Reviews

The surprise ending to a phenomenal ramen session with some of my favorite people. Thank you Eli! The nose is a well of aromas, with cherrywood and leather polish impressing at once. It smells syrupy, too, and I wonder if it will be a sweeter, thicker whisky. The palate is initially very plummy, and while the mouthfeel is syrupy, it’s not saccharine at all. I taste sandalwood and a pungent oak note — like I’m deep in an ancient wood. It’s incredibly interesting, unique, and indulgent. The rich and syrupy feel gives way to finer notes of green tea and rose petal. On the finish, umeshu and menthol cigarettes. A generous dram shared by a generous friend.

Impressions only, since this drink was the accompanist to a rich, deep conversation with a dear friend. Golden raisin, baking spices, salted maduros, pipe tobacco, with lively heat and heart. One to revisit.

A summertime whisky. Aromas of cantaloupe, peach, lemon cream, and hay. The palate brings dried fig and muesli, while it finishes hot and malty. Simple, shareable, and easygoing.

Classically Laphroaig, if understated in its expression. The scent of a nurse’s cabinet; iodine, bandaids. The taste of honeyed barley and smoked meats. A saline and beach fire finish. Cheers to great company to sip it with.

This is my first bottle of Highland Park 12, though not my first taste. The nose is inviting, interesting, and enticing, with a bright minerality that lifts from the surface. Light notes of peat and leather are apparent, but I mostly sense golden treacle, honeycomb, and barley sugar. The taste is incredibly malt forward, with rich and earthy molasses carrying the palate. Beneath the barley sweetness, I also taste grilled orange, prunes, and cranberry. The finish is tart and malty, carrying the same hint of peat the nose alludes to. This malt is both easygoing and very interesting, a testament to Highland Park’s formidable contribution to scotch.

Picked this up for a steal from a closing store and I’ve been savoring every last drop. This is Dalwhinnie through and through — a winter warmer — and yet its character is tannic, tart, and tropical. I get the anticipated notes on the nose: dried heather, lemon peel, and a beeswax candle that’s just been snuffed out. But I also smell dried mango and big notes of tamarind, which is so unexpected and special. On the palate, the body is carried by notes of black tea and summer harvest honey. The top notes add more tropical flavors, like banana tarte tatin and dried coconut. I also get a medicinal tulsi note, which bespeaks the bourbon influence. The mouthfeel is tannic, expansive, and somewhat bitter, tinged with the brightness of the fruity notes. The finish is a flare of salted mango and dark honey, with a deep and sweet barley note. It’s warming, mouthwatering, and piquant all at once. This single malt manages to be in two places at once, one foot in a daring dream and one foot in the waking world, and it manages it so well I can’t be sure which is which.

Tullibardine is sweet and drinkable, good for sharing at a lively gathering. The nose suggests green apple, melted butter, and pekoe black tea. I taste plantain chips, shortbread, and gardenia flowers. It’s a bit green, with a waxy mouthfeel. The finish is cakey and malty, while the aftertaste leaves refined sugar. It lacks depth and complexity and feels overly processed; while not much to talk about, it would still be a nice companion for meeting a new person at a party.

Received a bottle of this in celebration of the birth of my baby. Shy at first, let it open up. As it does, salted caramel predominates. With time, I smell peach candy, star anise, honeyed barley, and cinnamon yeast donut. The palate reveals more caramel, whispers of lemon cheesecake and dried strawberries, and an over wrought grape soda note. Generally, the palate is gentle, sweetly malty. Up to this point the dram is fine, nice even. But now, the finish feels unrefined. The alcohol feels untethered from the notes of the nose and palate. Yet more caramel, warming pipe tobacco, canned pineapple, and menthol show up in the finish, though they do not coalesce pleasantly. Though the price would not suggest as much, this single malt is just okay; it can be enjoyed casually, but don’t think about it too much.

I’ve always appreciated Arran – but this one is my favorite expression yet. The nose is a total bouquet: floral, polished wood, and the scent that fills the room when you open up a new package of Albanese gummy bears. The palate’s notes are tantalizing. I taste raisins, dried pineapple, malty donut, salted melon, mangosteen, and drying heather. It boasts all this while being well integrated. It is luxuriant but not avant garde, cool but not eccentric. The finish blossoms, spreading like a sun-kiss, with a surprising hint of sea spray. This whisky is emblematic of why I can’t (and don’t want to) get away from single malt scotch. It amazes me how one single malt can be so different and uniquely its own compared to one that is produced just a quick ferry ride away in Campbeltown, for instance. Scotch has so much to offer; the land and the craft have so much to offer.

Nicole, apparently my newest whisky pal, surprised me with a generous pour of this for my birthday. (Charles may have publicly suggested it, but she could have said no.) Short of a trip to Scotland, I’d likely not have been able to try this. I smell antique leather and sweet earthiness immediately. Charles astutely notices dewy water. On the palate, I sense green olives; Nicole notices that it’s briny. The antique leather note is consistent, while the earthiness morphs into a gentler peat flavor. I taste salted cashews as well. There’s a subtly sweet, red fruit note at play as well, something like overripe raspberry. But that sweetness is understated, quietly undergirding the earthy and briny flavors that keep expanding. Smoke and salinity unfurl on the skull shining finish. Steve is captivated by this as well, remarking on the opening effect of what I attribute to the abundant proofing of this whisky. This was a wonderful gift to experience with some of the best people around!