Tag Archives: Bourbon

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 Some basic information is there, but seems a bit outdated.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 Their Whiskies are bottled at 43% ABV, a strength that also seems a bit outdated where single cask bottlings are concerned.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.

Bowmore Small Batch (40%, OB, 30.000 bottles, 2014)

Benefitting from the success of the Tempest (Small Batch) series and especially from the instant hit The Devils Cask (Small Batch) was. Here comes a new Small Batch release from Bowmore. One without an age statement and considering the usage of first fill and second fill casks, this should be very akin to the tempest series. This Small Batch however, is reduced to 40%, has no age statement and costs next to nothing, so what to expect from this new-born release?

I’m still expecting quite a lot since I really like how the newer 12yo’s are turning out to be. The only beef I have with that one is the reduction to 40%, whereas I believe 43% or maybe 46% would have made this already great Whisky into something more stunning. However, the 12yo is very nice and this Small Batch fits nicely besides the 12yo and several other expressions from Bowmore in the group of entry-level Islay malts without overpowering peat. They leave that to Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Lagavulin, although I feel even some of these are churning out more and more, less hefty Whiskies too…

Bowmore Small BatchColor: Light gold

Nose: Fatty, vanilla, citrus fresh. Barley foremost, but also some forest plants like fern and warm earth. Forrest floor again without the wetness or mushroom components, yes a bit dusty. Smoke and hidden (behind the smoke) peat. Vanilla again, with tree sap and soft fresh-cut wood. Also yellow fruits play a big role in this whisky, like dried apricot. Smells nice and all components of the nose fit nicely together. Well crafted again, as I’ve come to expect from Bowmore’s Rachel.

Taste: Sweet, and some prickly smoke. Fresh wood. Did I mention it was sweet? Licorice and again forest plants. Black and white powder (licorice) and sugar-water. Absolutely not complex, but extremely nice to drink, too easy maybe, and well made. Shortish finish, with nothing in particular to mention, just take another sip. Keep in mind when you are buying a bottle of this, you’re probably going to finish it quickly. This one can stay as it is, but like the 12yo, I wouldn’t have minded this being some points higher in alcohol.

Easy, lovely, well made Whisky, not stong in any way and not your typical Islay Whisky too. Dirt cheap, often on sale and lots of quality to boot. Probably sells well so now its time for the new Big Batch series!

Points 84

Thanks go out (yet again) to Laura!

Tomatin 12yo 1997/2009 (57.1%, OB, First Refill Bourbon Barrel #4326, 244 bottles)

Here is another Tomatin, the tenth already if I’m not mistaken, but this time no obscure independent bottling, but an official bottling, yet not from standard range, but a limited release. Some sort of official bootleg so to speak. I hear this particular bottling was distributed in western Europe and Japan. Tomatins from the standard range that are from ex-Bourbon casks are quickly disappearing. The 25yo is no longer with us and who knows what will happen with the 15yo, the only true Bourbon casked Tomatin left.

Here we have a Tomatin that is 12 years old and comes from a refill Bourbon Barrel. You can’t get them more original than this, nor is the cask tampered with in a sense that the barrel is rebuilt as a Hogshead, nor has the distillery character been changed by (part) maturation in ex-Sherry casks or even by a first fill Bourbon Barrel. To sum things up, this is an official bootleg that probably will show a lot of distillery character. A real natural Whisky.

Tomatin 12yo 1997/2009 (57.1%, OB, First Refill Bourbon Barrel #4326, 244 bottles)Color: White wine.

Nose: Spicy wood, sweet and lots of vegetal notes. Alcohol. Vanilla and wood and a little bit of white pepper, but more is going on here. Slightly fruity and tiny hints of licorice and mushrooms. All in all a very clean nose.

Taste: Sweet at first, with again spices and white pepper. Even with this high alcohol content, it seems very smooth and even the finish is half long only. Warming and fatty. In the back of the mouth the alcohol has some acetone notes to it. But above all its zesty and shows signs of lemon. Lemon curd is stated on the back label and that’s what it is. The vanilla pod transforms into creamy ice-cream. Good balance.

Having just opened the bottle it seemed to be very closed and even a little bit unforgiving, but some five months of breathing did the Whisky a lot of good. Again an example of a Whisky that is closed and needs some time to really “wake up”. Just like me I suppose.

This Whisky is actually all about the details, and all details are tiny and restraint. Due to its high alcohol content, no-one will pick this up first, but when it’s tasted after a few other Whiskies, the subtleties are gone. Definitely use this as an aperitif, or when you are planning to have only one dram. If you stick to these “rules” you will be rewarded. I like it.

Points: 86

Bowmore Week – Day 5: Bowmore 14yo 1992/2006 (54.4%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, Bourbon Hogshead, 294 bottles)

Bowmore WeekAfter the new Small Batch Bowmore by Cadenhead’s, here is another 14yo, older, Cadenhead’s bottling but this time from the Authentic Collection. This is an older version distilled in 1992 and bottled in 2006. This is a single cask Whisky, bottled at cask strength as opposed to the newer Small Batch reviewed earlier that was from multiple (two) Bourbon Hogsheads.

