Etikettarkiv: island whisky review

Arran, Islands

Arran Quarter Cask – The Bothy

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ABV: 56.2 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 2
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and spicy. At first there’s a sweet honey and vanilla layer with oak spices on top. The oakiness is present from the start which brings coconut to the mix as well. Underneath is a zesty lemon note and after a while it’s joined by a mix of yellow fruits like mangos and peaches. The sweetness and the spicy oak is the main event though and it lacks a bit of balance overall. There’s not much complexity to it. It does settle a bit with time in the glass. This is a very nice nose, but the oak is a bit too protruding.

Mouth: It starts out with a spicy oakiness around the edges and a nice fruit mix in the back. The sweetness with vanilla, coconut and honey sits in the center. There’s a savory note in the back and somewhere in the middle a gritty note floats around and makes the whole a lot more interesting and adds complexity to the experience. The fruits are more sour and a bit bitter at this point, with lemon zest as the main note. The spicyness increases over time and adds a nice power-up.

Finish: The fruitiness comes crashing in and delivers a very nice mix of tropical fruits. It’s still mangos, lemons and peaches and now they get to shine for a couple of seconds before the oakiness takes over once again. It’s still packed with oak spices and coconut. It’s not as sweet as before and the main focus is on the oak. It once again becomes unbalanced and the late finish is a woodshop oakiness which comes through as a bit dry. It’s not bad at all, but it obscures the fantastic flavours behind it. After a while the coconut returns as well. This is a very good whisky and you get what the label suggests; A fantastic distillate overrun by small casks.

Additional information
This whisky was aged first fill ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in american oak quarter casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

Arran 10 YO

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and sour. At first there’s a nice and rich honey, malt and vanilla layer up front with sour lemons and oranges underneath. There’s a nice top note of a fresh cooling mint even though the whole thing comes through as dense and slightly dusty. It’s very complex and the background is made up by several notes like charcoal, sour dough bread and a hint of iodine. This is a fantastic nose with a lot of things to discover. It feels very homogenous even though there are a lot of things floating around within.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweet honey and vanilla mix in the center with the citrus fruits residing out on the edges. It’s still malty and textured and the sweet and sour contrast works together and makes it both dense and refreshing at the same time. The complex mix of flavours are still found within. Charcoal, salt and sour dough bread especially. The oakiness starts to make itself known at this point and adds another dimension to the array of flavours.

Finish: The transition seems very logical and everything sort of melts together and after a second or two it creates a lemon and honey cake. It’s got a dessert-like quality to it. It’s still a bit dusty and there’s still a bit of charcoal left behind. The oakiness adds some tropical fruit notes on top as well as a dry, yet fresh, oaky layer in the background. When most of the flavours starts to fade out the oak, the sour lemon and the tropical fruits stay behind. This is a fantastic whisky with an almost perfect balance between contrasting flavours and sensations.

Additional information
This 10 YO is part of the Arran core range. There’s no information to be found about the cask type(s). It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Islands

Arran Sauternes Cask Finish

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ABV: 50 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 2
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and sour. At first there’s a thick layer of sweetness with honey, vanilla and sweet, green grapes sitting on top of a mix of fresh lemon and tropical fruits. There are pineapple, mango and passion fruit notes within the fruitiness. It feels rich and there’s a spicyness somewhere out towards the edges and it comes from a fairly fresh oakiness. There’s also a salty caramel floating around somewhere on top. This is a very nice nose. It’s not complex and it’s a bit too sweet, but it still feels decently balanced.

Mouth: It Starts out with sweet green grapes and gooseberries and a sweet honey and vanilla richness. Behind the sweetness there’s lemon in the back, now with a bit of zesty bitterness. The tropical fruits can still be found as well. There’s a slight dustiness, some malt and a pinch of salt in the center. It very much has a white wine aura from the finishing casks. After a while a quite complex mix of savory and sour starts to arise in the background and it has a gritty note attached to it. A mild spicyness builds up around the edges for those who wait.

Finish: The spicyness slowly intensifies and it doesn’t take long before the whole array of flavours follow. The tropical fruits gets to shine but they do have the lemon zest in the background as back-up. The front of the palate consists of the honey and vanilla sweetness, but it feels slightly more generic at this point. It’s a long finish and when the flavours start to fade the oak, lemon and spicyness stays behind and gives it a very nice send of. The oak is competent and brings a nice coconut flavour to the late finish. This is a great whisky. It’s a little bit too sweet but overall gives a nice journey throughout.

