Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 551: Ben Nevis 3 Year Old 2021 for Klubb23 – Double Trouble

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries two very young, peated Ben Nevis releases. Recently, Ben Nevis started producing peated malt again. Belgian bottler Klubb23 was eager to find out how that tastes and selected two sister casks – octaves 85 and 86, but both quite different. One is an Ex-blended malt octave, the other an ex-Caol Ila Oloroso octave. Oh, my! Now Mark is eager to find out as well.

https://youtu.be/2rGWYk6bu7k

ralfy review 1061 Extras – NO bottle Containers needed !

Port Charlotte SYC01, 54.4%

https://youtu.be/9LF9ba2qne8

Matured in ex-bourbon casks and finished in Syrah (shiraz) wine casks – here we have another addition to the Cask Exploration Series from Bruichladdich.

As good as all of this sounds – heavily peated, fun finish, cask strength, etc. I have a few issues with this bottle.

Starting with the positives, this liquid has such a lively and fresh nose to it. Even with the heavy peat that runs through the core of the product, the wine casks have added such a red fruit, summer berry, and raspberry sauce aroma to the nose. That is quite a remarkable thing to do with a liquid as powerful as Port Charlotte.

The palate is where we run into some of the first problems. There are some extremely vegetal notes that really dominate the overall feel of the whisky, for me anyway. The video goes into a little more detail as to what it actually reminds me of, but it isn’t complimentary. The finish is incredibly long and could actually give Apocalypse Now a challenge for run time, but it is full of those flavours that just don’t sit right with me.

My biggest issue with this bottle is the price. Now I was sent this by Remy Cointreau’s PR team, quite a treat. Thank you! At retail, you’ll be paying £110 a bottle for this…standard Port Charlotte is normally below £50 a bottle for something which is nearly the strength of this wine finish variation. Is the cask that expensive? I know previous releases have been around the same price, the MRC01 release, etc. But I’ve been in a room when people have tried that, and it split the room in half, but not because of the peated element, but because of the wine.

Overall, this is an expensive purchase if you end up going for it, but I believe standard Port Charlotte to be a significantly better bottle for more than half the price of this.

The Good Dram Show – Episode 579 ‘Glaschu Spirits’

Welcome to this week’s episode of the show, in which I’ll be taking a look at a selection of releases from Glasgow based Independent bottling company, Glaschu Spirits. The Good Dram Show with Chris Goodrum Episode 579 – Does It Float My Flying Boat?!!

Filmed in The Study Nottingham

Featuring

Glaschu Spirits Company Tomintoul 2016 (7 year old) 50%
Glaschu Spirits Company Burnside 2011 (12 year old) 50%
Glaschu Spirits Company Teaninich 2011(13 year old) 50%
Glaschu Spirits Company Macduff 2007 (16 year old) 50%
Glaschu Spirits Company Macduff 2007 (16 year old) 50%
Glashu Spirits Coal Ila 2012 (12 year old) 50%

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 550: Numero Dertien PX versus Virgin Oak

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries two very young, Dutch whisky expressions. What if a father, son, and son-in-law acquire an iStill and have their own farm? That’s right, they start making whisky. Together with his son Arend Jr. and son-in-law Jaap, Arend van Nieuwland, born in Breda, gets to work on farm De Wieke in Veendam, where they make whisky using their own home-grown barley – once malted – with an iStill. Last summer, the first two expressions were released under the label ‘Numero Dertien,’ the name of the farm. The whisky is, of course, young – specifically 3 years old – and matured in a PX cask and a Virgin Oak cask. Mark puts them head-to-head.

https://youtu.be/nEvlWnQ4vQE

ralfy review 1061 – Bunnahabhain 12yo @60.1%vol: (2023 Edition)

https://youtu.be/KpN5beC2kP8

Wolves 5 Year Old American Single Malt, 48%

I must apologise to the folks over at Wolves whiskey. They sent me this bottle, all the way from California and I’m only just getting around to reviewing it.

In a way, the wait was a good thing. The USA have just passed a GI for the definition of American Single Malt Whiskies, and having read through that whisky sipping on this felt like I was at the start of something quite special.

This five year old single malt is matured in Arizona inside of Californian red wine casks. Once a batch has been selected from these casks, it is then finished in ex-Cognac casks for a final fruity flourish.

The liquid is distilled and bottled by San Tan Spirits in Arizona exclusively for Wolves Whiskey.

I’m really liking the flavour profile of this stuff. Despite the maturation in desert heard as well as wine and Cognac casks, you still get some liveliness from the spirit. That aside, it’s drenched in apple, honey, biscuits and a little milk chocolate.

ralfy review 1060 Extras – Recalibrating our palate for the year.

ralfy review 1060 – Arran 10yo @46%vol: (Whisky For The Year 2025)