Tastes

Name: Monkey Shoulder Age: ? ABV: 40% Setup: Two glencairn glasses with an ounce pour each. I put 3 ml water in one of them. I let the drinks rest for 10-15 mins before tasting them. Appearance: Amber. Medium leg and not as runny as with water. With water: Light Amber. Seems to have skinny legs that are runny, Nose: Honey, floral notes initially. Nice malty flavors come through. With water: Initially I got mainly alcohol, then there was some citrus followed by honey and vanilla, but very faint.There was also a touch of apple. 82/100 Taste: Similar to as had with water, flavor are stronger though and more enjoyable. With water: Got some spice and honey with nice warm mouth coat. A bit of bitterness. 84/100 Finish: Lots of spice, even without water the burn is very limited and hence very enjoyable. There is hint of tartness also which i did not get when water was added. With water: Dry and short.Goes down easy with pretty much no burn. Nice and smooth finish 86/100 Conclusion: A nice blend of three single malts that I enjoyed very much. I really liked the spicyness and the light citrus and honey/vanilla flavours. They wiere not too strong. This is the only blended malt that i have tried but compared to other blends like JW12 or CR12 i would this has a slight edge but if i was in the mood for something smokey then JW12 would be a better choice. Overall pretty nice, i would keep it in my bar for sure. I hear this is also very good with cocktails...i am not much of a cocktails guy but i might try one with monkey shoulder. Overall Score: 84/100

Name: Chivas Regal 12 Age: 12 years old ABV: 40% Setup: Two glencairn glasses with an ounce pour each. I put 5 ml water in one of them. I let the drinks rest for 15 mins before tasting them. Appearance: Golden sunshine, legs seemed skinny but seemed to hold on. Not too runny, just seemed to hang on to the glass. With water: same color but the legs have gotten skinnier and runnier. Nose: Right off the bat I got some spice on the nose, with a hint of citrus. I was looking for some smoke i could not get any. Also got a light oakyness to it. With water: So much of the nose is lost with water. The initial burst of spice is gone and so is the light oakyness that i was initially getting. Water did this dram no flavors. 84/100 Taste: Felt watery and bitter with a hint of sweetness, go a definite feel that something was missing. It felt very uneventful especially after the nose promised more. This was disappointing. With water: The disappointment was even more pronounced with the addition of water. I could not get any additional notes of any interest. Just more watery bitterness. 78/100 Finish: The finish was short and bitter, leaving a very unpleasant after taste that one might not want to linger. With water: The water actually made the finish more bearable by subduing some of the flavors which helped give it a more gentler landing. 79/100 Conclusion: As expected this blend did not set the world on fire. I have only tried a handful of blends and if i was to compare i would definitely rate JWBL12 higher than this one right here. With CR12 things started off with a good promise as the nose was very pleasant, however that promise was short lived as taste and finish were just not able to live up to the expectations. I am not sure if I would keep a bottle of this in my bar but since nearly all my friends are CR12 fanatics, I guess I will have to oblige. I can see why many would like this, as it seems pretty unoffensive and straight forward but its definitely not for me. Overall Score: 80/100