Tastes
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Château de Castex Armagnac 21 Year Old 1993 - Single Cask (Master of Malt)
Armagnac — France
Reviewed April 17, 2020 (edited April 18, 2020)To mix it up and really test the range of Armagnac and see if there was a different profile that may appeal I snaffled a sample of MoM cask strength to see if there was an improvement. Now the version they did of the Kavalan CS sherry wasn't great and following in the footsteps of that this almost made made me spit it out. Man it was rough even with dollops of water in. All the aspects of Armagnac i don't like in spades. Over earthed, over wooded and bitter as shite. Needless to say I didn't finish it. -
BenRiach 20 Year Old 1995 (cask 5959) - Madeira Cask Finish
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed April 17, 2020 (edited June 3, 2020)There is something about Madeira finished whisky that usually hits the spot with me. More well rounded and well balanced than its Burgundy brother. Still i've had better. -
24 Year Old 1991 (cask 6896) - Burgundy Cask Finish
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed April 17, 2020Hmm these Benriachs really are hit and miss. I'm not a fan of their core range and a lot of their single cask stuff is often more miss than hit. That said when they hit they can blow you away. This one is not one of those. It's been in oak or finished for too long. Very wooded and tannic with hint of sulphur. Not that enjoyable. -
No to shabby for an Armagnac. Almost cognac like at the end. I think i like younger Armagnac more than the old stuff which I find over oaked. I didn't concentrate to much on the dram as i was hosting an online poker game with friends. We used to play for a decade or so but as people moved away, we had kids etc it all came to a halt. Being locked up for weeks does make you think more creatively about what you do. Pre COVID I never would have thought about hosting an online poker session with friends round NZ...onto online (non poker) card games and whiskey next...pity cigars aren't essential supplies!
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Foursquare 12 Year Old (That Boutique-y Rum Company)
Aged Rum — Barbados, Barbados
Reviewed April 12, 2020 (edited June 3, 2020)I picked this one as I thought it was a distillery I hadn't tried but it was. They are a R. L. Seale company offering. There are a lot of the foursquare variants on distiller and they are consistently very highly rated. Apparently they are often referred to as the 'Pappy Van Winkle' of the rum world. The 10 year R. L. Seale is under $50 and at 4.25 is one of my top ever rums given I tasted this post my rum phase i.e. in a period I have nearly completely fallen out of love with the spirit. Only one rum was higher and that was in my earlier 'I love sweet shite' phase so take that out of the equation and it would be trumped these days. It's a pot and column variety with fantastic depth, oomph and perfect sweetness. I've seen Cadenhead variants aged in ex Kilkerran casks of all things! This is the oldest rum which has been sent to European Rum Brokers for additional maturation. This particular blend of Pot and Column distilled rum was aged for 11 years in Barbados before being sent to Europe. That Boutique-y Rum Company merely re-casked this rum into an ex-bourbon barrel in 2017 for an additional year of ageing. The rum has been aged entirely in just ex-bourbon barrels. MoM notes say.... "coffee bean bitterness, walnuts and spiced fruit, treacle trickling through tanned leather and a subtle note of camphor to form an interesting backdrop. Finish is a Bourbony vanilla sweetness lingers for what seems like an age" They have done a very very good job of summing up how I experienced this one. It got a Trophy in the Aged Rum year 2016 International Spirits challenge. They were also named rum producer of the year. Founded in 1926, R L Seale & Company Limited is a fourth generation, family owned, Barbadian business, whose flagship operation, Foursquare Distillery, is one of the world’s few remaining independent rum producers. Man this company is making me fall completely back in love with rum. If you see a bottling at a reasonable price double check it's a well reviewed one and hand over the cash. This is a thinking man's dram..I fully expected to take a few swigs and tip it down the sink but no an hour later i'm still digging it. 4.25 but could easily go 4.5. -
BenRiach 22 Year Old 1993 (cask 7937) - Claret Cask Finish
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed April 11, 2020 (edited April 26, 2020)Not a bad dram at all. Great nose. Berry fwd. Needed water to calm down ethanol although it lost a bit of character as well. Claret I figured out is wine from Bordeaux or elsewhere but similar characteristics which seems a bit meaningless to me. I assume that Benriach didn't go fake claret so finished in Bordeaux wine casks it is -
Bunnahabhain 21 Year Adelphi's Liddesdale (Batch 7)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed April 3, 2020 (edited June 3, 2020)Not to sure why I added batch 7 as it was Batch 10 i have so as I'm to lazy to add another entry here we go. Bunnahabhain and Adelphi. Two greats of the whisky world. Don't believe i've ever had a bad one from memory. This is interesting. Bourbon casking not the usual sherry style I expect from both. It's a nice lovely dram. Light, white grape juice, citrus. Well crafted but not outstanding. -
Japanese Blended Whisky #1 21 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)
Blended — Japan
Reviewed April 2, 2020 (edited August 31, 2020)There is always the assumption in the back of my mind that unless it's an actual Japanese distillery official release and it's an age that's less than the distillery has been open i.e. most likely not sourced, then it's a good chance it isn't Japanese. Now TBWC not being a Japanese label should mean by declaring it's a 'Japanese' it actually is and all the internet chatter believes it to be true so it most likely is. One person thought Yamazakura, another translated the Japanese inscription which included reference to Bamboo and the only distillery with that referenced in the name is Taketsuru.. so they deduce it's that or Nikka. They also amazingly had a bottle of the 21 which as of this month has been announced will be discontinued and drank side by side (must have a damn deep collection!) and believed it to be similar. The Taketsuru range is a blend of blend of malt whiskies produced at Nikka's Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries. So that makes sense although why they would serve up stock to TBWC if they are running low doesn't..although if they were thinking of discontinuing then maybe it does..I think I'm going to much down a rabbit hole which may even be the wrong one! It's not a bad drop. Creme brulee, vanilla, banana, slightly bitter wood. The finish is short ethanolly. Definitely not worth the price of a couple few hundred usd though.
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