Review #13: Aberlour, Double Cask Matured, 12 years old

I picked this one up a few months back to celebrate the completion of a particularly onerous project in work which took over two years to complete. Thank god that's done! It was a big learning experience and I'm better for it and even better still I now have a great reason to relax and enjoy a dram! This is a Speyside single malt scotch even though the label says that it is Highland single malt scotch whisky. I believe that this is because Speyside is a small region within the Highlands geographically speaking and that the river Spey has a large cluster of distilleries around it and as such is considered a distinct whisky region separate from the rest of the Highlands which makes up the majority of Scotland's landmass. Aberlour have a reputation for producing sherry monsters and I've heard great thing about the 10 year old expression which is not available here at the moment outside of whiskey bars - to the best of my knowledge. they also produce a cask strength expression "a'bunadh" of which I have a bottle - lucky me!

Price: I picked this one up for about 65$AU which is reasonably affordable. It's a nice dram, quite enjoyable, not as cheap as some but a lot more so than others for what it is: 5/6

Appearance: Sort of orange-gold probably has colorant added, nice legs are left on the glass on the glass when swirled - apparently this is a good indication of the body of the whisky:  5/6

Available: This is fairly available stuff  here in Melbourne but not in every bottle shop or bar. 4/6

Marketing: The website (link is below) has a little 1 minute video on the whisky with some text and tasting notes, there's some text about the whole process and all the stages involved but no pictures or videos of this and the text is very general and does not really give any interesting detail that might set it apart so not bad but not great. One detail I picked up on is that the sherry butts used for this whisky are seasoned sherry butts as opposed to fresh sherry butts which means that they have likely already been used to age whisky and have been refilled with sherry to re-season the casks to get more life out of the wood. I wonder how that process of re-seasoning works?? Hmmmm! They have a contact us section so I've asked them a few questions about the cask-seasoning, the chill filtration and colorant - watch this space! 4/6

http://www.aberlour.com/range/aberlour-12/

Packaging and Label: The bottle as you can see is clear glass and is squat and has a lovely big cork on it which means I'll be reusing it to soak fruit in booze for some baking in the future. The label tells me that this whisky has been matured in both sherry barrels and traditional (ex bourbon) barrels for a minimum of 12 years and then subsequently been blended together and watered down to 40%. No mention of colorant added or chill filtration so probably this whiskey has been subjected to both: 4/6

Nose: The sherry is very much in evidence for me, lovely sweet rich fruity nose on this one, sultanas, raisins dried fruits, smells like my mothers plum pudding (which curiously does not contain any plums!) 16/20

Taste on entry: Sweet with sherry fruitiness and a little spice and possibly a little citrus nothing too sharp: 15/20

Mouth feel: The legs on the glass tell it true! This whisky has a lovely mouth feel/ body to it which would make me question whether or not it has been subjected to much chill filtration (and I have posed the question): 10/10

Finish: Medium length with sweetness and a little mild spice: 15/20

This whisky is quite good but not amazing, would make for a decent daily dram.

Total score: 78/100

Cheers,
Kev.

Review #12 : Buffalo Trace, Kentuckey Straight Bourbon Whiskey 45% ABV

Here's one of the goodies that I brought back from Hawaii. This bottle when opened was hit hard because it is very drinkable whiskey and I was in a generous sharing sort of mood at the time. I've really enjoyed this bottle and would recommend it as being great value for money.

Price: I paid about $32 US for this in Hawaii and here in Melbourne I can pick up a bottle for $52.90. This is pretty good value until I notice that my bottle from the US is a tasty 45 % ABV but the bottle in Melbourne is only 40% ABV so it might be less flavorsome. That's odd! Maybe this has something to do with Americans opinions of Aussies not being able to handle their drink? Or are they just watering down the product for a different market to stretch the product. Or maybe what I picked up was a more premium version of the product. For what I paid and for how delicious this whiskey is i'm giving it 6/6

Appearance: Dark amber gold, looks great! Natural color by law given that it sold as a straight bourbon in the states (I believe) 6/6

Available: It is available, I can get it in my local bottle shop, online, in whiskey bars but not in every pub. 5/6

