Ardbeg 14yo 1994/2008 (55.3%, MMcD Mission, Bourbon, 270 Bts.)

A bottling that escaped finishing. The nose is of peat smoke, pears (warmed), juniper, burnt twigs, mildly vegetal, some malt dust, oats/porridge (cooked) and bourbon (vanilla & oak spice). A very good nose; perhaps this is why it escaped finishing. With water a bit more of the juniper pops out and a little less of the peat smoke which is a shame. The taste is warming and gently peated at first whit some dark chocolate and then the some of the burnt twigs and vegetal notes but then a huge dry peaty taste comes roaring out of the back ground. Very nice indeed. Loads of peat here but it has the good manners to bring along other flavours and this only enhances the taste which is very good. With a good dollop of water it is much tamed but still good, don’t add too much. However, don’t despair, if you do, you can always add a bit more whisky to correct the mistake. The finish is malty and peated which quickly becomes oily dry, very mouth coating and big but quickly changes to gentle and consistent. Prawn chips (the ones you find in Chinese restaurants) It is very long (like a Toyota on a long and straight highway; unlikely to stop) and persistent and reflects the nose and taste.

Bravo, what an excellent Ardbeg.

C$93

Score 89 points.

(Sample Bottle)

BenRiach 15yo 1994/2009 (57.1%, OB, for Kensington, Madeira HHD, C#4810, 250 Bts.)

Some people start to experience breathing difficulties when the term ‘finished’ is mentioned in relation to scotch whiskies. If you’re such a person, it’s time to strap on the oxygen mask because here’s an example of a finished whisky. This one strikes all the bells in the tower; single cask, cask strength, non chill filtered, natural color, Madeira finish and bottled exclusively for Kensington Wine Market in Calgary, Alberta Canada.

The first sniff (nose) into the top of the glass reveals some strength and a very slight sourness (like sour cherries) and then a rich sweetness comes roiling up for the depths of the glass. Thick of warm fruit in the bowl, sun dried raisins, brown sugar followed by some malt and then moments of something dark and even richer, earthy, slightly over cooked (reduced not burnt) marmalade and the slight hints of sour cherries. Simply put a stunningly good collection of aromas. With water the aromas become slightly less fruity and more earthy/malty/woody but the rich fruit is still very much in evidence. The taste is once again rich and much like the undiluted aromas, rich concentrated fruits and now some leather and tobacco enter into the fray roiling around in the mouth; after a moment or tow it becomes almost creamy. Excellent. With water the taste is much gentler with loads of the fruit, malt and the earthy notes. The finish is malty, dry and oaky with the afore mentioned fruit and some of the leather and tobacco. It is very long, warming and quite good. After a number of minutes raisins and malt are still present.

Try it neat for nosing and with water for drinking but quite simply any combination works. Finishing can work… Another excellent pick from the Kensington team. Well done Andrew.

C$110

Score 88 points

Macallan 17yo (43%, OB, ‘Fine Oak’, +/-2010

This is the newer version with the ‘two tone’ label’ white upper and mauve lower, the back label describes it as ‘triple cask matured in a unique, complex combination of exceptional oak casks; European oak casks seasoned with sherry, American oak casks seasoned with sherry and American oak casks seasoned with bourbon.”

The nose is fragrant and honeyed at first, delicately, followed fruit and malt. There’s also a significant amount of sherry and it’s very good. Spicy oak also makes and appearance along with hints of bees wax; it’s a really fine collection of aromas that are in harmony. The taste sweet (sherried) along with the malt and then the oak spice and smooth, gentle but not docile; it’s much like the nose but very good. This is brilliant whisky. The dryness and hints of Fry’s cocoa powder are really good. The finish is dry at first followed by more of the cocoa and hints of leather and cured but unlit tobacco. More spice, very active and very good. Sherry and spice. Very long, warming and pleasant. After a few minutes a dry sweetness develops and is in a steady holding pattern for quite a while. Never an off note…

What a very nice dram. Fine Oak indeed; worth a try once again, things have changed.

C$115

Score 88 points.

