Month: July 2014

Whisky #172 – New World Whisky Distillery, Starward Single Malt Whisky

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IMG_3419New World Whisky Distillery, Starward Single Malt. Essendon, Victoria, Australia. ABV: 43.00%. Tasted at home, $72 (bottle).

Colour: Deep amber, like an amber ale.  It looks a little like a sherry-matured whisky (even though it’s not).

Nose: Toffee; almost some very subtle stewed meat aromas too.

Palate: A big dose of mixed spice, pepper and tingle at the front of the mouth announces the entrance of a very complex and enjoyable dram. Syrupy dried fruit flavours abound too.

Finish: Some sweet meaty flavours to conclude, plenty of oak and residual heat too. Long delicious fade.

Comments: Who would have thought a whisky produced in suburban Melbourne, Australia, could be so complex and stunning? It’s the best concoction to come out of Essendon since the Bombers started dabbling in peptides! Amazing value, love to support our Australian producers too – do yourself a favour and grab a bottle.  You won’t be disappointed, in fact you’ll be very pleasantly surprised!

Whisky #171 – Mackillop’s Choice 1986 Dalmore Cask Strength Single Malt

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IMG_3416Mackillop’s Choice 1986 Dalmore Cask Strength Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 55.9%. Tasted at Malt Supper Club, $38.

Colour: A nightclub-infused pale gold.

Nose: Subtle orange citrusy aromas. Quite subtle though.

Palate: Very silky and smooth on the palate. Soft woody notes.

Finish: Straw aftertaste. Quite dry, medium length.

Comments: Softer than I thought it would be, not because of the age statement but due to the ABV. I certainly had expectations it would have a lot more depth of flavour being a cask strength release. Quite nice, but probably not worth the price. Overall, it’s not as interesting or tasty as other releases from independent bottlers I’ve tried recently.

Whisky #170 – Kilchoman 100% Islay 2nd Edition Single Malt

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IMG_3412Kilchoman 100% Islay 2nd Edition Single Malt. Islay, Scotland. ABV: 50.00%. Tasted at Canton Lounge, $16.

Colour: Through the red lantern tinted glass, it’s pale gold. I think.

Nose: Much sweeter than I was expecting from an Islay, but also some smokey peat coming through. It’s a big nose, but not big as in the typical Islay smoky ash scents. Some subtle medicinal feints as well.

Palate: Big robust peatiness, charred woody flavours too. Quite meaty too.

Finish: A dry finish; long on the flavour, more of a typical Islay smokey finish.

Comments: At only 3 years old, this is a very young whisky. In fact, it’s the minimum length of maturation time before you can legally call it “whisky” in Britain. Despite this, it has an amazing depth of flavour, surprisingly complex.

Interestingly, the barley for this dram is both grown and malted by the distillery (which isn’t all that common), hence the tag  “100% Islay”.

Whisky #169 – Super Nikka Vatted Pure Malt – Genshu

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IMG_3411Super Nikka Vatted Pure Malt – Genshu. Japan. ABV: 55.5%. Tasted at Canton Lounge – $0 courtesy of the house.

Colour: Red-lantern-affected gold.

Nose: Quite sweet; a bit like a freshly varnished timber floor.

Palate: Much bigger to taste than the nose suggests. Sweet woody notes.

Finish: Quite long; sweet pepper aftertaste. It’s almost like an Islay whisky but without the big ashy peat flavours.

Comments: Reminds me a bit of a Kilchoman; quite young and raw, full flavours but with only a hint of smoke. Much less than Kilcohman offerings though.

Whisky #168 – The Macallan Fine Oak 12 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_3409The Macallan Fine Oak 12 Year Old Single Malt. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 40.00%. Tasted at My Place Bar, $15.

Colour: Bright yellow gold.

Nose: It’s not a strong nose, a little hard to discern the qualities. Minimal alcohol feints. The nose reminded me a little of a decent white tequila, but then again maybe the My Place glassie just needs a bit more attention to detail when cleaning the glassware.

Palate: Quite thin on the palate, oily mouthfeel. Almonds, slight bitterness.

Finish: Some really delicate oak flavours develop in the fade. Short-medium length, mild warmth.

