Etikettarkiv: whisky review

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.

Campbeltown, Glen Scotia

Glen Scotia Exclusive Cask 2012 – Ruby Port Cask Finish

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ABV: 55.3 %
Origin: Campbeltown
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is spicy and sweet. At first there’s a sweet vanilla with a peppery layer on top. It’s immidiately woody with oak tannins punching through. When it settles in the glass a layer of sticky sweet red berries and a hint of sweet pipe tobacco gets spread on top of the vanilla. It then sort of reach stasis and stays layered with pepper, oak, sticky fruits and sweet vanilla. It takes a good twenty minutes in the glass before the layers start to merge together. This is a nice enough nose, but it doesn’t feel especially balanced and/or logical.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweet and sour fruitiness on the edges of the palate incapsulating a sweet vanilla and honey center. It’s slightly bitter and still has a very peppery character. The oakiness is not as aggressive as on the nose. There’s a maltiness coming through, as well as liquorice and some assorted nuts in the back part of the core. It feels a bit hot and it’s not the best mouthfeel in the world.

Finish: The finish starts out with the sticky sweet fruits on top while the bitterness creates a backplate which everything rests on. The fruits now have a slightly darker character. It still has a lot of oak tannins but they are subdued by the pepper spicyness and some blueberry and lemon fruitiness floating around on top. This is a contrast to the darker notes within. It feels quite dry and it’s not as sweet as earlier in the journey. When the oak takes over it becomes slightly astringent and the oakiness comes through as a mix of fresh oak and old dusty grey oak planks. This is a good and competent whisky but it’s a really weird one.

Additional information
This whisky was bottled exclusively for the Swedish market. It’s was distilled in 2012 and bottled in 2021. It was aged in ex-bourbon barrels and finished in a ex-ruby port pipe. 300 bottles were released. The cask number is 19/660-7. It’s unchillfiltered.

Campbeltown, Longrow, Springbank

Longrow 11 YO Rundlets & Kilderkins

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ABV: 51.7 %
Origin: Campbeltown
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 peaty cloud sitting on top of a sweet center with vanilla, oak and honey. It feels herbal and slightly medicinal on top but underneath the sweetness lies a complex gritty base with dirty oil and rubber notes. With time in the glass it becomes a lot sweeter and the peaty cloud moves out towards the edges and becomes more ashy than before. There’s a fruitiness hidden within which leans towards sweet and ripe red apples. It feels younger than the age statement at first aquaintance. This is a very nice nose with a lot to offer for the whisky explorer.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweet and bitter mix that consists of a dusty oak note up front and a fruity and sweet core. There’s a pretty strong coconut note and burnt caramel coming through in the middle as well. The peat is a bit subdued off the starting grid and it takes a while for it to shine. The red apples are joined by a mild lemon peel note and the peat moves together with that note up along the edges. The gritty core stays in the back and the peat notes are now more like leather and tobacco. The dusty oak is very prominent throughout.

Finish: The dusty oak, with a mix of vanilla and bitter lemon peel, stays strong through the transition. The finish starts out slightly fruitier than before with red apples dipped in caramel but it’s all about the oakiness from here. The peatiness becomes less important quite soon and resides in the background along with the gritty notes. It’s still a complex dram but it gets rather uninteresting in the late finish due to the bitter and quite protruding oakiness from the small casks. This is a very good whisky overall but it doesn’t go all the distance. It’s complex and well made but it tips over and becomes slightly unbalanced in the late finish.

Additional information
This whisky was distilled in 2001 and bottled in 2013. 9000 bottles were released. It was aged in rundlets and kilderkins. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Bowmore, Islay

Bowmore 15 YO Laimrig Batch 2

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ABV: 54.4 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark and fruity. At first there’s a mix of heavy dark fruits and vanilla. There are raisins and overripe plums mixed with tobacco and spices. It feels very powerful and rich. After a few seconds notes of oak and baking spices break through as well as a tropical fruitiness. It’s quite sweet overall with honey notes nestled within. It slowly changes and gives new subtle notes over time without compromising the initial character. Notes of leather and lemon pops up as well. This is a great nose. It leans heavily towards the oloroso sherry casks without it being top heavy.

Mouth: It starts out with honey and a swift nod to the tropical fruitiness the leather and the tobacco notes before the dark fruitiness takes over. It’s spicy and a bit dusty which fits the heavy character perfectly. There’s a slight bitterness, maybe a black coffee note, in the back as well as vanilla and a drizzle of honey. The oak shines through every once in a while which creates depth together with the tropical fruits which now resides in the back. It’s a very balanced, yet very powerful experience.

