Tag Archives: Bourbon

Tomatin Cù Bòcan (46%, OB, Virgin Oak, Bourbon and Sherry casks, 2013)

In 2013 the people of Tomatin Distillery started with something new (for them). They released a lightly peated dram that has aged in three different types of casks. Virgin oak and the usual suspects of Sherry and Bourbon casks. They invented a new brand called Cù Bòcan rather than calling it an official Tomatin Cù Bòcan although everyone views it as such. After this Cù Bòcan which is placed in the standard range, two more versions were released as Limited Editions. A Sherry version (6.000 bottles) and a vintage 1989 (1.080 bottles). Cù Bòcan is a legendary hell-hound that stalked the people of Tomatin (the town) for centuries. So it is a Whisky with a story, but don’t expect a Whisky with a hellish amount of peat. Compared to Shorty, Ardbeg’s dog, Cù Bòcan must be the size of a Chihuahua (from hell).

Tomatin Cù BocànColor: Light gold, with a hint of pink.

Nose: Extremely malty. Coffee and new oak. Tiny note of smoke, and I’m still waiting for a little bit of peat. Vanilla and again some smoke. Vegetal and buttery. Ice-cream with ferns and a drop of sweat. Good balance though, everything seems to be in the right place. A bit late in the mix come the fruits, yellow and tropical. Yes Tomatin all right. Reminds me also of the Tomatin Legacy. I’m working at it, but no peat. Still a likeable nose nevertheless.

Taste: Young and estery. Sweet and vanilla ice-cream. Fresh virgin oak bitterness. A prickly sensation like smoke, burnt wood and the contents of an ashtray. In no way bad or overpowering though. Like the nose all in good balance.

This Cù Bòcan is in good balance, well made yet very young tasting. A true stereotypical NAS Whisky. In the end I didn’t get the peat, but enough smoky notes. Tomatin Legacy is also a NAS offering and uses the same casks minus the Sherry casks. In some markets the Legacy costs half of this Cù Bòcan. Cù Bòcan is nice stuff but is too close to Tomatin’s Legacy offering to justify the price tag.

Points: 83

Glenmorangie 18yo “Extremely Rare” (43%, OB, Circa 2010)

I’m not to sure what I think about the NAS (No Age Statement) craze at the moment. Sure the number is not important, but the taste is. So why did the scotch (marketing) guys were indoctrinating us (the consumer) with the slogans that “age matters”, and “older is better” and so on. We’ve come to live with age statements, and now they want to make us believe that “age doesn’t matter”. NAS gives them the freedom to blend without restrictions, any age goes as long as its 3yo, otherwise they can’t call it Whisky, and thát still is a word they would like to use on the labels.

We are now living a while with NAS bottlings, and yes, the Whiskies got younger, but not necessarily better, if you ask me. And by the way, I still prefer age statements. I’m more inclined to buy something that is good and has an age statement, like Benromach 5yo than something that doesn’t have an age statement like Tomatin Legacy or Laphroaig Select. But maybe that’s only me. In the end I do believe that age matters.

Time for another 18yo, this “Extremely Rare” Glenmorangie. What’s up with the funny name? It already has an age statement and it seems to be a blatant lie, since I see this in every shop and nobody tells me there is a shortage of this. Stop it! Great packaging though (it’s from their “Prestige Range” you know), and for an 18yo it’s not very expensive to boot. The whisky was aged for 15yo in Bourbon Casks and finished for three years in Oloroso Casks.

Glenmorangie 18yoColor: Gold

Nose: Fruity and spicy wood. Nutty and sweet. Honey. Hint of smoke and cask toast. Dried sweet orange skins. Lots of sugared yellow fruits. Almond dust. Quite a full aroma for a Glenmorangie. Reine Claude’s, wax, some smoke again and vanilla. Chocolate.

Taste: Matches the nose. Marzipan and lots of yellow fruits. Figs and toffee with the sweetness kept in check. Waxy as older malts tend to get (nice!). Easily drinkable, immediately nice. Not a lot of wood actually. The wood impairs milk chocolate, yet hardly an oaky sensation. Just like the Highland Park, 43% is too low, 46% probably would have been better. There is enough going on in this one to not let it get hot. Especially the finish, again just like the Highland Park 18yo, is the weakest link.

