Category Archives: 80-84 points

Glenallachie 10 CS, Batch 6

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Let’s close out non-island distillery sherry cask week with another whisky from a Speyside distillery. After an 11 yo Craigellachie, here is a 10 yo Glenallachie. This is Batch 6 of their 10 CS release—I’m not sure what number it’s up to now. I rather liked both Batch 2 and Batch 3 and am hopeful that this will be good as well. Like those batches this one—a large release at 39,000 bottles—has been put together from a hodge-podge of cask types: PX and oloroso puncheons, rioja barriques, virgin oak casks of one kind or the other. That’s a lot. What does it add up to? Let’s see.

Glenallachie 10 CS, Batch 6 (57.8%; from a bottle split)

Nose: A quite nutty, slightly beany arrival. On the second sniff there’s some orange peel and some sharper notes (yeast? chalk?); some palpable oak too behind it all. More of the orange peel with time but there’s also a touch of bitter oak extract. Water pushes the bitter notes back a bit and pulls out some cherry. Continue reading →

Bimber Oloroso Cask, Batch 3

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Last week’s whisky reviews were all of sherry cask whiskies from island distilleries (Tobermory, Bunnahabhain and Highland Park). I’ll keep the sherry cask theme running this week but we’ll move away from island distilleries. In fact, today we’ll move away from Scotland altogether. Bimber is an English distillery, located in London. I have to confess that I hadn’t really heard of them before I went in on this bottle split. What’s the point of being a whisky blogger if I don’t know about new distilleries, you might ask. But as I’ve been saying over and over again for quite some time now, it’s been a long while since I stopped paying attention to whisky marketing and other industry news. Indeed, with the exception of Michael K’s Diving for Pearls, I no longer even read any whisky blogs with any regularity. And so it’s no surprise that I didn’t know about Bimber. For all I know, there’s 15 other London-based distilleries now. Anyway, Bimber are new’ish—their first casks were filled in 2016 and their first release was in 2019. This, the third release of a batch of oloroso-matured spirit, came out in 2020. They’re a small outfit and they make their malt whisky from barley grown on their own farm; I’m not sure how large their capacity is but their website indicates that their approach is that of a craft distillery. Well, let’s see what the whisky is like. Continue reading →

Kilkerran 15, 2004 (for Denmark)

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Kilkerran week has gone very well so far. It started on Monday with Batch 6 of the Heavily Peated, which was in line with the high quality of Batch 4 and Batch 5. It continued on Wednesday with one of the 15 yo casks released in 2019 to mark the distillery’s 15th anniversary. That was the bourbon cask released in the UK. Here now is another of those commemorative 15 yo casks. This one was released in the Danish market and has a somewhat unusual composition. The spirit in it spent 10 years in a port pipe before being put into a refill bourbon hogshead for another five. (There were three of these port–>refill bourbon casks, by the way: another one went to Germany and the third to Italy.) Normally, in the case of double-matured malts you see the first maturation in bourbon casks before the spirit hits the cask that held the much heavier spirit. Well, if the results are good I guess it doesn’t really matter in what order the maturation happened. Let’s see if that is indeed the case here. Continue reading →

Writers’ Tears, Cask Strength

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My week of Writers’ Tears reviews comes to an end with what is, I think, the third in their trio of core releases: the Cask Strength. (See here for my review of the Copper Pot and here for my review of the Double Oak.) Like the other Writers’ Tears releases, the Cask Strength is a blend of Single Pot Still and Single Malt Irish whiskey. There’s no grain whiskey component: only barley. Of course the presence of the pot still component, not to mention the triple distillation, makes it different from your average Scottish single malt whisky. Like the Copper Pot, this is matured in bourbon barrels, but I’m not sure if there is any other relationship between them. By which I mean that I do not know if the Cask Strength is the cask strength version of the Copper Pot or even if the whiskeys that go into the two comes from the same sources. I do know that the Cask Strength costs far more than the Copper Pot. The current release was at 150 euros at Celtic Whiskey Shop in Dublin. This review is not of the current release, however. That one is at 54.8% abv. This one is at 53%. A number of prior releases have been at 53%, most recently in 2019. All three of the miniatures I reviewed this week came out of the attractive book packaging—I don’t know if that helps narrow things down. At any rate, here are my notes. Continue reading →

