Tastes
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Color is dark gold, way too dark for a 10-year-old dram, so I think it’s safe to assume there’s coloring added. Presentation is decent at 46.3% ABV, viscous and non-chill-filtered. Nose is peaty, with briny and medicinal notes, but not overpowering. There’s a hint of oak and vanilla in there, a definite influence from the oak wood casks. Palate is surprisingly sweet, peaty and peppery, with notes of honey, melon, caramel, and vanilla. Very rich and complex, beautifully crafted. The finish is long, with lingering campfire peat and saltiness - quite a contrast from the sweet arrival. A few more minutes with this dram, and the palate changes. Now it demonstrates dominating salty notes, and the nose gets some floral character. It’s very dynamic before I even start adding water. A few drops of H2O makes it sweeter still, the dram gets some floral and fruit character, but it doesn’t much change the finish. Ledaig takes the water really well (thanks to its young nature and decent ABV), but as I’m trying to hit the sweet spot, it keeps changing on me just as it sits in the glass. I pour some more, this is delicious and hard to resist. Now that my nose is fully accustomed to peat, it doesn’t come across as its main character. I start noticing some herbal notes, some pineapple, and pear. Finish is now dominated by peppery notes. Overall, this is an excellent and complex dram for peat lovers - well done Tobermory. It’s heavier than Springbank 10 (which in my opinion is probably one of the most balanced 10-year-old drams out there, but that’s another story). But it’s not a Laphroaig 10 or an Ardbeg 10 either, and it shouldn’t be, this is not coming from Isla, it’s from the isle of Mull. You are getting a much sweeter palate, a different kind of peat, and a very dynamic nature of the dram keeps you engaged. Peat haters - beware, peat lovers - cheer! Well worth the $71.71.0 USD per Bottle
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Kilkerran 12 Year
Single Malt — Campbeltown, Scotland
Reviewed August 22, 2020 (edited December 24, 2020)Pale gold natural color, viscous, a bit hazy - a beautiful indication it is non-chill-filtered (it actually says so on the bottle as well). Nose is delicate, something you would expect from a moderately-aged 12-year-old dram. Notes of black pepper, vanilla, cereal, with a touch of field flowers and just a touch of smoke on the back. On the first approach it does not strike as a super complex dram, although it makes a confident statement. Palate is delicate, with a good balance of sweet, salty and umami, with a touch of smoke on the back. After the first sip, I start sensing some citrus notes on the nose. Palate gains a bit more vanilla and caramel characteristics. Finish is long, with hints of oak, vanilla, and honey. After more than a few minutes with this dram I start to appreciate its complexity much more. Now some matchbox, hay, and even medicinal notes start to appear. It opens into a beautifully-balanced whisky with different dimensions of delicate awesomeness. A few drops of water in this 46% ABV dram makes it a bit more sweet, and the finish gets more floral, fresh fruit, and smoky notes. Water definitely helps here, but I wouldn’t add too much as its easy to drown this delicate dram. Overall, this is an excellent Campbeltown dram from the Glengyle distillery. It is well-crafted and nicely balanced, but I would probably not recommend this to a beginner. Enthusiast would really appreciate its complexity and character though, particularly if you take it slow. Well worth the $73.73.0 USD per Bottle -
