Tag Archives: Spicy

Scotch Whisky Reviews: Exclusive Malts Dailuaine & Auchroisk

August 7, 2013 Jewmalt

We’ve got two Scotch Whisky Reviews for you, both as part of the Exclusive Malts range.

The whiskies are Dailuaine and Auchroisk. Two not-so-commonly bottled distillery single casks (both distilleries are Diageo-owned distilleries, btw)…

Today we’re going to go right into the tasting notes.

Let’ see what we have in store, people!

Dailuaine 21yo – Speyside region – 51% ABV – $138

On the nose — A bit prickly on the nose and smells about 13 years younger than the age statement states.

It is, however, quite bourbon-y smelling and most assuredly spicy with two scents that hit me from nowhere: water chestnuts and unsweetened, uncinnimoned apple sauce. In other words, aside from the spice, it’s a bit light in scent to start.

Leather shoes (new), pineapple and mango (unripe). The tropical fruits are nice here and play well with the spice element.

On the mouth — Massive spice and this one is screaming “Hey!! I’m a Dailuaine just without the sherry maturation you’re used to, Yossi!” I’m sure there are plenty of other ex-bourbon Dailuaine bottlings out there but this is my first. Nice to see that the spirit character remains.

Oily yet effervescent mouthfeel. Silly putty and vinyl capes from my Jawa action figures from my old Star Wars action figure collection. No lie. It’s that specific a note. If only I kept that figure in the original packaging…

Peppery with orange and pineapple syrup from fruit cups. Leather (again) and fresh, unburnt pipe tobacco.

Finish — Lasting and lovely. Peppery and polished.

In sum — A decent offering for a Dailuaine. Not my favorite as I prefer the sherried Dailuaines but this one tells a story from beginning to end and could surely hold it’s own from a flavor and balance standpoint.

This is an early spring dram. It has a hopeful feel to me.

Auchroisk 17yo – Speyside region – 55.6% ABV – $???

On the nose — Boy-oh-boy, why the sour puss, Sourpuss?

Quite sour in scent but with hints of chocolate covered orange rinds sitting ‘neath said sourness.

Winter ski gloves after a full day of skiing. Hey, my notes are getting quite specific today!

Rubber dish gloves and a touch of soap (in a good way. Remember, I dig mild soap notes and this is *mild*). These notes are offset by fresh and dried papaya and some persimmon. Wow, yum!

An unusual nose but inviting, methinks.

On the mouth — ¡Holy frijoles! It gets all sorts of wacky here. Very rye-whiskey-like with dill and seeded rye toast (dry, as it were). Very woody but woody good, like rye or bourbon, not woody bad like whisky gone old and dried out/astringent. This is far from astringent.

I have to put it out there that the nose is off balance from the mouth but the flavor profile is insanely unique and delicious so it sort of makes up for being off balance.

New charred oak (the smell of the inside of a freshly drained ex-bourbon cask), vanilla and banana chips. Orange Tang drink (having nothing to do with Taang!, mind you).

Finish — Finishes with banana chips and a distinct note of what some college students described to me as a “hash pipe.”

Oh, those students!!

In sum — Well, I’m pretty much in love with the flavor profile on this whisky. It noses OK, too. This is a conversation piece. You and some friends can have a lot of fun with this one!

Probably best when part of a tasting. Be warned, it will likely dominate the conversation…

Special thanks to the especially nice people from ImpEx for the samples!

Summertime, Takin' It Easy, Tormore

Exclusive Malts 1984 Tormordor (Tormore for those non-geek-types out there)

July 18, 2013 Jewmalt

Speyside region – 51.4% ABV – $230

With the exception of having a name that inspired the following statement: having absolutely nothing to do with the whisky at hand, I thought there’s no better time than the present to tell you that I secretly refer to Tormore (a Pernod Ricard malt whisky distillery) as “Tormordor.”

Mordor as in Sauron’s Mordor of Middle Earth. Sauron as in the creator of the One-Ring, forged in Mount Doom itself and apparently a lover of fine whisky!

