cascode
Inver House Green Plaid
Blended — Scotland
Reviewed
April 10, 2022 (edited February 5, 2024)
Nose: Light and delicate with the emphasis firmly on cereal aromas. Cardboard, toasted muesli and vanilla but it’s all very reticent. This is a particularly shy and fragile nose but over time it gains more presence and some malt-ale notes.
Palate: Soft, light, medium-sweet arrival with a tang of mild ginger, spice and a drop of honey. Some hints of lemon and orchard fruit in the background but there is no development to speak of. The texture is neutral, bordering on watery.
Finish: Short. Crisp, mild and quick-fading cereal notes. An aftertaste of dilute black tea.
This comes across very much like a young generic grain whisky, which is probably exactly what constitutes 90% of the contents.
It does have a pleasantly refreshing and bright profile but it is very low-key. It reminds me of Cutty Sark and just a bit of Suntory Toki. A dash of water expands and mellows both the nose and palate, causing the sweet arrival to linger and the honey to come more to the front. However be cautious when watering as it can drown in an instant.
Although this is a lower-shelf whisky it avoids the common faults found in many similarly priced brands. The nose is clean, the palate is free from clumsy caramel and the finish avoids bitterness or metallic notes.
Every time I nose this whisky (and curiously I keep being drawn back to do so) I have an instant recollection of being in my uncle Herb’s sitting room in the 1960s, listening to cricket on the radio with him while he demolished a bottle of Haig. Not such a bad memory – I’ll give it an extra quarter point for that.
“Adequate” : 73/100 (2.25 stars)
45.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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@Scott_E Cheers! 🥂 Regarding memories and such, most of my tasting notes are attempts to put into words a mental image, smell or taste associated with a specific situation in the past. If I said, for example, that a whisky smells like an old oak dresser polished for decades with beeswax I’m not just being florid - it’s because it reminds me of the oak dresser in my nanna’s dining room. The farmhouse (and the farm) are long gone, but I’ll never forget that aroma, and the summers I spent there in the 70s. Whisky always elicits strong impressions like that for me, which is one reason I love it so much.
@cascode funny how a scent or a sound can transport you back in time. Music often does that to me. A song that was playing when a “happening” occurred. They are always good things. To Herb and the fond memories.
@DrRHCMadden Actually, it's a while since I had any but from memory this is something like a thinner version of Ballantine's Finest.
@Ctrexman Thanks, man 🥂
Cheers to Herb
@cascode for the price difference I’m not convinced it is better! Ahhh the irritation of Japanese whisky pricing…. (He says as he looks at the dwindling bottle of Hakushu 12)
@DrRHCMadden Funny you should mention that as I was just about to post the same thoughts. I tried this tonight in a couple of long drinks. With coke it almost disappears leaving mainly a sweet vanilla presence and a hint of "whisky". It's OK with dry ginger ale, but it's not a great combination. In both cases, pleasant but unremarkable. However with a splash of soda it blooms, creating a very refreshing and crisp lowball. More soda and some ice is just as good, but the flavour gets a little dilute in a highball (then again, just add more whisky to fix that ) 😀 It's *almost* a Toki replacement, but Toki is still the better whisky.
Seems like this would make an effective highball and so completely replaces Toki!