Tastes

Highland Park is one of the best distilleries out there, that is a fact. Almost everything they do, WHICH IS A LOT, is well made. Since they belong to the same Group as Macallan, it is not surprising that they release 5 different expressions per second hahahaha. But, Macallan fails to be as consistent as Highland Park is. Highland Park Magnus is a wonderful whisky, not expensive at all and it has been matured in sherry oaks, which gave it a good complexity. Magnus refers to the Viking descendant, Magnus Eunson, the original founder of this distillery, who was a smuggler in the beggining and only when the excisemen discovered the distillery in 1798 it became the established date for Highland Park. Bottled at 40%abv, amber color. On the nose: Smoke, Plums, raisins, mint, dehydrated fruits, vaping smoke, very floral, heather. After first sip it gave me sea salt, dulce de leche and rum and raisins ice cream. Great. On the palate, it is wonderful and sulphuric. Sulphur, salt, smoke, meat which has been overly seasoned with salt. The "bite" on this dram is wonderful, such and experience. Ashy. Aftertaste mantains the peatiness: smoke, pepper, cigarrettes, coal and ashes. Overall this is a very balanced dram. The best part is the palate, which is the hardest thing to achieve when crafting whisky. It is usually the nose where i believe most whisky score the points, and the palate is sometimes a simple transition to aftertaste. This is not the case, Highland Park Magnus has a great palate, with a great bite (if you love peat that is). My score for it is a balanced 23 points in every aspect, for an overall score 92 over 100.

I did a lot of homework before tasting this whisky. Jura Seven Wood has been matured in the following Oak Barrels: Ex-Bourbon, Vosgues, Jupilles, Allier, Les Bertranges, Limousin and Tronçais. Most of them are casks used in the maturation of red wines like Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Franc; Cognac and Champagne. They actually come from different forests and forest's subzones of France. But, are the seven different barrels giving this Jura the complexity it promises? At only 42%abv? The answer is yes. It is a Rollercoaster of diverse flavors and aromas. It is not that expensive and it is worth trying. Let's decode the aroma and tasting notes: On the nose, it is amazingly complex yet very balanced. Starts with burnt grass, then becomes toffee and white chocolate. Old oranges, wet grass, sown land, freshly baked brownies, caramel, fancy vanilla, chocolate milk formula, almonds..... Crazy good. Crazy stuff. After first sip, it gave me chocolate fudge, perfumed peat and wet clothes. On the Palate, it is a little plain: vanilla, grassy, wasabi rises after 3 seconds. Second sip gave me peated water. Very dry. Aftertaste is good. Rewarding. Smokey, peppery. Bonfire wood. Salty, pleasant smokiness. Overall this is a very easy drinkable whisky, very well balanced and beautifully crafted. I would  say this is a great offering in Jura, that you can give to an unexperienced drinker to show how diverse a whisky "pallette" can be, without throwing off-putting flavors to the person enjoying it. My score for it is 88 over 100, most points come from the nose.

It is amazing how something with aroma notes like humid clothes, fresh can of Tennis Balls, and tasting notes like tar and seaweed can be SO FREAKING GOOD. Laphroaig Cairdeas Port & Wine Casks is the 2020 edition; "Cairdeas" means friendship in gaelic, and this expression has been matured in ruby port casks, then finished in red wine barrels. Bottled at 52%abv, tawny color. On the nose, your crazy typical Laphroaig peat, with chocolate notes. Fresh can of tennis balls, wet clothes, hay, mountain fog, and one beautiful Dulce de Leche note. On the palate, a little straightforward but really amazing: red fruits, strawberry and spicy chilli. Aftertaste is so good, with tar, salt, pepper, seaweed and medicinal notes. Very peaty, very plastic, very artificial... in a pleasant way. Overall this is a great Laphroaig, not the most complex one, but surely something a peat head will enjoy. The wine casks gave it a red fruitiness, which is a nice spin to it. My score for it is an outstanding 93 over 100. Fully recommended.

