Tastes

Light and floral upfront. The first thing you notice is how sweet this whisky is, you can taste the sherry influences, but the main takeaway is sweetness. There’s a lot of vanilla and a little dark chocolate as the flavours develop. The medium short finish is still sweet and slightly spicy. Overall, this is not very complex or nuanced. It’s sweet, sherried and with a good amount of vanilla. An easy to drink and very accessible dram.

2007/2017 Edition TD-S: 5TF The 2002 Distillers Edition was one of my favourite whiskies, but sadly I finished my bottle recently, so I had to try a more recent bottling. I’m very pleased to report that it doesn’t disappoint! The first sip is caramel sweet and very fruity - apples, berries and plums - but still with those wonderful standard Talisker notes of salt and campfires. As it develops you pick up layers of sweet spices, vanilla and dried fruits which fades to leave just sweet smoke on the aftertaste. It’s a lighter dram than the 2002, but it still has that wonderful bulk of sweet fruit and a smokey finish. Fabulous!

As is normal with an Octomore, the first thing you notice is the peat - there’s a hell of a lot of it - but it’s surprisingly light for it. There’s some hints of brine, and a smooth dark chocolate note as it mellows, but the overwhelming taste is that peat and smoke. This is a lovely dram. I could happily have quite a few of these in a row!

This is a Christmassy malt. You get the upfront sherry and a good hit of smoky, peat, but the main thing you notice is the dark fruits. It’s a very smooth dram. The finish tends towards slightly bitter, but it doesn’t diminish the overall taste. Very nice!

Quite a strong alcohol hit at first taste. Sherry, orange peel and ginger are the first things you notice after the alcohol. As it develops, you pick up some light peat, salt and some lighter floral notes. It’s not a bad dram, but it does taste young and a little unrefined. Easy to drink, and worth a second visit.

I was really disappointed when Jura removed Superstition from their standard range, it had been a staple of my cabinet for quite a few years. This is a sweet and oily dram. It has almost a honeyed taste that fades into a medium-long finish of pepper, spice and chocolate. There’s a very light peatiness that gives a nice little warmth, but it’s certainly not one of the predominant flavours. Very easy to drink. A lovely, light dram.

Oily and extremely full bodied, this really coats the mouth. Upfront you get a huge hit of smoke and iodine that dissipates into a concentrated sherry. There’s an almost meatiness to the flavour through the smoke. As it mellows it leaves most of the smoke, some peat and and lovely sweetness (think fruit more than sugar). The finish is smooth and long. There’s a spicy ashiness that lasts for ages. This is a nice, complex dram. Not one I could drink all night, but really nice as an occasional sipper.

My ‘go to’ dram, Laphroaig 10y/o always has a place at the front of my cabinet. Upfront it’s medicinal, TCP and seaweed. Surprisingly sweet, with a good amount of oak, black pepper and chilli. The finish mellows it out into the charred wood and seaweed as it lingers on the aftertaste. If you like an Islay, this is a great all rounder - a warm welcome in a glass.

(Batch No: 7) This rye whiskey from Paso Robles really surprised me. I’m not generally a big fan of rye, but this is a very tasty dram. I was in California in September 2018 for a work trip combined with a bit of a holiday and we visited the distillery for a bit of down time. This bottle has been sitting unopened in my cabinet since then. On lockdown thanks to Coronavirus, my wife and I decided to crack it open. Up front, this is a smooth whiskey. It has a good alcohol hit, probably due to the spirit only ageing for 12-36 months, but it doesn’t taste harsh for it. It’s oily enough to give a lovely thick mouth feel. The whisky is sweet, spicy and fruity, there’s a chilli hit and a good amount of vanilla and a lovely cognac/ Armagnac finish. Overall, probably one of my favourite rye whiskies. Nice!

This NAS is a strange hybrid, it tastes like a young spirit, but has such a huge sweet peat smoke hit from the added wood contact of the smaller barrel, it really adds to its character. There’s still the medicinal TCP flavour that is so typical of Laphroaig, but it’s hidden behind the initial sweetness and the almost overpowering peat smoke. The medium finish emphasises the sweet fruitiness with more than a hint of chilli, but every breath out is just peat smoke all the way. Overall, this is a little too overpowering to be an easy dram to love, added to the young spirit it’s definitely not the best in the Laphroaig line up. I tend not to drink my bottle as a straight dram, but it’s a regular addition to my cabinet for one of my absolute favourite cocktails, the ‘For Medicinal Purposes Only’: Absinthe wash the glass 1x Laphroaig Quarter Cask 1x Laphroaig 10 year old 1/2x Campari (hopped if you can find it) Stir in the glass with a load of ice Tasty as hell!