Tastes

Have you ever heard the phrase "you will always find a perfect dram in a Glendronach Cask Strength bottling, no matter what"? You might have not heard it, since i just invented it. But luckily for my new phase of a "Phrase-maker", my statement is very true. There is an independent bottler called "Hart Brothers", which is famous for some very old, very fancy releases, that have bottled this 10yo Glendronach, at a very nice 56.5%abv from a single sherry butt, vintage 2011. On the nose, starts with a lovely coffee, dark chocolate and Tiramisu dessert. Then it released a "Sharpie" marker note. Wedding cake, fruitcake and red fruits. Cherries and grapes, figs bathed in chocolate and quince. WOW THIS IS SUPER COMPLEX. On the palate, a sherry wonderful madness. Cotton candy, dates and blackberry jam. Figs, raisins and slight sulphuric notes. Bubbletape gum. A second sip gave me white chocolate. The first sip was creamy, the second was oily! This is the first i have tasted that have changed its body from one sip to another. Amazing stuff. Aftertaste is powerful and it follows the same path as the nose and palate. Vainilla powder, raisins, figs, pepper and "Crazy dips" lollipop. Overall, this is pure perfection. Everyone in my tasting event loved it, and started searching for it online. I have to be honest, i've never had a Hart Brothers whisky before, and now i am eager to find more bottles of it. My score for it is one big 100 over 100.

I remember when i first tasted the 15yo Highland Park, a long gone expression, with the black and yellow label. It was fantastic. Years have passed and now another 15yo has arrived. This time a 44%abv, bottled in a ceramic decanter, that honours the ceramic jugs where whisky was held back in the 1800s. This is a new release called, Viking Heart. Pretty interesting thing. On the nose, burnt marshamllow; smoke and sown land, lemon peel and coffee. After a first sip, the aroma changed into a brie cheese, a horse stable and orange jam. It has a very clean note of a burnt pineapple, humidity and passion fruit. It really remind me of the milk that babies leave in the feeding bottle. Very complex. On the palate, i get notes of chocolate and milk. Super sweet, hazelnut, and Nutella. Marshmallows. Aftertaste is amazing. Burnt hay, recently cut grass and earthy. Iron, batteries, it is very maritime and salty. Oysters and sea notes. Quite a nice finish. Overall, this has lived to my good memories of what the original 15yo Highland Park from the 2000s was. A very nice, complex, full of flavor whisky, that is presented in quite a beautiful decanter. The palate it is very good, but it is the least amazing part, since the nose is beautiful and the Aftertaste is almost perfect. My score for it is 92 over 100.

I am a Dalmore fan, that is not a mistery to anyone by now. I try to get every new release (if it is humanly affordable), and they seem to have heard the critics that said that Dalmore were releasing too many 40%abv expressions. That is why, this 14yo, Pedro Ximenez finesse is a great gesture by the "Stagg" Distillery, who has given us a 43.8%abv dram. Tawny color. On the nose, your classic beautiful Dalmore. Peachesn figs, dark chocolate. Rum and raisins, cotton candy and cappuccino. Very fruity with a typical Dalmore note of school glue. After the first sip, the aroma changed into marshmallow, honey and tobacco. Three milk cake. On the palate, nice full flavor. Sawdust, jam, cherries and red fruits overall. Marshmallows. Very winey with a sulphur gunpowder note. Aftertaste also offers a fully, complex sensation. Herbal, sawdust, hay, cinnamon and ginger. A dry finish, some tobacco and salty notes. A little bitter. Overall, i believe this is 85% similar to the Cigar Malt, which is my favorite of the core range, i believe it to be even better than the King Alexander III. If i make that statement, you can only get the conclusion that i really, really liked this one. A beautiful, very complex dram, my score for it is 92 over 100.

