Tastes

Number 8 in the countdown to 300 and we are heading into the territory of some older offerings. Leading the charge is the relatively newly released Bruichladdich 18 re/define. Matured on Islay, the whisky was aged predominantly in bourbon casks, alongside a smaller number of Sauternes and Port casks, vatted and married for nine months before bottling at a robust 50% ABV, without added colour or chill filtration. I’m excited for this dram, I think Bruichladdich is probably in my top four favourite distilleries, and this offering seems to have been lightly touched by two of my favourite cask profiles. I’m ready. N: A little bit aggressive straight out the bottle. Give me five minutes and I’ll come back to this… O.K. where were we? Thats better, all the harsh ABV is gone. This is wonderfully light and fragrant. Lightly honied malt, fresh hay, peach, vanilla, coconut (like Malibu Rum), a slight minerality joins some subtle pencil shavings. The longer I spend with this the more convinced I am of creme brûlée and the firm crunch of brown sugar. P: Decadently velvety, creamy and slightly waxy at the same time. Subtle peach underlies honied malt, and a tropical feeling that is bright, juicy and vibrant. Oak influence turns slightly buttery with a warm and sumptuous porridgy characteristic. ‘Green’ winey flavours of honeysuckle, gooseberry, and melon add to a lovely crispness. The influence of the port casks is just noticeable as an enveloping leatheriness that suggests opulence under the oh so right and light summer profile. F: Deceptively long. It seems short perhaps, green winey notes dissipate, brighter tropical notes flourish and fade. But then a surprise left turn with stoney minerality, a flash of cracked pepper and a little jasmine(?) tea. At 50% perhaps there is more to discover. I have taken a chance and added a single drop of water to the half dram that remains… it married quickly. The nose unravels to tropical fruits, guava and lychee perhaps, the palate lifts a solid toasty pastry flair, and the finish builds on stoney pebbles in the hot sun. I needn’t say anymore really? Bruichladdich are masters at their craft. If i could find this locally $330 would be worth every penny. What a fantastic treat this evening. My only real criticism is the slight intrusiveness of the alcohol; is it possible to have a young 18 year old; that’s perhaps what this feels like. Distiller whisky taste #293 [Pictured here with a piece of Preseli Bluestone from the Preseli Hills of Pembrokeshire in West Wales. Bluestone is a catch all term used to describe all of the ‘foreign’ and ‘exotic’ rocks at the prehistoric monument Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. Although there are around twenty seperate rock types represented at Stonehenge, one of the most common is the ‘Preseli Spotted Dolerite’ or Preseli Bluestone. Dolerites are igneous rocks, essentially identical to basalt but with slightly larger crystals. The Preseli Spotted Dolerite is characterised by clusters of secondary minerals that have replaced the original plagioclase feldspar. The slightly greyish-green-blue colour of the rock is a result of low grade metamorphism in that partly altered the original mineralogy to chlorite and epidote.] Bruichladdich running scores Classic Laddie: 4/5 Bruichladdich 18 re/define: 4.75/5 Black Art 10.1 29 y/o: 5/5 Port Charlotte 10: 4.5/5 Port Charlotte CC:01: 5/5

