Category Archives: Whisky from Master Quills Travels

Teeling Small Batch (46%, OB, Rum Cask Finish, February 2015)

Last month I reviewed a single cask bottling of a Teeling Whiskey for the Dutch market finished in a Madeira Cask. Nice stuff, but for some, hard to get. The most widely available Teeling should be this Small Batch. This is a blended Whiskey finished in Rum casks.  Since 2013 many batches were released and for some batches, if not all, casks were used that held Rum from Flor de Caña (Nicaragua). Flor de Caña is known for an accessible and rather dry Rum.

Teeling Small BatchColor: Gold. (Thick legs in the glass)

Nose: Sweet. Sweet and sugary and smells very much like the sweet, middle of the road Rums like Abuelo Añejo I just reviewed. Brown sugar. Its Rum and Rum, after a while some more notes are discernible. Toasted wood, and sugary wood. Vegetal and whiffs of sulphur. I’m working hard at it, but I can’t recognize any Irish Whisky in this yet, let alone a Blended Irish Whiskey. Leaving the glass to breathe for a while, yes you might say it has some traits of Irish Whiskey. Some dry, woody milk chocolate enters the fold and it gets more dusty.

Taste: Again lots of Rum, just here it is a little drier and more leafy than an actual Panamanian Rum I mentioned above. Sugar right from the start. Also the body is all about Rum. The finish is the only place where you can actually taste the Irish Whisky. Sweet grain. The finish is quite short, a bit thin also and again sugary and Rum-like. Wow, were the Rum casks really empty, when they were put to use finishing this Irish Whiskey? Given some time the Rum wears off a bit and Whiskey seems to shine through, although it also could have been a dry sugar cane distillate now. A bit gritty, vegetal and woody. Notes of sweet red fruits more common to some Rums than Whiskey.

Wow, this actually is closer to a Rum than Irish Whiskey! Blended or not. Just look at the legs in the glass. Just smell this and taste this. luckily I have the bottle here. because if this was from a sample, I wouldn’t have written this review thinking the sample was mislabeled! This Teeling isn’t very expensive, but if you want a distillate that tastes and smells like this, get yourself the Abuelo Añejo it’s even less expensive than this Teeling Rum finished in Irish Whiskey casks. This actually is pretty funny! Were all the batches like this?

Points: 77

After finishing this review I filled my glass with the Abuelo 7yo. It is thicker and fuller and way more vanilla to it, but in taste quite similar to the Teeling. Amazing. It should be even more similar to the Añejo, but I don’t have that one here anymore for a proper H2H same for Flor de Caña 12yo and Flor de Caña 18yo I reviewed earlier, both gone…

Glenfarclas 29yo 1979/2008 (50.6%, OB, The Family Casks III, Plain Hogshead #2216, 171 bottles)

In 2006 Glenfarclas started with an ongoing series containing lots and lots of single cask bottlings called the Family Casks. From the beginning, almost every vintage thinkable was released in very nice looking wooden boxes including a nice booklet. After a while, some vintages were not available anymore in the warehouses, and the wooden boxes were replaced by something a lot simpler. For the time being 2014 was the last year any Family cask was released, since 2015 saw no release of a Family Cask bottling (yet). Although Glenfarclas has a name to uphold with heavily sherried malts, just like The Macallan once did, and Glendronach does today, what was nice about the Family Casks was that any type of cask was released. This 1979 expression from the third run of Family Casks is from a Plain Hogshead and was bottled on the 17th of July 2008. Plain Hogshead could mean a rebuilt cask from staves that once formed a Bourbon barrel.

Glenfarclas 29yo 1979/2008 Family Casks IIIColor: Copper

Nose: Lots of creamy vanilla and coconut, what immediately makes me think about American oak. Very creamy and firm. Extremely fruity. Apricots, pears and ripe green plums. Hints of not yet ripe banana-skin and sweet ripe apples. It does have notes of a high quality Calvados. Almonds with dry powdered coffee creamer. Amazing how strong the aroma’s are, this is in no way a closed Whisky, no, no, no! Spicy, the wood kicks in a bit. Hint of latex paint. Lurking in the depth is a strange note, which is hard to describe. Old dried out cucumber with a tiny speck of acetone. You know how a cucumber smells, tone that down a few notches, and that’s whats in here too, underneath all those heavy hitting aroma’s from the highly active cask. I wonder what Bourbon it came in contact with. Wonderful old Whisky, with a perfect and endless nose. A true gem to smell!

