Scottish Whisky

Edradour 12 Year 2009 Cask Strength

/ / Highland, Review, Scottish Whisky / ,

Edradour 12 Year 2009 Cask Strength
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

55.1% ABV
$130-150
Website
Edradour 2009 12 yr Cask Strength Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

What the Distillery Says

(from the bottle)
Natural Cask Strength
Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Sherry Cask Matured
Aged 12 Years
Distilled on: 9th December 2009
Bottled on: 28th February 2022
Cask Number 393
Outturn 545 bottles

What Gary Says

Nose:  Sherry BOMB, raisins, dates, cherries, fudge, molasses, balsamic, cinnamon, sulfur, spent matches and charred oak.
Palate:  Rich, savory oak, dark fruit notes with raisins, plums, dates, orange, brown sugar, hone and chocolate fudge.
Finish:  Long, drying with chocolate, smoke and oak.
Comments:  This is REALLY DARK in the glass, somewhere between Coca Cola and coffee. Clouds up beautifully with a bit of water. I haven’t had much experience with Edradour previously but this is just outstanding! A bit of water tamps some of that sulfury note and thickens up the mouthfeel even more. If you don’t like that sulfury note (which honestly, if someone had asked me before I’d have said I’m not particularly a fan of that), try it anyways. There’s so much more going on. This is an intense dram, and my only regret is not buying a bottle (but this is going on my ‘auction watch list’).

Rating: Must Try/Must Buy

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Port Dundas 28 Yr Single Grain Scotch Whisky

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Single Grain /

Port Dundas 28 Year Old Cask Strength Single Grain Whisky
Sovereign K&L Exclusive Single Cask

51.3% ABV
$80
Website
Port Dundas 28 Year Single Grain Scotch Whisky

What the Reseller Says

Built in 1811, Port Dundas grew throughout the 19th and early 20th century by absorbing neighboring producers. It quickly became Scotland’s largest distillery. During its long history on the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal in Glasgow, this grain whisky powerhouse provided much of the juice for the Johnnie Walker and White Horse blended whiskies. With Diageo’s expansion and modernization of Cameronbridge in the early 2000s, production at Port Dundas ceased, and in 2011 the landmark site was completely demolished. That closure makes this 28 year old single grain whisky a veritable piece of history. And at the same time, one of the most affordable ghost distilleries available on the market. Nearly every time we have the opportunity to purchase old grain from Port Dundas at this kind of price, we have to take it. The whisky is too enjoyable to pass up. Just as it’s been a workhorse for blenders for 200 years, it’s a workhorse in nearly every K&L staff member’s whisky collection.

From the bottle:
From the bottle:
Distilled February 1990, Bottled July 2018
1 of 239 Bottles
Cask Ref: HL15272
Aged in a Refill Hogshead, Bottled at Cask Strength
Non Chill-Filtered, Natural Colour
An almost tropical nose with coconut and pineapple both in attendance, along with the expected vanilla and a touch of honeydew melon. Apricot, raspberry and a touch of menthol on the palate leading to a finish of orange, maple syrup and more coconut notes.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Heather, vanilla sponge cake, grilled peaches, pears with subtle tropical fruit notes of kiwi and coconut.
Palate:  Creamy mouthfeel, sweet with vanilla, honey, coconut, malt, buttered biscuits with peaches and cream.
Finish:  Long and damp with vanilla, honey and fading fruit salad.
Comments:  Long time readers of the blog (all 4 of you) know that grain whisky isn’t my favorite category. I bought my first bottle back in 2016 while in the U.K. because for a 25 year old it was a bargain – and ironically enough it too was a Port Dundas, distilled in February 1990 (but bottled in May 2015). This definitely reminds me of that, being very subtle and gentle, and needing some time in the glass to open up. I appreciate the mouthfeel, and in terms of value (only $80 freaking dollars?) it would be hard to beat.

Rating: Stands Out

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Strathisla 1998 17 Year Old Distillery Reserve Collection

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside / ,

Strathisla 1998 17 Year Old Distillery Reserve Collection
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

57.9% ABV
$220
Website
Strathisla 1998 17 Year Old Distillery Reserve Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

What the Bottle Says

The Distillery Reserve Collection is a limited release of rare and exceptional whiskies from Chivas Brothers single malt whisky distilleries. Each release is bottled at cask strength.

Aged 17 Years
Distilled: 12th January 1998
Bottled: 30th July 2015
Cask Nos: 4330-31, 4336-37
1 of 1632 bottles
50cL

What Gary Says

Nose:  Subtle vanilla, barley malt, buttered popcorn, pears, hint of cinnamon and a subtle mineral note.
Palate:  Warm and viscous, fruity but tart with unripe pears and a hint of banana.
Finish:  Long, slightly drying with honey, a note of stout and pepper.
Comments:  Subdued and very muted overall. If handed for a blind tasting, I think I would have guessed this to be a single grain whisky. There isn’t anything off putting or negative, just not very exciting. A bit of water brings out more citrus on the nose, as well as heather, and tamps down the tartness on the palate.

Rating: Average/Stands Out

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Compass Box Vellichor

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

Compass Box Vellichor
Blended Scotch Whisky

44.6% ABV
$400-450
Website
Compass Box Vellichor Blended Scotch Whisky

What the Blender Says

Vellichor, n – the scent of second-hand bookshops

On discovering this marvellous new word, we began a quest to recreate the fragrance using Scotch whisky. Parcels were considered, identified and pursued. The process can be compared to scouring second-hand bookshops for specific volumes.

Our search met with success when a distiller and bottler in the north of Scotland offered us casks of whiskies which had been blended together in the past, before being returned to ex-Sherry butts for further maturation. Whiskies, like old books, contain their own stories.

We combined these Sherry-matured stocks with bold and mature malt whiskies from the Macallan, Highland Park and Caol Ila distilleries. The aroma is highly evocative for anyone with a fondness for books; the taste evolves and intensifies as any good political thriller or historical romance should.

A tribute to the storytelling potential of blended Scotch whisky, and the atmospheres of our favourite book stores.

FLAVOUR PROFILE
Hints of leather, polished furniture and the crackling dustiness of decades-old pages on the nose. The palate is stacked with sumptuous malty notes, tropical fruit and Sherry character, with a delicate but
persistent peatiness.

SERVING RECOMMENDATIONS
The late whisky writer Michael Jackson recommended some whiskies be enjoyed “with a book at bedtime”. This is one of those whiskies.

TECHNICAL DETAILS
Bottled at 44.6% ABV | Natural colour | Not chill-filtered
Blended Scotch Whisky
A limited edition of 3,246 bottles; January 2022.
LEAD WHISKYMAKER: James Saxon.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Leather, candied dark fruit notes of plums and raisins, passionfruit, kiwi, grapes, apple, wood polish, pipe tobacco smoke, soft mulling spices and a hint of underlying peat.
Palate:  Creamy mouthfeel, sponge cake with buttercream frosting, cherries, peaches, apples, dates, coconut, nutmeg, bit of ginger, subtle peat and smoke.
Finish:  Long and damp, fruity with tobacco, honey, fruit and a hint of peat.
Comments: A really delicious, complex, balanced and lovely dram with some fruit, sherry, bit of spice, peat and smoke. This definitely has that ‘old library’ aroma that brings thoughts of sitting in an overstuffed, worn out leather chair in a smoke filled, wood paneled lined room – which I’ve only encountered with well aged Scotch whisky.  With over 95% of the components being 23-26 years old (with a splash of some 37 year old Caol Ila), this has the age – but it would be a mistake to think it is simply a function of age. The combining of well aged stocks in just the right proportions takes a deft hand (and better nose and palate!) and few do it nearly as well as Compass Box. I wish this ABV was a bit higher, but it has a lot of intensity where it is at – and losing ABV is a risk with older parcels as well (had Compass Box waited a bit longer, they might not have been able to bottle some of it as whisky – which sounds like just the sorta tricky thing they’d pull – maybe a “This is not ultra aged whisky” with some 40 yr old “former whisky” casks that dipped below the 40% mark?).

Rating: Must Try

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Compass Box Experimental Grain Whisky

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

Compass Box Experimental Grain Whisky
Blended Grain Scotch Whisky

46% ABV
$150
Website
Compass Box Experimental Grain

What the Blender Says

A grain whisky that’s only a pot still away from being a single malt

A grain whisky made only from malt? That’s also smoky? Paradoxical spirits are something of a calling card for the whiskymakers at Loch Lomond Distillery who operate their site with seriously open minds. We managed to source some of their peated, Coffey-distilled whisky to create a blended grain with a difference.

Experimental Grain Whisky is in many ways the alter ego to Hedonism, our signature expression. The smoke notes that the Loch Lomond parcel bestows are unlike anything we have used before: herbal, moss-like, clinging.

The majority of Experimental Grain Whisky is comprised of grains from the Cameronbridge and North British distilleries. They bring notes of fudge, vanilla and set honey. On top of this the younger whisky from Loch Lomond layers impressions of pine forests and patchouli oil.

Experimentation abounds throughout Scotland. For those who thought grain whisky was by default light and creamy, think again.

We have used a special parcel of whisky made at the Loch Lomond Distillery from peated malted barley, distilled in their copper Coffey still. Despite this being 100% malted barley, the use of a column rather than a pot still during distillation means this cannot be classified as a single malt – it is the perfect spirit around which to build a unique blended grain Scotch whisky.

FLAVOUR PROFILE
An appetising aroma of contrasts: banana and toffee mingle with soft, savoury barbecue smokiness and hints of rum and raspberry. Enjoy a soft and oily palate of almond and vanilla before a curiously delicious flavour of burnt pine cones develops.

SERVING ECOMMENDATIONS
A whisky for those rare downpours accompanied by bright sunshine, and other paradoxical phenomena. A splash of room temperature water will lift the unique smoky notes.

TECHNICAL DETAILS
Bottled at 46% ABV | Natural colour | Not chill-filtered
Blended Grain Scotch Whisky
A limited edition of 6,142 bottles; December 2021.
LEAD WHISKYMAKER: James Saxon.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Tropical fruit, coconut, peach, vanilla, grapes, white chocolate, sandalwood, pine, subtle peat with a mineral note.
Palate:  Creamy mouthfeel, fruity with honeydew, apples, coconut, malt, vanilla, hint of caramel, peat with a bit of pepper.
Finish:  Moderately long with honey and melon.
Comments:  Nice, pleasant, gentle, nuanced, layered, balanced – what you hope for, and often get with Compass Box. Few drops of water brings out more pine on the nose and more honey on the palate, and thickens up nicely as well.

Rating: Stands Out

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