Whisky 2016 – 78-81

78 – SMWS 128.6 Rumbling, reverberating resonances (Penderyn)
Wood glue, turps, banana cream pie, Christmas pud. Huge caramel and banana, sweet and delicious, butter and honey.

79 – SMWS 76.125 Enticing sweetness and attractive wood (Mortlach)
Apricot jam, sponge cake, wood turps, salt and pepper. Rock melon, brown sugar, yoghurt, passionfruit vine, brandy butter, great tropical fruit.

80 – Gaiaflow Eigashima Sakura 2015
Wood, chocolate, cocoa, pepper. Honey to maple syrup, butter, pepper, clove, sarsaparilla, flight dusty note. Wonderful whisky.

81 – Yamazaki Whisky Shop WSO-005 2013 (Red Wine Cask)
Red apple, red wine tannins, maple wood, pastrami (?!?), chiffon cake, ginger. Apples crumble, clean and balanced, candle wax, cinnamon, cloves.

Whisky 2016 – 68-76 (Kavalan Tasting)

68 – Kavalan Solist Manzanilla
Gluey, woody, smells hot and salty, nutty. Unexpected sweetness, dried orange and apricot, Terry’s chocolate orange, floral, mango Weiss bars.

69 – Kavalan Solist Amontillado
Glue, musk, wood, brown sugar, caramel, melted cultured butter. Salty, leather, brown sugar, caramel, walnuts oil, loads of musk on the finish, bitter almonds, toasted almonds. Maybe a bit bitter for me.

70 – Kavalan Solist Moscatel
Chicos, milk chocolate, instant coffee, treacle and I’m reminded of little thyme flowers. Smooth so so smooth, butter loads of it, honey, caramel, maple syrup, maybe some passionfruit and just freaking good.

71 – Kavalan Solist PX (Pedro Ximenez)
Corn tempura, butter, cream, dried fruits. Really smooth big tropical fruits, macerated berries, slight mint, slight motor oil.

72 – Kavalan Solist Fino
Glue, dry sherry (ha!), rock melon, coffee, white peaches and cream. Tropical fruit, caramels, salt, creamy, rose water.

73 – Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique
Vanilla and chocolate, Xmas spice, toasted coconut. Jasmine, cold milk tea, tropical fruits.

74 – Rest and Be Thankful Bunnahabhain 1989
Green grass, old bananas, brown sugar, passionfruit vine. Coffee, cream, caramel, salt, thyme and a slight iodine hit.

75 – Finlaggan The Original
Iodine, sweet, sea water, cream, caramel, cherry wood. Sea water, pepper, prunes and iodine.

76 – Blair Athol Manager’s Choice Cask 5989
Toffee apple, sulphur, brandy, chicos, egg white, aged sake maybe. Cream, apricot delight, toffee, caramel, apples skins.

Whisky 2016 – 65-67

65 – SMWS 127.44 Cantina Mexicana (Bruichladdich)
Plastic, sulphur, salt, pulled pork, roasted capsicum and pickled chilies, peppery. Taken aback by the initial sweetness, peppery and chilies, bitter cocoa, mustard fruits, toffee and rubber.

66 – Riverstown Ben Nevis 16 Years
Cream, bourbon, tiramisu, caramel, stewed apricots, candied orange, toasted coconut. Marmalade, toffee, cucumber, cream, pepper, yoghurt.

67 – White Oak Akashi 14 Years (White wine finish)
Beef stock, brown sugar, varnish, turps, leather. Brown sugar, maple, slightly floral, heavy and delicious.

Whisky 2016 – 57-64 Bruichladdich Tasting

57 – Laddie Classic Batch 16/004
Chicos, green herbs, wood, rubbery, toasted almonds, roses. Caramel, sea salt, leather, custard

58 – Micro Provenance 12YO Sherry Hogshead
Bitter cocoa, hand cream, slight clove cigarette, brown sugar, huge sherry, Chinese herbs. Rubber, dry white wine, brown sugar, rum, sarsaparilla. Lovely.

59 – Port Charlotte Scottish Barley
Fake Parmesan cheese, plastic, iodine, seaweed, boiled sweets, lemon zest. Salty, dry herbs, slight bacon.

60 – Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2008
Glue, new make, tequila, ozone, plastic. Sugary, herby, tobacco smoke, BBQ meats.

61 – Octomore 7.1 Scottish Barley
Butterscotch, caramel, salty sea. Sea weed, iodine, slight smoked meat, dry herbs and salty.