You see that age matters. Just like the 18yo Highland Park, this again is a perfect example how Whiskies do need quite some ageing, especially in a cold climate as Scotland has. Although there are some nice examples of NAS Whiskies, I do like my 18yo’s

Points: 87

Noah’s Mill (57.15%, Batch QBC No. 14-28, 750 ml)

Happy New year! Yet again! I’m writing this, since this review of Noah’s Mill is essentially the first review I’m writing this new year 2015. Looking back I didn’t even write a review about a Bourbon in a long while. Bourbon’s have stayed off of these pages for 2,5 years now. So this Noah’s mill is long overdue.

On the label the producer of this Whiskey is Noah’s Mill Distilling Company, but af far as In know, this is not an active distillery, nor a closed one. Noah’s Mill is a brand owned by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD) from Bardstown KY, which was founded in 1935. It is owned by the Kulsveen family.

Since this is a recent bottle, no mention whatsoever about the age of this Whiskey, although the label mentions that it’s not young. If memory serves me well I believe that the first batches of Noah’s Mill did have an age statement, or we were told that the Whiskey was 15yo, but that may or not be the case with this newer bottle. It is believed that most of the Whiskies of KBD are made by the Heaven Hill Distillery (half a mile further down the road).

Noah's MillColor: Orange copper gold

Nose: Dry and woody. Vanilla. Dusty vanilla pudding. Custard. Paint. Fresh forest floor plants. Leather (old well-kept saddle). Nutty, dry roasted almonds. Old log cabin offers a different take on oak. Sawdust mixed with a touch of machine oil and hints of cold bacon and toffee. A hint of honey and perfumy too.

Taste: Leather and solvents again, not necessarily a bad thing though. Hot, woody and quite dry, surely not as sweet as I expected, even if this ís 15yo. Vanilla and clean oak. Freshly stripped off paint dust and wood spice. Bitter oak finish, but just to make a statement, and if you are an experienced taster/drinker, you’ll manage with the oaky bitterness and fresh tree sap note it leaves. Cold black tea and cask toast. Fern and half-dried cut grass. Apart from the bitterness in the finish, the body starts with a funky acidity that dissipates into the hot, peppery vanilla and oaky body and finish.

Some might argue that this is too dry, not sweet enough so plainly too old, but I have to say, probably from my Malt Whisky background, that this is pretty nice. May be a bit unusual for a Bourbon, but I like it. maybe not for everyone.

I have a much older bottle of this that I hope to review soon, but untill that time, I believe this Whiskey will show some batch variation.

Points: 83

Littlemill 21yo 1992/2014 (52.9%, The Whisky Mercenary, Bourbon Cask)

Littlemill then. These days everybody seems to be raving about this sadly closed distillery. The official bottling seemed not to be very popular in its day and initially not a lot of tears were shed when this distillery closed in 1997 and subsequently was destroyed in a fire in 2004. Lots of Whiskies from the early nineties are bottled recently and surprise, surprise, a lot of them seem to be pretty good if not spectacular! Here we’ll have a look at a Littlemill that was aged in a Bourbon cask. This particular example was selected by Jürgen Vromans a.k.a. The Whisky Mercenary, who to this day has Always picked some great Whiskies. Just have a look at these reviews: Glenlossie, Tormore, Clynelish, Dailuaine and Cooley.

Littlemill 21yo 1992/2014 (52.9%, The Whisky Mercenary, Bourbon Cask)Color: Light gold

Nose: Fruity, waxy and spicy. Vanilla bean and vanilla Ice-cream. A breath of fresh air, but also some sea wind. Spicy oak with mocha. Extremely pleasant. Thin layer of honey and beeswax. Sugared yellow fruits, but also tiny, tiny hints of mustard. Hints of freshly cut oak but also an old cigar box. Cold tea (plain black tea, without milk or lemon). In the best sense of the word, a wood driven nose. Complex and very appetizing. Sometimes dry and dusty, the next very aromatic. Nice stuff!