Bowmore 14yo 1992-2006 (54.4%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, Bourbon Hogshead, 294 bottles)Color: Light gold.

Nose: Überclean Bowmore. Malty, buttery and spicy. Lots of green leaves, vegetal freshness and licorice (with ashes). Very interesting nose. Again a Bowmore that has a perfumy note. It’s typical even though this isn’t a FWP-whisky, but it ís from the times a lot of Bowmores suffered from this phenomenon. Still this is a fine, rather clean and citrussy nose. Not a lot of smoke and peat come to think of it.

Taste: Sweet, some notes from white wine (very nice), quite spicy, but mostly sweet, or half-sweet as they say. Wood influence a small hints of soap. It almost tastes like a Fino Sherry cask matured whisky. Nice balance between the sweetness and the (white wine) acidity (lemon). Nice and it has good drinkability. I don’t want to scare you away, but even the texture is a bit soapy. Still not a FWP- Whisky though. A little bit hot, but not peppery as other Bowmores.

As said before, this is not a FWP-Whisky but it is from the feared era, and it does have some soapy and perfumy traits. It was on the wrong path but finally didn’t go astray. Hardly peaty nor smoky. There is some peat here, but that is a bit flowery and elegant. A Bowmore on the precipice I would say.

Cleaning my glass, it started foaming a bit 🙂

Points: 86

Thanks go out to Andre Z. who loaned me the bottle.

Bowmore Week – Day 3: Bowmore 10yo “Tempest” (55.3%, OB, Small Batch Release No. 1, First Fill Bourbon Casks, 12.000 bottles, 2009)

Bowmore WeekYes it’s time for peat! After the introduction to Bowmore by Bowmore themselves: The 12yo and the 14yo by indie bottlers Cadenhead, it is now time to pump up the volume! Here we have a 10yo by Bowmore themselves again, but this time with an ABV of 55.3%. This Bowmore Tempest was introduced in 2009 in their small batch range, that by now has seen four releases (one annually) of this Tempest made from First Fill Bourbon Cask that were laid down at the Vaults No.1, you know the warehouse were the waves are beating on the walls! Since there now are four releases of the Tempest, this first batch has become something of a cult Whisky, but not as “culty” as another recent small batch release by Bowmore: ‘The Devil’s Casks’, another 10yo, but this time matured in First Fill Sherry Casks (Oloroso Butts).

Bowmore Tempest Batch 1Color: Gold

Nose: Clean, woody profile. Cigarette smoke. Beautiful integrated cask toast. Quality and powerful stuff. As with the first two Bowmores from this Bowmore Week a slightly perfumy profile without the much feared FWP. But wait, there’s a lot more happening here. Custard, vanilla and crème brûlée (as stated on the back label). A small hint of warm tar and even later ashes. All this take over the initial sharpness of the dry oak and cigarette smoke.

Taste: Very sweet, ice-cream vanilla and again a wee bit of pepper and a great creamy, vanilla, crème brûlée finish. Small hints of (toasted) wood. This has a full and round body. Very nice Tempest indeed. It does fit the profile I “get” from the Cadenheads Small Batch 14yo, I reviewed yesterday though, so I think I understand where the Bourbon Bowmores are going these days. Nice stuff, likeable, easy and not too complex. Fruits, candied fruits. Apricots with vanilla yoghurt. Sour wood and a peppery finish.

This first batch became somewhat of a cult whisky. It’s really good. and therefore the 12.000 bottles are pretty much sold out. To this day four batches of this exist.

This looks like an annual thing. Since this is released in batches I really don’t understand the need for coloring, especially when all batches differ a bit in color, but still I believe all are colored. Bowmore is picking itself up. It surpassed the FWP-problem. Got the wonderful Rachel Barrie, who I believe is doing a great job at Bowmore (and some other distilleries).

Points: 87

Bowmore Week – Day 2: Bowmore 14yo 1998/2013 (46%, Cadenhead, Small Batch, Bourbon Hogsheads, 792 bottles)

Here we are, into day two of Master Quill’s Bowmore Week. This review will be about a Bowmore from Cadenhead’s new Small batch series. Just like with the Original Series (46% ABV) and the Authentic Series (cask strength), the small batches come in at 46% or cask strength. The 46% versions in this new Small Batch Series come in this round dumpy bottle as depicted below, whereas the Cask strength versions come in more square dumpy bottles. Like Glenfarclas used a long time ago. The only difference between the Original and the Authentic Collection and the Small Batch bottling is that the latter is in almost all the cases a bottling of two casks where the former were single cask bottlings. This may be a golden opportunity for Cadenheads to mix two casks that can complement each other, where single cask bottlings will always show the flaws of that one cask. A year prior (2012), Cadenheads have already bottled two Bourbon Hogshead Bowmore’s in the Authentic Collection, which could be nice for comparison.

