independent bottling Archives

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 #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 #582: Tomatin Gordon & Macphail Discovery 2007 Single Malt

September 9, 2021 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Tomatin Gordon & Macphail Discovery 2007 Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 43%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $136 (bottle).

Colour: Golden straw.

Nose: Faint feints. Extremely soft floral (jasmin?) notes & wafts of freshly baked blueberry muffins.

Palate: It hits you with all the ferocity of a limp handshake. Thin mouthfeel, with watery honey and overripe blueberries that collapse rather than pop on the tongue.

Finish: Short finish with oak, dusty cocoa and vanilla notes.

Comments: It’s certainly not a bad whisky just any stretch, just a little underwhelming. Can’t help buy think that a higher ABV might have done wonders.

Whisky #578: Cadenhead Small Batch Knockdhu 11 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt

July 24, 2021 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Cadenhead Small Batch Knockdhu 11 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 54.7%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $172 (bottle).

Colour: Very pale straw.

Nose: Delicate. Cinnamon tea cake and petrichor…raindrops on fresh concrete.

Palate: Toasted malt and oaky notes, along with pepper and tart raspberries.

Finish: Dried raspberries; tobacco leaves from the end of a freshly chopped cigar. Medium length finish with a briny aftertaste and tingle on the front of the tongue.

Comments: The Cadenhead Small Batch Knockdhu definitely doesn’t drink like a cask strength whisky. It’s very subtle, where it keeps you sipping as you catch a whisper of a flavour here, a whiff of an aroma there. Before you know it, it’s gone…both the glass and eventually too the bottle.

Whisky #574: North Star Glenallachie 8 Year Old Single Malt

July 8, 2020 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

by

North Star Glenallachie 8 Year Old Single Malt. ABV: 58.3%. Speyside, Scotland. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $165 (bottle).

Colour: Orange gold, like a throat lozenge. Hmmm, whisky really is the ultimate golden throat charmer!

Nose: Melted sugar boiling on the stove top.

Palate: Sticky date pudding and pink candy (fairy) floss. Medium body with a creamy mouthfeel.

Finish: Honey and black pepper, with juicy glace cherries that you’ve picked out of your aunt’s fruit cake (or is that just what I did when I was a kid?).

Comments: This is dessert in a glass. Fantastic.

Whisky #571: SMWS 123.26 Blossom Falling Onto Sponge Cake

June 12, 2020 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

by SMWS 123.26 Blossom Falling Onto Sponge Cake. 9 year old single cask, cask strength SMWS bottling of Glengoyne Distillery. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 61.2%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $167 (bottle).

Following my last review of Whisky #570 Glengoyne The Legacy Series Chapter One Single Malt, I realised there were a few more Glengoyne bottles kicking around at Whisky a Day HQ. This one is an independent bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), enjoy.

Colour: Sparkling gold.

Nose: Creaming soda & candy canes.

Palate: There’s lots of sugary treats here. Soft Turkish delight jelly (the rosewater kind), whipped cream frosting atop a freshly baked vanilla sponge cake. Creamed honey that feels like it’s oozing it’s way across your taste buds.

Finish: Creamy oak & vanilla ice cream flavours, with a long gentle warmth that slowly fades…but unexpectedly fading first from the middle of the palate to eventually the tip of your tongue.

Comments: The SMWS tasting committee really nailed the name on this one! Stunningly easy to drink. A masterful expression of Glengoyne from the SMWS.

Whisky #568: SMWS 123.25 Joyful Impressions of Spring

May 13, 2020 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

SMWS 123.25 Joyful Impressions of Spring. 9 year old single cask, cask strength SMWS bottling of Glengoyne Distillery. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 62.1%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $175 (bottle).

Life is all about balance…

Colour: Hazy gold.

Nose: It’s all freshly baked confected sweetness – popcorn, light creamy sponge cake fresh out of the oven, zesty lemon and banana Paddle Pop ice-cream. All whilst you’re walking through the Aussie bush and you get a whiff of some snapped lantana branches.