Writers’ Tears, Double Oak

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This week I am reviewing three different releases from Walsh Whiskey’s Writers’ Tears label. The week got off to a decent start yesterday with the Copper Pot, their entry-level blend. Today I have for you a review of the Double Oak, which joined their core range a few years ago. It is so-called because it is a blend of spirit matured in American oak and French oak casks. What the proportion of the two in the blend is, I don’t know (I am assuming that it’s not all double-matured in the two cask types). Like in the Copper Pot, the spirit that goes into this is triple-distilled and is a blend of single pot still and single malt Irish whiskey. It gets a step-up in abv from the Copper Pot, being bottled at 46%. As with the Copper Pot, there is no indication of age. It’s probably safe to assume we’re not dealing with an abundance of age here. Okay, let’s see what it’s like.

Writers’ Tears, Double Oak (46%; from a miniature)

Nose: Orange peel, vanilla, polished oak. On the second sniff there’s some apricot and the vanilla moves in the direction of butterscotch. Not much change with time. A drop or two of water and there’s more citrus at first and then a metallic note. Continue reading →

Writers’ Tears, Copper Pot

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After exactly six weeks in Ireland—five of those in Dublin—we are headed back to Minnesota tomorrow. Regardless, I am going close the month out with an extended run of reviews of Irish whiskeys. Last week I reviewed a threesome from three different producers. Two were entry-level blends (The Irishman: The Harvest and the West Cork distillery’s Black Cask); and one was a peated single malt (W.D. O’Connell’s Bill Phil). This week’s whiskeys are all from the same producer. Walsh Whisky are the ones who put out the Irishman series. That series has quite a few releases in it at this point and the same is true of their better-known line, Writers’ Tears. I’ll be reviewing three from that line this week: the Copper Pot, which is their entry-level blend, bottled at 40%; the Double Oak, which steps up a bit in price and abv at 46%; and finally the Cask Strength, which is priced as a premium whiskey. First up, the Copper Pot. This is a blend of single pot still and single malt Irish whiskey, all of it distilled from barley. It’s all triple-distilled and unpeated and the maturation is in “flame charred” bourbon casks. No word on the likely age of the pot still and single malt constituents. Draw your own conclusions. Continue reading →

The Irishman – The Harvest

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I quite enjoyed the first of this week’s trio of Irish whiskeys. That was yesterday’s Bill Phil from W.D. O’Connell. That was a heavily peated, single malt from an undisclosed distillery (probably Great Northern). Today I have a blended whiskey from Walsh Whiskey. Walsh Whiskey are blenders who produce two lines/brands: The Irishman and the more famous Writers’ Tears. I confess that I am not really sure what the distinction between the two lines is supposed to be. At any rate, there are a number of labels in each line. Currently, there seem to be six different iterations of The Irishman. Today I am reviewing what I think is the entry-level whiskey in the line: the Harvest. This is a blend of triple distilled whiskeys: 70% single malt and 30% single pot still, all matured in bourbon barrels. What the sources of the single malt and single pot still spirit that goes into the blend are, I don’t know. I don’t expect an entry-level blend to be anything very out of the ordinary but I am hoping that it won’t be extraordinarily bad. Let’s see. Continue reading →

Kilchoman Madeira Cask, 2022

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This week’s whisky reviews are all of malts that were matured in madeira casks. I rather liked Monday’s Inchmurrin. Today we add some peat to the mix with the 2022 release of Kilchoman’s Madeira Cask. This is quite a bit younger than the 13 yo Inchmurrin, being just over five years of age. This is not one of Kilchoman’s 100% Islay releases and is peated to 50 ppm. There were 17,000 bottles released, which is why they call it a “limited edition”. As it happens, the last Kilchoman I reviewed was also from madeira casks—though in that case it was a finish and not a full-term maturation. Regardless, I quite liked that one. It was two years older than this one (and a single cask) but I thought it punched well above its age. This is a vatting of 46 fresh madeira hogsheads and it’s unlikely that they’d all be of equal quality. Let’s see if the averaging worked out well and if I like it as much as the previous. Continue reading →

