Tastes

A nice Benriach expression, called "Albariza" which is the special soil used for growing sherry grapes in the "Triangle of Jerez" in the south of Spain. This special white soil is perfect for grapes that will be used in fortified wines called "Jerez" which you might know as Sherry, that comes from "xerrez or serri", the arab pronunciation for Jerez. This 22yo expression is also peated, and if you say sherried peatiness to me, you have my attention. Bottled at 46%abv, tawny color. On the nose, pretty messy, lots of notes but disorder reigns. Peaty, orange caramel; stinky. Vanilla powder, Mossy; Burnt hay. A Cheap citric is present. Chocolate, there are some red fruits also present. A second sip gave me dusty sawdust; more Chocolate and Red fruits syrup. It is like a "Crunch" chocolate that has been kept on the freezer that turns solid. On the palate, it was great. Milk chocolate, Red fruits; Pretty delicious. Pepper. It is spicy, not complex but super enjoyablen and easy drinkable. Aftertaste is where the peaty profile kicked in. Sulphuric, peaty, Metallic and Peppery. It has a chocolate ghostly finish. Long spicy aftertaste. It is even salty and earthy. I really liked it. Overall, this was a very enjoyable dram; rounded, sweet, chocolaty and peaty. It is a nice spirit, beautifully matured, but it fails to have a powerful sherry profile, which the "albariza" name would suggest. Still a wonderful offering, my score for it is 92 over 100.

I made a mistake, i did not give a perfect 100 score to this amazing whisky. Amrut is one of my favorite distilleries, their single malts are superb, with lots of flavors and aromas; they are not afraid of high abv and they really have a mastercraft. Having said all that, Amrut Triparva is their first Triple distilled single malt, and it is not only the first triple distilled whisky in India, it might as well be the first one to use this technique in Asia. Actually the word "Triparva" means "Trinity" in hindi. Bottled at 50%abv, solid gold color. On the nose, one of the most fruity and appealing whiskies i have had so far in 2021. Peaches and Tangerine, incredible. Salty. Dim coffee beans, passion fruit. Honey, Lovely tangerine juice; Fresh oranges. Tangerine peel. There is definitively some saltiness; Orange leaf. After the first sip, the aroma revealed... paint?; yes, a recently painted house wall mixed with Orange leaves. Fantastic. On the palate it was great. Caramel, Orange leaf; Salt and pepper, Ginger. Powerful dram, nice. Delicious tangerine. A second sip was much sweeter; super enjoyable. Aftertaste was rewarding, balanced and it kept the tone of everything that happened before. A Dark Chocolate mixed with passion fruit and tangerine; salt, pepper and ginger. Long finish, a little metallic. Amazing. Overall this was an oily, fruity, not too complex but not  simple, amazing dram. The triple distillation help it to have a much lighter spirit, which already had the fruity DNA of Amrut all over. My score system says 96 over 100, but the feeling of it is perfection, i think i should have given it the hundred points, it was a lovely experience. Made my day. Slàinte.

People have different tastes. I for one, am not a fan of peanuts, almonds, nuts and Balvenie. I often find it way too watery, unbalanced, flavorless and dull. I had one good one, the exception, it was a 14 year old peat week. After that exception to the rule, i decided to give it anothe chance. A good friend traded me a sample of this 14yo triple cask matured peated Balvenie. Since i had a peated one and it was nice, i had faith on this dram. Bottled at 48.3%abv, burnished gold. On the nose, it started promising. The first note was a little crazy, water with salt. But after that first salty glimpse, the fruitiness exploded. Apple, grapefruit, Gooseberries. Incredibly fruity; Tangerine. There is a little peat present with some lavender. Melon. Aftee a first sip, it gave me a nice pineapple mixed with orange. Then it turned into a fruit water (not juice) with salt. Aroma was appealing... little did i know how salty this was going to be. On the palate it was bad. Starts well, very Woody (expected due to the triple cask), Peppery and then... SUPER OVERLY SALTY. A second sip, it had a very citric orange then a savage salt kicks in. It Is off putting. You won't ever taste something more salty compared to this. Aftertaste gets a little better, but it is short and also too salty. Hints of peat smoke. Decent finish. Overly salty, not horrible though. Overall, it gets better with more sips (maybe my tongue died out of saltiness) Still a bad whisky. My scoring system sometimes help this kind of unbalanced drams where one criteria manages to score more than 20 points. For me, this dram has a creepy 63 over 100, and it feels like less. Not good.