Palate: Salty, sweet, creamy butter, the lemony zest of gremolata…this bounces around the mouth and ticks all the boxes. Full mouthfeel and absolutely nails the savoury/sweet balance.

Finish: A lingering prickle and warmth around the mouth, with a lemon sherbet kick at the end.

Comments: They say coronavirus isolation has led to people reassessing things and wanting more balance in life. At Whisky a Day we’d say this SMWS 123.25 Joyful Impressions of Spring from Glengoyne is perfectly…balanced!

Fresh and invigorating, it’s a fantastic drop. Highly recommended if you can get your hands on one of only 222 bottles that were produced.

Whisky #566: 2006 Berry Bros. & Rudd Girvan 11 Year Old Cask Strength Single Grain Whisky

April 25, 2020 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

2006 Berry Bros. & Rudd Girvan 11 Year Old Cask Strength Single Grain Whisky. ABV: 56.6%. Lowlands, Scotland. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $152 (bottle).

Well. This coronavirus fuckery has really disrupted life as we know it. Jobs and lives have been lost; as has a sense of purpose and structure of what we each previously knew as “normal”.

Whisky a Day has taken a recent hiatus to deal with some momentous personal events. Apologies.

For many during this time, whisky has been a rock and go-to as we seek to unwind and drift off and forget about things for a moment. I hope you’re all holding up ok through the corona chaos.

But enough of this heavy stuff, let’s bring some positivity back. Bring on the whisky!

Colour: Pale straw.

Nose: Whoa, a puff of smoke surprises. Most grain whiskies are silky and rarely smokey; this is certainly a different beast. Some faint biscuity notes too.

Palate: Dark chocolate with a super high cocoa percentage. It’s dusty and slightly bitter – like biting into a square of Lindt 90% Dark Chocolate. After you’ve had a shot of strong espresso. A smokey warmth and tingle on the front of the tongue, with creamier notes at the back of the palate.

Finish: Earthy notes and salty overcooked vegetables in the fade – think cabbages, leeks and roasted onion.

Comments: This Berry Bros. & Rudd Girvan was finished in an ex Laphroaig ex bourbon cask. This is not a peated whisky, but the dominance of the cask has really imparted soft smokey notes right through the nose, palate and finish.

Lowland whiskies, and many grain whiskies, are rarely peated…so it’s a whisky that certainly aims to surprise. It’s different – perhaps it could be a gateway whisky for those who are taking their first tentative steps into the whisky realm of smoke and peat? Ultimately for me though it’s not overly fulfilling, but I can see why others may get more enthused.

Whisky #565: Just Derek…Single Cask Independent Bottling from Craft Works Distillery

January 26, 2020 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Just Derek…Single Cask Independent Bottling from Craft Works Distillery (bottle 047 of 155). ABV: 65.8%. New South Wales, Australia. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $220 (500mL bottle).

Happy Australia Day! It’s only appropriate that we continue our Whisky a Day Bottle Kill Week by chucking another shrimp on the barbie (hint: we never say that) and polishing off another bottle of booze (hint: Aussies have definitely been known to say that).

Tonight, we polish off a special whisky. It’s called Just Derek…and it’s the very first release from Craft Works Distillery. Hand produced by Craig “Crafty” Field, Craft Works is a small artisan whisky distillery based up in the Blue Mountains a few hours west of Sydney. From a single cask, we’re finishing off one of only 155 bottles that were made.

Colour: Deep luscious caramel.

Nose: Sweets in a workshop. Fresh liquorice, brown sugar and melted butter that’s just started to separate in the saucepan. Along with old leather and the smell of walking through a mechanic’s workshop where the smells of old engines abound.

Palate: It’s a contemplative dram, there’s so much going on here flavour-wise. Chinese BBQ pork, caramelised pork hock, crème brûlée, salted caramel, just a hint of sweet smoke. Very “food driven”…or maybe I’m just hungry? Either way, it’s delicious juice.

