Tag Archives: Spent matches

Arran Malt finished in a Sauternes Cask

Islands region – 50%ABV – £37 | €44

Tasting Arran after Arran after Arran after Arran after Arran after Arran, etc… has been lots of fun but I’m no where near done!  For a company that’s only 15yrs old, they’ve had a lot of different bottlings.

While I don’t speak German, just looking at the pictures on this Arran collector’s website, shows me just how many whiskies this distillery has put out!  Check it out here.

Today I’m going delve quickly into something Arran does quite a bit of – special cask finishes.

Currently, Arran has 5 different special cask finishes in their range: This one which is from a Sauternes cask, a Port cask, an Amarone cask, a Moscatel cask and then their 15th year anniversary whisky, an Amontillado Sherry cask finish.

Sauternes is a dessert wine and the first dessert wine I ever had was Sauternes.  When it comes to whiskies, I enjoy various wine finished casks.  It’s always a treat to try new ones out.  Let’s see what this one offers us:

On the nose Quite unlike some of the other Sauternes finishes whiskies I’ve had.

Spent matches.

Very grassy and notes of soured milk.

Lemon zest and walnuts.

Dandelion jelly & Crab apple jelly.

Apricot in the distance.

The taste of unripened pears which is offset but something meaty in here.

Man, this is an odd one!

Salted biscuits.

On the mouth Like a mirror of all I discovered on the nose.

Additional notes of apple pie crust.

Quite the viscous fluid!

Red bitter berries.

Baked apples wwwaaaayyyy in the distance.

Abundant salt… Better yet, salty tomato juice.

Finish Moves on to more nuts – salted cashews.  Very long.

In sum Complex and balanced but not up my alley.  Warming and with just the right mouthfeel but the meatiness of this one was just too much (for me).  Some will LOVE this one.  I respect it (really, a well constructed whisky), I don’t love it.

Special thanks goes out to Andy Hogan for the sample!

Two Indy Glenrothes – Classic Cask and The Premium Barrel – both single cask expressions

My experience with the Glenrothes whiskies is fairly limited but I have to say, I am a huge fan of Ronnie Cox and the video series he leads on the Glenrothes website.  To check out the video series, Click here and, for each expression, click “Read More” and you’ll find video tasting notes for each whisky (don’t forget to come back!)

I recently received two samples of independent Glenrothes expressions and thought it would be a good idea to review them side by side.  Both are indy bottlings, both are single cask expressions, both are at a reduced ABV; 43% & 46%

The first of these whiskies was one of the strangest malts I’ve had in a while, the other was…pretty good.  Pretty damn good.  One thing I can say, after tasting these two… I want MORE Glenrothes!

Glenrothes 1990 18yr Single Cask – Classic CaskSpeyside region – 43% ABV – 750ml bottle (please note that the picture of the bottle shown is not the actual Glenrothes bottle.  Rather, it is a bottle from “The Classic Cask” collection)

On the nose Odd nose here, house cleaners – very chemically, nail polish/acetone then toffee enters.

Kumquat citrus nose (but a tad restrained) and vanilla.

After a good while, great dried fruit notes (you have to wait for it a good 6-7 minutes though…).  Shaved chocolate.

On the mouthPine Sol, Murphy’s Wood Cleaner, mint/menthol notes, then enters some very soothing caramel notes and Smarties.

A great transformation but those chemical notes are a bit off-putting (and at the same time, those odd notes kept me coming back for more.  It’s like watching a train wreck… you can’t look away!).

Finish Medium length.

In sum I really don’t know what to make of it.  If I were to stumble upon my blog and read the notes I just listed above, I would say to myself:  “Self, don’t you ever, ever drink this stuff!”.  HOWEVER, I truly enjoyed this whisky and was sad to see my sample go.  Enjoy this whisky when you are cleaning the house – spring cleaning!

