Caol Ila 12yo 43%

I have always been a huge fan of Caol Ila - if I am honest it is probably my favourite Islay malt - although I can see in a few years time Kilchoman may be pushing it close as they have had some brilliant releases so far.

The 12yo distillery bottling has been on the go now for a number of years now since the legendary 15yo flora and fauna bottling was taken off the market. I was actually supposed to be on Islay at Caol Ila for the launch of the new Caol Ila bottlings but unfortunately my sister went and got married and I had to miss it (Not unfortunate that my sister got married - she is still happily married!).

Anyway the 12yo distillery bottling was not my favourite when it first came out and generally speaking I have always preferred independent bottlings of Caol Ila to the distillery bottling. That said I tried this again at Hogmany and was very impressed with it - in fairness it was at 5am on the 1st of January so not the best time to do tasting notes! So lets give it a try again:

Nose: Sweet, creamy, dry ash, lemon, olive oil, wet grass, white chocolate. With time becomes like rain on cement on a hot day (god when did I start writing such rubbish!)

Taste: Reasonable initial hit of peat, black pepper, lime, more olive oil and a touch chalky. Tastes a little bit like paracetamols! Some creaminess does emerge and then there is the (for me) typical lawnmower flavour of Caol Ila. More ashiness also develops.

Finish: A little clingy, quite chewy and oily but a slight sour note is a little unpleasant. More ash and also a touch of salt.

Comment: A decent dram from a very consistently good distillery - this whisky is good although not as good as I remembered it being on the 1st of January. If it wasn't for the slight chalkiness and the sour note this would be a cracker. Maybe if it was at 46% and not chillfiltered true Caol Ila would be allowed to shine through. Not bad but not a cracker.

Score: 83/100

On a side note - I actually got this bottle from my neighbour who had actually asked me to try the whisky as he thought it was off! He couldnt belive when I told him it was actually supposed to taste like that! He is very much a Speyside man! Was all good for me as I scored a bottle of whisky - well what was left at the end of the night!

Balvenie 12yo Doublewood V Balvenie 12yo Signature

A rare head to head tasting for me - taking inspiration from Whiskyfun although unlike Serge who will taste 19 Bowmores at a time I am only doing two Balvenies and 12yo's at that. Anyway here goes!

Balvenie 12yo Doublewood is in Blue Writing and The Signature is in Red Writing

Sig Nose: Dry marzipan, and some dry sherry notes. Quite malty in fact. With time whisky becomes more sherried on the nose.

DW Nose: Still dry and with almonds and the sherry note is more pronounced although there is more of a background creaminess! Plums! And a hint of dark chocolate.

Sig Taste: Initially starts out like it is going to be thick - if only not 40% abv! Again drying and a little woody, touch of marzipan and faint cherries. Reasonably nice just a little thin.

DW Taste: Fuller in the taste - still a little dry and with a touch of hessian sack but strangely in a good way. Also decent amounts of creaminess, reminiscent of ice cream toffee sauce.

Sig Finish: Very short - I thought there was none then a warming hit me in the middle of the throat and subtle oak.

DW Finish: Dry and slightly sherry clawing but fairly short bar the front of the mouth that is puckered dry.

Comment: Both good staple everyday drams but nothing spectacular. If I had to plump for one I would be hard pushed and I would say doublewood edges it on the finish.

Scores: 86 doublewood and 85 signature

Ardmore 12yo 100th Anniversary

This whisky was bottled in 1998/99 in time for Ardmore to celebrate its 100th anniversary. This was about the time that I started really getting into whisky and this was always a favourite of mine at the time so when I saw an open bottle I thought that it would be a good idea to try it again properly and see if it was as good as I remembered - or thought I rememered!

Nose: Sweet, slightly meaty - almost a touch sickly but in a good way...hmmm. A hint of peat, citrus and sherried notes.

Taste: Rich, nice balance between sherry and peat. rich mouth coating with a hint of milk chocolate.

Finish: Clawing sherry and soft peat smoke lingers for some time with the sherry notes building.

Comment: So glad I still like this as was worried it wouldn't be as good as I remembered it was. This is a cracker if it was bottled at a higher strength than 40% then it could have been an all time stunner!

Score: 90/100

Macallan 12yo 43% Bottled Circa 1996

Tried some of this yesterday - what a cracking dram - this for me is what Macallan was all about rich sherry at its very best - shame it seems to be a shadow of it's former self these days. (how many -'s can I use in one sentence)

Nose: Rich heavy sherry without being overpowering. Really rich like chocolate covered cherries and rich burnt oranges with a hint of spice.

Taste: Spiciness is more evident. Fades to allow more rich sherried fruity notes to enhulf your mouth. Very coating - thich and oily.

Finish: Long lingering thich sherry leaves a very moreish feel in the mouth. Spiciness adds a perfect touch of heat.

Comment: It is whisky like this that made The Macallan famouse - bring it back please!

Score 91/100

Singleton of Glen Ord

Just tried this Singleton of Glen Ord 12yo which is launched whisky in Taiwan and South Korea to alledgedly help people to enter the world of single malt and also be a great dram for conniseuuursss (I hate that word). Anyway Diageo appear to be putting a lot of money behind this so I was very interested to try it.

Nose: Very rich and fully and toffeeish with obvious caramel notes
Taste: Quite thick, a few heavier fruity notes with a toffee creaminess
Finish: Slightly burning at full strength - definately sweet and quite clawing.
Comment: A whisky that is pleasant enough - but nothing special non memorable for being either great or crap would drink this again though - a decent standard whisky. Would love to try the 18yo old though!

Score: 82/100

Interestingly the Singleton of Glen Ord press release by Diageo has reccomendations / tasting notes on it from experts like Michael Jackson, Charlie Maclean etc etc - however the Singleton of Dufftown carries not one review take of that what you will see the press releases by following the link.

Singleton of Dufftown ---> http://www.diageo.com/en-row/NewsAndMedia/PressReleases/2006/PressRelease23August2006SingletonDufftown.htm

Singleton of Glen Ord --> http://www.diageo.com/en-row/NewsAndMedia/PressReleases/2006/PressRelease15June2006Singleton.htm

Glenfiddich Toasted Oak

The latest release from Glenfiddich and a curious one at that - I saw this at whisky live Glasgow but have to admit that I didn't try it as it wasnt one that really took the eye on the day! Anyway what is this whisky all about oak they say by toasting the casks they release more vanilla and spicy wood notes? Fair enough but how do they define toasting? What is the difference between toasting and charring is it just a degree of charcoaling!

Anyway I look forward to trying this to see how it is - I imagine it will be similar to the Don Ramsay bottling which has recently disappeared from shop shelves.

This bottling also says that it is a limited edition maybe it will be more limited that the afore mentioned Don Ramsay bottling that was limited to a mere 227 cask. (please note I may have this number wrong by 10 or so casks - makes Diageo's Port Ellens look limited!)




http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=7&storycode=53119&c=1

Glenfiddich 12yo

Glenfiddich 12yo

I came across a mini of Glenfiddich 12yo that I have had lying around on my desk for several months now and thought hang on I'll give it a try tonight. Generally speaking Glenfiddich doesnt get much recognition as a single malt amongst "Connoisseur " - God I hate that word, but I will give it a go very open mindedly, I am one of those people who actually have a lot of time for Glenfiddich if it weren't for them would we have all of the great single malts we have today.

Here goes:

Nose: Light, grassy and a little bit malty, definate dry grassy with perhaps a faint hint of peppermint.
Taste: Dryness comes through, along with sweet grassy malty notes. Hint of citrus but in a slightly sour way.
Finish: Slightly sour, but not unpleasant, fairly short length nothing too complex.
Comment: Overall a descent malt, can see why it sells so well, easy enough to drink but with very little complexities to it. A decent session malt I think that this is a lot better than the old non-age statement malt - an everyday drinker but not for me everyday but for those with less access a good entry level malt.

It is when writing this that it made me laugh just how different this site is to the site that inspired me www.whiskyfun.com where as I am tasting Glenfiddich 12yo and the likes Serge is on Bruichladdich 1970, Bunnahabhain 1977 and Longmorn 1964. Fair play to him I can only live in hope.
Score: 80/100