Tastes
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Nose: Sweet mescal-like smokiness, honey-cured ham, brine, lemon, white grape juice, toffee, vanilla (just a dash) and barley sugar. Reduction changes the nose by dialing down the intensity (of course) but it also melds everything into a single warm, comforting presence. It does simplify the story, but in a delightful way. Palate: The arrival is sweet and smoky with plush stone fruits (apricot, white peach), citrus (lemon, red grapefruit, citrine) and dried grapes (sultanas, raisins). The smoke note persists throughout the palate but gains complexity as it progresses with coal smoke, wood smoke, ashes and tarry triple-salt licorice all making an entrance. Honey and melon flavours appear towards the finish. There is a thread of vanilla sewing this palate together and providing moderating balance between the smoke and citrus components, but it is so well done you can miss it at first. The texture is velvety and plush. Like the nose, reduction reduces the intensity but evolves a delicious combination of flavours from all the ingredients. Finish: Medium/Long. Sweet, fruity smoke with grapefruit and honeyed-herbal notes in the aftertaste. An excellent whisky that is a masterclass in how to effectively use sauternes casks for whisky maturation. Allowing a full 13 years for half of this whisky to interact with fine sauternes wood (I bet they were ex-Château d'Yquem casks) has imbued it with singular depth and richness. This could easily have been a disastrous overload of wine-influence but blending this spirit with an equal quantity of bourbon-cask matured spirit (refill casks I betcha) has made the perfect marriage. Excellent balance and integration is the key to this whisky with no one aspect of its multi-faceted profile being allowed to dominate. It is delicious neat but it also responds very well to reduction. It is no longer available in my market except through auctions and considering the price (which I thought was very fair) I wish I had bought two bottles in the first place. No, come to think of it I wish I had bought a case. A great contemporary Ardbeg (are “great” and “Ardbeg” synonyms?). “Excellent” : 88/100 (4.5 stars)225.0 AUD per Bottle
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Kilchoman Cognac Cask (2023 Edition)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed February 6, 2025 (edited February 10, 2025)Nose: Fresh barley grist, brandy, apple eau-de-vie, cider vinegar. The nose is more maritime than smoky and has a sweet, winey edge. There is an herbal, grassy note as well which becomes more obvious over time and with reduction. Palate: It has a good deal of pleasant, soft smoke right from the start and this builds in intensity as it moves into development and on to the finish. It's sweet and a little spicy with emerging stone fruits, marmalade and citrus peel (grapefruit, orange). There is a salty maritime quality to the palate just like the nose. The texture is full but not oily. Finish: Medium/Long. Brine, marmalade and lingering smoke. This is an interesting whisky that I initially hated but which I have come to appreciate over time. On first opening it seemed very brash, sour and bitter. In fact I opened it to pour for a tasting event but decided not to use it after taking a test sip. I’ve been slowly working my way through the bottle over the last two months and now it is down to about half full it has lost the sharp edges and gained poise. Both nose and palate are straightforward. I would not call this a particularly complex whisky but it presents a pleasant, balanced profile that has retained a fresh, crisp quality while gaining depth over time. As you get used to it you do sense that it is all about a simple marriage of barley and good cognac cask, and it's refreshing in that simplicity. It is also best without reduction as adding water makes this whisky drift in a homogenous, generic direction. It’s not horrible when watered, and it does gain some sweetness to balance the briny qualities, but it’s better neat. It’s a good whisky that is worth trying if you find it for a reasonable price, and particularly if you are a Kilchoman fan. However I would not urge anyone to actively seek it out and if you have a bottle in your stash it’s one to open soon rather than saving it for a special occasion. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)199.0 AUD per Bottle -
Smith's Quadrilogy : The Midnight Oil 2.122 (SMWS)
