[Scotch Review] Port Ellen 35 Year Old

For part of this week's reviews I'm going back to some tasting notes I wrote a while ago when I was at a tasting hosted by the LCBO that showed off some interesting Diageo Special Release bottles that was led by Diageo's Canadian brand ambassador.

So now I move onto the grand finale of my Diageo Special Release tasting review trilogy of special quality old cask strength peated malts. While the tasting price was steep at $120 it was easily worth it to try the Talisker 25, Brora 35 and this work of beauty right here, the Port Ellen 35 Year Old.

Port Ellen started off as a malt mill in 1825 until John Ramsay transformed it into a distillery from 1833 to 1892 until going through many owners until its inevitable shutdown. Like Brora it to was shut down in 1983 and now supplies barley for every distillery on Islay so the bottles of Port Ellen are just as rare and expensive to get now.

However, like Brora, Port Ellen is currently being planned for a re-building and hopes are to start spirit production in 2020 however building plans have not been cleared yet by the Argyll Council so Port Ellen's start date isn't as clear yet as Brora's is.

This particular bottle retails at a flat $4000 CAD. So to just get a taste of this and the Brora alone were easily worth the price of admission, by far. This Port Ellen started ageing in 1978 and rings in at an impressive 56.5% ABV. So let's see how this old beast of a Port Ellen does.

• Color: Dark amber
• Nose: Vanilla, citrus, sweet oak, raisin, woodspice
• Taste: Apples, vanilla, grapes, nice amount of cinnamon, ginger, grass
• Finish: Long with smoky fruits, treenuts and honey

While my notes might seem minimal let me assure you that this whisky has tons of flavor. Each note feels distinct and strong but mellows together in a fantastic harmony that not a lot of whisky has done for me. I tried this whisky very early into my whisky drinking career so that's likely one reason why I found some qualities of this whisky to be indescribable just due to how powerful and silky this whisky was. After trying a few more Port Ellen bottles years later I can certainly say that this whisky is easily one of my top 5 favourite drams beating out some really good and even older whiskies that I've had a privilege to try. If you can get a dram of this whisky at a reasonable price get it as it's a once in a lifetime sensory experience.

93 pts

 

Thanks for reading this three part review series! My next series will be focusing on some more old whisky so make sure to subscribe to my Instagram and Twitter, linked on the about me page on the sidebar, for up to date information on what I'm up to and to see what I might be writing up on next!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Scotch Review] Brora 35 Year Old

For part of this week's reviews I'm going back to some tasting notes I wrote a while ago when I was at a tasting hosted by the LCBO that showed off some interesting Diageo Special Release bottles that was led by Diageo's Canadian brand ambassador.

Brora is famously known as the original Clynelish Distillery before Diageo had a second distillery, originally named Clynelish 2 ironically enough, built in 1968 which took on the name. The original distillery was built in 1819 and became renowned for its lightly peated Highland style of spirit which has made it renowned by whisky lovers the world over. Sadly Brora was closed down in 1983 so as the one Brora I tried was distilled in 1978 that means there are only 5 years of Brora barrels left to be bottled so I am glad I got into scotch now as Brora bottles will be completely gone in a few years time.

However, plans to rebuild Brora have been cleared and Diageo is planning to have Brora's refurbishments complete and spirit flowing again by 2020! In the meantime, I have some older spirit to try so let's see how this does! It's bottled at 48.6% and you can still get a bottle in Toronto for a cool $2200!

Unfortunately I have classes to pay for so I'm happy with the dram, so let's see if it matches the price.

• Color: Golden
• Nose: Sweet apple, oak, grass, very lowland-highland like but also hard to peel through this I wish I could've tried more! The barely is very prominent here.
• Taste: Sweet white sugar, treefruits, apple, tiny bit of woodsmoke, grapes, some citrus, vanilla and caramel
• Finish: Long with nutty and fruity notes

This is a thing of beauty. Fantastic fusion of different regional styles to make something utterly unique and mesmerizing. Its close to being everything I want in a whisky and I'm sad that this style might be lost forever. If there's one distillery I'd like to see revived its Brora. But for now I'll say if you can try this whisky do so because it might be the last chance you get to try some 70s and 80s Brora.

92 pts

 

For more info on the re-furbishment of Brora Distillery check out this great article by Richard Woodward here: https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/latest-news/21099/brora-revival-granted-planning-permission/

Thanks for reading and make sure to subscribe to my Instagram and Twitter, linked on the about me on the sidebar, for up to date information on what I'm up to!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Scotch Review] Talisker 25 Year Old

For part of this week's reviews I'm going back to some tasting notes I wrote a while ago when I was at a tasting hosted by the LCBO that showed off some interesting Diageo Special Release bottles that was led by Diageo's Canadian brand ambassador.

Talisker is a unique distillery as it was once the only distillery on the Isle of Skye until Torabhaig officially opened its visitors center back in March of this year. Founded in 1830, Talisker was a favored distillery by many prominent Scots, including writer R. L. Stevenson, and created an interesting distilled spirit thanks to its swan neck lye pipes which gives a more extended distillation and its unique flavor.

This 25 year old Talisker is a special release that came out a while ago as the 25 year old commonly seen is bottled at the standard Talisker proof of 45.8% ABV. This one, however, is bottled at around 58%. It once retailed at $400 CAD at the LCBO so I'm happy to try this instead of taking a hefty gamble!

• Color: Rich amber
• Nose: Sweet oak and spice, sherry fruit elements, slight brine, grassy notes
• Taste: Sweet and salty flavor notes, not a lot of peat, cherry, strawberry, citrus flavors. Honeydew and a touch of brine
• Finish: Medium-long with salty fruits

Really great variety of flavors and fantastic maturity to the spirit. While its not super complex its still a very good whisky and definitely worth at least a try. Personally I wish this was under $250 because I'd definitely buy a bottle if I could.