Taste: Again extremely creamy and full of aroma. The power. Wonderful. Perfect stuff. Quite sweet upon entry. Creamy sweet and following quickly is a much drier woody sensation with just the right amount of bitterness. More wood than the nose had, but when the wood takes a step aside, wonderful aroma’s of ginger with jam made with red and black forest fruits present themselves, but not a lot of the fruit I mentioned in the nose. Amazing! Small hints of cask toast, slightly burned bread and candied cinnamon. Cloves and Christmas cake. Of course not a perfect Whisky, that does not exist, but this does come close. Wow! Warming and luckily a super long finish.

Here we have another super fruity old Bourbon Hogshead Whisky from the seventies. Reminding us of the stellar Caperdonichs from 1972, to name but one. I can only hope I’ll find me one of these sometimes.

Points: 93

The Michael Jackson Special Blend (43%, Whisky Magazine & Berry Bros. & Rudd, 1.000 bottles, 2009)

The late Michael Jackson, born 27th of March, 1942, was a writer who was mainly known for writing about Beer and later in his career about Whisky. Like many Whisky aficionado’s or anoraks, his Malt Whisky Companion was my first book on the topic. Michael JacksonNot a lot of books like that existed back then, and it opened a world for me. I almost wore the book out. In hindsight I liked his book on Belgian Beers better, due to its thorough research and obvious love and passion for the subject. The Whisky Companion itself started to gather some dust since a lot of the scores in the book weren’t very realistic to say the least. Just look at the scores for the Macallan Traveller Series to name but four. In 2009, the Whisky Magazine and Berry Bros & Rudd blended the remains of his collection of open bottles together and other Whisky was added to “correct” the result. A proportion of the profits raised with this bottling was donated to The Parkinson’s Disease Society, an illness Michael suffered from, for more than a decade.

The Michael Jackson Special BlendColor: Dark Gold.

Nose: Funky Sherry, quite dark and brooding. Sweet tea, wax and lots of cask toast and (burnt) caramel. Slightly rotting apples and other creamy fruits. Hints of smoke and rubber tires. Quite special and waxy. Lots of wood, caramel and toffee, but also a fresher, more fruity side. Sweet grain. I have to say I quite like the way this smells. This must have some pretty high quality and old components. Vanilla with pencil shavings and slightly animalesk (probably a non-existent word). Meaty and flowery. It seems endless. Very nice nose.

Taste: Spicy and woody, licorice, but also quite sweet. Very aromatic. Right off the bat, a tad too low in ABV. This probably would have been better at 46% ABV if possible. I guess the sweetness comes from some younger (grain) whisky used to balance the whole out. Pretty fruity but also hints of paper and cardboard. Spicy and a bit dusty. Hints of mint from toothpaste. Very easily drinkable. Toffee and almonds. Very distinct nuttiness. Well balanced, but it is the kind of balance usually achieved with caramel coloring, it seems that way, but it doesn’t have to be true. Overall not very complex, medium (beer like) finish that is a bit bitter, but still quite nice and drinkable.

This is a piece of history. Especially the nose shows that some pretty awesome Whisky was put into this blend. I’m glad it is a decent dram, because Mr. Jackson deserves a farewell with a Whisky like this. Not for collecting but Whisky made for drinking. In a way Michael is sharing a dram with friends for the last time. Michael died of a heart attack on the 30th of August 2007.

points: 79

Teeling 13yo 2002/2015 (55.5%, OB, Single Madeira Cask #935, 311 bottles)

