Tastes

I have been pushed all over online whisky groups to try th famous Bunnahabhain Staoisha releases from Signatory Vintage. For what i can understand, this "Staoisha" releases are peated Bunnahabhains, since the word comes from Lake Staoisha near the distillery. This one is an 8 year old, distilled on september 27, 2013. It was bottled on june 2022. The strength of this whisky is 46%abv. On the palate, it starts with a burnt pineapple, like the ones used in some non-traditional pizzas. White chocolate and a pair of new shoes. Humidity notes. On the palate, i found it to be a lot sweeter than i thought. Vanilla, Ritter white chocolate. On the second sip i got the peated notes of rubber and a pair of cotton socks. Aftertaste is all about peaty crazy notes. Leather, rubber, and a peppery spiciness. Overall, this was not as good as i expected, specially when a lot of people told me to try it, but it just didn't blew my mind. It doesn't feel THAT peaty. A proper score for it would be 21 points in each criteria, making it a soñid 84 over 100.

Austin Healey 3000 was a british sports car, very James Bond-ish, that was sold between 1959 and 1967. It is consider nowadays as a true classic, an a collector's dream. Well, a German whisky retail store called "Whiskey&Lifestyle", made something truly great. They bottled a 20yo Glendronach at cask strength. What can be better? Well, they put an Austin Healey 3000 picture in the label and released it as a limited edition. Let me repeat this, it is a 20yo Glendronach at cask strength, what else do you need? Bottled at 55%abv, it has a lovely chesnut color. On the nose, it is just incredible. Caramelized orange, coffee beans, molasses and fruitcake. Dark chocolate. An outstanding rum & raisins note has appeared. Plums, hazelnut and lemon. It even has the aroma of a "Frangelico" liquor. Spectacular stuff. The palate is as good as you thought it would be. Blackberry marmalade and cinnamon. On a second sip i got dried fruits like almonds and sweet pecans. It is like a cognac on steroids. Aftertaste is the epitome of greatness. A rather dry feeling of cinnamon, blackberries and molasses. Superb. Overall this is perfect. I think i should repeat here that this is a "20yo cask strength limited Glendronach", which is a group of words that have a strong possibility to achieve a perfect score in my books; and as you might have already guessed it, it did. My score for this perfect, flawless dram is 100 over 100. It is now fighting for the top spot on my yearly ranking. Slàinte!

Ardbeg Rollercoaster is one of those legendary committee releases, a bottle that is known for being rare and full of a background story. Actually Rollercoaster has different whiskies from the first ten years that Ardbeg re-opened under their new administration. I am also pretty sure that this single malt has whiskies from the previous committee releases, making it a "Rollercoaster" of different Ardbeg expressions. Bottled at 57.3%abv. On the nose, it has the crazy notes you expect, but it feels like it could be better. A pair of new socks is the first note i get. Then red chilli. Wasabi and bacon. It has the typical Ardbeg herbal notes. It resembles a flu medicine called "Lemonflu" that exists in my country (it is like a lemon night quill remedy). Red berries appeared from somewhere. On the palate i have the same critic, something is missing to make this great. Sweet and spicy. Starts with impalpable sugar and then red chilli. It is exactly like a sweet treat called "Alfajor" which has no proper translation to english. Please google it and you will know what i am talking about here. Not very complex. Aftertaste gave me a nuclear wasabi explosion; herbal notes and ashes. Nothing else. Not bad, but nothing too exciting. Overall, this is far from the thing i expected it to be. The sweetness here feels disonant to the spiciness. It is not super peaty nor smokey. Herbal stuff, spicy stuff, sweet stuff, but not in a balanced and interesting way. It is not complex at all. Really underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad whisky by any means, it is just not superb as i expected, due to the rarity and price of it. My score for this very normal dram, is 88 over 100. It should have been better.

