Monthly Archives: Nov 2013

Review: The General (Compass Box) – Blended Scotch Whisky

Posted on by

TheGeneral-BottleHere’s another excellent blended whisky in my little set of reviews; we’ve looked at very affordable, good blends, all the way up to this, an über premium blend, and price (it’s old!).

Official blurb: It’s been a good year for sourcing ridiculously rare parcels of extraordinary whisky. The provenance of these two parcels, blended together at a young age and then put back into cask for many years, was not important. They had matured into something extraordinary in flavour and were beautifully complementary. The result, bottled at cask strength, boasts an ‘antique’ character that lovers of old whiskies seek out. The associations of The General, however, are more akin to that of Buster Keaton’s classic 1926 film of the same name where the General is an old steam locomotive which Keaton takes on a long and wild ride to try to save the love of his life.  Only 1,698 bottles of this whisky have been produced. One parcel was 33 years-old and the other 40 years-old.

On to the review…

Continue reading →

Review: Scallywag – Blended Speyside Malt Whisky

Posted on by

ScallywagBottleTubeFurther continuing my little series of reviews for affordable, good, blended whiskies, here’s my review for Scallywag, one of the new boys on the block from a great independent producer.

Here’s some of the blurb… Douglas Laing & Co have launched a new blended malt, not content with their Islay only Blended Malt “Big Peat” the team at Douglas Laing have now put together a Small Batch Speyside only Blended Malt, named “Scallywag”. It  is a Small Batch bottling created using only the finest Speyside Malts including – amongst others – Mortlach, Macallan and Glenrothes.
Continue reading →

Review: ‘The One’ – British Blended Whisky

Posted on by

TheOneBottleFollowing on from my recent review of the new Black Bottle, today I’m reviewing “The One”, a British Blended Whisky from The Lakes Distillery, a new distillery about to take shape in Cumbria.

Official blurb reads as such: The One is a unique blend of exceptional whiskies from the British Isles, each has its own distinctive characteristics, resulting in a whisky of intriguing complexity.

There are now distilleries producing whisky across the British Isles, and this has led us to create an entirely new concept in blended whiskies – a British Isles Blend.
Continue reading →

Review: (New) Black Bottle – Blended Scotch Whisky

Posted on by

BlackBottlePR Bit: Burn Stewart Distillers have unveiled the new Black Bottle Scotch Whisky – a return to the original blend and bottle design. With 18 months of development the new Black Bottle see a return to the original Scotch, more in keeping with its original north east recipe which the Graham brothers created in Aberdeen at the turn of the 19th Century. The result is a curiously rich and slightly smoky taste that maintains the distinctiveness of Black Bottle but adds another layer of depth to the liquid. Black Bottle is presented in new packaging, abandoning the regular green glass whisky bottle and re-introducing the distinctive black glass bottle, which was the original inspiration behind the name of the brand. This iconic bottle was used until the outbreak of the First World War after which time it changed  to a standard green glass bottle.

On to the review…
Continue reading →

Multi Review: Laphroaig 10yo, Quarter Cask, Triple Wood & 18yo

Posted on by

LaphroaigLogo

I’ve been lucky enough to recently join a Twitter Tasting to review the four core malts of the Laphroaig range, i.e. 10 Years Old, Quarter Cask, Triple Wood and 18 Years Old. There’s many others out there, but these are the main stays of the brand and generally easy to find in the shops and at fairly affordable prices. Let’s take a deeper look…
Continue reading →

Review: Laphroaig 1998 / 15 Year Old / Sherry Cask / Signatory

Posted on by

lrgsig1998v5Laphroaig 1998 / 15yo – 60.8%

Colour: Deep gold with reddy hues.

Nose: Damp, musty, earthy dunnage oake, smoke whiffs, gentle trademark TCP whiffs. Slightly closed by the high ABV with a sweet winter fruity background that takes a second to pick out because of the peat, but is there in lashings once you’ve caught on to it. Slight ash notes, from the cask no doubt, almost like cigarette ash (but in a good way – coming from a non-smoker).
Continue reading →

Review: Highland Park 40 Year Old

Posted on by

hlpob_40yov1To compliment my recent review of the Warrior Series I thought it was time to crack open my Highland Park 40 Year Old sample to see just how good it is. And yes, it’s very good! See bottom of this post for PR blurb.

Highland Park 40yo – 48.3%

Colour: Autumnal deep full gold

Nose: Old! Heaps of old cask wood notes, leather, polish, bees wax, honey and restrained sweetness amongst Highland Park’s trademark and ever-present smoky highland heather hints and old malted barley.
Continue reading →

Review: Aberfeldy – Batch 1 (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)

Posted on by

aberfeldy-that-boutique-y-whisky-company-whiskyAberfeldy – TBWC Batch 1 – NAS – 47%

Colour: Full gold.

Nose: Sweet, malty, slightly salty which tails off after a while revealing woody notes which seem fairly fresh, newly sawn oak. Slight vanilla and a hint of earth.

Palate: Sweeter than the nose suggests, it’s quite smooth for the abv, possibly suggesting some reasonable ages within? Gently spiced and fairly oily with a good mouthfeel (if only the official bottles could be non chill-filtered!). Soft fruits amongst vanilla fudge.
Continue reading →

New Release and Review: Arran The Millennium Casks

Posted on by

Arran Millennium CasksThe Isle of Arran Distillers has unveiled a special charity whisky produced on 31st December 1999, the Millennium Casks edition which captures a landmark moment in time. Made from a mix of 35 bourbon barrels and 10 Sherry Hogsheads, the new release reached shelves in the UK on 28th October with just 7,800 bottles available worldwide.

Retailing at £64.99, a donation from every bottle sold will go to the Arran Trust, a conservation charity which funds projects that look after the beautiful landscapes and environment of Arran.  One such project is the footpaths on the island which lead to Loch na Davie – the water source for Arran Single Malt.

On to the review… some of the official notes read as such…
Continue reading →