Tastes

Jim Beam Rye makes a pleasant Old Fashioned, and is OK for sipping if you enjoy a hunky, spicy rye. The nose is warm if undistinguished. First taste recalls cinnamon toast, though not as sweet as that. There’s not much complexity or length here, just classic rye flavours.

No one else has commented on this absurdly cheap Aldi whiskey, so I suppose it’s down to me. I tasted it straight after a couple of Taliskers, so the competition is stiff. Still, Aldi products have repeatedly won blind taste tests so it’s important to be open minded. The colour is pale straw, like an Ardbeg, but the aroma is like iodine daubed on burnt bicycle tires. Not so good. The first taste yields smoke and, er, that’s about it. No fruit, that I can detect, and not much Islay chewy meatiness. They say this stuff is actually Caol Ila or Lagavulin, but if so they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel with this expression. I would love to be shown that a 20 quid whiskey can be a giant killer, but this ain’t it.

I’m tasting this back to back with the popular 10yo trying to understand the big difference in the rating, and I can’t work it out. The nose is far less antiseptic, and the flavour better balanced-for my palate-between sweet and peaty notes. Not that it goes easy on the iodine and bacon, mind, but the delightful caramel up front leads you into that dark tarn in far friendlier way. Perhaps it lacks some of the breezy saltiness of the 10yo, but makes up for it with a pleasing ethanol punch. Overall, a more approachable and satisfying malt, I’d say.

The pretty peachy gold colour is as enticing as the Germolene antiseptic aroma is alarming. It really does smell like something you should smear on a child’s grazed knee. With the first taste, though, the maritime flavours come roaring like a stove-in three-master in a gale. Kippers? Check. Pear drops? Check. A mouthful of mossy peat dotted with bog berries? Er, check. Doesn’t sound inviting, does it? But wafting through it all is this damp, salty sea breeze that is so encompassing and evocative you just have to love it. Now to try the comparison with the 57 North...

The reviews were so hyperbolic I just had to take the plunge and spend nearly C$300... Well, it is very pleasant: rich, smooth and fruity, with lovely date and dark cherry notes. The finish is long and warming, with a generous tongue-coating walnut bitterness to it. What’s the catch? I must be spoiled by hefty cask strength bourbons and single pot still Irish whiskies like Redbreast because this just seems muted by the regulation 40% alcohol. At this extravagant price point (where I could get Redbreast 21 or CC40) it’s just not up to scratch.

If you like Ardbeg Islay malt, you’ll like this unusual Canadian malt from Vancouver. The peated malted barley has come from Scotland (though not from Islay) for reasonable authenticity, but the lack of age statement hints that expectations should be kept low. Like Ardbeg, it pours a very light lemon colour with a strong waft of smoke from the off. The body is light with minimal legginess. The first taste brings a strong limey citrus flavour, quickly elbowed aside by a mouth-coating peatiness. What’s missing, compared with a decent peated malt, is a balancing sweetness, any hint of fruit, and complexity on the finish. I’m happy to have this in my collection-it’s not too pricey and a fun novelty-but I can’t recommend it.

I can’t smell anything but alcohol at first approach to this massive, chunky bourbon. Then rich vanilla and brown sugar aromas sneak out as I drop water in to assuage the 67-odd % proof. It’s a deep bronze, leggy, inviting dram in the glass. Sipping is like being punched repeatedly in the mouth by a booze-soaked cinnamon bun. Each time it delivers spicy, rich sweetness with a fiery kick, even when well watered. This is benchmark bourbon, no holds barred.

Well, no one else took the hint (instruction really) about reviewing the newer NAS Nectar D’Or under this heading, so I’m going to make a start. And my considered opinion is: yum. It’s pale gold, like the dessert wine that lent its barrels for the finish, with a definite fruity sweetness on the nose and the palate. The apricot jamminess falls just on the right side of cloying, with a pleasant vanilla and almond-nutty finish. I don’t have the previous release with an age on the bottle, but I will say there’s nothing harsh or young about this (though equally there’s nothing super complex either). This is an excellent whiskey for folks that don’t like whiskey, and a good one for those that do.

I found it hard to imagine something more delicious than Redbreast-out of any of the world’s whiskies-but Yellow Spot is it. Long before the crackly single pot grain flavour registers, it’s fruit, fruit and fruit: raspberries , cherries, maybe even some astringent cranberries lurking in there. It knocks fruity Scotches like Glenfiddich 18 into a cocked hat. The fruit reels out in waves and waves of lusciousness, with warm nutty tones and Terry’s dark chocolate orange as it unfolds. It’s simply a delight from start to finish. Benchmark Irish.

This is the bottom-rated whiskey in my collection. It seems right, yet somehow unfair. It’s not just a regular Scotch, all pungent malt, whiffs of fruit for the fortunate. The red rye finish actually adds something really tasty, like buttered honey on toasted rye. Don’t blow a wad of cash on this, but don’t underestimate either.