Four Roses Single Barrel OESF selected by Tippins Market in Ann Arbor, MI.

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Region: Kentucky, Warehouse No. JE, Barrel No. 31-4N

Mashbill: 75% Corn/20% Rye/5% Malted Barley

ABV: 60.5%

Chill-filtered: No

Container: Glencairn Neat

Colour: Mahogany

Nose: A tiny bit of sharp ethanol, vanilla, oak, caramel, Christmas mint candy, brown sugar.
Everything is well balanced, wouldn’t have guessed the 60.5% ABV from the nose, nothing overpowering on the nose, rather tamed, would’ve expected a more intense nose.

Palate: Really different from the regular FR Single Barrel, mint candy, caramel, slightly dry on the palate, touch of pepper, touch of oak, dark chocolate.
I was expecting some sort of oak bomb, but I was greeted by a very well-constructed flavour profile.

Finish: Medium-long finish, pepper, earthy, oak, minty sugar, touch of bitter oak at the very end.
Rather nice finish, the bitter oak wasn’t in a bad way, rounds things off nicely.

Score: 87/100

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A rather surprising dram, coming from single malt whisky, I find the regular Four Roses Single Barrel (45%) to be okay at best, but this is a completely different beast! It is well balanced, the flavour is very pleasant, and I get the surprise of finding the minty notes! Most of the bourbon I’ve tried are rather “generic” in terms of nose and flavour, but this stands out from the crowd.

Tasted completely blind, mystery sample provided by a TWS member.

Amrut Peated Portpipe 5 Year Old Single Cask #2712

Music: F. Kreisler – Liebesleid & Liebesleid for Piano Rachmaninoff’s Arr., Chopin Piano Trio op.8

Region: India

ABV: 59%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Container: Glencairn Neat, took a good 45minute of rest, kept opening up.

Colour: Amber
Nose: Quite mellow on the nose, not too intense. Started off with a touch of sourness, and a bit of wax, which disappeared after. Malt, honey, toffee, hint of citrus, tiny hint of salt, some red fruits, perhaps touch of spice? Some funk appeared for a few seconds, and disappeared right after.

“If I approached at an angle, I get a hint of milk chocolate/floral sweetness to it” – I actually typed that earlier, so let’s go with that too.
Palate: Quite a bit of heat on the palate, malt, nuts, salt, raspberry, oak, touch of citrus and plum. A bit dry and tannic in the back end.

Not too complex on the palate, but the flavours are bold and punchy.
Finish: Long finish, oak transition into spicy peppery finish, and a touch of sweetness and oaky dryness on the back end.

Rather nice lingering finish, long and peppery, with some sweetness to round things off.

Score: 87/100

Overall a rather enjoyable dram, very nice aromas, bold flavours, and a nice finish, well balanced. Very conflicting with where this whisky came from.

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I suspect this has some sort of cask finish, not sherry cask, but nothing apparent to me at the moment. Initially it reminds me of Irish whiskey with the waxy aroma, but that went away. Then it reminds me of Amrut with the malt aroma. There is that hint of salt on the nose and palate that throws me off, what world whisky has this saltiness, or am I just imagining things??

It doesn’t appear to be a sherry bomb, none of that orange and cinnamon stuff going on. Yesterday I poured myself a dram of Tomatin 14 Portwood, it doesn’t have that confectionery of sweet strawberries aroma of the Port cask finish either. Could be a blend of cask which would explain my confusion, doesn’t have vanilla influence of bourbon casks. Confused.

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Guess: 50-55% ABV, Single Malt, Some sort of wine cask finish, probably leaning towards a shorter port cask finish rather than sherry. Given that only a few countries produces single malt whisky, I am guessing Amurt with a short cask finish.

Reveal: Amrut Peated Port 5y Single Cask #2712, 59%, from Jan 2011 to Feb 2016 (Apparently it’s Port finish)

Aftermath: I had a dram of PC12 2-3 hours before this, that was peated, this I don’t exactly detect peat, at least nothing like the Islay peat. Perhaps that explains the small funk I got?

