Tastes

As per the prior review. Buttery, shortbread like sweetness, vanilla, bubblegum, mild spiciness, light oak. A nice drop but not that interesting or unique. Was expecting a Taiwanese twist. Kavalan wins the battle of the Taiwanese distilleries so far.

A German Rye from a German distillery using German Grains finished in ex white wine casks. Interesting! The combination is a typical rye profile which is more rich and earthy blended with dry wine flavours e.g. green pepper. I wouldn't say I'm a big fan but it definitely has style and uniqueness and the flavours blend well.

For the std version I am aligned with @Richard-ModernDrinking in his review of the committee. A friend and I tried this for free on Ardbeg day at our local retailer. They served up pineapple chocolate and a smoked fish and potato dish. Both combinations went very well with the whiskey. It's almost like you are combining a lighter grooves version with a spicy pineapple fruit combo. I liked it but less than the Kelpie or in fact any of the previous releases in recent history. I'm noticing a steady decrease in my liking for the Ardbeg day releases over the last few years 4.5, 4.25/4 and now 3.75. The rum influence was very subtle and this wasn't a memorable dram. I notice the pricing at 120 usd was again poor value. Interesting I see the committee ranked lower than the std but I think it maybe the type of reviewer for each category i.e. the committee releases generally being consumed by the more dedicated whiskey drinker.

Interesting dram. Cinnamon, mixed Indian spices, nutmeg, cardamom, tobacco, leather, brown sugar. Definitely a quality drop. I'd say the spice side is a bit overpowering for me though.

Never heard of these guys before but they've done a solid job on this. Nice blend of peat and sherry. The abv is perfect and it all comes together nicely. It seems this maybe a Master of Malt crafted brand from what I've read.

PBM and LeeE have summed this up well so I won't go into too much detail. I really like this dram. usually I prefer the more full in your face drams like the talisker 10 but I appreciate the spirits subtlety. beautiful sweet briney pepper, sweet vanilla and more. perfect balance. 4.25 to 4.5

I have no idea what I was doing in 1983 at the age of 6 years old but I'm pretty sure I wasn't thinking about the casks that made this being laid down or even whiskey at all. I remember when I first started my Balblair journey. I really didn't understand what the fuss about or get that excited about some of its younger offerings but then I had the 1999 second release version and was really impressed. I had high expectations going in and this definitely met it. Beautiful caramel honey toffee and spicey wooded bitterness which surprisingly for once I really enjoyed as a married beautifully with the rest of the whiskey. A couple of drops of water and some time and the slight bitterness faded away and everything else came together flawlessly. I have a feeling if I worked my way through a bottle this would push past the score that I've awarded it and obtain perhaps a 4.5 for this as perhaps even the 1999 second release should have as a better reflection of their quality but I'll err on the conservative side.

Well balanced, safe, middle of the road etc. Not to much exciting to see here folks. Gingerbread spice, toffee, cough syrup. The 40% abv and weird arse bottle shape should have been a give away about how exciting this one was going to be. The legally blonde of whiskies.. (very) sweet, simple.

The background to this on is it's been maturated 6-8 years in bourbon casks and finished for one year in Moscatel casks . The word RASI means badly burnt KASKI fuel and it´s an old farming word. well that's an interesting name for a whiskey, I'm not too sure if they are trying to lower people's expectations or not! the second Scandinavian whiskey tonight, I perhaps have done this backwards starting with a cask strength and moving on to this 43% dram. again quite a different unique profile from the typical scotch or really any other country whiskey. I think i prefer the younger smogen which had more character, this was initially quite muted. Baked apple and oak are the only official tasting notes on the site. Initially I perceived not much more than that but you do get eventually the sweet moscatel flavours rising to the fore, citrus, spice, sultanas. I'd rate it higher but for a really odd throat lozenger (the manuka honey type) note and short finish.