Additional information
This whisky was aged for around 6 years in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished for 8-12 months in Sauternes wine barriques. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Islands, Thorabaig

Torabhaig Allt Gleann – The Legacy Series

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first there’s a heavy honey and vanilla sweetness and a dry smoke peatiness. Soon there are notes of mixed fruits arriving in the center. It’s mainly apples and grapes but also a thin ripe note from red berries. It’s young and slightly spirity but it feels really well made which creates an added volume and it does not come through as harsh. There are notes of pipe tobacco and dry soil within the peatiness. The whole feels balanced and well thought out. This is a great nose with a very nice character.

Mouth: It starts out with a lemon note in the back and black pepper up front. In between lies a mix of wet peat and the same fruit mix as on the nose. It’s a slightly more pronounced fruitiness and the fresher fruits are more defined. It’s less peaty in taste than on the nose but there are still tangible peat notes, especially around the edges. There are notes of a very young distillate shining through at this point, but it still doesn’t come through as harsh.

Finish: The transition features a nice increase in intensity without being intrusive. When it settles the peatiness flares up and the ripe grape notes return. It feels quite savory at this point. It doesn’t take long before the oakiness returns and it’s a very nice oakiness with a weird but lovely side note of beer. As time passes the oakiness really get defined and it delivers a great late finish.

Additional information
This whisky was mostly aged in first fill ex-bourbon barrels, but ex-sherry and ex-Madeira casks were also used. 2500 bottles were released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Islands, Jura

Jura 18 YO

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ABV: 44 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark fruits and mild peat. At first, a mix of overripe dark berries and raisins create a top layer above a sweet core of vanilla and honey. There are baking spices and a slight dustiness within. A funky complex note is sitting in the middle of it all which makes this quite interesting even though it seems to lack some flavours from the long maturation. The peat is creating a nice backdrop. It feels like the red wine finish sort of creates a lid on top instead of being integrated with the rest of the content.

Mouth: It starts out with a nice and mild spicyness. The peat comes through as a mild bottom layer with a touch of sulfur, leather and tobacco. The main part is still a sweet honey and vanilla core with the ripe berries and raisins on top. The cinnamon is not detectable anymore. It does a better job in taste than on the nose to create a whole. After a second or to there’s a bitter coffee note coming up from the back. It still feels a bit younger than its age.

Finish: It picks up where it left off and the flavour profile is intact all the way through. There’s still a mix of vanilla and honey together with ripe grapes and raisins. The peat is still very mild and creates a nice surrounding layer of leather and tobacco as the oak starts to show up. It’s a very nice oakiness with a walnut nuttiness and a coffee bitterness to it and the late finish is the first time it feels like its age. This is a great whisky, yet it feels a bit manufactured to cover up less active casks used for the long maturation period.

Additional information
This whisky was released in 2018. It’s matured for 18 years in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in ex-Premier Grand Cru Classé Bordeaux red wine casks.

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Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park Cask Strength – Release No.2

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ABV: 63.9 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 2
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a big hit from the high ABV spicyness. After a few seconds it mellows out and reveals a mix of dark fruits surrounding a sweet honey and vanilla core. There are raisins and overripe plums with some dark chocolate and earthy notes within. The sweet core has some toffee coming through. There’s also a heathery floral side to it. The high ABV creates a medicinal character which gives the whole another dimension. With time the sherry cask influence increases. This is a great and powerful nose which gives the explorer nice layers to peel off one by one.

Mouth: It starts out with a very spicy ABV kick which affects all parts of the mouth. The front of the palate is now full of fresh lemon while the back part houses the dark fruits, pipe tobacco and dark chocolate. In between lies the floral notes. It is almost too powerful at first impact which makes it somewhat hard to approach even for a seasoned whisky drinker. If water is added there are mixed dried fruits and cinnamon arriving and for those who persevere it becomes very balanced between the different flavour elements.

Finish: The spicyness spreads and creates a nice warm blanket on top. It immidiately becomes darker and the focus lies on the raisins, overripe plums and the dark chocolate. The sweet side is subdued throughout the finish. After a while a very nice damp and dusty oakiness starts to emerge. It evolves into a big hazelnuts and old cellar combination which fits the flavour profile extremely well. The late finish consists of dark chocolate, tobacco and the nutty oakiness and it delivers an extremely long and rewarding finish. This is a great whisky. It’s young and rowdy, but has been given a very nice suit to grow in.

