Tastes
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Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist 1990
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed January 11, 2023 (edited January 14, 2023)A vintage Ardbeg is as rare as finding an 18yo old one. The task gets even more difficult when we are talking about a specific limited expression bottled 15 years ago. This is the Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist, a very limited expression, is called "The Beist", and the actual translation for that fancy gaelic name is "The Shelter of The Beast". Bottled at 46%abv, this is a 1990 vintage, Bottled in 2008. On the nose it is incredible. Tropical aroma, a pair of socks, pineapple, cigarrette ashtray, milk chocolate. After a first sip it became even more tropical with grated coconut notes. On the palate it is perfect. White chocolate with red chilli. It is a punch in the face of those two notes. Salty and sweet, pineapple. Spectacular. Aftertaste is deliciously smoky. Aromatic peat, burnt hay. Fantastic. Sugary and smokey. Overall, this is one of the most elegant, tropical, easy drinkable, yet peaty dram. This is the definition of a "rounded whisky". I believe this super expensive single malt (goes for around $700 nowadays), will be a dram that i will remember for a long time. The Beast is actually tamed to be enjoyed fully. My score for it is 97 over 100. -
Ardbeg 17 Year (Discontinued)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed January 10, 2023 (edited January 11, 2023)It is time to review another special Ardbeg Release. This time a very popular, a little expensive (aren't they all these days) expression, the mythical 17 year old. This one was released in 1997, so the liquid inside was distilled at least in 1980, and the first "rarity" you can find here is that this distillery bottling is 40%abv, which is not typical for Ardbeg that is used to bottle their expressions at 46%abv, non chill-filthered. Gold color. On the nose, super different from other Ardbegs. Cotton candy, mint, flowers, heather, incense, aromatic peat and moss. After a couple of sips, it gave me a floral perfume with very tiny hints of chocolate. Hazelnut.ore sips gave me hand soap. Lovely aroma. On the palate, it is not too complex and i would never guess it is an Ardbeg in a blind tasting. Sugary water, salty water as well. Vanilla. That was it on the first sip. More sips gave me condensed milk and more sugary notes. It lost some intensity. Aftertaste was very good. Classic smoke, bbq sauce, bacon. Very long finish, very rewarding. Herbal. Grilled pork, salty. Overall, this was a very good single malt, that is very different for what i expected. I can't called it unbalanced, because the nose is fantastic, the palate is above average and the finish is great, but still feels like this is not the best Ardbeg out there. It really lost some points on the palate, and that affected the overall balance and the final score. Don't get me wrong, i would drink it any day, it is a great whisky, but i would never pay the 780 dollars that is nowaday's average price for it. My score is a well deserved 90 points over 100. -
Ardbeg 1976 Connoisseurs Choice (Gordon & MacPhail)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed January 6, 2023 (edited January 7, 2023)On new years eve i opened one of my most valuable miniatures. A Gordon & Macphail bottling of Ardbeg, vintage 1976, 23yo expression. Bottled in 1999, this one of those famous "map labels" from the Connoisseurs Choice range of Gordon & Macphail's whiskies. 40%abv, golden color. On the nose, it starts with a nice Brownies note; Old Orange peel and moss. Swampy aroma, wet ashtray and medicinal ancestral herbs.Quite interesting and fun. Salted water/Iodine. After some sips, the ashy note became crazy. On the palate, some orange caramel and tons of salt. Pleasant red chilli. Actually it starts pretty sweet. The third sip gave me marshmallows, cotton candy and lots of sugar. Very different profile for what you typical expect from Ardbeg. Finish is all about ashes and salt. Definitively red chilli in a spectacular way. The peatiness is herbal. The third sip gave me a sugar rush that i havent felt in any Ardbeg before. Earthy, sweet, hay, moss, salt, pepper. Overall, this one was quite a ride. For a 40%abv dram, it is very complex and full of flavor. I believe this has various layers of tasting and aroma notes, but definitively the nose is the best part. My score for this beauty is 93 over 100. -
Dalmore 12 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed January 5, 2023 (edited September 9, 2023)I started my whisky journey 6 years ago. This is my whisky review no. 1083, but the first one i ever did, and the first single malt i ever had was a Dalmore 12yo. Obviously, this magic dram was the version from nowadays. But, back in the 1970s-1980s, an older version existed. And this black labeled, long bottle Dalmore 12yo, is that older expression. Let's see if this forgotten jewel has changed in the past 50 years. Bottled at 43%abv, this is the first difference from the expression you can find in a retail store now, which is bottled at only 40%. On the nose, it is quite complex and different. Amazing orange zest notes, fresh gooseberries. Everything citric and quite beautiful. It has the style of most 1970s whiskies, with thick citrus flavors, i have had a couple like that. Dry cherries have rised after 5 minutes nosing it. Beautiful aroma of fruit salad, kiwi and ripe fruits. After a couple of sips, the aroma changed into lemon, airfreshener. Its like every fruit in the world dipped in marmalade. Fantastic. The palate starts with yellow apples mixed with orange marmalade. Incredibly good, salt and sawdust kicks in after 5 seconds. A second sip gave me canned macerated pineapples for cocktails. Salty and dusty. Beautiful. Aftertaste is a little oaky; Sawdust, hay and clove. Herbal rounded finish. It is quite diferent to nowadays Dalmore. It is dry, with tobacco leaf notes; very cowboy-ish. Overall, this was an incredible experience. It goes for around 450 dollars in the seconday market, which might seem a lot for a 12yo whisky, but the truth here is that you are paying for a relic that existed 50 years ago when the world looked very different from now, and not only the world has changed, the Dalmore has changed as well. I believe this is a more complex dram than the one from our century. Both are very good, and i can honestly say that Dalmore is one of my favorite distilleries. My score for this one is 95 over 100. -
An award winning blend is always suspicious, specially when that category holds some great contestants as the almighty Hibiki 21 or a super high-end Compass Box. Don't get me wrong, i love blended whiskies, but i am a little skeptical of naming them "Best whisky in the world" specially when you are dealing with super brands that are made mostly to please a broad base of consumers rather than true whisky analysts (if such thing even exists). Well, actually i like Dewars a lot. It is a good, affordable blend. And this 21yo expression, has become very famous due to the awards it has won lately. It says in the label that it has been matured in four casks, mostly Oloroso Sherry ones. Bottled at 46%abv it has a very lovely red color. On the nose, quite nice. Bbq sauce, thick maple syrup, glazed ham and peach halves in their syrup. Honey. It screams Craigellachie everywhere. Not too complex. On the palate, it is super smooth, and i don't use "smooth" ever as a whisky term. Velvety soft and incredibly gentle. Vanilla, red fruit syrup, frutilla, maraschino cherries and fruitspice. Aftertaste is elegant. Hay and ginger. Very woody and dry; more sips gave me this feeling of coffee and milk, toffee and almond milk. Overall, this is a very good dram, but way too gentle and safe for my subjective preferences in whisky. Not very complex but incredibly easy to the palate, it achieves what it intends to do, which is a notorious elegance for whisky drinkers who appreciate a well crafted spirit without any crazy flavors or boldness. My score for this fairly enjoyable "juice" is 84 over 100.
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Lochlea Our Barley
Single Malt — Lowlands, Scotland
Reviewed December 22, 2022 (edited July 3, 2023)Imagine a Cattle Farm. That is what this distillery was back in 2006. By 2015, the owners decided to transform the Piggery into a Whisky Production facility. Quite the dream. Lochlea was allegedly the farm where Robert Burns lived. And now, it is one of the newest Whisky distilleries of Scotland. Bottled at 46%abv., this is the core expression. Golden color. On the nose, it still feels a little young. Acetone, canteloupe, Salt and pumpkin. Peaches and air freshener. A couple of sips released a wet vanilla cake. On the palates it is all about apricots and honey. Sweet peach halves. Aftertaste is more of the same profile. Peaches, cotton candy. Almost spicy, it feels like hot Honey. Overall, i believe that this very young whisky is a good spirit that in the upcoming years will manage to be a very interesting single malt. It is not a bad dram, but it lacks complexity and maturation to become more round. This is a nice product that should be watched closely in the future for better crafted expressions. My score for it is 77 over 100. -
Lagavulin Islay Jazz 2022, 14 year old, Ex Brandy Casks
Single Malt — Scotland
Reviewed December 20, 2022 (edited January 22, 2023)This is a true statement: Lagavulin is the best. And the best Lagavulin expressions are the Islay Jazz ones. I am glad we have discussed that. Now let's talk about 2022's special Islay Jazz expressions, because this year there were two of them, a 7yo Ex Bourbon Cask Strength, and this amazing 14yo Ex Brandy Casks, bottled at 55.4%abv, with a beautiful golden color. On the nose, absolutely amazing. Ham, a pair of cotton socks, moss, new shoes, and a fresh can of tennis balls. Brown sugar, burnt rubber, sponge and a rubber duck. Incredible stuff. After some sips it gave me liquid paper, glue and plastic. On the palate, this is a marvelous liquid. Peaches, earthiness, amazing bacon and roasted coffee. After some sips it gave me dehydrated peaches and molasses. It was near perfection here. Aftertaste was glorious. Cuban cigars, smoke, ashes and very long. Ginger and Salt. Overall, this was an out of this world dram. I believe this is the first time i have ever had a Brandy Cask finish and it did not dissapointed me. Brandy is actually a type of burnt wine popularized in the netherlands as "Brandewijn", and that "burn" goes fantastic with the Lagavulin spirit. Great, great stuff, my score for it is 99 over 100. (It lost only one point in the palate). -
Glenmorangie Traditional 100 Proof
Single Malt — Highland , Scotland
Reviewed December 20, 2022 (edited December 21, 2022)There is nothing like a vintage looking bottle, specially if it contains a glorious "juice" inside. I am not the greatest Glenmorangie fan ever, and i was surely skeptic of this "Traditional" expression, but it really impressed me. Labeled as "100 proof" this bottle makes a reminiscence of the imperial measures back in the old days. Bottled at 57.2%abv. It has been matured in "mountain oak", which unsurprisingly is actually american white oak. It is a 10yo single malt. On the nose, oranges, rose water, perfume, hazelnut, Nutella and Lime. It has this amazing Brownies aroma. After a first sip, the aroma change into butter, croissant. Yeasty. It actually smells like new dollar bills. The palate starts sweet. A full vanilla flavor, very fancy, very well crafted. Brownies crest, tobacco and hay. Quite delicious. Aftertaste is the epitome of this whisky song. Tobacco, burnt grass, chocolate and brownies. Overall, i would never have guessed this is a Glenmorangie in a blind tasting. I truly believe that the high abv has extracted everything from the new wood, which undoubtely is american oak from the Ozark Mountains where Glenmorangie owns a forest. Having said that, this is a fantastic single malt, with tons of sweet flavors. I loved it. My score for it is 97 over 100. -
Tobermory 17 Madeira
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed December 18, 2022 (edited December 19, 2022)I don't know if it was me who recently discovered how good Ledaig and Tobermory is, or if they are just starting to make very good things. I find this special wine cask maturations releases very appealing and i have started to look for them. This is a 17yo Madeira cask finish Tobermory, bottled at 54.2%abv. Reddish color. On the nose, it starts with Amaretto liquor, oranges, almonds, Contreau and figs. A banana on the last day before it goes bad. Dates and very winey. After a first sip, coffee with caramel. The third sip became very oaky, woody, like licking sawdust. On the palate is super delicious. Purple fruits, like blackberries, raisins and dates. It is like a fig juice, or a blackberry Welsh's juice. Dr. Pepper notes. Aftertaste is very dry and winey. It follows the same rythm of figs, raisins, candied fruits. It is like feeling cloyed by having too much Christmas cake. Very nice. Overall, it was a fantastic single malt. I am really sad that this kind of expressions are very limited, because if this kind of single malts were always available, the whisky world would be a better place. My score for this great dram is 95 over 100. -
Arran Quarter Cask "The Bothy"
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed December 17, 2022 (edited September 9, 2023)A quarter cask is a 125 litre oak barrel, that of course has more influence of the wood itself in the final flavor of the whisky, because there is a lot more oak for less whisky. This is important for everyone to know before talking about this very good Cask Strength expression from one of my favorite distilleries, Arran. Arran tends to have a fairly tropical spirit, and i am very curious to find out how a Quarter Cask can change some of the typical Arran profiles. Bottled at 56.2%abv, pale straw color. On the nose, the tropical notes are here, but enhanced. Pineapple, coconut, vanilla, lotion for burnt skin, cake fondant. After a first sip, the aroma changed into Tylenol and red fruits. On the palate, there are less than a handfull of tasting notes, but they are awesome. It tastes exactly as a cherry topping over a creamy "dulce de 3 leches". Chocolate, vainilla. Maraschino cherries. Super sweet. Aftertaste was very spicy and nice. Wasabi explosion. Vanilla, dulce de leche, salt and sulphur. Metallic notes. Rum and raisins. Overall, this is a very good single malt, very hard to beat at the price it is sold, which is not expensive at all. A great nose is followed by a hyper sweet palate and a spicy finish. I really believe that this is an offering that will always make you happy. My score for it is 90 over 100.
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