Ardbeg 10 yo

Ardbeg 10 yo

Official bottling
Single malt - Islay
Straw
46% ABV
Sampler

Nose: Peat, smoke, sea salt, golden syrup, lemon citrus, soy sauce, malt beer underneath.
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, full, static, slightly oily.
Tasting: Bitter. Walnut skins, smoke, peat, barley malt, citron, grapefruit.
Finish: Long. Bitter, freshly baked bread.

Comments:

Supposedly the best single malt in the world, according to Jim Murray. It's pretty good, but not quite my dram of whisky - not enough fruit. Lots of soy sauce without being salty. Interesting bready finish.

Verdict:

I like this.

Clynelish 13 yo 1990/2004

Clynelish 13 yo 1990/2004

Signatory UnChillFiltered
Single malt - North Highlands
Straw
43% ABV
Sampler

Nose: Beer, wet stones, peat, hint of smoke, hard fruits, pear, vanilla. A little harsh.
Mouthfeel: Thick, heavy body, static, holds together.
Tasting: Sweet. Pears, plums, vanilla, oaky spice, toast, fig jam.
Finish: Long. Fruity, smoky, toasty, jam. Smoke obscures some of the fruit.

Comments:

Cask #12732. Another bourbon refill barrel Clynelish. Less fruit somehow - there's a fair amount of smoke in this one. Not pleasant on the nose, but alright once in the mouth. It's at the right strength for me.

Verdict:

Not bad.

Caol Ila 16 yo 1991/2007 Cask Strength

Caol Ila 16 yo 1991/2007 Cask Strength

Single Malts of Scotland, Specialty Drinks Ltd
Single malt - Islay
White wine
57.5% ABV
Bottle

Nose: Smoke and peat. Soya sauce, honey and lemon. Fresh-cut grass lurking around the edges.
Mouthfeel: Medium body. Gritty and sandy, quite rough in the mouth. Can't really taste all that alcohol (!).
Tasting: Salty and sweet. Preserved Moroccan lemons. Cinnamon and cloves. More grass, drier this time (hay?).
Finish: Salty, long and warm. The cloves and honey linger longest.

Comments:

Cask ref 610, 235 bottles. This whisky won the Malt Maniacs' best bourbon cask matured award in 2007. Very nice indeed. Great at the bottled strength; the smoke doesn't overpower the rest of the flavours, very well balanced.

Verdict:

I like this a lot!

Glenrothes 20 yo 1985/2005

Glenrothes 20 yo 1985/2005

Official bottling
Single malt - Speyside
Warm amber
43% ABV
Mini

Nose: Raisins, vanilla, malty beer. Oat bread and hot cross buns. Dried cranberries.
Mouthfeel: Thick, full-bodied, creamy, very static, no expansion.
Tasting: Sweet salty, pepper and cloves, Sultanas, honey and banana. Rich, deep and complex.
Finish: Short but intense. Malty beer, raisin bun, hint of marmite on toast.

Comments:

Good mix of sweet and savoury flavours. Nice little Speyside, and very attractive little grenade-shaped bottles. Glenrothes does vintages instead of age statements, in 100ml bottles. Great for testing and tasting.

Verdict:

I like this.

Clynelish 15 yo 1992/2007 Cask Strength

Clynelish 15 yo 1992/2007 cask strength

From the cask, The Whisky Exchange
Single malt - North Highlands
Golden
57.9% ABV
Mini

Nose: Sweet toffee. Toasty, biscuity notes. Burning paper and woodsmoke. Big prickle from the alcohol, not surprising at this strength.
Mouthfeel: Thick and full, heavy bodied. Expands in the mouth.
Tasting: Sweet and rich. Ginger biscuits, wheat beer, spiced apple. Waves of hot honey. Corn on the cob.
Finish: Long and very warm. Fig jam on rye toast. Fades very slowly.

Comments:

This is an identical whisky to Specialty Drinks Ltd's Single Malts of Scotland bottling (Clynelish 15 yo 1992/2007, 46%, bottled September 2007). This expression is of course at cask strength, directly from a sale cask at the Whisky Exchange in Vinopolis. The whisky was aged in refill bourbon casks (cask #1617). Tastes great wherever it came from - I keep thinking "jam sandwich" every time I drink this. All manner of sweet delicious things in it.

