Tastes

I am going to spoil this review for you. I will start with an statement that will normally go on my conclusions about a single malt. That statement is: THIS IS A FANTASTIC, OUT OF THIS WORLD WHISKY. So, Bunnahabhain released on 2021 this 12yo Cask Strength expression, and it immidiately caught my attention. I searched for a bottle and bought it as soon as i found one; but i was keeping it to taste it along a group of people in my whisky masterclasses. Finally, almost one year later, i opened it, along other 3 fantastic whiskies, but this one impressed everyone. Bottled at 55.1%abv, tawny color. On the nose, it is incredible. Starts with an artificial alcohol note like liquid paper, but then the chocolate takes control. Chocolate bathed raisins, dark cake and almonds. Cinnamon and wet paint. Barley, skin lotion, chocolate powder. Red fruits and mini oranges. On the palate, it is perfect. It is like a chocolate lotion. Strange but incredible. Acid prunes, pepper bombs and milk chocolate. It actually relieves you from any stress you might have. It is chocolate with chocolate, bathed in more chocolate. Nesquik formula. Aftertaste was simply sublime. Raisins; Crunch chocolate. Super dry, Cinnamon and a 100% pure dark chocolate. Overall, there is no reason why you shouldn't try this. Every whisky should be like this one. Incredibly well delivered, it is full of flavor and it is super enjoyable for a 55.1%abv single malt. Is this the best "Bunna" i habe ever had? Maybe it is. My score for it is an uncanny 97 over 100, and for the price it goes, it should be rated 10000 over 100.

Insert the song "King for a Day" by Jamiroquai, and lets start reviewing a Compass Box release that describes a very opulent Banquet. A blend of North British, Miltonduff, Clynelish and Glen Elgin, this is Compass Box Rogue's Banquet. It was released at the beggining of the 2020 Covid Pandemic, and it had the intention to relief people who where unable to abandon their homes due to the virus. The label might be the most beautiful one that Compass Box have ever made, and that is quite the statement. Some of the characters that appear on the label, belong to other expressions of compass box, like the hedonism muse that is in the center of the banquet, or the famous Peat Monster who is guarding the whisky barrels in the basement. True art. Bottled at 46%abv, light ambar color. On the nose, beautiful aroma. Apples, hay, stewed apples like baby's Gerber mashed fruits. It has a thick and creamy feeling. Honey, fruitspice. After s couple of minutes the aroma changed in something much more tropical like pineapple that has been left inside the fridge, peaches and prunes. After some sips it gave me vanilla cookies, dinosaurs or animals vanilla cookies for kids. On the palate, old pineapple, tobacco and cardboard. Hay and grass. Aftera first sip, it gave me vanilla, peach halves and pepper spice. The grain whisky can be felt but not in a bad way. Cookie dough and orange juice. Aftertaste mantains the good performance. Salt, hay, recently cut grass. Gunpower and a very long pepper finish. It is like licking the glue of an envelope to seal it. Salty and maritime. New wood. Overall, this is one of my favorite Compass Box ever. It was so elegant, complex and super enjoyable. It feels absolutely well delivered, perfectly balanced and full of tasting and aroma notes. They really made something great with this one. My score for it is 92 over 100.

Recently Ardbeg has suffered some backlash because people think that their latest releases aren't as good as they were 4-5 years ago. In my personal experience i have liked almost all of them, some where better than others but i believe that "Scorch" or "Fermutation" were actually amazing drams. Having said that, their expression that suffered the most critics was this "Ardcore", made using "Dark Roasted Barley" (i don't know if it is the same as the one the same company, LVMH, uses in the almighty Glenmorangie Signet, which is an incredible whisky). I already rated the normal "Ardcore", and now it is time for me to rate the committee release; which is basically the same single malt at a higher strength, 50.1%abv. On the nose, starts with notes of wood polisher, cotton socks, lots of sawdust; smoked chitterling. I also get some liquid paper and a wet dog, lol. Letting it breath a little released an aroma of nerf toys, organic soil; it actually smells like a fish market and a cow stable mixed together. Not my favorite Ardbeg here. On the palate, it fails to develop something interesting or bold as the bottle marketing suggests. Vanilla, sweet bread. It feels weird, not very pleasant. Glue and hints of chocolate. Aftertaste surely feels like the best part. Plastic, very long finish; car tires, oily and Kerosene (in a good way). Overall, this is in no way, shape or form a good value for your money. It is not a bad or off-putting, it just lacks emotion and complexity. It feels like Ardbeg really threw something cheap and unfinished here. The normal release (46%abv) is a lot better and it wasn't impressive. My score for this one is a dissapointing 83 over 100.