Yes, this guy right here:

Tormore-2

In all seriousness, I have little nicknames for a few distilleries and this “Tormordor” happens to be one of them.

Looking through my blog, I noticed that this is the first Tormore I am publicly reviewing.

Tormore is known to be a *very* spicy malt. The only ones I’ve ever had were older (like this one) and all seemed to drink younger than their stated age. Like Sauron himself, perhaps these whiskies are seemingly ageless?

Let us see how this one for the Exclusive Malts range pans out. It’s a 29yo distilled in 1984 and from an ex-bourbon cask.

On the nose — The ex-bourbon, bourbony character comes straight through to your nose. Wow. And, at 29 years old, it does not smell old or tired in any way. There’s a peppery, spicy liveliness to this whisky.

Almond brittle in a cardboard box, minus the wax paper. Spiced vanilla chai latte.

Very prickly in the nose and, as expected, still very spicy. Torrone Itailian almond nougat.

Light fruits, pears and a touch of baked apple as well. A nice, well rounded nose.

On the mouth — Very soft and silken in the mouth. The flavors, however, are fairly shy from the first sip. Sip # 2:

A bit sour upon initial entry but that subsides to notes of casaba melon, peppery melon juice and heavily honied baklava (thought not as nutty as I found on the nose).

The mouthfeel is that of caramel sauce, warm and sliding down the back of the throat. It’s really quite a lovely texture.

Finish — Growing and peppery but not overpoweringly peppery in anyway.

In sum — Tormore has a voice all its own in the malt whisky world. Good Tormore is great Tormore and great Tormore is Tormordoriously delicious!

In all seriousness, I quite enjoyed this whisky. A bit shy in flavor to start but a little time is a lot rewarding. Dare I say, some might like this in the dead of summer and with an ice cube. Not me though. Those other people might like to do that…

Special thanks to SF and the rest of the good people at ImpEx for the sample!

Bruichladdich, Takin' It Easy

Two whiskies from Bruichladdich that I’ve been meaning to review since… 2010!

July 11, 2013 Jewmalt

For the most part, I try not to be a slacker. In fact, I am a real go-get-em, gung-ho guy with a ton of sticktoitiveness. For the most part that is…

Somehow, someway, I’ve been sitting on a few samples from Bruichladdich (as well as samples from a few other distilleries) for quite a while now. And by “quite a while” I mean like 2 or 3 years. That’s a long time, right? Right. No better time than the present to review them though, right? Right.

So what do we have today? Firstly, we have “Redder Still;” part of the Blacker/Golder/Redder series from the lads and lasses at laddie. Second is a 1992 (distilled in 1992, that is) sherry release from them – the Fino Cask.

Redder Still is matured in Château Lafleur Pomerol wine casks and the Fino Cask is matured in, well, Fino casks. The former is bottled at 50.4% ABV (with 4000 bottles released) and the Fino was bottled at 46% ABV – 6000 bottles in that release.

Here are my thoughts on these two:

Bruichladdich Redder Still – 50.4% ABV

On the nose – My immediate impression is that of paraffin wax and red wine gums.

Incredibly soft on the nose. If I could apply an attribute to this nose that was not in the realm of scents, I would say this noses like a cotton ball.

Salted and ground mustard seed meet lager beer. Quite malty.

Am I detecting smoke here? I think so.

Not very winey at all considering this was matured in Château Lafleur (Pomerol, red wine cask – nothing to do with Fleur Delacour, mind you) casks. Really soft peat — looking for the wine notes but, none here really. Not yet.

Wait a sec, red currant jams and cracked black pepper. Moving on because this smells yummy and I want to taste now.

On the mouth – Quite sweet upfront. Sugary sweet, in fact. Oily moth feel with an effervescence toward the back and sides of the tongue.

Plums (prunes, too! Elderly plums, as it were) and smoke and more wine gums and peppery yet all of this is not forceful in anyway.

Much more winey after a few sips but is still very much whisky. Smoke is present in the mouth and it gets quite drying as we get to the finish.

Finish – Short… a bit abrupt.

