Tastes
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Süd Polaire Rare Oak Cask Gin
Barrel-Aged Gin — Tasmania, Australia
Reviewed June 20, 2020 (edited July 1, 2020)Nose: Citrus (lemon peel, orange peel, grapefruit, lemon myrtle). Some vanilla and grassy/spice notes in support. As it rests, the nose becomes sweeter but there is a singular lack of juniper. Palate: Citrus arrival - lemon oil with herbal notes. Grassy and fresh but there are some hot and sour flavours as well. The texture is creamy. Finish: Short. Citrus all the way into the aftertaste. For my 666th review I thought I should choose something diabolical and when a friend visited last week and brought a bottle of this, the decision was inescapable. Gin is an art form but like all art banality is always dangerously within reach of the artist. This gin, one of several made and marketed by Hobart restaurant/wine bar Institut Polaire, fails to succeed in several key respects The profile is dominated by the citrus presence and there is barely any juniper in evidence on either nose or palate. Although not unpleasant, it is inescapably more like lemon-infused vodka than gin. If you happen to relish citrus-dominated gin and prefer the juniper to be well hidden away then you'll probably enjoy this, but it is very much one-note and narrow of profile. Secondly, their maturation in "the finest new custom French oak casks" seems to have had remarkably little influence on the spirit other than imparting a pale yellow hue and a smear of vanilla. Although the citrus notes are prominent, there is a certain flat, hollow emptiness to the gin, and in comparison to the other barrel-conditioned gins I've tasted there is hardly any oak character at all. It's beyond subtle, it's just missing. Then there's the cost, which is AUS$150 for a 500ml bottle. That's almost twice as much as Monkey 47 and four times as much as Roku Gin, which presents a citrus influence in a far more sophisticated manner. Finally, although their website contains a lot of talk about glacial coldness, pure water and pristine bleakness it has precious little real information. Even the name is a mix of French and German that presumably translates as "polar south", but is actually just empty of meaning. And that sort of sums it up. It lacks the depth, breadth, complexity and unique character that are required in a really good gin, and it is bad value for money. It is meaningless, just like its name. "Inferior" : 68/100 (1.75 stars)150.0 AUD per Bottle -
Longrow Red 11 Year Pinot Noir Cask Matured
Single Malt — Campbeltown, Scotland
Reviewed June 18, 2020 (edited November 15, 2020)Nose: (Neat) Beef steak marinated with red wine that has been infused with juniper berries, broiling gently over an open fire. Red currants, cranberries, strawberries and a gentle waft of licorice. Oil of wintergreen in an old rusty pail, standing on a hay bale in a decrepit barn, with dry-rot, mould and manure in the background. Nose: (Watered) Softer and with a good deal more red wine presence. The smoke is slightly dampened down but overall the nose gains unity and cohesion. With time, slight ashy notes appear. An excellent nose. Palate: (Neat) Oily and spicy on the arrival, with fruity notes giving way to some sour peat in the development and a little dark chocolate. Dark plum jam and slightly sour blackberries. The texture is oily, sweet but with occasional dry wood spice intrusions. There is a pervasive salty note, but it's not quite maritime - more like brackish groundwater. Palate: (Watered) A revelation. All of the above together with a mild smoky haze shimmering over a dry and musty maltiness. A smokiness almost reminiscent of cigar smoke. Finish: Medium/long: Spicy, briny oak, fading to a little pepper in the aftertaste. After a long while the remaining presence is of smoked berries. The nose is initially reticent but with time it presents more effusively. Longrow never demonstrates the hefty, brackish in-your-face style of smoke you get from the popular Islay smokey whiskies. It is genteel and poised but with a sense of authority. In a way it is more akin to Orkney's Highland Park then anything from Islay, but where HP is all honeyed char, Longrow is musty farmyard fruit and barbecue. The nose on this Longrow is, in fact, sublime in its balance and continues to evolve throughout the tasting. The palate is similarly complex, so much so that at times it's almost possible to forget that this is a peated whisky. Not that the peat level is too low or shy, it's just that all the other elements provide a perfect counterpoint to the smoke. Like the nose, the palate continues to evolve as you taste, particularly after adding a dash of water (which I highly recommend). It has a fascinating characteristic of lingering, and a good while after you've finished the dram you'll find yourself smacking your lips and thinking what a nice drop it was, as the faint traces of berry jam remain. There is always a compelling completeness to Longrow Red and it's one of my favourite whiskies, being a distillate that teams excellently with red wine finishes. I've collected almost all of the Longrow Red editions to date and this 11 year old Pinot Noir example is one of the most elegant and easy to approach expressions from the range - almost civilized, in fact! "Very Good" : 87/100 (4.25 stars)195.0 AUD per Bottle -
