Tastes

Man, i hate this Game of Thrones special releases. Only a couple of them were actually good, and they were from Lagavulin and Talisker, proving it is impossible for those two to screw whisky up. I have tasted i believe the last one i was missing, the Clynelish Reserve, from GOT's "House Tyrell". This "special" collection is so bad, you can still buy expressions in The Whisky Exchange for 42 pounds. Having said all that, this one tried its best. Bottled at 51.2%abv. Golden color. On the nose, it is very fruity and honeyed. Pears, bananas, strong mint hard candy. Wet grass. A nice chocolate fudge has risen. A little soapy. Cloth softener. Apple sider. Actually a fresh, appealing aroma. Bee honey. After a first sip, it is all about pears and apples. On the palate it starts with thick honey. It is a spoon of bee honey, with some coconut; there is this peach note lurking in the back of my mouth. Very fruity, easy to hold even for a 51.2% abv. The second sip was very light and watery. It fell dramatically. The peaches are still here and some very mild tickling spice. Apples on the third sip. Aftertaste is not bad, not overly fun either. Sawdust, ginger and mouthdrying. This is a pleasant dram and that is it.  The second sip was even more woody, which is a term i dislike to use, but it gave me exactly this feeling of new wood. Apples. Overall, as most whiskies from this collection, this is not horrible, but also not good. Very standard, maybe pleasant, and definitively boring. This is not the worst of the collection. A nice note, a very light palate, a boring aftertaste, for a whisky that barely passes the test. My score for it is 81 over 100.

My fourth Milk & Honey, was the last in their core range, The Peated one. Was it really peaty? Is this going to be as good as the Red Wine Cask Finish; or as bad as the Sherry cask one? Let me tell you all about my thoughts on it. Bottled at 46%abv. Uncorking doesn't smell peaty. On the nose, cotton candy; Yeast and pepper. Yeast is overpowering and nice, just not peated. After a first sip a "peaty spice" has risen, nice, but still not enough peat for me. Prunes, a little swampy. The pepper tries to become ashes. Yeast again. On the palate, it is too light but way better than the sherried expression from this distillery. Salty water. Very dim but nice. Vanilla water. Light. Some herbal notes and salt. Sadly, aftertaste is once again the lowest scored part. Slightly peaty, actually earthy peaty, not smokey. Overall, this is a baby step into a peated malt from this distillery. It feels that they went too safe with this expression. It has a "peaty feeling", but not peat "per se". Nothing bad or undrinkable, just not memorable. They have to improve this one and the sherried one to match the amazingness of the Red wine cask one. My score for it is 70 over 100.

My third expression ever from the "yeasty" distillery Milk & Honey from Israel, is the Sherry Cask one. I really loved the red wine cask Finish and the Classic was very good for the corest and cheapest of their range. That made me had good expectations about the sherry cask one. Bottled at 46%abv. On the nose, very citric; not yoir standard sherry notes. Oranges, yeast (their DNA profile note), Citrus: Lemon and lemongrass. On the palate, very light. Yeasty; it is like a ppicy bread. Light vanilla water. Too watery and dim. Aftertaste is very dissapointing. A dim Pepper and yeast. That is it. Nothing else. Short finish. Overall, this was not what i was expecting. Not sherry at all, very dim and light, and that is kind of surprising since it was bottled at 46%abv. It lacks potency. It lacks a lot of things. My score is a scary 58 over 100.

My second Milk & Honey expression, the Israeli distillery, was actually their first, called "The Classic". Bottled at 46%abv, matured in bourbon barrels, virgin oak, and some red wine casks. This is the really flagship of their core range. On the nose, it is an ode to their name: Honey. Thick burnt caramel beautiful. After having a couple expressions, i can safely say that their really trademark note is Yeast. The yeasty profiles of this whisky is really something else. Stewed apples. The palate is way too simple. A nice pepper spice and lots of honey. Nothing more, easy drinkable. Aftertaste is much more floral. Herbal, like sparragus. Nice puffs of aromatic smoke. Overall, this is a normal dram. For their first expression, i have to say that they have something good here; a nice spirit is flowing through their stills, but it still needs time in barrels to fully develop some complexity that will launch this single malt into other levels. My score for this new dram is 73 over 100.