88 pts

 

Thanks for reading and make sure to subscribe to my Instagram and Twitter, linked on the about me on the sidebar, for up to date information on what I'm up to!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

 

[Scotch Review] Edradour 2006 Signatory Cask Strength from Binny's

So I was hoping to eventually get around to reviewing an Edradour eventually. Heck it would've probably been within the first 10 scotches I reviewed ever however my dad liked the mini of Edradour 12 Caledonia he had stashed away so much he didn't leave me a wee bit to try and analyze for myself! So instead I'm trying one that a friend got for me in Chicago from Binny's which is a very good whisky retailer that you should definitely check out if you ever find yourself in the Chicago area.

Edradour was once proudly known as Scotland's "smallest distillery" but since that is now officially taken by Strathearn Distillery it now calls itself "Scotland's Little Gem" so they don't get in trouble for false advertising. Edradour is located across the road from Blair Athol in the town of Pitlochry, Perthshire right in the middle of the Highlands. It was established in 1825 and was previously owned by Pernod Ricard before being acquired by Signatory Independant Bottlers in 2002. Only 18 casks are produced by this distillery every week and only 2 people work at the distillery, which is very impressive how such a small distillery has gained such a reputation since they were acquired by Signatory and likely even before that. All of their OBs outside of the 10 year are non-chill filtered and they even have a peated malt, Ballechin, that I hear is very nice as well.

So while I couldn't start with an OB I'm more then happy to have an IB to try especially given that it's bottled by the distillery's owning company! This single cask of Edradour was selected by Binny's Wine and Spirits Merchants in Illinois. It's aged for 10 years in a second fill sherry hogshead and is bottled at 59.6% ABV. This is one of 290 bottles that came from the hoggie. So let's see how this offering turned out!

• Colour:Amber
• Nose: Raisin, red fruits, cocoa, vanilla, caramel, tobacco leaf, orange citrus, big blasts of woodspice and small amounts of sulphur
• Palate: Fresh and candied plums, sultanas, oranges, lemon, brown sugar, vanilla, salted toffee, chocolate, wood tannins, some treenuts
• Finish: Long with roasted nuts, vanilla and orange marmalade

The palate on this whisky reminds me at times of an older style of Highland and Speyside whisky. With water the chocolate is more dominant on the palate, brown sugar begins to show up more and the finish leaves the fruit and nutty notes as more of a complimenting background. However, this whisky has a bit too much young rawness to it that hurts the experience at times and really needs some air to settle it down. Overall it's a solid young whisky but for the $90 USD I paid I probably wouldn't get this one again but it's definitely worth a try as the complexity is still very good for a 10 year old highland.

81 pts

 

Thanks for reading and make sure to subscribe to my Instagram and Twitter, linked on the about me on the sidebar, for up to date information on what I'm up to!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Bourbon Review] Booker's Batch 2018-01

So it's been a while since I've done a review for a bourbon on this blog so I decided to get back into the spirit (literally) and go back to an old classic that unfortunately has changed not necessarily for the better.

Booker's is a small batch bourbon brand made at Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont, Kentucky which is the highest alcohol content selection in the Jim Beam bourbon portfolio. Because of it's proof and of it's quality it's become one of the go to bourbon selections in the United States and across the bourbon enjoying global sphere especially given its relatively affordable price along with whiskies like Stagg Jr. but lately this fact has changed a little bit.

In the past since Booker Noe, the grandson of Jim Beam and easily the distillery's most famous creator of the good ol' American spirit, released Booker's as a small batch vatting of uncut and unfiltered bourbons from selected barrels the cuts were generally selected at just over 7 years old and not a single bottling has generally not been lower then 60% ABV. While the latter fact has not changed, since 2017 the age statements on Booker's have dropped below 7 years old while rumors of a price increase to $100 USD brought a fury of online rage by bourbon enthusiasts across the internet on sites like Twitter, Facebook and Reddit. Fortunately for most the price didn't increase to $100 but new retails for above $80 started to pop up across the United States, which I noticed when I was at a specialty whisky store in New York State a year ago.

So today I'm happy to try a bourbon before the change-up which is the 2015-01 batch. It's aged for 7 years, 2 months and 16 days and is bottled at 64.35% ABV. Let's see how this older batch does!

• Colour:Amber
• Nose: Heavy woodspice and baking spices, apple, caramel, cherry peel, clove, lemon citrus, roasted corn
• Palate: Silky toffee apple, cocoa, vanilla pudding, apple jam, sour lemons, oak tannins
• Finish: Medium to long with toasted oak and apple chutney

I've previously had a 2016 edition of Booker's before I tried this one and when comparing the two from memory this 2015 batch definitely has more of a richer caramel quality. The jam and citrus qualities really push this bourbon into a satisfying territory for what I'd pay for a good strength bourbon. While I'd put the Stagg Jr. Batch 10 above this, although that batch was allegedly better then some lesser quality years of George T. Stagg to be quite frank, but this is still a very good bourbon especially when it was $60 USD. I have a similar year Stagg Jr. that I'll hopefully be reviewing later to compare so hopefully that'll be a fun time, until then I was very happy with this bourbon and you should definitely give this one a look or maybe a buy!