In sum – Compared to the *AMAZING* Blacker Still, this pales. Taken out of that family of Blacker/Golder/Redder, the Redder Still is a nice-nosed whisky! I quite enjoy it actually. The flavors work well together too however they’re a bit like a boy scared to ask a girl to hold his hand. I feel this whisky should man up a bit in the flavor impact department but it does not.

Thinking back to that nose though… yum, yum, yum!

Bruichladdich 1992 Fino Cask – 46% ABV

On the nose – Quite noticeably a Bruichladdich with a salty coastal element that’s reminiscent of their old 90’s 15yo.

Noses of yellow chilis and the sweetness of Scotch Bonnet peppers (before you bite into one and it burns your dad gum head off!).

A touch of sulfur and turmeric. I think this is the first time I smelled Deviled Eggs in a whisky! Guess what, it’s subtleness work here!

Some damp cardboard and sugared papaya (fresh, not dried). Soft black licorice.

On the mouth – Wow, the fino influence is right there and pretty dang lovely. Nutty, very nutty. Salted almond and pecan, fig paste and dried banana.

Anise seed, black licorice (again, though, salted this time), window putty.

At 46% it has enough attack to it as well as nice oils allowing for a good mouthfeel.

Sweet pecan pie and black strap molasses (treacle for the Brits out there). Quite a satisfying whisky so far!

Finish – Increasing sherried goodness, melted caramel and a touch of rum cake.

In sum – This is one fine Bruichladdich! the scent, flavors, mouthfeel, finish, etc… all works out. Very nicely balanced with the sweet, salty, slight pepper. Very much a dessert whisky. Worth you seeking out, in my opinion!

Glenlivet, Refreshed, Summertime

The Glenlivet Alpha [Dawg] invades my mouth and sense and I share my opinions with you. Fun!

June 7, 2013 Jewmalt

Highlands region – 50% ABV – About $150. Good luck finding some! Only 3350 bottles were made available.

So, what in the blue $#%@ is Glenlivet Alpha?! Well, there were a lot of people wanting to know just that. Glenlivet, those sneaky little buggers, decided to make this whisky a big ‘ol secret: bottle the whisky in a black bottle with zero info, packaging came with zero info and there what, guess what? Zero info around the web as to what this whisky was all about.

So, what do we know? It’s bottles at 50% ABV which means there is no chill filtration needed. And, at only 3350 bottles and this being sort of a special one-off and coming in a black bottles, I am guessing no caramel coloring.

So, that’s really all we know about this whisky.

What about the name? Alpha? Hmmm… Alpha *is* the first letter in the Greek alpha (hey, there’s that word again) bet. (not to be confuse with Aleph or Aleph Bet). First? First fill? But first fill what? Bourbon, I’d guess from the lighter color.

So, here in the whisky blogging world there were a lot of cranky bloggers upset with Glenlivet that A) they charged so much for a NAS (no age statement) whisky and B) this expensive bottle of whisky came with ZERO information! I’ll come right out and tell you that I was one of those crotchety bloggers. Big price for a NAS whisky with zero information. I was upset but I was also intrigued.

What intrigued me more is I came to find out this week that Glenlivet were going to do a big reveal on the whisky. That I liked! I like, too, the fact that Glenlivet seemed to be getting out of their comfort zone of 12yo, 15yo, 18yo, 21yo, etc… and decided to do something a bit whacky! Good on ye, G’livet!

So, I tasted this whisky right before the big reveal. I will post the reveal below my notes but, let’s see what I get:

On the nose – Highly malty with a sweet and tangy quality to it. Perhaps just a whiff of smoke? Either there’s are good deal of refill barrels in the mix allowing a stronger spirit quality to come through or there is a higher proportion of young whiskies in here.

This bright and vibrant. Light lemons (or orange) and pear, more lemons than pear. There’s some black pepper in here, too. It’s fun and refreshing so far!

I do detect some older, more wood influenced whisky in here. Smaller casks? Nah, methinks older whisky is a component. Maybe some Cognac cask maturation in here? Hmmm, not sure. Must sip.

