Tastes

A weekend of 4 Irish whiskey samples. 1/4 Green Spot (Leoville Barton) Nose: light but flavorful ripe yellow apples & pears with a sherry-like aspect. A good bunch of banana too. Then some delicious white chocolate / chocolate butter and honey sweetened cornflakes / puffs. Bright wheat bread. Very smooth with a bid of citrus. No alcohol noticeable. Very likable and nice. Palate: pan roasted grains / seeds / nuts. A shy sweetness but the wine sourness and dryness dominate. Only a very mild sharpness. Also a light nutty bitterness with some strong wood tannins. Now the fruity and dry wine aspects shine through ... Finish: ... and that is what remains into a medium long finish. Lightly fruity dry and oaky. A very fine and interesting whisky with medium intensity and a characteristic cask style.

Mild and sweet peat. Creamy and soft with a bid of yellow fruit juice. The palate is still mild with the peat remaining soft but delicious. It is neat. Even though I can’t really put my finger on specific aspects, the combination makes this a pleasant and relaxing peated dram which is in between lightly and medium peated. A nice and not not overwhelming sipper.

Really ripe and sour fruits. I was afraid at first that this is just another honey juice but it goes a lot further. If you give it some time there is a fresh parsley smell and then peaches. Not overly sweet on the nose. Herbs and spices and on the palate along with a brown rock candy sweetness and a fresh hotness. A bid of sweet licorice. Nice.

You recognize Arran right away, which is one of my if not the favorite distilleries. The nose is really mild and yellow-fruity. There is definite white grapes (the small ones with those really hard seeds), a slight pepper smell as well as a bid of exotic fruits (pineapple), crust of white bread and light oriental spices. Likeable but missing some depth. The palate is fruity and hot. Not overly sweet and not as fruity as the nose. But behind a intense and spicy chili burn and a nice bitter sourness there is crackers that are lightly salted and dipped in sweetened jalapeño lime vinaigrette with some good bunch of cloves. It is very dry. It is nice, very intense and feels very young. On the opposing side for my taste it misses smoothness and depth.

Welcoming change on the nose. The red wine is definitely really giving this whisky its character. There is grapes, raisins and a nice dry fruitiness. White chocolate. Butter. Warm molasses. Bitter orange. Generally really intense and full. But also really sharp on the nose already too. The palate hits your taste buds with a quite strong dry chili sensation at first. But after the initial sip it gets much more approachable. Spices yeah but now really flavorful ones. Ginger, Italian dry herbs, lavender (strange but yeah really). Bid of honey and even less vanilla. Not really sure how much of the red wine you actually get on the palate but together with the nose it is still very present and adds up to a nice combination experience. I must say while I’m not that much of a fan of the base whisky itself, the cask style I really liked and in my opinion it really adds to the dram experience.

As I like Springbank a lot I was told to check other Campletown expressions too. So I got another sample of a Glen Scotia. This time an older one. This one is quiet intense and rich. Lots of florals and vanilla. Underneath a syrupy sweetness there is a bid of mineral beach sand and dry grass quality but not as convincing as I was hoping. The palate is as sweet as anticipated. Cherry and chocolate which is really nice. But the finish is what was the most interesting. Like dry tobacco leaves from a good cigar and a mossy wood. Afterwards you get a good bunch of smoke and a buttery bitterness. Not bad at all and indeed interesting but not as smooth as I thought it would be. It definitely has a kick and a noticeable alcoholic burn and a very long lightly bitter finish.

(3 Kilchoman Evening with a dram of Machir Bay, Sanaig and Loch Gorm each. This Loch Gorm is the 2020 release.) Nose: very welcoming with the delicious signature Kilchoman peat which btw I much prefer over the Islay veterans from Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Co. - it is on par quality wise with the peat style of Bunnahabhain which I also like a lot. Additionally there is some really dark and dry sherry which almost isn’t fruity anymore. Also cold iced black tea with pomegranate or maybe hibiscus flowers which are more sour than sweet. Very interesting. Palate: a nice fruity balance of sweet and red fruits / berries. Much more accessible as the Machir Bay for sure because it pulls equally hard an both the sweet and and woody peat strings. Very likable for sure. The alcohol is quite strong though. Intense but not smooth although nicely malty sweet - burned malt in fact. Finish: long and dominated by the peat but directly followed by a dry sherry depth. Very much recommend this as a fantastic Islay alternativ to people (like me) who can’t access the rubber / plastic / tennis ball / band aids / ash / cold smoke character of other representatives from that unique island. Very interesting, deep and intense.

(3 Kilchoman Evening with a dram of Machir Bay, Sanaig and Loch Gorm each.) Nose: delicious signature Kilchoman peat, behind the very nice warm and cloudy peat there is mild exotic fruits (pineapple & star fruit), cold coffee and only a bid vanilla - still slightly sweet. Palate: the peat receives a bid more cold ash flavor directly with the first sip - nothing off- putting though, it is slightly fruity sweet but only so much that it stays on the edge to the background, hard to grasp specific flavor profiles for me but it is delicious non the less. But there is some green banana, and burned brown sugar. Not very complex but intense with what it offers. I don’t get any parts of the sherry casks at all by the way. Finish: long and smokey with a metallic fruity sourness and a quite intense ABV burn like smoked birdseye chili’s. I like it but I prefer the sherry parts the other two Kilchomans offer - these complement the peat note in such a nice way that you really miss something with just the bourbon casks from the Machir Bay.

Very light nose. Takes a while to open up. Some orchard and dried fruits. Cloves and pumpkin I am getting. Actually it becomes better over time and lets you assume the potential this whisky would have with a higher ABV and some more years in the cask. The palate actually has a good portion of smoke from the charred / toasted casks I assume. You get dry dates, raisins and ripe lemon. A nice apple sourness as well as spiced yellow fruit punch. You really need to give this whisky time. It really improves on the palate if give it the chance and a couple of minutes between sips. I must say what disappointed me is that there is nothing really that I would associate with the Night’s Watch. There is neither ice nor rough-/toughness of the north nor cold wet celtic weather. I really thought somehow that these Game of Thrones whiskies are kinda reflect their title in their taste. If I had to I would more attribute this to Arryn or Riverlands or Bravos but definitely not The Wall or the North in general. But I like it.

Nose: French madeleines dipped in orange oil, no alcohol at all noticeable, vanilla, potato crackers, prickly IPA beer - interesting really. The palate is also quite nice. There is light oriental dry spices, orange lemonade, bright nuts, it also has nearly no noticeable alcohol to it and is very sweet and juicy. It would be too light in general but the interesting spice mix gives it a flavor punch. Much better than expected. I will see what other Balblairs there are that go a little bid further or maybe even have some peated barley to it.