SolanaRoots
Colkegan Single Malt Whiskey
American Single Malt — New Mexico, USA
Reviewed
October 7, 2018 (edited January 28, 2019)
Many signs pointed to this bottle being a hit: a craft distillery single malt with a smoky scotch lean & quite a few rave reviews. But in hindsight, there were red flags too, mainly the way-too-short aging of 2 years in the barrel.
Upon cracking the bottle, the nose to me was pure acetone. After a week it was vanilla & acetone. At the month mark, the nose revealed butterscotch, vanilla, and...acetone. Better with time but still underwhelming. But it was the palate that really failed. Vanilla bland with some oak and that’s it. I could never really detect the mesquite smoke. A head scratcher.
Rating: The Distiller 91 score is baffling as this just hits mid 70s in my book. Such a letdown that I legitimately wonder if I got a bad bottle/batch. Unfortunately it’s unlikely that I’ll ever acquire another bottle or even opt for a pour at the cocktail lounge to find out.
Batch No: BBL #48
Bottle No: 96
48.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@SolanaRoots well it’s still on my list but as it’s not available here in Maryland it may be awhile before I get to try it. But thanks for the review!
@GeologyJack I think I misspoke a little about 2 year aging...apparently it’s a minimum of 2, so possibly 3-4 years old. Still it’s young, which is okay since I knew that going in. I enjoyed the Bainbridge Battle Point & Deerhammer bottles, both were young as well. Honestly don’t want to dissuade anyone about this bottle if they’re curious, since my experience seemed so far from the reviews I read. I’m perplexed enough to try this again next time I’m in Colorado or New Mexico
Wow! What a bummer! This has been on my list for a while. I could not find it in Arizona. I thought it had more than 2 years aging. I’ve been burned by some of the small barrel accelerated aging product. I get the ratio volume to surface area. But that doesn’t allow for the breathing of the whiskey in and out of the wood. PBM - I’d be interested in your impressions if you found it in Denver
@PBMichiganWolverine Good luck, hope you find a pour. Eager to read your tasting notes on this one
@SolanaRoots I’m flying back from Denver today—-hoping I can buy a pour at DEN before the flight.
Sounds like your bottle suffered from cork taint which can strip flavour. As for the "only aged 2 years" well Colkegan is definitely aged for longer than that, almost 4 years I thought. Regardless, it's aged at 7,000 feet above sea level in New Mexico's extremely variable climate (very hot to very cold) so the aging process is accelerated. They lose something like 40% in angel's share due to the environment in Santa Fe.
@solanaRoots Quite Possible. Is there a batch number anywhere on the bottle? Would be interesting to know if others within that same batch have a similar experience.
@Scott_E - Perhaps my nose has acetone - mesquite smoke confusion! Just strange how different my experience was than the other reviews. I gave it 40% of the bottle to change my mind too
@SolanaRoots I guess there was acetone. So funny how you explored and stated that. Lol!
@SolanaRoots yeah—-was having this on my radar. I’m actually back in Denver in 2 weeks...hopefully my Westin hotel bar will have it
Hey @PBMichiganWolverine maybe try a pour of this when you’re in Denver so I know whether I got this one completely wrong :)
@Rick_M - Man, this bottle has really made me question my judgement since I’m just not getting any of the notes identified in the favorable reviews. Even a few of the popular whisky video reviewers were claiming this one. That’s why is a major head scratcher to me.
@SolanaRoots - the distiller notes say, “a must try for lovers of peaty scotch.” I’ll trust your judgment and stay away. Besides, only 2 years in the barrel is an insult to humanity. :)