Tastes

Born to Raise Hell. An "Ace of Spades" of a whisky. The Swedish distillery Mackmyra released some years ago the "Motörhead" whisky, to celebrate Lemmy's rock band 40 year anniversary. The band allegedly participated in selecting the casks where the whisky was matured. Bottled at 40%abv, a tawny color dram. On the nose, it is very "bourbonish". Burnt caramel, caramel milkshake, banana and butter. Tobacco, maple syrup, capn' crunch cereal and maize. Malted barley, coffee and milk chocolate. Very sweet. On the palate, it was a very enjoyable whisky. Prunes, pepper, vanilla, grapefruit. Maize, grain, BBQ sauce and pancake batter. Caramel popcorn and prunes. Aftertaste is very balanced and continues to be quite interesting. Smokey, tobacco, very bitter, bbq sauce, pepper and sausage. After a couple of sips it became grassy, with hay and aniseed notes. Overall i truly believe this is a dangerously easy drinkable and fairly complex whisky. Even if its tasting and aroma notes are quite standard, there is a lot to enjoy. Feels like a fancy bourbon rather than a single malt, and it is well crafted. My score for it is 88 over 100.

Let me tell you my story about Waterford whiskey. I often find myself surfing on whisky auction websites, and around six or eight months ago i started seeing this "Waterford" bottles everywhere. A very mediocre web search help me to find out that it was an Irish Whiskey, with mostly organic elements before distilling it. That is all i knew. The blue bottle was not very good looking, and i realized they had a lot of expressions and most of them look the same, everything was a little confusing. After dodging tasting it for a long time, i was buying some whisky samples and i took the opportunity to finally taste it and cross it from my list. I bought this "Ballymorgan edition 1.1" without any research. Tonight, in St. Patrick's Day, i felt compelled to drink an Irish Whiskey and i took my pick. It was... very good. After having it i started reading about waterford and how they source different types of barley; they have a special term for "terroir" called "Teireoir" which is tied to a code, which you can prompt into their website and it will take you to a special page where you can learn about the farm that produced the barley, which casks were used, how long was it matured and tons of other information. It was actually, way too much info about a dram. Bottled at 50%abv, golden color, matured in 1st fill ex-American whiskey casks, American Virgin Oak, French Oak, and Vin Doux Naturel (which is a fortified french wine). The Teireoir Code for it is F013E01-01. Let's talk about the whiskey. On the nose, a lot of cake and vanilla, very appealing. Malted barley, Chocolate milk and Vanilla milkshake. Recently baked Brownies, Hay, Yeast, Spongy cake. For 50% it is very easy to nose, Burnt cake crest, fudge and Meringue. On the palate, it is very good. Delicious. Buttery, Meringue; Sugar, Hay. Very interesting farm fruits like gooseberries, Prunes and various citric flavors. Aftertaste is tasty and long. tasty long. Ginger, Pepper and salt; Hay and Crazy dips. Very yeasty; Aniseed. Grassy, Super rewarding. Overall, this whiskey surprised me a lot. I didn't expect it to be so tasty and balanced. Specially when i found out it was 3 years and 10 months old. Incredibly enjoyable, i gave 22 points to each criteria on my score system. I have open my eyes to this distillery, i will be trying more from them for sure. My score for it is a solid 88 over 100.

Aberlour is a classic speysider, known for a caramelized apple flavor and a easy drinkable spirit. This is a new 14 year old, double cask matured expression, in european sherry oak and american oak barrels. Bottled at 40%abv, tawny color. On the nose, a nice, fruity personality. Red apples, Pepper and Pear. Very fruity; Some dim citrus like grapefruit. A super pear aroma, so clean and accurate. After a first sip, a fancy home made toffee appeared with Some creamy vanilla rising. On the palate it is very easy to drink, yoi can hold it for hours. Red apples and Clove. Incredibly smooth, a second sip gave me vanilla, mashed apples and Toffee. Aftertaste is very balanced, making this dram a very coherent spirit. Dry grass, hay, Tobacco and Clove. Very brown-grassy in most of the notes here. Overall, this is a very round whisky. It is nothing too special in any of its parts, but not bad at all. It is very enjoyable and perfectly balanced. It is a perfect everyday whisky. My score for it is a solid 80 over 100, scoring 20 points in each criteria.