Tasted  blind.

Region: Speyside

ABV: 57.4%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Cask Type: ex-Bourbon

Container: Glencairn Neat, rested for 20 minutes

Colour: Gold

Nose: Not much heat on the nose, honey, wax, malt, hint of grassy note, apple, dried fruits, floral, pineapple, hint of peach, really nice sweet and fruity nose, and oddly familiar. Ex-bourbon cask?

Initially it has that waxy malt character that reminds me of Arran 12 CS, which went away after some resting. Then it has a hint of the grassy notes that reminds me of Aultmore 12, some of the honey character of the Stronachie(Benrinnes) 10, carrying fruitiness of the Glenlivet Nadurra NAS. I FEEL LIKE I HAVE HAD THIS BEFORE!

Palate: Tiny amount of heat on the palate, malt, honey, oak, pepper, mineral, apples, touch of sherry???

I don’t know where I got the touch of sherry from, with mineral , and oak, a bit dry on the palate.

Finish: Medium-length, mineral, oak, pepper.

Score: 85/100

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Guess: ex-bourbon cask, 18-25 Years old, 50-55% ABV, IB Clynelish?

Reveal: SMWS 1.197 – Jackpot! (Glenfarclas, 21y, 57.4%, refill ex-bourbon hogshead, distilled Sep 1993)

Talisker 10

 

Region: Isle of Skye

ABV: 45.8%

E150: Yes

Chill-filtered: Yes

Music: Jazz for a lazy day: Russel Gunn – Fly me to the moon

Container: Spiegelau Perfect Tasting Glass

Colour: Gold

Nose: Gentle smoke, black pepper, citrus, brine, apple caramel, melon, hint of vanilla.

Palate: Nice mouth feel, peat, lemon, black pepper, ginger, salty, touch of smokiness, slight bitter oak(not in a bad way).

Finish: Medium-long finish, salty, more black pepper, peat, slight earthiness.

Score: 84/100

 

One of my first peated whisky, some say it’s a gateway to Islay. Very nice non-medicinal smoke, lots of black pepper and sweet notes throughout, very nice mouth feel despite the chill filtering, well balanced well-made dram. Would love to try a CS version of this or the Talisker 57 North. Highly recommended to those who are looking into trying out peated single malts.

Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 5

 

Region: Highland

ABV: 55.3%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Colour: Gold-Amber

Nose: Doesn’t smack you in the face like a classic sherry bomb, instead you get a apples, pears, hints of orange. Dried apricots, hint of nuts, slightly sharp ethanol note, a bit floral, milk chocolate.
The apple and pear reminds me of bourbon cask, which is interesting to find in a pure sherry cask (Oloroso and PX) whisky. The nose got sweeter after 15-20 minutes, and a sip.

Palate: Here comes the sherry! Plums, berries, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, hints of lemon?

Finish: Medium-long finish, a tad on the dry side. Lingering oak, pepper, raisins.

Score: 84/100

Not as complex as I hoped with a cask strength Glendronach, doesn’t have the same impact as two of the A’bunadh (53, 55) I previously reviewed. Rather interestingly on the nose I get some light fruits commonly associated with young bourbon cask. Overall a solid dram, but I would rather have the A’bunadh over this especially when this cost $50 more. Their younger single casks are much more appealing at a lower cost.

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Glendronach 20 Years Old Single Cask 1994

Region: Speyside

ABV: 54.2%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Cask Type: Oloroso Sherry Puncheon

 

Colour: Mahogany

Nose: Sweet ripe cherries, plums, berries, cinnamon, chocolate, very slight hint of orange, hint of soy, hint of ginger.
Really smooth on the nose, lots of sweet fruits, touch of spice, really pleasant.

Palate: Stewed fruit jam, very nice mouth feel. Strawberries, cough syrup without the disgusting medicinal taste, blackberries, dark chocolate, hint of tobacco.

Finish: Long finish, dry, pepper, oak appears, sweet berries.
Score: 90/100

Very different from the 12 and the CS Batch 5, a lot more concentrated, not the most complex dram I have tried, but each notes stands out really well. Lots of cherries on the nose and palate, not too much spices and oak despite spending 20 years in Oloroso cask. Has a bit of a unique value being my birth year Scotch. Overall well balanced, bold, sherry cask whisky, would score myself a bottle if it wasn’t so damn expensive now, almost $300 CAD after tax.

Adelphi Limerick Selection Slaney Malt 1991 23 Years Old

Region: Ireland

ABV: 48.3%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

This is an Irish single malt whisky bottled by Adelphi, and from what I learned during the tasting, is that Adelphi is famous for not telling you anything about what they bottle. No information on which distillery and cask type of this whisky. They do tell you the cask number though, which is Cask: 10694, thanks Adelphi. This is 1 of 204 bottles produced.

Container: Glencairn Neat

Colour: Gold-Amber

Nose: Toasted coconut, chocolate, sweet malt, oak, honey, floral, tropical fruits, vanilla, syrupy.

Complex and welcoming nose, smells different from the Irish whisky I have experienced, doesn’t have that distinctive Irish whisky nose.

Palate: Milk chocolate, spicy, citrus, nutty, strawberry, pepper, oak, coconut again. Anyway, very rich and complex, dessert-like on the palate, superb mouth feel, I like everything about it on the palate.

Finish: Long-finish, lingering, interesting oak-earthy finish, honey, spice, COCONUT!, mystery note (fruit+wood+skin of fruit).
This dram took a bit longer to evaluate for most of us, we had a bit of an discussion on what the special note in the finish is like, not real conclusion. Really nice and rich even to the very end, it has that very unique mystery note that I couldn’t figure out.

Score: 90/100

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I believe this is my first 90,  and I Probably wouldn’t have come across this myself. It’s not as complex as some of the special cask finished peated whiskies I have tried. But this offers a really well balanced, complete package, absolutely no fault from the nose to the very end of the finish. This gives me a really nice satisfaction factor, it manages to push it to the 90 mark since it checks all the boxes I enjoy in a whisky, and more.

Wayne Gretzky Red Cask No.99

Region: Canada

ABV: 40%

E150: Yes

Chill-filtered: Yes

Container: Glencairn Neat

Colour: Gold

Nose: Acetone, caramel, corn.
Very unimpressive nose, wouldn’t even have begun to guess it’s a wine cask finish in a blind tasting. I heard they are planning a white wine cask finish, bless them.

Palate: Caramel, corn, damp wood, watery.
Again, it feels like our bottle didn’t really get do the whole wine cask finish thing, it’s quite watery compared to other whiskies I have tried in the past, Chivas 12 feels full in the mouth compared to this.

Finish: Short finish, mineral water, some spice?

Score: 60/100

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A worrying trend for them, if they plan to pull off a white wine cask finish. Not sure how long they finish this whisky in the red wine cask, probably like, 3 days? I might be too generous here. That being said, I have had worst in the past, JW Red, Dewar’s White Label. Maybe the nothingness is better than burnt tires and really pungent ethanol.

The Ichiro’s malt is a blended malt whisky (Pure Malt as they call it in Japan); It’s a blend of single malts from the closed Hanyu Distillery and the Chichibu Distillery, which is the spiritual successor of Hanyu.

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Ichiro’s Malt Double Distilleries

 

This is a blend of Hanyu whisky matured in sherry casks, and Chichibu whisky matured in new Japanese Mizunara oak cask. No detail on the age and vatting of each malts. Vatted and bottled in 2010.

Region: Japan

ABV: 46%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Container: Glencairn Neat

Colour: Light Gold

Nose: Really sweet and fruity, sharp ethanol, apples, pears, honey, which reminds me of the Glenlivet Nadurra 16, but the Nadurra is much more mellow on the nose. Hints of strawberries, orange, and oak. I would guess a higher percentage of the younger Chichibu whisky is present here.