Deanston 12 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed August 20, 2020 (edited February 9, 2021)Beautiful natural gold color, non-chill-filtered. The 46.3% ABV really shows, the legs on the sides are solid and long-lasting. Nose is delicate but confident, aromas of fresh fruit, honey, raisins, vanilla, with a hint of sherry. Palate is rich, oily, chewy, citrusy, with hints of oak and fresh vanilla. Finish is long, wonderful. Full of citrus and vanilla notes, honey, with oak and a bit of cloves on the back, finishing with a hint of a smoky flavor, the kind you would find in much older drams intermixed with some floral notes. Wonderfully rich, complex, and round. A few drops of water bring more floral and fruit character. The palate becomes sweeter, finish a bit longer, with more vanilla and raisins notes, it is more round, but a bit less interesting. I think the higher ABV does provide an additional dimension to it. Overall, this is an exceptional, very complex and balanced dram. Perhaps one of the best 12-year-old drams I’ve had. Well worth the $80.80.0 USD per Bottle -
Kirkland 22 Year Speyside Single Malt Sherry Cask Finish
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed March 7, 2020 (edited July 28, 2020)Color is rich mahogany, doesn’t seem chill-filtered, although it doesn’t state so on the bottle. Medium to high viscosity. Nose is delicate, with notes of fruit, raisins, black pepper, and caramel. Sherry is very pronounced even though it has only been finished in sherry casks for 6 months (maybe they didn’t quite rinse them before pouring this in?) Palate is sweet and creamy, with lots of fruit, nuts, oak, and vanilla. A touch of bitterness on the back is indicative of the age statement (22 years). Finish is medium length, but pleasant, with the same fruit and bitter vanilla notes. A splash of water in this 46% ABV dram helps open its floral side, and honey and chocolate notes start to appear. It adds balance, and rounds the dram pretty nicely. Finish gains a touch of smokiness on the back that you would typically see in older whisky. As time passes, the nose and the palate do change somewhat towards a more floral character, but not as much as an old Glendronach. It doesn’t take away from the character of this whisky though, and it remains a very pleasant and greatly enjoyable dram. Absolutely worth it’s $80 price tag.80.0 USD per Bottle -
GlenDronach Original 12 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed February 16, 2020 (edited March 5, 2020)Color is natural light gold, medium to low viscosity, non-chill filtered. Nose is delicate, not very complex, with vanilla, raisins, oak, and some barley on the back. Palate is full and balanced, with hints of honey, raisins, vanilla, oak, caramel, and some citrus notes. Finish is not short, but not too long either, with pleasant buttery vanilla, oak, and ripe fruit notes. Subsequent nosing reveals some floral notes, and palate becomes more caramel and fruit-based. Nose becomes more complex as well, and the influence of sherry becomes very pronounced. It’s quite mature and complex for a 12-year-old, and like its 18-year-old cousin, it does change its character as time passes by. A few drops of water in this 43% ABV dram do very little for it. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend adding it, it changed the balance for the worse. Overall, this is a very nice 12-year-old dram that has plenty of complexity. It’s greatly enjoyable, particularly by those who like sherry cask-matured whisky. Well worth its $54 price.54.0 USD per Bottle -
This whisky was triple-distilled in 1990, and bottled at cask strength (53.8% abv) in 2011, 18 years after the distillery was mothballed. Color is beautiful gold, viscous. Nose is floral, delicate, with hints of fresh apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a hint of vanilla on the back. Palate is smooth and fresh, with lemon zest, spice, vanilla ice cream, and apples. Finish is long and has a fresh, floral character with distinct vanilla notes. A splash of water opens up more character in this dram. It becomes very well balanced, yet maintains its floral nature. Nose opens more citrus notes, palate gains hard candy characteristics with barberry notes, and finish gets some caramel notes. Some more water makes this dram superb. Finish remains long and complex, with just a hint of smoked salmon note on the back that is often so characteristic of older drams. Too bad we wouldn’t see much of this in the future, it’s a truly superb and very complex whisky.
