cask strength Archives - Page 3 of 6

Whisky #507: Blackadder Raw Cask Seven Year Old English Single Malt

November 1, 2017 by Whisky a Day 2 Comments

Blackadder Raw Cask Seven Year Old English Single Malt. Norfolk, England. ABV: 63.2%. Tasted at home, $202 (bottle).

Colour: Shiny hardwood timber floorboards.

Nose: Butter and caramelised brown sugar.

Palate: A powerful burst of flavour that shoots straight down the middle of your tongue. Mandarine peel, briny lemon notes, spiced mulled wine, sweet paprika.

Finish: Medium length, which is a touch surprising as for such a full-on whisky. Front palate gets most of the excitement. White pepper and dry oak.

Comments: Matured in a single Moscatel dessert wine cask that yielded just 251 bottles, decanted straight from the cask. The Blackadder Raw Cask expressions are pure to the no colouring, non-chill filtered approach…so much so that they don’t even filter out some of the sediment from the barrel, which you can see in the bottom of the bottle.

This is raw, this is pure; this will put hairs on your chest. It may even rip the hairs out of your nostrils and put them on your chest just for laughs. Certainly not refined and it’s not attempting to be – this is a whisky which will divide opinion, much like brutalist architecture. A new genre perhaps – a brutalist whisky.

Whisky #506: SMWS 39.114 So Many Colours in the Rainbow

October 13, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

SMWS 39.114 So Many Colours in the Rainbow. 11 year old single cask single malt from Linkwood Distillery. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 60.0%. Tasted at home, $184 (bottle).

What a week…this is the 7th and final Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) whisky of the week. What a way to celebrate reaching the milestone of 500 whiskies here on Whisky a Day…7 days, 7 SMWS whiskies!

Colour: Pinkish gold.

Nose: Freshly peeled mandarine skins and blueberry muffins so fresh out of the oven they’re still warm.

Palate: Tangy raspberries, a fizzy sherbet sensation as the whisky dances around your mouth. Salty and slightly sour blueberry notes. An intriguing balance of sweet, salty and sour.

Finish: A rich, warm honey and lemon tea tingle all around the mouth. An exceptionally long and satisfying finish; some saltiness with oak and soft fruit jubes in the fade.

Comments: A whisky of contrasts. An intriguing nose. Flavours and aromas that make your mind explode with food analogies. A finish that goes on for days. All the things that epitomise a typical SMWS whisky and make them so unique.

I’ve been a very happy member of the SMWS for a few years now – I’m not a brand ambassador for them or get paid to spruik their wares. I’m simply a huge fan of their whiskies and ethos that I am happy to tell the world about it. Stunning whisky that is unique and always surprising.

If you like the sound of this one, be sure to check out the other SMWS single cask single malt from Linkwood Distillery we looked at earlier in the week – SMWS 39.118 Sweet Memories.

Whisky #505: SMWS 73.83 Anzac Biscuits & Cricket Bats

October 12, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

SMWS 73.83 Anzac Biscuits & Cricket Bats. 15 year old single cask single malt from Aultmore Distillery. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 56.9%.

Chosen by the Australian Cellarmaster of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), Andrew Derbidge, this 15 year old single cask single malt was selected to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the SMWS Australian branch.

Colour: A glorious molten toffee.

Nose: Chocolate mouse, raspberry coulis, hardwood…imagine walking into a furniture store with lots of lacquered timber furniture.

Palate: Spicy; both in terms of a peppery heat and almost fragrant garam masala type flavours. Balanced out nicely with some rich, creamy caramel-like flavours. It’s almost like someone has cracked some black pepper over your creme brûlée, but to your surprise it actually works!

Finish: Long…with a drying, powdery mouthfeel. Tobacco, black pepper, red wine and tart berries.

Comments: Matured in a sherry cask, this is certainly a unique whisky, like all the SMWS whiskies to be fair. Much like that old saying…it’s unique, just like all the others. A whisky of contrasts, it see-saws across your tastebuds but seems to always come to rest and find balance.

Whisky #504: SMWS 66.86 Dancing Round the Campfire

October 11, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

SMWS 66.86 Dancing Round the Campfire. Speyside, Scotland. 10 year old single cask single malt from Ardmore Distillery. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 60.7%. Tasted at home, $159 (bottle).

