Tastes

Representing speyside lossie river Nose: mellow, sweet peat, hints of caramel, sherry, dried apricot, moss, hint of oak, vanilla cream, great nose Body: smooth, pleasant, sweet, MJ notes honeyed (?) Palate: the start at first go round was weird, like a metallic burnt nut. Prickly on the tongue. MJ notes big peat, smoke with fruit, but I taste burnt peat with sweet. Finish: just keeps going with late spice and warm and lingering, nice finish. Note: long, smoky finish. Kind of like a tamed down islay of sorts. Billed as a 19th century classic speyside malt. Definitely distinctive. Sweet, smoky but without vanilla and caramel which the nose suggests should be there. MJ notes a nose of charcoal, soot (I see that), but I think I taste it too. In total I appreciate the sweet and smoke and burnt buts it’s one I’d share if talking about historically peated speysides and comparing peat/smoky from sweet drams. Good not great. Would be more my style without the burnt and with more vanilla. A second taste I mixed with glenglassaugh revival and it was just weird. It didn’t reduce the weird revival nose but it did cut down on the curiosity metallic start. Either way that mix isn’t the answer for glenglassaugh. I think I like the curiosity’s more though head to head. Third tasting I put in roughly ten drops of water and it changed the whiskey for the better. It opened up with much more vanilla and bourbon character which I like. Sweet peat still is the overall character and that weird metallic taste is still there but tamed with water. Like the box says it’s best tasted with a splash of water and they’re not lying.

Nose: vanilla, caramel, toffee, molasses, pretty standard fare Body: medium, oily Palate: spicy, caramel, vanilla, spicy & hot Finish: long, warming Note: this is FULL bodied, hot, sweet and tasty, hard to imaging this won best bourbon at 2019 San Fran world spirits competition. Good but head scratching why this is felt the best. But the price is right.

Representing the east highlands Nose: fruit, dark cherry and chocolate. Oak sneaks out. Dark raisin from the sherry (?) light apricot and more fruity with time. Maraschino cherry sneaks out in time. And late hits of pepper. Body: smooth, medium Palate: whoa. Oak and chocolate and dry fruit, it’s sweet but more like dark chocolate sweet as opposed to milk chocolate sweet. The initial impression is unique. Mild spice. Hint of orange cream. Finish: long with dark chocolate and cherry, like a cordial. Note: whoa. I think I felt late heat coming out of my ears. There is a lot going on here. Got a hint of glenglassaugh revival in hint of orange on the palate but it’s very subtle and good when light. Got a little more oaky and sherry-ie at the end which isn’t my style as much but it’s so mature it works. Almost a little hint of smoke or char at the end. Very good.

Representing speyside findhorn river Nose: malty, light peat and smoke, oak, orange cream, caramel sneaks in later. Later more sweet fruit. Sweet and smoky. Mmmm later a little burnt caramel. Body: smooth, firm, medium and oily Palate: yum! Starts with oak, fruitcake and vanilla cake. Slight cinnamon spice Finish: Love love love the late smoke, reminds me of a springbank 15 in that manner. Medium, warming. Note: really well balanced fruity sherry nose with sweet bourbon and smoky finish. This is excellent! Really easy to drink but has complexity that slows you down to appreciate it. Yum. 9/12/20: update won whiskey of the year 2020 whiskey exchange, 2018 gold medal spirits spirits selection, 2018 world whiskey awards best scotch speyside single malt

Representing speyside deveron river Nose: oak, wood, cream, distinctive, sweet, like a cream puff, ?acidic?, winey (red), I think the acid is really orange & citrus mixed with red wine. I don’t care for it. Very distant caramel. The nose is better from a distance. Body: smooth and creamy Palate: orange stands out, then oak and caramel sweetness. It’s different. Finish: woody, way late an orange twangs which I thought was amazing. Later still bready, more orange cream, nice bourbon sweetness, not very warming though. Note: first sip had a lot going on. The nose had me a little concerned (the acid) but I think it is a strong orange nose. Overall I appreciate this dram but it’s not my style. The taste is better than the nose. I was excited for this one and a little let down it’s ok not good or great. Certainly interesting. It has scored so highly but I think that must be the novelty of the flavor which again I appreciate its different but I don’t like different in this case. A second taste mixed with benriach curiositas was a no go. A third taste was different perhaps as the bottle breathed the weird red wine cream tamed down and it was more like a 3.25 than a 3. It was just better

Nose: distant, coy, faint caramel and vanilla but prudish. Chocolate wafts out and some oak Body: firm and robust Palate: caramel, spicy, vanilla, sweet, molasses Finish: medium to long, warming, surprisingly long when the nose is so delicate. It’s like being tucked in by a big warm comforter. Note: reminds me of the saying a lady in the streets and a freak in the sheets. Wow, really good, I was expecting this to perhaps disappoint based on the nose but this little lady takes the gloves off and punches you in the tonsils. I particularly like this bourbon, it’s got balls with the high proof but gives of airs of delicacy. Noice

Nose: light vanilla, some floral notes, lemons when I opened the bottle. Light toffee and red berries. Body: medium, smooth and easy Palate: vanilla (light) caramel (light too), very mild spice Finish: medium with medium warming and nice caramel hanging around. Note: this is a calm and restrained but delicious bourbon. Not as robust and manly as I prefer but more like a dapper gentleman a bourbon in a fine three piece suit. Delicious.

Representing speyside isla river Nose: light, fragrant, nutty, a very mild bourbon-y vanilla and toffee, winter spice, caramel, candies nuts and maraschino cherry a really nice nose. Body: full bodied, no joke! Palate: spice is nice, can taste the bourbon cask sweetness and heat, it’s really nice. MJ notes mixed fruits. Finish: medium and warm Note: I like this one, it’s my kind of scotch hot and sweat, it’s not terribly complicated just a real nice dram. MJ called this finish short but sweet and pleasant with a palate that is minty (?) with nice balance. This is my jam!

Representing speyside rothes river Nose is more mild version of glenglassaugh revival with orange cream and a bowl of fruit. Sherry sneaking in and wet oak. The body is light and oily, smooth and medium/gentle Palate is sweet, clean, lightly malty and fresh herbal heather Finish is short but sweet, unfortunately not very warming but later in the dram a hint of tobacco snuck out (yum). MJ notes lightly syrupy. Note: a little less robust aultmore 12 or arran 10 but still very nice. This is my style in terms of taste but it’s a little robust than I prefer, pretty mild and uncomplicated.