One of the first high end bottles i bought for my home bar, was this limited edition from Compass Box, a very good looking bottle called "This is Not a Luxury Whisky". Of course, the name and the whole concept of the bottle comes from an artistic background, as most Compass Box do. In the late 1920s, a famous belgian painter called René Magritte painted a pipe, and underneath the pipe he wrote: "this is not a pipe". The surrealistic meaning of the artwork was clear, to say it was not a pipe, when it clearly was a painting of a pipe. The same concept is applied here, stating that this is not a Luxury whisky, will make it most definitively a luxurious one. Bottled at 53.1%abv, it has a beautiful golden color that can't be appreciated while in the bottle, because the decanter is black. On the nose, it is near perfect. Orange peels, tangerine and tobacco leaf. Burnt gray grass, white chocolate and coconut Cream. After a while breathing, it released lemon peel, meringue. There is a very unmistakable note of white Ritter chocolate with almonds. Cigarrettes. The palate is very peaty. Super unexpected. Tobacco and ashes. Salt and maritime notes. A second sip gave me a fancy, thick bodied vanilla. Oily. Orange acidity on the second sip. Sulphur; metallic. Creamy and acid. Aftertaste is wonderfully peaty as well. Salt; maritime kelp, ashes. It is actually super salty. A wet ashtray and cigarrettes. Overall this was a complete surprised. I have drank a lot of expressions from Compass Box and i expect some peatiness out of them, but this is really three steps above any other release. In a blind tasting, i would never have guessed this one as a CB for two reasons, you can't find that typical "Glen Elgin - Clynelish" profile they often use; and, it resembles more to a single malt than to a blended scotch. I actually would have made a wild guess and said that this is the rare Mackinlay Shackleton old highland malt, (the Whyte & Mackay replica made by Richard Patterson), because it has this old, grassy tobacco peat note. Outstanding whisky really, my score for it is a very well deserved 95 out of a 100.

Lately Kilchoman has released some limited expressions, that experiment with different cask maturations, such as fino sherry, mezcal and now this very interesting Cognac cask. It has been bottled at 50%abv to bring most flavors into the final decanter. The label and the box are simply stunning, with a "Colonel Mustard from Clue" yellow color. On the nose, it is incredibly complex!; it starts with a pair of new socks, but then it releases chamomile, herbs, flowers and apricots. Plastic, wet grass, flowers, merthiolate and a hospital gauze and tape. Letting it breath will make it more fruitier. Lemon, apple juice, white wine. After a first sip, the aroma changed into lotion and medicinal notes. It has released some spiciness, like a notorious note of red chilli. Really well crafted. On the palate, it has only three notes, but they are very well delivered. Apricots, salt and fruit punch. Aftertaste is very rewarding, a little dry though. Cotton. Sugar and salt. Apricots. Overall, this is a super enjoyable whisky, and i feel it is a little unfair that my score system will not make it justice, since it fells better than the 92 points that i am giving to it. A very nice offering from Islay's farm distillery.

Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival expressions are always a must in a whisky enthusiast home bar. Since the first time i tasted the 2017 release, i fell in love and i have never missed one. On 2022, "Laga" actually released two expressions for Islay Jazz Festival. This review is for the 7 year old one, a cask strength edition, bottled at a magnificent 59.5%abv. On the nose, i got some crazy notes that i love since i have a broken soul due to excessive peat. Merthiolate, and the rubber tube from a bicycle tire are the first distinguishable aroma descriptors that appear. Povydone, gooseberries, metallic. A swampy pond. A tire repair shop. How can anyone dislike this aroma profile? It is impossible! On the palate, the Vanilla form the bourbon casks used is very present. Thick salt, sulphur and a red hot chilli. A second sip took me to Italy, since it was all about a super creamy vanilla Gelato (ice cream). Aftertaste is perfect. Pecans, metallic notes and sulphur. Roasted almonds. Incredible stuff. Super long. Overall, this is what jazz is. A crazy composition of spectacular notes (peaty or musical), that obliterates your standards and paradigms to show you something different which is definitively a piece of art. That is what this dram is. My score for it is a solid 97 over 100. It is a 7yo, but it shows Lagavulin is capable of.