86 pts

 

Thanks for reading and make sure to subscribe to my Instagram and Twitter, linked on the about me on the sidebar, for up to date information on what I'm up to!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Scotch Review] Tomatin 2007 Caribbean Rum Cask

 

Tomatin has been good to me lately, their limited edition vintage of their peated Cu Bocan series was a hit with me and I'm excited to review another Tomatin so soon after the last one. My dad originally won this bottle at a charity auction for and we enjoyed a good dram together to celebrate the celebrate the end of summer, aka the summer break and not actual summer which ends later this month.
This is a vintage of Tomatin aged for 9 years in a rum cask sourced from the Caribbean. Not sure which nation or rum distillery this barrel came from so that kinda sucks as I'd be curious to know.

The good thing is that its entirely matured in rum for all 9 years of its life and is bottled non-chill filtered at 46% ABV.

This is one of 6600 bottles produced and retails at the LCBO in Ontario, Canada for just under $100 CAD. Never had a full rum matured scotch before so let's see how this does despite being a Tomatin.

• Colour: Straw gold
• Nose: Creamy vanilla, banana bread, sour cream glaze, sweet woodspice, apple, pear, raisins, light touches of dark molasses
• Palate: Sea salt, brown sugar, apples, pears, vanilla bean, toffee, allspice, white pepper, tart citrus
• Finish: Medium to long with spiced and tart citrus and temperate treefruits

It's an interesting dram especially on the finish but its still a bit too simple for this to be worth the MSRP, at least here in Ontario. The mix of tart, spicy and sweet is a nice mix but it doesn't really evolve over time or rise above the quality that I put most non-chill filtered IBs of the usual blendhouse releases aged in a hogshead in. It's a solid dram that I'd drink anytime it was offered but it's just not hitting the highs a unique cask really should.

79 pts

 

Thanks for reading and make sure to subscribe to my Instagram and Twitter, linked on the about me on the sidebar, for up to date information on what I'm up to!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

 

[Scotch Review] Toronto Whisky Society Vintages Tasting

So it's been a year since the merry folks of Toronto Whisky Society last met at a little party room in an apartment complex on the Lakeshore to enjoy some interesting single malts purchased from some interesting independent bottlers from Europe, particularly from Germany-based The Whisky Agency who since have been putting out some fantastic stuff into Kensington Wine Market and other Alberta based retailers. The Whisky Agency Speyside 1973, which is rumoured to be a 43 year old cask strength Glenfarclas aged in a mix of oloroso, PX and fino sherry butts, was one of the best whiskies I tried last year so when the announcement came around for another tasting for some new mainland European indie bottled whisky I just had to jump on board.

So I hopped on an Uber after work and headed to the Lakeshore just in time for the CNE to get rolling but the real exhibition was a few blocks away in this comfy looking condo party room where I see some familiar faces including the whisky agent who led last year's tasting and is a very knowledgeable individual on the subject of whisky, especially these ones as they're sourced from his private collection of goodies. He has many stories to tell about the whiskies I'll be reviewing below so let's get right to it!

Auchentoshan 1993 Maltbarn

To start off this tasting we begin in the Lowlands with what I'd imagine would be a selection from a distillery that many new whisky drinkers would start their journey into Lowland whisky with which is the Auchentoshan Distillery in Clydebank just outside of Glasgow. However, unlike most Auchentoshans being no stronger then 46-47% ABV and generally no older then 21 years old, this whisky is a cask strength selection aged for 23 years in an ex-bourbon barrel bottled at 52.0% ABV. Ah the beauty of independent bottlings! This one comes from Maltbarn, a very small German bottler founded by former Malt Maniacs member Martin Diekmann. This fact is interesting to those who wonder about trying a Maltbarn single cask selection because Malt Maniacs are considered by many to be some of the leading whisky critics in the world composed of icons like Serge Valentin and Davin de Kergommeaux so you know that someone of Martin's caliber likely knows a thing or two about choosing quality casks, especially given the fact that it’s a one man company for the most part. He releases all of the Maltbarn releases without chill filtration or caramel colouring and best of all, all the casks waiting to be filled are kept in the company owner's own barnhouse which is pretty neat given the name. So let's see if the barn life matches the whisky as well!

• Colour: Copper
• Nose: At first some sulphur, Vanilla, orange citrus, pear, lime yogurt, cinnamon, bready biscuits, almond butter, light cocoa
• Palate: Lemon lime citrus, vanilla cream, dark chocolate, cinnamon, custard, pie crust, raisin, treenuts, salty Werther’s caramel candy, white pepper
• Finish: Medium with spiced butter tart and vanilla whipped cream

Almost an Irish like palate with a really nice bready complexion that seems like a nice sherried Speyside like a Glenfarclas or Southern Highland malt like Glengoyne. The water brings out more temperate fruits and white pepper and sea salt that really pushes this malt further. Easily the best Auchentoshan I’ve had to date, well composed and a really balanced sherry maturation while staying unique and not boring whatsoever.

86 pts

A good start with a great Lowland single malt re-imagined! Next up is...

Glenburgie 1999 Asta Morris

From the barnyard into the pond, we now go into a Glenburgie which I've had a few of recently but never a sherried one! It's an 18 year old PX sherry matured selection bottled at 51.0% ABV from Asta Morris who are a small independent bottler from Belgium run by Bert Bruyneel, a Belgian whisky enthusiast and writer who contributes to the magazine Whisky Passion. The bottle designs are done to look bubbly to highlight the whisky colour which is bottled "au natural" of course. This bottle was originally selected for the Japanese market and our agent chose this one for us to try in order to show off more of the distillate despite what he calls an "oversherried" cask because of the chameleon like range Glenburgie can have with different cask choices. Yes I'm excited for a single sherry cask Glenburgie and wrote too many words so let's get to the burgie!

