Tastes

It is almost unknown. It is cheap. It is good. A "lightly peated" blended whisky, it doesn't even have a website. You cam have it for around $25. Bottled at 43%abv On the nose, its peaty, so its good. Slight aromatic peat, toffee, earthy and salty. On the palate, Very sulphuric. Lots of Toffee too. Hay: lots of burning hay. First time i had this. So grassy. Interesting. Burning oak sensation. Aftertaste is very short, peppery. Overall this is a solid 80 over 100 specially for the price tag.

I got to say i have never heard of this one before. After some research, this one is a $55 whisky, a blended one (grain and malt) made by Fuji Gotemba. Bottled at 50%abv A tasty little fellow this one. On the nose: Red apple, Lemon, Grain whisky aroma (cereal), Almonds, Banana cake. On the palate, its rather tasty. Cherry at the beggining, then a Wasabi Spice bomb. A lot of cream from the grain whisky. A Rye spiciness. Finish is very long and spicy. For $55, this is a good blend. The bottle is nice and it is an interesting dram. Its not going to change anyone's life but it is a good offer. Overall i give it an 83 over 100.

To this day, this one can be consider a rarity. I have only seen this Kurayoshi at israel airport. Although it is matured at the Matsui distillery, this is actually scotch. The new make is made in scotland and most of the casks are also scotish but stored on the japanese distillery. It is strange but its true. Bottled at 43% abv, amber color. On the nose it is AMAZING. perfect score. Due to its maturation on sherry casks, its aroma is wonderful. Red fruits, Berries, Purple fruits: Raisins. Vanilla, White wine, Dr. Pepper cola, Maple syrup and strawberry marmalade. On the palate it is more straightfoward but still very nice. Grapes, sherry, tobbacco and chocolate. Aftertaste is where it falls apart for me. A corny, malty, creamy note, that reminds me of grain whiskies. Overall, this is a fine dram but the aftertaste could be a lot better. Still an 83 over 100.

I am a chivas fan, and i can tell you that after Royal Salute 21yo, this one is their best expression maybe paired with the "Ultis" one. Its name, "mizunara" comes from the special japanese cask they have used to partly mature it. Originally it was intended only for the japanese market. Bottled at 40%abv, tawny color. On the nose, vanilla cookies, the ones use to make the crest of a pie. Floral notes, orange, flour, a small herbal spiciness also present. Very nice aroma. On the palate, it is very tasty. Yeah, that is the proper description. Allspice, Vanilla, Oaky; that Almond/Nutty typical note from Chivas. Ashes and coal. Pretty stuff. Aftertaste is mizunara oaky, i consider this a perk. Overall this is a very nice dram, i believe it costs around 50$ so you might as well grab it. My score for it is 87 over 100.

"Is this a peaty dalmore?" What a shame to give it only a 4.0. It is so sad for such a good dram as this one. I have truly enjoyed it. I would definitively recommend it. Bottled at 44.5% abv. Polished mahogany. It has been matured in casks that previously held Pedro Ximenez sherry for 30 years. WOW. On the nose it is great. Super sherried but mostly Raisins. The notes are: Dark fruits, Raisins, Slight heather peat, Dry brown grass, Red fruits also present, Berries and those chocolate covered raisins called Raisinets. On the palate is WONDERFUL. Divine flavor. I really enjoyed it. I kept it on my mouth for as long as i could. Chocolate, Pepper spice, Sherry, Raisins Delicious, Peat is not powerful, mostly Heather peat. Full score here. Well.... where it lost most of its points.... aftertaste is very, very, very dim. Short maybe. It really is dim. It gives you that mouth sensation of overly eating raisings. You can even feel the pieces of raisins. Clove and the smallest hint of salt. It could be longer. It could be stronger. Overall, i give this lovely dram an 85 over 100. Surely it feels like more.

