Tastes

Everybody loves a comeback story. I know, I know- Glenallachie never really left. But, once master distiller Billy Walker bought the obscure, Highland distillery it sure feels like a comeback. When he sold his stake in BenRiach and GlenDronach to become the sole owner of Glenallachie a lot of people took notice. Including me. If you love GlenDronach and BenRiach, well you just know you’re going to love his new project. I mean, the guy is a legend. So, here we are in late 2017 and Mr Walker takes over and begins scouring the vast supply of single malt in Glenallachie’s warehouses. Rumor has it that he selected all of the casks to be used for the relaunch of the brand. He blended multiple casks of 10, 12, 18 and 25 year old stock to make these core offerings. The inaugural bottles of all 4 age statements were bottled on two consecutive days in the summer of 2018 and released with new labeling and packaging. These are all considered what he thought were the best casks at each age. He bottled the 10 year as cask strength and the others at 46%, including this 12 year old. Even though there is no official labeling stating these as Batch 1, it’s commonly accepted that these were when they hit the market in the fall of 2018. I found a 3cl pour of this online because I wanted to try a pour without having to open any bottles from the inaugural release (yes, I bought them all and stashed them away- just in case). This 12yo is rich gold in color and is pretty oily while leaving behind medium drops and no legs on the sides of the Glencairn. The nose is very reminiscent of GlenDronach: very spicy and warm. There’s red berries and damp oak propping it up from the start because it took me awhile to coax the sherry cask notes out of it. I ended up letting this one sit over half an hour and must’ve spun and nosed it a dozen times. I don’t know why it’s so shy. The palate bursts forward with tropical fruits, banana bread and oak tannins. The sherry cask provides a great backbone and creates a mouthwatering initial sip. There’s wonderful heat from the elevated ABV and the fruitiness just clings to every corner of your mouth. Excellent mouth feel here, almost unrelenting, and I love it. The finish is somewhat short and drying, but I did notice the sugary fruit lingering on for some time. I think it really applies more to the mouth coat from the palate and less of an aftertaste. Overall, this thing was surprisingly good. I’d have to say the rumors must be true as the casks chosen here really do make a great first impression. I only hope Glenallachie can continue to deliver the goods and Billy can keep this blend consistent. The bottle cost me $48 and I feel like that’s a steal for what you’re getting with the initial release. I’m curious how the cask strength 10’s are and I am actively looking for a pour to find out. That said, this one is easily a 4 star dram, with a boost for price point and creating excitement from such an obscure distillery. If Mr Walker can do for Glenallachie what he did at GlenDronach and BenRiach, well we are in for some delicious juice. Seek this one out, my friends. Cheers.

It’s time to revisit a dram I had a pour of back at Whiskyfest DC in April 2018: Balvenie 21 Port Wood. I didn’t pay much attention nor ask questions at the festival as to whether the bottle they were pouring from was the diluted 40% or the elevated one. I was pretty disappointed with it so I’m going to assume it was the weaker one. I had a bottle at home and hoped to give it a more thorough turn, even though my bottle was also the 40% variety. Flash forward 9 months and I decided to go ahead and crack this expensive, well aged Balvenie. It’s a deep gold in the taster with watery, wide legs and medium droplets left behind on the rim. The color doesn’t really give much indication of port barrel finishing either. Huh. The nose is predominantly honey and sherry cask, harsher oak tones and very little port sweetness. Having tried this over the course of two months I’ve let it breathe to different lengths of time and couldn’t detect much of a change from 5 minutes out to over half an hour. The palate does deliver on the port characteristics right out of the gate: there’s grape must and simple sugar to the point it feels cavity-inducing. The depth of the 21 year old juice is also apparent- there’s no harshness, although it does feel decidedly one-dimensional. It’s watery and too sweet. This is where I think one needs to try the stronger ABV bottle. This needs more grunt. The finish is medium and relatively mellow. The grape-y, sugary-ness does linger but I don’t really want it to. I really wanted some power, some oak, anything to remind me I’m drinking whisky. Sadly, nothing materializes. Overall, this 40% version is a poor example of what Balvenie is capable of. I’ve had quite a few mediocre offerings from these guys and if you factor in the higher than most price point it’s a bust. I paid $160 for this bottle and I know I could’ve found 2 bottles of some other port finished whisky that would’ve been significantly better. Leave the 40% version on the shelf if you see it. 2.5 stars. Cheers.

