Talisker Surge (NAS, Travel Exclusive)

 

It's a strange world when Talisker releases a bottle named identically to a defunct neon green 1990's soda (Coke's answer to Pepsi's Mountain Dew, if you weren't there and were curious). Although Talisker (aka Diageo's marketing department) love to brand themselves with stormy/rocky imagery (Talisker Storm ... Talisker Dark Storm ... etc), this one might have benefitted from a few extra rounds through QC. Still, it's a Travel Exclusive Talisker bottle and I'm pretty curious. 

Laphroaig Elements 1.0

Laphroaig's Elements 1.0 is a small batch experiment, a whisky that Laphroaig fermented for 55 hours (which is on the short end of the spectrum - average is about 60-70). The remainder of the process... well, I'll let Laphroaig speak for themselves: 

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2023 (White Port, Maidera)

 

It's been a light, slow July in terms of reviews over here - I have run out of room to store bottles, so I'm very slowly making my way through what I already have. 

One of the few exceptions is this year's Cairdeas ("Car chase" or "Car chess" or "Gorgeous" are the closest pronunciation guides I've heard) from Laphroaig, one of the big Islay distillers. Released yearly as a treat for the Friends of Laphroaig (the hardcore fan club), it always has interesting casking and a high ABV.

Blackadder Red Snake (Cask #126: Peated, NAS)

 

I've been eyeing this bottle for a while - a peated Blackadder from a single "top quality first fill ex-bourbon cask." Picked up on a lark this week, mostly because I was already buying a 3 year old Kilchoman, and figured I'd throw this into the bargain. I think this is somehow part of the Raw Cask series in the same way the Sherry Snake, Black Snake, and Puff Adder are as well. At any rate, there are a million charry cask particulates floating in this.  

Blackadder Peat Reek Embers (Special Reserve, Oloroso Finish, NAS)

 

I can't find very much about the Peat Reek series from independent bottler Blackadder. Even less so about the Embers designation, or the Special Reserve status. All I *do* know for certain is that it's peated to 50 ppm, it's unfiltered and cask strength, and it carries no age statement. Considering that Sherry Snake was the same way - and was beyond fabulous - I am very hopeful for this.

Blackadder Sherry Snake (NAS, Batch SS01)

 

I have become a huge fan of Blackadder, the independent bottler of scotch whisky. I had a Ben Nevis Raw Cask from them that was one of the best drams I've had all year. I decided to take a risk on this "Sherry Snake" bottle - no age statement, no distillery identity, no color added, no filtration, cask strength (61.9% ABV), from "first fill sherry butts." Very curious. 

Highland Park Cask Strength Release No. 2 (NAS)

 

This is a review of the second release of the much-respected Highland Park Cask Strength bottling. As many missteps as the official Highland Park core expressions have seen in their blitz of Viking-forward marketing (and what many regard as a lapse in quality of many of their whiskies), the Cask Strength line has received almost unanimously good reviews. 

Tomatin Cask Strength (NAS)

Yet another (relatively) unfamiliar distillery - Tomatin, owned and operated by the Takara Shuzo Corporation, which is the largest manufacturer of traditional shochu liquor in Japan. I've had a couple samples of their 12 year in the past, but it's been a while. The experience is somewhat like seeing the same strange guy or girl at different parties from time to time.

Most of Tomatin's output goes into blends like Antiquary and Talisman (I've had neither). This is their no-age-statement cask strength offering, matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry. 

Glenglassaugh Revival (NAS)

 

Here is  a distillery I've never had before - Glenglassaugh, from the Highlands. Owned by beverage giant Brown-Forman (think: Jack Daniel's; Glendronach; BenRiach; et al), it was shuttered for quite some time, 1986-2008, but now is back in action. 

Ardmore Traditional Cask (NAS) Second Take

 

There are few people on earth with a love of Ardmore as pure as I have, hahaha. I'm not even really kidding, either. I discovered Ardmore through their now discontinued Traditional Cask bottling, and was so impressed that I have been seeking out their independent bottles ever since. And, as luck would have it, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), to which I belong, happens to have good access to casks of Ardmore, and releases bottles pretty regularly, so I've had a wide variety of their spirit. 

What luck, then, that tonight - after 8 years! - I happened across a bottle of that long-discontinued Traditional Cask. I have been thinking about it for years now - and it's virtually impossible to find one of the official bottles they supposedly have on the market these days.

