Tastes

Nose: Orchard fruit (apple and pear), cooking spices Palate: Citrus, orange, herbal, spicy, vanilla Finish: Long finish. Spicy, chilli, allspice (cooking spices), oak, nutty/walnut. Buttery finish 1 of 180 bottles This is a lovely, spicy and herbal dram. It doesn’t have the usual heavily sherried hit of the standard 12y/o, but it is lovely and exceptionally easy to drink.

Nose: Vanilla, stewed orchard fruit, slightly earthy Palate: Sweet, dried fruit, nutty, oak, honey, spice (cinnamon) Finish: Medium long finish. Baking spices, stewed fruit This is a lovely, spicy sherried dram. Easy to drink and very moreish. I could drink a lot of this of an evening - in fact, I have done fairly often. A great all round sweet and fruity drinker.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 17 September 2021). Nose: Earthy, vanilla, gentle peat, smoke Palate: Sandalwood, sweet, icing sugar, sweet berries, oak, spicy (clack pepper, chilli, ginger), cereal Finish: Long finish. Vanilla, gentle smoke & peat, some more berries. Souring on the aftertaste. This is a solid, high malt content peated blend. You notice the ABV first, then the peat, and then the fruit sweetness. There’s a great richness to the mouthfeel. A decent, cask-strength blend. Came joint second out of the six drams, with 14% (3 votes) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 81% (17 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 17 September 2021). Nose: Hairspray, red summer berries, vanilla, caramel, cream(?), wax and rubber Palate: Toffee, sweet, funky & musty, rubber, oak, summer berries, sherried, spice - allspice & clove Finish: Long finish. Waxy/oily. Orange, citrus, more berries. Leather & tobacco. Baked fruit cake & jam. This is quite a pleasant tasting whisky, but there’s an odd funky, rubbery note throughout that isn’t to my taste. There’s a huge hit of fruit, but this is dampened by the waxiness somewhat. Came joint first out of the six drams, with 29% (6 votes) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 81% (17 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 17 September 2021). Nose: Salt/brine, light peat, smoke, vanilla, honey Palate: Gently - but punchy - sweet peat and smoke. Oily, nutty, fennel/aniseed, slightly floral. Lightly medicinal. Salt/brine. Spirit driven. Finish: Medium short finish. Green/herbal, light sweet fruitiness, more salt/saline. Dry smoke. Similar to their fist expression, there’s a green/herbal and slightly medicinal note. Unlike the original this doesn’t sour so much on the finish. A more pleasant dram and really heading in the right direction. Still a little young tasting, but not to distraction. Spirit driven - not much evidence of cask influence. Came joint first out of the six drams, with 29% (6 votes) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 86% (18 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey. I had already bought a bottle of this before the tasting.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 17 September 2021). Nose: Light peat, toast, char/ash, oak, sweet light BBQ smoke Palate: Light peat smoke, oak, nutty, savoury/umami, toffee, light summer berries, cinnamon Finish: Medium finish. Salt/saline, more gentle smoke, light berries, peat. Gently, sweet BBQ notes. 50:50 peated/unpeated 65:35 ex-bourbon/ex-sherry casks This is a tasty dram. Tastes better than it’s young age would suggest. There’s a lovely gently peat that builds on the aftertaste. Lovely. Came third out of the six drams, with 10% (2 votes) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 81% (17 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey. I had already bought a bottle of this before the tasting.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 17 September 2021). Nose: Fruit, apple, green/earthy, fresh, light spice Palate: Orange/citrus, sweet, salted caramel, caramelised fruit, light baking spices (cloves) Finish: Medium long finish. Sweet, oaky, spicy, citrus/orange oil Nice buttery/oily mouthfeel. This tastes like a slightly darker version of the Original 10y/o. Very easy to drink and very flavourful. Nice! Came joint second out of the six drams, with 14% (3 votes) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 67% (14 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey. I liked this enough to buy a bottle after the tasting.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 17 September 2021). Nose: Caramel, honey, floral, fruit (berries), orchard fruit Palate: Fruit (orchard & apricot). Sugary sweet, candied sweets, hints of citrus. A little ‘hot’. Finish: Medium long finish. Citrus, sweet, more sour fruit on the aftertaste This is a sweet and slightly sour dram. It doesn’t have a lot of layers of flavour, but what’s there (fruit and citrus) is OK. Not too distinctive, but generally decent (if a little sweet). Easy going and light. 3.5 years in wine casks. Came last out of the six drams, with 5% (1 vote) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 57% (12 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 1st October 2021). Nose: Vegetal, light peat, floral, smoke, salt, seaweed, Deep Heat / Germoline Palate: Smoke, sweet, gentle peat, green/hay, honey, nutty Finish: Medium finish. Fisherman’s Friend lozenges, salted nuts. Very sweet/sugary. Some dried fruit. More peat on the aftertaste. Matured in 26 ex-bourbon barrels and 7 ex-Oloroso butts chosen from yrs 2007-2011 (excluding 2008). This is a lovely, gentle peated dram. Very easy to drink and enjoy. Nice dram. Came second out of the six drams, with 30% (3 votes) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 100% (10 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 1st October 2021). Nose: Petrol, salt, apple, caramel, hairspray, green/hay, milky/creamy Palate: Honey, apple, orange, oak, nutty. Sweet & salty. Gentle peat. Finish: Medium long finish. Pepper & salt, wood, sweet, honey & apple (hints). Light lingering peat. This is obviously a Highland Park. It has all the hallmarks you’d expect, but none of the cask influence. The 50% ABV gives more focus and intensity. Rounded, fruity and oily. Delicious! Came joint last out of the six drams, with 0% (0 votes) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 80% (8 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey.