Tastes

Nose: Sweet dark fruits & Molasses Taste: Plums, raisins and molasses. Like a ginger snap cookie a but without the ginger spiciness. Finish: Dark fruits and tobacco

Picked this guy up for a tasting I hosted recently. Just getting around to reviewing it now. Served neat in a GlenCairn. Nose: Lots of ethanol, vanilla sweetness, caramel and cinnamon. Taste: Vanilla, spiced mulled pears. Typical Glenmorangie creme brûlée & tiramisu. Slight spice: cardamom or allspice. On the first pour of this, there was a good amount of “yeastiness” for lack of a better word. Like the last batch of Czech pilsner home brew that didn’t turn out as I planned. On later tastes, I didn’t get the yeastiness as much but it’s still slightly there. Finish: Vanilla and spice linger for a little while & then fade into yesterday’s cigar. Overall, this grew on me the more I have sipped it. There are levels of complexity here, which is nice considering the NAS. That said, I wish the nose was better & there’s an element of youth here, too, that feels underdeveloped.

This may be my least favorite bottle of scotch I’ve purchased. Still beats most bourbons, but I’d rather go for Glen Livet 12 or GlenMorangie 10 at the price point. Looking for my daily sipper. Nose: Vanilla, orange zest, clove, astringent. Taste: Green apples. Vanilla, very thin and dry hay. Tiny bit of chocolate and spice which is nice but I can’t get past the hay. Aftertaste: Hay. Pine sap. Sulphuric. What am i supposed to do with the rest of this bottle? I’ve tried it neat, with a splash of water & over ice to no avail. If you live in MN & happen to like this, I have a present for you.

Yes, yes. I sprung for the marketing hype. I’m prepared to come away with a big “meh” just because of the name on the bottle. Let’s see… Nose: My wife could smell the peat from across the room. Peat (obvi), campfire (must be the charred oak), sweet grilled peaches, and caramel. Palate: The peat and campfire are both there but it’s not overwhelming. The more you sip, the more that fades from view & the sweetness emerges. It’s just as the nose was: Grilled peaches. The typical Lagavulin oiliness is there and it coats the mouth nicely. Finish: All smoke. Campfire smoke, slight tobacco and pepper. This is perfection around the campfire. The perfect complement. It’s the Joey Tribbiani to Chandler Bing, the John Lennon to Paul McCartney. You can’t find a better pair. Overall: I’m not Mr. Peat. It’s probably 15% of the time that I’m reaching for a peated whisky. That said, this dram is solid. I’m splitting the bottle with a buddy & not regretting the purchase one bit.

Nose: Red Berries, the faintest bit of a smoke (not peat), raisins, and spice. Palate: Dark cherry, chocolate. Ah, there’s what I was smelling: cinnamon apple. Reminiscent of big red gum. Toffee, dark honey, cardamom, allspice/pimento berries, orange zest. Finish: Primarily spice that lingers with a beautiful leather & dark chocolate after taste. Overall: This thing drinks like it’s 51-52 percent, not 57. It’s a joy & so well-balanced and yet incredibly nuanced. It’s a hell of a dram for the price point ($94). The new Batch 7 is on the shelves already, but a few liquor stores near me still have Batch 6. While I’m tempted to try the 7, this was so lovely that I’m going to risk it and pick up another few bottles of the 6 before it’s gone for good.

Nose: Burnt Caramel or Browned Sugar. Pecans and slight red fruitiness. Palate: This guy is hot. A young, PX/Oloroso sherried whiskey that tastes of raisins, pepper and plum. A little oily. Finish: Medium finish. Nothing terribly complex or different than the initial palate. The sweetness lingers. Overall, I like the whisky but am somewhat disappointed. I was expecting more complexity & it doesn’t open up with water either. One of six whiskies from my Scotland trip. I suppose this means I have to go again?