[Scotch Review] Jack Wiebers Classic of Islay 2018

It's been a while since I've tried a whisky from Jack Wiebers Whisky World. The last two I had, a 20 year old bourbon cask Glenrothes and a 10 year old Croftengea (highly peated Loch Lomond malt), ranged from very good to just okay but I still missed the one Islay whisky this bottler did so I decided to pick one of them up. 2 years ago I tried an edition of the Classic of Islay series, supposedly independent bottlings of Lagavulin that are quite young but still in the 10+ year range, that I very much enjoyed and this one is a sister cask of sorts that I hadn't reviewed yet so I took a blind shot and grabbed a bottle.

It also helps that this was quite a bargain at $120 CAD after taxes, even more so if you're a lucky European with access to whisky shops in The Netherlands who have it for around 65 euros, a fair price to pay for what appears to be sherried Lagavulin. So let's see if this blind turned out alright! /u/the_muskox seemed to think so but let's have a good taste for the fun of it!

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Age: NAS

Region: Islay

Cask Type(s): Likely Refill Sherry Cask

ABV: 52.1%

No. of Bottles: Not Available

Maturation Time: Bottled in 2018

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• Color: Light Amber
• Nose: Super buttery with rich hits of cardamom, cinnamon stalk, candied cherries, olive oil, black tea leaves, ginger, orange oil and in the background some meaty bbq marinated pork chops (always welcome on a nice cool August weekend!)
• Taste: Cloyingly sweet, lots of orange cream candy and maple syrup, then some cherry chewy candies, Cadbury Cream Egg filling, smoked paprika, pure sweet cream sherry and some rich bananas foster with extra brown sugar to boot
• Finish: Medium to Long with soft baking spices, smoked pork fat and roasted mango flesh

This is easily the best Lagavulin (possibly?) I've had to date. Lot's of richness and complexity with a lovely mix of butteriness, spice and dessert sweetness that almost makes this an ideal bakers whisky of sort. For the price this went for in Alberta I might just get a few more because it's really good especially when it gets some time out of the bottle. Jack Wiebers does it again for me, maybe even moreso then the first time.

87 pts

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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

 

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