red wine maturation

Whisky #567: Tullibardine The Murray Châteauneuf-du-Pape Single Malt

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Tullibardine The Murray Châteauneuf-du-Pape Single Malt. ABV: 46%. Highlands, Scotland. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $115 (bottle).

Colour: Rich marmalade.

Nose: Freshly varnished timber and a slight astringency, presumably the red wine tannins from the finishing maturation in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape barriques. Not overly appealing to be honest.

Palate: Much better here. It’s soft and short with thin mouthfeel; strawberry marshmallows and biscuits with chewy strawberry jam.

Finish: Slightly cheesy with tart stewed strawberries. A short finish, it’s in a hurry.

Comments: This one lingers in your mouth about as long as an aging boomer in the supermarket in the age of coronavirus – just long enough to get the essentials then it’s out of there. An underwhelming nose but redeemed somewhat by the palate. Not bad, but there’s better Tullibardine expressions to be had.

Whisky #326: Glenmorangie Burgundy Wood Finish Single Malt

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FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby featherIMG_4229Glenmorangie Burgundy Wood Finish Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 43%. Purchased from the Glenmorangie Distillery, £5.

Colour: Brassy gold.

Nose: Vanilla, honey and light woody notes.

Palate: Slightly salty honeycomb flavours; a chewy, oily mouth-coating texture.

Finish: A slight prickle on the front of the tongue; spices and pepper in the fade.

Comments: A little disappointing to be honest, it was just not as interesting as I was hoping for from a Glenmorangie extra-matured whisky. Perhaps this is why the Burgundy Wood Finish was discontinued and they’re flogging off miniatures in the distillery visitor’s centre. It’s by no means a bad whisky – in fact it’s quite palatable – it’s just not up to the lofty standards I had expected from what has long been my favourite distillery. Perhaps I was spoilt a bit by tasting the excellent Glenmorangie Taghta a couple of days ago!

Whisky #277 – Edradour Straight From the Cask 11 Year Old Burgundy Cask Finish Single Malt

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FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby featherIMG_4097Edradour Straight From the Cask 11 Year Old Burgundy Cask Finish Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 58.8%. Tasted at home, $70 (500mL bottle).

Colour: Bright orange.

Nose: Dry, soft oak; almost a bit powdery in a way.

Palate: Not as smooth, sweet as the Edradour Caledonia; dry and oaky. Like licking a paddle pop stick.

Finish: Straw-like flavours, medium length; leaves a tingle at the front of tongue.

Comments: I definitely had high expectations given how much I enjoyed the only other Edradour I’ve tasted before, the Edradour 12 Year Old Caledonia Selection. However this one, while still a solid dram, failed to live up those lofty expectations. It didn’t have anywhere near the same level or complexity, sweetness or depth of flavour in my opinion. I’m keen though to drop by the Edradour distillery in Pitlochry to see what other drams they have on offer!

Whiskies #127-129 – Kavalan Solist vertical tasting

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FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby featherIMG_2941Kavalan Solist vertical tasting. Tasted at home, $16 for a tasting pack of 3 x 50mL bottles.

Kavalan Solist Ex-Bourbon Cask Strength Single Malt. Taiwan. ABV: 57.0%

Colour: Like a golden fried dumpling. C’mon, a Taiwanese whisky review had to have some kind of nationalist stereotype reference in there somewhere!

Nose: Somewhat sweet, straw-like aromas. Also a very faint hint of pineapple. Quite strong alcohol fumes.

Palate: Spice, bitterness and sweetness are well balanced; plenty of strong, complex flavours here. A bit of an oily mouthfeel upon entry. Sweetness quickly gives way to heat & woody, peppery notes.

Finish: Long finish, plenty of tingle at the front of the palate.

 

Kavalan Solist Ex-Sherry Cask Strength Single Malt. Taiwan. ABV: 57.0%.

Colour: Wow. Such a dark, deep crimson colour. Like a semi-translucent molasses. Don’t think I’ve seen a sherry dram (or any whisky for that matter) with such a dark hue. Not that colour really makes one lick of difference when it comes to the whisky’s taste, but geez it’s a beautiful thing to look at.

Nose: Prunes & raisins.

Palate: Smooth, creamy entry; sweet oaky flavours roll through the mouth. Divine.

Finish: Much smoother, subtler flavours and shorter than the ex-bourbon cask Soloist. Dark chocolate notes in the fade. Delicious.