Let’s continue the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) week to celebrate Whisky a Day reaching whisky #500 by exploring another cask strength single cask whisky from Ardmore Distillery. We had a look at another SMWS Ardmore yesterday – the SMWS 66.75 David Faces Up to Goliath – so let’s see how this one compares.

Colour: Pale rose gold.

Nose: A real nose prickle. Like someone has given your nose hairs a decent tug. Pine needles, nori sheets and heavy smoke, a freshly opened packet of liquorice. But dominated by peat.

Palate: Explosive. Leather and woody notes melded together. Mouth coating smokiness, a slight buttery hint…which is only overpowered by the love in the room as I share this whisky with my two very good mates who I’ve just moved into a new apartment with & whom enjoy a good whisky.

Finish: Extremely long, salty sea and some faint salted caramel notes as the sweet smokiness subsides.

Comments: Not a whisky for the faint hearted, this is definitely more up-front and in your face than the SMWS 66.75 David Faces Up to Goliath Ardmore reviewed yesterday. If you’re introducing friends to the SMWS or to peaty whiskies, this is probably not the one, it could be a bit full on. But if you’re confident they can handle a full-throttle peat monster with a difference…let them loose on this beauty.

Whisky #503: SMWS 66.75 David Faces Up to Goliath

October 10, 2017 by Whisky a Day 1 Comment

SMWS 66.75 David Faces Up to Goliath. 11 year old single cask single malt from Ardmore Distillery. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 59.3%. Tasted at home, $185 (bottle).

Colour: Faded gold.

Nose: Hessian sacks, fresh hay. Like walking into a horse stable. Sticks of liquorice too.

Palate: Like gnawing on BBQ lamb cutlets…meaty, smokey and with a hint of charcoal.

Finish: Smoked paprika and salty beef jerky, with a long fade.

Comments: One of the things I love about Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) whiskies is their quirky names and tasting notes on the bottle. The SMWS tasting committee absolutely nail it sometimes, and other times you’re left wondering if this might have been the tenth whisky they’d tasted that night as the descriptions get a little wilder.

Regardless of whether you pick up some, all or none of the official descriptors that appear on the label, it’s always an intriguing prelude to the inevitably amazing (and undoubtedly unique) whisky you’re about to taste.

I’ve yet to have a SMWS whisky I didn’t enjoy – some have been incredible, others have been merely fantastic. This one is no exception.

Whisky #502: SMWS 35.165 Variety, the Spice of Life

October 9, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

SMWS 35.165 Variety, the Spice of Life. 13 year old single cask single malt from Glen Moray Distillery. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 52.9%.

Colour: Deep toffee.

Nose: Almost a bourbonish hint. Some sticky BBQ sauce, floral rose water, freshly hewn hardwood timber sawdust.

Palate: Such a soft, elegant mouthfeel. Oily, mouth-coating and full flavoured. Toffee apples, burnt butter, brown sugar, golden syrup, hot buttered toast…

Finish: Almost a touch of spiced rum in the finish, light peppery fade as the caramel flavours subside. A long, satisfying finish.

Comments: This drop has a bit of everything, it really is the spice of life. I’ve not previously had anything outstanding from Glen Moray, the drams I’ve had have always been a little too light. This drop however…I could sip this one all night. Amazing stuff.

Whisky #501: SMWS 39.118 Sweet Memories

October 8, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

SMWS 39.118 Sweet Memories. 8 year old single cask single malt from Linkwood Distillery. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 59.5%. Tasted at home, $140 (bottle).

Let’s continue the celebrations for reaching 500 whiskies and delve into our second Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) bottling of the week…7 days, 7 SMWS whiskies!

Colour: Pale straw.

Nose: Tart lemon curd and freshly baked biscuits…so it’s basically a lemon tart. Pine cones and snapped lantana branches. A slight nose prickle right at the end as you really take it all in.

Palate: A richness that tingles on the front of the palate. Lemon Fruit Tingle lollies that you’ve left just fizzing on the tip of your tongue. Some creamy lemon meringue, spicy white pepper and a hint of vanilla.

Finish: A drying sensation, the whisky seems to evaporate off the front of your tongue. Fizzy creaming soda, lemon sherbet and a touch of liquorice, yet quite salty in the fade.

Comments: Fresh and zesty, this one really dances on the tongue and has a party all on its own. Bugger anything you’ve had to eat or drink before, for me the name Sweet Memories is a bit misleading – it’s not a dessert whisky, it’s the kind of whisky that interrupts the whole damn dinner party and starts dancing on the table to grab your attention.

Whisky #500: SMWS 76.126 Racy Lady Wearing Leather

October 7, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

SMWS 76.126 Racy Lady Wearing Leather. 28 year old single cask single malt from Mortlach Distillery. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 57%.

A special whisky for a special milestone. 500 whiskies, damn! This dram was kindly provided courtesy of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s (SMWS) Australian Brand Ambassador, Matt Bailey, to celebrate reaching Whisky #500. Long time readers will know that I’ve been an active member and great fan of SMWS bottlings for a number of years now, so I thought why not stretch this Whisky #500 party out and have a whole week of SMWS whiskies!

So strap yourself in for the Racy Lady Wearing Leather, because she’s the first of 7 SMWS whiskies in 7 days…

Colour: Lustrous gold.

Nose: Earthy notes, dusty bookshelves and freshly baked chocolate brownies.

Palate: Imagine you’re eating a creme brûlée with a wooden spoon…sweet, creamy, a touch of burnt caramel, and some soft oaky notes. Savoury notes too when you have a few more sips; quince paste, caramelised balsamic onions cooked on the BBQ. Definitely a lot more subtle than you might expect from a 57% ABV whisky, both in terms of flavour and mouthfeel.

Finish: It’s quite a delicate and textual finish…the whisky almost caresses your tongue as it escapes down the back of your mouth. Almost like the racy lady is teasing you with a silk scarf that she draws gently across your face as she slinks off to a dark room, enticing you for more.

Comments: There’s a certain delicious irony in a seductive title like “Racy Lady Wearing Leather” coming from the Society’s “Old and Dignified” flavour profile! Though old and dignified she is. I enjoyed this one with Miles Davis’ classic “Kind of Blue” in the background, a fitting soundtrack for such a glorious whisky.

An outstanding whisky and certainly one worthy of the #500 milestone. Here’s to the next 500 whiskies, cheers!

Whisky #499: Tullibardine The Murray 2004 Cask Strength Single Malt

October 4, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Tullibardine The Murray 2004 Cask Strength Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 56.1%. Tasted at home, $130 (bottle).

Colour: A dull yellow gold.

Nose: Fresh hay, malty cereal notes and lemon zest.

Palate: The flavours envelope your palate, they consume your thoughts for a moment as the whisky drowns out the empty space in your mouth. Toasted malt, honey and woody notes (like when the doctor puts the wooden stick on your tongue and asks you to say “ahhhh”).

Finish: Fresh oak, washed rind cheese, wafer biscuits and raw honey…the kind that still has lumps of honeycomb. Quite dry, medium length.

Comments: A dram of reflection; at times direct and quite simple, yet it has this come hither aspect to it. Like flames of a fire licking warmth towards you, drawing you closer.

Whisky #497: North Star Ardmore 8 Year Old 2008 Single Cask

September 13, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

North Star Ardmore 8 Year Old 2008 Single Cask. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 57.1%. Tasted at home, $215 (bottle).

What type of whisky soothes a broken heart? We’ve all been there – the breakups that leave you with an all-consuming sea of emotions. Emptiness, confusion, and a sadness that physically hurts and makes you feel ill.

But when your lover and best friend breaks up with you, what whisky do you turn to to numb the pain? To make you feel something, to distract you from the thousand questions and “what ifs” racing through your mind?

For me it has to be something robust – both in depth of flavour and with a high ABV. Something cask strength. Preferably a “single” cask (terrible pun; my sense of humour has really dried up).

A whisky that has plenty of character and isn’t too delicate – as the mind races in a thousand different directions thinking about the breakup, you want to enjoy the whisky without thinking about it too much. A whisky that doesn’t demand too much attention, yet with enough complexity so that you can take your mind off everything and just focus on the dram in front of you, if you so choose.

So I settled on the North Star Ardmore 8 Year Old 2008 Single Cask, which ticks all of those boxes perfectly.

Colour: Rich toffee.

Nose: Black jelly beans; a sniff of camp fire charcoal when you wake up the next morning and stick your head out of the tent.

