Tastes

My first Tokaji and whilst interesting I wasn't that impressed and definitely not at $600USD a bottle. Wasn't well rated in the night.

My second favorite on the night. Age really integrated the cask and rounded out the ethanol so very easy to drink straight.

So so on this one. Peat was very brash and forceful. Averagely rated on the night.

I bought a bottle of this blind and hadn't opened it but got to taste it tonight. Not a crowd favorite but I liked it. Quite different, maybe pinotage grape?

I wouldn't say Mondays are my favorite day of the week but this week it is as tonight I attended a horizontal Benriach cask strength testing. The session comprised of 8 drams 1 of which was a mystery and the rest tasted blind. This one was the mystery on the night and although I usually love virgin oak this one didn't do it for me that much. And definitely not at $250USD a bottle. I was in the minority however as this placed 2nd or 3rd on the night.

Damn I'm excited. Dramfest NZ is 6 weeks away and as a bonus I managed to score sessions for me and one of my mates to 1) a rare top shelf session with Dave Broom and Charles MacClean 2) a single cask 1990's Glendronach session with the Global Ambassador 3) 3 special Ardbeg releases presented by Brendan McCarron who is Head of Maturing Whisky Stocks (who knew that's a title). Apparently he also helped to design Roseisle Distillery, managed Oban Distillery, and acted as Group manager for Lagavulin and Caol Ila Distilleries and Port Ellen Maltings on Islay. A man who knows his stuff! Anyhow to the whiskey. I'm thinking (no offense to fans) I consider Ledaig a poor mans Kilchoman (and not from a cost perspective). Why? It's got that Kilchoman peat characteristic however it (in my personal opinion) ruins it for me by the acidic peat element it imposes over the top. I find Kilchoman more balanced, well rounded and often creamy. My first bottle of Ledaig was the 10 which I hated then really loved and then really disliked. It remains to this day the only bottle which I have fallen out, in and out of love so intensely. It's a dram I really get why some love and some hate. Anyhow this particular dram is so so, overriding acidity with a sweeter Amontillado overlay. Not one for me.

Ok firstly apologies to anyone I haven't responded to..comments and notifications are all over the place at the moment so I can't really track stuff. Also as I'm struggling with app functionality its most likely that reviews here on in will be shorter and sweeter (until the app is more stable) which given Dramfest is around the cnr is a probably a good thing....anyhow onto the dram. Firstly thanks @cascode! I didn't realise but I had tried the dram previously but not too sure if new or older discontinued stock hence 2nd review. This is the older pre 2017 stock apparently. In summary very nice. Solid 3.75 to 4, viscous rich almost Mortlachy in a way. Ethanolly short finish detracts but definitely one to try.

The first member review that popped up on this one said 'Wood..'...Having cracked this open and consumed without resting (my daughter is having a sleep over birthday party with friends so damit I deserve to drink...just wish I had a man cave to retreat to...grumble, grumble) I was like yeah wood! I thought slightly out of kilter then looked at the abv and thought eh water and time time. Both along with a fillet steak helped and this came into its own. Now having stumbled across the some of the greats of Japanese whiskey such as 21 Yr Nikki Yochi a number of years ago and having them be my first taste of Japanese whiskey when I was embarking on my whiskey journey (and thinking $150 USD was an eye watering price!) I've since been simultaneously kicking myself for not buying up and also wading through a lot of disappointing overpriced Japanese whiskey to the point unless it's a new distillery using non sourced stock I've by and large not been interested. This is a refreshing break from that pattern. Thanks to @cascode I've managed to try a decent example at a very reasonable $50USD. This is at least a 3.75 to 4. Sadly I drank the whole sample before I could discern anything more than I liked it (our cat bit one of the girls among other episodes....). Anyhow its good, buy with confidence and add time and water. Nga mihi!