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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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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