Palate: Salty seaweed, char-grilled maple bacon, tart blueberries and sweet smoke.

Finish: Savoury and salty, soft smokey notes too. Like some caramelised onions cooked on a BBQ.

Comments: There’s no such thing as the perfect relationship, just as there’s no such thing as the perfect whisky. We shouldn’t be blinded by an endless search for perfection when there may be something amazing sitting right in front of you.

The North Star Ardmore 8 Year Old 2008 Single Cask isn’t the perfect whisky, but it’s pretty bloody amazing.

Whiskies #491-496: An Evening of Heartwood Whisky

September 5, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Whiskies #491-496: An Evening of Heartwood Whisky. Tasted at The Oak Barrel, Sydney.

“Making stuff up as we go along” was the subtitle of this Heartwood Whisky masterclass hosted at Sydney’s Oak Barrel, coinciding with the Sydney Whisky Fair. Tim Duckett, the boundary-pushing mad scientist from Tasmania who IS Mr Heartwood, was holding court at the front of the room and led us on an evening of tasting some back catalogue Heartwoods that aren’t easy to come by these days.

Six Heartwood whiskies (all 62% ABV or greater!) in one sitting? Less than two hours? This is going to be a sensory assault…

Whisky #491: Heartwood Mt Wellington Tasmanian Malt Whisky. Tasmania, Australia. ABV: 62.4%.

Colour: Apple juice.

Nose: Faint popcorn with a slight prickle.

Palate: Big and juicy – like a mouthful of blackcurrant pastilles.

Finish: Oily smoky notes, BBQ-charred chicken skewers.

Comments: It’s like dinner in reverse – sweet dessert followed by a savoury main.

Whisky #492: Heartwood The Beagle 5 Tasmanian Vatted Malt Whisky. Tasmania, Australia. ABV: 62.5%.

Colour: Deep amber.

Nose: Like a crème brûlée, all buttery caramelised toffee notes, with a gentle hint of smoke.

Palate: A huge dollop of golden syrup on hot buttered fresh white toast. Amazing.

Finish: Big and long, with a drying heat. Like putting your tongue close to a camp fire. Not that I’ve tried to do that…

Comments: A vatting of 7 casks – 5 malts from Lark Distillery, with another 2 from Tasmania Distillery – home of Sullivan’s Cove whisky.

Whisky #493: Heartwood @#$%^&. Tasmania, Australia. ABV: 62.5%.

Colour: Extremely similar hue to The Beagle 5 – a dark amber.

Nose: Smoke and sugar.

Palate: Butter and brown sugar. Tasting notes scant here as I had fallen one whisky behind the rest of the room…

Finish: Loooooooong (I could just repeat that for all the Heartwood whiskies), a nice counterbalance of savoury and sweet flavours. Think caramelised onions and a big, juicy char-grilled steak.

Comments: 7 years in a 2nd fill Port cask, then finished for 3 years in 2 x 1st fill Sherry casks.

Whisky #494: Heartwood Release the Beast Tasmanian Malt Whisky. Tasmania, Australia. ABV: 65.4%.

Colour: Purplish copper.

Nose: A slight prickle, then a wave of strawberries and cream, molasses, and a hint of smoke in the fade. Do noses even have a fade?

Palate: Black pepper, smoke and juicy cherries with loads of tingly warmth. Very satisfying.

Finish: Even the finish has a finish! Lots of smoke, liquorice and campfire heat. This whisky could warm up anything.

Comments: Whisky of the night for me – the nuances of the nose and finish were amazing, bookending the juicy and rich palate. Phenomenal. Matured for 3 years in two 100L port barrels and then married in a 200L Australian Sherry cask and matured for a further 4 years. However at first taste it feels more like a heavily sherried influence.

Whisky #495: Heartwood Any Port in a Storm Tasmanian Malt Whisky (Summer). Tasmania, Australia. ABV: 69.1%.

Colour: Deep gold.

Nose: This one’s a creeper – it starts off soft then rolls up the nostrils, lemon muffins and friands.

Palate: Sucking on a spicy butter menthol.

Finish: Mineralic. Like licking a salty yet sweet toffee.

Comments: Majority of the malt was distilled at Tasmania Distillery, with a touch of Lark. I tended to brush over this one as my sparse notes tend to indicate; I was still basking in the warm glow and intense flavours of the Release the Beast.

