Tastes

I recently discovered Arran as something really positively different and very enjoyable. But I also like lightly and medium peated whiskies. So I got a bottle of the 7th edition from a monthly sale at my local whisky store (just two days before it had to close because of COVID-19). Nose: wooden chimney fire smoke but only at a slight level (this is a I would say medium peated whisky), very direct and not much playing around, very sweet and light fruits, pineapple, grapefruit, fruity trail mix ... all in all very delicate with a very well integrated peat. On second nose there is a lot of vanilla. Lots of vanilla in playful harmony with the smokey peat. Only little flaw is that it isn’t very intense or deep and more on the light side of nosing aromas but that is nothing too upsetting given the assuming young age (being a NAS). Palate: first a welcoming sweetness, getting oily quickly, citrus, grapefruit juice and heavily roasted crispy bread, dried plums / prunes, a slight peppery burn, a good amount of smoke that is increasing with every sip making tis whisky much more serious than on the first impression, but it remains very delicate in combination with the nose adding new layers every time. A few drops of water broadens the range and makes it more accessible. Finish: short to medium with a smokey after taste - what remains in the end is a vibrant peaty smoke and burned sugar I am happy I got a bottle of this one. It didn’t disappoint and even though I was expecting something else, it definitely is a whisky I will happily return to frequently. A very nice surprise and experience.

Nose: huge bowl of fresh cut autumn apples, lemon, sour grapes, bid of honey, very fresh and not at all mature or settled as you would expect from a 25y. Palate: hard arrival with a fresh fruity sourness and light chili burn. Herbal tea aromas along with a woody bitterness reminding me of mate-tea. It sadly is not very pleasant. I mean, it definitely is interesting and has some impressive fullness with a long aftertaste, but I would never have guessed 25y age. It feels and tastes like one of the many popular NAS whiskies from oh so many distilleries these days with 3 to 7 years in one or two large casks. Those aren’t bad at all but this Tomintoul here is missing a twist or convincing character - it doesn’t deliver that and so for me it is just a fairly normal dram with nothing special or something to remember it for. Strange but glad I had it. Worth a try - for me not worth a whole bottle.

Nose: orange, walnut, raisins predominantly. Some sherry influences with some nice and subtle oak wood aroma. Palate: very sweet and mild with a very nice character that originates from the well balanced cask mix. This whisky is really enjoyable and I definitely like Glengoynes style - I won’t be buying a whole bottle but will be keeping my eyes open for some special bottlings. I could imagine independent bottlers doing really nice things with this whisky.

You experience wood chips, coffee beans, a medicinal aroma, a bid of smoke, nuts & nut-shells and caramel. It sure is different to other whiskies and has a uniqueness but while it definitely is a nice whisky, it isn’t for me. In my eyes it only touches one spectrum and while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, this whisky didn’t deliver it in a way that it would be enough for me to drink or buy it again. Not that it is forgettable - it just isn’t very enjoyable.

Nice and pleasant sherry cask aged single malt - not to complex and with a juvenile burn. Delivers exactly what you expect from a sherry cask matured dram - nothing surprising or unexpected. But it gets quiet a bid better the longer you enjoy a glass.

This is the final dram of this now empty bottle. It is my favorite whisky so far. I wanted to give it a whole bottle that I opened in early November to come back to every so often to see how it’s ranking compares to other whiskies of all varieties. And I can say my first impression still stands and it was, is and remains my favorite so far. For me it is near perfect. It is young, unique, wild, vibrant, complex, flavorful, has a lot of variety and every stage is so enjoyable from A to Z. This 10 years old whisky is triple cask matured in virgin oak, bourbon and rum casks. This sounds as wild as this whisky is. Nose: the peat, despite what others say, for me not intense or harsh - it is fresh and floaty and just builds nice brackets around this otherwise speysidy aspects. What’s makes this interesting is that the peat they used is from the highlands region which creates a in my eyes beautiful fusion. It is not the kind of peat that you associate with bacon or smoked foods. It is just a base solid peat not to overwhelming or aggressive. On the nose you also get vanilla, lemon peel, malt sugars, walnut, orchard fruits and cocoa. And while this somehow sounds the same as a lot of other whiskies (especially Speyside) the triple casks are blended so well together with that very well leveled peat, that it makes this different and unique to everything else I have tasted so far. It has Highland Park 18 qualities (meaning the peat part to it) but the BenRiach Speyside base gives it the fruity smoothness. It works just so perfectly together. Palate: very sweet and malty at first and completed by a slight burn that doesn’t really feel like 46% ABV. It is definitely not oily and more in the rocky and fresh side. You also get fresh warm toasted wheat bread (French baguette) and a very friendly peat that lays some enjoyable wood and smoke on the tongue - wild and fresh and not meaty or aged at all. There also is lots of fruits now with mango and pineapple and milky caramel / toffee. Finish: long and surprisingly not to dry. Leaves a wooden and sweet malty summer hay taste in you mouth for quiet some time. The finish is the only reason I don’t give it a full 5 rating. If the palate would offer some oilyness to transition into the finish with some of that smooth fruitiness it would be a 100/100 for me. I guess that would be achieved with a couple more years in the barrels, but that might make it miss the vibrance and freshness that it has now. But for this reason it is a 98/100 for me. It may sound weird but the whisky in combination of nose and palate is like a Bob Ross painting for me. It has a lot of details that are just a combination of several simple aspects - but in the end when it is all combined it falls in place so well, that it looks like it has been created with much more time and effort. It hasn’t but the product in the end looks so perfect and well rounded that it doesn’t matter how long it took to create and with what simple techniques - in a finished combination it just feels perfect and right. So right that you want to look at it again and again wondering how it was done. This will be a stable in my whisky collection.

This one was a special experience for me. I usually have a problem when it comes to heavily peated whisky that have those bacon / fireplace / ash aromas. But even though this one here has these features I surprisingly really liked and enjoyed it. The nose is cold ash but also more dominantly like a wooden fire. But equally present are some citrus aromas and green spices. The taste while quiet burny comes with roasted bread that is almost burned in a toaster. There also is some nutty flavors where especially pistachios are sticking out for me. It remains citrusy and stays quite long with that sourness and a long enduring peaty smoke. Having tasted this I hope that I will get more in line with heavily peated whiskies in the future. After some drams of this one I think I can reckon where peat-lovers are coming from. I definitely see what it is about now. Thanks Bunnahabhain for this eye opener. Edit: the more often I drink it, the more I enjoy it. It really is interesting, smooth, delicious, briny and isn’t at all musty or stinky. It is like a fresh roasted pan of fruits (orchard & exotic too) from a wood smoker.

A lot of hazelnut on the nose along with some fruits and chocolate. Very present alcohol but nothing bothering especially for its 50% ABV. Water opens it up quite a bid. Taste is nice as well starting right up with a peppery burn but also the nutty aromas and a bid of salt.