Mortlach Distillery is nicknamed “The Beast of Dufftown”, let’s see what they’ve got.

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Mortlach Rare Old

 

Region: Speyside

ABV: 43.4%

E150: Yes

Chill-filtered: Yes

Container: Glencairn Neat

Colour: Gold-Amber

Nose: Honey, apple, pear, toffee, malt, melons, touch of spice. Very nice and sweet nose.

Palate: Apples, honey, malt, pepper, cinnamon, oranges, vegetal note, mineral water, touch of smoke. Not sure where the smoke came from, fairly sure this is unpeated.

Finish: Short finish, mineral, oak spice, pepper, touch of bitterness.

Score: 77/100

Started off with a somewhat promising sweet nose of a typical speyside, the palate and finish was a letdown.

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SMWS 76.94 – Totally Flavoursome
Mortlach 26 Year Old 1986

Region: Speyside

ABV:59.4%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Cask Type: Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead

 

Container: Glencairn Neat

Colour: Gold

Nose: Lots of oak up front, vanilla, floral perfume, honey, acetone, tobacco, orange lollipop, malt, faint hint of leather note.

Palate: Oranges followed by huge wave of malt, ginger, pepper, oak, citrus, dough, more orange notes, light fruits, peach, hint of coffee.

Finish: Lingering spicy finish, ginger, pepper, chili pepper, oak.

Score: 90/100

While the Rare Old is no good, the SMWS 76.94 is completely different beast. Loaded with spices, lots of oak influence, and quite a lot of malt on the palate. Bold flavours throughout, very complex on the plate, and a pleasant spicy finish.

Amrut 4-Way Review – Intermediate Sherry, Single Cask PX for SAQ, Spectrum, Single Cask Virgin Oak.

A bit of a rush review, trying to get this out before 2016 ends!

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Amrut Intermediate Sherry

“The spirit for Intermediate Sherry Matured starts life in a mix of ex-bourbon and virgin oak casks. It is then transferred to sherry casks for a period before going back into bourbon casks to complete its maturation.”

Region: India

ABV: 50%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Container: Glencairn Neat

Colour: Gold

Nose: Typical sherry nose, not too intense, with sharp ethanol. Malt, oak, honey, orange peel, sweet red berries, sherry spice, touch of vanilla and light fruits notes.

Palate: Amrut malt, oak, cinnamon, pepper, minty/herbal-ish spice, ginger, red berries, touch of vanilla and light fruits.

Finish: Medium-long finish, malt, oak, red fruits, pepper, warming spices.

Score: 85/100

Quite decent, also quite young, I think the bourbon cask notes gives me the sense of youthfulness. Some interesting notes on the palate, rather “tamed” for a CS Amrut.

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Amrut Spectrum

“A first in the world of whisky, aged initially for three years in bourbon barrels, Amrut Spectrum was finished for a further three-and-a-half years in a unique cask. Made with staves from a combination of five different types of wood: new oak from America, France and Spain, along with ex-oloroso- and ex-Pedro-Ximenez sherry.”

Region: India

ABV: 50%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Container: Glencairn Neat

Colour: Amber

Nose: Very pleasant nose, lots of sweet red fruits, dried plums, cherries, raisins, strawberries! Red fruit festival! Accompanied by chocolate, molasses, touch of caramel and oak. Touch of herbal/metallic note, very light.

Palate: Stewed red fruits, herbal note, oak, some tropical fruits, apples too. Leather, nutmeg, cacao, cinnamon, and some nutty notes.
Spicy on the entry and near the finish, lots of red fruits and some tropical fruits kicked in, perhaps the “blended barrel” is working it’s magic! Getting the sweetness of PX and the spiciness of Oloroso sherry cask!

Finish: Long finish, lingering spices, chocolate, touch of bitter oak, pepper, and caramel sweetness.

Score: 91/100

Running low on time! Very complex dram! Very well defined and layered, more and more notes comes out as you go, it’s like a classical music piece!

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Amrut Single Cask #3516 PX for SAQ Bottle 030/090

Bottled for SAQ, in Quebec, Canada.

Region: India

ABV: 62.8%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Cask Type: PX-Sherry

Container: Glencairn Neat

Colour: Gold-0.5

Nose: Pleasant sherry bomb nose, stewed red fruits, oak, touch of caramel, orange peel, sherry spice, tobacco.

Palate: More of the stewed red fruits, malt, along with raisings, dried dates, vanilla, pepper, oak, nutmeg, cinnamon, and a touch of herbal note.

Finish: Lingering finish, cinnamon, pepper, touch of bitter oak, red fruits, cacao.

Score: 88/100

Very well balanced dram, lots going on, running low on time, gets some nice sweetness from the PX along with good amount of spiciness to balance it out. Touch of bitterness in the very end, didn’t bother me much.

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Amrut Peated Single Cask #891 Virgin Oak for KWM – 1 of 96 Bottles

Bottled for Kensington Wine Market in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Region: India

ABV: 60%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Container: Glencairn Neat

Colour: Mahogany

Nose: Strong caramel, vanilla, oak; Along with sweet berries and oak spice.
Very powerful nose, aged for over 6 years in virgin oak, not so much in terms of complexity but the notes are bold.

Palate: Dry, strong oak on the plate, pepper, caramel, bitter oak, malt, tannic, pepper.
Lots and lots of oak influence, dry and tannic on the palate, sucks the water out of your mouth.

Finish: Long finish, lingering malt and oak spice.

Score: 87/100

Really powerful and bold, would’ve been a 90 if it wasn’t so dry and the strong bitter oak didn’t kick it. But it was to be expected for aging in such a hot climate for 6+ years.

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Spectrum > SC PX > Virgin Butt > Intermediate Sherry

 

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?