Marketing: These guys have possibly the oldest distillery in the US and have the records to back it up. The link for the website is below and at the time of writing there is a virtual distillery tour with videos and a map of the distillery with photographs and 360 degree views which is pretty good. 6/6

http://www.buffalotrace.com/our-bourbon.html

Packaging and Label: The bottle is pleasantly shaped and clear and the label is distinctive. It's straight bourbon so there are legal requirements for what has to be in the bottle and how it has to be made. There's a little of the history and legend of the distillery on the back of the bottle which also talks about the ruggedness of the wilderness or something like that. What I do like is that they have a phone number beneath the line "let us hear your thunder" that's great! - I'm not going to try it to see if it works but nice touch! 6/6

Nose: there's a very pungent spirit forward nose that you definitely don't have to go searching for. molasses, oak, some spice and something musty and after a few minutes t eases off a little and sweetness comes through with caramel and fudge. 15/20

Taste on entry: honey and caramel sweetness, peppery spice, oak wood, leather and some spiciness beyond the pepper, not world beating but not bad by any means either.  15/20

Mouth feel: really good, top marks! This is a really full bodied dram which is just lovely and velvety and delicious. 10/10

Finish: peppery, spice, and some citrus peel bitterness, quite a nice long finish. 17/20

This is a really good value for money dram with big flavors, Really easy to drink and complex enough that you notice differences as you go through the glass.

Total score: 86/100

cheers,
Kev.

Review #11: Glendalough Single Malt Irish Whiskey Aged 7 Years

I've really enjoyed this bottle over the last eight or nine months. It was a gift from my Mom when she visited earlier this year - the first of two visits and the first of two lovely bottles of Irish whiskey that she brought me over - thanks Mom. This was the one that partially prompted me to start me writing these blogs. There was very little information available online and only one review I could find at the time so I thought maybe I should put up my own review. I believe from the research online that I found out that this was a Cooley malt and Glendalough are acting as an independent bottler of whiskey while they wait for their own stuff to mature.

Price: This was a gift but I think I have a fair idea that it was reasonably priced at around Aussie $50 or $60 max although you'd probably pay more for it in Australia if it were available here in the shops: 5/6

Appearance: Looks natural to me, a yellow golden color with a greenish tinge: 6/6

Availability: Sadly this is not available here where I am. If you are reading this may I suggest you go out and buy a bottle if you can. This is not likely to be in the duty free outside of Ireland. I have seen some of their other products available over here but at very highly marked up prices in my opinion: 3/6

Marketing: there is a lovely story about saint Kevin - how could I not like that. There's a video up too which shows a little historic fiction and tells of the legend of St Kevin and nicely weaves in their product list. See the link to the Glendalough website below. They give some tasting notes on the whiskey too and a little detail which is on the label anyway: 6/6
http://www.glendaloughdistillery.com/

Packaging and Label: the bottle is nicely shaped, clear glass with a lovely green label or three on it. The label tells me that the whiskey is 7 year old Irish single malt that is non chill filtered and bottled at 46% - very good. It gives me some tasting notes and a little of the legend of St Kevin himself and some other nonsense about the local water and weather: 5/6

Nose: vanilla, banana, fruits of the forest, maybe some rhubarb, something very dry that I can't quite put my finger on, it's spicey - cinnamon maybe or a little mixed spice it really reminds me of rhubarb crumble also there's a little malty cereal note in the background too. This is a lovely complex nose typical of Cooley Malts in my limited experience. 18/20

Taste on entry: It's not blowing me away! It's mild enough some citrus and a little spice and sweetness - vanilla and maybe a little sherbet (Dibbadab): 15/20

Mouthfeel/ Body: I like it, there's a little heat but I feel this suites the nose, it coats the mouth nicely - velvety. No chill filtering apparently helps make a whiskey feel better in the mouth which makes sense considering chill filtration removes natural oils and fats: 8/10

Finish: I like how this whiskey finishes. There's a fair whack of spice (peppery) and it's nice and long and leaves my mouth watering in expectation of more. I'm getting something vegetal and bitter with the sweetness and some rhubarb crumble in there too or possibly stewed rhubarb: 16/20


Total Score: 82/100


I really liked this one, very tasty stuff. I'm looking forward to trying some of their own stuff in the next few years although I might pick up a bottle of their aged Poitin at some point in the not too distant future.

Cheers,
Kev.