Tastes
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High West A Midwinter Night's Dram Act 6 (All Scenes)
Rye — (bottled in) Utah, USA
Reviewed May 9, 2019 (edited December 24, 2019)I’ve come to the conclusion that High West Distillery and the rock band Weezer walk the same cosmic line: fans either love what they were or what they’ve become. High West was the darling, craft distillery that gave us A Midwinter Night’s Dram Acts 1-3 and Weezer was a nerdy, alt-rock band that gave us Buddy Holly. Later they gave us (conglomerate) Midwinter Night’s Dram Acts 4-6 and Pork ‘n Beans, respectively. What. The. Everloving. Fuuuuuu-dge. I’ve had the privilege to try 4 ever-evolving batches of AMWND: 2:1, 4:1, 4:4 and now 6:4 (thanks @Scott_E). Needless to say, the quality has seemingly dropped each time. It’s like they took a Christmas spiced, Yankee candle and shredded it into some young, rye whiskey. The balances and experimentation from early releases, wine cask experimentation to pushing rye levels, has turned into more of a one-trick pony of youthful rye whiskey and tired barrels. Sigh. I miss the days when whiskey wasn’t so damn popular. Quality is suffering, prices are crazy and I’ve gotten older. Here’s to sticking with older, age statement Scotch whisky. Hipsters, excuse my French, but I hope you choke on your next Pickleback. Now, GET OFF MY LAWN, PUNKS. I need a shot of penicillin and a boilermaker. 🤣 -
I recently found bottles of this online out of the U.K. for around $110, so I went ahead and stocked up because that’s a fine price for such a well-aged whisky. The only drawbacks I discovered initially were the fact that Diageo blends these down to 43% and they have added color to make each successive vintage as uniform as possible, color wise. I believe they may also be chill-filtered- which begs the question: why Diageo? Why? I recently opened a bottle of the 18 year, peated Caol Ila from 2008 and was utterly blown away. The fact I had multiple bottles of the 25 really piqued my interest and I was dying to know if an additional 7 years in the cask just dialed things up to 11. Spoiler: it did not. Onward, though, this quarter century Caol Ila is a beautiful, deep gold in the taster and appears oily, with thin legs and medium, teardrops on the rim. This bottle was filled in 2007 at the aforementioned 43% ABV. The nose was typical Caol: bbq smoke and sea spray. Light tar and fruity chewing gum notes waft gently from the glass as you spin and get down in there. Some apricot and citrus were coerced out after a lengthy wait. Very nice. The palate was again meaty smoke and salty, biting undertones. This leaves the fruity notes of the 18 year old completely out of the mix. It’s still oily and thick, even with the added water dilution, and theres very little barrel characteristics or vanilla sweetness. It’s mostly soft and forgiving for a Caol Ila- evidence of the time in the oak. These were probably refilled casks, I’m assuming. The finish is medium to long, oily and smoky. The salt cuts into the tongue and throat as it dries away and I can’t help but think it needs a healthy ABV kick. The final wafts of smoke return as though you’ve extinguished a campfire and just stood overtop of it and inhaled the final fumes deeply. It’s still quite satisfying. Overall, it’s not the 18 year I just fell in love with, but it is still a fine example of a well-matured Islay whisky. If you like your peated whisky with a seaside kick to go along with an impressive age statement- this is your whisky. If you can find it for $111 like I did, well that’s like hitting the bonus on a Vegas slot machine. You win twice. 4.25 stars with a bonus .25 for price and relative availability/attainability. Cheers, my friends.111.0 USD per Bottle
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Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition
Blended — Scotland
Reviewed April 28, 2019 (edited February 11, 2021)I received this bottle as a birthday present back in early March from my friend Paul. I believe he had tried this before and thought I’d enjoy it, and knowing I don’t usually buy cheaper blends, he decided to make this part of my gift this year. Many thanks, @Generously_Paul. The Prohibition Edition is a throwback blend that differs mostly from the normal Cutty Sark simply by upping the ABV to 50%, from the typical 40%. It’s sunset gold in the tasting glass with tiny beads and sparse legs. It’s also quite slick and oily. I believe this bottle runs about $35 locally. The nose is predominantly butterscotch, heavy malt and candied corn. There’s some caramel and light citrus rounding things out. I mostly came away smelling butterscotch candies, however, even given some time in the Glencairn. The palate had a raw peanut aspect, along with toffee and butterscotch chews. There was some pepper spice creeping in by mid sip and the oily mouth coat left those pepper and alcohol notes stuck to my tongue. The finish was long and sweet, with vanilla and buttered bread hanging around, along with a lingering warmth and hint of pepper. Overall, this is the poster child for one dimensional malts. The butterscotch candy notes never wavered. The price point is excellent and the boosted ABV will hold up nicely in cocktails or over a few ice cubes. I’m just not as in love with this malt as a lot of reviewers seem to be. Yes, it’s easily approachable, cheap and crushable- it just doesn’t do much for me. I’d give it a solid 3 stars just on price and punch, but I don’t think this is a bottle I need to replace or keep around. Cheers.35.0 USD per Bottle -