• Colour: Cloudy brownish-red
• Nose: Freshly cut grass, apple, cherry blossom, fresh plum, sea salt, nutmeg, creamy caramel, lemon citrus, raisin
• Palate: Salty plums, apple, thick mouthfeel, raisins, chocolate, vanilla, toffee, treenuts, dry lemons
• Finish: Long with allspice, glossette raisins and hot cross buns

Very reminiscent of a PX finished Deanston I had a while ago but at 48% ABV this one is more easy drinking then that one was due to not a huge spice influence and more a sweet and savory red fruit forward profile. A pretty nice soft sherried Speyside and it works well! It’s not super complex but it’s still very easy drinking for a sherried older single malt.

84 pts

 

An interesting new Glenburgie with some sherry sits well and clean! Next up is another Speyside, but from who...

Archives Speyside 1998

Next we look at an unlisted Speyside single malt from Archives, who are an independent bottler from The Netherlands who are actually a bottling line made by Whiskybase for their online shop and various export markets. Starting in 2011, Whiskybase were able to source some casks from distilleries across Scotland and have put out dozens of releases, according to Whiskybase itself, that have a variety of maturities but strive for quality which I can at least say should be true given how well received some of their bottlings are with some of Toronto Whisky Society's members who've been able to get a couple whenever they get listed in Alberta. So this  single malt comes from an unknown Speyside distillery, which possibly could be Glenfarclas or Tamdhu. It’s aged for 18 years in a sherry butt and bottled at 52.7% ABV.

• Colour: Amber
• Nose: Chalky, sea salt, light red fruits, sweet green apple, caramel, mandarin orange marmalade, lemon drops, sugar cookies
• Palate: Candied plum, vanilla, ginger, tobacco leaf, apple sauce, chocolate, allspice, light sulphur, roasted nuts, strong wood tannins
• Finish: Medium to long with leather, red fruits and boozey vanilla

Very good nose, the palate has some nice savoury and sweet notes and the ginger and tobacco work well with the usual sherry sweet fruitiness you'd get from what appears to be a 2nd fill oloroso butt. Water adds some more spice, chocolate and wood tannins open up which gives a nice twist. Some bitterness hurts this though and if this was younger I wouldn’t be a huge fan but the age definitely helps keep this one sturdy. Definitely worth a try.

85 pts

 

A really nice classic Oloroso aged Speyside malt steps up from the last malt well! Next we get into some unusual bourbon casks...

Glenrothes 1996 Jack Wiebers

Next on the list gets us back into the 20 year zone which is a single malt from Glenrothes distillery. This selection comes from reputable European bottler Jack Wiebers who I've had a Lagavulin from before so I'm very excited to try this one. They've been operating in Berlin since 1998 and bottle everything in Glasgow which is always single cask which sounds good enough for me! Glenrothes as a distillery known for being a strong sherry matured Speyside single malt but this time we're trying a bourbon cask, and a pretty dark one at that, because the agent wanted to show how quality the distillate is for this sometimes overlooked distillery and to break the stereotype given its reputation for sherry. This Glenrothes is aged in a single bourbon barrel and is bottled at 49.1% ABV. I never see ex-bourbon scotch this dark and the bottle design looks really good and it probably tastes really good too so let's hop aboard this train!

• Colour: Light Gold
• Nose: Creamy dolce de leche, white pepper, sweet pepper, vanilla stalk, almonds, shea butter, cocoa powder, salt, pear jelly
• Palate: Sweet barley sugar, dolce, chocolate, apple, pear, grass, minerality, allspice, some wood tannins, raisin, almonds, butter tarts
• Finish: Medium to long with woodsmoke, apple jam, cinnamon and buttery oak

This is almost a Chardonnay if that existed for Speyside whisky. Lovely rich buttery notes and a perfect mix of caramel sweetness, jammy fruitiness, nuts and nature plus earthy elements.

86 pts 

 

A lovely rich take on a classic dram! Next we go to a new distillery I haven't tried before...

Fettercairn 1988 The Whisky Agency

Next we get to the oldest selection of today's tasting which is a 28 year old single malt from Fettercairn distillery in Aberdeenshire in the Scottish Highlands. Fettercairn are owned by Whyte and Mackay and have been making whisky since 1824 after it was converted into a distillery by Sir Alexander Ramsay from it previously being a corn mill. This distillery produces unpeated and some peated malt which is peated to 55ppm of phenol. Our agent wanted us to try what he calls a hard to get single malt due to Whyte and Mackay not usually putting many barrels out on the market for indie bottlers and also to give a new appreciation for the quality of the natural spirit. This bottling from The Whisky Agency was done in collaboration with Le Maison Du Whisky, a whisky distribution company based in France. Its matured entirely in a hogshead and bottled at 49.9% ABV. It's a good start for trying my first from this distillery so let's see how it does.

• Colour: Straw Gold
• Nose: Raw barley sugar, green apple, pear, vanilla pods, fresh warm bread, soft caramel, cocoa powder, hay, sweet lemongrass, light woodspice
• Palate: Sweet raw cane sugar, butter, light woodsmoke, floral, grass, some mineral and earth, apple, sour cream donut, soft lemon, woodspice, sweet buttered bread rolls
• Finish: Medium with woodsmoke, almond butter and lightly salted

A very delicate easy to drink whisky. Reminds me of the old style of Speyside and Highland that I really enjoy but at cask strength this one goes high. It’s clean, sharp yet composed and I can see why he likes this style. Great stuff, maybe a bit expensive for what I prefer but still very solid.

85 pts

An interesting malt that shows the distillate character off well! Next up we have our final malt which of course needs to be a strong peaty laddie!

Ardmore 2009 Archives

For the final whisky of the day we go to Ardmore for a reliable young peated whisky yet again from Archives. This is a 7 year old Ardmore matured in barrels that previously held peated whisky from Laphroaig distillery and is bottled at a hefty 59.6% ABV. Let's see if the medicinal peat of Laphroaig adds some new dimensions to this young Ardmore.