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed January 31, 2025Nose: Preserved and dried fruits (figs, dates, cherries, dried apple, raisin, prune, apricot, peach). Coffee, chocolate, roasted nuts and marzipan all soaked in gallons of sweet sherry. It’s like a trifle made with plum pudding or Christmas cake instead of sponge cake. Deep syrupy honeyed aromas, golden syrup, treacle and a little sulphur. The cask is hugely apparent but it’s such a rich and luxurious whisky you just have to surrender and love it. With a little water there are aromas of mint and menthol. Palate: An eruption of sweet fruit! Tropical fruit juice concentrate, fruit salad, honey. Again there is a little sulphur but it’s trivial and just adds depth and complexity. In the development there are plums and peaches, almonds and walnuts and a lot of sweet sherry. This really does develop into a mouthful of boozy Christmas pudding. The texture is good with a pleasant weight that matches the intense flavours. Finish: Medium/Long. Sweet, lingering dark fruit and sherry. This could be criticized as being a two-dimensional whisky, what with its intense cask-dominated presence, but I think there is more going on than first meets the eye. Initially you are broadsided by a fusillade of aroma and flavor, all seemingly derived from the cask, but although the cask is unquestionably the obvious personality it is the Glenlivet spirit that is providing structure and all the excellent fruit profile. You could think of this as a very fine spirit whose characteristics are being magnified many times over by the cask while the cask adds it’s own colour in equal amount. I recently presented this at a tasting event where I placed it as the third pour on the sheet following Glenlivet Illicit Still 12, which in turn followed core-range Glenlivet 12. In this context there was a clear progression from the consumer-market whisky (coloured, chill-filtered, 40% and refill-cask matured) through to this cask-strength specimen presented in all its raw beauty, but most importantly the distinctive aroma and flavor of Glenlivet was detectable in all three drams. This is very enjoyable at its cask-strength of 56.4% but a small dash of water opens the dram very nicely, and with a little rest to recover after reduction the profile becomes easier and more enveloping, if losing a fraction in intensity. This is a wonderfully cosy night-time dram. Some people have identified a sulphur presence in this whisky but I did not find it to be objectionable, and it disappears almost completely with reduction. Sulphur is normally present in all whisky and sherry anyway and in my experience a really unpleasant sulphur taint from a bad cask is rarely encountered, and certainly not what I got here. This was a limited release (as is everything from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society) comprising 598 bottles, and it would be almost impossible to find now except through auction sites. “Excellent” : 88/100 (4.5 stars)220.0 AUD per Bottle -
Longrow Red 10 Year Refill Malbec Matured
Single Malt — Campbeltown , Scotland
Reviewed January 31, 2025 (edited February 3, 2025)Nose: Soft, rounded cereal aromas with a whiff of sea-breeze and subtle smoke. Floral grapes, red berries, farmyard, horse stall and diesel fuel but the nose does not really come alive until water is added. When neat there is an alcohol “nip” that is irritatingly distracting because it obscures the obvious wealth of rich aromas that are present. It’s like trying to listen to a great singer over a raucous bar-room crowd. Add water slowly until the alcohol intrusion disappears then give the whisky a few minutes to rest and recover. You’ll be rewarded with toffee, milk chocolate, cherries, leather, malt syrup and tobacco, all melded into a rich whole. Palate: Spicy and sweet with tangy dark citrus in the arrival. Molasses, dark cherry in the development, but just like the nose it is only after reduction that this whisky impresses. When neat it is a little raw and harsh but dilution removes that and the texture is much improved, gaining density and a velvety silkiness. The typical Longrow ashy peat is present on the palate as well, together with an umami quality that reminds me of a sauce I make for pan-fried pork that combines ginger, allspice, tamarind paste and coconut syrup. Finish: Medium. Ashen malt and sweet tobacco, burnt sugar and a little brine. If there is a failing in this whisky it is on the finish which is OK but not great. A very good Longrow Red, and even if not the very best expression of Red it’s still so far ahead of many other whiskies it’s not funny. Like other “old school” profiles (e.g. Ben Nevis and Mortlach) there is an unmistakable aroma and taste to Longrow that somehow conveys age and tradition, however vague and unlikely that may seem. This is a divisive dram with some high profile critics disliking it intensely, but for me the marriage of Longrow’s earthy, gentle peat and good red wine casks is always magic, and always worth a try. “Very Good” : 86/100 (4 stars)300.0 AUD per Bottle -
Glenlivet 12 Year Illicit Still