Well, Game of Thrones final season is upon us. Diageo has released a bunch of whisky themed around the houses of Westeros and Johnnie Walker created a blend suitable for the dead to drink (whoa, that’s a spoiler for this review). This is that blend: Johnnie Walker White Walker. It’s bottled in a freezer-ready package that reveals a special message when it gets cold enough and they want you to drink it straight from the freezer- tell me that doesn’t speak volumes... Anyway, I had started to jot a bunch of jokes down and I fully intended to write a humorous review for this whisky, but I ran out of enough ideas and laughs to make myself happy, so I ditched that idea and decided to just write a typical review. Here goes... White Walker is blended and bottled at 41.7% ABV and it’s straw yellow in the plastic cup I figured was worthy enough to drink this stuff out of. There was big, watery drops and legs and a nice oil slick around the cup, too. All of my review is from a sample from my buddy Paul, and it was only done at room temp- I don’t want to drink it from the freezer. The nose struck me quickly with a spearmint gum note with a little floral, barnyard note (like wet hay). There was no barrel presence and no hint of ABV. I didn’t feel the need to let it rest- I just went for it. The palate was waxy as hell, like Clynelish, with some light apples and pears. Faint citrus arrived mid sip and ushered in the minty chill they were obviously going for. It’s refreshing, albeit lacking in any kind of depth. It would probably add some dimension to a citrus or mint based cocktail, for sure. The mouth coat was oily and a little thick. The finish was grainy, but relatively smooth. There is zero complexity, but then again that could be said for almost every Johnnie Walker (at least the low range stuff). The finish was short, but refreshing, I guess. It’s not nearly as bad as I was lead to believe. I have 2 bottles of this stuff to complete 2 full Diageo Game of Thrones sets so there’s no need to open them now. Thanks for that, Paul. But, I wouldn’t want to drink much more of this anyway to be honest. Use it at GoT parties for a mixer or, hell, freeze the bottle and turn it into a drinking game during the final season. Every time Bran stares blankly into the camera someone has to chug until the scene changes- wow, that’ll get ya ripped haha. I can muster 2 stars for this with hopes the bottle helps inflate the value of the GoT whisky set long after the series is over. Fingers frozen and crossed. Winter is here! Cheers.34.0 USD per Bottle
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GlenDronach Forgue 10 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed April 23, 2019 (edited January 24, 2022)There’s something new out of GlenDronach Distillery: an age-statement, travel retail release that was blended by Rachel Barrie and dropped on the masses seemingly right after she re-blended the old, fan favorite Revival 15. This one is named Forgue, that’s the name of the valley that the distillery is located in, and it’s also a 10 year old single malt. I picked this up while shopping online for $78 for a 1L bottle. It contains malt aged in both PX and Oloroso sherry casks, but I don’t believe they were first fill- it’s just too pale for that to be the case. Speaking of color, it’s a pale yellow gold in the Glencairn, with a slight sunset redness glimmering though and it leaves behind watery legs and large drops around the edges of the glass. Evidence of the lower than usual 43% ABV. The nose starts with fresh-pressed, red berries and a hint of grape must. There’s toffee and some spicy oak with just a bit of spark from the alcohol content. The hotter notes subsided the longer it sat and later on throughout the bottle the harshness really faded away. The palate starts strong with orange wedges and zest, vine-ripened raspberries and grape, sherry cask influences. Typical GlenDronach, just more restrained. Apple peel and maple syrup materialized later into the bottle as well, as I have to say this young whisky really oxidized quite well. There was always a dusty oak presence even with an oily mouth coat- and this aspect was the only negative I really found on the tongue and into the finish. The finish carried on with the orange flavors while mixing in more toffee and nutmeg spice. The lingering, medium finish rounded out with an excellent gingersnap cookie taste. Overall, this was much better than I expected. The 2 years lost doesn’t hurt this whisky compared to what I remember most about the 12. The price point isn’t very good, but you do get a little more whisky for your money, so it’s a bit of a trade off. It’s still a travelers and collectors trap simply because it’s not widely available and it will cause GD fanboys to chase it more than they should. If you’re a casual GlenDronach drinker I’d say you can stick to the 12, but if you’re obsessed with trying everything you can get your hands on then this one should be on your radar. 3.75 stars, with a quarter point deducted because of the price and hoops you have to jump through to land a bottle. Cheers.78.0 USD per Bottle -
