Tag Archives: Slight smoke

Cold Winter, Let's celebrate!, Mackinlay's

How I almost ended up in jail or, my review of the second release of Whyte and Mackay’s “Mackinlay’s” replica whisky from the Shacklton Expedition

mackinlays-blended-malt-scotch-whisky

A mixture of Speyside & Highland region whiskies – 47.3%ABV – $175

The video below was recovered at the end of last week, one month after my trip to Antarctica.

Found by the Antarctican police (also known as Intersouthpol) and then released by the Antarcticaian natives, the video is here for your viewing pleasure.

This video is my review of the second release of Shackleton whisky or, Whyte and Mackay’s Mackinlay’s replica whisky:

If you’re interested in my written review, I was able to save enough of the liquid to write down my notes.

They are as follows:

mackinlays-blended-malt-scotch-whisky2On the nose —  Flinty, coastal and smelling of goarse flowers (?) and then more earthy wild flowers.  Biscuity and touches of lemon water, cold sweet cream butter.

Maltiness that verges on a Belgian beer (*verges*, it’s not quite there).

Very briny and notes of crushed pineapples abound!

mackinlays-blended-malt-scotch-whisky3On the mouth —   Massive smoke, lemons bars, fig newtons minus the fig.

Still malty and with a great mouth feel.

Oddly sweety and peaty (the sweetness, like the first release) reminds me of Pop Rocks (maybe it’s the zippy feel on the sides of my tongue).

This is a great winter-warmer-upper!  Briny still and the oily mouth feel makes my mouth happy.

Finish —  Lasting, zesty.

In Sum — A fine, fine whisky.  I’ve said this before but, if Richard Paterson got it right in his replication (and if anyone could, it’d be him), then the original Mackinlay’s whisky was a cracker!

Grab a bottle.  It’ll warm you up!

All You Need Is Love, An everyday dram, Cragganmore, Takin' It Easy

21yo Old Malt Cask Cragganmore bottle for the Loch and K(e)y Society. A Juio’s exculsive.

 

The bottle shown is not the actual bottle but, close enough.
The bottle shown is not the actual bottle but, close enough. Click the picture to be brought to Julio’s site. Contact them for more info.

Speyside region – 52.2% ABV – $99 (for now) and sold exclusively through Julio’s in Westboro, MA.

Here we are again; reviewing a store exclusive single cask of whisky.

If you live in the Northeast of the US, chances are you’ve heard of or frequent Julio’s in Westboro, MA.

Store owner and Keeper of the Quaich, Ryan Maloney, is known for having perhaps the most whisky-centric stores in our neck of the woods.  He also has his own whisky society called the Loch and K(e)y Society and bottles whisk(e)y for them on a very regular basis.  Loch and K(e)y are the first and only group to ever have a cask of Balvenie bottled exclusively for them.  (I had a taste once and it was a yummy, yummy thing).

I visited Julio’s a couple of weeks ago to pick up a bottle of George T Stagg and Ryan was nice enough to give me a taste of today’s whisky.  This is a cask of Cragganmore that he personally chose to bottle.

I fell in love with it almost immediately and when he told me it was only $99, I had to get a bottle.  Hey, it was my birthday.  How could I not buy myself a bottle?

So today, I’m reviewing one of my birthday whiskies (happy birthday, again, to me):

On the nose –  A charming start with whiffs of *faint* smoke and lavender.

CRAGGANMORE-21-OLD-MALT-CASK-JULIOS-2Quite clean and bright with lightly spiced Bartlett pears.  Applewood and unscented candle wax.

Heavenly, and decidedly malty.

I have to say, this nose is really, really good.  Again, clean and fruity and very, very confident.

CRAGGANMORE-21-OLD-MALT-CASK-JULIOS-3On the mouth – Loads of malted barley and very chewy.

Lively and oily, honied and spiced.

Still quite fruity with touches of light citrus.