Comments: I definitely wouldn’t agree that this whisky’s “quality has hit the stratosphere” as Jim Murray describes it in his 2014 Whisky Bible, especially as it’s such a marked change since he last tasted it “earlier in the year” apparently. Hmmm, either this Macallan is inconsistently produced or old Jim has had a very dramatic change of heart…interesting.

Overall…meh. I’ve had blends with much more character and depth. It’s not a bad whisky, it’s just that for me there’s not terribly much to write home about here.

Whisky #167 – Laphroaig 10 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_3407Laphroaig 10 Year Old Single Malt. Islay, Scotland. ABV: 40.00%. Tasted at The Royal, $12.50.

Colour: Translucent yellow. Sounds a bit boring, but it’s not really gold, pale straw or any other shimmering hue – it’s just a yellowish colour.

Nose: Bam, lots of peat. Bit of camphor too, maybe some popcorn too. But not as strong with the alcohol feints as I remember from when I last tried it a year or so ago.

Palate: The peat obviously dominates, but it’s still a smooth smoky entry. Some charred meaty flavours, like a flame cooked steak.

Finish: Incredibly long smokey finish. Some dry vanilla & cocoa flavours in the fade.

Comments: Being almost half way through the year, I thought it would be appropriate to start choosing some of the malts more commonly available at your average bar. Up until now my strategy has been to select the more unusual whiskies at each bar, as it will be difficult to find more uncommon whiskies as the year progresses. I’ve also got the Australian Whisky Tasting Championship coming up in Sydney next month so I need to get some tasting practice done on the more common single malts!

Regardless of its availability, the Laphroaig 10 is a great drop, a fantastic example of the Islay style and a stock entry-level Islay single malt that wouldn’t look out of place of any whisky collection. If you’re looking to build a collection I wouldn’t say get this AND the Ardbeg 10 as they share similarities, but both are cracking value; very drinkable and both great examples of the Islay style.

Whisky #166 – 1993 Gordon & Macphail Scapa Single Malt

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IMG_34061993 Gordon & Macphail Scapa Single Malt. Orkney Islands, Scotland. ABV: 40.00%. Tasted at home, $75 (350mL bottle).

Colour: Very pale straw.

Nose: Slight medicinal scents, hay-like aromas too.

Palate: Salty, earthy straw flavours. Quite a thin flavour profile, not a lot of depth. Flavours remind me a little of drinking a Ballantines and soda water.

Finish: Shortish finish, not much heat. It doesn’t fill the mouth with flavour or warmth, it’s quite fleeting.

Comments: Despite it being quite easy to drink, I was a little disappointed in this one to be honest. I’ve been enjoying some of the whiskies produced by independent bottlers, and I was particularly looking forward to trying something by Gordon & Macphail given their reputation. Overall, this one was a little uninspiring – apart from the straw scents and flavours, there wasn’t too much else to take out of this one. It didn’t have the peat or intense saltiness from other Scottish island whiskies, nor did it have much complexity.

Whisky #165 – SMWS 121.56 Mint Julep at the Races

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IMG_3400SMWS 121.56 Mint Julep at the Races. ABV: 58.5%. SMWS bottling from the Isle of Arran distillery. Isle of Arran, Scotland. Tasted at home, 100mL tasting bottle as part of SMWS new members’ welcome pack.

Colour: And they’re off in the big one! Pale straw colours are quick out of the gate…

Nose: Some sweet woody notes moving up through the pack now…

Palate: Rich full flavours making a strong charge as they head down the back straight. I can taste some creamy honeycomb maybe some dried apple. Buttery honey flavours as they round the final bend for the home stretch…

Finish: Warmth tingles on the front half of the tongue, strong finish with the flavours and tingle taking longer to finish than the nag I backed in last weekend in race 8 at Morphetville (otherwise known as the “Get Out of Jail Stakes”).

Comments: Apart from the honeycomb, I’m not getting much of the other stuff from the SMWS description on the label. I’ve not had a mint julep at the races, I’m usually knocking back a dozen beers trying to wash out the nasty taste of doing my dough backing another donkey who is still running around the track two days after the race has finished.

