Scottish Whisky

Duncan Taylor ‘Dimensions’ Highland Park 20 Year Single Malt Scotch Whisky

/ / Island, Review, Scottish Whisky /

Duncan Taylor ‘Dimensions’ Highland Park 20 Year
Single Malt Scotch Whisky

53% ABV
$150-$180
Website
Duncan Taylor Dimensions Highland Park 20 Yr

What the Bottler Says

Bottled at cask strength of 53% ABV and without chill-filtration or artificial colouring, this single malt has matured beautifully as a result of 20 years in an ex-sherry butt. The traditionally lightly-peated notes of Highland Park are still present, however they have softened over time and have been complimented with a hint of salt and notes of mixed fruit, baked apples and honey from the sherry cask.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Peat fire with salted sea mist, fruity with cherries, peaches, raisins, vanilla, chocolate with cedar-smoked pork roast.
Palate:  Rich mouthfeel with honey, apples, cherries, pepper, chocolate, toffee, walnuts and peat.
Finish:  Long and damp with fruity peat notes.
Comments:  A rather nice Highland Park bottling. Before researching the bottle details, I would not have pegged this as being fully matured in sherry (first the color isn’t what you’d expect for that age in sherry), so guessing it is a second or maybe third fill sherry (as they have a lot of sherry casks around Highland Park). Which isn’t a bad thing by any stretch – since the retail Highland Park gives you that big sherry take on their distillate. A nice balance that lets the distillery’s character shine through while giving you some of those luscious fruit notes from the sherry.

Rating: Stands Out

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Dewar’s Double Double 21-Year-Old

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky / ,

Dewar’s Double Double 21-Year-Old
Blended Scotch Whisky

46% ABV
$50 (375 mL)
Website

Dewar's Double-Double 21-Year-Old Whisky

What the Blender Says

Our unique Four Stage Ageing Process for Ultimate Smoothness finished in Oloroso Sherry Casks.

Dewar’s Double Double 21-Year-Old is finished in Oloroso sherry casks, this blend delivers subtle notes of cinnamon and ripe vine fruits with a silky smooth finish.

4 STAGE AGEING PROCESS FOR ULTIMATE SMOOTHNESS

Innovation comes in many forms, and in 2019 our Master Blender, Stephanie Macleod, released a new range of Blended Scotch Whiskies with a Four Stage Ageing Process for Ultimate Smoothness. This may sound like an indulgence but the series has been picking up gold medal awards the world over since being released.

We believe that in order to do things right and get the best results you should put in double the effort. So we asked ourselves how we could put in double the effort to our range that was already Double Aged for Extra Smoothness…and it was obvious..double it!

Our Double Double Series has been aged, blended together, aged again, then finished in sherry casks for the Ultimate Smoothness.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Dark fruit, bit of toffee, earthiness with smoked brisket, leather, sherry and a subtle vegetal note.
Palate:  Rich mouthfeel with plums, pepper spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, bit of an earthy/mineral note, dark chocolate, toffee, almonds and black cherries.
Finish:  Moderately long with dark fruits, pepper spice and a touch of peat.
Comments:  This is a really interesting dram – a tad sharp on the palate at first but a bit of water really smoothes it out nicely. Quite well balanced, with a complexity that introduced me to something new with each sitting. I like this being offered in a 375 mL too because that puts it in reach of many consumers who might otherwise not have access to it, and there aren’t a lot of well aged blended whiskies like this available to them at that price point. AND I appreciate the ABV, as some other offerings from Dewar’s I haven’t enjoyed as much – but suspect would have at something closer to this ABV than 40%. In fact, I can comfortably say this is my favorite Dewar’s to date.

