Tag: 5 stars

Whisky 2021 – 21-24

21 – Clynelish 1993 26yr by Carn Mor Cask 112115

Nose is full of beautiful intense citrus fruit, fruit fizz, cream and leather. Roses and milk chocolate. And of course wax.

Palate is so elegant. Fruit more citrus and some bruised apples. Cream, honey. Flinty.

Finish is all hot warm double cream and minerality. This is a godlike finish.

5/5 Stars

22 – Blair Athol 1988 30yr by Sansibar 46.9%

Nose is all dusty berries… imagine raspberries and blueberries pulled out of a dusty draw. Warmed butter.

Palate is strawberry jam, chocolate and then gets some lovely savouriness. Some savoury passionfruit vine.

Finish jam, grass, cream… good!

4.5/5

23 – Clynelish 1997 21yr by The Auld Alliance & The Malt Affair 49.9% (10th Anniversary bottling)

Nose is cream, citrus, honey and wax. It’s classic. Squeezed apricots and pears?!?

Palate is honey beautifully with infused citrus and blossoms. Nothing is out of place. It is really balanced.

Finish savoury, baking spices and cream.

4.5/5 Stars

24 – Inchmurrin 1997 23yr by Liquid Treasures 48.5%

Nose is ginkgo nuts and beef marrow. Plastic and funky. Cloves.

Palate beef marrow, light peaches and apricot, tropical and pineapple syrup.

Finish medicinal, grassy and more stone fruit. And chalky?! Weird and wonderful.

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Whisky 2021 – 1-3

And we’re away for 2021. Hope you enjoy the reviews, they’ll be cross posted to Reddit and Instagram.

1 – Wemyss Bowmore 1990 “Satsuma Soap” 48% for Whisky Fair Takao

Nose is salty, flinty, I ripe plums, maraschino cherries and honeyed… really inviting minerality. Touches of cream.

Palate is intensely floral, salty, peachy, tropical fruit, slight licks of smoke

Finish is grassy, cocoa dusted and salty

5/5 Stars

2 – 1976 Blend The Maltman (Clynelish, Dailuaine, Macduff, Teaninich, Ben Nevis, Invergordon)

Nose reminds me of my grandfather’s garden with dried apricots warmed in the hot sun. Day old cream, spice and cloves.

Palate is gnarled woody apricot trees, apricot kernels and more stone fruit. It is salty and loads of vanilla cream. Goes tannic with bruised apples and slightly thin before the great finish.

Finish is super rich vanilla cream.

4.5/5 Stars

3 – Secret Speyside 1993 26 Years by TWA and Three Rivers 49.3% Ex-sherry hogshead

Nose is inviting deep sherry with apples, salt and stone fruit

Palate is cream, spice, and well controlled rubbery sulphur. It’s got a lightness of spirit with great nuttiness.

Finish is lots of stone fruit and sarsaparilla

4.5/5 Stars

Whisk 2019 – 25-28

25 – Arran 2000 14 years single bourbon cask for The Whisky Exchange cask 2000/1106
Nose: apricots, honey, butter, almonds, tropicals, brandy snaps

Palate: super sweet, burnt toffee, shortbread, passionfruit vine, toasted coconut

Finish: pavlova with cream and green pineapple, salty

****

26 – Hazelburn 2007 Springbank Society 10 Years Sauternes Cask
Nose: baking spices, honey, pear, funky wood, chocolate, prunes, wholemeal donuts with strawberry jam

Palate: Honey, pear, ashes, cream, Christmas spice

Finish: pear, wood, rubber

****

27 – Springbank 2009 “Cage Bottle” Warehouse 15 Rotation 76
Nose: milk chocolate, chocolate milk, freeze dried strawberries, dried pineapple

Palate: Honey, coffee, cream, green pineapple, ashy rocks, chocolate dipped pineapple

Finish: chocolate, cream for days, praline

*****

28 – Campbelltown 4 Years by North Star Series 005 (Kilkerren and Springbank)
Nose: marshmallow, cream, lemon balm, fake mango pudding

Palate: biscuit, cream, lemon zest, apples, mango Weiss bars, custard, dry spice

Finish: fruit and cream, melted butter

****

Whisky 2019 – 1-3

Another year… more drams coming. I’ll add a rating out of 5 stars this year and a bit more detail where I can.

***** – Outstanding

**** – Very Good

*** – Good

** – Fair

* – Poor

No stars – Faulty

Hope you enjoy my tasting notes for 2019.

1 – Ben Nevis 1998 16 years old by Cask & Thistle, Cask 0345
Nose: honey and banana leaf, leather, bee hives, aspirin, musk

Palate: classic Ben Nevis, passionfruit vine, metallic, super intense honey leading to tobacco, orange and musk, rock melon, stone fruit.

Finish: musk, apricots, peaches, honey
****

2 – Springbank 1990 25 years old by SCOMA hogshead 587
Nose: waxy dried fruit, dried apple, honey, figs, old butter, salt, kit-Kat’s

Palate: old apples, wax, strawberries and cream, funky wood, honey, dried apricots

Finish: cream, grape seeds
****

3 – Mysterious distillery 1975 Golden Tiger
Nose: coffee and honey, waxy notes, musk sticks, chlorine, metallic, pepper, chocolate

Palate: old leaves, juicy, cream, green apple, pencil shavings, grilled pineapple, raspberry

Finish: super long cream and melted butter finish that lasts and is interspersed with fruits, dried orange, coffee
*****