Category Archives: Single Malt Whisky

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

Bunnahabhain 1997/2011 (56.2%, The House of MacDuff, The Golden Cask, Cask CM 164, 318 bottles)

Bunnahabhain 1997/2011 (56.2%, The House of MacDuff, The Golden Cask, Cask CM 164, 318 bottles)Another House of MacDuff bottling and yes, another Bunnahabhain from this independent bottler. The one I reviewed earlier was distilled in 1972 and bottled at 40 years of age! This again is a fairly light-colored malt, so it seems like a not so active cask. Still, knowing who picks the casks I still have high hopes for this one. It can’t be bad. It seems to me that Bunnahabhain is a very popular distillery for this independent bottler since they have managed to bottle already five Bunnhabhains, this one from 1997 was their first.

Color: Light gold

Nose: Lots of fatty peat. Crushed beetle. Dark black tea. Spicy and very nice woody notes. Tarred rope. The whole smells like a fishing boat, maybe without the fish. Citrus. Bonfire on the beach, but not salty. It doesn’t smell of sea wind that is. Hint of dried orange peel and some ginger. In the back some dried meat and old paint (from the fishing boat). A very romantic peated malt.

Taste: Lemon, cream and licorice. A stick of licorice “zoethout”. A very nice and laid back Islay malt. Lightly sweet icing Sugar underneath. Toffee, vanilla and smoke, even some ashes. Light fatty peat if given some time to breathe. Dries the lips. Salty. Smoked meat and a return of the dried orange peel.

yes another peated Bunnahabhain. It may surprise you so much peated Whisky is released from Bunnahabhain, but truth be told, Bunnahabhain have something of a shortage of unpeated Whisky on their hands, so expect a lot more peated stuff from this distillery. Beware, because not every bottler mentions on their labels that their Bunnahabhain is peated…

Points: 86

The Macallan ‘Sienna’ (43%, OB, 1824 Series)

Just recently I reviewed a Macallan 10yo ‘Fine Oak’ which I found to be quite anonymous. The Fine Oak was Macallan’s first series that was essentially a U-turn from Macallan’s previous theme off first fill (Oloroso) Sherry casks, which lasted for many decades. One of the commenters on that aforementioned review, mentioned that the 1824 series is even worse than the Fine Oak series. As luck would have it I just received a sample of the Sienna so why wait, lets put this baby to the test!

The Macallan 1824 seriesSienna is part of the 1824 family. The other members being Gold, Amber and Ruby. The names are derived from the color of the Whiskies. Yes no age statements but now we get colors! I’m just speculating here but it seems to me that with increasing color, more (Oloroso) Sherry casks were used. Obviously other Sherries might be used as well.

The Macallan SiennaColor: Deep orange gold.

Nose: Tangerine sugar-water. Toned down Sherry. Predominantly Oloroso if you ask me. Tiny, tiny hint of smoke, probably from toasted cask. A lot of typical Bourbon cask notes too. It brings vanilla, oak and some lemon sherbet. Fruity notes emerge later. Sugared apricots. Actually this smells very nice dusty and balanced. Although it smells like sugar(water), the overall sense I get is dry, it doesn’t smell sweet. The oak itself picks up some spiciness when its left to breathe, a bit like pencil shavings.

Taste: Syrupy texture and very toffeed. Didn’t expect that. Burnt cask again. Not very sweet, but the sweetness that’s there is covering up a strange, and hidden, acidity. Very nutty, hazelnut cream, which calls for a more oxidized type of Sherry. Dark chocolate and oak. Small hint of coal and burnt wood. Overall very “simple” and young and not very balanced. Short finish filled with Sugar water again. Strange experience this.

The first three examples from this series are pretty affordable. I have previously tasted the ‘Amber’ from this series (no review) and scored that 76. Decent Whisky, but still disappointing, especially considering it’s a Macallan. and I’m sorry, but I found this Sienna to be equally disappointing, even though it scores a little bit higher…

Points: 79

Glencadam 10yo (46%, OB, 2008)

Glencadam is a rather unknown Single Malt and this 10yo is marketed as ‘The Rather Delicate’. Never before has a Glencadam been featured on these pages. Did that happen for a reason, or have I missed out on something? The 10yo we’ll be reviewing here, was first released in 2008. Yes, this is the first batch of this new 10yo. This 10yo has seen no colouring nor has it been chillfiltered ánd it has been bottled at 46% ABV. So a lot has been done to make this the best it can be.

