Category Archives: Whisky Reviews & Tasting Notes

Laphroaig 15 y.o. Review

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Laphroaig 15 y.o.lrgob_15yo

43% abv

Score:  91.5/100

 

Tasting a whisky like this is an exercise in heartbreak.  Forgive my overt sentimentality towards anything Islay, but irrespective of any personal biases, this really is a rather simple and beautiful whisky.  I’m blown away that the decision was made to remove this from the range.  While we did, of course, gain the spectacular 18 year old as a trade-off, I can think of no reason not to continue bottling some of the mature spirit at 15 years.  It’s quite evidently a sweet spot for Laphroaig.

First things first…

This whisky went the way of the dodo in mid 2008.  That was back when the current whisky bubble was still expanding, but had yet to reach the frightening state of inflation it’s currently at.  The importance of noting this lies in understanding that there would have been a lot less demand on mature stocks at the distillery, thereby allowing for more flexibility in selecting casks to marry in order to build a whisky like this.  In 2013, I’m 99% certain that a 15 year old malt is exactly that, whereas a few years back I’m betting the distiller had casks of all sorts of vintages at his disposal; the only restriction being that the youngest cask in the mix was not less than 15 years and a day.  Put simply…there are casks vatted in this bottling that are older than 15 years.

Laphroaig 15 was a fairly polarizing whisky when it was available.  I’m wondering now if that didn’t have more to do with the peat-o-philes out there being underwhelmed with the lack of ferocity in the phenols here.  If you’re expected that typical Laphroaig earthy, medicinal smokefest…forget it.  This is so much more.  But also, so much more restrained.

All in all…a fine whisky I really enjoyed.  No wonder Prince Charlie loves this stuff.  Said to be his favorite malt, I can only imagine he has more than a few bottles still squirrelled away.  Good sir, when one day you read this (and of course you will) perhaps you’d be so kind as to share a bottle with a friendly Canadian.  😉

A subtle and refined Laphroaig.  Austere and sublime.

Nose:  Very nice fruits.  A little peach and pear lingering behind a light gauze of smoke.  Vanilla cupcake, dusted with the fairest bit of nutmeg.  A touch of orange and maybe sweet pink grapefruit with sugar.  A gum-like note.  May be a little sherry influence, but I’m not certain.  Some salty/briny seawash notes.  Creamy vanilla.  The smoke is there, of course, but very restrained for a Laphroaig.  The toned down elegance here reminds me of the subtleties Ardbeg 17 is built on.

Palate:  A little drier now.  Some grassy notes and a left turn into some rather surprising white wine notes (Sauvignon blanc).  Chocolate.  Some smokiness and apple.  Generally I’d prefer a little more firepower in terms of abv, but 43% works just fine here.  Better nose than palate.

Thanks to our mate, Dan, for sharing this long gone gem with a small crew of the great unwashed at my place.

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  The Whisky Exchange

Glenfarclas 105 20 y.o. Review

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Glenfarclas 105 20 y.o.105 20

60% abv

Score:  91.5/100

 

The younger standard Glenfarclas 105, which I’m certain many of you have tried, succeeds primarily because of the youthful exuberance of its bold and unrestrained sherry.  Oftentimes though, you’ll find that younger whiskies still haven’t ironed out all their kinks.  While I certainly can’t say that that is the case with the afore-mentioned Glenfarclas 105, I can say that once you’ve tried that bold flavour profile it’s hard not to wonder what the whisky would be like with a few more years of maturation behind it.

Fortunately, the Grant family have allowed us that opportunity, in releasing the Glenfarclas 105 20 year old.  The same massive 60% abv…the same sexy dark hues, but in striking new packaging and with an entirely new market niche.  So…let’s have a look at what another 10-15 years in the cask does to this heavyweight sherried charmer.

Short answer…a lot.  This is a vastly different dram from the standard bottling.  The differences are a little deeper than simple variations on a theme too.  The younger edition is vibrant and lush, while this one bears a lot more dark, dry and monolithic heft.  Very much individual entities, both.  While immediately notably different, it took me a good while to wrap my head around this one and decide what exactly it was that worked here vs what worked on the younger 105.  Needless to say, it was an enjoyable session of nosing/tasting.

In the end…I’ll give the extra marks to this one.

