Scotland

Whisky #305 – Laphroig 18 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_4151Laphroig 18 Year Old Single Malt. Islay, Scotland. ABV: 48%. Tasted at The Ben Nevis Hotel (Glasgow), £…can’t recall.

Colour: Island golden shower.

Nose: Peaty iodine notes dominate. Typical Laphroig.

Palate: Strong smoked meat flavours, but somewhat softer and somewhat of an oily mouthfeel.

Finish: Front of your tongue – it doesn’t dominate & fill your mouth like a younger Laphroig.

Comments: By this stage of the night my ability to accurately and creatively describe the whisky was diminishing almost as rapidly as the pounds from my wallet…in hindsight? Quite similar to the Laphroig 10 and Quarter Cask, but much smoother.

Whisky #304 – Highland Park 18 Year Old Single Malt.

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IMG_4150Highland Park 18 Year Old Single Malt. Orkney Islands, Scotland. ABV: 43%. Tasted at The Ben Nevis Hotel (Glasgow), £6.10.

Colour: Goldy gold gold.

Nose: Like smelling your neighbour’s BBQ from a distance – very soft and subtle meaty aromas.

Palate: An initial hint of sweetness that dissipates quite quickly. Shortbread, lemony sweet kind of flavours, very subtle though.

Finish: Sweet medicinal flavours, hay-like notes too. Short to medium length.

Comments: It has a complexity that creeps up on you, gradually revealing more layers. I enjoyed this one.

Whisky #303 – Old Pulteney 21 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_4149Old Pulteney 21 Year Old Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 46.00%. Tasted at The Ben Nevis Bar (Glasgow), £8.20.

Colour: Orangey gold.

Nose: A bit floral, a touch fruity.

Palate: Nice and smooth, but not necessarily something to write home about. Toasted citrus and buttery notes.

Finish: Sweet soft smoke, medium length.

Comments: Like a juvenile dwarf, it’s slowly growing on me. It’s nice, but for me it’s not going to set the world on fire.

Whisky #302 – Gordon & Macphail Mortlach 21 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_4148Gordon & Macphail Mortlach 21 Year Old Single Malt. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 43%. Tasted at The Pot Still (Glasgow), £7.15.

Colour: Bright yellow gold.

Nose: It doesn’t just smell sweet, it really does smell like honey.

Palate: Cool, oily entry; mouth-coating. Exceptionally smooth. Rich buttery honey flavours. A tingle builds at the front of the palate.

Finish: A semi-sweet yet drying finish. Medium length for flavour, long for the tingle.

Comments: Such a rich full flavoured dram, yet very easy to drink – the kind of whisky that you could safely have as your go-to drop no matter what the occasion.

Whisky #301 – Edradour Natural Cask Strength Single Malt

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098A1440-87C4-47E4-83F6-0CF4AEECF335Edradour Natural Cask Strength Single Malt. Distilled 2000, bottled 2014 (cask #2008). Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 57.1%. Tasted at The Pot Still (Glasgow), £6.85.

Colour: Dark copper.

Nose: Sweet charcoal, perfume, sherry notes too. Fantastic layers.

Palate: Immediate tingle on the lips as the flavours begin to dance around your mouth. Oily mouthfeel, rich full sherry flavours – rich sultanas, saltiness too.

Finish: Nutty sweet sherry notes hang around for ages. The front half of the palate and your lips seem to tingle for an eternity; what a buzz.

Comments: Wow, what a dram. Love it. Rich, fruity and spicy – it’s hard to write a tongue-in-cheek review of a whisky this good. Highly recommended.

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Whisky #300 – The MacPhail’s Collection 1986 Glenglassaugh Single Malt

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IMG_4134The MacPhail’s Collection 1986 Glenglassaugh Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. Bottled 1998. 40%. Tasted at The Pot Still (Glasgow), £4.65.

Colour: Rich golden honey.

Nose: Freshly toasted bread with honey on top.

Palate: Oily mouthfeel at first, fruity with a good balance of sweetness and tartness – think pineapple.

Finish: Quite a drying finish. Soft woody notes in the fade.

