Tastes

So, Bowmore’s latest (but certainly not greatest) NAS Series is called the Vault Editions. There is supposed to be a series released annually (IIRC) and each one will be sort of sub-titled by the flavor profile they are aiming for with each batch. This is the First Edition and it is called Atlantic Sea Salt. Bowmore is focusing the initial release based on their infamous Vault No. 1, which is technically below sea level and imparts most of the salty and briny notes to most of their releases. The color here is dull gold and it doesn’t have much leg action, and due to the higher ABV of 51.5% it doesn’t leave many water droplets around the rim when you spin it. I don’t believe this is a true cask strength bottling, but it is much higher than any standard release. The nose delivers on all cylinders with the salty aspects: brine and salted fish dominate from the opening and they don’t fade at all, even after 15-20 minutes. There’s pine and sawdust swirling around along with some odd lemon, cleaning solution that sting the nose a bit. The typical Bowmore smoke is drowned out to the point it reminds me just of lightly charred oak. Happily, the sulphuric notes I detect in a lot of Bowmore is well hidden. The salt on the palate doesn’t hide the smoke here, thankfully and some earthy peat notes drift through while leaving that lemon Pledge flavor and faint sulphuric to fight over which may offend you a little more. The ABV kicks in mid sip and forces most of the offensive notes away. The finish is medium in length, but boy is it hot. Some harsh oak tannins and lemon zest really add zip here, but they really kill the mouthfeel a lot. The young juice doesn’t help matters at all. Hot and dry is the theme here. Overall, there are parts I like: grilled lemon fish on the nose and palate, but there are parts I hate: the finish is abrasive as hell and it lets a bit of the sulphuric notes back into play. Those notes are the sole thing that ruin a lot of Bowmore’s core range for me. I particularly love the higher ABV bottles and the extremely well-aged stuff from these guys, but the high ABV here can’t overcome the saltiness or the sulphur and for that I gotta ding it on the score. This bottle also ran about $88, which is still way too much for what you get. I hope the next Vault Edition is better than this one. 2.5-2.75 stars. Cheers.

So, I’m finally getting around to reviewing a few samples from some friends I’ve made on the Barreled app. This TRE Glenmorangie was given to me by John, via @Generously_Paul. The Taghta, which is pronounced “tuh-tah” and means “Chosen” in Gaelic, was a rare-ish in house blend that was entirely crowd sourced by the Glenmorangie Cask Membership group. They picked the flavor profile, individual casks and even played a part in the label design. So, this one is by Glenmorangie fans, for Glenmorangie fans. Cool concept. The resulting blend is amber in color, oily without producing many legs and was bottled at 46% ABV. I’m not sure about chill- filtration or added colorants, though I’d assume both are at play here. I believe there were 12,000 bottles made available exclusively to GM Cask Members, before letting the rest roll out to the regular market. The nose starts out with gentle sherry notes and light, citrus orange wedges while being rounded out with bread and vanilla after a little bit of time. The palate highlights the manzanilla sherry casks used to a T: fruity and rich with some lingering light citrus zest. The barrel notes also come into play rather aggressively and impart a bit of a harsh, cracked pepper and cinnamon vibe. Being a NAS, it suffers from the same problem as most others: harshness from youthful spirit. It doesn’t ruin anything, it just keeps all the flavors from combining and smoothing out a bit. That takes time and most NAS whiskies just ain’t got time for that. The finish is medium length, but has a thicker mouthfeel than I remember from a lot of previous Glenmorangie malts I’ve had in the past- so that’s a plus. Sadly, it’s followed by more pepper and ultimately a saltier, drier finish than I’d prefer. Overall, the concept is cool. Let the fans pick what they’d like to try and make an exclusive bottle for them. The price point is a bit high, especially for a NAS, at $130 and I’m not exactly the biggest GM fan out there, but I’m glad I got to try a pour of this one. I’ll happily give this one 3.5 stars while thanking my lucky stars (and my new friend, John on Barreled) I got to sample it. Cheers.