All in all, I really liked this one. Rich, creamy, full flavoured and a hint of sweetness – this is fast shaping up to be some of my favourite qualities in a whisky. At the recent SMWS tasting, one of my favourites was SMWS 121.65 A Well-Oiled Baseball Glove, which is actually from the same distillery as this dram – the SMWS distillery code “121” is for the Isle of Arran distillery. Based on this, I will definitely be looking out for more SMWS releases “121.xx”, I’m also keen to try some more Arran malts released directly by the distillery or by some independent bottlers. Highly recommended.

Whisky #164 – Glendronach Allardice 18 Year Old 100% Sherry Matured Single Malt

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IMG_3515Glendronach Allardice 18 Year Old 100% Sherry Matured Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 46.00%. Tasted at home, $125 (bottle).

Colour: Deep almost purplish copper.

Nose: Dark fruity sweetness, caramel aromas too.

Palate: Toffee, vanilla, sweet woody flavours.

Finish: The chewy sweet caramel flavours gradually fade to a reasonably dry finish with a gentle tingle on the front of the tongue.

Comments: Glendronach are one of the few distilleries to have their single malts 100% matured in ex Sherry casks, with many sherry drams from other distilleries using ex bourbon barrels for the majority of the maturation before spending some time ‘finishing’ in Sherry barrels.

The Allardice is quite a bit woodier than I recall the Glendronach Revival 15 year old was, but they’re both great whiskies. Do I like it? Absolutely, it’s fantastic. Would I rate it above the Revival 15 year old? I don’t think so. The Revival really is superb, and while the Allardice is a great whisky, I’m not sure that the extra 3 years maturation has made it a step-change improvement that warrants the extra $25/bottle investment compared to the Revival.

Whisky #163 – Talisker 10 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_3392Talisker 10 Year Old Single Malt. Isle of Skye, Scotland. ABV: 45.80%. Tasted at Lalla Rookh, $15.

Colour: Deep gold.

Nose: Lots of peat. Not as much spice as I remember.

Palate: Ah, there’s the fire and spice, but not quite as intense as I seemed to recall. Lots of peat on the palate, it dominates.

Finish: Mixed spices linger on the tip of the tongue, as does the tingle of some residual peat smoke & heat.

Comments: Talisker 10 has always been a reliable, go-to whisky for me.  You know what you’re going to get every time, it’s great value and it’s a quality drop. I haven’t had one for a while as I’ve been busy sampling 162 other whiskies so far this year. It’s definitely not as complex a flavour profile as the Talisker Distiller’s Edition that I tasted a little while ago, but it’s still a good dram. For me it’s a much better offering than the Talisker Storm (which I have yet to review here on Whisky a Day), and it definitely would not be out of place were you to pick say a selection of half a dozen decent quality and value for money single malts to start your whisky selection.

Whisky #162 – Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson Baby Bourbon

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IMG_3388Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson Baby Bourbon. Gardiner, New York State, United States.
ABV: 46.00%. Tasted at Old Faithful Bar & BBQ, $26 (45mL serve).

Colour: Bright copper.

Nose: Kind of smokey & meaty. Oh wait, the chef just opened the door to the slow cooked smoker here at Old Faithful…after having a closer nosing, the whiskey gives off subtle oak & roasted corn aromas.

Palate: Smooth, very smooth. Vanilla oaky flavours, quite intense.

Finish: Smooth corn aftertastes, along with some oak & mixed spice.

Comments: I like it a lot, it’s much smoother than some other bourbons I’ve tried, no alcohol burn on the palate, great flavour complexity too. The Hudson Baby Bourbon is produced from 100% corn, whereas the other Hudson whiskies (which I have yet to try) are produced from other grains. I really like the bottle design for some reason – I’ve never really mentioned bottle design in my reviews before, but the packaging on this one is really sharp.

The other curious bit of trivia I learnt about Hudson is that they have an unusual “acoustic maturation” method. To speed up the maturation they use very small barrels (which itself is not unusual) to increase the amount of contact the whisky has with the wood. But to really give the maturation a shot in the arm, they also hauled in a heap of bass speakers and played some heavy music (apparently they experimented with some dubstep and A Tribe Called Quest) to use the acoustic waves to agitate the barrels. “Barkeep, give me a Hudson Baby Bourbon straight up, plenty of dubstep, hold the treble.”

Whisky #161 – Michel Couvreur Clearach 3 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_3041Michel Couvreur Clearach 3 Year Old Single Malt. Burgundy, France. ABV: 43.00%. Tasted at Lafayette, $18.

