Tastes

Nose: Vanilla and hints of sherry with sweet red berries and caramel. Wee drops of honey. Taste: Tropical fruits clash with warming spices. Hints of vanilla and sherry and oil. Finish: Red berries and syrup. Nice and thick but should be a bit longer. Balance: Smoothly dark and complex dram. Good Irish whiskey.

Nose: Toffee and sherry offer the main event. Hints of alcohol saturated dried fruits. Taste: Very soft with bit of a creamy palate. Wee spices and dried fruits on the background. Finish: Fruits and spices with some oak. Smooth and medium length. Balance: Smooth, nicely in balance but no character. Easy to drink but lame. Continues my bad "track record" with Macallan. It just isn't a distillery for me.

Nose: Very warming with sweet and fruity tones. Apples dominate very much. Vanilla and ginger go nicely along. Taste: Creamy and syrupy body with much warmth growing in gentle way. The warming spices like cinnamon and pepper do not attack but they dominate gently. Vanilla on the mix as well. Finish: Too bad it didn't last longer. A bigger finish would've made it a 90 point whiskey for me. Great combo of warming spices and fruits. Balance: Unique in taste and very versatile all the way. Though I don't have much experience about 'em, I'm still starting to believe the statements claiming this as best Irish whiskey. Creamy and easy to drink.

Nose: Tangy yet smooth, malty and floral fragrant with honey. Taste: Malt with wee spices and wood. Finish: Very smooth overall but with some tangy notes. Balance: Good idea but something falls short in execution. Sheep Dip is too flat without personality.

Nose: Very clean scents – sweet and fruity with minty notes. Taste: Not as light as fruity whiskys usually tend to be. Medium and dry body, with lemon dominating and soft hints of smoke on the background. Finish: Bitterness takes over while the fruits fade away very fast. Balance: Not a light one, which is usually a plus for me. But too dry for my taste. Or should I say too dry and fruity for me.

Nose: Nice malt with strong vanilla. Hints of salt and fresh sea air on the back. Taste: Nicely warm and malty with notes ofcinnamon. Hints of peat. Finish: Robust, bit spicy and a bit blendy, but hints of smoke and roasted malt manage to hide the blended feel. Balance: For a blended whisky, good stuff! In overall – decent whisky. The usual watery finish of blended whiskys is very minimal in this case.

Nose: Very sweet. Floral notes dominate with some citrus, honey and oak on the back. Taste: Honey is the biggest factor but everything stays delicate. Soft start that gets even softer with honey, Vanilla and wee spices like cinnamon. Finish: Soft and sweet, short lasting. Balance: Monkey Shoulder Batch 27 has nice balance but it gives you no "wow effect". Average whisky that doesn't leave you grinning nor cheering.

Nose: Best part of An Cnoc 12yo, fresh with floral and citrus notes. Hints of sweet honey nicely on the back. Taste: Sweet and very subtle. Spicy herbs and hints of chocolate. Hard to notice anything else on the palate. Finish: Length is good but otherwise a dull finish. Oak with barley with a drying ending. Balance: Medium bodied and light whisky. For my taste, definitely too flat. Decent single malt.

Nose: Fruits with some floral notes. Nicely earthly and very sharp. Taste: Dry with peppers. Some sweet spots in the mix as well. Finish: A bit too short but nice and spicy. Tenderly smooth. Balance: Easy dram, that is light in every step of the way. Even the spices come in a smooth package.

Nose: Floral notes mixed with honey and hints of toffee on the side. Taste: Difficult character. Smooth with caramel and fruity sweetness with oranges as the main character. Yet it's spicy and dry with even hints of smoke(?)... Finish: Oil and spices finalize the medium lasting finish. Balance: Not very balanced. Tricky and difficult, left me confused. Glen Elgin 12 yrs would need some more exploring, one whisky tasting sample simply isn't enough for me to understand this dram.