Additional information
This whisky was aged in a mix of both european and american oak ex-sherry casks and a small portion of ex-bourbon barrels for an undisclosed amount of time. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Islands, Jura

Jura The Sound

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ABV: 42.5 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and spirity. At first there’s a base of vanilla and butterscotch with some darker dried fruits floating around. On top there’s a mix of ethanol and slightly nutty oak. When it starts to settle the baseline becomes more fruity with a mix of fresh berries and a bitter lemon/orange freshness. It has a slightly tart character with a sweet and sour kind of thing going on. It feels young and spirity all the way through which makes everything feel a bit off. This is a decent nose with a nice flavour combination, which is brought down by a lack of age.

Mouth: It starts out with a bitter note in the back and a toffee sweetness up front. It takes a while but a fruitiness do appear around the edges and it consists mainly of oranges. It still feels young and there’s a bad ethanol note floating around. The bitterness merges with the fruitiness to create orange peel. Everything feels a bit chemical and fake at this point and it’s not a nice experience at all. The bitterness has a coffee note somewhere within and the oakiness peaks through but it doesn’t help.

Finish: The transition produces a slight, much needed, spicyness but it comes with the off notes as well. When they disappear it opens upp and produces a very nice orange peel and hazelnut finish. It becomes pleasantly fruity and a quite nice oakiness starts to take over. It’s slightly dusty and nutty and creates a nice balance to the bitter notes and the fruitiness. Luckily, the finish is the best part of the journey. This is not the best of whiskies. It’s a good enough whisky to have when the dram isn’t the main event, but it doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

Additional information
This whisky is a travel retail exclusive. It was first aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in ex-PX casks.

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Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park 16 YO – Twisted Tattoo

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ABV: 46,7 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and aromatic. At first there’s a thick honey and liquorice sweetness. There’s a thin outside layer of red berries, fresh fruits and a very mild peat. It feels very warm and welcoming and it feels rich and textured. With time in the glass the red berries takes a bigger role but they still reside on the edges. Cinnamon, vanilla and toffee appear together with the sweet notes in the center. A thin floral top note start to come through and after a while a hint fresh oranges and peaches join in. This is a very nice and welcoming nose with a lot to explore.

Mouth: It starts out with sweet liquorice and vanilla center. Ripe red grapes, blackberries and black coffee form a thick outer layer. There’s also a thin cloud of peat floating around but it’s not dominant at all. A black pepper spicyness arrive in a hastily manner, but it settles quite quickly. The oak becomes noticable and it comes with a hint of dust. There’s a transition from sweet and fresh to a darker bitter character happening which feels quite interesting.

Finish: At first there’s a second or two with a fresh fruitiness. Orange peel, red berries and fruits sits up front before it turns back towards the darker notes and the bitterness. A slightly astringent and dusty oak with coffee and hazelnuts comes through together with cinnamon and black pepper. The finish is rich and aromatic and it feels well balanced. There’s a hint of the peat left when all else settles but it’s easy to forget since it’s so far out of focus. This is a great whisky but it’s a bit hard to access the nice complexity behind the somewhat shallow exterior. Behind the sweet and warm front lies a nice array of flavours.

Additional information
This 16 YO Highland Park was aged in a mix of first fill Spanish Rioja red wine casks and american ex-bourbon barrels. It has natural colour.

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Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park Full Volume

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ABV: 47.2 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and floral. At first there’s a floral heathery core with a sweet honey and vanilla shell. Underneath lies a mild and herbaceous peatiness. Buried within there are notes of liquorice and oak. With time in the glass the sweetness retreats and the floral notes move forward. This is a nice nose but there’s not much more to discover outside the initial impression.

Mouth: It starts out sweet with liquorice and heather coming through once again. The peatiness is still extremely mild and it takes some time for it to increase in intensity. The peat never leaves the background but at its peak it creates a very nice three-dimensional experience. The oakiness do come through and brings a small hint of coconut but it takes a while to ger there.

Finish: There’s a spicyness which feels very balanced and gives the finish a nice send of. When it slowly subsides the floral notes and a hint of tropical fruits returns together with the sweetness. There’s a small and subtle bitterness in the back together with the peat. It stays consistant for a long time before the oak takes over. It’s a long and nice oakiness altough it’s generic flavourwise. This is a very good whisky although it feels quite far off from its heritage.

Additional information
Full Volume is a 1999 Vintage bottled in 2017. It’s aged in first fill ex-bourbon barrels and hogsheads. 481 casks were selected. It was filtered at +4 C and has natural colour.