It’s that special time again. Time for John Glaser and the guys at Compass Box Whisky to release another edition of Flaming Heart. This is their semi-annual, heavily peated blend meant to appease the “peat-heads” of the scotch world. It’s been 3 years since the last release, though- maybe John and the gang has been getting stretched too thin with all the bespoke bottlings. Cut that out, lol. Anyway, this is the 6th Edition and they decided to add another layer to this blend by supplementing the blend with some sherried whisky. Why? I don’t have a clue- I just know the price has risen on this one by $20-25 and I don’t really like that. But, we’ll leave that gripe until the end. This one is pale yellow in the Glencairn and makes some watery legs and tiny drops on the rim. It’s bottled at 48.9% and, like all CBW blends, has no added color and isn’t chill filtered. The nose is ashtray smoke and fresh ground peppercorn up front- so strong I actually recoiled a bit when I first went in. There’s tar and alcohol steadily present and I got a bit of sweet vanilla over time- a lot of time, actually: 40 minutes or so. It took a long time for the fire to burn itself down. I’m not complaining, however, just documenting it. The palate brings more abrasive smoke and BBQ’d rubber (if that makes sense). The mouthcoat is still buttery with the faintest of sweetness finally bleeding through all the smoke and peat. Dried raisins is about all of the sherry influence I get despite there being almost 30% of the blend being sourced from sherry casked Deanston. The 40% from Caol Ila and 8% from the blended, French Oak casks are carrying the load here. As they should- this is meant to be a fireball of smoke and heat. It still predominately is, thankfully. The finish is long and smoky with more ashtray and burnt leather. It’s hot and dry and everything you love about true peat monsters (pun intended). Overall, these are still in my wheelhouse. The sherry influence escaped me here but I’m actually happy about that- well, except for the increase in price. I had to pay $130 for this bottle and I feel like that’s $30 too much. I miss my old $100 Flaming Hearts, I really do. I’ll also gladly forego the added sherry next time, thank you. But realistically, this is still a fantastic dram if you like your peat. 4.25 stars. Cheers.

I figured that it was finally time to review my Christmas gift from my buddy @Generously_Paul. He picked this bottle out for me during the last auction at SWA and gave it to me a few weeks before the holiday. I believe he ended up winning it for 40£ and after fees and shipping he probably had $65-70 in it. What an excellent gift- thanks again, my friend. This bottle was part of the HP Warrior Series, which was an NAS set released back in 2017, IIRC. There are 6 bottles ranging in price from $40 to over $1000. The Svein was bottled at 40% and spent its entire life in ex-American sherry casks. I’m pretty sure it’s chill filtered, but I don’t think there was coloring added. The appearance was a rich gold and it made heavy, oily drops in the tasting glass- good evidence there was lots of water used to dilute it to 40%. The nose was dominated early on with honey and light citrus. There’s almost no smoke in play here, a slight earthy peat can be coerced with time and lots of turbulence induced in the glass. Some caramel and toffee rounded things out. No heat, no ABV notes though. No surprise. The palate is richly sherried- I’m sure a good portion of this whisky had to matured in first-fill casks to impart this much sherry at this low of an ABV. The lack of smoke is again perplexing, and there’s a full oil slick on the tongue after even the tiniest of sips. The sherry is nice but it’s overly weak on power and peat- which isn’t something I’d expect from Highland Park. It’s odd, but I gotta say this bottle is crushable- and for $50 for a 1L size there’s great value added with that aspect. The finale is short to medium (medium if you’re crushing it with 3-4oz pours lol). There is some light oak notes and a grape sweetness that I didn’t pick up initially. Ultimately it ends up drier than I expected but that’s fine when you wanna power through larger pours/a larger bottle. Needless to say, I killed this bottle in just over 3 weeks (Note: I almost always pour 10-14oz of every bottle I open into samples for friends or pours for my long term sample collection- so I didn’t kill a liter by myself in that short of a period). Overall, this is what it was probably meant to be- something a casual drinker can crush and not be overwhelmed by any one aspect. It’s for the masses and it works well- especially if you factor in price point. Grab a bottle if you still see them sitting on a shelf or get a pour at a bar for $4-5 and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. You can’t really go wrong here. 3-3.25 stars for the liquid, with a bump for value pricing. Cheers.

