Whisky tastings

Whisky #599: Starward Cognac Cask Single Malt

January 26, 2023 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Starward Cognac Cask Single Malt. Victoria, Australia. ABV: 48%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $135 (bottle).

Happy Australia Day! 🇦🇺🦘Thought it was only appropriate to rip into this bonza Starward Cognac Cask single malt made in Melbourne, Australia. Enjoy!

Colour: Deep sunburnt plains.

Nose: Dried apricots, fresh banana bread, cinnamon & vanilla.

Palate: Medium bodied biscuity goodness. Buttery soft salted caramel macarons. Both the taste and mouthfeel of freshly baked Anzac biscuits that are still soft and warm as you bite into them.

Finish: Fresh strawberries and cream, passionfruit pulp. The creamy juiciness you get at the bottom of a tropical fruit salad slathered over pavlova.

Comments: A rich, creamy and fruity delight. This is a wonderful summery whisky. The perfect dram to sip on a stinking hot Australia Day! 🇦🇺🥃

Whisky #598: Glengoyne Pedro Ximenez Sherry Finish Single Malt

January 21, 2023 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Glengoyne Pedro Ximenez Sherry Finish Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 46%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $155 (bottle).

Colour: Shimmering topaz.

Nose: Very soft, quite delicate actually. Pineapple jubes, soft hay and freshly baked lemon tarts.

Palate: A sweet-spicy dichotomy. Raw sugar, cinnamon scrolls with a hint of cloves, washed down with creaming soda. A rich, creamy, oily mouthfeel.

Finish: The creamy sweet flavours fade, leaving the spices and oaky notes to poke through. Medium length.

Comments: Finished in ex Pedro Ximenez casks after initial maturation in European oak, this Glengoyne Pedro Ximenez Sherry Finish has a robust juicy sweetness and fantastic balance with the spicy oaky notes. The 46% ABV is also a great balance, affording plenty of rich flavours to shine through whilst being an approachable ABV point for most drinkers.

Whisky #597: SMWS 44.143 Good Traditional Fare

January 8, 2023 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

SMWS 44.143 Good Traditional Fare. 17 year old cask strength, single cask bottling from Craigellachie distillery. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 57.0%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $260 (bottle).

Colour: Electric amber.

Nose: Initial nose prickle, then quickly giving away to caramelised balsamic, blueberries and sweet BBQ beef jerky.

Palate: Heavy, chewy and rich. Dried muscatels, smoked honey, rich raspberry jam and salted caramel macarons. Sweet cigar box & saxophone reed woody notes.

Finish: A drying finish, with a long-lingering warmth on the front half of the palate.

Comments: It’s a delightfully intense and chewy dram. A meaty and oily mouthfeel, but then a drying finish. The contrasting flavours and sensations perhaps reflect the double cask maturation, initially in an ex bourbon hogshead, then finished in 1st fill ex Olorosso sherry barrique. I can’t help but wonder if the bold, meaty, and oily flavours and mouthfeel are driven to a large extent by Craigellachie’s worm tub condensers, which are nowadays somewhat of an outlier compared to most distilleries with shell & tube condensers.

A definite departure from the typically grassier, lighter notes of Craigellachie’s original bottlings, but damn it’s a tasty drop. Worth every penny.

Whisky #596: Lark Christmas Cask Release III Single Malt

December 24, 2022 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Lark Christmas Cask Release III Single Malt (2021 release). Tasmania, Australia. ABV: 46%. Tasted at Crown Towers Sydney.

Colour: Burnished bronze.

Nose: Mandarin peel, ginger cake, cloves and cinnamon.

Palate: Gingerbread pudding, cloves, dark honey, and black tea leaves. Fresh and zesty with burnt mandarin peel.

Finish: Fresh orange peel and ginger nut biscuits to fade.

Comments: They’ve nailed it, this really is Christmas in a glass. Ginger for days along with citrus and all the good Christmas spices. It’s not an everyday drinking dram or even one that you’d drink all night, but as a special occasion for ending Christmas night this is pretty hard to beat.