I was about to write this review and i just saw this is supposed to be a "peated" blend? It has no peat on it! (At least i did not detect it). Ok, back to my review, this is Nikka Days, a blended japanese whisky, from Miyayiko and Yoichi distilleries (which belong to Nikka), which happens to be one very sweet dram. Bottled at 40%abv, light gold. On the nose, welcome to chocolate. Creamy milk chocolate; Chocolate milk powder. Some grain whisky is rising after a couple of minutes; maize. Vanilla; super sweet but appealing. The creaminess is amazingly suitable for this type of sweet profile. Tiramisu dessert and ground coffee. On the palate, the same. Milk Chocolate, Vanilla. It has a gingery note. Nice creamy dram. Marshmallow. Harmless. Aftertaste follows the rythm of the dram.Grain whisky is ghostly which is good here. Chocolate powder and creamy vanilla. Not too complex but very gentle. Hazelnut. Overall, this is the easiest drinkable whisky ever; way too nice and gentle. The grain whisky actually adds depth to a simple dram because it gives you a creaminess that you won' find in a single malt, but here all the off-putting profiles from grain whiskies are not present. You won't ever say a chocolate is bad, that is why this whisky works, because it is a liquid chocolate. My score is a fair 84 over 100, for the price, this is a great offering for an everyday dessert whisky.

After having a mediocre Ardbeg Blasda, i went the whole other way and had a dram that i don't know why i didn't had high hopes before tasting it. This Ardbeg Drum is an amazing Ardbeg, super appealing and if it were a core range expression i truly believe it will be taken off the shelves in a matter of minutes. Ardbeg drum is one of those limited editions of this distillery, which yearly releases something new (most likely NAS), highly collectible and 70% of the time is controversial over its quality. An ex-bourbon cask matured, finished in ex-rum barrels, this whisky is trying to give you a caribbean feeling... and they fully achieve this goal. Bottled at 46%abv, white wine color. On the nose, a perfect piña colada. Starts with your Ardbeg peat and Hay. Brownies. Some sweet red frutiness rising and stinky peat. Vanilla and Pineapple; It is powerful for a 46%abv. After 3 minutes it became crazy good. Smells exactly as a piña colada cocktail. Sugar syrup, Condensed milk. After 5 minutes it changed into a very grapy, cherries and sweet aroma. After a first sip, it gave me AMAZING COCONUT. at last that aroma note that everyone seems to perceive and that i never identify properly, here it is so cleam and accurate. Incredibly aromatic, with coconut, vanilla and peat. On the palate it is super appealing; Coconut, Pineapple, Then mild peatiness And Salt. Oliy, Fruity, tropical. A second sip was sweeter, sugar syrup, pineapple smoothie. Gooseberries. Condensed milk. It has a spicy finish. It is like a small ball of ginger, wasabi, pepper and salt that as time passes it grows bigger in your throat. It is spicy rather than peaty, salty rather than earthy. It is a medium long nice aftertaste. Overall, this was a memorable dram, a whisky i want to own and share with friends. It is the easiest Ardbeg to drink without losing its DNA or power, and that is the key for its success. Complex enough, peaty enough, sweet enough, fruity enough. Very well crafted, my score for it is 96 over 100 and i believe i am stealing some points here. Sláinte!

Oh my god this is one good whisky. This review is actually for the 50.3%abv, 1 out of 9.900 bottles, a Hazelburn 2007, 13yo oloroso cask matured. Hazelburn was once an individual distillery, located in Campbeltown which was the capital of scotch whisky in the past. Back in 1925 when it was mothballed, this distillery was one of the biggest of the 27 of the region. Nowadays there are only a handful number of distilleries in Campbeltown and one of them is Springbank, who owns Longrow and Hazelburn. The three "brands" are distilled at the same place. Bottled at 50.3%abv, chesnut color. On the nose; it is absolutely gorgeous. If you were blindfolded and you nose it, you would definitively think it is a 100% cacao Dark Chocolate. The note is so accurate and clean, it is unmistakeable. Cocoa; cocoa butter; vanilla, strawberries and oranges. It also gives you this aroma of a leather wallet, brownies and slight saltiness. It is all about dark chocolate in all of its forms. The palate was delicious as well. Starts with chocolated bathed cherries, almonds, cocoa and dark chocolate. A second sip gave me Toblerone almond chocolate, tobacco and creamy vanilla. Aftertaste was bitter and amazing. Sulphur, pepper, salt; dark bitter chocolate and tobacco leaf. Very buttery, strong and long finish. Overall, this mantains my invented rule of "if the bottle is ugly, the whisky is got to be good, because it doesn't need marketing"; it was actually one of my favorite drams of this 2021 year, and i am sure it is going to be on my yearly top ten. Instant favorite, my score for it is a well deserved 100 over 100. Go buy it.

