Tastes

1953 was 70 years ago. That means that the world in where we live today, was completely different. Not only worldwide internet was inexistent, there where no cellphones, not even color TVs where sold to the public. Planet earth was still recovering from the most cruel war it has lived. In 1953, when Dwight Eisenhower was asuming as US president; when Joseph Stalin died; when scientist were publishing the DNA structure; when Rocky Marciano defeated Joe Walcott; when Edmund Percival Hillary climbed the Everest; when Elizabeth II was crowned queen of the UK; when Frank Sinatra was divorcing Ava Gardner; when Hulk Hogan was born; that exact year, TALISKER DISTILLED THIS SINGLE MALT. This iconic old bottling from Gordon & Macphail under their "Connoisseur's Choice" labels, was a 24yo single malt, at 43%abv. On the nose, it starts with cigarrettes mixed with sherry. Maritime notes and BBQ sauce. There is a very special sherriness to it. Fish market aroma with a full sherried experience. Vanilla ice cream. So crazy. On the palate it was absolutely perfect. Sherry and red fruits; Salt. Richly sherried but very maritime as you should expect from this distillery. It feels velvety; if you chew it it will release a lovely puff of smoke. Salty water. After a first sip, it gave me a red fruit jam. Winey and full of red fruits for seconds then the salt kicks in. Aftertaste is beatuiful, very smokey. Ashes and cigarrettes. It is a salt and a smoky bomb. Wonderful flavor; Old books. Super rewarding. Overall, this legendary whisky delivers its promise: a well crafted, velevety maritime and sherried experience. It is always amazing to taste such rarities, specially when it comes from one of my favorite distilleries. When this bottle is finished, the world will miss it. My score for this marvel, is a 97 over 100. Incredible dram.

I was visiting enemy territory, the Johnnie Walker store at Prince Street in Edinburgh, where the staff were giving free whisky of your choice. I have had most of them, but not this Clynelish Distiller's Edition 2020, which actually is a distillery that i haven't tasted too many expressions from. This 2020 release is bottled at 46%abv, with a 14yo age statement, matured in oloroso seco wood. On the nose, it is all about almonds. Nutty, crushed almonds, red apples and pecans. Candle wax and pears. After a couple  of sips, it gave me vanilla milk formula. On the palate, it starts with a perfect mixture of red apples and pecans. Very spicy. Almonds and sider. Stewed apples. Aftertaste can only be described as "oaky" and i truly despise using that term. Dry woodiness, almonds, slight pepper. More almomds, nuttiness and pecans. Overall, this is a fairly good whisky. Nothing to special, and it feels like one more proof that most Johnnie Walker malts are average when left alone (not the case of Talisker or Lagavulin). Clynelish has never been a super whisky in my books, and this one proves mi theory once more. My score for it is 85 over 100.

I love Edradour, it is a single malt that i crave for its finests sherry bombs, lovely reddish color and intense aroma. I am used to the "Ibisco" decanter which look a lot like a Milk bottle, but i have never tried their golden color expressions. Golden do you say? Yes. A notoriously different Edradour that you can guess is matured only in bourbon barrels and not sherry. This is a review for a 2012 vintage, 10yo, bottled at 58.9%abv, bourbon cask matured single malt, drawn from the casks No. 223, 224, 225, 227, 228, 229 + 230 as it states in the bottle. On the nose, it is exactly what you expect. Bananas, light rum, stinky vanilla, glazed ham... and maybe slight peat??. It is a vanilla ice cream. On the palate, it has a very well delivered fancy vanilla taste. Brie cheese and lots of different spices. Aftertaste follows the rythm. Peppery, spicy, bananas and coconut. Bronzer. Overall, the powerful 58.9%abv has drawn the most classic notes you can ever get from bourbon casks. The vanilla sweetness, bananas and coconut are simply uncanny. I feel this is a very balanced dram an for a 10 year old is worth trying. My score for it is 88 over 100.

In 1495, in the scottish exchequer rolls, there is a written record that reads that 8 bowls of barley were used to make Aquavitæ in 1494. That is, to this date the first written proof of the existence of Scottish whisky, and the guy who wrote it was a Friar called John Cor, who reside at Lindores Abbey. Now you know where this special release got its name, since this is a tribute to that "big bang" moment of creation, the precise moment where Scotch officially came to existence. Lindores is quite a new distillery, and it was to be expected that their first cask strength expressions get the name of John Cor.  Bottled at 60.2%abv, and it belongs to The Cask Strength Congregation Chapter I. It has been matured in Bourbon, Monbazillac, STR and Sherry casks. On the nose, it has a trademark note from lowland whiskies: Chocolate. Creamy and spicy. Lemon pie, smores and cookie dough. Oranges and peaches. After a first sip, the aroma was all about pepper and chocolate. On the palate this is pure chocolate. Orange peel, very acid. Scorching and powerful. On the second sip it gave me this argentinian "alfajor". Aftertaste gave me dulce de leche. An scorching ginger spice tea. Powerful nice spiciness. Sprite soda and grated coconut. Cornstarch. Amazing. Overall, this was fantastic. Full of flavor, very sweet as a friar soul. It is a nice expression to commemorate the "father of scotch whisky". Everything is so sweet it can be a little cloying. Amazing expression, my score for it is 91 over 100.

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.