Tastes

Ever pull a freshly washed fluffy white towel out of a hot dryer with a one of those ‘summer fresh’ dryer sheets and recall that smell? That’s Deanston 12, clean and refreshing. A solid everyday easy pour. Mainly toffee and vanilla with a bit of malty sweet fruitiness. Dry and wood finish. I realize the rating is low for this particular offering from Deanston and I’m not sure why other than it’s just plain good. I think we’ve taken ‘good’ whisky for granted.

Gorgeous, live for these type of releases. Definitely a bourbon with some amazing campfire smoke and light earthiness. They meld together well, not overpowering the solera cask bourbon flavours. Would buy again to have on the shelf albeit a bit pricey here in Canada. 6+ months later: A lot less smoke/peat and more bourbon notes. Not sure why, palate changed?

First nose after opening the bottle was sulphuric but deeper in there was malty sherry and slight peat. The 50% ABV wasn’t jumping out of the glass as expected. Sweet sherry, musty malt, slight peat and spice. Short sour finish with a little burn. Under $35CAD, higher than average ABV , blended scotch. Win win!

Bought this one at a duty free shop, it was the only one that seemed interesting and never heard of it. Floral honey, fruit/apple dominate, malty. Spicy at first sip, tart, fades quick and dries up on the finish.

I had to let it sit for a quite a few minutes before it really opened up. It was all musty malt and old leather on the nose, dried dark fruits and light wood. Short dry finish.

Slightly sweet and smokey, sherry bomb(matured in two types of sherry casks). Maple bacon with hints of peat with a long smoky,charcoal finish along with the typical dried fruits you would expect from sherry. Not a lot of information on this bottling, some say Ardbeg and others Caol Ila. Either way this is a tasty pour and worth the money.

Dried fruit and toffee, some wood notes. Easy to drink even at full ABV(58.7). Lovely long finish of wood and caramel.

Smoke, peat and brine initially which then opens up to slightly sweet caramel and dried fruit cake.

The peat and smoke doesn't come at you strong, I actually enjoy this one when I want something light and smoky. I don't get the smoke/peat on the nose, mostly just the malt. Taste is wood, ash, smoke and slight peat. Also a great pour for someone who wants to try peatier scotchs without the slap. A rating of 91 is a bit generous IMO, 40%ABV, chill filtered and going to assume it has coloring.