Tastes

Back to the great stuff! :-) I had a small pour of this one last night at Longman and Eagle, a great whisky bar at Logan Square, Chicago. As one could guess from a Bunnahabhain, it has a strong and sweet sherried nose, but not as sweet as the 12 and the 18. There's something "old" about it... leather, furniture wax, tobacco, old books, it seems like you're having some oloroso sherry inside an old and fancy library. It may seem weird but it is great! The palate arrives way hotter and spicier than the nose and age suggests, but soon you can taste a great caramel sweetness along with cinnamon and roasted nuts. I think that overall, it works better than the overly sweet 18, the spiciness giving it more balance. The finish is spicy / sweet with lots of nutmeg and some toffe. It seems to linger forever. AMAZING!

Have some hours to spend at São Paulo airport, having arrived early from a connection flight and waiting for my late night flight to Chicago. Brought with me a Glencairn and some samples to help pass the time. Decided to start the fun with an old acquaintance of mine, Aberfeldy 12. As soon as I put my nose in the glass I'm greeted with the aroma I already knew would be there... honey. And I mean lots and lots of HONEY. There's also some pear, vanilla and ginger spice but they are all covered in thick, sticky honey... I don't mind it, I like honey... ;-) The palate arrives more spicy than the nose suggests, with some barrel tannins greeting you and causing a tingle sensation in the middle of the tongue. After it calms down you can feel some caramel fudge and honey (again!) sweetness. The finish is dry and leave an after taste of... You guessed it right, Honey! :-) So, this is a simple, honest and easy sipper that has honey in spades! It's a one trick pony. You must be in the right mood to enjoy it but overall I like it.

No, no, no, no... This is not a good whisky... This really doesn't taste like Balvenie. For my luck I'm drinking from a miniature because I already had a bad experience with the only other rum finished whisky I tried, Glenfiddich 21 (that almost everyone seems to love). At first smell it really was promising because it was like a good Speyside ex-bourbon typical nose, just a tad sweeter, but not the "sweet bomb" I remember from the Glenfiddich. At first sip, everything falls apart... I feel the typical ex-bourbon honey and vanilla but it comes along with an unpleasant "funky" taste. It's a strong and artificial sweetness, it reminds me of my bad cheap white rum experiences from the past... This whisky spends 14 years at a bourbon cask, what explains the aroma but then it spends some months inside a rum cask, what in my opinion is enough to ruin an otherwise great whisky. The Balvenie 12 Doublewood kicks the hell out of this one! I think I'm going to stay away from rum finishes from now on. Rounding up my 2.5 score to 3 stars because at the end I know it's not a bad whisky, it's just not for my personal taste. ;-)

Quick review! Nose: baked apples and cream , almonds and some citrus (orange juice). Palate: honey with some spices (nutmeg mostly), good body, tasty. Bittersweet aftertaste with some oak and a peppery edge. A very good value for money, typical Speyside Malt. I would give it 3.5 stars if I could. Rounding down to 3 stars.

Took a miniature with me (50 ml) , along with a small Glencairn to have some fun on a 2 1/2 hours flight. Tasted it while enjoying some great Scottish folk music (Ímar) on my Bose airplane headphones while the other passengers were drinking water and listening to the airplane noises... Lucky me! ;-) It has a lovely nose of honey, hay, sweet baked apples and a hint of citrus and spices on the background. The palate is just ok with citrus sweetness, spice and apple tartness. It ends a little drying with a bit of bitterness in the end. But I like it since it gives a little complexity for a very straight forward malt. This is a very simple, average, affordable whisky and I like it for what it is.

I bought this whisky on a duty free bacause I really like the regular Classic Laddie and was almost sure I would like this one as well. It wasn't cheap at USD 75,00 and the expectations were high. For this review, as always, I poured myself a dram (arrrghhh...), and into the tasting notes: On the nose it first is quite closed, after sitting for some minutes on the glass or adding some water I can pick some acid sweetness that reminds me of fresh green grapes juice and lots of salt. Not the more inviting nose but you don't have the slightest idea of what awaits you... On the palate, DAMMIT!, the palate... Do I really have to go on with this??? Well, you'll barely feel anything because your taste buds will be anesthetized from the alcohol burn and the GIANT peppery note... But I'm brave and tried again, of course this time adding water until I almost drown the whisky. Still the peppery note is there upfront, but a little tamed and the alcohol has gone, I can feel something else, the green grape note I felt on the nose is there, is like in a white wine, but one you dropped some Tabasco and rubbing alcohol inside... As much as the finish concerns... Who knows? I have already spitted it a long time ago! \o/ To resume the whole review in two words: STAY AWAY! A two star review because believe it or not I have drunk worse.

Today let's talk about greatness, let's talk about Lagavulin 16. For me this is THE WHISKY. Why? Because it was the one that sparked my passion for the amazing world of single malts. OUR world. I always liked whiskies but all I knew about them was the average Blend (J. Walkers, Ballantines, etc) and 2 or 3 single malts like Glenlivet 12 and Glenfiddich 12. How it happened? I chose this one at a bar just because I thinked that the bottle looked cool and it was 16 years old and for someone "from outside" age means quality. I now like to think it was fate! ;-) My first reaction was like "Hummm... This smells very different from whisky... What on earth is this smell?? I think I like it... Let's try it." After tasting it I was like "Wowwwww!!! What the hell is going on??? What's this?? What was I drinking my entire life??? Where was this hiding??? I freaking LOVE IT!!" Little did I know by that time but I already was a peat head!! And it was love at first sip and we lived happily ever after... :-) It remains as my favorite Islay whisky and only lost the spot of all time favourite to my beloved Talisker 18. As long as tasting notes concerns, it's the same y'all already know quite well, it has that wonderful and misterious nose that has peat, citrus, brine, smoked fish(!), all wrapped up on a soft sweet sherry background... I think that's it. Quite complex and difficult to describe. On the palate the peat talks louder but there is still some mixed sweetness of citrus and sherry on the background with just some spiceness and a salty note to balance it all. Delicious stuff! The whisky ends quite drying and it lingers for a long time on your palate as to remind you just tasted GREATNESS! For all of you that already tasted it, you know what I'm talking about and for the ones that haven't (why not????), one piece of advice: TRY IT!! Maybe you'll love it or maybe you'll hate it but this is one of the whiskies you must judge by yourself. THE END. ;-)

This is the review I did on Master of Malt website one year ago as soon as I opened my bottle and drank the first dram: "Just WOW!! Just opened a bottle of this nectar of Gods and WOW!! This is good, really good! Some citrus and smoke on the nose and the palate is very thick, some spice, some caramel sweetness and a little brine. Incredible mellow for 57% Add some water and the spiceness really kick in! Crazy stuff." Strangely I remember that when I tasted it the first time at the Distillery I wasn't so "wowed" as I was when drinking from my new bottle at home. So I just poured a dram to write the review and it reminded me of my first impressions. A very good whisky but the WOW factor is gone. Be sure not to keep this bottle open for a long time... Share it with some friends! ;-) (Decided it would be fair to drop 1 star for this review - Now a 4 stars)