Must Try

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

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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

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Laphroaig 18 Year

/ / Islay, Review, Scottish Whisky /

Laphroaig Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 18 Years
48%
$100
Website
Laphroaig 18
What the Distillery Says:
This 18 Year Old expression of Laphroaig is made in limited quantities each year and savoured by a fortunate few. A soft, sweet and spicy Islay peat smoke greets you when you first open the bottle. The immediate taste is an oak sweetness, from 18 years in the barrel. A faint hint of the sea can be detected, testimony to its time maturing on the remote island of Islay.

It is bottled at 48% ABV and is non-chill filtered for a depth of taste and texture.

COLOUR: Bright gold
NOSE: At bottling strength, a soft toffee sweet but faintly spicy flavour counterbalances the trace of delicate phenols and fruit. An all encompassing smoothness brings these together. A touch of water allows the seaweed and salt to come through but not enough to overpower the vanilla and honey sweetness with just a trace of new mown hay and peat at the finish.
BODY: An intense depth that is exceptionally balanced and warming.
PALATE: An instant warming tang of smoke fades into smooth floral scents, which blends seamlessly into an oaky nuttiness and leaves a lasting sweetness on the taste. With a touch of water, the peaty warmth fills the mouth but does not overshadow the sweet chocolate smoothness. This is balanced by the rich toffee taste and slowly fades into a delicate hint of heather and peat smoke.
FINISH: Full bodied, long with a luxurious oily smoothness.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Light on the peat, hints of sherry, more fruity, and hints of crushed peppercorns around back of the nose. Cucumber salad comes to mind. I have no idea why.
Palate: Creamy, with a nice initial smokiness. The floral sweetness takes time to develop.
Finish: Long and spicy.
Comments: When this replaced the 15 I was sad. I really liked the 15. Plus, soon after the replacement the price started creeping up too. That said, I’ve grown fond of the 18 over the years. The 15 was more subtle and showed a more mellow and integrated side to Laphroaig. However, the 18 is a much richer dram. Really, you can’t go wrong with either one. This is not a dram for the Islay peat-freaks out there. It’s more distinguished, less brash. Maybe that’s your thing or maybe it’s not. Personally, I’m digging it lately but it took me time to warm up to how different this is from the younger siblings.
Rating: Must Try

I would like to thank Ben and the team over at DBC Public Relations for providing us with bottles for review.

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Laphroaig 10 Year Cask Strength

/ / Islay, Review, Scottish Whisky /

Laphroaig Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 10 Years Original Cask Strength
Batch 005 Bottled February 2013
57.2%
$60 to $70
Website
Laphroaig 10CS
What the Distillery Says:
Original Cask Strength Laphroaig is bottled at natural distillery strength with all the depth of genuine taste and texture normally associated with sampling whisky at source.

We mature Laphroaig in seasoned oak barrels, charred before filling to impart a slight sweet vanilla nuttiness. Original Cask Strength Laphroaig is barrier-filtered only just, to remove the small char particles present. This means you will enjoy Laphroaig exactly as we made it.

In extremes of temperature and when you add water it may appear a little cloudy – this is the natural condition of a malt of such a peaty pungence and uncompromising purity. Adding a little water releases a rich aroma of peat smoke with some sweetness and strong hints of the sea.

Emphatic, full bodied and utterly unforgettable – we like to think it’s the purists choice.

COLOUR: Rich deep gold
NOSE: Very powerful, “medicine”, smoke, seaweed and ozone characters overlaying a sweetness
BODY: Full and strong
PALATE: A massive peated burst of flavour with hints of sweetness at the end
FINISH: Long and savoury

What Richard Says:
Nose: Oozing with fresh sea air, peat smoke, and seaweed. An almost minty medicinal note. Aggressive and in your face.
Palate: Nice initial toffee sweetness laying into a light brine.
Finish: Heavy on the peat with light pepper notes. The smokey finish lingers for quite some time.
Comments: Wow what a difference a little proof and less filtering makes. This is the better looking older brother who is captain of the football team compared to the standard 10 year old. Seriously delicious and surprisingly easy to drink at cask strength.
Rating: Must Try

I would like to thank Ben and the team over at DBC Public Relations for providing us with bottles for review.

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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! 😉

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