If you ever google "King of wines", the answer you are going to obtain is "Barolo". This very luxurious italian wine, is made from a special type of grape called "Nebbiolo" that grows on the Piamonte region of Italy. Barolo has a type of sibling, made with the same grape, called Barbaresco, but since i don't know anything about wine, we are not entering that territory. Well, in 1993, Bruichladdich decided to mature their whisky in a french oak cask, which previously had the Italian Barolo in it. This is of course, part of the famous "Italian Collection" by Bruichladdich, long gone from store shelves. This 14yo Whisky, has my attention.  Bottled at 46%abv, it has a lovely dark orange, tawny color. On the nose, it is perfect. Plastic, red fruits and  impalpable sugar. Green apples, Nesquik chocolate powder and burnt hay. After letting it breath, it gave me cigarrette ashes, grapefruit, and warm beer. It smells like those fake mini fruits people serve in weddings. Glazed bacon; grease and smoked lamb. Quite a rollercoaster. On the palate, the only way i can describe it is "beautiful". Incredible chocolate, tasty red fruits, grenadine, and dulce de leche. Impressive. Aftertaste is the perfect ending for this. Salty, hay, pepper and yeasty. This is super pleasant. It is like bread mixed with dark chocolate. Overall, this is one the most complex, full of flavor single malt i have ever tasted. I am not a very good fan of Bruichladdich, but this one is the best one i have had; maybe tye 25 black art can be compared to it. Absolutely marvelous, i have only deducted 1 point in the palate, because even if it was super enjoyable, that criteria wasn't as complex and spectacular as the other ones. My score for this out of this world whisky is 99 over 100.

The holy knowledge of whisky says, there are only 5 types of whisky: Single Malt, Single Grain, Blended Malt, Blended Grain and the popular Blended Whisky. But, have you ever tried or seen a Blended Grain whisky? Well, this was kind of invented by Compass Box when they released their very known Hedonism. And they where the only guys who ever made Blended Grain whiskies. You can honestly believe that there is really no need for blended grain whiskies to exist, since Single Grain is often considered as inferior to single malts. I also have to say that i know about a blended grain that is not from Compass Box, and that is the Ballantine's Vitality. Well, CB has released to the market their newest Blend of grain whiskies, called "Experimental Grain", made from Loch Lomond, Cameronbridge, North British and a parcel of Hedonism. It has a Pale color and has 46%abv. Nice marketing as always, the bottle and the cardboard box are beautiful. On the nose, starts with school glue, watermelon, plastic, rancid vanilla and hairspray. This sent me to my childhood since this whisky smells exactly as the action figure of the moss/grass man from the 80s cartoon, He-Man. After a first sip, it gave me this aroma of a barber shop. Some citric notes and chocolate. Yeast, vanilla and hand sanitizer alcohol. On the palate, vanilla ice cream, rum and raisins and metallic flavors. Dulce de leche and chilli sauce. It is actually very, very good. Aftertaste was my least favorite part. Metallic, oxide like licking a 1 cent coin; Cardamom, iodine. Overall, i have to be honest, this was way better than what i expected. I was surprised on how good the palate is; the nose is fairly complex and the aftertaste is not off-putting in any way. Really a decent whisky, that is not a good deal for your money in any way possible except for collection, it manages to get a score of 85 over 100 in my books.

My favorite scotch distillery of all time has a very beautiful way to keep the fans entertained: they give us tons of single cask offerings, almost always at cask strength, with some nice vintages. You can easily recognize them because they are "the brown Glendronachs". This one is quite something. Bottled at an amazing 53.8%abv, this is a 1995 vintage, 20 years old, exclusive for The German Malt Whisky Community, drawn from a single Pedro Ximenez sherry cask. All the right words here. On the nose, quite a spectacular show. Grapes, a Crunch chocolate tablet, and the almighty aroma note of BLACKBERRY MARMALADE. It has incredible sweet notes of quince, and a cigar that was lit and now has been put off. Liquorice. After some sips it gave me dates; Coffee beans and dehydrated oranges. Blackberry, quince, cocoa. It is amazing. On the palate this is whisky heaven. Velevety sherry; Spice bomb, chocolate and red fruits. Beautiful dram. Aftertaste reaches the peak. Cuban cigars, cinnamon, chocolate. It feels warm. Ginger and macerated fruits. Overall, what can i say, this is perfection. It is no mistery that Glendronach is my all time favorite distillery and this is why. Elegant, powerful, filled with layers of flavors and aromas, this is the proper example of what a top single malt should be. It would be disrespectful if i deduct any points, who am i to criticize this marvelous whisky? My score for it is 100 over 100.

Long ago, i had the lovely chance to taste the famous Ardbeg Dark Cove Committee Release, which is a popular whisky because some enthuisasts have rated highly. This time i managed to get my hands on the "normal" release, matured in "Dark Sherry Casks" (apparently this is a made up term, i tried to find it but i couldn't) and was bottled at 46.5%abv. This was the special release for Ardbeg's Day 2016. It has a dark caramel color. On the nose, all the lovely horrible aroma notes we peat freaks cherish: a pair of cotton socks, iodine, tennis balls, a shoe box and.... passion fruit?; it smells exactly as a sports shop in a mall. After a couple of sips it gave me hints of chocolate and brownies. Letting it breath for a longer time game a fish market aroma and smoked salmon. Amazing. On the palate it is a mixture of sherry and peat. Plastic notes, earthiness, salt and Red fruot syrup. It has a pleasant pepper bomb. Strawberries are definitively a note here. Aftertaste was the best part. Starts with some burnt hay and cigarrettes, to then turn itself to a bonfire with dangerous fireworks. Gunpowder, and rubber. It is like chewing the head of those "He-Man" action figures from the 1980s. Quite the experience. Overall, this was a memorable dram right from the beggining till the end. The craziness of the peaty notes are well intertwined with the red fruitiness from the sherry casks. A beautiful single malt, my score for it is 93 over 100.

Bruichladdich was a distillery that had to grow on me, since i wasn't fully a fan at the beggining of times, and i still think some of their more affordable expressions are often "soapy" with "shampoo" notes. Having said that, this is not the case, since this Black Art is one of their greatest releases. Black Art was an annual release by Bruichladdich, and only Jim McEwan knew the types of casks used, supposedly hand picked in the middle of a full moon light. This one is their 07.1 release, a 25yo whisky. Bottled at 48.4% abv this has a copper color. On the nose, it is outstanding. Bacon, red fruits, maraschino cherries and the almighty "soap" note i get from every "Laddie". Recently baked Brownies and a floral note. Glazed ham and freshly clean towels. Great stuff almost perfect. On the palate it is a red fruits bomb. Frozen hershey's strawberry syrup. Pepper spice and hints of salt. Metallic and red fruits. Strawberries, a beautiful red chilli as well. After some sips, it gave me brownies, chocolate and metallic notes. Incredible. Aftertaste is a wonderful finish for this great dram. Hay, tobacco, salt and sulphur. Earthy and very metallic. Super dry and fairly spicy. Overall, this one was a monster of a dram, i just loved every part of it. I don't even know why i am deducting points here, because this is so complex, with clean well delivered flavors and aromas. Really one of Bruichladdich's best offerings out there, my score for this one is 97 over 100.

Have you ever heard the phrase: "the shoemaker's son always goes barefoot"; well that is my case, since i am Chivas Regal Brand Ambassador for my country, and i have never had this 25yo Royal Salute before, and it has been in the market for quite a while. Happy to finally taste it, this very fancy whisky is also called "the treasure blend" and it honours the Crown Jewels. Bottled at 40%abv, lets see if this one is any good. On the nose: red fruits, orange peel, glazed pork, salt and prunes. After a first sip, the aroma changed into orange caramel, and strawberry candy. On the palate, it starts with cotton candy, red fruits like strawberries. Hay and salt. Very salty actually. The second sip gave me this child liquid remedy called "coricidin". Hershey's red fruit syrup. Chocolate. Very nice. Aftertaste has to have some slight peatiness, that is what i can guess from the notes. Cuban cigar, hay. Excelent, long salty finish. Overall, this is quite elegant. It might be one of the creamiest, smoothest, fruity blends i have ever had. It is way better than the "normal" Chivas 25yo that has existed forever. I really liked it, and it can be served in any fancy event you can have. My score for it is 91 over 100.

Ardbeg has been all over the place lately. And they surely have suffered a little backlash from some whisky connoisseurs here and there. One of their recent committee releases is this "Fermutation", a single malt that promises a nice backstory but it certainly makes me skeptic of what i am going to taste. Basically the story of this whisky goes like this; there was a broken boiler in 2007; as a result, distilling had to suddenly halt while the washbacks were full of fermenting wash, leaving the wash fermenting for 3 long weeks. (Usually it is between 56-72 hours in Ardbeg). That wash was later distilled and matured for 13 years, and bottled at 49.4%abv. That is how you get Ardbeg Fermutation. But, is it any good? On the nose, amazing terrible stuff. Noticeable notes of cotton socks, tennis balls, swamp and lemon. Plants, seaweed, sown land and rainforest. You get the idea by now. After a first sip, it became super yeasty. It smells like craft beer, bread and some maritime notes. Citric forest fruits. Very interesting. On the palate, starts with plastic, earth, sown land and marshmallow. This is so tasty, but you get the feeling that even if this one is so enjoyable, this can't be good for your body, lol. Aftertaste can be defined as a "Wimbledon Tennis Final": sweat, grass, tennis balls. It has this sharpie marker note. Feels so artificial, like a factory. Mr Clean chemicals. Overall, there is no reason for this thing that i have described to you to be any good... and it is not good... it is INCREDIBLE. Everything i have just described just feels amazing in every sip, it is like a whisky adventure. This is exactly what i am looking for in new single malts: something interesting and new. What a glorious dram this has been; it is 10000 times better than both "Ardcores". My score for this marvelous experience is 100 over 100, and i will find another bottle for my home bar.