So, i got my hands into 4 Israeli whisky expressions, from the relatively new and already highly appraised "Milk & Honey" Distillery. Their logo is quite nice, with a black cow/bull with some bee yellow stripes. For jewish people, Milk and Honey are very important things since the Bible and the Talmud are often refering to those things. I am writing this review after i have already tasted their four expressions, and this "Elements" red wine cask one is by far the best. Bottled at 46%abv, golden color. On the nose, quite nice. Spicy at the beggining, like rye-like spiciness; Vanilla cake. VERY YEASTY in a very appealing way. Is like a spongy cake filled with spices. Chilli and apples. Very yeasty and nice. Recently made bread. Cakey overall. On the palate, not too complex but not bad. Red apples, Gerber mashed apples; Nice peppery spice. A second sip was about yellow apples and more stewed fruits. Aftertaste was great. A nice smokey/earthy finish. The smokiness is mild and balanced, making it delicious. Overall, this might not be what you expect from a red wine cask finish, but it should be what you expect on any whisky. Fruity and peaty, yeasty and spicy. A very nice combination of flavors and aromas made me want to explore more of this new distillery from a very far place. Great job here, my score for it is a well deserved 88 over 100.

I believe this is my first Arran with their new packaging. It is not a mystery that this is one of my all time favorite distilleries, but i was really avoiding this new bottles, since the new marketing is very unappealing, at least for me it is. Having said all that, that has nothing to do really with the "juice" inside of the decanter, i was eager to know if they have lost their touch or if Arran still manages to be great. Luckily for us the fans, It was the latter. Bottled at cask strength 55.8%abv, this have been matured in sherry casks, and it is non-chill filthered with a lovely copper color. On the nose, it starts with the most impressive mocha note ever. Tiramisú, coffee, figs and hazelnut. After a first sip, it became more like a dark chocolate madness. Cocoa and "brigadeiros" desserts. The Palate is fantastic. Tiramisú right away, with the cream and everything. Coffee beans and chocolate. Thick waffer cookies, hazelnut, sawdust. Vanilla cream. Aftertaste is the perfect complement for a very solid, balanced dram. Dark chocolate and some sulphuric notes. Hazelnut and overall nutty. Bitter Tobacco. In conclusion, this is definitively a very good single malt. The sherriness is delivered beautifully, the Arran Spirit is a great holder for sherry profiles. Balance is the name of the game here; all of this whisky's parts are perfectly harmonious with each other. My score for this great dram is 92 over 100.

Ardnamurchan is one of Scotland's youngest distilleries. It belongs to the long existing independent bottler Adelphi, which is highly praised among critics. Located on Argyll, this distillery is one of the most environmentally friendly out there. They name their bottles after their batches, this review if for the 04.21:03. Bottled at 46.8%abv, light gold color. On the nose, it has a peaty and bourbonish profile. Ashtray, bananas and a pair of new cotton socks.  Malted barley notes are very present. After a few minutes the arome became thick. After a first sip, it released vanilla, ashes, stewed fruits. Pears. On the palate, it is good. Banana, sulphuric, metallic. Ashy and very oily. After some sips, it released rum and raisins, a little young but nice. Aftertaste was my favorite part. Leather, ashes and rubber; peaty profile. Tobacco and explosive ginger. Sea water and chocolate. Overall, for a young whisky, this one passes the test. My final score for this expression might not fully reflect what this whisky can be in the future. I truly believe it has potential, but needs to rest more in a barrel. Great peatiness but a little rough on the edges. My score for it is a solid 83 over 100.

