Tastes

This is one of those 40% insults again. A very weak nose. What gets through is okay but nothing more. It has a light fruitiness and some shy florals as well as a bid of oak. The palate is watery, light, sweet and a bid dry. After a while it gets smoother where before it was a bid unsettled and all over the place. The only thing that would let you guess it 18y age are some sherry-like notes that are at least slightly interesting. The finish is good though - the best part of it. Nice oak wood even thought still slightly weak. Then it develops a more bitter and even slightly salty finish which makes it a nice / okay whisky in the end. So, a little disappointing at first but it improves later on. I’m pretty sure 46% ABV and up would make this an genuinely nice whisky. But like this I won’t drink it again. Potential wasted in my opinion. Probably for a different target audience.

Another peated expression from a distillery who usually doesn’t do peat. I heard that the original 'Peat Week' was pretty good while this newer version isn’t as popular. I actually like it quite a bid. Light fruity peat aromas on the nose which aren’t intrusive or overwhelming at all. Very compatible. Some grains and malt as well as fresh cooked orchard fruits. A bid of pine resin, hops and vanilla too. Later banana peel and peach. The peat on the palate is much more present and feels really well integrated. It is just slightly sweet and well balanced against the malty sweet flavors. The finish is nice but short and it leaves a slight bitter burned taste behind. But over all it is an enjoyable easy drinking dram which is properly flavorful and unique enough. It feels a bid slim though.

I wasn’t originally going to create an entry for this bottle. This is the Christmas bottling from my local whisky shop that you get as a member. But it is limited to 66 bottles and it doesn’t make sense really to make entries here for these ultra small editions - but it just so good. I am sure there are quite a few Tullibardine IB’s out there which might deliver a similar experience. This particular one is from 'Malts of Scotland' (a German IB) and was matured for 9 years in red wine casks. And this is presented on the nose right up front. Buttery red grapes and berries. The highland whisky character is still dominating though with fresh yellow fruit aromas and heather honey. It properly boosts the wine aspect in very corner of your nose. Very nicely balanced between sweet and sour. It isn’t silky nor is it thick (as a Glendronach for example) but it’s strong suit is the highland red wine mix, which is nicely executed here. Later an appearance of dry wild summer hay including lavender and other florals. The palate is where it gets interesting. It is like nicely spiced red wine sauce with honey stirred and cooked together. The stuff that you would make to cure some BBQ goods in over night. (I wonder if you could actually do this with this whisky?) There then is also some very nice roasted chilis. That all continues well into the finish with some herbal and oak notes added. Water brings out more sweetness on the palate but also more chili-heat. Impressive stuff really. I have had Tullibardine before but never at cask strength, which it obviously needs for me to fit my preferences. Only downside is it’s young spirity character. This whisky a couple of years older would be amazing.

My favorite Distillery. I have quite a few bottles in my collection but over the last 15 years they released so many so very different bottlings, it is nearly impossible to get them all - even just as a sample. Their new lineup so far only consists of 7 different bottlings. Two 10y, two 12y, 21y, 25y and 30y. I’m looking forward to what else they gonna come up with. But for now I try to get my hands on a few remaining samples of their outlived bottles. This one here is part of their wood finish line. I have a bottle of the 15y Tawny Port which is one of my favorite port whiskies I ever had. So I’m curious what Madeira wine does which the same age whisky. Citrus and bitter lemon on the nose. Bright crispy caramel flakes on top of red berries. Hard cookies. The nose is fresh and only slightly sweet. The red wine only lingers on the very top of the aromas. The palate has actually a really dry red wine taste right from the start. It takes a while for it become a bid more oily and a little winy sweet. Very clear on the palate. Interesting but not very diversified. The finish is long and rich yet still dry but not in an intrusive way. Enjoyable whisky but maybe a little underperforming. This would make for a perfect vatting whisky. They already use it in some of their new lineup bottles so it is nice to see one separate part of that.

I had Ledaig before: I liked one a lot (IB from Claxton’s) and didn’t another (18y). But since I recently had the Tobermory 12y, which really positively surprised me, I wanted to give its heavily peated expression another go. And the nose right away doesn’t disappoint. Very delicious peat-sherry composition. Lots of salt and a bid of fresh rubber. It could for sure pass as Islay from the nose it just doesn’t have those seawater notes. (It feels like Bowmore.) In the back is a slight rotten hay aroma which is a little off-putting. The palate has dry sand, minerals - it is oily, very peaty, strawberry compote, lots of vanilla then burned sugar-syrup. The finish is short and a bid uninspired. Nice whisky. A bold statement that properly displays Tobermory’s capability to create really good peated whisky too that doesn’t have to hide behind anyone in that class and price range. Will I buy it? No. While it reminds me of peated sherry Islay whiskies, the Uigeadail is far beyond on all ends to this one. (Damn you Uigeadail - why are you so good?)

