Flavour tag: Sharp | Tasting Notes

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.

89

Glen Garioch 1995-2012 Vintage Batch 10

Glen Garioch was one of the distilleries I started my journey with. They’re a bit of an underdog in the scene, but definitely worth exploring. The 12yo and Founder’s Reserve are great daily drams, but these Vintage Batches offer a whole different experience.

87

Nikka From The Barrel

It feels a bit weird to post this snowy picture when the weather feels like May, but I couldn’t wait till next winter to share this delicious dram with you.

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.

84

Glengoyne – The Legacy Series Chapter One 2019

A new global limited release by Glengoyne. It is, or will be soon widely available. We’ve spent some time with it, so allow us to let you know our thoughts.

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.

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.

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!

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...

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.

84

GlenAllachie 10yo

In July this year, the first core range of single malt whiskies from Glenallachie were released to the world. The range features a 10, 12, 18 and 25 years old, let’s have a look at the 10 years old.

90

Blackadder Peat Reek RAW Cask PR2017-10

Ever wanted to use your whisky bottle like a snow globe? Well, here’s your chance!

90

Hazelburn 13yo Oloroso Cask Matured

I walked into a whisky store in ’s-Hertogenbosch: De Koning, great chance you Dutchies know him already. And it was like entering a gold mine. Dusty bottles, discontinued bottles, bottles of forgotten ages, fresh new bottles, but what most stood out: a whole ‘cage’ of Springbank goodness. I asked...

86

Ardbeg Grooves Committee Release

We’ve had two opportunities to taste the committee release from Ardbeg Grooves. The first was at the Islay Hotel and the second was at the Ardbeg distillery. It underwent an unusual treatment with the use of heavily charred red wine casks. This heavy charring results in deep grooves in...

84

Bruichladdich The Laddie Valinch 34 2004-2018

If you ask us to describe Bruichladdich in one word, it would be: mavericks. They are definitely not afraid to experiment and when it comes to their less experimental whisky’s they don’t necessarily care what others do or say. In short: they do things their own way, and they...

87

Bruichladdich Port Charlotte Cask Exploration 20 Valinch

Leaving Kilchoman behind, we went on to our last stop on our trip: Bruichladdich. There we tasted the Bruichladdich Port Charlotte Cask Exploration 20 Valinch

88

Kilchoman Distillery Exclusive 8yo Madeira Cask Matured 2010-2018

A quick stop at Kilchoman, discussing their early years and a review of the Distillery Exclusive 8yo Madeira Cask Matured edition.

87

Caol Ila Distillery Exclusive 2017

Visiting Caol Ila Distillery, getting the full Islay-weather experience and tasting notes of the Distillery Exclusive.

89

Lagavulin Distillery Exclusive Bottling 2017

The Lagavulin Distillery, easily recognized by It’s tall red smokestack is not a complete stranger to us. Our collection contains the 8yo 12yo CS, 16yo, the Distillers Edition and some indie bottlings which don’t bear their name, but obviously come from this distiller. So we thought Lagavulin couldn’t surprise...

95

Ardbeg Kelpie

When you think Islay, you think Ardbeg. One of the most renowned distillers on the island. For some it’s too bold, for some it’s heaven.

88

Kilchoman Madeira Cask Matured

A Kilchoman with a Madeira twist. A great cask experiment from Kilchoman, but how does it taste?

87

Craigellachie 8yo by Douglas of Drumlanrig

An untamed bottle of Craigellachie finished on a red wine barrel!

86

Laphroaig Cairdeas 15yo

About our first moments on Islay, visiting Laphroaig and the Cairdeas 15yo tasting notes.

87

Tamdhu Batch Strength Batch 002

Tamdhu, often overlooked, even by us. But we heard some good stories about their Batch Strength Series, so why not try one?

82

Glen Moray Elgin Classic Port Cask Finish

What a view, this Glen Moray Port Cask Finish. But is it also good on the inside?

88

Laphroaig Triple Wood

Spotlights on, theatrical smoke filling the room, give a round of applause, here is Laphroaig Triple Wood!

80

Slyrs 2011 (Virgin Oak)

Allow us to introduce this well-designed bottle from our friends and neighbors from the Slyrs Bavarian Malt distillery! It’s the Slyrs 2011 Virgin Oak (3yo).

91

Kilchoman Red Wine Cask Matured

Let’s review another wine matured whisky. Most of you have seen this one passing by, it’s the limited edition Kilchoman Red Wine Cask Matured.

92

Tomatin Single Cask 2002-2016 bottled for Bresser & Timmer

A beautiful 14yo cask strength single cask bottling, being matured on a re-charred American oak, ex-red wine hogshead.