Tastes

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.

A discontinued super fun expression from the best selling distillery Glenfiddich. "Caoran" means "peat ember" in gaelic. This is one of the very few ever peaty Glenfiddichs, with a 12yo age statement. Bottled still at 40%abv, Burnished gold color. On the nose there is a lot of complexity and interesting notes, which are not typical from this distillery. Pistachio ice cream, burnt hay, a very dim cigarritte note. A Fruity note; cigarrette ashes; mint cigarrettes. After the first sip, a very sweet toffee and Herbal note appeared. Rainy fields, Mint and aromatic peat. Pineapple. On the palate, it is a little straightforward. Hard toffee candy. Caramel, Apple and cinnamon. Aftertaste is very rewarding. Pepper, vanilla, herbal. After the first sip, it gave me full ashes and salt. Pipe tobacco. In conclusion, this is a very fresh, slightly peated dram, with complex notes but a little dim overall. One of the most interesting Glenfiddichs out there; the price of this discontinued bottle has risen lately. It feels that the experiment is valid, but they still tried to make something for the everyday 'fiddich drinker, which is not normally looking for something too harsh or peaty. My score for it is 84 over 100.

It might strike you as a surprise, but Dalmore does not bottle 21 year old whiskies regularily. Actually in 2015 they did, only 8.000 bottles were released and they dissapeared from the shelves quite quickly. A very fancy expression from this distillery, the decanter has the classic look, but the Box is bigger than my house, lol. Bottled at 42%abv, beautiful chesnut color. On the nose, this might be the greatest aroma i have ever experienced. "Bellísimo" is the spanish word for "incredibly beautiful" which is the only one i can use to describe it. Figs, dates, Macerated fruits; Maraschino Cherries, homemade toffee. Amaretto, Creme brulee. Best aroma ever. On the palate, it fell dramatically, since it felt weak and very watery. Prunes, very velvety. Cherry. There is this red fruitiness. Almonds and a Bourbonish profile. Aftertaste took everything back to greatness. Cinnamon. Christmas cake, cinnamon rolls, pepper. Super fancy; Spicy and dry. Great stuff. Perfect score, very rewarding. Overall, i really want to say this is an outstanding dram, but i cant since the palate, which wasn't bad, wasn't very appealing either. The weakness there was really noticeable, specially when the nose and aftertaste are really close to perfection. A wonderful dram for people who can spend easily; a luxury item for people like me who can drink it once on a lifetime. I believe that the aroma might be the best ever, which is a high distinction. My score for this single malt is 92 over 100, and it is because two of the four criterias got a perfect score.

Oh man have i long waited to try one of this very fancy Highland Park Bottles... Loki, the Norse god or demigod of trickery, deception, shapeshifting and envy. Some even say he was the ruler of fire. The truth is that Loki's myth is one super interesting one, which i highly encourage you to read. He is the one that unleashes the "Ragnarok", by deceiving a blind god called Hod into killing The Light God Balder, Odin's brightest son, using a mistletoe. And Loki was punished for that by being tied to a rock, with a poisonous snake over his head who dripped its venom over Loki's face till he managed to scape. Then, the god of trickery will made one last deception, in order to keep Balder dead and not resurrected. But beware, this whisky might trick you into believing that you are going to spend too much on a fancy bottle that doesn't deliver its promise of been a good dram. This is not the case, since this is an amazing single malt. Bottled at 48.7abv, deep copper color. On the nose, it is so "meaty". Bacon, glazed ham; it has an exact aroma of a Filet Mignon. Argentinian Fernet liquor. Meat. After a first sip it "shapeshifted" into cocoa, chocolate and maple syrup. The palate was very good. Scorched gooseberries and grapefruits. Peppery and acid. Sherry has appeared. Coffee beans and dark chocolate. Aftertaste was just perfect. Sweet, sulphuric and salty. Also acid and earthy. Peat, sherry, salt and plain "awesomeness". Super Long finish. Ginger. Overall, the bottle, that comes in the boat called Skíðblaðnir (i dare you to pronounce that), is just marketing that makes justice to an incredible dram. I believe that this should be tasted by everyone, to show the full capability of what Highland Park can really do. A masterpiece, i loved it. It lost minimun points here and there but my final score is 96 over 100. Slàinte!