Fancy. (please read this review with an England English accent). This Special Royal Salute blend is allegedly selected from only 88 cask with exceptional taste. It is so fancy that made me feel in a rich, powerful party, like it was intended for a president and his guests. Now to the analysis: Since it is so fancy and a blend scotch whisky it is very gentle, very easy to drink, very smooth, made for everyone. i dont think there is someone who will dislike this whisky, but for people who rate whiskies it will be too linear and too simple. On the nose there is this peat, stinky but beautiful peatyness and caramel. Its like the normal Royal Salute but its peatyness is not the perfumed one, it is the stinky one. Not much else but it doesn't need to. Bottled at 40% abv. dark amber color. On the palate is so beautiful and elegant. You should wear a frac to drink it. absolutely delicious, very sweet, with toffee, caramel, ginger, and a light wood flavor, new wood, as furniture. It has no body. it is so light bodied that is like water. very mellowed. it has almost no finish which is the worst part of it. When drinking this i felt it was made for fancy people who don't know much about whisky, for them to tell in parties phrases like (read in fancy english accent) "Oh my god lord, this is such a fine and pleasant beverage". But a Connoisseur will say it is delicious but plain. In other words if you are a normal mortal man you will love it. If you are like me, a stupid self proclaimed Connoisseur you will find it good but not the end of the world. Slainte! 89 over 100

I haven't heard about this one before, nor have i heard about blended Irish Whiskey. The Dubliner blended Irish Whiskey is 40%abv with a light gold color. On the nose is a typical blend, with a gentle peatyness coming through and some bourbon notes due to the bourbon cask it was stored. Main aroma notes are: peat, honey, nuts, blackberry and grape juice. Nice. On the palate it was a lot diferent. This felt as a young whiskey. First you feel a Spice Bomb detonate in your mouth in a good way, then some cereal flavor, cilantro (this is the first time i found that in a dram), with a hot, peaty medium aftertaste. Overall is a good solid dram, 81 over 100 is my score for it; at least it was interesting. Cheers!

This winner of the World Whiskies Awards and other stuff, as the best blended malt in the world has dissapointed me. Don't get me wrong, it is a good dram, i even granted a 91 over 100, but i kinda hoped for something spectacular for a whisky that costs around 250 dollars for a half litre bottle. (I had a sample so dont think i am throwing away money lol). Bottled at 47.5%abv, with a deep copper color. The legs on the glencairn are very appealing. This is a blended malt made by Master of Malt, a whisky online retailer. On the nose it is absolutely amazing. Embodied by an elegant tobbacco note, everytime you nose it, something different appears: chocolate, a dim peatyness, brown raisin cake, prunes, butterscotch, recently baked butter cake, nutella, hanuta, hazelnuts, slight elegant lemon, orange candy, fresh tangerine, and something spicy that tingles your nose. Amazing. Having described all that, the palate is nice, but a little boring and not living up to what the nose offered you. Cereal, orange, tobbacco, very very very very smooth as if it were water, clove and dim spicyness, dry brown grasses and an ashy, chocolate note for the aftertaste which is medium to long. Overall i give this dram a 91 over 100, and i got to say i would not pay 250 for a bottle lf it, i believe 75-90 would be a more proper price for what it offers. Cheers!

An italian malt. I got to tell that i have never heard of it before a year ago, and i actually think it is quite new in the market. I really liked it, i dont think it is too expensive and it definitively is a good whisky. Bottled at 43%abv, with a white wine color almost transparent. On the nose, nice notes: Chocolate, Peat or expired rotten cream, Tobbacco leaf, Olives and Nutmeg. On the palate, Tobacco, thick Peanutbutter (thick to chew also), Ashy. The Finish is medium long, ashy, spicy and herbal. Very balanced dram. Overall this is a very nice dram, specially for the price. I give this baby an 88 over 100. Very recommended.

a "mystery whisky" since it belongs to Ian MacLeod and it is listed as "undisclosed distillery". Bottled at 40%abv, with a deep gold color. On the nose there are some sherry notes, blackberry marmalade, pepper, wet forest, cola and a little honey. On the palate is actually very good, very balanced. A sherry and caramel start, that quickly changes into a spicy mild oaky, tangerine note. Finish i long and ashy with bonfire notes, not peaty. It is not an earthy type of smoke flavor. This is a pretty good dram, and i think the bottle is about 43 dollars for an 18yo, (i believe they are trying to introduce the product to the market). I give this dram a solid 93 over 100, very nice.