Flavour tag: Intense | Tasting Notes

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.

85

Edradour 10yo 2009 Straight From The Cask Sherry Butt 59

Can it get more autumnal than this? Last weekend we purchased the Edradour 10yo Straight From The Cask.

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…

86

Classic of Islay by Jack Wieber’s 2018

As a Dutchman I’m very pleased to have such great neighbors. Among many other independent bottlers, Germany brings Jack Wieber to the table. This cask strength bottle, named Classic of Islay is a solid staple in our collection. It has no age statement and it’s probably a young sherried...

91

GlenDronach 1995-2017 22yo PX Sherry Puncheon #4038

I love rainy autumn days like these, it’s a perfect moment to enjoy some bold sherry flavours in the form of this GlenDronach Cask bottling.

89

Aberlour A’bunadh Batch 47

Time to revisit my favourite batch of Aberlour A’bunadh: number 47!

85

Scotch & Tattoos: Dalmore 5yo ex-Aultmore Oloroso Octave Finish

A release from one of the friendliest guys we’ve ever met. Tattooed his arms with his favourite whisky brands and killing it with a wonderful series of single malt. That’s some dedication right here!

85

Kilchoman Port Cask Matured 2018

Whisky: Endless possibilities, varying opinions and lots to discover. Let’s do a little experiment!

87

Deanston 9yo 2008 Bordeaux Red Wine Cask Matured

We saw this Deanston passing in review quite often lately, so we decided to buy one for one of our tastings. That was a good call!

85

Bunnahabhain 16yo 2001-2017 Claxton’s

Bottled for whiskyshop The Old Pipe in The Netherlands, this 16 year old Bunnahabhain was something I couldn’t resist taking it home. It has matured on oloroso sherry casks and was bottled at 55.8%. Could you? Not the easiest Bunna, mainly because of the peppery notes, but have a...

86

Glenfarclas 105

Value for money, bang for your buck, call it what you will, but Glenfarclas 105 definitely falls into this category

93

GlenDronach 19yo 1995-2015 Single Cask #2380 Oloroso Butt

Some bottles are made to open right away and some are for a special occasion. This 19 years old GlenDronach Single Cask is one we bought for the latter.

83

GlenDronach 11yo 2006 Single Cask PX Sherry Puncheon #1979

We put another GlenDronach Single Cask to the test today. Do they ever disappoint?

88

Arran Machrie Moor Cask Strength 4th Edition 2017

Have you ever considered trying a cask strength Machrie Moor by Arran? We strongly suggest you do.

90

Caol Ila 15yo Unpeated (2016 release)

Caol Ila, often referred to as the workhorse of Islay, is capable of doing incredible stuff. And so they did with this 15yo Unpeated release.

81

Singold Cask Strength

Our German neighbours have quite the amount of distilleries. Many of them are still unknown to us, but Singold distillery contacted us and was kind enough to send us a sample of the cask strength expression of their classic whisky.

91

Lagavulin 12yo (bottled in 2012)

Lagavulin, one of the heavier distilleries on Islay. Not particularly because of the peat level of the barley, because that’s exactly the same as Caol Ila’s. It’s the shorter fermentation and shape of the stills which make Lagavulin this bold and full of phenolic flavours.

90

GlenDronach 18yo ‘Allardice’

While not being impressed back in 2014, we revisited the GlenDronach 18yo Allardice and it blew our mind. I have a slight idea of what might’ve happened, let’s find out!

92

Millstone Oloroso Sherry (2014-2018)

Wherever you are in the world, I strongly suggest you try a Millstone. And I’m not saying that because I’m a Dutchman.

85

Bruichladdich 1990-2005 Scott’s Selection

What a beauty of a Laddie this is. Distilled in a previous era (1990) and bottled in 2005, this Bruichladdich should give us a sense of what it was, before the new owners started distilling again in 2001.