Colour: Cloudy apple.

Nose: Not the most pleasant nose, a little like cachaça. A little like a strong hard cheese.

Palate: A couple of grassy notes; definitely a young whisky. Not a lot of depth of flavour, bit more alcohol heat but not a burn – it’s just not a smooth whisky to drink.

Finish: Short on flavour, long on tang.

Comments: Some strange flavours and particularly scents on the nose, would not have picked that it had spent its 3 years maturing in Pedro Ximenez casks.  I didn’t really enjoy this one that much, quite disappointed actually given my expectations had been set high by how much I enjoyed the Michel Couvreur Overaged Single Malt.

Whisky #160 – Jim Beam Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey

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IMG_3032Jim Beam Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey. Kentucky, United States. ABV: 40.00%. Tasted at Varnish, $10.50.

Colour: A striking deep cognac or port colour. Amazing.

Nose: Corn, some subtle sweet smokey notes too. Again, not a strong nose; you can really get the snozz right into the glass.

Palate: Very smooth for a bourbon, though the flavours are not too original.

Finish: Quite a long, smooth & also a subtle sweet finish. My mate Joel got the lingering port influences, have to agree with with him.

Comments: Interesting to learn that it was extra matured in ex-port barrels, I don’t recall having come across too many bourbons that have played around with extra maturation like this.

Whisky #159 – Rowan’s Creek Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey

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IMG_3031Rowan’s Creek Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey. Kentucky, United States. ABV: 50.05%. Tasted at Varnish, $17.

Colour: Standard bourbon colour. Amber.

Nose: Not too strong, although it is a little hard to detect as there is the strong smell of bacon in the bar from Varnish’s bacon flights that accompany a selection of matched whiskies…*drool*.

Palate: Rye & subtle aniseed.

Finish: Medium length, bit of heat at the front half of the mouth, quite a bit of tingle on the lips. Could be because with the advent of winter my lips are starting to become a little dry, but like kissing a cute girl you’ve just met on a night out after a few drinks – you can’t tear yourself away.

Comments: Remarkably similar to the Eagle Rare 10 year old if my recollection serves me correctly.

Whisky #158 – Oban Distiller’s Edition Single Malt

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IMG_3494Oban Distiller’s Edition Single Malt (distilled 1998, bottled 2013). Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 43.00%. Tasted at home, $120.

Colour: Burnt amber. Much like its Diageo Distiller’s Edition stablemates, this Oban has spent time extra maturing in some addition casks, in this case it’s Montilla Fino casks which have imparted the darker colour.

Nose: Oaky, briny.

Palate: Salty notes dominate. Quite woody, some dry vanilla too.

Finish: Sweet subtle smoke, quite dry.

Comments: I had never even heard of Montilla Fino before, apparently it’s a sweet fortified wine similar to sherry produced in the southern part of Córdoba in Spain. It’s a little drier than I’d prefer, not a bad offering but not a whisky I would spend all night drinking.

I was hoping the Distiller’s Edition whiskies might be something quite special, as if the master distillers had selected a few special barrels and produced a nice limited edition whisky. And while they’ve been quite ok, they’ve certainly fallen a little short of expectations.

Whisky #157 – Dalwhinnie Distillers Edition Single Malt

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IMG_3029Dalwhinnie Distillers Edition Single Malt (distilled 1997, bottled 2013). Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 43.00%. Tasted at home, $116 (bottle).

Colour: Deep amber; much darker than the Dalwhinnie 15 year old. It’s not a huge surprise as for the Distillers Edition Dalwhinnie have finished it in some Oloroso Sherry casks, giving it the darker hue.

Nose: Not a strong nose, a little woody.

Palate: A little briny, very oaky too.

Finish: Leathery notes; a slight tingle at the front of the palate as the flavours subside. Very dry, almost a faint touch of smoke.

Comments: I was actually expecting there to be a lot more sweetness given the extra maturation it’s had in sherry casks. If I hadn’t known, I would probably not have guessed it for a sherry dram. I certainly prefer it to the Dalwhinnie 15 year old as it’s got a lot more depth of flavour, but overall I’m not hugely impressed. Certainly very drinkable though. I’d prefer to have one of these to start and then move onto another whisky that has a bit more complexity to offer.