The legend says, that to this date, Arran has never made a bad whisky. The reason might just be because they sold their soul to the king of darkness, after drinking from his punchbowl. My friends, i have tasted the second part of the three mythical Devil's PunchBowl releases from Arran, having only missed the first of the expressions. It was amazing as per usual. On the nose, it is almost too perfect. White chocolate, pineapple, apricots and a pack of Marlboro cigarrettes. The aroma here is so wild: lime, humidity and cookies n' cream. After a first sip, it gave me coconut, sambuca, ashes. It is like you poured an apple juice into an ashtray. Passion fruit. Spectacular. On the palate it is crazy good. A sugary milk, pineapple, Potts apple juice. Aftertaste is where the spiciness lived. Red chilli, wasabi, peanuts and ginger. More sips revealed a crazy battle between sugar and salt notes. Overall, this is a top dram, as most Arrans are. I don't believe this is better than the third release which i had some years ago, but this is incredibly complex and enjoyable for everyone, even if it is bottled at 53.1%abv. It gives you exactly what they offered, punchbowl of layers of flavor and aroma. My score for it is a solid 94 over 100.

Have you heard the phrase "the best whisky is the whisky that is free"? Well, i have found the exception to that rule. A new whisky has reached the ecuadorian markets, a japanese one, Iwai Tradition. The good thing about been one of the only whisky critics in my country, is that people always gift me new expressions that appear. Iwai Tradition is bottled at 40%abv. On the nose, way too much grain whisky. Pears and lemon air freshener. Sawdust and an old, oxidized green apple. Liquid paper, hand sanitizer and farm fruits. Gooseberries. On the palate, it starts as a sugary water, but it is super dim. Slight apple notes; young and rough. Ginger. Aftertaste is not good at all. Dry. Hand sanitizer and almonds. Nothing here. Overall, this is not good at all. I did not like it, the nose and palate are under my average score, aftertaste is off putting and the balance is non existing. My score for this one is a fair 52 over a 100, and that is a little too much for what it really is.

Glenfiddich has released a series of 4 travel exclusive expressions, that they have called "the Perpetual Collection" which are a new spin to their classic fruity spirits. This is the Perpetual Collection No. 2, called "Dark & Rich" which as you might have already guessed, is matured in sherry casks. Bottled at 43%abv, the Perpetual part of this releases is that they are married in the big solera vat, that is never emptied. On the nose, it is exactly what you expect. Cinnamon, caramelized red apples, cherries. After a first sip, it releases a heavy floral note. Spicy, full pepper and wet roses. Wet grass. On the palate, it starts with sawdust, red fruits, floral notes and red apples. A circus caramelized apple. Aftertaste is mostly spicy in a mild way. Pepper, chilli. Floral and red apple peels. Overall, this is a Glenfiddich, and you are getting exactly that: floral, fruity and spices. Of course that this is not going to change anyone's life, but it works perfectly to fit its objective: been a travel retail whisky that is bought to be shared with friends in any social meeting. My score for this suitable, everyday whisky is 84 over 100.

Douglas Laing has a beautiful costume to blend two single casks from famous distilleries into one limited "vatted malt". I have seen a couple of those releases and i got my hands on a few of them. This one is an interesting experiment, an Ardbeg blended with a Glenrothes, with a 10yo age statement and bottled at 46%abv. On the nose, you can catch some of Ardbeg's unmistakeable spirit. A black pepper bomb, tangerine; the herbal Ardbeg 10yo note is present. Pineapple, ashes and meringue. On the palate, just three notes, but delivered in a lovely way: Sugar, pineapple and vanilla. Aftertaste is spicy and peaty. Black pepper, smoke and cardamom. Overall, this is a very straightforward, smokey dram, which is actually very enjoyable. Nothing too fancy here, but it gets the job done. This is actually that i would recommend to people due to a very good price for a delicious dram. I think an honest score for it, is a well deserved 88 over 100.