Category Archives: Whisky Reviews & Tasting Notes

Johnnie Walker King George V Review

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Johnnie Walker King George V038

43% abv

Score:  92.5/100

 

Take ye olde Johnnie Walker Blue Label.  Amp up the ratio of great to mediocre component whiskies.  Increase the average age of a few of those various casks.  Dial up the smoke a notch or two (apparently through the inclusion of some rare old Port Ellen).  Dust it all with a hefty sprinkling of complexity, the likes of which the Blue Label could only dream.  Give it a sleek and luxury-style packaging that even the LVMH folks would swoon for.  Triple (or quadruple) the price point.  Voila!  Johnnie Walker King George V.

Seriously, though.  This is damn sexy whisky.  Obviously marketed more towards the affluent upper crust than we punters, it’s definitely one that will take a swipe at your bank account if you plan to shelve a bottle.  But let’s not dwell on that for now.  Anyone who is looking to buy a $700 bottle of blended whisky probably isn’t too worried about that $700 in the first place.  Not to mention that taking price out of the equation is imperative to scoring and reviewing any whisky.  While it’s certainly fair game to weigh in on value for money, I kinda think the scores should only reflect the sustenance of spirit.

I’d also argue that these sorts of releases are aimed more at the luxury class in general, than at the average whisky enthusiast.  There is a prestige association here that supercedes the love of Scotch.  But that’s ok.  Malt snobs, sadly,  are not likely to be the ones reaching for this anyway, simply due to the ‘blend’ appellation and the name Johnnie Walker.  The reality is, though, they would be wrong.  There’s as much to love here as there is in the upper tiers of single malt splendour.  This whisky is the blenders’ art taken to heights rarely seen.  And in all likelihood…even more scarcely replicated.

Brilliant whisky.  Simple as that.

One final thought…

It’s not often (if ever) that most of us will encounter a blended whisky at anything but a normalized alcoholic strength, but man…to imagine what this King George could have scored at cask strength is staggering in its possibilities. 

Nose:  Smoke.  Creme caramel.  Dusty books.  Allspice.  Orange (fruit and zest).  Old wood shavings…maybe pencil shavings, at that.  Leather chairs and warm suede.  A hint of salt and some cereal notes.  Caramel.  Such an incredibly tight weave.

Palate:  Leather again here.  Smoke and mild earthy peatiness.  Slightly coastal.  Polished oak.  Spiced apple pie.  Smoky caramel.  Just a hint of fruitcake.  Apple skins.  A tad thin, but the flavours are fantastic. 

Thoughts:  This is such a well made dram that it would almost hit my desert island list.  Not because it’s one of the all time greats, but because it is so utterly appealing for almost every scenario I can conceive of.  Ok…it IS one of the all time greats.  More ‘Islay’ here than expected too.  ‘Classic’ single malt profile…but VERY high end.

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

-Photo:  Curt

Kilbeggan Review

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Kilbeggan005

40% abv

Score:  74/100

 

Amazing how similar the words ‘blend’ and ‘bland’ are when you really get down to it. 

This Kilbeggan NAS release seems to be the flagship of this particular range out of County Louth’s Cooley distillery in the Eastern climes of Ireland.  Kilbeggan also produces 15 and 18 year variants from what I’ve read, but on Canadian soil they’re either non-existent or as rare as our camera-shy local celebs, the sasquatch and Ogopogo.  Having said that…if the profiles of those two drams are much in keeping with that of this NAS offering I doubt I’ll be scouring far and wide for ’em.

I don’t want to get too down on this one, ’cause it’s not an offensive whiskey by any means.  If you’re a fan of Irish whisky in its entry-level incarnations (Jameson, Bushmills, etc), I’m sure you’ll find this almost as drinkable.  My own personal gripe with this one is simply that it’s just far too run-of-the-mill and unabashedly underripe.  Young whiskey is fine…so long as the spirit is of highest quality and it boasts a profile that is hitting high notes in its infancy (big cask strength sherry bombs and peat monsters immediately spring to mind).