Back in 1941, a 8000 ton ship called "The S.S. Politician" suffered a wreckage on the coasts of Eriskay Island. It had 260.000 bottles of malt whisky inside and over 3 million in Jamaican currency bonds. It was looted by the islanders, who then where chased and prosecuted by the English authorities. This amazing story ended in a very famous movie called "Whisky Galore", and some of the whisky that was recovered ended in a special blend, called S.S. Politician, Whisky Galore. Bottled in the early 1990s, this blend contains some of the original whisky from the wreckage, a true historic jewel. But, was the whisky any good? Bottled at 40%abv, golden color. On the nose, it feels old. Humidity, old closet, spongy vanilla cake, sawdust; earth dust. It has this old book aroma, old oranges, orange cake and zest. After a first sip, the notes changed into a mountainside panorama, petricor, wet road, it has and overall old feeling. More sips released more notes, sherried based ones: dates, tamarind and dehydrated fruits. On the palate, this is really a solid dram, specially for a blend. Very fruity, it has a "Glenmorangie Orange". Spongy and very juicy. It cuts your tongue in half as having a recently cut orange which happens to be super acid. A second sip was all about vanilla ice cream, some astringency and super orange peel. Aftertaste wasn't so intense, but still manages to follow the rythm. Dry old wood; wood polish, amaretto, ginger and slightly ashy. Velvety. Overall, for a blend, this is quite surprising. If you take out all the placebo of the history of the bottle, you will still have a very enjoyable experience. A beautiful decanter that holds historic whisky. It is better than your standard 12-15yo everyday blends, and i really find it worth of tasting. My score for this great bottle is 91 over 100.

This bottle might be the one Ardbeg that really didn't gave me any expectations. Little did i knew, that it will be on my yearly top ten list. Ardbeg Scorch Committee release is the feis ile, Ardbeg Day, special expression, which has been matured in "fiercely charred casks, by totally real and not made up Islay's dragon". Bottled at 51.7%abv, light color. On the nose, spectacular. Burnt wood. Intense smoke, cuban cigars; Chocolate and a pair of new shoes. Aniseed, sawdust and this thing that we in Ecuador called "Monigote de Año Viejo" which is a full size model of any man or monster, made of sawdust, glue and newspapers, that we ecuadorians burn in new year's eve after filling it with explosive fireworks. Soot. Coal. Burnt bread. After a first sip, it gave me a heavy toffee note, mixed with sawdust, hazelnut. For just one second i got a citric Naranjilla note that made me go "wtf, where did that came from?". Clove. It is SUPER COMPLEX. Milk powder, vanilla, swamp water and passionfruit. IT HAS EVERYTHING. On the palate, this might be the greatest experience i have lived through a whisky. It starts with vanilla for a second, Then a bomb of sawdust, mix with salted water with peat; it felt exactly as that scene from Pirates of the Caribbean, where the corsair is walking through his ship that is being destroyed by cannon fire, where all the wooden parts of the ship are flying everywhere and everything is exploding. It is exactly that. Gunpowder. MEATY, LOVELY. Vanilla, it even tasted like blood (iron like). Aftertaste is the continuation of this madness. Sawdust, powerful smoke, really a great, awesome stuff. Burnt bread, very metallic. Iron or copper like. Plastic, silicon and Flare. Overall, i need more of this. I need every whisky to be like this one. The experience, the power, the balance, the craziness; everything is delivered perfectly. One of the single malts i will remember for years, the surprising Ardbeg Scorch. My score for it, can only be, a 100 over 100. Slàinte Mhath.

Can you guess what would happen if you blend a Cask Strength Peat Monster from Compass Box, with Ardbeg, Talisker, Miltonduff and mature it in a custom french oak cask? Well, the answer is that you get an enhanced Peat Monster, the Arcana. This special limited edition, is a spin off of the original Peat Monster, intended to please the most experienced palates. And believe me, it achieved its goal. Bottled at 46%abv, Amber color. On the nose, it is super aromatic; Incense, gooseberries, chocolate. "Swampy"; Vanilla, sown earth, cloth softener. After a first sip, it became very maritime. Marshmallows. Impressive really. Rainforest. On the palate, it is delicious and super balanced as most Compass Box Whiskies. Chocolate, Marshmallow, salt and tar notes. Meaty and oaky. Aftertaste can be a little short, but still super interesting. Pepper, chilli, smoky. Coffee beans. Tar and ashes. Very salty. Overall, this is a very light but beautiful dram, super well crafted, that manages to make you feel each of the whiskies used in a separate way, but at the same time in an harmonious conjunction. If you close your eyes while tasting it you can split the Talisker from the Ardbeg and from the Miltonduff and have everything dancing incredibly at the same time in your palate. Amazing dram. My score is 91 over 100 for it.