Highlands

Whisky #48: Glendronach Revival 15 Year Old 100% Sherry Matured Single Malt

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IMG_2626Glendronach Revival 15 Year Old 100% Sherry Matured Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 46.00%. Tasted at The Trustee, $15.

Colour: Deep brownish amber, clearly showing it’s sherry roots.

Nose: Currants definitely, cloves & cinnamon maybe?

Palate: Soft, warm chocolatey type flavours.

Finish: A gentle heat fills the mouth, but the best part is that the flavours last for ages in your mouth and don’t morph into something else.

Comments: Like biting into a really moist sticky date pudding drizzled in some salted caramel sauce *drool*. I had a bottle of this at home a few years ago and it was my first experience of a sherry matured whisky. Thought it was ok at the time, but maybe because of this early experience I’ve never considered myself much of a sherry head. Glad I’ve tried it again – definitely the best sherry dram of the project I’ve had so far.

Whisky #46: Balblair Single Malt – 2000 Vintage

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IMG_2624Balblair Single Malt – 2000 Vintage. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 43.00%. Tasted at The Trustee, $13.

Colour: Pale straw.

Nose: Sweet alcohol feints, touch of leather. Not too hard though (the safety word is “whisky”).

Palate: Peppery spice dominates like a leather-bound dominatrix. Has a bit of saltiness; not the sweetness I was expecting.

Finish: Long spice at the front of the mouth.

Comments: More trivia following on from yesterday’s Whisky #45. Apparently Balblair, founded in 1790, is the second oldest working distillery in Scotland.

Anyway, this is my first whisky tasting of the year in a Glencairn glass. While it may be the preferred whisky glass of connoisseurs around the world, I’m not such a fan. When I’m having a dram purely to relax and unwind, I like my whisky glasses to have heft; the Glencairn is too light & dainty for my liking. Yes the shape of the glass is designed to channel the aromas towards your nose, but if I’m having a whisky tasting my preference is a stemless glass, much like a stemless white wine glass. The Glencairn falls somewhere between the two types.

Whisky #39: Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve Single Malt

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IMG_2603Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 40.00%. Tasted at Laneway Lounge, $20.

Colour: Really deep browny amber colour

Nose: Quite a strong smell like fresh fruitcake.

Palate: Sweet. Smooth, oily & coats the mouth with flavour.

Finish: Quite long flavours, soft heat though.

Comments: With a name like “Cigar Malt” I was expecting big smokey scents and flavours. As it turns out, with the sugary sweetness I guess it’s probably more suited to drinking whilst smoking a cigar, to balance out the smokey cigar flavours.

Whisky #36: The Singleton of Glen Ord 12 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_2599The Singleton of Glen Ord 12 Year Old Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 40.00%. Tasted at Halcyon, $13.

Colour: Orangey gold.

Nose: Quite strong alcohol fumes that overpower other scents.

Palate: Smoothish entry gives way to a bit of heat, maybe a hint of cloves. Gets sweeter the longer you leave it – much like leaving an angry Scottish girl with a full bottle of booze.

Finish: Flavours dissipate quite quickly, but a longish drying sensation hangs around the mouth for quite a while. Slightly briny aftertaste.

Comments: Hmmm, not much to write home about here. It’s ok, but I’m not a huge fan.Singleton of Glen Ord

Whisky #35: Aberlour A’bunadh Single Malt, Batch #45

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IMG_2598Aberlour A’bunadh Single Malt, Batch #45. Speyside, Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 60.20%. Tasted at Helvetica, $19.

Colour: Dark toffee.

Nose: Caramel fudge & fruit cake.

Palate: Chocolatey brown sugar notes.

Finish: Salted caramel with a bit of heat that has “longitudinal qualities”, according to my good whisky tasting mate Giles. As a dutiful government advisor, Giles reports that longitudinal qualities is “Yes Minister” language for “it has length”.

Comments: Somewhat unsurprisingly (perhaps to all except the man himself), Giles’ wife has never described him as having “longitudinal qualities”.

Whisky #18: Glenmorangie Signet Single Malt

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IMG_2533Glenmorangie Signet Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 46.0%. Tasted at my trusted whisky tasting lieutenant Joel’s place, $0 (thanks mate!).

Colour: Deep reddish brown. As my friend Claire remarked, “like a ginger on heat”.

Nose: Hints of aniseed & burnt orange, sweet notes.

Palate: Buttery sweetness, after 10-15 min in the glass it’s noticeably smoother. Hints of sherry? On the last sip I got a taste of coffee beans.

Finish: Subtle heat lingers at the tip of your tongue.

Comments: A beautiful bottle, by far the best looking I’ve tasted from this year. Just to clarify, I did not taste directly from the bottle. I would like to try it again slightly earlier in the evening…will have to convince Joel to have us back to his place again some time to taste it once (or twice) more!

Whisky #15: Cadhenhead’s Authentic Collection Ardmore 14 yr Cask Strength Single Malt

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IMG_2527Cadhenhead’s Authentic Collection Ardmore 14 yr Cask Strength Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 55.8%. Tasted at The Royal, $17.

Colour: Very light, pale straw colour. Like a Chinese Olympic swimmer’s diluted post-race “sample”.

Nose: Thankfully it doesn’t smell of chlorine, human growth hormone or urine. Very peaty, also fruity floral notes.

Palate: Warm spice. The long lost 6th member of the Spice Girls. Some sweetness too, maybe some walnut or almond flavours? Hard for me to pinpoint.

Finish: Sweet smooth finish, gentle warming of the mouth.

Comments: A Cadhenhead’s independent bottling from the Ardmore distillery.  It’s like it’s trying to be an Islay, particularly with such a strong peaty aroma, but it’s much smoother and sweet at the end. I like it. I’m also starting to appreciate what a great little whisky selection they’ve got at The Royal, which is rather handy as it’s my local.  It will be great for those nights when I can’t be arsed heading out elsewhere after a long day and I can walk down to my local and sample some whiskies that I haven’t seen in too many other venues around town.

Whisky #9: Glendronach Original 12 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_2516Glendronach 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 #2: Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_2621Dalwhinnie 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

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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.