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| Hello, that is considered one of our (nearly) day by day tastings. Santé! |
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November 21, 2024
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Extra Secret Whiskies
Generally, you may have an inkling of what it may be, however there’s nothing on the label to verify it. Thankfully, the identify of the bottlers is usually there to reassure us. In the long run, which is healthier: an unknown malt from a good home or a well known malt with a median status?
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Theia 1 11 yo 2010/2011 (52.8%, Scotch Universe, Highlands single malt, first fill PX hogshead) 
A nod within the course of Teaninich, I believe. Color: gold. Nostril: the sherry affect has imparted earthy undertones, fallen leaves, bay leaf, and hints of previous copper cash and well-used instruments tucked away within the basement, plus a contact of walnut wine (or Nusswasser). With water: nonetheless spicy however more and more layered with bitter oranges, marmalade, and cherry stems. Mouth (neat): a dry sherry profile, barely brusque but fulfilling, providing notes of pepper, tobacco, and leather-based. With water: a extra pronounced fruitiness emerges, that includes pepper-dusted figs alongside leather-based and orange zest. End: lengthy, retaining its spiciness and leafy character, with a touch of contemporary inexperienced wooden and a contact of bitter beer. Feedback: charming in its personal means, albeit a contact rustic—it would not intention for that plush, cosseting consolation, when you catch my drift.
SGP:461 – 83 factors. |
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Peated Billy G 9 yo 2013/2023 (50%, Claxton’s Exploration Collection, Blended Malt, bourbon barrel) 
All indicators level in direction of this being a Dalrymple, the commerce identify for William ‘Billy’ Grant’s Ailsa Bay. Color: white wine. Nostril: smoked Williams pears over beechwood, with sage leaves, mint, borage, a contact of charcoal, tallow, small inexperienced apples, and a whisper of mezcal. With water: takes on a touch of crushed slate. Mouth (neat): sharp, well-defined peat with a distinctly natural edge, modelling clay, paraffin, and mustard. With water: pleasant, leaning a bit medicinal with notes of mouthwash, ashes, gentle mustard, walnuts, curry, and manzanilla sherry. End: pretty lengthy, drier, peppery, and smoky. Feedback: I have to say, these indie Ailsa Bays making the rounds currently are fairly spectacular. They may enormously bolster the distillery’s status over there at Girvan—if solely the identify weren’t stored beneath wraps.
SGP:455 – 86 factors. |
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Peated Highland 22 yo 2000/2023 (54%, Watt Whisky, sherry hogshead, 294 bottles) 
A peated Highland distilled in 2000—may or not it’s an Ardmore? Color: amber. Nostril: I’m not satisfied it’s Ardmore; there’s an excessive amount of of that previous steel, dried mushrooms, peppered smoke, lamp oil, leather-based and tobacco, sheep tallow, paprika, and peppermint. It feels extra like we’re close to Fort William, with that delightfully chaotic mixture of aromas we cherish. With water: the unmistakable scent of resinous wooden burning close by. Mouth (neat): sulphurous, peppery, meaty, and mentholated… it’s fairly intense and splendidly discordant, paying homage to the Solar Ra Arkestra—really, area is the place. With water: notes of waxes, inexperienced walnuts, varnish and glues, darkish tobacco (like Italian Toscani cigars), and broth. End: lengthy, with the identical flavours shuffled into a distinct order, ending on tobacco and aged walnut. Feedback: completely bonkers, and that’s exactly what we love about it. Flirting with the 90s.
SGP:474 – 89 factors. |
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A Speyside Distillery 31 yo 1992/2023 ‘A Marriage of Casks’ (48.3%, The Single Malts of Scotland)
Color: straw. Nostril: showcases the quintessential model adored by the model’s proprietors—assume Imperial, Tauchers, Keith, and naturally, Tormore. There’s a contact of previous wooden (painted surfaces, ripe banana, almond milk), adopted by a bag of totally ripened apples, honey mead, beeswax, broom flowers, a touch of kirsch, and small wild plums. It’s completely charming, carrying a delicate, delicate fragility that’s fairly shifting—sure, actually. Mouth: like a handful of jellybeans which have weathered thirty years, alongside a little bit of fudge, hops, buttercream, blueberry muffins, and—unexpectedly—two or three winkles (the place did these come from?). It’s an intriguing mishmash however persistently light. The apple be aware swoops in to revive order on the finish. End: beautiful, that includes apple syrup, pink grapefruit, a touch of inexperienced anise, and a return of hops and honey. Feedback: fairly imperial in nature, however extra Sissi than Franz Joseph. Make of that what you’ll.
