I failed to mention in the preamble to Monday’s review of the Highland Park 12 for the Little Lebowski Urban Achievers that all this week’s reviews will be of whiskies from Highland Park. Consider it now mentioned. Monday’s review was from a firkin (a smaller than normal cask), which had previously held sherry. Today’s review is of a 15 yo matured in a bourbon barrel (ignore what it says on the sample label). It’s from a parcel of Signatory casks, all bourbon barrels, with proximate numbers. It was bottled for a Chicago outfit called Vintage Wines (which Google tells me is now permanently closed). Michael K. of Diving for Pearls informs that bottles of this barrel hung out on the shelves at Binny’s in Chicago for at least two-and-a-half years. Is that because most people go to Highland Park for heavy sherry? Well, I do like a good bourbon cask Highland Park. Let’s see if this is one and if it will make this week’s Highland Park streak so far a positive one. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Scotch
Highland Park 12 (for LLUA)
Once upon a time Highland Park was one of my five favourite distilleries. These days I don’t really spend much time thinking about that kind of thing but if I did, I doubt Highland Park would make the cut. I’m sure I’ve gone into the major reason before: the endless premium-ization of the brand (which was itself preceded by the transformation of what used to be a distillery refreshingly free of hoo-ha into a brand). Anyway, it’s not just that their prices shot up, it’s also that the quality did not keep up with the prices. Of course, that’s been a much broader problem in Scotland over the last decade; Highland Park is hardly the only one guilty of it. But I can’t remember the last time I was tempted to buy an official Highland Park, even though there have been many of them around, given the emphasis they’ve placed on single cask releases for stores, private groups, wealthy individuals etc.. In fact, the last Highland Park I reviewed was another 12 yo single cask bottled for Binny’s. That one was a first-fill European Oak hogshead (not the most common type of cask). This one was bottled a few years ago, not for a store but for an internet group: the Little Lebowski Urban Achievers. I’m actually a member of the group but I passed on a full bottle of this (on account of the price thing). It’s also from a relatively unusual cask: the much smaller firkin. I’m not sure but I think it might have been finished in a firkin: I can’t imagine that 12 years in a cask that small would yield a very palatable whisky (but I could be wrong). Anyway, let’s get into it. Continue reading
Compass Box, Delilah’s XXV
Compass Box week ends with another commemorative whisky. I say “another” because both of this week’s other Compass Box reviews were also of commemorative whiskies. Stranger & Stranger (which I thought was nothing very special) was released to celebrate their relationship with the eponymous design company, and Spice Tree Extravaganza (which I liked a lot more) was released to mark an event in company history. Well, this one was released to mark the 25th anniversary of the Chicago whisky bar, Delilah’s. This was released five years after Compass Box’s first release for Delilah’s in 2013 (on the bar’s 20th anniversary). A chunk of the 25th anniversay vatting incorporates a parcel of that earlier release (29%), which had been aged further in a refill hogshead. The rest of the vatting comprises grain whisky from Cameronbridge (10.5%), and malt whisky from Miltonduff (10.5%), Teaninich (20%), an unnamed distillery near Aberlour (15%) and Linkwood (15%). The Cameronbridge and Miltonduff came out of first-fill American oak barrels and the rest from first-fill sherry butts. I’m not sure what it cost on release but I’d be surprised if it was cheap. Well, let’s see what it all added up to flavour-wise. Continue reading
Compass Box, Spice Tree Extravaganza
