Here is a blend I know very little about - Teacher's Highland Cream, made with an usually high amount of single malt - predominantly my beloved Ardmore, owned by the same parent company. Bottled at 43%, and purportedly 45% single malt and 55% grain whisky. Let's explore:
Another interesting kooky bottle from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS). This one is from Braeval, a distillery that funnels most of its spirit into Chivas Regal. This is aged 8 years in a second-fill barrel, and bottled at an eye-watered 63.8%. Let's explore this young and sprightly spirit that is deemed to be "A sheep in wolf's clothing."
Another Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) bottling of a rather underrated distillery, Glen Moray. The last bottle I had was most interesting, even if it wasn't quite my cup of tea (or scones, as the case may be). But this one got rave reviews during the release video (shout out to Jenna Elie), and I'm super curious. It's aged 14 years in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead, and bottled at 53.7% ABV. Nicknamed "Waffle Stacking Ecstasy." Let's see what Glen Moray and SMWS have for us today:
I bought this on a whim because it was new to me and on sale. No idea what to expect - a blend made with 100% malted grain, a combination of bourbon, sherry, and Mizunara oak casks, 46% ABV, combination of import spirit (!) and native Japanese, named after a lighthouse. And yes, Japanese whisky is in a weird sort of gray zone wherein they can import whisky from other places, age it in Japan, and then export it as Japanese whisky. It's not exactly a secret, but they don't shout it from the roof either.
Here is a delightful bottle of BenRiach, aged 9 years in 2nd fill ex-Bourbon barrels, offered as "Cutting the Cake" from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS). I have no previous experience with BenRiach, but after sampling this I definitely will look into them more deeply. The core spirit here is obvious high quality and full of flavor. Offered at 58.5% ABV, part of the SMWS "Sweet, Fruity, and Mellow" series... Let's explore...
Another great expression of Caol Ila to review - always a treat. This is another Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottling, nicknamed "Industrial Chimney Soot," and aged for 11 years in refill ex-bourbon hogsheads. Bottled at 58.1%. Here are the facts (and impressions):
This is easily the weirdest, kookiest, strangest Scotch I've ever had the pleasure of tasting. And it was a pleasure - I actually enjoyed this bottle quite a bit - but I admit, this is definitely not for everyone. This is a Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) bottling of Chivas blend mainstay Allt-a-Bhainne (alta ven?)... you can tell it's SMWS from the absolutely terrible pun "Nice to Meat You." It's a peated Speyside (lightly peated, I'd say), bottled at a VERY stiff 66.3% ABV, and aged for 7 years in 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrels. Let's explore this wild young little thing:
Another lottery bottle (for Burns Night 2021) from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), this one is from the Inchmurrin imprint of Loch Lomond distillery (as near as I can tell). I know nothing about Loch Lomond or any of its imprints, but I learned when researching this review that they are the only distillery that makes both single malt and grain whisky at the same facility. Inchmurrin-branded bottles seem to review better than the core Loch Lomond bottles.
My last review of the cursed, haunted, evil year that was 2020! So I saved an interesting one - an independent bottling of Laphroaig, which don't seem to come up on the market very often. This one is aged in bourbon barrels (no funny business with reracking into sherry casks, wine casks, etc.) for 9 years and bottled at a healthy 57.5%. Laphroaig is Laphroaig... right? This comes from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, is coded 29.272, and nicknamed Fire Your Engines.
Another curious offering from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society - an Old Pulteney which spent 11 years in ex-bourbon barrels, only to be re-racked into first fill PX casks (!), resulting in a most unusual 13 year Scotch. Old Pulteney is generally known for its high salinity, a rather salty dram. How will this combine with the sherry influence? Let's find out. Bottled at 58.9% and nicknamed "North Meets South."
Here is another curiosity from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS). This one is a Bunnahabhain that has spent 6 years in a re-charred hogshead, and was bottled at 58.5%. I always think of Bunnahabhain as one of the delicate Islay offerings, so it was strange to see it married to a re-charred cask. The SMWS nicknamed this one "Maritime Marshmallows." Let's see what the result was.
I've always wanted to try Yellow Spot, but never had the opportunity until I picked up some when leaving Dublin after a wonderful trip. Triple distilled, aged 12 years in a combination of bourbon, sherry, and Malaga casks, single pot still, and bottled at 46% ABV. The vaunted Yellow Spot - how does it measure up?
At the same Scotch tasting where I had my beloved Tomintoul, I also had a delightful 9 year Glen Moray that was my girlfriend's favorite - full of waxy oranges and delicious tea notes. So I was delighted to find that the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) featured several offerings from Glen Moray. I chose the one coded 35.266, named "Traditional Butterscotch Fudge," and aged for 12 years in first-fill bourbon barrel. No coloring, no filtering. Bottled at 57.4% ABV.
One of my favorite drams of all time was a Tomintoul - an independent bottling (Exclusive Malts, RIP) that I sampled at a tasting in Washington DC. That Tomintoul, a 10 year, oozed honey and marshmallow for days, and was outrageously tasty.
I absolutely loved the Kilkerran 12 year that I tried recently, and my friend Rob graciously donated this sample of the Kilkerran 8 year cask strength. Kilkerran is, of course, a sister distillery of the venerated Springbank distillery. 56.5% ABV, natural color, no chill filtering. How is it, you ask? Let's find out...
Springbank is a particular favorite of Scotch lovers, and is regarded to have some of the highest standards in the business. So I'm quite jazzed to try this sample of the cask strength 12 year.
Of the first three bottles I purchased from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), this was the one I was the most curious about. I'd had Ardmore, I'd had Dailuaine, but I'd never had Auchroisk. This bottle was subtitled "Adventurous African Safari," which is highly colorful and perhaps mildly suggestive of flavors to come. It was aged 5 years in ex-bourbon casks, then another 2 years in a 2nd fill red wine barrique. Bottled at a healthy 62% ABV, it's not colored or filtered.
The Arran has rebranded a couple times over the years, but this sample came from an older ~2013 bottling. The Arran is an island malt, with the Isle of Arran lying just off Campbeltown, and this particular bottle is aged 10 years in mystery casks, comes in at 46% ABV (nice!), is neither chill filtered nor colored.
Deanston Virgin Oak is an interesting idea on paper. Take some young spirit, and age it in totally virgin oak - never yet held bourbon OR sherry, nor wine or anything else. Just new American oak. But how does it actually fare? No age statement, 46.3% ABV, presumably no chill filtering or coloring.
I recently joined the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) - trying to be a bit more adventurous and social in my tasting journey - and this was the bottle I chose as my joining gift. The SMWS has a somewhat idiosyncratic way of labeling their bottles, using a cask code instead of stating the distillery. However, there are multiple websites that "decode" these numbers, which is how I learned that cask code 66 equals Ardmore - my beloved Ardmore. I jumped all over it.
Another interesting independent bottle, this time from Diageo blend monster Dailuaine ("Green valley"), which is traditionally blended into Johnnie Walker. This time it's aged 12 years in a hogshead, bottled at 46% with no filtering and no coloring (indeed, it's a beautiful light straw color). What flavors?
In 2015, Tomatin rebranded itself - but this bottle of 12 year Highland scotch, matured in sherry casks, comes from before the change. 43% ABV, chill-filtered, and colored.
I am going through an independent bottling phase, and the latest dram to cross my path is this delicious 11 year expression of Clynelish (the official bottling is 14 years). While I found the Edradour fractionally better than the official offering, this is the first independent bottle I have thought was definitively superior to the official one. Aged 11 years in a bourbon barrel, bottled at 46% without filtering or coloring, this is delectable stuff:
This used to be called "Longrow C.V.." which is how I first had it. Now, with new packaging but - presumably - the same great taste, we have Longrow Peated - the heavily peated entry from the Springbank distillery. Distilled 2.7x times, aged for an indeterminate time in ex-bourbon barrels, bottled at 46%, no chill filtering or coloring... let's see if it's as good as I remember.
Another nice Signatory bottling of a single malt usually consigned to the blending vats - specifically, the vats of Johnny Walker in this case. Mortlach is known for using an uncommon distilling technique that amounts to 2.7x distilled, like Springbank. This supposedly results in a rather savory, meaty flavor profile. This bottle - 46% ABV, non-chillfiltered, natural color - is aged 11 year in bourbon barrels. Let's see how Mortlach tastes:
Following on the heels of my lovely Signatory bottling of the Linkwood 11 year is this very nice Signatory bottling of Edradour 10 year. Edradour is usually a sherry-forward dram, but this independent bottling is even nicer than the usual core expression, being neither chill filtered nor colored, and coming in at a slightly higher than usual 46%. Not to mention the fancy silver canister the bottle arrives in.
I found this Compass Box Oak Cross at a price I couldn't resist. I've had a number of their other standard offerings, especially The Peat Monster, but never this one. Consisting of a marriage of American and French oak, with the core idea being a blending of vanilla and spice, it is mainly Clynelish with a couple other malts mixed in the bargain for their various qualities and then finished in a special Compass Box cask for two years. Bottled at 43% with no chill filtration and no coloring. Let's see if it succeeded:
I've always been curious about Linkwood, one of the oldest distilleries out there (1821). Their 15 year routinely sells for north of $150. And owners Diageo uses most of Linkwood's output for blending, so it's a single malt you almost always see as an independent bottling.
This one is part of Signatory's No Chill Filtration collection, and it's also uncolored - a beautiful light straw color that betrays how many other whiskies are tainted with E150. Aged for 11 years in a (presumably bourbon, presumably refill) hogshead, and bottled at 46% ABV. Let's see if rare ol' Linkwood makes the grade:
Time for my triennial review of Caol Ila's core 12 year expression. As usual, it's 43% ABV, chill filtered, and colored. A shame, that. But what can you expect from a Diageo blending whisky where 95% of the liquid gets tankered to the mainland for blending? Craft presentation on the remaining 5%? I don't think so.
Years later, another look at Bowmore 12 Year. Still colored, still chill-filtered, still aged for 12 years... still bottled at a thin 40% ABV. 40%??? What are they thinking?!