• Colour: Almost transparent gold
• Nose: Barley sugar, salty peat, iodine, fresh lemons, perfume, honey crisp apple, banana, mineral
• Palate: Medicinal smoke, sea salt, honey bbq ribs, apple, honeydew, ear hottening spiciness, vanilla candy, cocoa powder, buttery oak
• Finish: Medium to long with smoky beer nuts, chocolate and grass

A beautiful peated Highland style, a whiff of Islay bbq but with a nice traditional Highland body to compliment the smokiness. The umami, butter and autumn honey sweetness work great in tandem and this one is probably one of my favourite peated whiskies this year and it’s such a young malt too! Well done Archives!

87 pts

Thanks to Toronto Whisky Society for bringing these bottles for a fantastic tasting of some lesser known indie bottlings! Lots of new experiences and knowledge were gained and like last year it was a great time!

Thanks for reading and make sure to subscribe to my Instagram and Twitter, linked on the about me on the sidebar, for up to date information on what I'm up to!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Scotch Review] Dallas Dhu 1974 Signatory

The school year starts up again for the young ones and a few of us old dogs. It's another new year of learning and discovering things you didn't know about last year. So as I take some breaks to clear my mind before some studying into my academic and career studies I decided to try an interesting single malt whisky on Labour Day that some may not be too familiar with, but given the easy ability to find information about almost every distillery on the planet this one is definitely more well known then others.

Dallas Dhu is a distillery from Forres and was built in 1899 by Alexander Edward. It means "Black Water Valley" in Gaelic and the whisky before being called Dallas Dhu was bottled as Dallas Mhor single malt. It was eventually part of the Distillers Company Limited portfolio before it closed in 1983 during the economic turmoils in the UK at the time. It's currently used as a museum and the curators from Historic Scotland want to revive the distillery as a commercial business and an education tool, which is interesting to know before diving into one of their cask strength vintages from a bottler that I have been really enjoying lately.
 
This vintage of Dallas Dhu was aged in oak, .likely a refill ex-bourbon hogshead, for 24 years and bottled at 59.8% ABV. It comes from Signatory who have made some very excellent 70s cask strength releases, including a phenomenal Tamnavulin, so I’m very excited to try this one.

• Color: Dark Amber

• Nose: Dusty oak, powdered milk, vanilla bean, green grapes, cinnamon stalk, grass, light cereals, apple sauce

• Taste: Wood tannins, apples, pears, vanilla cream, salted caramel, raisins, green melon, treenuts

• Finish: Long with mouthcoating caramel, creamy raisin desert and allspice notes

The nose makes me seem like this was going to be a tad underwhelming, the palate is a bit muted at first as well but then the finish comes in and like the sole 70s Ardbeg I’ve had it is something else. A beautiful mix of bready cereal, wet raisin and vanilla sweetness and woodspice to make a mouthcoating silky malt that works wonders. Likely more of a 2nd or 3rd fill hogshead which probably keeps some of the more intense flavors back but the distillate quality really shines bright in having not too much cask influence on this older vintage. No wonder so many people want Dallas Dhu back because if they keep their stills and the secret formula to their distillate I’d love to try some more because it’s damn good desert whisky but on the opposite end of the spectrum from your usual Christmas cake sherry dram. Try this stuff now before it’s too late!

85 pts

Thanks for reading and make sure to subscribe to my Instagram and Twitter, linked on the about me on the sidebar, for up to date information on what I'm up to!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.
 

[Scotch Review] Glen Garioch 1999 Vintage

I've been looking to try some more Glen Garioch lately, especially after hearing that the entire brand is being dropped from the shelves in Ontario very soon which makes me sad because I really enjoy this distillery. Fortunately for me, I was happy to see that The Caledonian Bar in Downtown Toronto had this bottle around that’s supposed to be releasing in the LCBO soon despite the delisting as their internal checks show about 10-11 cases floating around in a dusty warehouse. But in case it doesn't come at least I have a review for it now!

This vintage of Glen Garioch was aged for 14 years in Oloroso sherry casks and is bottled at 56.3% ABV without colouring or chill filtration and at glorious cask strength, all the pluses I need for what appears to be a quality Glen Garioch. It was retailing in Alberta for $144 CAD, so let’s see if this one does well compared to the 1995 Vintage which the LCBO previously had for $120 CAD.

• Color: Dark Amber

• Nose: Strong sulphur, Rich prunes, coffee beans, woodspice, vanilla, toffee, cocoa, wood tannins, raisin, leather

• Taste: Bold juicy plums, sea salt, sulphur, chocolate, sultanas, vanilla, tea tannins, apple, some pear, lemon citrus, tangerine, worm leather

• Finish: Medium to long with strong orange citrus, candied cherry and spicy oak

Probably one of the craziest noses I’ve had on a Highland scotch in a while. This punches way above its proof to where my ears got a tad hot after the first sip. Leather shows up in the fold after some water gets added as well as some softer spice and chocolate covered fruit. This whisky shows surprising complexity for a short 14 years of maturation and is exactly what I look for in a sherried Highland malt. It’s maybe a tad too spicy at times so add a few drops of water for sure but definitely pick this one up if you see it around.

87 pts

 

Thanks for reading and make sure to subscribe to my Instagram and Twitter, linked on the about me on the sidebar, for up to date information on what I'm up to!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Scotch Review] Bruichladdich 2006 Micro-Provenance Series Single Cask for Kensington Wine Market

Hello whisky lovers it's been a while since I haven't updated this blog so I felt bad and decided to be a bit more serious in updating it. So as a treat for you all I'll be sharing some tasting notes for a brand new Bruichladdich single cask that just found its way into Canada!

