Flavour tag: Red fruits | Tasting Notes

88

Tobermory 1994-2020 25yo by Kintra

We came across this bottle by Kintra a couple of months ago. It ticked all of our boxes: Tobermory, sherry matured, 25 years old, cask strength (50.9%) and an empty wallet. Well, that last box wasn’t all too bad actually. It set us back around € 140,-, which is...

84

Lagavulin 16yo

Light up the fireplace, get a glass and put your feet up. On moments like this I pour myself a dram that doesn’t require much thought. And while Lagavulin 16yo has no permanent spot in my cabinet anymore, I can’t help myself but feel this is one of the...

89

Benromach 10yo

Benromach 10 definitely exists on our short list of whiskies that everyone should have in their cabinet. If it isn’t for the taste, then it’s for the value for money. You don’t see this bottle highlighted very often, in fact, we’ve only discovered how good Benromach actually was last...

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...

87

Scallywag Speyside Blended Malt by Douglas Laing

Recently – with a little help from de Monnik Dranken – we adopted a little Speyside puppy. Don’t feel bad for our best buddy Charlie right here, because this little feller came in liquid form. Scallywag is a mixed-breed of Mortlach, Macallan and Glenrothes, among others, he’s bred under...

85

Linkwood 11yo 2007 Oloroso Octave Finish by 3006 Whisky

My holidays mostly take place in our own country, even before the pandemic. There’s so much to discover in this small piece on earth (the Netherlands, that is). There’s one tradition I try to maintain, and that is the tradition of finding a good liquor store to buy me...

88

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2020 Port and Wine Casks

If there’s one distillery that really bonds with its ‘fans’ or friends, if you like, It is Laphroaig. We’ve been ‘friends of Laphroaig’ ever since our first bottle but it took us years to finally ‘seal’ our friendship. Back in April 2018 we visited Islay and of course we...

95

Aultmore 8yo (cask 900020A) by The Single Cask

Our good friend Torsten Zimmerman introduced us to The Single Cask a while ago. You see, that’s where friends are for. They even arranged two wonderful bottles for us to do a giveaway with. We almost took part in the giveaway ourselves, but we managed to stay sincere. In...

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

Benriach 1999-2016 17yr Ventisquero finish

Lately, Dion is aiming for whiskies with a wine finish or maturing, so when we stumbled upon this beautiful looking Benriach bottle, finished in a Viña Ventisquero Grey Carmenere Barrel, we couldn’t resist.

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...

84

Bunnahabhain 2001 16yo Bn7 – Elements of Islay

Heave Ho, hoist the colours high for this Elements of Islay Bunnahabhain 16yo. Bottled at a 55.7% cask strength. We always feel a strong connection between Bunnahabhain and the pirate’s life. Maybe it’s the location of the distillery, overlooking the Sound of Jura. Possibly it’s the prison-like look of...

87

GlenDronach 12yo Original

Can you name a better way to ease into the dreaded Monday than with this classic from the Highlands? GlenDronach 12yo is easily one of our go-to sherried twelve years olds. Mainly because it’s, of course, GlenDronach. But also because it’s balanced to near perfection. A good introduction 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...

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...

92

Glenglassaugh PX Sherry Finish

Let’s have a look at this easy to enjoy dram from Glenglassaugh. In particular for sweet tooths like us!

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...

90

Glenrothes 6yo 2011 – Cooper’s Choice

This is where the love of independent Glenrothes bottles began: with a mere 6 year old by Cooper’s Choice.

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...

90

Port Charlotte 10yo

This ‘shampoo bottle’ may look weird, depending on who you ask, but who cares? It’s one of our go-to peated malts. It’s everything but the casual peated Islay-whisky and beautifully complex. As lovers of the Octomore range, we often speak of this as ‘Octomore Light’. It doesn’t provide that...

87

Glenrothes 11yo 2007-2018 PX Octave Finish by Claxton’s

We have a thing for independently bottled Glenrothes. It’s just very hard to find one that isn’t tasty. We have a huge indie ‘rothes line-up waiting to get reviewed, but this is the one we’d like to start with. It perfectly suits the drizzly weather that we’re facing at...

85

Arran Amarone Cask Finish

The typical fruity and coastal Arran style is beautifully enhanced by the sweet spicyness of the amarone cask, check out our notes right here:

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....

91

Tomatin 14yo 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Matured

It’s very hard to find a Tomatin that’s not tasty, this Cabernet Sauvignon matured edition is a fine example of that!

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…

88

Glen Garioch 9yo 2010-2019 Douglas Laing’s Old Particular

A nice find at the liqour store this weekend: a 9yo single cask Glen Garioch bottled by Douglas Laing, specially bottled for Gall & Gall. A distillery we quite adore, because of the ‘old style’ earthy and fruity taste. The colour is stunningly pale, which is something I quite...

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.

88

Springbank 12yo Cask Strength 2019

Never been much of a Springbank fan, but this bottle might tempt me to change that fact!

93

Glendronach 1994-2018 23yo Malts of Scotland #18011

I love it when two of my favourite things come together: Glendronach and German bottler Malts of Scotland. Both almost never lets me down, so I was incredibly excited when I received this birthday present from Dion.

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

Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon

It’s only our second bottle of bourbon after the Buffalo Trace, and it leaves us wondering: why don’t we try bourbon more often? Perfect for summer nights and as a welcome change between a line-up of scotch. There’s absolutely no reason not to! We brought the Elijah Craig along...