Author Archives: Master Quill

Aultmore 12yo (46%, OB, 2014)

For as far as I know only three new Aultmores are being released. This 12yo, but also a 21yo and a 25yo. The 21yo is released to travel retail for one year only, after that the 21yo will be more widely available. With a 12yo and a 21yo it is a portfolio similar to that of Aberfeldy. Aultmore is the next distillery Bacardi is releasing under the “Last Great Malts” moniker. Foggie Moss, as stated on the label, is the name of the water supply for Aultmore. Water from Foggie Moss is lightly peaty! Aultmore 12yo

Color: Light gold, straw.

Nose: Meaty and very perfumy. Sweet, cherry chocolate bon-bon. Way different from the Craigellachie 13yo. Organic. It smells upfront and restrained at the same time. Feminine, floral, touch of lavender. It smells like the bottle looks! Very interesting Whisky. Inhale vigorously for a breath of fresh air and the nicest result. Lovely! Definitely meaty, gravy. Mocha and very milky chocolate. A touch of glue and orange juice. Great balance.

Taste: Spicy and sweet. Cookie dough. The sweetness is countered by woody spiciness. The nose may be very different from Craigellachie 13yo, but in taste it’s a closer relative (by ownership). The organic note from the nose returns here. Otherwise well-balanced but simpler than the Craigellachie. Overall pretty nice and again very drinkable. The sweetness, for me, hinders the finish a bit, especially because when the sweet film is shed from your mouth not a lot is staying behind (except from some organics, soapy texture and wood). It seems a bit thin. Still it has something special. Maybe needs to breathe a bit.

This bottling shows a very clean Aultmore (hence the packaging) and it shows the distillery character. Very drinkable, clearly an entry-level malt. Cleaner and less funky than the Craigellachie 13yo. By the way I found no peat in the Whisky.

Points: 83

Craigellachie 13yo (46%, OB, 2014)

Wait…wait…wait some more. Now? No, not yet, wait a little longer. Now? No there is still no wining about all those NAS* bottlings. OK, I’ll wait… Well surely now? Yes, go, go, go! NOW!

This is how I imagine it went down at Bacardi HQ. In 1998 Craigellachie, Aberfeldy, Aultmore and Royal Brackla were sold by UDV (now Diageo) to Bacardi (Martini). CraigellachieOnly once before was there an official Craigellachie released by Bacardi, namely the 14yo (and a special 21yo for the Craigellachie Hotel). Finally after a lull of 16 years, and when the whole world only talks about the plethora of NAS Whiskies, Bacardi puts out official releases of all of their distilleries, including Macduff (with Deveron as the brand, so no more Glen Deveron). Today we’ll have a look at the Craigellachie 13yo, one of a series of five. The first stint saw the release of this 13yo together with a 17yo and a 23yo. Not much later we’ll see a 19yo for travel retail and a majestic 31yo.

Craigellachie 13yoColor: Light gold.

Nose: Creamy with sawdust and bourbon vanilla. Spicy and fresh-baked bread. Wine gum fruitiness with a touch of sulphur. Dusty flower and mushy apple. The sulphur part (mind you it just a touch), first the spicy part of the oak quite well. Tiny hint of honey, soap and butter. This official 13yo is most definitely less funky than most of the Independent expressions I’ve nosed thus far. Probably the funkiness comes from Sherry wood.

Taste: Sweet and very creamy with again a nice woody spiciness that catches up. Fruity and a hint of burned bread, Buttered toast. Still the whole is not all to heavy and the finish isn’t miles long. The sulphur and the wine gums pop up in the finish and takes a bit away from the balance. Very drinkable and accessible. Nice soft Whisky from Bourbon or Tennessee Whisky casks.

If you ask me, Bacardi made a lot of effort to take the world by surprise by not only issuing five whiskies with an age statement, but also with its design, We’ll have a look at some of the others later, but these five look absolutely stunning. Well done. The Whisky itself was matured in Refill American Oak Casks and that shows. Same score as the Laphroaig Select. Both sweet and different from each other, and will fit together nicely. (Take the Craigellachie first).

