Review # 24: Glen Moray Chardonnay Cask 10 Yr old scotch whisky

Ahhhh! my first review after a month off (more or less) the booze. I'm almost at the end of my second bottle of  this stuff. I tried to write a review based on my first bottle but that one was a work based bottle enjoyed among colleagues over many a Friday arvo and sometimes it's nice to just enjoy company and relax with a drink rather than getting all introverted and analytical over a dram. This second bottle I picked up for sharing with friends at a whiskey club tasting quite a few months back. Everyone enjoyed it but I have to say I've noticed that this improves over time as the bottle goes down. The fruitiness of the nose really opens up with a little oxidation.

Price: 45 - 50 AU$. This is good value when compared to many other malts available over here - 6/6

Appearance: Amber gold with narrow closely bunched legs forming slowly on the glass - 6/6

Availability: I can get this in supermarkets and most bottleshops over here, not very common in pubs  though I'm sure it's available in good whisky bars. I've never seen this in duty free - 4/6

Marketing: The website is a fairly basic non- flashy affair. The home page tells us that this is light whiskey which I would certainly agree with. It provides some history and insight to the distillery and the coat of arms which appears on the label. It lets us know that the distillery is open for tours and that there are a wide range of bottling's available some of which I'm sure to try in the future as they are available to me and are well priced. There's nothing really interesting to see on the website but nothing stupid either, very average - 3/6

Packaging and label: The label is nice and understated and the bottle is clear glass with lovely curves on it which are reminiscent of a pot still. The label tells me this is a 10 year old Speysider that has been entirely aged in chardonnay wine barrels in traditional low roofed warehouses. There's no mention of caramel colorant addition or chill filtration - 4/6

Nose: Fruity sweet and rich with marzipan, buttery chardonnay, sweet ripe pears/ baked pears, apricot jam, malt creeping in and maybe a little sherbet zing too or acid drops I'm not sure.

Lovely stuff - 17/20

Taste on entry: hmmm, nothing unpleasant but not bursting with flavor either, fruitiness is there but understated - 12/20

Mouth feel and body: Not bad! Feels alright, coats the mouth pleasantly - 8/10

Finish: Medium to long finish, slightly dry with honey and grape sweetness, pepper and ginger too - 14/20

Total score -74/100

This is a whiskey with a good price point and a lovely nose. A decent daily dram but I'll probably take my time coming back to this one again. So many other whiskies to explore. 

Slainte

Caoimhin

Review #23: Redbreast 12 year old single pot still Irish Whiskey

Here's a bottle I picked up a few years back and waited quite a while to open - can't seem to recall if there was any special occasion for opening it. This bottle is one that I picked up while in Ireland and it held a little sentimentality for me as my dad was with me when I bought it. At the time I was looking to bring some nice stuff back to Melbourne with me and had been looking for this in all the local shops near where my sister lives. We found it at the right price in probably the sixth shop. Dad was a great man for shopping around to find the best value. Any way as it happens I've recently finished the bottle and really took my time enjoying it and maybe following my dad's advice from some years ago as I was a little selfish with this one, hiding it away and keeping it for myself to enjoy on quiet moments.

So this whiskey is triple distilled single pot still Irish Whiskey which is or was the quintessential style of Irish Whiskey or one of them anyway depending on what history or story you listen to. It's made in the Middleton distillery in Cork where Jameson comes from and at the moment is also where the majority of Irish whiskey is produced. I believe it is one of the largest distilleries in the world and that it also has the largest pot still in the world too! the whiskey is made in giant pot stills from a mash of malted and unmalted barley and who knows possibly some other secret grains like oats too?!

Price: €60 in ireland and $100 in oz it's consistent. Its a unique style of whiskey and is very good - 5/6

Availability: This sells fast down here, they can't seem to keep it in stock for very long! This stuff is available in good bottle shops, online, in good bars and also in whiskey bars and sometimes in duty free - 4/6

Label/ bottle: Nice looking green glass bottle with an attractive label. No mention of colorant added or not or chill filtration anywhere. 12 years old, 40% ABV, triple distilled. Pot still blurb - 4/6

Marketing: This is a well marketed dram. They sponsor or support "whiskeycast" at the time of writing which is listened to by whisky nuts all over the world. The website is nicely put together and serves to introduce Middleton's range of pot still whiskey. There are some well produced videos going into the history of Irish pot still whiskey and the available brands, tasting notes, historic timelines, reviews and awards and loads of other info too. links are below and are worth checking out - 6/6

http://www.singlepotstill.com/

https://youtu.be/Ei-J8v8k3n8

Looks: Amber gold, thick legs forming evenly spaced, not too close together - 6/6