83

Balvenie 15yo Single Barrel 1997-2013

A Balvenie in its pure form, albeit a bit thinned with water at 47.8% ABV. It’s a bottle that we had around for a while now, so it was about time we wrote something about it. This ex-bourbon matured Balvenie is a favourite among many whisky lovers. To be...

93

Bowmore 10yo Tempest Batch IV

A whisky that captures the spirit of Bowmore perfectly, that’s what I’d like to call this Tempest Batch IV.

87

Glenlivet Nàdurra Peated Cask

Don’t get confused here people, this is not a peated Glenlivet, but it’s a Glenlivet that has finished on a cask that previously held heavily peated whisky. We’ve see that more often lately, and it’s quite an enjoyable way of finishing whisky.

84

When in doubt…

… visit Islay! Figuring out which region to visit on your next or maybe even first trip to Scotland? We’d recommend everyone to visit Islay at least once in your life.

94

Bunnahabhain 14yo Pedro Ximénez Finish

Sweet, warm, chewy, sticky, syrupy, juicy… only so much words can describe this incredible release from one of our favorite distilleries.

93

Starting the Festive Season with Redbreast 12yo Cask Strength

The leaves have fallen and it’s getting colder. The festive season has started! The robins are looking for food in our gardens, and we love to help them a bit. Especially when the robins (or Redbreasts as we roughly translate it from our Dutch language) look like this.

89

Octomore Masterclass 08.1

We’ve already talked about high peat levels and how it doesn’t matter that much. We brought this one to a blind tasting two weeks ago and asked the participants which glass contained a whisky with such a high peat level as this Octomore (168ppm). Most of them were wrong, and chose an Indie NAS Lagavulin, which is only peated to a level of 35ppm. So let’s focus on the taste, which is most important of course!

96

Mortlach 1997 18yo by Wilson & Morgan

Wilson & Morgan are one of my favourite independent bottlers, especially their barrel selection. No need to turn around it: this Mortlach is incredible. It was finished on Marsala cask, but it didn’t overshadow the true character of the spirit.

87

Aberlour A’bunadh Batch 61

The Aberlour A’bunadh is one of those must-have whiskies. Back in the day, it was our first so called sherrybomb we owned, and we’ve always had one in stock since then. The price/quality ratio is outstanding, but we’ve noticed some decline in taste in the past few years.

85

Port Askaig 12yo

Let’s wave the summer of 2018 goodbye for good with this pretty independent expression bearing the name Port Askaig. Of course we all know this is Caol Ila, but have you heard they just recently bottled a Bunna for Bresser & Timmer? However, there’s no doubt this 12yo is...

90

Millstone 2014-2018 – Triple Distilled – PX Sherry Cask – Beek Vintage

I love a good story when it comes to whisky. Entering Jan Beek, formerly known from Van Wees, the Dutch independent bottler of The Ultimate series. He began his own brand last year: BEEK spirits, which has a large focus on quality and craftsmanship.

90

Ardmore 2003-2017 – Malts of Scotland

If you ask me which whisky blew my mind most in the last couple of years, I will answer with: Ardmore 2003 bottled by Malts of Scotland. This most definitely is my definition of a sherry bomb. What blew my mind is that it’s only 3 years old.

85

Bruichladdich The Organic Scottish Barley

This awkwardly shaped liter bottle of Bruichladdich is perfect for hot summer days. “But it’s autumn” I hear you say. Well, the weather in the Netherlands is pretty much confused at the moment, the thermometer hit 26 degrees Celsius last weekend. So bring in the Laddie!

90

The Glenlivet Nàdurra 16yo

Does this one need any introduction? It’s easily my top core-range Glenlivet. Bottled at cask strength, non-chill filtered and matured in American oak, which makes your taste buds explode with honest, natural flavours.

88

Sherwood’s Craigellachie 9yo

Not for the feint hearted, but what an incredible Craigellachie from the new Dutch bottlers Sherwood’s.

84

Sherwood’s Orkney 11yo

The second whisky Sherwood’s managed to bottle. This time it’s from the Highland Park distillery, although they weren’t allowed to state in on the label.