Tastes

I've never had a particular interest in Johnnie Walker, and have never felt inspired to explore beyond some less than compelling entry-level JW bottles, specifically, the Red, Black, and White Walker offerings.  But I was excited to receive a sample of the Ghost and Rare Brora, courtesy of @pbmichiganwolverine.  Not only is this well-aged (the primary component is whisky from the Brora distillery, which closed in 1983), but there's something almost mythical to drinking whisky that's a relic from a bygone age, sourced from a distillery that was boarded up years ago.  Diageo is apparently re-opening Brora later this year, which will dampen the Brora mystique in my mind.  But perhaps we'll get some great new whisky. The whisky itself was not a letdown.   I found the nose to be very complex - sweet, fruity, and nutty, with multiple notes of each.  The palate was complex as well.  I will often say that a good blended whisky is well integrated.  In this case, I found the palate to be layered.  The top layer was spice, some wood and some heat.  The bottom layer was creamy grain and sweetness.  I've sometimes found drams that have this type of split presentation to be a bit off-putting, but in this case it works wonderfully. I often consume samples in two sittings - half one day and half the next, and it's not uncommon that I find something new or different on the second day.  In this case, the nose and palate remained the same through both tastings, but the finish had a notable shift.  On the first tasting, the notes on the palate quickly disappeared, transitioning to dry, woody and slightly bitter flavors.  Not enough to ruin the experience, but not totally agreeable.  On the second night, the top spicy layer made the same quick exit, but the sweet layer remained as the drier, more bitter notes emerged.  It was enough to balance the finish quite nicely. All in all, quite excellent!  Johnnie Walker will always be a producer of outrageous amounts of mass-market whiskies that I'll continue to pass over, but it's nice to see what the brand and Master Blender Jim Beverage are capable of.  Thanks @pbmichiganwolverine for a great dram and a cool ghost distillery experience!

I bought a bottle of Kilchoman UK Small Batch from the Whiskey Exchange a few months ago, and I had assumed it was UK only until I was disabused of that notion about a week ago while visiting San Diego.  Old Town Tequila (www.oldtowntequila.com) is located (not surprisingly) in the heart of Old Town.  It happens to be in the same building as one of my favorite San Diego restaurants, El Agave.  The store is a bit of a mess - to access some of the shelves, I had to push aside random boxes of unopened stock collecting dust.  But the mess was the furthest thing from my mind as I perused shelves full of excellent and rare bottles of tequila, mezcal, scotch, bourbon and more.  Among those treasures I noticed a bottle of the Small Batch - the US edition. Subsequently, I've learned that there were approximately 1250 bottles released in both the UK and US.   Other than the UK and US designations, I see no difference between the two. I considered placing my review under the US Small Batch entry requested by @eli-mckenna-weiss, but for for the sake of clarity I opened a new entry. Perhaps there should be a single merged Small Batch entry. On to the whisky!  This is a very enjoyable Kilchoman.   It's full of flavor, perhaps due to the multiple casks - bourbon, sherry and medeira.  Perhaps also due to the multiple casks, it has a more dense profile than some other Kilchomans, but not overly so.   This a very pleasant whisky that can be thoroughly enjoyed without deep contemplation. But there are two characteristics are can be best appreciated with mindful sipping.  First, the fruit notes run the gamut from mellow dark fruits to tropical fruits and a hint of lemon cream.  Second, the peat notes are beautiful - a Kilchoman hallmark, in my opinion.  But here, the peat makes a really wonderful transition to chocolate and caramel on the finish. So pick it up if you find it!  And check out Old Town Tequila if you have the chance.  I picked up several lovely mezcals that I hope to review soon.  But note, while Old Town has some great web offerings, many bottles are not listed online.  Your best option may be a trip to San Diego.

To sum it up in two words - raisin brandy.  That may not sound a lot more appealing than Raisin Bran, but if you like sweet drams, raisins, and/or brandy, this might be a winner.  To my palate, it's extremely sweet (practically liqueur sweet) and not particularly complex.  I can't say that I love it, but it's a unique dram.

I learned today that the entire Taketsuru line is being discontinued due to shortages. I had a sample of the Pure Malt a few weeks ago and I neglected to take meaningful notes. What I recall is that there was some malt, some sherry notes, and some honey sweetness. While I wasn't enamoured, it certainly wasn't offensive. That's as much as I recall. Apparently, It didn't leave much of an impression, so it's fair to say I won't miss it.

My third and final selection from my recent visit to the Flatiron Room in NYC. The Flatiron Room is well organized. Unike some whiskey bars I've visited, the requested bottle is always located, even when the staff have to climb ladders and crawl through the eves. But in this case, it took about 10 minutes and some consultation before our server found the bottle. "This one isn't frequently ordered," he said. For those who do order this whisky, an interesting and enjoyable dram awaits. Interesting, because I would not not have guessed it was Caol Ila had I been served it blind. While it's not radically different, the meaty, barbeque peat note that I find to be the signature of the 12 and 18 is not center stage. There's plenty of peat - more than the 12 or 18 - but it's a stronger smokier peat reminiscent of Lagavulin. Enjoyable, because a complex array of flavors accompany the peat, including prominent vanilla, some lemon custard, apple and earthiness. Notwithstanding the strength if the peat, I found it to be a significantly brighter version of Caol Ila. I haven't explored independent Scotch bottlers in depth, but this dram provides a compelling case for doing so. It is both a very nice whisky and a significant variation from it's well known siblings.

Ahh, Ardbeg. I've fully explored Arbeg's core offerings, but never had any of the annual limited edition bottles. I began to remedy that deficiency during my recent visit to the Flatiron Room in NYC by selecting the Grooves. Quite simply, this is a gem. Full of flavor, both sweet and smoke, with a fairly gentle but lengthy finish. There's a lot to like here, but the two highlights are the red wine finish notes, which are strongest on the beginning of the palate and throughout the finish, and the peat smoke, which makes a grand entrance mid-palate. The wine notes are natural straightforward fruit sweetness. As for the peat, Ardbeg's is simply my favorite. Bold, barbeque and meaty, without ashiness or any trace of smoky bitterness. That peat note is on full display in the Groove. Perhaps the most pleasant surprise came when I located a bottle for sale at a reasonable price. I expected they would be entirely gone. I look forward to exploring the Grooves in more depth!

2019 was a banner whiskey year for me.  I tried lots of great whiskeys, bought many fantastic bottles, and had great experiences at a variety of bars and stores.  Most importantly, I spent numerous hours of quality time sharing with and learning from so many great people here at Distiller! To start 2020 off right, I needed a strong opening act.  I've been holding a sample of the Ten Year Dialogos I received from @pbmichiganwolverine for the right occasion.  What better way to ring in the New Year? I thoroughly agree with the enthusiastic comments that proceed my review - this is a wonderfully balanced, boldly peated, and complex yet instantly enjoyable whisky. But a few personal reactions - This is my first Octomore.  Although I love peated whiskeys, the idea of a dram with approximately three times the peat PPM of Ardbeg seemed...unnecessary.  I love peat blended with other contrasting flavors, and 167 PPM sounded like pulling heaps of cold ash out of the fireplace and adding it to my morning smoothie.  But I could not have been more wrong. While it's heavily peated (from about five feet away, my wife immediately exclaimed, "peated whisky!"), it doesn't come across as more peated than the typical Ardbeg, which leaves plenty of room for the wealth of other flavors this whiskey has to offer.   To my palate, there's a real difference between the peat flavors of different whiskies.  For example, I find Laphroaig to be ashy in nature, Ardbeg to be barbeque, and Ballechin to be a thick cloud of billowing blackness.  The Ten Year Diagalos peat is a bit fiery, with a quality that is almost a bit spicy.   It's lovely.   So thank you @pbmichiganwolverine!  If the rest of 2020 is half this good, it will be an epic year!