Category Archives: Summertime

A World of Discovery, All You Need Is Love, An everyday dram, GlenHatton, Let's celebrate!, Refreshed, Springtime, Summertime, Takin' It Easy

The GlenHatton dregs blend, take one, pt. 2 of 2

GlenHatton – glen · ha · tton\’(g)len · ha · tän\n\ A “luck of the draw, pour the dregs of a shit ton of whiskies into one bottle” whisk(e)y blend.

Yesterday, as you might have read right here, details of the GlenHatton were finally revealed.

As a quick reminder, I created a dregs bottle of whisk(e)y called The GlenHatton.  It is made up of the following whiskies (in no particular order or quantity):

After creating this dregs bottle I sent a message out to friends via the Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society Facebook page asking if anyone wants to get a taste of the stuff.  I had enough for 8 samples and got a taker for each one!  Based on the quick response and people’s seemingly burning desire to taste the stuff, I thought it’d make for a great post!

What would people think of it and what did they think might be in it?  With the exception of the Malt Impostors, no one knew that the dregs sat in a Hibiki bottle.  And, with the exception of a few other things, none of which had to do with the make up of this whisky, this is all I told people about the whisk(e)y:

“Dear Guinea Pig, I mean, participant…

You are one of eight people to join the GlenHatton inner circle.  Congratulations.

It took me a long time but I finally filled (for the most part) a full bottle with the dregs of whiskies from many, many different samples & countries.  There are over 26 different whiskies in here from all over the world: Scotland, Japan, Sweden, USA & Taiwan!

I’d say more than 95% of this is malt whisky but there is some grain (in the form of bourbon & and grain content from a blend or two I dumped in there).

The rules:

Rule # 1 — There is no Fight Club

Rule # 2 — Enjoy.  It’s an odd duck.  I didn’t go about creating this dregs fluid in the attempt to design some master blend.  No, this is all random stuff.  Solid!

Rule # 3 — Aside from enjoying it, try to taste it as if you were reviewing it as best you can and PLEASE, write down your notes.  I’d love to get the standard Nose, Palate, Finish notes.

Additionally, when I do post this up, I will reveal the contents of this dregs sample.  Go ahead and try to take some guesses as to what you think may be in there (you don’t have to try and guess all 26+ whiskies).  The person (or people) who get more than 7 correct will get a surprise whisky sample.

Hmmm, 7 may be a high number.  Ok, the person who gets the most correct will get a surprise sample.  Sound cool?  Cool.

Thanks again for your participation!

All the best!  L’chayim/Slainte/Cheers/Kampai!”

So, who are the participants in this grand experiment and what did people think of the GlenHatton?  Well, here are the final 4 guest reviews (as a reminder, here is a link to yesterday’s reviews from the first 4 tasters):

Review #5

Ewan Morgan – Diageo Master of Whisky

Bio: Ewan is a third generation “whisky man.” In Scotland, Ewan spent his childhood living within the grounds of a large distillery. Both his father and grandfather worked their entire careers in the business before retiring as distillery manager and brewer, respectively. When he was of age, he inevitably began working there as a maltman himself.

Ewan was chosen to become a Master of Whisky due to his in-depth working knowledge of the industry as well as his extreme, unrelenting passion for whisky. He has traveled the world giving presentations and tastings to large audiences in Asia, Europe and North America. If you asked Ewan what he loves most about his job, he’d tell you, “there’s no other job like it, you get to travel, meet interesting people and have the opportunity to educate and enthuse about something that’s very close to your heart – that makes me a very lucky person indeed!”

Nose: floor polish, hubba bubba, sweet latex rubber, rhubarb compote, plumy, young green oaky vanilla, leather

Palate: cardamom, bitter crab apple, minty panacotta, fruity mid palate, burnt caramel and plum sauce, white pepper.

Finish: dry, short and sweet.

Caspar the whisky ghost.