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Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park Valfather

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ABV: 47 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is floral and peaty. At first there’s a honey sweetness surrounding a core of heathery peat with additional tobacco and coastal notes. There’s also a fruity layer which sits beneath everything else. It’s a fresher fruitiness with a mixed apple and pear juice vibe to it. A thin veil of oakiness can be detected around the edges of the glass as well as vanilla. This is a very nice nose with a variety of flavours coming through.

Mouth: It starts out with a generic sweetness and it takes a second of two before everything else starts to push through. The heathery peat is first, the honey and vanilla notes are second and lastly the fruits, which now lean more towards the apples. There’s a saltiness as well. The tobacco notes are not very prominent at this point. For those who are patient the oakiness builds up in an outer layer and becomes very noticable. The whole thing is very mild and easy on the palate.

Finish: The peat is first to push through with heather and tobacco within but they are subdued by a somewhat hard-to-pinpoint complex savory note. The floral notes swirl around and the heather is joined by a hint of violets and a feint taste of tropical fruits. The honey sweetness and the vanilla increase in intensity before the oakiness once again starts to take over. There’s bitter coffee note in the back and a pretty generic oakiness up front. This is a good whisky with a lot of good things within but it just doesn’t feel very well balanced overall.

Additional information
The Highland Park Valfather is made from 100 % peated barley. It’s aged in refill casks for an undisclosed amount of time.

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Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park 12 YO – Viking Honour

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet fruits and mild peat. Fresh red berries and vanilla create a thick layer up front. There’s also a lemon note in the middle and some dried fruits a bit further out. The mild peatiness seems to sit in between everything else and it brings notes of leather and a hint of tobacco. After a while all flavours seem to merge and agree on a sweet orange fruitiness. The vanilla stays out of it though and mellows out a bit. This is a mild and very pleasant nose.

Mouth: At first it’s just sweet vanilla for a second or two. The first thing arriving is a thin bitter note and the red berries and dried fruits, now presented as dried apricots with a hint of raisins. It soon changes towards oranges again and now the peel is included. The peat is much more noticable here and it now sits on the outer edges. It’s leather, tobacco and a hint of rubber. There’s no oakiness present yet and there’s no perticular change over time.

Finish: The peat slowly spreads out over the palate and then ends up towards the edges again. The frutiness is the same as before with red berries, dried apricots, raisins and orange peel. It takes a second or two for the oak to come through, but when it arrives it’s a great dry and nutty oak. It’s walnuts and a hint of assorted tropical fruits in there as well. The mild peaty aura with leather and tobacco is consistant through it all. This is mild but never boring. This is a great whisky for a tired brain.

Additional information
The 12 YO was first released in the 1970’s as a core range whisky. The ”Viking Honour” name was added in 2017. It’s mostly matured in european ex-sherry oak casks. It’s bottled with natural color.

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Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park 10 YO – Viking Scars

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Islands
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 thick layer of honey and vanilla with dried fruits and red berries within. There are raisins and molten plums coming through, but the fruitiness is shifting over time. There is also an immidiate aura of oak hovering around the main flavours. After a second or two a very mild peatiness sort of makes itself known in the background. Over time the vanilla note takes over more and more and a lemon sourness starts to appear. There is a sprinkle of dust somewhere in the middle too. This is a nice and straight forward nose without any big surprises.

Mouth: It starts out with the sweetness up front and a bitterness in the back. It takes a while before it presents any descriptable flavours. First thing to unveil is a peaty background and a dusty layer just above it. In front of that there’s a spicy and bitter oakiness and on too there’s a mix of honey, vanilla and dried dark fruits. There’s also tobacco and black coffee and a big chunk of dark chocolate. The lemon note is still in there as a nice contrast to the heavier flavours.

Finish: It starts out with a mild, cooling peppermint. When it settles it reverts to being slightly peaty and bitter in the back with the sweet notes still in focus. The dried fruits gets a little more attention here just before the oakiness takes over. When it does it brings the peat forward and the finish is much more peaty which gives the whole a much needed depth. There’s still tobacco notes within. The oakiness is rather uninteresting and doesn’t bring anything special to the table. This is a nice straight forward dram which hugely benefits from time spent in the glass before consumption.

Additional information
The ”Viking Scars” name came from a rebranding 2017. It’s matured in ex-sherry casks made from both european and american oak and have natural colour.

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Islands, Talisker

Talisker Storm

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ABV: 45.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

See the queue here.

Additional information
The Talisker Storm was released in 2013. It’s aged in a mix of refill ex-bourbon and recharred ex-bourbon barrels for an undisclosed amount of time.