62 – Octomore 7.4 Virgin Oak
Hospital, iodine and clove, strawberry cheese cake. Dry cake spices, clove cigarette. Great!

63 – Arran Private Cask Milano Whisky Festival 2014 6 year sherry Hogshead
Crushed ants, dusty, salt, butter, grilled peaches. Butter, toasted, sarsaparilla, custard, peaches, woody and perfumed. Definitely in my top 5 for the year. 

64 – Adelphi Glenrothes 9 Years
Chicos, dusty, wood glue, cloves, pound cake, prunes, plums, tea. Caramel, custard, cloves, spiced biscuits, white pepper and cream.

Whisky 2016 – 54-56

54 – Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2016
Woody, musky, cloves and cola, bubblegum, butter, chicos, flapjacks and golden syrup. Vanilla pudding, spiced rum, sarsaparilla, rubber, pepper, rose water cream, woody.

55 – Signatory Bunnahabhain 2003 12 Years (Sherry Butt)
Passion fruit, peaches, toffee, salt, jersey caramels. Coffee trifle, dried apricots, toffee, pear nectar. This really was outstanding!

56 – Port Askaig 100 Proof
Preserved lemons, iodine, seaweed, brown rice, grapes, smoke, caramel. Cardboard, seaweed, smoked butter, kiwi fruit, leather.

Whisky 2016 – 51-53

51 – Limeburners Port Cask
Candy apples, apple sours, brandy snaps. Creamy, peaches, vanilla, soft on the palate, loads of toasted coconut, green gooseberries, white peaches.

52 – Friends of Oak Bunnahabhain 6 Years 2014
Honey, sea salt, sea weed, slight charcoal. Green, smoky and sweet, slight creamy notes, cordial like.

53 – Signatory Ben Nevis 1991 24 Years
Plastic, pencils, grilled eggplant, buttered toast, preserved lemons, lime zest. Dusty, marmalade, chocolate, cream, coffee trifle.

Whisky 2016 – 47-50

47 – Glenfarclas Whisky & Wisdom bottling 2007
Musk lollies, leather, glue, honey, maple syrup, sarsaparilla and chocolate. Short, hot and angry, wood, maple, cream, butter, marshmallows.

48 – Berry’s Laphroaig 1997 Cask 48
Oil paints, autumn leaves, salty caramels, plasticine. Honey, smoke, bitter caramels, sweet mint and basil, cream and leaves.

49 – Lagavulin 18 Feis Ile 2016 Bottling Bottle:5916 (American Oak Hogsheads & Bodega Sherry Butts)
Fresh, zesty, red apples, butter cake, autumn leaves, just the right amount of oiliness. Apples, autumn leaves, saltiness, cream, paint. Really well balanced.

50 – SMWS 72.47 Burnt Spotted Dick (Miltonduff)
Cottee’s caramel ice cream sauce, glue and orange zest, candy apples, formic acid, pina colada, pineapple upside down cake, vanilla essence, white pepper, creme caramel, slight Rosemary. Juicy grilled pineapple, toasted coconut, vanilla pudding, pain aux raisins, slight sweet rubbery notes.

Whisky 2016 – 45-46

45 – Tasmanian Independent Bottlers (HH0177) Sullivan’s Cove 1999
Yeasty bread dough, chicos, apricots, apricot bars, creamy (it’s Sullivan’s Cove). Very elegant, well structured and light, creaminess, spiced shortbread biscuits, some flintiness. Probably too light for me at 46%, cask strength has ruined me. 

46 – Hellyers Road Port Cask
Stone fruit, passionfruit, lemon zest, modeling glue, hand cream and maple syrup. Passionfruit vine, pear juice, cream, sticks, charcoal, stones, chocolate, banana bread.

Whisky 2016 – 43-44

43 – Heartwood Release the Beast (Lark)
Marshmallow, sugar cane, cloves, sarsaparilla, flat Coke, strawberry jam. Woody, cloves, so thick and heavy, cinnamon, mint leaves (lolly), yoghurt, cream and brown sugar, quince paste, banana bread.

44 – Lark Port Cask 2015 Barrel 479
Apricot jam, bitter chocolate, buttered popcorn, hazel nuts, pine resin, glue. Apricot jam, brown sugar, cloves, toasted almond, flat coke, sticky date pudding with cream, marshmallow, golden syrup.