Review #6

Malt Impostor(s)

Bio: Variously and unmentionably employed during the day, Bill, Stephen, and John are full-blown Malt Impostors by night.  From the bowels of their Malt Cave, the Impostors endeavor to drink out the words they feel certain are already there in the expression–it is an expression, after all.  They got their start making fun of some of the more pretentious tasting notes they saw out there on the web.  Now, The Malt Impostor has evolved into a site providing highly idiosyncratic tasting notes for your favorite malts–preferably in miniature form.

This dregs dram, a composite consisting of a plethora of whisky expressions, is the creation of a budding master blender, a crazy genius, or a truly lucky bastard.

On the nose, we found Hibiki flowers (perhaps because we knew it had been blended in a full-sized Hibiki 12 bottle–damn, the power of suggestion!), sherry, a hint of smoke, and light varnish on light wood—we were thinking a varnished sorority paddle.  Bill also thought he detected notes of a Dremel tool playing roto-rooter in a robot’s aluminum nostril.

On the mouth, if the core or center isn’t bourbon, at least one of the inner concentric rings must be.  It’s very smooth, but also electric on the tip of the tongue, like tiny catfish heads with barbs dipped in Hoisin sauce.

Overall, the GlenHatton sports a deep, rich mouth:  we thought we detected some Macallan in here, but also some Gran Marnier, though we split on where we think the latter actually showed up:  Bill’s vote was in the foreground, Stephen’s was in the background, and John’s was underground—a dissident Gran Marnier, if you will, moving fluidly amongst the occupying forces.  The finish boasts loads of pepper—think GMO scotch bonnets injected subcutaneously, thereby bypassing direct contact with nerve endings—along with cinnamon and hints of corn silk.  Add a little water, and the nose softens significantly, imagine that same sorority paddle making contact with a clothesline-dried cotton skirt on its way to making contact with its ultimate target.  With water, on the mouth, it’s also predictably watery-er, but it does little to undermine the cinnamon and lasting spice on the finish. Overall, this dram is incredibly complex, but also very tight:  there’s no clear single vector here, but rather a series of distinct vectors continuously turning in on themselves.  If M.C. Escher were to blend a whisky, this’d be it.

On the scale of notable amateur (or semi-amateur) efforts, the GlenHatton is The Malt Impostor—unexpectedly well-received by discerning experts and subtly (or not so subtly) self-promotional, this dram creates its own singular niche—and does so admirably.

Review #7

Anne Benner

Bio: My name is Anne Benner, I’m 27, from Lake Constance in the south of Germany and have been a student of English and Spanish linguistics and literature in Heidelberg, Germany for quite a while now, actually 🙂 I love listining to music, mainly indie and alternative stuff (The National is my current favourite) and, apart from that I love travelling. I lived in Argentina for half a year and also spent 9 months in Scotland, working as an assistant teacher. On my last trip to Scotland in September 2010, I fell in love with some of Islay’s whiskies which made me think of writing about whisky in my master thesis. I’m currently doing this and writing about „The Language of Whisky Tasting Notes“ in English linguistics. Hoping to finish it sometime soon since my backpack’s been feeling quite lonely for the last couple of month, longing for some new adventures…

Beautiful light golden colour. But don’t trust it. It’ll lure you into some fairytale, looking innocent and pretending to be the wonderful princess of the Light sitting on its unicorn and not giving away what it really contains. Nose it and taste it and it will tell you a completely different story of what is actually to be expected 🙂 Bring it on…

Taking a first nose you will get hints of wood and nuts, accompanied by whiffs of sherry (and/or sherry cork?) and a smokiness that starts faint but then hits your nose with hot and persistent whiffs of smoke. On the second nose there are notes of marzipan and even fruit cake that are then chased away by a more fierce pepperiness that makes you want to sneeze the hell out of you. After having let it breathe for some minutes it will become a lot sweeter, more sherry, lots of sherry, more sweetness, more berries and sweet wood. Not only hints of wood that float into your nose, no it’s more like a light wooden board shoved up your nasal cavity (in a very good and painless way). Nosing too intensely, however, will make your eyes well up with tears, perceiving hints of vanilla at the same time. But hey this is crying in a good way.