Nose:  A lot of chocolate.  Much deeper and darker than its younger stable mate.  Cinnamon and old leather.  Some surprising floral notes.  More sulphur than I’m used to seeing on a Glenfarclas, though still not a lot.  The fruits (deep purples and reds…a la plum, raspberry, strawberry, prune) are buried beneath a roof of dark chocolate.  A deep inhalation is needed to really set ’em free.  After a while, when the sulphur note fades (and it does fade, if not quite disappearing), the nose is incredibly mature and sophisticated.  Distant waft of latex.  Cigar.

Palate:  Touch of sulphur again.  Very mouthcoatingly jammy; almost like a smear of mixed red berry jam and sticky toffee pudding across the roof and sides of the mouth.  This is so heavy it’s practically pulling the corners of my mouth down.  If only all malts had this texture.  Orange and raisin.  The palatal equivalent of dunnage warehouse aroma.

Took a while to score this one.  I would highly suggest a good ten minutes in the glass with the occasional swirl before giving this serious consideration.

Have I mentioned how much I love this distillery?

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Glenfarclas

Glenfarclas 105 Review

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Glenfarclas 105004

60% abv

Score:  90.5/100

 

Glenfarclas 105 was one of the first whiskies I ever shared notes for years ago when I first starting nattering online about whisky and such.  Much like looking back at your awkward teenage years, there’s an element of ‘oh dear gawd, really?’ when I looked back at the review and notes.

Also…it was an older batch from years back, so why not revisit, right?

Though it’s not very widely trumpeted, batch variation (let’s call it that, even though these aren’t really touted as ‘batch’ releases or anything) in the Glenfarclas 105 is as much a reality as it is the industry’s other true young sherried heavyweight, Aberlour a’bunadh.  It’s simply the nature of the game, and I’m ok with it.  Let’s allow these things to evolve.  Our insistence on consistency (with the exception of an insistence on consistent quality) is the reason we ended up with chill filtration, caramel colouring and homogenous blending practices.  Malt whisky is about strength of character, not conformity and subtlety.  Forget fitting in.

Glenfarclas is a Speyside distillery that enjoys unusually high esteem amongst those in the whisky spheres.  The long line of Georges and a John who have run this family-led operation through the generations have done an exceptional job of crafting a line of whiskies that have garnered them global accolades.  And rightfully so.  Traditional, quality and independence are all values held in esteem by the Grant family.

The ‘105’ in question here is actually in reference to the old British proofing system.  Whereas now this 60%’er would be considered 120 proof, under the old Brit way it was 105 proof.  Clear as mud?

This NAS (No Age Statement) release is a startlingly beautiful whisky.  Not my favorite, but exceptionally composed and one to be mulled over with plenty of time and good company.

For a unique tasting experience, try doing a horizontal tasting with this, the Aberlour a’bunadh and the Macallan Cask Strength.  That should fill your youthful sherry quotient for the year.

Nose:  The smell of empty, but wet wine barrels or sherry butts.  Fudge and milk chocolate give an overall éclair-like aroma.  Caramel pudding.  Berry puree.  Raisin and currants.  Espresso.  Pipe tobacco.  Cinnamon and sweet barley notes.  Strawberry rhubarb pie (sweet and tart).  Hint of marmalade.  Thick moist rummy fruitcake.  Touch Bovril or Beef Oxo.

Palate:  Somewhat leathery (odd, I know…sorta meaty, really).  Pepper over mincemeat.  Rum.  Cough syrup and coffee.  Eucalyptus.  Touch of hot rubber.  Wow, is this big.  Aenesthetizing.  Love it.

         

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Glen Grant 1970 (Duncan Taylor) Review

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Glen Grant 1970 (Duncan Taylor)018 (2)

48.5% abv

Score:  89/100

 

I’m starting to think that older Glen Grants are like Vanilla ice cream.  Always fairly pleasant, but sort of lacking the pizazz of, say…a Rocky Road or Tin Roof Sundae.  Maybe a better analogy is the ‘always a bridesmaid, never a bride’ motif. 

Let’s distill that one final step further (pun intended) and say that the older Glen Grants I’ve tried to date are rather mundane.  When you start tiptoeing back through the decades in terms of whisky vintages, those rarified older malts become rather frighteningly pricey.  I don’t necessarily have an issue with this, so long as the stuff in the bottle is akin to drinking angel’s tears and freshly-squeezed moonbeams. 

