Tastes

One of my favorite football teams in the world is Manchester United. Even an ecuadorian was the team's captain for a long time. And i really loved the "Alex Ferguson" era in the team. He won, as a manager, 13 league trophies, therefore, Chivas Regal has made this 13yo whisky to commemorate those premier league titles. But, this whisky, finished in american rye casks, looks more like the team from nowadays. It is good, but far from elite. Bottled at 40% abv, burnished gold color. On the nose, very nice, but not your typical chivas. Coffee, chocolate, mocaccino, cream, butter, vanilla, milk with coffee. Amaretto and oranges. Red fruits, cotton candy; mostly creamy. Like starbucks made whisky. On the palate, it is normal. Not very complex. Dry rye, red fruits and cherry syrup. Not much else. Aftertaste is a little crazy. Starts with red fruits, to switch into ginger, but the one you eat to change sushi rolls, that soapy one. Dry rye. After a couple sips, you will find some cocoa bitterness, very dim. Overall, this one barely makes the 4 stars mark, it is a good dram, but a little one directional on the palate and doesn't feel like a typical Chivas Regal, which are fruity and spicy. Rye influence is there but not enough to actually put it in the name of the whisky. My score for it is 80 over 100.

I'm pretty sure that this is the same classic Maker's Mark, but with a Purple and Gold waxing to commemorate Los Angeles Lakers. The reigning champions of the NBA, who recently lost their superstar Kobe Bryant to a Helicopter accident. Bottled at 45%abv, lovely tawny color, let's call this a re-review, or a new review on a different bottling. On the nose, it is actually pretty nice. Starts with raw rice, caramel, grain, cereal, rum and raisins ice cream, peaches, salt crackers. After the first sip, the aroma changes slightly, to crème caramel, burnt caramel, prunes, cherries. There is some humidity to it, resembles a library or a page from a book that went wet and dried. On the palate is simple, but very fruity. Starts with sour prunes and caramel. Second sip is better, with more prunes, cherries and apricots. Aftertaste is "bourbonish". Like the most classic one ever. Dry rye, cardboard, grain, pepper and oak spice. Very dry, but decent. Overall, i get why this is a classic. Because it works. It is a very enjoyable dram, fairly interesting an easy to have on an everyday basis. My score for it is 83 over a 100.

WOW. What is this? Where does this dram comes from? It is a very good whisky! In the past months i have seen some Bimber whisky photos in some social media groups, but i really never cared for it. I didn't even knew where it came from. But a couple of weeks ago, a friend handed me a sample of this and i really had no expectations. I didn't even read anything on it until this night, after drinking it (i usually do this in order to avoid feeling influenced in any way on a whisky before tasting it). So, this actually comes from England. A rather new distillery (2015) which is ran by a Polish family. The Word "Bimber" means "Moonshine" in the polish language. Bottled at 51.4%abv, iniatially matured in ex-Bourbon casks, and finished in oloroso Sherry Casks from Spain. It has the most lovely orange, copper color. On the nose, it is perfect. As soon as i sniffed it for the first time i was amazed. An incredible thick orange caramel note is the first to appear. Dehydrated oranges, Coffee. Very fruity, dehydrated ones. Incredibly appealing on the nose, Stewed Apples and Spicy: Cinnamon. There is a great lemon note that surrounds everything. It becomes more citric with time, Green apples. After the first sip it releases a more peppery note with various spices. Thick caramel. Cinnamon. Apples. Caramel. Toffee. On the palate, starts super sweet to become powerfully spicy. Very thick, Red Apples; then turns very spicy with pepper notes and a strong salty flavor. Second sip is all about thick caramel; lovely, very sweet till the mineral spices appear. It is actually very salty. Third sip game me a classic vanilla and more minerals. Aftertaste has a lot of character. Very bitter Tobacco, burnt grass, smokey. Very dry mouthfeel. It is exactly as eating a super bitter 100% cocoa dark chocolate. Milk powder. Very dry. Overall this is one beautiful rollercoaster. Lots of powerful flavors and aromas. It is not an everyday dram because of exactly that, it is just too much. A very good experience and a surprising moment for me. There are only 950 bottles in the world. My score for it is a solid 94 over 100. Sláinte!

