Tastes

When Tamdhu relaunched as a super distillery, they started bottling their single malts as they grew in time. First it was the 10 year old; then the 12 and 15, and really not too long ago, they have released two 18yo expressions, one of them a cask strength. This 18yo is actually a limited edition, not the cask strength one, but it has a decent 46.8%abv, with a lovely natural copper color. On the nose, it has a lovely orange chocolate; incredible caramel, fancy toffee, vanilla cookie dough bathed in dulce de leche. Toffee, caramel, dulce de leche. It has all the classic Tamdhu notes on it. Thick vanilla. On the palate, it is exactly a dulce de leche ice cream. Spices have risen, red chilli. Vanilla. Aftertaste is not complex, it gave me only two notes, but both were very enjoyable: Red chilli and dulce de leche. It is actually super spicy. Overall, Tamdhu has managed to increase their typical elegance in this one. It feels like your standard Tamdhu, but way fancier. That is not a bad strategy for this distillery, since you know that most whisky drinkers want smoother and improved versions of the whisky they already like, specially when they go to an older expression. Nothing too new here, just a better performance of a very good whisky. My score for it is 90 over 100.

One elusive Highland Park bottle has been this "Triskelion" expression, a decanter that i have seen quite a lot in auctions but i really was mever convinced to buy. The name comes from a nice experiment, three whisky makers (Gordon Motion, Max McFarlane and John Ramsay) came together to marry three different casks, of their choosing, to create this single malt. Matured in first-fill sherry seasoned Spanish oak butts, first-fill sherry seasoned American oak casks and ex-bourbon barrels and hogsheads. Bottled at 45.1%abv. On the nose, you get that classic heathery peat from this distillery. Orange peel, lime and burnt grass. On the palate, sweetness and citrus continue. Vanilla and a ghostly lemon zest. Cigarrettes. It changes from sweet to a "paper-ish", dry burnt grass profile. Aftertaste is very ashy. Cigarrettes and ashtray. New paper. Overall, this was a solid and balanced whisky, but it wasn't too exciting. It has a nice flavor profile and i can feel that they try to create something safe here. The result was a very enjoyable dram, that really won't surprise anyone too much. My score for it is 88 over 100.

On my visit to the Scotch Whisky experience, A.K.A. the whisky museum, in Edinburgh, after the lovely tour, the staff gave us a whisky that i have never seen before. It was called "Whisky Row" and it was bottled at 46%abv. This is a blended malt. On the nose, Maize, vanilla and a citric lemon peel. A spongy vanilla cake. On the palate it follows the same rythm. Spongy vanilla cake, lemon acidity, more vanilla and maize. Aftertaste is more of the same. Maize, Barley; very cereal-ish. Ginger. Overall this is not the most memorable whisky ever, but it was free, so that makes it a better dram, lol. My score for it is a honest 67 over 100.

Space, the final frontier. That is the inspiration for one legendary whisky. This one can only be seen im magazines and instagram posts of rich people. Of course, we are talking about the almighty Dalmore Constellation. The Dalmore Constellation is a collection of 21 whiskies, that cover a range of vintages, since 1964 to 1992. The whole collection was originally sold at a retail price of "only" 335.000 dollars. So, i heard a rumor that in Balmoral Hotel, in Edinburgh, there was some incredibly rare bottles; as soon aa i arrived i saw it... a 1990 Dalmore Constellation. I have never even seen a bottle, imagine how it felt to hold it. It was so heavy that i immediately thought that it had a "Rolex" efect to it.  Well, i poured me a dram, that was a little (a lot) over my budget but i just couldn't let this opportunity go by. Bottled at an impressive 56.5%abv, this has a 21yo age statement. On the nose, pure perfection. A magnificent orange note. Impalpable sugar, red berries, nutmeg, lime. It felt like it had 17.000 layers of different aromas. Chocolate, ginger, passionfruit, melon. Crazy good. Pavlova dessert. It is so inmense on the nose that i want to wear it as a perfume. On the palate it was unbeatable. Orange madness, a sonic boom of spices, red fruits. This is a powerful super fruity Dalmore. Lemon, sawdust and a full tangerine note. The second sip gave me a sugary overload; this is really out of this world, making honour to its name. Tangerine, white choloate and watermelon. Aftertaste is amazing as well. Sawdust, ginger that is so powerful that it comes out from your nostrils. Sulphuric and a little metallic, with an uncanny orange acidity. It makes you salivate. Hints of salt and oranges. Overall, if i could give this dram a 1000 points i would do it. This was tied as my favorite dram of my Scotland trip 2023, alongside Talisker 27yo Elements. An incredibly intergalactic dram, this is Dalmore's finest "juice" that i have ever tasted. Perfect score, 100/100. Slàinte mhath!