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Gordon & MacPhail, Highland Park, Independent bottlers, Islands

Highland Park 18 YO – 2002 (Gordon & MacPhail Cask Strength Connoisseur’s Choice)

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ABV: 58.1 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and spicy. At first there’s a mix of baking spices and menthol floating on top of a sweet center. It consists of ripe red fruits, fresh summer berries and icing sugar. There’s a hint of oakiness and caramel as well. A floral, heathery peat sits in the back but it’s not pronounced at all. The whole feels dessert-like, but it’s not overly sweet. It’s not a heavy nose and it feels poised and laid back even though the High ABV helps it along. This is a nice nose overall which feels younger than its age.

Mouth: It starts out with a big and powerful spicyness and a sweet layer of vanilla and caramel. On the outside there’s a layer of sweet syryp-soaked fruits. The center part grows slowly as the spicyness peaks and the fruitiness gets pushed away. There’s a peaty note in the background but the other flavours keep it subdued for the most part at this point. The oakiness is detectable but it’s sort of mixed with the spicyness.

Finish: The spicyness start to subside almost immidiately and gives room to the other flavours. It’s now a bit dusty and the age is finally shining through with a complexity in the center. The baking spices return and together with the sweet vanilla/caramel center and the fruitiness it creates a very pleasant finish, which is the best part of the journey. The oakiness makes a nice entrance at the end and even though it’s not the most special thing, it works both with the lingering fruitiness and the small peatiness which resides around the edges. This is a really good whisky. It’s sort of hard to identify as a Highland Park though.

Additional information
This is a single cask release. It was aged in a refill ex-sherry butt. It was distilled in 2002 and bottled in 2021. Cask no. 6431, batch no. 21/053. 572 bottles were released.

Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Islands
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 thin sweet layer of honey and vanilla. Underneath there’s a lemon sitting side by side to a savory note. It feels young and lively without being ethanol driven and metallic. Over time the sweet and sour notes seem to merge but the lemon sourness is dominating. The savory note stays in the background. A liquorice note slowly arrives around the edges and an oakiness creates a thin top note. This is a nice and straight forward nose. It’s a bit too mild it feels a bit unbalanced.

Mouth: It starts out very mild and sweet and first out is a rather flat vanilla note. After a second or two the sour note arrives but it stays in the back. There’s a lot of the distillate coming through. There’s a spicyness, yet extremely mild, coming from a the oakiness, which sits in the center together with a now more rich vanilla and a slight dustiness. It feels a bit uninteresting at this point.

Finish: The oak steps forward early in the transition and the sour lemon note steps forward from the start. It’s dusty and sweet with the honey and vanilla. It’s still mild and it never really takes off. The oak spices are still in there though. When the oakiness takes over it reveals a fresh woodshop oakiness. It’s slightly astringent but mostly it comes through as a generic oak note. This is a good whisky but it is a bit too mild and unbalanced to be really interesting.

Additional information
There is not much information to be found about this whisky. It’s an older NAS release from the distillery. It has natural colour.

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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.

Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park 1998

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and floral. At first there’s a sweet mix of honey, vanilla and heather coming through from the center and a very mild whiff of peat and tobacco slowly rising up towards the edges. It takes a few seconds for them to meet up to create a whole. When they do the floral notes are pushed forwards together with a fresh fruitiness. The sweet layer moves slightly backwards and gets a butterscotch note added within. There’s also a menthol layer hovering above everything else. This is a very nice nose and it’s shaped like a cone; With a wide sweet bottom and a fresh pointy top.

Mouth: It starts out with a thick layer with everything mixed in. There are notes of heather, assorted tropical fruits, tobacco, peat, honey and vanilla. There’s even a fresh saw dust oakiness and they’re all coming through at once. After a few seconds it starts to once again create the same cone as on the nose with the fruitiness and heather up front and the sweetness in the back. The tobacco and peat smoke is a bit heavier in taste than on the nose. The oakiness is floating around outside of the cone.

Finish: The menthol returns for a quick visit but it’s soon pierced by the fresh tropical fruitiness and the floral notes. The oakiness is still very fresh with plenty of wood spices and it’s creating a woody scenery in the background. There’s also a hint of ripe fruits somewhere in the middle but maybe it’s the tobacco notes and the peat creating an illusion. This is a very good whisky despite its low ABV. It’s a bit mild and a bit too oaky, but it never feels flat and/or over-oaked.

