Tastes

(The Good Spirits Company, Glasgow - Virtual Whisky Tasting, Friday 14th August 2020). Nose: Herbal, vanilla, creamy, apple, and strongly honeyed. Pine nut & walnut. Palate: Hot at the first taste. Oily, pepper, smoky and woody. Quite fruity (apple & lemon). Alcohol heavy with the wood. Finish: Sour, silky, biscuity, buttery. Water gives a citrus note and increases the buttery notes. Overall, this is not a complex dram but it is quite pleasant. It stands up well for such a young dram. I’ll be interested to see what they bring out in a few years time. This came joint last of the six whiskies tasted with 0% of the vote for favourite.

(The Good Spirits Company, Glasgow - Virtual Whisky Tasting, Friday 14th August 2020) I like the transparency of Compass Box. Although current regulations don’t permit them to put the breakdown of the blend on the bottle, a quick internet search allows you to see what you are drinking. I’d have liked to see the ages, but that’s a minor reservation. Strathmill, refill hogshead: 34% Balmenach, refill hogshead: 34% Clynelish, re-charred hogsheads: 20% Clynelish, refill sherry butt: 10% Glendullan, first fill sherry butt: 2% Nose: Strong bourbon influence. Fruity and vanilla. Palate: A little ‘hot’ on the first taste but quickly calms into the main flavours. Clean and fruity (pears), some light oak. Finish: Short finish. Creamy, malty (Horlicks). Salty and herbal at the very end. This has a lovely mouth feel. It’s a smooth, easy to drink blended malt. This came joint third of the six whiskies tasted with 10% of the vote for favourite.

Distilled: 2005 Bottled: 2019 Release: OD 168.FE Nose: Fruit scone, cinnamon, baked goods Palate: Fruit heavy, spicy and salty. There’s an almost Christmassy back note with the fruit and spices, it even has a slightly citrus peel note right at the end. Finish: A medium long finish. A little peat, and more of the salt and spices. Still more of the lovely, juicy fruit. Overall, this is a juicy and layered dram. There’s a sweet, bright fruitiness from the Montilla Fino casks. It’s doesn’t pick up the dryness the wine is known for, but pulls out some of the light vibrancy of the fruit. There are some lovely layers to this whisky, you can still pick out the character of the standard 14y/o, but with the fruit and spice from the finishing casks it gives it its own distinct feel. This is a very lovely dram. Not a ‘session’ dram necessarily, but very moreish.

Nose: Light, seaside, fruit (apple and pear), a little acetone and oil Palate: More fruit and Demerara sugar. Sweet and fruity, with some body to it. There’s some dried apricot and sultanas, with a strange artificial tang to the fruit notes. Waxy and coats the mouth. Finish: Much of the same on the finish. Medium long, which sours into the aftertaste. There are some sour fruit notes and a spicy, peppery finish. Again strangely artificial. My main takeaway from this whisky is it’s artificialness. There’s something about it that just doesn’t taste quite right. It’s difficult to put your finger on what the flavour is, but it does linger and coats the palate. Despite this, it’s actually not unpleasant to drink. It’s an OK dram, but a little plasticy. Odd.

The UK version of this is a very ordinary 40% rather than the slightly more interesting US version at 45%. Nose: Penny caramel, vanilla and an odd artificial sugary sweetness. Palate: Sweet sugary coffee, bitter spices, more of the oak and coffee and a large hit of vanilla and fruit (raisins and apples) Finish: There is a medium long finish, but not necessarily in a good way. More toffee, artificial sweetness and spices that quickly sour in the aftertaste. Overall, this is a fairly average bourbon. It’s a decent price point for what you get. There is nothing wrong with this at all, it’s just a bit ‘meh’. It works pretty well in a cocktail, but as a dram on its own, there are better bourbons out there