A surprising Jameson expression, i was really eager to try it since i have seen it in a couple of places but never had it. I did not know what to expect, since the stout expression was not my favorite and the "Round" expression was amazing and those were my last two Jamesons. Lets talk about the whiskey. Bottled at 40% abv, burnished gold color. On the nose, incredibly appealing, super fruity. Starts with malted barley and some Grain whisky aromas. Then a thick Creamy vanilla, Slight plum aroma, Stewed red apples; Rich fondant. Grain whisky is present in the aroma, there ia a beautiful citrusness; Yellow apples and Sider. Pretty complex and fruity. On the palate this is without a doubt, the most creamy whisky i have ever had. Lots of very creamy vanilla, corn, maize. Simple, yet delicious. Aftertaste was the lowest point of this good dram. There is a minimal burn, hay, pepper; mostly grainy finish. Tastes like "candycris" which is a candied almond that is sold in Ecuador. Overall i really enjoyed this whiskey. A good aroma and a very creamy palate made most of the points here. I would recommend it, i don't believe is expensive at all. My score for it is 81 over a 100, but surely feels like more.

A relatively new Highland Park cask strength expression, called edition No.1, even if this distillery has a bunch of whiskies that are bottled at cask strength. This one has been advertised as a whisky that shows the full palette of aromas and flavors that Highland Park can achieve. Bottled at a very powerful 63.3%abv, golden color. On the nose, it is very floral and strong. Starts with a malted barley aroma note, lemon, heathery peat, cookie dough, vanilla and molasses. A lot of floral notes, hay, butter and grapefruit. On the palate the first sip is way too powerful. Very sulphuric, copper, a lot of metallic flavors. It is a very fiery flavor. The second sip is amazing though. Vanilla, vinegar, red fruits, red wine and apples. Aftertaste is a little difficult to handle due to the peatiness and the high abv. I am a peat head, but the sulphuric notes where just too harsh at the beggining. Smoke, pepper, cigarrettes, vanilla, incense and coal. A second sip gave me smoke, hay and bonfire. Wasabi is there too. Overall, this is a good expression, but it feels harsh sometimes. The flavor palette is good, not overly complex, but decent enough. My score for it is 89/100.

Another Glendronach, another jewel. This time a travel retail 16yo expression. I am a person who truly believes that duty free expressions are almost always inferior to normal core range ones. This one is the exception to that rule, and my analysis to that fact, is that you ask Pelé to take on a penalty kick on a friendly match, he is still Pelé, so, he is going to score. That is how Glendronach works, both travel exclusives, 10yo Forgue and 16yo Boynsmill, are still Glendronach beautiful spirit, therefore you can't miss. "Boynsmill", was the original name of the state where Glendronach is located, and actually the famous "Glen House" of Glendronach was originally called Boynsmill house. This whisky is bottled at 46%abv, tawny color. It was triple matured, in PX and Oloroso casks from Andalucía In Spain; and, Port Wine casks from The Duoro Valley in Portugal. Very fancy stuff. On the nose, your classic Glendronach massive aroma. Starts with Godiva Chocolate, the most accurate and clean aroma of maraschino cherries; dark chocolate, prunes, hazelnut, Chocolate Powder, toblerone chocolate, vanilla dry cake, toffee and a citric grapefruit. Lovely. On the palate, it is inmensely enjoyable. Red fruits, maraschino cherries, mild pleasant pepper; maple syrup. Some dim saltiness, hazelnuts and almonds. Aftertaste is very rewarding. Starts with dark chocolate, to then give you a puff of smoke that turns into a tobacco note. A little but very pleasant sulphur note; velvet. Overall, everything that Glendronach touches it turns into gold. This is an amazing whisky, and for $115, i truly believe you are getting more than what you paid for. My score for it is a solid 93 over 100. Nice whisky. Im happy.

As a whisky enthusiast, i am eager to try all whiskies possible. From the very best ones to the the worst. That is the only way to really learn and know about whisky. Having said that, i bought this "Song Of Fire" bottle from the Johnnie Walker Game of Thrones expression, knowning that this could be a bad dram. I previously had most of the GOT single malts and some of them where good, and i had the white walker from Johnnie Walker which was horrible. So, when i first tried the sister bottle of this one, called "Song of Ice" i expected a bad dram, but it was actually nice (my score for that one was 76 and maybe it deserved a little more). So, i had this "song of fire" to end the ordeal of tasting this special expressions and.... it is a forgettable dram. Bottled at 40.8%abv, golden color. It is suppossed to have a base of caol ila for extra smokiness. On the nose: Cinnamon; Red apples with cinnamon. Apple pie and Pepper. A little Sulphuric. Nothing more. On the palate it is an oily dram. Again Red apples and Cinammon, some Pepper, Honey and Cough syrup. Very simple. Aftertaste tries to give you something different, but fails. Sulphur, Red apples, Pepper and a mild Smoke from burning grass. Incense. Overall this is a very boring, simple and not very enjoyable whisky. Maybe to be used in cocktails (which i don't usually drink) it might work. Don't buy this one, it is useless to drink it. My score for it is a very generous 63 over 100.