CRAGGANMORE-21-OLD-MALT-CASK-JULIOS-4Hints of salt but not brine and now some hints of Limon.

Getting back to what I said before, this is a very confident whisky.  Drying and slightly smokey toward the finish.

Finish – A spritz of citrus, a dash of spice and some malt.  It goes on for a good bit here.

In sum – The more I think about this one the more I agree with the thought in my head that this is not the most complex whisky in the world. (My apologies for the horrible, run-on-like, structure of the preceding sentence.)

However, it’s not simple at all.  It’s easily understood and hides very little from you.

This is in my top ten list as one of the finer whiskies I’ve had this year from a rock-solid-satisfying-whisky standpoint.  If there were ever a self-actualized whisky, it would be this one.

Cold Winter, Craigellachie, Glen Kieth, Jura, Summertime

Three various Single Casks in the Chieftain’s range: Jura, Glen Kieth and Craigellachie

 

Various regions of Scotland…  3 different single casks bottled for the Chieftain’s range.

After a few quick points, we will get straight on to the reviews today!

Special thanks to the folks from ImpEx for the cask samples!

To learn more about the Chieftain’s Range in general, click here.

Chieftain’s Glen Kieth 17yo bottled at 54.9% ABV

On the nose –  A light peat influence here, or so it would seem.

Salty, hay and a touch of candy-like lemon drops (a thread of smoke?).

Sherry-like influence (getting hints of Amontillado) but also sort of bourbon in character (think wood spice, honey and even a shake of white pepper).

A fun little nose, if a little confused.

On the mouth – Light white berries, unripened plums, sugared plums as well.

Biscuits, undercooked.  Pie crusts… Oh!  Gooseberry pie.  This is nice.

Somewhat simple but nice and focused.

Lightly oily slightly effervescent feel to it.

Finish –  Shortish with, again, a thread of smoke.

Chieftain’s Jura 12yo bottled at 58.4% ABV

On the nose — Few whiskies yell at me from the glass saying, “Hey Hatton, I was distilled at such and such distillery… duh!!!” like Jura yells at me.

It always seems to start off with a note that I can only call Eeore’s thistles – like burning pricker bushes.

On top of this is a slight soapy quality.  People get a little freaked out about a soap quality in a whisky.  For me, done right, the soap “quality” can be just that, a “quality.”

The soap on this is within tolerance but surely on the higher side.

There’s also a touch of lavender in here as well as calking.

On the mouth — Very industrial to taste, window putty, calking, wet cement.

Pushing these notes to the side and now we discover some great gristy notes.  You can taste the wash (beer to be distilled into spirit) but it’s very beer-like.  Lager-like.  But, a good lager (sans hops, obviously).

Rainbow candy buttons.

Finish — Short and slightly drying.

Chieftain’s Craigellachie 21yo bottled at 58.3% ABV

On the nose — You can see why they use so much of this malt in the Dewar’s blend.  It’s got a nice, balanced nose.

Let me start of with the fact that, even at 58.3%ABV, it’s not hot on the nose.  The scents are all right there.

This noses like a 21yo:  Wood spice and dill covered lemon slices.  Green wood and honey spice.  Apple sauce with brown spices.  Are you catching a theme here?  Tough to get beyond the spiced quality.

I’m a fan of the spice bombs so, let see how it translates in the flavor profile.

Adding a dash of water brings out some notes of pool water and gobs of malt!

On the mouth — Yeah, yeah… this is it.  This is what I look for in, say, some of the older Dailuaines…  Fruity little spice bombs.

This is, however, just a little hot.  Without water, we’ve got baked pears with a slight hint of cloves.  Also, vanilla.  A good deal of vanilla.  Yeah, water is needed with this one.

Not just to temper the heat but the water *really* opens up this whisky!

Ooey flan comes to mind as I take another sip.  Browned sugar and candied fennel.

Finish — A long and overly spiced finish.  Perhaps a bit too spiced (if there were such a thing).  Wow, very long.