Chewing the first sip makes this odd duck jump around like Darkwing Duck on your tongue. Ouch! Tongue to brain: “…please let me roll over!” But then … then it becomes worth while savouring: Its body is quite oily and heavy but successfully heaves itself to bringing out the sherry and wood notes from before, now even more persistent. This is hot stuff and not for feeble taste buds. Makes your facial colour go rather reddish. After having let it breathe you get more of the woodiness, apples, green I think, and lots of fruity hints, berries and cherry even.

The finish lasts. And lasts. It is very dry… still dry… A bit bitter on the palate, but the bitterness  fades to the back parts of your tongue after some moments. It then disappears and leaves you with notes of sherry and wood, even mint. More dryness. Even a sip of water cannot downplay the dryness. Oral cavity’s de-numbing, notes of sherry and wood still on. And on. And on…

WOW! A real ferocious duck this is. Change of facial colour: check. Scared the hell out of tongue: check. Tears in your eyes: check. Even a sip of water cannot really smooth down this duck’s temper. Funniest whisky I have tried so far, extremely strong in alcohol (would be interesting to know how much it actually is) and one that hits you in the face. I have no idea what you put in this, but there is much wood and sherry. Too sweet to not have sherried whisky in it. Might be some port as well. A bit of peat smoke definitely brings in Islay but I might be wrong on this one. Its hotness reminded me a bit of the Tomatin range (especially the 12yr and 15yr) I tasted some time ago. Woody notes from some light oak I’d say but I think I haven’t tasted enough different whiskies to actually tell.

Review #8

Richard Barr

Bio: I am a member of Whisky Israel. Love Whisky with a passion.  Wish I could be paid to travel the world promoting a whisky brand as a global brand ambassador.

I want to Thank Joshua Hatton for sticking with me. He sent the sample not once but twice, allowing me to, at long last, try his “dregs bottling” I’m sure somebody in either the American or Israeli Postal System enjoyed the first sample as much as I enjoyed the 2nd one that ultimately arrived.

Glen Hatton Vol. 1

Color: Gold, pure gold.

Nose: It starts off with a bit of smoke & peat, moving on to crisp green apple. This is quickly overshadowed by the sublime smells of buttery, rich buttery, really rich buttery toffee. It’s the same rich buttery aroma I get when making the toffee sauce for sticky toffee pudding (that sauce contains butter, brown sugar, vanilla & cream) only with an extra helping of butter – yum! Powering through the rich buttery toffee, I catch red candy apple. You know the kind of red candy apples one buys at a county fair. Oh, did I mention the rich buttery toffee?

Palate: The Glen Hatton starts off slightly sweet on the palate and the BAM!, it snuck up & smacked me with pepper, first white pepper, then black pepper, and finishing up with green bell pepper.  Starting off just as the nose would suggest and then that surprise attack of spice.

Finish: Long, really long starting with a warmth in the chest and working its way up to the nose and remaining there ever so long. Tapering off to leave the smoke the whole show started with. That smoke lingers in an afterglow for a minute of two, reminding me of what just happened.

Overall: A wonderful dram for an experiment. This test subject was glad to be a part of it. I’d give it 88/100

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Ewan – I love the pic of your handwritten tasting notes.  I’d hand write my notes but I don’t think I’d be able to read them back to myself.  Yeah, my penmanship is THAT bad.  Very cool style of notes/descriptors as well.  An interesting take on this experimental dregs bottle.  This is one of the things I love about whisky – everybody’s taste & smell receptors are different and we can all come away with something unique.

Stephen, John, Bill… You guys never cease to amaze me.  I find I have to read your notes over and over and over again just to make sure I’m understanding and taking it all in.  Like a good Umberto Eco book, or perhaps an onion, there are many layers to what you guys write.  Thank you for being you.