A nice, fancy Glenmorangie, made using an English Barley called Maris Otter, often used to make craft beers. All the fruitiness from Glenmorangie is here, with an important influence of a yeasty / grassy profile. Bottled at 46%abv, burnished gold color. On the nose, nice aromas with no alcohol note at all. Starts with a clean apple note, cooked apples. Barley, grass, super fresh. Creamy cake. After first sip, i got Toffee, lots of yeast, like a craft beer. Old oranges. It smells like any scottish distillery, because of the yeast and the barley notes. You also find this old cake note, like eating a cake on the last day before it goes bad. On the palate it is delicious. It is better on the palate than on the nose. First sip is all about caramel, honey and then a chilli punch. The second sip was a lot more cereal-like. Raw rice, wheat, barley. Aftertaste is very pleasant. Starts with a great mild smokey note, pepper and salt. Very fancy, very rewarding. Overall this is a great whisky, nice fancy feeling, i believe there are a lot of better whiskies than this one, but you can count on this as a safe bet. I liked it, i won't cherish it, i believe it deserves exactly a 89/100 score and many people will qualify it as a jewel, but there are more interesting things out there.

I have had one great whisky. It comes in a great looking bottle. I dont want it to end. If you have read some of my Compass Box reviews you might already known they tend to dissapoint me, or at least fall short from my expectations (which i build because of their great marketing). But not this time. I bought this bottle because i was hosting a "Legendary Whiskies" tasting class and i had some really good monsters in there like the almighty Glendronach 18yo, so i gave this Myths And Legends III to 23 people and i now regret it fully. Myths & Legends is a 3 bottle series by Compass Box, the first two are actually Single Malts, since all whiskies in the "blend" come from the same distillery, Glen Elgin. The real reason i picked this one is because this is a blended malt of some Glen Elgins, and a Highland Park 23yo and a Caol Ila 15yo Sherried. So there is a peat character to it. Bottled at 46%abv, best looking bottle ever with the minotaur; burnished gold color. On the nose, perfection. Oranges and Lime with a great smokiness. Fruit salad, so tropical. Glue. Peaches and silicon. After the 2nd sip it gave me beach aromas, sand and salt. Pineapple and Vanilla. After the 3rd sip it was wet clothes and socks. Amazing stuff. On the palate, it seems like it is just a transition from the nose to a great aftertaste. Orange peel, chocolate cake and grapefruit. Aftertaste is incredible, peaty but very pleasant. Salt and sulfur. Chewable peat, grassy. Smoky. Great, rewarding medium long finish. Overall, this is a great, very pleasant, super rewarding dram. Nothing off-putting or too strong. Everything is balanced to perfection. My score for it, and this is because it lost some points on the palate, is 94 over 100. I regret that i shared this whisky, i shouldn't have.

We might just have some controversial statements in this review. Let me start saying: 1.- This is my second Octomore. 2.- I consider myself a hardcore peat head. 3.- In general, i am not the fondest fan of Bruichladdich. 4.- I have had a lot of Cask Strength whiskies before. Having said that, i got to say that i dont find this dram to be too enjoyable. And the reason for that is that even with a couple drops of water, which i added after having a few sips, it is not a dram that you cherish, that you keep for a long time, it is not a whisky that you want to drink everyday. And sometimes you find whiskies that are like that, but are far more enjoyable. Octomore is known for being the peatiest whisky on the world, and this one is bottled at 61.2%abv. Burnished gold color. On the nose: Peat is very fresh and perfumed. Mint; melted Chocolate fudge. Smoke from some scented candle. Naphthalene, smells a little like a public Bath. Nice buttery chocolate note. There is some citrus, more like lemon peel and grapefruit. Some very powerful freshness like the strongest breath candy you can imagine. Hay, very grassy, barley. Not off putting, a little hard to nose; not bad at all. On the palate, starts sweet to then deliver the most atomic spice bomb ever existed. Chocolate and vanilla right from the start; Then a ULTRA POWERFUL SPICE BOMB: PEPPER AND CHILLI AND WASABI, THIS IS DESTROYING MY PALATE, i even wrote this in caps lock. Second sip is easier. Nice chocolate, still a lot of spices, way too powerful. Aftertaste is not complex. It is not even THAT long. Starts with a puff of smoke, and then not much else. Medium long finish, but the palate has died, lol. A little grassy. Crazy dips. Scorched tongue, not a bad feeling though. Overall, this feels like way too young, way too simple and way too powerful to be truly enjoyable. You expect lots of different notes when you go cask strength since flavor lives in alcohol, but this is not the case. It doesn't feel "peaty", it is more like scorching, and i truly believe that some people (not all of them) praise this one just because the label of "the peatiest whisky ever". I love peat, i want to live in a peat bog, but this... this is not for me. 80 over 100.