Finish: The finish starts with a dusty and complex center with the dark fruitiness now moving out towards the edges of the palate. This leaves room for the leather, tobacco and the tropical fruitiness to shine through. It still has a very rich and powerful character. It stays like this for quite some time before the oakiness finally breaks through. It’s a nice oakiness but it really never gets to shine. The dark fruits never leave its side. This is an amazing whisky. It’s powerful yet balanced and has a nice journey through and through.

Additional information
This whisky is first aged in undisclosed casks and then finished in ex-sherry casks. This was bottled in 2011 and is limited to 15000 bottles. The bottle reviewed is 05033/15000. It’s unchillfiltered.

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Amrut, India

Amrut Naarangi

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. The orange peel fruitiness dominates the nose from the start. It sits on a sweet and soft berry layer. There’s vanilla and a touch of aromatic oak as well. When it settles in the glass the orange peel gets a bit less powerful but it never seems to merge with the sweetness. There are assorted dried fruits added to the mix as well. The distillate becomes more noticable and it’s a rather nice and well made base but it just creates a third individual layer. The whole thing sort of feels like a layered cocktail. This is a nice nose overall though.

Mouth: It starts out with a big sweetness and it’s quite spicy on initial impact. The orange peel and the oak mixes and the whole thing becomes a weird aromatic concoction which almost resembles cedar wood. There’s cinnamon and other baking spices as well. It becomes somewhat bitter after a while which makes the whole thing even weirder. It’s not unpleasant, it just tastes very unorthodox. It feels quite young and spirity which doesn’t help it along.

Finish: A small surge in ABV spicyness gives a much needed rest from the plathora of layered flavours on the palate. When it calms down the Oloroso sherry finally becomes recognizable with the mix of dried fruits in the forefront. There’s still a fresh and slightly bitter orange peel note but it seems to have let go of the other flavours which is a good thing. The oakiness is pretty anonymous on its own though. This is a decent but very weird whisky. It’s interesting in itself, but it’s not the best tasting whisky out there.

Additional information
This whisky is first aged for 3 years in undisclosed casks and then finished for another 3 years in casks which previously held Oloroso sherry with orange peels.

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Glenallachie, Speyside

Glenallachie – 11 YO Grattamacco Wine Cask Finish

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ABV: 48 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet ripe berries and malt. At first there’s a big emphasis on the ripe berries with a thick top layer coming from the red wine casks. Underneath lies a malty and sweet core with a mild spicyness attached to it. Vanilla and fudge notes can be found within. When it settles there are light floral notes and a fresher tropical fruitiness coming through along the edges of the glass with a hint of peaches and violets. There’s also a mild and thin menthol layer on top. This is a very good nose but it feels a bit top heavy. It greatly improves with time in the glass.

Mouth: It starts out with the soft, ripe berries covering the outer parts of the palate. There’s an almond/marzipan note attached to the outer layer as well. It comes through as slightly bitter, but it’s not an offensive bitterness. The whole is not as sweet on the palate as on the nose. The fresher fruitiness creates an orange peel note in the background and the peaches are still in there. There’s still a toffee sweetness in the center, but it’s not especially pronounced and it feels a bit dusty. The floral notes are nowhere to be found.

Finish: The ripe berries stay in the outer layer through the transition and the orange peel notes stay in the background. It’s a logical transition without any spikes. The peaches is now once again showing themselves in the back part of the palate but they are soon competing with the oakiness, which seems to emerge from the orange peel in the background. It’s a nice nutty oakiness which fits nicely with the rest of the character. It carries the fresher fruits a long way down the late finish. This is a very good whisky overall. It feels a bit top heavy and the wine cask finish feels a bit detached from the rest of the whisky.

Additional information
This whisky is first aged in american ex-bourbon barrels for 9 years and then finished in ex-Grattamacco wine barriques for 2 years. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Balvenie, Speyside

The Balvenie 25 YO – Triple Cask

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is rich, dense and fruity. It’s surprisingly fresh for its age with a big bowl of fruits in focus. There’s oranges, ripe apples, gooseberries and a touch of liqeuor soakad cherries. There’s a generous amount of vanilla, honey and cinnamon and some oak spices clinging on towards the edges. Very pleasant.

Mouth: It starts out quite muted before the flavours come through. The fruit notes are toned down and leave place for a maltiness and some mild spices. The cinnamon and vanilla is still strong and come through together with some notes of dusty old leather books. The oakiness shows up with a slight bitterness and a hint of assorted tropical fruits within.

