Tastes

I've long waited to taste a Port Askaig whisky. A mistery distillery is responsible for this beautiful, complex and delicious dram, but we all know it is Caol Ila, lol. This whisky has been matured in ex bourbon and Sherry Casks, and bottled at 45.8%abv to give it a great, powerful flavor. On the nose is like a three layer aroma: one is full of peat, the other one is fruity and the last one is chocolate. Perfumed bonfire, Heather earthy peat. There is a sherried sweet note. Milk Chocolate but also cigarretes. Nice citrus notes, lemon and Prunes. Raisins bathed in chocolate. The prunes aroma is so clean, amazing stuff. It is the acid prune, the one you eat with salt. After having a first sip, aroma changes and the sherriness explodes. Blackberries, also peat; this is a wonderful dram. Red fruits. Now it is a sweet prune; figs and Vanilla. On the palate, there is a nice sherriness to it, reminds me of a blackberry juice. After 4 seconds Spiceness hits, then a puff of smoke, then chocolate. Wow this is a nice whisky, i wrote all this while holding it in my palate, it is THAT good. 2nd sip gave me: vanilla, then spiciness. Its bitter, its sweet, its salty, its acid. Last sip (third) is all sherry. Aftertaste is an Ashtray. Sawdust. Burnt tobacco grass. Long ashy finish. The Ashy note is so clean, its just amazing how perfectly defined the flavor is. The peaty On this is sublime. If there is something called peat spice,this has it. Salty. Peppery. Cigarretes. Great stuff. Overall, this whisky is simply too good. I am not the fondest fan of Caol Ila, bit its "alter ego" found in me a new follower. My score for it is 92 over 100 and it should be more. Sláinte!

If you follow my reviews, you know how i feel about most Compass Box whiskies: they have the best marketing, the most lovely bottles, but they don't live to my expectations. There are exceptions to that rule, like the "No Name" and some other that i don't recall right now. This is a 180$ bottle, and as all CB expressions, this is not a bad dram, but, is it worth THAT much? Bottled at 46%abv; golden color. This one is a blend called "the double single" because it is made of one Single Malt, Glen Elgin; and one Single Grain Whisky, Girvan. Not the brightest name ever, but lets talk about the aromas and flavors it offers. On the nose, it is maybe the fruitiest whisky ever. Since this dram is 78% Glen Elgin, it screams Speyside. Starts with a Fresh but dim orange aroma. Fancy vanilla. Fancy but dim citrusness. Very fruity, Green apples. Letting it breath reveales an amazing fruitiness, very clean very juicy. Fresh fruits, Very floral; Not a single trace of alcohol. It smells like a Fruit market. It is actually not diverse or complex, just fruity in a very appealing way. Orange juice, Apples, super fresh. Lovely aroma, when i started nosing i was going to give it a 19. It is a 24 over 25. Palate is ok. Keeps most of the fruitiness and gives you a lot of that grain whisky vanilla flavors. Sider and a pleasant oak spice. Second sip revealed vanilla cream; There is a pleasant spiciness overall. That mixes well with the apple flavor. Vanilla gets fancier with every sip. Aftertaste is also decent, nothing to die for. Macerated fruit liquors, Apples. It is fresh but simple. Maybe a tobacco note on my third sip. Some dim peat. Overall, i have mixed feelings about it. I want to be clear this is NOT worthy of $180 dollars, a $75 price would be suitable for it. It is NOT a bad whisky, but it is also not a memorable one. I believe that when CB said that a sum of its parts should make a better whisky they weren't lying since i believe this is a better whisky that a single malt from Glen Elgin and definitively from Girvan which is not one of my favorites. For $160 i can get a Glendronach 18yo which might just be the best whisky you can ever buy, so that is conflicting in my mind. Nevertheless, regardless of the price, i believe this is a 82 over 100 whisky, and that is because the aroma is so good, because the rest of it, is just regular.

For my Review No. 600 i wanted to open one of my special bottles, and oh boy i had a great whisky. Amrut Spectrum 004 , inspired in James Bond (i have no idea why) is a 50%abv whisky from India that was matured for 3 years in ex bourbon casks to then be finished in a "Frankenstein" Cask, made of different oak staves: american white oak with level 3 charring, Ex Oloroso, french Oak with slight toasting and Ex Pedro Ximenez Sherry; the result: One of the best whiskies i have ever had. Bottled at 50%abv, you won't believe how dark red this dram is. The color is Burnt Umber. On the nose is just perfect, complex, powerful, lovely. Chocolate, Tropical fruits; naranjilla (lulo); a Coffee note that it is so beautiful!!!; Mocaccino coffee. A cherry that has been dipped in fondant from a coffee cake. Aroma on this dram is just out of this world. Sherriness from PX, those dark dried fruits. Some citrus emerging, naranjilla. Roasted coffee beans. Red fruits syrup. The most clean, magical chocolate fudge note ever. Recently baked brownies (even my wife said this was 100% there). I Cant stop nosing it. Chocolate butter also present. Aroma after taking the fist sip, reveal also an orange caramel thick syrup. This is great, so buttery. So amazing. On the palate it is also amazing. Orange chocolates. Amazing spiciness; Mineral spiciness. Thick caramel chocolate with pepper and wasabi, so freaking pleasant. Second sip gets even cleaner: Milka caramel chocolate. The spiciness is incredible. Third sip gives you a fancy thick caramel. Aftertaste is very rewarding. Oaky, smoky, sawdust, full finish.Very woody, but so well crafted. Dry. Winey; chocolate and chilli. Minerals, salty, earthy. Overall, this might be my favorite dram of 2020, for the 50%abv you don't get raw alcohol at all, this is powerful, this is tasty. I am really trying to find any flaw on this whisky, but there is none. Maybe the aftertaste is not perfect, but almost there. A great and solid 99 over 100, this will be on my top 10 of this year... and probably it will be on my all time top 10. Great Single Malt.

