Tastes

Nose: Fresh, summery, cut grass, zingy fruit. Palate: ‘Hot’ on the initial taste. Fruity, lemon and cereal notes. Very (very!) light peat backbite. Finish: Pepper and ginger as it dissipates, quickly dissolving into a bitter lemon aftertaste. This smells like a fab dram, but the taste is a little alcohol heavy up front and lacks layers and complexity. It’s not a bad whisky, but it is a little unrefined for my taste.

Nose: Honey, vanilla, gentle oak Palate: Sweet, caramel and vanilla. A little citrus and pepper which makes the first sip a little ‘hot’, but it quickly mellows out. A little of the brine in there, too. Finish: Dry, citrus, toffee and a little saltiness right at the end. A decent sipper. It’s easy to drink and rather moreish.

Nose: Not much there. Zesty fruit and boiled sweets (sherbet lemons and soor plooms!) Palate: Salt and spice. Sugar and apples. Finish: The finish dried right out. Oak and spice, but still with plenty of the fruits (although moving into more darker dried fruit) I used to drink this quite regularly a few years ago. A friend and I would meet every Friday at a whisky bar near my old workplace and would put the world to rights. This was a dram I would often start with! Sadly, no longer part of the range, but there are still a few to sample in the wild! Lovely, and sadly missed.

(Dalmore) Whisky Outturn: 1 of 198 bottles

(Glen Scotia) Distilled Date: 7th February 2003 Whisky Outturn: 1 of 274 bottles

Nose: Peat, salt/ brine, sweet toffee Palate: Light peat, salt and pepper, slightly vegetal. Very sweet with a few wispy delicate dried fruity notes Finish: Short finish. Heavy on the sherry It’s not a bad dram. The nose is somewhat better than the palate, it promises to be a great sweet, peaty whisky but it seems to lose many of the interesting layers.

I had been looking forward to trying this for a long time. My parents had a holiday home when I was growing up that was only a few miles from what is now the site of Nc’nean Distillery at Drimnin on the west coast of Scotland. It’s about as remote as you can get on mainland Scotland, and it’s a place that is very close to my heart. This, weirdly, felt like it was a whisky close to my childhood! I had tried their botanical spirit (which is somewhere between a whisky and a gin in character) and had rather enjoyed it. I had them tried their early new make at a festival, which was really interesting. Then, in 2019, I was lucky enough to be invited to taste their ‘A’ and ‘B’ tasters to give some tasting notes. So, I was starting to feel a little invested! I’m very happy to say that this young NAS whisky is a good dram. BATCH .01 Distillation dates: April, May & July 2017 Number of bottles: 5040 Spirit recipe: Light and Fruity Yeasts: Anchor and Fermentis Cask mix: 65% STR Red Wine, 35% Ex-Bourbon Cask numbers: 2017 / 67, 68, 69, 91, 93, 94, 95, 121, 122, 124, 177, 179, 208, 212 Disgorging date: 20/08/2020 Bottling date: 27/08/20 - 04/09/20 Bottling strength: 46% Non-chill filtered. Natural colour. Nose: Sweet, caramel, floral. Palate: Slightly ‘hot’, peppery, zingy fruit (citrus), but mellowed by a lovely soft mouthfeel. There’s an almost herbal note underneath. Finish: Quite a long finish, warm, spicy and a softer citrus at the very end. It’s not a fireside whisky, it’s a summer sipper. It has a delicate, lightness that both shows and belies it’s young age. It is a nice - if youthful - dram. It has an elegance that makes me think this will be a cracker with a few more years on it. This particular bottle was a birthday gift from my parents, brother and sister-in-law. I’m currently tasting it - and writing this review - on my 46th birthday!

I’m a big fan of a Talisker 10y/o. I always have a bottle on the shelf but, bizarrely, it’s one I tend to drink only when I’m in the ‘right’ mood. I always think of it as an outdoor whisky. To be enjoyed after a long walk, or at the top of a hill or next to a campfire - you get the picture - it’s a dram for relaxing and contemplating life. There is no doubt that this is a Talisker, but it’s a very different beast. Not a quiet contemplation - this is a bar fight! This is a Talisker that kicks you in the teeth... Nose: Peat, seaweed and smoke. A little citrus and toffee sweetness. Palate: Smokey and peppery. It’s quite ‘hot’ for a Talisker, but it’s creamy and rich enough to carry it. You can definitely taste it’s 57%. There a good bit of vanilla and oak hiding behind the smoke. If you persevere with it, you can also get some citrus and zesty fruit in there. Finish: Long finish. Pepper, vanilla and wood. You get the waft of smoke for ages after your finished. Overall, this is a great big weighted sock of a dram. For an almost cask strength NAS, this is an amazingly easy dram to drink (dangerous at 57%!). I could consider this a session dram, but I suspect that would be a baaaad idea. Lovely!

I was fortunate enough to win my bottle in a competition, but I’m very pleased to say how much I am enjoying this whisky. Nose: Caramel, vanilla, honey and malted cereal. A very light spiciness. Palate: Warm and rounded up front. There’s a huge hit of dried fruit - raisins, sultanas and prunes - which mellows into a lightly smoky, full juiciness. Finish: As it dissipates, there’s a real zesty finish that isn’t as obvious from the initial taste - think candy apples and pear drops - and a very light spiciness right at the very end. Wonderfully rounded, great mouth feel and nicely integrated so all of the layers sit well with each other. Overall, this is a great dram.

(Good Spirits Company, Glasgow - Virtual Arran Whisky Tasting, Friday 11th September 2020) Batch includes 10y/o, 11y/o and 12y/o. Finished for 9months in 1st fill oloroso casks Nose: Very light. Earthy and herbal. Slight sweetness. Palate: Alcohol upfront that dissipates quickly. Biscuits and malt. Some honey sweetness and tart apples/pears. Finish: Slightly sour and malty. A little saltiness. Quite a long finish that tails into a slightly bitter aftertaste. Overall, this is quite a pleasant dram. It leaves a pleasantly honeyed coating to the mouth that lingers for ages after the bitterness recedes. Not a bad dram. This came 3rd of the six whiskies tasted with 7/101 of the vote for favourite.