Tasting notes | Page 4 of 9 | Tasting Notes

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The visit of ‘Uncle’ Big Peat

Last week we were pleasantly surprised with the visit of our ‘Uncle’ Big Peat, arranged by our friends of De Monnik Dranken. So a huge thanks to them for hooking us up! We figured the best thing we can do with an uncle you haven’t seen in a long...

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Arran 10yo

Today in bang-for-your-buck whiskies, we present you: the Arran 10yo. In it’s all new clothing, but with a taste that makes it a classic nonetheless. We’ve loved Arran since the very beginning of our journey, but it seemed like their wonderful liquid didn’t manage snuck into the cabinets of...

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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...

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Craigellachie 13yo

Let’s revisit a bottle that we haven’t had in a while: Craigellachie 13.

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Kilkerran 12yo

We’re dealing with a heatwave at the moment, so it’s time for a refreshment! Who needs lemonade when this beauty from the Glengyle Distillery lies around? A rather new expression, since the distillery only reopened in 2004, but it manages to be an instant classic, with a classical but...

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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!

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Lagavulin 12yo Special Release 2019

There she stands, with her pale skin, her light hazel eyes, her curvy body pleasing to the eye. I’m a difficult man to impress, but this was love at first sight. Lagavulin is not very high on my list anymore. I’ll admit, I was pretty unimpressed by our previous...

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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...

91

Ledaig 15yo 2005 Single Malts of Scotland

Sadly, due to the pandemic, it’s a year without whisky festivals. Among many others, “Whisky in Leiden” had to be postponed till 2021. Especially for this festival, Elixir Distillers bottled this beautiful fifteen years old Ledaig under the Single Malts of Scotland Range. The organizer of the festival made...

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...

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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.

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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...

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Finlaggan Cask Strength

When you run out of money and whisky, what do you do? Finlaggan comes to the rescue!

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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...

85

Laphroaig Lore

The first time we tasted Laphroaig Lore, we were disappointed. It lacked complexity and tasted too peppery for our taste. So this bottle was -quite unintentionally- banished to the back of the cabinet.

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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Glenglassaugh PX Sherry Finish

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

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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…

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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...

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Millstone Special No. 14 Peated American Oak Moscatel Finish

I love experimental distilleries. How small the Dutch Zuidam Distillery might be, they sure keep us entertained with special releases of Millstone whisky. And so does this one!

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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.

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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...

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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...

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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.

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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...

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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:

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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....

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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!

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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.

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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…

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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...