Number 9 in the countdown to 300. Another from the Lakes tonight, this time Reserve No. 6. The Lakes Whiskymakers Reserves are intended to be building towards a signature style for the distillery. Either that or excellent marketing for yearly releases. Indeed, I think it was the win at world whisky awards best whisky with reserve No. 4 that really put The Lakes on the map. I thoroughly enjoyed No. 5, and recall it from Dec 2022 quite fondly. Quick side bar: @Stephanie_Moreno / Distiller it would be excellent if you could allow suggested edits to bottles information. This bottle is not 69 y/o and the cask type is well known. Wank check for No. 6 from Aloysius in marketing: “turning the spotlight on exotic spices and gentle rose fragrance, The Whiskymaker's Reserve No. 6 brings rich new flavours to the fore, creating a distinctly different mood from its predecessors. Matured in the finest, meticulously sourced Oloroso, PX and red wine casks, this complex and aromatic release transports you to the bustle of moorish bazaars” N: Thick, reasonably heavy and oozing red fruits; cranberry, plums, plump berries. Darker, sugary notes of dates, caramel, malty steamed pudding and tannic spices lead to a leathery presence. Floral notes a little buried in this richness but a little rose and maybe just maybe something herbal or menthol. P: Thick, rich and oily. About as full bodied as any whisky I’ve tried. Red fruit is going to reach up and drag you down into the glass, sultanas and raisins are brimming over, lashed with honey, a toffee-butteriness, warm toast. Spices come through as clove, ginger, and leathery polished oak. F: Long. Slightly bitter dark chocolate starts to come through the dark red fruit, but the tannic slightly astringent oak spice lingers for longer. A slight drop of water and the florals come through beautifully on the palate and nose, lightly sweet this could be the memory of a summer garden or the look of a Monet. There is a delicacy to the florals that a whisper could shatter the illusion, quiet contemplation would appear to be key here. The softening and calming of the thick heavy weight profile is transformative. Additive to the palate now is a very subtle earthiness; think clay bowls filled with colourful spices. Shit - the marketing blurb is probably bang on. It’s still wanky though, as is this review now. I’m just going to go and bury my nose in this glass and shut up now. Distiller whisky taste #292 [Pictured here with some lovely green uvarovite from the ~440 million year old Saranvskiy Massif in Russia. Uvarovite is a chromium bearing calcium garnet and is the only consistently green garnet due to the presence of chromium. ⁣Uvarovite is rare in metamorphic rocks (which this rock is) forming through hot fluid interactions with chromium rich spinel minerals. In the Saranvskiy Massif gabbros and peridotite rich in chromium were hydrothermally altered along fractures to form sheets of these lovely green Russians] The Lakes Running Scores: The One Orange: 2.75/5 The One Moscatel: 3.75/5 The One Port: 2.75/5 Mosaic: 4/5 Bal Masque: 3.75/5 Iris: 4.25/5 Reserve No. 5: 4.5/5 Reserve No. 6: 4.5/5

Ohhhh I’m excited. Closing in on 300 Distiller Reviews. I’ve tried to have something pretty good every 50 tastes, and as was the case for 100 and 200, I ended up with a very special Bruichladdich liquid in my glass. So, with 300 approaching I tried to line up what I hope is an enviable line up of ten drams to carry me to 300… I was essentially next door to the Lakes Distillery in July of 2023. Alas, I failed to get through the distillery for want of more mountains and rocks. I am though quite excited to pick up where I left off in December 2022 with my last tastings from The Lakes. As has been customary with my Lakes tastings, we start with some epic walk written by the Liberal Arts Major: “Inspired by the magnificent Himalayan town of Gulmarg – meaning “meadow of flowers” – this bold and uplifting expression showcases our whiskymaker’s sense of adventure as we explore intensely tropical, modern flavour profiles.” Thats pretty good marketing wank. Now bring on the sauce! N: Bright, crisp and with a lot to unwrap in a sultry and enticing kind of way. Initial creaminess from a white chocolate turns to juicy pears, vanilla, and a fragrant herbal or turkish delight presence. Some very subtle malty-sugary and honey notes are hiding in the back. P: A zingy and vibrant approach with some astringency from the high ABV. Crisp as a deep frost, this is a tart green apple at first. Ginger cake, slightly bitter dark chocolate, dark caramel and the sweetness of Black Forrest gateaux. F: Long. Ginger tang lingers on with some mocha and dark fruit. The 56% isn’t present on the nose, but I felt it added to some of the powerful ginger prickle, not that this was ‘alchohol-y’ but it deserved a dash of water to see what happens. The nose is largely unchanged but perhaps a gooseberry or sauvignon blanc grassiness starts to make its way through. The palate definitely tones down and a light wood spice arcs up along with a nutty oiliness and a more apparent floral presence. The finish with water leads slightly more buttery and malty. I reread my reviews for the other Lakes I have tried, they share a common theme, incredible noses and just good palates. This is no exception on the nose, I would of loved longer to sit and inhale this incredibly light yet deep and accessible but complex nose. Beautiful. The gingery prickle is a little overbearing, but there are some curious interplays of juicy fruits, sharp acidic fruits, and deep dark brooding rich and bitter flavours to contend with. This is lovely stuff and am eager to try more of the Lakes whisky makers series; a cracking start on the road to 300. Distiller whisky taste #291 [Pictured here with a piece of K2 Granite from the Karakoram Mountains between Pakistan and China… I don’t have any Himalayan rocks, so this is as close a match to the whisky as I could manage. Anyway, this fancy rock is a white coloured granite with flaky black biotite and little blue blobs of secondary azurite] The Lakes Running Scores: The One Orange: 2.75/5 The One Moscatel: 3.75/5 The One Port: 2.75/5 Mosaic: 4/5 Bal Masque: 3.75/5 Iris: 4.25/5 Reserve No. 5: 4.5/5

