Tastes

Nose: Bread, milk, sherry & dried fruit Palate: Chocolate, fizzy apple sweets, oak/wood Finish: Salt, spicy, dusty. A little 'hot'

Nose: Vanilla, caramel apples. Ginger and mixes baking spices. Palate: Very sweet. Summer fruits and berries. More of the caramel and vanilla that was shown on the nose. A creamy, full-bodied mouthfeel. A little spiced dried fruit. Finish: More sweet spices, a little oak. More of the Berry sweetness that lingers on the aftertaste. I really liked this as an occasional dram. It’s too sweet for my taste to be a regular sipper, but it’s a lovely Christmassy whisky.

Nose: Vanilla, red berries and summer fruit. Sweet, boiled fruits. Palate: Young, more red berries with a decent hit of pepper and spices. Finish: Quite a ‘hot’, spicy finish. More berry fruits with a little oak and orchard fruit on the aftertaste. This is a young tasting dram, but with a lovely refreshing fruity freshness. A nice dram, with plenty of interesting layers.

Nose: Sweet caramel, orchard fruit, sweet bread / cake. Palate: Black pepper, spices, roasted oak and pine nuts. There’s an underlying caramel and honey sweetness that shines through. Finish: Citrus and oak on the short finish. A dry, baked spice aftertaste. This is a very easy drinking dram. It’s quite a different experience from most Scottish whiskies, but one I’d happily go for again.

Nose: Sweet peat, earthy and herbal. Palate: The nose sweet, earthy note that is evident on the nose is even more evident on the palate. There’s an added sweet vanilla and a tangy citrus. Finish: The finish is dry, smoky and ashy. Salt, liquorice and herbs on the medium long aftertaste. This reminds me of a slightly more vanilla, young Talisker. That’s no bad thing in my book!

Nose: Sweet, caramel, strawberries and vanilla ice cream. There’s a note of children’s sweets and orchard fruit. Palate: Fruit and vanilla upfront. There’s citrus and honey and an odd banana note. Finish: Short finish. Oak, vanilla and spice. Slightly sour on the aftertaste. I rather enjoyed this as a dram. It’s a little thin, but overall this is a decent, uncomplicated dram.

Mix of five grains; corn, wheat, barley, spelt & rye. Matured in a range of barrels for 4-15 years; Virgin American White Oak, American White Oak, French Barrels & Sherry Barrel. Nose: Sweet, candle wax, children’s breakfast cereal. Slightly artificial and rubbery. Palate: Barley, malt, and dried herbs. Smooth mouthfeel. Dusty, woody notes. Finish: Medium short finish. Slightly souring on the aftertaste - think citrus peel. Quite oaky as it lingers on the palate. This is the first Austrian whisky I’ve ever tried. It does have the hallmarks of a decent grain whisky. For my taste, I’d probably not drink this as a neat dram, it has a ‘with mixer’ feel to it, but it’s not bad at all.

First dram of 2021! Happy New Year! Nose: Sweet, chocolate orange, with a biscuitiness and a slightly sour note underneath Palate: Sherry upfront. Velvet smooth mouthfeel, a combination of fresh fruit (oranges and plums) and dried fruit (raisins, sultanas and apricots). There’s then a good hit of spices (pepper and dried chillies), and a little vanilla and caramel. Finish: the finish is medium short. Still a lovely gentle mouthfeel, with more orange and pepper and moving into a little clove and chocolate right at the end. It’s not an oily dram, so it doesn’t coat the mouth at all. I’m not a cigar smoker so I might not be getting the full effect, but this is still a delicious, soft and well integrated dram. It’s layers sit well with each other. The layers keep changing and blending with each other moving from the sweet, fruity upfront flavours, through the spices and into the chocolatiness at the finish. This is a very moreish whisky, I found myself wanting to go back more and more to this. I suspect my bottle might not last very long!

(WoodWinters Glenmorangie/Ardbeg Online Zoom tasting, 9th December 2020. Hosted by Brendan McCarron, Head of Maturing Whisky Stocks at Glenmorangie). Nose: Charcoal. Salt/brine. Sweet black tea. Palate: More of the salt, but with a good hit of medicinal iodine/TCP and some aniseed. There is some BBQ smoke, but less meaty than a 10y/o. There's some lime and more of the black tea that was hinted at on the nose. Finish: Tobacco, smokey. Tannic and woody. More of the campfire and saltiness. There is an odd, welcome sweetness at the finish, it's not the most obvious note, but it is definitely there at the finish. This is a fantastic dram. There is a drying mouthfeel with a long (almost dusty) finish, so it could never be a session whisky, but well worth the occasional dram.

(WoodWinters Glenmorangie/Ardbeg Online Zoom tasting, 9th December 2020. Hosted by Brendan McCarron, Head of Maturing Whisky Stocks at Glenmorangie). Nose: Boggy, sweet and meaty. Salt/brine with a rotting seaweed hint. Underneath, you can pick out some vanilla, pear and apple. Palate: Salt/brine - seaside notes. Sweet orchard fruit. Damp earth, wood and peat. There's a meatiness and a hint of engine oil throughout. Finish: Stays sweet all through with more salt and bog all the way to the end. On the aftertaste there is a souring which does show its youth. This is a tasty dram. It's like a more fiery 10y/o. I really rather liked this for its unabashed rawness. 55ppm or above at malting. Wooden washbacks at distillation. Aged in a combination of Oloroso sherry and ex-bourbon casks.