Connemara Turf Mor 58.2%

I have long been a fan of Irish whiskey (Green Spot, Redbreast and to be honest Paddy being particular favourites), and I must say I have liked what has been coming out of Cooley over the years so I was delighted to recieve this sample from Cooley. I tried this quickly one Saturday morning on a particularly heavy day of whisky sampling and it stood up well so I thought it was about time that I tried it properly. This is the Peatiest expression of Cooley so far at over 50ppm and is limited to under 20,000 bottles. So lets give it a try.

Nose: Fresh, peaches, touch medicinal, corned beef (in a good way) lemons and olive oil. White chocolate, oatcakes and distant smoke. A touch of pancetta comes through.

Taste: Big - but smooth at the same time! This is is the smokiness builds up but is not over powering. some autumn leaves comes through, cigar smoke and then a light grassy note emerges. Lime zest, some shortbread notes and again that olive oil note comes through.

Finish: Initially the finish is not as long as you may expect but then it builds mainly at the front of the mouth. Quite ashy in the finish but again not over powering. There is lots of grassy Herby notes emerging also and then becoming quite oily.

Comment: This is really good, I like it a lot. What I would say is that for a delicate base whisky it stands up well to the obvious peat assault. At 58.2% the alcohol doesnt over power either and the addition of water only softens things slightly. Personally I like it straight. Anyway at 20,000 bottles it may not be a hugely rare bottle but I will be searching this one out.

Score: 88/100

Ardbeg Double Barrel - Back with a bang

Well I have not been on here for a long long time so thought I would come back with a bang! Oh so many puns. Anyway I got the chance to the Ardbeg Double Barrel 1974. I was quite excited but I think I may have been put off a bit by the price. I have a small sample of each of them left so will try them again and see if I change my opinion. So here goes

Ardbeg 1974 Cask 3528 44.3%

Nose: initially very fruity, before the smoke grabs you. But then it disappears and becomes softer, smoked cheese maybe? Very soft tropical fruits.



Taste: Big wet ash hits you, some soft lime notes and a salty creaminess.


Finish: Lots of smoked cheese, a whiff of oil and pancetta

Comment a bloody good dram although a little one dimensional, I feel a little let down buy this due to the cost.

Score 88/100




Ardbeg 1974 Cask 3160 49%

Nose: Softer on the nose than the other cask. A creamy white chocolate note, gooseberries, and soft dull peat smoke.

Taste: Bigger on the taste, much more smokey and drier and with a hint of green chillies mixed with lime. Also soft custard creams.

Finish: long – bloody long, very industrial harbour and very dry. Also a faint hint of oranges.

Comment: Again a bloody good dram with a bit more to it than cask 3160

Score 89/100

Compass Box Hedonism 43%

It was announced today that Compass Box Hedonism had won best grain whisky in the world for the second year running at the world whisky awards - hosted by whisky magazine. So congratulations to them, however always being one to point out trivial points - should they have really won it? I am lead to believe that the WWA is only open to official bottlers so as an type of (and a very good one at that) independent bottler are they really eligible! Who cares! Their whisky is always good!

Nose: Very sweet, bags of vanilla. Sweet wood, pencil shavings and a hint of honey!

Taste: Again very sweet, lots of oak influence but very balanced. very creamy! A little bit of hay and cheap yellow vanilla ice cream! A hint of white chocolate.

Finish: A fairly short finish but very very soft. A hint of peach yoghurt and soft vanilla.

Comment: I find this whisky to be dangerously drinkable! On a warm summers evening this would be perfect outdoor sipping whisky. Perhaps a little one dimensional but then that is me being over picky! Great whisky.

Score: 89/100

Lonach Caperdonich 1969 39yo 42.2%

A new Lonach release from Duncan Taylor. I usually am a fan of Caperdonich so lets see how this goes.

Nose: Sweet vanilla, lemons and honey. Sour apple sweeties and a hint of rhubarb rock.

Taste: That sour apple sweet note comes sweeping through. A touch of drying oakiness and a bit of orange rind. Then more grassy and herbal notes.

Finish: Fairly short and quite drying with a touch of aniseed.

Comment: A very good dram but just not quite up there with the best of the Caperdonichs. Mind you I will still drink another of these!

Score: 88/100

Nikka 12yo Single Grain 70th Anniversary

This was part of a collection of four bottlings that came out to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Nikka. It is unusual to try young grain whisky these days as most of the stuff coming out from Independents like Duncan Taylor or Douglas Laing are of far greater age. Duncan Taylor's 1965 Invergordons spring to mind. So it will be interesting to try not only a younger single grain but a Japanese one at that.

Nose: Cracking - lots of butter on digestives with some caramelised onion - very sweet.
Taste: Drying slightly and maizy oily sunflower note.
Finish: Cracking whisky tastes older than it is. Long lingering creamy caramac bars.
Comment: Well matured cracking whisky that defies its younger age, this is up there with some of the best older grains but just a little bit thinner.

Score: 88/100

Glenmorangie LaSanta 46%

The new sherry wood finish from Glenmorangie - now know as Extra Matured as alledgedly consumers didn't understand what sherry finish meant! This whisky has been finished in oloroso sherry casks for 2 years. The good news is that it is bottled at 46% ABV and is non-chilfiltred.


Have tried to stay away from the obvious christmas tasting notes that the Santa Claus name suggests.





Nose: Custard creams, but also covered in raisans, maybe some cherries and some chocolate, water makes it drier.





Taste: Thick, you can feel the raisans and creaminess come through, much bigger in the mouthfeel.





Finish: Still a little dry especially with water. But also more cream notes.





Comment: Not a bad dram benefits from being non chilfiltered helps but the dryness lets it down a wee bit. On a session I could drink a lot of this.

For alternative aka better reviews please visit Dr Whisky , Whiskyfun and Whisky Pages.

Score: 88/100

Price Check

Royal Mile Whiskies - £31.50
Loch Fyne Whiskies - £31.90
The Whisky Exchange - £31.49
Single Malts Direct - £29.99

Girvan Grain 1964

Got a chance to try this rare grain was really looking forward to it as I have tried a few grains of late that have been stunners - was a wee bit surprised to see this on the go as the bottling that I tried from was bottled in October 2001 and was bottled at 48%.

Nose: Sweet bannanas and cream, fudgey. Crushed buttered digestives.

Taste: Huge creaminess and quite bourbon like, fudgey again and slightlt bitter.

Finish: Lingering creaminess, slightly bitter again in the finish, I like this but a little one dimensional but in a good way!

Comment: I like it but surprised there is still some left I think that this has been well over priced at £240.00 a bottle there are better grains available for a lot less money. Good but would recommend checking out Duncan Taylor's Grains - some tasting notes of those to come shortly.

Score: 88/100