Super cask Strength whiskies are always good news. If you add "GlenAllachie" to that equation, you are most certainly going to have a very nice time. Signatory is the owner of great distilleries like Edradour, but it is mostly known as one of the finest independent bottlers of our time. They have released this 12yo, 2007 vintage Glenallachie, bottled at a very appealing 64.3%abv, single Cask 900510, one of 615 bottles ever made. On the nose, it starts with a now trademark of GlenAllachie:  an Orange peel note.  Metallic, like copper. Lime and lemon peel. Vanilla fondant. Red berries, white chocolate and a little rancid spongy cake. On the palate it has two or three very clean and appealing notes: white chocolate; an orange acidity and red fruits. It has a nice bite. Aftetaste is very acid, but nice. Orange juice, with a remarkable acidity. Pepper and a Metallic copper flavor. It is a little sour. Overall, the most impressive thing, is that you almost don't feel the alcohol on this super powerful dram. It just doesn't seem to have 64.3%abv, and i believe that it tells you how well crafted this dram is. A wonderful single malt, my score for it is 92 over 100.

The almighty GlenAllachie has a super cask strength special editions, the ones with the grey label, that are specially made for some retailers or countries. I got my hands on a 60.9%abv one, from a single "Premier Cru Classe" Cask, vintage 2009, Cask 1048, 10yo, exclusive for Germany. Bottle 261 of only 304. Quite a rarity. I was very impressed of this peach-like color that this very exclusive cask has delivered to the spirit. On the nose, it is a fruitcake.Oranges, hay, sawdust. Orange caramel and Mint. It is like a fruitcake old books, cotton candy. On the palate, it is an orange jam. Marmalade, cereal. Orange caramel. Cotton and pepper. It has a Fruit salad finish. Powerful astringent aftertaste. Very potent, dry and winey. Overall, this is quite a beautiful whisky, that is so well made that you don't feel any alcohol whatsoever despite the 60.9%abv. This is another proof that GlenAllachie is doing things in a great way. An amazing and very rare dram, my score for it is 92 over 100.

Hello. I will release a Spoiler of this whisky review: this might be one of the best sherried whiskies i have ever had. Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask has made a name of its own, winning many awards for this single cask releases. It has the most dark reddish color ever, it is mahogany. Bottled at 58.7%abv, fasten your safety belts, a wonderful sherry bomb is about to explode. On the nose, right from the first second you know this is going to be epic. Maraschino Cherries dipped in Dr. Pepper soda, wraped im sweet figs. Dates, figs and coffee. It is like the most amazing aroma ever. Cocoa, chocolate and oranges. On the palate it is heaven. Chocolate, cherries, red fruits. A little sulphuric, acid prunes and tobacco. Aftertaste is out of this world. Plums and super winey red fruits. Sulphuric and something that i can only describe as a metallic madness. Chewing tobacco. Overall, insert the "perfection" internet meme here. This is so memorable that my only regret is that i own only a 20cl bottle and i already drank half of it. Kavalan is absolutely marvelous and if you have the chance to taste it, do it. My score for it, as you might already guessed it, is 100 over 100.

"Take me away I don't mind You better promise me I'll be back in time 🎶🎵" That is the main lyric from Huey Lewis & The News, of their 80s hit "Back in time", a song made specially for the blockbuster film "Back to The Future". And i sing that since i have opened one of my most strange looking bottles, the Laphroaig 12yo, by That Boutique-y Whisky Company. This independent bottler is famous for their drawn labels, which often refer to inside jokes. This particular expression shows two guys in the same clothes and posing as Marty McFly and Doc Brown from Back to the Future. The DeLorean is also shown. Bottled at 52.4%abv it has a pale straw color. On the nose it is super spicy mexican chilli dish.  It starts with a note that i can only describe as seaweed. Grapefruit. White wine and a watered ashtray. After a couple of minutesit is tge purest, most powerfull red chilli ever. Super spicy hot. On the palate it is very straightforward but very nice. White chocolate for 3 seconds and then an atomic bomb of salt and pepper. So potent. Aftertaste is all about a peppery madness. It has a nice bite, Gunpowder, chilli. Super, mega, hyper spicy. Overall, if you are a fan of spicy foods, this is definitively for you. I did not find it "Laphroaigish" at all, and i believe that if i were trying this at a blind tasting, i would have guessed wrong, because i would have thought it was a Highland Park. A very nice, not complex but very powerful dram, my score for it is 92 over 100.

One of the best whiskies i had in 2021 was the breathtaking Ardbeg Scorch Committee release. This time, i have reached a glass of the normal release, at 46%abv strength, the one with the black and red label. On the nose, it has the Ardbeg classic aroma. New socks, cotton, red fruits, grapefruit, gooseberries. There is this maritime and Merthiolate profile. After a first sip, it became very sweet, a very appealing, fancy toffee. On the palate, it is vanilla and plastic in a sip. Black pepper and a scorching saltiness. Strong chilli. Very spicy. On the second sip it gets dimmer. Meat. Aftertaste is not as powerful, but lots of plastic an artificial notes. Not much on the second and third sip. Spicy. Short. Overall, i can see why this expression has suffered a lot of bad critics, since it is a special release and it is an average dram. It is quite inferior to the great Committee release of the same name. Not a bad whisky at all, i believe it could be a little expensive for what it offers. My score for it is 86 over 100.

Bowmore did some noise in 2020 with a distillery exclusive release, called David Simson. This very expensive expression, honours the founder of Islay's oldest distillery still working today. Bottled at 50.7%abv, this one has been matured in Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry for at least 20 years. The color is a deep dark copper. Only 6.000 bottles were released. On the nose, it starts with ashes, gooseberries, skin lotion for burns.  Very maritime, thick lotion aroma. Some hazelnut and chocolate notes. Povidyn. Horse stables. This is the most "Bowmorish" aroma ever. It smells like a rodeo. Nutella. A creamy vanilla rised after the first sip. On the palate, it is definitively a bowmore. Saltiness, maritime and earthiness at the same time. Black pepper, ashes. The second sip was a little dim. Dark chocolate notes, smoke. Aftertaste is nice. Tasty ashy finish. Puffs of smoke that come and go without ever stopping. A pepper bomb in a pleasant way. The finish is quite sublime. Salty, ashy, with a nice bite. Overall, i really liked this expression, it is quite flavorful on tge aftertaste and it has a good nose. The palate was a little weak, and even if i consider this a very good whisky, it is not worth the amount of money shops are asking for it. The 50.7%abv failed to deliver more complex notes to the palate, and the sherriness is not super present if you were expecting that from an Oloroso and PX maturation. Even with all this things i have pointed out, this expression is still a very enjoyable whisky, and that is why i believe that it deserves a 90 over 100.

I have been dying to try this very good looking vintage bottles of Connoisseur's Choice by Gordon & MacPhail, the ones with the brown/yellow old labels. Since i couldn't afford a whole bottle, i managed to obtain some miniatures, and i was super excited to get my hands on some 1970's Edradours. The first miniature i opened, which had suffered already a little evaporation, was a 1972 Edradour. Bottled at 40%abv, i have no more facts about it. On the nose, it starts with this aroma of an old library - old books. Prunes, farm fruits. Acid fruits like green grapes. Welsh's grape juice. I would not guess in a blind tasting that this is an Edradour. Blackberry jam; you have to let it breath for some minutes. Strawberries appeared after some minutes. Definitively red fruits; it has a winey, very fruity profile. Super interesting and evolving aroma. On the palate, it is very oaky, very sour. Sawdust, there is a ghostly acid prune taste, but overall it feels "woody". The flavor feels a little watered down and fails to deliver the complexity of the nose. A nice spiciness has risen, noticeable from a wine cask. A ghostly jam is there somewhere. Aftertaste has a nice ashy, tobacco note. Sulphuric, marlboro finish. It screams cowboy everywhere. Chewing, sour, pleasant aftertaste. The overall feeling of this aftertaste is quite rewarding. Very dry, feels strong and nice. Overall, this was a very interesting experience, which gave me a view of this distillery past, where it wasn't quite the sherry bomb it is nowadays, at least it felt that way. The nose is quite complex and by far is the best part of this dram. The palate barely passed the test and the aftertaste was beautiful. My score for it is 89 over 100.