Additional information
The Highland Park 1998 was bottled in 2016 so it’s a 12 YO expression. It’s a travel retail exclusive which focuses on maturation in first fill ex-american bourbon barrels.

Arran Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt 18 YO

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and lemon fresh. There’s a very nice and thick layer of vanilla, caramel, honey and sweet liquorice and it’s intertwined with lemons and oranges. A hint of fresh oak comes through from the back together with a sprinkle of sea salt. There’s a white chocolate note appearing after some time in the glass. This is very rich and full bodied.

Mouth: A squeeze of lemon passes by before a black pepper spicyness takes over. It’s not as sweet as on the nose but it’s still very rich. The lemon note comes back together with malt, sweet liquorice and some caramel. It comes off as a bit dry and dusty. The lemon note is now leaning more towards the zest with a bitter tang to it. The oranges are gone. In the background a hint of the oak is coming through together with white chocolate.

Finish: At first, black pepper and lemon is creating a cloud that takes up the entire space. It takes a second or two before the other flavours make themselves known. There are vanilla, honey and caramel notes as well as an oakiness building up. It’s a very nice fresh oakiness with a hint of hazelnuts and a hint of chalk. In the late finish it finally shows some age with a row of dusty old books. This is an extremely well made and very tasty whisky.

Additional information
This is part of The Arran Malt’s core range and it’s aged in both american ex-bourbon barrels and european ex-sherry casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Ardbeg, Islay

Ardbeg An Oa

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ABV: 46.6 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is peat, fruits and creamy vanilla. At first there’s a really big dollop of vanilla cream and a core of oakiness. just outside there’s a ring of fresh red berries. It’s mainly raspberries but there’s also a darker side to it. Surrounding everything is a sweet and warm peatiness with a hot burning fire and a hint of fresh hay. In the background there’s a creamy soft note, like unscented lotion. This is a beautifully rich and welcoming nose.

Mouth: It starts out with sweet vanilla cream and a fresh hay peatiness. It’s quite mild at first and it gives room for the complexity to build up. After a few seconds the fruitiness arrives. It’s a mix of fresh raspberries, overripe black grapes and a hint of lemon. The peatiness increases over time and gently fills the mouth from the outside layer working inwards. A hint of salt is added along the way. The oakiness is hiding in the background and it’s sending out a bitter note and some spicyness.

Finish: The finish starts out with a cloud of peatiness together with a sligthly bitter and spicy oakiness. The fruitiness is pushed back and the unscented lotion returns. This gives it a soft and creamy contradiction to the dry oakiness. After a few seconds the oak is very much the main attraction, accompanied by the peat. It remains a dry, spicy and bitter oakiness with a speck of dust on it. The finish is not as nice as promised by the nose and mouth, but this is still a very nice dram.

Additional information
An Oa is made from whiskies matured in Pedro Ximenez ex-sherry casks, new charred american oak barrels and american ex-bourbon barrels. The varieties are put together in a french oak marrying vat before being bottled. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Ardbeg, Islay

Ardbeg 19 YO – Traigh Bhan (Batch 2)

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ABV: 46.2 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is heavy peat and fresh red berries. At first there’s a heavy peatiness with minerals, leather and campfire smoke surrounding around a small core of ripe red berries. There’s also vanilla, honey and unscented lotion sitting slightly behind and to the sides. With time the peatiness and fruits retreat and the sweetness comes forward. In the background there are coastal notes with ocean air and a hint of seaweed. This is a fantastic and rich nose with a lot of details to explore.

Mouth: It starts out with the peatiness, mainly minerals and leather, together with a fresher batch of berries and a hint of lemon in the back. It takes a few seconds for a pepper note to arrive but when it does it creates a nice spicy side to the otherwise well-rounded character. The lotion, vanilla and honey notes are still in there but they have taken a step back into the background. It still carries its roudy, coastal heritage with iodine and brine floating around even though the age has mellowed everything out.

Finish: A big hit of the minerality and the brine are soon followed by black prepper, honey and the rest of the peatiness. The red berry fruitiness is sort of wedged in between the peat and the sweetness. When most of the flavours settle the oakiness start to come through and it’s accompanied by campfire smoke, the minerals and an ashy back note. The finish is long and rewarding. This is an absolutely fantastic whisky which balances the age and the rowdy heritage extremely well.

Additional information
The Traigh Bhan is released in small batches. It’s aged in a mix of ex-bourbon barrels and ex-Oloroso sherry casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour. The batch number is TB/02-18.09.00/20.JT.

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