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

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Glenrothes 19 Year Speyside Single Malt Scotch

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside / ,

Chieftain’s Glenrothes 19 Year
Speyside Single Malt Scotch

53.2% ABV
$165
Website
Chieftains Glenrothes 19 Yr Single Malt Scotch Whisky

What the Bottle Says

Distillation Date: January 1997
Bottling Date: September 2016
Wood Type: Pedro Ximenez Finish
Cask Number: 91822
Number of Bottles: 437
Unchill-Filtered
Natural Colour

What Gary Says

Nose:  Honey suckle, barley malt, heather, vanilla, hint of spent matches, coffee cake, ginger, dark fruits, bit of anise, smoked pork, figs, pipe tobacco and nutmeg.
Palate:  Rich and thick mouthfeel, warm with honey, stewed fruits over coffee cake, cinnamon, pepper, clove, nutmeg and molasses.
Finish:  Long and wet, honey dripping with raisins and a bit of sulfur.
Comments:  Wow – a really nice, robust, intense dram – balanced with sweetness and a bit of savory smoky notes. A bit of water brightens it up without thinning. I liked this quite a bit more than Glenrothes 18 yr I tried, and I’m pretty sure it is the Pedro Ximenez finish (which I do like). This is also one of those drams where I actually prefer the nose over the palate, which isn’t to short-change the palate. This is a winner on all fronts, but the nose is really enchanting!

Rating: Must Try/Must Buy

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Cadenhead’s Small Batch Mortlach 21 Yr Single Malt Scotch Whisky

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside / ,

Cadenhead’s Small Batch Mortlach 21 Yr
Single Malt Scotch Whisky

53.5% ABV
$150
Website
Cadenhead's Mortlach 21 yr Small Batch Single Malt Scotch Whiskey

What the Producer Says

Distilled in 1994 at the Mortlach Distillery.
Matured in Bourbon Hogshead for 21 years.
Bottled in 2015.
One of only 492 bottles.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Vanilla sponge cake, raw almonds, subtle peat and vegetal notes, nectarines, tropical fruit, heather, tobacco, rice pudding, allspice and a hint of ginger.
Palate:  Spicy bite, fruity with apricots, nectarines, pears, pepper spice, honey, walnuts, allspice, chocolate, and cherries.
Finish:  Moderately long, drying with apricots and a nutty pepper spice.
Comments:  Really nice dram – sharp neat but a bit of water brings out more chocolate and cherries, and thickens nicely. Here in the United States, we see ‘small batch’ used commonly in the world of bourbon despite having zero legal meaning (could be as few as a single barrel, or as many barrels as you want – 50, 500, 5,000, limit is only your imagination). It is much less common in Scotch whisky. In this case, there being 492 bottles of this small batch, it is likely only 2 or 3 casks (a hogshead cask is 250 liters, which would be 357 750 mL bottles full; scotch whisky loses about 2% to evaporation each year, do some math and you land at 2 casks with slightly less than 2%, or 3 casks).

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

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Lagavulin 12 Year Old Cask Strength 2014 Edition

/ / Islay, Review, Scottish Whisky /

Lagavulin 12 Year Old Cask Strength 2014 Edition
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky

54.4% ABV
$110-$180
Website
Lagavulin 12 year old cask strength

What the Distillery Says

From Islay’s most famous distillery, this lively and clean expression of what was for whiskey writer, Michael Jackson, “Islay’s most complex malt” combines the anticipated Lagavulin smoky intensity with gentle, fresh aromas and a delicious toffee and fruit sweetness. Add water and those clean scents are softer, accompanied now by a subtle interplay of mint and wood smoke. On the palate it’s intense, sweet and oily, with lime zest wreathed in wood smoke, while when water is added it’s like eating a slice of rich fruit-cake near a wood stove. Tasted neat, the finish is long and warming, with sweet wood smoke. With water it has a delicate sweetness, with fresh-cut pine and autumn smoke. This is a Lagavulin free from worries, with a lighter spring in its step.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Briny, smoky peat, sea air, earthy, bit of grilled lemons.
Palate:  Dry, malty sweetness with peat, bit of unsweetened lemonade, vegetal notes with sea salt and roasted pine nuts.
Finish:  Long and drying with honey, peat and sea salt.
Comments:  Lagavulin wears the higher ABV well (not that this is a shock, as I can’t think of any whiskey I wouldn’t enjoy at CS over a 4x% bottling). This is significantly lighter in color than the standard bearer 16 yr which I tried side-by-side. A similar nose to the classic 16 yr, with a bit more citrus neat. Palate is intense, and a bit thicker mouthfeel. Not sure I’d say I like this better – it is a bit different, more intensity but a bit less complexity. The premium price would be a turn off for me – as it can be double the price of the 16 yr which I think is insane.

Rating: Stands Out

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