SMWS 50.63 (Bladnoch 24 yo 1990/2015)

SMWS 50.63 (Bladnoch 24 yo 1990/2015)

2015, SMWS
Single malt - Lowlands
Copper
58.3% ABV
Dram

Nose: Chocolate, honey, peaches, mangoes, cinnamon, hints of ginger. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, thickens, tingly, hot. 
Tasting:  Sweet sour. Mangoes, peaches, honey, ginger, watermelon, hints of white grapes. 
Finish: Short. White grapes, peaches, cinnamon, tobacco leaf. 

Comments: 

Incredibly fruity, with spicy warm ginger notes. Lots of complex flavour, which unfortunately collapses once water is added. No water in this. Not that it's hard to drink even at 58.3%, I love the tingly mouth feel.

Verdict:

I like this.

Bushmills Black Bush

Bushmills Black Bush

Official bottling
Single blend - Northern Ireland
Buttercups
40% ABV
Dram

Nose: Red wine, red grapes, raisins, chocolate, honey, tobacco leaf, hints of leather. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, loose, watery, disperses. 
Tasting: Sweet salty. Vanilla, red grapes, raisins, chocolate, sea salt, white grapes, green tea. 
Finish: Medium. White grapes, chocolate, honey, green tea. 

Comments: 

Light and drinkable, quite a lot of grape and chocolate. Slightly astringent in the finish. There's not a great deal of grain in here I reckon, it's mostly malt. Very fairly priced, with good complexity and great flavours.

Verdict:

I like this.

Macallan Gold

Macallan Gold

Official bottling
Single malt - Speyside
Gold
40% ABV
Dram

Nose: Vanilla, yoghurt, orange peel, raisins, honey, hints of tobacco leaf. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, thickens slightly, astringent, loose. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Freshly baked bread, yoghurt, orange peel, raisins, honey, hint of milk chocolate. 
Finish: Short. Raisins, honey, yoghurt, hints of orange peel. 

Comments: 

Another NAS whisky. I can't remember which Macallan expression this one replaced - the 10 year old? The 12 year old? Well, no matter. It's slightly disappointing, it tastes... young. There's a shallowness of flavour, lack of complexity, lack of deep chocolate and fruit notes, instead quite of lot of light yoghurty and bready flavours. OK, no more.

Verdict:

Not bad.

Deanston 12 yo 2002/2014

Deanston 12 yo 2002/2014

Glen Keir Treasures, Whisky Shop
Single malt - Central Highlands
Amber, tinge of red
40% ABV
Sampler

Nose: Butter, raisins, maraschino cherries, black tea, honey, hints of ginger. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, thickens, turns syrupy, slightly tingly. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Butter, honey, raisins, maraschino cherries, candied ginger, dark chocolate, mint. 
Finish: Long. Black tea, mint, honey, maraschino cherries. 

Comments: 

Matured in oloroso sherry casks. This is a rare beast indeed, independent Deanston. It's cool and sweet, lots of great sherry flavour. Loads of great fatty buttery flavour, coupled with black tea and sweet maraschino cherries. Excellent stuff.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.

Johnnie Walker Blue Label

Johnnie Walker Blue Label

Official bottling
Blend
Dark amber
40% ABV
Dram

Nose: Honey, raisins, chocolate, pears, mint, hints of leather, hints of sea salt. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, loosens, slightly watery around the edges. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Honey, chocolate, bananas, pears, vanilla, hints of leather. 
Finish: Short. Honey, mint, pears, apples. 

Comments: 

It's taken me a long time to try this, the jewel in the Johnnie Walker range. I remember gazing at the bottle when I first started drinking whisky (maybe 1 or 2 drams into this series of tasting notes), and wondering when I would finally get around to it. Well, here we are, dram #731 is Johnnie Walker Blue Label. It's sweet, unctuously so, with a kind of Diageo greatest hits. There's Teaninich, Cardhu, Glen Elgin, perhaps some Talisker, if I'm any judge. There's a great huge backbone of pear, which I'd normally identify as Glenfiddich, but of course that's a Wm Grant distillery. I wonder what that is. Still quite good, and it's indeed a jewel of a whisky.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.