Tastes

I had this at the distillery in Seattle ( which by the way is a fun visit). It’s interesting to see that this was aged in Garryana oak, which is native to Washington and Oregon, and also is regulated under law from being cut. Which means that the barrels have to be made from trees that fell. Less than 4% of Pacific Northwest trees are of these garryana, and it only grows in a small part of Washington and Oregon. The wood imparts a strong overpowering flavor, which forces it to be mixed with other whiskey aged in new oak or used bourbon. Nose: strong vanilla, much stronger than bourbon. Flavor is complex and deep. Almost heavy in feel, as if you’re having a syrup. Really well made and highly recommended.

Thanks to @LeeEvolved, I had this after a long day at the #neveragain march yesterday where I joined my high school aged niece. On a side note...regardless if your pro or anti NRA, these kids are simply amazing; eloquent, passionate, and angry as hell. I wish I was like them at their age...simply just impressed by them. Anyway..I digress...so I’m not a huge Auchentoshan fan. Aside from their 21 yr old, their other offerings seem just underwhelming. I feel I can do much better for my hard earned money. But this, this is a different animal. Sweeter, honey drizzled almonds on the nose. Palette falls short a bit, but you still get that typical youngster citrus flavor. Overall, well made. Thanks Lee!

Thanks to my friend @LeeEvolved, I got to try this one. To me, it comes across as the 10 ( or 12...I forget which is their lowest age statement) yr old, except much more pronounced in every aspect. Makes me wonder if the 10 or 12 will go away, and they’d have this instead? Either way, in terms of an affordable, and very good, Macallan, I’d say this is right up there along with their Edition 2 and 3. Thanks Lee for the sample !

I had a pour of this last night, courtesy from my finance gal during our end of Q1 portfolio review. How is it that the market went up, but she managed to keep my portfolio below indices? Just for that, she should’ve bought me the entire bottle. But anyway, I digress. This is simply put—-amazing. It’s just dirty filthy, as if you took a dive into a pile of soot. If you like smoke and peat, this makes the Ardbeg 10 seem like a peck on the cheek compared to a full fledge French kiss with plenty of hand action. The nose is sexy filthy, like a big bucket of tar and soot. Topped with a layer of salt. Taste is just as dirty. Soot and bonfires. Bitter sweetness comes in much later, I guess as part of the mandatory requirement from the wine finishing. Kids, this isn’t for the faint of heart. My finance gal had a sip from mine, and almost gagged. She needed it to wash it down with her white wine. Her exact words were “ Jesus, it’s like licking a burnt piece of wood, then having a sweet cherry”. The only thing even more enticing she possibly could’ve even said is “congrats, your portfolio did a 500% return this quarter’”.

Back as a young kid sitting in rear seat of my dad’s gas guzzling Chevy Nova, I remember seeing these Cutty Sark billboards all through the Jersey Turnpiike. I always wondered what’s this bottle called “cutie shark”? I even then named my toy pirate ship The Cutie Shark. In retrospect, no decent pirate worth his salt and respect would name a ship like that, but anyway...that was the world of a 5 year old. Then much later in life, age 14, I bought my first bottle of liquor. Not to drink...but to use in my science experiment, to show how alcohol can be used instead of gas engines for cars. That bottle was a Cutty Sark. ( technically, my dad bought it). Much much much later in life, now that I have 450+ bottles of whisk(e)y, I always treated Cutty Sark like a snob. Telling myself that “why would I want a pour of this bottom shelf piss and take a hit to my liver, when I can have a single malt?’ Yeah...a snob. But I did have a pour of this recently. And I so,stand corrected. It’s actually freakin good. Granted, it’s no blend at the level of Glaser’s creations, but it’s damn good nonetheless. Cherries and red fruit complement a nice backbone of heather and honey. A tiny bit of smoke, just a whiff. I gotta say, some of these blends that I considered bottom shelf “piss” are coming out with variants that are really affordable (sub $40) and just well made...the Jack Daniels Single Barrel Barrel Strength comes to mind first and foremost. Well done my merry band of “cutie shark “ pirates ...

My new favorite NAS offerings are these impossibly tough to pronounce Bunnas. This one is courtesy of @LeeEvolved . I’m generally not a fan of NAS, maybe with the exception of a few, but these new Bunna bottled really make you say “what’s an age statement but a number anyway”. Salted toffee, oranges, and roasted nuts. With a touch of sea salt. Keep making these NAS offerings with tough names...all that matters is the liquid inside. Thanks Lee!

Sometimes you go in expecting one thing but instead it turns out to take a totally left turn, into something darker and nastier. Not nasty as in “ this is crap”, but nasty as in if the sweet girl next door suddenly shows up in a crotchless lingerie. This is so unexpected. When I was a young teen, I visited my cousin in Mumbai. There was this really sweet amazingly cute girl living across our building, who’s window was only 10 feet away from ours ( Mumbai is crowded). I asked my cousin to play this one Hindi song “meri samne wali kirdki”, which is a romantic song that starts off as “there’s a piece of the glimmering moon living across my window”. Instead he puts on an equivalent of “take it off and shake it, I wanna see it all”. Such a dark nasty turn. Anyway...she closes the window, and that was the end of my serenade. This is like that...I expect an elegant noble Macallan, but instead I get something else, something darker and much grittier. In a good way. I had the regular Rare Cask, but I preferred this one just for that unexpected turn and complexity. Tons of dark fruits, but with a backbone of smoke. Not too much, but enough to make you second guess what you’re having. Thanks to @Generously_Paul for this sample. It’s money hard earned, so I’m just thankful for him sharing this.

Imagine yourself inches away from getting splashed in the face by a cold Atlantic wave. Just before being hit, you smell this briny, fishy, salty aroma. Then imagine having chocolate cake, topped with layers of sea salt, and vanilla. And this long lingering taste of lemon curd and salt. Bunna’s hit all the right notes with this one, just well executed and enjoyable. Thanks to @Telex for the sample as part of our little SDT team.

Had a pour of this last week during a business dinner in Denver. Silky smooth. A lot going on from the get-go...fruits, almonds, hazelnuts. A huge potpourri of nuts and berries, like some health nut bar. Can’t believe it’s 27 years old. Great value at $10/pour too. Would I buy a full bottle...? Yeah...depends on the price, but yeah...one can do far worse.