My last review on the whiskies from the Highland Park Viking Legends Saga, this time for "Valknut", after having the great Valkyrie and the Not-so-great Valfather. Valknut etimologically comes from "Val" which is a Viking warrior and "Knut", a knot. The symbol to represent a Valknut is three triangles, the ones that appear on the bottle. Talking about the whisky itself, bottled at 46.8%abv, burnished gold color. On the nose, very greasy. BBQ sauce, glazed pork, grease, bacon. After having a first sip, aroma changes into a sweeter profile, with milk chocolate, vanilla. But BBQ is still there. Letting it breath more, will release more vanilla, but also a salty, maritime aroma. On the palate, it becomes sweeter as you take more sips. Starts with bacon, sausages, vanilla and oak spice. Second sip is lot of vanilla and salt. After a third sip, it has become super sweet, a pure vanilla flavor. Aftertaste is where it shows its Highland Park profiles. Smokey, scorched ground, pepper and salt. Prunes and burnt grass. Overall this is a balanced whisky, it stands between the Valfather and Valkyrie. An 87 over a 100 score is fair for it. For the price tag, it is a good dram.

I have a natural resistance for what i am about to do. If you have read my reviews before, you know i am not a Macallan fan. I recognize it as a good whisky, they often make normal expressions that i believe are highly praised by many, but they aren't really THAT good. Having said that, i recently had the classic cut 2018 edition, and i loved it. I scored it 92/100 and i remember that whisky as the most real Macallan ever, it represented every flavor profile i expect from a Macallan. All this made me buy the 2019 edition, and... well... read the rest. Bottled at 52.9%abv, chesnut natural color. On the nose... very complex stuff. Oranges is the first thing you perceive. White chocolate, very winey. Dates, crémé brulee, nuts, cocoa, almonds and amaretto liquor. After the first sip, the dehydrated fruits appear: raisins, dehydrated oranges and a mineral spiciness. After 10 minutes, it released more. Orange juice, liquid thick caramel, stewed apples and Latex. On the palate, it is just amazing. Vanilla cupcake, fondant. A spicy note starts growing after a couple of seconds, to become this sodium-salty note you get from a Coca Cola (don't tell me you just realized coca cola is actually fairly salty). 2nd sip gave me chocolate, a medicinal note and latex, as in the nose. Aftertaste is just incredibly rewarding. Red fruits, tobacco and mineral spiciness. It turns into ginger and chocolate. Very long with an overall mineral feeling. White chocolate with almonds can be felt in the finish. So... i had a whole page written with tasting notes. I try to deduct points from the nose, palate and aftertaste, but my sense of justice didn't let me. The more i tried to deduct points somewhere, the more i realized this dram was very well made. It is not my favorite whisky, i won't die if i never taste it again, but i will surely think this is as close to perfection for a whisky critic and enthusiast. Every rule has an exception, and this my friends, this is a perfect score dram: 100 over 100. Sláinte Mhath. Go buy this.

I got to be honest, it wasn't the amount of prizes won by this whisky that seduced me into buying it, what really got my attention was that this american spirit is made using 100% blue corn. I was eager to experience special flavors and aromas from blue corn spirit, but it actually was very much like a good bourbon. Bottled at 50%abv, deep copper color. On the nose, very refined and very "bourbonish". Lots of bananas, stewed bananas, rum and raisins ice cream. Vanilla, banana bread, brown sugar, creamy vanilla ice cream. On the palate more of the same, but pretty smooth and soft for a 50%abv dram. Banana bread, pepper and a metallic note that i have only found on a Pappy Van Winkle, it is like tasting a copper coin. Vanilla, prunes. Some sour note also. Strong but smooth, fancy. Aftertaste is pretty nice, mild smoke, peppery and spicy. Feels fancy and rewarding. Overall, even if i wasn't surprised with this whisky tasting notes, and even if it is a little one dimensional, it is still a good dram. It is better than most bourbons out there, and i'll definitively would buy it again. My score for it is an 85 over 100.

I am an Ardbeg fan, a committee member, and a peat head. I know what to expect when tasting a new Ardbeg, which is something like a whisky creature from hell, in a nice way. But this, this was quite a rollercoaster. Blaaack was released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of its committee, and has been marketed as the "black sheep" of Islay. They even matured this spirit in new zealand pinot noir wine casks, since new zealand is the only place, like Islay, where there is 7 sheep for each person. So, Pinot Noir meets Ardbeg... let's see what happens: Bottled at 46%abv, this is the standard release, with a burnished gold color, which is darker than most Ardbegs. On the nose, crazy stuff. Starts with Red fruits and shoe polish. It smells like cows and a farm. Hay. Salty, it has this aromatic grassy note. After the first sip it gave me seaweed, vanilla; and salt, but (and i don't know if this even exists) it is like old and damaged salt. Very weird stuff. On the palate, it is fantastic. White chocolate, mild pepper, a pleasant sulphuric note. it is super sweet, very lovely. Then, the aftertaste. It is a hell fire. Very sulphuric, pepper, salt and iodine. Meaty, like lamb. But after the first sip... it became amazingly sweet, with cotton candy, red fruits and nougat. Overall, i dont know what to tell you. In my tasting, the other 26 people loved it, but for me, even if it is a good, interesting dram it feels unbalanced and just crazy. It feels like it wanted to be complex with lots of flavors and aromas, but instead of developing them systematically, they just threw all notes in there with no order. That doesn't mean it is bad, it is actually pretty good, but unbalanced. At least for me it is. My final score is 90 over 100, and it is the first time the "balance" criteria of my scoring system is lower than the palate, nose and aftertaste.