Glen Grant is one of the world’s best selling malts, and the distillery’s annual output of close to six million litres is staggering.  Obviously the whisky is good when it’s been massaged a bit, but that’s in a fit-for-purpose type scenario (i.e. many barrels vatted for single malts or the whisky being used for blending).  So how does the spirit hold up as a single cask (or small batch) bottling released by a third party?  In this situation there is almost no opportunity to hide any potential blemishes.  Barring something catastrophic happening, the company (Duncan Taylor, in this case) is almost obliged to release the stuff, and not take the multi-thousand pound loss.  Herein lies the danger in independent bottling. 

But as to the whisky at hand…

This is a fine old Glen Grant by Duncan Taylor.  Make no mistake.  It’s fruity and mature, pleasant and infinitely drinkable.  It’s simply not, however, what I need in return for an investment of 40 years and several hundreds of dollars.  Perhaps if you consider the cost as the price of admission to step back in time and taste a bit of history…fine.  Otherwise…

Nose:  Creamy.  Latex paint.  Some pineapple and soft orange fruits…but not really tropical.  Spice mix is the best part of this.  Cherry and cinnamon.  Touch of eucalyptus.  Right at the edge of being overcooked.  Hmmm…a few toes hanging over the edge actually.

Palate:  Nice arrival on spiced fruit and tasty oak.  Very nice fruits then changes direction quickly.  A little sharp…maybe too much wood.  A vague hint of smoke.

I’ve heard so, but I’m beginning to wonder if there is such thing as a stunning older Glen Grant.  Very much an example of older is not always better.

Thanks to my mate, Vikash, for the opportunity to sip at this one a couple of times now.  Cheers!

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Longmorn 16 y.o. Review

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Longmorn 16 y.o.002

48% abv

Score:  87.5/100

 

Longmorn.  Not a distillery from which we see a lot of original bottlings.  In fact, I’m not certain I’ve seen anything other than the 16 year old available here in Canada.  Being a part of the Pernod Ricard portfolio – and knowing that much of the distillery’s production winds up in blended whisky – has me immediately looking to Chivas as the logical explanation for this dearth of Longmorn releases.

Makes a sort of sense, I suppose.  A very solid single malt as a cornerstone for one of the world’s more recognizable blend names.  That’s just good math.  Shame though, as I always opine in these wee editorials (erm…diatribes?), that more of this whisky doesn’t hit the shelves furiously waving the banner for single malts.  Oh well.

The Longmorn distillery rests in Speyside, on the road between Rothes and Elgin.  Its rather unassuming profile boasts no real surprises, aside from exceptional quality, and this whisky sits very confortably in what I’d call a fairly ‘typical’ Speyside camp.

The distillery’s name, Longmorn, apparently comes from the Gaelic ‘Lhanmorgund’, and means ‘place of the holy man’, so named for St Marnan (or Marnoch), an early missionary canonized for carrying the gospel to this part of Scotland, and to whom a nearby chapel is dedicated.  The church was called Lann Marnoch, which, over time became Longmorn.  Linguistic morphology.  Gotta love it.  The distillery is said to be constructed at this historic site, with the warehouses in particular possibly situated in the very location of the former chapel and one-time pilgrimage site.

And this, my friends, is why I love Scotch whisky.  The history is palpable and beyond interesting.

Now how ’bout some tasting notes?

Nose:  A bit of jam.  Almond paste and a little caramel.  Meringue.  Cinnamon and pepper.  A little green grape.  Some very smooth notes of custard, tapioca or banana creme.  Faint florals.

Palate:  Some florals and jam again.  Peppery and spicy.  Like a slightly amped up Strathisla.  Gala apple and raisins.  Walnuts.  Touch of Fuzzy Peaches candy.  Barley only really shows up at the end. 

To be completely honest, at first I thought this to be a slightly forced and contrived malt.  The natural harmonies and sweet, unblemished profile not unlike an auto-tuned pop star’s infallibility.  On reflection however, I think this is simply a very well constructed dram.  48% and non chill filtered?  Speaks volumes to the triumph of execution over greed.  I’ve quite come ’round to this one. 

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Macallan Part 3…A Few Of The Oddballs

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themacallanlogo

So…after tackling some malts from the Fine Oak range and the Sherry Oak range – not to mention a brief detour to check out the new 1824 series – let’s move on into a few of the more ‘out there’ Macallans.  Think Duty Free, foreign market, one-offs, etc.  If and when you get the opportunity to try any of these, do not necessarily expect to recognize many of these as typical of the Macallan profile.  There’s a familiarity, sure, but these are by no means typical of the core range (or what used to be the core range, for that matter). 

As with the FO and SO features, let’s start here with notes on the Macallan New Make spirit.  Sort of a benchmark, if you will:  

 

Macallan New Make

Notes:  63% abv.  Crystal clear.

Nose:  Slight nuttiness.  Malty.  Fresh bitter fruit.  Rubbery acetone.  Metallic note somewhere in there.  Oh yeah…and some cereals.

Palate:  Fire water.  With a bit o’ citrus.  Estery.  Please put this waxy young thing into the rock tumbler (ahem…a fine sherry bucket) and knock those edges off.

Thoughts:  Unrecognizable as a Macallan really.  Shows you what the distillery’s wood policy really means.  Cool as hell to see this as a new make.

068

Macallan 12 Elegancia

Notes:  40% abv.  Fino and Oloroso casks.  1L for Duty Free.

Nose:  Malty and caramel sweet.  Sugary sherry and a bit of marzipan.  Toasted Marshmallow.  Yeasty rye bread.  Darkest roasted grains.  Peppery spice.

Palate:  Malty and not nearly as sweet as I’d expect from Oloroso influence.  Bit of an oaky nibble.  Some wine-ish notes.

Thoughts:  Maltier than I expected for something called ‘Elegancia’.  Slightly disappointing, but bad by no means.

047

Macallan 1851 Inspiration

Notes:  43.3% abv.

Nose:  Malt.  Kinda dank and dusty.  Citrus and leather.  Fruit and nut.  Clove and potpouri.

Palate:  Wham!  Thar’s that old school charm.  Made the hair on my wife’s arms stand up.  Grains are large.  As is the malty charm.

Thoughts:  Completely out of sync within the Macallan range.  This is not a comment regarding quality…simply an observation.  Good?  Meh.  Drinkable?  Absoloodle!  Weird?  F*ckin’ right!

 

Macallan ‘Whisky Maker’s Edition’

Notes:  42.8% abv.

Nose:  Vaguely yeasty and faintly malty.  Creamy and caramely.  Almond.  A heft of spice and smooooooooth chocolate.  Sweet…sweet…sweet!  Almost red licorice sweet.  Without knowing yet…this must be Oloroso.  And perhaps a smidge of florals in the background.

Palate:  Oaky…fruity…spicy.  Exactly what I’d expect.  Oh…and did I mention sweet?

Thoughts:  A whisky that just can’t quite deliver to the palate what the nose promises.  Comes out closer to a Balvenie than a Mac.  Odd, I know.  Not bad at all though.  I could happily revisit this one a time or three.

 

So, what’s next?  Think we’ll move on into the Macallan Travel Series.  Stay tuned…

 

– Words & Tasting Notes:  Curt

– Photos:  Curt

 

Laphroaig 10 y.o. Cask Strength (Batch 002) Review

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Laphroaig 10 y.o. Cask Strength (Batch 002)138

56.3% abv

Score:  89.5/100

 

About time we had another run at Laphroaig, aye?  Any opportunity to butt heads with this bludgeoning, lumbering beast is a welcome respite from the mundanity of day-to-day.

While some may fret at the lack of consistency in single cask or small batch bottlings, I love ’em.  There’s an element of excitement and anticipation since, to crib everyone’s favorite Gump-ism, y’never know what you’re gonna get.  There’s no room for stagnation.  And yes…I get that it’s nice to have a few go-to dependable drams, but at the end of the day…life is short.  I like change.

Enough drivel.  Here’s Batch 002 of Laphroaig 10 y.o. Cask Strength.  And, as expected, it’s an elemental monster.   Laphroaig releases are never really a surprise (until you discover the depth of fruits in some of the older expressions, that is), but they’re also never really the same from release to release.  There’s a framework, or skeleton of course, but the dressing is always a little different, much like Ardbeg.  These minor tweaks and quirks are what keeps me coming back to what is arguably Islay’s most unrestrained peat monster.   