Teeling Single Malt

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My week of reviews of whiskeys from Teeling got off to a very shaky start on Monday (with the Single Grain) before looking up on Wednesday (with the Small Batch). Will the upward trajectory continue with the Single Malt? This miniature was purchased, along with the others, at the distillery last week. I assume it represents the current release. If so, it’s a true Frankenstein’s monster of a whiskey, put together from spirit that was fully matured in sherry casks and spirit that received finishes in cabernet sauvignon, white burgundy, madeira and port casks. I’m not sure, however, what the makeup is in terms of age. When the Teeling Single Malt was first released the oldest whiskey in the vatting was said to go back to the 1991 vintage. Is that still true? Or do they have older whiskey from some other distillation year in there? I would assume they would have wanted to maintain consistency. The other question, of course, is whether at some point this release will turn to using only the malted whiskey currently being distilled on premises. If so, that will be a much younger whiskey. I’ve not been able to find—from desultory googling, I will admit—much information on the current and projected composition of Teeling’s releases and the plans for their own distilled spirit. If you know more about all of this, please do write in below. Continue reading →

Teeling Small Batch

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Living very close to the Teeling distillery, as we currently are, I decided to do a week of reviews of Teeling’s core lineup. Things got off to a very shaky start on Monday with the Single Grain, which I really did not like. Here now is a review of the Small Batch, which is a blend of grain and malt whiskey. As to whether the grain whiskey that goes into this blend is the same as the grain in the Single Grain, I do not know. Nor am I sure of whether the malt whiskey in it is that distilled by Teeling themselves. I assume the odds are decent that it is as the Teeling distillery has now been open for about eight years. The whiskey itself is NAS and if there’s been any indication made about its purported age, I am unaware of it—I haven’t followed whisky marketing for many years now, and even when I did I was not very up on the Irish whiskey scene. As with the miniature of the Single Grain I reviewed, there’s some variance between this miniature and the Small Batch as currently described on the distillery’s website. There it is said to be finished for up to 12 months in rum casks; this label definitively notes a 6-month rum finish (after initial aging in bourbon casks). As to whether the duration of the finish varies from batch to batch, I do not know. I’m also beginning to wonder if there are any Teeling releases that don’t involve maturation or finishes in non-traditional casks. Continue reading →

Caol Ila 15, 2007 (Signatory)

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Caol Ila week began on Monday with a nice 7 yo bourbon barrel whisky bottled by Single Cask Nation. It continued on Tuesday with a very good 10 yo single refill sherry butt.  Here now to close out the week is the oldest of the trio: a 15 yo from Signatory that received a two year “finish” in a first-fill oloroso butt. Two years seems more like double maturation territory. It’s not clear, of course, if this was a product of re-racking multiple casks into the first-fill butt or if the cask/s re-racked were all sherry casks to begin with. It’s a brave new world of single cask whisky we live in—or to be exact, have lived in for some time. Alright, let’s get to it.

Caol Ila 15, 2007 (53.7%; Signatory; finished in first-fill oloroso butt 204; from a bottle split)

Nose: Raisiny sherry with not much sign of smoke or peat at first sniff. On the second sniff, there’s the smoke: dry woodsmoke with a lot of salt around the edges. Mild phenols emerge as it sits; the woodsmoke and the raisins merge and move in the direction of pipe tobacco. More of the pipe tobacco with water. Continue reading →

Ballechin 10, 2010, Marsala Cask

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Let’s keep the Edradour train going a little bit longer. This week will be a week of wine-bothered peated whiskies but we’ll begin with a Ballechin—which, as you know, is the name of the peated variant of Edradour. A slightly dangerous start to the week: I really did not like the first Edradour last week and that was from a marsala cask; well, this Ballechin is also from a marsala cask. Let’s hope for the best.

Ballechin 10, 2010, Marsala Cask (59.1%; from a bottle split)

Nose: Sweet, slightly rubbery peat off the top. The rubber is in the vein of gaskets on old medicine bottles. The peat gets more vegetal/organic on the second sniff: a damp, mossy log behind which some small furry creature is rotting. As it sits a fair bit of ash comes through the smells of  damp rot and there’s some fruit behind it too (orange peel, a bit of plum); some charred meat as well. With more time the peat wallop softens a bit; the salt is more palpable here too now. Mellower still with a squirt of water; still a lot of smoke but the organic/vegetal notes are gone; the salt and the citrus come to the fore too now. Continue reading →

Edradour 12 “Caledonia Selection”, 2019 Release

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This week of Edradour reviews got off to a very shaky start—putting it mildly—with Monday’s marsala cask for the Taiwanese bottler, Or Sileis. I am hoping there will be a major course correction with today’s whisky, which is the 2019 release of the official 12 yo Caledonia Selection. There’s an interesting story about why it’s called Caledonia Selection, but I can’t remember what it is and am too sleepy now to look it up. If you know, or can be arsed to look it up, please write in below. What I can tell you is that it is double matured in bourbon and oloroso sherry casks. You’re welcome. Now, let’s see what it’s like.