In sum…

Glen Kieth:  An interesting whisky.  My first Glen Kieth.  Over all, I liked it.  I wonder what a few more years in the cask might have done for this whisky…

Jura: Yeah, this is an odd one.  Over all, while it was a little all over the place, I enjoyed drinking it.  Nosing it was enjoyable mainly because it’s got that Jura oddness that has you coming back for more.  This really is a winter-warmer-upper!

Craigellachie: With a dash of water, I am incredibly impressed with this cask.  It tells a wonderfully balanced story from beginning to end (with the spice volume turned up just a touch too high at the finish).  Without the water….well, I suggest you add a dash.  Should you get a bottle, you’ll see what I mean.  This is one where the extra H20 makes an incredible difference.

For more solid reviews of Chieftain’s reviews, be sure to check out Peter’s (of “The Casks” fame) reviews.

Cold Winter, Kilchoman, Refreshed, Springtime

Kilchoman 100% Islay whisky. First Edition vs 2nd edition

 

Islay Region – 50%ABV

1st Edition can be found for $?? sold out in most US stores | £77 (£66 ex VAT)

2nd Edition can be found for: $87 | £54 (£45 ex VAT)

I have a lot to cover in my side by side to these two Kilchomans so I’ll keep this quick.  As an opener, know that the 100% Islay series from Kilchoman is quite different from their standard releases:

  • They’re peated to a much lower ppm (25ppm as compared to 50ppm as per the usual Kilchoman release).
  • I’m not sure if the distillate cuts are different compared to their standard spirit runs but over all, these are a different experience from other Kilchomans.
  • Also, both editions of Kilchoman’s 100% Islay are all ex-bourbon matured whereas most Kilchomans are a mix of ex-sherry and ex-bourbon casks.

I love that Kilchoman runs this series and look forward to trying 3rd, 4th and, 5th edition 100% Islays!

On the nose — The first edition, in contrast to the latest 100% Islay, comes off as heavy and medicinal.

Truthfully, both are light in character but the second edition is quite sweet and filled with pear drops, a touch of sea air, malt, yeast and the actual sweetness of wash that permeates every inch of their distillery.

The second edition of the 100% Islay is transporting me back to my visit to the Kilchoman distillery.

Turning back to the first edition of this more lightly peated Kilchoman (both are peated to about 25ppm as compared to their standard level of 50ppm), the character is more like a rainy morning at a beach during low tide: salty, sea shells, some lemon, day old linens – comforting & relaxing as I nose it whereas the second edition is more lively and invigorating.

Two very different animals so far.  Both enjoyable.

On the mouth — First edition: great mouthfeel and more of an initial sweetness (something I didn’t really get while nosing it).  Phenolic, canvas army bags, lemons (again), salty to taste and very light vanilla influence.  This is a fine example of a young Islay whisky.  Drying as I get to the finish, too.

Second edition: More exotic in flavor! candied caraway seeds and candied young lime rind.  I am reminded of a Thai dish I was told was called “Ming Com” I had once while in Seattle.  There was some sort of green leaf I used to grab lime chunks and small red chilies – this is the combo I am getting here.  A lighter mouthfeel than the first edition but the flavor combination helps to make up for that.

Finish — First edition: Medium length with just a touch of wood spice on the center of the tongue.

Second edition: a long, exotically sweet finish.

In sum —  Two very different, yet satisfying drams.  For my tastes (at least as far as today goes), the second edition’s style and the invigorating element to it made me really connect with it.  I often enjoy whisky as a pick me up rather than something meant to relax me.

Want to relax?  Get the first edition.

Need a pick-me-up?  the second edition is the way to go!

Special thanks to ImpEx for the sample of 2nd edition Kilchoman.  The 1st edition was my bottle but now I want a bottle of the 2nd edition 🙂

My guess is you’ll enjoy Jason from Guid Scotch Drink’s review of the Kilchoman 100% Islay 2nd edition