Review 221: GlenDronach 18 Year Allardice

Review 221

9/16/14

GlenDronach 18 Year Allardice: 46% abv

Background: Here we are, back at GlenDronach distillery in the Highlands of Scotland. After the 12 and 15 Year core offerings is the 18 Year Allardice. The 18 Year is non-chill filtered, natural color, and bottled at a perfectly respectable 46% abv. It is aged in exclusively Oloroso Sherry butts. GlenDronach then, is giving you another option in the world of sherry malts, which seems to be growing in accessibility. The challenge is, can producers like GlenDronach keep up with the demand for sherry whiskies without the ability to obtain good sherry casks due to the reduction in demand for sherry.

Straight

Nose:  In comes the sherry storm, with a torrent of deep, rich fruit aroma that overwhelms the senses. Red grape, raison and vanilla are big players in the nose right off the bat. Small spurts of malt smell become noticeable, but are really dominated by the other flavors. Dried fruits and cranberry are detectable in the nose, with the sense of old oak and floral notes of garden flowers. As the whisky starts to open up, more complexity of sweet honey, apples, and even slight amounts of caramel are present. The nose is definitely rich, but the initial alcohol intensity in the nose tempers down to a less brutish, complex blend of rich sherry malt flavors.

Arrival: As expected, sweet, syrupy arrival takes on the malt. The arrival doesn’t tend to last a long time, with some spiciness, malt, and sweet grapes noticeable. Sweet, candy like (maybe even bubblegum) sweetness is also ever present in the arrival, which makes for a bizarre transition into the intense palate of the whisky. There is an ample amount of vanilla in the arrival. In general, this arrival seems like it lacks the complexity expected, and could be described as sort of flat.

Body: Similar to the 15 Year, the 18 does have a nice, spicy body. The finish is fairly long and enjoyable. A quick dash of heat, with red wine and grapes makes the body more unique. There is something savory about the body, and despite its relative intensity, the fruit flavors are not as pronounced as we’d like.

Finish: Conclude with that semi-savory, scrumptious malty finish. Bitter, burnt oak will become noticeable as you sip on this whisky more. You’ll find a hot, almost thin grapy flavor that comes into the finish, almost in an artificial nature. There is more oak complexity, some slight pine-like flavors coming out in the finish, and just a tinge of cough medicine like flavor. You could argue there is a bit of saltiness in the finish as well, but it doesn’t at all define the whisky.

With Water

Nose: The nose is demonstrating much more floral and somewhat maltier. The sherry has subsided substantially, but some of the complexities are also not as prominent as before.

Arrival: The arrival shows off more complex, well rounded fruitiness, with apple and pear present. There is some soft spices and vegetal notes present. There is a dry woody flavor in the arrival that translates into the body.

Body: After adding water, a much more noticeable, succulent fruitiness is coming forward in the whisky. It isn’t hard to spot the tannins and grape sour flavor coming out of the body, plus allspice and nutmeg, but there is a strained emptiness halfway through the body.

Finish: There are much more manageable spices in this whisky now, with heavy tannins and bittersweet green tea notes. Unripened, tart fruit notes are easily found in the finish, which is sort of unique, but in some ways it actually detracts from the overall flavor of the whisky. There is still soft maltiness and some confectionary notes here. The finish ends up shorter and somewhat less pronounced than before, but does offer up more complexity with better flavors.

Final Comments: This is one interesting whisky. It seems to be battling to get the right things across, but never quite succeeds in doing it. I’m not sure exactly what holds this whisky back, but it just doesn’t have the complexity and balance it needs to be a true winner. The price doesn’t help the equation either. It is evident that there should be better flavors with better quality going on. It doesn’t make this bad by any means, but it does miss on a couple of key components. It seems as if better casks would make this a better whisky, but chances are that won’t be happening. There is something that makes this whisky really suffer, but I’m not sure what it is.

Why you’d buy it: You’re a patron of Glendronach

                                                                                                          

Why you wouldn’t: You can get their Single Cask whiskies for less, and with better quality and a higher  proof.

Score: 8.25/10

Review 211: Bowmore 12 Year

Review 211

4/24/14

Bowmore 12 Year: 40% abv

Background: Welcome back to Islay for another Single Malt Scotch review. KCM tends to stray away from the 40% bottlings, but Bowmore is a distillery we haven’t yet visited, so here’s our due diligence. Bowmore is actually the oldest licensed distillery on Islay, and produces a significant amount of malted barley in house, which is presently an uncommon occurrence. Bowmore also ages a good portion of their whiskies in house. This being said, the Bowmore brand sits in the middle of the peat spectrum, and lacks in the craft presentation that many of their competitors have. Bowmore has a lot of potential for improvement from the get go, but where do they stand in current quality?