Palate: Peppery, cinnamon, malt, oak, cereal, nutmeg? slightly hot for 46%, surprisingly not fruity like the nose, not too much going-on on the palate.

Finish: Long finish, bitter oak, more peppery, malt, soap? The finish got really oaky and bitter notes starts showing up, rounding things off with a long spicy finish, some weird soap like notes kicked in on my last sip

Score: 78/100

It was a pretty solid dram until the off notes kicked in, too much bitter oak, and that weird soap note didn’t do it for me. Overall pretty decent nose, not too complex on the palate, and the finish killed it for me.

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Ichiro’s Malt Mizunara Wood Reserve

 

This is a blend of malts from both Hanyu and Chichibu Distillery again, but this time, only whiskies aged in Japanese Mizunara Wood have been used. Mizunara is a native Japanese Oak, used by other Japanese distillery usually blended alongside other wood casks.

Region: Japan

ABV: 46%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Container: Glencairn Neat

Colour: Gold-Amber, darker than the Double Distillery.

Nose: Really different on the nose right off the bat. Very aromatic, perhaps this is what Mizunara oak smells like. Really syrupy, honey notes. Sharp ethanol again, not sure if it’s the Mizunara oak, or it has a leather note to it. I get hints of fruits in the background, but the oak/leather notes are so dominating hard to pin-point what they are.

Palate: Leathery on the palate again, starting to believe that’s the characters of the oak. Pepper, very oaky, hint of brine, very slight malty sweetness. Not much fruity or not much going-on again. The oak and pepper is very pronounced.

Finish: Medium-finish, peppery, and oaky.

Score: 79/100

Very simple yet dominating nose and palate, starting to get the hang of how the Mizunara oak smells and taste like. But it lacks complexity, doesn’t have the bitterness of the Double Distillery, and none of that soapy finish I found in the Double Distillery.

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I prefer the Mizunara Wood Reserve to the Double Distillery, it doesn’t have the odd finish of the DD, although both are lacking complexity, I like that the notes of the MWR stands out a lot more, allowing me to get a good understanding of the influence. From these two drams I find they both have things in common: peppery spicy notes. Both whiskies enters your mouth and starts tingling your tongue with pepper notes. Overall, good to experience, but there are better Japanese whiskies out there even with my limited experience with Japanese whiskies. I much prefer Nikka From the Barrel, and Yamazaki 12 to both of these.

Here is the reviews I’ve done during the Toronto Whisky Society November 6th tasting event. We had some great bottles lined up, the review quality drops as I drink more and more, I am posting them in the order I drank, in between there were bourbon, Irish whiskey, CS Rum, Calvados, Gretzky’s whisky, and local Apple Jack.

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2nd pour of the day

I brought this bottle, we figured it will be on the lighter side compared to others we got, so this went after the Gretzky. No one knew what distillery Braeval was, they were originally Bares of Glenlivet, in the heart of Speyside. Was a risky buy by me since I couldn’t find much info on the bottle and the distillery.

Braeval 1995/2013 G&M Connoisseur’s Choice 18 Year Old

Region: Speyside

ABV: 46%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Cask Type: Refill Sherry Hogshead

Colour: Light Gold
Nose: Poweful fruit bomb! Apricots, citrus, apples, pears, spice, malt, red jolly rancher, floral.
Tons of fruit on the nose, very light sherry influence.
Palate: Stewed fruits, strawberries, chocolate, apple pie, melons, pepper, honey, syrupy, peppery, more spice, and a hint of smoke.
Did I mention fruit bomb? Yep, really delightful, I love a nice fruity whisky, where did the smoke came from??
Finish:Long finish, syrupy, red fruits, spices, oak, slight earthy notes.
Pretty delightful finish, really syrupy, still loaded with fruits, and slightly earthy towards the end.
Score: 78/100

This kind of whisky what I enjoy, loads of fruits without being really sweet, got some good complexity and pretty well balanced overall.