Cambus 1991 26 year (Signatory Cask Strength)
Single Grain — Lowlands , Scotland
Reviewed June 8, 2020 (edited August 10, 2020)Nose: Vanilla, custard Danish, some grassy aromas, a very slight grape or wine note, bright orange and lemon citrus hints. There's a caramel, toffee, nougat burnt-sugar sweet note in the background, but it is reticent. Palate: Warm, rounded and creamy vanilla arrival that very rapidly transforms into a spicy and hot cinnamon development with an abundance of oak tannin and black pepper. The tannins eventually take over the palate and drive the profile into mouth-puckering astringency, however this is oddly pleasant and seems appropriate to the profile. Later in the development an almost anaesthetic clove-oil and anise facet is noticed. There is a foundation fruity character but it is almost obscured by the long sherry-cask maturation. Finish: Medium. Tannic oak and cereal gives way to an eventual sweet but grippy aftertaste. Laid down in 1991 into butt #55894 and bottled in 2018, this tasting was from bottle 426 of 486. The sherry butt is noticeable on the nose, but it certainly isn't over-prominent. In fact given the definite background vanilla note throughout you could mistake this for an ex-bourbon cask maturation, were it not for the constant reminder of grape-skin tannin. As with almost all cask-strength, single-cask whiskies this is greatly enhanced by a dash of water. I added a full teaspoon to the dram after a quick neat taste and it was considerably improved. The nose retreated at first (which is typical) but soon re-asserted with a more prominent oak note. The palate was enormously softened and in this unleashed form the whisky displayed superior balance and depth - it seemed "refreshed" to a large degree. When watering give it at least 20 minutes to recompose or you'll miss all the unleashed sweet barley-sugar notes. Sweet cereal and more subtle spice notes were obvious, and the progression was more sophisticated. Normally I finish a tasting dram before posting a review but I'm enjoying this so much I'm going to sit and nose it for a while. However in the final analysis although it is a good single-grain it's not an excellent one, and I'd only recommend it to those doing intense exploration into this area of whisky. It lacks that velvety, silken richness you get with a really cracking single grain, and the profile is a little shy. Tasted from a 30ml sampler. "Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)250.0 AUD per Bottle -
Glen Moray Elgin Classic Sherry Cask Finish
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed June 7, 2020 (edited April 13, 2024)Nose: Slightly sour apple cider, stewed pears, white grape juice, malt extract, a little dry oakiness and a waft of vanilla. Palate: The entry is semi-sweet and mainly cereal in profile with grassy-herbal and biscuit tones. As it develops, a grapey sweetness unfolds with a little hint of astringency. It's tannic but more like the tannin of red grape skins than oak. The texture is OK, almost creamy but somewhat over-watered. Finish: Medium. Sweet cereal and grape flavours fading to a slightly drying winey aftertaste. This is another expression from the range of "finished" lower-tier Glen Moray whiskies. Glen Moray produces a spirit that is matured in refill bourbon casks and bottled as "Elgin Classic" at around 6-8 years of age. It is a light fruity dram with overtones of buttery cereal and it is a fine example of an entry-level Speysider at a very reasonable price. I often buy it to use as a mixer instead of a blended scotch and it stands up to neat drinking. The distillery then adds a range of finishes to "Elgin Classic" using a variety of different casks - port, wine, sherry, etc. I've tasted all of these now and mostly I've found the finishes to be an intrusion on the simplicity and freshness of the basic bourbon-cask matured whisky. It has a crisp personality with hints of mint and lemon citrus that always seem to be lost under