Tastes

One friend that just loves super cask strength whiskies brought a Signatory Vintage release of one of Scotland's underrated distilleries, Craigellaiche. This distillery is Dewar's heart, and having it at 68.4%abv, is quite the experience. A 10yo, distilled in 04/09/2012 and bottled from a single 1st filled oloroso cask No. 900699, on 17/02/2023. On the nose, incredible maple syrup; Molasses. Best aroma ever. Maraschino cherries; Wonderful. This aroma might be on my top ten ever. Beautiful thick honey. On the palate, an amazing sweet caramel; thick honey. Absolutely enjoyable. Aftertaste was slighty smokey. Caramel. Fancy toffee. Overall, this was fantastic. It doesn't have more than 3-4 tasting or aftertaste notes but everything it had was incredibly well delivered, super enjoyable and delicious. This one will definitively be on my top ten this year. Perfect score, 100/100. If you find it, buy it.

Signatory Vintage always release some super cask strength single cask expressions, that are usually full of flavor; but sometimes they are just too powerfull for the "uneducated" palate. I happen to put my hands on a Signatory Vintage release of an ultra high abv expression of GlenAllachie, bottled at 67.5%abv. A 12yo whisky, distilled in november 2009 and bottled in october 2022, drawn from the cask No. 900862. One of only 612 bottles ever made. On the nose, it is perfect. Pineapple caramel, liquid paper, ginger and coffee. Incredible aroma. Burnt caramel. On the palate, i get caramel, orange peel, acid fruits. Burnt caramel. Aftertaste is very sugary. Brown sugar. Coffee residue. So much sugar profiles here. Overall, i got to say, that you can't actually feel the powerful 67.5%abv here. It is so sweet that the high alcohol is disguised nicely. This can be a trap for some people, since it doesn't feel that strong, but you can definitively get drunk from a few glasses. Wonderful dram, my score for it is 94 over 100.

One Japanese whisky i have seen a lot lately is this Kurayoshi Blended malt, but i always passed on buying it. The good news are, that a good friend of mine bought it and shared a couple of glasses for my to rate. On the nose, i get Grapefruit juice, also a light apple juice. It is actually super light; Super farmy fresh. Pear peel. Pear is an exact aroma note here. On the palate, more Pears. Super fruity and fresh. I can feel grain whisky after a couple of seconds (and i shouldn't since this is a blended malt, allegedly). Marshmallows. It has a fruity aftertaste. Fresh. Pears, hay and recently cut grass. Overall, i can understand why people like this one, as you can enjoy a very easy and fruity Glenfiddich 12yo. Increibly easy to drink, and enjoyable enough for an unexperienced drinker, you can share this dram with everyone and no one will ever say this is a bad dram. For me, it is too normal and fruity, and i can get a standard 'fiddich' for less price. My score for it is 80 over 100.

A very old, tawny colored Chivas Regal from the 1980s- 1990s is this fancy 18yo "Imperial". I believe this one was truly a hard find back on those days, so that makes it more diificult to find nowadays. Bottled at 43%abv. On the nose, an american breakfast. Coffee, caramelized orange, candied apples, strawberries. Vainilla cake, cherries. After a first sip, aroma changed into cough syrup, stewed apples. After some more sips, i get petrichor, herbal. It smells like Scotland. On the palate, i get caramelized fruits, Salt, bitter chocolate, oranges and honey. Lulo fruit. Aftertaste has the Chivas signature all over it. Salty, ginger, strawberry, almonds. Very salty and acid. Overall, a fantastic old Chivas Regal. I have the feeling that 18yo is the sweet spot for their whisky blends. It is widely known that nowadays 18yo signature blend is considered "the best Chivas", and this "Imperial" expression is a predecessor for the one that we enjoy in this century. My score for it is 91 over 100.

You would be amazed to know how hard has it been for me to actually find a 15yo Edradour called "Fairy Flag". After 5 years looking for it (sometimes letting it pass for another whisky, my fault there) i have had it. It seems to be part of their "core range" if such thing even exists for Edradour. Everything about this whisky calls my attention, specially the reddish color that it has in the Glencairn. On the nose, pure peefection. Pecan pie, hazelnut. Dark fruitcake, Greasy glazed pork and blackberries. Strawberries and red fruits. Crunch chocolate, coffee expresso; Christmas cake, hazelnut and nutella.Crushed almonds. The aroma is wonderful and clean. MARVELOUS. On the palate, beautiful red fruits. A watery character. Sugar, red berries. Macadamia. It is like eating a lot of raisins and berries. Winey character all over the place. Definitively red fruitiness. Aftertaste is Dry. Blueberries, tobacco, hay, super delicious and elegant. Super winey. Spiciness is very mouth watering! Peppery beautiful. A couple of sips in, the bitterness appears with a note of a 100% cocoa dark chocolate. Wonderful. Overall, this is a must. Every sip is better than the previous one. Incredibly flavorful and complex, every note here is my favorite. The only complain i might have is that it can be a little watery on the palate. My score for this beauty is 96 over 100.

