Etikettarkiv: whisky review

Speyburn, Speyside

Speyburn Bradan Orach

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is young and spirit driven. At first there’s a rather flat fruity pear note with some vanilla and malt attached to it. The distillate is young and very pronounced and it comes with an unpleasant cardboard note. With time in the glass the fruity note grows a bit more noticable and a tiny sweet liquorice note comes through around the edges. The vanilla turns into a thin toffee note after a while. This is a rather thin and uninteresting nose.

Mouth: It starts out with a generic sweetness taking up most of the palate and the distillate sits up front. It really tastes like cardboard and it’s very flat. The fruitiness is coming through as ripe yellow pears but it’s beaten down by most of the other flavours. The oak is already present and it’s a very bitter and unpleasant oakiness in the background. The sweetness do turn into the same vanilla and toffee note as before but they are still overridden by all the other unpleasantries going on.

Finish: The distillate pushes through once again and it brings the cardboard note with it. It’s very young and harsh. The sweetness and the fruitiness flickers by but fortunatly it completely falls apart rather quickly and it doesn’t take long before the (not in a good way) bitter oakiness is all that’s left. To be fair, after a couple of minutes the oakiness settles down and becomes a bit nutty, which is a good thing. This is a really bad whisky and it certainly presents itself as a budget alternative.

Additional information
Bradan Orach means golden salmon in Gaelic. It’s aged in american ex-bourbon oak barrels and was added to the core range in 2009.

Islay mist, Unspecified

Islay Mist

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is butterscotch and peat. At first there’s a whiff of peat sitting on top of a clingy butterscotch note. There’s a metallic vanilla attached to it. The peat is leaning towards a coastal character with seaweed and a pinch of salt. After some time a fruity layer comes though somewhere in between the peat and the butterscotch. It’s a generic fruitiness and can’t attached to a specific fruit. This is a decent nose for a cheap blend with the grain spirit toned down by the peat.

Mouth: It starts out with a surge of fruitiness with a quite peaty outside layer with medicinal iodine as well as burning hay. The fruitiness still feels generic, but it fits rather nicely together with the peat. After a few seconds the clingy butterscotch and the metallic vanilla comes through. It stays in the center and never really pushes forward which is a good thing. It becomes a bit ”chalky” as well. A bit of black pepper spicyness shows up for those who wait.

Finish: It takes a second or two before any flavour shows up. It starts from the outside with the peatiness and then the fruitiness. The metallic note is much clearer than before and when the butterscotch arrives it becomes a bit unpleasant. The oakiness comes late and when it does, it feels like it’s rescuing the last part of the finish. It’s not the most characterful oak, but it’s good enough. This is a decent blend which is slightly better than its peers.

Additional information
This whisky was originally made with whiskies from Laphroaig, GlenGrant and Glenlivet by Ian Hunter in the 1920’s. What goes into the whisky today is not revealed except that Laphroaig is in the mix.

Japan, Nikka

Nikka From The Barrel

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ABV: 51.4 %
Origin: Japan
Type: Blended
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and herbal. At first the high ABV together with the grain spirit create a cloud of acetone on top of a sweet vanilla butterscotch. The backbone is quite earthy with dry soil and dried herbs. There is an outside layer of assorted dark and dried fruits, but they are no way dominating the whole. There’s also a speck of dust floating around. This is a ”something good/something bad” kind of nose.

Mouth: It starts out very sweet and with a big vanilla flavour. After a few seconds the earthy, dry soil note returns and so do the dried herbs. There’s an anise note coming through quite early and it’s not especially pleasant. It sort of switches towards pine and dust after a few seconds which doesn’t help. There is a nice hint of ripe fruits coming through, but it’s not taking any steps forward. It’s way milder on the palate than on the nose. The oak do arrive, but it’s covered by the pine and anise.