N: Sticky, sweet verging on a cloying aroma. The corn is evident and almost candy corn in its sweet nature and very reminiscent of Nikka Coffey Grain, but it is just saved and tempered by barely which adds a hint of dry cereal and then perhaps a whiff of wheat as aniseed or menthol? P: Surprisingly full bodied and a nice mix of oily to creamy texture, but a little prickle of youth on the arrival. Vanilla, toffee, perhaps some more menthol. Thats about it. To it’s credit, its not trying to do more than that I don’t think. F: Medium. Butterscotch, a little toasty oak, a prickle of spice and youthful alcohol prickle. Right, first things first: I don’t know how this is supposed to differ from regular Upshot offered by Whipper Snapper?! It is different, markedly so. But, I don’t know why. The regular upshot is less youthful and feels lighter to me, with some florals on the nose that are not to be found in the Bandit. More of a maple and burnt sugar to the flavours of Upshot, Bandit is simpler and perhaps bolder. At $90 an Australian whisky with 700 ml (not 500 ml) in the bottle is just about unheard of, so massive credit to Alistair and his team on that. For me the regular Upshot is a better pick, but i would not be embarrassed to give this to newbies, amateurs like myself, or aficionados in any way. Distiller whisky taste #290 [Pictured here with chunk of granite from the Perth Hills just 20 minutes to the east of Perth and the home of Whipper Snapper. The Perth Hills are the expression of a massive scarp 1000 km long, a remnant of India breaking off of the Western Australian coast line and drifting away. The rocks exposed are part of the Archean aged Yilgarn Craton, an ancient continental block intruded 2.7-2.6 billion years ago by vast volumes of granites like this one] Whipper Snapper Running Scores Crazy Uncle Moonshine: 3/5 Crazy Uncle Barrel Aged Moonshine: 3.25/5 Upshot Bandit: 3.25/5
Upshot: 3.5/5 Upshot Cask Strength: 3.5/5 Upshot Red Corn: 3.25/5 Project Q: 3.25 Wheat Belt Series Wheat: 3.75/5 Wheat Belt Series Rye: 4.25/5 Wheat Belt Series Single Malt: 2.75/5

N: Punchy and wiht a slight ethanol burn. Lightly floral malt with lashings of honey, danish pastries and raisins. Spice comes and tannins and cinnamon. P: Creamy and trending towards slightly oily. Malty and thick fruit loaf with butter provide a robust backbone. There are the oozy sugary flavours of toffee and spiced pastries and the richness of a poached pear with cinnamon, ginger, and leathery oak. F: Medium. Oily and slightly dry. Bitter coffee, dry tannic oak, leathery caramel. Spicy (cinnamon, clove?) warmth. After a perfectly ordinary experience with the 12 and 18, the Legacy Three has slotted in without making waves. This would have been drunk as a better sequence between the 12 and 18, it is definitely the same distillery profile as the 12, with a somewhat more rushed feeling sherry casking compared to the 18. Indeed, when I look at the casks used for this Legacy Three I can’t help but feel its a bit of a jumble making use of odds and ends. A little harsh at 48% perhaps, but I’d also go so far as to say this has some more memorable character than the 18 or 12. An interesting dram, but still a bit ‘meh’ on the big scheme of things. Distiller whisky taste #289 [Pictured here with another Californian blueschist, this one from San Benito. This blueschist, whilst perhaps appearing mainly green is special for the unusually large size of the blue glaucophane crystals that owe this rock type its name. Forming at 200-500 deg C and depths of 15-30 km the glaucophane forms as part of a complex mineral reaction that reassembles the lower metamorphic grade chlorite (the green stuff!) that forms at shallower depths and lower pressures.] Glengoyne running scores: Glengoyne 12: 2.75/5 Glengoyne 18: 3.75/5 Legacy Series Three: 3.25/5