(Sample kindly provided by Macallan ambassador J. Wheelock)

Glenturret 10yo (40%, OB, +/- 2009)

From the home of the Famous Grouse experience. Considering that this particular bottle was not bought in Greece but in North America the fact that the back label is in Greek is a bit of a surprise. Such is international trade. None the less it’s was in the bottle that counts. The nose is of hessian, tinned fruit cocktail, malt and then ‘poof!’, the hessian is gone but there is now some grape fruit and slight hints of juniper along with pizza dough and green peas. The taste is malty, fruity and much, much better than pervious samples to be honest. This is a pleasant scotch whisky without a huge amount of bells and whistles. Black pepper. Spice. It’s good without being over the top is any regard. The finish is warming, slightly Oxo like, malty and hints of milk solids but this quickly dissipates and you’re left with fruit and malt. It’s also warming, quite dry, oaky and reasonably long.

Much improved and one to share with friends by the fire. Odds are it would be much better at 46% without chill filtration.

$60

Score 79 points

Doesn’t seem to have a website…..

Glen Elgin 16yo (58.5%, OB, 9000 Bts, +/-2008)

A bit of a rarity; an official bottling from Glen Elgin and also at a higher strength of 58.5%.  The undiluted nose is sharp at first but then shows mild citrus, honey, bees wax, hints of pine resin, some slight hints of malt and oak spice. It’s pleasant. As it spends more time in the glass it opens up further. With water the nose changes considerably and becomes meaty with hints of Bovril followed by some fruit (Lychee) but the Bovril/maltiness remains in the back ground. The undiluted taste is strong, resin-y, fruity with a solid firm back ground plus some good sweetness and then the Bovril which upsets the apple cart some what. Some honey saves the day however. The diluted taste is meaty, sweet and fruity. Very much unlike the undiluted sample. Hints of the Bovril in the back ground. It unclear if the Bovril is helping or hindering. The finish shows malt and a creaminess that is quite pleasant, long and warming at first but then some unhappy bitter notes creep into the picture.

All in all mildly confused; some good, some challenging moments.

£55 at the Whisky Exchange London http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/

Score 80 points

Caol Ila 12yo 1992/2005 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC, C#1830, 388 Bts., D10/’92 B05/’05)

Another single cask bottling by Douglas Laing & Co, without chill filtration and ‘no colouring’ and from a refill hogshead. The nose reveals good peat smoke, burnt twigs, hints of Dettol and iodine. So far it’s an Islay lovers delight. There is also cocoa, wafts of a lumber yard (think of piles of saw dust and freshly cut cedar), malt dust, sweet vanilla and some hints of junipers. Nice and solid. The taste is a crescendo of peat smoke backed by the juniper and then the sweetness along with some apples, the burnt twigs an then some more peat smoke. Excellent! Some water creates whirls and eddies in the glass and changes the whisky some; smoother and sweeter but the peat smoke is still the dominate characteristic and it’s very good. A little water goes a long way and improves it quite a bit. The finish is creamy at first, peated and then wood spice along with Fry’s unsweetened cocoa and then the creaminess once again. It is big, long and warming. There is loads of peat smoke for those that want it. After nearly 10 minutes the finish is still quite evident but has now changed to elastoplast bandages. 

A cracker of a Caol Ila and shows the brilliance of a refill hogs head and peat smoke.

Score 88 points

Many thanks for the sample Rich!

Benriach 15yo Dark Rum Wood Finish (46%, OB, +/-2008)

A BenRiach finished in dark rum barrels, unpeated, non chill filtered, natural colour and bottled at a higher strength of 46%. The nose is vibrant, clean with hints of grapefruit, honey and some light freshly cut grass.  The taste has more depth than one would expect from the nose and then becomes very honeyed backed by some good weight and malt. After a few moments in the mouth it opens up and presents a much larger profile but the rum is now showing its influence to great effect. This is working well. The finish is thick, fruity and powerful (bit not overly so) along with the honeyed sweetness and some really good moments of malt and cocoa. It is also very long and mouth smackingly good.

The finishing has added some layers of flavour, it works out very well.

$83

Score 86 points

Visit BenRiach Distillery at http://www.benriachdistillery.co.uk/

BenRiach 12yo (40%, OB, +/-2008)

In 2004 Billy Walker and his consortium bought the BenRiach Distillery from Pernod-Ricard and they’ve not looked back. The 12 year old is new to the market from 2004 and on the nose is clean, fragrant and malty. The combination of the fragrant heather and malt is a delight, there are also wood notes intermingled with fruit (light tinned fruit salad). Everything is working in harmony here and not a lick of peat in sight. The taste is superb, malty, fruity, feathered and honeyed followed by some really good oak notes (hints of leather and tobacco; toasted but unlit), the two later are very delicate and don’t over whelm. A late delivery of some cocoa. The finish is warming, very long and a reflection of the taste with the addition of some really meaty malt. After a short while it becomes dry but with loads and loads of flavour. After 10 minutes the malt is still rumbling on…

This should be on everybody’s top 20 list. It’s also nice to see a single malt stand on its own, without any finishing. This is the older bottling with the distillery depicted in a greeny/gold color and not in the current graphic in red. It’s not surprising that the distillery has developed such a following in such a short time.