Taste: Sweet and highly aromatic. A bit wet behind the ears, youthful oak. Yes this Whisky has been in an excellent cask. Lots of wax, beeswax, earwax, but also natural furniture polish, that doesn’t smell like an oil refinery. The wax and wood have an underlying sweetness and are aided by a nice hint of black fruits, and some oaky bitterness. Very well-balanced, and just right. It was bottled at the right moment. Maybe when it was younger it would have been more fruity, but would it have been such a distinguished gentledram?

Not every Bourbon cask is just a Bourbon cask, and not every freshly distilled Spirit that is meant to be a Single Malt Whisky is alike. Still when you take a (freshly used or refilled) Bourbon Barrel or remade Hogshead and put new-made Spirit in it, you more or less know what you’re going to get. Sometimes some especially great wood finds its way into the cask, or the barley was great, or fresh, or from a great variety. Sometimes something magical happens. Single cask Whiskies like these are all about the details so it takes an anorak like Jürgen to pick them out. Well done.

Points: 88

Glen Moray 15yo 1998/2013 (46%, Cadenhead, Bourbon Hogsheads, 684 bottles)

This is the third Glen Moray on these pages. Although I use a 100 points scare for scoring drinks, and in my opinion Whisky is one of the best drinks around. Whisky usually scores in the upper ranges of that scale. So any good Whisky scores at least 80 points. Both Glen Moray’s I reviewed before, one 13yo Dun Bheagan, and one official 8yo, didn’t make it across the 80 points-line and are therefore considered bu connoisseurs to be “mediocre” at best. However, if you read my reviews carefully, they still have enough going for them, and are still pretty good drinks, or pretty good Whiskies for that matter. It’s just that a lot of Whiskies score higher than these Glen Moray’s. But here is another Glen Moray, one by Cadenhead, so lets see if this will score in the 80’s or even higher?

Glen Moray 15yo 1998/2013 (46%, Cadenhead, Bourbon Hogsheads, 684 bottles)Color: White wine.

Nose: Quite closed, or isn’t there much happening. Alcohol, hints of sweet yellow fruits. Even though it isn’t a white wine finish were Glen Moray are almost famous for, it does remind me of a white wine finished Glen Moray. Hints of margarine and vanilla. Soft touch of oak. Very restrained, it just smells like fresh air.

Taste: Yes typical thin Glen Moray again. A crumb of old dark chocolate. A little bit of oak, and an acidity resembling a wine finish. Usually Glen Moray tends to get overly sweet after a wine finish, and I can’t say that’s the case here. Lots of maltiness and a little bit of paper and bitter oak in the finish. Good, it gives it character. Anything better than that strange acidity.

Extremely light color, again casks (probably two) that weren’t very active any more. I am not completely sure this isn’t a white wine finish. A very clean expression, and that’s me being positive, because not a lot seems to be happening here… (Mind you, this is still a damn good drink!)

Points: 76

Craigellachie 18yo 1994/2013 (54.4%, Cadenhead, Small Batch, Bourbon & Sherry Hogshead, 432 bottles)

Hey, let’s try another Craigellachie. I’ve just reviewed the new official 13yo, and got a taste of what the official Craigellachie tastes like. That one seems to me to be only from Bourbon casks, and this Cadenhead expression is not only from a Bourbon, but also from Sherry Hogsheads. Craigellachie is often a very nice distillate, meaty and funky, so I have high hopes for this, so without further ado…

Craigellachie 18yo 1994/2013 (54.4%, Cadenhead, Small Batch, Bourbon & Sherry Hogshead, 432 bottles)Color: Copper gold

Nose: Velvety, vegetal and occasionally soapy. Strong. Gin botanicals. Sweet smelling (funky and sweet lavas) and extremely fresh at first. Menthol. Lots of oak. Next a lot of development. The menthol and other “fresh” components dissipate and a funky and oaky sweatiness takes over. Sweet dusty licorice and slightly rotting oak and the sharper wood odor of pencil shavings. Yes you’ve guessed it, a very interesting Craigellachie! Buttery vanilla. and sweetish wet fern leaves. Lots happening here. Not a nose for the faint hearted. Complex stuff.