This dram is one reason why japanese whiskies have so much fame. This dram, as the Hibiki and others, works perfectly and even if it is a little expensive for the age statement, most people who drink it will enjoy it. It is complex and delicious enough. Bottled at 43%abv, tawny color. On the nose, it is great. Orange marmalade with thick orange pieces. Vanilla biscuits. A Grassy tobacco note. A complex citrusness. Lovely maraschino cherries. A very fancy caramel. Letting it breath makes it a lot better. A red fruit syrup; Old almost rancid oranges; Burnt cake crest, Burnt grass. It gets powerfully citric: Lime notes. There is a soap note somewhere. Nosing it after the first sip reveals a thick caramel note, Orange syrup and Pepper. Aroma is fantastic really. On the palate is a little straightforward, but fancy and enjoyable. Caramel, Honey and then a Strong pepper note that fades after a couple seconds. An overly citric orange note also appears. It has a nice character and it is easy drinkable. Aftertaste is also very striaghtforward but very solid. Cough syrup, Tobacco leaf, leather and oak spice. Overall this is a solid whisky. It is a good blend, and i don't know if they are making this anymore, but i bet people will enjoy it if they find a bottle. 90 over 100 is a fair score for it.

I have no idea of what i have just tasted. Is this whisky? Is this breakfast? Is this a dessert? Another Johnnie Walker Blender's Batch expression, this time the Espresso Roast, which is intended to resemble a espresso coffee (a concentrated coffee) and it does its job... i guess. I am not a coffee drinker. It is not that i don't like coffee, it is that i am a crazy dude who is loud and i am always all over the place, and one cup of coffee will be like pouring gasoline to a fire. But lets talk about "the whisky". This is a blended scotch, bottled at 43.2%abv. A dark tawny color which i believe its artificially colored. On the nose is harsh and a little weird. Burnt cocoa, Coffee. Alcohol acetone and grain note is strong. A little off putting. Medicinal alcohol for wounds. Tiramisú dessert; Way too much plain alcohol, it feels like a moonshine. Butter from young grain whiskies. There are raw coffee beans, and there is cream from a creamy coffee cup, but there is too much alcohol to be properly appreciated. Reminds me a lot of a turamisu dessert. Second sip reveals a cream aroma, exactly the one from the tiramisu dessert. It Gets better on nose with time. There is an orange aroma in there but it is strange and not constant. On the palate it is normal. Cofee, Salt; Raw coffee. Bitter Cocoa. Grain whisky. Second sip is like taking a bite on a tiramisu, but then it turns spicy like oak spice, not unpleasant but feels young. After the third sip it had a rapid caramel taste which fades quickly. Aftertaste is interesting. It is a coffee cup in the palate. It is like having an exact cup of coffee; Bitter. Salty also. Overall this is a strange dram, which feels more like a liquor than a whisky. I don't think someone can actually drink a bottle of this and maybe you can just use it for a cocktail now and then. My score is a very unbalanced 78 over 100.

I expected nothing from this whisky and it really suprised me, specially on the nose which is almost perfect. For a relatively unknown distillery, it is well crafted and the rum casks have imparted nice aromas and flavors to it. Maybe an excess of oakyness here and there, but a good dram, even better for just $20. Bottled at 40%abv, tawny color. On the nose it is amazing really. Inmidiate Tobacco and molasses when uncork. Grassy, lots of barley. Malted Barley chalk. Dry brown grass. Dried fruits for a second. Smells like a young rum. Dust. Milk powder. Sawdust. Recently cut wood. Molasses. Pretty nice. Sugary dried fruits. Marmalade, excelent actually. Dry cake. On the palate is fresh and easy drinkable. Fruity. Apples and pears; Dim pepper. Apple juice. No alcohol note, very smooth. A little simple. Aftertaste is all about Sawdust. Raw rice. Exactly like Licking a plain wood table. Woody overall. Maybe i stole a point on the balance and the nose but this is a solid 82 over 100. It could use a higher abv to develop a more complex palate, but a good offering for the price.