Finish: A cloud of the acetone passes by and then it goes straight to a slightly astringent and vanilla sweet oakiness. There’s still an outer layer of dark and dried fruits and they’re more present in the finish. The oak delivers an extremely fresh oakiness, but there is still a dust note left behind. The pine note return in the finish and makes it take a turn for the worse. This is a well made blend with some good components, but it’s still suffering from its big grain spirit part.

Additional information
This blend was created in 1985. It consists of 40 % malt and 60 % grain. A batch is made from 120 casks, mostly first fill american ex-bourbon oak barrels mixed with sherry butts and refill hogsheads. The whisky is aged between 10-12 years, and the leading malt is Miyagikyo from the Sendai Distillery and whisky from the Yoichi distillery is also included.

Clynelish, Highlands

Clynelish Reserve – Game of Thrones House Tyrell

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ABV: 51,2 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and juicy. At first there’s a thick vanilla, honey and butterscotch layer sitting on top of a basket of fresh fruits. It’s mainly oranges, but with a sour lemon in the background. It’s very mild to the nose and there’s no sharp edges anywhere. It’s very concentrated to the center part and lacks some depth. This is a mild, lovely nose without much complexity.

Mouth: It starts out very mild and all the flavours are showing up in the front. It’s sweet and malty and it’s very juicy. It mimics the nose very well with oranges, honey and vanilla. After a few second it starts to spread out over the palate and a zesty bitterness is added to the fruitiness. It feels rich and textured. There’s grapefruit as well. It still has a fairly straight forward and uncomplicated profile.

Finish: The high ABV finally reveals itself and gives it a nice little kick. When it settles, it’s leaning more towards the bitter zesty notes and the sweetness has somewhat subsided. There’s still some orange juice left in the back and when the oak comes through it sort of emerge from the zest. It’s a nice and easy to approach oakiness with a hint of hazelnuts, but mainly just produces a middle of the road oak flavour. This is a very approachable whisky with a great texture to it. It’s a high ABV easy sipper.

Additional information
The Game of Thrones series was released by Diageo in 2018. This Clynelish is a NAS whisky aged in ex-bourbon barrels.

Glenkinchie, Lowlands

Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition 2008/2020

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there are mixed fruits and berries in the center with a sweet honey and vanilla layer surrounding it. There’s also a thin veil of pipe tobacco and menthol around the edges of the glass. After some time in the glass the fruitiness mellows and becomes a bit rounded and darker. There’s also a nutty quality to it. The fresher fruits are still detectable in the background and with time a floral note also appears. This is a very nice nose with a light, yet interesting character.

Mouth: It starts out with a big hit of fresh berries together with vanilla and honey. In the background there’s an overripe fruitiness with plums and raisins peeking through. After a few seconds the layers sort of switch places. There’s still a whiff of pipe tobacco and a nutty oakiness to be found for those who wait. It’s got a nice texture to it and even though it still got a light character it doesn’t feel watery or too mild.

Finish: The finish starts with the menthol returning. It creates a nice cloud together with a floral note, sitting on top of the rest of the flavours. It mirrors the rest of the journey with the mix of fresh and dark ripe fruits, the vanilla and the honey all coming through nicely in the center. It does feel somewhat top heavy at this point though. When it starts to fade out the oakiness returns and it’s a nice hazelnut oakiness with just a hint of bitterness and black coffee. This is a very good whisky with a light character. It feels somewhat unbalanced at times during the journey, but it’s not a big issue.

Additional information
This distiller’s edition is double matured with an initial aging period in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in ex-Amontadillo sherry casks.

Glen Grant, Speyside

Glen Grant 12 YO

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a ripe red apple fruitiness together with a malty base and a coating of vanilla and honey. There’s also a fresher fruitiness surrounding the core. It’s very dessert-like and there are some baking spices floating around somewhere inside. It feels very homogenous and everything lies close to the core. With time a marzipan note start to emerge around the edges of the glass. This is a very pleasant nose. It isn’t complex but delivers the profile without flaws.