A long warm tingle buzzing the front of the tongue, reminding you that as a whisky with an ABV of 65.8% (in that most Aussie of phrases)…it’s not here to f*^# spiders.

Finish: A soft, sweet crème caramel flavour coats the mouth, and a slight saltiness as you lick your lips.

Comments: This is definitely a drop that benefits from time in the glass, as well as some time after first opening the bottle. It was a little sharp when I first cracked open the bottle last year, but it has softened slightly and was absolutely fantastic to drink right now.

As for the unusual name “Just Derek…”? You can read more about Crafty’s touching backstory and tribute to his late mate Derek here.

A small craft producer in all senses, this is one to look out for. If Just Derek is the starting point, then with Crafty’s infectious passion and humble desire to keep striving to be better and better every step of the way, Craft Works Distillery has a bright future indeed.

Whisky #560: North Star Glentauchers 11 Year Old Single Malt

January 20, 2020 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

North Star Glentauchers 11 Year Old Single Malt. ABV: 58.9%. Speyside, Scotland. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $167 (bottle).

It’s bottle kill week here at Whisky a Day! Do you find yourself hanging on to the last dram or two in a bottle you’ve really enjoyed, trying to stretch out the enjoyment? It’s a trap I sometimes fall into, though maybe there’s also an element of opening a bunch of new shinier whiskies and some bottles get a little lonely and forgotten at the back of the whisky shelf.

With an impending move to a new house, it’s time to do some spring cleaning and polish off those pesky bottles with only a drop or two left. I’ll be killing off a different bottle every night this week!

Colour: Candlelight.

Nose: Soft hay, vanilla sponge cake and freshly cut juicy oranges. Though I’ve left this one on the shelf a little too long, the nose has started to lose some intensity compared to how I remember when I first cracked the bottle.

Palate: Toastier than a marshmallow. Honey on buttered toast, malty, roasted almonds.

Finish: A drying new oak finish with a slightly tannic aftertaste.

Comments: Bottled in 2018 and from a cask that yielded only 288 bottles, this North Star Glentauchers was from Series 005 of North Star’s stable of increasingly impressive releases. A good dram, but one in hindsight I’d finished off a little earlier rather than leaving it around on the shelf.

Whisky #550: Acorn’s Macduff 15 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt

March 24, 2019 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

by Whisky #550: Acorn’s Macduff 15 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 53.9%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $179 (bottle).

Colour: Golden filament.

Nose: A lemony prickle at the front of the nostril…geez that sounds wanky, but it’s actually what it was like!

Palate: Breadcrumbs, buttery biscuits and lemon. But then also fresh herby and zesty…fresh gremolata?

Finish: Oily mouthfeel; burnt butter and creamed honey with a long salty fade.

Comments: A Scottish single malt from Japanese independent bottler Acorn’s…absolutely moreish. The savoury, herbaceous and sweet flavours combine and make you want to rip in have some more. This is some fantastic juice and I’m sure another bottle will be ordered after the inevitable demise of this one in the very near future!

Whisky #547: That Boutique-y Whisky Company Aultmore 20 Year Old Single Malt

January 20, 2019 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

by That Boutique-y Whisky Company Aultmore 20 Year Old Single Malt (Batch II). Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 52.1%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $189 (500mL bottle).

There’s nothing like kicking back with a great whisky after a particularly hectic day. Though it’s not often your day is as hectic as a velociraptor attacking a shark from a container ship whilst an oil rig burns in the background…welcome to the crazy world of That Boutique-y Whisky Company!

Colour: Rich gold.

Nose: Creamed honey & lemon cheesecake.

Palate: Soft and creamy mouthfeel; lemon sherbet dusted across the top of a slice of lemon cheesecake. Not that I’ve ever tasted such a creation, but this is how I imagine it tasting. A lemon zing, along with a smooth creamy cheesecake with a buttery biscuit note underneath. Divine.

Finish: It’s like you’ve just downed the last bite of creme brûlée and you’re still enjoying the creamy caramelised goodness as it slowly slips away. Medium length finish.