Aberlour Casg Annamh Batch 5 (NAS)

One of the first signs that scotch prices were beginning to spiral upwards and out of the reach of mortal men was when the no-age-statement sherry bomb A'bunadh by Aberlour climbed steadily from $50 (batch 33) to its current price of ~$100-125 (batch 72) depending on the store, at least in DC. The price of A'bunadh, for years, was a bellwether for scotch prices in general. Another was the old Yamazaki 12 Year, which went from $65 (!) in 2014 to its current 2022 insane (and not worth it) price of ~$150-165. 

Teeling Blackpitts Peated Irish Whisky (NAS)

 

I love Teeling whisky. I visited the distillery in Dublin in December of 2020 and it was a wonderful experience. I've actually strolled through the Blackpitts neighborhood that this whisk is named for. 

Peated Irish whiskies are pretty uncommon - the only other one I can remember having was Connemara, which I liked but didn't love. This one is triple distilled, of course - they started with peated Speyside malt at the highest concentration they could find (55 ppm) and apparently after the triple distillation it ended up around 15 ppm, which is - in terms of scotch - approximately Springbank territory. 

Glen Moray Port Cask Finish (NAS)

 

Glen Moray is one of those distilleries I first encountered in turbocharged single cask independent bottles - they are rich and sweet and full of interesting flavors, in that setting. But their official bottlings mostly seemed geared at the lower end of the market, and this Port Cask Finish bottling was only $28 - half the cost of most other standard bottles. Thanks to Rob Martin for this delicious sample!

Ardbeg Grooves (NAS)

 

I have held onto this bottle for some time, in a secret "emergency scotch" stash, and only remembered tonight that I had yet to review it! So here we go: the Ardbeg Day 2018 release, aged an undisclosed period of years in super heavily charred red wine casks (!). Very interesting - I think scotch and red wine casks go hand-in-glove. This one is bottled at 46%. Thanks to Ardbeg rep Clarke Boyer for hosting the Ardbeg event where I ordered this from Ace Beverage in Wesley Heights in Washington DC. 

Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 21/137 (NAS)

 

Thank you to mom for this unexpected Christmas gift! Almost a year after my last look at Bruichladdich and their core expression, let's have another glass. An unpeated Islay made with all Scottish barley, this is bottle 21/137, which carries the following information on the Bruichladdich website (and kudos to them for providing this): 

Naked Grouse Blend

 

An interesting offering from the Grouse family of blended whiskies, this one has been aged in first-fill sherry butts, and consists heavily of (apparently) Macallan and Glenturret and Highland Park. Color me intrigued! Thanks to Rob Martin for the sample! Bottled at 43% ABV, let's just drink the damned stuff!

Compass Box Great King Street Glasgow Blend, Single Marrying Vat

 

First off, thanks to Rob Martin for this sample! I always admire the Compass Box whiskies, and have been curious about this bottle for a while now. 

Compass Box manufactures some really excellent blends, and even the worst bottles I've had from them are pretty damned interesting. This one is, apparently, a love letter to Glasgow; the website opens by saying 

"Aromas of sherry and smoke permeate the streets of Glasgow

In his 1930s book ‘Whisky’, Aeneas MacDonald teaches us that Glaswegians historically preferred fuller bodied and more flavour-packed whiskies than people in other parts of the world. So what better name for a whisky such as this?

Glaswegians are also famed for their sense of humour, which is why the city’s Wellington statue – traditionally dressed down with a traffic cone – is featured on the front label."

Smokehead High Voltage Islay Single Malt (NAS), Second Take

 

I decided to re-sample some of the Smokehead High Voltage Islay single malt whisky, after finding some lately at a competitive price. I've already accepted that I spend every cent of my disposable income on Scotch... might as well make it interesting!

Coming from bottler Ian MacLeod, this is unidentified, no age statement Islay whisky. It's young and very much in-your-face. The normal bottling is only 43% ABV - who has time for that? This "High Voltage" edition is bottled at 58% - now that's more like it. 

Bowmore No. 1 (NAS)

 

I was able to try a small sample of this at a local liquor store; I'm not sure if it's a new product, but they were definitely trying to push it out the door pretty aggressively. I declined that opportunity, though; aged for an unknown number of years in first-fill bourbon barrels, this Bowmore is unfortunately bottled at a tepid, wishy-washy 40% ABV. Unfortunate. Well, let's dive right in: 

Loch Lomond "Original" (NAS)

 

Loch Lomond is a Highland distillery that originally dates to 1814, but was closed for much of the intervening years. It only reopened around the mid-1960s, and today bears the distinction of making both single malt and grain whiskies - one of only a very very few places to make both.