Reviews of scotch and world whiskies by a history professor, his wife, bird, and three cats.
A butterscotch bomb on the nose, a lemon on the body. This has to be one of the most disjointed drams I have ever tried. The nose was amazingly thick and sticky with rich notes… but what happened to the body? If I blindly smelled this dram and then took a sip, I would think someone had swapped out my glass.
A blend of salty succulent malts, Rock Oyster is easily my favorite in Douglas Laing’s Regional Malts series, and this bottle in particular is probably my favorite >$100 blended malt. I love the salt, citrus, cream, and faint smoke or char on this.
This was remarkably easy to drink for a dram that packed a real punch. This was full of malty youthful intensity— it was high heat and intense flavors. Even before adding a bit of water there was wonderful complexity in spite of the youth. A few drops tamped down some of the fire and heat and brought out more of the luscious chocolatey oloroso notes.
This would be fun to taste along with the Nikka Coffey Malt, Coffey Grain, and Miyagikyo Single Malt. So many possible variations from just the one Nikka Distillery at Miyagikyo, a great opportunity to explore the ways in which malt and grain can play together.
Two radically different profiles clash a bit in this bottle— sweet creamy tropical fruits and bitter medicinal herbs. Occasionally these two faces combined to give the impression of Ricola or another honey herbal cough drop. The cask seems to be pulling the dram in both directions at once— emphasizing bitter burnt herbs as well as creamy vanilla.
So cheers. This bottle might not quite be worth the price of admission in my book, but it is the best Bushmills I have ever had by quite some margin. It has been a joy to sip on during the hot late summer evenings— it has a lovely refreshing quality from the lemony acidity and slight astringency. I could see someone who really enjoys sweeter Highlands or maybe Lowland triple distilled malts finding this to be quite excellent and probably deciding my grade was way off.
Most of the herbal oomph came on the palate rather than the nose. The aroma of the dram was balanced between variations on smoke and the promise of savory barbecue and the herbal notes that complimented the fatty meat notes. The palate offered more of the medicinal side of the dram from which SMWS plucked the code name. A participant in the tasting proffered that the dram reminded them of ‘dirty bong water’ and the table concurred. So it was burnt herbs— but maybe not the herb we expected.
This was weird and really unlike any of the other Chichibu I have tried. I was told that the nose was a bit strange but that the actual body was quite tasty. I am not sure I agree. This is one of those drams whose flavor profile was just too wacky for me to really relax with— but weird enough that I could see myself one day craving to try again.
Complex spices roll across the palate; cinnamon, floral peppercorns, coriander, and slightly astringent chamomile tea. Pastry notes follow shortly offering a lovely hint of lightly roasted coffee or a brûléed sugar topping— it’s a cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven covered in a rich buttercream frosting.
Fire! Burning tar, a beach bonfire, a chemical fire, an oil lamp— where there is smoke there is fire. There are bits of corroded batteries— copper, chemical, and smelling a bit of rust. Lovely meat turning on a spit over an open flame. The smoke is vaguely salty and chemical, but more than anything it is sinus-clearlingly herbal.
Mellow and restrained, the palate is simple and the body is quite light. It is an easy drinker— a nondescript sweetness is backed by just a hint of smoke. Bits of ginger, orange, and tea give some complexity to the body with just a hint of cocoa near the end.
Pirates? Smugglers? Lovers? A three hour tour? Who exactly is going on the ‘night cruise?’
I love a good coastal, full flavored, heady maritime dram, the more the better— even a glass of briney sea water is not quite maritime enough for me. I never expected to run in to a dram that had too much maritime influence. This Old Pulteney may have crossed the line.
Like most triple distilled Lowland malts the body on this Auchentoshan is light, airy, and smooth. While I prefer something a bit thicker, the dram manages to be jam packed with flavor and complexity. It takes on a lot of rich sherry notes which combine well with some of the creaminess of the malt. While there is a lot to love here, I do think the light body does hold the dram back a bit and the finish is just not quite long enough.
An intriguing combination of peated malt from Scotland and Westland’s five malt blend, all distilled, casked, and aged in the Pacific Northwest. The result is a dram the combines some of the sweet honey and barley sugar of the Westland American Oak with the savory, slightly earthy, notes of a heavily peated Highland scotch.
The nose on this was excellent— I love funky cheese notes— it was salty with the perfect hint of sherry rich umami. The vinegar and burning oil provided a solid balance between the peat and sherry. This dram highlights the subtle virtues of a refill sherry cask.