Points: 83

*NAS (No Age Statement)

Laphroaig ‘Select’ (40%, OB)

Here it is, that last month of the year, again! Unbelievable how quickly time flies when one ages. Not too long untill the next Christmas and soon another new year. Luckily every season has its benefits. Winter is a season that makes peated Whiskies even tastier than they already are. A long time ago, I was introduced to Laphroaig 10yo (export strength, 43%). People were raving about it so I went out to buy myself a bottle. Being used to Bourbons and Scottish Blends, I was quite shocked what a Single Malt Whisky cost. I turned around ran out of the store…

Laphroaig SelectWalking around for a bit (no way I was going to pay that!) However, it was cold and I really wanted that simple green glass bottle with that simple but classy white label. I couldn’t resist and went back in. Then it hit me, the vision of that handy flat 20 cl bottle. Great! That offered me a taste of Laphroaig without losing a lot of hard-earned cash, so I got me a Laphroaig 10yo. Great! The rest, as they say, is history. I liked it so much I was hooked for life.

Much later, in 2014 to be exact, Laphroaig released yet another new bottling and called it ‘Select’ since the Whisky is from “hand selected oak casks for perfect balance and flavour” Well I didn’t know that up untill now Laphroaig picked their casks at random, or let a computer decide. Strange…

Color: Light gold

Nose: Fresh and heavy peat, like from the old days. It does bring back memories. Lots of iodine, and therefore medicinal. Salt, tar and sea spray mixed with some ashes. Distant smoke. Salty and smoked dry kippers. This is how a Laphroaig should smell. Nice!

Taste: What! Sugar water, some more sugar-water. Where is the rest. It takes a while but finally some ashes arrive with some heat. In that heat the peat emerges. Nice peat, but very childish peat, no stout bearded peat, but nice candied peat. Likeable. Where is my love it or hate it Laphroaig, this is a entry-level Laphroaig. Try to gain some new souls Laphroaig. Cold sweet tea with more ashes and a sugary sweet finish to match. Finish is not short. The ashes and peat stay on, but have to fight the sweetness off.

What a Whisky. They made me think with the stunning nose Laphroaig has returned to something that made me love Laphroaig in the first place, but when trying it, it turns out to be Laphroaig candy! Don’t try this after another Laphroaig, because almost any other Laphroaig will blow it out of the water. Try it after a Lowlander and it will be a lot better.

Having said all this, I don’t hate it. It has a stunning nose, and it does have a purpose letting newbies be scared by the nose, but liking the taste. There is something of the old Laphroaig in the taste department too, but it is hidden behind a lot of sweetness, and it does have a decent finish. The label states that this expression had a final maturation in new American oak casks, but I didn’t get the new wood not the vanilla it usually brings. By the way, it tastes a little bit watery. 40% fits the purpose, I mentioned above, but for me it could have been (a lot) higher in ABV, but there are probably other Laphroaigs for that…

Points: 83

Leprechaun Imperial Stout (7%, 33 cl)

Leprechaun (new label)Lets finish off this dark month with an equally dark Beer. After Fonkel and Marieke why not try another dutch Beer. This time one brewed by De Naeckte Brouwers from Amstelveen (near Amsterdam) in The Netherlands. This pair of brewers, Michel Lagrand and Ab van der Veen are brewing beers for a longer time, about 15 years, than the guys from Oostenburg (Amsterdam) and therefore have a larger selection of ten Beers to choose from. The fully dressed guys have their own brewery. Naeckte (naked) doesn’t mean the brewers brew their Beers with their pants down, but naked in this context means honest and pure, stripped of all fuss.

De Naeckte Brouwers LeprechaunColor: Black-brown, with (not a lot of) beige foam.

Nose: Sugary (but not candied sugar) and dark. Roasted and dark malts. Mocha and some nice freshness. Very nice and balanced nose, full of dry caramel.

Taste: Bitter upfront and in the body. Hops and hints of laurel licorice. Roasted malt, coffee and the darkest of Ethiopian chocolates. Burnt sugar and caramel. Having said that, the Beer isn’t over the top. It is bitter but not very bitter, it’s still a Beer to enjoy and the notes present themselves easily. Slightly acidic. No fruits, but the acidity spells out hints of lemon, or maybe not, as the Beer gets warmer and warmer while I’m tasting it, more and more, the acidity starts to resemble a nice Riesling (without the goût de petrol). This acidity transports into the finish, which for me makes the beer nicely balanced.

