Tastes

My local shopkeeper invited me a while ago to a private (small circle) event with Independent Bottlers and Small Releases to show me there's a whole world beyond the beaten paths and standard releases of the well known brands. Since was by car, I kept my line-up short, and focussed on the peated drams; this is the second review of the three drams I tasted: - The Maltman (Secret Orkney Distillery) 2005 12 Year Old (Sherry Hogshead) - Hunter Laing's The Old Malt Cask Caol Ila 2009 (9 Year Old) Red Wine Finish - Hepburn's Choice Caol Ila 2009 5 Year Old (Quarter Cask) While the 12 Year Old by The Maltman immediately made a great impression, I also was very interested to try the Caol Ila bottle by Hunter Laing. This 9 Year old whisky, distilled in 2009 and left to mature in a Red Wine cask until februari 2019, again is a single cask release with only 385 bottles available. Interesting about this release is that the Red Wine Cask was charred before refilling it with this spirit - this certainly reflects to its gorgeous dark, copper orange color. I tried the Caol Ila 12 before and liked it - but I remember the disappointment of the 18 year old. How would this even younger sibbling hold up? Spoiler alert: it made my day. The nose immediately reveals a bold peatsmoke, accompanied by sweet fruits. On the palate, there's more delicious peat, accompanied by a hint of tobacco with peppers and cinnamon, and a mixture of sweet fruits - I find Strawberries, Apples, Berries, Oranges... The aftertaste lingers on for a more than moderate while, with a pleasant combination of salt, peat and smoke, and a hint of raisins. I can only conclude that I'm so glad I tried this one. It's bold and peaty - more similar to the official 12 year old than to the more tempered 18 year old - but has definitely more character and roundness than either of them. I've purchased this bottle without too much thought, and I know I'm not going to regret it. What I'm going to regret though, considering there are only about 356 bottles left, is the slim chance I'll be able to ever replace it when (once) the bottle gets killed. I'm rating this release 4.75 stars, but I was very tempted to give it the maximum of 5 stars. If you like a bold but balanced peated whisky, combined with some wine finishing, don't hesitate to buy this one if you get the chance!

Up until now I've been a bit hesitant to explore releases of Independent Bottlers. The standard brands seem to give more an assurance of quality and availability. My local shopkeeper agreed on the part of availability, but found the guarantee of quality, at least in some cases, well, ... debatable. He invited me to a private (small circle) 'Independent Bottler' event, were we could try and tast several bottlings, mostly limited releases and small batches. I couldn't try them all, so I stayed with the peated whiskies, and since I was by car, I limited my line up to two drams (but got a third taste for free): - The Maltman (Secret Orkney Distillery) 2005 12 Year Old (Sherry Hogshead) - Hunter Laing's The Old Malt Cask Caol Ila 2009 (9 Year Old) Red Wine Finish - Hepburn's Choice Caol Ila 2009 5 Year Old (Quarter Cask) The first dram was bottled by The Maltman, with a distillate of an undisclosed 'secret' Orkney Distillery - obviously Highland Park. I've tried a few Highland Park's before (12 and 18 years old) and found them to be pretty good, but it's said that they don't compare to the brand's superb releases of a decade ago. The more recent marketing bottlings seem to pay more attention to packaging than it's content. Luckily - according to the expert that was hosting the event - there are still some very good bottlings available from time to time by Independent Bottlers. This 12 Year Old liquid was matured in a Sherry Hogshead barrel and being a single cask release, only 391 bottles are available. Non chill-filtered or colored, it's color is nothing short of impressive: dark gold-orange (On a more official scale I would judge it to be 'chestnut oloroso sherry 1.2') The Sherry influence was clearly noticeable. On the nose, there's not so much peat, but the sherry-notes are accompanied by sea influences and fruits. The first sip immediately finally reveals some moderate smoke and peat in addition to the initial sherry and nuts, while after a few moments some raisins and dried fruit reveal themselves, toghether with a hint of sweet coffee and dark (salted?) chocolate. The aftertaste lingers on for a decent amount of time, and is mostly fruity in the start, and goes slowly to coffee-chocolate. This is a dram that simply delivers from bottle to stomach. It's full and balanced, and while rather complex very easy to take in. Full 4 stars for me!