I've had a few Bruichladdichs and while some in their core range could be seen as semi-letdowns not a single one was bad or even mediocre. So today I'm very excited to try something a little different from this distillery in the form of a single fortified wine cask aged Bruichladdich distilled in 2006 and bottled in 2018 for a solid 11 years of good aging.

The other thing interesting about this whisky is the type of wine used, a fortified wine called rivesaltes. Rivesaltes is a sweet style of fortified wine from the Rivesaltes AOC in the wine region of Lanquedoc-Roussillon and is made from a variety of grapes such as muscat, grenache blanc, grenache noir, grenache gris, malvoisie and macabeu. It can be a red or white variety but this time it seems to be a red variety for this single cask.

This rivesaltes barrique aged bottling of Bruichladdich was selected exclusively for Kensington Wine Market in Calgary, Alberta, Canada from cask number 3307 in warehouse 12. Its produced with chalice barley coming from the Dunlossit Estate on Islay, which has been used previously in an Islay Barley bottling that is also this same year of vintage. It’s bottle number 250 of 270 total bottles and is proofed at a hefty 64.3% ABV. So let's see how this whisky performs at such a young age with such an interesting wine barrel maturation.

• Color: Amber

• Nose: Molasses, cherries, lemon, white pepper, raisins, some mild sulphur notes, vanilla cream, pastry flour, mandarin oranges, wood tannins, minerality and some earthy notes in the background

• Taste: Cherries, raspberries, chocolate croissant, vanilla cream, almond butter, custard, honey, fresh sweet lemons, tobacco leaf, light leather, more earthiness as the flavor develops

• Finish: Medium to long with red fruits, minerality, vanilla candy, almond pastries and wood tannins

My god this is a beast of a dram even at 11 years old. One other person I know who tried this before me said he thinks this one needs some time with a bit of air, and while I’d agree especially with the sometimes overpowering earthiness this one is still a really well composed young whisky. It's got a great dessert palate with some extra earthy and savory complexity that really makes this one a nice bold sipper. The nose could be a bit more interesting and the palate isn't super complex to an extent but those are very small gripes that I can easily overlook because of how well crafted the whisky is for the age and how beautifully enjoyable the finish is. Well done to the team at Kensington Wine Market for bringing this one in, you've made a big fan out of me!

87 pts

 

Thanks for reading and make sure to subscribe to my Instagram and Twitter, linked on the about me on the sidebar, for up to date information on what I'm up to!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Scotch Review] Ardbeg 1972 Old Malt Cask

So it's been a while since I've posted on this blog so I guess I'll start up again and do a new post every week now so it's a bit easier to manage so why not start with a gem that I recently had a chance to try?

I keep hearing from a lot of my friends who've tried a heck of a lot of whisky that one distillery on Islay had itself a golden decade and that they’re always worth a try if you can come across a dram of any of the releases from that decade. That chest of jewels is 1970s Ardbeg, the widely considered golden age of Ardbeg before its production halt in 1981, and today I finally get a chance to try an older bottling from that time.
This bottling of Ardbeg comes from Douglas Laing’s Old Malt Cask range and was aged for 27 years in oak before being bottled at 50% ABV. So let’s see how 70s Ardbeg does against the top of my whisky pours list.

• Colour: Dark Gold
• Nose: Sea salt, brine, campfire smoke, green olives, apples, vanilla, caramel, some cocoa, a bit of a weak nose for the age
• Palate: Apples, roasted pork, vanilla, lemon citrus, some honeydew, light oak, campfire peat, oak tannins, peppercorns, cumin, cayenne, melon
• Finish: Long with campfire smoke, pork, cayenne and spicy wood

This whisky at first seems a bit underwhelming but then the finish and the spice kicks in and it lasts a while, a very long while. In some ways this seems almost like the perfect way to get a non-Islay drinker into Ardbeg who doesn’t want overwhelming body but can appreciate a good finish because the finish on this whisky is phenomenal. While I’m not sure this hits as high as the best couple drams I’ve had this one is definitely getting up there for sure and I’m glad to have seen how 70s Ardbeg turned out especially at an age of 27 years.

90 pts

 

If you ever find a 70s Ardbeg to try or even buy at a good price definitely do so because it's a fantastic range of whiskies and you can't go wrong with a quality older Islay! Next week I'll be looking at an older Speyside so stay tuned for that one!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Scotch Review] Scotch Malt Whisky Society Review Batch #1

Thanks to my friend Tim for putting these one out to try at a recent tasting!

So I haven’t had too many bottlings from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in my history of reviewing. The only one I recall was a young Auchentoshan that tasted like one of the sweetest drams I’d ever had, but even then it was unique and I wanted to try more. So today I’m going through some SMWS bottlings my good friend Tim let me try at a recent tasting at his house!

For those of you who don't know what SMWS is, they're essentially a private membership club for whisky enthusiasts that also act as an independent bottler in some ways as they basically act like a local whisky club buying private casks to sell to their members. However, unlike some independent bottlers and despite SMWS launching in 1983 in Edinburgh, SMWS have been putting out hundreds of new whiskies since they started out in Edinburgh and sell their whiskies to members spanning over a dozen countries from Australia to Switzerland. In fact, they've released over 3600 single casks of whisky to members in their 35 years of operation.

So for the future I hope to do some more batch reviews of SMWS bottlings since there are so many in existence already. Let’s dive in!

Bunnahabhain 10 Year Old SMWS 10.106

This edition of SMWS is dubbed Salted Lemon Sherbert and it comes from Bunnahabhain distillery. This whisky is a 10 year old aged in refill ex-bourbon barrels bottled at 60.1% ABV.

