Grangestone Highland Single Malt Rum Cask Finish

EXPLORATION: From the glass wafts familiar notes of caramel, citrus, spice, and butterscotch. Alas, the taste doesn’t quite live up to its rum-y nose. Dry spice and lemon are followed by a vanilla finish that ends strangely watery. Other than that, totally acceptable. But do we want just acceptable? EXHORTATION: Seek not, lest ye be in the market for tasting samplers from different barrel finishes, or in need of a cheap mixer. Though I feel there are probably better mixers for the same price.

I'm not a scotch drinker, more of a bourbon guy. But I was told I needed to dip my toes in the scotch pool. Color is a nice copper. Definitely get the notes of the rum casks on the nose but I'm also picking up a hint of wheat, grass, spice and a port or brandy. The smoke is there, but not as strong as I thought. Palate is sweet upon entry to the mouth, it's slightly oily which coats the mouth and throat. Getting hints of citrus, bread pudding, toffee, and again smoke but not much. Finish is pleasant, very slight heat that doesn't last long. A little medicinal after taste but goes away after 30 seconds or so. It might not be an expensive scotch, but for the money, and for my first attempt at scotch, I was pleasantly surprised and would buy this again.

Nothing special about this. Admittedly, I'm not a fan of scotch, but still, I'm not a fan of this. Nose is just nauseating fruity and a little smoke Taste is the same, but a little sweeter. The smoke isn't interesting, it's just boring. Followthrough- there is none. Yeah... Really don't like it. I didn't taste any of the influence of the rum cask finish. Like I said, I already don't like scotch or single malt whiskey a ton. And trying this just made me one step closer to not trying to enjoy scotch anymore.

The nose is standard scotch with maybe a little rum influence in the form of sweetness that might hold the faintest hint of banana. There's something a little leathery in the scent too. The palate is pretty standard scotch, but there is some nice rum sweetness in there and a hint of rum firework smoke. It's fairly light on the palate, but it sort of works with the flavor balance. There's a bit much of the generic scotch flavor though. The nose is a slightly rich scotch, but not much special aside from a bit of must. On the palate, the drink is light with plenty of hay at first. There are some smoky, malty, salty allusions to decent scotch that have a fair amount of sweetness, but the lightness and alcohol prevail. The flavor has some minor complexity and the rum sweetness is nice, but the industrial flavor of the alcohol quickly takes over. It isn't undrinkable, but it's definitely not great. Clan MacGregor is better. The nose is scotchy and flat with maybe the faintest hint of orange blossom and a little vanilla. It smells rich enough. The palate is pretty standard scotch with some richness. It's a bit floral in its sweetness, but the backing is a bit bitter in a bad way. It develops less than Glenmorangie The Original and it has stronger off notes, but it is a bit more off in terms of flavor.

Decided to try a few of the Total Wine brands. Got a couple scotches and a bourbon. I really love the Balvenie rum cask so was hopeful. Poured neat, the nose is promising with nice sweet island fruits from the rum cask. Little dose of malt and some barrel wood as well. Its a bit light but still pleasant. Palate starts out good with fruity rum sweetened malt but drops away to dry oak and straw. Not much depth to speak of , this is just too young and has yet to develop any strong flavor or complexity. Its not bad or offensive its just lacking. I like where its heading if it had more time it might get there. Finish is short with dry oak and distant malt, the rum influence a memory in the back. Overall its still a decent budget single malt with some rummy overtones. Im at the point where I need more body and weight from my scotch so would not repurchase........ 73/100.......comparing this to the Balvenie 14 is like high school football to the NFL