Cadenhead Bowmore 14yoColor: White Wine

Nose: Butter, cookie dough and flowery peat. A very feminine profile. It’s flowery and perfumy without it being FWP or soapy. Citrussy and very light on peat. Hints of (tarry) wood and salt. Fat light peat and licorice. Quite “simple” on the nose compared to yesterday’s standard 12yo. This one has to breathe a bit and needs a bit of warmth to fully release its aroma’s. The longer it stands the more smoky it gets, kippers. Coastal.

Taste: Very well integrated Bowmore. A sweet and very full body, yet not heavy and quite un-complex. Good sweetness. Hints of mocha and cappuccino. A nice peppery bite and citrus with custard. Lemon sherbet. Nice hints of wood. Extremely drinkable, but also quite simple. The pepper is an added bonus. The finish is not too long though, and the pepper stays with you longer than the finish does.

Where the nose needed a little time to show itself, the taste is immediately up front without a lot of evolution. But when its good from the start who needs evolution? Very nice and simple profile, but as I said before, not very complex, but immediately likeable and extremely drinkable. I do like it.

Points: 85

The Macallan ‘Fine Oak – Whisky Maker’s Selection’ (42.8%, OB, 1 Litre, Circa 2006)

I come from the times when The Macallan may have been the best Sherried Speysiders around. Almost all Macallans were made of Oloroso Sherry cask, well controlled by the distillery. Who doesn’t know the old back label with the famous last words: “FOR REASONS NOT EVEN SCIENCE CAN WHOLLY EXPLAIN, whisky has always matured best on oak casks that have contained sherry.” or the famous last two words on this very back label: “the tumbler” Well I for one was very disappointed tasting the very first Fine Oak range back in the day, having expected something like the quality of the old Macallans. For me the Fine Oaks had to be of the higher ages to get a high rating. Also the pricing has put me off back then. Some time has passed, some ten years, and here is finally another Fine Oak. Let’s give it another chance…

Color: Honey gold.

Nose: Fresh wood and fresh overall. A bit like a nice Fino Sherry. Waxy (ear wax) and slightly soapy. Apricot and bitter orange marmalade. Heather and a lot of toffee. Quite syrupy smelling and promises of a full body. Seems young with some added depth from some older casks.

Taste: A bit thin at first, but highly drinkable. Again some heather and maybe even a little bit of honey. I can’t shed the feeling this actually is a full bodied Highland Park with lots of Fino Sherry. Hidden bitterness surrounded by fruity sweetness and custard. Towards the end of the body and into the finish it gets drier with more wood and it’s bitterness. Even the toasted cask is here in minute amounts.

This reminds me of the old wide neck Highland Park 12yo, with even the same sort of bitterness in the finish. In fact, if I would have tasted this blind I most definitely would have said this was a Highland Park, who knows, same owner 😉

Points: 85

Ardbeg 10yo 1993/2004 (57.3%, Cadenhead, Refill Bourbon Hogshead, 252 bottles)

Wow, unbelievable, this is just my second Ardbeg review on these pages! I have this distillery up there with the greats, so what happened? This is an Ardbeg from 1993 bottled by independent bottlers Cadenhead’s. This is most definitely not the first Cadenhead’s on these pages, no it’s actually already the tenth, so for more information about Cadenhead’s, please have a look at all the other reviews of Cadenhead’s bottlings.

Color: White wine.

Nose: Sweet and mellow peat. Smells older than it actually is. Very nice, refined and balanced. Vegetal. Lemon sherbet. Fatty and smoky. Definitely citrus fruits this one, and some tropical fruits too. Not an in-your-face Islay monster, but with a lot of Islay character. Freshly cut peat. After a wee bit of breathing, some butter emerges, and it picks up a bit in oomph. More oily and smoky, ans even the citrus (lemon) is more dominant. The peat on the other hand recedes even more. Breathing adds something fishy and some vanilla to the mix. Somewhat more sea influence.

Taste: Sweet, sweet and light young peat. The smoke comes later. Nice effect. Hardly any wood. Whereas the nose showed me some light (old) peat, on the palate this Whisky does show its youth. Just as in the nose, very restrained lively and fruity Ardbeg, again not a kick in the head. With some air and time, it even gets a wee bit floral and ashy and slightly more pungent.

The offset and the body are nice and full, or round, if you prefer. The tastes fit together and show a more elegant side of Ardbeg. Towards the finish it does start to break down a bit. I said a bit. For an Ardbeg the finish is rather short and again light at first, but breathing lengthens the finish (and adds a little woody bitterness, finally). Typical Islay, not typical Ardbeg is you ask me. Probably not a very active cask, since there isn’t any wood detectable, nor has it picked up a lot op color.  It reminds me of an Ardbeg Bond Reserve I still have, so I’ll review that shortly (also from Cadenhead’s).

Summa summarum, nice Ardbeg that needs to breathe!

Points: 86