My third Whistler Irish Whiskey, is one with another great name, "The Good, The Bad & The Smoky". Of course this is the peated version of Boann's The Whistler, and it has been bottled at 48%abv. On the nose, it starts with Lemoncello, slight vanilla, and an ashy water. Not much else. On the palate, starts with the ashy water. It feels very watered down. Pepper and ashes. Lemoncello. Aftertaste has only one note: Ashes. Overall, this is not a bad dram, but i really wish it could offer more. Too straightforward, not complex at all and a little boring, which is kind of hard when talking about peated whiskies. My score for it is 71 over 100.

I got my hands on a very good looking Bourbon bottle called Still Austin, a limited release single barrel cask strength expression, that comes at 58%abv. On the nose, it starts with a Bloody Mary cocktail note that i have only found on a Hudson Baby Bourbon from New York. Tree tomato; bubbaloo chewing gum. Red fruits. On the palate, it starts with Red fruits, herbal notes, like the little plants bartenders put in Mojitos. Beautifully sour. Aftertaste is all about the classic sour mash from any good bourbon. Tobacco and cigars. Spices; herbal. Overall, this is a very enjoyable bourbon, despite the 58%abv, it doesn't feel alcoholic at all. I would buy it again just to have another bottle since it is good looking. The "juice" itself is good, but i will hardly remember it. My score for it is 84 over 100.

I got my hands again on Ardbeg's "Heavy Vapours", but this time, is the normal "standard" edition. As you might know, Heavy Vapours was one of 2023 Ardbeg's Committee releases. They actually made two, a higher abv one (which did not impressed me much) and this 46%abv one. On the nose, swampy water, smoke. It actually smells incredible. A fresh can of tennis balls. Bloody medicinal cottons, synthetic grass. Chocolate and sugary water. On the palate, it started sweet. Sugar, grassy, herbal. Spicy raw; meat. Actually very sugary. Aftertaste is Smoky, sugary and grassy. Not too complex. Overall, this is a very good whisky. Is it better than the standard Uigeadail or Corryvrekan? No it is not. Is it better than the Cask Strength Heavy Vapours? It just might be. Enjoyable peaty dram, my score for this one is 90 over 100.

Samaroli is a mythycal brand, of independent bottles from different distilleries, sourced by the Italian whisky Legend Silvano Samaroli. His bottles often re-sell for thousands of dollars in auctions and you get this overall feeling that this can be the best of the best out there. This is in fact, my first Samaroli ever. An Allt-A-Bhaine, distilled in 1995 and bottled in 2018, at 47%abv, selected from the cask #187836. On the nose, i got Honey and super fresh pears. Fruitcake, very spongy. Powerful pepper spice. It is exactly as putting your nose into the heart of a pear. Super fresh, it feels like "clean", like a very perfumed soap. Detergent. After the first sip it changed a lot, into an apple pie. Toffee, dulce de leche and red apples. Bananas and caramel. The third was a "dulce de tres leches" dessert. Wow how complex! On the palate, it starts with a creamy vanilla ice cream. Then a bomb of spices. Some ashiness that was expected. The second sip gave me a sauternes/peaches feeling, but the bomb spice is still there. It has an oily, yet creamy body, this is a very well crafted whisky. Aftertaste was a very lovely, peaty finish. Smoky, hay, ashes. Very appealing. The second sip is very mineral, rocky. Wonderful cigar and tobacco, burnt hay, and overall beautifulness. You never expect this aftertaste after the first "Glenfiddich" fruity nose. Overall, a fantastic dram, super complex, with never ending layers of flavors and aromas. Elegant, fruity, peaty and enjoyable. I can honestly say that my first Samaroli experience was an awesome one. My score for it is 93 over 100.

The second expression i got to taste from the "Peatyful Madness" collection from Valinch & Mallet, was another bottle painted by the visual artist Laurina Paperina; but this time it was a 13yo Ledaig. One of one 306 bottles; this one has been matured in a single bourbon barrel, and bottled at 54.2%abv. On the nose, super crazy. Men's Bathroom, grapefruits; medicinal notes. Merthiolate, leather; sand and sea. After the first sip i got a cigar box aroma note; ashes, butter, school glue and liquid paper. It is like an stable but also a swamp. It even smells like weed (although i don't know how that smells, lol ;) On the palate, it starts with a lemon pie note. Meringue and Swamp. Very humid, herbal. Like a rainforest. A pond. Aftertaste has a powerful bite. Smoke, salt, pepper. Long lasting ashy note. Swamp. Overall this one was a peaty masterpiece. It had all the craziness you expect from a whisky that is called "Peatyful Madness" which has a crazy cruel and mad label. Absolutely stunning, my score for it is 98 over 100.