Ah, Tomintoul- the gentle dram... That’s their tagline. I purchased a 3 5cl sampler pack with a European order a couple months ago figuring I’d give these guys another try after being very unimpressed with their Peaty Tang bottling. This sampler has pours of the 10, 16 and 25 year old, unpeated malts for around $32 + shipping. Not bad for a quarter century sample, I guess. Let’s start with the 10 year and get a baseline first, shall we? Upon pouring it into the Glencairn I get lots of warning signs: golden yellow that looks like it was colored, big droplets of water and thin legs after giving it a spin, and even large water spots where the legs drained after things settle out. Yikes, should I even question the advertised 40% ABV? There’s a lot of water here. The nose was non-existent during the pour and even after a solid 5 minutes of swirling there isn’t much wafting out of the glass. What does appear, eventually, is weak bread notes, candied corn and a bit of fresh cut oak. The key descriptor here though is “weak”. The palate has a nice start with some sweet vanilla and oak, but then that cream corn note creeps in and just leaves a bland, corn chip flavor lingering on the tongue. It’s a gentle dram and for a minute I swore it actually tasted like I was drinking room temperature water. Yowza, Tomintoul- the TOO gentle dram... The finish ended up being dry with a surprisingly high amount of bitterness and oak. Thankfully it was short. Overall, this is a dud. I’m hoping the 16 and 25 year old samples will offer something more along the lines of depth and character. If it’s just a couple of well aged water and corn it will be $32 wasted. This thing is a 2 star dram just because it has alcohol in it. I see no reason to buy a full bottle for any reason, though. Unless you like soft, corn-flavored water. Cheers, my friends.

Flashback to the hotel room whisky share prior to Whiskyfest DC, my buddy @Generously_Paul brought ample pours of this newer NAS from Talisker: 57 degrees North. This is essentially a cask strength version of their other non-age statement offerings. The age of the juice is estimated to be 6-8 years old and the name not only indicates the ABV but also the latitudinal location of the distillery itself. Kinda cool. The color is a rich gold and there’s a few thick legs that’ll snake down the tasting glass when you give it a solid spin. The nose is typical Talisker: smoke, peat, pepper and BBQ. The saltiness provided a stiff backbone and I got what seemed like a stiff hit of mint each time I put it to my nose. I think this minty freshness could be attributed more to the extra ABV than any other factor. The palate starts you off with a strong punch from the alcohol, but then the pepper and thick Talisker smoke take hold before releasing some thin citrus notes and an odd syrupy sweetness. The harsh aspect of the young sauce also wrecks the overall mouthfeel, as well. The finish is incredibly harsh and hot. I don’t like adding water to anything I drink, especially when I only have a single pour to rate with. If I have the entire bottle to play with I may do some experimental pours and blending, but I mostly like to drink them the way the distillery intended. More smoky aspects remain behind on the finish, which was delightfully medium-long. There were some roasted nut flavors left behind long after you finish the dram. This one was tougher to enjoy than I truly expected. I love Talisker almost as much as I love Laphroaig, but this one was a bit of a failure. It’s too harsh and gets manhandled by the pepper notes. Maybe 57% is too much for their juice to handle, but they wanted a semi-cask strength offering to compete with everyone else, but this one isn’t a high quality example IMHO. 3-3.25 stars because it’s still nice and smoky, but ultimately I don’t think I’d buy a bottle of this one. Cheers.

With the official samples for round 6 in the books, it’s time to delve into the extras- and boy do we have a rare one here. It was provided by my brother from another mother, @PBMichiganWolverine, from NJ. He picked this bottle up on his business travels while over in the EU. I don’t believe any of this stuff made it to the USA, because the primary component is a Dutch whisky. The Winter Queen is from blending house Adelphi. It’s a blend comprised of 2 scotch single malts and the aforementioned Dutch whisky. There were less than 900 bottles available and it was bottled at 52.7% ABV. I believe the youngest whisky used was 9 years old, but they chose to leave it as a NAS bottling. It’s a beautiful, deep amber and mahogany in the glass. It’s NCF’d and made lots of long, silky legs in the Glencairn. The nose immediately reminded me of a sherry finished, rye whiskey. Sweet with hints of dill and pepper floating around the glass before they receded into fresh baked bread and syrupy, liquified toffee. Some amazing espresso notes remained hidden unless you got a little violent with the spins, but then they popped. The palate brought forward a lot of the nosing elements with maple syrup and peppery rye battling to be the center of attention. I immediately thought of the earlier vintages of High West’s Midwinter Nights Dram- except this one is sweeter, but not as well rounded. The latest MWND batches haven’t been able to hold a candle to the older ones, and this one walks that line a bit too. There’s just a feeling like the flavors don’t want to mix and fold into each other. It’s like a square dance where each ingredient steps forward in time, dances a bit and then backs up against the wall awaiting another turn. It’s not bad, by a long shot, I just wish it commingled a little better. Maybe it’s the youth of the juice, I’m not sure. The finish is long and highlighted by sweet sherry and a tree sap-like thickness. That was also very interesting. It takes mouthfeel/mouthcoat to a whole new level. Very satisfying. Overall, she’s a beautiful queen. Flavor packed from start to finish. I just can’t stress how I wanted it to meld a little better on the palate. It’s nit-picking, I know, but that’s what I do when I find something dancing this close to perfection. A big thanks to Pranay for pouring this one for the group. At $130 it’s right there on that fine line as to whether I think it’s worth that price, but then again if there was a bottle sitting in front of me on the shelf, I’d feel like a fool if I didn’t scoop it up. 4.25 stars, maybe 4.5. Cheers.