Comments: A cask strength, single cask release that yielded only 215 bottles. One of the best whiskies I’ve tried in some time. I am definitely trying to get my hands on another bottle of this one, an amazing drop.

Whisky #536: Ben Nevis 1998 Three Rivers 18 Year Old by The Whisky Agency

August 19, 2018 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

by Ben Nevis 1998 Three Rivers 18 Year Old by The Whisky Agency. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 50.9%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $12 (30mL sample from Casa de Vinos).

An independent bottling of Ben Nevis by The Whisky Agency and Three Rivers Tokyo.

Colour: Pale lemon.

Nose: Cane-like notes hit the snout immediately, reminiscent of many Japanese whiskies. Perhaps that’s what attracted the Three Rivers Tokyo folks to select this particular cask? Some freshly peeled mandarine skins too.

Palate: Sharp and salty; tangy lemon and citrus. Grapefruit that has been baked under a grill with some brown sugar on top. The cask strength ABV is noticeable but not too imposing.

Finish: A dry, salty and woody finish with a long fade.

Comments: Aged for 18 years in a single hogshead cask and bottled at its cask strength of 50.9%. It has enough to keep you interested for a glass or two, but not enough for me to race out and track down where to purchase a full bottle.

Whisky #517: Douglas Laing’s Single Minded Glengoyne 8 Year Old Single Malt

January 20, 2018 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

by Douglas Laing’s Single Minded Glengoyne 8 Year Old Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 43%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $80 (bottle).

Colour: Golden toffee.

Nose: Creaming soda & lemon myrtle. A new-make like sharpness and nose prickle to start, but like an excitable toddler this settles down with time in the glass.

Palate: Creamy lemon flavours, quite thin on the palate. Sharp pepper and creamy lemon meringue. My trusted whisky tasting lieutenant Brett thought it tastes better than it smells.

Finish: Shortish finish. Lemon sorbet. Cane, oak and straw notes; like sucking for too long on an ice cream stick.

Comments: This Glengoyne has given Brett renewed vigour. That will happen when between him, me and my good mate Kiwi we’ve damn near polished off the whole bottle in an afternoon. Which I guess is a ringing endorsement for either the whisky or the company…the whisky is fair, but the company is excellent. Cheers gents!

Whisky #510: Berry Bros. & Rudd 8 Year Old Ardmore 2008 Single Malt Small Batch for The Whisky Club

November 17, 2017 by Whisky a Day 2 Comments

by Berry Bros. & Rudd 8 Year Old Ardmore 2008 Single Malt Small Batch for The Whisky Club. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 46.0%. Tasted at home, $135 (bottle).

Colour: Pale sandstone.

Nose: Blueberry tarts, fresh cream and sweet juicy lemon jellies. A soft, cool smoke hints at what’s to come.

Palate: Orange marmalade on hot buttered toast. Some creme brûlée that’s had a bit too long under the blow torch – it’s sweet and creamy, but there’s also some burnt sugar and smoke coming through too. It’s a light touch on the palate.

Finish: It’s like roasted marshmallows on a camp fire – smokey, creamy and a warm fuzzy feeling to finish. Medium length.

Comments: A small batch release comprising just 7 barrels, this 8 Year Old Ardmore 2008 was bottled for The Whisky Club in Australia. It has a smokey rather than botanical peat influence, one that starts soft and gradually builds as you make your way through each sip.

I reckon it’s the perfect Friday night whisky – the kind when you’re exhausted after a week at work, you’ve come home and put on some music before you crash on the couch with that first whisky in your hand.

A lighter style of whisky to start the night, but with enough variety of flavours to steer you in a number of directions for your next dram – do you want to go down the path of a Speyside fruit-driven whisky next? Or maybe the peat has tickled you in funny places and an Islay whisky with more oomph is what’s up next?

Either way, it’s a great appetiser for a quiet night of whisky to help you unwind from the working week.

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

September 13, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

by 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.