Further…it’s hard not to give Laphroaig a bit of extra credit when most of their releases are bottled at 48% abv or higher, but taking that additional step in bottling at barrel strength elevates my appreciation a notch further.  It’s a dram made for those who appreciate bold flavours and intense experiences.  This natural, naked state is what whisky should be.

Pretty sure Batch 001 was just slightly better, and I also recall several drams of Batch 004 really warming our rainsoaked selves at the distillery a few months back, but that doesn’t diminish the impact here.  This is a damn fine whisky.  If you can find it…buy it.

BTW…not really certain how exactly the batch numbering works with these Laphroaigs.  As you can see by photo above, this is a Batch 002 at 56.3% abv.  I have also seen Batch 002 releases at 58.3%.  Ummmmm…ok.  Wouldn’t that inherently make it a different batch?  Any clarification that anyone out there can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Nose:  Peat n’ pepper.  Briny and fishy notes.  Smoke, o’ course.  Iodine, and yes…medicinal notes.  Lemon and lime.  Rubber bands.  Green ju-jubes.  Slightly flinty.  Surprisingly sweet.  Salt licorice.

Palate:  Smoky and sweet and lots of peat.  Tar and rubber…like bicycle tire.  Some sweet sherry notes, methinks.  A little bitter.  Licorice again with a LOT of lemon.  Fennel and green apple skins.  Turns slightly white wine-ish on the palate.  Very, VERY lingering.

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Review

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Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7002

40% abv

Score:  75.5/100

 

I expected to lambaste this one.  I mean like gloves off…’mama said knock you out’ kinda shit.  It only seemed right, seeing as how many times Jack Daniel’s laid me out when I was younger.  Kinda like a Rocky Balboa comeback.  Call this a sort of rematch, if you will.

Years removed, however, I still approach this one with a sort of trepidation.  The reputation of JD does not rest on its laurels as an evening armchair dram, if you know what I’m saying.  It’s more like snake venom, nitroglycerin and biker sweat distilled over the fires of hell and matured in the skulls of massive rabid timberwolves.  I think.

To be fair though…I was never exactly ‘sipping’ this drink in previous ‘tete-a-tetes’.  It was more like an Indiana Jones temple run trying to get the liquid into my stomach (and bloodstream) without it actually making contact with either my taste buds or gag reflex.  Now…this many years later…I’m quite surprised by Jack Daniel’s.  I started on this stuff when I was about 13 or so and trying to be tough (sorry mom).  It was always about getting sloshed on mickeys of this stuff in secrecy.  Sorry, JD…you deserved a bit more respect, I realize in hindsight.  Though I gotta be honest…we had some good times back then, you and I.

This firewater, produced in the wee locale of Lynchburg Tennessee, has become what it has – the world’s best selling American whiskey – largely due to the badass reputation cultivated by debaucherous rawk stars and bingeing celebs, but to be honest, in a parallel world (any of you into quantum physics?), this could be marketed differently and absolutely succeed on its own merit.  Albeit with much decreased sales stats, I imagine.  Aging rawk stars…carry on.

Prior to it’s cask slumber, the whiskey itself is filtered through sugar maple charcoal.  Perhaps this is key in differentiating JD from the others.  Who knows?  Either way…there’s no mistaking this for anything else out there.

Old No. 7 isn’t my preferred flavour profile, but I can’t fault the whiskey for that.  While I won’t be rushing out for another bottle anytime soon, I have to admit this poison ain’t bad.

Nose:  Spice, particularly cinnamon.  Dark vanilla.  Orange zest.  Pepper.  Sweet, smoky barbeque notes.  Toasted and charred.  Hint of florals.  Cherry.  Slightly smoky caramel.  Touch of citrus.  And yes…as you may have read elsewhere…there are indeed hints of coconut.

Palate:  A touch of peach and apple at first, then some waxy notes with caramel.  Big smoky wood notes.  Vanilla again.  Begins to dry out and fades into corn husk and apple skin.

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Glen Scotia 16 y.o. Review

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Glen Scotia 16 y.o.020

46% abv

Score:  75.5/100

 

Is the Glen Scotia distillery producing gin in between whisky runs?  Seriously.  I ask this not to be facetious, but because I am truly at a loss with this whisky.  I have never encountered a profile as obtuse and irreconcilable as this 16 year old single malt from Campbeltown.

