Tastes

Nose: Toasted cereal, buttered toast, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, vanilla, panettone, baked banana. There's a tiny ashy hint. Adding a drop of water brings out a little oak aroma but it mutes the nose too much. Palate: Rich, creamy, silken arrival. Milk chocolate, creme caramel, coconut, nutmeg, butter, caramel, savoiardi biscuits and some light oaky notes. The addition of water unleashes several types of honey and more varieties of cereal. Finish: Medium. Mildly spicy with grainy mocha flavours. There is an interesting segue to fruitiness as it fades, and a delightful lingering sweetness. This is a good whisky, and together with the Coffey Grain from Nikka it's a duet that you need to hear. The nose and palate are cereal driven, with hints of every type of grain and baked product you can imagine, and the mouth-feel is very good. The fruit part of the character is subtle and it's not about bright citrus. It's warmer, heavier and oilier and integrated with the cereal profile. Think banana bread, walnut loaf or avocado mashed on whole grain toast. If adding water do so carefully, just a couple of drops at a time. This whisky is fine neat, but water brings out notes that are just as nice. However as much as it loves water, this whisky can't swim to save itself and you can ruin a wonderful experience very easily. Don't even think about putting it anywhere near ice or mixers. Delightful, and arguably the best value Japanese whisky that you can still obtain fairly easily. "Good" : 84/100 (3.75 stars)

Nose: The incense quality of mizunara oak is immediate and defines the nose. There are supporting hints of orchard fruits (apples, pears, peaches, apricots), vanilla and almond but soft aromatic oak dominates everything else. Palate: The arrival is light and soft with a generally fruity profile. It develops a little very gentle ginger and cinnamon spice and some malt as it unfolds. A light honey note is detectable as well. It's a sweet, smooth palate but a little too shy. Finish: Very, very short. Light, crisp and fleeting with a little hint of very mild tannin and anise right at the end. The nose is very pleasant, but as described above rather one-note. There are malty depths below the oak, and it's impossible to hate, but that sandalwood/cedar aroma keeps leaping forward. The palate is also a little disappointing and there's almost no finish at all. It's a real pity it was released at only 40%. Chivas Regal consistently disappoint me and once again they have sunk to the occasion. There is the gleam of a really good blend here but they have been mean with the quantity and quality of the malt component, stingy with the strength, and the precious mizunara casks have been used as little more than top-dressing. It's absurdly expensive for what it is and it does not represent value for money, considering all the excellent single malts that are in the same price bracket, and the many superior blends that are even cheaper. "Average" : 75/100 (2.5 stars)

Nose: Malt, raisins, brown sugar, cereal, light oak, sherry. Very much like regular Jameson, but with everything turned up one notch. Enhanced maltiness is the most notable characteristic, and a dash of water reveals a little hint of the stout cask aroma. Palate: Soft and silky, a malty arrival with chocolate notes. A sweet cereal hint appears in the development which becomes creamy rather than silky as it unfolds. Good texture overall and a dash of water brings out some hidden sweetness. Finish: Short. Very faintly spicy and dry as it fades out, leaving a final impression as of mocha coffee. A pleasant and successful variant of Jameson where the stout cask finish enhances the malty quality of the distillate considerably, but at the cost of some of the delicate citrus and fruity notes normally found in Jameson. It's a relatively subtle effect and although others have remarked how much it tastes of stout I didn't really get that impression. If anything, the stout cask finish gives this a profile slightly like a Speyside malt rather than an Irish blend. Adding a dash of water makes it very smooth and easy to drink, but sacrifices a tad of the presence - note also that it's very easy to drown so if watering all you need is a few drops. "Above Average" : 80/100 (3 stars)

Nose: Rich and sweet, like Sugar Frosties (a tooth-decaying breakfast cereal for kiddies). Iced doughnuts, sweet marmalade, apricots, ginger snap biscuits, tangellos and mandarin orange. It's a melange of warm cereal sweetness and fruity malt that trips the light fantastic with fleet-footed aplomb, avoiding any cloying notes. Alongside the fruity notes there are savory, meaty and vegetal aromas and a very nice medium sherry influence - just a hint. What a lovely nose! Palate: A perfectly balanced arrival, treading a taught high-wire spanning sweetness and spiciness with the skill of a master aerialist. Ginger, orange, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, and a bushel of dried fruits. Just wonderful. Underneath is a hearty lamb tagine, simmering in lemon and apricot slices. Drool. YES! This is what Mortlach should taste like. A touch drying, but in the most adorable manner imaginable. A slight chocolaty dry malt hint that pinches everything together, like a neat Cornish pasty. The texture is perfection - so precisely oily that it does not seem to be so. Finish: Medium/long, it flows on from the development and fades gloriously into a vibrant sunset. There's even a little touch of mustard spice in the tail. You will not realize how long this finish is, the aftertaste is so subtle, I guarantee. I've discussed this whisky with my mate from across "the ditch", Soba45, of late so I thought it was time for a proper review. This whisky has incredible presence and authority, but is simultaneously soft and appealing. For me it is the embodiment of David Gilmour's guitar playing, where the silence means as much as the notes. Stately and poised, with class, balls, authority and verve. That's the blues defined. What a great introduction to single malts this would be for a newcomer. I weep for those who will never experience it - it is like Springbank 10, but with sophistication and élan. If you want to know the deal with all the hype surrounding Mortlach and why old whisky geeks keep blathering on about it - try this whisky. It's a constantly produced licensed bottling, so almost a core range product. "Very Good" : 87/100 (4.25 stars)

Nose: Christmas cake, dried fruits and peel, vanilla and citrus (grapefruit and blood orange). There's a spicy character with lots of aromatic wood, both aged staves and fresh planks. Faint sandalwood and a touch of grassy mint. It's reminiscent of a bourbon nose. Palate: A firm, well textured arrival that develops lots of spice and bittersweet citrus. Vanilla and strong oak notes with dark chocolate and black coffee. It's not a soft palate, if anything it veers towards astringency but then calms down at the last minute. It's both demanding and rewarding - if you wanted to be poetic you could call it "resolute" - it has grip and authority, but no trace of ethanol prickle. Finish: Long. Sweet, oaky, gingery spice, vanilla, citrus - it's a lingering finish that leaves a full and complex aftertaste. A very satisfying dram - one of those big old-fashioned east coast highland malts that you have to take on its own terms. Newcomers to single malts might find it a little daunting as it is strongly cask-driven. Maturation was in a combination of bourbon barrels and Spanish oak sherry butts, and you can easily taste the presence of both. Not that it's over-oaked, but neither is it a soft and friendly malt. The 2nd edition 1999 was, however, more accessible and immediately impressive. Adding water initially kills the nose - let it rest and develop for at least 15 minutes (wait until the mist arises - it will start to appear almost immediately, but with time just a dash of water produces a lovely cloudiness). You will be rewarded with a whole new range of experiences. Honey and nougat come out on the nose, which broadens into an almost-but-not-quite floral profile (hints of honeysuckle, roses and violets). The palate likewise is softened but in no way diminished - water releases more spices but also dilutes them whilst taming the oakiness. It actually brings everything into greater balance. I can recommend a dash of water for this whisky as it makes it quite delicious and more approachable, but yes it does lessen the presence. You might sense a slight bitterness right at the end after dilution, but persevere - it will go away and/or you will accommodate it. It's not metallic - more like very bitter dark chocolate and over-brewed black tea. "Very Good" : 85/100 (4 stars)

Nose: Initially there is a sweet floral perfume note of frangipani, vanilla flowers, damask rose and eau-de-Cologne. It's so sweet that you might momentarily think you are sniffing gin rather than whisky. The nose expands into fragrant elderflower wine and then suddenly, magically, it transforms again into the smell of hops - just like a brewery during fermentation. As you get used to the nose, the familiar malty aromas of whisky start to emerge and after a while it all comes into balance with hops, elderflowers, malt, vanilla, oak and a little trace tropical fruit being the main aromas. Now, add water and this time the intense eau-de-cologne note is gone and the more standard "whisky" aromas are present. [Note: The dry glass aroma is malty and resinous, and not at all floral. Rather like Auchentoshan Classic, actually]. Palate: Neat, the arrival is sweet and smooth with herbal and malty flavours predominating. The development brings out a gin-like character that is herbal and oaky. Bittersweet ale notes arise and swirl about the mouth and there is no sign whatsoever of the 50% abv. This is dangerously easy to drink. Adding water makes it even more drinkable - the palate broadens and gains depth, but it does remain a rather simple profile. I would not call this a complex and subtle whisky on the mouth, it is a bit too bombastic and the profile is built from just a few larger than life flavours. Finish: Long. At first it seems to be a bit thin and fleeting but after a while you realise how much of the palate is staying with you, and eventually you start to wonder if you'll ever stop tasting it! The herbal/bittersweet character fades very slowly and there is a lingering aftertaste. Water is not kind to the finish, however, and produces a soapy character. Forget-Me-Not is a collaboration between Boatrocker Brewery and Starward (New World Distillery), both based in Melbourne. Boatrocker brewed up a batch of Alpha Queen, their classic dry-hopped pale ale, then passed it on to Starward who used it as the wash to create a whisky. You can unmistakably sense the beer heritage of the spirit through the intense hop note that distillation has transmuted into a multi-faceted fragrant herbal cloud. This is a most unusual whisky, and something very new to me. I'd bet that somewhere another distillery has done something similar, but this is the first spirit I've tasted that is based on a hopped beer rather than traditional fermented wort. I'm also sure that many whisky traditionalists would take one sniff of this and roll their eyes in disgust at the perfumed profile. It's absolutely not scotch whisky, and it proudly flaunts the fact, but the DNA of barley spirit is there underneath the strong hop presence. It's even less like bourbon, despite being aged in bourbon barrels (probably for 2-3 years). It's a contemporary Australian whisky of quirky but pleasing character. We are privileged to live at a time when distillers can count on the support and encouragement of their clientele and risk crafting such delightful experiments. I wouldn't want all whisky to be like this, but it is something I'd recommend to all whisky drinkers at least once just for the experience, and I'm enjoying the bottle I have. It's a good experimental batch and I'm rating it at 3 stars, but it is a singular profile. BTW - The producers chose the name Forget-Me-Not for this experimental batch because it is impossible to forget the beer heritage of the whisky once you smell it! My bottle is no.315. “Above Average" : 80/100 (3 stars)