Tastes
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National Distillery Company - Verdigris
Modern Gin — New Zealand
Reviewed October 15, 2021 (edited May 20, 2023) -
National Distillery Company - Beauty Gin Adorn
Modern Gin — New Zealand
Reviewed October 15, 2021 (edited May 20, 2023) -
The Natural Distilling Co Presents Hemp Gin
Distilled Gin — Gippsland, Australia
Reviewed October 15, 2021 (edited May 20, 2023)Slightly oily herbal taste. Slightly puzzled how this won top Gin in Nz award. Roots and Method and Madness gins miles ahead. -
Springbank 18 Year
Single Malt — Campbeltown, Scotland
Reviewed July 23, 2021 (edited April 21, 2024)I ran down my whisky collection and took a break for a bit to give my stomach lining a break but when I saw the latest releases of SB 18 and 15 I cracked and bought them. The last year or two people (and unfortunately it seems collectors) have woken up to the joys of SB. Add COVID supply issues in the mix and the 18 yr and special releases sell out very fast down in NZ. The CS 12 yr release suffers the same fate and you can't dawdle even with the 15 yr shockingly. Anyhow i had read the reviews and I knew it was a boubon cask release with a tiny bit of port casking but given the 2015 release i had hoarded blew me away and got into rare .2% territory (the number of drams i have given a 4.75 and above rating to) I had to have it. Sadly the 2020 release just isn't in the same league...at all...i go between a 4 and 4.25 but I think i prefer the rougher yet more flavourful 15 yr 2020. So 4 it is. It's got the usual refinement, beautiful vanilla sweetness but personally without any sherry influence it seems incomplete and a bit soulless. I really am getting zero port but at 12% of the casking not surprising i guess.Having said that I just remembered that I have had amazing cs strength special release bourbon casks from them so its more than just missing sherry. It just doesn't have a lot of complexity and is just...good. Still in the age of stupid whisky prices you have to commend SB. 4 years later and I paid only 5% more. That alone is why SB deserves respect. They could go Octomore or Highland Park level stupid with pricing but they don't. And they employ waaay more local staff than the big boys. I could go on but despite the slight hero worship this one just didn't blow me away. You should still like this drop if you are a SB fan but definitely don't feel sorry if it passed you by. -
Quick hit review. I went into our local liquor store to try out the Ardbeg Scorch however it appears that COVID is impacting even Ardbeg as the tasting is delayed here until the end of the month. Anyhow i saw this one and got to try a dram. Not bad for a 5 year. Quite punchy tar and salty peat flavours. You can definitely taste the youth on the aftertaste as it's short and simple compared to the initial hit. I couldn't see myself drinking to much of this or buying a bottle as I but definitely wouldn't turn down a dram or two either. Out of the 18 Ardbegs I've tried I'd rate it above the An Oa std release but that's it. So 17th place :-)
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I'm not much of a drinker these days but when i was I converted my wife to become a gin and tonic drinker. She continued the tradition and so gin is the one spirit we still have around at home. After finishing off a bottle of Monkey 47 (lovely drop) I read an article on this distillery whose creator and owner was an unemployed teacher and was challenged to come up with a gin for his family's restaurant. He named it after a shrub in the region. It's comprised of Portuguese ingredients, from Apple Bravo de Esmolfe DOP to oranges and lemons from Alentejo, passing through Lúcia-Lima, together with the juniper and coriander seed, cinnamon, clove, and vanilla. Now i bought a bottle as it was very highly rated but i think gin enjoyment is so much more influenced by individual preference than say whisky. Generally with whisky if you love say sherried whiskey or bourbon or (to a lesser degree) peated and there is an excellent example in the style you like then you'll generally like it. Gin with its vastly multiple flavour permutations however is much harder to pick. I know I'm not a floral favour person however as there are so many flavour types even if highly rated its still often a coin toss as to whether I'll like it. The predominant flavour is apple and sadly whilst not to bad it's not for me. If it's for you then it's a well crafted example but i really think i need to stick to my flavour niche citrus, pepper, gorse type flavours going fwd..
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