Quite pale in color. Very youthful and naked, with damp peat, leafy smoke, charred oak, and black licorice, pears in honey and vanilla-tinged barley. Quite an eye-opener for a non-Islay…
Youthful, and somewhat brooding for a Tomintoul. I can tell there’s some young whisky in here, as there’s a suggestion of new make spirit interwoven with notes of heather, ripe…
Aged in a sherry cask, which adds sweet notes of toffee, Caribbean rum, waxed fruit, red licorice, and fruitcake to go along with the earthy smoke and lingering peat. A…
Earthy, fleshy notes with brooding grape notes and a gamey finish -- the Nebbiolo grape influence is obvious. I enjoy Barolo wine and I enjoy Edradour whisky, but the flavors…
The sherry is very dominant and cloying, which is unfortunate. And I’m not crazy about the quality of the sherry (or perhaps even the wood it was aged in). I…
Fiery peat kiln smoke, tar, and ripe barley on the nose. Not overly complex, but not a problem either. On the palate, the whisky starts out acceptable enough. But by…
Nice to see Arran making it to 12 years old. Creamy on the palate and soothing in nature, with layers of sweetness (maple and butterscotch syrup, vanilla cream) and fruit…
This whisky comes from two bourbon casks, producing only 112 bottles. I believe it’s the most expensive Lowland whisky on the market. Unfortunately, its flavor doesn’t stand up to its…
A very peculiar whisky. It’s interesting in some respects, with the thick, sweet Hungarian dessert wine fighting with damp peat smoke for attention. But it tastes a little disjointed, and…
The owners of Bunnahabhain are making a peated version of this normally unpeated Islay whisky to put in their peated blend, Black Bottle. But they have not yet put out,…
The lightness of the hue suggests a very slow maturation in refill casks, and while I tried hard to get to grips with this, I found the nose simply too…
The second of the duo — destined for the U.S. and Taiwan — is a relative youngster and has been extracted from a fresh Spanish oak sherry hogshead. The combination…