Auchentoshan, Lowlands

Auchentoshan Three Wood

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Lowlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fresh cola and mixed fruits. At first, a fresh mix of Coca cola and strawberries greets the nose. At the edges there’s a darker fruitiness with overripe plums and liqueur-soaked raisins. Honey, vanilla and sweet liquorice is sort of residing between the fruity layers, but they never seem to touch each other. The oakiness is also in there and it too has it’s own space. It’s a very ”clean” and clear nose making it easy to separate the different flavours.

Mouth: It starts out very mild and the first thing to arrive is a thin oak note and a dark, fruity sweetness. It’s overripe fruits and honey together with vanilla and cola. A small hint of lemon comes through from the back. The brighter red berry note found on the nose is not present at all. With time, the oakiness seems to move out towards the edges.

Finish: It’s now sweet and vanilla heavy. It’s still a very mild experience and the red fruits has now returned and they push the darker ripe fruits towards the edges. The cola note is still creating a red thread through the experience. The oakiness in the late finish is slightly dusty, but still seems quite fresh. Basically every flavour follows along in the late finish. This is a bit uneventful and somewhat lacks connection between the flavours, but it is quite tasty overall.

Additional information
This was released in 2002. It’s aged in american ex-bourbon oak barrels, then in ex-Oloroso sherry casks and lastly moved into ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. All Auchentoshan whiskies are triple distilled.

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Islands, Ledaig

Ledaig Sinclair Series – Rioja Cask Finish

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ABV: 46.3 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is ripe fruits and peat. At first there’s a vegetal peat, with notes of heather and minerals, sitting on top of a dark ripe fruitiness and a gritty sulfury note. There’s also a minty overtone contrasting the dark and peaty character. With time the whole becomes a bit fresher and fruitier while the peatiness remains intact. When it settles there are notes of sugered rapsberries comin through. It also becomes somewhat sweeter over time. This is a fantastic nose with a nice balance between different sensations.

Mouth: It starts out with a quite sour lemon note in the back and a slightly dusty sweetness up front. It takes a couple of seconds before the peatiness shows up towards the edges and slowly moving inwards. It feels young and fresh at heart, but the ripe berries and the dusty sweetness creates what feels like a fake sense of age. It’s still feels mineral rich but it’s not as vegetal as on the nose. There’s a nice spicyness on top giving it a nice power-up. A slight coffee bitterness shows up in the back for those who wait.

Finish: The impact is immidiate and a sweet and somewhat fresher berry note, mixed with vanilla and sulfur, pushes through in the center. The peat and the ABV spicyness is detached and sits out on the edges. It still feels a bit dusty and there’s a bit of complexity within, but everything feels a bit detached in the finish. The oakiness comes through very late and it’s a very laid back and gentle oakiness which does its job but comes through as a bit lackluster. This is a very good whisky with a fantastic nose. It seems to deteriorate the further down the journey it comes.

Additional information
This no age statement whisky is the first release in the Sinclair Series. It’s aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in spanish ex-Rioja red wine casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Islands, Ledaig, Tobermory

Ledaig 10 YO

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ABV: 46.3 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is vegetal and peaty. At first there’s a big vegetal and hebaceous peatiness with a medicinal and ashy background. There’s heather and iodine and also a thin menthol layer on top of everything else. The background is quite gritty and complex with a rubber note somewhere within. With time in the glass vanilla and honey start to emerge and makes the whole very approachable. There’s also a hint of green apples peeking through. This is a fantastic nose with a great array of flavours.

Mouth: It starts out with a slightly bitter background surrounding a very medicinal peat note. It’s not as vegetal as on the nose and it packs a nice punch from the get-go. The vanilla and honey are now out on the edges as well as the green apples but they play second fiddle to the rowdy and gritty flavours. The rubber note is still in the as well as the ashy notes. It mirrors the nose very well and it’s constantly evolving without changing the theme.

Finish: The finish starts out with a big push of heather, vanilla and honey. After a few seconds they once again get pushed back by the medicinal peat and the gritty background, which now has moved forward a bit. When everything settles the heather stays together with the medicinal peat and dry oakiness. It sort of feels like saw dust; Fresh yet dusty. This is a fantastic whisky which isn’t for the feint hearted. It’s very rowdy, yet it presents itself as sweet and flowery.

