Tomatin (18 yo) [REVIEW]

Tomatin 18 y.o. (ABV: 46%, NCF)

• Nose: [19] - Sherry, Malt, Oak, Vanilla
• Taste: [20] - Barley Sugar, Sultana Raisins, hint of dark cherries
• Finish: [19] - Warm, Pepper, Malt, Caramel, and a hint of oak
• Balance: [22] - Almost annoyingly balanced, nothing really takes the lead here.  Just when you think you have locked down a taste or aroma it fades and something new comes your way. But this balanced nature makes this really easy to approach.
• Summary: There is nothing bad here, it is all good, but there is also nothing great.  It is a enjoyable drink, but I expect a lot more complexity from an 18 year old whisky. It is married in oloroso sherry casks, but honestly the sherry is barely there and I would lean toward the Aberlour 12 Double Cask over it (and it is half the price). TL;DR - It is good, but not great, probably wouldn't buy again.
• Score: [80/100]

Bruichladdich Laddie Classic Edition_01 [REVIEW]

Bruichladdich Laddie Classic Edition_01 (ABV: 46%, BOT: 2009, NCF, NC)

• Colour: Pale Straw [I will only talk about colour now when I know there is no E150 present]
• Nose: [21/25] - Floral, Barley, Dried Fruit [Think apricots and peaches], Vanilla, and a splash of sea-salt
• Taste: [20/25] - Malted Barley, Molasses, Cheerios, and the faintest hint of Sweet Tobacco
• Finish: [23/25] - Malt, Caramel, Peat, Spicey Pepper
• Balance: [20/25] - The scale is tipped towared the Barley & Fruit notes that are here, but in a good way, it really works for this dram.
• Summary: To me this dram is about layers and evolution. The nose starts off young and strong, hitting you with heavy floral and barley notes. The next few sniffs bring your to the Dried Fruits and Vanilla, and floating around the edge is the sublte sea-salt brine. At first taste, you are taken aback with a sharp and dry Malted Barley, but as your return for another it has calmed down a little and allowed some Brown Sugar / Molasses [almost rum like] flavour to emerge. As your let it sit in your mouth well chewed Cheerios come through. Sitting on the sidelines is a Sweet Tabacco a unique taste that I love. The finish kicks in nice and warm, showing this drams youth. Malted Barley and Strong Caramels at first. These fade after the first few tastes, letting a very mellow Peat note to come through. Present through every taste is Spicy Pepper just sitting there backstage letting everyone else take the spotlight, never once stealing the show.
• Score: [84/100]

Johnnie Walker Green Label (15 yo) [REVIEW]

Johnnie Walker Green Label (ABV: 43%)

• Nose [21/25] : The nose here is quite good, with nothing really standing out overtop of anything else.  Malt, Smoke, maybe peat way back there, brine, oak, vanilla and hints of sweet toffee.
• Taste [23/25] : Delicious malty flavours, smoke (similar to the Talisker 10), light salt, and those toffifee things.
• Finish [24/25] : More wondrous malt, spice - like anise or liquorice. The finish reminds me of the Bruichladdich Laddie Classic_01.
• Balance  [23/25] : A "pure malt" blend should be balanced, and this one is.  It is great tasting and fun to drink.
• Summary : I think what I have come to love about this is how it reminds me of other favourites   When I first tried it, I had no experience to draw on and I think it's subtle complexity was lost on me.  But now it is like catching up with old friends.  Which only adds to the soul crushing depression I feel when I realize that it is gone. *sigh*
• Score : [91 / 100] 

The Macallan (10 yo) Fine Oak [REVIEW]

The Macallan 10 Fine Oak (ABV: 40%)

• Nose [18/25]: Floral, Fragrant, Heavly Oaked white wine, green wood, like sherry notes and faint vanilla. The heavy oak here hurts it for me, and there is something like dept. store perfume counters sitting somewhere in the background that comes out after I have been sitting with it for a while that I was a little bothered by.  I added a little water, which toned down the wood and floral notes, allowing some honey / beeswax to come through - which I did enjoy.
• Taste [19/25]: Light body, the initial feel is sharp and dry, more of that young oak coming through. There is vanilla and creamy toffee in there, but it is nearly obliterated by the oaky notes.  It isn't that it tastes terrible, it just doesn't have much that makes it stand out as much more than a white wine on the palate to me.  Water opened up the fruits and caramels in this.
• Finish [18/25]: Warm and short, a little pepper, floral perfume, and more of that young green wood. Something sharp and bitter here too that comes in long after the majority of the other notes have faded, I have no idea what to relate it to but I tried to not let it influence the majority of the experience too much.
• Balance [17/25]: The strong oak / wood on every aspect here was a little too much, this is the only Macallan I have tried so far, is it what I should expect?  I drank nearly 1/3 of the bottle to make sure I was giving a fair review.  Trying many different things (water, resting, coffee/chocolate before, etc) to see the different aspects of it.
• Summary :I hope I had a tainted bottle here, as most of the reviews I had read about this one seemed so promising. I can see the promise of what this dram could be. I talk like I hated it, but it wasn't bad, just not great. I will come back to it someday, with a new bottle, in hopes of having it be redeemed. I will note that a few drops of water worked a little magic and did make it more enjoyable. Water giving maybe a +5 overall to the score. +2 on the nose, +1 everywhere else.
• Score : [72 / 100], with water [77 / 100]