I should also note that when a bottle such as this is labeled as ‘our finest blend’, it doesn’t exactly light my fire for much else in the range.  Just sayin’. 

Nose:  Sharp, crisp and clean grain.  Youngish, but rather decent blending, I’d say.  Very light fruits.  Citrus zest.  floral or perfumed.  Almost rye-like spices (just big clean grains, I think?).

Palate:  Oh, wait.  What happened here?  Very drying.  Sauvignon blanc.  Walnut and Brazil nuts.  Raw grains.  Not bad, but I wouldn’t say this is something I’d really ever reach for.  Grassy and tea-like at the back end.

Thoughts:  All that was promised on the nose falls flat on the palate.  Sooooo disappointing.  Light enough to suit those unaccustomed to the inticacies of Scotch single malt, I suppose, but those who have a more demanding palate will be shouldering this one aside for something with a little more complexity.

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Connemara 12 y.o. Review

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Connemara 12 y.o.003

40% abv

Score:  82.5/100

 

Connemara’s NAS standard offering is a unique and interesting addition to the canon of Irish whiskey.  It’s youth though almost becomes an ingredient in and of itself, providing a razor thin profile of almost ‘too clean’ grains.

Now we’re looking at what I assume is the same malt a few years down the path to maturity.  I came at this one expecting the peated apple and leather profile to be slightly more muted…the grains to be a little less up front…and a little more oak to be forefront.  That doesn’t seem to be quite where this one ended up, but it’s not toooooo  far off either.  Let’s call it a progression on a theme.

Again we have a double distilled, peated Irish single malt.  All sorts of seemingly oxymoronic word jumbles there, but mixing it up a bit is ever a good thing.  Points to Connemara (Cooley distillery) for added something fun to our drinking repertoire.

AT the end of the day though, what the senses tell us about what’s in the glass is all that matters.  In this case it’s a whiskey with a hell of a surprising nose (in all the right ways!) and a rather disappointing palate.  These are always the greatest letdowns.  Still very decent, but feels a bit like an undelivered promise. 

Nose:  Peat.  Pepper.  Chocolate.  Grape.  Apple.  More fruits.  Leather.  Salty.  Just a hint of putty.  Noses bigger then 40%.  …and almost like a youngish Springbank/Hazelburn somehow (WTF?!).  Very, very nice nose.  Smells older than 12 years.

Palate:  Peat.  Pepper.  Slightly nutty again.  Ok…more than slightly.  Like licking leather.  White wine influence.  Grains at the back end with some grass.

Thoughts:  Great nose.  Not as great on the palate.  Still good, but I wish the dialogue betwixt the nose and the palate was a little more…coherent.

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Connemara Peated Single Malt Review

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Connemara Peated Single Malt131

40% abv

Score:  81/100

 

Peated Irish whiskey from the Cooley distillery in County Louth, Ireland.  Yep.  Peated Irish whiskey.  Somewhat of an anomaly, this.  It’s not often you’ll encounter peated whiskey coming out of  the Emerald Isle.  Fun stuff. 

First things first…this is a rewrite of a review from several years back.  (Anyone remember sister site, Liquorature, where this whole blog thing originated from?)  I thought it was high time to write some slightly updated tasting notes and pretty the whole thing up a bit.  Lipstick on a pig, if you will (I refer to my own writing, not the whiskey).  Anyway…

Irish whiskey is typically – though not always – triple distilled.  This is one of the truly defining characteristics of the style and region.  It is often recognized (and occasionally lauded) for its clean, sharp and fruity barley sugar profile.  Unfortunately it is also known (fairly or otherwise) to be primarily bottled at a meager 40% (or thereabouts), chill-filtered and pumped out in massive young batches.  Again, though…not always.  Connemara, however, is a double distilled Irish whisky, putting it more in league with its Scottish brethren (successors?).  Double distilled and peated, huh?  Ok, then.  Let’s explore this a little further…