Anne – Nice highly details notes.  You really picked up on a lot of the other elements people got: Vanilla, apples, spiciness, etc…  That and you mentioned Darkwing Duck?!  Fabulous!

Richard – While I won’t be posting my notes until Monday, I will tell you that we found some similar notes in there: Toffee, vanilla, more toffee.  Your tasting notes were deliciously fun and told a damn good story.

So, if you’ve been keeping track, you’ll notice that it is Jason Johnstone-Yellin of guidscotchdrink.com who ended up getting the most number of correctly guessed whiskies (see yesterday’s post for Jason’s review of the GlenHatton).  Congrats Jason!

Be sure to check in on Monday as you’ll finally see my notes on this “masterpiece” as well as a reveal on what Jason’s winning sample will be!

A World of Discovery, GlenHatton, Let's celebrate!, Springtime, Summertime, Takin' It Easy

The GlenHatton dregs blend, take one, pt. 1 of 2

GlenHatton – glen · ha · tton\'(g)len · ha · tän\n\ A “luck of the draw, pour the dregs of a shit ton of whiskies into one bottle” whisk(e)y blend.

As you might have guessed, should you be a frequent or daily reader of the Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society blog, I get a good deal of whisky samples; buy more whisk(e)y than I should of whisky and yes; I taste, review and drink a lot of whisky.

You might wonder what happens to the drips and dregs left over from sample and purchased bottles; the stuff left over that’s too little an amount to drink…  What happens?

The GlenHatton happens.

I used a base whisky to start the whole thing (about 15% of the Suntory Hibiki 12yo) then dumped 21+ dregs of various whiskies into the bottle and “wham-bam-thank-you-shmuel” the final result is a tasty little dregs bottle of whisk(e)y I call: The GlenHatton.

So, what to do with all of this dregs blended-whisk(e)y??

Well, if you’re me, you send a message out to friends via the Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society Facebook page asking if anyone wants to get a taste of the stuff.  I had enough for 8 samples and got a taker for each one!  Based on the quick response and people’s seemingly burning desire to taste the stuff, I thought it’d make for a great post!

What would people think of it and what did they think might be in it?  With the exception of the Malt Impostors, no one knew that the dregs sat in a Hibiki bottle.  And, with the exception of a few other things, none of which had to do with the make up of this whisky, this is all I told people about the whisk(e)y:

“Dear Guinea Pig, I mean, participant…

You are one of eight people to join the GlenHatton inner circle.  Congratulations.

It took me a long time but I finally filled (for the most part) a full bottle with the dregs of whiskies from many, many different samples & countries.  There are over 26 different whiskies in here from all over the world: Scotland, Japan, Sweden, USA & Taiwan!

I’d say more than 95% of this is malt whisky but there is some grain (in the form of bourbon & and grain content from a blend or two I dumped in there).

The rules:

Rule # 1 — There is no Fight Club

Rule # 2 — Enjoy.  It’s an odd duck.  I didn’t go about creating this dregs fluid in the attempt to design some master blend.  No, this is all random stuff.  Solid!

Rule # 3 — Aside from enjoying it, try to taste it as if you were reviewing it as best you can and PLEASE, write down your notes.  I’d love to get the standard Nose, Palate, Finish notes.

Additionally, when I do post this up, I will reveal the contents of this dregs sample.  Go ahead and try to take some guesses as to what you think may be in there (you don’t have to try and guess all 26+ whiskies).  The person (or people) who get more than 7 correct will get a surprise whisky sample.

Hmmm, 7 may be a high number.  Ok, the person who gets the most correct will get a surprise sample.  Sound cool?  Cool.

Thanks again for your participation!

All the best!  L’chayim/Slainte/Cheers/Kampai!”

So, what’s in The GlenHatton?  A LOT! In no particular order and in no specified amount, the whiskies are:

So, who are the participants in this grand experiment and what did people think of the GlenHatton?  Well, here are the first 4 reviews:

Review #1

David Blackmore

Bio: Global Brand Ambassador of The Glenmorangie

Initial impression on the nose: subtle, mild and well balanced with plenty of tropical fruit – bananas and pineapple. Strangely reminiscent of Hibiki 12yr!

On further nosing: distant hints of chili peppers with more tropical fruit and hints of corn whisky.

Tasting neat: Sweet vanilla and tropical fruits – pineapple and mango(?). Finish is dried with more corn notes, biscuity with a suptly hint of peppery smoke…

Nosing with water: Distant tarry smoke(?) Water definitely amplifies the smokey notes more than the fruit notes. More of those sweet corn whiskey notes as well.

Tasting with water: Soft, easy drinking with vanilla, honey and tropical fruits. Later, hints of American whiskey on the breath.

My guess for (some of) the whisk(e)y components:

Glenmorangie Astar / 18yr, Hibiki 12, Makers Mark, Bruichladdich, Dalmore, Stranahan’s…

ABV seems to be approx 43%

Since blends should be all about balance and ease of drinking I think you really hit a home run. Very drinkable!

Review #2

Jason Johnstone-Yellin of GuidScotchDrink.com

Bio: Born and raised in Burns country (Ayrshire, Scotland), I have lived in the US since December 2001. I founded the Single Malt Whisky Society of the Palouse in 2004 in order to share my love of single malt with friends who were interested in learning more about the hallowed spirit and we’re still going strong. I also lead private whisky tours of Scotland and would love to show you around my native country.

Color: New motor oil

Nose: Fruity to begin (more like artificial fruit flavoring, though, with a sherry nudge coming in from behind), developing black pepper and soft, fragrant spice (a red spice like paprika comes to mind), overripe bananas poke around the edges of the spice (reminiscent of an Indian bazaar). 

Palate: More of that soft spice with building wood (makes me think about dark chocolate with dried chili peppers), chewy with long toffee notes, some spicy ginger followed by thick, woody, cumin notes, red fruits in a summer crumble. 

Finish: Lots of black pepper and charred wood with ground cumin that just keeps going and going and going. 

Overall: Given Joshua’s fascination with Glenmorangie this is likely 25 different expressions from Glenmo and one Japanese blend!  With that said, however, I’m thinking there has to be some Amrut in here.  I’m also getting elements from port finishing with the red fruits on the palate, so maybe there’s Kavalan ‘Concert Master’ in here, and maybe some Balvenie and Springbank Port finished dregs, too.  Could I be tasting Mizunara (Japanese oak) in here?  That always throws me for a loop… Hibiki for sure.  He has very international tastes, you know!  Needless to say, very interesting stuff (although I think I’ll still be tasting cumin a week from now).

Review #3

David Bailey Jr.

Bio: I am a native resident of Brooklyn, NY. I have done freelance sales/marketing for some high end single malt scotch brands in the NY Metro Area, and now also work for Christie’s as a Wine Inventory Controller. I have a huge penchant for reading, working out and all sorts of geeky, nerdy things but adore spirits, especially scotch.

Color: a rustic, chestnut color. Takes very well in the glass, with nice, flowing long legs!

Nose: sea salt & brine followed immediately by roasted coffee bean & burnt rubbers (Starbucks in a speedy Jag perhaps?), dampened oak, vanilla & toffee with slight hints of oak throughout, and touches of warming peat.

Palate: sweet perfume-esque entry, hints of vanilla & milk chocolate, more coffee bean with lots of spiciness, light peat now emerges followed by more sea salt. Very lingering finish.

Nose (w 2 drops of water added): much sweeter, now honey & maple syrup emerge, caramelized coffee beans with light sprinkles of sea salt & brine, followed by dampened oak.

Palate (w water): creamy & a bit oily, sweeter, vanilla & milk chocolate again, spicy notes now appear more prevalent, then drop. Interesting. Medium finish.