Ailsa Bay Sweet Smoke Release 1.2
Single Malt — Lowlands, Scotland
Reviewed April 21, 2019 (edited August 27, 2019)Ailsa Bay is a Lowland distillery owned and operated by William Grant & Sons and is used to produce whisky in the style of Balvenie. WG&S opened the old Girvan site primarily to make whisky for their blends and reduce their need of Balvenie and Glenfiddich malt. They also switch runs and produce a peated whisky several times a year. This is their newest, peated release: Sweet Smoke. This is also release number 1.2, whatever that means. The PPPM level is 22 and they also have assigned a weighted number to the SPPM (sweet parts per million): 19. So, now they have created a new way to quantify flavor? Yawn. This release is straw gold and makes tons of watery legs and large drops in the taster. I don’t believe it has been chilled filtered, nor do I think color has been added. It’s bottled at 48.9% and I paid around $60 for this online out of the UK. Ailsa Bay does not release any malts in the North American market. The nose had a really high, minty peat note: menthol and eucalyptus leaves lead the way along with tree bark and the faintest bit of honey. The sweetness isn’t very noticeable on the nose and there’s little to no cask influence either. The palate is also minty and bitter with youthful spirit driving the bite. There is some nice sweetness from honeycomb and vanilla, but I have a hard time believing there’s an actual way to quantify it with a specific number. Holding the liquid on your tongue causes it to function more like a mouthwash than a whisky and the watery feel really pushes that home in a bad way. The finish is short with almost no lingering notes. It does feel a bit more oily at this point, but the bitterness really had me scrambling for some water to wash away the acetone flavor. I think the biggest problem here is the whisky is just too damn young. I’m assuming it’s under 4-5 years of age and I think maybe Ailsa Bay should just focus more on producing blend-able juice and quit with the single malt bottlings. That’s just my $0.02, though. This was a tough bottle to finish and the inaugural Ailsa Bay I had a year or so ago wasn’t something I’d seek out either. This manages just 2 stars. I’d recommend looking elsewhere for non-Islay, peated whisky. This stuff is rough. Cheers.58.0 USD per Bottle -
Ah, Tamdhu. If Macallan is the Sak’s Fifth Avenue of sherried malts and Tomatin is the Walmart, then you’d be the JC Penney. What we have here is a new, travel retail exclusive called Ambar (which is Spanish for amber. Spanish because they used refilled, Spanish Oloroso sherry casks.). It also carries an age statement of 14 years, which is respectable. The ABV is dipped a bit, to 43% and I believe it is chill filtered. This bottle retails for over $80. Thanks to my NJ whisky connection- Mr @PBMichiganWolverine for this generous pour. The color is a beautiful, rich gold and it’s pretty oily. It leaves behind thin, watery legs and big drops after a spin in the Glencairn. The nose is relatively light and malty, with orchard fruit and toffee candies. Honey and vanilla mingle with hints of cocoa powder and vine-ripened raspberries. It’s just that everything is on the lighter side and waiting it out doesn’t do much at all. The power level has been dialed way down. The palate brings raisins and bitter chocolate out along with the fruits listed on the nose. It’s spicier and a bit more warming than I expected- especially for 43%. A zesty hint of citrus comes across the tongue late that really adds a bit of pep to the profile. The oily appearance isn’t felt on the tongue, though- it’s rather watery. The finish is light and thin with woody apples and a faint alcohol note rounding things out. It’s also pretty short. Overall, this strikes me as a beginner’s sherry whisky. Thin and weak are the key adjectives I take away from the total experience. It’s a typical, TRE mousetrap- lure you in with the Tamdhu name, the TRE exclusivity and slightly higher price tag, and drop the net on you once you get it home. Aka, it can be bested by lots of cheaper, sherried single malts and blends. I’ve had lots of good Tamdhu malts and this one doesn’t deliver the goods. Stick to first fill casks and higher ABV’s from them and you’ll be just fine- leave this one for the airport travelers and Tamdhu fanboys. 3 stars. Cheers.