Here I am, at the end of the line for the official samples from our sixth round of pours for the distillery tour. I saved this one for last because everyone else has reviewed it and declared it the overall winner for the round. Strathclyde distillery is technically a Lowland distillery that’s located in Glasgow. It was founded in1927 and is currently owned by Pernod Ricard, with most of its 40 million liters produced annually going into Chivas blends. This distillery has no official bottlings and only made a single malt whisky from the late 1950’s until 1975- marketed as Kinclaith. This is a grain distillery and it’s probably the best of all the grain ones we’ve tried on this journey. The reason why: it’s made from 91% wheat. So, it’s pretty smooth and sweet instead of peppery and harsh. This particular bottle is from the Old Particular line and is copper gold and comes in at 55.5% ABV. There aren’t many legs produced when you spin it and it leaves behind very small droplets on the rim. The nose was initially very grain forward, but then some thick, sherry flavors appeared. The vanilla and honey sweetness wafted from this thing pretty consistently throughout the entire pour. Exceptional for a grain whisky. The palate was sugary and rich with cherry cola and vanilla taking center stage. Some nutty and cinnamon notes mingled around and kept the heat in check. It’s very drinkable for such a high ABV. The finish was long and mostly creamy. The oak shines in the forefront before yielding to some more vanilla and cola flavors. Damn, this is a great grain whisky. Overall, I think I still prefer the Glenlossie for first place this round but I’m not shy about giving this one a solid 4 star score. A big thanks to @Scott_E for supplying this one and I am glad I saved this one for the end. All that’s left now is 15-20 extras and trade samples before we ship the final round in mid-August. Being a whisky fan sure is busy “work”, lol. Cheers.

Well well well, I’m slowly making my way to the finish line for round 6’s samples of the Scotch Distillery Team. This spectacular, Speysider is from Glenlossie Distillery and was provided by my buddy @Telex. Glenlossie was founded by John Duff way back in 1876. They share warehouse space with nearby Mannochmore Distillery and are owned by Diageo. They produce 1.1 million liters per year that’s used in more than a few, undisclosed blends (likely a large component of Haig Club, but there’s no official declaration of that). Their only official distillery releases are the Flora & Fauna by Diageo and a “Manager’s Dram”. The distillery is surprisingly secretive and do not offer tours nor allow visitors. But, they make some damn fine whisky... This particular bottling is from independent bottler, Alexander Murray and is a cask strength 19 year old that was distilled in 1997. It’s very light gold in color and forms small droplets and undefined legs in the Glencairn. It’s bottled at 53.3% ABV. The nose is ridiculously strong on the alcohol notes right upon the opening pour, but given some appropriate time some light fruits like pears, peaches and watermelon (WATERMELON!) shine through and just make you want to dive right in. There’s some fresh cut oak hiding in the background and some perfumes, too. The smell alone is intoxicating. The palate is very fruity: orchard fruit, fresh orange wedges with little to no barrel notes. It’s not hot at all for being 53% and it’s crazy mouthwatering and smooth. I wouldn’t say it’s complex because it’s a big ole fruit basket with alcohol warmth rounding out the edges. The finish is quite long- I usually feel like the super fruity Speyside whiskies end up too short and too sweet, but damn this one just keeps going and going. Even the finish is fruity and warming. Some woody dryness creeps in at the very end, but it’s almost a welcome finale. So, I gotta say, this one ticks off all of the great marks for a Speysider. Juicy and fruity as hell, sneaky cask strength power (I say that meaning you can just pound this stuff and end up face down on the carpet with ease), and with a generous, long age statement of 19 years. Win-win-win! I believe Jason paid somewhere near $120 for this and I think that’s a heckuva deal for everything listed above. I think I need to locate a full bottle of this one for myself. It’s good stuff. Easily 4.25 stars, but I’m gonna round up because it’s been the best malt for this round IMO. Cheers, my friends.

I received a bottle of this Colorado whiskey from my friend Pranay, as a belated birthday gift back in April and I decided to open it and enjoy it both neat and as a mixer for my favorite soda, Coca Cola. This whiskey is sourced and distilled completely in-house, aged for 2 years in virgin oak with a #2 char. This is the newest batch, number 41, and is bottled at a robust 46% ABV. It’s a shiny, new penny copper in color and makes some seriously thick and oily legs when you give it a spin. I believe it retails for around $40 and as far as I know it’s distributed only in Colorado- for now. The nose is delicious: caramel, cinnamon and milk chocolate dominate the profile. Most, if not all, of the barrel notes and heat from the ABV are cleverly well hidden. The palate is warm and surprisingly smooth for only being 2 years old. There’s more toffee and chocolate tidbits rolling around with a nice spicy kick from the oak finally making its presence felt. There’s plenty of bite to counter the sweetness. The finish is on the short side and rather weak given the nose and palate. There’s more than enough faint oak here to push the sweetness away. I ended up mixing maybe 1/3 of this bottle with Coke, over the course of a week and some nights it felt quite tasty while other nights seemingly too sweet. The Cola notes and the chocolate didn’t seem to jive the way I’d hoped. Overall, this is a fantastic sipper, though. $40 is a steal as well. It’s got plenty of power to knock you on your ass, but it’s smooth enough to make a fine after dinner treat all the same. If you pass through Colorado and see bottles of this sitting on local shelves I highly recommend picking one up. Hell, pick up 2 or 3 and I’ll trade you something for one. Good stuff. 4-4.25 stars. Thanks again, @PBMichiganWolverine. This one hit the spot. Cheers.

So, I rifled through my liquor cabinet a couple of weeks ago and spotted this Longrow Peated that I purchased almost 2 years ago and decided this one needs to move along (aka get drank). For those that don’t know, Longrow is Springbank’s heavily-peated whisky line. They make several age statement bottles, but this one is the NAS version. Basically, Springbank has allocated 100 casks per year, since 1973, for the Longrow line. Even though there isn’t an age statement on this bottling it is non-chill filtered and natural in color. It’s a pale gold in the Glencairn and forms heavy droplets and undefined legs. I paid around $55 for this bottle back in 2016. Prices have remained pretty steady for this one, too. The nose is surprisingly more salty than I expected. Very Talisker-esque. There’s some vegetal notes and lots of earthy peat. A quick hit of sweet vanilla mingles in nicely but the campfire smoke is kept in check. The palate brings fresh oak and vanilla to the front, with smoke and salted fish rolling around the tongue. The youthful spirit is unexpectedly harsh, especially being Springbank, and kind of limits me from detecting much depth. The finish is medium length, salty and very dry. This one is all wood, earthy peat and smoke, which is what they’re going for I suppose. This stuff needs to spend some quality time in a great finishing cask IMO. As it is, it’s a bit too harsh to be thoroughly enjoyed. At 46% ABV I don’t think watering it down will help much- it just needs some older juice blended in. Overall, it’s decent and I guess a respectable preview of what Springbank’s heavily peated whisky is all about, I just think the islands and Islay do it so much better that this style should be left to those guys. 3 stars, tops. Cheers.

Here’s a flashback to a whisky that I was introduced to back in April, while pre-gaming for Whiskyfest DC: Bunnahabhain 13 Marsala Finish. This bottle takes 10 year old, standard Bunna juice and finishes it in Italian, Marsala wine cask for an additional 3 years. Thanks to the generosity of my friend @Telex, I was given an additional pour of this after the festival to enjoy and review at a later date. This is that review. The color is deep caramel and toffee, with thick, oily legs and a nice steady oil slick all the way around the tasting glass. It’s bottled at 46.3% and I believe it’s natural in color and isn’t chill filtered. I don’t seem to recall what he paid for the bottle, but I’m pretty sure it’s rare. The nose has a wonderful grapy-ness with some crisp, tart apples. There’s a little pie crust and fresh cut oak, but no real depth of these flavors. They all come and go as I let it set in the Glencairn. However, the palate reveals complexity and some depth, which was a pleasant surprise after the nosing, a deep rich vanilla and sweet wine. It’s sticky-sweet and just envelops the tongue and stays there until you wash them away. There’s some barrel astringency, but it helps release some warmth and reminds you that you’re drinking whisky and not eating a dessert pie. The finish is medium length, warming and very nice. Overall, this one was much like the Springbank that Jason sent home with me. I didn’t enjoy it as much while at the hotel, but I really got a kick out of it on its own and without all the competition it faced in the hotel room. I’d say it’s a solid, 4 star dram and I wouldn’t mind having an additional pour for those days when I’m looking for a nice, dessert whisky. Cheers.