SGP:551 – 89 factors. |
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Pictures of Loch Ness (53.2%, Malts of Scotland, Corona Version, bourbon barrel, cask #MoS 22014, 249 bottles, 2022)
That includes the Level of Ayre Lighthouse on the label—maintain on, that’s on the Isle of Man! Should ask Ralfy if there’s a distillery there now. Color: white wine. Nostril: pleasant certainly. Mint scones, pineapple-banana cake, macarons, nougat… not a single off-note up to now, however what precisely is that this? With water: malt returns, with barley and truffles in tow. Mouth (neat): bursts with fruit syrups, fruit salad, contemporary mint leaves, pears, mandarins, and little fruit candies, adopted by a contact of allspice. I’m fairly taken by it. With water: oh sure, very good. Fruits, leaves, peels, pips, juices, and compotes all make an look. End: a lot the identical, roughly, with hints of white wine—maybe a contact of Pinot Blanc? Feedback: a stunning, fruity NAS that simply occurred to cross our path.
SGP:651 – 85 factors. |
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Highland Single Malt 1996/2017 (52.7%, Or Sileis, sherry, cask #13, 180 bottles)
Sorry, couldn’t discover a higher image, in case you may have one…Color: deep gold. Nostril: wax and walnuts. May this be a Clynelish? With water: steel polish, previous pennies, aged cloth, and geranium potting soil. Mouth (neat): traditional notes of marmalade, walnuts, tangerines, inexperienced pepper, a touch of salt, and that dual-natured character typical of Clynelish matured in sherry throughout this period. With water: now I’m not so certain—it turns notably saline for a Clynelish and will nicely be Ben Nevis from Fort William, once more. End: lengthy, salty, with notes of leather-based and black tea. Feedback: the cask affect makes the distillate much less distinct. At this level, I’d lean in direction of Ben Nevis. Solely fools don’t change their minds, do they are saying in DC.
SGP:462 – 86 factors. |
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Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fireplace 10 yo ‘Cask Power batch 09’ (55.6%, Atom, Islay single malt, bourbon & sherry, 550 bottles, 2024)
Batch 9 already! This sequence has piqued curiosity since its debut, and rightly so. In fact, one can merely get pleasure from consuming them… Color: gold. Nostril: intensely saline and completely maritime. Assume oysters with a splash of Tabasco and extra-brut champagne. The sherry affect is delicate. With water: evokes a beachside bonfire, fuelled by dried seaweed and driftwood. Mouth (neat): pure, fruity, saline peat. Notes of lemon, limoncello, seawater, inexperienced pepper, and a bunch of smoked parts. With water: mellows out a contact, turning into barely oily, with hints of toasted sesame oil. End: easy, rounded, effortlessly drinkable, with a contact of chocolate. The sherry begins to indicate itself right here. Feedback: actually keen on this batch.
SGP:566 – 86 factors. |
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Secret Island Distillery 15 yo 2007/2023 (53.5%, Discovery of the Abyss, #1, 115 bottles)
A whimsical nod to the deep seas—do lookup Chauliodus sloani for a contact of intrigue. Color: white wine, pale and welcoming. Nostril: quintessentially pure barley with a pleasant waft of overripe apples, the invigorating tang of sea breezes, a whisper of cigarette tobacco, and a drizzle of heather honey that inevitably brings Highland Park to thoughts. With water: a curious mix of carbon, well-worn brake pads, honey, a gleaming new iPhone, and, naturally, these softened, near-forgotten apples. Mouth (neat): honey mingling with seawater, hanging that excellent stability of candy and brine—effortlessly harmonious, poised, by no means straying into indulgence. You catch my drift. With water: splendidly extra herbaceous and complicated, a lightweight contact of rubber, and a resinous trace that straddles propolis and cannabis. End: lengthy and superbly saline, underscored by tar, pine resin, and honey—again to that heather honey, naturally. Feedback: fairly distinctive, this discreet northern island malt; it holds its secrets and techniques fairly nicely.
SGP:552 – 89 factors. |
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