Mouth: It starts out with lemons and oranges on the edges and a rich malty core with vanilla, honey and red ripe apples in the center. It’s got a nice texture and feels ”larger” than on the nose. After a few seconds the outside fruitiness turns slightly bitter and creates an orange peel note. A hint of baking spices are in there as well and it still feels like a dessert, but it’s not too sweet.

Finish: The finish starts the same way as the mouth with a nice orange peel fruitiness exploding around the palate before the sweet honey and vanilla returns in the center. It’s less malty and more fruity and it stays that way all the way through. The only shift is when the oakiness start to come through, which is fashionably late. It’s a nice aged wood oakiness with a hint of mixed nuts. The fruitiness follows along all the way through. This is a great whisky. It’s not complex nor an explorer’s whisky, but as an easy sipper it’s a perfect background whisky.

Additional information
The cask type isn’t stated anywhere but the taste profile suggests ex-bourbon american white oak. There is another version of this whisky which is only sold in travel retail, but that one is unchillfiltered and the ABV is 48 %.

Japan, Nikka

Nikka All Malt

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and malty. At first there’s a big round center of butterscotch and honey. There’s a ripe red apple note somewhere close behind. It’s very mild and there are no sharp edges what so ever. The oakiness is already present and it creates a thin layer on top of everything else. The butterscotch increase in intensity with time in the glass. This is not a complex nose and it is a bit bland and boring.

Mouth: It starts out with the butterscotch and a honey sweetness up front and a lemon sourness in the back. When the fruity note settles it becomes more like green apples. It feels a bit metallic and sharp in the background. It’s very dry and the oakiness is coming through very early. It soon basically takes over. The oakiness itself is not a pleasant one and it basically kills every other flavour.

Finish: The butterscotch comes through once again but is soon overpowered by the very dry and astringent oak. The oak is still not very nice and all that comes though in the finish is a metallic note in the back, presumed to be a telltale sign of a young distillate. This is an uninteresting whisky and it feels a bit over-oaked to push flavours through. The nose is the best thing about the experience.

Additional information
This is a vatted malt. The malts are from the Yoichi distillery and from the Miyagikyo distillery. It includes both pot stilled and coffey stilled malt from Miyagikyo. Cask type isn’t stated.

Auchentoshan, Lowlands

Auchentoshan Dark Oak

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark fruits and off-brand cola. At first there are assorted dark fruits on top of a light and floral background with notes of violets and heather. The cola note floats around somewhere in the middle. After some time in the glass there’s a honey sweetness slowly building up around the edges of the glass. The dark fruits also increase in intensity and there are notes of ripe red grapes within. This is a nice nose although it feels young and a bit thin.

Mouth: It starts out with honey, liquorice and cola up front and a lemon peel sour bitterness in the back. It’s very mild and light. There’s not much of a body and there’s a cardboard note coming from the back. The dark fruits are now almost hidden. There’s a hint of gooseberries somewhere within. After a while the bitter notes create a black coffee and walnut background to discover for those with patience.

Finish: The finish starts with a mild whiff of the floral notes and just a tiny appearance of the sweetness and the dark fruits. It then directly moves towards coffee and oak once again. The walnuts are still there but they decrease in intensity as the coffee notes move forward. It’s a mild bitterness. In the late finish the floral notes return and creates a nice overlay. This is not a great whisky by any means, it’s somewhat thin and young, but there are nice notes floating around in there.

Additional information
The Dark Oak expression was released in 2019 as a travel retail exclusive. It’s aged in a mix of ex-Pedro Jimenez sherry casks, ex-Oloroso sherry casks and ex-bourbon barrels.

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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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Ardbeg, Islay

Ardbeg 21 YO Committee Release 2001

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ABV: 56.3 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
This is fruity and peaty. It’s a very complex whisky with a lot of different sensations and flavours. It’s a lot fruitier than later releases from the distillery. It was tasted in a big Ardbeg blind test which means there are no detailed tasting notes taken. It won against 17 other Ardbeg releases.