This is really clean peat.  Considering Islay is a mere 30 miles off the coast of Ireland, it’s sort of surprising how different the DNA of the bog is.  It’s more leathery and lacking all of the briny, medicinal and tarry notes so prevalent in Scotland’s most infamous smoky drams.  This earthy, peaty blanket sits like a heavy leather drape over a basket of fruit and soft grains.  Personally, I think the fruits and grains are pushing back against the peat.  It’s not really all working together.  Not a bad whisky overall, but a bit of a conundrum that’s keeping me puzzling a bit.

Nose:  Leather, green apples and peat.  All three in abundance.  Soft sugar cookie notes cushion the seeming youth.  Honey and heather.  Some slightly floral notes.  A touch barny too.  Horse blanket.

Palate:  Drying and nutty.  Peat.  Apple skins.  Honey.  Thick, fresh pressed apple juice mixed with smoky distiller’s beer (wash).  More apple skins.  Somewhat wine-y.  Putty.  Grassy finish.

Thoughts:  I’m not entirely convinced the peat is really working here.  Would love to try this whisky sans the bog influence.  There’s a lot of good stuff going on though.  The peat and sweet never seem to dance in step, seeming somehow at odds.

         

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Bushmills Black Bush Review

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Bushmills Black Bush007

40% abv

Score:  79/100

 

Ok, my juvenile friends.  Quit chuckling over the rather…ummmm…questionable choice of name and let’s just get into the whiskey itself, what say? 

Black Bush.  A blended Irish whiskey from a distillery I’ve carried on a near two decade love affair with.  Bushmills holds pride of place in my wee shriveled heart, simply due to an abundance of great memories and sentimental attachments.  While I can’t suppress my own personal affinity for the dram, hopefully I can provide an accurate sense of what’s in here and a score reflective of the true quality and character of the whiskey.

As far as blended whiskies go, this is rock solid.  It brings a little more character than most of the caramel-driven homogeneity that typically weighs down the blends section in most spirit shops.  Having said that…it’s certainly no extrovert in terms of trumpeting an overtly unique profile either.  That’s fine though.  I don’t believe most folks reaching for the blend are looking for a challenge.  More likely just something that promises to be easy-drinking and bears a smooth and sweet character.  Black Bush definitely ticks the boxes (laying it on pretty thick with the sweetness, I might add), and delivers a dram of broad commercial appeal.

And that’s the crux (and for some, the rub).  The flavour junkies, Scotch snobs and connoisseurs are likely to be looking elsewhere, as this one is just a little too pedestrian for the more advanced palate.  GIev it a go, though.  You might surprise yourself.  Well made is still well made.

I personally l lean towards the Original or the 16 year when drinking Bushmills.  Maybe that will change when I lay paws on the 1608 or the 21 year in coming days.  Bear with me…

Nose:  Grape.  A lot of grape.  Nutmeg and cinnamon in bread dough.  Creamy caramel latte.  Pepper.  Some florals.  There is a LOT of balance on the nose here.  Almost hard to pick apart actually.  Great composition.  Hmmmm…in short, kinda like a mixed berry scone with a dusting of light spices.

Palate:  Grape again.  Into clean cereals.  Honey.  Some big influence from sherry cask blending, I’d guess, just by following the rollercoaster development of this one.  High grain component here, I think.  Very thin, but mouthwateringly juicy.

Thoughts:  A little anemic and lacking in oomph, but seriously drinkable.  Great mix of uber clean and sweet and fruity.  This is a throw-the-cork-away kinda drink.  Hard to get excited about, not special in any way, but easy to quaff.

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

 

Longrow Rundlets & Kilderkins Review

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Longrow Rundlets & Kilderkins075

57.1% abv

Score:  89.5/100

 

This Longrow was the second in Springbank’s run of ‘Rundlets & Kilderkins’ releases, following on the heels of the Springbank, and preceding the Hazelburn.  All, of course, produced at Campbeltown’s Springbank distillery.

