Stronachie 18 Year 50ml
$14.99
This is a 50mL mini bottle of the regular-sized Stronachie 18 year old.
A recreation of a long lost distillery's single malt. Sourced from the Benrinnes distillery, from whom we see very few bottlings (including independents), Matured in Ex-Bourbon and Ex-Sherry and bottled at 46%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: very doughy and creamy, fruit flan and freshly peeled green bananas; soft and floral with gentle malt and juicy Mandarin oranges; white chocolate and beeswax candles.
Palate: round, creamy, fruity and malty with building spice; the floral tones are still there with a very faint edge of oak; the American oak has left the whisky with loads of cream, vanilla and more waxy honey; the sherry has added to this a touch of leather, crisp spice and some darker fruits; more fruit flan, green bananas and some pineapple.
Finish: big honeyed and malty, it lasts long with the fruits slowly and quietly reemerging and the oak pulls back.
Comment: good value for an 18 year old single malt, especially a pleasant one!
Glendronach Classic 3x50ml Gift Pack
$34.99
Ardbeg Uigeadail 50ml
$14.99
This Ardbeg, pronounced (pronounced ‘Oog-a-dal’), is a mariage of ex-Bourbon and ex-sherry casks. It takes it's name from the mysterious Loch that also happens to be Ardbeg Distillery's water source. It is bottled at 54.2%, but is still very approachable and savoury with the melding of sherry notes to Ardbeg's classic style.
Andrew's Tasting Note - Sampled for Whisky Advent 2016
Nose: salty Dutch licorice, coal fired kitchen stove, burnt bacon dripped in maple syrup and seared dates and figs; big dark chocolate with cayenne spice, cinnamon hearts and raw new leather.
Palate: very big, bold, fruity and chewy; smooth smoke drifting over plump wet malted barley; rich spices emerge: fennel, clove and anise leading the way to firm oily peat and Cuban cigar smoke; candied fruits and Christmas cake with bacon infused spicy dark chocolate; underneath the whisky's bold outer shell are soft fruits: orange, melon, banana and mango; the salt and smoke come back as the whisky comes full circle.
Finish: big, long, oily and coating; more juicy malt, coal smoke fading in and out of earthy peat; the fruits, chocolate and bacon notes are all there too.
Comment: this whisky changes a little from batch to batch; once named World Whisky of the Year by he who shall not be named; but vary as it does, it never disappoints: always sherried, peaty and meaty, and who doesn't love that!
Arran 12 Cask Strength Batch 5 50ml
$6.29
This is the 4th batch of Arran's 12 Year Cask Strength, bottled at 53.2%, one of the best value whiskies on the shelf.
Andrew's Tasting Note on Batch 5 (From the 2016 KWM Whisky Advent Calendar)
Nose: creamy, honeyed and fruity; melon with loads of malt, some soft leather and burnt orange; floral and delicate there is no trace of the higher alcohol; soft leather and dark chocolate.
Palate: big rich and more heavily sherried on the palate than expected, but pleasantly so; still creamy, honeyed and buttery but with rich spices and loads more fruit than the shyer nose let on; very tropical, juicy malt sugars and sweet milk chocolate.
Finish: drying, medium-light but layered and long; very pleasant and refreshing.
Comment: this is a very lively but complex whisky; lots of layers and depth, and superb value for $80!
Glenmorangie Original 10 Year 50ml
$7.12
The Glenmorangie Original 10 Year is the distillery's flagship whisky. Matured exclusively in American oak and bottled at 40%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: soft, silky and velvety; loads of white fruit, Red Delicious apples, citrus: hand pick California desert oranges; soft toffee, marzipan and grassy malt; floral with peaches.
Palate: still soft, silky and velvety; layers of white, citrus and stone fruits; more sliced apple, pears, orange, lemon and peaches; more toffee chews, chewy-grassy-malt, soft floral notes and gentle toasted oak notes.
Finish: medium and light, but layered and pleasant; vanilla, fruits and oak gently fade.
Comment: this may not be the world's most complex whisky, but for 10 years and sub $70 it is pretty bloody good.
Hyde 10 Year Sherry Finish 50ml
$11.99
The whisky is named for Ireland's first President, Douglas Hyde. This 10 year old Irish single malt whiskey has been matured 10 years in Ex-Bourbon and finished for 6 months in Ex-Oloroso Sherry Butts. Bottled at 46%, this whiskey has won a number of awards.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: floral, loads of vanilla, marzipan and silky caramel tones and polished oak shelves; candied fruits and Christmas cake, mom's orange heavy mince meat pie in a buttery crust warm from the oven.
Palate: round, soft, chewy and silky; loads of big juicy barley, more vanilla and some lovely toasted oak notes; creamed honey leads to melon, orange and some darker fruits; candied fruits and Christmas cake are still there and build with some firm spice; a touch meaty, like a mom's mince meat pie right out of the oven!
Finish: rich, coating and long; although the creamy vein continues to the finish, it is the darker elements (fruits and spices) that dominate.
Comment: this is a lovely malt, loads of character and depth; Irish whiskey is in the middle of being reborn, and whiskies like Hyde are doing their part in its surge!
Teeling Single Grain 50ml
$7.99
This is a mini/50mL bottle of the the Single Grain Irish Whiskey from Teeling Whiskey Company was fully matured in California red wine barrels before being bottled at 46% ABV. This whiskey was awarded "World's Best Grain" at the 2014 World Whiskies Awards.
Teeling Trinity 3x50ml
$34.99
This three pack of minis from Teeling Irish Whiskey is a good chance to introduce yourself to their lineup. The Teeling Whiskey Company now has their new distillery open in Dublin, Ireland. These bottlings are sourced barrels from their previous distillery called Cooley.
The Teeling Whiskey Company seems to excel at cask finishing in many of their releases. These three 50mL bottles are:
- Teeling Single Grain - matured in Cabernet Sauvignon wine casks.
- Teeling Small Batch - finished in 6 months in rum casks.
- Teeling Single Malt - matured in a combination of five different wine casks - Sherry, Port Madeira, White Burgundy and Cabernet Sauvignon. Some of the whiskey in here is up to 23 years of age!
Glenfarclas 15 Year 50ml
$11.99
A stalwart classic Speyside single malt, from one of Scotland's oldest family owned distilleries. Matured in Ex-Sherry and bottled at 46%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: nutty, leathery and earthy; walking through damp old dunnage warehouses in wet leather boots; a touch of burn bacon, dried dark fruits, wet jujubes and bitter choclate.
Palate: muscular, malty, honeyed and very sherried; big nutty Oloroso notes, wet leather, dark spices: (clove, fennel, Dutch licorice); more Jujubes, slightly urnt bacon and musty old oak in a dunnage warehouse; some orange and melon beneathm but the sherry is running roughsod; bitter chocolate on the palate too.
Finish: long, leathery, nutty and very sherried; loads of dark spices, drying as it fades.
Comment: this has always been a sherry bomb and a beast of a whisky, darker and spicier than I recall, but it has been a while; and it might be my palate too, saved half the bottle to revisit it tomorrow.