Tastes

Decent but definitely go for the French oak or Double Barrel if you can get it.

Glenlivet like, a bit of fruit and malt on the nose. A decent dram to open a flight.

Very nice balance between peat and sherry. Good whisky.

A big surprise for me. The peat is actually somewhat subdued and not significantly stronger than a Laphroaig and maybe a bit less than Ardbeg’s Wee Beastie. The flavours are complex and layered. Peat, smoked meat, spice (high abv?), fleeting fruit. The abv drinks well and a couple of drops of water actually makes the nose and the palette bolder and more aggressive. You have to add a lot of water to cut it and that flattens it out too much. Neat I get a sweet sticky finish (wine barrel?) but not overly long. Not as hot or smokey as I expected. Actually quite well balanced considering it’s cask strength. Totally worth a try. Worth a buy? No. If you want smoke there is more for much lower prices, think Wee Beastie. If you want complexity and peat, Uigeadail, Lore or Laphroaig PX, are better for less money.

Tasting a sample from a 1984 United Airlines sponsor item for the Hawaiian Open. The bottle was closed in a porcelain head dress for 36 years before seeing the light of day. The dram was lively and showed no signs of being stored for so long. Taste reminds me of a very good scotch blend.

The more I have this one the more I appreciate it. This bottle sells for C$45 which puts it under the cost of an entry level Speyside like Glenlivet 12 (C$60) but the Keon is both older and better. Dr. Don (the Master Blender for this whisky) noted during a web tasting that this was his favourite of the series and I totally understand why. Fantastic value. Buy one if you can still find one. I picked up two extras for a rainy day.

Tough to a put a finger on this one. Sweet like caramel but malty funk and maybe some fruit with sea salt. All over the map but complex and interesting.