Straight

Nose: There is a lot of interesting notes in this whisky. This whisky has an interesting leathery note right off the nose. There is a slight peatiness which compliments the leather notes, along with subtle notes of malt. There is a bit of wood smoke that suggests itself to the senses, but not too . Floral lavender smell is also present along with some perfume-like notes. There are some fruit notes, including over ripened bananas and cherries. You  also find some coastal, salty notes in the whisky, characteristic of the Islay malts. KCM also found this close to the smell of Worcestershire sauce. This is very original in smell, although presumably unappealing to some.

Arrival: The arrival starts off mild, with some burnt sugar, sherry, malt and salty flavors. There is a slightly medicinal character in the arrival, with some oak charcoal flavor as well.

Body: The body has a strong cool mintiness. This mint is very much like mouthwash you might buy at CVS. There is still some malt flavor in the whisky as well. In addition, dark flavors of maple and molasses are both present in this whisky. There is a grainy character in the body, somewhat pushing outside of the barley malt traditional.

Finish: The finish sustains the mint and oak flavors, with a bit of malt and sea salt. There is plenty of mineral notes, and a vegetal, peaty note to the finish as well. There is a leathery, wood char note as well. Although the finish is unique in flavor, there is no dynamics to the whisky. The finish ends on a slightly flat note.

Final Comments: Bowmore is an example of a good whisky with tons of potential. We really enjoyed the unique flavor profile that Bowmore has to offer, and it sits in stark contrast to many of the other Islay Scotches we experience. That being said, the low proof and the presentation of the whisky detracts from the overall quality and complexity. At the end of the day, this does not stay competitive for a lot of reasons. Bowmore also edges on the pricier end for what they give you. Ultimately, this is worth trying, but maybe more of a bar dram than a bottle to own.

 

Why you’d buy it: You want an Islay with a different style.

                                                                                                          

Why you wouldn’t: You don’t buy things with minimum credentials.

Score:  8.0/10

Review 202: Glendronach 15 Year Revival

Review 202

1/25/14

Glendronach 15 Year Revival: 46% abv

Background: This whisky just recently made it into Michigan. At a good price and a good presentation, KCM is more than excited to have this whisky in Michigan. Earlier last year, we reviewed Glendronach 12 Year (Review # 162, 5/25/13), and found it to be a decent alternative at a reasonable price. The 12 Year, as a reminder, is aged with PX and Oloroso sherry casks. The 15 Year, at 46%, is aged in Oloroso sherry casks exclusively. As a result, this is one of the darkest looking whiskies we’ve ever reviewed, but it is natural color. This whisky is rather pricy, so the question is: does this compete well with the other sherry Scotches we can buy on the shelf today, like Aberlour, Balvenie, and Macallan?  Let’s find out.

Straight

Nose: This whisky starts off with an unsurprising portion of sherry prominence and a healthy portion of raison smell, which is rich and flavorful right off of the bat. Contributing to the sweetness is a rich smell of vanilla and caramel, with a dry cocoa in the back. There is some woodiness in it, close to oak and catalpa. To add contrast, some floral aromas add overtones of bitterness to the nose. There is a little bit of rich cherry and apple flavor in the nose, with a subtlety of malt and wheat graininess helping contributing to the aroma. There is some sweet marmalade that accentuates the sweetness of the nose. There is a mild saltiness in the whisky, but it certainly doesn’t present itself as overly dominant. An additional spiciness of clove and cinnamon are noticeable. Finally, a small hint of earthiness is present in smell.            

Arrival: The arrival starts off with a really syrupy mouthfeel, a thick sherry taste, with a hot spiciness. There are rich fruits of apple and raisons, along with hot cinnamon and clove. There is a big presence of maple and molasses on the arrival. There is also a confectionary sweetness in the arrival, almost like cookie dough.

Body: The body is where the spiciness kicks into overdrive. There is a note of apple and sweet sherry, with tart huckleberry adding to the thickness. There is a lot of earthiness and greenness in the body. There is a taste of Angostura Bitters in the body.

Finish: The finish provides a blast of sherry after it resides from the body. There is a large amount of spiciness in the finish, with cinnamon, gingerbread and clove most prevalent. There is a very malty presence here in the finish. A fresh mintiness is noticeable as the whisky fades down. There is a surprising vegetal quality in the finish. The barrel really comes out in this whisky.

With Water

Nose: There is a lot more oakiness in the whisky from before. The spiciness is getting a lot bigger here than before, with clove being the distinguishing smell. A slightly more vegetal note is coming through, with a little bit of burning tobacco on the nose as well. In addition, there is a note of brown sugar available.