All in all a pretty good dram. Surely opens up a bit with just a slight splash of water. Review was done utilizing a 2 oz pour. Was tempted to try this alongside a nice glass of Guinness and a medium bodied cigar, but I’ll save that for the next dram, hahaah.

Review #4

Blair Bowman

Bio: Foreign Secretary of Aberdeen University Whisky Society, currently residing in Barcelona. Just returned on Monday from Judging at The International Whisky Competition in Chicago – of heated discussion. Assisted at Taipei Whisky Live last year and many other whisky related events. Works as Online Community Manager for a Webinar Company in Barcelona.

Disclaimer from Blair: Sorry I’ve got a bit of a lingering cold – think its the sudden change in temp here in BCN – anyway, I’ve given it my best shot! This is all from my right nostril 🙂

Nose:  Pink grapefruit an peaches (very ripe ones) then kind of cured ham/meats, chorizo-esque meatiness appears.

Palate:  Vanilla and creamy texture at first. Then quite a sharp sweetness of sherbet lemons and a bit of turkish delight. High amounts of ground black pepper.

Finish:  Fairly long finish with Parma-Violets (if you know what they are!) and the pepperiness and cured meats linger with a hint of cigar smoke.

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David Blackmore, you nailed it when you detected the Hibiki but as you saw from the list, that’s the only whisk(e)y from your list in there.  However, your detection of the tropical fruits (pineapple, banana & mango) speaks to the amount of 1991 Balblair that’s in the GlenHatton – You’ve got a killer nose!

Jason, you are correct.  I LOVE, and am a proselytizer of, Glenmorangie (music to Mr. Blackmore’s ears, I’m sure!) and Japanese whiskies however you’ll notice there’s not one drop of Glenmo in there and only one Japanese whisky in there (the Hibiki, just as David Blackmore had detected).  You nailed the Balvenie and the fact that there was something influenced by port in thee – the SMWS 123.5 is an 8yo Glengoyne from a port pipe.

David Bailey, your notes made me hungry as hell!  I think you nailed it when you detected the toffee on the palate (that was one of notes my tongue and brain held on to).

Blair, sorry that your nose was all jacked up for the nosing & tasting of the GlenHatton.  Your notes are most interesting and upon a 2nd review of the GlenHatton I can see what you mean by the pepperiness to the whisk(e)y as well as the over-ripened peach notes and cigar smoke (delicious cigar smoke indeed!).

David, Jason, David & Blair – thanks so much for participating and for your great tasting notes.  So far Jason is in the lead with the most number of whiskies guessed.

Check in tomorrow as we’ll see notes from 5 other people (including my own) and the big winner of the surprise sample will be announced.

Blind Tastings, Springtime, Summertime, Takin' It Easy

A blind-ish tasting of some crazy mixed up old juice…

A funny thing happened on the way to “GlenHatton”…

“Wait, what’s GlenHatton?”

“GlenHatton” is a something I’ve been brewing for some time now.  I’ve been pouring my “Dregs”* into a single bottle, about 26 whiskies in all, and reached a point were it seemed to smell & taste… interesting.  So, being taught that “sharing is caring” I reached out to some people via the JSMWS Facebook page to see if they wanted to try it.  I received more responses than I could shake a stick at and could only dole out about 6 samples.  There will be a a series of “GlenHatton” posts in the very near future…  “Watch this space”

*(“Dregs” Noun.  Meaning in the Whisky World: The final bits of many whisky bottles or samples that where there simply was not enough left to drink as a dram, or barely more than a few drops.)

So, one of the lucky 6 recipients of my GlenHatton Dregs whisky asked if I were interesting in tasting an all-malt blend that he had been working on (Sssseeeeee??? sharing IS caring!!).  I, of course, said ‘hell yeah!’ and asked what was in the blend.  He could not tell me.  All he could say was that this was some OLD juice!  He did give some names and a range of dates: 60’s Balvenie, 30’s Mortlach, some old-ass LittleMill and a few others.  Again, the information was as limited as could be.  That’s cool.  I figured it’d be a fun experiment regardless…

Thanks to EM for the sample!