N: Deep and rich. Immediately hit by a musty spice mixed with dark chocolate and some bitterness of coffee. Malty molasses and stewed apples and raisins are entwined with gentle wood shavings and vanilla. Rich, a good level of complexity, and not carried away with heavy handed sherry. P: Rich and mouth coating. A plump arrival packed with a jammy blend of raisins, cherry, fig and marzipan. Spices are gentle and reserved, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon. Dark cocoa powder and orange peel are present as a bitter back end the is joined by more marzipan. F: Medium. Sherry to the last, mocha, raisins, oranges and a creamy oak spice. This is definitely a more mature and elegant expression of Glengoyne than the younger 12. Whilst the malty distilate makes it through in places, the extra six years in Olorosso Sherry casks has definitely turned this into a cask dominated whisky. A perfectly pleasant one at that. There aren’t any rough edges to really speak of, theres enough depth and variance from nose to palate to keep it interesting. But, the major flaw I think is going to be that I wont remember much character or uniqueness by the end of the weekend. Ultimately this is a nice 18YO but its not special. Distiller whisky taste #288 [Pictured here with another Californian blueschist, this one from the Russian River in Sonoma County. This lump is riddled with red garnets that have contributed to a lovely pockmarked weathering surface. Traces of higher pressure metamorphism are preserved as green interdigitations of eclogite and silvery phengite mica (a rock comprised of green pyroxene and garnets)] Glengoyne running scores: Glengoyne 12: 2.75/5 Glengoyne 18: 3.75/4

N: Light, slightly ethanol-y. Cereals abound as barely sugar and fresh bread, gentle savoury oak and crisp apples and peaches. Eminently simple and enjoyable in equal measure. P: A little thin, slightly creamy. As for the nose cereal is forward along with the same definitive crunch of crisp orchard fruits. Oak is lending a touch of spice and warmth to an otherwise slightly bland and overly simple palate. Theres an obligatory vanilla in the backing from the bourbon casking, but thats it. This is a one two punch of cereal and simple fruit and its done. F: Short. A little ethanol prickle, a little sour lemon maybe? Gristy cereal to the close. I have little to say on this, because there is little to say on this. An entry level whisky with an overly inflated price and nothing to my mind to offer past a generic yet quaffable pour. Distiller whisky taste #287 [Pictured here with a cobble of blue schist from Cazadero, California. I am a carbonate (limestone) geologist by discipline and research pedigree. If I did it all over again, these kind of rocks would be my jam. Blueschists are what you get when you metamorphose basalt at high pressure at relatively low temperature; the product of ocean crust subducting below another tectonic plate these rocks transform from black to blue. Generally returned to the surface by complex and geologically violent tectonics they tend to be streaked and mingled with other things. Here this cobble is mostly blue (glaucophane) and studded with red garnets and green or silvery micas.] Glengoyne running scores: Glengoyne 12: 2.75/5

The second from Cotswolds for the evening, and what I am informed; is likely their finest work. This peated cask is exactly that, a peated-cask expression rather than a peated barely malt. The Cotswold new make, made from local barely is aged in ex-peated casks from Islay (I believe). This method of introducing peat to whisky can be hit and miss, so I enter this pour with a little trepidation, even more so with the heft of 60.2% ABV coming at me… N: Lions and tigers and bears; oh my. This is beautiful. I cannot overstate the delicacy of this nose. Creamy, nutty, phenolic, and spiced in equal measure. Yet, all a whisper that could be muted by a breeze. There is a creamy-honied and vanilla element to a white fruit and perhaps banana. The peat is just present enough to tie together the juicy-savoury fruits and nutty gently tannic spice. Just wonderful. P: Soft, restrained, but purposeful. The peat cask is immediately felt as charred fruitiness and briny-creosote, like old ship timbers on a pebble beach. After the peat and smoke comes more creaminess that delivers honey, white peaches, rich oak and warm tannins. Honey spread on buttered bread. F: Medium-long. Melting ice cream, ashy embers, stony-minerality and a slightly bright honied sweetness. Wow. What a treat. This isn’t peated whisky, this is a different expression of what peat can offer. The whiskies character is not smothered by the cask influence, and the character of the unpeated malt doesn’t just contribute, it shines. If I see this in stock somewhere, its going on my shelf. Distiller whisky taste #286 [Pictured here with a lovely chunk of the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds area is defined by Jurassic limestone bedrock that is quarried for the golden-coloured Cotswold stone with the highest point at Cleeve Hill a meagre 330 m high. This particular chunk is a Pisolite from Cleeve hill. A pisolite, as you well know, is a rock made of pisoids; concretionary grains made from layers of calcite. At over 2 mm in size a pisoid is a big version of an ooid. To grow such large grains of rounded calcite high rates of evaporation versus rainfall or terrestrial water input must be maintained; imaging an England with those conditions certainly isn’t easy!] Cotswolds running scores: Single malt: 4/5 Sherry cask strength: 3/5 Peated cask strength: 4.25/5

