Tastes

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow Virtual Whisky Tasting, 9th July 2020). Nose: Floral, spice, vanilla, honey, golden syrup Palate: Chocolate, rose petals, spiced tea / chai. Oddly, it reminded me a little of a spiced vanilla rum. Finish: Chocolate, honey, sweet fruit cake / Christmas pudding Well layered and complex. Has a light, sweet vanilla taste all through that is very pleasant. Very nice mouthfeel. Came joint second out of the six malts tasted on the night, with 14% of the vote for favourite.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow Virtual Pappy Van Winkle Tasting, 4th July 2020). Bottle No: K3876 Nose: Acetone, oak, pear drops Palate: Hardly any sweetness, concentrated, cinnamon, treacle toffee, dry tannins. Finish: Salty, dry, leather, dates.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow Virtual Pappy Van Winkle Tasting, 4th July 2020) . Nose: Savoury, herbal / vegetal, nutty, acetone. Palate: Smooth, sweet, almost fizzy on the tongue, complex layered flavours, cherries, dark fruit. Had a slightly ‘funky’ note to it (like a Campbeltown funk). Finish: Maraschino cherries, pine, oak sap, slightly sour, drying/dusty at the very end. Tasted concentrated with lots of new oak. This was my vote for best of the tasting.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow Virtual Pappy Van Winkle Tasting, 4th July 2020) . Nose: Acetone, oil based paint Palate: Alcohol heavy, slightly sour, prunes, dates, raisin, wood resin Finish: Banana, chilli, spices, apple, oak, rum on the aftertaste. Rich and warming. This had the highest number of votes as best of the tasting. I preferred the 20 and 23, but this was still a very nice bourbon.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow Virtual Pappy Van Winkle Tasting, 4th July 2020). Nose: Acetone Palate: Dark fruits, Christmas cake Finish: More dried fruit, baked banana, burned caramel, tannic

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow Virtual Pappy Van Winkle Tasting, 4th July 2020). Nose: Sweet, muscovado sugar, vanilla Palate: Orange zest, nutty, apricot. Numbing. Finish: Cognac, leather, chilli, spices, ginger.

Sweet and floral on the nose. There’s a light orangey note and a kind of breakfast cereal hint. On the palate there are layers upon layers of flavour. Fruit first (apple and pear), then Demerara sugar, clove and ginger. With a saline note all through. The finish becomes unexpectedly smoky, nicely numbing with hints of saline and salted caramel. The long finish ends on a spicy citrus note that stays and warms for ages. A very nice dram. It doesn’t have any of the peatiness that Islay is famous for, but it keeps the island character with the salinity, the smoke and the layered complexity. Lovely!

Another ‘go-to’ dram for me. On the nose, it’s sweet and seaweedy with an almost honeysuckle note in the background. On first taste, you get the softness - no harsh alcohol or overpowering flavours that are so often synonymous with Islay. There’s some lovely dried fruit flavours, a good hit of light sherry and some saltiness. As it develops, the sherry and fruit develops into a long, herbal and very slightly smoky aftertaste. Hints of coffee, chocolate and salt. This is a beautifully well-balanced dram. Delicious!

On the nose it’s very obviously peated, but with a sweet smokiness. The palate is gently smoky with some dried citrus and the obvious peat. My first impression is that it’s a little young, but I’m not against a young peaty dram. There’s an almost floral quality to the peat and smoke which is very gentle and quite warming. It doesn’t coat the mouth or overwhelm the palate like some of the heavily peated, young Islays that are out there at the moment. It’s a very long, gentle peaty and smoky finish. Still sweet and almost fruity wood smoke. It’s an interesting dram. Not complex, but the peat and smoke are so gentle and unlike any other peaty whisky I can think of offhand. It’s much gentler than any of the peaty Islay or Campbeltown whiskies, so it has it’s own pleasant character. A little too young tasting at the moment, but holds promise for some of their future (hopefully more mature) expressions. I realise I’ve said gentle several times, and that’s my overall impression - gentle, floral and peaty. Not bad at all.

Despite what it says on Distiller, Aberlour is very much a Speyside rather than a Highland whisky! Upfront you get a hit of the bourbon and sherry, but I couldn't describe this as a sherry bomb. There's a depth and complexity that is not there in many typical Speyside sherry bombs. On the palate, there is a light and spicy fruitiness (think raisins and currants, possibly plums). As it develops on the palate, there's a subtle oak and vanilla that is pleasantly sour on the aftertaste. The finish is very long, where the oak just sits and warms the mouth. There's more of the spice and a subtle sweetness that doesn't allow any sourness to develop substantially. There is a little citrus at the very end that leaves a very pleasant note. Overall, this is a very lovely Speyside dram.