In 2012 Jack Teeling sold his Connemara distillery for €71 million to Beam Inc. and everybody, especially Jack himself, thought that would be his end in the Whiskey business. Back to buildings and properties or so it seemed. But Jack wouldn’t be Jack and Whiskey wouldn’t be Whiskey, so Jack hatched a new plan for a new brand and a new distillery that has just been opened this month in Dublin. Up ’till now, the standard range consists of a Small Batch release, finished in Rum, a Single Grain, finished in Red Wine casks and a Single Malt Whiskey that is surprisingly not finished! (At least it doesn’t say so on the label). Also three super premium Whiskies are released. A 21yo (Silver, Sauternes finish), a 26yo (Gold, White Burgundy Wine finish) and finally a 30yo (Platinum, like the Single Malt, unfinished). These three don’t come cheap. This year Teeling started to release Single Cask bottlings in Germany, Belgium and this release for the Netherlands for the Specialists’ Choice. All again finished in different casks: Port, Rum, Carcavelos and today’s special: Madeira. By the way the picture on the left is from another Single Cask release, since I don’t have a picture of the new release just yet…

Teeling Single CaskColor: Reddish orange gold.

Nose: fresh air, new wood, not necessarily only oak and definitely notes of a sweet wine. Milk chocolate, mocha and luke warm coffee with lots of milk. Slightly oxidative, spicy and creamy. Paper towel with a tiny hint of soap. Young, spicy and vibrant. With young I don’t mean that it reeks of new make spirit. I mean vibrant, lively. Very appetizing. Lovely nose. It reminds me a bit of Single Malt Whisky, when it was new to me. Barley, sappy oak, grassy, creamy vanilla, some mint, red lemonade and a fresh pot of coffee.

Taste: First is a hot mixture of oak and sweet white wine, biting each other a bit. Its sweet and has notes of acidic oak, but also spicy oak and paper. Another layer contains hints of hard to get red and black fruits, something not quite uncommon to other Irish Whiskey’s like Jamesons 18yo and Redbreast 15yo. It seems a bit disjointed, especially when the sweetness is pulsating and the wine turns from a sweet entry into something a little bit more sharp. But you can’t not like it. It’s really an enfant terrible, but it still charms you into liking it and forgiving it. When it’s faulty it’s a lovely fault. Slightly bitter in the finish soon overpowered by different shades of wood, spicy and acidic, add to that the contributions of the Madeira and you have something you can’t put down, but is not entirely easy.

For me this is an example why Whiskies like this should be cask strength. The aroma’s seem enhanced by the higher strength and a Whiskey like this should bite you back a bit. It’s not your simple entry-level Whiskey. Are you experienced?

Points: 85

The Balvenie 30yo “Thirty” (47.3%, OB, Circa 2011)

After the young and very affordable Benromach, we are now going to look at a Balvenie that isn’t young nor affordable. For this expression, the story is that David Steward hand-picks some exceptional casks that are more than 30 years old. Casks that once held Bourbon as well as ex-Sherry casks. How unusual. These casks are then blended together and after a while bottled. Quite a surprising technique. A shame though, that only 30 years and older casks could be used for this expression, because the public demands Whiskies with an age statement… Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Quite unfair of me actually, since The Balvenie bottle a whole lot of Whiskies with an age statement…

The Balvenie 30yo ThirtyColor: Light orange gold.

Nose: Funky, but in a good way. Sherried with Haagse Hopjes (Dutch coffee flavoured candy). Bad breath and old elegant wood often go together. Creamy. A distinguished gentleman, and after the Benromach “Organic” you know this will hurt your bank-account. Freshly sawn wood and hints of saw dust. Vanilla and some caramel. Powdered candy. Sometimes whiffs of Marmite and lavas float by. Actually, this doesn’t smell as old Whisky as I’ve expected. It smells like an old yet modern Whisky. Well balanced, but quite a lot of wood in the nose.

Taste: Sweet powdered candy, but also fruity. Sherry with cherries and other red fruits like raspberries. Thick toffee and slightly acidic. Acidity from fruits but also acidity you get from (freshly sawn old) oak. Not as complex in the taste as I expected. Coffee, cask toast and quite warming. Some bitterness towards the finish though.

A good, but not super-premium-great Balvenie. For this kind of money you can do better I guess. Just have a look at some of the TUN-versions that are around. Nevertheless, a more than decent Balvenie, period.