My local shopkeeper dared me to leave the usual 'beaten track' of Islay Whiskies when looking for a good peated drams and suggested this 'Kornog' from the 'Glann ar Mor Distillery' in the French Brittany. While I've tried (and purchased) a fair deal of non-Islay peated drams before (Ledaig, Talisker, ... ), I was a bit hesitant to shell out for a French whisky - peated or not. He appreciated my hesitation and let me taste a wee dram of this one. He asked me to forget that it was French, and then try to and judge it solely on its taste. He was right: On the nose, I found a mild but pleasant peat-smoke, blended with some fruits, while on the palate the peat and fruit-tones gets accompanied by some cinnamon and other spices plus, surprisingly, a hint of onions. It's also way sweeter that the nose would suggest, but not overly sweet. The aftertaste lasts a while, is pleasing and adds some figs to the sweat smoke. I was so positively surprised, that I purchased a bottle, and I'm not going to regret it! This Kornog is matured on ex-'Côteaux Du Layon' barrels - a sweet French white wine. It certainly adds to the full, round and balanced character of this whisky. Only 659 bottles were released/available, so for it's price a real treasure!

This was a recommendation of my local whisky dealer. While being a blend (due the presence of grainwhiskies?) the origin of all of it's base spirits appears to be the Speyside distillery, containing young spirits between 3-5 years old, though the grainwhiskies used are said to be older. The name of this 'Black Burn' blend is said to be inspired by 'William Blackburn', a former blacksmith, who used his expertise to burn a selection of the barrels he used to help 'flavour' his wiskies. The shop-owner let me taste a dram, and considering the price, found it to be pretty good: The smell is somewhat sweet, with honey and flowers. The sweet notes return on the palate, with a small accent of wood, vanille and some dried fruits. The aftertaste is rather short, but pleasant. While definitely not a peated whisky, I still imagine to detect a small amount of smoke. Apparently, this is a good dram to pair with dark chocolate. Sidenote: I also like the shape of the bottle. Once empty, I plan to keep it around as alternative karaf for my homemade perpetuumblend...

When in Lucca, we never skip a visit to 'Da Gerardo', our favourite Ristorante at the amphitheatre in Lucca. The owner knows by now that I take my whisky straight, and serves it automatically with water and ice at the side. He also is pretty generous with his pour :). Having tried all other whisky's on his menu, he offered me to sample this Cragganmore 12. I ordered the full dram, after the first sip. On the nose, this one reveals some flowers, and a bit of honey, but on the palate, some vanilla and a hint of smoke joins in. Very nice. The aftertaste is pleasing, and lingers on the right amount of time. This won't be my everyday whisky - as I usually prefer peaty drams - but at the right place, the right time, I'll certainly enjoy this one again!

First sample of a 7 part Kilchoman (custom) sample set my wife got me for my birthday. It was hard to choose which one(s) to start with, as I was very curious for all of them, I decided to go for the Travel Retail releases first. The Saligo Bay has pretty obvious smoke on the nose, but is more gently on the palate. Some fresh, citrusy notes appear shortly after the first sip, with some toffee, then some mild spices. Not a bad dram at all. (I noticed I didn't post this review yet as it wasn't available in Distiller at the time, so here goes :) )

