Tastes
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Shackleton Blended Malt
Blended Malt — highlands, Scotland
Reviewed August 21, 2022 (edited November 14, 2022)Blind whiskey tasting with friends. Malty, honey, touch of peat. Not bad for the price, but you can also do better. -
Knappogue Castle 12 Year Marchesi di Barolo Cask Finish
Single Malt — Ireland
Reviewed August 18, 2022 (edited April 15, 2023)This ups the complexity and fruit flavors from the 14 year Twin Wood. On the nose, I get some tropical fruit, dusty wood, citrus. As tends to be a trend with my tastings of Irish whiskey, the nose stands out above the palate. But the palate is still enjoyable, bringing red fruit, strawberry taffy, light maltiness, tropical fruit, toffee. Some bitter and tannins show up on the finish, but give a nice balance to the fruit. Overall, it’s definitely an upgrade over the 14 year for me. It’s nice that it’s bottled at 46%, like the 14 year also. It’s a moot point about whether I would buy this again, as it was a limited release of 1200 bottles. I’m not sure it’s quite enough better to justify the $30 price difference since I can find the 14 year locally for 45, but I will enjoy this bottle. -
Tamdhu Batch Strength Batch 004
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed August 16, 2022 (edited August 18, 2022)The color looks a little lighter than batch 3. Strong sherry nose. Butterscotch, Almond Roca, dark fruit, vanilla, chocolate, orange peel on the palate. Judging by the color, I was expecting this to have less sherry influence than batch 3. Side-by-side, it may have slightly less sherry, but it's not that different. Batch 3 seems a little hotter. I wasn't wanting water on Batch 4, but it seemed that 3 was better with a little water. Batch 3 is a little more caramel raisin, while batch 4 is a little more chocolate raisin. I’m not sure I can pick out a winner, as they’re both great, and I’m giving the same score to this one. Big thanks again to @ContemplativeFox for the sample! -
Kilchoman Loch Gorm (2019 Edition)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed August 14, 2022 (edited August 15, 2022)This has a great balance between peat and Oloroso sherry flavors, and shows a great deal of complexity. On the nose both the sherry and peat stand out, but they seem well integrated and sort of meld into each other. Earthy, briny, with a sort of fruit smoke emanating. The palate has toffee, salt, raisin, earthy peat, nuts, smoke, berry, dark chocolate. It’s rich and has a nice texture to it. It’s a really well-made whisky, and so far has been quite a bit better of an experience than I had with the Sanaig. I’m in the 3.75-4 range on this one. -
Kavalan Solist Port Single Cask Strength
Single Malt — Taiwan
Reviewed August 14, 2022 (edited April 15, 2023)Big, bold nose. Rich and thick with dark fruits. Some assertive wood, almost sawdusty, with a hint of smoke in the background. The palate is quite aggressive, quite shocking at first. Syrupy fruit, like a mouthful of mixed berry jam, then moves into the heavy oaky flavors with a good bit of bitterness, especially going into and through the finish. The high ABV is felt, but not overly so. It seems mostly to deliver a very full-flavored experience. Now I’ve consumed more of the sample than I meant to before trying with water. With water the fruit seems to become slightly more sour. It’s quite an experience to try this one. I really enjoyed the boldness, both bold fruit and wood. Really thrilled to have had the opportunity. Many thanks to @ContemplativeFox for the sample! -
Maker's Mark Cask Strength
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed August 13, 2022 (edited August 29, 2022)Batch 21-08, bottled at 56.25%. Bought this after reading the extensive malt-review.com vertical tasting. Only $35 and this was considered one of the better batches. I can’t attest to the extreme variation alleged in the article, as this is the only one I’ve tried, but this one is pretty good. It’s about on the level of Weller Antique 107. The 107 may be a hair better, but it’s near impossible to find, and if you do find it not marked up significantly, the SRP is still $15 more than this, and I don’t think it’s $15 better than this, let alone the gross markups or secondary prices that it fetches. If the alleged variation is to be believed, maybe it’s only the good batches that are on the W107 level. The nose is heavy caramel corn, a smidge of fruit, apple, cherry, banana, and a little oak. The palate follows closely with much the same. It doesn’t need water for me, and I’d recommend not adding any as it thins it out quickly and the flavors get washed out. So, maybe only for those who like me prefer whiskey neat and at cask strength. In a whiskey world that’s gone mad, this seems to be a great value, but maybe check the batch reviews before buying if you can. 3.5-3.75 range. -
Redbreast 12 Year Cask Strength
Single Pot Still — Ireland
Reviewed August 8, 2022 (edited February 6, 2023)Batch 1, 2021, 56.3% ABV. On the nose, berries, cream, and shortbread cookie. There's a fair bit of ethanol right out of the gate, but it eases with some air. Even just a few minutes in the glass. On the palate it hits all the right spots for me, and I'm not especially fond of Irish whiskey (although growing in appreciation). Whipped cream, vanilla custard, berry compote, apple, cinnamon, shortbread. I think it's a little better than B1/20, but I'd need to side-by-side to confirm, which I can do, as I have a little left of the 20. Such a delicious whiskey. The price has gone up recently, but this has earned permanent residence in the cabinet.63.0 USD per Bottle -
Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed August 5, 2022 (edited September 30, 2022)On the nose, sour apple, apple cider vinegar, raisin, sulfur, ethanol, and a little funky in an intriguing way. The palate hits with somewhat similar slightly discordant notes. There's the apple and ethanol, then some rich malty and sherry notes in the middle, then transitions to a somewhat harsh finish. I think this is likely to be friendly with a little water, but it may take some experimentation to dial in the right amount. I added a little to see. The nose stayed interesting, and the palate certainly improved with less harshness and more of the sherry richness showing. Comes across now somewhat more like a prototypical sherry bomb. This is an interesting dram, and one I'm a little on the fence about. It's interesting and has some really nice flavors, mixed in with a little bit of harshness and funk. Overall, it's one I wouldn't be opposed to picking up a bottle to explore more, particularly at the right price. Thanks go out to @ContemplativeFox for the sample! -
Glenfarclas 25 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed August 5, 2022 (edited September 30, 2023)Noses with creamy green apple, pear, red apple peel (apparently lots of apple), raisin, vanilla, maybe a slight note of smoking fireplace off in the distance, but definitely in the background. The palate continues with some of the same fruity notes, more of the slightly bitter apple peel, dried fruit, and now laced with a little bittersweet chocolate, nuts, and some oakiness on the finish. The empty glass has a nice aroma of nutmeg and cinnamon apples with cream, resting in a walnut bowl - it makes me want another taste to see if I can pick up those flavors. I like this a lot, but there's not quite love - I suspect that I would need more time with this one to appreciate it more fully. It may also betray the youth of my palate. I do like this enough - and the empty glass intrigues me enough - that I could definitely see purchasing a bottle to see how it strikes me over several sittings. Thank you so much to @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington for the generous sample!
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