Lagavulin (16 yo) [REVIEW]

Lagavulin 16 yo (ABV: 43%)

• Colour: Somewhere between chestnut and tawny.

• Nose: Robust and beautiful, like the refined and intellectual brother of the Laphroaig QC. Coming in with heavy smoke, making way to the peat, and finally iodine in the best way.  As the strongest notes fade, caramel and charred wood come through. Something like a rugged canvas backpack in there too.  All the favorite smells of a rough camping trip are here and it is glorious.
• Body: Smooth and thick, becomes wonderfully oily when left to sit on the tongue.
• Palate: A thick and wonderous bombardmend of smoke and peat. Followed up with subtle sweet notes of toffee, vanilla, and cream.  Just a touch of sea salt.
• Finish: Warm, long, like the last embers of a late night campfire on a soundless night.  More smoke and peat, giving way to caramel notes, touch of pepper, and the promise of fantastic next sip.
• Summary: I love this dram (can you tell?), it blew my mind the first time I had it.  The nearly perfect balance of flavors, with seemingly endless subtley and depth, give me a new adventure every dram while still staying so comfortably familar.  I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a beautifully crafted whisky, and even those who don't.
• Score: 96 / 100

Laphroaig Quarter-Cask (ABV: 48%)


This is a bit of a different review for me, as it was at a restaurant. I went for steak and decided to glance the bar while waiting - they had an unopened bottle of Laphroaig QC on the shelf. I asked how much, $6 for a single, $9 for a double. That sealed the deal, as I had not tried any Laphroaig malts before. I tried to nose/taste as much as I could before I started eating my steak (Baseball cut sirloin, med. rare, for those who care ) and it affected the taste. The smokey qualities of the whisky and the charred seasoned crust of the steak worked very well together.

• Colour: Light Straw? (Light was really bad, none of my pics really turned out)
• Nose: Smoke, Brine, Iodine, Mossy Logs, Damp, there is a lot going on here.
• Body: Thin and pleasent, expected it to be a little heavier at 48% - but not complaining.
• Palate: Peat, Smoked Honey (is that a thing?), liquorice, did I mention Peat?
• Finish: PEPPER->SMOKE->MORE PEPPER->Soft Lingering smoke, it is really nice - doesn't overstay it's welcome.
• Summary: I really like this, it is very robust, when the server was carrying it over I started nosing it from like 1 meter away. The flavors are intense and complex. I had worried that I would find the medicinal qualities of Laphroaig overwhelming, and there was a part of my brain that said "ACK! Don't drink that", but I didn't listen and that makes me glad. That being said, it is a lot of iodine to handle and it throws off the balance for me a bit, but just a bit. I would still pick the Lagavuilin 16 over this anyday because of the balance between smoke/peat/iodine being more to my liking, but it was a quality dram and I will be picking up a bottle or two.
• Score: 91/100

Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban (12 yo) [REVIEW]

Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban (ABV: 46%, 12 yo, matured in Bourbon casks, then finished in Port casks)

• Atmosphere : Post putting the kid to bed bliss, Parks & Recreation on the TV (Ron would be angry that I am not drinking my Laga 16, but I am note ready to review it just yet, too much going on there)
• Colour : Tawny
• Nose : Port, Very Fruity, Floral, Beeswax, subtle vanilla - almost ninja like, some toffee, and something I cannot figure out - a sweet something...
• Body : Light, smooth, and a little dry
• Palate : Flowers, port again, spiced cider and dried fruit, more of that honey/beeswax, just a little wooded note here and there
• Finish : Warm, a little spice, and here the oak comes that the palate teased about, smooths out nicely
• Summary : I really like the Quinta Ruban, I have not tried a full blown sherried scotch yet and I hope they go further down this path when I do. The nose on this is my favorite part, I sat there for a while trying to take it all in. The body is pleasent, I hoped for it to be a little more oily, with the 46% ABV. It has a nice dry snap to it that I enjoy, the fruits and honey on the nose made me worry it would be sweet, but it was not the case. Going back to this will be a pure delight, as I am sure there is much more to it that I have not discovered. I would buy this again, but hopefully at less than the $75 CAD I had to pay.
• Score : SGP740, 90/100