Reviews of scotch and world whiskies by a history professor, his wife, bird, and three cats.

St. George Single Malt; Batch 16

St. George Single Malt; Batch 16

Whisky : St. George Single Malt; Batch 16

Country/Region : US/California

ABV : 43%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon, French Oak, Port, Sherry

Age : 4 year (4-10 year vatting)

Nose : Fruity and rich— dark cherries, hard grape candy, dark caramel, and pipe tobacco soaked velvet upholstered furniture.  Lovely notes of rich mahogany wood and supple leather.

Palate : Light body with rich notes of pastries, sugar and toast.  Light roasted coffee, malty toasted bread, olive oil and herb focaccia bread, and sugary kouigan-amann pastries.  Dried floral notes build over time along with the floral quality of Earl Grey tea.

Finish :  Medium length with pressed lavender flowers and a bit of fruity melted candy.


Score : 6

Mental Image : Redwall Mouse Elderflower Liquor

Something Similar : Fettercairn 11 Year SMWS 94.5 (similar olive oil, florals, malt, more earth)

Something Worse : Linkwood 29 Year SMWS 39.180 (similar tea/floral earl grey, more fruits)


Notes :   I was told to expect something weird from this dram— and boy it was pretty strange.  Loaded with florals and verging on rose, this embodied high tea in a flower garden.  However, the mental image on this comes from my wife, who loved Redwall as a kid and imagined this was a floral Mouse distilled spirit.  It was weird, but it was pretty delicious.  I loved the blend of toasted— not quite charred— notes along with malt and pastry.  I look forward to trying more of the St. George single malts in the future and I love their longtime contribution to single malt distillation in North America.

If I could change anything about this dram, I wish there was a bit more body to it.  It feel pretty light across the palate and did not linger nearly as long as I wanted it to.  I would love to try this at a bit higher abv., just to see how that changes things.  Overall, it is a solid dram with an interesting and unique flavor profile.

Amrut Spectrum 005

Amrut Spectrum 005

Auchenstoshan 18 Year SMWS 5.71 “Elbow patches and saucy librarians”

Auchenstoshan 18 Year SMWS 5.71 “Elbow patches and saucy librarians”