[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.

[Review] Arran 20 Year Old 1996 Single Cask

So for this week's final review heading into Spirit of Toronto, which is tomorrow evening and I'm very excited about the masterclasses coming up for it, I decided to share a review of a whisky that I really enjoyed recently which is this 20 year old Arran single malt which is a single cask release so bottled out of 1 barrel and not just a vatting of multiple barrels like most distillery manager's generally do.

Arran is an interesting distillery because it is one of the only Island distilleries known for its unpeated malt rather than its peated malt whisky. Arran was founded in 1994 in the Isle of Arran in the town of Lochranza on the north coast of the isle. It was founded by former Chivas director Harold Currie who wanted to start a distillery on the island due to its rich heritage in distilling, albeit illegally, and founded the first new distillery on Arran since Lagg closed down in 1834. By the time their first legal single malt was ready it became the first single malt served on Arran in 160 years. At a time before construction was finished a family of golden eagles made a nest in the distillery so construction was halted for a while due to the protected nature of the species. The distillery owner saw this as a sign and decided to use the image of the golden eagle on the packaging of Arran whiskies which you can see in the box above.

Now for this single malt it comes from an early point in the distillery's history as it was started in 1996, 1 year after Arran opened. It's matured solely in a refill sherry puncheon, so likely a pedro ximenez sherry maturation, and is bottled at 52.6% ABV. It was a barrel purchased and sold by the LCBO in Ontario, Canada for around $212 CAD.

• Colour: Light amber
• Nose: Rich honeysuckle, caramel, vanilla, floral, stone fruits, sweet tropical fruits
• Taste: Light anise, vanilla, caramel, rich baking spice, stone fruits, raisin, floral notes, citrus fruits, a hint of sweet pineapple
• Finish: Medium-Long with spicy stone fruits, white pepper and caramel

Wow this is really good stuff. Despite my fears for this bottling I was very surprised at how good this whisky was the whole way through. The nose is nice and the palate is simply delicious. Lots of complexity and a great mix of sweet, floral and spicy notes throughout. Outside of some bitterness on the palate I don’t really have any qualms outside of maybe a fuller body and a longer finish. For the price offered I’d say it was a good buy for me but because of my bias I’ll say try before you buy.

86 pts

 

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] AnCnoc 22 Year Old

It's Wednesday again and sadly I'm feeling a bit sick while writing this post. While I'm hoping this cold will be over and done with by the time Saturday afternoon comes hopefully I can take some focus away from sore throats and stuffy noses to talk about a whisky that I tried recently, a 22 Year Old AnCnoc.

AnCnoc is a line of distillery bottlings made by Knockdhu Distillery in the Scottish Highlands near Banffshire. Built in 1894, Knockdhu is owned by Inver House (owners of Balblair, Old Pulteney and Speyburn) and produced 1.7 million liters of malt whisky per year. Originally founded to produce malt for Haig's blended scotch (if you don't know who Haig was see my last blogpost on Lowland Whisky) nowadays they make a number of malt whiskies themselves from usual bourbon and sherry matured single malts and a couple of yearly peated malts such as Cutter and Rascan.

This single malt today is a 22 year old aged mostly in bourbon and then finished in oloroso sherry butts while being bottled at 46% ABV. It's a decently owned whisky from a distillery that I've had a few from in the past so let's see how they do with 20+ years of aging.

• Colour: Light amber
• Nose: Rich plums, vanilla, light citrus, light salt, cocoa, allspice, raisin, light leather
• Taste: Rich plums, chocolate, vanilla cream, toffee, sea salt, sultana, light leather
• Finish:Medium-long with salted red fruits and light nuts

Wow this is really well put together. Very lush and rich bodied despite the complexity being normal and not anything worth mentioning. Still a good deal for $175 at the SAQ when they had it but for the current price its just not complex enough for a buy but it is for sure worth a try.

84 pts

 

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.