Tastes

Today's review is of a 2018 bottling of Glenlivet's 15 Year Old "French Oak Reserve" single malt. Distiller: Glenlivet Mash Bill: 100% unpeated malted barley Oak Type:  Fully matured in French Limousin Oak Age: 15 yr Price Paid: $45 Background: This is my second bottle of the Glenlivet 15 in the past two years and it's different than I remember the first bottle.  Whereas the first bottle was pure apple and vanilla, this one is giving me a lot more varied flavors. It remains delicious in either case.   ⠀ 🥃 Glenlivet 15 French Oak Reserve - 43% ABV Nose: Subtle but opens up after a little time in the Glencairn.  Malt, honey, sweet flowers.  Vanilla. Baking spices.  A little peanut.  Red berries.  Theres a fresh flavor, maybe like cucumber?  All together produces a very pleasant fig bar note. Taste: Rich vanilla oak notes.  Some bright spices like cinammon and maybe cardamom.  Orange peel.  There's no doubt that the French oak has greatly influenced every part of the palate profile. The mouthfeel is pretty average but the finish is moderately long and starts peppery and a little hot before fading into oak and silky vanilla.  Actually had some gently roasted coffee notes on the finish recently. 1st rating: 90/100 Latest ratings: 85 - 90/100

Tonight's review is of the Laphroaig Quarter Cask. I've tried the 10 year bottling before and enjoyed it but found it a little more plasticy and medicinal than this one.  This bottle leans more towards vanilla and citrus than the 10 year.  Picked this bottle up from Ace Spirits for $45 and am happy with the purchase. My detailed thoughts and rating below: ⠀ 🥃 Laphroaig Quarter Cask - 48% ABV Nose: Peat. Salty ocean air. Fresh seaweed. Nuts. Split pea soup with bacon. Musty forest floor.  A bit briney. Lemon.  I get some freshly squeezed lime, and the limey, fatty, and briney notes combine to remind me of a Baja-style fish taco. Taste: Starts bright, citrusy, and peaty.  Quickly moves towards smoldering campfire and seaweed.  Some earthy notes. Oaky sweetness, vanilla, and apple and earthy vegetal notes take a backseat seat throughout.  A good bit of peppery heat. The texture is a somewhat oily and the finish is long and brings many of the peaty, earthy, and sweet flavors along for the entire ride.  This is a nice dram and the oakiness from the quarter cask is noticeably more present than in the 10 year. Leaves an absolutely wonderful empty glass smell.  Ultimately a great but busy peated scotch from Laphroaig.  Rating Range: 83-85/100

Tonight I'm drinking the Aberlour 12 Year Double Cask Matured Single Malt Scotch Whisky.  Interestingly, "Double Cask Matured" doesn't have a consistent meaning amongst distillers.  In the case of this Aberlour single malt, it means that two casks, one aged in traditional oak and one aged in sherry, were blended together to make the final product.  Both casks were aged for at least 12 years.  Aberlour has another 12 Year release that is in NCF, but it's a separate product that doesn't use sherry casks as far as I know. I picked this one up at @hitimewine on sale for $29.99 and would call that a pretty solid price for the value here. My detailed thoughts and rating below: ⠀ 🥃 Aberlour 12 Year Double Cask Edition - 40% ABV Nose: First thought was a PB+J on wheat with strawberry jelly.  Other fruity sweet notes emerge as well as some honey sweetness. Really nice nose here, though somewhat mellow. Taste:  Fruity graham crackers.  A bit tart and there is some heat.  It's a very fruity sweet dram.  This whisky was a little harsh when I first opened the bottle and the air and oxidation has helped mellow that out. The texture is somewhat watery, but it does a decent job at coating the tongue.  Flavor-wise, the finish is short with some light sweet fruit jam, citric zest, and some darker sherry notes.  This would really be incredible stuff if it had a higher ABV and was non-chill-filtered. Current rating: 82/100

Tonight's review is of an independent bottling of a Craigellachie 10 Year Old single malt, distilled in 2008.  The bottle is part of the "Clan Denny" series, bottled by Douglas Laing. My interest in Craigellachie malts skyrocketed after enjoying a singlecasknation bottling of an 11 year malt that was an incredible umami bomb.  This bottle is significantly different than that expereince but does have some interesting qualities.   Picked this bottle up from K&L Wines for $33 and have enjoyed tasting it and considering it. My detailed thoughts and rating below: ⠀ 🥃 CD Cragellachie 10 Year - 46% ABV Nose: Golden brown sugar.  Ethanol.  Tropical fruity perfume.  Some black pepper and other spicy notes that give it a bit of an edge.  After a while, the fatty peanut note presents itself, and reminds me slightly of Talisker Storm.  The empty glass somehow smells like a hearty beef stew. Palate: Starts off with fatty peanut butter but quickly gets sweeter. Oak. Sour and warming ethanol. Coconut note reminding me somewhat of the Oban Little Bay bottle. Sugar. Kind of makes me think of a warm alcoholic underripenned pineapple but has some oaky and fatty peanut notes tossed in. The texture is pretty oily and mouth-coating.  The finish is long and kind of bright and hot, reminding me of Hot Tamales candy.  This is an interesting whisky with some fun characteristics, but is also a bit rough.  The nose is enjoyable but a little sharp.  The palate has a lot of flavors, but they don't fall into my ideal spot for a Craigellachie and it comes off a bit hot.  I hoped for a meaty, oily umami bomb and instead got an interesting fatty and tangy-sweet malt.  Thankfully, I view the surprises as part of the fun of trying new  single malts, especially independent bottlings.  Cheers!  Rating Range: 79-82/100