Tastes

The nose has honey, beeswax, flowers, and dried fruit. The palate has the sweet dried fruits I expected from the nose, but is balanced nicely with a little bit a smoke. A few spices join in during as the main flavors start to fade for a medium length finish. Nothing too complex here, but nothing unpleasant either. This whisky has a nice balance to it. I'm not sure it's worth the premium over Chivas 12, but I certainly wouldn't turn down a glass.

The nose has spicy oak, grape juice, peaches, and nuts. The smell is unique and you know you have a glass a Crown Royal in your hand as soon as you smell it. More spicy oak and grape juice on the palate, but behind a rich layer of vanilla. The finish is long with almonds and a few bitter notes at the end. This whiskey is not something I would seek out to drink straight. For best results, mix with cranberry juice.

The nose is rich with peaches, vanilla, grapes, and oak. The palate is very sweet with flavors of apple juice, spicy oak, caramel, and cinnamon. The finish is long and very mellow with a few subdued spices. The whiskey is certainly enjoyable, but not remarkable. I remember this bottle being about $35-$40 when I bought it several years ago, but it seems now the price has risen into the $50 range. At that price you can find much better whiskeys, in my opinion.

This isn't really whiskey, it's more of an apple liqueur. The nose is exactly like an apple Jolly Rancher. The palate is very sweet and again taste like apple Jolly Rancher. The finish is short and slightly tart. Not the best choice for sipping, but would make a good choice for certain cocktails.

The island of Islay continues to amaze me with its diverse offerings, and The Classic Laddie is one of its best. One of the really cool things that Bruichladdich does, is give you access to the exact recipe used for your batch of scotch. My batch (19/039) contained 12 different types of casks aged between eight and eleven years. Every cask contained Scottish barley and was on its first or second fill. If you're wondering why the bottle is turquoise, apparently it was colored after the sea near the distillery on sunny days. The sea has more impact on this whisky than just the bottle though, as you can pick up hints of sea water on the nose. You will have to search for them though, as the nose is heavy and complex with many aromas. After the initial ethanol vapors, you can find sugar cookies, sweet fruits, flowers, spearmint, gingerbread, cream, and butter. You can really sit and enjoy the nose on this whisky for several minutes and continue to find more flavors. The palate is very sweet but the 50% ABV whisky started to slightly numb my tongue. After adding some water, I started to get more flavors like sweet corn, honey, and sweet oak. The finish is long and complex. It starts with a bitter note of dark chocolate but becomes lighter with some honey and pepper. After lingering for a bit, some floral and toffee flavors begin to reveal themselves. Wow, this scotch is really quite an experience. I really admire the distillery's transparency about what is in their bottle and wish more companies would follow their lead. Considering that, along with the rich complex flavors, high alcohol content, and affordable price, this scotch is an easy five stars from me.

This is Macallan’s travel exclusive brand. Being bottled at 40% ABV with no age statement doesn’t seem like a great deal versus Macallan’s 12 year offerings, but I decided to grab a bottle to try for myself. The notes on the box are pretty spot on. In addition to the “soft citrus fruits, apple, lemon, vanilla, and subtle oak” I also pick up aromas of honey, cereal, and reed. The palate has apple, ginger, almonds, and dried fruits, along with cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg. Finish is long and soft with some fruit and lingering cinnamon. The mouthfeel is lighter than the normal Macallan 12, almost watery, but certainly not unenjoyable. This is a nice light scotch with some great flavors. The 1 liter bottle is also a nice feature. If you normally enjoy Macallan, you will appreciate this whisky as a lighter version with a few more fruit flavors.

Oban is Gaelic for "little bay" so apparently this scotch is named Little Bay Little Bay. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, it worked out well for the Ferrari LaFerrari. The nose includes sweet fruit, orange peel, smoke, butterscotch, and flowers. The palate is a rich balance between sweet fruits & flowers and smoke & peat, before finishing with some medicinal notes, sea water, and pepper. It takes a few sips to get a feel for this complex whisky. This whisky is difficult to figure out at first. It's not quite a sweet highlands scotch, but it's also not a smokey islands malt. Ultimately, I think Oban strikes a great balance between the two and the longer you sit with it the more flavors you will keep finding.

I've always had a fondness for Islay whiskys, as my very first scotch was an Islay single malt (Bowmore Legend, if I remember right), and it gave me an excellent introduction into Islay whiskys and great whisky in general. Laphoraig 10 may be the best expression of what Islay has to offer. The nose is rich and complex with flowers, iodine, leather, campfire, salted nuts, and of course, peat. The palate is sweeter than you'd expect with flavors of toffee, black licorice, caramel, vanilla, and green apples. The finish is long and complex with a little spice on the tongue and alternating flavors including leather, brown sugar, and seawater, that eventually yield to a strong espresso taste. I love everything about Laphroaig. I love the aroma, the flavors, the green bottle, and the way it warms you inside. I love how they will give you a certificate for a square foot of land near their distillery. And every time I try this whisky I finish with the same thought: why do I buy anything else?

Glenfiddich 15 is a well known and easy to find single malt with some rich enjoyable flavors. I think this used to be 43% ABV in the US but unfortunately it looks like it’s 40% now. The color is dark brown and looks too unnatural. You can find many dried fruits in the nose like raisins and figs. There are also a few nuts and weak spices in the background. The palate is sweet and creamy with brown sugar and vanilla. The finish is nice with leather and toffee. This is a good step up from the Glenfiddich 12 and a great recommendation for beginners. The flavors are rich, but not complex. While this whisky is enjoyable to drink, it’s not something I’d buy again at this price point.