My first Whistlepig was a very interesting dram. I got to say that i enjoy it a lot, i found great and rare tasting and aroma notes, and when i get new things from a whiskey, i appreciate the effort. This is a Straight Rye, bottled at 57.6%abv. Nice tawny color. On the nose it is special, with some crazy aroma notes. Bbq sauce is tje main aroma; glazed pork and rich spiciness. It really smells like pork and a glass of Coca cola without gas. Rye spirit, Cotton candy. The bbq / greasy notes are predominant. Sweet cheap sugar hard candy. Meaty. Sweet and greasy. Very interesting, It doesn't change after having a few sips. If you let it breath, after 10 mins, it releases burnt caramel. Even a grassy burnt hay note appeared. On the palate it is less complex but enjoyable. Starts very sweet, with Red fruits; Sweet red fruits syrup. Then a spicy powerful bomb explodes with chilli, wasabi but pleasant. Caramel. It is nice and rewarding, but way too "one directional". Aftertaste is rewarding but simple. Dry rye grainy finish, long with a nice spiciness. Overall, this was a fairly enjoyable dram, with meaty and greasy notes, mixed with sweetness that comes from the rye spirit. I got to say i liked it, and i wished it was more complex. My score for it is a solid 84 over 100. Cheers!

I had this bottle for a long time, unopened since it just looked like something i would not drink and of course it will be a dissapointing dram. I had some time to spare today, and i found the bottle when reorganizing my bar, and i did not want to spend one of my high end samples tonight, i just didn't feel like it. So, i guess i decided to finally open the Experiment #1 of Johnnie Walker. I had most of the other experiments and they are not all that bad, without being anything memorable either. Well, this is a 40%abv, blended scotch, matured in bourbon casks, and finished in Red Rye whiskey casks. On the nose, it is not bad. It actually fights for some points. Starts with an instant grain whisky note. Raw rice, corn, very perfumed in a cheap but not bad way. Acetone, feels young. After a minute, it releases red fruits, cotton candy, sweet gum. It is very grainy on the nose. I liked the bubble gum note. The palate is nothing. Vanilla, very light. Nothing else. I actually had it for 20 seconds to see if something happens and nothing. There is some kind of spice trying to emerge but it just doesn't make it. It actually has no flavor. Ok, maybe vanilla. Aftertaste is poor, but still better than the palate. Rye whiskey aftertaste, dry. Barley, grassy and grainy. Nothing interesting really. Overall, for a 20-30$ whisky, this is really boring. A dull whisky, that i guess you can use to make the most unappealing cocktail or something like that. My score for it is 49 over 100, and you know i am used to give high scores to whiskies, so maybe this has even a lower score for everybody else.

So, i managed to get my hands on a super Glendronach once again. This time one of the amazing Single Cask vintage expressions: a 27yo (plus those 6 years of every Glendronach), matured solely in a Pedro Ximenez Puncheon. Bottled at 50.9%abv, bottle 397 out of 641, barrel #1014. First, anything matured in a Pedro Ximenez cask immidiately catches my attention since i have a sweet tooth. Lets start reviewing the notes: On the nose, once again my dear Glendronach friend, you are perfect. Dates, figs, blackberries, raisins (so perfect and clean note), dehydrated fruits, you get the idea. There is this glazed pork note, Bbq sauce note, simply amazing (can i dip a nugget on it?). Maraschino cherries, chocolate milk powder. Sherry. Thick caramel, plums. After the first sip, it transformed into an amazing maple syrup note. Hanuta snack (hazelnut), milk chocolate.... and.... bloody mary cocktail??? On the palate, it is great. Starts super sweet, with a maraschino cherry flavor. Lots of red fruits. Pepper surrounds everything. Blackberries. Very astringent. Thick caramel. Aftertaste is a proper conclusion to a wonderful whisky. Smoke, red fruits and tobacco. Very mineral. A long ginger mouthfeel that lasts forever. Overall, this is one great whisky. It is what a Glendronach must be. Maybe it lacks the normal dark chocolate, but it replaced it with lots of red fruits. Great expression, for me, it is a 98 over 100. Sláinte Mhath!!!