On the mouth – A very viscous mouth feel but a touch hot. The malt carries through as does that hint of smoke I got on the nose.

I think I change my mind about the Cognac cask influence. I change my mind about the smoke too. This is a dodgy duck!

Notes of star fruit, unripened mango and fresh rain. Yummy stuff! The heat is gone after the 2nd sip, btw. Highly sweet and malty! Is there some Bere barley in this make up?

I know the Nadurra was with Triumph barley. Maybe this is a them delving into different barley with less active casks? Whatever it is, it’s delicious.

Finish – Lasting, peppery, toffee-like, sweet and malty.

In sum – If the price was lower and if there were more than 3350 bottles, I’d say this is an everyday, easy drinker! This was a fun experiment to get people’s minds working and getting them to think about the whisky. I am glad that there will be a reveal as to the make up of the whisky because if there weren’t, if this were all no-info marketing, it’d be a big joke without a punchline. Kudos to Glenlivet, I say. Kudos!

An everyday dram, English Whisky Company, Need To Bundle Up, Takin' It Easy

English Whisky Company comes to the US!

May 31, 2013 Jewmalt

I could start off this post by exclaiming: “The British are coming! The British are coming!”

Or worse (and this would be really bad), I could wax on about the British Invasion and make references to Herman’s Hermits dramlaxing with ‘Enry the Eighth or The Kinks rocking out with The Village Dram Preservation ~~Society~~ or The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Dram…

Heck, if I wanted to I could post this Monty Python bit about Kamikaze Scotsman… if I wanted to:

However, I’m not going to do any of that. Wouldn’t even consider it!

There is a lot to cover in this post so I am going straight to the two whisky reviews.

Both whiskies are bottled at 46% ABV and non-chill filtered and can be found for around $69/bottle here in the USA.

Note that these bottlings are USA specific and have a slightly different make-up as compared to the UK or EU versions. These whiskies have both been matured in both new oak and ex-bourbon casks. The new wood cask usage is specific to the US market.

English Whisky Company “Classic” non-peated – 46% ABV

On the nose – A slightly pungent start on the nose however it’s balanced quite nicely with hints of pear drops and a slight spicy/spiced edge.

Damp dish towels are in here but it’s also bit like a banana split with, well, bananas, vanilla bean ice cream, the smell of nitrous from the whipped cream dispensing bottle and slight, distant notes of salted almond. A vegetal quality as well that reminds me of milk thistle.

On the mouth – Ab-fab mouthfeel. Attention whisky producers – this is the oily mouthfeel you want to target for your bottlings. For realz.

The spicy element really comes through. It’s a most welcome element that creates a nice frame for the fine and malty backbone. Some light fruits in here as well as hints of wild flowers. This is a really delicate and soft whisky.

Finish – A nice long and drying finish.

In sum – This whisky is nice, delicate and understated. However, there’s a spicy edge to it that is so very interesting…. Oddly enough, I see myself bundling up by a fire and drinking this one. So, I’d say this is a fine winter-time dram.

English Whisky Company Peated – 46% ABV

On the nose – Soft peat and again, floral, like I got with on the “Classic” version. An absolute joy that is somewhat reminiscent of the Octomore Comus when I nose it. Salty and oh, so biscuity on the nose. Anise seed or black licorice and touches of plums.

After a few minutes, the spice really shines through.

On the mouth – A nice mouthfeel but not as oily as the sample of the “Classic” I have. Very malty and salty with a good deal of smoke at the back of the tongue. Salty, spicy, subtle fruits and more flowers for you.

Amazing that behind all of the spice, salt and malt that the delicate character of the spirit shines through.

Finish – Soft, drying and hints of chocolate and chicory (unexpected).

In sum – If I had my choice, as nice as the peated is, the “Classic” is so well done that I’d reach for that. Actually, I’d reach for it anytime now that I think about it (and have a sip of it again). Dare I say, the “Classic” is an everyday dram? Yes, yes it is. Yum!

Special thanks to RS and Purple Valley Imports for the official samples!

Jewmalt Whisky Reviews