Grangestone Highland Single Malt Sherry Cask Finish

4.0+ with coke :)

Notes of dried fruit and cookie blossom into an intese raisin and shortbread flavor.

I found it a bit sweeter than i typically like. It had a little burn on the back end. I did appreciate the lack of peat.

Im not gonna go into the nose/ taste/ back end/ etc... because judging from these reviews, the taste is all over the place, so what one person tastes another might not. So I'll just tell you what I thought of it... I come from a limited history of scotch drinking But I know what I like! I prefer a smooth sherry cask with little to ZERO fire on the back end. The reason it took me so long to start drinking "whiskey" was because I thought it all tasted like Yukon Jack (like back in high school parties Haha). Thankfully I tried a triple distilled basic Jameson's that I quite liked. Damn that bottle for starting me on the journey of finding the best bottle. Luckily, shortly after, I tried a Kilbrins 10 year Oloroso cask whiskey. I LOVED IT! It was super basic but good! Shortly after that, I wanted to try something older, so I found a Glenfiddich 14 single malt. It was OK. It was a GIANT leap as far as complexity goes(compared to the Irish whiskey). It had that new band aide smell with a back end taste of the mermaids arm pit. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either. Which brought me to the Glenfiddich 12yr Sherry cask on sale (as low as 21$ per bottle), so I bought a few. NOW THAT I LOVED! I still do. The only reason I'm not drinking it now is because I'm cheap and its not on sale. Which finally brings me t0 the actual review... I found the Grangestone sherry cask was on sale if I bought 3, which dropped the price to roughly 26$ each... First impression, good. Ther bottle and case is nice. Ther bottle is actually very thick and somewhat heavy. I don't mind tho but older drinkers with arthritis might have issues. The color of the alcohol is a nice mid/ dark cola. Second, the cork. As soon as I opened it, I could smell the good stuff! Smelled MUCH sweeter than the GF12yr sherry. I let it air out for a few hours but it didn't seem to change anything much. The GF12yr sherry needed to air out prior to drinking imho just fyi. Third, taste. I tried a straight shot, no ice, no water. I have to say its smoother than the GF(but also 40% compared to 43%). I didn't notice much of, if any at all, fiery alcohol taste either on ther front or back. It is SWEET tho! Very sweet, which I actually like but any sweeter I think would be too much. It does lack the heavy peet taste that most other scotches have. To me it drinks like a heavy Irish whiskey with a slight scotch flavor. I use it for mixing so im ok with it. Overall its great! It has everything I want in a sherry scotch but could be a little bolder? It could have more of that "scotch" flavor ya know? I deducted half a point for that... I can say that I didn't taste any "burnt" smells. No "rubbing alcohol" smells or taste . No saltines, etc... its your basic scotch/ whiskey finished in sherry casks. Nothing more, nothing less I use whiskey/ scotch in a "OC Manhattan". Orange County Manhattan. I added a lemon and a bit of maple syrup to a somewhat traditional Manhattan(master of mixes Manhattan mix). Recipe: In a shaker... 1 improved Mayer lemon squeezed or equivalent juice, 2Tbsp maple syrup, 4 count pour of your choice of whiskey/ scotch, top with a quick 2 count pour of the MoM Manhattan mix(more or less according to taste), shake for 15 to 20 seconds then pour over ice into a 11-12oz rocks glass, top with a few amaretto/amaro black cherries from Italy(trust me you'll never go back to traditional maraschino cherries after this). There you have a OC Manhattan (my family's from NY Brooklyn and I was the first born in OC SoCal after gramps brought family to the LBC docks after the Brooklyn yard closed). So I call it that for the added citrus Haha

A rich Single Malt from Highlands, Scotland aged 7 to 9 years in oak barrels, then finished in former sherry casks for 6 months. It has a birth with notes of dried fruit, nut & cedar; while life is green & leafy adding notes of vanilla & caramelized fruit; that led to a nutty death with notes of sherry & spice. June 2016 / March / November 2018 / February 2019 / August / November 2022

It tastes like burnt almonds, burnt acridness and rubbing alcohol and is bitter and it just lingers on for infinity.

The nose has notes of honey roasted nuts, red wine, briney sea air, and mild peat. The palate matches the nose with notes of red wine, sweet corn, sea salt, and peat. The finish is harsh then salty but sweetens up after a while. After opening up the scotch is much improved.