vatted malt

Whisky #549: Edradour Ballechin Double Malt

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Edradour Ballechin Double Malt. Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 46%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $19 (50mL sample bottle from Casa de Vinos).

Colour: Bright toffee.

Nose: Rich timber and varnish notes, like walking into a woodwork shop. Smokey notes like you’ve pressed the timber a bit too hard against the planer or circular saw and it’s started to smoulder a little.

Palate: Cool smoke, blueberries, dark chocolate and cocoa.

Finish: Charcoal notes in the finish, becoming drier. Like the slightly burnt sausages left over at a BBQ, you just keep going back for one more bite.

Comments: Created as a vatting of one cask of Edradour sherry cask matured whisky, along with three casks of Edradour’s Ballechin peated whisky matured in ex Bourbon casks. For me, it’s a little too heavy on the peated notes, which dominate the sherry and juicy dried fruit notes that Edradour is known for.

Whisky #199 – Ichiro’s Malt, Double Distilleries Vatted Malt

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FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby featherIMG_3545Ichiro’s Malt, Double Distilleries Vatted Malt (Hanyu and Chichibu distilleries). Japan. ABV: 46%. Tasted at Canton Lounge.

Colour: Yellow gold.

Nose: Alcohol tingle up the nostrils, grass seed notes.

Palate: Peppery hay-like flavours. Quite a dry mouthfeel.

Finish: Spicy; quite a bit more heat than I expected from a drop at 46%.

Comments: A bit more bite than I expected. This is an interesting drop, it’s a combination of whisky from both Hanyu and Chichibu distilleries in Japan, vatted and bottled at Chichibu in 2010. Interesting, but not outstanding.

Whisky #52: Writers Tears Pot Still Irish Whiskey

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FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby featherphoto 2Writers Tears Pot Still Irish Whiskey. Ireland. ABV: 40.00%. Tasted at Bobeche, $13.

Colour: Bright gold.

Nose: Really soft honey scents, maybe a touch of hay

Palate: Fuller flavour, hints of sweetness with some malty spice. Hard to describe some of the other more subtle flavours.

Finish: Business up front with a medium finish at the front of the mouth; party out back with warmth & flavour hanging around.

Comments: Much more full flavoured than other Irish malts I’ve had, more like a highland malt. Apparently it was called “Writers Tears” because it was traditionally consumed by Irish writers suffering from writer’s block. After drinking so much of it, some reportedly cried tears of whiskey when inspiration finally hit. Maybe I should drink another one in the hope that I will tearfully come up with something a little more witty to say! Anyway, it’s a vatting of pure pot still and single malt whiskies.  Quite enjoyable.