Reviews

Hard reject for me. The dominant note was intense nail polish remover / acetone, so strong it felt almost toxic. Neat, with water, and with ice, the solvent character stayed dominant and repulsive. Any rye spice or sweetness was completely buried. For my palate, this was chemical, harsh, and undrinkable.

Glenglassaugh Sandend is a modern, vibrant, coastal Highland whisky with beautiful alcohol integration and a remarkably mouthwatering profile. The nose opens with clean vanilla, white sugar, fresh fruit, and a refined cask character, more white grape and quality white wine than obvious pineapple. On the palate, it feels alive and fresh, with cotton candy, fine oak, gentle white pepper or ginger, and a delicate saline note that appears later with perfect restraint. With ice, it becomes softer, more elegant, and even more enjoyable. There is a faint youthful astringency, but it is minor compared with the whisky’s freshness, balance, and exquisite cask-driven character. A work of art.

Surprisingly pleasant and very easy to enjoy. The nose is soft and inviting, with almond, brown sugar, light caramel, and gentle oak. The alcohol is very well integrated, which makes it feel smoother and more balanced than expected. On the palate, it reminds me a bit of Four Roses Small Batch: simple, straightforward, but satisfying. With ice, it works even better, bringing out more brown sugar and soft wood while keeping the alcohol under control. The finish is short and not especially complex, but the flavors are pleasant and clean.

The nose is surprisingly attractive, with strong bread yeast, pleasant mint, vanilla, and warm spice. Unfortunately, the palate completely falls apart for me. It turns harsh, gasoline-like, extremely astringent, bitter, and almost unbearable. The finish only reinforces that unpleasant solvent-like bitterness, reminding me negatively of Jack Daniel’s and Crown Royal. Excellent aroma, but the drinking experience is a major mismatch for my palate.

Old Parr 18 is a smooth and mature blended Scotch with a more rounded and settled profile, offering an easy and polished drinking experience. It has a pleasant sense of refinement and enough richness to feel clearly more aged, but for my palate it does not surpass Old Parr 12. The reason is simple: the 12 feels fresher, fruitier, and more lively, while the 18 comes across as calmer and less exciting. This is still a good whisky, enjoyable and well made, but it loses some of the charm and energy that make Old Parr 12 more appealing to me. A respectable and mature blend, though not the expression I would choose between the two.

Chequers comes across as a bottom-tier whisky with very little to offer beyond alcohol and basic burn. It feels thin, rough, and hollow, with almost no real character, no satisfying development, and no sense of structure from nose to finish. Whatever notes are present are too weak or too generic to make the experience interesting, leaving behind the impression of a cheap filler bottle made without any ambition.

Something Special feels like filler from the first sip to the last. It comes across as a cheap, empty blend with no real personality, no structure, and no reason to revisit it on its own. The profile is flat, generic, and functionally built just to occupy space rather than deliver aroma, depth, or any meaningful drinking experience.

Johnnie Walker Red Label is a deeply unpleasant whisky that feels flat, bitter, and cheap from start to finish. Rather than showing structure or character, it delivers a rough, lifeless profile with an artificial slippery texture that makes the whole experience worse. There is no real balance, no rewarding development, and no sense of depth.

J&B Rare comes across as a blended Scotch made primarily for cocktails rather than for neat drinking. The profile feels thin, flat, and oddly purposeless on its own, with light grain, a faint sugary note, and very little else to hold onto. There is no real depth, no meaningful development, and no satisfying structure from nose to finish. Everything feels brief, diluted, and disconnected, leaving the impression of a whisky that functions more as a mixer base than as a tasting experience.

Turned out to be more enjoyable for my palate than Buchanan’s 18. What stands out most is its honeyed character and the way it feels genuinely tasty on the palate, with a pleasant sweetness and an easy, satisfying profile that makes it very approachable. It delivers more immediate pleasure than I expected, and in that sense it feels more rewarding than the 18 for me. The main weakness is the finish, which falls short of the promise shown in the mouth and comes across as somewhat mediocre.