the dull cloak of the finishing. Anyway, out of all the lower-tier finished expressions this is my favourite. It's a simple single malt that is good value for money and typically priced to place it in competition with lower-middle shelf blended scotches, and it is a fine alternative to such blends. Also, like all Glen Moray expressions, it gains body and sweetness as it oxidises in the bottle. There is an elusive note to both the nose and palate that took me ages to pin down - it's ginger, but not the usual "spicy" hot ginger you encounter in single malts. This is like very dilute ginger syrup or cordial, mild and almost fruity. By the way, don't confuse the entry-level Glen Moray range with their more up-market, finished age-statement whiskies which are of a higher standard. Similarly, don't write Glen Moray off as a lightweight - there are some much older OB expressions and independent bottlings that are very good. "Average" : 76/100 (2.5 stars)45.0 AUD per Bottle -
Bowmore 18 Year Deep & Complex
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed May 30, 2020 (edited August 31, 2021)Nose: Ancient, fusty oak cupboards, waxed for 80 years. A saline-tinged smoke note - grandma's sitting room with an open fire burning pine-logs. Candied orange peel, bramble jam and brown bread toast, dried dates and figs. Creaking stairs leading up to a medicine cabinet in an old, damp bathroom reeking of iodine swabs, oil of wintergreen liniment and sulphur powder. Palate: A soft but firm arrival rooted in the flavours of dark fruit and berries, but stained by the patina of vegetative decay and brackish smoke. More smoky notes quickly surface in the development with an iodine and menthol astringency. There is a red berry/grape sweetness but the mouth-feel is both oily and dry - almost styptic. Coal tar and a tiny salt licorice note. Finish: Medium/long: Smoky, briny, sour peat and bitter citrus leading to a dark chocolate aftertaste with endless ashen smoke and a mist of menthol. Ah, Bowmore ... the enigma of Bowmore. How I love you and despise you. The colour is deep mahogany, due to the outrageous amount of E150a that has been added. Yes, it's a TRE expression and that means fool the naive customer with colour and chill-filter the life out of the juice. Shame on you, Bowmore - you should be leading the industry, not enshrining the crime. The nose here is old, but corrupted. There is a musty foetid quality that speaks more eloquently of decay than maturity, and there is something creepy in its tension between alluring and repellent. One moment I get the deep, old oak and peat-reek heart, then the next something ghastly and sulphurous is creeping from the gloomy moonlit salt waters of Loch Indaal into the corner of my darkened room. The palate is cereal sour, brackish and slightly metallic but cloaked by very sweet sherry (it's astonishing how well these opposites cancel each other out in the palate). Sharp and bright at one moment, then dull and cold, then hot and deep. The regular Bowmore 18 has an elegant and staid complexity. It's an expression full of walnuts, old leather, pipe tobacco and orange marmalade. It is the good child, this is the evil twin locked in the cellar. I'm conflicted as to how to rate this - one part of me loves its eldritch weirdness, the other thinks it's just a ham-fisted failure, another in the long line of failures created by Bowmore over the years. It is deep, certainly, but is it really complex or just a plain mess? I can't bring myself to rate this as "Good", so it slots in at the next rung down. The regular price in Australia is $185, which is laughable. I found it for $110 which is just barely good value. Oh - a dash of water brings it successfully to its knees and greatly aids enjoyment - highly, highly recommended. It's one of the few peated and heavily sherried whiskies I can think of where water does not produce rubber or plastic notes but actually assuages the peat, thereby greatly enhancing the profile, particularly by balancing all that brine with some sweetness. "Above Average" : 81/100 (3 stars)185.0 USD per Bottle -
Nose: Sweet meadow blossom honey, malt extract, orange peel and a little touch of earthy peat smoke. While seemingly simplistic at first the nose blooms over time to reveal itself as a petite but very well balanced parcel of aromas. Mild barley sugar and a herbal note like crushed bracken fern waft in the background. Palate: A gentle arrival with sweet cereal as the main character. There's some orange notes, dark malt and a herbal presence in the development but unfortunately it has a watery and weak personality. You can sense the presence of good sherry casks through a fresh woody note and some crisp spice, but their contribution is weak and diffuse. Finish: Short. Malty, but it tails off very quickly into a nondescript and mildly tannic aftertaste with a tiny lingering memory of smoke. Instantly recognisable as Highland Park, but in a soft and cosy form. Less briskly fresh than the 10 or 12 year old expressions, and way less complex than the 18. It starts out well but in every stage of tasting it drops down a notch until bottoming-out with a very short finish. The nose is light and soft but good, however the palate does not quite live up to its obvious potential. 40% was absurdly too weak a strength for such an understated whisky profile - at 46% this would have been a considerably better dram. The finish is frustratingly short - one of the fastest finishes I've ever tasted on an HP. This is another of the seemingly endless Viking hero/ethos/culture series that have emerged from this distillery over the last few years. Sigh. I dream of the day when Edrington puts this marketing strategy behind them and lets the distillery knuckle down to just making the best possible age statement whiskies it can. The official tasting notes here are accurate but 79 is a harsh score for this pleasant dram which, with all it's shortcomings, is still better than average quality. Tasted from a 30ml sampler. "Above Average" : 81/100 (3 stars)120.0 AUD per Bottle
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Bunnahabhain Toiteach A Dhà
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed May 25, 2020 (edited July 18, 2020)Nose: A sweet and gentle peaty aroma. Pungent, but not acrid or sharp. Red berries and sweet fruits in the background from the sherry casks, along with notes of camphorwood and clove oil. There is a briny presence but unlike most peated Bunnahabhain it's not maritime. It's more savory, like the aroma of heavily salted barbecue pork. Palate: Starting sweet and fruity, it rapidly gains a grapefruit and slight plastic/rubber note. Green capsicum, cabbage water, green apple peel and gherkin brine follow as it develops, culminating in a bright, shimmering saline presence that cascades into the finish. The mouth-feel is drying, cooling but just a little too much on the watery side for my preference, with a brackish character. Finish: Medium. Cracked black pepper leading into a salty aftertaste. The nose is most enjoyable - complex, rounded and satisfying. However I thought the palate did not live up to the nose, being rather simple and thin with the only outstanding notes being some strident salt and bitter/sour fruit. Nevertheless, on the whole I liked the profile but I thought both the strength and texture could be improved. I would very much like to taste it at a slightly higher abv and with a more oily texture. As it is it seemed a little shallow. Adding a dash of water did deepen the mouth-feel but it also compromised everything else. If you do like this profile then you're probably going to enjoy it most when neat. It's an acceptable and enjoyable dram, worth trying but not one I would ever buy. There are many more interesting peated whiskies from which to choose, including several from Bunnahabhain. Tasted from a 30ml sampler. "Above Average" : 81/100 (3 stars)135.0 AUD per Bottle -
23rd Street Distillery Hybrid Whisk(e)y
Blended — Australia
Reviewed May 23, 2020 (edited July 17, 2020)Nose: Very light and spirity at first nosing. Gradually some mild citrus, apple and vanilla notes emerge but it remains distant and unimpressive. Palate: Sweet arrival mainly featuring vanilla and cereal. The development brings out some shy honey and dried fruit but little else. The texture is slightly creamy. Finish: Medium/short. Grassy cereal and a little woody citrus note in the aftertaste. 23rd Street Distillery was established in Renmark, South Australia in 2016 and they have just released their first single malt. However to generate cash-flow while it was maturing they produced a range of brandy, rum, gin and vodka. Keen to bring something whisky-like to market as soon as possible they also created this curious dram which has been around for a couple of years now, but unsurprisingly is almost unknown. It comprises scotch whisky that is "an average of 5 years old". Hmm. Whether it is malt or grain is unspecified but I'd bet my bottom dollar it's 100% grain whisky. The other component is an unidentified bourbon that is "an average of 2 years old". Hmm again. The resulting blend is married in ex-bourbon barrels for an unspecified time. There is very little real information on their website regarding this expression - it's all just marketing fluff and their lack of transparency borders on patronising. The nose takes a while to open but even when it does it remains thin and uninteresting. It's the nose of a low-grade blended scotch with way too much young grain whisky. Far in the background there are some caramel notes. The palate is light and inoffensive, but makes no real impression. Overall it is like a cheap blended scotch with the addition of a teaspoon of indifferent bourbon. The only reason I've not scored this even lower than I have is because for all it's blandness it is at least free of objectionable faults. However I would strongly NOT recommend this product, particularly at the rather steep asking price which is about three times what it is worth. Tasted from a 200ml distillery-bottled sample. "Inferior" : 67/100 (1.5 stars)80.0 AUD per Bottle -
Copper Dog Blended Malt
Blended Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed May 19, 2020 (edited June 12, 2022)Nose: Very dry apple cider, so bright it's almost like cider vinegar. Some light cereal notes and a little oak in the background. A drop of water mellows the nose considerably and deepens the overall tone. Palate: Very bright, almost effervescent arrival with the same apple cider character as the nose but here on the palate it is sweet and you can just barely taste some cereal notes. The texture is watery and there is no development at all, the initial flavours pass directly into the finish. However a drop of water broadens the palate and gives it a little more texture. Finish: Like lightning, there's a quick spicy flash and then it fades out to empty blackness with only a watery cereal aftertaste. A most curious blend - exceptionally easy and mild, almost dangerously easy to drink, but also thin and pallid. The overwhelming character is reminiscent of a dilute version of that type of hard apple cider that has a spirity vinegar-like aroma which is not unpleasant, but miles away from soft fresh apple juice. This is also very possibly the fastest profile I've ever tasted. Seriously, 30 seconds after you swallow there is hardly a hint it was ever on your palate. However on the plus side there are no off-notes at all , no metallic or sulphur stain, and no bitterness. Water greatly improves this blend and I'd guess the good folks at the Craigellachie Hotel commissioned this specifically to have a profile that works particularly well as a soft, easy drinking session whisky with ice and soda water. There's not much substance to it and I'd never buy it again, but on the other hand it's in no way offensive. The quality is just as good, but the profile is insipid. "Average" : 75/100 (2.5 stars)50.0 AUD per Bottle -
Tomintoul 12 Year Oloroso Cask Finish
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed May 17, 2020 (edited May 22, 2020)Nose: Sherry, dark malt, mixed peel, mixed dried fruit, nutmeg, walnuts, scorched almonds, a touch of vanilla and lots of caramelised sugars. This is a rich, moist, dark fruitcake laced with lots of sherry. Palate: A malty arrival that is remarkably understated. The development expands this simple character with dark sugar, mild chocolate, crème anglaise, nutmeg and other mild spices, nougat and caramel fudge. There are also some very agreeable berry and red grape notes and the texture is creamy with a juicy, mouthwatering quality. Don't add water - it is completely unnecessary. Finish: Medium/long. Pleasantly warming and gentle with a pronounced brown sugar aftertaste. This is obviously 10 year old Tomintoul with additional finishing in some rather buxom oloroso casks. The base profile is precisely the same as the 10 y.o. and the subtle sweet cereal and floral grassy notes, whilst hidden beneath an obscuring blanket of first-fill sherry, still give the expression its essential character. However it is the sherry component that is immediately dominant. The nose is larger than that of the 10 year old and the palate, which starts very slowly, expands gracefully into a surprisingly long finish. This is where the full intensity of the sherry comes forward. It's a placid and slightly unusual progression into a very warm, sweet and lush conclusion, and it would probably be at its best when paired with equally sweet and rich foods rather than taken in isolation. This would make it an excellent substitute for a digestif sauternes or sherry, perhaps with dried fruit and a well-ripened brie or camembert. If that was the intended way of serving this whisky then at the asking price it does represent good value. As an everyday dram however it might be a little cloying. Tasted from a 30ml sample. "Average" : 77/100 (2.5 stars)100.0 AUD per Bottle
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