Whisky #496: Heartwood The Good Convict Tasmanian Malt Whisky. Tasmania, Australia. ABV: 71.3%.

Colour: Bronzed amber.

Nose: Another softer, more balanced nose. Less mongrel. Sultanas, musty bookshelves (unusual from such a young whisky), boiling toffee on the stovetop.

Palate: Shoots straight down the middle of the tongue – flavour-wise and literally. Liquorice meringue, salty hessian and straw notes.

Finish: Salted caramel, tingling madeira sugar crystals bursting as you crush them between your tongue and the roof of your mouth.

Comments: Port cask, distilled at Tasmania Distillery. Distilled in November 2000 and bottled in June 2015, it’s had a touch under 5 years on oak.

Overall comments: What an honour to once again taste some amazing Heartwood whiskies and hear from the man who made them, Tim Duckett. One of Tim’s observations from the night was that “variation is a form of entertainment.” He was referring to a few things, primarily the notion that many people these days (including whisky drinkers and collectors) are always searching for the next unusual thing (e.g. whisky), something different, something they haven’t tried before. Things that absolutely describe your typical Heartwood whisky.

They’re all so different from one another, yet ironically they all share some similar qualities – the deceptively smooth, oily mouthfeel; layer upon layer of flavour that seems to suck you into a vortex and make you forget about the world around you for a moment; and an incredibly loooooooong lingering finish. A Heartwood is a real thinker’s whisky, one that you don’t want to rush…so whilst trying six whiskies from Heartwood archives was an absolute privilege, over the course of only 2 hours it seemed a little rushed. Whisky like this deserves a less frenetic pace to truly savour what a special beast you’re enjoying.

Whisky #479: GlenDronach 1990 Single Cask 24 Year Old Single Malt

May 29, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

GlenDronach 1990 Single Cask 24 Year Old Single Malt (Cask No.1020). Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 53.8%.

What kind of whisky do you have when you’re trying to have a self-imposed booze ban for the week? This kind of whisky.

Colour: Dark, rich treacle.

Nose: Caramelised pork hock. Buttery burnt sugar, musty bookshelves. I love that smell.

Palate: Oh it’s smooth…caramel sauce over vanilla ice cream. Warm pudding. It’s basically a dessert…sticky date pudding in a glass.

Finish: Blackberry jellies. More caramel oozing over the tastebuds as you sit back and let the sweet sugary notes fade as some soft woody notes emerge. Like sucking on the ice cream stick after you’ve devoured the ice-cream, you’re craving more and can’t believe it’s finished so quickly.

Comments: Matured in a Pedro Ximenez sherry puncheon, cask strength…this is phenomenal. I am trying to not have too much to drink this week as I’m competing in a powerlifting competition this Saturday for which I’ve been training the last 10 months. So if I was going to break the self-imposed pre-competition booze ban it had better be for a damn good whisky. This one fits the bill perfectly! Stunning.

Whiskies #474-477: The Scotch Malt Whisky Society World Whisky Day Showdown

May 20, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Whiskies #474-477: The Scotch Malt Whisky Society World Whisky Day Showdown.

Happy World Whisky Day to you all! It’s certainly one of my favourite days on the whisky calendar…along with any Delivery Day when the whisky gods deliver their sweet nectar in the post. To celebrate this holiest of whisky days, I thought it best to crack out something fairly unique and a bit special. And what more aptly fits that description than a few bottlings from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

Single cask, cask strength independent bottlings…for those of you who haven’t sampled a SMWS whisky before, get on it! They really are brilliant. I’m not paid by them and don’t get any kickbacks to write nice things, I’m just a very happy paid-up member who thinks they’re doing some amazing stuff.

Anyway, I’m thirsty – let’s get into the booze!

Whisky #474: SMWS 54.34 Monkey’s Lunch. 9 year old Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottling from Aberlour distillery. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 59.8%. Tasted at home, $165 (bottle).

Colour: Pale straw.

Nose: Fruit salad, soft lemon, passionfruit, strawberries and cream.

Palate: It’s a wave of creamy, lemony flavours…like biting into a lemon cheesecake.

Finish: Dried pineapple chunks that fade to a drying mouthfeel with white pepper and woody notes.