Points: 87

Benromach 2008/2014 “Organic” (43%, OB, Virgin Oak)

Not really a NASser since this is a vintage 2008 bottling. We also know this was bottled in 2014 so it is a 5yo or 6yo. Benromach doesn’t like hide its Whiskies in a shroud of mystery. Of course I love an aptly named Whisky but I was brought up with age statements so I like to (officially) know what I’m getting. Maybe all those NASsers are for a younger, more hip, generation? We’ll see. This “Organic” was distilled in 2008 and filled into virgin oak casks, just like they do with Bourbon spirit. Don’t worry, this will not turn this Whisky into a bourbon since only malted barley was used, and no corn nor rye. Why not make a rye Whisky then Benromach, wouldn’t that be something different and exiting?

Benromach Organic 2008Color: Gold

Nose: Yes woody. Sawdust, but also vanilla and warm vanilla pudding. Custard. I would say American Oak, wouldn’t you? Sugary sweet. The apparent sweetness is balanced out with some spicy oak, but not all oak is spicy, it also has a sappy oak quality to it. Sweet barley. Given some time, (when the taste becomes waxy), the nose tuns more floral. Floral with sandalwood.

Taste: Sweet at first, then vanilla and a more fruity note. Still all sugared fruits. Behind that the oak comes in again, but it’s not all wood alas, The wood also emits a cardboardy taste. Luckily that is soon exchanged with the sappy oak. That sappy oak turn a bit waxy and that in turn becomes a bitter edge into the finish. The bitterness also has some staying power. The finish is rather austere, so its quite different from the sweet start. The florality and waxiness of the nose, becomes also evident in the aftertaste.

For a Whisky this age and only new wood was used, this has already picked up a lot of color (as do Bourbons). Nosing and tasting this Whisky it really is what you may have expected. A Whisky that is defined by the use of new wood. Otherwise quite sweet and obviously not very complex, but more than expected.

Points: 82

Glenmorangie 10yo “Traditional 100 Proof” (57.2%, OB, 1 Litre, 2005)

Next up an oldie from 2005. A cask strength Glenmorangie. We don’t see many of them these days, especially one that isn’t touched by any special cask. The back label mentions that this unchillfiltered Whisky came straight from the cask made from mountain oak. So what kind of wood is this? My guess is American Oak from the Ozark Mountains, Arkansas USA. Hinting that this is a 10yo Glenmorangie fully matured in Bourbon casks and bottled at cask strength. Nothing more and nothing less. My most avid readers will know that I am not a very big fan of Glenmorangie but got quite a surprise when I reviewed a recent 18yo…

Glenmorangie Traditional 100 ProofColor: Light gold.

Nose: Aromatic and spicy yet closed, or maybe there isn’t a lot going on? Vanilla and typical bourbon cask notes. Slightly soapy and fresh and obviously high in alcohol. Vegetal and woody. It almost smells like it looks. It does smell a bit of sackcloth and oak. Dusty and powdery. Not very complex.

Taste: Sweet. Vanilla and pudding. Sweet alcohol. Mocha and vanilla pudding. Hints of Cappuccino and vanilla ice-cream. A woody bite, almost cigarette like, but also a short-lived fruity sweetness. Sugared raspberries and half-ripe forest strawberries. Thick toffee to hold it all together. Nice coffee-ish finish. Well balanced. This reminds me a bit of a young Bladnoch. That one has more butter, is softer and is a bit more vegetal, but that may very well be the only difference.

At first, a simple Whisky, but it grows on you. Give it time to breathe and it develops nicely. Nevertheless, this is actually an example of why I didn’t like Glenmorangie back in the day. (Let’s say, 10 years ago). It looks great, promises a lot, but this particular Whisky is simple and un-rewarding on the nose. It may very well be the reason I stopped buying Glenmorangie for a whole decade. The taste is a lot better though. I only picked up the fruity bits, when tasting this in the morning before breakfast. Last night after a very tiresome day, I didn’t pick up on the raspberry and strawberry at all.

The recent and “extremely rare” 18yo I tasted a while back, somewhat restored my faith in Glenmorangie and made me buy that very 18yo. Today, and tomorrow can be different, you can get three of those 18yo’s for the price of this cask strength Glenmorangie. A no brainer if you ask me.

Points: 83

Highland Park “Einar” (40%, OB, The Warrior Series, 1 Litre, 2013)

First we had a core range, after that came the special bottlings and since a short while we also have special series. Highland Park had a lot of success releasing Earl Magnus (a 15yo released in 2009), Saint Magnus (a 12yo released in 2010) and Earl Haakon (a 18yo released in 2011), one per year. Thus a series was born. Next series was the warrior series, specially released for travel Retail (airports, boats and so on). In statistical sales figures, travel retail bottlings are treated as a country! That’s how many are sold this way. The warrior series comprises of six different bottlings, all released in 2013: Einar, Harald, Sigurd, Ragnvald, Thorfinn and Svein. Next came not a “series”, but a “collection” called The Valhalla Collection. Thor (16yo, 2012), Loki (15yo, 2013), Freya (15yo, 2014) and Odin (16yo, 2015). Again one per year. Aptly named though, since those bottlings seemed to be snapped up for collections and not so much for drinking purposes. By now Whisky became a commodity for trade and not an alcoholic beverage. Not a lot of reviews exist of these bottlings, so they must be sitting on shelves of collectors, trying to sell the now complete collection of 4 to…other collectors. Yeah, this will work just nicely.

Highland Park EinarColor: Gold.

Nose: Sweet, mocha, vanilla (ice-cream) and a hint of funky Sherry, soft peat and wood. Tiny hint of cask toast and alcohol. Toasted bread and something meaty. Dried. Sweet barley, almost like corn. Sweet funky mud. This one does develop over time. Powdered sugar and a floral soap quality (not much). A likeable and un-complex nose. Not bad at all.

Taste: Sweet and candy like. Sweet, almost artificial, red fruit drops. Sugar water and vanilla. Sugar with a bite. A slightly bitter note of oak at the start of the finish, as well as a small gingery note. Also here is the funkiness I got in the nose, that seems Sherried. Too simple actually, but without off notes as well.

Very sweet and light Highland Park. Typical travel retail bottling. It’s a litre, its 40%, its light. Even a litre of this will be drunk at a fast pace, because to properly taste this you need to take this in big gulps. Not one to ponder over for many hours. A bit too plain and simple, not to say a bit dull. Is it bad then? No not really. It’s somewhat recognizable as a Highland Park and that’s no bad thing. It’s still a decent Whisky, that can only be surpassed by (a lot of) other Whiskies. Nothing to scoff about. Never the less, not something I would buy (I would buy the 18yo (if its a good batch) or even the Dark Origins).

Points: 78

The Glenlivet “Nàdurra Oloroso Matured” (60.7%, OB, First Fill Oloroso Sherry Casks, Batch OL0614)

Back in the lion’s den. Purely by coincidence, I recently reviewed some independent bottlings of Whiskies produced by distilleries of Pernod Ricard, like Braeval and Glenallachie, but also some official bottlings like Strathisla 12yo, Aberlour 16yo and The NAS Glenlivet “Founders Reserve”, but also the nice AS Glenlivet from 1983. Now another Glenlivet, and yet another new NAS bottling. I promise you, I’m not sponsored!

The Glenlivet Founders’ Reserve is the new entry-level Glenlivet that replaces the 12yo in Western European and some other markets except Asia and the US. This NAS Oloroso Nàdurra replaces the nice AS 16yo Nàdurra. I know, that one came from Bourbon casks only. However, the 16yo Nàdurra will be replaced by three new versions that will be called…Nàdurra. The first one of these is this NAS Oloroso version, soon to be followed by a NAS Bourbon version and later a NAS Peated version. Since both Aberlour and The Glenlivet have the same owner, everybody will be comparing this one to the Aberlour A’bunadh.

Glenlivet Nàdurra Oloroso Matured (60.7%, OB, First Fill Oloroso Sherry Casks, Batch OL0614)Color: Dark gold, copper gold. Quite light for first fill Oloroso.