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There’s a lot of controversy about this one. Some love it, some hate it, and it all seems to be stemming from the differences in the ABV: the weaker 40% vs the higher 47.6% sold at Duty Free. Well, turns out there’s a bottle at 43% in Costco, and it’s priced at $180. Not cheap, but for a 21-year-old dram, not exuberant either. The review below is about this 43% ABV version. The bottle says nothing about artificial coloring or chill-filtration, so I assume it has both, although there’s probably not much sense in coloring the 21-year-old dram. Nevertheless, color is gold with a reddish hue, the dram is clear (it does look chill-filtered), and has medium viscosity. Nose is delicate, doesn’t strike as old but is not that of a youthful dram either. Hints of ripe fruit, vanilla, and caramel, with a touch of chocolate and spice on the back. Palate is rich and full, with sweet notes of raisins, honey, spice, and some citrus and floral notes. Finish is rather long and vanilla-oaky, somewhat bitter, with hints of honey, overall quite pleasant. After some time with this dram, the port finish notes intensify but do not dominate - it is only finished in portwood. I keep hunting for oiliness that is often present in older drams, but can’t seem to find it. Hints of nuts (mostly almonds) and more ripe fruit start to appear, but the overall character remains the same. A few drops of water do very little for this dram. In fact, I wouldn’t add it again. The character looses balance and focus and starts to be too fruity and sweet. It makes sense now that the 40% ABV version doesn’t score well, and I’m really curious about the potential for the 47.6% ABV. Overall, this is a solid dram, but nothing mind blowing. If I haven’t seen the bottle, I wouldn’t have guessed it’s 21 years old. It’s nice, it’s complex, it’s smooth, it’s very much enjoyable, but I think you would probably get most of the same from a much cheaper 12 doublewood version.180.0 USD per Bottle
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GlenDronach Allardice 18 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed December 24, 2019 (edited March 1, 2021)My bottle is from July of 2019. Since the distillery was mothballed in 1996 and reopened again only in 2001, there’s a chance that in 2019 this 18-year old Allardice still has some of that older whisky in it. Don’t know if it actually does, but the price of $140 at Costco certainly suggests that. The color is natural amber, very viscous, and likely non-chill-filtered although the bottle doesn’t state that. Nose is delicate, mature, and complex, with notes of sherry (it’s matured in Spanish Oloroso Sherry casks after all), black pepper, vanilla, oak, and caramel. Palate is sweet and round, with creamy texture, and notes of raisins, oak, vanilla, and more sherry. Finish is not very long but nice, with more sweetness of ripe fruit, and oaky-vanilla notes. So far - good, but not very impressive. After a few sips I start noticing subtle smokiness on the back, the kind you would typically find in older drams - that of a smoked salmon. Perhaps it does have some of that older influence in it after all - “so you’re telling me there’s chance...” A few drops of water in this 46% ABV whisky definitely opens more of its character. The palate becomes more floral and fruity, opening some apricot and dark chocolate notes. The finish also becomes longer and more balanced, and that smoked note intensifies. Much more interesting after about 20 minutes. In another 20-30 minutes this dram opens all of its complexity. It’s an absolute masterpiece - complex, rich, and round. Has everything you would wish for in a sherry-cask whisky. I have to admit, I was initially hesitant to say I would pay $140 for this again as I thought Kirkland’s 20-year-old 46% ABV sherry cask finish whisky from Alexander Murray was almost as good for less than half the price. After giving it some time though, I think it’s definitely worth it - probably one of the best sherry cask drams I’ve had. I can see how this didn’t get a very good rating though, you have to give it time to develop. Lovers of complex sherry cask influences - this whisky is for you, but don’t rush it140.0 USD per Bottle -
Glenfiddich 14 Year Bourbon Barrel Reserve
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed November 18, 2019 (edited April 29, 2020)Color is gold, medium to low viscosity, chill-filtered. Nose is medium strength, with hints of raisins, toffee, vanilla, and ripe fruit. Palate is rich and round, with notes of fruit, caramel, toffee, and oak. Bourbon barrel influence is definitely there but it is not overwhelming. Finish is short but nice with oaky and fruity notes and a touch of bitterness. A few drops of water in this 43% ABV dram opens more fruit flavors and rounds up the pallet, finish looses its bitterness. Overall a very nice and complex dram. -
Glen Scotia 15 Year
Single Malt — Campbeltown, Scotland
Reviewed November 9, 2019 (edited December 13, 2019)Dark gold color, viscous, non-chill filtered. Nose is medium strength, with hints of black pepper, vanilla, oak, and a bit of shoe polish-like conifer. Palate is rich and full, with almonds, oak, vanilla, raisins, chocolate, caramel, butter scotch, and sherry. Finish is medium length, with a touch of bitterness, with more caramel and floral notes. A few drops of water in this 46% ABV dram opens more floral notes, sherry, raisins, apricots, vanilla, and rounds up the finish. Overall very pleasant and mature dram, greatly enjoyable.56.0 USD per Bottle
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