Nose: Lovely and rich, sweet, almond paste, sherry notes, something sour like cherries on a black forrest gateaux, cereal notes, oak wood, vanilla and caramel. Cereal becomes stronger over time with some spice coming in too. Something oily in there also - 17/20

Taste on entry: Sweetness from the sherry some light spiciness - 15/20

Mouthfeel/ body: lovely velvety creamy, no burn or harshness - 10/10

Finish long honey sweetness with some some spice and some citrus - 17/20

I must point out that these notes are based on the last 2 drams from the bottle which has been open for a good while and thoroughly enjoyed.
    

Total score: 84/100

Cheers,

Kev

Review # 22: Teeling Whiskey Single Grain Irish Whiskey

This lovely bottle was a gift to our office from some good guys we work with. The whiskey is most likely from the Cooley distillery, formerly owned by the Teelings, currently owned by Beam Suntory. The Teelings did some really good stuff for Irish whiskey with Cooley. Not only did they open (or reopen) a fourth Irish distillery in Kilbeggan (the old Lockes distillery), they also produced a wonderful range of really high quality whiskeys which expanded and drew interest to the Irish Whiskey category. Following the sale of Cooley to Beam Teeling Sr. has started a distillery project in Dundalk - converting a closed brewery into a new distillery. His two sons (responsible for this lovely whiskey and a few others too) who were also involved in the business have opened their own distillery in Dublin which is the first operational distillery in the heart of the capital for some time - possibly 40 years. It will be some time I imagine before either of these projects have top notch whiskey from their own production on the market however it appears as though the sons have secured a substantial amount of stock or a decent supply deal with Beam Suntory or possibly with Middleton or Bushmills? Maybe I'll send them an email and see if they're chatty!

Price: This is available for $65 AU over here which for what it is I think is pretty good value for money. Similar bottlings on the market here are limited to Greenore single grain Irish Whiskey which can be picked up for about $100 AU - 6/6

Packaging and Label: It tells me when it was bottled for some reason? The bottle gives a little blurb about the family history. It tells me the whiskey is finished in Wine casks - unspecific details here but I believe from a little research on the web that they are Californian red wine cask (according to the company website). This is bottled at 46% and is a non chill filtered Single Grain Irish whiskey. There's nothing mentioned about natural colour and no age statement - 4/6

Marketing: The website is quite good with a series of videos and tasting notes, info about distillery tours the usual stuff, the website works well. There's a good video on YouTube of Alex Chasko, the head distiller talking about the whiskey making process at the distillery. The first time I tried Teeling whiskey was at Dublin airport where they had a free tasting stand - how good is that! These guys are young, experienced and good! Links for their website and the YouTube video are below, check them out - 6/6

https://teelingwhiskey.com/teeling-whiskeys/single-grain-whiskey/

https://youtu.be/uzaS6DRy7ok

Availability: This stuff is available in lots of good bars in Melbourne anyway, not just whiskey specialists, it is also available in some bottle-shops over here. It can also be bought online - 5/6 

Appearance: Looks natural enough in the glass but a little orange in the bottle - caramel added maybe? Nice gold colour in the glass with a touch of amber, legs form on the glass very quickly, thinner and more far apart then I've noticed before. Looks OK! - 6/6

Nose: Nothing special but not offensive sweet - caramel, something solvent like and some faint grains/ cereal maybe a little sherbet too - 13/20

Taste on entry: Sweet, red wine grapes are notable with some pepper/ ginger spice developing  - 15/20

Mouth feel: Good nice and smooth or oily/ buttery - 9/10

Finish: Getting anise in the finish, some citrus - lemons more lemon peel, and vanilla fudge, dry, medium length - 15/20

This is quite an easy drinking, nice whiskey. It's a little like a toned down American/ Canadian whiskey - Rye maybe with the spiciness but not quite as flavoursome. Not the most complex drop but quite nice all the same.

Total Score: 79/100

Cheers,

Kev.

Whisky review #21: 1495 Blended Scotch Whisky

Here's one to avoid, Read on at your own peril! This whisky is called 1495 which refers to the first mention in historic text of the distillation of whisky in Scotland. I could go on but this whiskey doesn't deserve the attention. This is bad whisky! My lowest scoring whisky yet! Oh Dear! looks like I've prematurely deleted my photos again OOOPS!