Got to say that i have never heard about this whisky before, and i am not a fan of port cask finishes, but this not expensive single malt is nice enough to be drinkable, and for 17 dollars, you are getting a nice dram. This is a double Cask, matured in american white oak and finished in port casks. Bottled at 40%abv. On the nose it starts harsh, but gets better. You have to let it breath... a lot. Uncorking reveals red fruits. On the Glencairn the alcohol note is strong; Acetone. Red Apples, feels young. Barley and cotton candy. Sugary, red fruits. Dificult to perceive due to high acetone notes. Old degraded apples. Slight cinnamon. After first sip, strawberry appears. Second sip reveals a caramelized apple note. On the palate is way better. Starts a little Bitter, but becomes Sugary, like cotton candy. Winey. Apples. Barley / grassy. Decent palate. Impalpable sugar and Caramelized apple from the circus. Aftertaste is very dry and very decent. Raw wheat, Tobacco leaf, Dry grass. Maybe a slight hint of smoke. Overall this is a good whisky for its price, and could be a good starting point on single malts. A fair 80 over 100.

Another nice blended malt from Compass Box who are improving their game, since i believe most of their core expressions are not as good as they claim. This is a balanced, fruity dram. It tells you the story of a time when master blender John Glaser met an old Spaniard who taught him about sherry. This whisky claims to be matured in spanish wine cask which must mean sherry, but really little sherriness is found on it, although it is definitively winey. The bottle, as almost all Compass Box decanters, is incredibly beautiful. Bottled at 43%abv, golden color. On the nose, it is hard to perceive at first since the whole aroma feels dim. Uncorcking the bottle gives you cherries and wine. The big aroma note here is Green Apples. It is very fruity; at first yoi can get an alcohol note, but it quickly fades to a slight sherry with vanilla cream. Grassy, young, vanilla turns into chocolate fudge. Sider. It becomes more tropical, there is a nice complexity to it: pineapple and cantaloupe; fruit salad. After the first sip it becomes even more fruity. A perfect description for the aroma is "a battle between white and red wine". On the palate is not complex, but super smooth, you can hold it eternally in your mouth. Apples, vanilla powder, dim pepper, very pleasant. Barley. Aftertaste offers something different and i like it, since it shows how well crafted this dram is, without being anything you would die for. Hints of smoke, grassy, yeasty. Bitter but pleasant long aftertaste that resembles a beer flavor. Nice touch. Overall this is a good dram for $65. Better than a lot of whiskies for that price, not as spectacular as the label describes. An everyday dram, 83 over a 100 is my score for it.

This was a dissapointment. A 23yo single malt, with a beautiful bottle, around the $300 mark, that is named "Grand Cru" which means a special blend of wines in the wine industry, and having declared that this was matured in french Cuvée casks (special best casks for champagne) but gives you a flavor that you can find in most 12-15yo speyside whiskies, it is just sad for the customer. I am not saying this was a bad dram, not at all, it is just normal. Forgettable. Bottled at 40%abv, golden color. On the nose: Vanilla powder, yellow apples, caramel powder, pears, chocolate powder, winey. Second sip became just caramel and lemon. On the palate, nothing really. A very normal fresh apple flavor with hints of pepper. Pears. Aftertaste was the best part of it, but absolutely normal. Ginger, Vanilla powder, cinnamon, apples. Second and third sip revealed some mineral notes, maybe salt. And that's it. I believe that this is not only boring and normal, it falls into my perception of some "fancy" whiskies that have standard, safe flavors for those buyers who don't know much about whisky and they have a bigger wallet, and when they have this, they'll enjoy it because it is a smooth apple juice, but for the real critics and enthusiasts it is plain boring. I wouldn't pay more than 40 dollars for a whole bottle, it is not even a better Glenfiddich than the 15, 18, 19 age of discovery ones or the 21, and i think that is undeniable. My score for it is a creepy 77 over 100. Move along, nothing to see here.

I believe that the "Classic Cut" name of the bottle comes from Macallan's Marketing strategy of their six pillars and all that stuff, but it should be about Macallan's really classic flavors and aromas. I have seen this bottle a lot of times and never picked it up, since i am not a Macallan Hardcore fan, but now i know i should have done it, specially because this one is the most "Macallan" Whisky Macallan has ever made. If you want to teach people on what a Macallan can offer, a classic Macallan profile, this is the bottle. It checks all the boxes in the "Macallan profile" form. Bottled at 51.2%abv, thick amber color. On the nose: sawdust and chocolate. Maraschino cherries. Cocoa butter, cookie dough, red fruits and more chocolate. Sherry, good old plain sherry. A little soap. Hazelnut, coffee. Second sip reveals some cheap citrus notes, like air freshener. More cherries. On the palate, it is delicious, full, powerful, full of flavor. Starts pretty sweet like chocolate and dulce de leche. Cocoa butter. Then it becomes very mineral. "Crazy dips" effervescence feeling on the palate; pepper, a strong oak spice bomb. Second sip reveals toffee; cinnamon and apples. Very nice. Aftertaste is a textbook Macallan on the first sip. Sawdust, minerals and sulphur, very oaky/ woody. Second and third sip gives you tobacco leaf and hints of a fancy smoke. Beautiful. Overall, i really liked this one, and i would recommend it. I believe it is worth the 118$ they ask for it. A solid, balanced dram, 92 over 100.