Back in 2000, an american man who was living in the UK, resigned his job at Johnnie Walker, because he wasn't happy with the fact that Diageo kept secret the recipes of their blends. He created a company, he gave himself the title of Whiskymaker, and Compass Box was born. That man was John Glaser, and his kitchen was the home of his first blend, one that got lost in time, the COMPASS BOX ELEUTHERA. A perfect blend between Caol Ila and a 15yo Clynelish, Eleuthera got his name from the greek "freedom", which was John Glaser's most important intention: be completely free and transparent about his whisky blends. In 2004, Clynelish stopped making the 15yo malt, and Eleuthera dissapeared. Compass box became one of the most fancy and important names in the Blended Scotch world, but Eleuthera never came back. It came close, when CB released "the Lost Blend", a tribute to this first whisky from "the whiskymakers". Well... i managed to obtain a bottle of the original Eleuthera. Here are my thoughts on it. Bottled at 46%abv, Pale straw color. On the nose, the first aroma was impressive. Green, acid gooseberries. Mango, ashtray. After a couple of sips, it gave me an exact aroma of a fish market. Lemon meringue, fish, lemon pie and a glazed donut. On the palate, it is very salty and fun. Creamy vanilla, gooseberies. There is this salt bomb, a real atomic salt note. Meringue and a salty meat. Aftertaste was amazing. Peppery, sulphur and very salty in a great way. Gooseberries, all the notes are very balanced. Very Astringent. Metallic as a coin. Overall, lets go back to 2000 and talk about what did John Glaser intended to do. It was a good blend between a Highland and an Islay Malt, he accomplished that. This is a very good whisky, and even if nowadays it costs around $1000 (if you find it), the original retail price was around $90, which was an incredible deal for what this whisky is. My score for this mythical dram, full of history, is a very well deserved 89 over 100. Maybe i am been a little rough with the score, because i drank it with friends and all of them said 92 over 100. I'll stick to my score.

A distillery that is almost hidden from the general public is this great Glen Garioch. Pronounced "Glen - Geeree" is one of Scotlands finest drams. It was mothballed for a long time, and when it re-opened, they released a collection of whiskies called "Renaissance", at 15, 16,17 and 18 years of age, to show the public the differences that one year of maturation can give you. This review is for the 16yo, the second chapter of the Renaissance collection, a ex-bourbon and sherry matured dram. Bottled at 51.4%abv, with a tawny color. On the nose, this is very nice. Orange zest, horse stable;  ColaCao chocolate formula; this has the exact aroma of the mixture of butter and chocolate powder you use when making brownies. Lots of chocolate, hazelnut. It has this sweet artificial orange note, as a cheap orange candy you get from a piñata. Petrichor and humid notes. Pepper. On the palate, it is perfect. Just perfect.  A very creamy chocolate note for 3 seconds, then a very citric orange appears. Some dehyrdrated fruits, that i had to overthink to realize it was blueberries. Very winey. It is a chocolate madness. I had to combine it with a dark chocolate, and it made the whisky release a beautiful refined sawdust note. Amazing whisky. Aftertaste wasn't too complex, but very rewarding. Sulphuric and Metallic notes; Cigarrettes and a creamy chocolate. Peaty, earthy, beautiful finish. Overall, i love this dram. It is my fourth Glen Garioch, and i have to say all of them have impressed me. Not a very famous distillery; their expressions are quite hard to find. But it  definitively is worth the hunting. My score for it is a solid 94 over 100.

I am pretty sure this is my first Dailuaine, a Speyside distillery that i mighy have tasted a lot in blends. It has suffered from nasty fires in the past, and it have changed owners as well, but from 1997 to this date, it belongs to Diageo. This one is part of what i can honestly say it is a very good whisky collection called The Ghost Piper from Clanyard Bay, from "Fable" the independent whisky bottlers. Pale straw color, bottled at 54.8%abv. A 12yo dram, this is from their first releases (chapter one). On the nose, it is one of the most lovely aromas i have ever had in a Speyside whisky. Honey cornflakes, hazelnut cream, Kinder Bueno, Lovely sweet aroma. Hanuta, light honey and Nougat. Stewed red apples dipped in dulce de leche. After a first sip, the dulce de leche note has gone amazingly intense. There is this green apple citric note. A crazy hand soap has appeared. It is an incredible aroma. It is like a honey chocolate cream. On the palate, it is not too complex but manages to deliver a nice experience. Hay, honey, almonds. A second sip revealed the sulphur and salty notes. If you hold it long enough you'll get a very clean apple note and hints of dulce de leche. Sawdust. The third sip returned to this hazelnut and honey flavor, then the salt hits. Aftertaste is great. Sulphuric, ashy finish, there is this ball of salt that cuts your lips in an amazing way. Super dry, woody finish on the second sip. This is a very good whisky. Ashy, honey, sólid dram. Overall, i feel that i have to buy a full bottle of this to have it in my house and share with friends. This is a shareable whisky, even if it is bottled at 54.8%abv, you don't feel one inch of alcohol. Incredible dram, with an "out of this world" nose, a normal palate and a very rewarding finish. My score for this great experience is 91 over 100.