Additional information
This Ardbeg was released in 2001 and was limited to 2500 bottles. It’s aged in ex-bourbon barrels and it’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Famous Grouse, naked malt, Scotland, Unspecified

The Naked Malt (Naked Grouse)

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a thick layer of vanilla and dried fruits and berries. There are raisins as well as tropical fruits and lemons. There’s also cinnamon, a whiff of tobacco and a piece of sponge cake. Underneath, the distillate comes through as rather flat and uninteresting. There’s a metallic note coming through as well. It’s extremely top heavy and the sherry cask covers everything else. This is a nice enough nose, but it’s just a big fruity and sweet lid on top of a flat whisky.

Mouth: It starts out with the distillate peeking through with a surrounding sweet layer. It feels a bit young and spirity yet flat from the low ABV. The fruitiness is residing on the edges and stays there. It’s a fresher fruitiness than on the nose and reveals a larger portion of tropical fruits and lemon. The vanilla coats the palate together with a hint of the oakiness. The ripe notes can be found in the back but they are somewhat subdued. A slight spicyness will come for those with patience.

Finish: The sweetness carries over and are immidiately joined by a fresh oakiness and a hint of sulfur. The fruitiness is now once again leaning towards ripe and dried darker fruits. It doesn’t take long before the oakiness takes over and the late finish becomes very oaky and a bit clingy. There’s not much to it other than that. This is an ok whisky which is obviosly a cover-up. The (presumably) seasoned sherry cask is doing a good job, but in the end it just makes the whisky top heavy with a shallow bottom.

Additional information
This is the rebranding of The Naked Grouse. The malts used are not entirely specified but Macallan, Highland Park and Glenrothes are known. It’s finished in first-fill ex-Oloroso sherry casks.

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Bruichladdich, Islay, Port Charlotte

Port Charlotte 10 YO Heavily Peated

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first there’s a very round and gentle honey and vanilla sweetness with a savory note mixed in. It’s surrounded by a dry and earthy peatiness which gives it a nice contrast between sensations. There’s an ocean spray saltiness, as well as mixed fruits, floating around somewhere in between the other layers. They sort of act like a cohesive between everything else. The fruitiness is coming through as fresh, leaning towards green apples and pears with just a hint of ripe plums. This is a fantastic nose with a lot to discover.

Mouth: It starts out with a rich maltiness together with honey and vanilla as a core. The peatiness is somewhat subdued and lets the fruitiness come through towards the edges. It’s overripe red grapes and blueberries and the fruitiness is a lot different compared to the nose. With time a mild spicy black pepper note arrives together with a dry smoke and earthy peatiness. The backbone has a complexity to it with a salt and savory character.

Finish: The finish starts out with the ripe fruitiness on the edges and in the back while the peatiness and the sweetness sort of dips down for a few seconds. When they once again increase in intensity it’s the peatiness that picks up pace and takes over. The sweetness creates a caramel note in the center though. It moves along together with the oakiness which shows up fashionably late. At first it’s a rather anonymous oakiness but in the late finish it shifts towards a nice walnut nuttiness. This is a great whisky for the explorer and there are tons of small things to discover.

Additional information
The Port Charlotte 10 YO is aged in a mix of 65 % first-fill and 10 % second-fill ex-bourbon barrels together with 25 % second fill french ex-wine casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Mackmyra, Sweden

Mackmyra Svensk Ek

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ABV: 46.1 %
Origin: Sweden
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and sweet. At first there’s a mix of vanilla and ripe apples and pears. There’s also a second layer behind the fruitiness with honey and fresh oak. It feels quite young and spirity. There are some wood spices coming through as well as liquorice. This is a decent nose but there’s not much happening in the glass. It stays the same throughout which makes it a bit uninteresting.