Additional information
This is made by the Tobermory Distillery. It’s not stated, but suggested that it’s aged in ex-bourbon barrels. The peat level i 37 ppm. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Dalmore, Highlands

The Dalmore 12 YO

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

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

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

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

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

Glen Grant, Speyside

Glen Grant 10 YO

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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 hefty amount of citrus notes with a vanilla and honey cover surrounding them. There’s also a maltiness coming through quite early. When it settles there are green apples as well as a minty overtone and the sweet surrounding layer grows a bit over time. It ends up being a nice sweet dessert. This is a very good nose. It feels quite balanced between the sweet and sour notes and albeit it’s not complex, it’s nice to nose and the shifts are logical.

Mouth: It starts out a bit too mild and slightly watery with a bit of sweetness at the start. There is a spicyness slowly arriving up front and the sweetness evolves into vanilla, malt, oak and honey after a while, which again feels quite logical. There’s a slight bitterness in the back and the citrus notes are still in there, but they are pushed back by the sweetness. The whole thing is a bit underwhelming and it lacks the nice balance which the nose offered.

Finish: The transition is quite uneventful and it still feels a bit bland. All the flavours carries over but nothing really stands out. After a while the minty layer starts to emerge, but the rest is just fading away in the background except for the oak and the bitter note. It’s a nice enough oakiness but there’s just not much to explore about it. This is a good whisky but it really lacks the nice flavours the nose offered. It’s an easy sipper and there’s no bad sides to it; It’s just a bit too mild and unpretentious.

Additional information
There’s not much information to be found on this whisky. It was presumably aged in ex-bourbon barrels for the full maturation period.

Islay, Klichoman

Kilchoman Machir Bay

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ABV: 46 %
Origin: Islay
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 big dollop of an ash and dry soil peatiness. When it settles a sweet honey and vanilla layer starts to fight for attention and pushes the peatiness out towards the edges. Underneath the big flavours a fresh and sour fruitiness peeks through. It’s lemon and a hint of sour apples. It feels young and lively but it doesn’t present any metallic or ethanol harshness. This is a simple yet effective nose with a high emphasis on the peat.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweet outside layer together with a quite medicinal and dry iodine note with a sprinkle of salt somewhere within. After a few seconds vanilla arrives in the center and with time it evolves more towards a butterscotch note. It’s a lot less sweet compared to the nose. The ashy side of the peat is residing in the back together with a savory note. The sour fruitiness is still found in the back but it comes through together with a small metallic note and a zesty bitterness. For those who wait a nice chili spicyness builds up over time.

Finish: The finish is a straight line continuation from the mouth. There’s still the dry medicinal notes on the edges, a savory peat in the back together with a zesty bitter lemon. The chili spicyness is nice and spreads out over the palate but never gets spiky or unpleasant. The butterscotch notes are first to disappear and soon it’s only the medicinal peat and a quite anonymous and boring oakiness left. This is a good whisky in many ways but it feels a bit unfinished and young which is good for the peatiness but bad for the rest of the dram.

Additional information
The Machir Bay is the Kilchoman core range signature malt. It’s a vatting between ex-bourbon barrels and ex-sherry . It leans heavily towards the ex-bourbon. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Ballechin, Edradour, Highlands

Ballechin 15 YO – Small Batch Cask Strength

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

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

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

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

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

Speyside, Tamnavulin

Tamnavulin Red Wine Cask Edition – Cabernet Sauvignon

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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 sour. At first there’s a mix of vanilla, sour red berries and a small amount of honey. It feels fresh and very approachable. There’s a nice sweet center part underneath with malt and butterscotch. The distillate shines through but it’s not protruding. When it settles in the glass there’s a nice and rich outer layer forming with darker fruit notes from the cask finish as well as a gooseberry fruitiness in the center. This is a nice nose with a lot to offer even though it’s a bit too mild.

Mouth: It starts out with a rounded off butterscotch and malt note. There’s a honey and vanilla sweetness as well. It’s a lot sweeter than on the nose and becomes even sweeter with time in the glass. There’s an immidiate oakiness forming around the edges together with a sour lemon note, which unfortunatly is slightly metallic. The whole is extremely mild and easy on the palate. It’s very different in taste compared to what the nose presented and it lacks a bit of balance. It becomes slightly spicy after a few sips which is a much needed feature.

Finish: There’s an increase in darker fruit notes and sweetness through the transition and when it settles those notes lie on top while the oakiness overruns everything else underneath. There’s an almond note somewhere in between. It becomes slightly astringent and the oak feels like a mix of fresh oak and a nutty, bitter grey oak. The finish ends rather quickly, but the fresh oak note stays behind and gives somewhat of an interesting fade out in the end. This is a pretty decent whisky for what it is; A budget single malt.