Finally, a new addition to Compass Box Whisky’s core range. After many bespoke bottles and pricy, special releases the guys at CBW finally address the suspicious absence of a truly sherry-prominent whisky to their low cost, core range of blends. Hedonism is a delicious grain whisky, but it doesn’t focus on sherry. Asyla, Oak Cross and Spice Tree all focus on lighter, new and ex-White oak- leaving sherry casks on the sidelines for their more limited releases. I’d say this bottle is a necessary addition, the question is- does it live up to the CBW standard of quality? It’s named after a bespoke bottle that John Glaser did several years back for a bar in NYC called “The Spaniard”. This is an homage to that bottle and that bar. It’s bottled at 43% ABV and runs around $40usd. It’s a rich, amber gold in the taster with watery, undefined legs and tiny beads after a spin. The nose is over-ripened vine fruits, sun dried raisins and honey. They play off one another quite well- the makings of a well-crafted, sherry bomb. After some time,however, those notes begin to fall flat and a biscuity, malt note takes over. The lack of wood or barrel really hurts here. The quick remedy is to go ahead and begin to sip- there’s no need to wait for complexity or new aromas. They won’t materialize. The palate starts again intensely sherried: grape must, almonds and some cloyingly sweet honey attack your taste buds in a good way before turning chocolatey and a bit flat. Once again, barrel bite or character is absent and could help keep this ballerina on her toes. Sadly, it’s just not there. The finish offers up more raisins, milk chocolate and a bit of spice. It doesn’t strike me as barrel or pepper spice, though- maybe it’s just youthful spirit rearing it’s head. There is some faint leathery notes and just a taste of wood- turning things slightly dry. I get a bit of what seems like cherry cola on the very end and it’s a welcome surprise. Overall, the dram does some things well- there’s plenty of sherry and chocolate sweetness to keep “sherry heads” happy, but hardcore whisky folk may find it a bit too uneventful as a spirit. The price point is good, bordering on great, and I don’t have a problem bestowing praise on John Glaser and CBW for making another easily approachable and crushable blend. The only underlying negative I have after finishing a bottle is asking myself if I ever need to buy another bottle. I’m sure that’s NOT what CBW wants to hear, but that’s how I felt after the last drop. Do I need this anymore? Nah, not really. All that said, it’s a solid pour. Maybe keep a bottle on hand for your uninitiated scotch friends and for the day you just want to pound 2-3 drams to warm up for one of CBW’s Limited Releases. 3.5-3.75 stars and maybe a bump for finally adding a sherry bomb to the core range. Cheers.

This is the second bottle from Glenturret’s Peated NAS line: Batch 2. I originally reviewed the first batch, which was a U.K. Edition, a couple of months ago and found it rather lackluster. This bottle sports a new label design and a wax-sealed neck. This bottle ran $50 from an online shop out of London. This batch was bottled at a slightly higher 43%, as opposed to the first edition which was just 40%. It’s golden yellow in the taster and still sports some watery, thick legs and droplets in your Glencairn. There is color added and I’m pretty sure it is chill filtered. The nose on this one is slightly better- showcasing more earthy peat than bonfire smoke. Roasted nuts and orchard fruits permeate the entire nosing and there’s really no need to let this one breathe longer than a couple of minutes. There’s no extra complexity hidden inside and absolutely no need to add water. The palate arrives with a nice dose of sweet, chewy smoke- but it’s unnecessarily buttery and a bit plastic-y. There’s no harshness, but at the same time it isn’t exactly smooth. It’s young stock and it shows- even at 43%. The mid-palate feels oily and coats the tongue well after the finish. Speaking of finish, there’s light citrus astringency right upon swallowing with a lightly toasted, oak barrel note that leads to an ultimately grainy finale. It’s medium length with some salty dryness at the very end, like most typical mass produced, peated drams. Overall, it’s much better than the 40% from the first batch and it’s a relative bargain at $50. There’s nothing groundbreaking, but it does show promise should Glenturret ever decide to let the stuff age or blend in some older stock. If you like experimenting with obscure distilleries and/or peated whisky give this one a go- it’s not hard on the wallet and a solid daily sipper. 3- 3.25 stars. Cheers.