Before saying any more, let’s get it out front:  this whisky noses and tastes like it was distilled right after a batch of gin, with no cleansing of the spirit still in between runs.  All of those bold juniper notes so prevalent in gin are weighing this one down like a fat kid on a seesaw.  There is no counterbalance here.  It’s sharp…it’s certainly unique…and it’s absolutely not my cup of tea.  (Or whisky)

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying this is bad.  I’m simply saying it is bad for me.  Splitting hairs maybe, but you never know what others will like.  This is just not all that ‘malt whisky’-ish to me.  More like some kinda funky hybrid.  Perhaps I’m being a little obtuse myself now, but this one veers a little too far from what I know and imagine Scotch to be.

Anyway…some credit where credit is due.  This release is part of the revamped Glen Scotia range, weighing in at a healthier 46% abv and bearing a bold ‘non-chill-filtered’ tag front and center on the packaging.  Right direction, guys.  We thank you for it. 

And finally…speaking of packaging…wow…a mention for some of the most gawdawful packaging I’ve ever see.  This nasty opaque high-gloss tin and bottle, featuring the glowering mug of a shaggy-ass long haired Highland Cow, should be cause to reevaluate the output of your marketing department.  I can’t stress enough how tacky this looks on a shelf next to the rather elegant and austere packaging of most single malt whiskies.  Good thing I’m not one of those that feel packaging plays any part in the actual scoring of a malt. 

Anyway…the bottles in this range, stretching from 10-21 years, each feature this same image, but with a different color scheme for each expression, supposedly showing the beast under variations of the Northern Lights.  Ok, then.  Clever…I guess.

Nose:  Heavy, heavy botanical notes, primarily juniper (but citrus, anise and maybe cardamom too).  Very gin-like.  Vanilla oakiness.  Some fresh pepper tingle.  Lemon zest.  Freshly squeezed orange juice.  Dusty grain.  Cheap chocolate.  Salty greens.

Palate:  Lemon and barley.  Again…very gin-like.  Threads of chocolate.  There’s something slightly bitter and over-toasted here too.  Fades on oak, grain and a dry banana pith note.

I’d like to say that it’s better than the notes above make it out to be, but…it’s not.

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

BenRiach 1983 Cask #298 (KWM Exclusive) Review

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BenRiach 1983 Cask #298 (KWM Exclusive)166

44.2% abv

Score:  92/100

 

Oh, wow.  Here we go again.  Nice to see that some of the magic this distillery captured in the ’70s is spilling over into the ’80s.  As those older expressions become more and more scarce, seeing this transferrance of quality bodes well for future ‘well-aged’ malts to come from BenRiach.

This 1983, exclusive to Calgary’s Kensington Wine Market, is a prime example.  Closing in on 30 years old, this whisky is a fruit bomb in a bottle.  Quite frankly, I’m a little surprised to see such a bevy of tropical notes coming out of this decade.  This is a characteristic I’ve most closely associated with a past age culminating primarily in the 1970s.  Goes to show that good spirit in good wood = great whisky.

In a recent whisky club event, this one went head-to-head with eight other rather exceptional BenRiach single casks and, at the end, was one of the overwhelming favorites, beating out older whiskies and showing aruably the greatest cask influence.  Good cask selection from the fine folk at KWM.

In the photo above, this release is the fourth from the left.

Nose:  Orange is the primary fruit, followed by pineapple, but there’s a Carmen Miranda fruit hat worth of sweetness here.  Notes of Cinnzeo cinnamon buns.  Honeydew and cantaloupe.  The creamiest of high quality French vanilla ice cream drizzled with caramel.  Touch of cherry too, much like a topping for the afore-mentioned sundae.  A mate mentioned maple syrup in his tasting notes, and I can see it.  A beautifully mature and balanced nose.

Palate:  Fruit salad in syrup.  The melons again.  A touch of cinnamon here too with a bit of oak (kinda like those cinnamon toothpicks).  Dulce de leche.  Coconut and pineapple with a little pepper.  Delicate, but still assertive.  DO NOT ADD WATER.

Closing thoughts…

Let me be crude for a moment:  This is a fucking great price for this whisky.  Go see Andrew down at Kensington Wine Market for one of these before they’re gone.  I know that at this point there are only a couple dozen left out of a total 233 bottles.  $200 for this bottle is an absolute steal.

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt