Speyside

Balvenie RumCask 17 Year

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside, The Collector's Cabinet /

The Balvenie Single Malt Scotch Whisky RumCask Aged 17 Years
43% ABV
Discontinued
Website
Balvenie_17yr_Rum_Cask
What the Distiller Says:
The Balvenie RumCask 17 Year Old was matured in traditional oak casks before spending a second period of maturation in rum casks shipped from Jamaica.

TASTING NOTES

NOSE A vibrant aroma with intense floral and fruity notes. Orange peel, lavender, coconut and a hint of ground nut oil.

TASTE Beautifully sweet with characteristic Balvenie vanilla notes backed up with subtle spiciness of cinnamon and silky oak.

FINISH Exceptionally smooth and long lasting

What Richard Says:
Nose: Heavy rum influence on the nose. The combination leaves it almost brandy-like. At first you would pick the preceding casks as bourbon due to the rum influence but give it time and a nice sherry note comes floating out.
Palate: Rich, creamy, and rather sweet. The sherry with the rum finishing definitely pushes up the sweetness factor. Nice toffee and honeysuckle notes. A good dose of vanilla and mint add to the mix. Honeydews and mangoes round out the taste tour.
Finish: A like hot but quickly mellows to a slow soft wood. This is a little more understated than I would’ve expected.
Comments: A very dessert appropriate Balvenie. The rum and it’s resulting sweetness may seem a little over played for many palates but I love it.
Rating: Must Try

Balvenie RumCask 17 Year Read More »

Balvenie Signature

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside, The Collector's Cabinet /

The Balvenie Signature Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged Twelve Years
40% ABV
Discontinued
Website
Balvenie Signature 12
What the Distiller Says:
The Balvenie Signature Aged 12 Years is a classic marriage of The Balvenie matured in the three most traditional cask types, first fill bourbon, refill bourbon and sherry. Produced in small, numbered batches, each cask used is hand selected by Malt Master David Stewart to ensure he achieves the expression’s unique character of honey, spice and subtle oak. David Stewart crafted The Balvenie Signature to mark his 45th year in the whisky industry.

TASTING NOTES

NOSE Rich and complex with honey, citris fruits and vanilla oak notes

TASTE Rich and honeyed with a hint of sherry fruitiness. A spiciness of cinnamon and nutmeg and a subtle oakiness develop with time.

FINISH Warm and lingering.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Sherry and a slightly soured cream.
Palate: Lighter more delicate expression of Balvenie. Light honey sweetness, malty, with heavy cereal notes, and mild play between white pepper and oak.
Finish: Crisp, dry, oaky in a raw, chewed toothpick kind of way.
Comments: This isn’t going to rock your world or anything but it’s a fine introductory malt.
Rating: Average

Balvenie Signature Read More »

Macallan 15 Year Fine Oak

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside /

The Macallan Fine Oak Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 15 Years Old
43% ABV
$90-$100
Website
the-macallan-fine-oak-15-year-old-whisky
What the Distillery Says:
Distilled at The Macallan distillery, in Speyside, Scotland, this legendary single malt is triple cask matured in a unique, complex combination of exceptional oak casks; European oak casks seasoned with sherry, American oak casks seasoned with sherry, and American oak casks seasoned with bourbon. This triple cask combination delivers an extraordinarily smooth, delicate yet complex single malt, matured at The Macallan distillery for a minimum of fifteen years.

Nose: Sublime and full with a hint of rose and cinnamon
Palate: Intense rich chocolate with a hint of orange and raisin
Finish: Lingering with a hint of chocolate, orange and dried fruits

What Richard Says:
Nose: A much lighter expression of middle aged Macallan for sure. There noticeable sherry there but it’s more a supporting player. It’s more floral that traditional Macallan with notes of orange zest and cantaloupe.
Palate: Sweet citrus richness again playing with a sherry supporter and a dose of nutty toffee.
Finish: Dry and mellow with a lingering bit of high (75%+) cacao chocolate.
Comments: When the Fine Oak range launched it was panned by a lot of Macallan purists. Being the kind of whiskey drinker that will try anything once I hit a tasting right after the launch that went through the whole range. The 15 year old was the standout. Years later my opinions still hold. I find the Fine Oaks different but not really better in any noticeable way compared to their sherried brethren. The 10, 12, 18, 25, and 30 are all better in their sherry forms. However, the 15 year old expression to me is where the Fine Oak really shines. It’s been a favorite and frequent gifting bottle for years.
Rating: Must Try

Macallan 15 Year Fine Oak Read More »

Macallan Select Oak

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside /

The Macallan Select Oak Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40% ABV
$60/Liter
Website
Macallan Select Oak
What the Distillery Says:
Select Oak is crafted from an exceptionally wide and unique combination of five cask types, delivering extraordinary smoothness, remarkable sweetness and depth.

Nose: Vanilla, butterscotch and a hint of damson
Palate: An effortless balance of vanilla and sweet spice
Finish: Medium sweet and luxuriously long

What Richard Says:
Nose: Rich sherry with a bit of vanilla cream and treacle sweetness.
Palate: Creamy with a cinnamon vanilla sweetness.
Finish: The sherry is heavier on the finish than either the palate or nose. There’s lingering wood and that Big Red type of cinnamon spiciness.
Comments: This expression is the entry level bottling for Macallan’s Travel Retail exclusive 1824 Collection. I enjoy it much more than the Whisky Maker’s Edition. It’s very easy to drink and pleasant. It doesn’t require deep contemplation but rather is a great setting/mood multitasker.
Rating: Stands Out

Macallan Select Oak Read More »

Glenlivet XXV

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside /

The Glenlivet XXV Single Malt Scotch Whisky
46% ABV
$300 to $400
Website
glenlivet XXV
What the Distillery Says:
Character: The intense and opulent one
Colour: Rich amber with ripe gold hues
Nose: Dark chocolate with scents of dried sultanas
Palate: Silky, sweet and caressing with cinnamon notes
Finish: Incredibly long, rich and balanced

Craft facts
The XXV is a batch-produced whisky finished in individually selected ex-sherry butts.

The Oloroso-soaked oak imparts a nutty spiciness and enriches the flavour of the expression.

Each cask is individually monitored in the finishing process to ensure only the subtlest sherry tones are added to this intense, silky and elegant whisky.

What Matt Says:
Nose: Burnt sugar, candied orange zest, and an antiseptic note reminding me of an enclosed public pool.
Palate: Very smooth and elegant. Aged like a refined elder statesman. Vanilla, mint around the edges, and sherry stand out but the oak jumps forward first. A very strong woody flavor (very different from an aged bourbon) that is evident of the time spent in the barrel. The viscosity is very nice and in that “just right” zone that isn’t too viscous or too dry.
Finish: The finish is nice. This is where the sherry really asserts itself. The front half of my tongue is all sherry and the back half is all vanilla.
Comments: When you talk about a whisky being too easy to drink this is definitely what you’re talking about. You could easily go through this bottle and not notice.
Rating: Must Try

What Richard Says:
Nose: Nice sherry plays into caramel, vanilla, toffee crisps, a bit of licorice on the back end, and that luscious combination of aged tobacco and old leather you get from nowhere but old scotch.
Palate: Orange marmalade, more old leather, fine pipe tobacco, with a nice oily texture. It’s better mouth feel than I would expect from chill filtered scotch.
Finish: Dry and clean with a mild tannic and white pepper bite playing with the wood.
Comments: Regular readers will know the history of my bottle. Going through the notes again I can of course see how this disappeared off my shelf. This is a delicious dram and anyone fortunate to have the opportunity to try it most definitely should.
Rating: Must Try

Overall Rating: Must Try

For those keeping count this is our 300th review! We’re so happy to still be commenting on whiskey and having all of you take interest in our thoughts. We even managed to bring Matt out of semi-retirement to chime in on this one. Maybe it was offering up 25 year old Glenlivet that did the trick! 😉

Glenlivet XXV Read More »