* Colour: Light gold
* Nose: Lemon, Strong brine, sulphur, Strong Vanilla, oak, red fruits, allspice
* Palate: Lemoncello, Vanilla, Rich toffee, cocoa, allspice, light apple, treenuts
* Finish: Medium to long with spiced oak, almond butter and apple

Very complex and well put together. If I didn’t have an excuse to try more SMWS bottlings I have one now! Just goes to show how well Bunnahabhain does even at such a young age.

88 pts

Highland Park 12 Year Old SMWS 4.231

Next up is a nice 12 year old single cask from Highland Park. I’ve never had a single cask from them so I’m happy to finally try one! This one is called "Harbour-side Takeaway" and was aged in refill ex bourbon casks and bottled at 58.6% ABV.

* Colour: Clear Gold
* Nose: Very Briney, apple, grass, vanilla, oaky, sulphur, seaweed
* Palate: Vanilla, barley sugar, apple, caramel, treenuts, allspice, cereal
* Finish: Medium with salty and sweet apple and nuts

Very much a classic Highland Park profile pushed forward by some potent barley sugar and nutty qualities. Definitely worth a try and possibly a buy depending on how much you can get one for.

86 pts

Glen Ord 14 Year Old SMWS 77.42

This next single cask, named “Portuguese Custard Tarts,” is a 14 year old Glen Ord aged in an ex bourbon hogshead and finished in 2nd fill Sauternes cask. I’ve never had a Glen Ord before and it’s named after one of my favourite deserts so this one is a double treat for me! Its bottled at 58.4% ABV.

* Colour: Clear Gold
* Nose: Lemon, creamy vanilla, light caramel, apple, cocoa, orange marmalade, allspice
* Palate: Chocolate raisins, mandarin oranges, red fruits, nuts, creme brûlée, sweet oak, cereal
* Finish: Medium to long with cream and lemon-vanilla custard

A very refined desert whisky with lots of depth from the Sauternes but still a good blend of both casks used. Definitely worth a try and possibly a buy.

87 pts

Royal Brackla 15 Year Old SMWS 55.38

This next one is a 15 years old from Royal Brackla that’s aged in refill ex bourbon hogshead and finished in 2nd fill Sauternes cask. It’s dubbed “Flaming Red Wine Punch” and is bottled at 58.1% ABV.

* Colour: Straw Gold
* Nose: Red fruits, vanilla, rye bread, marshmallow, sulphur, sea salt
* Palate: Vanilla, sea salt, sulphur, brine, apple, baked bread, cocoa, red fruits
* Finish: Medium with wildberries and woodspice

Not as solid as the other two I tried before but it’s still well composed and bold. Definitely worth a try.

83 pts

Thanks again to Tim for letting me try a couple of goodies from his collection and hopefully I’ll accumulate some interesting stuff for him when we meet next!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Review] Pernod Ricard Celtic Whisky Masterclass

So for the last whiskies to finish off this year's Spirit of Toronto I sat down at a masterclass that shows off some single malts and a single pot still whiskey from Pernod Ricard's Irish whiskey and Scotch whisky portfolio. Leading this tasting was Glenlivet Canadian Brand Ambassador Frank Biskupek who if you know is one of the best at his job as he led us through some familiar and new expressions that many have been waiting to try. 

So without further ado lets see what we have in store.

Redbreast Lustau 

This is an NAS Redbreast aged in ex bourbon and finished in sherry butts sourced from Bodegas Lustau. It's bottled at 46% ABV.

* Colour: Golden

* Nose: Red fruits, light plum, vanilla, toffee, allspice, apple, light raisin

* Palate: Apple, leather, light plum, vanilla, allspice, brown sugar

* Finish: Medium with leather, raisin and nuts

A nice sherried Irish but sadly its a tad light from what I like from my Irish whiskies. Worth a try before buy.

79 pts

Glenlivet Davoch Single Cask

 

This is a single cask Glenlivet that came into Canada recently. It's aged solely in what appears to be an ex-bourbon hogshead for 14 years and is bottled at 61.6% ABV.

* Colour: Light gold

* Nose: Vanilla, apple, light sea salt, light oak, light allspice

* Palate: Apple, allspice, creamy vanilla, white pepper, wood tannin, toffee, sea salt, light plum

* Finish: Medium with plum, light nuts and white sugar

This whisky doesn't seem like it's 60%+ ABV at all, its quite approachable. The palate is nice as well but for the price its too unrefined to be worth the MSRP. Still worth a try if you like your cask strength Glenlivets.

82 pts

 

Ballantine's Glenburgie 15 Year Old

 

This is a release of Glenburgie under the Ballantine's special edition label to show off the key malts that make up the blend. It appears to be aged solely in ex-bourbon casks, maybe with a tad bit of refill sherry maturation but don't quote me on that, and is bottled at 40% ABV.

* Colour: Light gold

* Nose: Citrus, stone fruits, light apple, vanilla, light oak, honeydew

* Palate: Honey, apple, vanilla bean, toffee, light nuttiness

* Finish: Medium with vanilla and light nuts

Its going to retail for $85 in Ontatio but sadly its a tad too light for my tastes. Try before buy.

78 pts

Green Spot Chateau Montelana

 

This is a new edition of Green Spot's wine finished expressions. This time around the whisky is finished in Napa Valley zinfandel wine casks for 12 months and is bottled at

* Colour: Light amber

* Nose: Red fruits, light cranberries, oak spice, vanilla, apple, light oak, cinnamon

* Palate: Red fruits, woodspice, citrus, pepper, marzipan, light oak

* Finish: Short to medium with oak and almond butter

Sadly like with the Redbreast Lustau its just too light for my tastes and doesn't have enough complexity, try before buy.