$50

Score 88 points

http://www.benriachdistillery.co.uk/

Compass Box Bo Age Statement Oak Cross (43%, OB, +/-2009)

From the Compass Box Website;

We call this malt whisky Oak Cross because it offers the best characteristics of both American and French oak aging. A rich, medium-bodied malt whisky, Oak Cross combines vanilla characters from American oak and spicy, clove-like characters from French oak.

Innovative New Oak Casks

We work with a small mill in France that produces some of the highest quality cooperage oak in the world. It was our work with this mill that led us to experimenting with secondary maturation of malt whiskies in casks fitted with new French oak heads. This is something no one else in Scotland does. The result is malt whisky with more character and complexity. We use this technique on about 50% of the malt whisky in Oak Cross and it results in a superior finished product.

The Signature Range from Compass Box

Oak Cross is part of the Signature Range from Compass Box. The three Scotch whiskies in this range offer the spectrum of Scotch whisky style, from the delicate, sweet character of Asyla, to the rich, spicy, malty character of Oak Cross, to the peaty-smoky character of Peat Monster. Each is made from casks chosen individually, cask-by-cask, to ensure perfect maturity. The casks are combined according to recipe and returned to wood for “marrying” up to 12 months before bottling. Steps like these enhance complexity, flavour integration and soft mouth feel. Extra steps, but we think they’re worth it.

W.I. tasting note:

The nose is dusty malt, heathery, light chocolate followed by some hints of wine. It is very clean yet ripe and full at the same time, the aromas concentrate with a little hand warming, there are hints of the spice island in the back ground, again a rich clean nose. The taste is smooth, honeyed, malty, heathery and warming. It is slightly shy at first but grows in the mouth, a really good collection of flavours. The finish is malt, with loads of Fry’s cocoa, the heathery notes and more oak spice and quite dry toward the very end. It is also quite long and never wavers…

It’s good.

Score 85 points

C$58

Visit Compass Box at  http://www.compassboxwhisky.com/

Compass Box NAS Peat Monster (46%, OB, +/-2009)

From John Glaser, Whiskymaker:

Complex and Multilayered

A malt whisky for real peat heads, and for lovers of complex, multilayered whiskies. What makes it fit into the Compass Box house style is the balance of richness and subtle sweetness that the old casks of Ardmore provide to the smoky-peaty Islay malts. This is the great benefit of combining single malts from different distilleries. We are not limited to the produce of one distillery. Like a wine maker blending grape varieties, we can create layers of complexity. And, as of late 2007, we’re introducing even more complexity by adding some south shore Islay malt to enhance the peatiness and earthiness. As with all our whiskies, several months of marrying before bottling allow the flavours of each of the whiskies to knit together.

Peat Monster is part of the Signature Range from Compass Box. Each is made from casks chosen individually, cask-by-cask, to ensure perfect maturity. The casks are combined according to recipe and returned to wood for “marrying” up to 12 months before bottling. Steps like these enhance complexity, flavour integration and soft mouth feel. Extra steps, but we think they’re worth it.

For those who love big, rich smoky-peaty malt whiskies, this is your whisky. Peat Monster combines very smoky and peaty whiskies from the island of Islay with rich, medium-peated Speyside whisky. The result is a balanced, very drinkable peaty malt.

www.compassboxwhisky.com

W.I. tasting note;

The nose is of peat smoke right off, no prisoners, no malt, oak just a charge up the face and into the head. After a moment to gather the senses there is now earthiness and sweetness in the form of milk chocolate (think of the aromas of a chocolate bar that has been accidentally left in the sun); altogether it is vey nice. The taste is malty, peated along with some oak spice and dry cocoa (not the sun enhanced milk chocolate) and some hints of fruit (tinned & not berries) and a hint of heather which floats in and out. Again this is very good and very drinkable. The finish is of bbq’d pork rind, more of the chocolate oak, dryness, some hints of sweetness and some gentle peat that carries on for quite some time. At the tail end of the finish there is  the sudden arrival of a little bit of orange to mix with the chocolate and peat; like an Islay Terry’s Chocolate Orange.

C$58

Score 87 points