Tastes

I decided to spend my only night off of work this week by riding up to the big city (Richmond, VA) and hit up my local big whisky bar and grill which, ironically, is called McCormack’s Big Whisky Grill. A big platter of homemade mac & cheese with pulled pork bbq piled high on top fit the bill for my grumbling stomach and I decided to try this new, NAS Glenmorangie in case I found out it was worthy of a buy. Much to my delight, call it Christmas spirit, Mac (the owner/bartender) decided to give me the original Astar from 2008 instead of the new release. A $28 pour (the 2008) for $12 (the 2017) price. Merry Christmas to me. This original version was matured in ex-bourbon casks from the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. There’s no indication which bourbon distillery they were sourced from but if the nose is any indication I’d guess they were possibly from Four Roses. The nose here is amazing: tropical fruits, marzipan sweetness, very perfume-y before revealing lightly toasted oak. I could smell this one all day long and be delighted. The palate is initially buttery smooth. Orange cream and vanilla start things out very well- almost dessert-like. But then a wonderful, hot cinnamon note appears and puts the entire palate experience in check. There’s a bit of harshness as it finishes. The finish is medium in length, oaky and sweet. I feel like some caramel or toffee rounds out the final tasting notes and leaves you really satisfied and happy. If all NAS whiskies were like this one I don’t think you’d hear as much complaining- I’d certainly welcome them with open arms. All this said, I have to say this may end up being my favorite Glenmorangie to date. I haven’t been a big fan of this distillery but this one certainly changes my overall take. Now I have to begin searching for the older bottles of Astar so I can add 1 to my collection. I hear they are going for somewhere north of $200. The new release is close to $100, so maybe I should give that one a try to see if they reclaimed any of this 2008’s glory. As is, this bottle is a resounding 4.25-4.5 stars. If you see it out in your travels I’d recommend giving it a try. Solid, good stuff for sure. Cheers, my friends.

DISCLAIMER: This review is for the 11yo Exclusive Malts bottle from Auchroisk and not the one listed. Well, the holidays are finally past us and my credit card is still gently weeping. I’ve been very busy pulling down 50-65 hour work weeks to pay for this massive whisky bill I created for myself. So I suppose it’s time to get back to enjoying the so-called fruits of my labor: Scotch-freaking-whisky. This review is for an independent bottling from the Speyside distillery Auchroisk. Which is oddly enough pronounced Awwth-Rusk. This is a bottle I supplied for my group of friends as we attempt to lay claim to having tried a whisky sample from every Scottish distillery that is currently active. We are now a year into this experiment and have reached the point where the distillery list is growing smaller while the bottles are becoming more rare, more elusive and more expensive. The Exclusive Malts released this 11 year old at cask strength (56.4%). It’s also natural in color (new penny copper) and with no chill filtering. It was distilled in September 2003 and bottled in January 2015. There were only 269 total bottles available. The nose is heavily sherry and oak influenced. The ABV is present here as well, but you can really get down into it and pick up lots of berries, cinnamon and even a beautiful vanilla sweetness. To be so strong it also displays a lovely balance. The palate is so damn savory! Cherries, apples and cinnamon. A monster cherry/apple pie hybrid where you can even pick up notes like the baked crust. The vanilla holds off any harshness I expected from the cask strength and young spirit, along with keeping too much oak spice from creeping in. The overall mouthfeel is also fantastic. It goes from oily and coating, to mouthwatering to dry. It’s a great progression that continually amazes you. Very well done. The finish is hot enough to reward the hardcore whisky drinkers and American bourbon lovers, alike. There’s no doubt what you’re drinking. The finish goes on and on and actually teases you along and has you wanting to take another big sip. And I do mean big sip, I found myself topping off the Glencairn and treating it like a shooter- before restraining myself to keep the liquid topside and enjoy the entire dram. This is eerily reminiscent of the better batches of Aberlour A’Bunadh that I love. They are big, hearty sherry bombs that will sneak up on you and leave you hurting the next day. But, damn, are they good while they last. This bottle set me back just under $100, but I think there’s a ton of value here where the A’Bunadh leaves you guessing. There’s a freaking age statement! If you guys see bottles of this lingering or collecting dust at your local store or bar- give it a go. It’s fantastic stuff. 4.5 stars. Cheers, guys.

I finally found a good deal for this exclusive bottle back on Black Friday here in Virginia. Using the 20% discount I landed this one for just over $50 for a 750ml bottle. The specifics on this bottle: Barrel # 16-7891, Rick # R-10 and bottled on 12-7-16. It’s a luscious dark amber with an orange-ish hue and makes a big, oily slick in the highball glass. The nose is typical bourbon: vanilla, caramel and peppery oak. The palate is heavy on the charred oak with a nice, balanced vanilla sweetness that fades into a drier than expected finish. It’s a long, caramel corn finish that goes on for quite a while. It’s easily the best Jack Daniel’s I’ve had at this point. It’s hard to justify the normal $65 price tag, but if you can find a deal on it I thinks it’s worth it. Sure, there are better bourbons- for less money, but if you enjoy the JD profile but need a bit more of a kick- then this is it. I dig it. 3.75 stars. Cheers.