Rundlets & Kilderkins, for those of you out there who may have been as ignorant as I was when this came out, are barrel sizes for both wine and beer, respectively.  These are smaller type casks used primarily for accelerated maturation, much in the vein of the quarter cask line of thinking, wherein a smaller barrel elicits greater spirit to wood contact.

I had already assumed the whisky would be good…hey, this is Springbank, after all…so I guess the only real surprise for me is that this is not over-oaked, assuming the spirit spent its entire life in said wee barrels.  At 11 years old, this is a sassy drink.  Well-executed.  Sadly limited to a mere 9,000 bottles.  Hopefully this will be a recurring release.

Nose:  Lots of peat, pepper and smoke.  This is an old school and beautifully aggressive nose.  Like a charming old pugilist with a busted up nose and cauliflower ears.  Love it!  Leather and camphor.  Synthetic fruits a la chewy candies (not gummy, mind, but more like Ju-Jubes or something).  Bird’s custard.  A touch of caramelized grilled pineapple.  Quite an old fashioned malt with some very farm-like notes.

Palate:  Great peaty and smoky arrival.  Sweet and thick, and more…creamy, if you believe that?!  Slightly tannic.  Farmy straw notes again.  Sweet artificial fruitiness again.  Licorice, but not the black variety most will think of.  More like chewing on licorice root.  Into some dry grassy notes.  Good rollercoaster development.  Long finish.

Thoughts:  Longrow is a whisky that is almost sublime at 18 years or so, but still manages to shine in its rollicking youth.  Case in point in the R&K.  Odd age to bottle at, yes, but the whisky don’t lie.  Hoping, hoping, hoping for a second edition.

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Springbank 18 y.o. (2011) Review

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Springbank 18 y.o. (2011)barry's place pics 079

46% abv

Score:  89.5/100

 

Another absolutely classy malt from Springbank.  This is where the distillery really shines.  The spirit ages very well, and the distillery has managed a great cask policy over the years (sadly, not the case with their warehousing of mature stocks).  Not sure how much the traditional approach taken by Spingbank has to do with the overall quality of the product, but the two seem to walk hand-in-hand, so I’ll make my own assumptions.

Doesn’t matter though.  What does matter is that this is a damn fine  dram.  Even now, in this age of overarching mature malt shortages, this one has still been held to a high standard of quality.  If you DO manage to get your hands on a bottle of an older edition though…wow.  That really is something special.

Nose:  A smoky and ‘old timey’ malter.  A fair bit of pepper.  Slightly barnyard farmy.  Smells of warm rubber bands.  Pastry shells.  Anise.  Not as fruity as I’d hoped for.  Just a touch ashy.  Still a very charming and ‘throwback’ style of malt.

Palate:  Great body and presence.  Smoked caramel.  Some spicy, woody and leathery notes.  Malty grains (and maybe multi-grains?).  Some pepper and citrus.  Some nifty savoury notes.  Touch of ouzo.  More smoke to’ards the back end.  Great development.

Thoughts:  Good old fashioned whisky.  The older variant was better (and much more fruit-rich), but this new one is still a keeper.  Hopefully mature Springbank is slumbering away in the Campbeltown warehouses, ’cause quite frankly old Springbank is sexy.

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Octomore 3.1 Review

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Octomore 3.1007

59% abv

Score:  90/100

 

Man…I almost feel like I need to shout over the incredible volume of this malt.  This is a loud, loud whisky.  And that, of course, is a good part of its charm and appeal.

Bruichladdich Octomore.  There is no other single malt in Scotland that is nearly as successful at five years old.  Peat monsters work quite well in their youth, as we’ve discussed, and this is no exception.  Version 3.1 (sounding much more like a web release, than a batch number) is a beautifully clean drink.  Phenolic and bordering on one dimensional, yes, but sometimes just sticking with what you know…and doing it better than anyone else…is more than enough.

