Smögen 12yo 2011/2024

Smögen 12yo 2011/2024

Coasts and Shores, Berry Bros & Rudd
Single malt - Bohuslän
Pale gold
55% ABV
Dram

Nose: Leather, vitamin C tablets, wet stones, honey, peat, driftwood smoke, hints of kippers. With water, lemon zest, wet stones, honey. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, loosens, warm, tingly. 
Tasting:  Salty sweet. Honey, vitamin C tablets, fish sauce, peat, driftwood smoke, malted grains, hints of kippers. With water, leather, honey, lemon zest. 
Finish: Long. Wet stones, kippers, vitamin C tablets, driftwood smoke, leather. 

Comments: 

Cask 402011. Quite saline and peaty, with whiffs of kippers and fish sauce. There’s also something tart, maybe even slightly chalky, and overlaid with salty smoke. Water brings out sweeter, more citrusy notes.

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Paul John Oloroso Cask

Paul John Oloroso Cask

Official bottling
Single malt - Goa
Mahogany
48% ABV
Dram

Nose: Raisins, tobacco leaf, wet stones, strawberry jam, malted grains, acetone. 

Mouthfeel: Light body, loosens, hot, tingly. 
Tasting:  Sweet salty. Peanut butter, tobacco leaf, raisins, acetone, wet stones, black tea, menthol, honey. 
Finish: Medium. Peanut butter, parchment, raisins, Demerara sugar. 

Comments: 

Sweet and nutty, lots of well defined layers of flavour. The sherry influence creates notes of raisins, acetone, together with a flinty menthol note. Rather good, complex and interesting.

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Commemorative Edition for Dr Jim Swan (Cotswolds x Milk & Honey)

Commemorative Edition for Dr Jim Swan (Cotswolds x Milk & Honey)

Cotswolds distillery
Vatted malt
Dark gold
50% ABV
Dram

Nose: Milk, white grapes, parchment paper, white pepper, malted grains, orange peel, honey. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, mouth coating, thickens slightly, tingly. 
Tasting:  Bitter sweet. Malted grains, orange peel, white grapes, winter melons, honey, white pepper, hints of golden syrup. 
Finish: Short. Malted grains, orange peel, white pepper, golden syrup. 

Comments: 

A vatting of Cotswolds and Milk & Honey distillate. Malty, fruity but with a paperiness that’s especially apparent on the nose. The whiskies do complement each other though.

Verdict:

I like this.

The Busker Single Malt

The Busker Single Malt

Official bottling
Single malt - Leinster
Pale amber 
44.3% ABV
Dram

Nose: Cola nuts, raisins, oak chips, malted grains, chocolate, black pepper. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, thickens slightly, tingly, warm.
Tasting:  Bitter sweet. Cola nuts, raisins, malted grains, black pepper, orange peel, chocolate, hints of sandalwood.
Finish: Short. Malted grains, black pepper, raisins, walnut skins, hints of chocolate. 

Comments: 

Sweet and intense, lots of nicely layered flavours. Mostly herbal and fruity, but with a nice barley sweetness underlying it. Surprisingly good for such a young malt.

Verdict:

I like this.

Boann PX Cask

Boann PX Cask

Official bottling
Single malt - Leinster
Amber gold
47% ABV
Dram

Nose: Orange peel, honey, cream, vanilla, burnt sugar, raisins, molasses. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, tingly, astringent, warm. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Raisins, orange peel, molasses, black tea, cinder toffee, hints of marmalade. 
Finish: Medium. Marmalade, cinder toffee, orange peel, molasses. 

Comments: 

Light and creamy, lots of orange notes, both peel and jam. There’s also something bitter sweet on the tongue, almost toasty. A very pleasant dram indeed.

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Dornoch 5yo 2019/2025 (ex-Islay Cask)

Dornoch 5yo 2019/2025 (ex-Islay Cask)

Official bottling
Single malt - North Highlands
Buttercups
57.5% ABV
Dram

Nose: Cinder toffee, cotton sheets, foam shrimp, peaches, cream, hints of toast. With water, peaches, toast, hay, cinder toffee. 
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, syrupy, oily, mouth coating. 
Tasting:  Bitter sweet. Diesel exhaust, cinder toffee, driftwood smoke, peat, cream, foam shrimp, strawberry jam, hay. With water, hay, diesel exhaust, peat, tyre rubber, golden syrup. 
Finish: Long. Hay, diesel exhaust, cream, foam shrimp, hints of peaches. 

Comments: 

Intense and fruity. The smoke is obvious, but isn’t in your face, and it just covers the sweet, grassy distillate. Water brings out more of the bitter medicinal sulphurous flavours.

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Adnams 7yo Distiller’s Choice Special Edition 2014

Adnams 7yo Distiller’s Choice Special Edition 2014

Official bottling
Single malt - East Anglia
Amber
57.15% ABV
Dram

Nose: Malted grains, fresh cut grass, white pepper, rye bread, lemon juice, hints of gooseberries. With water, lemon juice, fresh cut grass, hints of roast chicken. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, thickens, hot, volatile. 
Tasting:  Sour. Mint, anise, fresh cut grass, rye bread, lemon juice, apples, hints of malted grains. With water, anise, rye bread, sourdough bread, hints of toffee. 
Finish: Medium. Lemon juice, anise, sourdough bread, apples. 

Comments: 

Complex and volatile, lots of notes spark to life and fade quickly. What seems to hang around is anise, apples, lemons and some rye bread. Water brings out even more cereal and bread notes.

Verdict:

I like this.

Speyburn Bourbon Cask

Speyburn Bourbon Cask

Official bottling

Single malt - Speyside
Golden
40% ABV
Dram

Nose: Toffee, orange peel, golden syrup, lemon curd, burnt sugar, hints of toast. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, loosens, cool, mouth coating. 
Tasting:  Sour sweet. Toffee, malted grains, lemon curd, orange peel, golden syrup, barley sugar, hints of vanilla. 
Finish: Short. Malted grains, honey, golden syrup, barley sugar. 

Comments: 

Citrusy and with lots of malty goodness. A fine example of a stripped back whisky, with plenty of distillery character and relatively uninfluenced by wood. Quite a delicious dram.

Verdict:

I like this.

Strathearn Cask 9 (for Whisky.Me.com)

Strathearn Cask 9 (for Whisky.Me.com)

Official bottling

Single malt - Central Highlands

Amber gold

57.4% ABV
Dram

Nose: Toffee, raisins, malted grains, orange peel, hoppy beer, honey, lilies. With water, sandalwood, hoppy beer, malted grains. 

Mouthfeel: Medium body, loosens, volatile, astringent. 
Tasting:  Bitter sweet. Malted grains, hoppy beer, honey, orange peel, fresh cut grass, hints of toffee. With water, orange peel, hoppy beer, malted grains. 
Finish: Short. Malted grains, orange peel, walnut skins, hoppy beer. 

Comments: 

Cask 9. Complex and bitter, lots of fragrant herbal notes especially with water. It’s a punchy whisky, plenty of intense flavours that come in waves. Water does gentle it a little bit, and brings out some subtle flavours of hops and grain.

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Aberfeldy 10yo 2014/2024

Aberfeldy 10yo 2014/2024

Fragrant Drops, Keeble Cask Company
Single malt - Central Highlands
Bright gold
60.7% ABV
Dram

Nose: Acetone, toffee, pear drops, cola nuts, malted grains, fresh baked bread. With water, honey, malted grains, sultanas. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, hot, tingly, astringent. 
Tasting:  Sour sweet. Malted grains, hoppy beer, acetone, fresh baked bread, honey, burnt sugar, hints of cola nuts. With water, malted grains, honey, hoppy beer. 
Finish: Short. Malted grains, pear drops, fresh baked bread, honey. 

Comments: 

Cask 252. Very high ABV, so the spirity nature of the whisky stands out initially. It’s volatile and quite sweet. In the tongue some tart notes come to the fore, mainly beery notes. It’s got a very short finish for the ABV.

Verdict:

I like this.