Taste: Sweet at first but very quickly turning into something dry. Nice oak again with pencil shavings and tiny hints of cannabis in vanilla ice-cream. Very aromatic. Warm coffee (with milk), wood and dark, but not too dark, chocolate. Well balanced and very interesting aroma’s thrown together. Funky beerlike finish. Animalesk. Mocha, toffee and salty caramel are there too. I feel this Whisky changes a lot along the way.

Probably a Whisky for connoisseurs. I like it a lot, but I don’t think newbies will be positive since accessibility is not the priority for this Whisky. The complexity and amount of aroma’s are just shy of being overwhelming.

Points: 87

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

Linkwood 21yo 1985/2007 (43%, The Secret Treasures, Bourbon Cask #4548, 348 bottles)

Linkwood 21yo 1985/2007 (43%, The Secret Treasures, Bourbon Cask #4548, 348 bottles)Here we have a Linkwood bottled by a Swiss outfit bottling under the name of The Secret Treasures. Their website is quite amateurish and uninformative. Some basic information is there, but seems a bit outdated. The firm is known for some great rums, like Demarara and Guadeloupe, and apart from Whisky also bottles a Bitter (Els from herbs only found in the Eiffel region), a Gin and some fruit distillates. Their Whiskies are bottled at 43% ABV, a strength that also seems a bit outdated where single cask bottlings are concerned. Bottle looks nice though!

Color: Gold

Nose: Spicy wood, sweet with some vanilla notes. The typical smell of a Whisky coming from a Ex-Bourbon Cask, but with quite a lot of aroma. It smells big and fruity. Das pronto clay, I remember from my childhood. Nutty as well, with some flowery notes but also some candy sweetness. Mocha, tiny hint of mocha coffee. Small hint of cask toast mingled with some dry old spices. Creamy and powdery. I think you get the picture. Very balanced (after extensive breathing) and slightly salty even (dry lips). It doesn’t smell reduced, and this has hints of cannabis in the aftertaste. A big plus for this Linkwood.

Taste: Vanilla and oak. Big and slightly toasty. Small hint of cannabis (again), which is not quite unusual for this type of oak. Wax, maybe ear wax. Perfect fruity sweetness. Vanilla ice-cream with some pencil shavings and fresh almonds. Even though this is reduced to 43% it is quite hot at times, and the hotness stays around for a while. The finish itself, tastewise, is much shorter. Hints of fermentation (yeast, cow dung?) and then a bit sour. However, don’t get me wrong. This is very appetizing. Big and just nice even at this lower ABV.

Quite sweet and in part light. Nice sweet body with a hot finish that stays longer than the taste itself. To me this Whisky shows some small faults in distillation, but has way more good things to it. Initially it seems a nice Malt, with a nice smell and so forth, but the taste already shows some unbalance, nevertheless it needs some air to settle and reaches a higher balance. Nice entry, than heavy on the sweet part, and full body, but sometimes a bit hot and a medium finish at best finish. Not bad! A word of caution. This isn’t as good when freshly opened, it really needs a lot of air and patience to really shine, even this reduced Whisky, needs time.

Points: 84

Bruichladdich “Peat” (46%, OB, Bourbon Casks, 2008)

Suddenly I had a craving. Lets try something with peat, so I picked this fairly new, but already discontinued Bruichladdich “Peat”. In everyday life, Whiskies released under the “Bruichladdich” brand name are unpeated. Bruichladdich has other brands for their peated Whiskies, like Port Charlotte and Octomore. This Bruichladdich “Peat” was peated up to a phenol level of 35 ppm, which compared to Octomore is pretty “light”. “Peat” bares no age statement, and will probably be young, but there are several other young Bruichladdichs around that are pretty good. Islay Barley (2006, 2007 come to mind)…

Bruichladdich Peat (46%, OB, Bourbon Casks, 2008)Color: Gold

Nose: Slightly peaty, with dust, elegant wood and vanilla. Very “friendly” smelling. Smoke on top. Young and likeable. Fruity. Distant pear, banana, Galia melon and other (sugared and/or dried) yellow fruits (trail mix). Fruitiness is not upfront. Slightly meaty. I suddenly have a craving for bacon! Nice.