Lets break the age paradigm forever. Spoiler alert, i have given a 100 points score to a 5yo whisky. Have you ever dream to try the heart of Dalmore? Well i recently did. I was in this incredible bar in Edinburgh called "The Abbey" and i saw a weird looking bottle that might be a Dalmore but i wasn't sure till i got closer. Somehow, a guy named Torsten Paul had bottled a 59.9%abv Dalmore with a 5yo age statement. He even got a nice bespoke label that looks printed in his own house. The Stagg crest was drawn in a crazy nice way. I said to myself, "nothing can go wrong here". On the nose, it has this aroma of a new make spirit for a second. Liquorice, and then boom and aroma of something that can only be described as fig liquor. Brown sugar and a Cherry marmalde which was fantastic, OUT OF THIS WORLD. On the palate this is one of the most delicious drams ever. Super winey and buttery, it is like the cherry heart. The second sip gave me an incredible red fruit note. Aftertaste continued to amaze me. Red fruit madness, liquorice, a lot of powerful spices. Red chilli bomb. The last sip... that was one great sip. It was exactly like licking a sherry oak stave. Marvelous. Overall, this is perfect. I don't know Mr. Torsten Paul, but if we ever meet, i am going to tell him that he bottled something really special. My friends, this is whisky. This is what a single malt is meant to be. I don't even want to brush mt teeth. My score is 100 over 100.

Tamdhu is one of nowadays greatest whisky makers, but there was a time where it wasn't as popular and as fact it was mostly used in blends. This 25yo is quite a rarity, because it belongs to that era, from some decades ago, when the "little dark hill" distillery was not so praised, and was mostly kept in the dark corners of whisky blends. On the nose, it has this incredible orange note;  lulo fruit. It is an orange peel bathed in chocolate. Really an epic clean aroma. On the palate, it is a little classic but very fancy. Toffee, spicy;  Caramel and sulphur. Tasty. Aftertaste is where that recognizable Tamdhu chocolate appeared.Tobacco. very elegant vanilla. Overall, this wasn't super impressive but it was definitively a well crafted dram. Nothing too complex, but it can surprise some inexperienced drinkers to believe this is the best whisky they'll ever have. For more experienced whisky enthusiasts, this will be ranked a little above average. Too classic on the tasting and aroma notes, but everything was wrapped up nicely. A honest score for it should be an 88 over 100.

Before World War I; Before the Bolshevik revolution; quite before the great depression or the Whisky Prohibition; just when the XX century was "kicking off", independent bottlers Berry Bros. & Rudd bottled this blended malt. In my scottish journey, in Edinburgh i went into a great bar called "The Abbey", where they sell incredibly rare whiskies, and there were many that called my attention. One in particular was this Berry Bros 1910-1920 blended malt, which had no label, it came in a deep green bottled and had the cork replaced, because it obviously was damaged when opened. I ask the kind bartender to tell me more about the bottle and he said that they knew the dating of the blended malt, because it had an early King George V seal, who was the ruler of the UK since 1910. This of course was an opportunity that i could not let go. I did not waste any time and i grabed a sample to take back home and i picked a special moment to taste it, it was yesterday 20th of may, as a celebration for World Whisky Day 2023. For all i know, this dram which was distilled more than a 100 years ago, could have been drawn from the stills in the first decade of the 1900s. I have no more info to give you, except that if you go online and look for "the Abbey" Edinburgh bar, you will find it first on their whisky list. I believe less than 7 drams are left on the bottle. On the glass, it has a pale golden color. On the nose, it was quite amazing. Tangerine peel; chocolate with hazelnuts, sawdust. A thick caramel. White chocolate with almonds. After a first sip, the aroma gave me a maraschino cherry syrup for a moment; then it turned into coffee with milk. Lots of caramel notes, very sweet. Acid prunes. Impressive really. It was far less impressive on the palate, where it felt exactly as some 1950s and 1960s whiskies that i have had the opportunity to taste. Sawdust, caramel, burnt grass, hay. A second sip gave me a vanilla water and orange peel. It feels old, not in a sense of humidity or old books, but it resembles the whiskies from past decades that i have had before. Aftertaste was nice. It actually scared me for 5 seconds, since it was completely muted on the first sip, but after that short time, paper, spices and salt appeared out of nowhere. More sips revealed a long lasting finish with tobacco and cigar notes. It has this cowboy feeling overall. In conclusion, i can't be more excited for having tasted a whisky from the 1910s -1920s. I don't know many people that have the chance to do that. This is indeed a piece of history, and i think i am a blessed person to ever found it. The whisky itself is not bad, the nose is almost perfect; the palate and aftertaste is above average. A true score for this is 86 over 100, and now there is less of it in this planet because of me. Slàinte!