Actually quite a light Imperial Stout. I have tasted others that were very animalesk and cloying. This is quite clean and “naked” so it probably is what the brewers intended…

Don’t drink this Beer too cold, it will just kill all the nice notes this Imperial Stout has. It’s a clean, light and elegant Imperial Stout. Nice!

Points: 83

Flor de Caña 18yo Centenario Gold (40%, Nicaragua)

A long time ago in Master Quills Rum Week, I already reviewed the Flor de Caña 12yo Centenario, and as far as Rums go I wasn’t too impressed by it then. Funny enough, another rum from that week, The Diplomático 12yo Reserva Exclusiva, really grew on me over time, and is one I like a lot better these days. Flor de Caña actually is said to be a Rum for Whisky drinkers, since it isn’t too sweet. So almost two years later, and a lot more experience with Rum, lets give another, even older, example of Flor de Caña a chance. By the way, the looks of this particular bottle have been revamped lately, so this is a review of an older bottling (Code: AE-020U10CG/X), so take it away Master…

Flor de Caña 18yoColor: Orange Copper

Nose: Sweet sugared oranges mixed with nice wooden notes. Caramel and toffee. Vanilla, like you have finished your ice-cream dessert and the rest of it dried out in the bowl. Not very complex. It’s about wood, toffee and a little bit of vanilla (and some citrus skin). Good balance though.

Taste: Much drier than expected, well maybe not from Flor de Caña. Wood. Oak and cedar. Vanilla again, and actually pretty light. Tree sap and the slightest of bitters. Very easily drinkable and in no way would I have thought this was 18yo. Most rums at this age have more wood.

No over the top sweetness, nice woody notes and good balance. Pretty light yet well-balanced. That’s Flor de Caña 18yo in a nutshell. Good sipping rum. I think I should have another go at the 12yo, to see how I would like it now.

Points: 81

Macduff 10yo 2000/2011 (46%, Dewar Rattray, for Specialists Choice, First Fill Sherry Butt #5788, 360 bottles)

Macduff 10yo 2000/2011 (46%, Dewar Rattray, for Specialists Choice, First Fill Sherry Butt #5788, 360 bottles)Finally a younger expression of Macduff. Not one I predicted in the last Macduff review, would be from the nineties, but already one from the new millennium. We’ll see what happens next time. All the Macduffs I reviewed up untill now were all in their thirties, this time we go back to basics with a good old ten year old from the year 2k. Lets see if the computers monitoring the distillation process didn’t go berserk.

Color: Copper

Nose: Raisins and fat Sherry. Pencil shavings. Creamy oranges. Nice soft and velvety wood. Milk chocolate and warm chocolate milk. Hint of cranberry. Pretty meaty if you ask me. Curious mix of red fruit with spicy wood and chocolate. Licorice root. Intriguing.

Taste: First a short, sharp, spicy and slightly bitter bite, than the (slower) sweetness comes into the mouth. Again pencil shavings and licorice. Excellent sweetness and the pencil shavings are great. Also some ashes. Lots of not too dark chocolate although later on, the wood turns a little bit bitter turning the milk chocolate into a darker kind. Also over time, the sweetness seems to be more and more out-of-place, disturbing the balance a bit.

A nice daily drinker or a Sherry grenade. Well, it’s not a Sherry bomb, and I feel the reduction worked well this time. I obviously haven’t tasted this at a higher strength, but I have noticed that adding water to a first fill red Sherry, gives the Whisky a sharp edge. This example is far from sharp. Very drinkable and very nice nevertheless.

Points: 84

Bowmore “Black Rock” (40%, OB, for Travel Retail, 1 Litre)

This year Bowmore introduced, just like Macallan actually, a series of three bottles for travel Retail, without age statements but with names, and not any name, but names based on colors. Macallan tried it with the following nouns: Gold, Amber, Sienna (is that a color?) and Ruby. Bowmore are using the colors more as an adjective: Black Rock, Gold Reef and White Sands. The first two being also litre bottles. Non of the bottles have a great reputation and in case of some of these Macallan’s I have found out first hand that…well not that great. Now here is one of the three Bowmores, the most affordable of the three.

