of all things whisky/whiskey