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Glendalough 13 – Mizunara Finish

 

Notes: I picked this up mainly to see what a Mizunara finish would do. I have not had anything from Glendalough either, so its a two for one for me.

Matured for 12 years in first fill American oak ex-bourbon casks, followed by 12 months in Japanese Mizunara oak.

Distiller: Glendalough

Bottler: Glendalough, Non-chill filtered, natural colour

ABV: 46%

Age: 13 years

Source: The Whisky Club

Colour: Chestnut

Nose: Rested 10 minutes. Nose is super spicy, nutty and oaky, with apple sweetness. I can’t stop smelling this.

Taste: Rich, creamy and oily. Oak and spice leading to candy sweetness.

Finish: Medium/Long finish, spice, dark chocolate and vanilla.

Overall: This smells like nothing other, so many different spice notes are there. Rich and oily in the mouth, followed up by chocolate and sweet vanilla. Its more balanced towards the spicier end of things. I have to go and look for a regular 13 year Glendalough now to compare this to. I am not sure how much of an influence the Mizunara has had on this, if any. Besides that this is an awesome drop, not something I think I would drink regularly but I am definitely going to have a craving for some more soon. Well worth trying if you do see any.

Thanks for taking a look 🙂

Rank: 8.5

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Glengoyne – Cask Strength Batch 6

 

Notes: I visited Glengoyne from a day trip from Glasgow. The distillery was quite pretty, nestled within a small nook in the hillside. I tasted a few offerings, including the 12yo, 18yo and 21yo. This cask strength offering was the final tasting, and my favourite of the day.

“Glengoyne Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky has released Batch No. 6 of its Cask Strength expression – the first ever expression in the series that has been 100% matured in sherry oak casks.

Bottled un-chillfiltered at its natural strength of 59.8%, Glengoyne Cask Strength Batch No. 6 has been created from a combination of first fill European oak sherry casks, American oak sherry butts and refill sherry butts.”

Distiller: Glengoyne

Bottler: Glengoyne

ABV: 59.8%

Age: NAS

Source: Glengoyne Distillery

Colour: Russet

Nose: Rested 10 minutes. No water. Sweet sherry and caramel, biscuits, banana. With water, Banana comes out strong with notes of sherry, buttery. Slightly oaky.

Taste: No water. Rich creamy mouthfeel, sweet caramel and sherry. With water, Honey and caramel sweetness with more of a spiciness

Finish: Medium finish. Dry mouthfeel, sherry sweetness with spice and oakyness fading to citrus.

Overall: Well balanced sweet and spice that packs a punch. I think this is directly comparable to Aberlour’s A’bunadh, being less sweet and more malty, possibly less interesting but still a nice dram.

Rank: 7.7

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Armorik – Small Batch

 

Notes: Hey there everyone. This is my first review of a world whisky! While I have had some experience with a large variety of scotch, I have yet to really branch out into other offerings. This is the second non scotch whisky I have purchased, the first being a Jamesons (Young Henry). Living in Australia gives me access to some local whiskys that dont really see any exposure, so I want to try to get to them eventually. Happy for people to give any feedback on this also as I am still learning, thanks and enjoy!

Buying notes “Ten casks were used to create this release; one virgin American oak cask distilled in 2013 provides structure, five first fill ex-Jack Daniel’s American oak casks distilled in 2014 provide sweetness and smoothness, while four refilled American Oak ex-bourbon casks distilled in 2012 accentuate the distillate’s fruity notes.”

Distiller: Armorik

Bottler: Armorik (Bottled exclusively for The Whisky Club)

ABV: 46%

Age: NAS

Source: The Whisky Club Australia

Colour: Old Gold

Nose: Rested 10 minutes. Sweet and floral with hints of honey and vanilla. White wine comes out after further resting… After looking into this I found this snippet which may be the cause. (Fermentation takes place over four days using two yeasts, one to generate fruity notes and the other for alcohol yield.)

Taste: Hot, spicy and citrus. Sweet notes of caramel and vanilla.

Finish: Medium and dry. Spiciness gives way to a thick caramel toffee sweetness.

