Category: Highlands | Page 2 | MaltKlaus' Daily Drams

December 17, 2016December 14, 2016

24 drams till Christmas 2016 #17: Fettercairn 2000 14 yo by C&S

Dram data:
Distillery: Fettercairn
Bottler: C&S dram collection
Distilled: 12.09.2000
Bottled: 23.03.2015
Age: 14
Limitation: 217 bottles
Casks: Bourbon barrel 3171
Alcohol: 53,5%
unchillfiltered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

This is the season of “firsts” – the first Fettercairn to be officially reviewed on the blog! Let’s do it!

Tasting notes:
Colour: red gold
The nose opens on the “green” side. Freshly cut grass with lemon and vanilla drizzled on top. Sawdust with resin and a hint of wood glue, dry end-of-season tangerines, old malt sweetness and a whiff of allspice. Very interesting profile that takes a bit getting used to, definitely not mainstream! Adding water and waiting for several minutes reveals more tropical fruity notes Give it some time! On to the palate: Continue reading “24 drams till Christmas 2016 #17: Fettercairn 2000 14 yo by C&S”

December 6, 2016December 4, 2016

24 drams till christmas 2016 #6: Old Pulteney 12 yo

Dram data:
Distillery: Pulteney
Bottler: official bottling
Distilled: –
Bottled: 2014 (L14 338)
Age: 12 years
Limitation: –
Cask: –
Alcohol: 40%
chill filtered and coloured
Whiskybase link

After thoroughly enjoying a (blind) dram of Old Pulteney 12 yo during a dinner in Speyside earlier this year, I just had to get a bottle and taste it again in my usual, controlled setting. Let’s find out of it lives up the earlier pleasant experience!

Tasting notes:
Colour: gold
The nose is surprisingly aromatic and rich, starting out with blood oranges, dried pineapple and light vanilla. Building upon those, there is a fruity sweetness (peach and apricot juice mixed with ice wine?), tinned tangerines and lychees, white chocolate, a very delicate spicy note (fresh fennel and pickled ginger?) and a faint trace of salt spray. A mix of sherry and ex-bourbon casks, I presume, but active and good wood. This is very good, much better than expected of an entry-level whisky at 40% ABV! Loads going on, yet not overwhelming for beginners. I really hope the palate can keep up with that! Continue reading “24 drams till christmas 2016 #6: Old Pulteney 12 yo”

May 24, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: Dalmore 1992 22 years by Cadenhead’s

Dram data:
Distillery: Dalmore
Bottler: Cadenhead’s
Distilled: 1992
Bottled: October 2014
Age: 22 years
Limitation: 264
Casks: refill bourbon
Alcohol: 59,5%
unchillfiltered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
I’ve been sitting on this miniature for a while now, but Dalmore matured in (refill) ex-Bourbon is not something you see released by the distillery. All the more intriguing – let’s see…!
Colour: copper gold
The nose opens on a light, summery note. Quite a bit of alcohol there – no wonder at close to 60% ABV! Mentholated ginger/orange drops, orange zest, gooseberries, white grapes, icing sugar with a dollop of lemon juice, red apples and fresh pears. Big on the light, fruity side. There’s a hint of oak in the background – light and shy, adding depth, but not more. Continue reading “Tasting: Dalmore 1992 22 years by Cadenhead’s”

May 13, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: Wolfburn 3 yo First Release

Dram data:
Distillery: Wolfburn
Bottler: Original Bottling
Distilled: 2013
Bottled: March 2016
Age: 3 years
Limitation: 16000
Casks: refill quarter casks
Alcohol: 46%
unchillfiltered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
It seems just like yesterday that the Wolfburn distillery way up in Thurso, in the north of Scotland, was constructed and started production. It doesn’t feel like it’s already a year ago that I paid them a visit. And yet here it is: Their first general release of a three-year-old Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Well, let’s get cracking and see how it turned out!
Colour: pale white wine
The nose opens on a waft of alcohol – it is bottled at 46% – with a hint of peat smoke from the maturation in quarter casks which previously held peated whisky. There are also notes of shortbread with sweet icing, vanilla pods, freshly ground malt, sweet grape juice and a slight grapefruit rind and juice tingle. The quarter casks did a great job on the clean distillate – no harsh youthfulness anymore. Continue reading “Tasting: Wolfburn 3 yo First Release”

April 28, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: Glen Albyn 1976 – 2012 by Gordon & Macphail

Glen Albyn 1976 - 2012 by Gordon & Macphail's

Dram data:
Distillery: Glen Albyn
Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Distilled: 1976
Bottled: 2012
Age: ca. 36 years
Limitation: –
Casks: Ex-sherry
Alcohol: 43%
chill filtered, uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: apple juice
My first Glen Albyn – a lost Inverness distillery, founded in 1846 and closed during the miserable 80s whisky downturn in 1983. Bottlings of this distillery are getting very scarce these days…
The nose opens with notes of dusty apple strudel with sugar (no raisins!), old mashed banana, icing sugar with a drop of lemon, rich, creamy old oak and dried orange zest. Very, very mellow and well-aged! The palate has notes of white and red apples – very light, actually, light spices and a lot of creaminess. Old, dried oranges, a hint of cardboard and an old banana with peel with a fragrant oak and a whiff of dusty old cellar (yep!) in the background. Continue reading “Tasting: Glen Albyn 1976 – 2012 by Gordon & Macphail”

