Tag: whisky exchange

Whisky Review – Arran Private Cask 10 Year Old for LCBO

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Arran Private Cask for LCBO 10 Years Old [Link]

 

Region: Island

ABV: 55.4%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Cask type: First fill bourbon cask

Cask No. 2005/800228

Bottle No. 233/236

 

Container: Spiegelau Whisky Snifter with a splash of water, rested for 30 minutes.

Colour: Pale Gold

Nose: Vanilla, caramel, honey, sweet nose, apples, hints of peaches, dried apricot.

Palate: Cereal, sweet malt, honey, apples, hot on the palate needed to dash it with more water. Slight hint of salt, slight spice.

Finish: Medium-long length finish, sweet malty in the mouth, slight oak, spice.

Score: 83/100

Whisky Review – Tomatin 14 Portwood

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Tomatin 14 Portwood [Link]

Region: Highland

ABV: 46%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Container: Spiegelau Whisky Snifter, splash of water, rested for 20 minutes.
Colour: Coppery Gold
Nose: Strawberry, raisins, spices, cinnamon?, red fruit jam, stewed fruits, hints of citrus, hints of oak, slight nutty aroma. Palate: Stewed fruits, cereal, wood, dark chocolate, nuts, fruit jam, spices.
Finish: Long finish, after the fruit exits leaves the mouth with oak, spices, dark chocolate. I think dark chocolate is what I think of the most despite the fruitiness as I don’t have to think much before describing it.
Score: 83/100

 

Since currently it’s summer mostly not in the mood for peated whisky, this is a lovely full-bodied fruity whisky. This is packed with stewed fruits which is a nice change of paste from my recent hunt for sherry whisky. Pretty smooth on the palate, delivering nice and rich flavor you would expect from a port cask finish.

Whisky Review – Bunnahabhain 12

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review-6-bunnahabhain-12

 

Bunnahabhain 12 [Link]

Region: Islay

ABV: 46.8%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Container: Spiegelau Whisky Snifter Neat with some water

Colour: Copper/Honey

Nose: Creamy rounded sweetness, sherry, honey, some unknown notes(maybe is what people call brine? I have no idea what brine smells like), cooked apples, really really faint smoke, chocolate, really interesting, smooth on the nose, no pungent alcohol notes, tiny tiny hint of orange?

Palate: Umami, some nuttiness, malt, slight fruit, sherry, spice, oak, something happening on the side of my mouth I can’t describe. Nice oily mouth feel, swirls in the mouth very smoothly.
Finish: Short finish, the flavor goes away quickly (so you can drink more!), I might have added slight bit too much water?

Score: 83/100

 

Saw this on the shelf today, always wanted to try Bunnahabhain but not at the stage to shell out $180 on the 18Y, still want to buy more bottles for my money to explorer different distilleries and their offerings, this is really interesting as one of the few unpeated Islay whisky, it’s the first whisky that let me notice the coastal notes that people talks about, I like the sweetness, overall well balanced whisky at a good price, been looking for a nice summer dram, I think this will do it!

Whisky Review – Arran 12 CS, Amarone Cask, Tokaji Aszu Cask.

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review-3-4-arran-12-amarone

Arran 12 CS – Batch 5 [Link]

Region: Isle of Arran

ABV: 52.9%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Container: Glencairn Neat with a few drops of distilled water, rested for 30 minutes.
Colour: Gold
Nose:  Caramel, dried fruits, malt, oak, honey, sherry, and perfume/floral notes(if I sniff further away from the glass)
Palate: Very nice in the mouth, bit of salt, very little alcohol burn, chocolate, sweet cake, few more drops of water opens up fruity notes and hints vanilla in the background.
Finish: Long finish, lingers around in the mouth with oak and spiciness.
Score: 82/100

Not too complex, has a nice nose with a lot of malt, good mouth feel, but lacks complexity.

Arran Amarone Cask Finish

Region: Isle of Arran

ABV: 50%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Container: Glencairn Neat with a few drops of distilled water, rested for 30 minutes.

Colour: Redish Copper/Darker Rosé Wine

Nose: Red fruit jam, raisins, hints of oak, honey, chocolate.

Palate: Dark chocolate, cooked fruits, more burn than the 12CS, tiny tiny hint of spice.

Finish: Medium finish, mouth warming, fruit lingers for a bit with a soft oak flavor.

Score: 83/100

Offers a bit more than the 12 CS, there is a surprising amount of alcohol burn compared to even higher proof whiskies. I enjoy the wine influence here in this whisky.

review-5-arran-tokaji-aszu

Arran Tokaji Aszu Wine Cask Finish

Region: Isle of Arran

ABV: 55%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Container: Spiegelau Whisky Sniffer Neat with a few drops of Islay water

Colour: Light Copper

Nose: Hints of sourness, orange/citrus, sweet flower notes, a small hint of grass.

Palate: Smother than the Amarone Cask, red grapes, hints of orange and pear, vanilla, more matured fruits, hints of oak.

Finish: Long and complex, kicks in with a small bit of salt, fruity notes, spice, yeast.

Score: 87/100

This is the most interesting one out of all three, and the most complex, a really special finish, opens up really well with few drops of water, I would buy a bottle if I could get my hand on it. Tried it at Via Allegro with over 1000 whiskies in their collection.

Whisky Review – anCnoc Flaughter

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anCnoc Flaughter [Link]

Region: Highland

ABV: 46%

E150: No

Chill-filtered: No

Container: Glencairn Neat

Colour: Pale Straw

Nose: Peat, Smoke, Fruits, Pear, Apple, hints of sweetness.

Palate: Peat, Malt, Oaky, Pear, Decent thickness in the mouth, a bit like a candy, no alcohol burn.

Finish: Peat, Smoky on the exhale, lingers on for some time along with the pear.

Score: 83/100

After doing some research on Reddit and asking for people’s opinion, I landed on this slightly peated dram as my gateway to peat. Peated to only 14.8ppm, initially peat and smoke on the nose, then kicks in the pear notes. I love the fruity pear notes in this whisky along with the peat and smoke, it strikes a really good balance along with a nice long finish. Apparently they used the flaughter to remove the top layer of the peat so it’s not earthy and medicinal. This is excellent for people like me who are used to Speyside and Highland whisky, the peat adds a nice depth to this not overly complex whisky. Looking forward to other anCnoc whiskies, and the world of peat ahead of me.

Whisky Review – Glenlivet 12

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review-1-glenlivet-12

Glenlivet 12 [Link]

Region: Speyside

ABV: 40%

E150: Yes

Chill-filtered: Yes

Container: Glencairn neat

Colour: Pale Gold

Nose: Pear, hints of pineapple, perfume, malt

Palate: Smooth sweetness, malt, honey, no alcohol burn, fruity, thin in the mouth.

Finish: Goes down really smoothly, leaves slight taste of malt in the mouth, lingers in the mouth slightly then goes away almost instantly.

Score: 75/100 

This is what got me into drinking scotch, I had the JW Black Label few years back and didn’t like it (perhaps too young to like whisky), I remember the day when I bought it, poured it into the Glencairn, the fruitiness got me thinking that whiskies aren’t all the same. I would recommend this to those who want to try out drinking scotch, before this I bought a bottle of Dewar White Label which was…..unappealing to say the least.