Overall: This has a really promising sweet nose, seems to be bottled at a good ABV, however does seem to suffer from lack of aging. While there is some hotness the sweet tones normally outweigh these. I initially had this at a 7 but bumped it up slightly after the wine nose came out. Overall I think its well balanced, would be nice to see something aged a little longer with some more wood/nuttiness.

Rank: 7.5

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Caol Ila – Gordan & MacPhail 13

 

Notes: While staying in Elgin I had the chance to stop in at the retail shop for Gordan & MacPhail. The choices were pretty overwhelming and as I was staying in Speyside I wanted to get something from a little further out. After multiple tastings, I decided on this lovely dram from Islay. I believe this is also the new bottle art for G&M which I think looks pretty nice.

‘This new Discovery Range was created to offer the utterly dependable and consistent choice of their finest whiskies. Each expression sits within the bold flavour profiles of either ‘Sherry’, ‘Smoky’ or ‘Bourbon’ making these single malts the perfect match for the whisky lover who enjoys exploration through flavour and character.’ This Caol Ila 13 Years Old has been matured in bourbon casks.’

Distiller: Caol Ila

Bottler: Gordan & MacPhail

ABV: 43%

Age: 13 years

Source: Gordan & MacPhail, Elgin

Colour: Amber

Nose: Rested 2 minutes. Iodine, smoke and peat. Dried meat smell. Faint sweetness. Rested 10 minutes. Iodine and smoke mellows out to give way to more of the sweet/floral notes.

Taste: Initial fruity sweetness, medicinal taste, slight peppery spiciness. Peaty, quite well balanced.

Finish: Medium. Oh my, the oiliness. If you like oily whisky this is amazing. Smoke and peat is prominent, little to no burn.

Overall: I love heavily peated whiskys and this is a very good example. The super oily mouth feel is amazing. I would really have liked for this to be higher ABV, however at 43% it is very easy to drink, perhaps too easy. Would be interesting to see something similar finished in sherry.

Rank: 8.5

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Balvenie – Triple Cask16

 

Notes: Master of Malt notes: 16 year old Balvenie single malt Scotch whisky from their Triple Cask range, which was launched for travel retail. The Triple Cask range is matured in first-fill American oak barrels, traditional refill casks and first-fill Oloroso Sherry butts. The 16 year old shows off a lot more vanilla and fruit than the 12 year old Triple Cask – the extra years in the casks also bring out plenty more fragrant, oak-y spices.

I picked this up from Heathrow on my way home from Scotland.

Distiller: Balvenie

Bottler: Balvenie

ABV: 40%

Age: 16 years

Source: Heathrow duty free

Colour: Russet

Nose: Slight funkiness, honey heather. The oak really comes out after resting. Rich and sweet.

Taste: Watery, slightly spicy, honey sweetness. Very slight nuttiness. Almond and marzipan.

Finish: Short/Medium finish. Dry. Honey sweetness that gives way to spice and pepper. Warm in the throat.

Overall: Sweet smelling to begin with but fairly lack luster in the mouth, felt very watery. While nice, this does not seem special and definitely does not fit at its high price point. Fairly uninspiring overall.

Rank: 6.9

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Aberlour – A’bunadh Batch #59

 

Notes: Recently I have been trying a few different Sherry finished Whiskys. I am not sure that they are my favourite, however I wanted to try out this offering from Aberlour. I like the idea of the variations between batches.

Distiller: Aberlour

Bottler: Aberlour Batch #59

ABV: 60.9%

Age: NAS

Source: Dan Murphys retail

Colour: Auburn, Mahogany

Nose: Strong alcohol to begin, fruity apple after alcohol resides, followed by faint wood and sweetness

Taste: Initially I was hit by big sweetness (probably the Sherry?) followed by a lot more sweetness. Slightly hot, slightly woody. No water necessary even at high ABV.

Finish: Medium/long, spice/sweet finish. Dry mouthfeel.

Overall: I think I will use this as an example of a Sherry bomb. Very enjoyable. Maybe too sweet for my palate to enjoy all the time.

Rating: 7.9