April 15, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: Glenglassaugh 45 years 1968 – 2014 cask 1601

Dram data:
Distillery: Glenglassaugh
Bottler: original bottling
Distilled: 1968
Bottled: 2014
Age: 45 years
Limitation: 349 bottles
Casks: Sherry hogshead finish in cask 1601
Alcohol: 44,3%
unchillfiltered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: amber
The nose opens on dark dried cherries with kernels and a load of PX sherry underneath. There’s also the distinct smell of freshly unpacked leather shoes, a hint of cask smoke, a pipe tobacco mixture of Latakia and Black Cavendish paired with a whiff of burnt oak. No distillery character whatsoever remains – this is completely taken over by oak and then a fresh sherry finish added on top to get other than oaky flavours in. Continue reading “Tasting: Glenglassaugh 45 years 1968 – 2014 cask 1601”

March 29, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: (Glen) Ord 10 yo 2004 – 2015 by Cadenhead’s

Dram data:
Distillery: (Glen) Ord
Bottler: Cadenhead’s
Distilled: 2004
Bottled: 2015
Age: 10 years
Limitation: 450 bottles
Casks: Bourbon Butt
Alcohol: 60.5%
unchillfiltered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: barley gold
Well, well, well… those guys from Cadenhead’s have always been a wee bit crazy – but in a good way. You’ve got to read the neck tag of that bottle twice. Or thrice. Matured in a bourbon butt. Yep, not a typo – at 450 bottles I believe this is not “small batch” but actually “single barrel”. I’m sure Mark Watt will correct me if I’m wrong… Anyway, we’re here for the whisky…
The nose opens with – well, what else – quite a bit of alcohol. Hey, this baby was bottled at over 60% ABV! Let’s set the glass aside for a few minutes. Ah! citrus fruits (oranges and tangerines) sprinkled with vanilla seeds (restrained), citrus seeds, zest and pulp. Orange blossom, tea with milk a dash of lemon (I know you shouldn’t add both, but hey…), fresh gooseberries and apricots. Continue reading “Tasting: (Glen) Ord 10 yo 2004 – 2015 by Cadenhead’s”

February 20, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: Dalmore 12 yo (late 80s/early 90s duty free bottling)

Dram data:
Distillery: Dalmore
Bottler: official bottling
Distilled: 70s to early 80s
Bottled: late 80s, early 90s
Age: 12 years
Limitation: –
Casks: –
Alcohol: 43%
Most likely chill filtered and coloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: dark orang-ey gold
Woohoo! my nose is finally working again and properly calibrated after being stuffed for well over a week! So it’s back to business with an old Dalmore 12, bottled in the mid-80s to early 90s. This might very well contain whisky distilled in the 70s! I’m excited! The nose is, well, recognisably Dalmore-ish! Light, fruity, sweet and pleasant but not without depth. The first thing you notice is a sweet – but not cloying – rich sweet sherry and fruit sweetness. Px sherry, dried dates and figs, dried pears for making fruit-bread, plum spread, seasoned with Swiss herbal cough lozenges and a dash of plum distillate (with cracked kernels!). Continue reading “Tasting: Dalmore 12 yo (late 80s/early 90s duty free bottling)”

February 8, 2016October 9, 2016

Tasting: Tomatin 1991 21 years by C&S

Dram data:
Distillery: Tomatin
Bottler: C&S dram collection
Distilled: 05.06.1991
Bottled: 17.01.2013
Age: 21 years
Limitation: single cask
Casks: Sherry butt 12488
Alcohol: 55,7%
Unchillfiltered, uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: light gold
The nose is rather light on the first sniff, but it’s a few years old, so let’s set the glass aside for a couple of minutes. 10 minutes later: Ah! That’s better! Mmmmmhhhh… old, aged whisky in its best years, balance between subtle cask influence and spirit character. Continue reading “Tasting: Tomatin 1991 21 years by C&S”

December 20, 2015October 7, 2016

24 drams till Christmas tasting #20: Glen Ord 1997 15 yo by Archives

Dram data:
Distillery: Glen Ord
Bottler: Archives
Distilled: 04.1997
Bottled: 04.2012
Age: 12
Limitation: 64 bottles
Casks: Hogshead 800083
Alcohol: 54,2%
unchillfiltered; natural colour
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: straw
The nose suggests a refill hoggie, slightly restrained yet fragrant and fruity-sweet. Vanilla, pear juice, malt extract, peaches, sweet grapes, white chocolate and a slight hint of sweet perfume with a layer of alcohol and citrus on top. A summer dram.
Continue reading “24 drams till Christmas tasting #20: Glen Ord 1997 15 yo by Archives”