Compass Box week continues. On Monday I had a review of their Stranger & Stranger, which I thought was decent but nothing more (and not at all a good value for the high price charged for it). Today I have a review for you of their Spice Tree Extravaganza. This was a limited edition take on their regular Spice Tree release, which had a slightly checkered history, having run into problems with whisky regulations and going off the market for a few years before coming back. Despite it having come back, however, Compass Box saw fit to mark the 10th anniversary of its original discontinuation with this release in 2016. It’s put together in a complicated manner. The vatting comprises sherry butt Glen Ord (32.6%), sherry butt Benrinnes (17.2%), bourbon barrel Allt-A-Bhainne (2.6) and the rest a vatting of Clynelish, Dailuaine and Teaninich that was vatted and matured further in three different toast/char levels of what they call their hybrid casks. You could call this a case of great transparency with their cask regimen—and at one point in my whisky geek career I would have saluted it; I have to admit I now find it mostly tiring to keep track of all this granular detail. Anyway, let’s see what it’s like. Continue reading
Compass Box, Stranger & Stranger
Alright, after a week of reviews of agave spirits (two mezcals and a raicilla) that no one reading the blog seemed to be interested in, let’s go back to Scotch whisky. Here’s another week of reviews of releases from Compass Box. First up, is one from 2018 that they called Stranger & Stranger. The name is apparently that of the design company they work(ed) with and the whisky was composed to commemorate the relationship. This is a blend of malt whisky with a tiny bit of 1 yo spirit from Girvan (apparently 1% of the whole). The explanation for the odd choice to blend a tiny bit of 1 yo spirit with a lot of malt whisky in a very expensive release (close to $200 in the US) is that Stranger & Stranger’s work is also category-defying. Of course, it also makes for a story of sorts and what is a Compass Box whisky without a story? The malt components are from Glenlossie (recharred hogshead, 80% of the whole), Glen Elgin (recharred barrel, 14% of the whole), and Linkwood (sherry butt, 5% of the whole). Okay, let’s see what it’s like). Continue reading
Caol Ila 18, 2001 (Gordon & MacPhail)
Caol Ila week comes to a close with the oldest of the trio (see here for Monday’s 9 yo and here for Wednesday’s 11 yo). This 18 yo was also released by Gordon & Macphail but is from a single first-fill bourbon barrel. Let’s get right to it.
Caol Ila 18, 2001 (57.2%; Gordon & MacPhail; first-fill bourbon barrel 308901; from a bottle split)
Nose: The smoke is more woody than phenolic to open, with a fair bit of cream in there as well. On the second sniff there’s a meaty savouriness and some lemon and then the coastal notes begin to emerge: salt crystals, shells, kelp. The salt intensifies as it goes. With more time there’s roasted malt and charred oak. A few drops of water bring out even more of the char. Continue reading
Caol Ila 11, 2005 (Gordon & MacPhail)
Alright, Caol Ila week got off to a good start on Monday with a young Signatory release put together from a mix of ex-sherry and ex-bourbon casks. Here now is an only-slightly older release from Gordon & Macphail that was put together from first-fill bourbon barrels (how many, I’m not sure). Let’s get right to it.
Caol Ila 11, 2005 (54.1%; Gordon & MacPhail; first-fill bourbon barrels; from a bottle split)
Nose: A little closed at first but then there’s oak. The peat takes a few beats to register and then it’s there, with disinfectant mixed in with some lemon, brine and some slightly ashy smoke. As it sits a fair bit of vanilla emerges and the oak gets toasted. With water the smoke and the oak both pick up some char and the vanilla turns to cream. Continue reading
Caol Ila 9, 2010, Small Batch #7 (Signatory for Kirsch Import)
The first whisky reviews of 2024 were both of peated whiskies last week: a very nice Croftengea 12, and an Ardmore 23 that was not as nice at all. Let’s keep the peat flowing this week, with a trio of Caol Ilas. Hopefully, they will put us back on a positive trajectory. First up, is a young small batch release from Signatory that was put together for the German market from two refill butts and three refill hogsheads. Let’s see what it’s like.
Caol Ila 9, 2010, Small Batch #7 (47.1%; Signatory for Kirsch Import; two refill butts+three refill hogsheads; from a bottle split)
Nose: Phenolic, inky peat with green bell pepper, as is not unusual with sherried Caol Ila. On the second sniff there’s some lemon and some brine to go with the ink as well as some more savoury notes. As it sits there’s more coastal notes (shells, more brine) and an open jar of kalamata olives as well. Softer notes emerge with more time (vanilla, milky cocoa). A few drops of water bring out more vanilla. Continue reading
Ardmore 23, 1997 (SMWS 66.191)
2024 got off to a smoky and tasty start with Wednesday’s Croftengea. Here now is another peated malt from a distillery elsewhere in the highlands: Ardmore.
