Monthly Archives: Feb 2014

Review: Girvan Patent Still – 25 Year Old

Posted on by

grain_gir25yoThe Girvan Patent Still – 25yo – 42% abv

Colour: Light and clear gold to straw in colour – natural colouring and nice to see! – Doesn’t the bottle look sexy too eh?

Nose: Light and refreshing, gentle grains encased in perfect amounts of sweet vanilla oak. Well aged but it doesn’t smell old, it’s just had time to breath, relax and let off some alcohol steam.

Palate: Fairly thick feeling oils in your mouth, but they’re easy going on you. Just enough ABV and cask influence to give you a touch of spices and bite, but the over riding thing is a perfect velvety sweetness with a background of grains and oak, vanilla and toffee apples.

Continue reading →

Quick Review: Pig’s Nose – Blended Scotch Whisky

Posted on by

pigs-nose-whiskyPig’s Nose – Blended Scotch Whisky – 40% ABV

Colour: Golden, slightly caramelly.
Nose: Sweet, rich, sumptuous, a little young. Reminds me a little of Black Bottle.
Palate: Silky smooth and easy. Packed with flavour, caramel, smoke, fruits, butter and a bit of spice.
Finish: There’s some Islay malt in this which with the fruit helps the finish last longer than you’d imagine.
Thoughts: It’s not going to rock your world, but it’s a perfectly nice blend which is more interesting than many. If you liked the old Black Bottle (it’s now changed recipe) then you’d like this.

Continue reading →

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

Posted on by

littlemill-that-boutiquey-whisky-company-whiskyLittlemill Batch 1 (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) – NAS – 50cl, 47.40%

Colour: Light, bright straw.

Nose: Spicey wood, creaminess, vanilla, thinners, farmey barley. Leave it for a good long time to open up, when you do huge citrus is there.

Palate: Interesting! Doesn’t follow the nose too much (at first), on the palate you’ll find buckets of summer citrus fruits and slightly brown bananas. The mouthfeel is pretty thick and oily and the spices found on the nose are really easy going on the palate, it’s smooth and velvety, with slight notes of the type of bourbon maturation that I like in Tomatin.

Continue reading →

Review: Highland Park Freya

Posted on by

hp_freya_530Highland Park Freya – 15yo – 51.2%

Marketing Blurb: Freya represents the continuation of Highland Park’s Valhalla Collection; a range of four unique whiskies taking inspiration from the legendary Nordic gods of old.  Bottled at 51.2% ABV this limited edition whisky comes housed in the same unique and award winning wooden frame of Thor and Loki, echoing the fearsome contours of a traditional Viking long ship.

Freya will be available from 7th February at a RRP of £140.

Let’s crack on with my review…

Continue reading →