The Whisky Agency H&T Glen Elgin 1995
$294.99
This is a 24 year ol Glen Elgin, a joint bottling between The Whisky Agency, and Canadian importer Heads & Tails. Distilled in 1995 and matured in a Hogshead before bottling at 48.7%. Only 48 bottles for Canada.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: vanilla pods, fresh flowers and citrus flavoured Starburst Fruit Candies; Strawberry Twizzlers and peach eau de vie; heather honey and soft toasted oak; cashews and macadamia nuts; perfumed.
Palate: soft, floral and toasty with some silky vanillans and juicy malted barley tones; vanilla extract, crisp toasted oak and more nutty tones: cashews, macadamia nuts and marcona almonds; waxy; Strawberry Twizzlers, Starburst Fruit Candies and quince paste; very honeyed with white chocolate.
Finish: long, soft, floral and juicy; creamy, elegant, waxy and decadent.
Comment: this is a very creamy, waxy and floral malt; honeyed with loads of vanilla, juicy barley and elegant floral tones; Glen Elgin is typically a very pretty malt, and this is no exception!
The Whisky Agency H&T Tormore 1995
$220.99
A 24 year old single cask of Tormore, distilled in 1995 and matured in a Hogsead and bottled at 47.2%. A joint bottling between The Whisky Agency and Heads & Tails their Canadian importer.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: malty and herbaceous with raw and cooked root vegetables: glazed carrots and boiled turnips; honey, boysenberry jam, dried apricots and baked apple.
Palate: soft, toasty and very malty, very malty; lush and creamy; floral and subtly waxy with more root vegetables; dried apricots, baked apple and poached pear; toasty, with vanilla and almond paste; building oak spices and sliced ginger; late tropical fruits.
Finish: drying, warming and spicy; the finish is long with more glazed and sauteed root vegetables; fruity (baked apples and tropical fruits) and malty.
Comment: this is a lush, fruity and floral malt; don't let the root vegetables scare you off, they are lovely accents to an otherwise already complex malt.
Whisky Agency H&T Secret Highland 1983
$509.99
A 36 year old partial Sherry Butt single cask from a Secret Highland Distillery, located just south of Inverness! Distilled in 1983 and bottled at 48.2%. Whiskybase Score: 91.09.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: soft, toasty and fruity; elegant, decadent and floral; honey dew melon, candied lemon and vanilla pods; powdered sugar dusted on French crepes; subtle tropical fruits and lemon drops.
Palate: soft, silky and floral with not so subtle tropical fruits... this is a tropical fruit bomb: more melons, pineapple and mango dusted in chili flakes; flourless dark chocolate cake with cayenne pepper; agave nectar and more vanilla pods; the oak is big and toasty and the fruits juicy; is there a touch of smoke?
Finish: light, fresh, fruity and spicy; loads of tropical fruit, agave nectar and more hot spices; creamy.
Comment:this is a delightfully curious malt; elegant, tropical and spicy... very spicy... hot; this reminds me of old Tomatins, which I’m not just saying because it is rumoured that’s where the juice came from; lovely old refill cask whisky, with a crazy amount of spicy heat.
Whisky Agency H&T Secret Highland 1987
$459.99
A 32 year old partial single Hogshead cask from a "Secret Highland Distillery", filled in 1987 and bottled in 2019 at 49.6%. The whisky is a joint bottling with Heads & Tails, and comes from a distillery located between the Cromarty and Dornach Firths... Whiskybase Score: 90.12.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: Fruit Leather, dark milk chocolate, maple syrup and licorice Jujubes; candied nuts, Demerara sugars and Christmas Cake; classic old school sherry; soft leather and fruity Cuban cigar tobacco; maraschino cherries and jammy berry fruits.
Palate: soft and fruity with Caramilk chocolate, more maple syrup and assorted Jelly Bellies; more jammy berry fruits, dark spices: clove, cinnamon and nutmeg; fruity Cuban cigar tobacco and soft Italian leather gloves; building heat from the spices and more licorice Jujubes; antique-y with Christmas cake.
Finish: long, coating and spicy with more leather, tobacco and chocolate; antique-y with more Christmas cake.
Comment: this is a rich, complex, layered and old school sherried single malt, with a lot of spice; if it is indeed Glenmorangie, how cool is that… we almost never see IBs from that distillery; and either way, this is excellent stuff!
Whisky Agency 3Rivers Orkney 1999
$294.99
A joint bottling between The Whisky Agency and Three Rivers Tokyo, this 18 Year "Secret Orkney", is almost certainly from the Highland Park Distillery. Distilled in 1999, matured in a Hogshead and bottled in 2018 at 53.1% and 18 years of age.
The Whisky Agency 3Rivers Rhosdhu 1993
$319.99
A single cask of Old Rhosdhu single malt, distilled at the Loch Lomond Distillery, and filled in to a Bourbon Hogshead cask in 1993. Bottled in 2019, after 26 years, at 48.6%. A joint bottling between The Whisky Agency and Three Rivers Tokyo.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: flambeed banana, dried apricots and canned pineapple; chocolate marzipan, honey fried granola and shortbread cookies; creamed honey, white chocolate and clotted cream on dry English scones with strawberry jam.
Palate: round, rich and malty; thick with creamed honey, white chocolate and almond paste; toasty with building oak spices and white sugar; more flambeyed banana, dried apricots and canned pineapple; orange rinds; clotted cream and strawberry jam on bone dry scones; waxy red shoelaces.
Finish: long, coating, fresh and decadent with soft fruits and thick oils.
Comment: this is thick, very oily and malty with a bright fruity backbone; I haven't had a lot of bottlings of Old Rhosdhu, but this seems to be a fine example.
The Whisky Agency Ledaig 2008
$164.99
An 11 year old single Hogshead cask of Ledaig, distilled in 2008 and bottled at 52.7%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: juicy malt, freshly tarred asphalt and old wet rubber hockey dressing room mats... a touch of blue cheese too?! soft vanilla, moist flowers in a botanical garden and chewy citrus candies... can't decide if they are Starbursts or Wine Gums.
Palate: soft, round and decadent with juicy citrus fruits and floral vanilla... right before you are steamrolled by the tarry peat and classic medicinal tones Ledaig is famous for; vanilla icing sugar and clean smoke; a touch of rubber mats... from a hockey dressing room floor.
Finish: big, bold and coating; tarry, ashy and medicinal with more floral, creamy vanilla and more juicy citrus.
Comment: I'm not a huge fan of Ledaig, but this one is lovely; youthful in that peaty-medicinal way that I know all those Ledaig-heads out there look for, but with an elegance and maturity well beyond its years; if you are a fan of Ledaig, don't worry, it is still more of an acquired taste than Laphroaig!
The Whisky Agency 3Rivers Inchgower 1989
$347.99
A joint bottling between The Whisky Agency and Three Rivers Tokyo, this 29 Year old Inchgower bottled at 49.2%.