On the nose — Fruity and dusty at the same time.

A high sweet corn-like note is uncovered after the first sip and is off-set by a slight touch of smoke.

Light berry jam (think a mix of raspberry and strawberry) and a whiff of wood.

Jasmine tea (a lovely note).

Light sweet butter.  A touch of coconut and a bit of pineapple.

On the mouth — ***Incredibly thick*** and seemingly growing in volume  (perhaps my mouth is watering?).  Flat soda.

I’m guessed the ABV was pretty low, no more than 43% (EM corrected me, its just over 44%ABV).

Toasted cream pastries and warmed woody bits.

Spicy and spiced notes of fresh and juicy melon.

Mango, sticky rice and coconut milk (Thai mango sticky rice).

Finish — Fruity & tropical – filled with mango and persimmons.  Lasting fruitiness.

In sum — A cool mix of fruits, wood, smoke (however slight) and Asian-style goodness.  All-in-all a nicely balanced, enjoyable whisky.  Perhaps the best thing about this whisky was the mango sticky rice note (I am SO HUNGRY right now).

A World of Discovery, Port Ellen, Summertime

Signatory Port Ellen 1982, Bourbon Cask #1202, 26 years old

Islay region – 54.1% – $339 | £? | €?

An out of the blue voicemal:

Marshall (this voicemail is completely paraphrased): “Hey Joshua, Marshall here, just checking to see if you might want a sample pour of some Port Ellen the LASC just got”

I was busy setting up a tradeshow booth so I sent a text:

Joshua: “As ‘The Dude’ would say: Does the Pope shit in the woods? Hell yes!”

The back and forth goes on from there but there are too many expletives and references to “Jewish English” that would make my reproducing of the entire transcript too risque for the JSMWS blog.  No shit.

Special thanks to Marshall and the LASC for the “bad-a$$ F&#$ing great pour” sent to me!

On the nose — Lemon soap suds & sweaty canvas sneakers.

Bright smoke.  Burning, salty driftwood.

Chamomile tea and a bushel of hay on a very, very humid summer’s day.

After a while the bourbon influence is very noticeable with scents of cinnamon and vanilla even fresh corn.

After this, it gets a bit dank and dewy.

On the mouth — The ABV is barely… wait a sec.  Wow, this is really…really heating up on me.

Oh crap!  This goes from oily, soft and sweet then onto being thin, hot and fiery in a matter of 6-7 seconds…

Let’s have another go at this:  Grassy, earthy, flinty, almost electric.

It starts off with freshly bitten plum then moves into pink lemonade.

This is evolving with every single sip.

Soapy, like on the nose and growing into sugary tart Sweetarts.

Honeyed teas and salted, baked lemons.

Finish — Lasting and evolving, hot, spicy and lemony sweet.

In sum — Nicely balanced.  I really dug the way the flavors exploded and evolved with every second.  A late summer’s night dram if you have a shit ton of cash to spare!  Very enjoyable.  For the $$ tag on this one, I can spend less on another whisky that can also be enjoyed on a late summer’s night.

An everyday dram, Cold Winter, Jura, Summertime

Four whisky reviews today – tasting the Isle of Jura range!

Isle of Jura.  A lot can be said about Jura but, as you’ll see below, I’ve got a shit ton to cover just with my tasting notes.

This said, let’s hit the highlights shall we?:

  • The Isle of Jura is a small little Isle located east & north of Islay
  • Isle of Jura distillery is the only distillery located on Jura- “On an island just 7 miles wide and 30 miles
    long, there is but one road, one hotel and one distillery.    “
  • People from Jura call themselves Diurachs (Gaelic)
  • Diurachs are a superstitious lot but they make some pretty tasty whisky!

Isle of Jura 10yo – 43%ABV – $35 | £25 | €29

On the nose — Soapy fresh nose, even surpassing a Bowmorian soapiness (slightly soapier than many Bowmore whiskies I’ve had).

