Category Archives: Review

Quick Review: Ardbeg Kelpie Committee Release

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Ardbeg Kelpie Committee ReleaseArdbeg Kelpie Committee Release 2017

Info: Ardbeg’s Feis Ile 2017 Committee Release, matured in casks made from virgin Black Sea oak and more traditional bourbon casks. 51.7% abv.
Colour: Fairly ripe straw.
Nose: Fairly strong, salty and coastal with oaky peat smoke.
Palate: Thick and oily, spiced charred peat and maple & bacon.
Finish: Spiced and very long, oak, smoke and tar coal hints.
Thoughts: Fun and slightly different, however I’d like a little more sweetness from this, maybe a hint of sherry maturation.
Available: Sold out, likely only available at auction sites.

My own sample as part of a bottle share.

Quick Review: Auld Acquaintance Blended Whisky

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Auld Acquaintance Blended Whisky

Info: From Gleann Mór Spirits, 46.1% ABV.
Colour: Lightly ripening barley.
Nose: Barley, hints of smoke, sweeties, red apples, toffee and tobacco.
Palate: Lead by oils and cream, followed by light spices with smoky hints.
Finish: Spiced and lengthy, sweet and easy.
Thoughts: A fairly robust blend where the high percentage (at least 50% we’re told) of malts shines through to give it great flavour.
Available: Various places online including Amazon for around £35, very reasonable.

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Quick Review: Angels’ Nectar Cairngorms & Islay Editions

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Angels’ Nectar Cairngorms & Islay Editions

Cairngorms Edition

Info: Bottled in partnership with the Cairngorms Trust, to support environmental and community projects in the Cairngorms National Park. 46% ABV, 11 years old, 263 bottles, single cask.
Colour: Bright gently golden ripe barley.
Nose: Ripe banana and red apples, wet barley, autumn woodland moss and cracked nuts. A hint of hessian.
Palate: Upfront spiciness which soon mellows into autumn fruits and barley. A fairly good oily mouthfeel.
Finish: A subtle, gently warming and smooth finish, fairly long because of the oils. Sweet with a hint of tannin at the end.
Thoughts: An easy drinking quality dram for after dinner; would work well if I had a log fire, unfortunately my house is too modern.
Available: Whisky Castle – £67.99

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Quick Review: The Scalasaig Island Hopper

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The Scalasaig Island Hopper

Info: A blended malt featuring a variety of peated whiskies from the likes of Orkney and Islay, married together in first-fill Spanish sherry casks. 43% ABV.
Colour: Dark golden, very autumnal.
Nose: Pungent, mossy, hessian. Also some lightness there with citrus notes coming though the gentle smoke.
Palate: Sweet, fairly spicy, rich and intense. The mossy peat comes though as if near a bonfire on a beach.
Finish: It seems to get sweeter as it goes on, which it does for quite a long while, very moreish. Some cask tannins and grass / barley at the end.
Thoughts: It’s a whisky that I keep coming back to; packed with flavour that’ll keep you wanting more. For me there’s a vague hint of Black Bottle here, but even better.
Available: Master of Malt – £49.95

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Review: Clynelish Distillery Exclusive Single Malt Bottling 2019

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Clyenlish Distillery Exclusive 2019Info: Matured in a mixture of American ex-bourbon and rejuvenated casks. 6000 bottles available, bottled at 48% ABV. No age statement.
Colour: Natural looking, light straw. You’d hope no colouring here.
Nose: Clean, clear and slightly salty, with gentle wooden dunnage notes and plenty of sweet green ripe fruits among soft waxy hints.
Palate: Bursting with green and red apples and an oily waxyness. It’s warm and tingley on your tongue, with gentle heat and some spice building. Overall it’s nicely sweet and fruity with oaks to back it up.
Finish: The finish at first seems short but quickly comes back with a longer warm sweet fruit and malt note that sticks aronud for a while.
After: It turns more orangey, orange jelly, marmilade. Christmassy!
Thoughts: A slighty sweeter Clynelish than often found, but that suits my pallate just nicely! I really enjoy this dram, snap one up if visiting.
Availalbe: At the distillery, £90 a bottle. Continue reading →

Review: Jura Time & Tide: Two 21 year olds

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Jura Time and Tide

Jure Time and Jura Tide

“A Pair of 21 Year Old whiskies shaped by time, eroded by tide.”

Jura has released two permenant additions to it’s range, a pair of 21yo whiskies; both are non-chillfiltered, just how we like them. ‘Tide’ should be available at your usual specialist whisky retailer, where as ‘Time’ is travel retail only (i.e. airports). What are the differences? Let’s take a look at them…

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Review: Glengoyne Teapot Dram Batch 6

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Glengoyne Teapot Dram Batch 6Glengoyne Teapot Dram Batch 6 – 59.3% abv

Info: “Strictly limited [until the next batch!] release of just four first fill sherry butts and two first fill sherry hogsheads.”
Colour: Medium dark rusty autumnal sunset.
Nose: Plenty of sherried autumn fruit notes, but still a nice sprightly element to this. Sherry outside in a cool autumn shower. Hints of nuts amongst soft creamy vanilla toffee.  Notes of heathery honey. Strong, but not closed, full of flavours wanting to escape with nice rounded wood tones.
Palate: Strong, almost hot, but just backing off enough to remain easily enjoyable while letting flavours flow. It’s really oily, flavour packed; there’s plenty of lush autumn fruits, malty oils and hints of dark chocolate.
Finish: Fresh, fruity, warming and long. Hints of youngish cask wood at the back adding some weight to the dram (in a good way).
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Review: Steel Bonnets

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steel bonnets whiskySteel Bonnets: Blended Malt Whisky

Info: From The Lakes Distillery comes the first ever blend, so the press release says, of English and Scottish malt whiskies, Steel Bonnets. The blend is a combination of The Lakes Single Malt from England and some of the most respected malts from north of the Border. Awarded a gold medal in Spirits Business’ Luxury Masters Awards. 46.6% abv, non chillfiltered, non coloured.
Colour: Golden with a hint of autumn rust.
Nose: An interesting nose that is vibrant and flavourful. There’s some instant sweetness to the nose, possibly showing distillery character from younger (Lakes?) spirit. There is a dollop of sweetened cream with green and red fruits on the nose with smokey hints as a backdrop.
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