Flavour tag: Floral | Tasting Notes

90

Lagavlin 9yo House Lannister

I’m a huge fan of Game of Thrones, but wasn’t so sure about the themed whisky releases by Diageo. And here I am, I just couldn’t resist buying the cask strength Clynelish and this 9yo 46% ABV Lagavulin. I’m happy I gave in, because I thoroughly enjoy this dram....

85

Method and Madness Irish Pot Still Whiskey – Mulberry Casks

M-m-m-m-madness… The lyrics by Muse’s Madness directly came to mind when receiving this beautiful package by the Irish Method and Madness. The bright colours, the striking design and the words ‘Mulberry Casks’ can mean only one thing: we’ve got an unconventional whiskey right here. We hadn’t heard of the...

83

Rock Island by Douglas Laing

We think there is truly something magical about whisky, the craftsmanship, the community, it almost feels like a fairytale. Everytime we visit a distillery, we feel like we’re time travelers. Distilleries often do have some amazing stories behind their releases and that is, in some cases, what can make...

87

Benromach 15yo

As mentioned in an earlier post, my love for Benromach came (far too) late. Not because I didn’t like it at first, no, it’s just because I never felt the urge to buy a bottle. One time, in an early “let’s-buy-everything-that’s-peated-period” I bought a Benromach Peat Smoke, but it...

79

Glenfiddich Fire & Cane

I postponed this review for more than two years now. I have this bottle for a while and I just don’t like it, but as always I wanted to give it a fair chance. So I took it to several blind tastings in the past to see what other...

80

Umiki Japanese Whisky

There are lots of different styles in the whisk(e)y world, and we all have our preferences. Last Friday Dion spoke about his preference towards the bolder facets of scotch, in contrast to the more crisp and elegant style of the Irish. Pure from a taste point of view. I’m...

86

Kavalan Solist Port Cask #0100505024A

Kavalan is one of our favourite new world distilleries. The Taiwanese distillery proved itself several times with some great examples like the Solist Vinho Barrique and (our favourite) Solist Sherry Cask About time we looked at another one in the series: Solist Port Cask. Matured on a post cask...

83

Glen Keith 22yo 1993-2015 Cooper’s Choice

‘’Whisky is for old men’’ I (Dion) consider myself a young dog in this wonderful world of whisky. Born in 1993, I am, in fact, relatively young for being in this business. In the beginning, people always tend to take my opinion or advice about whisky with a pinch...

85

Arbikie 1794 Highland Rye Whisky

Arbikie released the first scotch rye whisky for over 100 years. We’re able to count our previous encounters with rye whisk(e)y on one or two hands and most of them were American or Dutch. Dion and I have different opinions on rye, Dion often finds it too heavy and...

86

Caol Ila Distillers Edition 2003/2015

When it comes to peated whisky, there are several drams that quench our thirst. But the Caol Ila distillery always feels a bit special for us. The strange thing is, we can’t give you valid reasons for that. Yes, they’ve released some beautiful expressions over the years, and indeed,...

87

Glen Scotia Double Cask

A combination of first fill Bourbon barrels and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. Music to our ears, if done correctly, for that matter. We didn’t know what to expect when this classic Campbelltown malt knocked on our door. Just like every artist, there are songs and albums which you don’t...

86

Tomatin 15yo Moscatel Wine Finish

We’re just two simple lads from the East of the Netherlands. If we see a Tomatin with an out of the ordinary finish or maturation, we buy one. Or two, or more. You shouldn’t be surprised that when we stumbled upon this beautiful Tomatin 15 Moscatel we immediately bought...

83

Glen Scotia 11yo Sherry Double Cask Finish

By recommendation of Whiskeytemple Vladimir, I put this Glen Scotia on my Sinterklaas wishlist. Him and I are pretty much one the same page whatever whisky he reviews, so I didn’t look anything up and rolled with it. And so my wife picked it from the list and gifted...

85

Arran 21yo 1997-2018 (51.5%)

There are a few liquor stores here in Holland we always need to visit when we are near. Versailles Dranken Nijmegen is definitely one of them. They have an incredible collection of whisky from all over the world and we’ve already spent hours and hours of our life searching...

85

Tullibardine 24yo 1993 Bourbon Hogshead by Claxton’s

In our constantly changing whisky collection, we try to maintain a healthy balance between different casks and maturations. Of course, some types are over-represented but we try to stay honest and ignore or neglect no one. We feel like, for example, sherry matured or finished whisky is a lot...

86

Glengoyne 12yo

We consider ourselves very lucky, both growing up in the early nineties. Born and raised in the Netherlands during prosperous times and in a safe environment. How different it was to our grandparents, born before or during the Second World War, or is to the less fortunate people today....

92

Tomatin 2006 12yo Amontillado Sherry

It’s an open secret that we’re a huge fan of Tomatin whisky, but we know that not all that glitters is gold at the same time. We think that it just depends on the right approach when it comes to Tomatin.

93

Blair Athol 1988-2014 25yo by the Ultimate

The temperature has dropped, the whisky season has officially started! We drink whisky all year long, but some drams just taste better when it’s cold outside. Oh baby, when it’s cold outside. This van Wees The Ultimate Blair Athol 1988 is one of them. This whisky performs incredibly well...