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed January 2, 2025 (edited January 13, 2025)Nose: Apple, pear, vanilla, barley sugar, cherries, a waft of honeysuckle. Palate: Sweet and salty in the arrival like a combination of salted caramel and diluted honey. As it develops, the basket of orchard fruits that was the standout feature of the nose also shows up on the palate together with berries and rosewater. In the later palate I get a faintly bitter, grassy note but it’s not unpleasant. The texture is OK, nothing special, but it is creamier than the core-range 12 year old. Finish: Medium/Long. Orchard fruits trailing into black tea tannin, but the lingering aftertaste is mildly salty and sweet. This is immediately identifiable as Glenlivet whisky and very specifically as the standard 12 year old core-range expression turned up a notch in volume. It was 100% refill bourbon cask matured and was not chill-filtered but for some reason it was artificially coloured. My immediate question when tasting this for the first time (apart from what moron thought a special anniversary release that was otherwise purist in concept should be coloured with e150a) was "why is this not part of the core-range?". Doing so would not undermine sales of the standard 12 year old as this would definitely be more expensive, but it would earn back some street-credibility for the distillery that was lost after the release of their recent NAS horrors. Illicit Still was produced as a limited edition for the distillery's 200th anniversary and it was followed by another whisky called the "Licensed Dram” but neither expression is still available. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)87.0 AUD per Bottle -
Nose: A sting of ethanol followed by an interesting mélange of citrus flavours focused on grapefruit. Although called “Rosa” (in reference to the colour rather than the character) there is a sense of rose water about this gin (but it might be the power of suggestion). Palate: Again, quite powerful and sharp on the arrival with lots of punchy grapefruit in the lead. Juniper, coriander and something else rather outré following (I guess that's the rhubarb). The palate has a bitter personality which is unusual but not unpalatable. If you taste this blind it is confusing, but if you think “grapefruit” everything falls into place. The texture is OK, but not outstanding. Finish: Medium. Peppery, grapefruit. An interesting gin, and my second favourite of the four samples in the pack we bought recently. The original unflavoured Malfy far outstrips everything else in their range and is arguably the only expression they make that is worth buying. However if you are looking for something unusual to charm your jaded gin palate you could do worse than to try a bottle of this. It’s probably best in one-off concoctions including an aparitivo or fruit liqueur component as I can’t imagine this being the base ingredient in any classic gin cocktail. In a gin and tonic it’s OK … but just OK. Tasted from a 50ml sample, part of a pack of four Malfy gins. “Above Average” : 81/100 (3 stars)65.0 AUD per Bottle
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Nose: Very fragrant orange, mandarin and grapefruit notes with a sweeter aroma like rose hip or hibiscus flower tea. The nose is the best part of the experience with this gin. Palate: Quite hot and sharp on the arrival with sweet orange and bitter orange together. Peppery juniper flavours come in later along with licorice and seed spices. The texture seems thinner than the unflavoured Malfy gin. Finish: Medium/Short. Spicy. This is not really fit for neat tasting and has a harsh, biting quality when unmixed. I held out hopes that it would fare better in a gin & tonic but my dreams of a refreshing drink on a hot day were cruelly dashed. It tastes like dishwashing liquid and sweat. Mrs Cascode had one sip, pulled a face and said “cleaning product quality”. Yep. Tasted from a 50ml sample, one of a pack of four Malfy Gins. I honestly would never consider buying this, and neither should you. The original Malfy is so good … how is it that this is so bad? “Inferior” : 65/100 (1.5 stars)65.0 AUD per Bottle
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Nose: Fragrant, zesty lemon, like lemon sherbet. Sweet orange, gentle juniper. Palate: Soft and sweet on the arrival with citrus dominating the essential juniper component. It remains this way through the palate although later the peppery juniper notes show through. The texture is velvety and slick. Finish: Medium. Soft and mild with no bitterness. This is a citrus forward gin but not so much as to be simply a "lemon-flavoured" gin (Malfy do make such a gin and I’ve reviewed it here previously). This does not have a particularly complex profile but its straightforward character is subtle and charming. It is enjoyable to sip neat over ice and it makes an excellently refreshing gin and tonic, but then I prefer a citrus-forward gin in that context anyway. For a martini I’d use something with a more classic juniper-forward profile. I’d buy this if was shopping for a light, fruity gin for summery drinks but there are also several other brands in this category, all of which are equally good. Tasted from a 50ml sample in a pack of four different Malfy gins. “Very Good” : 85/100 (4 stars)60.0 AUD per Bottle
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Octomore Series 15 Tasting, The Oak Barrel, Sydney. November 13, 2024. Whisky #5 Nose: The immediate impression is of a hot, spirity nose with an irrepressible character. This persists for a while but once the initial alcohol vapours dissipate and you can get into the nose the full beauty of the aromas is revealed. The peat is like old leather upholstery, a distant asphalt country road and the faint aroma of fragrant Turkish tobacco. Behind this are dark fruits, raspberry jam, hessian rope, marmalade, roasted nuts, malt extract and vanilla. The nose also loves water (see below). Palate: The arrival is gradual with a modest, sweet entry that is very cereal and nut focused. This sweetness transitions to a drying character with the same cereal and nut flavours gaining greater texture and definition. Over time the palate becomes almost gritty, like nutty cookie dough. Cashew butter, licorice, raspberry jubes and manuka honey appear as it develops. At the same time there is the development of considerable peat smoke. It starts off mild and demure but gradually spreads throughout the mouth gaining presence and yet remaining surprisingly delicate. The chewy cereal flavours have excellent weight and the mouth-feel is richly oily and full-bodied. Finish: Medium/Long. Dry and smoky with cereal notes fading to bittersweet coffee. 307.2ppm sounds like a monstrous amount but in reality it barely registers, particularly when the whisky is neat. Reduction does increase the smoke presence dramatically but that’s true for any high-alcohol peated whisky, and this whisky can certainly take a lot of water without any loss of balance or presence. Like the peat smoke, the interesting cereal flavours on the palate also increase as the whisky is reduced. The nose is a slow-burn experience as the alcohol has to burn off and it also needs time in the glass to unfurl. I was nosing this all through the tasting and after 90 minutes it was still developing. Adding water did absolutely no harm – in fact this whisky adores a dash of water with no plastic or rubbery notes emerging at all. The whisky I had tasted immediately before this one was the 15.2 expression. I was still so seduced by its beautiful wine-cask influenced profile and its uncanny ability to contain its alcohol presence that initially I decided this 15.3 expression was my second favourite whisky of the evening. This whisky seemed hot and difficult to penetrate at first, but then with time to explore both I realised just how elegant this expression really is and decided that it was my favourite. Even at the relatively high price I would highly recommend this whisky. It’s in the same league as the old 5.1 expression and almost equal to the 10 year old 2nd Edition. “Excellent” : 88/100 (4.5 stars)399.0 AUD per Bottle
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Octomore Series 15 Tasting, The Oak Barrel, Sydney. November 13, 2024. Whisky #4 Nose: Dried fruit (raisins, figs, cranberries), cherry jam, sweet tropical fruit salad in syrup, mead, sauternes. The smoke note is deeper than on the 15.1 expression, with softer and more rounded qualities. It is still gentle Octomore smoke but more asphalt than bonfire and it contributes a warming harmony to the nose. There is also no evidence whatsoever of the 57.9%abv alcohol content – it is superbly contained and you can inhale the aromas deeply. Palate: Very sweet and chewy with creamy vanilla, nectarines, golden peaches, dried figs, and toffee. There are cereal notes but they are more like buttery croissant or cherry Danish than cereal flakes and they have a succulent, juicy quality. The mild peat smoke on the palate mainly shows up in the development and there is a very good, subtle note of oak. Finish: Medium/Long. The fruit and soft cereal grains segue into a sweet wine aftertaste with a curtain of mild smoke and a faint tingle of spice. This is a very good Octomore, as long as you like your expression with a strong wine cask influence (which I do). Considering the array of diverse casks used it is amazing that they all work together seamlessly to present a unified warm presence. Perhaps it’s because all the casks were European oak that it worked. Whatever the reason the result is marvelous. The alcohol is contained very well on both nose and palate and I swear you would never imagine you were tasting a whisky with an alcohol content in the high 50s. However the whisky also responds very well to reduction, water simply lowering the intensity of aroma and flavour while maintaining balance. Rubbery or plastic notes never emerge and the profile remains sweet and warm. This is one of my favourite recent Octomores and if it had been available for purchase at the tasting I would have bought a bottle. Recommended. “Very Good” : 87/100 (4.25 stars)279.0 AUD per Bottle
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