Ah, it pains me to pen this review. If we go back to early 2017, when Macallan released the first Classic Cut- I was thrilled. I loved that malt so much that I spent an entire Saturday riding around central Virginia scooping up every bottle I could find on local ABC store shelves (this was mid-late summer, mind you, and most bottles had disappeared). I ended up with 8 bottles. I knew this would be a malt I’d love to return to periodically- so I needed lots of bottles. So, flash forward to about a month ago and I see the new 2018 version sitting on shelves staring me down- same bright red box, same classic bottle design and label. Well, hell- I’m probably going to need 8 bottles of this year’s batch, too. Thankfully, the store only had 3- so, I’m only in for $270 + taxes at this point. The problem- this year’s version is a complete abomination. I don’t understand what’s going on. This bottle is down about 7-8% in ABV- that can’t be it. I still can’t put my finger on what the major flaw is. I’m perplexed. The 2018 version is yellow gold and makes medium drops and oily, quick-forming legs in the taster. It’s bottled at a robust 51.2% ABV. It’s still $89 here in Virginia. The nose foreshadows the short comings: fake, popcorn butter greets you right out of the bottle. Some funky oak notes and weak sherry notes take turns offending your senses. I get that same diacetyl acid flavor leaking through no matter how long you let it sit and relax. The palate is plenty juicy, almost mouthwatering. Sadly, that same buttered popcorn note dominates the sherry cask you’ve come to expect from Macallan. There’s some berries and Juicy Fruit gum notes mingling with what I can only describe as “wicker basket” wood notes. It turns very dry, very quickly. What happened? The finish is warming, thanks to the near cask strength, but again is mostly buttered sherry lingering on and eventually turning ever so dry. Now, I’ve given this bottle time and multiple tastings and none of these notes have really changed for the better (nor for the worse, thankfully). I have to hold this one up against its successor and it’s a pitiful follow-up. Hell, it’s not a very good Macallan, actually. Thankfully, I didn’t buy any more bottles and my buddy Paul unknowingly took a bottle off of my hands as his Christmas gift (I shipped to him prior to opening my bottle- so I didn’t push this stuff off on him lol). So, I’m left with one bottle I’ll gladly put in the closet towards a possible set (if Macallan continues this series). I hope they recognize this bottle’s faults and don’t allow them to return. As it is, this is a 2-2.25 bottle. Seek out the 2017 version and leave this one for the suckers, my friends. Cheers.