This Ledaig was on my Wishlist since I purchased and tasted the Limited Release of the 18 year old Spanish Sherry Wood Finish last year. As I already said back then, I try to steer clear for whisky's in the 100+ euro's range as there so much to explore in the lower price ranges, but in the end I was just too curious for this one and it had put it on the top spot of my list nevertheless. My wife noticed I kept it on the wishlist but also that I always seemed hesitated to purchase it so she figured she'd better buy it herself: it would be an excellent surprise gift for my 46th birthday - And oh boy, was she right! I was surprised allright, and so keen to finally being able to sample it! Maybe I should put a spoiler-alert here, but despite high expectations, I found this Ledaig 19 Oloroso Cask Finish to be a fabulous dram. On the nose it seemed a bit thin and faint at first, but after a few minutes of breathing, some clear hints of leather and dark fruits started to appear. Then I was met by a lovely, complex dram with lots of peat smoke, clear hints of orange zest, salty caramel, and definitely some bittersweet dark chocolate. Perhaps there's even some cookie dough? All perfectly balanced. As with the Spanish Sherry finished 18 year old, the Oloroso Sherry finish is clear and obvious, but not overly so. After swallowing, the taste lingers on for a long while. For me, this is absolutely a great dram! It's a coincidence, but as it happens, this whisky was distilled around the very same period that I met my lovely wife: the late summer of 1998. It marked the start of a completely new and exciting part of our life. We married just a year later, our first kid was born the next. We moved houses, had our second kid. We definitely made a lot of happy memories since then. It may sound silly, but the fact this excellent dram was distilled and put to mature the very same year I met my wife, sort of gives this dram an extra dimension. It doesn't tast better by it, but makes it a bottle that I'll cherish for a long time, and I'll take my time savouring it!

While I regularly enjoy the ‘regular’ Monkey Shoulder, I never had the opportunity to try and taste the smokier version of it. Being only released to bars and hotels (to be served basically in cocktails and mixers, but also on it’s own), it’s not very widespread available. Unofficially it’s a triple malt blend of The Balvenie, Glendfiddich and Aisla Bay, but that isn’t confirmed. I’ve been able to purchase a bottle now, and was pretty eager to sample it. On the nose I got some medicinal peaty notes, that come back on the palate, but it then quickly reveals some sweetness. Stone fruits, but also liquorice. Some breathing may remedy the initial medicinal taste, though. Then, on the aftertaste, I really enjoyed the soft, sweet, smokeyness. Knowing the original Monkey Shoulder, expectations were actually rather high for this one, but it didn’t disappoint. I rate it 3.25!

When we stay in Italy we often visit Bolgheri, and old medieval town in Tuscany. It’s mainly known for its 5 kilometres long driveway with cypresses and the numerous wineries surrounding the town. When I learned this Benromach had been finished in Bolgherian Sassicaia wine barrels, I got very curious. We have driven by the Sassicaia grapevines many times, and the Sassicaia wine comes highly recommended, so how would a Sassicia-wood finished whisky taste like? Funnily enough, I couldn’t find it in the local wineries and shops in Bolgheri last year. To my surprise, earlier this week I finally spotted a bottle in the shop window of a wine shop when visiting San Gimignano - totally by accident, as I wasn’t actually looking for it. On the shelf inside the shop there was a 2009 bottling available, but upon request the shop owner offered me to sell the 2007 bottling from the shopwindow instead (limited edition - 3500 bottles) for the same price. The shop owner also commended me for my choice, as he found it to be a real good whisky. Initially I also wanted to buy a bottle of the actual Sassicaia wine too, just for the sake of it, but not being an avid wine drinker, I found it a bit to expensive for that. The very same evening, I couldn’t control myself any longer, so I cracked the bottle, poured a dram and took some time to savour it near the fireplace. Time well spend, as it turned out: On the nose, this Benromach is a typical Speyside dram - sweet, with touches of honey, cinnamon and apple. On the palate, similar notes appear, while accompanied with a whiff of smoke, and a just a fruity hint of the Sassicaia wine-barrels. The aftertaste is sweet, a tad fruity, and lingers just about the right time. Great dram! Bottom line: I usually prefer heavily peated whiskies over non peated ones anytime, but this this Benromach Saccicaia Wood Finish has become my instant favourite non-peaty dram overnight. I’m really going to enjoy this one whenever we’re in Tuscany.

When travelling to Italy, I promised my sister in law that I would bring the whisky, only to realise upon arrival that I had completely forgotten them. Since she usually doesn’t like peaty whisky, I decided to sneakily purchase a non smokey dram from my ‘to try’ list, that wasn’t all too expensive. The Cardhu fitted the bill well. The Cardhu Gold Reserve isn’t bad. It’s a bit sharp on the nose though and it really needs a while to loose its punch. After some breath it reveals some apple, toffee and a hint of honey, but still tastes a bit sharp. I read a lot of very positive reviews, and saw some relative high rates, but for me it scores a solid two and a half, perhaps three, stars. Not bad at all, but not an instant favourite.