Chivas Regal 12 yo

Chivas Regal 12 yo

Pernod Ricard
Blended malt
Straw
40% ABV
Bottle

Nose: Prunes, toffee, armagnac, raisins, heather honey, hint of peat.
Mouthfeel: Thin, light body, wetting.
Tasting: Bitter. Coffee, raisins, chocolate, malt, oats, honey.
Finish: Medium. Tabasco sauce, bitter, malty, slightly sour.

Comments:

Pretty tasty blend - I especially like the way it has a tang of brandy, something I associate with decent armagnac, in the nose. Nice oaky raisins in the tasting, and a surprising spicy finish. Definitely a decent dram.

Verdict:

I like this.

Glenfiddich 15 yo Solera Reserve

Glenfiddich 15 yo Solera Reserve

Official bottling
Single malt - Speyside
Dark honey
40% ABV
Mini

Nose: Cherry blossom, pears, apples, hint of orange, vanilla underneath.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium body, astringent.
Tasting: Sweet. Pears, cheddar, malted barley, hint of honey.
Finish: Short Sweet, grapefruit, sour and bitter at the end.

Comments:

Aged for 15 years in oak then transferred to a solera aging system (a series of barrels where the spirit is transferred along to the next sequential barrel every time some is bottled). Lots of pear flavour, but I think the solera system have resulted in this spirit being much older than the age statement. There's almost too much oak in it.

Verdict:

I like this.

Maker's Mark (Burks')

Maker's Mark (Burks')

Official bottling
Single bourbon - Kentucky
Amber
45% ABV
Dram

Nose: Apple sours, coffee, chocolate, caramel.
Mouthfeel: Light body. Watery, smooth, thin around the edges.
Tasting: Sour bitter. Bubble gum, corn mash, coffee cake, smoke, iodine.
Finish: Medium. Coffee, seaweed.

Comments:

No rye in this (according to legend, the recipe was decided by baking loaves of bread and using the grains for malting and distillation). Just corn, barley and wheat. That enhances the bourbon bubble gum trademark a lot. The other interesting note is coffee. There's a lot of it! Small hints of smoke too.

Verdict:

I like this.

Highland Park 12 yo

Highland Park 12 yo

Official bottling
Single malt - Islands (Orkney)
Dark gold
40% ABV
[Dram]

Nose: Oranges, grapes, chocolate, leather, heather honey, hint of peat.
Mouthfeel: Oily, smooth, breaks up.
Tasting: Sour. Oranges, melon, chocolate milkshake, hints of butter, hints of white chocolate.
Finish: Short. Bitter, sherry sweet, peaty, heather honey.

Comments:

Pretty good - like chocolate milkshake with fruit in it. I think the older expressions must be a lot better; this whisky could do with a little bit more wood. Not a bad way to end a good meal though - sometimes I just want a little alcohol and perfume in the mouth, as a great spirit sometimes distracts.

Verdict:

I like this.

Talisker 18 yo

Talisker 18 yo

Official bottling
Single malt - Islands (Skye)
Amber, tinge of rose
45.8% ABV
Bottle

Nose: Smoke, preserved pork, soya sauce, cinnamon, crème brulee, orange peel.
Mouthfeel: Heavy body. Oily, viscous, smooth, expands in the mouth.
Tasting: Sweet sour. Citrusy, Seville orange marmalade, bacon and bread.
Finish: Medium. Tobacco, peanuts, cheddar cheese, burnt sugar.

Comments:

Delicious savoury and salty combination. This whisky was Whisky Magazine's best whisky of 2006. Tastes to me like a bacon and Seville orange marmalade sandwich - bizarre but delicious! I love this whisky.

Verdict:

I like this a lot!

Laphroaig 10 yo

Laphroaig 10 yo

Official bottling
Single malt - Islay
Straw gold
40% ABV
Dram

Nose: Peat, smoke, grapefruit, hint of cumin, hint of leather, hint of prawn crackers.
Mouthfeel: Medium body. Grainy, numbing, gritty and sandy.
Tasting: Sweet salty. Seaweed, cedar, peat, citrusy.
Finish: Long. Miso, nori, cigars.

Comments:

The classics are classics for a reason - this whisky is very good indeed. Aggressive smoke, with just a bit of refined fishiness and fragrance. Like walking along a pebble beach, windy and damp and salty. Great stuff.

Verdict:

I like this.

Oban 14 yo

Oban 14 yo

Official bottling
Single malt - West Highlands
Amber
43% ABV
Bottle

Nose: Raisins, peat, toffee, herbal soup, hints of flatulence. Very pleasant despite the unpleasant descriptor, however.
Mouthfeel: A little oily, smooth, medium body.
Tasting: Sweet salty. Plums, ume, chinese sour plums.
Finish: Toffee, hint of peat, musty, leather, candied winter melon.

Comments:

Very maritime, and slightly Japanese. Evokes the Japanese pickles you get along with a bento box. The nose isn't unpleasant, despite the manure characteristics. Something you could drink in a musty old library while munching on sushi.

Verdict:

I like this.

Macallan 10 yo Fine Oak

Macallan 10 yo Fine Oak

Official bottling
Single malt - Speyside
Straw
40% ABV
Bottle

Nose: Caramel, vanilla, raisins, nutmeg, eggnog.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, smooth, viscous, slightly astringent.
Tasting: Sweet, hint of smoke, more caramel, maple syrup, buttered pancakes.
Finish: Short. Bitter, peanuts, peanut skin.

Comments:

Matured in a mixture of bourbon and sherry casks. I enjoyed this the first time I tried it, but as I educated my palate a little more I found that there really wasn't much in here. Apparently cutting back on the use of sherry casks (as a cost saving measure) has allowed more the distillery's character to emerge with this expression, but I don't think the distillery character is an improvement over the sherry monster.

Verdict:

I like this.

My personal whisky blog

This blog is going to be a personal collection of tasting notes. It's a little impractical to organise my tasting notes on paper, or even in an Access database on my own PC. I can't access them easily enough. So I've decided to keep them in a blog format that will be easily accessible from any internet PC. After all there's all this free storage courtesy of Google - it would be a shame not to use it.