Tastes

A serviceable whisky, and a good choice so long as you approach it with expectations tempered. The sherry influence is obvious, but fruity notes are fairly muted here. Things are instead pretty woodsy, with notes of caramel and vanilla. The body is a little flat, yet the finish is wonderfully smooth. It's good... I'm just not a fan of one-dimensional whiskies.

Looks like I'm two for two in enjoying ten-year-old Tyrconnells - this is pretty good stuff, although the finish is a little off compared to the nose and palate. You get a good dose of wood notes without the typical accompanying wood spices, and the nose is wonderfully unusual: hazelnut, honey and raspberry jam. There's even the faintest of floral notes. It's all quite complex, until you reach the finish and encounter a bitterness that's difficult to ignore and set aside. And worse, it lingers. Still, good whiskey.

Well... I suppose no distillery is perfect. I've come to appreciate so many of Kavalan's expressions that I'm a little crushed by this one's shortcomings. The nose has hints of honey and over riped figs (in an unpleasant way), with a palate that's oaked with notes of cinnamon. I wouldn't say it comes across as a typical port finished whisky - it's more winy than anything. And the finish is bitter and distasteful. This was not my cup of tea, or should I say not my ounce of spirit.

This is a wonderful whisky that will challenge your ability at teasing out aromatic compounds; unfortunately the predominance of ethanol at first nosing masks whatever is underneath. A few drops of water and allowing the dram to decant in a glass for at least 15 minutes goes a long way. That said, the bourbon cask really comes through with wonderful aromas of oak, vanilla and honey. Additionally, subtle touches of apricots and smoke really add depth and character here. And with a mouthfeel that is full and oily, the finish is long and sumptuous. Fantastic!

The nose is eerily reminiscent of a Jack Daniels, with subtle touches of banana , vanilla and oak - quite bourbonesque. There's a hint of pears and cinnamon to the palate. The finish is where the experience disappoints, with a discordant bitterness that lingers a little longer than you wish it to. It's alright.

You ever have a song where you disliked both the beginning and the end, but there was a solo somewhere in the middle that just forced you to listen to the track over and over again, because it was the song's only redeeming quality? THAT, in liquid form. I'm not even going to get into this whisky's aromatic compounds, because I think Amanda does a very good job of summarizing it, but I will say that both the nose with its underwhelming presence and the finish's bitter repulsiveness makes this one a spirit you want to skip.

Definitely the weaker of the three Flora and Fauna whiskies I've sampled, this whisky is marred by an overwhelming and unpleasant aroma of spices. There are also touches of oak, citrus and floral notes, but none of them can salvage this one.

Though its youth is quite apparent, this is a very nice and balanced whisky, with pleasant aromas of orange zest, dark chocolate, malted barley and clove (a generous dose of spice). The body is a tad light and the finish regretfully short, but all in all this is quite delicious.

There's nothing legendary here, and perhaps a more apropos name would have been Bowmore Forget. In fact I'm still not sure what the hell I just tasted, though in complete candor the closest description I can use is: cardboard with the faintest hints of smoke and citrus. This is definitely Bowmore's weakest offering and best skipped over. Cheers!

God it pains me to award Kilchoman this many stars and shower it with so much praise, but alas I must. This is SO GOOD! Everything just comes together in the right way, so compliments to their master blender at vatting this whisky to perfection. The peat and smoke married to lemon peels and a touch of brine are simply outstanding, with a body that is full as oily. And with a finish that lingers, I have to be honest with myself and admit that the only reason I'm not awarding this dram five stars is because of my prejudice against this distillery.