Tastes
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Talisker 8 Year (2021 Special Release)
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed September 25, 2023 (edited March 21, 2024)On the nose pear-lemon hard candy. Creamy vanilla. Salty. Peat smoke - but more smoke than peat. There is something slightly herbal/vegetal. The palate is largely the same. Vanilla, salt, lemon and pear, pepper, soot, smoke. The finish adds a bit of dark chocolate and seashell. I prefer with a few drops of water, as it's a little hot at nearly 60%. It does come across as slightly smokier than the 10 year, but it may just be because the higher proof makes all the flavors more pronounced. It seems on profile for a Talisker. As a fan, I find this to be quite enjoyable. What's not to like about a cask strength Talisker? -
Benromach 10 Year
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed September 21, 2023 (edited October 14, 2023)I've been curious about this one for a while since some have suggested the closest comp is Springbank 10. On the nose orange marmalade, a touch of sulfur, licorice, praline, fudge, confectioners sugar, something farmy, earthy, funky, slight peat. Actually quite impressed by the nose. It's interesting, sweet, and a little funky. The palate comes across more honeyed, slightly smoky, lightly fruity. Toffee, apricot, nuts, cinnamon, light peat smoke. It's less interesting than the nose, but still enjoyable. The finish is medium and the peat fades away leaving more of the sweet toffee and light fruit. This is better than I expected and seems to be a good value. Also more flavor than I expected for only 43%. It's under $50 around here, which is half the price Springbank 10 goes for, if you can even find it. It's not quite at Springbank level, but for half the price it's good enough. It seems to have more sherry influence than Springbank 10, so maybe more like if Macallan and Springbank had a baby. Also some similarity to Highland Park 12, but I'd take this over the HP. -
Hazelburn 15 Year Oloroso Cask Matured
Single Malt — Campbelltown, Scotland
Reviewed September 19, 2023 (edited October 27, 2023)Nose: strawberry or cherry followed by a slight Springbank signature funkiness. Vanilla cream comes in. Musty oak. Most prominent is the sherry. The palate has a little more sizzle than I expected. Lots of sherry here, but there's a solid backbone of maltyness underneath. Vibrant red fruit, a little nuttiness. There's a subtle effervescence and makes me think of strawberry soda. Some dark chocolate, cinnamon, leather, and tobacco show up going into the finish. Off the top of my head, the closest comps that I've tried would be Springbank 15, Tamdhu Batch Strength, and Macallan Classic Cut. I'd say this bests all of them, which puts this at another 4.5 for me. Big thank you to @pkingmartin for sharing a pour of this one! -
Octomore 10.2/96.9 Scottish Barley
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed September 14, 2023 (edited September 15, 2023)I'm on a roll with the 4.5's. I believe this will be four in a row. The nose is salty sweet wine and smoke. The peat comes across as slightly more prominent than the Sauternes, but they’re fairly balanced - which is a little surprising considering the PPM is still near 100 (even though this may be one of the least heavily peated Octomores). Ardbeg Corryvreckan and Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength are two in my cabinet that come across as more heavily peated on the nose. The notes include peach, citrus, tropical fruit, sandy seashell, slightly medicinal peat, campfire smoke. The palate continues the balance shown on the nose. It’s a little hotter than I expected, so found myself adding a little water. It starts soft and sweet with the dessert wine flavors, but transitions into smoky peat. On the palate the sweetness feels less fruity and more confectionery. Some pepper shows up going into the finish. It seems like the sweet hangs on more than the peat. Out of curiosity, I tried this side-by-side with Balcones Peated Sauternes Cask. I started off thinking it would be an interesting comp but ultimately the Octomore would easily win out. To my surprise, the nose on the Balcones was better to me. However, I gave the nod to the Octomore on the palate. I liked the briny and medicinal peat flavor in the Octomore better. Overall, they’re much more evenly matched than I’d expected, but I think I’d have the Octomore ahead by a hair. While this gets an overall 4.5, for the price I kind of expected a little more. I was similarly a bit underwhelmed by the only other Octomore tasting I've had. It'll be a fun bottle to share with friends, but I'm not sure I'll be jumping at the chance to buy another any time soon. -
Lagavulin Distillers Edition (2023 Release)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed September 10, 2023 (edited December 17, 2023)It mostly tastes like what I expected, but nearly the best version of what I expected. It trades a bit of the briny medicinal tar for a little more sticky red fruit and orange marmalade. Still retains enough of the lovely Lag peat to feel like a Lag. Good balance between the Lag-ness and the sweet sherry. I don’t know if I’d like it better than the original every day, but on this day it strikes me as better. Maybe just newer. Recency bias perhaps. They’re close. This is very good. The original is such a classic though. Hard to find any fault, but like the original, I’d prefer a slightly higher proof. They do manage to squeeze a lot of flavor into the 43 percent, however. -
Blue Spot 7 Year Cask Strength Single Pot Still
Single Pot Still — Ireland
Reviewed September 4, 2023 (edited October 27, 2023)Big thank you to @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample of this one. The nose is vanilla and dried fruit. Tropical fruit. I’m not doing the work of picking out which fruits, but there seem to be a lot of them, balanced against vanilla cream. Custardy. With water, more apples and pears are jumping out. The palate is hotter than I like, but does well with some water. The notes on the nose come through on the palate. Pineapple, coconut, vanilla, banana. A slight savory note and a little bitter shows up going into the finish. This is very good, but as others have suggested, this plays in the same ballpark as Redbreast Cask Strength. If it’s better, I’m not sure it’s enough better to justify the premium, even at SRP (let alone secondary). Of the Spots I’ve tried, I’d rank them Red, Gold, Blue, Yellow, Green. -
Laphroaig 10 Year Cask Strength (Batch 12)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed September 1, 2023 (edited April 11, 2024)The nose is yeasty bread dough, lemon squeeze, burnt tennis ball, vanilla cream, briny peat bog. The palate is big on vanilla. Iodine candy. Saltwater. Lemon pound cake. Some spice, cinnamon, clove? Spearmint. Salty smoke and vanilla with a spritz of lemon carry into the finish. The empty glass smells like mesquite smoked brisket drizzled in brown sugar barbecue sauce. Despite 60+% I haven’t yet tried this with water, as it doesn’t appear to need it. Will update if it changes significantly with water. This is a big bruiser of a whisky - it’s rich, pungent, and glorious. I had another batch several years ago, but don’t recall being blown away. I suspect my young whisky palate wasn’t quite prepared for the onslaught of peaty deliciousness of this whisky. I don’t think it’s quite on the level as the 2021 Cairdeas PX, and I might place Ardbeg Corryvreckan (2016 bottling) slightly ahead of this, but I think this deserves every bit of four and a quarter stars. -
GlenAllachie 12 Year
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed August 31, 2023 (edited February 13, 2024)The nose is cherry orange marmalade, licorice, raisin, vanilla, cinnamon. Could almost pass as a finished bourbon on the nose. The palate shows malt and honey, covered in berry orange raisin vanilla. Overall, the fruit is pretty prominent. Some dark chocolate and spice comes on toward the finish. A little bitter, but I don’t think overly so - provides a nice balance to the fruit-forward flavors. I think this is a worthy competitor to Glendronach 12, and in fact I think I prefer this one. It’s got a slightly higher proof, and the fresh fruitiness is more to my liking. -
Highland Park Valkyrie
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed August 30, 2023 (edited September 5, 2023)The nose is floral, orange blossom, licorice, honey, orange cream, chocolate. I know this supposedly has a higher percentage of peated malt than their normal offerings, but the peat is quite mild. I imagine my preference for peated whisky recently has probably dulled my peaty senses some. On the palate, the peat shows up in a much bigger way, especially with a few drops of water added. There’s the orange, but more like a smoked orange. Almost burnt. Apricot. Honey. Toffee. A little bit of soot. Slight generic herbal note. Cinnamon. The spice carries into the finish with the sweet toffee orange smoke. At $50 I feel good about this purchase, but I struggle a bit to see the value at SRP, which appears to be about 80. It’s got decent complexity and it’s better than the 12 year - at least the current iteration of the 12, but the cask strength is much more enjoyable, and for only about $90 locally.50.0 USD per Bottle -
Kilkerran Heavily Peated Batch No. 7
Single Malt — Scotland
Reviewed August 29, 2023 (edited September 2, 2023)At first the nose is a little shy outside of ethanol. After airing out for a bit, lemon, Nilla Wafers, banana, salty, chocolate, black licorice, floral, slight berry. Smoke, but it doesn’t strike me as “heavily peated.” The nose suggests more mild to maybe moderate peat. There’s also a hint of the industrial funk that I usually associate with Campbeltown. Springbankishness. The palate is better than the nose. Full flavor, I’m sure owing to the high proof. The peat stands out more, and now this seems well into the moderately peated realm. Smoke and brine. Maybe a very slight iodine note, which as an Islay fan is very welcome. Lemon hard candy. The casks come across as mostly ex-bourbon, with plenty of vanilla. Malty. There’s also a little bit of dark fruit and chocolate, making me think a few Oloroso casks were included in the batch. This appreciates some time and a little water. Too hot for me at full strength, but I also found that I liked it more the longer I sat with it. It comes across as young, but enjoyable and reminds me of Ardnamurchan’s young whiskies. I’m giving it the same rating I gave the 12 year, but I’d have the 12 year as slightly better. I like the heavier peat and the higher proof of this one, but the 12 is so well balanced with a little bit of everything.100.0 USD per Bottle
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