Tastes

Glenfarclas is the epitome of a distillery with a house style...you know a Glenfarclas when you try it. How does this one measure up? Sherry aging - check. Spicy and rich without being cloying - check. Christmas pudding with dried fruit and nuts - check. Gentlest note of pipe tobacco - check. The 21 year old comes with a bit of apple (which pairs so nicely with the raisin and spice from the sherry and oak), and a slightly minty finish that lasts for a good little while. A very fine offering from Glenfarclas!

If you're looking for a great bargain, here you go. This is an under-$20 wheated bourbon with $40 of flavor and character; seriously, I have paid more for less. On the nose, there's a light, warm caramel corn, apple chips, sawdust (in a good way), pineapple (really), and a hint of oregano (again, really). The palate is super smooth and gentle, but flavorful, with vanilla, warm spices, banana, caramel, and a little hint of salt. $15 well spent right here!

Jam Bars. Linzertorte. Jammie Dodgers. You know the concept - buttery pastry plus fruity, sweet jam. That's this whisky in a nutshell. Port pipe finishing always seems to lend a jammy, berry-inflected profile, and that's the case here - luscious raspberry jam, with some vanilla and pie crust. The palate is hotter than I would expect from a 14 year old, but delivers the promises made on the nose...plush and fruity, almost decadently so, with a pleasantly mild vanilla note, pastry crust, and a reasonably long finish. I wouldn't call this a complex dram (its flavors are clear and straightforward), but that's no crime...especially when simplicity equals simply delicious!

A cocktail rye. It's a perfectly fine rye, if a little...pedestrian. The nose isn't particularly strong; there's some spice and vanilla, but that's about it. The palate, too, is a just a little too tame - spice, banana bread, a little vanilla. Pleasant enough, but something I prefer in a Manhattan, Sazerac, or Old Fashioned instead of on its own...and even then, a more flavorful rye would probably take you farther, too.

The nose here couldn't be more Irish if it had a brogue, read Seamus Heaney to me, and called itself my grandfather - classic notes of spice and sweet vanilla, with a little whiff of something floral in the distance. The palate comes as a bit of a surprise - it's rather dry, with nuts, lightly buttered toast topped with dried fruit preserve, jasmine tea, and a little too much burn for a dry malt profile like this. It's fairly obvious that this is still a young whiskey and, for me, could use a little more time in the barrel. It's an intriguingly complex dram, though, and still recommendable!

This smells like Christmas - rum raisin bread pudding with a vanilla-laden sauce, cinnamon and spices, candied ginger, toasted nuts. The delivery mostly delivers on the nose's promises - fruity, plummy, lush...and remarkably thin and short-lived. My God, to give a nose this good and a flavor this fleeting - it ought to be criminal. It almost ruins the experience, if I'm being honest here. I want to love this one; I'm willing to wager that if it were bottled at a higher ABV and not chill-filtered, it would be top shelf material. As it is, though, this gets a very reluctant 4 stars, mostly because I could nose a dram like this all day long.

If you're a fan of Island whiskies, this is the blend for you. The nose is assertively salty and briny, with sweet vanilla and an undercurrent of smoke. The palate delivers the promises made on the nose - this is full of coastal brine, with moderate peat, vanilla sweetness, and a dry, almost bitter, herbal finish. It's an enjoyable dram, though I'm not sure I'd take it over some similarly priced single malts in the Island/Islay categories. That said, I'm also not going to say no to a dram of it, either...

One of the most exciting realities in the world of whisky these days is the drive toward deepening the connection between place and spirit...the terroir of whisky, if you will. The Svensk Ek from Mackmyra is a great example of this, with locally sourced grains aged, mostly, in Swedish oak. The Swedish oak lends a unique profile to the dram; the nose has a perfumed quality to it, with allspice and sandalwood alongside vanilla and a grapey note. The palate comes loaded with juicy ripe fruit (especially stone fruit), a bit of vanilla, spice, a little salt, and a woody note. I couldn't help but think that this is what an Old Pulteney NAS might taste like, to a degree. This would be a slam dunk if it didn't taste so young; it's just a little too rough around the edges yet. That said, it's a delicious promise of good things to come with some extra maturation...and still pretty enjoyable to drink as is.

Well, Old Pulteney's been beat out on the northernmost mainland distillery front...but how's the booze from Wolfburn? The nose is pleasant, with a more tropical vibe than one would expect from the far northern coast of Scotland - in addition to sea spray and vanilla, there are banana chips, coconut, lime curd, and green apple. The palate is very obviously young (this barely meets the legal definition by age for Scotch whisky), but is at least a fun, playful kind of dram, with salted caramel, vanilla, a light fruitiness, and some young spirit burn. This is not something I would want to drink on an ongoing basis, but as a taste of good things to come, I'd say that Wolfburn is one to keep an eye on as their stock matures. A little more time in the barrels, and this is going to be some seriously good stuff. I'd call this a 3 on its own merits, but I'm giving it 4 stars due to its youth - it's still better than the vile 36 month old crap that composes most cheap blends.

Out of the entry level medium peat Islay offerings, this is possibly my favorite. It noses beautifully, if a bit deceptively - only a little bit of smoke present, but plenty of vanilla and sea air, with hints of sawdust, damp earth, tropical fruit, and black pepper. The palate is at once sooty, sweet, and salty, as an earthy peatiness plays off the vanilla and sea salt, with a bit of tropical fruit salad off in the background. The finish is moderately long, slightly dry, and brings in those sawdust and pepper notes from the nose. Well worth seeking out!