Tastes

Getting into the truly special part of the annual Diageo series, here’s a real treat in the form of a closed distillery I have not tried before. It’s a sophisticated dram that I suspect would reveal many more shades and layers over the course of a bottle than a small sample can even hint at. It starts creamy on the nose, with suggestions of apple and malt. It’s sweet on the first sip, evolving into confectioner’s sugar (aka icing sugar, as we call it back home), ginger, tangerine, lemon and more cream. The finish is long and dry, with lemon and tangy fruits. Flavors are rich and moreish. This would make a fine gift for any jaded whisky collector.

A pretty straightforward sherry cask whisky, but a satisfying one nonetheless. The tangy, blood orange flavors are bold and go down easy at the bottled strength, and there’s a hint of the Mortlach meatiness on the nose. That said, you’d be mad to buy this when you can get the much better Mortlach 25 from G&M for half the price or less.

Yesterday I wrote that my taste seems to be turning to fruity whiskies, but this entry in Diageo’s 2020 special release series seems designed to remind me of my limits. Specifically, a pungent nose of pear drops. There’s some grapefruit in the mix also, but mostly the aroma tests your tolerance for pear-flavored candy. Things don’t improve on tasting — sour fruits and more grapefruit and a sour finish. In a world awash in good whisky, there’s no need to waste your time on this one.

Maybe my palate is evolving but I increasingly find myself passing over the peaty or sherried whiskies for fruiter pasture. Whatever the reason, I may prefer this Cardhu a smidgen to the Talisker and Lagavulin contributions to the Diaego 2020 special releases. The nose is warm honey, malt and apple. In the mouth it’s oily with flavors of red apples and nutmeg. The finish takes a turn to spiced chocolate. A surprisingly strong showing for this workhorse distillery.

Moving up the age scale of the 2020 special releases from Diageo we arrive at the annual crowdpleaser, the Lagavulin 12. The nose brings a classic mix of creosote and burnt brisket, with a drop of water unleashing aromas of petroleum. In the mouth it starts sweet and turns savory, with lots of green olive and vegetal notes. The long finish evokes black licorice chews. An on-point Lagavulin, though of the recent releases I much prefer the 11.

Let’s attempt to slam the door on this shitty year with a run through Diageo’s special releases, which I briefly tried while in quarantine in London a few weeks ago. I kept most of my samples back for a more leisurely review and was fortunate enough to have already tasted this Talisker thanks to a care package from @PBMichiganWolverine. The nose starts off like a classic coastal Talisker, with sea spray and wet pebbles, before the rum cask influence makes itself known in the form of sweet mashed bananas and a faint funk. Sipped with a dash of water the whisky is by turns creamy, savory and tangy, with a hint of banana and a burst of peat on the finish. It’s another interesting twist on a Talisker — the rum influence is fortunately very restrained as I typically find such whiskies too sweet — but it falls a little short of the exciting standard set by the distillery’s contribution to the special releases in the previous two years.

I’m a fan of Paul John, particularly its unpeated whiskies, but I’ve struggled to find anything in this rare edition that you can’t find better expressed in its regular releases. There’s oranges, aniseed and a hint of ash on the nose. On the palate the flavors lean towards bitter Seville marmalade. I’ve been fortunate to try this at least twice in the past year along with many other from the distillery, which is spoiling us with such juicy tropical flavors that this one would struggle to make my top five. Making whisky in Goa has been a successful moonshot, but this one falls a bit short of its best.

The 2020 edition delivers a fine balance of toasted sugar, maraschino cherry, a zesty sprinkle of oak spice and a long finish of cinnamon and cocoa powder. I was lucky enough to score an ounce of this at its retail price, but I wouldn’t pay more than $200 for a bottle.

One of the highlights from a recent Drammers Club tasting with Bunnahabhain’s distillery manager, Stephen Woodcock. This 34-year-old whisky was bottled in 2008 for a series called Celtic Heartlands, a range of bottlings from former Bruichladdich master distiller Jim McEwan, produced by Murray McDavid. Aromas of lemon, orange and sandalwood are followed in the mouth by flavors of lemon-line marmalade, a delicate wood spice and a hint of jasmine. The spice on the finish fades to orange tea. A delightful dram that has aged gracefully. The last auction price I can find for one of the 668 bottles was 450 pounds, which seems fair.

Peaches in cream dusted with cinnamon — this is one of the fruitiest bourbons I have tasted. The heavy oak spice on the finish may disappoint people hoping for butterscotch, but for me it adds rather than detracts.