Limon™ sweetness of 7UP™ soda with gobs of malt to boot.

Spider mums and an absolute hint of peat smoke.

On the mouth — A decent and slightly oily entry filled with malty notes and a touch of the soap I got on the nose.

Very sweet potpourri, aniseed and toasty oaken notes.

Finish — Peppery and spicy finish with more soap and malty sweet notes.

Isle of Jura 16yo – 43%ABV – $45 | £41 | €48

On the nose — Soft nose; sweet yet salty and strong with a note of licorice.

Soapy yet not as much as the 10yr Jura.

Threads of smoke and spicy citrus.

Candle wax, malty and hay.

Heide brand candy cardboard box (one which previously held Jujyfruits).

Plastic shopping bags too.

On the mouth — Spicy attack from the get-go.

Lipstick and eyeshadow (smell a make-up bag and this is what I’m tasting).

Light (ever so light) peat smoke and some of that hay I got on the nose.

Chewy wine gums, even Jujubees (another Heide brand candy) and fresh tobacco.

Finish — Short finish, slight spice and a touch of that wax from the nose.

Isle of Jura ‘Superstition’ – 43%ABV – $40 | £29 | €34

On the nose — Waft of burnt pricker bushes, peat smoke and rosewater.

Toffee, caramels and fizz candies.

Toasted, nearing burnt, apple skins.

Figgy pudding – there’s even a little mustard seed in here.

On the mouth — Very sweet and a viscous mouth feel.

Back to the fizzy candies and lemon sugar drops.

The peat does not seem to translate to the palate as much as I expected.

Finish — Peppery and sweet yet shorter than that dude from Ron Howard’s “Willow” (do you think Mr. Howard is happy about having his name on that crap movie?).  Granted, that guy was great as Wicket, the fun loving Ewok from Return of the Jedi.  But, Willow!?  Come on folks.  Oop, sorry.  I digress….

Isle of Jura ‘Prophecy’ – 46%ABV – $65 | £50 | €59

On the nose — I like what I’m smelling here.

Smoke and seashells by the seashore.

Oak and soy sauce.

Very nutty with hints of wood shavings.  A tad suphuric but it seems to add to rather than take from (as opposed to many other “match-stick malts” that will go unnamed here).

On the mouth — Sweet peat, peaty and sweet (I see you rockin’ that peat from across the street).

Sugar lemon drops, just like with the Superstition but there’s a general ashiness here that I didn’t find in the Superstition – very appetizing.

There’s more fruit as well.

Perhaps some golden delicious apple and hints of fuzzy peach (unrippened as it were).

Finish — Rhubarb pie, key lime pie, π.  Good length.

And finally, in sum — While I found the 10yo to be a bit one dimensional with all of the soap and sweetness it was enjoyable and very easy going.  One to keep on the shelves as a nice mid-summer dram. Nah, I take that back, there’s a slightly wintery feel to this as well.  Enjoy in front of a fire perhaps with a good book.

The 16yo had a nice balance to it; more enjoyable than the 10yr.  Obviously, it’s older than the 10yr but there’s a maturity there that seems beyond the 16yrs.  Very enjoyable stuff.  A nice mid-day, autumn dram.

I found the ‘Superstition’ to be an interesting one.  Maybe not the whisky itself but my approach to it.  I had a bottle of this a couple of years ago and found it quite one-dimensional; all peat smoke (and odd smoke at that).  Being that this is a lightly peated dram, I’m not sure why I was unable to get past it at the time.  Today’s tasting found it to be more one-dimensional toward the sweet side.  So, where does that leave me (us).  Not sure…  I will say, this may be one that’s better to just enjoy rather than dissect…

The ‘Prophecy’ was really enjoyable, the star of the current range if you ask me.  Can be enjoyed at anytime and in any situation.  Dare I say, an everyday malt??

Special thanks goes out to Lyz Nardo for the generous samples!