Double dipping tonight. Two up from the relative newcomers ‘Cotswolds’. Opening the evening proceedings is a cask strength sherry cask expression. Local SW England barley and matured in a combination of American and Spanish oak hogsheads and butts, seasoned with Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry. Bottled at a respectable 57.4% ABV. N: Warm and toasty this oozes stewed fruit and gentle spices. Apple, ginger, clove, plums, blackcurrant, dates. This is Christmas cake, no argument about it. But, despite what sounds like a sherry bomb, this isn’t. The fruits and spice come through with deftness and lightness that leave room for toasty malt and a slightly burnt brown sugar, is there a slightly dry bitter coffee note also? I think so, yes. P: Rich, plump, nicely oily, and plenty of ABV prickle. Black pepper spiciness rules the roost, but get past that and there is nutty dark chocolate, heavy blackberry jam, and brown sugar crunch. F: Medium-long. Black pepper builds from the palate into a lingering pepper-zing, but there are also juicy dark berries and figgy jam. The high ABV slightly masks the youth of this malt. Things are a little to aggressive and the promise of the underlying malt given by the nose doesn’t quite make it through. Water is the secret then. A fairly hefty dash and there is gentleness to be found in the palate. Vanilla, maybe a honied note and definitely some fresh orange spritz come through from the loss of the overwhelming black pepper. Whilst the ABV drops away the youth is revealed, the depth of character isn’t there and the texture falls to a slightly granular ‘fractured’ expression. Tempered with time and slightly calmed I think this has potential to be a lovely and somewhat restrained sherry cask, but it isn’t quite there yet. Distiller whisky taste #285 [Pictured here with a lovely chunk of the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds area is defined by Jurassic limestone bedrock that is quarried for the golden-coloured Cotswold stone with the highest point at Cleeve Hill a meagre 330 m high. Most of the Cotswolds hills are made of Oolitic limestone, a limestone made of small rounded calcite grains called ooids. These formed in shallow, warm waters like those found today around parts of the Caribbean Sea, where calcium carbonate is deposited from sea water due to evaporation. The round grains grow in size as they are gently rolled to and fro by waves, in water only a few metres deep]. Cotswolds running scores: Single malt: 4/5 Sherry cask strength: 3/5

I’ve probably said it a thousand times before… it does seem true that whisky from the isles, at its worst; is good. The team at Tobermory on Mull seem to have figured out how to make consistently good drams. Understandable then that I am excited about this limited edition release from 2007 finished in Port pipes. N: Powerful, pungent, and rich. There is a lot to unpack here. I’ll do my best: the malt is oily and ‘golden’ (is golden a smell?), no sign of grist or dryness. Something industrial like old oily steel works, there is a slight hydrocarbon and metal here that adds weight (sounds awful, its not). Behind this initial front is elements of the port, fresh orange, chocolate, maybe leather and espresso. Despite an overlay of seemingly jarring ‘off notes’, this is well balanced and very well integrated. I might well be imagining it, but I could swear I picked up on Turkish delight and incense like spice. P: Oh that takes you by surprise. This is the equivalent of a fantastical sword movement that you see before you realise you’ve run through. The initial approach is gentle, soft, and almost creamy, slightly caramel malt, warm barley. Then things come alive in a storm of prickly ginger, tannic oak, espresso bitterness. Successive sips take you through the depths of juicy and quite bright and ever so slightly sour fruits: citrus, strawberry, black forrest fruits. F: Long. There is a surprising amount of delicacy to the tannic and peppery spice that compliments a creamy chocolatey-berry medley with the deftest saltiness. I have never been to Turkey or Morocco, but I am somewhat reminded of travel documentaries that visit the rich and diverse spice markets and bazaars. There is a wonderful blend of raw industrial weightiness, bright summeriness, and vibrant spiciness to transport my mind to these places. This is beautiful stuff, deeply interesting and remarkably fun.. so much so that I didn’t notice the almost 60%ABV or stop to add a dash of water. Distiller whisky taste #284 [Pictured here with a piece of the resplendent Tiree Marble. I’ve shared this rock before as the closest thing to the Isle of Mull I have (Tiree is just next door). Beautiful pink dolomite and granular green diopside pyroxenes with origins dating back two and a half billion years. This yummy rock seems the perfect pairing for this yummy malt]. Tobermory Running Scores Tobermory 12: 4/5 Tobermory 12 2007 Port Pipe: 4.5/5 Ledaig 10: 3.75/5 Ledaig 12 2008 G&M Hermitage Cask: 3.75/5 Ledaig 18: 4.5/5