Whisky tastings

Whisky #9: Glendronach Original 12 Year Old Single Malt

February 19, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Glendronach Original 12 Year Old Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 43%. Tasted at My Place Bar, $12.

Appearance: Dark amber, much like other sherry matured drams e.g. Glenmorangie Lasanta.

Nose: A touch of Christmas pudding.

Palate: Smooth entry, tastes of raisin toast and maybe dried apricots.

Finish: Quite a dry finish, with a warming sensation on the tongue that lingers long beyond the flavours have disappeared.

Comments: Like an average curry you order after a night out on the beers and you’ve asked the waiter to make it “Indian hot” because you’re drunk and you want to see if your mate can handle as much chilli as you…at the end it leaves you wanting more flavour but the heat is the lasting memory. I’ve never been a massive sherry-head, and this has done little to change my mind. Not because it’s in any way unpleasant, more that there’s just nothing that really jumps out and gets you excited.

Whisky #8: Bruichladdie, The Laddie Sixteen

February 19, 2014 by Whisky a Day 1 Comment

Bruichladdie, The Laddie Sixteen. Islay, Scotland. ABV: 46%. Halcyon Bar, $16.

Colour: Deep gold

Nose: Smooth, hints of oak.

Palate: Quite a clean taste. Salty notes, picked up flavours of muscatelles. My good mate Giles got tastes of “candied elderflower”, to which I detected “scents of wankerbreath”.

Finish: Quite smooth, short finish on the front palette.

Comments: If you put your ear to the glass you can almost hear the waves crashing on the beach at Islay…not quite, but it sounded wanky enough for your stereotypical whisky review! Unpeated, so quite different to most other Islays I’ve tried.

Whisky #7: Glenkinchie 12 Year Old Single Malt

February 19, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Glenkinchie 12 Year Old Single Malt. Lowlands, Scotland. ABV: 43%. Tasted at Sentinel Bar, $17.

Colour: Bright gold

Nose: Lemony scents. Can’t discern or describe any of the other notes (or at the very least I’m running out of patience to keep sniffing and just want to taste the damn thing!).

Palate: light woody flavours with a hint of sweetness.

Finish: Quite a dry finish, very mellow though.

Comments: Has hints of a much more mellow, immature Glenmorangie Nectar D’Or, but without the sweetness or body. Kinda like the less attractive, socially awkward little sister – definitely not your first preference on a night out, but after a few drinks you’re not exactly going to say ‘no’.

Whisky #6: Tobermory Distillery Ledaig 10 Year Old Single Malt

February 19, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Tobermory Distillery Ledaig 10 Year Old Single Malt. Isle of Mull, Scotland. ABV: 46.3%. Tasted at Bobèche, $16.

Colour: Pale gold. Like a flat glass of VB.

Nose: A little insipid, not too many strong or distinctive aromas. Inoffensive.

Palate: Salty initial tastes give way for strong smokey peat flavours, a surprise given they didn’t come through strongly when sniffing. Tastes great though!

Finish: Medium linger, stays at the front of the palette.

Comments: Nice flavours, but a tad disappointed with the nose. Kinda feels like it’s short changing you & you’re missing out on half the experience. It will be a challenge to find whiskies on a Monday in Perth – not too many venues with a decent whisky selection open. Fortunately Bobèche has a modest selection of 14 drams that will get me started on Mondays, think I might have to come back here every week!

Whisky #5: Blackadder 1999 Raw Cask

February 19, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Blackadder 1999 12 Years Old Raw Cask. Distilled at Mannochmore Distillery. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 60.9%. Tasted at The Royal Hotel, $16.

Colour: Pale straw. Similar in colour to a third-day pitch at the SCG where the Aussies typically wrap up the Ashes. What’s that Pommies, 5-nil?!

Nose: Hay / grassy scents. Not the strong waft of alcohol that I was expecting from a cask strength whisky at 60%.