Glencadam was founded in 1825 and since than it has changed hands many times. Dark clouds formed above the distillery when in 2000 the distillery was mothballed by its owner Allied Domecq, wanting to close it for good. Luckily in 2003 the distillery was sold to Angus Dundee Distillers. On the premises of the distillery there is also a blending and bottling facility, as well as five dunnage warehouses. The majority of ageing casks are ex-Bourbon casks. Obviously also some Sherry casks are there, and the third flavour of choice are Port pipes. Glencadam fills its casks at the unusual high strength of 68% ABV.

Glencadam 10yoColor: White wine

Nose: Floral and fruity sweetness. Full of aroma. Quite a surprise (I’m trying this right after the “neutral” Inchmurrin 15yo). Creamy vanilla, honey and fruity, stewed apples, and warm apple sauce. The nose has a rum like quality, but also a nice fruity acidity to it. Lime maybe. Quite complex and full of aroma, I didn’t expect much, but this sure delivers some goods!

Taste: Sweet and nutty, almonds. Very creamy and actually very nice. Vanilla ice-cream but again with a fresher acidic citrussy touch. Did I already mention this has a lot of apples in the taste too? Well, there is! Again it also has a little rum-like quality to it. Clay and sweet and spicy vanilla from probably first fill Bourbon casks.

I wasn’t expecting this. Full aroma, nice body and an interesting bouquet of flavours thrown together. Well made stuff and a nice addition to the list of standard 10yo’s. The label states “The Rather Delicate” but that was probably written by a copywriter with a cold or someone who looked only at the color of this Whisky. I disagree. It is a nice creamy, fruity (apples and lime) Single Malt full of flavor. Not light nor delicate. If they call this delicate I’m really intrigued to try the rest of the series. Nice!

Points: 85

Glenfiddich 15yo “Distillery Edition” (51%, OB, Litre)

Glenfiddich is still the mother of all Single Malts and deserves our respect, even when snuffed about by connoisseurs. That in fact would be very unfair, since a lot of (older) Glenfiddichs have proven themselves to be more than great. It has been more than a year and a half when I reviewed the 15yo Solera Reserve and now comes the time I’ll review another 15yo. This time the 15yo distillery edition.

Glenfiddich 15yo Distillery EditionSome time ago there used to be a 15yo Cask Strength, which was exactly 51% ABV too, just like this one, so I can’t help but feel this is it’s replacement. Who else in their right mind would think that all Glenfiddichs at Cask Strength come out at precisely at 51% ABV? The 15yo is also a pretty special age statement for Glenfiddich, since all hand bottled Glenfiddichs were released as 15yo’s.

Color: Copper gold

Nose: Spicy and creamy sweet. Hints of, slightly soapy wood and quite heavy on the caramel. Damp earth, fresh-cut grass and quite some Sherry influence. Typical sugared vanilla note from ex-Bourbon casks. Vegetal but also dried meat combined with wood-spice. Sawdust and dry. Whiffs of fresh air drift by. Not bad at all…

Taste: Starts with sweet wood and a spicy and slightly acidic red wine note, although this probably hasn’t seen a wine cask. Sherry must have “done” that. The sweetness sticks and stays right through the finish. Licorice and vanilla. Full and nutty body. Nice fruitiness shows up in the finish.

A nice Glenfiddich aided by higher strength, showing this has more potential than the usual 40% ABV Glenfiddichs. I know Glenfiddich is seen by many as an easy and simple entry-level Single Malt, but if you are able to look past that there is a lot of potential here. Definitely a mixture od ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks (which is also stated on the label). Like so many Glenfiddichs this is decently priced, and considering this is 15yo, comes in a litre bottle, has 51% ABV and still doesn’t cost much, this would be a stong contender for any bang-for-you-buck award. Recommended.