Comments: Geez these whiskies in Scotland are much cheaper than we pay back in Australia! Not a bad drop – I don’t think I’ve tried a whisky from Glenglassaugh before so I can’t compare it, however it’s not bad at all…worth another taste. This Gordon & MacPhail’s release was distilled in 1986, the year that Glenglassaugh was mothballed for quite some time, until being sold and subsequently reopened in 2008.

Whisky #299 – Glengoyne 18 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_4129Glengoyne 18 Year Old Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 43%. Tasted at Dram! (Glasgow), £5.20.

Colour: Dark gold.

Nose: Sweet cigar box aromas.

Palate: Lusciously complex, quite rich and full-flavoured. Layers of vanilla, honey and woody notes. Spices and toffee balance each other very nicely.

Finish: Warm honied woody flavours linger along with mixed spices; quite a long finish.

Comments: Seeing as I was in Glasgow and Glengoyne is one of the closest distilleries, I thought it appropriate to sample a dram (appropriately enough at a bar called “Dram!”). Loved it, I could drink this one all night. A shame I didn’t get a chance to visit the distillery, though I will be searching out other Glengoyne expressions if the 18 year old is anothing to go by. Recommended!

How could you walk past a bar called Dram!

How could you walk past a bar called Dram!

The whisky selection at Dram!

The whisky selection at Dram!

Whisky #298 – Bruichladdich Octomore Edition 5.1 Cask Strength Single Malt

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IMG_4120Bruichladdich Octomore Edition 5.1 Cask Strength Single Malt. Islay, Scotland. ABV: 59.50%. Tasted at Òran Mór (Glasgow), £15.20.

Colour: Deliciously golden.

Nose: Lots of peat (obviously), medicinal, quite meaty too. Also reminds me of the smell of freshly sawn camphor that my dad used to cut up for wood turning.

Palate: Peat smoke, lots of it. Fresh onion too.

Finish: Drying peat & smoke flavours naturally. Also some subtle raspberry flavours in the fade, like you’ve just eaten some Allen’s red frogs.

Comments: Not as meaty on the palate as I was hoping for, given the teasing of the nose. Overall? It’s very good, but not spectacular. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh, but it’s probably because I had such high expectations of the Octomore 5.1 given other outstanding reviews and friends who have tried it.

Whisky #297 – Glendronach Cask Strength (Batch 2) Single Malt

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IMG_4118Glendronach Cask Strength (Batch 2) Single Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 55.2%. Tasted at Òran Mór (Glasgow), £4.65.

Colour: Shiny copper.

Nose: There’s a bit of an alcohol feint that shoots up your nostrils. Burnt orange peel and sherry notes.

Palate: Cool entry, but the heat gently builds. Chewy sherry flavours, you can definitely taste the similarities to the other Glendronach expressions. The very subtlest hint of smoke or charcoal.

Finish: Long…lots of warmth as the whisky wraps itself around your throat and makes its way down your chest all the way down to your belly. That’s starting to sound like a Mills & Boon novel…

Comments: Not quite as smooth or refined as its Glendronach stablemates Revival, Allardice or Parliament, but as a cask strength release it’s great to experience whisky from one of my favourite distilleries in one of its purest forms.

Whisky #296 – McKinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt – “Shackleton’s Whisky”

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imageMcKinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt – “Shackleton’s Whisky”. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 47.3%. Tasted at Òran Mór (Glasgow), £20.20.

Colour: Yellow snow. Watch out where the huskies go, and do not eat the yellow snow…

Nose: Citrus and sweet oak.

Palate: Lemon sherbet. Quite dry. Not the winter warmer type of whisky I thought might be appropriate for an Antarctic expedition.

Finish: Somewhat salty, and a little dry. Medium length.

Comments: Great story behind this one. Originally shipped to Antarctica in 1907 by Ernest Shackleton to fortify his British Antarctic expedition aboard the “Nimrod” (originally supposed to be aboard the ship “Endurance”, as shown in the photo below). Three cases of McKinlay’s were discovered buried in the ice under the floorboards of Shackleton’s hut in 2007 when restoration work was being undertaken. Long story short, some of this very old whisky was sent back to Scotland for analysis so it could be recreated, resulting in this McKinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt – “Shackleton’s Whisky”.
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Whisky #295 – Glen Scotia 10 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_4099Glen Scotia 10 Year Old Single Malt. Campbeltown, Scotland. ABV: 46%. Tasted at the Wee Pub at the Ubiquitous Chip (Glasgow), £3.75.