I’ve previously reviewed a number of these Ardmore 23, 1997s bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society and liked them all. This despite the fact that none of the previous have been from straightforward ex-bourbon casks, my preferred incarnation of Ardmore’s spirit. All spent the first 21 years in ex-bourbon and then the final two in another type of cask. 66.199 came closest to being ex-bourbon, having been matured for 21 years in ex-bourbon before receiving a finish in an engineered HTMC cask (high-toast, medium-char, I think). 66.198 spent its last two years in a French oak barrique. 66.195 and 66.197 were both finished in sherry casks, the former in a first-fill oloroso barrique and the latter in a refill Spanish oak hogshead. This is another of those oloroso barrique finishes, a first-fill STR oloroso barrique to be exact (STR= shaved, toasted, re-charred, I think). The SMWS gave it the name “Smoky Cajun Roux”. As good as the others? Let’s see. Continue reading
Croftengea 12, 2006 (First Editions)
Let’s get 2024 off to a smoky start. My first whisky review of the year is of a Croftengea, one of the peaty brands produced by Loch Lomond. I’ve really enjoyed most of the Croftengeas I’ve had in recent years; that mix of Loch Lomond fruit and heavy peat is a very nice one. Let’s see if that’s in evidence here.
Croftengea 12, 2006 (53.9%; First Editions; refill hogshead 15540; from a bottle split)
Nose: Big farmy peat with some rubber mixed in; some citrus and salt in there too. The salt expands as it sits and more fruit begins to emerge with it (tart apple, Makrut lime). With more time there’s some vanilla and some cream as well. A few drops of water make the whole sweeter. Continue reading
Longrow 21, 2001 (Cadenhead)
Here to close out the week, month and year in whisky reviews is a single cask of Longrow 21 bottled by Cadenhead. As they are a sister concern, I expect they’ve picked a good one. Well, the week’s other releases from Springbank (whose peated label Longrow is) have also been very good: both this single sherry cask of Hazelburn (Springbank’s unpeated line), and the new’ish blended malt, Campbeltown Loch. Will the oldest of the three be the best? I hope so: it’ll be good to end the year on a good note.
Longrow 21, 2001 (44.1%; Cadenhead; bourbon hogshead; from a bottle split)
Nose: Oh, this glorious Longrow nose! Mineral peat, brine, cracked coriander seed, lemon zest, a slight whiff of machine oil. The salt expands dramatically on the second sniff with the lemon coming up behind. Continues in this vein, picking up some sweetness as it goes. A few drops of water and the salt, peat and lemon are balanced on a knife edge, with just a bit of vanilla below. Continue reading
Hazelburn 13, 2007
A whisky review on a Tuesday for a change: my last restaurant report from the Twin Cities will be posted tomorrow.
As I said yesterday, we will remain in Campbeltown to close out the year in whisky reviews. After three Glen Scotia festival bottlings (here, here and here), this week began with Springbank’s Campbeltown Loch release, a blended malt that incorporates malts made by the three extant distilleries of Campbeltown. Springbank itself contributed malts from all three of its lines for that blend: the eponymous Springbank, the heavily peated and double-distilled Longrow, and the unpeated and triple-distlled Hazelburn. Today I have for you a single cask Hazelburn. This is an oloroso sherry cask that was released in 2020 and was doubtless snapped up immediately and re-flogged on the secondary market, as is the case, seemingly, with almost everything Springbank produces. I suspect the heavy sherry influence (palpable just from the colour in the sample bottle) will cover up what might otherwise distinguish the Hazelburn line from the Springbank line. Let’s see if that’s the case. Continue reading
Campbeltown Loch
I got you a whisky review for Christmas. You’re welcome.