77 pts

 

Glenlivet Captain's Reserve

 

Featured at Spirit of Speyside today and now us in Canada get to finally give it a try! This is the new step up from the 15 French Oak in the standard range. It's finished in Cognac casks for 6 months and is bottled at 40% ABV.

* Colour: Light gold

* Nose: Vanilla, brown sugar, caramel, light oak, apple, pear, allspice

* Palate: Apple, raisin, chocolate, vanilla, cherry blossom, cereals, light nuts

* Finish: Medium with white chocolate and cocoa

Its an okay edition to the core range but sadly I'm not sure if the potential MSRP of over $80 CAD makes it worth a buy but still a unique whisky that you should try when you get the chance. Personally I wish Glenlivet did a cognac cask finished Nadurra instead but to each his own.

76 pts

 

Thanks to Spirit of Toronto for running the event and Frank Biskupek for running the tasting!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Review] Wiser's Northern Border Collection 2018

So I'm here at my first Spirit of Toronto which is a whisky gala held every May in Toronto at Roy Thompson Hall. One of the big pulls of events like these are masterclasses where you can go in depth into some newly released whisky and learn very important knowledge about the industry and about what goes into making a good spirit. So I was very excited for this masterclass to finally meet Dr. Don Livermore from Hiram Walker Distillery who is a PhD of brewing and distilling and serves as Hiram Walker's master blender. We were all presented copies of his whisky wheel detailing the individual chemical compounds coming from each building block of the spirit (yeast, wood and grain) and showing how certain practices are maintained in order to understand what processes need to happen to get an ideal flavor profile for any whisky.

So during this talk we delved into this year's collection which is 6 Canadian whiskies including special editions of Pike Creek, Gooderham and Worts and Lot No. 40. So let's see how these whiskies fare compared to last years stuff.

J.P. Wiser's Seasoned Oak

This is a new edition of Wiser's coming out for Father's Day. It is aged for 19 years and finished in barrels with heat seasoned staves. It is bottled at 48% ABV.

* Colour: Light amber

* Nose: Vanilla, aniseed, rye spice, temperate fruits, maple syrup

* Palate: Molasses, Vanilla, apple, rye spice, light oak, tobacco leaf

* Finish: Medium-long with spiced leather

Very much a father's day dram. Really well composed and my surprise of the tasting

 

81 pts

 

J.P. Wiser's Canada 2018

This is what Dr. Livermore calls a "traditional" style of Canadian whisky. Its aged in new American oak, bourbon cask and ex-Canadian whisky cask. I'm not too sure what the proof was on this so I'll need to update that information later on.

* Colour: Light amber

* Nose: Vanilla, caramel, rye spice, cereals, apple

* Palate: Vanilla, toffee, candied apple, rye spice, cinnamon

* Finish: Medium with vanilla and oak

Very nice stuff, well composed definitely as full bodied as Dissertation but not as complex sadly.

 

77 pts

 

Pike Creek 21 Year Old European Oak Finish

This Pike Creek was an aging and blending experiment using three different oak types: American oak, French oak and Haungarian oak. 50% of the blend aged in French oak while the Hungarian oak is much less then the French or American oak. Im not sure if this is bottled at 45% or a new proof but I will update that information later.

* Colour: Light amber

* Nose: Clove, vanilla, allspice, caramel, cocoa, red fruits, honey

* Palate: Honeydew, sweet nuts, apple, creamy vanilla, wood tannins, rye spice

* Finish: Medium with spicy fruit and nuts

Very nice but id say its equal to the 21 Speyside but if you like your modest spice and woodsmoke you might consider trying before you buy! 

83 pts

 

Gooderham and Worts Eleven Souls

This whisky uses 11 variants of grain column distilled and pot distilled in what the ol' whisky doc calls the most complicated whisky ever designed. It is named after the 11 orphans Mr. Gooderham brought to Toronto when he came over from Europe and it is bottled at 49.0%.

* Colour: Amber

* Nose: Potent straw, vanilla, citrus, apple, grass, woodspice

* Palate: Apple, woodspice, vanilla cream, toffee, woodsmoke, building rye spice and cereal

* Finish: Medium with woodsmoke and apple

Much better then the Little Trinity but this will be retailing for $99 which might be a hard buy so try this beforehand!

 

80 pts

 

J.P. Wiser's 35 Year Old Cask Strength

This is a cask strength version of Wiser's 35 Year Old that won Canadian whisky of the year last year. It is bottled at 60% ABV.

* Colour: Light copper

* Nose: Pepper, vanilla, salted toffee, light woodsmoke, allspice

* Palate: White pepper, apple, vanilla, caramel, orange marmalade, wood tannins, some raisin in the back

* Finish: Long with spiced fruit, wood and raisin

Wow what an improvement from Wiser's 35 from 2017! At $199 for this age its amazing, definitely worth a buy if you love your rye spice!

 

87 pts

 

Lot No. 40 11 Year Old Cask Strength

An 11 year old version of Lot No. 40 Cask Strength. This batch we tried was a single barrel version bottled at 54.3% ABV.

* Colour: Amber

* Nose: Rye spice, pepper, vanilla, apple, candied fruit, cereal, floral

* Palate: Anise, rye spice, baked bread, strong cinnamon, apple, cherry, wood tannin

* Finish: Long with oak and spiced fruit

While this likely wont be too representative of the 2018 release I'm very happy to try this one. Very good stuff and always worth a buy!

 

90 pts

Thanks to Spirit of Toronto and Dr. Livermore for hosting this great tasting! The collection is growing and developing well and i cant wait to see what the good doctor has for Canadian whisky lovers in the future! 

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.