Another distillery I wanted to give a new attempt after I wasn’t convinced the first time I tasted something from them. (I had the 10y and ‘Superstition’ before.) This is a peculiar bottling. Jura has the regular age-statements including the 21y. But they also have two separate 21y bottling called ‘Tide’ and ‘Time’. Would have been interesting how different the two are but let’s see what it is in the first place. Highlandish fruit and honey notes on the nose with a very mild peat. There is a sulphuric part to it as well like fresh scrambled eggs. Also mustard. Strange. Some bitter walnuts, apple sauce and ripe gooseberries. For 21 years and 46 something % ABV this is surprisingly weak. But what you get is nice and not too sweet but sadly a little boring / simple. The palate is kinda the same. Nice and a bid weird. Malt, bitter pears, mustard seeds, apple vinegar. The finish isn’t great. Long and proper for its age and ABV but it feels off somehow. Water brings out some very nice features on the nose. Brown Christmas gingerbread with icing. The palate looses grip though. This was interesting but not very enjoyable. It really is weird and feels off on several ends. The strange side notes are odd and just don’t fit in. Not sure if this sample was off or had too much oxidation but this is the third dram of Jura that I didn’t really like so I will keep my hands of any others for the foreseeable future.

A beautiful and wild nose. Sweet and fruity sherry notes weigh against crips raw highland notes. Wild berries as well as a few exotic fruit aromas form an interesting melange on the nose supported by a nice oak. Later cinnamon and mild grapefruit. The palate is incredibly sweet. At the moment I can’t recall any whisky being this sweet. But it still manages to deliver distinct mature flavors along that with oak, sour fruit-candy and a lot of intense roasted nuts. Some citrus oil and bitter herbals. Nice. The finish is quite long but in my eyes the weakest part to this whisky. Not bad but very distinct and too harsh in a way that it doesn’t match with my personal taste. All in all a fine dram. I like it better than I remember the regular 14y and also than the Nights Watch GoT version ... and way better than Little Bay. So this far it is the best Oban I had. If only the finish was more enjoyable.

I was looking for a bottle of Laphroaig for a while, since it was one of the first whiskies I had, but I couldn’t decide on one. I liked the Brodir but not enough to get a bottle myself. I heard the glorifications of the Cairdeas Port Wood but that one is impossible to get now. So I impulsively went for this one as a final pick from a (these days) rare visits at my local whisky store. The nose screams Laphroaig from all directions but very deep at the base is a dark juicy rich syrupy sherry layer that protrudes through it like a beskar spear. Around is the iodine and brine like on a cold Islay day after a storm. Just as wild and raw. On the palate Islay peat with salt, old wet wood and sour grapes. Then after the cold ash, the PX makes its way through and covers the whole mouth with delicious sherry notes that swing back and forth against the raw fire smoke and steamy charcoal. What an exiting whisky. It isn’t as deep and rich as I hoped it would be but if you give it time it is hard to find anything else that you don’t like. It is raw, wild, untamed, interesting, strong, characteristic, honest, a little playful and very Islay.

Batch 2. Mild nose with equally leveled peat and sour orchard fruits. Feels almost infantile. If you get really deep into it there is some exotic notes as well like bitter apricots and unripe pineapple. The palate is nice. Feels really good. Balanced and plain but enjoyable. Smooth and crisp at the same time. The sweetness only lingers in the back and leaves enough space for some fruity peat notes with nuts and cornflakes. (If I had to find a similar whisky I would go for Arran Machrie Moor.) Good stuff both the peated and the unpeated bottlings. It isn’t as convincing, deep and adventurous as what you get from Rachel Barries other love-child’s Glendronach and BenRiach but it for sure is unique and interesting.

This is Batch 2. This distillery wasn’t really on my radar but I read that this is work from Rachel Barrie of whom I am a fan of. Her blends and vatting’s at BenRiach are amazing and right up my ally. So is Glendronach. So I wanted to see what she did at this distillery. Young and clean nose. Lots of heather and herbs, light orchard fruits. Very strong aromas, very unique as well. Less sweet and more focused on wild organic aspects. I like it. It reminds me of Wolfburn small batch releases but feels more mature yet a little more straight forward. The palate first is sweet but quickly gets fruity fresh with a equally balanced acidicy. There is again mild wild herbal notes but the palate feel even younger. Not with a alcoholic sharpness (which is more subtle here) - more with a completely missing wood / oak influence. The nose later introduces a bid of smoke and brininess. All in all it is a proper fine whisky. It doesn’t go as deep and focuses on a more honest classic identity. I like it for that.