Comments: I would love to taste this side by side with the Glendronach Revival 15 Year Old. I don’t think it’s quite got the same sweet chewiness of the Glendronach, but geez it’s a good drop. A real surprise packet, stunning!

 

Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique Cask Strength Single Malt. Taiwan. ABV: 57.0%.

Colour: Pale reddish copper colour, almost a bit rose-tinted.

Nose: Toasty oak notes, quite soft though. Reminds you a little of a sherry dram, but much less intense. Especially after having tasted such a strong (and damn fine!) sherry dram. Definitely not the intense waft of alcohol like the ex-bourbon dram.

Palate: Slight salty, dried sultanas.

Finish: Dry, again lingering heat at the front of the mouth. Could be a Kavalan trait perhaps? May have to try some of their other releases to verify, purely for research purposes of course…

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Overall comments: When I first picked up this trio it was because they were a) dirt cheap and would be a cost-effective way of knocking over another three whiskies; b) I had never heard of whisky being produced from Taiwan and was curious to try it; and c) I thought they would be primary candidates for the “truly awful” whisky category (primarily due to point “b” above) and would make for an interesting contrast to other whiskies. Boy was I wrong…

All three of the Kavalan Solist expressions were a pleasant surprise. Rich, full-flavoured, good balance of sweetness and spices, complex flavour profile…if I’d had a blind tasting I might have picked them for Tasmanian or Japanese single malts. I am happy to eat my words and declare they are far from “truly awful”, they are actually truly delicious!

The ex-bourbon cask expression was a fantastic start, while the Vinho Barrique cask was also pretty good (in fact it was quite decent), but certainly a slight letdown after the amazing sherry dram. Luckily I left some of that to go back to…

The ex-sherry dram was by far the stand-out, not just for it’s colour which is a thing of beauty, but for being such an outstanding all-round whisky – nose, palate and finish. It is by far the whisky which has brought the greatest upside surprise upon tasting, and one that I would happily hunt down a bottle to add to the collection at home. Highly recommended!

Whisky #117 – Glenmorangie Companta Private Edition Single Malt

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FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby featherIMG_2900Glenmorangie Companta Private Edition Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 46.00%. Tasted at home – $195 (bottle).

Colour: Stunning deep bronze-amber hues.

Nose: Sweet muscatels, perfume, subtle oak – much more subtle than other Glenmorangie expressions.

Palate: Oily mouthfeel, quite woody. Smooth entry but the warmth and flavours develop and slowly resonate through your mouth, much like a double bass note that lingers in a concert hall after the rest of the orchestra has fallen silent. I know that sounds a bit wanky, but as an ex-musician that was the most appropriate analogy to describe what the whisky was doing in my mouth. Love it.

Finish: Spicy tart raspberries, bit of pepper. Medium-long finish in terms of flavour and warmth.

Comments: Each year Glenmorangie have a special ‘Private Edition’ release, last year’s was the award-winning Ealanta, which Jim Murray crowned as world whisky of the year.  This year I was fortunate to get my hands on a bottle of the Companta. For this release, Glenmorangie have taken some of their regular 10 year ex-bourbon barrel maturation, before then placing it into a combination of ex French red wine barrels, 60% in Clos de Tart and 40% in Rasteau barriques.

From probably what is still my favourite distillery, I was really looking forward to cracking open this one. It certainly didn’t disappoint, although it’s not quite got the residual sweetness of say some sherry-matured drams that share a similar colour (e.g. the Glendronach Revival 15 year old) though that is to be expected given it was matured in ex red wine barrels. It’s a bit drier, but still packs loads of flavour. If you can find yourself a bottle somewhere (and they are hard to track down), get some – you won’t be disappointed!

Whisky #31: Longrow Red Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 11 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt

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FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby featherIMG_2586Longrow Red Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 11 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt. Campbeltown, Scotland. ABV: 52.10%. Tasted at Bar Lafayette, $20.

Colour: What’s the colour of a 2 cent piece?

Nose: Peaty, smells a bit like a sherry matured dram.

Palate: Peat repeat. Spice & tobacco.

Finish: Boom, mouth coating with peat, spice & heat that hangs around.

Comments: I would’ve picked this more for a sherry dram. Tasty drop, but the peat overpowers some of the subtle flavours (which are hard to describe over the tobacco flavours). With the cab sav barrel maturation I was expecting something different & unusual from this one, but it didn’t deliver on that front. Still a decent drop though, was just expecting (or hoping) for a more unique experience.