Tag: Tasting

Macallan 12 year old Sherry Oak

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Macallan Sherry Oak ReviewDistillery: Macallan
Region: Speyside/Highland
Age: 12 years old
abv: 40%

Obtaining a license to distil legally in 1824, the Macallan distillery is located in a beautiful manor house right on the banks of the river Spey. However, due to a set of regulatory changes in 2009, the Macallan is officially no longer a Speyside distillery and its bottles are now labelled as a Highland malt. Unburdened by legal wrangling, whisky experts nonetheless continue to consider Macallan as a Speyside malt. Being located only a mile away from Aberlour distillery, which is a Speyside whisky, this seems to make sense to me.

Either way, the Speyside/Highland debate is somewhat irrelevant, as Macallan stands out in whichever category you place it. It is praised by experts as one of the finest malts in production, and often sells for record prices at auctions. Macallan can even boast the likes of James Bond and Harvey Specter among its fans. Such marketing has paid off: Macallan is now the third best selling single malt in the world by volume. While I never ranked Macallan as one of my favourite whiskies, I recently tried the Macallan 12 years old Sherry Oak in a blind tasting and placed it head and shoulders above the other drams on offer that night.  Where other whiskies might receive an additional few months in sherry casks, Macallan 12 years old was matured exclusively in sherry casks, and it shows. This is an exquisitely smooth and luxurious dram, to be savoured in front of a hearth fire on a cold winter’s day.

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Old Pulteney Duncansby Head

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Old Pulteney Duncansby Head 01Distillery: Old Pulteney
Region: Highland
Age: No age statement
abv: 46%

Named after a lighthouse near the distillery town of Wick, Duncansby Head forms part of Old Pulteney’s travel retail Lighthouse Collection. Like so many other travel retail expressions, this is a no age statement whisky. It has been matured in both bourbon and sherry casks and aims to combine the distillery’s maritime character with richer, fruitier flavours.

Old Pulteney is the northernmost distillery on the Scottish mainland and was established in 1826. At this time, the distillery was accessible only by sea. Coupled with a strong fishing tradition, Old Pulteney is proud to have retained some coastal influences in its whisky. Expect tangy, salty notes from this award winning distillery.

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Glenkinchie Distillers Edition

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Glenkinchie Distiller's Edition ReviewDistillery: Glenkinchie
Region: Lowland
Age: Distilled in 2000, bottled in 2013
abv: 43%

Glenkinchie is one of only a handful of distilleries in the Lowlands. Situated just 15 miles from Edinburgh, it is a popular day trip for tourists wishing to visit a Scottish distillery. Part of Diageo’s Classic Malts range, Glenkinchie embodies the ‘typical’ Lowlands character of gentle, grassy whiskies. As with the other Classic Malts, Glenkinchie produces a Distillers Edition; a whisky that has received an extra maturation. For Glenkinchie, Amontillado sherry casks were chosen, giving the whisky a dry, fruity character. This version was distilled in 2000 and bottled in 2013, meaning it is likely a few months older than Glenkinchie’s standard expression.

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Talisker 10 year old

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Talisker 10 year old reviewDistillery: Talisker
Region: Islands
Age: 10 years old
abv: 45.8%

Talisker may have been “made by the sea”, but there is nothing fishy about their whiskies. Being the only distillery on the Isle of Skye, Talisker is a perfect reflection of the island on which it was produced. Rugged, windswept and utterly breathtaking, Skye’s favourite drink has weathered the storms since 1830.

Despite a flurry of No Age Statement releases in recent years, Talisker 10 year old continues to hold its own as one of the distillery’s finest expressions (the same coincidentally can be said for the 18 year old). Bottled at the distillery’s customary 45.8%, Talisker 10 has taken on many of Skye’s coastal influences during the maturation process. The result is a bold whisky that packs quite a punch, despite being only mildly peated.

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The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 year old

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Balvenie 14 Caribbean CaskDistillery: The Balvenie
Region: Speyside
Age: 14 years old
abv: 43%

The Balvenie Caribbean Cask has been around for some time, but was
previously branded as the Cuban Cask (shh don’t let anyone know the Commies might have had anything to do with it) and Golden Cask (too nondescript). What all these different names point at is that the whisky has received an extra maturation in casks that previously held rum, giving it a sweet, spicy character. There are not too many rum finishes out there, so be sure to give this one a try. You won’t be disappointed!

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Ardmore Legacy

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Ardmore LegacyDistillery: Ardmore
Region: Highland
Age: No age statement
abv: 40%

Ardmore Legacy was introduced in 2014 as a replacement for the Traditional Cask bottling, and continues the all-too-rare tradition of peated Highland malts. It is a mix of 80% peated and 20% unpeated malt and is bottled at 40% abv; 6% lower than its predecessor. Ardmore distillery is located in the east Highlands in Aberdeenshire, not too far from the Speyside. It was founded by William Teacher & Sons in 1898 as a steady supply for their Teacher’s blend, but has thankfully come into its own right as a single malt.

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