Price: The cheapest that money can by in Australia and also the best thing that this whisky has going for it (I almost scored this a 6 but I don't think this is actually good value as for a few dollars more you can get a much better blended scotch) : 3/6

Bottle/Label: Not much given away on the label, 40% ABV, no age statement, no mention of caramel addition but it is a budget blend so I expect that this is no older than 3 years old and has had caramel added and has probably been aged in very tired overused oak barrels. The label is not very attractive and the bottle is clear glass, featureless and nothing special to look at. Bog standard, bottom shelf scotch here. 2/6 

Marketing: not much to speak of really, actually in looking for marketing on this I discovered that this is likely a supermarket home-brand whisky produced by a third party for Woolworth's! The link to the article published by Aussie newspaper "The Australian" is below: 0/6

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/executive-living/coles-and-woolworths-sell-homebrand-spirits-though-its-often-hard-to-tell/news-story/e4163e49aa954b19ed99dc31a735198d

Appearance: Yellow gold with some legs forming on the glass - 6/6

Availability: quite available in some bottle shops but not all, this is because it is probably a Woolworth's home-brand bottle in disguise. This will not be in the duty free and I've never seen it in a pub, it is available online - 3/6  

Nose: big whiff of distinctive cheap scotch smell, getting some mint, slight solvent smell like nail varnish remover, some malt sweetness. The nose is not offensive nor is it interesting - 10/20

Taste on entry: not much! no bad flavors or good ones and then the burn hits! - 9/20

Mouth-feel: thin spirit, burns the pallet, this is rough stuff - 4/10

Finish: Burning! Dry, a little something medicinal like fisherman's friends appears and disappears very quickly - 9/20

Total score: 46/100

With this whisky you get what you pay for, and you pay very little. I bought this bottle for two reasons:
First and foremost to use in an experiment to make a homemade fireball type spiced whiskey.

Secondly just to satisfy my curiosity about the cheapest whisky available to me here in Australia.

That box has now been ticked and I will not likely buy another bottle of this in the future unless the experiment comes off really well of course! (It hasn't - Put rubbish in get rubbish out)

Slainte!
Caoimhin

Review #20: Dewars White Label Blended Scotch Whisky

Here's a cheap scotch blend, the cheapest available at the time of purchase and Oh Dear!!!!

I've prematurely deleted my lovely photos :-(

Oh Well! 

Price: $32Au very cheap stuff but is it worth buying? Yes. It is. 6/6

Availability: The first time I tried this was on a plane! This is available the world over I'd say. Apparently this is the top selling scotch in the US! This stuff is everywhere, pubs, good bottle-shops, bad bottle-shops, planes, probably trains.... 6/6

Marketing: Something is wrong with the audio on the videos they have on their website or I need new speakers for my PC!... no my speakers are fine! There's a bunch of videos but I don't know what they are about because I can't hear what's being said! These guys have been around for a long time and they know it but they don't bang on about it too much as far as I can tell... 3/6

Bottle/Label: Attractive label, plain not too flashy. It has a serial number to let you know it's the real thing! It has a royal warrant to Queen Elizabeth II. It lets me know that it's bottled at 40% - the legal minimum for scotch whisky. The label tells me this is made from a selection of up to 40 different whiskies, malt and grain, aged in oak and blended together. There's something about medals and gold and some interesting designs on the glass with a triscellion (a celtic symbol - I think) and some medals from the late 1800's. It's a cheap blend without any BS? Not pretending to be anything that it isn't - ok! There is no explanation anywhere of the medals or gold, no age statement, it's probably three years old - again the legal minimum for scotch whisky, it probably has caramel added but doesn't say so... 3/6

Looks: light yellow gold, very little caramel added here, legs are forming on the glass far apart and lingering a little longer than I would have expected hmmm: 6/6

Nose: honey, caramel sweetness with cheap scotch smell probably corn whiskey... fading to reveal some grain and cereal notes, not offensive but not particularly interesting, there's a hint of marzipan in there too: 13/20

Taste on entry: not much! light sweetness, hint of green grapes, touch of anise 13/20

Mouthfeel: not bad actually! Better than I expected, it coats the mouth nicely, gently and has a pleasant velvety feel to it: 7/10

Finish: sweet citrus coming through with some gentle spice and wood, touch of mint, dry, medium to long and pleasant enough: 15/20

This whiskey is not bad for a budget daily dram, pleasant to drink, nothing off in the nose or taste but nothing exciting happening, easy going stuff, quite drinkable actually.

Total score 72/100

Cheers,

Kev