Verdict:

I like this a lot!

Tomintoul 10 yo

Tomintoul 10 yo

Official bottling
Single malt - Speyside
White wine
40% ABV
Sampler

Nose: White wine, chardonnay grapes, bananas, oak, malt, grass after rain.
Mouthfeel:Thin, light body, refreshing.
Tasting: Sour. Corn mash, malty, clay, cornflakes, pumpernickel, rye.
Finish: Short. Sharp, citrus fruit.

Comments:

Light and winey, doesn't really taste 40% at all. Tastes like a Lowlands whisky. This is their flagship bottling; they also have a peated version that was apparently experimental. That would probably taste quite strange.

Verdict:

Not bad.

Bunnahabhain 27 yo 1978/2006

Bunnahabhain 27 yo 1978/2006

Signatory Vintage, Signatory
Single malt - Islay
Orange gold honey
55.6% ABV
Dram

Nose: Burnt sugar, walnuts, sea salt, dried fruit, hint of driftwood smoke.
Mouthfeel: Thick, heavy body, a little foamy.
Tasting: Sweet. Toffee, papaya, lime, tangy, fermented fruit, malt.
Finish: Long. Sweet, hint of seaweed, hint of fresh cut grass.

Comments:

Refill butt 2541, 483 bottles. Sherry casked? Kindly shared by FM (his birthday whisky). I like the combination of fruit, peat and smoke. I like the papaya and lime, reminds me of days spent munching on papayas from the tree in the garden (although I only found out about squeezing lime on later).

Verdict:

I like this a lot!

Scapa 14 yo

Scapa 14 yo

Official bottling
Single malt - Islands (Orkney)
Straw gold
40% ABV
Dram

Nose: Sea salt, lavender, wet stones, pineapple, hint of citrus.
Mouthfeel: Syrupy, thick, not heavy. Medium body.
Tasting: Salty sour. Tangy, sweet pineapple, beefsteak tomatoes, salt caramel, malty, clay.
Finish: Medium. Salty, seaweed, nori, something sweet.

Comments:

More maritime, saltier and less fruity than the younger expression (but with the same pineappley notes). Feels more luxurious somehow, yet this isn't reflected in the price! I believe this is going to be the flagship official expression from the distillery, and they are going to discontinue the younger one.

Verdict:

I like this.

Kilchoman New Make Spirit

Kilchoman New Make Spirit

Official bottling
Single malt - Islay
Very very pale gold
63.5% ABV
Sampler

Nose: Peat, hay, fresh cut grass, dates underneath.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, watery.
Tasting: Sweet salty. Fish sauce, tangerines, dried citrus peel, butterscotch.
Finish: Long. Hot, peaty, smoky, hint of sweet pear.

Comments:

Wow. Strong and tasty, best way to enjoy whisky. This is new make spirit, not yet aged 3 years, and therefore can't be termed whisky officially. It's the way people used to drink it anyway (maybe diluted with a little water - this stuff needs a little to bring out the butterscotch note more), before they discovered that if you stuck the stuff in wood it would taste more interesting. However, this tastes interesting enough - I can't wait for the real wood-aged stuff to appear. Kilchoman must be one hell of a distillery.

Verdict:

I like this a lot!

An Cnoc 12 yo

An Cnoc 12 yo

Official bottling
Single malt - Speyside
Light gold
40% ABV
Sampler

Nose: Oak, boiled carrots, apples, broccoli, hay, grass.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, slightly syrupy.
Tasting: Bitter sweet. Minty, baked potato, dried fruits, grass, spring flowers.
Finish: Short. Oaky, lemons, peanuts, starchy.

Comments:

The starch and the oak don't make for a very interesting combination. The floral notes and the fruit don't quite help out enough. I do like vegetal flavours in my whisky, but they don't meld very well with the other flavours here. A little too one-dimensional - the oak dominates. Still an acceptable dram, just doesn't reach the heights others have.

Verdict:

Not bad.