Tastes

I struggle to feel like I’m rating this fairly, as lately I’ve preferred drinking more lightly peated whiskies. I loved the 2021 Cairdeas PX cask strength release, and this is the most similar release since. In some ways this seems more refined and balanced. But for whatever reasons this doesn’t wow me like that one did. I’ve had a few drams from this bottle and it just comes across as very good, but not great. All the expected flavors are there from the medicinal peat, the PX sherry. The proof is good, no water needed. I keep getting the feeling that I would’ve rated this higher 3 years ago, but tastes are subjective. 4 stars on this day in 2025.

Was expecting the Redbreast shortbread cookie covered in berries. What I got was the cookie with berry, but also with a big dollop of sherry cask funk that I typically associate with Oloroso aging. Don’t love that. Pretty good overall, but not what I expected. I’d get the 12 cask strength over this, especially at the price these are going for.

Nose: yeasty bread, orange pekoe tea leaves, musty grape, wet wood, slightly cardboardy. Palate: sweeter than the nose lets on, woody plum, nutmeg and cinnamon. The cognac comes through especially on the finish. Almost more like a woody Armagnac. Interesting whiskey, which is a plus in my book. The slight cardboard note that comes and goes for me is a negative, however. Wasn't one I had heard anything about, but really excited to have had a chance to try, thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine

On the nose orange peel, pastry shop, caramel, coconut, chocolate mint. Not a lot of ethanol considering the high proof. The first taste is pretty toasty, however. Particularly since my whiskey drinking is down to about one dram a week. But it does well with a good bit of water. The palate brings tropical fruit, orange creme, berry, baking spices, and oaky barrel. The finish has a peachy tang that reminds me of some of Balcones single malts. Instant fan. Great whiskey, ordered a bottle after tasting the sample, generously provided by @Richard-ModernDrinking - thank you!

On the nose floral citrus apple vanilla. The palate features the same flavors in reverse order, the vanilla hitting first, followed by fruit, then a floral woodiness. Some baking spices, light wood tannin and sweet vanilla linger on the finish. It tastes like the regular low ABV Glenlivet with the volume turned up a bit. I enjoy it and wish I could keep this regularly stocked, but it would appear this was a limited release and no longer to be found, locally at least.

This is a NDP whose products I mostly ignore. Seems like they built a reputation based on early releases which contained very good well-aged bourbon, but have since released mostly overpriced young bourbon. I have seen these recently marked down to $60-70 locally, but apparently it hasn't moved well even at that price. I took a flyer on it when it was marked down to $30. I'll say, I think $30 is a fair price for this. It comes across like a slightly higher aged version of Willett Pot Still. I don't know if the barrels come from Willett, or if it's a blend of multiple Kentucky bourbon distilleries. But the prominent notes are floral, cinnamon, citrus, and light caramel. It's said to be a blend of 4-11 year old barrels, but I'd guess it's mostly in the younger range. I'd be disgusted to have paid the $135-150 that this was sold at when released, but again, I think $30 seems fair for the quality, so I'm not disappointed to have this in the cabinet for mixing.

Ardnamurchan makes delicious whisky and this one is no exception. Boght this on special for 30 Pounds plus shipping to the states, so total to me was around $60. This is a blend of mostly 8-ish year old bourbon barrels with one 7-year old sherry cask, and 5 each of 6-year old Madeira and Sauternes casks. It appears to have been a UK only release that was a collaboration with an insect-repellant company called Smidge. Thankfully though, I don't think any of the repellant made it into the bottle. The dominant notes for me are orange marmalade, salted caramel, rich milk chocolate, ginger, and maybe a slightly milder peat than you'd typically find in a Talisker. It seems a little sweeter than their regular releases, and the slightly higher ABV is nice. The fruity toffee smoke combo is delicious. I recommend any Ardnamurchan, but this might be my favorite so far of the ones I've tried.

The Amburana finish is pretty strong on this one, lots of honey and spice, cinnamon. The rye seems to be well in the background. I thought this was decently good, but think the finish should be dialed back a bit.

Had a small taste of this local store pick from a friend's bottle. I believe was bottled at 106 or 108 proof. The port finish is perfect on this one. Not overdone at all, but gives the bourbon a nice background of jammy fruit. I don't care much for the regular bottling or even this brand at all, but this bottle was really tasty.

Noses raisin, dried strawberry, toffee, walnut, Nutella, pizza crust. The palate is like a dried fruit heavy trail mix, with fruit, nuts, M&Ms, salt. It’s not too hot neat, but I think opens up nicely with a little water. I like this, but I’m not sure that it’s any better than a Batch Strength Tamdhu. The salty note maybe makes it stand out as slightly different. If it’s available in the 85-95 range in your area I’d say give it a whirl, but I wouldn’t pay any more than you can get the Tamdhu. I overpayed a bit for this one because it’s not distributed to my state.