Merry Christmas to you all, may Santa bring you some special whisky to fill your glass!

Whisky #595: Signatory Vintage Benrinnes 1996 Aged 23 Years Single Malt

August 24, 2022 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Signatory Vintage Benrinnes 1996 Aged 23 Years Single Malt (bottle 240 of 287). Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 52.6%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $325 (bottle).

Well, it’s been a minute. Got engaged, have a kid on the way, and running a small consulting business through a pandemic! It’s definitely time to sit down for a well-deserved dram!

Colour: Honied gold.

Nose: Yeasty, meaty notes. Caramelised char grilled steak. Stewed raspberry notes, like you’re slow boiling a berry coulis.

Palate: Grassy notes front of palate. Blueberries, salted caramel, dark chocolate and a very faint hint of Szechuan pepper. A drying mouthfeel. Glides off the tongue and through the mouth much softer than might be expected for a whisky at 52.6% ABV.

Finish: A long citrus tang on the front of the tongue. Cigar tobacco leaf, white pepper and mandarin peel notes in the gradual fade out.

Comments: A banquet in a glass. Zesty and fresh, meaty and fruity, with some savoury spice too. Ridiculously easy to drink, a top dram.

Whisky #594: SMWS 66.120 Bacon Butty

February 8, 2022 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

SMWS 66.120 Bacon Butty. 11 year old cask strength, single cask bottling from Ardmore distillery. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 58.3%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $180 (bottle).

Colour: Pale straw.

Nose: Raspberries dusted with icing sugar. Sticky BBQ pork ribs, fresh sawdust and a hint of wood smoke.

Palate: Charred meat, caramel fudge and blueberries. Chargrilled lamb chops and rendered fat off a juicy sirloin steak.

Finish: A lingering wood smoke finish, as compared to the more medicinal and maritime peaty notes from Islay peated whiskies. A slight briney twist. Medium intensity but it lingers long in the front palate.

Comments: A bacon butty is a very British thing, not so common out here in Australia. But I can definitely see where the tasting committee was going with this and can almost imagine what one would taste like…as I’m not sure I’ve ever had the privilege of tasting one!

Whisky #593: Laphroaig Select Single Malt

February 2, 2022 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Laphroaig Select Single Malt. Islay, Scotland. ABV: 40%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $95 (bottle).

Colour: Pale yellow gold.

Nose: A soft nose. Wisps of peat, sweet charred pineapple and faint hessian sacks.

Palate: Salty and sweet vibes. Pineapple jubes with a dash of sea salt flakes. Earthy peat notes are ever-present but do not overpower. A thin mouthfeel and a longing for more intensity of these flavours makes me wonder what might have been if it wasn’t diluted down to 40% ABV.

Finish: Cool campfire smoke. Medium length.

Comments: Like stepping into a lukewarm bath when you’re expecting a nice hot tub. It still gets the job done, but it’s a little underwhelming when you think about what could have been.

Whisky #592: Aberlour Casg Annamh Single Malt

January 20, 2022 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Aberlour Casg Annamh Single Malt. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 48%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $115 (bottle).

Colour: Golden touch.

Nose: Fresh and creamy. Muted orange and lemon peels with soft notes of freshly baked buttery pastry.

Palate: Raw fresh honeycomb, juicy nectarines

Finish: A long but gentle fade; cinnamon, cloves and honey flavoured boiled lollies.

Comments: According to the label, Casg Annamh means “rare cask” in Gaelic. It then goes on to describe it as been selected from whisky matured in Oloroso sherry casks and two different types of American oak casks. Hardly rare. It would seem the Aberlour marketing department have gone a little off piste with the “rare cask” description and “Small Batch 0001” labelling, perhaps in an attempt to position it as more of a “craft” whisky? Regardless, if you approach this expecting something rare and quite different you’ll be a little disappointed.

