Tastes

The nose has cotton balls, graham cracker, vanilla, cinnamon, and baked apples. Very fresh and clean scent, you could use this as laundry detergent in a pinch. More cotton balls on the palate, but the spices are stronger with some clove and lemon zest. Finish is long and oily. The spices from the palate get stronger and stay on your tongue after every other flavor has faded. Great value scotch here. It blows away some blends that cost 2-3 times more.

The nose is very light, but you can find some light honey, malt, and dried fruit. The honey carries over to the palate but it’s much stronger and accompanied by many other flavors including walnuts, red apples, berries, toffee, vanilla, and oil. The palate gets darker before the finish with some coffee and dark chocolate flavors. The rich palate reminds me of Tomatin 18. The finish is short except for a faint lingering maltiness which leaves you wanting another sip to explore more flavors on the palate. I’m impressed by this rich blend, and I don’t think it’s too overpriced for a scotch sporting an 18 year age statement.

Nose is light with a hint of smoke. There is a lot of honey but the smoke adds some depth. There are no surprises on the palate, you get more honey with some caramel, flowers, grain alcohol and crackers. The lighter flavors yield to some light smoke and medicinal flavors. Very pleasant long finish that sticks to the inside of your mouth with some pepper and clove. This is an enjoyable blend that is very inoffensive. Is it worth the price? No. If you’re looking for a great blend in this price range you can save a few dollars and get Green Label, which I prefer.

The nose is light and dominated by flowers and vanilla. There are also sweet citrus, nuts, and caramel aromas. The nose doesn’t prepare you for the punch that the palate is about to deliver. The flavor really pops on the tongue and feel much more vivid than the standard Glen 12. This whiskey feels thick, almost chewy and is heavy with cream and vanilla flavors. You can also taste buttered biscuits, sweet citrus, and coconut. The finish is silky and lingers quite a bit. After the initial cream flavors on the palate the finish taste much spicier, with ginger and cinnamon. After the spice fades you’re left with a nice oak flavor on the tongue leaving you craving another sip. This scotch is nothing like the standard Glenlivet 12, it packs a lot more flavor into every sip and is a great value at under $40. In fact it might be my favorite scotch in the price range.

Laphroaig QC is very similar to Lap 10, but the flavor is even fuller and brighter. The first aroma on the nose is the unmistakable scent of seawater and iodine. If you venture beyond that you’ll find more delicate scents like flowers, campfire, leather, rubber-bands, and salted caramel. A few drops of water bring out even more floral aromas. Being 5% more ABV, the palate feels much stronger than Lap 10, and is dominated by heavy toffee, caramel, and black licorice. It is much sweeter than the nose leads you to believe. As the sweet toffee flavors fade, strong brine and seaweed come forward and dominate the robust oily finish. You can feel the warming sensation as the liquid pours down to your stomach. The final flavor after the brine is lighter and floral, leaving you wanting another sip. I think this scotch is a great bargain, considering the closest thing to it that I’ve tried is Lagavulin 16, which is over $30 more expensive. I consider these two to be the best peated whiskies available through normal distribution.

I originally found this on sale back in November and was impressed enough to get a second bottle for thanksgiving, which also received positive reviews from my guests. I’ve been wanting to review this for a while, but frankly, it was difficult to improve upon anything Ctrexman wrote about it a few months ago. If you’re interested in this malt I’d recommend looking at his review. Aberfeldy is the main distillery that contributes to Dewar’s blended scotches. You can certainly taste its influence in the Dewars 12 and 15 year offerings, but this single malt taste more pure and malty. It is a great scotch to introduce to new whisky drinkers. On the nose you can find cream, lime juice, fresh cut grass, lemon zest, and vanilla. The main flavor on the palate is similar to the bread you get at a steak house covered in warm honey butter. You can also find caramel and red apples dipped in brown sugar. The finish is malty with some dark chocolate tones. This is a very easy to drink and enjoyable scotch. You can’t really pigeonhole Aberfeldy into any particular category like a peat monster or sherry, or fruit. I would say it’s best characterized by cream and malt, similar to Deanston but not as thick. It is a really enjoyable malt not quite like anything else.

On the nose you can find butterscotch, honey, brown sugar, and banana behind a medicinal aroma not unlike DayQuil. The palate is sweet with apples, vanilla, brown sugar, and more medicinal flavors. Followed by medium length crisp finish with a little spice. This is a very sweet scotch that can be welcoming for new scotch drinkers, but I do rank it behind the other Glens.