Legendary whisky time! If you are a whisky nerd like me, you already know there are some myhtical whiskies out there. Bottles long lost, some from distilleries that will never come back. Other ones from famous independent bottlers from the 1980s. Popular legends are Karuizawa, Hanyu, Pappy Van Winkle, Port Ellen, but also two italian retail stores: Moon Import and Samaroli. Well, Moon Import was founded in the early 80s by an italian called Pepi Mongiardino, who drew himself some lovely labels for his bottlings. It is often said that "These iconic designs, coupled with the quality of the liquid saw Moon Import steadily grow in popularity." Well, in 1988 he released a collection that became very popular among collectors, it was called "The costumes". And you guessed it right, i have finally tried one.  This Glenkinchie was matured in hogshead #2573 and was bottled as part of The Costumes. This was distilled in 1966 and bottled in 1988, for a 22yo statement. On the nose, this is outstanding. Chocolate, sawdust, lemon, hazelnut. A really Powdery hazelnut and nutmeg. Some spiciness and burnt hay. Old books with stuck pages. Hanuta; Impressively nutty. On the palate, it is also pure perfection. Chocolate, lime. So pungent and astringent. Paper; Feels old with a rounded spicinesss that surrounds all. After a first sip, it gave me a lovely buttery chocolate. Butter. Mashed vanilla cookies. On the third sip it is out of this world; it is marvelous with a Lindt chocolate note. Aftertaste was great as well. Old books, humidity. Dry raw cereal, spicy and malted barley notes. Overall; this one is not only a piece of whisky history, it is also a fine dram. I love when this kind of single malts live to their expectations. A fully complex, rounded single malt, my score for it is 97 over 100. I tried it on a scottish pub called "the Abbey", you really should look for it if you have the chance. Every moment that goes by, the possibilities to find it, fades away. Sláinte!

Prepare yourselves, i have a review for a legendary whisky that i have tasted; one with a lovely story that even became part of the permanent decoration of the distillery. This is the story of Bruichladdich Yellow Submarine 1991, WMD II (Whisky of Mass Distinction). Back in 2005, a local farmer saw a metallic thing in the sea just in front of the Bruichladdich distillery, which was hitting the rocks. It happened to be a Royal Navy yellow submarine, with a marking that said "MOD" (Ministry of Defense). Bruichladdich personnel called the goverment but they denied that they were missing a mine detector submarine. The distillery staff took it out of the water and stored it in the premises. After a couple of days, some big helicopters came to Islay to take the submarine back; it was the British ministry of defense. The submarine was retrieved. Of course, Bruichladdich made a full size replica as an ornament for the distillery and released this 14yo whisky, that has obtained the "legendary" status. Bottled at 46%abv and in some internet stores this goes for 2k. On the nose, it is perfect. Cotton candy, peaches, hazelnut, nutmeg and white Ritter chocolate. After a first sip it released an almond note which is marvelous. Pistachios, Nutella and churros. Waffer with nutella. Incredible. On the palate, it is nice but a little simple. A peach madness, apple strudel and the typical shampoo note from Bruichladdich. Aftertaste is elegant and delicious, but i would like it to be a little more complex. Sulphur and spicy notes. Cotton. Overall, after the great aroma, the palate and aftertaste didn't lived for the expectations that the nose created. A very good whisky, with an increible story, i believe that the price of this has gone way to high, and that makes this very good whisky in a bad deal to drink. As an investment, this bottle is certainly been sought by many people. My score for this is a 90 over 100.

I am a fond fan of lovely looking labels from independent bottlers, and trust me on this one, it is beautiful. "The Kraken" as i called it, is a "Dream od Scotland" independent bottling of Port Charlotte (in other words peated Bruichladdich), at cask strength, that has been finished in manzanilla sherry casks. It has a 12yo age statement and has a powerful 51.3%abv. One of only 423 bottles ever made. On the nose, i get the typical Shampoo/soap note of Bruichladdich.  White chocolate, floral notes, spicy bubblegum and lotion for burnt skin. Not the best aroma out there. On the palate, it is tasty. Peaches, pepper and aromatic herbs. Aftertaste is very dry; with raw rice notes and something that can only be described as glue to close an envelope. Cotton Overall, the label was far better than the whisky itself, which is not bad, but nothing special. It lacks complexity for a Cask Strength, but also it is not delivering you any clean aroma or tasting notes. A little disspointed with this one, my score for it is 82 over 100.