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4th pour of the day (Had Adelphi Limerick Slaney Malt 23Y before this)

Benriach 1984/2012 Single Cask #1114 27 Year Old

Region: Speyside

ABV: 46%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Cask Type: ex-Bourbon Hogshead #1114

Colour: Gold Amber
Nose: Vanilla, caramel, oak, sweet fruit, banana wax, chocolate, malt, honey.
Few strong dominating notes, and banana wax! Don’t exactly know how it smells like, but that’s that!
Palate: Very oaky, malt, cereal, digestive biscuit, chocolate, faint hint of pineapple.
Really dominating bourbon notes again, very oaky, each notes really stand out.
Finish: Long oaky, malty, chocolate, buttery, grass.
Nice long finish, I kept getting malt and chocolate alongside the oak.
Score: 87/100

Not a complex dram, but what surprised me is how deep each flavor is, just lingers in your mouth. Really well done whisky, gave it a higher score despite the lack of complex notes. This is the oldest whisky I’ve had so far to date.

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5th pour of the day

Arran 19 Year Old SMWS 121.77 Dunnage warehouse orange boxes

Region: Isle of Arran

ABV: 53.4%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Cask Type: Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead

Colour: Light gold
Nose: Light fruity nose, malt, orange, brown sugar, light stone fruits, vanilla, interesting herbal spice, sharp alcohol, bit of cereal.
Palate: Not too complex, dry, malt, sugar sweetness, citrus, oak, pepper.
Finish: Medium finish, malt, more sugar, oak, peppery.
Score: 83/100

My first SMWS experience, surprisingly this isn’t as complex as their younger OB offerings, like the 12CS, and 10Y CS First-fill bourbon LCBO cask. Perhaps the refill cask killed the complexity. I also believe the OB 12CS uses a mix of bourbon and sherry casks to improve complexity as well.

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8th pour of the day (Had Cadenhead’s Heaven’s hill 11Y, George T. Stagg 2015 before this)

Glendronach 2002/2012 Single Cask #1598 10 Year Old

Region: Highland

ABV: 54.1%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Cask Type: PX Sherry Puncheon #1598

Colour: Amber
Nose: Stewed fruits, strawberries, cherries, brown sugar, raspberry jam, orange, chocolate, spice.
Palate: Oranges, strawberry jam, brown sugar, chocolate, oak.
Finish: Long, spicy, raspberry, strawberry, oak.
Score: 85/100

This tasted a lot older than a 10 years old, love a nice sherry bomb, not as complex and in your face as A’bunadh, still really enjoyable.

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9th pour of the day

Tamdhu 17 Year Old 1995/2012 Adelphi Cask #1043

Region: Speyside

ABV: 58.8%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Cask Type: Unknown

 

Colour: Light gold
Nose: Possibly sherry cask, light red fruits, raspberry, strawberry, vanilla, light oak, malt.
Palate: Strong malt, a bit of off weird notes, pepper, orange, hint of cinnamon.
Finish: medium- long, oak, sherry spice, cereal.
Score: 84/100

Much nicer than their OB 10, not too complex, the higher proof and age definitely helped.

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12th pour of the day (Had Applewood Farm winery Apple Jack, Boulard Calvados Pays d’Auge XO before this)

Caol Ila 16 Year Old SMWS 53.234 Smoke without fire

Region: Islay

ABV: 64.1%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Cask Type: Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead

Colour: Light straw
Nose: Smoked meat, peat, honey, meaty, vanilla, brine, slight sharp ethanol note.
Palate: Powerful peat, ash, dry, oaky, citrus, pepper, more smoked meat, alcohol.
Finish: Long finish, brine, oak, heavy peat, vanilla.
Score: 86/100

Quite like this, well I am 12 pour in, most stuff we had were cask strength, has that Caol Ila ashy peat, not too complex, I prefer the Caol Ila CS over this.