Points: 83

Glen Moray 8yo (40%, OB, Circa 2013)

After almost two years’ time another Glen Moray graces these pages. Glen Moray used to be the poor Whisky that was used as a guinea pig for Whisky experiments by Dr. Lumsden. Sounds like a horror story doesn’t it? Bill probably is a nice guy and poor old Glen Moray was sold off in 2008 to stand on it’s own. The Glen Moray we’ll be focussing on this time is a Glen Moray 8yo. This Whsiky is a very cheap Single Malt Whisky. Cheap sounds a bit harsh, so lets say this Glen Moray costs next to nothing or is inexpensive. Can it still be good?

Glen Moray 8 yoColor: White wine

Nose: Malty! Yes lots of malted barley on its nose, and like the Macallan 10yo I reviewed earlier, this is pretty sweet. It even has some spices. Dried grass and crushed beetles. Cardboard and very young smelling. It’s barley spirit with a little bit of vanilla and some sugar.

Taste: Barley again and even a little bit peppery. Also the sweetness comes through. Obviously un-complex, but very honest tasting. This Whisky probably hasn’t seen the inside of a Sherry cask, but compared to the aforementioned Macallan, that’s no problem. Even the finish seems longer than the Macallan had, but it’s still short.

Nothing to brag about. This is an extremely simple Single Malt Whisky, but it does come with an extremely simple price-tag. Barley, sweet and typical refill Bourbon cask matured young Whisky, nothing more. What you expect is what you get, the only thing not expected was the hint of pepper in the taste.

Points: 77

Fettercairn 16yo 1995/2011 (46%, Van Wees, The Ultimate, Bourbon Barrel #408, 226 bottles)

Careful readers of the last few reviews have noticed there are some entry-level malts there and the odd Irish stuff. Coincidence or not, there were some points given in the 70’s. Like for instance The Macallan 10yo and Inchmurrin 15yo. Through the wonderful medium of Facebook I got comments like “did you lose a bet?” or “got some imposition?” or “What’s next: Fettercairn?” I initially wasn’t planning on reviewing Fettercairn just yet, but with comments like that who could resist. I have to be honest, I don’t own a bottle of Fettercairn. I had no money left when I spent it all on Brora. Luckily in the ever-growing bank of samples I did have a sample of this Ultimate Fettercairn. Hurray! Yes, you read correctly between the lines. Fettercairn isn’t a very popular Whisky, but is that fair? When I look at my list of previously tasted Fettercairns, I actually haven’t scored one below 81 points, so it can’t be bad, right?

Fettercairn 16yo 1995/2011 (46%, Van Wees, The Ultimate, Bourbon Barrel #408, 226 bottles)Color: Light gold

Nose: Creamy vanilla. Ice cream, but also small hints of a whiff of (burnt) garbage. What!?!?! Let’s put that particular smell away and move on. Spicy wood, dark chocolate, nice oak actually. With some air, pencil shavings and more floral and slightly soapy. Move the Whisky around in your glass and you’ll pick up the more floral bit. Wet flower-pot soil and half-dried grass. I’m thinking first refill (not first fill) Bourbon barrel. Apart from the little off-note I picked up earlier (I actually did just take the garbage out), there is nothing out of the ordinary here. It smells like a typical Whisky from a Bourbon barrel.

Taste: Somewhat sweeter initially than I expected. Creamy vanilla. Warming and quite some wood, less of the oak, but more of the pencil shaving that are there in the nose, but also cardboard. Pepper and a hint of acidity (also from oak, that reminds me again of garbage. What!?!?! No, I’ve never eaten garbage in case you’re wondering). Small amounts of the vanilla/caramel/toffee group are rightly detected. Warming finish that is a little bit hot (and woody).

So why does Fettercairn have such a bad reputation? I honestly couldn’t tell you, since I have only tasted a mere five expressions. I have tasted this independent bottling now and another one from Cadenhead’s (a 10yo from 1993, 81 points). The other three were the official 24yo (85 points) and 30yo (82 points), both from 2009, and the 30yo “Stillman’s Dram” from 2005 (83 points). It seems to me older is not always better with Fettercairn.

