Inchgower 27yo 1989/2017

Inchgower 27yo 1989/2017

Authentic Collection, WM Cadenhead 
Single malt - Speyside 
Pale gold
53.2% ABV
Dram

Nose: Apple juice, peaches, pears, sea salt, lemon sweets, hints of white grapes. With water, white grapes, peach gummies, honey. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, tingly, warm, mouth coating. 
Tasting:  Sweet sour. Apple juice, peach gummies, lemon sweets, leather, white grapes, hints of honey. With water, honey, apples, peach gummies, malted grains. 
Finish: Medium. Honey, peach gummies, golden syrup, white grapes, hints of clay dust. 

Comments: 

This whisky tastes quite like Calvados, lots of apple but also a huge amount of peach notes. It’s a bit like the Japanese peach gummies you sometimes get at Japanese sundry shops. There’s a drying, dusty note at the end on the back of the tongue. Quite complex and tasty. 

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Glen Moray 13yo 2007/2020

Glen Moray 13yo 2007/2020

Thompson Bros
Single malt - Speyside 
Bright gold
50% ABV
Dram

Nose: Chocolate, malted grains, toffee, sea salt, orange peel, ground almonds. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, sticky, syrupy, tingly. 
Tasting: Bitter sweet. Chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, orange peel, fresh baked bread, hints of desiccated coconut. 
Finish: Short. Sea salt, malted grains, vanilla sponge, fresh baked bread, white grapes. 

Comments: 

There’s a touch of grain in this malt, oddly, at least as far as the flavour notes are concerned. Coconutty at the back of the tongue, the cereally notes are overlaid by chocolate and vanilla, rather good bourbon cask flavours. 

Verdict:

I like this.

Imperial 25yo 1994/2019

Imperial 25yo 1994/2019

Single Malts of Scotland, Elixir Distillers
Single malt - Speyside 
Bright gold 
44.1% ABV
Dram

Nose: Mangoes, pineapples, banana milkshake, lemon zest, hints of peaches. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, tingly, warms slightly, slightly astringent. 
Tasting:  Sweet sour. Malted grains, lemon zest, pineapples, mango lassi, toast, hints of green tea. 
Finish: Short. Mint, malted grains, fresh baked bread, sea salt, lemon zest. 

Comments: 

This Imperial hasn’t fared too well with others, but I enjoyed it. It’s fruity and sweet, lots of mango and cream alongside the normal white grape / sultana notes. Well aged and delicious. 

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection - 1838 Style White Corn

Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection - 1838 Style White Corn

Official bottling 
Single bourbon - Kentucky
Amber
45.2% ABV
Dram

Nose: Raisins, brown paper, digestive biscuits, lemon zest, honey, golden syrup. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, slippery, expands, warm. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Cornflakes, digestive biscuits, honey, desiccated coconut, glacé cherries, candied oranges, white pepper. 
Finish: Medium. Coffee, white pepper, desiccated coconut, glacé cherries. 

Comments: 

Spicy and biscuity, this corn bourbon is also rich and luscious. Lots of fruit alongside those cereal notes, all budding tot a bitter fragrant finish. 

Verdict:

I like this.

Tamnavulin-Glenlivet 8yo (bottled late 1970s)

Tamnavulin-Glenlivet 8yo (bottled late 1970s)

Official bottling 
Single malt - Speyside 
Bright gold
42.8% ABV
Dram

Nose: White grapes, vanilla ice cream, cream soda, leather, lime zest, hints of butterscotch. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, astringent, tingly, loosens slightly. 
Tasting:  Sour sweet. Vanilla ice cream, lime zest, leather, malted grains, ginseng, dried apricots, hints of dried pears. 
Finish: Short. Lime zest, dried pears, chocolate, vanilla ice cream. 

Comments: 

A very old bottle, but there’s surprisingly not much OBE. The flavours are a little bit muted though, perhaps there’s been some oxidisation. Lots of creamy vanilla, along with dried fruit and a little touch of chocolate. 

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Dallas Dhu 24yo 1979/2003

Dallas Dhu 24yo 1979/2003

First Cask, The Malt Whisky Circle 
Single malt - Speyside 
White wine 
46% ABV
Dram

Nose: White grapes, custard apples, rose apples, pears, cream, hints of malted grains. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, slippery, tingly, warm. 
Tasting:  Sour. White grapes, rose apples, malted grains, pears, autumn leaves, hints of vanilla, hints of leather. 
Finish: Medium. Green tea, white grapes, malted grains, rose apples, vanilla. 

Comments: 

Cask 1382. Fruity, earthy and tangy, this whisky is redolent of certain juicy tropical fruits, and shares their thirst quenching properties. I didn’t have a lot more than a single dram, but if it isn’t too sacrilegious with a malt from a closed distillery, I'd love to have this in a highball or with ice.

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Glen Elgin 20yo 1990/2011

Glen Elgin 20yo 1990/2011

First Cask, The Malt Whisky Circle 
Single malt - Speyside 
White wine
46% ABV
Dram

Nose: Peaches, white wine, ink, white grapes, malted grains, dried pears, hints of dried apricots. 
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, syrupy, thick, cool. 
Tasting:  Sweet sour. Malted grains, lemon zest, dried pears, dried apricots, fresh cut grass, golden syrup, hints of nutmeg. 
Finish: Long. Nutmeg, dried pears, white grapes, hints of cinnamon. 

Comments: 

Cask 7871. Spicy and well aged, with a lot of dried fruit notes overlaying what was once a grassy bright spirit. I don’t know if this is bottle aging rather than cask aging, but it’s really quite delicious.

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Balcones Single Barrel #10011 (for the British Bourbon Society)

Balcones Single Barrel #10011 (for the British Bourbon Society)

Official bottling 
Single bourbon - Texas
Bright amber
62.8% ABV
Dram

Nose: Bananas, cherries, cornflakes, toffee, raisins, amaretto, hints of jasmine. With water, sea salt, raisins, orange peel, toffee. 
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, slippery, hot, tingly. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Cornflakes, toffee, cherries, chocolate, amaretto, sea salt, hints of coffee. With water, raisins, cherries, orange peel, oats. 
Finish: Long. Cornflakes, sea salt, coffee, oats, hints of chocolate. 

Comments: 

This bourbon is so well seasoned it reeks of raisins and stone fruit. Lots of underlying cereal notes betray its grain identity, and it’s luscious and rich. Lovely. 

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Kornog Peated Single Malt

Kornog Peated Single Malt

Official bottling 
Single malt - Brittany 
Pale straw
46% ABV
Dram

Nose: Pineapples, leather, peat, preserved lemons, candied oranges, sea salt, hints of green papayas. 
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, syrupy, tingly, cool. 
Tasting:  Salty sweet. Sea salt, leather, candied oranges, smoke, peat, preserved lemons, hints of germolene, hints of malted grains. 
Finish: Medium. Preserved lemons, pineapples, leather, peat, hints of sea salt, hints of green papayas. 

Comments: 

Saline and savoury, with gentle but assertive peat, this French whisky also has some citrus and mouth puckering notes. Unusually good as an aperitif with some ice - and I don’t say this often about whisky. 

Verdict:

I like this.

Laphroaig 25yo 2015 Edition

Laphroaig 25yo 2015 Edition 

Official bottling 
Single malt - Islay 
Pale gold
46.8% ABV
Dram

Nose: Smoke, peat, tobacco leaf, autumn leaves, lemon juice, honey, hints of germolene. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, loosens, watery around the edges, cool. 
Tasting:  Bitter sweet. Honey, lemon zest, white grapes, smoke, tobacco leaf, peat, leather. 
Finish: Long. Tobacco leaf, smoke, lemon juice, leather, hints of germolene. 

Comments: 

Well aged, lots of herbal tobacco, plus the obligatory smoke and peat. It’s quite bitter, and fades to an antiseptic finish. Good Laphroaig.

Verdict:

I like this.