Colour: Very pale straw.

Nose: Toasted cereal notes.

Palate: Quite light. Dry mouthfeel; flavours of citrus & biscuits.

Finish: Medium length, creamy biscuits with a hint of pepper and a touch of honey.

Comments: My first dram in Scotland. It’s a good whisky to start the night and start the trip – quite light, a great way to ease into a decent session.

Whisky #287 – Dewar’s 12 Year Old Double Aged Blended Scotch Whisky

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IMG_4062Dewar’s 12 Year Old Double Aged Blended Scotch Whisky. Scotland.
ABV: 40.00%.

Comments: Very rich honey. Or the colour of a middle-aged strawberry blonde Scotsman drinking whisky.

Nose: Earthy straw-like notes. My good mate Donald (aforementioned middle-aged strawberry blonde Scot) detected some toffee.

Palate: Buttery yet quite thin. A bit floral.

Finish: Quite dry, short to medium length. Almost a faint sweet tobacco aftertaste.

Comments: Meh, nothing special. Special though to share it with such a great mate that I don’t get to see nearly as much as I would like. Donald – absolute legend, a shame I don’t get to spend more time in Melbourne to share a few more drams with you mate.

Donny doing what he does best.

Donny doing what he does best.

Whisky #286 – SMWS 123.8 In the Spanish Mountains

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IMG_4043SMWS 123.8 In the Spanish Mountains. 12 year old single cask from Glengoyne distillery, Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 59.3%. Tasted at Whisky & Alement (Melbourne).

Colour: Lotus twilight.

Nose: Lemon cheesecake and spearmint. AB got hints of Listerine mouthwash.

Palate: Organ-hugging, creamy – “I can’t believe it’s not butter”. Multi-dimensional.

Finish: Powerful, long.

Comments: We came up with another observation that it was “James Bondable”. No idea what we were getting at here…we’d had a few tastings by this stage. Overall though I enjoyed it, keen to have another crack at it through to see if it really is James Bondable.

Whisky #285 – Duthies Tobermory 17 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_4040Duthies Tobermory 17 Year Old Single Malt. Isle of Mull, Scotland. ABV: 46%. Tasted at Whisky & Alement (Melbourne).

Colour: Dark amber.

Nose: Muscatels, dark chocolate.

Palate: A dry toffee, xmas pudding. Almost a bit dusty.

Finish: Subtle pepper, drying sweetness, medium length.

Comments: A great drop, much more layered than the only other Duthie’s release I’d tried previously, the Duthie’s Glen Scotia 17.

Whisky #284: Berrys’ 1997 Arran 16 Year Old Single Malt (Cask Ref. 2)

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IMG_4037Berrys’ 1997 Arran 16 Year Old Single Malt (Cask Ref. 2). Isle of Arran, Scotland. ABV: 46.0%. Tasted at Whisky and Alement (Melbourne).

Colour: Cloudy apple. Lacking viscosity according to my good mate AB who is ably assisting tonight’s tastin

Nose: Honied straw, a touch of lemon rind.

Palate: Honey, sweet lemongrass. “A little passive aggressive” from AB.

Finish: Medium length, dryish.

Comments: A good starting whisky, a palate cleanser before getting into the serious business of…um, drinking more whisky.

Whisky #281 – The Macallan 12 Year Old Sherry Oak Cask Single Malt

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IMG_3963The Macallan 12 Year Old Sherry Oak Cask Single Malt. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 40.0%. Tasted at home, $30 (350mL bottle).

Colour: Deep mahogany.

Nose: Sultanas, vanilla and golden syrup.

Palate: Rich velvety dried fruits. Super smooth. Buttery sweetness.

Finish: Builds, with gentle warmth.

Comments: A fantastic whisky, 100% matured in ex sherry casks. A shame I could only get my hands on a small bottle.