Points: 81

Inchmurrin 15yo (46%, OB, 2012)

Bottled on the 14th of november 2012, we have here an Inchmurrin which is a Single Malt Whisky made at the Loch Lomond distillery. Loch Lomond was founded in 1965 and distillation started a year later. On site there is a malt distillery as well as a grain distillery. The distillery has two copper pot stills and four stills with adjustable rectifying columns (for Single Malt production). Because of these different stills and the fact that the rectifying columns are adjustable a series of different Single Malts can be made. Today Loch Lomond produces the following Single Malts: Loch Lomond, (Old) Roshdu, Inchmoan, Craiglodge, Inchmurrin, Croftengea (heavily peated), Glen Douglas and Inchfad.

Inchmurrin 15yoSince 1993 also a Coffey still is placed for Grain Whisky production and therefore the company is able to produce a Single Blend named Loch Lomond (you’d think they were good at making up names for their products)

Color: White wine.

Nose: Extremely malty, grassy and has notes of lactic acid. How’s that for a start! We continue with cardboard and a strange kind of acidity. Vegetal and woody. Toasted wood which makes the whole rather spicy. Slight whiff of menthol. When you let it breathe a while in your glass this is actually not a bad nose, the strange funkiness that was there in the beginning dissipates, to give us a more normal nose.

Taste: Grainy, very grainy. Neutral. It tastes like a Vodka on wood. It ís a Single Malt, so what happened in those casks over all those years? Grain and wood, not a lot more actually. Freshly cut baguette with its paper bag. Hint of vanilla. It isn’t sweet and has only a hint of bitterness. Finish is uneventful, and the higher strength gives it some staying power. But nothing really special stays behind.

First of all let me say that the bottle looks very nice when you have it in front of you. Highest marks on the packaging. The Whisky itself seems almost like a Grain Whisky that was aged in a bunch of rerererefill casks, very inactive indeed. Probably the most neutral Single Malt Whisky I ever tasted. Let’s make it my 70 points benchmark.

Points: 70

The Macallan ‘Fine Oak’ 10yo (40%, OB, Circa 2010)

To be honest, I’d rather review a Macallan from the times of the old 10yo 100 proof I reviewed earlier, but instead I’m having a 10yo from the Fine Oak series. When the Fine Oak series was released some ten years ago, it was the time the real Macallan was killed off by the owners. Macallan was then a Whisky for aficionado’s and people with taste and the Fine Oak Macallan is marketed more to be hip. Maybe the change happened because there was a shortage of Sherry casks, or maybe it was a pure marketing move. Who knows, and who cares. For those of you who don’t remember, The Macallan used to be the finest Speyside Whisky around, known for heavy use of Sherry. Something Glendronach is known for now. Glendronach didn’t sell well and even closed because of the Sherry success of Macallan. So here we have a entry-level Macallan with an age statement. So let’s have a look what the legend has become.

Macallan Fine Oak 10yoColor: Light gold, with a pink hue.

Nose: Sweet and malty, hints of creamy Sherry in the distance. Cream, vanilla, lemon and sugar with that typical sherried wine-note. Hints of oak, yet very light. If you want to, you can still smell a bit of the original distillate which still is excellent. Ear-wax again, with mocha and a nutty component. Something like almond-cream. After some time, the sugary sweetness gets some help from honey. Also a powdery note enters the mix as does some cardboard.

Taste: Malty and sometimes close to new make spirit. Sweet with lots of toffee and caramel notes. A little back-bone from the oak. I taste a lot of Bourbon cask in this 10yo, and it does get some character from Sherry casks, which in my opinion aren’t all Oloroso, since typical Fino notes are here too. Maybe a plethora of different Sherry casks went into this. The sweetness is definitely a sugary sweetness. This Macallan would make an excellent filling for bonbons. It somehow would complement the taste of chocolate for me. The finish somehow is a bit unbalanced, with wood and cardboard. It splits like a hair, and is rather short to boot. After 10 years it should have been better, it still says Macallan on the label you know…

When reviewing this, should I forget about the old Macallan? Sure, this has nothing to do with The Macallan that used to be, but on the other hand, the name is still on the label and on the back label Macallan is still considered a legend. If I were to get this blind, this could have been anything.

Points: 77