Glenrothes 1996 “The Premium Barrel” Single Caskfor info on Douglas Laing “Premium Barrel” Bottlings, click hereSpeyside region – 43% ABV – 750ml bottle (please note that the picture of the bottle shown is not the actual Glenrothes bottle.  Rather, it is a bottle from “The Premium Barrel” collection)

On the nose Clean and brisk nose with a load of lemons.

Pineapple and a good bit of chamomile tea (very nice!).

Light toffee notes, very faint peat smoke.

On the mouthStrong effervescent mouth feel, thin mouth feel like cut oil.

Butter and toast (though, not together), fennel (not seeds, fennel).

Grassy, spent matches and electrical charges.  That faint peat smoke comes back.

Finish Decent length.  About as long as it should be I suppose.

In sum I really liked the Classic Cask more than this expression.  It’s “oddness” was a huge draw for me.

This one was nice, very nice, but I can picture myself going for “The Classic Cask” expression before “The Premium Barrel”.

Port Charlotte “PC6” – Bruichladdich’s heavily peated young whisky

Islay region – 61.6%ABV – 750ml bottle – $120 | £95 | €115

Let the love affair begin.  I’ve heard lots of good news about Bruichladdich’s newer Port Charlotte range.  LOTS of good news.  And lately, I’ve been hearing some great stuff about the “PC6”.  In case you haven’t figured it out yet, “PC” stands for “Port Charlotte” and the “6” tells us that, you guessed it, it’s a 6 year old whisky.

My first reaction to the fact that this is only six years old is similar to the reaction many people have had — “only six years old and it’s how much money???”  Oy vey ishmir!

I had a conversation with a guy from Binny’s a while back on the same subject – why so much for such a young whisky (at the time we were discussing last year’s Ardbeg Supernova)?  He brought up a good point: “Who cares?  Is it good whisky?” he asked.  “Yes”, I told him.  He went on. “Then why does age matter?  You’re paying for a well crafted single malt.  You’re paying for a work of art.  Who cares how old it is”.  Like I said, he makes a good point.  Deep in the back of my head there’s that little voice that says “still though…” —   But truly, I think he’s right.

So what’s all of this good news I speak about?  Check out my links below.  Firstly, let’s taste this and see if it’s worth it’s weight in whisky (a special thanks to DH for the sample!!):

On the nose — Big-ass smoke!  Powerfully pungent with smoke like burning driftwood (think salty peat or perhaps a beach bonfire).  Sparklers on the 4th of July (for my US readers out there).  Soured & sweet milk notes (baby vomit).

Serge of Whisky Fun nailed it with his detection of buttered mashed potatoes – on the nose Serge (pun intended)! Leather jackets and damp horse stable.  That leather smell alone makes me want to break out Iggy Pop’s “Raw Power”.  Either that or Yes’ Close to the Edge and put in on full blast – two very different albums but somehow both fitting to this whisky.  Powerful yet complex and beautiful.

On the mouth — Mmmm, mmmm – chewy smoked cheese, electrical charges and spent matches, tannic, drying but first a nice juicy entry.  Fruity notes and buttermilk biscuits (albeit burnt ones).

The peat is wonderful here and somehow refreshing even in this hot weather (it hit 89 deg fahrenheit today!).  At 61.6% ABV I know I should add a little water but this is so nice at full strength.

Finish — It’s all on the leather and now some great grassy floral notes (almost rose petal) come out, then some burn arrives and it gets a tad effervescent.  Even an hour later and my mouth is still filled with smoke and ash.  Love it!

In sum Wonderfully heavily-peated expression.  If you’re not a peat fan, you probably have not read this far down in the review…  If you’re interested in getting into peated and smokey whiskies this will surely pique your interest (but may scare the living shit out of you; in a good way though, like the first time you saw The Exorcist.  Scary as hell but, you watched it again and could not wait for the pea soup to flow).  If you’re a peathead, welcome to heaven.

See what others have to say:

Serge of Whisky Fun!

Dr. Whisky

The Casks