Comments: The finish is quite a contrast to the nose and palate, it’s a bit Jekyll and Hyde this one. Aberlour are one of my favourite distilleries so it’s great to try a whisky that’s quite different to their usual house style full of dried fruits and Christmas cake flavours. Cracking drop this one.

Whisky #475: SMWS 64.80 Fruit Punch Explosion. 9 year old Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottling from Mannochmore distillery. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 58.2%. Tasted at home, $150 (bottle).

Colour: Sparkling honey.

Nose: Fruit covered pavlova. Now this is going to sound a bit odd – there’s some aromas like opening up a velvet lined wooden chess set. The kind where the board is hinged and folds in half so you can keep the pieces inside. My dad had one from when he was a young fella, I still remember the smell of it as I opened it to set up the pieces and have a few games with the old man when I was younger. The old bugger always beat me!

Palate: Fresh raw honey straight from the hive, served on a wooden stick…sweet and oaky.

Finish: Almost a few candied bacon flavours in the fade, like you’ve poured maple syrup over pancakes with crispy bacon on the side.

Comments: I love a whisky that triggers memories from long ago, whether they be from the aromas or the flavours. Stunning.

Whisky #476: SMWS 63.33 Rich,Treacly, and Sumptuous. 9 year old Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottling from Glentauchers distillery. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: . Tasted at home, $185 (bottle).

Colour: Bright toffee.

Nose: Golden syrup, treacle and freshly baked blueberry muffins. A slight nose prickle.

Palate: Buttery and lots more golden syrup. If I had to do a blind tasting and pick the distillery I would have said Glendronach. The SMWS title really has summed it up perfectly – it is incredibly rich, treacly and sumptuous.

Finish: Front of the palate gets all the fun – plenty of salted caramel. A long tingly finish, like crushing some brown sugar crystals against the roof of your mouth with your tongue.

Comments: As I sip this one I’m listening to Nina Simone singing “I Put a Spell On You”. Kind of like tasting cask strength whiskies when you’re doing healthy pours – by the time you get to the third whisky it’s starting to put a spell on you. But without a doubt, this is the standout whisky of the night. Amazing stuff.

Whisky #477: SMWS 42.25 A Beach Barnacle Banquet. 9 year old Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottling from Tobermory distillery. Isle of Mull, Scotland. ABV: 60.4%. Tasted at home, $165 (bottle).

Colour: Pale apple juice.

Nose: Salty; hessian sacks soaked in sea water.

Palate: Surprisingly smooth and sweet. Reminds me of grilled salmon nigiri, the one with some kind of glaze on it that they’ve smashed with a blow torch to give those amazing caramelised salmon flavours.

Finish: A long salty tang at the front of the palate, especially when you press your tongue up into the roof of your mouth.

Comments: A perfect conclusion to the Speyside sweetness we’ve had before. Great balance between salty, sweet and savoury.

There’s just something about the SMWS whiskies that makes me think of all kinds of foods and flavours. They’re always so vivid and take your mind and your tastebuds on a wild gastronomic journey. I’m not known for doing things by half measures (some of my friends would say I do things by double measure), but with whisky this good it’s probably not my penchant for smashed avocado and coffee that’s preventing me getting into this insane Sydney property market. Bugger it, I might just pour another dram of each of these…happy World Whisky Day!

Whisky #473: Bowmore Tempest Small Batch Release VI Cask Strength 10 Year Old Single Malt

May 19, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Bowmore Tempest Small Batch Release VI Cask Strength 10 Year Old Single Malt. Islay, Scotland. ABV: 54.9%. Tasted at home, $95 (bottle).

Colour: Polished brass.

Nose: Pineapple chunks and lemon sponge cake. Unobtrusive, quite soft. I’m almost searching for some smoke because I know it’s a Bowmore, but it’s really not there.

Palate: Sweet caramelised smokey notes hit you immediately; think barbecued pineapple slices on top of some smokey bacon. The heat builds and flavours seem to come in waves. Then again, maybe that’s just my head throbbing from another battering at work all week.

Finish: Some astringent salty notes with a long, tangy finish as the flavours fade.

Comments: This is a real “Friday night after a shithouse week at work” kind of whisky, a no-nonsense kind of dram. And one with something for most palates – it’s got some smoke and heat, some sweetness and tropical fruit flavours. Most importantly though, it’s strong enough that one dram will take the edge off your shitty week nicely as you kick up your feet at home. Though two or three drams will do the job just that wee bit better…

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I skeptically thought it may be a small batch release dreamt up by the Bowmore marketing department as an excuse to add another expression to the shelf. But it carves out its own niche among the Bowmore range.

