single cask Archives - Page 3 of 3

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 #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.

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.

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.

Whisky #463: GlenDronach 2003 Single Cask (Oak Barrel Exclusive) 12 Year Old Single Malt

February 28, 2017 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

GlenDronach 2003 Single Cask (Oak Barrel Exclusive) 12 Year Old Single Malt (Cask No. 3492). Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 53.8%. Tasted at home, $179 (bottle).

What. A. Day. Is it just me or does anybody else like to reward themselves by splurging on a good bottle of whisky when you’ve gotten something over the line? For me, today was one of those days.

When I’m not reviewing copious amounts of whisky for Whisky a Day, in my day job I lead a team of human factors consultants. Today was the delivery of a huge report for a client, the culmination of the last 7 months’ work. Suffice to say, putting the feet up and celebrating with a full-flavoured cask strength dram was definitely the best way to unwind!

Colour: Molten copper.

Nose: Like shoving your nose into a big handful of sultanas or muscatels. Big juicy dried fruit aromas with some dusty dark chocolate cocoa notes too. The 53.8% ABV gives you a slight tug of the old nostril hairs to give you a nudge to prepare your tastebuds for what’s to come.

Palate: That sugary/salty tang of blackcurrant pastilles. Salted caramel and vanilla – it really takes me back to my childhood. No, I wasn’t smashing whisky when I was in primary school, it just instantly reminded me of chewing on some jersey caramel lollies at my grandparents’ place.

Finish: Slightly salty, oaky tang with some gentle heat that lingers at the front of the mouth.

Comments: Hand selected for The Oak Barrel, my go-to independent bottle shop in Sydney. 12 years in an Oloroso sherry puncheon. What a dram it’s got everything. And do I feel relaxed? It’s so good I’ve now had three drams and I’m feeling very unwound! Highly recommended.

Whisky #400: The Big Black Cock Single Barrel Single Malt Whiskey

March 5, 2016 by Whisky a Day 2 Comments

The Big Black Cock Single Barrel Single Malt Whiskey. ABV: 43%. Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, Australia. Tasted at The Wild Rover, $15.50.

Happy Mardi Gras weekend everyone! In keeping with the theme, please strap yourself on, I mean in – strap yourself IN – for a pun-tastic review of the Big Black Cock…

Colour: Spray tan orange. The eyes widen, it certainly looks like a mouthful.

Nose: It’s light; an almost bourboni-ish sweetness. Honey and butter on toasted white bread.

Palate: Contrary to conventional wisdom, it’s quite short on the palate. Malty sweetness, some cereal notes, a touch of hay. Somewhat surprisingly, it’s not a very big mouthfeel. Goes down easily though.

Finish: Short. Not something I thought I’d be saying about a big black cock.

Comments: You think it’d be bigger, maybe hurt a little as it slides down your throat. But it’s surprisingly easy to take.

Made in Far North Queensland in the Atherton Tablelands, from Queensland sourced malted barley and aged for 5 years. It’s a daring choice of name for a whisky, perhaps not one you’d tell your mum about. But you’d certainly brag to your friends about that one time you tasted it…

Whisky #251: Balvenie 15 Year Old Single Barrel Single Malt

September 28, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Balvenie 15 Year Old Single Barrel Single Malt. Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 47.80%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $115 (bottle).

Colour: Brilliant translucent yellow.

Nose: Vanilla and bush honey.

Palate: Sweet biscuity notes. Creamy and buttery. Oily mouthfeel.

Finish: Medium length, lots of sweet oak and vanilla flavours. Almost a bit jammy.

Comments: A very smooth dram, the fact that half the bottle has mysteriously disappeared over a few days would suggest that it’s dangerously drinkable!

Whisky #206 – Blackadder Smoking Islay Raw Cask (Sherry Cask) Cask Strength Single Malt

August 24, 2014 by Whisky a Day 1 Comment

Blackadder Smoking Islay Raw Cask (Sherry Cask) Cask Strength Single Malt. Islay, Scotland. ABV: 60.50%. Tasted at home, $180 (bottle).

Colour: Pale gold.

Nose: Meat and molasses cooking on a campfire. A hint of cocoa.

Palate: Jammy flame-grilled meat flavours, plenty of peat and smoke.

Finish: Lots of residual warmth, long finish.

Comments: A cask strength release from a single sherry cask, this is simply stunning. The best Islay whisky I’ve tried so far this year. Words failed me a little when making my tasting notes, mainly because I was enjoying it so much and didn’t want to over-analyse it. Yes at 60.5% it’s a monster, but it doesn’t need to be diluted in my opinion. As the name suggests, it is raw but the influence form the sherry cask means that it’s got some residual sweetness too. Absolutely superb.

Whisky #64: Caribou Crossing Single Barrel Canadian Whisky

March 27, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Caribou Crossing Single Barrel Canadian Whisky. Canada. ABV: 40.00%. Tasted at Botanica Bar, $12.

Colour: Light bronze.

Nose: Pine cones; honey scents. Although being Canadian maybe I should be saying maple syrup.

Palate: Smooth entry, sweet creamy vanilla flavours.

Finish: Medium length, sweet aftertaste, no real heat or spice. Smooth.

Comments: Maybe tastes a little like maple syrup and melted ice cream on hot pancakes. Is that description a little more Canadian for your liking??

Whisky #59: Eagle Rare Single Barrel 10 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey

March 17, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Eagle Rare Single Barrel 10 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey. Frankfort, Kentucky, USA. ABV: 45.00%. Tasted at Bobeche, $13.

Colour: Lustrous copper.

Nose: Grassy.

Palate: Sweet burnt orange, like when you squirt the oil from the orange peel into your Cosmopolitan and ignite it on the way through. Also a bit nutty (much like most girls I know who drink Cosmopolitans).

Finish: Again quite long, sweet…almost chewy. Makes you want to lick your lips to decipher the other flavours kicking about.

Comments: Definitely not as smooth as the Willett I just tasted, but still very tasty and complex; definitely a lot more bourbon-like.

Whisky #55: Kilchoman Single Bourbon Cask 5 Year Old

March 14, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Kilchoman Single Bourbon Cask 5 Year Old. Islay, Scotland. ABV: 61.00%. Tasted at Canton Lounge, $20.

Colour: Quite a pale straw, perhaps unsurprising given it only spent 5 years in an ex bourbon barrel.

Nose: Strong alcohol vapours, although they soften with a bit of time in the glass. Peat dominates but some floral scents come through.

Palate: Rich warm flavours, but the peat just keeps coming. Salty.

Finish: Long and smokey, it’s like a warm peaty vapour cloud expanding in your mouth.

Comments: A single cask bottling, only ~260 bottles released. Not sure they should have tapped the barrel after only 5 years, it could have done with some more time to soften up a bit. Maybe they’ve released it early so they’ve got a different offering in the Kilchoman range. Though most likely it’s been released to generate some cashflow seeing as Kilchoman is such a young distillery that’s only been in operation a few years. Can’t say I’ve ever tasted such a young whisky before.