(Good Spirits Company, Glasgow. Virtual Whisky Tasting Saturday 25th July 2020). Nose: Nutty, penny caramel, vanilla Palate: Ginger, malty, Caramac chocolate, sweet fudge. Quite alcohol heavy. Finish: Quite a short finish. There is some fudge, vanilla and pepper which all dissipate quite quickly leaving the pepperiness. Water really opens this one out to give more of the fruit (apple and banana), and a load of fudge and vanilla. With or without the water, it has a lovely waxy full bodied mouthfeel which feels almost decadent. Another nice dram. Out of the 6 drams on the tasting, this achieved 17% of the vote for favourite which made it joint second place, but the common consensus was that all 6 were really too close to call.

(Good Spirits Company, Glasgow. Virtual Whisky Tasting Saturday 25th July 2020). Nose: Smoky bacon, campfire. A very light hint of berries and cream, although you have to search for this on the nose. It's more of a glance after you've sniffed the glass. Palate: Frazzles crisps (?), burnt toast, caramelised apples and kids sweeties (the cheap penny tray kind!) Finish: Port really comes out in the finish, still peaty and a little salty. This is a bit of a mongrel, as you taste it you keep picking out more layers and different tastes - all of which are nicely layered. It has the peat and salt all through and this adds to the character of the whisky to keep it interesting. Water kills the taste completely. It dulls almost all of the layers and just leaves the peat and campfire notes. Out of the 6 drams on the tasting, this achieved 25% of the vote for favourite which made it joint first place, but the common consensus was that all 6 were really too close to call.

(Good Spirits Company, Glasgow. Virtual Whisky Tasting Saturday 25th July 2020). Parcel Number 3. Made from a batch of just 4 hogsheads. Nose: Acetone, sherbet lemons, pear drops, strawberry bonbons. Palate: MIlky smooth, lemon sherbet and strawberry. Finish: Slightly numbing on the finish and leaving a lovely sweet pear drop aftertaste. This has a lovely, almost waxy mouthfeel. It feels somewhat old fashioned and has a load of childhood tastes like lemon drops, sherbet and strawberry sweets. This is a lovely dram. Out of the 6 drams on the tasting, this achieved 25% of the vote for favourite which made it joint first place, but the common consensus was that all 6 were really too close to call. I placed this as first place. I enjoyed it enough to buy a bottle during the tasting!

(Good Spirits Company, Glasgow. Virtual Whisky Tasting Saturday 25th July 2020). Nose: Coffee, sultanas, toffee, salt Palate: Green apples, raisins, salt, caramel, mineral oil Finish: Medium long finish, more of the fruit and raisins with some added salt and pepper. Smooth and chocolatey aftertaste. This is a very nice whisky. It is more of a sipper than a session whisky, but it sits somewhere in between for me. It has a lovely creamy mouthfeel and a nice body to it that is missing in the 12y/o. I still miss the 17y/o which was retired from the range a few years ago, but I think this is the standout of their standard range (although the NAS Huddart is also very good). I had tasted this at an Old Pultney tasting back in 4th June 2019 at DRAM! Glasgow. I liked it enough to buy a bottle then, and I recently bought another to replace the one I'd finished. Out of the 6 drams on the tasting, this achieved 0% of the vote for favourite which made it dead last, but the common consensus was that all 6 were really too close to call. I put this a very close second.

(Good Spirits Company, Glasgow. Virtual Whisky Tasting Saturday 25th July 2020). Nose: Boiled sweets, butterscotch. Very sweet nose. Palate: Golden syrup, toffee, nutmeg, buttered popcorn. There's a slight 'funk' in the layers that jars a little with the sweetness. Finish: Long finish which is heavy on the grain and syrup. Some light sourness right at the end. Water softens this up and removes the slight funk and some of the citrus. I don't tend to like grain whiskies, but this is a decent dram that I'd be happy to have again. Out of the 6 drams on the tasting, this achieved 17% of the vote for favourite which made it joint second, but the common consensus was that all 6 were really too close to call.