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Highland Park Harald
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed April 19, 2019 (edited April 25, 2019)This is the third, NAS release from Highland Park’s Warrior Series: Harald. This was a 6-bottle collection that was released in 2018 utilizing more of HP’s Viking heritage and marketing fluff. This was aged in European and American oak casks and was bottled at 40%. I believe retail prices are in the $80 range. This was straw gold and very watery. Tons of medium-sized drops and legs circled the Glencairn after a vigorous spin. The nose struck me with lots of butterscotch and vanilla at first. It took a little time before I picked up some light smoke, oak and sherry. It was very closed off for quite some time- I almost gave up and just went for it. You wouldn’t expect to have to give an NAS over 30 minutes to open up, but this needed that and more. Weird. The palate delivered much more smoke than the nose indicated, followed by ripe berries and weak florals. Some black pepper and ginger ushered in the finish and really gave this one some oomph. This was somewhat mouthwatering and oily and that allowed the softer flavors to linger a bit- which was a nice surprise once the spicy bits burned themselves out. I can only imagine how a little bump in ABV would’ve kicked things up a notch. 40% is just playing it safe and stretching product, especially here. The finish was medium-to-long and warming. Those softer flavors continued on until you washed them away. Very nice for an NAS whisky. Thanks to my buddy Paul for sending me a pour and I think this one was much better than the Einar bottle, it just wasn’t as good of a value. This one comes in just shy of 4 stars because I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed it. Cheers, my friends.83.0 USD per Bottle -
Kingsbarns Dream to Dram
Single Malt — Lowlands, Scotland
Reviewed April 19, 2019 (edited July 26, 2019)Here’s a new whisky from a new, Lowland distillery: Kingsbarns. Dream To Dram is their first, regular release and I believe there’s whisky that’s blended from stocks ranging from 3-4 years old- so it is technically a single malt Scotch. The malts used were taken from first fill, ex-bourbon casks and first fill, toasted & re-charred wine casks- with the majority of liquid coming from the ex-bourbon. It’s bottled at 46% ABV and I picked this bottle up online for $46. It’s super, pale yellow in color (which is all natural and non-chill filtered) and produces sparse, thin legs and very tiny drops when you spin it in the glass. The nose features lots of biscuity meal and banana bread with nice hints of vanilla, orchard fruits and lemon zest. Fresh cut oak also makes an appearance along with some ground, white pepper if you get down in it deep enough. The palate shines with apples, pears and honey sweetness. More vanilla and oak arrive mid-sip and turns this thing towards a heavily bourbon-themed dram. Youthful zip and a slight harshness, just like a young, American bourbon (minus the corn) keeps this pretty well rounded- although the higher ABV doesn’t create as much heat as I anticipated. The finish was medium in length and overall dry, with some harsh abrasiveness that’s a little rough to work around. I did notice this aspect had faded a bit as I worked through the bottle and some oxidation helped smooth it a bit more, but it also dulled the orchard fruit flavors in a negative way. Overall, there’s lots of promise with Kingsbarns in my humble opinion. Seven or eight years in the barrel will probably work wonders, as would some sherry cask finishing, I think. This inaugural release is still solid, especially if you like your scotch whisky to mimic bourbon. This could make some nice, fruity cocktails and even hold up with an ice cube or two. 3.25 stars with a quarter star bump for the elevated ABV and reasonable price point. I’ll be keeping an eye out for future releases from these guys for sure. Cheers.46.0 USD per Bottle -
Daftmill 2006 Winter Batch Release (UK)
Single Malt — Lowlands, Scotland
Reviewed April 11, 2019 (edited December 26, 2019)Daftmill is one of the newer distilleries in Scotland. The thing about these guys that’s pretty surprising, though, is that they had enough capital funding so they didn’t have to release underaged or very young whisky to keep afloat. They were able to wait almost 12 years to release an official single malt whisky. This is the Winter 2006 distillate that was just bottled in 2018 and released in very limited amounts. This sample was graciously sent to me by my friend, @Generously_Paul, as we attempt to keep our Scottish Distillery Tour up to date. This malt is pale yellow and lightly oily in the Glencairn. There’s not much leg formation and only tiny, slow forming droplets thanks to the slightly higher ABV of 46%. I believe it is non-chill filtered and I doubt there’s added color. The nose is apples and fresh popcorn, raw, shelled peanuts and lime wedges. There’s a nice “minerality” to it as well. Some floral and perfume notes crept in along with a nice, soft hint of vanilla. Allowing this one to sit rewards you quite well. The palate is big time citrus to me. There’s an overwhelming Clynelish-like waxyness and very nice tropical fruit and pineapple slices. It comes across as lightly salted with an abundance of lime notes. This thing has lime flavor for days. The citrusy bite keeps the wax factor from becoming too sticky and I really liked that aspect. The finish reminded me of a very well made margarita. Fresh limes and salt linger on and on and there’s some nice agave fruit flavor that hangs around and coats everything. Some fresh oak ushers everything out the door at the very end and makes this a very good dram- whisky or otherwise. Overall, this is a fantastic spirit. Kudos to Daftmill for not rushing swill out the door early on. Waiting for a quality product speaks volumes to me and I’ll be on the lookout for anything and everything from these guys moving forward. If you can find a bottle of this for a decent price I highly recommend giving it a go- you won’t be disappointed. 4-4.25 stars. Cheers.
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