Sometimes i feel sad about not having tasted before some classic malts, while having a lot of other whiskies. After 678 reviews i finally got to taste Cragganmore 12yo, a Diageo Classic, and the mother single malt of Old Parr, a blended whisky you might not have heard of, which is not that good but it is everywhere in Ecuador and Colombia. This review is for the old Cragganmore 12yo bottle, the one from 2000-2010, at 40%abv and golden color. On the nose, it is fair, your expected speysider. Honey, sawdust. Earthy, oranges, wet recently cut grass; chocolate. Some vanilla, toffee and more honey after having a first sip. On the palate, it follows the same path: honey, vanillq, slight saltiness; another sip revealed sawdust and new wood, like licking a log. Aftertaste is nice, nothing to die for. Peppery, grassy, hay and a dim sulphur note. There is some minor smokiness somewhere almost ghostly. Overall this is a fairly enjoyable dram, nothing too special but not bad. My score for it is a proper 76 over 100.

I love Glendronach. Glendronach is the best distillery and their whiskies are superb. Having said that, which was very important for you to know (lol), this particular expression is a hand-filled bottled bought at the distillery. It was a 13 year whisky (almost 14), Px puncheon, single cask, bottled at 60%abv. It was some one else's dream bottle, that he had to sell through an auction, and despicable old me, bought that person's dream, to drink it with my friends. Well, i got to say, it was absolutely fantastic, one of the best drams i have ever had. I had previously tasted my own hand filled bottle, which i filled at the distillery and to this date that is my favorite whisky of all time, so yes, you should get your hands on one of this expressions. (And no, it wasn't my favorite whisky because i filled the bottle, i have other bottles from other distilleries i have also filled myself and they don't come quite close on the score). After all that prelude, lets talk business: On the nose, an universe of aromas. Raisins, figs, dates, champagne cola; oranges, flan caramel, toffee; sawdust; a fancy burnt caramel creme bruleé; wet cake, tiramisu, cocoa powder, creamy ice cream; apple strudel and "tres leches" sweet. Out of this world. After a first sip, it gave me some blackberry maramalade, red wine, more figs and wet cake, raisins; a "Lolita Lempica" women's perfume; aunt jemima honey syrup, sandalwood and danish cookies. Go back, read all that and ask me if i can avoid giving this a perfect score on the nose. On the palate, what a marvel. Flan, a tres leches sweet dessert, pepper spice, cake. A second sip revealed red fruits, raisins, hazelnut and butterscotch. Aftertaste was sublime. Chocolate, flan, tres leches sweet; tobacco. A fine cuban cigar, oak spice; chilli. Everything amazingly delivered, super powerful but rewarding and not too strong for the high abv. Overall this is an incredible whisky, it fully deserves my perfect score. I have found, as many of you also have, my perfect distillery. Glendronach makes the 18yo and 21yo which always battle for the greatest "core range" whisky in my books. So, needless to say, my score for this is a perfect 100. Sláinte mhath!

Another one of Johnnie Walker's expressions of HBO hit tv series "Game of Thrones". This time its "Song of Ice", a blended whisky that uses Clynelish as the base for the flavor, which should feel "cold" or something like that. Most of this Johnnie Walker GOT whiskies weren't very good, and the White Walker one was horrible, so lets se what we got here. Bottled at 40.2%abv, golden color. On the nose, it is very fruity. Grapefruit, super fresh apples, Pear and Vanilla. Letting it breath for a long time reveals a dim toffee note. There is a "ghostly" spiciness; Red apples with caramel. Not bad. On the palate, it follows the same rythm of the nose: Apples, Pears and Pepper. Very fruity, Pear peel. A second sip gave me grapefruit and some other citrus flavors. Aftertaste is ok, but a little straightforward  Burnt dry grass, Ginger and Dim smokiness. After 3 sips, the grain whisky appeared with its maize and corn notes. Overall this is not that bad. I expected something worse. Fails to feel cold, or be complex; it feels like something everybody would enjoy. The other one, called "Song of Fire" is way more dissapointing, and i might actually finish this bottle someday, maybe sharing it a lot. My score for it is 76 over 100.