83

GlenDronach 8yo “The Hielan”

As our feed shows, we’re a big fan of Glendronach. We think the current Glendronach labels exude ‘Whisky’ and they look incredibly sexy on our shelves. Luckily, the spirit itself is not too bad either. Online, and in every shop since our first Glendronach, we kept looking for more...

82

Teeling Small Batch (04/2019) Rum Cask Finish

After a virtual tasting and tour, we were surprised. Let’s look at the Teeling Small Batch to see what’s that about!

89

Kilchoman Sauternes Cask Finish 2018

I’ve been a big fan of Kilchoman since the beginning. They offer a great core range with diverse types of sherry and bourbon maturations, and the best thing is that they’re very open about which casks are used and in what ratio. It gives the buyers a good understanding...

85

Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique #W121225131A

The critically acclaimed Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique, a whisky that we’ve looked forward to reviewing for a long time. We really liked the Solist Sherry Casks, so what could go wrong? Honestly, it’s quite a gamble to buy something purely based on reviews. Especially when the price tag is...

90

Edradour Ballechin SFTC 12yo Heavily Peated Bordeaux Cask 2007-2019

It’s an open secret that I (Dion) am really digging into the wine-casks lately, I personally think that a Cabernet Sauvignon, or a nice Malbec is the next best thing. But don’t worry, whisky was my first love, and it will be my last. I promise you that. That...

87

Bunnahabhain 1991-2013 21yo (#5369) Dimensions by Duncan Taylor

A guest review by Jan Temming Duncan Taylor is known for laying premium Scottish cask for decades. Therefore Duncan Taylor has built quite an impressive collection of vintage and rare Scottish whisky’s. Let’s have a look at this 21yo Bunnahabhain, bottled in 1991: This dram Is definitely worth the...

88

The Arran 18yo

Guest review by our good friend Jan Temming This Arran 18yo is “a wonderfully balanced expression of the arran malt whisky which displays the tremendous depth of character of our distillery” the label says. Matured in 70% ex bourbon and 30% ex sherry cask, we where very excited to...

85

Arran Small Batch 2009-2019 St-Émilion

This is a guest review by our good friend Jan Temming Arran St-Émilion is specially bottled for the Netherlands with only 1920 bottles. As the name says, the whisky has completely matured on St-émilion red wine casks (Bordeaux, France). There has been no colouring and the whisky is bottled...

88

Caol Ila 9yo Palo Cortado Finish by James Eadie

Well what do we have here? It’s the James Eadie 9 yo Caol Ila. Finished first fill, refill Palo Cortado sherry hogsheads oak European finished for 6 months. Quite a mouthful. Yet again, a relatively young Caol Ila, what’s new? (Indie) young Caol Ila is highly available in The...

84

Edradour 2008-2018 9yo 1st Fill Sherry by Beek

Beek is a fairly new Dutch brand by Jan Beek, know for The Ultimate. After our tastbuds exploded with the Millstone bottling, we were of course incredibly curious for the Edradour. Fun fact: only the first batch of bottles wear Edradour on the label, Jan Beek had to relabel...

90

Glen Garioch 1990-2009 Vintage Batch 34

We planned on visiting Glen Garioch next month, Destination Management Scotland did a great job on mapping out an awesome trip through the Highlands, but we had to cancel a while ago. Not because of Covid-19 tough…

84

Tullibardine 228 Burgundy Finish

We’ve had a fair share of Tullibardine which were bottled by independent bottlers, so it was about time we tried an official bottling. Honestly, we were quite sceptical at first, given how low the price of this bottle is and the non-age-statement. But pleasantly surprised when the first pour...

85

Aberlour 12yo Double Cask Matured

A classic in a renewed packaging. The Aberlour 12yo is a good showcase of typical Speyside notes, with some extra warmth coming from the second maturation on sherry casks. It’s been a while since we’ve tasted this one, so when this new year’s gift by Aberlour arrived on the...

88

Edradour 10yo SFTC Sauternes Matured 2008-2018

Sauternes matured whiskies are my new addiction. It just works very well with scotch. Let’s see how it plays out with this recent bottling of Edradour Straight From the Cask.

87

Kilchoman 2010 Vintage & Kilchoman 100% Islay 9th Edition

Thanks to Kilchoman, we were given the opportunity to sample two wonderful new releases: the 2010 Vintage and the 100% Islay 9th Edition. And since we’re a huge fan of the first 100% Islay releases, we decided to have them accompanied by the 100% Islay Inaugural and 3th Edition....

83

Bimber Distillery Vertical

London’s brand new Bimber Distillery was so kind to send us a couple of beautiful samples last summer. We were quite impressed and let Matt know our thoughts. Let us share our findings with you too. Here are our unaltered notes, as sent to the distillery…

88

Pulteney 12yo Cadenhead Single Cask

Pineapple pizza (or Pizza Hawaii as we like to call it in the Netherlands) is a delicate issue lately, but what if there’s a single malt who reminds you of that? Is that even allowed?

79

Milk & Honey – Young Single Malt ‘The Last One’

Have you heard of Milk & Honey? It’s the world’s first Isreali whisky distillery, set to craft a high class whisky in the coming years. Based in Tel Aviv they began distilling in 2015 and have just released two genuine (experimental) single malt whiskies for the first time.