I decided to open a well-aged whisky in the weeks leading up to Christmas 2018. I’ve been struggling to drink through some subpar bottles I’ve opened since the early fall, so I made a mental note to drink better whisky in the coming year. So, I reached for this 25 year old BenRiach. This one is called Authenticus and it is supposed to be a peated offering. I bought this bottle several years ago thinking it would turn into an investment- I’ve read several mediocre reviews and that has actually driven the asking price slightly lower. I paid $380 and it can be had for closer to $325-350 if you can find it. It’s bottled at 46% and makes thin, oily legs in the Glencairn. It’s rich gold in color. The nose was initially sweet tea and caramel. There was a very light peat, but no smoke. After 25-30min I got a thick, fudge note that permeated the entire nosing. The palate was toffee, vanilla and sweet tea again, but it was ridiculously harsh for the ABV and the age. Earthy peat was left hanging around the corners of your mouth by mid sip. It also was hot and dry. The finish stayed hot with serious oak tannins and leather. The dryness lingered. Overall, this was a very disappointing dram- initially... Fast forward 3 weeks and I’m down to the last 4-5oz. I gave myself a hearty pour and was immediately smacked in the face with peat and smoke. The harshness was gone and it is a dramatically different dram. Oxidation really cured this whisky’s early ills. It went from a 2.5 star dram to a 4-4.25 one. If you buy a bottle or a dram at a bar make sure you give it some time or make sure the bottle has been opened awhile. The fresh bottle may not be your friend. I still don’t think it’s worth the $300+ asking price. I’m going to grade this one based on the last of the bottle, though. 4 stars. Cheers.

It’s time to chronicle my experiences with some of these new Macallan NAS series: Editions. They have released a bottle of this every year since 2015. They are all experimental batches trying different blenders, wood types, etc. Prices have remained consistent on the retail market- about $90-100 for each batch. The secondary market has gone absolutely bonkers over Edition No. 1, though- with prices approaching $1000 for a bottle now. The clear answer to that is “No”. Let’s focus on the 2017 batch: Edition No. 3. This batch was influenced by a perfumer named Roja Dove. The big players here are different styles of oak cask. It’s copper gold in color and forms large, watery droplets and fat legs when you spin the Glencairn. The nose starts with lots of chocolate covered candies and vanilla caramel cremes. Intensely sugary before transitioning to different barrel characteristics: fresh cut oak, sun-bleached driftwood and damp, ex-sherry casks. Some florals creep in as it breathes. The palate is surprisingly harsh and spicy. There’s a strange heat present even though it has a malty and thick mouthcoat. There’s some bitter chocolate and Christmas cake notes, too. The spice and coarse notes overpower any lasting impression. The finish is still spicy, but the heat doesn’t linger here. It’s medium in length while remaining oily and quite heavy. Macallan sherry notes finally make their entrance here, but it’s too late to save this dram for me. This is not the Macallan that I know and love. Overall, the nose is the star player here- if you want to give any credence to this dram. The palate and finish are too harsh and hot to tame. This one only gets 2.75-3 stars from me. I’m hoping the Edition 2 bottle redeems this series for me. Cheers.

It time to chronicle my experiences with some of these new Macallan NAS series: Editions. They have released a bottle of this every year since 2015. They are all experimental batches trying different blenders, wood types, etc. Prices have remained consistent on the retail market- about $90-100 for each batch. The secondary market has gone absolutely bonkers over Edition No. 1, though- with prices approaching $1000 for a bottle now. The clear answer to that is “No”. Let’s focus on the 2018 batch: Edition No. 4. It’s experiment is based on wood influence- primarily sherry cask (big shock that Macallan likes sherry wood). This one is dark, amber in the glass. Slightly watery while making skinny legs. It’s bottled at 48.4% and like all Macallan it’s non-chill filtered with no added color. The nose is predictably sherry-forward: grape sweetness with ripe, red berries, lightly toasted nuts and honey-dipped apple slices. It’s pretty complex the longer you sit and smell it and it’s very inviting. Classic Macallan. The palate is also sherry powered. There’s juicy citrus wedges, light vanilla with hints of harsh oak cutting through by mid sip. It’s not as oily on the mouthfeel as the Edition No. 3. The finish is medium length and surprisingly peppery for a Mac. Harsher than expected wood notes sting the tongue and throat a bit too much for my liking, but it does leave sherry lingering well after the sip comes to a close. Overall, this one is borderline classic Macallan. The added harshness isn’t expected or welcome. I can’t say I’d recommend this when you can easily save the extra $25-35 and have just as good of a time with the standard 12 year old or double cask. The sadder part is that my upcoming review of the Edition 3 reveals even more flaws in this series. I have an unopened bottle of No. 2 to still experience, but I won’t be paying a premium for the first release. 3.5 stars, max. Cheers.