Tastes

Hmmmm. Got this as part of a 3 small bottle sampler set of the cask collection at Heathrow airport. Light golden color and for me, nice scent of vanilla, honey, and flowers. Very fragrant. Agree with others that the linger doesn't last long - it's a nice scotch but a bit too sweet for me. Can't wait to try the other two.

I wanted to love it because of the tiny distillery angle. But alas - I really didn't enjoy the minerality in the flavor and the scent did nothing for me. I tried adding a bit of water and it didn't help. I guess this one is just not a match for me. That said - I'd love to try another older scotch from this distillery to see if time helps it out.

Add me to the 3.5 stars club. This is a nice scotch. I thought it did a good job of not over doing the sweetness and stayed balance with a sassy spicy / woody flavor. It's basically the Zoey Daschnele of scotch for me. :-) I'd definitely recommend as a low cost bottle to keep around.

So here's the thing. I like the Caribbean. I like Billy Ocean's Caribbean queen. I loved the first Pirates of the Caribbean. And the ride at Dinsey is still a must for me. So I really wanted to like this scotch. But if ya can't be honest with yourself who can ya trust? So I gotta say it did not move the needle for me. I felt like it was looking for a flavor to hang on to and what it landed on was neither scotch nor rum. I'm kinda bummed about it. I like the Doublewood 12 and I think the Doublewood 17 is even better (but not for me worth the price). But this is one scotch I'm glad I only had in a sample size bottle. But, to be fair, if I was stranded on a deserted island Keira Knightley then I'd embrace the Caribbean cask and sing Pirate songs all night long..... Now that's a Caribbean queen! Lol

This was a nice one. Now - worth the $130 plus price? Hmmmm - not sure. I'm right on the edge of saying yes. The scent says this is gonna be sweet - really intoxicating smells which I loved taking in. The taste though has some depth that goes beyond just sweet. It's got some heat to it. A drop or three of water opened up some of the flavors for me. For me this trick is what song describes this - and the perfect match to this musically for is a nice Hawaiian song - something from Israel Kamakawiwo'ole would do nicely. The soul and emotion compliments the Balvenie approach of "wood and malt" - great care has gone into this dram and it shows.

So this scotch to me is like most people you'd invite to a good party. You need bodies to make a party good and you gotta have those bodies be fun enough to keep things going. That's this scotch. One of the guests, and one that you're glad made it out. But if they hadn't - no big deal as long as a few just like it came. So it's pleasant - with a splash of water things open up a bit but it's not what is call a complex dram. It's drinkable - and pleasant - and I doubt I'll be dreaming about my next glass of it.