Whisky #467: Heartwood Calm Before the Storm

March 16, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Heartwood Calm Before the Storm. Tasmania, Australia. ABV: 66.4%. Tasted at home, $285 (bottle).

Heartwood are one of the most innovative independent bottlers out there in the world of whisky. For the Heartwood Calm Before the Storm, they’ve sourced new make originated from Lark Distillery, matured it in a first fill Australian Oloroso sherry cask, and then had a load of fun placing it around Heartwood HQ in positions with the greatest temperature fluctuation. And what a creature they’ve created…

Colour: Glowing copper.

Nose: Fresh sultanas, golden syrup, blackcurrant jelly and cabernet paste. Geez that sounds a bit wanky, but damn it I could sniff this all day – it just keeps revealing more and more layers. Cigar box, burnt butter caramel and a slight nose prickle at the end to warn you that this dram packs a punch.

Palate: Intense honeycomb, raspberry sherbet and some dark chocolate. The sweet notes are balanced out by some amazing char-grilled steak flavours. A full mouthfeel, yet with a surprisingly gentle warmth given the 66.4%ABV.

Finish: Blackcurrant pastilles, sweet smokey beef jerky. A long, tantalising finish.

Comments: Stunning.

This is the drink you pour yourself when you get home after you’ve had a stressful, fucked off day at work and you need to have a balls-out whisky to get you out of your funk and make you feel alive. It’s like being kicked in the head by a stray boot of someone crowd-surfing at a gig – it’s a jolt to the system, it gives you a buzz, and yet you’ve got this crazy grin on your face from the energy of the moment. I’d had one of these days and was playing Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing in the Name” on the way home from work just to get some of the stress out. Having just received this Heartwood in the mail, I thought it fitting to crack it open. Lots of parallels…don’t stick to the script, be unconventional. Apt given the Heartwood approach to making whisky. In the words of Rage, fuck you I won’t do what you tell me! Instant calmness.

Hats off again to Heartwood, another amazing whisky.

Whisky #465: Glenfarclas Whisky & Wisdom 9 Year Old Single Cask

March 8, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Glenfarclas Whisky & Wisdom 9 Year Old Single Cask. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 60.5%. Tasted at home, $229 (bottle).

Now this is a special drop. Fellow Sydneysider, Andrew Derbidge – Director & Cellarmaster of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Australia, and also the man behind one of my favourite whisky blogs, “Whisky & Wisdom” – personally selected this cask for a special Whisky & Wisdom bottling. The man has some damn fine tastebuds, this one is a cracker!

Colour: Boiling caramel.

Nose: Dried cranberries, sultanas and a freshly opened block of dark chocolate. Leather-bound books and rich mahogany…must resist the urge to quote Ron Burgundy…

Palate: The intensity of the flavours is amazing; it’s rich without being overpowering. Strawberries and raspberries – rich and syrupy with a bit of tartness. Rich, creamy toffee with chocolate biscuits. The alcohol isn’t too much either, more a gentle wave of heat that builds along with the berry and some toasted oak notes.

Finish: A gentle warmth that slowly fades, drying woody notes too. Front of the tongue gets most of the joy.

Comments: This really is the kind of whisky you pour yourself when you get home after a tough day, slump into a comfy leather chair and put on some music to drown out the world. Don’t even think of talking to me, this whisky is taking me places. It’s so well balanced, smoother than it’s 60.7% ABV would suggest, and eminently drinkable. Bucketloads of flavour and subtle power, it really is one of those whiskies that has the ability to make the mind drift off and unwind. Which also made it a challenge to review, as I was enjoying it so much and just wanted to drift away with each sip.

I won’t hesitate to say this is one of my top 10 whiskies I’ve ever had, hands down.

Andrew selected this cask at the Glenfarclas Distillery. It must have been a tough job to taste all those contenders, but he eventually settled upon a 1st-fill European oak sherry butt that was distilled in 2007 and bottled as a 9 year old cask strength single malt in January 2016. If you want to hear more about how Andrew decided on this particular cask, check out the Whisky & Wisdom page.