Additional information
This is a single malt first aged in american ex-bourbon casks and then finished in Cabernet Sauvignon red wine casks. There is no information on aging time. This bottle is from batch 001243.

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Speyside, Tamnavulin

Tamnavulin Red Wine Cask Edition – Pinot Noir

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a mix of butterscotch and overripe red berries. There’s a strawberry and vanilla cream note within which gives it a dessert-like quality. Underneath a rather young distillate and a not so great bitter oak note are found. The whole feels top heavy. There’s a shiny sour lemon/metallic note peeking through from behind. This is a decent, uncomplicated nose with a nice cover from the cask influence. The corners cut shows through though.

Mouth: It starts out very mild with a heavy vanilla and butterscotch center. The same shiny lemon and metallic note is filling up the background and makes it a bit unpleasant. After a few seconds some spicy notes appear which seem to come from the oak rather than the alcohol which gives it a small, but much needed, boost. The red berries are still creating a small coating over the vanilla and butterscotch and it’s still mainly strawberries, but also a hint of more ripe berries. The longer it stays in the mouth the more of the young distillate comes through and a bitterness starts to appear.

Finish: The finish starts out pretty flat and the sweet center deteriates rather quickly. The fruitiness and the metallic note stays a bit longer and they reside mainly towards the edges. Left in the center is a rather astringent and simple oakiness which struggles to decide whether it’s raw oak or a bitter black coffee oakiness. It still seems to be connected to the spicyness. It’s not a long finish. This is a so-and-so whisky which delivers just about what’s expected from a budget single malt.

Additional information
This is a single malt first aged in american ex-bourbon casks and then finished in Pinot Noir red wine casks. There is no information on aging time. This bottle is from batch 000164.

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Glenfarclas, Speyside

Glenfarclas 25 YO

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark and dried fruits. At first there are two layers of fruits sitting close together. One is the dark fruits with raisins, plums and a hint of blueberry and the other contains brighter dried fruits like pineapple and apricots. With time they merge and create a single mixed fruitiness. There’s vanilla around the edges and a hint of sulfur in the back. A thin note of seaweed is surprisingly showing up somewhere in the middle. With time a black coffee bitterness start to come through in the background as well as a hint of oak. This is a nice nose but it’s really mild and doesn’t make a big impact (It becomes more noticable after about 20 minutes in the glass though).

Mouth: It starts out mild with a vanilla creaminess with a layer of fruits underneath. It’s liqueuer-soaked cherries, raisins and plums and it’s all accompanied by a black coffee bitterness as a background. It takes a few seconds for the spicyness to come through but when it does, the whole starts to demand a lot more attention. The fruitiness is moving out towards the edges to make room for the coffee, oak and a thin complex array of flavours like leather, dust and old books.

Finish: The finish starts out with a huge impact of an espresso bitterness. The sherry fruitiness seem to cover all the sides to create an outer boundary which keeps the rest of the flavours inside. The age related flavours are still sitting in the background and creates a nice complex layer. When the oak finally takes over it’s a spicy and dry oakiness intertwined with the espresso note. This is a great whisky, but the somewhat low ABV makes it a bit muted, especially on the nose.

Additional information
This 25 YO is part of the Glenfarclas aged range. It’s aged for the entire period in european ex-Oloroso sherry casks.

Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park Cask Strength Edition Batch 4

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ABV: 60.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
(from Batch 2. Notes will be revised)
Nose: This is sort of laid back and sweet. There is an ABV spicyness coming through but it’s not invasive. There’s honey and vanilla together with a red fruitiness but the whole thing isn’t jumping out of the glass. There’s a subjective note of how a closet full of old clothes smell. The core flavours tend to move forward over time in the glass with red berries and dark dried fruits. It opens up and improves substantially with time.

Mouth: It starts out sweet and quite ABV spicy. A lemon note flies by before the red berries and dark fruits show up. There’s liqueur-soaked cherries and raisins. There’s a dusty note and just a thin leather note. The cask influence is sort of limited and it’s not a complex dram, but flavourful nontheless.

Finish: The high ABV shoots off a peppery spicyness before the sherry influence and a honey sweetness comes through. Vanilla is residing in the background together with some raisins and there’s not much of an oakiness, just a touch in the end. It comes through together with the thin leather note. There’s no astringency and basically no bitterness. A small chalk note comes through late in the finish.

Additional information
This expression was first released in 2013 as an exclusive for the swedish market. It’s aged in european ex-sherry casks for an undisclosed amount of time.

Campbeltown, Kilkerran

Kilkerran 8 YO Cask Strength (2021)

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ABV: 56.9 %
Origin: Campbeltown
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark and dried fruits and peat. At first there’s a dark and thick fruitiness with liqeuer-soaked raisins and cherries. There are notes of sulfur and leather attached to the fruitiness which creates a bridge over to a mild and slightly savory peatiness. With time in the glass the fruitiness becomes a bit brighter with some mixed dried fruits on the outside edge. There is also a quite complex background with a lot of gritty notes floating around. They are hard to pinpoint due to the heavy cask influence. Oak and a mellow menthol note comes through out on the edges as well. This is a great nose with a nice array of things to discover.

Mouth: It starts out with a mix of assorted brighter fruits and a mild spicyness. After a few seconds the background slowly fills with dark high percent bitter chocolate, leather, molten plums, raisins and a nice mix of peat, sulfur and leather. It feels nice and oily with just the right amount of spicyness. It ends up with a mix of just about everything everywhere on the palate. There’s also a hint of motoroil coming through as well. It feels a bit unbalanced overall.

Finish: At first there’s a sour lemon on the back part of the palate but it soon gets overrun by the massive complex center part with all the dark and gritty flavours intact. The bitter chocolate note has moves back into the background and the brighter fruits show up in front. The center consists of peat, sulfur, leather, molten plums, raisins and a lot more of subtle notes swiftly passing by like pipe tobacco and heather. The oakiness comes through like it’s been a part of everything all along and it matches the heavy character very well. It’s a fresh yet nutty oak with a hint of hazelnuts and some sawdust too. This is a great whisky with a very demanding character. It comes through as a bit too bitter and hard to approach though.

Additional information
The Kilkerran is made by the Glengyle distillery. This was aged in first fill ex-Oloroso sherry casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Islay, Lagavulin

Lagavulin 12 YO Special Release 2020

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ABV: 56.4 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. A big hit of ashy and vegetal peat, with the ashy notes on the outside and the vegetal notes in the center, is the first thing to come through. There’s a vanilla and oak sweetness in the center which contrasts the rowdy exterior. There is a coastal side to it as well with notes of the ocean and just a hint of seaweed. It feels young but settles nicely in the glass. There isn’t much of a journey to talk about in this one, it stays nearly the same throughout. The maltiness do move forward a bit and a tiny hint of lemon breaks through now and again. This is a solid nose but it could offer a broader variety in sensations.

Mouth: It starts out with a a sour lemon note in the the back and a black pepper spicyness up front. In between, the peat and the vanilla are joined by a beer-like maltiness. It almost feels like an IPA with an ashy peat layer surrounding it. All the flavours seem to move forward and increase in intensity as a whole. It’s not as vegetal and coastal in taste as on the nose. The lemon note in the back sort of shift towards other cirtus fruits like grapes and oranges, but never as much as needed to keep the notes in focus.

Finish: The spicyness sort of rolls through the palate as the citrus notes fills the background. It takes a few seconds before the beery maltiness returns in the middle. The vanilla is still in there but it’s less detectable in the finish. The peat is now a top note and it’s once again more of a vegetal peatiness. The oak arrives at this point, mostly because the other flavours start to subside. It’s a so-and-so oakiness which neither impresses or deminishes the overall journey. This is a very good whisky. It’s a lot more interesting in taste than on the nose though.

Additional information
This whisky was distilled in 2007 and aged in refill ex-bourbon barrels for the whole maturation period.

Campbeltown, Hazelburn, Springbank

Hazelburn 13 YO Oloroso (2020)

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ABV: 50.3 %
Origin: Campbeltown
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet, dark and fruity. At first there’s a big hit of dark and dried fruits with raisins and overripe plums and a liquorice and tobacco note attached to them. Underneath lies a complex sweetness with brown sugar and vanilla mixed with gritty and earthy notes, yet it feels very clean and well made. With time in the glass it becomes brighter and leans more towards a mixed bag of dried fruits and less of the ripe notes. This is a great nose which delivers exactly what the premisses promises.

Mouth: It starts out with a big hit of sweetness filling up the edges and a bright fruitiness in the middle with a slight bitterness attached to the backside of it. It’s rich of lemons and dried tropical fruits as well as some coconut flakes. The liquorice and the tobacco is still detectable and sit with the sweetness around the edges. There’s a nice spicyness which slowly builds up over time and gives it a nice power-up after a few seconds. The gritty and earthy note is somewhat hidden in the background at this point but it’s still in there.

Finish: The transition is quite logical without any surges. It’s just continues the journey with the brighter fruits in the middle becoming slightly more sour around the edges. The sweetness start to fade first, which gives the fruitiness a few seconds to shine before the oakiness start to take over. It’s a slightly dusty oakiness with a hint of walnuts. The liquorice and tobacco notes from the sherry casks tag along quite a while down the road. This is a great whisky from start to finish with good cask influence and a clean distillate.

Additional information
This whisky was triple distilled in 2007 and bottled in 2020. 9900 bottles were released. It was aged in ex-Oloroso sherry casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Campbeltown, Longrow, Springbank

Longrow 10 YO – Single Cask

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ABV: 56.9 %
Origin: Campbeltown
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is oak, fruits and peat. At first there’s a leathery and mineral rich peatiness and a warm, toasted oak note. The fruitiness comes from a surrounding layer and it’s a rather bright mix of fresh berries. On top lies a weird, funky locker room note, like old sweat and sneakers. It’s sort of connected to the toasted oak note. In the background there are grease and rubber notes. This is a great nose with a lot of weirdness to it. It’s great for exploring but it’s a somewhat strange experience.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweet vanilla note before a very fresh fruitiness with dried apricots, lemon and raisins in a mix with chalk and dust and a very mineral rich peat. The toasted oak note is mixed with the peatiness and there’s a caramel note which fills out the space between the other flavours. It’s got a spicyness to it as well and it feels like it’s givning it just the right amount of power to make it extremely balanced. The gritty background flavours are toned down at this point.

Finish: It starts out with a surge of the dry dust and chalky notes and the mix of fruits. It’s very consistant through the transition and the beginning of the finish mirrors everything well. It’s still a balanced yet rich and oily experience. The peatiness is still mineral rich, the fruits are still fresh and the background is still greasy and gritty. When it starts to fade the peat and oak takes over and now there are notes of leather and sawdust appearing. The sweaty locker room note reappears down the line which is not the best way to finish. This is a great whisky with a quirky character.

Additional information
This whisky was distilled in 2007 and bottled in 2018. 306 bottles were released. It was aged in a re-charred sherry butt. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour. This was specially selected for Hanseatische, Bremen.

Finlaggan, Islay

Finlaggan Batch Strength

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ABV: 50 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and very peaty. At first there’s a big hit of wet and fresh peat. It soon gets an ashy layer surrounding it as well. There’s a sweet core with malt, toasted vanilla and honey but it gets downplayed by the peatiness. It feels young and spirity and quite lively. A thin note of assorted apples can be found far in the background but it takes quite the hunt to find it. This is a young, straight forward nose with a nice mix of peat and sweetness.

Mouth: It starts out with toasted oak, vanilla and honey in the center and an ashy and wet, earthy peat in an outside layer. A spicyness is slowly crawling up in the back of the palate. The toasted oak gets more pronounced with time as well as the honey sweetness. There’s a chalky texture to it after a while. The fruitiness is nowhere to be seen at this point except a sour note coming through from the back.

Finish: A mild peppermint cloud spreads out over the palate before the center part with toasted oak, vanilla, honey and the same earty and ashy peatiness returns early in the finish. When it starts to fade, toasted cocnut flakes comes through as well as the sour note from the back. It’s soon all about the virgin oak casks though. It’s fresh and toasted oakiness and a hint of peat. It almost gets unpleasant after a while. It becomes slightly astringent as well. This is a great whisky but it feels a bit unbalanced and chewy.

Additional information
The Finlaggan is made from whisky coming out of two southern islay distilleries. It has a PPM value of 40 and it’s aged in first fill ex-bourbon barrels for ~5-6 years. It’s unchillfiltered.

Cragganmore, Speyside

Cragganmore 20 YO – Special Release 2020

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ABV: 55.8 %
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 sweet honey and toasted vanilla oakiness building up in the center. It’s very mild and easy on the nose although there are hints of nail polish remover and a smell of vinegar as well. The sweetness becomes a mix of caramel and toasted oak in the same pace as a slight fruit note arrives. It’s a sweet white wine fruitiness with overripe green grapes. After a while the age shines through with a dusty and old note in the back. This is not the greatest of noses and the oakiness feels like an afterthought to salvage the otherwise not so great first maturation.

Mouth: It starts out with a second or two of sweet baked fruits before it becomes very hot and starts to attack the palate. Underneath lies a sour white wine fruitiness as well as the vinegar note. It’s sweet and very dusty in the background and even though it’s extremely hot the age is still showing through. The sweet toasted oak is still in there and gives a much needed sweetness to the other very demanding sensations. It’s impossible to keep exploring at this point due to the hotness.

Finish: It keeps on being extremely hot during the tranisition but it doesn’t spike any further. All the other flavours stay and patiently wait for the hotness to subside. When it does the fruits and the sweetness already lost its edge and it leaves a slightly astingent oakiness to itself. It creates a bitterness around the edges as well as a sawdust freshness. There is a sour note left in the back though. This is not a great whisky and it feels like an attempt to rescue a poorly made distillate. It’s too hot and too oaky, to the point of it being almost unbearable to drink.

Additional information
This whisky was distilled in 1999 and aged in a mix of refill ex-bourbon barrels and new fresh-charred oak casks.

Clontarf, Ireland

Clontarf 1014 – Single Malt

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This sour and young. The first thing to arrive is a sour lemon metallic note and not so pleasant ethanol notes. After a few seconds a sweetness starts to come through with vanilla, malt and a sweet bready note. With time in the glass it becomes more sweet and more fruity. A fruity red and green apple note gets mixed in with everything else. There’s a white wine aura to it. It gets more approachable after a few minutes but it never gets good enough to become interesting or especially nice. This is not the best nose in the world but it’s not unpleasant.

Mouth: It starts out with a malty and sweet center and a sour metallic outside layer. It comes through as young and ethanol driven yet rather thin and flat. There’s a cardboard note in there as well. It’s not as fruity as on the nose and it becomes more sweet and slightly bitter with time. There are honey and vanilla notes and something that resembles butterscotch can be found in the background. It still has a white wine aura to it.

Finish: A mild spicyness spreads out over the palate and gives it a much needed dimension. The white wine sour notes are still detectable as well as the sweet center, but the sweetness crumbles and disappears rather quick. This is a good thing because the oakiness it reveals is a rather nice one with a nice nutty quality to it. It’s the best part of the journey. Unfortunatly it is accompanied by a cardboard note though. This is not a good whiskey overall. Luckily the best part of it is the one that stays afterwards.

Additional information
This whiskey was triple distilled and filtered through charcoal made from oak. It was aged in ex-bourbon barrels.

Glenmorangie, Highlands

Glenmorangie X

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

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

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

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

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

Bowmore, Islay

Bowmore The Devil’s Casks Limited Release III – Double the Devil

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ABV: 56.7 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark and fruity. At first there’s a mild menthol layer sitting on top of a very homogenous fruity, sweet and peaty base and center. It feels very mild and approachable and there’s a nice array of flavours and complexity. The fruitiness is a mix of dried tropical fruits and darker black and red berries. The sweetness is mainly attached to the fruitiness but there are both honey and vanilla notes to be found. The peat is very much a leather and tobacco peatiness which feels a bit subdued behind the fruitiness but creates a nice frame. The whole feels quite young behind the heavy cask influence. This is a great nose which is nicely balanced between the casks and the house style.

Mouth: It starts out with a peat kick with tobacco, leather and a slightly herbal note. It mainly shows up on top but also on the outside edges. It feels a bit hot and the spicyness is producing an immidiate impact on the palate. The sweetness sits on the outside and the fruitiness and a black coffee note resides in the center. The fruitiness is still tropical and darker fruits and berries all mixed up in one big fruit bowl. Everything do seem to be a bit shallow at this point and it feels like it’s lacking some depth.

Finish: The spicyness continues at the same pace but the darker fruit note with raisins, overripe plums and a splash of coffee takes over and hides the tropical fruits at the start of the finish. It takes a while before the tropical fruitiness once again shows up as well as the sweet vanilla notes. There’s still not a big depth to this whisky. It takes a long time for the oak to be a part of this whisky and when it does, it’s nice enough but way too anonymous. This is a great whisky but it feels a bit rushed. It still produces very nice flavour combinations all in all.

Additional information
This is the last release in the Devil’s Casks series. It’s aged in first fill ex-Oloroso and first fill ex-PX sherry casks for an undisclosed amount of time. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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