Finish: A sweet fruitiness (like marmelade) shows up then quickly subsides and gives room to a slightly bitter oak with notes of coffee, walnuts and some tropical fruitiness. The cinnamon is still present. The oak finish is long and very satisfying. As it slowly fades away there’s a tiny rye note with anis peeking through.

Additional information
This expression sits on top of the Balvenie travel exclusive range. It’s aged in refill and first fill american bourbon barrels and first fill spanish Oloroso sherry butts. Those are then married for at least 6 months before bottling.

Speyside, Tomintoul

Tomintoul Seiridh Batch 3

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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. A very thick layer of assorted dried fruits with detectable raisins cover everything else. There are walnuts and a hint of ripe berries as well. The distillate behind feels somewhat flat due to the low ABV. It seems to be young but it’s hard to push through the waxy sherry layer. The sweetness seems to be leaning towards brown syryp with a hint of vanilla but it mainly comes attached to the fruits. This is a decent nose which is top heavy and way too mild underneath.

Mouth: It starts out with a spirity young distillate in the back and the dried fruits and waxy walnuts up front. There’s a black coffee note in the center of the palate and the raisins and ripe fruits are coming through as well. There’s a fresher fruitiness in the background with a mild citrus note. It feels very unbalanced and it really feels like a cover-up with the thick sherry lid trying to make up for the lack of quality behind it. The low ABV doesn’t help it to reach any heights either.

Finish: There’s a mild spicyness and an ethanol layer sitting on top of a mix of fresh citrus in the back and the dried fruits and sweet syryp up front. It just sort of crumbles early on in the finish which is a good thing because it reveals an absolutely marvellous oakiness filled with both walnuts and hazelnuts, a touch of wax and a hint of vanilla and coffee. The oakiness stays for a long time and leaves a fantastic experience for a long finish. This is a rather bad whisky but the finish is just breathtaking and makes one forget most the bumps along the way.

Additional information
This is a whisky aged for an undisclosed amount of time in a mix of ex-Oloroso sherry butts and whisky aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in ex-Oloroso sherry butts. This is bottle no. 2818/3000 of batch 3.

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Hakushu, Japan, Suntory

The Hakushu Distiller’s Reserve

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. Honey and a vanilla oakiness sit on top of green grapes and apples and there are marzipan and pine notes somewhere in between. There’s also a veil of cooling mint surrounding everything else. The whole thing comes out very perfumey and it feels a bit young. After some time in the glass a lime note starts to emerge from the fruitiness. It feels a bit over-engineered, but it’s still a decent nose.

Mouth: It starts out extremely mild and it never really picks up speed. Fudge and a dusty honey sweetness arrive first and then the pine returns. There’s a strong coconut flavour and it’s much sweeter than on the nose. The fruitiness is sitting in the back and it’s now leaning towards oranges and just a small hint of raspberries. It still comes through as very perfumey.

Finish: A minty fresh start soon moves over to make room for a dusty oak. The fudge and the citrus freshness are still intact but pushed back into the background. There’s a top layer of honey and coconut. The marzipan returns and creates a bridge between the fudge and the oak. It’s a dry slightly bitter oakiness with a miniscule flavour of hazelnuts. This is an extremely mild and approachable whisky, but it is a bit uneventful and underwhelming.

Additional information
Hakushu distillery is owned by Suntory. This is the entry level in their core range. The content isn’t disclosed. It’s a mix of different ages and cask types.

Glencadam, Highlands

Glencadam 13 YO – The Re-awakening (Batch 2)

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first, honey sweetness and a thick maltiness create a sweet layer on top of a lot of fresh fruits. Watermelon, yellow pears and green apples come through, but it feels like there are more to be found. With time in the glass vanilla arrives, but it never take over from the original flavours. This is a sweet dessert whisky and it’s a very pleasant nose.

Mouth: It starts out sweet and dusty and it feels older than its 13 years. After a few seconds a spicyness prickles the toungue. It’s still malty and fruity. The fruitiness makes it very juicy and it’s now leaning towards sweet ripe clementines, but the fruitiness is now further back than on the nose. The honey and vanilla are slightly toned down which leave room for the oakiness to come through early.

Finish: The finish starts out very bright and spicy. The sweetness starts in the center and then slowly rolls out towards the edges. There’s marzipan and a floral note coming through just before the oak and the fruitiness return. The clementines are still in there but take a background role to a very nice oakiness. There’s just a hint of bitterness coming from the oak, but it’s enough to add some zest to the fruitiness. There are hazelnuts at the tail end and the floral notes survive for a long time. This is a very nice whisky all the way through.

Additional information
This expression is a limited edition bottling. This is batch 2 which consists of 5994 bottles. The bottle tried had no bottle number printed on the label. It’s aged in american ex-Bourbon barrels and it’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Bowmore, Islay

Bowmore 12 YO – Enigma

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 2
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is ripe fruits and leathery peat. At first there’s a big bucket of raisins, overripe plums and liqueur-soaked berries with a tropical fruitiness peeking through from behind. A toned down peatiness creates a surrounding layer of leather and tobacco. The whole thing is very sweet and it’s like the fruits are coated with a tiny layer of vanilla and icing sugar. This is a very pleasant nose.

Mouth: It starts out very mild with a lot of the ripe fruits coming through, but it seems a little fresher than on the nose. Black liquorice start to emerge, and after a few seconds it takes over together with the darker overripe fruits and the raisins. The peatiness is there and it’s still leather and tobacco, but now with a hint of burning wood. It suffers a bit from the low ABV and that hurts the impact.

Finish: At first, vanilla, tropical fruits and red berries arise and expand from the center and out. The peat is still surrounding the edges and it stays there and never becomes the main attraction. The ripe fruitiness then once again takes over, but now with a base of honey. It takes a long time for the oak to show up and there’s a shift in the fruitiness towards the tropical fruits just before it arrives. It’s an anonomous oakiness without character. This could have been a fantastic whisky, but it lacks some power to deliver its best side.

Additional information
This expression was a part of Bowmore’s former travel retail range that was discontinued around 2014. It’s aged in both american ex-bourbon barrels and european ex-sherry casks with a heavy emphasis on the latter.

Ardbeg, Islay

Ardbeg Galileo

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ABV: 49 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sticky sweet fruits and peat. At first there’s a sweet and ashy peatiness which has a layer of floral and fruity clouds surrounding it. There are notes of vanilla, liquorice and quite sticky, sweet and ripe berries. There’s also a different side to it with pipe tobacco and walnuts peeking through. When it settles the peat is pushed back by the heavy cask influence and it feels a bit subdued. There are some coastal notes deep within but the main focus lies on the fruitiness. This is a fantastic nose by all means but it strays a bit from its rowdy legacy.

Mouth: It starts out with a slight bitterness in the back and the main sweetness, liquorice and vanilla out on the sides and in the back of the palate. The middle is reserved for a mineral rich medicinal note. It’s not nearly as sweet as on the nose and the fruitiness is noticable but subdued at this point. It is quite spicy which helps it along. After a few seconds a tobacco note arrives in the back together with the bitterness and a feint but slowly increasing mix of lemon and dried dark berries.

Finish: The finish begins with a spike of spicyness and minerality. The mix of lemons, liquorice and ripe berries is now creating a backdrop to the medicinal peat which arrives as soon as the spike dies down. It gets less sweet the further down the line it goes and the main focus is on the medicinal and mineral rich peat, which feels a bit uncharacteristic. The oak arrives late, but when it shows up it’s an excellent addition with a nice coffee and walnut bitterness. It’s a grey weathered oak which fits nicely with the rest of the journey. This is a great whisky which strays a bit from its heritage (it tastes more like a Laphroaig than an Ardbeg).

Additional information
This whisky was made to celebrate the space experiment between NASA and Ardbeg. It was distilled in 1999 and bottled in 2012. It’s aged in ex-bourbon barrels and sicilian ex-Marsala casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Highlands, Tullibardine

Tullibardine 15 YO

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a rich layer of honey and vanilla with notes of liquorice and baking spices within. It sits on top of a fresh red juicy apple fruitiness. With time it becomes more malty and fruity as the sweet layer seems to mellow down. It feels like a natural progression and when it reaches its final form it feels very well balanced. This is a great nose. It’s not especially complex but still offers a nice journey.

Mouth: It starts out with a very sweet and round center part with butterscotch, vanilla and honey. A thin outer layer offers a fresher lemon but it disappears when the core expands from the center outwards. It’s nicely textured and there’s a mild peppermint cloud floating around on top. It feels somewhat flat due to the rather low ABV, but it never feels watery. It’s still malty all the way through as well. For those who wait there’s liquorice emerging from the back which then moves forwards on the edges of the palate.

Finish: The red apples and sweet liquorice starts the finish from the back of the palate moving forward. The sweet honey, butterscotch and vanilla mix isn’t far behind and neither is the maltiness. The peppermint increases in intensity as the finish progresses and follows along until the oakiness makes a late entrance. It’s a nice fresh oakiness with a nutty hazelnuts quality to it. This is a great whisky with a lot to offer, especially for a sweet tooth.

Additional information
The Tullibardine 15 YO is part of the distillery’s core range. It’s aged exclusively in first-fill american ex-bourbon casks.

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Highlands, Tullibardine

Tullibardine 225 – Sauternes Finish

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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 very sweet. There are notes of butterscotch, caramel and honey up front with vanilla as a baseplate. This sort of gives it a sponge cake vibe. A hint of seaweed is present and it really doesn’t belong with the other flavours. There’s a fresh distillate with a hint of green fruits coming through from behind. There’s also a salty, buttered popcorn note on top. Altogether it’s very warm and welcoming on the nose.

Mouth: Sweet and Spicy. It’s a little bit different than on the nose. There’s a new fruitiness with oranges and grapefruits. The sweetness is still there with honey and vanilla, but now with some orange marmelade added. The oakiness is quite bitter with some cocoa powder and the orange peel from the marmelade mixed in. It’s an astringent oak that sort of surrounds everything.

Finish: A very fresh burst of cirtrus fruits and peppery spices fade away as quickly as it arrives. The finish is all about the astringent oak. It’s a bright and heavy fresh oak, like newly cut oak boards. A hint of grapefruit peeks through somewhere down the line. The astringency increases with every sip. The sweetness is overpowered by the oak all the way through, but when it finally subsides the honey and vanilla notes remind you that they were there all along.

Additional information
The 225 in the name stands for the size of the barrique used for the ex-sauternes cask finish. It starts out for an undisclosed number of years in american ex-bourbon barrels before the 12 months of finishing.

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Highlands, Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond Signature Blended Scotch Whisky

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a very round vanilla, butterscotch and toffee note with an apple fruitiness within. The grain spirit contributes to the sweetness but it’s not protruding. There’s a mild spicyness hovering above everything else. With time the fruitiness turns to baked apples and it sort of smells like an apple pastry. This is not complex but it’s still a great nose considering it coming from a blended whisky.

Mouth: It starts out with a honey and vanilla sweetness with a black pepper shell around it. It takes a while before other flavours catch up. First one through is the apple fruitiness. It’s back to a fresher profile and there’s a lemon note coming through from the back. The mix between malt and grain spirit feels very balanced. A hint of oak is peeking through as well but it’s not revealing anything special at this point.

Finish: It’s back to the baked apples and the toffee notes. The finish starts out as a pastry but soon turns a bit bitter towards the edges. The grain spirit is for the first time a bit unpleasant on the palate but fortunatley it soon subsides and leaves room for the oakiness which actually is rather nice. It feels like a mix of old and new with a hint of walnuts. It becomes somewhat astringent towards the late finish. This is a good whisky. It’s not complex but it offers a nice array of sweet flavours.

Additional information
This is a blend made from putting both malt and grain spirit through a solera system of 100 casks. The types used are ex-Oloroso casks and recharred american ex-bourbon barrels.

Bowmore, Islay

Bowmore Small Batch

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is honey, peat and tropical fruits. At first there’s a big bucket of tropical fruits covered in vanilla and honey. It’s surrounded by a layer of tobacco and worn leather. In the background there’s a lemon sourness and a hint of salty ocean air. With time, a savory peat note comes up somewhere in between the layers. This is a very pleasant nose.

Mouth: It starts out sweet and salty. The honey note is up front and the tropical fruits have moved to the back of the palate. It takes a second for the peat to show up and now it’s leaning heavily towards the tobacco side. There’s also a medicinal side to it and it comes through together with the saltiness.

Finish: A big burst of menthol and tropical fruitiness fills the mouth. It’s now a clear mango note. The tobacco peatiness and the medicinal notes comes shortly after. It takes a while before the oak appears and when it does, it’s a quite nice oakiness. It’s wet planks and walnuts and it stays a long time before fading. It’s salty all the way through. This is a good, albeit young, version of Bowmore matured in very good casks. It’s not their best, but it offers a lot of flavour even though it’s low strength.

Additional information
This expression was released in 2014. It’s aged in first and second fill american ex-bourbon oak barrels. It was discontinued in 2017 and replaced by Bowmore No.1.