Taste: Young, light and malty. Lots of licorice (in many guises) and some wax combined with old wood. Sugary sweet alcohol. Very toned down and laid back. Nice hints of oak and dry barley. Lots of licorice in the finish, with hints of Marmite in the finish too. Although maybe young and generic, I found it to be a nice addition to the peat-universe. Elegant and relaxed. Salty lips. I like it a lot actually. Imagine this with more complexity and sophistication, now that would be stellar!

Maybe its simple yet it is also very delicious. A nice companion to heavy hitting 10.000 ppm peat bombs. This has 35 ppm and is a very friendly Whisky, that also used to be very friendly on the olde wallet.

Points: 84

Bunnahabhain “Moine” 5yo 2008/2013 (46%, The Ultimate, Peated, Bourbon Barrel #800011, 341 bottles)

Just the other day, Jan from Best Shot Whisky Reviews reviewed a nice 5yo Islay peated whisky, so why shouldn’t we do just the same. Why? Because we can! Next up a Moine. A Moine say you, yes a Moine, the peated Bunnahabhain. This is bottled by dutch indie bottlers Van Wees under their Ultimate Label. Unchillfiltered and uncolored. Van Wees already bottled quite a few of these Moines, and if you are interested, get one quick since the latest expression bottled in 2014 costs a tenner (in Euro’s) more than the earlier bottlings…

Bunnahabhain Moine 5yo 2008/2013 (46%, The Ultimate, Peated, Bourbon Barrel #800011, 341 bottles)Color: Very pale straw yellow and/or greenish. Almost colorless.

Nose: Fat and fruity peat. I certainly have smelled this before. Than more peat and after that even more peat. Although this has lots of peat, I wouldn’t call this “heavy”. It has some smoke obviously, but you never know, they don’t always come together. The smoke part is light, as is the wood and toast. The fruit plays a big role in this Whisky as does its youth. Sweet licorice and spice. Black tea leaves and green plants. Given some time, it becomes less fatty and gets more floral even (and soapy) and the peat gets more meaty. Little bit of bonfire and coal dust. Not bad, not bad at all.

Taste: Sweet with delicate smoke and peat. Cardboard, plywood and sugar. It’s an almost lovely peated whisky lemonade. Extremely appetizing. Fern and tree sap. After several sips, you get the (thin) sweet watery feel, with tasty peat, but it is highly un-complex. Finishes on citrussy peat and a little bit of bonfire with ashes.

These Ultimate Moines are dirt cheap and sell well, but are not very highly regarded. Yes, at first it is peat peat peat and it looks like a vodka that has aged for a week in stainless steel with a blade of grass thrown in for color. But just forget about your typical peated Islay Whisky. It’s not a heavy peated Whisky, with sea spray and Iodine. Nope, it’s a more easily drinkable, fruity and sometimes floral, modern Islay Whisky. It fits right in with the newer easy drinkable and easy accessible expressions of the big boys like Laphroaig Select, Bowmore Small Batch and many Caol Ila’s. Those are easy drinkable too, but this has more peat to it and still is like a peated lemonade. Don’t expect a lot of complexity. It didn’t do a lot in the cask except for marrying its flavours, and its only 5 years old. But who cares, this is to drink and lie back, it’s about enjoying life. Peat reinvented and very easy drinkable. No high marks here, but still I enjoyed it a lot, and isn’t that the most important?

Points: 82

For fun, I did a head to head of this Moine with the Kilchoman Spring 2010, and found the Kilchoman at 3yo to be more balanced, smokier, less sweet yet more interesting and funkier (the Oloroso Sherry finish probably did that). More happening, more flavor. It’s more of everything actually.