Flavour tag: Spices | Tasting Notes

90

Glendronach 21yo Parliament

The Glendronach 21yo Parliament needs no introduction, because you know what’s coming: sherried flavours galore! It was one of my first Glendronachs, next to the old Revival and it’s still a staple on my shelves. Despite some major differences in flavour throughout the past years (my first bottles were...

85

Macallan 12yo

Let’s do a classic on this “Macallan Monday”, the 12yo Sherry Oak.

90

Highland Park Dark Origins

Look at this people, it’s the the hero everyone deserves. But do we need it? The Highland Park Dark Origins is my favourite HP to date, let’s find out why.

77

Paddy Irish Blended Whiskey

Try a Paddy they said, it’s smooth they said. Oh yes it is! Not really a big fan of the basic Irish whiskeys, but it doesn’t hurt to get to know the typical characteristics. RedBreast however, is an Irish brand that we love deeply, but I always have that...

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.

86

GlenDronach 11yo 2003 Single Cask #5552 for The Old Pipe

Gotta love GlenDronach’s Single Cask bottlings. Despite the prices that have gone up in the past three years, they’re still a no-brainer for me. My first one was an 11yo Oloroso which was bottled for the Netherlands. And I still like this one today. So when I came across...

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.

88

Bunnahabhain An Cladach

Bunnahabhain and its names… I don’t have much trouble pronouncing and spelling Bunna’s awkwardly named expressions. But this following anecdote is a reminder of the fact that it doesn’t always come in handy. Or maybe it does…

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.

85

Bowmore Cask Strength

Bowmore and the taste of kiwi, to me they are inseparable. I’ve tasted lots of different Bowmores, but this one thing always keeps coming back. It took me a while though, it was just this spark of enlightenment some years ago, when I tried to figure out what that specific note tastes like.

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.

84

Balblair 1989 3rd release

This Balblair was gifted to me by a shop owner when he fell victim of another buying spree of mine. I don’t think it’s necessarily a good sign, just ask my wallet and please don’t tell my wife. Let’s go tasting this yellow lad.

89

Bunnahabhain 18yo

Can you believe we haven’t properly reviewed this one before? Well, time to change that fact today.

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.

89

Macallan Amber

We were a bit sceptical of Macallan Amber, until we tried it at a tasting and we loved it.

85

Muirhead’s Silver Seal 16yo

Maybe not the prettiest bottle, but the price and taste certainly are. Let’s have a look at this rather unknown independent bottle, named Muirhead’s Silver Seal 16yo.

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.

85

Aberfeldy 16yo

Aberfeldy has been off our radar for some years now. Dion owned a 12yo in back in the days and it was a perfectly smooth whisky for us at the time. But we were mere beginners and when our journey proceeded, we didn’t really consider Aberfeldy anymore. Until now…

85

Glengoyne Cask Strength Batch 3

Who are you going to share a dram with this Christmas? Our buddy Stefan is sharing his Glengoyne Cask Strength Batch 3 with us, a good start of the holiday! What’s gonna be your dram for tonight?

87

Glen Scotia 15yo

A well crafted dram for its price, the Glen Scotia 15yo. So full and warming that it’s almost hard to believe that is has matured on bourbon casks only.

85

Glen Garioch 6yo 2011-2018 by Càrn Mòr (Morrison & MacKay)

There’s something about young expressions of whisky bottled by independent bottlers. I always feel that there’s a lot of honesty involved. You’ll get a real taste of a particular moment at the distillery instead of tasting a whisky which tries to be the same in every batch. A snapshot, so to speak.

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.

90

Glengoyne 21yo

Glengoyne; often compared with GlenDronach in the sherrybomb league. But never reached such a high popularity. I wonder why, because this 21yo expression truly stands its ground.

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.

83

Jura Superstition

We often tell people: no association is wrong when writing down your tasting notes. But a hint of ‘urinal cakes’ in a whisky? Are you crazy? We proved we aren’t with this Jura Superstition.

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.

90

Laphroaig 18yo

To me, this Laphroaig encaptures the spirit of Islay perfectly. A sadly discontinued expression, but luckily I still have some juice left in the bottle to enjoy.

85

Talisker Port Ruighe

Talisker, the creator of many friendly single malts, which offer a nice peppery touch of the sea with often a sweet twist. With this port cask finished expression they took the sweetness to another level.

82

The Dalmore – Cigar Malt Reserve

Smoking kills. But does smoking kill the dram? Depends on who you’re asking. We don’t pair cigars with whisky a lot, but so now and then it’s something we do, especially when it pairs well. In the case of this Dalmore it does, the cigar and the dram enhance each other.

93

Delicious discoveries: Deanston 10yo PX Finish

I have the annoying habit of finding the first couple of drams of new whiskies incredible, getting a little bored after a while and looking for something new.. But certainly not with this one!

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

Balblair 1999 3rd Release

Balblair is a distillery which I personally overlooked for far too long. Sure I knew it exists, but I never really gave it proper attention. But when I saw a reasonably priced bottle somewhere in a store, I simply took a chance and bought it.