Saint Clair Sauvignon Blanc 2006

Just tried this wee whiite wine (ok the whole bottle) got it from my friends at http://www.wineandwhisky.com/ this is full of tropical fruits and lots of gooseberries which is amazingly what it says on the label! Feels quite thick on the mouth and very moreish! I a not great on wine but this I like and at the end of the day that is all you need to know.

Nose reminds me of a Bowmore 1966 without the alcohol! A lot cheaper than a 66 bowmore though!

Cracking stuff!

Macallan 1969 Duncan Taylor Cask 8373

Another old Macallan from DTC this one is at 44.6% so it had a year or so left. They have this on http://www.singlemaltsdirect.com/ at £211.00 a decent amount of money but when you consider the distillery bottling on http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/ is selling for £1700.00

Anyway lets try it:

Nose: Soft, sweet fruits and a touch grassy and oily. Tropical fruits, kiwi fruits and bananas. A great nose with a whiff of orange sherbet.

Taste: A little zesty to begin with, then deeper richer oily nutty notes with and a touch of parma violets briefly enters the mix. Then more typical chocolatey orange notes.

Finish: A hint of spice, orange peel and nutmeg!

Comments: An excellent example of an old yet vibrant whisky that hasn't been over powered by the cask. As they say in the Lilt adverts - A totally tropical taste!

Score 96/100

The beer whisky correlation!

I have just spent the last three hours at a wee informal whisky tasting and again after this the first thing that you need is a beer! I have experienced this after several whisky events such as whisky live london! You spend six hours drinking whisky and after that the first thing you want to do is drink a beer -

Conversley how often do people sit and drink beer all night and as soon as they call last orders people order a whisky. Funnily these are the people who after drinking 15 pints have one whisky at the end of the night and think that it is the whisky that has made them ill the next day!

Ok obviously I have had a few drinks tonight - now drinking a 10yo rip van winkle pretty good stuff but will need to taste it properly when I am soberer! So will try and do this soon.

Aberlour 15yo No More

I have just heard that Aberlour 15yo is to be withdrawn from the market and replaced with a 16yo - lets hope that it doesn't follow the way of the Longmorn 15 being replaced by an inferior product with over the top packaging at an extortionate price increase.

I hope that Pernod Ricard don't make the same mistake again!

Strathisla 1967 Duncan Taylor Cask 1894

Was very lucky to be given a sample of this today to try - not everyday you get the opportunity to try a 40yo Single Malt so here goes:

Nose: Sweet, rich touch of rum and softer citrusy notes. Warm oranges!

Taste: Wow, orangey, oily, mouth coating, slim trace of wood this is so full of big lively flavours it almost defies its age bar the faint trace of smoke.

Finish: Slightly nutty, with more big oily fruity flavours coating the taste buds long after this is drunk.

Comment: I had to drink this fairly quickly but would far prefer that I could spend a good evening nursing a few of these - someday maybe I will get a bottle, well I know its only June but I hope Santa Claus is reading this! Great Whisky!

Score: 97/100

Tomatin 1975 Douglas Laing Red Wine Finish

Sitting watching the who perform at glastonbury, it is amazing to think that they were formed 10 years before this 31yo whisky was even distilled. Let's hope that the Tomatin is as good as The Who!



This whisky does have a redish hue from the finishing, interestingly it doesn't say how long it has been finished in the rioja cask. This also is part of Douglas Laings Platinum collection which is suppossed to be reserved for their very best casks, I am a little sceptical as if it was that good why did it need finished? Will taste with an open mind though - it is also at a decent strength of 55.% so that should help.



Nose: Rich, sweet creamy with summer fruits and a hint of toffee.



Taste: alcohol initially prickles - then you get well not much! But in a good way sort of nothing jumps out at you. You know it whisky and its rich and warming and bit fruity. Water brings out more woody notes and a little bit of mustyness



Finish: you get more of the winey notes coming through in the finish almost like a fruit bubble gum



Comment: overall a decent enough whisky - nothing tastes bad about it just think that the Rioja cask has maybe just dulled everything down a little to much without adding a huge deal.



Score 83/100

India To Cut Tax on Whisky

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/business.cfm?id=986152007

Looks like the Indians are going to cut the tax on Imported whisky good news for the Scotch Whisky industry - perhaps not for drinkers though? If India opens up thanks to Vijay Mallaya then demand for whisky will increase further and this will only raise the prices to the final consumers world wide - so the Indians might get cheaper whisky but its not such great news for the rest of the world I fear!

Springbank 10yo 46% Distillery Bottling

The 10yo from one of the "cult" distilleries - if only I were drinking whisky when all that old stuff was around at far cheaper prices than it goes at at auction for these days - never mind there still is some pretty decent springer on the go just now! so lets how this one is!

Nose: Closed, musty and oily with a waxy fruity note and a faint trace of smoke.

Taste: Initially salty then a smoky oily note rushes through before giving way to heavier chocolatey notes.

Finish: Long a combination of saltiness, wood varnish and musty lemons.

Comment: I like this always have like the springers - would be interesting to try this against some of the first launched 10yo stuff as it has been rumoured that this has been getting better. Would say if anything the nose lets it down slightly.

Score: 85/100 - happy to drink this any day!

Linkwood 15yo G&M 43%

Linkwood has always been a cracking dram but often either underrated or not widely available other than through the F&F bottling or from G&M good to see that they bottled this higher than at 40% going with 43 but wouldn't it have been nice to see this at 46%.

Anyway enough of my spiel - lets taste it:

Nose: Rich, with a warm caramel and appley nose with a touch of citrus

Taste: Dusty, touch woody and a little bit dry. Trying to be fruity but a little bit dull. maybe a hint of woody oranges!

Finish: Dryness continues to last and then a faint orangey note

Comment: Decent enough whisky but nothing short of unremarkable. Non memorable whisky not great and not crap! Well not too crap just dull and disappointing.

Score: 78 / 100

Bloody Rain

Absolutely know reason for this post other than it is pouring with rain outside and it is very depressing so I thought I would share the love! Just need to keep thinking that some day that rain will turn into whisky!!!!!

Dunglass 5yo Miniature

Came across this curious miniature from Dunglass a heavily peated version of Littlemill. Curiously the label on the miniature has no ABV or volumetric information! I have found a similar bottle on the Internet that was bottled in a green bottle for the Italian market and that was bottled at 43% ABV. I don't know when this was distilled but going by what I have found on the wonders of the Internet! they stopped producing this style of whisky in 1972.

Nose: Soft and green, grassy and typical young lowlander style after initial hit of alcohol. Faint hint of chlorine but no smokiness.

Taste: Dry, malty with a faint whiff of peat coming through but more wood taste than peaty. Also lots of lemon sherbet notes:

Finish: Short and crisp leaving a citrusy / banana feeling.

Comments: Not a bad we dram but would say they must have been pretty shy with the peat!

Score: 81/100 Difficult one to score though!