Mouth: It starts out with the same ripe apples and pears covered in vanilla and oak. It’s quite spicy with black pepper and wood spices. The oak is a bit hard to pinpoint and it feels a bit dry and weird. The whole feels a bit more homogenous at this point but there’s still not much to discover other than what is presented from the start. For those who wait there’s a hint of toffee and a savory note emerging from the back.

Finish: The fruitiness dies down rather quickly and all that’s left is the oakiness and the black pepper spicyness. It’s a dry oak with a perfumey character which actually makes the finish a bit weird. It still feels young and the cask influence feels rushed. This is an ok whisky but it feels a bit boring and rushed for flavour. It should be good as a base in longdrinks and cocktails.

Additional information
10 % of this whisky is aged for 18 months in new heavily charred swedish oak casks. The rest is aged in ex-bourbon american oak barrels.

Islands, Jura

Jura Prophecy

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ABV: 46 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 2
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first there’s a leathery and slightly ashy peat dominating the palate. It’s quite rowdy but it doesn’t feel protruding or sharp. There’s a vanilla and honey sweetness which slowly becomes noticable. The same goes for a soft and mild, slightly ripe, red berry fruitiness. When it settles there’s a dry soil earthiness floating around somewhere within. There’s also a sweet liquorice note coming through towards the edges. This is a rich and full flavoured nose which has a lot to offer.

Mouth: It starts out with a hit of the dry soil peatiness with a peppery spicyness on top. The sweetness is still in there but it’s not as sweet as on the nose. The sweetness eventually creates a butterscotch layer on the edges. After a few seconds the leather note appears as well as a sulfuric background note. There are ripe red berries up front and a thin sour lemon note in the back. The whole is slightly astringent and sort of hard to reach with a rock-like minerality to it.

Finish: The minerality and the dry soil never budges through the transition. The other flavours take a slight dip before returning. The peatiness has become a bit more herbaceous at this point and the fruitiness is residing a long way back on the palate. This gives the oakiness room to be noticed and it brings a fantastic hazelnuts and old oak combination. The oakiness is joined by the peat a long way down the line and the late finish is the best part of the journey. This is a really good whisky with a not so commersial composition. This makes it stand out in a very good way.

Additional information
The Prophecy is aged ex-bourbon, ex-sherry and limousin oak. The whisky is unchillfiltered and more peated than other Juras.

Cotswolds, England

Cotswolds Founder’s Choice – Batch 01/2018

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ABV: 60.9 %
Origin: England
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is high ABV spicy. There are peppermint and rye spices with anise and liquorice root. There are also honey and vanilla and a thin toffee note in the back. The oak peeks through but there’s no direct sign of the red wine casks on the nose at first. A smell of wet clothes after walking in the rain resides in the back. It gets sweeter with time in the glass and a thin savory note builds up as well. There’s no apparent sign of the young distillate.

Mouth: It starts out very mild and honey sweet for about a second before the high ABV brings a hefty spicyness. There’s still anise and liquorice found, but It’s almost directly pushed out of focus and gets overrun by a very pronounced fruitiness mixed with honey and vanilla. The oakiness is shining through and the rejuvinated red wine casks creates a fruitiness with red berries and tropical fruits. There’s a bitter side to it and some dark chocolate notes appear after a couple of seconds.

Finish: It basically gets even fruitier. This is full of every fruit imaginable. There are mangos, pineapple, peaches, raspberries, grapefruit and lemons. The oak arrives late in the finish and isn’t dominant. It’s a fresh oak that doesn’t leave too much of an impression. After everything dies down there’s a slight metallic note left in the mouth giving away the young age. This is a well made whisky.

Additional information
The Founder’s Choice is a cask strength Limited edition whisky. 2850 bottles were produced in this batch. The distillery was founded in 2014 which makes this a maximum of 5 years old. It’s aged in recondtitioned american oak red wine barriques. It’s not coloured and it’s unchillfiltered.