Palate: Woody notes, a moderate amount of peat.

Finish: Ah, there’s the alcohol kick. Lingering warm sensations, slowly filling the mouth and moving back on the tongue. Much like my date the other night!

Comments: Dangerously drinkable, I’m predicting this will be one of my favourites. Didn’t have the pungent alcohol kick or fumes I was expecting from a dram at 60%. Quite a rare drop being a single cask release, only 304 bottles released. Definitely will be coming back to have some more of this one before they run out.

Whisky #4: Kilchoman Loch Gorm Sherry Cask Matured Single Malt

February 19, 2014 by Whisky a Day 1 Comment

Kilchoman Loch Gorm Sherry Cask Matured Single Malt. Islay, Scotland. ABV: 46.00%. Tasted at Helvetica, $21.

Colour: Dark shade of Amber (i.e. she spent too much time in the spray tan booth).

Nose: Earthy, peaty notes.

Palate: Smooth smoky charcoal, a little sweet, maybe a hint of buttery walnuts?

Finish: Lingering sweet peaty tastes, long after you’ve finished the sip.

Comments: Doesn’t strike me as similar to other sherry matured whiskies. Peat sort of overwhelms the sherry flavours. But still very drinkable!

Whisky #3: Suntory Yamazaki 12 Year Old

February 18, 2014 by Whisky a Day 4 Comments

by Suntory Yamazaki 12 Year Old Single Malt. Yamazaki, Kyoto, Japan. ABV: 43.00%. Tasted at Helvetica, $17.

Colour: Light golden / straw colour.

Nose: Sweet honey & maybe some floral notes?

Palate: Soft, smooth and kind of coats the mouth with a gentle film. Kinda like the after effect of smashing a jelly shot – you know you’ve imbibed alcohol but it doesn’t have that strong alcohol sensation.

Finish: not much burn, flavours don’t tend to linger long or create any lasting impression to have some more.

Comments: Decent flavours, but a little underwhelming, almost a bit watery. Still very drinkable though. Need to shift my next whisky tastings away from the sweet ones to get some more variety!

Whisky #2: Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old Single Malt

February 19, 2014 by Whisky a Day 1 Comment

by Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 43.00%. Tasted at The Royal Hotel, $15.

Colour: Amber. Sounds like a stripper’s stage name, so the accuracy of this description cannot be verified.

Nose: Sweet notes, faint wafts of leather. Perhaps a chesterfield.

Palate: Quite silky smooth and a subtle honey flavour, similar in some ways to the Glenmorangie Nectar D’Or from yesterday. Maybe a hint of mandarin? Definitely not Cantonese.

Finish: Doesn’t linger as long as the Nectar D’Or.

Comments: Quite drinkable, middle of the road. Added a few drops of water to see how that changed it, probably wouldn’t again – seemed to make the whisky too mellow.

Whisky #1: Glenmorangie Nectar D’Or

February 19, 2014 by Whisky a Day 2 Comments

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Glenmorangie Nectar D’or 12 Year Old. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 46.00%. At home, $80 (bottle).

Colour: Caramel. Damn – am I going to be able to come up with 364 other ways to describe the various golden shades of whisky?!

Nose: Fragrant and slightly sweet. Makes you want to dive in and just taste it rather than sniff it all day.

Palate: Smooth when it first hits the tongue, slowly warming as it fills the mouth. Sweet flavours with some spices, hard to pinpoint exactly what they are. Tastes bloody good though.

Finish: Lingering sweetness and a warm tingle at the front of the tongue. Leaves a distinct desire to have some more!

Comments: I chose this whisky to start as it has been my favourite for quite some time now, I much prefer it to the other Glenmorangie extra matured expressions Quinta Ruben & Lasanta. I’ll try it again on December 31st (it’ll be the only dram I taste twice throughout the project!) and see if it is still my favourite after a year of my Whisky A Day adventure! At the very least, I will be interested to see how my appreciation of whisky has progressed.