Hazelburn 10 Year

Expected fruitier notes based on description given by restaurant. Found quite bland overall flavour

Nose: seawater, light overripe fruit, hint of smoke. Taste: very pleasant spicyness, warm, faint liquorice Finish : medium, suddenly some sweetness

Please note this is the same review as the longrow NAS until the last bit. So I have a longrow 10 on the way so I grabbed this to do a side by side, but instead of waiting for that to review this. Instead I'm going to compare haezlburn 10, springbank 10 and the longrow NAS. All costing 70-90 US today depending on when your store got them in. Normally avoid but color. The longrow might be lighter than the hazelburn but they're both about as pale as it gets, while the springbank 10 has some actual color. Nose - Longrow - new make notes are coming off with that just slight note of something off the still. I get a bit of vanilla, pear, smoke, earthy elements, and overall it's a relatively clean but youthful coastal peaty whisky. Forgettable. Hazleburn 10 - I honestly get vanilla and some kind of fruity and barely funky note I could say is springbank only because this is in my glass. Bread and perhaps marzipan (Not even fully sure I know that smell) are here with a slight fruity element. Springbank 10 - OK first off this is the most smokey whisky here and it's not close. After I get past the smoke the sherry elements coming in big time, good dark fruits, and wine elements. It's cleaner and perhaps missing some of the earthy notes of the longrow, the actual peat note. A very nice all be it not overly aromatic nose. Taste - Longrow - Once again new make and off the still elements come in. It's a bit sour and has some unripe and odd young and acidic peat notes. Then there is this nice very salty and earthy, dirty malt that's bringing that classic springbank under baked cookie (shout out malted man cave) and fresh breads. It's bold, it's full of flavor, but it's got off notes. Hazelburn - So on the first taste what really stands out is that there are multiple distinct layers that I'll need to address individually, already a sign of a more mature and complex whisky. The arrival is funky, sour, bitter and somewhat off putting. The arrivial is followed by the springbank malt and if there isn't some sherry casking here, there's something about this bringing with it a lot of fruity malt esters. Nothing over the top but enough to add a depth and complexity. Finally, the finish brings some nice oak tannins and mixes them with some coastal salts and a bit of a vinegar meets springbank funk. Springbank 10 - The opening brings that sherry note but then I get a touch of sour milk, transitioning to rich smoke, and then smoked oak and sweet malt. The finish on the springbank is by far the longest with it coating the mouth in a way none of the others do. Please note I have a full review on springbank 10 and I might update it. OK so this was supposed to be super easy but I'm a bit unsure on ranking right now. OK so I have my ranking. 1. Springbank 10. Why? Well the nose is the best of the bunch bringing in some sherry elements and with that smoke. The flavor profile doesn't at all stages top the hazelburn, which is surprising to me, but that smokey finish and the springbank malt character comes out the best on the finish. 2. Hazelburn 10 Why? Shockingly nice nose for this range of whiskies, sweet, pleasant, and incredibly inviting but not bringing me back. My memory of this one was always a fairly simple whisky but the finish is really impressive for a 10 year whisky and the depth is great here. 3. Longrow NAS - When people say Heavily peated...well remember peat is NOT smoke. It's that earthy element that often is accompanied by smoke. My favorite peated whiskies are the more smoke forward and this longrow is much more earth forward. The longrow is an intense pour but lacking in layers or depth. This being the Hazelburn review -I'm scoring this a 2.0 which is higher than I expected to give it. Honestly the finish on this should justify at 2.5 but that opening is just so much of this youthful earthy, distillate forward and not just distillate but very raw one. The lack of peat I think takes some balance out as well. Still, if you're a finish guy and I'm one and you dig this nose and I do...I think you'll be very pleased. I paid 90 for this and I'm not upset right now. But that's hardly a value either. Don't think of this as a 10 year old whisky. Think of this is a craft whisky by the best damn distillery in the world, and just know you're not getting their best here. But it's still springbank disitllate, unpeated...

Fruity, funky, juicy, drinkable whisky.

Tipically springbank. No peat but still strangely reminds me of peat. When you keep your distance you get some realy nice fresh applejuice!