Golden Shoe, Unspecified

Golden Shoe Blended Scotch Whisky

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is harsh, sweet and grain spirit heavy. A massive vanilla note dominantes together with what could be described as rubbing alcohol. The sweetness is just generic white sugar-like. There’s no fruitiness nor oak. There’s a hint of cardboard coming from behind. It’s one-dimensional and lacks both depth and complexity on the nose.

Mouth: It starts out very watery with just a touch of sweetness. The vanilla continously move forward and a tiny spicyness appears on the tip of the toungue. A bitterness builds up in the back. The grain spirit is very pronounced and ”boozy”. It’s not a very nice mouthfeel.

Finish: The harsh grain spirit flare up and soon gets replaced with vanilla once again. It quickly switches over to a very bitter and somewhat unpleasant oakiness. The oakiness stays for a pretty long finish, which in this case isn’t a good thing. This is a bad whisky and it should not be consumed neat.

Additional information
The Golden Shoe/Golden Goal whiskies are released as limited editions for soccer championships. The content is not disclosed, but it’s bottled by Schwarze & Schlichte Markenvertreib GmbH & Co. KG.

Cardhu, Speyside

Cardhu Gold Reserve – Game of Thrones House Targaryen

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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 slightly fruity. Honey, vanilla and toffee are sitting on top of some baked red apples. It’s very mild and nothing really pops from the glass. It’s dusty and there’s just a hint of oak in the back. The toffee note moves forward with time in the glass. It’s very rounded around the edges even if it has a youthness sitting in the back, which manifests as a thin metallic note.

Mouth: A very sweet start with honey and a lemon note quickly passing by. It stays very sweet for a long time with vanilla and toffee slowly moving forward. There’s a white pepper spicyness, but it never really amounts to anything. When it finally sets some of the sweetness aside it slowly reveals a slightly bitter oak, but it just stays in the back. It’s still extremely mild and round like a marble.

Finish: The finish is just a continuation of the sweet and mild parade. A few seconds of honey, vanilla and toffee goes by before it lands in a bland oakiness. It’s a little dusty, but otherwise laid back and it feels like it doesn’t want to be noticed. The toasted flavours do come through though, but they do not do much to create anything. This is too mild and too well rounded to be interesting. It’s definitely a good dram if someone needs an introduction into scotch.

Additional information
The Gold Reserve was first released in 2014 for the european market and they now use the same whisky as a GoT special release. It’s aged in toasted oak barrels.

Box, High Coast, Sweden

Box Dálvve

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is young and peaty. At first there’s a menthol layer sitting above a fresh herbaceous peatiness. There’s vanilla and some green fruits starting to come through after a few seconds. There’s also a small hint of play-doh floating around in the middle of everything. The peatiness evolves slowly towards ashes and burning tobacco and the smoke mixes with the menthol. It becomes sweeter with time in the glass. This is a nice and interesting nose.

Mouth: It starts out quite spicy with a fruity bottom layer. The peat arrives right away and it’s creating an outer layer together with honey and vanilla. It’s still herbaceous with a side note of tobacco. In the middle there’s a maltiness and a savory note. There’s also a bitter black coffee note and freshly planed oak. It still feels young and unsettled, but there are a lot of flavours seeking attention.

Finish: The menthol returns for a quick but substancial visit and then just sort of lingers through the entire finish. Next to come through are both the peaty outer layer and the honey sweet and malty core. The fruitiness is still there, but never really breaks through the big flavours up front. Eventually the oak shows up and it’s nice enough, but feels a bit characterless. The bitter coffee note is not as pronounced in the finish as it is in the mouth. This is a great, albeit young whisky with a lot to offer.

Additional information
This whisky is matured for about 5 years in american ex-bourbon barrels. The distillate is made from 24 % peated malt and 76 % unpeated. The peated malt has a ppm level of 39. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour. This is batch 003.

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