It’s a pleasant enough dram, but it doesn’t really hit any great heights. It doesn’t have a huge sherry influence for which many Aberlour whiskies are known, so regular fans may be intrigued to try this to see a slightly different take on the usual house style.

Whisky #591: SMWS 59.59 Spock’s Earwax

January 10, 2022 by Whisky a Day 2 Comments

SMWS 59.59 Spock’s Earwax. 10 year old cask strength, single cask bottling from Teaninich distillery. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 55.2%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $170 (bottle).

Colour: Electric gold.

Nose: A slight nose prickle; aromas of honey, freshly baked biscuits and pineapple chunks.

Palate: Pleasingly, it tastes nothing like wax (earwax, Spock’s earwax or any other kind). Spicy and somewhat dry mouthfeel, almost chalky. Dried orange slices, mandarins, cracked pepper and lemon zest.

Finish: Spicy; white pepper, Chinese five spice and a salty tang. Medium length.

Comments: It’s a deliciously different prickly citrus adventure.

Whisky #590: Lark Head Distiller’s Release

January 6, 2022 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Lark Head Distiller’s Release (created exclusively for The Whisky Club). Tasmania, Australia. ABV: 45.6%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $135 (bottle).

Colour: Slightly dulled copper pipe.

Nose: Blackcurrant Soother’s, treacle and hessian sacks.

Palate: Raisins, worn leather, toasted oak, ginger.

Finish: Moderately oily mouthfeel, short-to-medium length. Melted butter and juicy blueberries. Soft tannins and damp woody notes in the fade.

Comments: The Lark Head Distiller’s Release comprises of whisky matured in 100L ex port and ex Sherry casks, then married together. A very tasty whisky with lots going on, but it’s almost a bit too much happening…like your taste buds have spun the flavour wheel of fortune a little too hard.

Whisky #589: SMWS 46.72 Jungle Slippers

November 16, 2021 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

SMWS 46.72 Jungle Slippers. 25 year old cask strength, single cask bottling from Glenlossie distillery. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 53.8%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $399 (bottle).

Colour: Cool gold.

Nose: It’s a subtle nose, quite delicate. Lemon madeleines and caramelised pineapple cooked on the bbq.

Palate: Earthy and zesty. Gremolata, orange marmalade on hot buttered toast, and passionfruit pulp.

Finish: Soft cigar box, dark chocolate and vanilla sponge cake. Medium length, with a gentle salty warmth. A lemon sherbet fizz in the fade.

Comments: An outstanding drop, absolutely faultless. Multi faceted and utterly delicious, you could keep unpacking this one for ages but it’s probably best to not overthink it and just sit back, sip and enjoy.

Whisky #588: Blackadder The Legendary 2016 Single Malt

November 9, 2021 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Blackadder The Legendary 2016 Single Malt (Cask LTB 2016-01). Scotland. ABV: 46%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $150 (bottle).

Colour: Bright copper.

Nose: Mulled wine and stewed apple gently simmering on the stovetop.

Palate: Dried raisins, dry sherry and a thin oily mouthfeel. Light and delicate creme brûlée flavours dance over the tongue.

Finish: Gentle oak and spicy nutmeg, soft black pepper and cinnamon flavours in the fade. Medium length.

Comments: A delightfully gentle sherry cask finished whisky, without being a stereotypical sherry bomb that hits you around the chops. Calling your whisky “Blackadder The Legendary” is a tad pretentious, but did it live up to such lofty self proclamations? No, but it is eminently drinkable. No Age Statement (NAS) and Scottish region unspecified, it has a touch of mystique about it.

I’ve loved other Blackadder whiskies that are more often than not bottled at cask strength. This one is at a more approachable 46% ABV, but it’s still an excellent drop. This was one of only 666 bottles produced, but if you can find one it’s definitely recommended.

Whisky #587: Glenfiddich Fire & Cane Single Malt

November 7, 2021 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Glenfiddich Fire & Cane Single Malt. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 43%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $80 (bottle).

Colour: Brightly polished brass.

Nose: Fresh apricots, dried dates and a whiff of smoke. Campfire smoke, as distinct from peat.

Palate: A thin mouthfeel is the first thing you notice. Not a good sign. Toasted banana bread, black currant pastilles, passionfruit syrup and the juices from the bottom of of bowl of fruit salad. Nice flavours, just a shame you just have to work quite hard to get it all.

Finish: A slightly salty, cane flavour. Like sucking on a fresh saxophone reed. Salted caramel notes in the fade.

Comments: Fire & cane & disappointment. It’s billed as a “smokey whisky finished in sweet rum casks”, but fans of either style will likely be a little underwhelmed. It’s like the flavours have been dialled down too far through the dilution to 43% ABV. I can and do enjoy whiskies at 43%, however this one is a little too watery. You can’t help but wondering in the desire to appeal to a wider audience Glenfiddich have gone a little too far.

Whisky #586: SMWS 82.32 Boozy Cherry Cake

October 29, 2021 by Whisky a Day 1 Comment

SMWS 82.32 Boozy Cherry Cake. 8 year old cask strength, single cask bottling from Glencadam Distillery. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 63.0%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $190 (bottle).

Colour: Deep golden honey.

Nose: A gentle nose prickle, then soft strawberry jam, stewed cherries and oak notes with a faint whiff of a cigar box (it’s been empty for a long time).

Palate: Juicy sultanas, blackcurrant pastilles and white pepper on the front palate. Glacé cherries and fruit cake flavours, but with a drying mouthfeel. It’s more panettone than moist Christmas cake.

Finish: Spicy and dry. A lingering warming buzz coats the mouth. Honey and chilli heat, nicely balanced though.

Comments: Christmas cake and spicy dry cigars…now that’s a combo I can get behind as we head into the festive season.

Whisky #585: Westward Whiskey Single Malt Rum Cask

October 20, 2021 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Westward Whiskey Single Malt Rum Cask. Oregon, USA. ABV: 62.5%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $135 (bottle).

Colour: Deep copper.

Nose: Fresh pine needles and juicy sweet raspberry chewy lollies. A hint of camphor and old timber boxes stuffed with blankets that you discover as a kid at your grandparents’ house.

Palate: Oak-forward but creamy sweetness. Like sucking a touch too long on an ice cream stick that’s still got a few remnants of sweet salted caramel ice cream on it. Bold alcohol-wise, but it’s not quite as big as you might expect a 62.5% ABV drop to be.

Finish: Like your first teenage rum hangover, this one hangs around for a long time. That delicious salty sweet balance keeps dancing across the tongue, with some caramelised pineapple rings cooked on the bbq to top off proceedings.

Comments: Fruity, creamy, salty and sweet…the flavours here pack a punch to back up the cask strength ABV hit. There’s nothing worse than a high strength drop that is all heat and doesn’t have the flavours to back it up. The Westward Whiskey Single Malt Rum Cask is a little bold and brash, but as an American single malt that’s probably quite fitting! A very decent drop.

Whisky #584: Rest & Be Thankful Fettercairn 2007 12 Year Old Single Malt

October 9, 2021 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Rest & Be Thankful Fettercairn 2007 12 Year Old Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 57.2%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $215 (bottle).

A perfect daytime dram!

Colour: Pale midday sun.

Nose: Crisp. A gentle nose drying effect. Straw and soft earthy notes.

Palate: Cooked mash, sea salt flakes and crunchy toasted barley grains that you hoover down at most distillery tours.

Finish: Light but long, with a salty warming kick. Slightly sour wheat beer notes.

Comments: Refreshing to have a whisky that’s so malt-driven, rather than one that’s had the effort of the mashing and distillation completely overpowered by the influence of a dominant cask. Matured in an ex bourbon cask (which had surely been refilled before I’d guess) and bottled at cask strength, this is a delightful daytime sipper.