Tastes

Bowmore is one of Islay's most luxurious brands. I am not talking about the whisky itself, i am talking about how collectible the special bottlings are, and how much money can they end up costing in a few years. Having said that, i don't usually find Bowmore as a super smokey dram, it is rather more "earthy" in my books. This is the Cask Strength expression, which usually means that all the flavors and aromas of a distillery are trapped inside of this type of single malt. Bottled at 56%abv, copper color. On the nose, it has this beautiful profile of aromatic peat. It is spicy and full of red fruits: It makes me feel like i am nosing a rye whisky. Medicinal, hospital, red fruits and chilli. After a couple of seconds an incredible butter cookies note have appeared. When you take a sip, the aroma changes into cigarrettes and ashes. Vanilla cream, and rum and raisins ice cream. More time on the glencairn revealed caramel, prunes, sea water and sawdust. Herbal. On the palate it is very "red". Red fruits, red spices. Chilli, cherries with syrup, acid prunes. It tastes exactly as a hershey's strawberry syrup. Pepper and vanilla. Aftertaste is medium long and very nice. Tobacco, cigar leaf, hay, salt and sulphur. Ginger. Full of ashes it is a little scorching in a beautiful way. Hay peat. Overall, this is a wonderful, very balanced single malt; very fruity and spicy for a Bowmore. The peatiness is nice, but i always crave for a little more. A very nice offering, i can consider this one an everyday dram for the Cask Strength drinker. My score for it is 89 over 100.

The King Of Islay, Lagavulin. I am not the one telling you this, it is actually the slogan of this fancy fire lion bottle. This is the 12yo Special Diageo Release from 2021, bottled at 56.5%abv. The lion itself is the logo of this distillery and its spirit animal. The fire represents the passion in whisky making (i might just have invented that). On the nose, it is not that smokey. Gooseberries and salt. It is actually very maritime! Iodine, oysters, a wet wood from a port. Liquid paper, vanilla with salt; gunpowder. It is like a tar road. Seaweed, grapefruits and wet paint. After a first sip, it became like a horse saddle, and burnt sawdust. You know... the good stuff. On the palate, is this a Lagavulin? This is too sweet!. Vanilla cake, gooseberries. There is this bonfire rising. Wasabi and a pepper bomb. Salt water. After a first sip, it is like a vanilla water, sugar syrup and biscuits. Chocolate milk. Not your typical Lagavulin. Aftertaste is where the smoke lived. Smoke, leather and rubber. Charred oak. Nice, salty finish. It is like a salted chocolate. This was the best part of the dram. Overall, this did not felt like a Lagavulin. It felt more like a Talisker. Is that a bad thing? No. Is this a very good whisky? Yes. Having said that, i don't know if this is what you expect from a special release of this wonderful distillery, and in my books, this experiment might not be what i am looking for. It is a wonderful single malt, just not what i thought i was going to get. My honest score for this delicious single malt that has abandoned the Laga-Style is a 92 over a 100.

Glendronach, the most beautiful whisky in the world. At least when Billy Walker was around. This is hands down my favorite distillery, everything they touch is magic. Having said that, after the Almighty 18 and 21 year old expressions, the batch strength ones are the next in line. This review is for the Batch 5, matured in Px and Oloroso Sherry. Bottled at 55.3%abv, with a lovely copper color. On the nose, your standard perfection. School glue, christmas cake. Dark chocolate and Milo chocolate powder. Cocoa and condensed milk. The cleanest, more accurate apricot note i have ever nosed is here. After a first sip, it gave me dates, chocolate and raisins. Red fruits; macadamian nuts and cranberry. Impalpable sugar and molasses. The real good stuff. On the palate, it is heaven. A velvety bodied dram: dates, and powerful, astringent dark fruits. Blackberries and raspberries. Lots of red fruits on a second sip. Cranberries. Very winey. Again this impalpable sugar note, molasses. This is fancy. Aftertaste was not the best of the Glendronach batch strength expressions, but still manages to score highly.  Oaky and woody in a good way; mouth drying and almonds. A second sip revealed cigar and tobacco notes with an orange citrusness. Bitter dark chocolate. Overall, this is a fantastic dram. But... i think i have had better "Glendro's". The perfect nose and palate is not matched by a very good but a little oaked aftertaste. That makes not only to lose points in finish but also in balance. A truly amazing dram, long live the King Glendronach. My score for it is 97 over 100.

On april 11th, 1970, the Saturn V rocket took Apollo 13 to Space, on a mission destined to failure. To be even more supersticious, it was on april 13 that one of the oxygen tanks blew up and the crew was endangered. In an awesome maneuver, and also one of humankind greatest mathematical achievements, the crew managed to use the moon's orbit to propel the lunar module back to earth. The whole crew was saved. This incredible history has been honoured by "The Whisky Barrel" independent bottler, who released this Highland Park 13yo "HOUSTON WE'VE HAD A PROBLEM" as part of their "Apollo Conmemorative" bottlings. I have already tried like 5-6 of them, and Spoiler alert... this is one of the best of that collection. Matured in a first filled oloroso sherry cask, bottled at 61.3%abv. Golden color. On the nose, super appealing. Blackberries, currant and marmalade. Some mild smoke. Hard toffee, mint and pepper. Fancy and grapy; Dr. Pepper Soda. It is super spicy on the nose but in a pleasant way. After a first sip, it gave me this purple jelly juice. I am astonished by how spicy it is. This is a monster, a very good one. On the palate it is wonderful. Herbal; black tea. It has scorched my lips. Very spicy, this is the real pepper atomic bomb. A second sip gave me a blackberry juice, but much more natural, not like Welsh juice. Figs. This is a pretty good whisky. Aftertaste follows the greatness. Sulphuric, this is the most gigantic wasabi/pepper bomb ever found in a dram. Savage spices, but not unpleasant. It kicks your face like an UFC fighter would. It is so spicy that reminds me of Indian food. Fig syrup. Overall, i believe this one can cure things, lol. If you feel sad, drink this. If you feel tired, drink this. Incredible pleasant rocket fuel dram. It is, along with the Auchroisk, the best in the series ( i have only missed the Bowmore 17, the Edradour 10 and the Deanston 10). Memorable dram, there were only 322 bottles ever made, so if you happen to find one, don't hesitate in buying it. My score for this beautiful single malt is 94 over 100.

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.