Nose: Lots of vanilla, new wood and a bit sharp on first sniff. A breath of fresh air. Spicy wood and pencil shavings. I get a lot of pencil shavings recently, maybe its me. I don’t get a lot of A’bunadh like first fill Sherry though. Considering the color and also the way this smells, my guess would be that this Oloroso Nàdurra is younger than its sister from Aberlour. A’bunadh is pretty up front dark first fill Oloroso, and this Nàdurra is not. It really does smell like a young whisky with nice notes of wood without being overpowered. Nice, but not complex. The wood also gives off light chocolaty notes and some sweetish vegetal bits. Old bar of soap (from the eighties) and some licorice. For me a lot of these aroma’s come from wood and obviously from the Sherry used, but for me they aren’t typical Oloroso aroma’s you get from an A’bunadh. Wood it is then.

Taste: Sweetish and a bit hot. New wood, tree sap with its light bitterness. Coffee and licorice, a nice combination. Hints of glue. Prior to swallowing a hint of, and here it comes again, pencil shavings. We all have chewed on a pencil some time during our lives haven’t we? Italian laurel licorice. When the wood, a slight hint of bitterness, and the high strength pass, not a very big finish remains. Youth?

A young Whisky that by itself is a study of wood and not of Sherry. It isn’t complex, slightly underdeveloped, and it surely does have its moments. I guess the choice is right to think of this Whisky a bit as a Whisky for…well, not entry-level, by bottling this with a high ABV. Another good decision is probably that it is made to another profile from the A’bunadh which is more about the Sherry itself, whereas this is more about the wooden cask itself. Nice stuff, helped along by the high strength and spicy wood. Younger and really no match for A’bunadh in my opinion, but those who like higher strength Whisky, but found the A’bunadh too much, will disagree. (maybe a comparison to Benromach 10yo 100 proof would have been a better angle…)

Points: 83

Säntis Malt Edition Dreifaltigkeit (52%, OB, Old Oak Beer Casks)

End of the line, for now. We finish our short trip in Europe in Switzerland to visit the Locher Brewery in Appenzell. Nothing more interesting than the quest to find Whiskies not from Scotland. Earlier I reviewed the entry-level Edition Säntis, which I found reasonable and showed already some potential. This time around we have quite a different Säntis Malt, which is called Edition Dreifaltigkeit. Dreifaltigkeit has been finished in a Sherry cask but also peated malt was used. Sounds good!

Säntis Malt Edition DreifaltigkeitColor: Vibrant orange brown.

Nose: Heaps and heaps of smoke, yet not a lot of peat (for a peated malt). Lots of fruit, black, red, the lot. Nicely thick, highly aromatic. Lots of fruity esters too. Sherried, meaty and fishy. Smoked sausage and a hint of smoked mackerel. You can name any meat or fish that has been smoked, it seems to be all here. When given some time, and air, an odor of stale beer enters the fold. I have the glass before me and at the same time was reading something, and some less than excellent sour whiffs fly by my nose. The initial fruit was stronger than the stale beer nose, but it seems they are trading places now. Just move the Whisky around a bit in your glass and the off note is gone. Dry and chocolaty notes enter late as well as dry horse manure. What a Malt! Great nose, up there with a lot of other great noses like this Longrow. Hope it tastes similarly good and we’ll have a winner here!

Taste: Taste wise it seems a lot simpler at first. First of all, it doesn’t seem to be 52%. I expected more of an alcoholic bite. It has some (bitter) wood, dust and paint. Dry paint residue and definitely some smoke, even in the taste. Sweetish fruits again (Sherry, Cream Oloroso or PX I would say) and just like the nose, a slightly acidic off-note. The off-note changes a bit and can be identified as beerlike towards the finish. Hoppy bitterness in the finish and also a sour note. The finish is long and shows the higher ABV.

The ultimate smoky malt. For me the Beer notes in this malt do not work, but they are well-kept in the background. I understand this is essentially a brewery, so it has ages and ages of history with making Beer, and using Beer casks, but this isn’t a Beer, its Whisky and it is proven over and over again, that Beer casks are not the best casks you can use for ageing Whisky. Having said that, this turned out to be a wonderful uniquely smoky malt. Recommended!

Points: 86