Tastes

The final whisky, of the 5 marvelous drams that were included on the distillery tour, which was magnificent, was another hand filled cask strength, but this time a 1994 vintage, 27yo, that you can shop and filled yourself for the complete experience. This was a single Oloroso Cask, bottled at 52.6%abv. This will be the last drink i had as part of the official tour, then, i will be reviewing the whiskies i had in the distillery bar, specially the almighty Glendronach 1971. On the nose, starts with a creamy cheesecake, cocoa cream, tiramisu and cookie dough. The palate was very enjoyable but not too special. Vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut and ginger. Aftertaste is not too complex as well. Ginger spice, chocolate and hazelnut. Overall, for a £450 bottle, this did not met my expectations, and actually i did buy the cheaper 11yo PX Hand Filled one, but not this one (also because i am poor, lol) which i found to be better. My score for this single malt is a fair 86 over 100, which is not good for a bottle of that price and also for any Glendronach, one of my favorite distilleries.

Brace yourselves, this is a perfect whisky. Continuing my series of whisky reviews that i had the opportunity to taste at the Glendronach Distillery, the lads working there really had a surprise for us. Another 27yo single cask, but this time one a 1992 Port Pipe cask matured. Bottled at 48%abv, only 853 were ever drawn from the cask #5897. On the nose, everything is red. Red fruits, red berries, cranberries (not the rock band), cream and Red wine. After a first sip, the aroma changed into an amazing raspberry and Tiramisu dessert. The palate follows the red path. Red wine with impalpable sugar; strawberries, red Berries, Blackberries and raisins. It is a dream dram. Creamy vanilla as well. Aftertaste is the epitome of the whole whisky. Red fruitiness, ginger spice (not Geri Halliwell, lol) Port wine. It is just Amazing i wanna die here and be the ghost that haunts the Glendronach Manor, (which actually happens to be haunted by a spanish red dressed lady, don't believe me, just google it) (we took a picture of the haunted place). This can be described as a hazelnut monster. Overall, this will be in my top ten list of this year, an incredible dram, full of flavor and complexity. The red fruitiness, the sweetness and the spiciness makes this one a true jewel. My score for it is 100 over 100, Glendronach does it again. Slàinte!

Do you ever have this feeling of having waited for a particular movie or tv show to come out for a long time, and when you finally watch it for the first time, it was everything you expected? That is the feeling i got with this 1993 Single Oloroso Cask Glendronach. A 27 year old expression, fully matured in an Oloroso sherry puncheon, drawn from the cask #7276. Almost black in color, this cant go wrong. On the nose, this is a red wine madness. Chocolate and hazelnut, red berries. Holy sh*t this smells incredible. Cocoa cream. Is "beautiful" an aroma note? This is magical. On the palate, it is also perfect. Winey, full of red fruits like strawberries and some dates. Lots of red fruit wines and berries. Aftertaste  was very good but not as wonderful as the nose and palate. Astringent, purple plums and slight ginger. Overall, i believe that in the past i would have given this dram a perfect 100 score, but after having more than 950 whisky reviews i have calibrated my score system to be more precise. The aftertaste was the only criteria that did not managed to get a full score. My rate for this out of this world dram is 97 over 100.

Well, as i was telling you, i visited the Glendronach Distillery, and the kind workers there gave us enough whisky to fulfill our dreams and go to heaven. The second dram we tasted, was the one of the two single cask malts you could actually hand filled yourself, this time a 11yo, Pedro Ximenez bottled at 59.9%abv, from the cask 2994, 2010 vintage. Pitch black color for this amazing whisky. On the nose, it is exactly a chocolate bar, coffee; Toblerone and Nutty aromas. On the palate, it is exactly what you expect: Chocolate and Raisins, red berries and red wine. Aftertaste was a bit spicy in a very enjoyable way.  Hazelnut, Ginger and chocolate were the main notes here. Overall, as most Hand Filled Glendronachs, even the young ones like this, this was very good. Needless to say, i bought one bottle to bring it home to Ecuador and now it rests patiently till one day is drunk fulfilling its reason for existence. My score for this great whisky is a solid 93 over 100.

So, i was visiting the Glendronach, and all of a sudden the people working there (on a sunday) decided they will be pouring some pretty crazy whiskies to me and my ecuadorian group. They actually gave us 5 whiskies in our tour; which we now know was an strategy to get us super hyped and make us buy the whole shop afterwards. Spoiler alert: They succeed in that objective. The first one we tasted, was a 2009 single PX cask, bottled at 59.3%abv. Of course, this was going to be amazing. On the nose, an amazing chocolate, red berries, hazelnut and marzipan was the first aroma. After a first sip, it changed into danish cookies, more hazelnut and even more chocolate. On the palate, Pedro Ximenez was the name of the game: Raisins, figs, dates and a sweet blackberry juice. Fantastic Aftertaste was perfect. A super enjoyable and powerful mixture of red and black berries, Chocolate; Ritter's Dark Chocolate to be precise. Overall, this was almost a five star dram, reaching an overwhelming 97 points in my score system. Well, that wasn't too surprising since all these words were together in the label: "Glendronach", "Single Cask", "PX", "59.3%abv". Wonderful really, sláinte!

My friends, guess what, this humble ecuadorian has arrived for the second time to one of the greatest distilleries of the planet, The magnificent, GLENDRONACH. I will now proceed to review some incredible whiskies i had the chance to taste, specially one that deserves the title of "the best whisky i have ever tasted". I will start my series of incredible Glendronachs, with one super hard to find, an expression that was only released for the Taiwan Market, the 16yo Glendronach Platinium. Bottled at 48%abv. On the nose, it starts with a perfect orange leaf note.  Stewed apples, cream, cookies and vanilla dough. After a first sip, the oranges went berserk. Nice. On the palate, it starts a little watery, but then a very refined milk chocolate appeared. Lemon, vanilla cookie dough and a citric leaf. Aftertaste was beautiful. Ginger, chocolate, salt and some sulphur notes. Balanced, delicious. Overall, this is a very expensive bottle, that is not very complex, but definitively delicious. I got to say i have had better Glendronachs, specially in their core range. A very good dram that could be a lot better. This is one very rare bottle, that i am glad i have had. My score for this beauty, is 91 over 100.

The Flora and Fauna single malt series is a famous collection of some kind or famous malts that have special animals or plants in their labels. I believe this belonged to Diageo, but some of the distilleries have been sold, other have disappeared. This one is a 12yo Blair Athol, bottled at 43%abv, the spirit animal of this bottle is the Otter, that supposedly lives in the peaty moorlands. On the nose, very sweet. Toffee, Dulce de leche, Red fruits and Mint. Milk cream and pepper. On the palate, it follows the sweet path with some fruitiness. Toffee, orange peel and dulce de leche. Very simple, but not bad. Aftertaste, is where the swampy peaty moorlands appear. Hay, Tobacco and Salt. Very mineral and rocky. Overall, this is an enjoyable dram, but way too simple. It has two or three recurring notes, well delivered but also very standard for a single malt. I don't necessarily think of this as "boring", but it is not interesting either. My score for it is 74 over 100.

Mi first Adelphi independent bottling was an out-of-this-world Bruichladdich; i have never tried anything from this company except from their new whisky called Ardnamurchan which was very good. Bottled at 63.9%abv, for EXTRA FLAVOR, i found this dram at Tiger Lily a nice club in Edinburgh. On the nose it starts with the classic note of soap from Bruichladdich. Chocolate, fresh towels, cotton candy, cloth softener. Skin lotion for burns and milk chocolate poppers. Incredible aroma. On the palate, it is very creamy, full pepper spiciness. Orange notes, very powerful but truly nice. The chocolate has exploded in the second sip. Really surprising stuff from "'laddie". Some citric flavors on a third sip. Perfect score here. Aftertaste was very good, but not as the palate. Sawdust; envelope glue, it is like licking a paper sheet. Sand / Beachy profiles Overall i find this to be a fantastic dram. Full of flavor and complexity, it is very enjoyable and remarkably easy drinkable for a 63.9%abv dram. The great note and the perfect palate are something amazing. My score for it is 94 over 100.

One of the beautiful things of Scotland, is that you can find super rare whiskies in a normal bar, for a very cheap price. There is this place called "Tiger Lily" a dancing club, where i stepped in and i found my first Xtra Old Particular (XOP), which i believe is a single cask strength brand of independent bottlings by Douglas Laing. This time was an 30 year old Auchentoshan, bottled at 53.9%abv, distilled in december 1984 and bottled in february 2015. On the nose, a powerful but wonderful lime note, with salty profiles. It has a Tequila impression overall; grapefruit; chocolate here is present but very dim. Tiramisu dessert. On the palate, it is a little too rough for a 30yo. Vanilla, chocolate and Hazelnut. A second sip gave me a beautiful, refined super fancy chocolate note, that i was expecting from a 30yo lowland malt. Aftertaste changes the rythm in a good way. Hay, mineral and rocky. Ginger bomb and very nutty/almondy. Overall, this was a very good whisky. Maybe too good for a "discoteque". It was so clean and potent, that i could really review it even in the middle of loud music. I believe it lacks a little complexity, but it has a nice, balanced flavor and aroma profile. Solid whisky, my score for it is 88 over 100.

I saw this bottle on a shelf in a convention center in Edinburgh and i immidiately wonder what was it, from what distillery it came and why haven't i ever seen it. It turns out that the bar tender told me: "don't drink this one, you are not going to like it". And of course i needed to have it now. He did say that he believed it came from the Isle of Arran (which is one of my favorites). Well, bottled at 46%abv, let's see what is this about: On the nose: PEAT!. Cigarrette ashes, pond water, gooseberries. It is like a grapefruit water. On the palate, Rough and sulphuric. Vanilla and acid gooseberries. A little watery for 46%abv. Aftertaste is all about Salt, Metallic/copper and Sulphur notes. Peaty profiles no doubt. Overall, i don't know if this is Arran, since it is fairly peated (which is not Arran's speciallity) and not too tropical (which is Arran's trademark). Having said that, even for a simple dram, the peaty notes are very clean and i enjoyed them. That is why i gave an 80 over 100 to this strange and "rare" cheap whisky.