* This review is for another independent bottling by Classic Cask, not the Hart Bros listed. This one is 11 years old. Come on Distiller- give your users the ability to create entries already... Speyside distillery Mortlach is heavily used in Johnnie Walker blends. I think it brings the lighter characteristics and helps balance out any offending or harsh flavors to a lot of their blends. This sample is an independent bottling from Classic Cask. It’s a youthful 11 years old and was bottled at 46%. The fact this malt is still light on just about every aspect shows just how easy drinking this stuff really is. It’s so pale in the glass it’s almost transparent with light lemon meringue pie notes on the nose. There’s weak vanilla and butterscotch here, too. Nothing overpowering, almost boring. The palate is buttery with some citrusy lemon that leads into fresh cut oak spirals. Little to no burn, even at 46%. I can see why JW uses this malt heavily. The finish is medium in length, oaky and somewhat dry. Don’t add water- hell, don’t even breathe heavily near the Glencairn. Thanks to Jason for providing this relatively expensive ($90) sample. It’s definitely not worth the price but it does make a nice and easy entry into a relaxed tasting session. 3 star, middle of the road rating, is perfect here. Cheers.

As we continue to plow our way through all of the currently active distilleries in Scotland, we make our way to this Speyside distillery- Longmorn. This sample was graciously provided by our newest group member, @Telex. This is a distillery direct bottle of their 16 year old malt. It’s bottled at a robust and surprising 48% ABV. It’s a true golden color and produces slow-forming and short legs in the Glencairn. It’s oily as hell and clings to the glass even when it’s spun with a little force. The predominant aroma is green apples. There’s some faint, worn leather and some rustic oak tannins hanging out as well. There’s not much alcohol on the nose and that’s great considering the higher ABV. The palate is ridiculously hot to me with lots of oak spice and pepper. Mid sip is drying and strong but does wash away with some light, orchard fruit notes. It’s so hot, though, I felt like I had to suffer through the heat just for those light, leftover fruits. I can’t say it’s worth the pain, lol. The finish is long and dry and overwhelmed with hard, oak spice. This is a beast for a 16 year old. Overall, I had a hard time trying to find a sweet spot to make this enjoyable. I added a healthy splash of cold water to try and tame it some, but even after 10 minutes all it did was make it harder to keep the aroma in the foreground. Even the apples faded quickly. It’s definitely a heavy dram. It was a bit taxing on me even though I went in mentally prepared for a harder hitting, single malt. Perhaps this one needed to be cut to 40-43% to make it more palatable IMO. Thanks again, Jason for helping us tick off these distilleries. As it is, this was a 2.75 star dram. Cheers.

Here’s another travel retail exclusive malt that I probably would’ve never had the chance to try if it weren’t for my friend Paul. I’m not exactly a Glenmorangie fan to begin with, so chances are I wouldn’t buy this one even if it was available locally. So, a big thanks again to Paul. This one immediately reminds me of the La Santa core bottle: lots of sherry and chocolate notes from the start. This is from the newly minted Legends Collection- which is just as you guessed- a NAS “series” with at least two more bottles to come. This one is primarily Pedro Ximenez and virgin oak cask and comes in at 43% ABV with coloring added and chill filtration. It’s a pretty golden, amber in the glass and makes oily, long legs when you spin it. The nose is heavy raisins, breakfast syrup, cocoa powder and roasted nuts. There’s a slight, lingering bit of alcohol heat there, too. The palate is brown sugar and toffee that’s rounded out well by wood oak spice and a bite of ginger. The finish is medium-short and pretty sugary, as well. There’s some lingering cinnamon and oak that help clean up after all the sweetness. Overall, I don’t think I like it as much as I initially enjoyed the La Santa bottling. This one seems a lot sweeter and not as well-rounded with regards to mouthfeel. It’s enjoyable, no doubt, I just think this is a tweaked version of the La Santa that’s been renamed and allocated to travel retail. Which, generally speaking, is BS. But maybe that’s just me being bitter that I don’t have easy access to TRE stuff. It’s a solid 3.5-3.75 stars, though. Cheers

Welcome to the next generation of Highland Park NAS whisky.... We could go round-n-round on the merits of No Age Statement whisky. I will concede that it’s a necessary evil due to the meteoric rise in popularity of whisky (and spirits in general). Well, this is what we have to deal with now: youthful, harsh stock mixed with lower and lower amounts of well-aged goodness. Some distilleries are handling it well, some not so much. Sadly, I think Highland Park is slipping towards the latter. (Steps down from the soapbox) This particular offering: Magnus is a NAS whisky named in honor of HP’s owner, Magnus Eunson, who is a direct descendant of the Viking lineage that settled Orkney. His namesake whisky is composed of juice from first-fill American sherry casks and ex-bourbon barrels. It’s an industry minimum 40% ABV and currently is exclusive to North America. It’s yellow gold and leaves hearty water droplets all around the glass when you swirl it. The nose is predominantly sherry and oak with little to no smoke, even after 15-20 minutes of intermediate swirling. The palate is pretty sweet with subtle hints of chocolate and smoke. It gives away its lack of age rather quickly- it’s harsher than I expected and finishes with a lightening quickness. I actually think I’d bump it if it would just hang back for a minute or two. It’s just gone so quickly. What happened? Ahh, drats... Overall, it’s disappointing in every aspect except one- price point. This bottle can be had for $40-45. That’s awesome. The sad part is that they are using this youthful juice for this instead of letting it age gracefully. It makes me sad this stuff could turn into 18yo sauce if given the chance. But, as it is, I think a solid 3-3.25 stars is warranted. Thanks for offering me a taste, @Telex Glad I got a chance to run this one through it’s paces. Cheers.

My experience with Indian malts is extremely limited. In fact, the only ones I’ve tried were solely gifted to me by my friend Pranay. They are spice and ABV beasts, but they do deliver the goods. This is a newer, NAS release that uses European rye that is 5 years old and is aged exclusively in American oak barrels. It has a nice, rounded ABV of 50% and is a beautiful reddish-copper in the taster. It slowly forms oily legs before settling back in the glass. The nose is quite possibly the best part IMO. It starts with fresh cut, tropical fruit and rye bread before turning somewhat floral with a breezy hit of spearmint washing across the nostrils if you linger in there too long. There’s little to no barrel notes nor is there a heavy hit of alcohol from the higher ABV. That alone is amazing to me. The palate is where the typical rye whisky makes its appearance known. Strong, peppery rye spice, fresh oak and some serious citrus-like zing. It’s so strong it felt like it stripped all the oils that normally coat your tongue. It’s borderline violent, lol. The finish is- to put it bluntly- excessive (in a good way, haha). It continues to burn the tongue and throat until you physically make it go away (and it will take more than a sip of water). It’s got a hold of you and ain’t letting go. Boy, this is perfect for finding out if you’ve been slipping in the whisky game. Are you sure you haven’t been getting soft? Amrut Rye will surely let you know. If you see this stuff at a bar- take the challenge. It’s worth it, I promise you. A huge thanks to Pranay for letting me re-focus my chi, fine tune my game, whatever. This is fine stuff. 4.5 stars. Cheers.

I was scanning the shelves of my local liquor store back on Black Friday, looking for deals of any and every kind. Well, I stumbled across this new variation from Johnnie Walker. The Blender’s Batch series is a run of experimental blends ranging from ex-American rye casks to Spanish wine casks. This is the latest one and I snagged it for a reasonable $22 US. It’s the industry standard 40% ABV and definitely has coloring added to make it appear as though it spent a significant time in old wine barrels. It’s a pinkish hue and makes quick, skinny legs in the Glencairn. The nose is still dominated by oak casks and vanilla, with the faintest hint of red berries and grapes. The palate is pretty delicate with just enough heat at the midpoint to keep beginner whisky drinkers from running away, crying. The finish is smooth with some vanilla and oak, but it doesn’t hang around very long. Overall, I said I was done with Johnnie Walker awhile ago and this special blend isn’t close to pulling me back in. I could, however, see mixing this with a few ice cubes and some seltzer water or Sprite and making a peppy, pick-me-up. If that’s what you’re into I suggest giving this one a try, especially if you can snag a bottle for around $20-25. As for the experienced, neat whisky drinker- it’s another mostly uninspired, money grab from JW. The ability to turn this into a nice little mixer gives it a small boost in my rating, but it’s still just a 2.75-3 star dram. Cheers, my friends.

I originally worked my way through a bottle of this peaty, Island whisky almost 2 years ago. Thanks to my buddy Paul, I get to try this one again thanks to our distillery trading group. Upon pouring this one into the taster I was greeted with all those things I love about peated whisky: campfire smoke, earthy peat, sea salt, freshly paved asphalt, BBQ’d meats, band aids, iodine, etc, etc... It’s finally turning cold here in central Virginia and there’s nothing more enjoyable than a smooth, warm whisky to keep the chills at bay. The finish lingers here with a nice, zesty pop of lemon rind and slightly abrasive alcohol burn. It’s a fantastic dram and I really need to look for a fresh bottle to keep stocked behind the bar. The price is slightly higher for an industry average aged 12 year old single malt, but at least Caol Ila hasn’t abandoned this for a tricky NAS replacement. Thanks again, Paul. I’m glad I got to experience this one again. 4 stars. Cheers.