Edradour 12 “Caledonia Selection”, 2019 Release (46%; double matured in bourbon and oloroso sherry casks; from a bottle split)

Nose: Now, these sherry casks have not covered up the idiosyncratic Edradour character: that beany, slighly rubbery thing (gaskets on old medicine bottles) is the main note alongside the sweet sherry notes of raisins and orange peel. A few drops of water and it mostly feels a little flatter; a bit of toffee maybe. Continue reading →

Bunnahabhain Abhainn Araig, Feis Ile 2022

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For the first full week of June, I’ll do a trio of sherry-bothered Bunnahabhains. First up is last year’s Feis Ile release, named the Abhainn Araig. This is a mix of spirit matured in bourbon casks (presumably regulation hogsheads or barrels) and spirit matured in smaller PX sherry octave casks (presumably seasoned with PX). I believe this went for just short of £100 at Feis Ile. It is currently available from a few US retailers for just short of $200. But is it any good? Let’s see.

Bunnahabhain Abhainn Araig, Feis Ile 2022 (50.8%; bourbon + PX octave casks; from a bottle split)

Nose: A sour start with orange and lemon, aspirin and oak. Even more acidic on the second sniff with the orange turning a bit fizzy, like a tart orange soda. With time it gets bready/yeasty and more than a little gingery. Less acidic with a few drops of water; there’s a hint of apricot now. Continue reading →

Blair Athol 12, 2009 (Cadenhead)

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Let’s bring this week of reviews of bourbon hogsheads bottled by Cadenhead to a close. The week started with a Glenburgie and continued with a Glentauchers. Both were bright, summery malts. For the last review, I have a non-Glen and non-Speyside distillery: Blair Athol. This is a 12 yo distilled in 2009. The last Blair Athol I reviewed was also a 12 yo distilled in 2009, and was at a very similar strength as this one—but that was a sherry butt. I liked that one but it stopped well short of excellence. Let’s see where this less adorned bourbon  cask falls.

Blair Athol 12, 2009 (59.8%; Cadenhead; bourbon hogshead; from a bottle split)

Nose: Fizzy lemon; that nutty note I often get in Blair Athol; baked apples; malt; a bit of damp oak. Continues in this vein for a while. With more time and air the acid backs off a little and lets more of the musky notes through—a floral note too now, or is that peach? With a few drops of water the acid recedes further; the nutty note and the damp oak are gone too. Continue reading →

Ardbeg Uigeadail, 2020 Release

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Let’s close Islay week with another classic, this one from the third of the South Shore distilleries: Ardbeg. I’ve previously reviewed three releases of the once-beloved Uigeadail: the 2007 and the 2011 and 2014 releases (the latter two side-by-side in a blind tasting). As with the Lagavulin 16, there’s been a narrative of decline for the Uigeadail for a while. And it’s true that the rich sherry character of the early releases faded after a while. That said, back in 2015 I quite liked the 2014 release, and liked it more than the 2011. But that was almost a decade ago. This 2020 release will bring us more or less to the present day and might help me decide whether to give in to the voice that has been telling me for some months now that I should really take a flyer on the current Uigeadail and Corryvreckan releases. So far it’s been losing to the more rational voice that reminds me that I still have unopened bottles of both from the early 2010s and should get to those first. But if this one is very good I may have to thumb my nose at rationality yet again. Continue reading →

Kilkerran Hand-Filled, August 2022

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It’s a short week of whisky reviews—the month having started on Monday—and so I had to rummage around to see what I had a natural duo/pair of. And in the depths of the sample drawer I found two Kilkerran hand-filled casks. These were both acquired with the other Campbeltown hand-fills I reviewed late last year and earlier this year. I hope you don’t recall that the first of those was a set that was filled at Springbank in August (here, here and here); and the other a set that was filled there in October (here, here and here). Let’s take these Kilkerran hand-fills chronologically as well, and start with the August cask. A reminder: these hand-fill casks are not exactly single casks—as they are topped off from time to time—and don’t have vintage or age statements associated with them. I’m not even sure what cask type or types go into the vattings; and if I recall what I was told correctly, they aren’t even filled from casks per se but from large glass containers. If I’m in error about any of this, I hope someone will correct me in the comments. Continue reading →