Quick recap:  Bruichladdich is the current undisputed heavyweight champ in the ever escalating peat wars.  This particular edition of Octomore boasts a pre-distillation phenol count of 152 parts per million, though more contemporary batches have ratcheted that up a notch further to 167 ppm.  What actually ends up in the glass is a story for another day (and perhaps written by someone with a bit better grasp of chemistry than I), but rest assured any edition of Octomore is a beastly dram.

Octomore is so much more than just an exemplification of a novel concept though.  It has defined a contemporary style for flavour junkies and extremists.  It has towered above others through persona alone, but has always been able to fall back on the reality that this is damn good distillate in its own right.  A clean spirit cut married to great oaken barrels.  End of story.  Having said all of that, and acknowledged Bruichladdich’s status atop the pile, I’m sincerely hoping that rumours of an impending Ardbeg Supernova 2014 make the competition interesting again.  Fingers crossed. 

Nose:  Smoke.  And more smoke.  Damp, dark and vegetal.  Buttery.  Moist dark soil.  Immensely farmy.  Very strong dark chocolate.  Cola.  Smoke.  Lemon.  Tarry Asphalt and rubber.  Wet, sooty ash…and rock.  Sweeter than you’d imagine, but not really fruity.

Palate:  Lapsang Souchong tea.  Earthy, damp smoke.  And, paradoxically, big black billows of dry smoke as well.  Some anise.  Lemon.  Butterscotch.  a lot of peaty influence, to be expected.  Like mouth-breathing when you take a chilly morning walk in Bowmore (anyone who has been there will know that smoky tang in the village air).

Thoughts:  Very much an Octomore.  Exactly what I had hoped for when I picked this one up.  Begs the question now…why am I ever without a bottle of this stuff open?  One of the best young malts on the market, and far from just a novelty.  But, hey…I’m just a peathead.  To quote ‘Sid and Nancy’:  “Never trust a junkie.”

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Ardbeg Auriverdes Review

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Ardbeg Auriverdes001

49.9% abv

Score:  91.5/100

 

I doubt there’s a ‘buzzier’ whisky out there right now.  Even still…and much as usual…we’re a little late to the party.  I did get to try a couple drams of this on release day, but am only now getting ’round to sharing some proper tasting notes and personal thoughts.  Oh well.  I’m not even remotely worried about being first with these reviews; just the last one standing.  😉

Let’s take it back to square one for a moment or two.  Each year at the end of May/beginning of June Ardbeg takes the whisky world by storm, launching their latest novelty limited release.  A couple years back was the eponymous ‘Ardbeg Day’.  Last year’s release was given the appellation of ‘Ardbog’.  And this year we have ‘Auriverdes’.  The linguists out there (of which I am not one) may recognize the roots of this one in the Latin ‘auri’ for gold and ‘verdes’ for green.  Aside from the immediate and obvious connotations (gold liquid in the green bottle), there’s a deeper resonance with this choice of name.

2014 is the year of the World Cup (in fact, we’re smack dab in the middle of WC fever as I write this).  This year’s host nation is Brazil, whose team’s nom de guerre just happens to be…yep…’Auriverdes’.  Clever cheeky folks at Ardbeg, huh?  Ok, ok…the Ardbeg to football connection may be tenuous at best, but we’ll let it slide so long as the end product is a good ‘un.  But we’ll get to that momentarily.

Here in Calgary this year, our local Ardbeg Embassy and regional distillery representation pulled together a hell of an Ardbeg Day celebration.  This was a joint effort between local LVMH representation (Charton Hobbs) and Calgary’s Unquestionable whisky champion (Andrew Ferguson).  I won’t get into all details here, but before the day culminated in popping the cork on four and a half litres of ‘Auriverdes’, there was riot of an Ardbeg Day football (soccer) game, pitting team ‘Auri’ against team ‘Verdes’.  Sad to say I can’t report that the good guys won (i.e. the team captained by yours truly) but that’s ok…I’ve always been more of an antihero kinda guy, myself.  Either way…a very memorable occasion and launch for a very memorable dram.

