Tastes

At a charity gala last night, this was one of the two whiskey options available; I didn't see the other bottle, but the bartender just generically said "Canadian"...so I opted for the Bushmills. This isn't perhaps a go-to for sipping neat, but on the rocks, it's a perfectly fine, easy, unchallenging whiskey with notes of banana, tropical fruit, vanilla, spice, and chocolate. You can do a whole lot worse in the price range.

The Diageo Distiller's Edition line of cask matured malts has yet to disappoint me, and this is no exception. The standard bottling of Oban is always reliably pleasant - mellow citrus, hint of sea breeze, creamy maltiness, hint of very distant smoke in the background to add a bit of complexity. It was a smart move to meld this with a Fino sherry cask; the salty, dry, nutty, slightly funky-sweet bite of Fino goes well with the generally mild, lightly fruity Oban house style. On the nose is a more pronounced salty note than in the standard bottling, with candied orange peel and lemon, a dry maltiness, and a creamy, sweet fruitiness. The mouth is equally complex, as salty, fruity-sweet, and savory herbal tones compete with each other, but in the most harmonious of ways. It's like tug-of-war, but performed by Cirque de Soleil. The finish is moderately long and winds up with a bit of dry malt, the faintest hint of smoke, and a bit of slightly astringent wood. This isn't quite the marvel that the Talisker or Lagavulin DEs are, but then again, Oban's normal bottlings aren't (for me) as impressive as the standard entries from aforementioned distilleries, either. On its own merits, this is still a great dram and worth seeking out.

Honeyed, heathery, light (but unctuous...like honey) and delicious, it is exceedingly difficult not to LIKE Dalwhinnie. It's the epitome of easy drinking likability, the whisky equivalent of the friend who's never the life of the party, but is always enjoyable to hang out with...and who you'd miss if they weren't there. That said, this would be a spectacular $40-$50 bottle, but at the nearly-$70 that it runs around here, it's far too expensive for a pleasant, simple sipper. It's a great bar order for the "I don't drink Scotch" crowd, though - the ultimate honeyed gateway dram.

I'd somehow managed to pass this one by; the A'bunadh's great, so I wanted to try the flagship whisky. It doesn't disappoint! The nose is loaded with spices, jammy dark fruit, and toasted nuts. The palate, for me, needs a little time (and a water back) to really shine through, but when it does, those same sherry influenced dark dried fruits and nuts mingle with spices, vanilla, caramel, savory herbs, and a drying, woody finish. For a $50 singe malt, this is way solid!

I had a sample of this at a Glen Grant tasting, and it is absolutely to die for. On the nose, there's a complex spiciness, savory raisin quality, pipe tobacco, and almond. I could nose this all day and not get bored. It's the palate, though, that knocks this one out of the park - dried fruits, pipe tobacco, leather, Marcona almond, vanilla, toffee, even a little petrichor (damp earth). My notes include the phrase "this is what God tastes like." Maybe I was a little caught up in the moment, but this is really delicious.

It's a testament to the quality of Glenmorangie's basic 10 year malt that it can be "extra matured" in an array of different casks and always manage to land on its feet so well. The Lasanta's no exception; there's the to-be-expected sherry notes of raisins, dried fruit, and nuts, along with a cavalcade of spice notes, vanilla, and orange blossom. The palate is rich and spicy, and bursts with dried fruit, hazelnut, dark chocolate, and orange peel. The lingering finish is dry, with nuts and dark chocolate. I would take this over the Quinta Ruban (though it's also good); it's a much tougher call between this and the Nectar D'Or, however. This is not a sherry bomb by any means, but it's a good example of sherry influence in a mostly non-sherry-casked whisky.

This is not a big malt in the way that, say, Ardbeg or Macallan are. There's a delicacy here, a certain understated, peaceful, even quiet elegance. The Deveron does not shout to get your attention with enormous amounts of smoke or sherry. Instead, it's a calm, gentle invitation to savor the sweet, slightly floral aromas of vanilla, caramel, ripe apple, cinnamon, clove, and oatmeal, with just a hint of a distant fire and a pinch of white pepper. Palate-wise, you could call this a breakfast dram, but that would be damning it with faint praise - while it's gentle and light, it's also a creamy, delicately flavorful sip full of apple, vanilla, and oaty notes, with that playful hint of smoke drifting around in the background. It's a lovely fall whisky, and at less than $50, it's a decent value, to boot.

The first thing that is apparent on the nose is that this is a much sweeter affair than the flagship Glenmorangie 10 year. Instead of floral honey and a bit of fresh orange, there's a rich, deep, dark chocolate profile with candied orange peel and spices. The palate opens up with chocolate covered raisin, followed by candied orange peel, clove, and honey. The finish is medium length, but stays sweet and spicy. It's a delicious dram.

High West gets props from me for two things - striking, bold, imaginative approaches to their craft, and their unique melding of American distilling styles with Scottish precision of blending. This is the answer to the question of what would happen if you started randomly combining all of the whiskies in your collection together, except instead of a random hodgepodge of bourbon, rye, and scotch, you get this. The nose hits elements of all three - vanilla, caramel, and dry oak wood, rye spice and peppermint, and scotch fruitiness and campfire smoke in the background. The palate is no big surprise after nosing about - a big, bourbony opening of vanilla and caramel corn is split wide open by a spicy, minty middle and a fruity, campfirey ending that lingers on and on as all of these diverse elements converge. It's brash and bold, and a real one of a kind.

There seems to be a wide range of opinions out there about this one, ranging from the closest to a negative Ralfy review that I've seen on down to people raving about how fabulous this is. I'm much closer to the latter camp, personally...though the range of opinions suggests perhaps a struggle for consistency on the distillery's end. Nose-wise, the first thing to hit is a big saltiness, followed by dark dried fruit, marzipan (or halva), peppermint, savory herbs, and some lemon zest. The palate is rich and dense, opening with the sherry fruits and nuts, then swirling around into a salty, every so very slightly smoky fog of herbs lightened by that tiny hint of citrus. A fine dram, and one of the better sherry-influenced single malts in the under-$50 (barely) range.