Arran is always a safe bet. It is very difficult that you will be dissapointed when buying a bottle from this Lochranza distillery. Having said that, they have change their bottle marketing and i really don't like it, that is why i am avoiding the new expressions and i am first trying everything from the older labels. This Sherry Cask Finish, is an Oloroso Sherry maturation, bottled at 46%abv, with a nice golden color. On the nose, chocolate milk formula, hazelnut, Hanuta, floral notes, ginger and Nesquik. It changes a little after having a couple of sips, with raisins and dehydrated fruits. On the palate it is a good dram, not overly appealing. Red fruits, chocolate, milk, vanilla, oranges. Not great, not bad at all. Aftertaste is very woody. Sawdust, ginger; super dry finish. More sips gave me salt, sulphur and metallic notes. There is also some pepper. Overall this one feels like a more alcoholic / liquor Glendronach. That is a good way to describe it, maybe a little young, it is a nice offering. Not the best Arran, not a bad whisky at all, my score for it is 87 over 100.

I get what Ardbeg tried here. I don't approve it. (And they don't care about my approval either, lol) Ardbeg Blasda is the expression with less amount peat from this famous islay distillery, and they did it that way to try something new, different and appealing... it didn't work. Bottled at 40%abv (yes, it is a 40%abv Ardbeg, you did not read that wrong), white wine color. On the nose, it is very aromatic but lacks a little soul. Champagne cola, Pineapple; Super aromatic: Floral, perfumed. Grapefruit, Citric gooseberries and lemon air freshener. After a first sip it gave me sugar syrup. The Aroma has dropped dramatically. Smells like a lightly peated highland malt. On the palate it is very watery, it has a sugary pineapple juice note and slight pepper. Very dim. A second sip gave me sugar syrup and honey. Aftertaste was very dim. Sugar syrup, a hint of salt and smoke. As Led Zeppelin once said, "it makes me wonder" if this is really Ardbeg. It feels like an overly watered down Arran. I believe that distilleries are entitled to experiment, and i appreciate the intention, but i am sure they had to taste this one before bottling it. (Actually the bottle is beautiful); it is maybe a collector's item, but definitively the worst scoring Ardbeg ever. For me, this has a fair 74 over 100.

Having a Glenlivet XXV is always a good day. It was even better because i managed to convince a long time friend to pay for it (lol), and i got to say that this dram was just amazing. Bottled at 43%abv, tawny color. On the nose it was simply great. Fancy, stewed apples. Super nice aroma of pears and definitively some cherries. Incredibly fruity sweet. Fruit salad and Fresh. Burnt thick caramel, Tropical aromas like pineapple and banana. Bbq sauce; Dr. Pepper. Papaya, cherry syrup, and strawberry jam. Best aroma ever. On the palate it was supreme. Red apples, pineapple, cherries. Super tasty caramel. Everything is beautifully crafted. Aftertaste was not as good or complex, but still nice. Ginger; Fruit punch, pineapple and slight saltiness. The aftertaste is dry . Overall this whisky had aromas and flavors which were super clean and accurate. One of the best offerings Glenlivet can give you, i really loved this whisky. Complex enough for a fancy dram, my score for it is 92 over 100.

Not being the best Macallan fan out there, i got to admit that every time a have a 15yo expression from this distillery, i get really impressed. This is the Triple Cask Matured, 2018 release, which i believe it has replace the 15yo fine oak one, or maybe i am mistaken. Bottled at 43%abv, golden color. On the nose, it was breathtaking. Super aroma of raisins; super aroma of sawdust, super aroma of hazelnut. Smells exactly like a power bar; dates, butterscotch and nuttiness was spectacular. Wedding cake, chocolate dry cake. Just incredible. On the palate it was delicious. Chocolate cake, dry dates, nutty. The tobacco note is awesome. Aftertaste was very good, although it is the part of this whisky with less points. Tobacco, dry grass, oak spice. Sawdust. Medium long. Overall, this has the Macallan DNA all over it, but in a good way (Lol). I believe this is a great offering, and of course is a lot mlre expensive that most 15yo, but if you want to buy a Macallan because you care to impress people and like the brand, i recommend you to pick this one. My score is 93 over 100.