Ok…media blitzing and marketing buzz aside…what makes this new evolution in the Ardbeg canon stand out?  A new ‘innovation’ in the handling of the cask heads this time.  Apparently one barrel end was lightly toasted to release more of a light vanilla influence, while the opposite was more heavily charred to elicit darker coffee-like notes.  The cynic in me would like to elicit a hearty and dismissive ‘pfffft‘, but the simple fact is…you can’t argue with results.  If that really was what was intended all along, it was a heartily realized experiment.  The whisky does indeed carry these very characteristics, and quite at the forefront too.

Auriverdes is a return to a more mature (though I don’t believe this is all that advanced in terms of actual years) and somewhat lighter style.  It takes me back to the Airigh Nam Beist from a few years ago.  And I have to say that I like it much.  VERY much.

Nose:  Sweet, sweet peat.  And smoke, of course.  Anise…fennel.  Salt, pepper and ginger.  A substantial lime note.  Touch of lemon too.  Honeydew melon and other soft, faint fruits.  Quite creamy.  Those coffee/mocha notes that are being advertised everywhere are indeed here.  With quite some vanilla as well.  Ice cream-ish.  Love the oak notes; those both fresh and burnt to ash.  Great nose all around.

Palate:  More lemon, with licorice, tar and damp ash.  Surprisingly sweet and soft.  Gentle smoke (well…gentle for someone accustomed to Ardbeg’s usual fare).  Lively wood notes.  Sharp coffee and dark chocolate (but not too heavy on these notes).  Much going on here.  Neat citric back end (is that grapefruit?!?).  Also…more medicinal than I generally find Ardbeg.

Thoughts:  Great balance on this one.  A softer Ardbeg than the last few releases.  And surprisingly…all the better for it.  The nose, in particular, is lovely.  Again…closer in style to the Airigh Nam Beist, I think.  Will have to try the two side-by-side.

 

– Reviewed by: Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Springbank Cask 450 Review

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Springbank Cask 450044

46% abv

Score:  87.5/100

 

Here’s an odd Springbank.  Not one you’re likely to find easily and not not one you’re bound to hear much about either.  Tracking down details on this one is like hunting for hen’s teeth.  Call me lazy, but I’m simply not willing to do spend a whole whack of time trying to suss out details on a malt that was a very limited run, and is really only being written up for vanity.

It’s an official Springbank distillery bottling.  15 or 16 years old.  Bourbon cask matured.  And that’s about it.  Good enough for this guy, except I guess I’ll take the opportunity to remark on the rather mundane (and let’s face it…bloody boring) packaging.  Oh well.  True beauty is that which comes from within (so sayeth us ugly ducklings).

This bottle was picked up locally here in Calgary for a gent’s night with a few of my good mates.  It was a rather surprising affair, being a little bit less instantly endearing than most expressions from Campbeltown’s best distillery, but a pleasant malt nevertheless.  The straight bourbon cask maturation makes this one a bit unique.  Not one for the ages, but certainly does the trick today.

Nose:  Peat and smoke.  Chewy red candy.  A little bit salty.  Old dunnage warehouse notes.  Prickly cracked white pepper.  Good rye toast with butter.  Good mix of spice and old wood.  Crunchy bartlett pear and some apple.

Palate:  Immediately peaty with iodine and green apple.  Thick and syrupy delivery.  A Bovril meatiness meets dried fruits.  Quite a spicy tang to it.  A better nose than palate, but still decent here as well

Thoughts:  I think maybe the simplicity of the wood allows the peat to show through a little bigger than we’re used to from Springbank.  You’ll undoubtedly find better Springbanks out there, but this is still a neat one to try.

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt