Tastes

My last review on "impressive whiskies i had in Scotland" and actually my last review on any whisky i had there, i have left this marvelous collectors item, The Linn House Reserve. What is it you say? Well, this is a bottle you can only get if you are invited to Linn House, the Chivas Regal Castle in speyside. This is not for sale, they will give it to you as a gift, and i had the honor to get it signed by the master himself, Colin Scott, Chivas Regal Master Blender. Linn House is a House/Castle that Chivas bought in the late 1800s, and it has been remodeled to receive guests (brand ambassadors) from all over the world. Bottled at 52%abv, On the Nose: absolutely citric. A classic speysider here: Orange and Lemon. Orange Zest, lemon peel. Super fresh. Maybe a little dim on the nose. On the palate: very Fruity, orange is the main note, the freshly cut oranges you often get from a Chivas 18 or a Ballantine's 30. Ginger and Chocolate. Amazing. Aftertaste is wonderful. Tobacco and dry grass, very pleasant. Overall this is a jewel for a guy like me. I am so proud of it, but i can't lie in my ratings, and even if the Palate and Aftertaste were superb, the nose was a little dim. 88 over 100, that is the proper score for it. Sláinte!!

The third of a special series of mistery expressions of The Glenlivet, "Enigma" follows the "Cipher" and "Code" to deliver a fun, interactive way to enjoy your whisky and test your skills as a taster. This time, the Glenlivet wants you to find the tasting and aroma notes by completing a crossword in their website. Not one of the words you have to guess have anything to do with whisky, but it is very entertaining. You will have to fill 3 crosswords and the difficulty will get higher on each level. If you manage to complete the crossword, a tasting note will appear. Actually it only says:Apple; Spicy and Liquorice. Well, the "Code" experience was far better but i got to say this one is good enough to propose something different when enjoying a dram. Bottled at.... 60.6%abv! This is great! On the nose: right away i got tropical fruits, specially Pineapple. Apples, Sider, Cinnamon, Ginger and Pepper. Impalpable sugar, Vainilla. Nice aroma, very tropical. On the palate, Pineapple, Apples; Super spicy but pleasant. Brown sugar and Apricots. Aftertaste is very balanced and good. It first feels like eating the heart of the pineapple. Pepper, Ginger, Wasabi. Very pleasant. Liquorice. Overall this is a very good dram with some highlights to talk about: 1.- it has no alcohol note AT ALL, amazing thing since it has 60.6%abv; and, 2.- the three notes from the crossroads are easy distinguishable but this whisky is far more complex than just those three notes. My score for it is 89 over 100.

A very old Bunnahabhain, bottled by the independent bottler Murray McDavid. A very nice expression from a company which i really never heard before. It says cask #001. Bottled at 50.4%abv On the nose, rice, soap. Refined raisins, figs, butter and caramel. This is a so-so aroma. I gave it 21 over 25. The palate was great though. Milk powder with waves of different chocolates. I have a sweet tooth so, perfect score here. Aftertaste is also very good and rewarding. Figs and dried fruits. No spiciness at all. Overall another old great dram. Not all old whiskies are good, but this one is. 95 over 100.

Since i am Pernod Ricard's Brand Ambassador for Ecuador, i was invited to Linn House, Chivas Regal Castle and spiritual home. There the hosts kindly offered us some rare whiskies, and there was this collection that you can only get at the distillery. Exclusive bottles from each of Pernod Ricard's main distilleries, one of them, the famous and best selling, THE GLENLIVET. This Distillery Reserve Collection are mostly single cask strength whiskies, that contain raw, powerful flavor in a super enjoyable way. The bottles are all 50cl and they mantain a label that looks almost the same for each expression. Well, having access to those delightful whiskies is an opportunity that you can't let pass without taking advantage. So i drank a lot of them. So, this review is for the Glenlivet 13yo Distillery Reserve Collection, bottled at 61.9%abv. Everything here is so full of aromas and flavor due to the high abv, but very easy to find and detect, this is a very well crafted whisky. On the nose: Chocolate, Apples, Almonds, Vanilla. It smells very refined and fancy. Letting it breath releases figs and jam. On the palate, you don't feel the 61.9%abv at all. Pineapple, Cinnamon, Toffee, Oranges and old figs. Clean flavors. Aftertaste is an atomic spice bomb. Here is where you truly experience the abv of this dram. Overall this is a wonderful whisky. You can get all the flavors that you will find in various Glenlivet whiskies but all in one. Its like the real core and heart of this distillery in a bottle. Very fruity and spicy, my score for it is 89 over 100.

Exit, light Enter, night Take my hand We're off to never-never land.... with this whiskey review. Actually a pretty nice dram. Metallica's Blackened is not your average "celebrity whiskey", it is a well crafted, delicious pour. It has been matured in Black Brandy Casks, (i googled it, there is no such thing as "black brandy") and then, and this is a fact, the distillers put speakers next to the barrels and threw Metallica's Rock to them. The idea was to make the powerful sound to interact with the cask, stirring it. Actually each batch has it's own setlist, mine was the 085 batch, whose songlist was picked by the bass player, Robert Trujillo. (Not one of the songs is popular, blame it on the bass player). Ok. Lets review the spirit. Bottled at 45%abv, burnished gold color. On the nose, very attractive: the most refined caramel. Almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts. Some dim herbal note. Flowers, perfumed. Varnish, dark chocolate, vanilla and lots of Brown sugar. Molasses. Humidity, cloth softener. Nice. Complex. On the palate: acid prunes. Tobacco, chocolate, pepper spice, charcoal, a refined spiciness. Molasses, Rum and Cane flavor. Aftertaste is smoky, ashy and it has hints of rum. Very sugary. Overall i believe this is a very nice dram, it almost made it to a 4.5 score, the bottle is beautiful, the whiskey is good, the story behind it is even better. My score for this is 89/100 and i don't believe you can get any better for the price. Go buy it. Rock On.

A much more flavored expression of the 12yo, this one has been matured using first fill casks. The speyside character stays but makes a statement: "im here and i am easy drinkable". 40%abv On the nose it is not complex at all. It is very straightforward and that works fine. Honey, apples and cereal. Like having a honey corn flakes for breakfast. Nice, rewarding. On the palate the speyside profile continues. Apples and pears. Fresh fruit. Apple juice. Aftertaste is peppery with a little burnt oak. Oak spice. To really describe this whisky i can only say that if i need to teach someone about whisky this might just be the perfect speysider example. Super fruity. 81 over 100. It is not expensive so go grab one.

Never had a W.L. Weller before. I have seen thousands of photos and read great reviews on this brand. Well my veredict is: AWESOME WHISKEY. Lets get into business: 45%abv, this is a bourbon but the rye part of the mashbill has been replaced with wheat. On the nose, incredibly complex. Almost perfect. Prunes; Smoky like cigarrette on the nose. Pretty interesting, Matured cherries, like a cherry wine. Old Strawberries. Strawberry marmalade. On the palate is great. Prune liquor, Astrigent, Raisins liquor, Winey and oily. Very interesting. Wheat notes. Aftertaste is ginger and peppery. Long. Overall this is an amazing dram. 90 over 100 totally recommended.

So.. today is my birthday, and i was born on 1983, so it felt right to "expend" one of my samples. Of course i picked the 31yo Caol Ila 1983, from Signatory the independent bottler. This is a "The Whisky Exchange" exclusive, (a very nice online whisky store). Bottled at 48.1%abv, burnished gold color. On the nose it was magnificent. So many good whiskies lately. Very Medicinal peat. Incredible perfumed. Sea. It actually has a beach aroma. Earthy-heather peat; Foam, very perfumed. There is a citric fruit. beautiful. Ok it is Pineapple. Amazing. Grapefruit juice. There are two layers of aromas here. One is peat/earthy and the other is fruity. They just co-exist. Orange after first sip. incredible aroma. On the palate things get complicated. The first sip is a punch in the face. Peat. Toffee. Black pepper. Orange. Too peppery but nice. Aftertaste is way too powerful. Even for a peathead like me. Salty, Smoky, Sulphuric. SUPER SMOKY. IS SO SMOKY THAT YOU ACTUALLY COUGH.Smoke is overpowering me. And i am a peat head. Not as pleasant as it should be. You have to let it breath for at least 10 minutes or the smoky aftertaste will consume your throat. Way to powerful. Overall, i rate this baby 91 over 100, it is a nice dram but the excess of smoke (i cant believe i am actually writing this) is too much.

I came across this whiskey from baltimore at a friend's house. Actually a solid dram. Bottled at 41.5%abv On the nose: cotton candy, molasses, cotton, red fruits, bitter caramel. Very perfumed. On the palate: cherries; prunes and red fruits. Aftertaste ia spicy, with black pepper and ginger. Actually a surprising dram. 83 over 100.

This might be the most expensive whiskey i have ever tasted since it can reach 8.000 per bottle in some stores. It seems to be that once there was a distillery called Stitzel Weller, run by Julian "Pappy" Van Winkle and in 1961 he distilled this whiskey which was bottled in 1969. Bottled at 50%abv. On the nose: chocolate powder, cough syrup and caramel chocolate (The one from Milka). On the palate milk powder and chocolate notes. Aftertaste is full of oak spice and chocolate. Actually a good dram, i wouldn't pay 100 for it, (it costs at least 2k, for a 20cl bottle) but in terms of flavor it is easy drinkable an fairly enjoyable. 89/100.