Last week was a week of Glen Scotia festival releases (2023, 2022 and 2021). We’ll stay in Campbeltown to close out the month and year but move to the more prominent company in the region. Cambeltown Loch is put out by Springbank. Once a name slapped on an old-style blended whisky (i.e malt+grain), the reinvented version Campbeltown Loch (as of 2022, I think) is a vatting of Springbank’s own Hazelburn, Longrow and Springbank malts along with Kilkerran from Glengyle, and, yes, malt from Glen Scotia as well. It is matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and sherry casks. I’m guessing that means it’s a vatting of spirit from ex-bourbon and sherry casks; though I suppose the maturation could have happened post-vatting as well—if you know which it was, please write in below. The other remarkable thing about is that it is quite reasonably priced, even in the US. In the UK it goes for £40—or it did: apparently it all sold out very quickly there. In the US it appears to still be available in many markets and, as per Winesearcher, can be found for as little as $54 in the US, which is pretty low compared to what we have to pay here for pretty much everything else from the distillery (though in some states it does go for quite a bit more). Anyway, let’s see what it’s like. Continue reading
Glen Scotia 10, Campbeltown Malts Festival 2021
My week of reviews of Glen Scotia’s recent releases for the Campbeltown Malts Festival comes to an end with this 10 yo bottled for the 2021 iteration of the festival. On Monday I’d reviewed the 11 yo bottled for this year’s festival, and on Wednesday I’d reviewed the 8 yo bottled for last year’s festival. Both were peated whiskies but while the former had received a white port finish, the latter had been finished in PX casks. I thought both were pretty good, though neither got me very excited. The 2021 release did not feature peated spirit (as far as I know) and was finished in red wine casks from Bordeaux. Will this be the rare red wine cask that gets me going? I have to say my recent encounters with red wine-bothered single malts have not been dire. Both the Mortlach in Diageo’s 2023 Special Release I reviewed earlier this month and the single Super Tuscan cask Edradour I reviewed in November were enjoyable enough (if nothing very special). Let’s see where this one falls. Continue reading
Glen Scotia 8, Campbeltown Malts Festival 2022
I have to confess I haven’t really tracked the Campbeltown Malts Festival very much over the years. The festival was launched in 2008 but I didn’t get around to reviewing a festival release until 2021 (when I reviewed the Glen Scotia release for the 2020 festival). You might think that 2008 is pretty recent and while that’s true in the abstract, consider that the Spirit of Speyside festival only launched nine years prior, and there are a whole lot more distilleries in the Speyside than in Campbeltown. Feis Ile, the Islay festival, is a bit older but it’s not like it goes back to the dawn of time either: the first iteration was held in 1986. Still, it’s probably fair to say that of the major regional festivals, the Campbeltown Malts Festival has the lowest profile. And considering that the other distilleries in the region are either Springbank or a member of the Springbank family (Glengyle/Kilkerran), it’s also fair to say that Glen Scotia probably has the lowest profile of the participants. Or maybe I’m wrong and there is a huge frenzy to purchase their festival releases as well, and a crazy secondary market for them. Unlike most of the Islay distilleries, they do put age statements on their festival releases. The aforementioned 2020 release was 14 years old, and this year’s release (which I reviewed on Monday) was 11 years old. Both were peated whiskies and involved finishes: tawny port for the 2020 and white port for the 2023. Today I have a review of their release for the 2022 festival. It was only 8 years old and, though peated, was finished in PX rather than port casks. Let’s see what it was like. Continue reading
Glen Scotia 11, Campbeltown Malts Festival 2023
Is this the year of white port finishes in Scotland or is it just the year in which I’ve noticed them. Or is it the year of white port finishes in special releases? In October I reviewed the 2023 Cairdeas release from Laphroaig which sees a third of the vatting finished in white port casks. The Talisker in Diageo’s 2023 Special Release was also partly finished in white port casks. And here now is Glen Scotia’s release for the 2023 Campbeltown Malts Festival, which was also a white port cask finish (I’ve previously reviewed the 2020 Festival release, which had a tawny port finish). Unlike the Cairdeas, this one bears an age statement: it’s 11 years old (no vintage statement though, I don’t think). I’m guessing the base spirit was matured in a mix of bourbon casks prior to receiving the finish (for how long, I have no idea). As per Whiskybase, there were 24,000 bottles in the release—I assume these weren’t available only at the festival. The base spirit was distilled from lightly peated malt. Well, I quite liked the marriage of white port (and madeira) with Laphroaig’s heavier peat. Let’s see what I make of this one. Oh yes, this week’s whisky reviews will all be of Glen Scotia’s Campbeltown Malts Festival releases. Continue reading
Glenkinchie 27, Special Release 2023
And so, finally, I am the end of my reviews of Diageo’s 2023 Special Release slate. To close out the series I have the oldest of the lot: a Glenkinchie 27. (Already reviewed: Talisker, Lagavulin, Roseisle, Glendullan, Mortlach, Clynelish and Oban.) Unlike the others—bar the Lagavulin 12, which always had a place in the lineup—this Glenkinchie would have made sense in the lineup back when the Special Release did seem special and aspirational. In those days almost every whisky in the lineup bar the Lagavulin 12 was usually pretty old. See, for example, 2013 when other than a NAS unpeated Caol Ila, every other whisky in the lineup ranged from 21-37 years old. (Consider also that while 2013’s Port Ellen 34 cost £1500, this year’s Port Ellen 43—now in the Prime & Ultima series—will set you back £15,000.) Well, I’ve saved the oldest of the current lot for last; but is it the best? Not that the competition has been very stiff: the Clynelish 10 is the only one of the other seven that really seemed special to me. One way to find out. Continue reading