You know i am a man who gives high scores to whiskies. And when i read that this one, from one of my favorite distilleries won Gold on 2020's World Whiskies Awards, i prepared myself for a really nice dram, but i was totally dissapointed. Highland Park Valfather is part of what i call the "Val" series; Valkyrie, Valknut and Valfather, this last one is all about the nordic boss god, Odin. It is suppossed to be the peatiest HP and a great whisky. Lets go to the notes, then you'll have my conclusion on it. Bottled at 47%abv, burnished gold color. On the nose it is quite nice and peaty, very perfumed but nothing too special. Very grassy, hay and earthy peat notes are the first you perceive. Then a chocolate brownie aroma is revealed. Very fresh, like mint; floral, it feels "windy". Second sip gave me smokey notes and a super citric lemon. On the palate, it only has two notes, What a shame. Vanilla and Hay. That's it. Very sweet, smooth, easy drinkable, but no emotion. Very simple. Aftertaste lifts this whisky up, with puffs of smoke and pepper spice. Ginger and ashy notes are also present. Overall, this is not a memorable dram, nor a gold winner, at least not in my book. Nlthing off putting about it, and actually pretty easy to drink, but lacks emotion and complexity. My score for it is a very generous 76 over 100.

Amrut is a solid bet when buying a new bottle. Everything they do is great, specially considering their first whisky was released in 2004. Having said that, this is not the best Amrut i have ever had, and it is not that peaty. Still a good whisky; with some interesting notes. Bottled at 46% abv (not to be confused with the Peated Cask Strength Amrut). Amber color. On the nose, it is so amazing, that score a perfect score, saving the overall rate of this dram. Starts with "naranjilla" a fruit that is amazing and only exists in countries like Ecuador where i live. You might find it called as "Lulo". Very tropical. Glazed Pork, some medicinal notes too. An IPA beer aroma, tangerine, and coffee. Citric. After having a first sip, the aroma develops an Olive oil note, spices and cherry tomatoes. On the palate is a little dissapointing. Vanilla, ashes, a little earthy, lemon and pineapple. Still a tropical yet peaty profile. Aftertaste has an explosive peat punch, but gets dim too quickly. Chilli and salt. Overall this is a good whisky but not a great one. Every single Amrut i have had before is better than this one. The score is 85 over 100 and it is because the aroma is amazing.

Every single time i see a horrible looking bottle, i buy it. It is because i truly believe in the "Laphroaig Effect", a term invented by me, which is used to describe a great whisky in a horrible bottle; my analysis on that particular issue is that the whisky must be incredibly good so the distillery doesn't need to spend on marketing. And Longrow Peated is one of those examples. A whisky from a Campbeltwon distillery, one of the few, Longrow is known for having the peatiest profile of all of Springbank's whiskies. Bottled at 46%abv, pale straw color. On the nose is very good and it is not the best part of this whisky. Heathery peat, very perfumed. Floral, moss. It has this humid storage facility aroma, like and old library. Lemon, green apples. Soy Sauce, new leather and the aroma of a new car. After first sip, dulce de leche, gunpowder and ginger appeared. Salty, reminds me of the beach. Palate is extraordinary. Starts with the most fancy Vanilla flavor ever, then a pepper bomb explodes, with salt and chilli. Very, very, very salty. Aftertaste is amazing as well. Very Mineral, tastes like licking a boulder. Peaty; chilli, ashes. Great stuff. Overall this is a fantastic whisky, and i recommend you to try it. My score for it is 92 over 100. Sláinte!

Caol Ila has more fame than different expressions. The name Caol Ila means "the sound of Islay" and this distillery edition is part of a series of whiskies that Diageo release every now and then, for their most popular malts, like Talisker and Oban; usually double matured. Bottled at 43%abv, burnished gold color. On the nose is nice: Grapefruit, lemon air freshener, pine, prune, burnt car oil, lemons, acetone, orange peel. Actually very citric and medium peaty. The aroma resembles to a horse race track. Iodine, seaweed, beach and sea. After a couple of sips a dim sherriness emerges. On the palate is good but too simple. Creamy Vanilla, salt and earth. That's it. Aftertaste is also a little simple. Tobacco, agave, a little watery and sandy. Reminds you a lot of the beach. Overall this is a fine whisky, easy drinkable and safe for inexperienced palates. Maybe too safe. 83 over 100 is my score for it.