Bowmore 'Black Rock' (40%, OB, for Travel Retail, 1 Litre)Color: Red orange gold, cognac

Nose: Nice peat and maritime smoke, rubber and tires, but mixed with some strong acidic fruitiness. lots of earwax too. Salty, tarry and smoked dried fish. Vanilla. The longer the glass breathes the more pronounced and likeable the fruit notes get. Starting with your typical red sour berries and moving into the black fruits Bowmores have long been known for. That can still be done Excellent nose if you ask me.

Taste: Ashes and watery. Oh no, it’s too thin! Brief dry Sherry attack, which quickly dissipates and transforms in paper and ashes. Actually behind this is a (burnt) caramel note, and quite a lot of it. The back label states that is has been “treated” with E150, but I get a lot of this. Damn shame. Bowmore have become so good they don’t need that! The taste is very simple and the Sherry didn’t handle all the water used for reduction too well. It shows potential but driven by the decision to bottle this at 40% ABV (Economics I guess), they somewhat ruined it. A little bit of Rochefort under my tongue.

Easily drinkable due to the strength, but ruined a bit by reduction. Still underneath (and the nose still shows it), this was a good Bowmore.

Points: 81

Dailuaine 14yo 1997/2012 (46%, Van Wees, The Ultimate, Hogshead #6012, 372 bottles)

After the excellent Dailuaine by Gordon & MacPhail why not try another one. This time one by dutch Indie bottlers The Ultimate. Gordon & MacPhail are known for controlling the whole process from acquiring the cask, storing the filled cask, right untill bottling of the Whisky. With this they hope to achieve the highest quality possible. The Ultimate have a slightly different approach, a very Dutch one.

Dailuaine 14yo 1997/2012 (46%, Van Wees, The Ultimate, Hogshead #6012, 372 bottles)

First of all the final product cannot cost too much, having said that, they really try to get the highest quality they can get. No money is spent on designing a fancy label, nor on a fancy glass bottle.  A long time ago a picture of Bushmills distillery was found and placed on the label and never again was money spent on design. (By the way, Bushmills was never bottled in this series). If you want your bottle in a (simple, white) box, you’ll have to pay extra. The only money spent is on buying good Whisky. The Van Wees company has many contacts in Scotland dating back to the sixties. Most, if not all, of the recent casks are bought from Andrew Symington (Signatory Vintage). Just have a look at the casks from 1997. The Ultimate bottled #6012 and #6017, Signatory bottled #6015, #6016, #6018 and #6020. The Ultimate bottled #4229 and #4234. Signatory bottled #4228, #4230, #4231, #4232 and #4233.

Color: Light Gold

Nose: Fruity and buttery. Quite a strong aroma. Nice spicy and grassy wood. Just like it’s brother from Gordon & MacPhail, a nice sweet vanilla note. Eggnog. Lots of influence from the wood, without overpowering the distillate. Nice sappy oak and also a little bit of cardboard. With some air a more dry and powdery turn. A lot less apple, but still there. Somehow the alcohol is more upfront.

Taste: Sweeter than I imagined. Again a pretty nice aroma. Vanilla with candied apples and even some raspberry. Excellent stuff. A paper note, but also hints of burnt sugar mixes in with the toasted oak. Very nice and drinkable, with a sweet and warming, and dare I say, hoppy finish. The Whisky is pretty straightforward and nicely un-complex.

Dailuaine is a pretty nice distillate, will have to keep this one in mind and investigate further.

Points: 85

Dailuaine 14yo 1995/2010 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice, Refill Sherry Hogsheads, AJ/AAFI)

Gordon & MacPhail Private Collection UltraUnlike Benrinnes, Dailuaine has been featured a few times already on Master Quill, the last one just a month ago, so it doesn’t need a big introduction, nor does Gordon & MacPhail, the big Scottish independent bottler with an even bigger reputation doing things yet even bigger. We all know Gordon & MacPhail have a lot of series like the Distillery Labels, Connoisseurs Choice, Gordon & MacPhail Reserve and Private Collection, to name but a view. Now there is even a bigger choice with four new, very old, Whiskies in the Private Collection Ultra.

Hey, what’s in a name! I was fortunate enough to have been able to try, three of the four, recently: The 61yo Linkwood (88 Points), the 62yo Glenlivet (89 Points), the 57yo Strathisla (88 Points) and finally there is also a 63yo Mortlach. Well these four are obviously very expensive and extremely rare. For us “normal” people who can’t afford those Ultra’s, here we’ll be reviewing a hopefully very good Dailuaine, one of my favorite amongst the rather unknown distilleries…

Dailuaine 14yo 1995/2010 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice, Refill Sherry Hogsheads, AJ/AAFI)Color: Gold

Nose: Floral and spicy. Dusty and spicy wood. Try to imagine the cask from the outside. Hints of mint. Icing Sugar and even some dried tall grass. Malt and honey. Quite some vanilla. After the Benrinnes I reviewed last here we have another refill Sherry cask that impairs a lot of vanilla to the Whisky. Sometimes it smells a bit like a rum with oranges. More fruit with apple skins. Apple pie, yes also cookie dough and with that the spice wood note. Acidic cinnamon. Very good!

Taste: Sweet. Apples, Apple skin, warm apple sauce. Spicy wood. Extremely nice. Well balanced stuff this is. Nutty wood. Nice hint of sweetness that complements the full aroma. I really like this one. I thought the Benrinnes was good, but this is even a little bit better. Spicy wood. Hints of nutmeg and plain oak. Sugared apple. Caramel. Sweet woody caramel and a tiny hint of bitter wood (sap). Not a very long finish, but very tasty. The finish resembles the body. Well made and very tasty stuff.

There you have it. A young and reduced Dailuaine, which when looking at scores is almost as good as the new Ultra’s. This is a new kid on the block, a teenager, and doesn’t have the experience and sophistication of the old Ultra’s. Although the price difference is staggering, there is something to say for both. (If you have the cash).

Points: 86

Benrinnes 18yo 1993/2011 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice, Refill Sherry Hogsheads, AA/ABJG)

This time I’ll have a look at a bottling from a distillery which “works for me”. I tend to like Benrinnes, so I’m absolutely flabbergasted that this distillery never featured before on these pages!

Benrinnes was founded way back in 1826 by Peter McKenzie, but destroyed within three years. Most distilleries that are destroyed somewhere in their history, are destroyed by fire, but Benrinnes was destroyed by water (flood), but don’t forget about fire just yet. Five years after the flood, a new farm distillery was built a few miles away and was called Lyne of Rutherie. This distillery changed hands a few times eventually David Edward became the owner. He renamed the distillery Benrinnes in 1864. In 1896 the distillery was almost completely wiped away by…yes, a fire. When David passed away, his son Alexander takes over. Alexander also founds Craigellachie (1891), Aultmore (1896) and Dallas Dhu (1898). Alexander also purchased Oban in 1898. Quite a busy decade for Alexander.

Benrinnes 18yo 1993/2011 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice, Refill Sherry Hogsheads, AAABJG)From 1955 through 1956, the distillery is again completely rebuilt, this time because of economics, not disaster. In 1966 the distillery is equipped with six stills, but are not configured in the expected three pairs which a normal double distilling distillery would have. Benrinnes have two groups of three stills which makes for a partial triple distilling configuration (sounds a bit like Springbank doesn’t it?).

Color: Gold

Nose: Full on aroma, flowery and perfumy Sherry. This leaps out of the glass and grabs you by the…nose, in a non-agressive way. Fruity sweet, dusty toffee. Tiny hint of roofing tar. Oxidized Sherry. Fino Sherry probably. Grassy and still floral. Horseradish. A promise of sweetness. There is some wood in here but it comes across as virgin oak, which also gives off some vanilla notes, so it seems to me this is from a Fino Sherry American oak hogshead.

Taste: Again lots of aroma. Sweet hops, Beer. Yes! Creamy sweet toffee and a hint of cardboard. Nutty, which again makes me think of an oxidized Sherry. When this is from refill Fino Hogsheads it picked up a lot of color, without it being reddish from Oloroso and such. Since this is from multiple casks, I’m wondering now if they would mix casks from different types of Sherries for this series, I’ll have to ask). The hoppy beer note stays well into the finish and that may be considered unusual and light, Late in the finish I also get some tangerine, with quite some vanilla. Interesting bottling. By the way, this one needs air and time.

The back label states this has a light body, but I sure beg to differ. Pretty special stuff if you ask me. The profile of this Whisky leaves me with some questions, so I’m not quite done with it yet. With bottlings like this I always wonder how the Whisky was before reduction, especially the finish. Benrinnes suits Gordon & MacPhail, would be a nice Whisky next to Benromach.

Points: 85