Arrival: The arrival is much more grain forward than before, with the maltiness being more forward than before. The spice is in perfect play with the sweetness, with the sherry being in perfect proportion.

Body: The body lends itself to a good blend of grain, spiciness, and sherry. This has a lot going on, and is in perfect distribution.

Finish: The finish is a perfect blend of different flavors, dialing in the medley of spiciness, grain, sherry and saltiness. This whole thing has become much more balanced. The dry spiciness is what tends to last through the finish the most.

Final Comments: This is absolutely what it should be. This is a beautiful blend of spiciness, maltiness, and the fantastic sherry flavor that contribute to a perfect balance. When you first see this spirit, you might be wary that this will be overly sweet and syrupy up front, but it is absolutely not that at all. This is one of the finest examples of sherried Scotch we have yet to try (there are still plenty to be tried, mind you). The complexity is there, and with just a little bit of water, it was hard for us to even focus on tasting notes. My recommendation is if you get a chance to try this Scotch, don’t hesitate. It is worth the money, and we will be trying to make this last.

 

Why you’d buy it: You don’t like the color green.

                                                                                                          

Why you wouldn’t: You don’t like sherried Scotch, and therefore you’re probably a bad person.

Score: 9.75 /10

Review 187: Highland Park 12 Year

Review 187

12/7/13

Highland Park 12 Year: 43% abv

Background: Highland Park might be one of the most misleading names of Scotch whisky out there. The first thing you can ask is: Where is it from? Well, we know that Scotland is divided into six whisky-producing regions: The Highlands, the Lowlands, Speyside, Campbeltown, the Islands, and Islay. With this being said, the obvious answer is that HP is made in the Highlands. You’d be wrong though. Geographically speaking, this is still true, but this whisky is actually distilled on the island of Orkney, making it an Island Scotch. In fact, Highland Park holds the record for being the most northern distillery in Scotland. The only other distillery taking roost in Orkney is Scapa. Highland Park whiskies are known for their complex, beautiful bouquet of flavors and prestigious reputation. This is the standard offering, so let’s see how this one represents the brand.

Straight

Nose: The rich, alcohol-forward nose of this Highland Park is fruity and sweet, with a slight suggestion of a malty profile. There is some vanilla and banana right in the beginning, with some caramel and PX sherry overtones as well. To complement this sweetness is the smell of burnt sugar. Some spiciness is prevalent up front, with nutmeg, cloves, and oakiness on the nose. There is a fresh, crisp lemon to it with some grapefruit to follow, followed by a little bit of sweetened strawberry flavor and mild pear rind. There is a little bit of pecan that also hides in the nose. Finally, there is a layer of vegetal aroma which is quite subtle.

Arrival:  The arrival starts off with a nice blend of smoke, caramel, vanilla, and honey. It is a rich, complex arrival. The fruit flavor is a cranberry and red grapes. There is a substantial maltiness that starts to be introduced as the arrival concludes. There is a little bit of burnt sugar in the arrival that becomes pretty dominant.

Body: There is some nice fruitiness in the body akin to succulent red apples. As a KCM first, we noticed eucalyptus in the finish as a nice herbal note. The maltiness is dominant in the body. The body is still astringent and citrusy, a common characteristic of Highland Park whiskies. The sherry flavor is at its max in the body.

Finish: There is a spearmint like flavor that cools the tongue. The eucalyptus note carries into the finish. Some definite cranberry, red grape, grapefruit and orange citrus flavor can be noticed in the finish. There is a definite amount of peat development in the finish that was not as noticeable earlier. The clove from the nose also makes an epic return in the finish.

With Water

Nose: The nose still has a rich sweetness, with more confectionary like sugar smell to it. It has also curbed the burnt sugar smell substantially. The nose is definitely more docile than before. There is brown sugar, and a slightly interesting Catalpa wood present as well. The nose is still very rich, with clove and smoke.

Arrival: The arrival is much thinner than it was before adding water, with a presence of more club soda. There is a slightly floral note in the arrival now as well.

Body: There is a definite note of cocoa in the body. The body is still rich, but has a more crisp, bitterness to it now, with some floral suggestions as well. It is much different than before, and the sherry is much thinner now.

Finish: The cocoa from the body returns in the finish to make a reappearance. There is some confectioner’s sugar, and sugar cookie dough in the finish. There is also a contradicting note of salt. The vanilla is very dominant in the finish as well

Final Comments: Highland Park is a revered whisky brand around the world, having a legendary ring to the name. This practical bottling of Highland Park really starts to show us why. The nose has a great blend of different flavors. There is a substantial amount of the sweetness to the taste, but it is not over-dominant in one area. The complexity and uniqueness of this whisky is above its class in all ways. Without a doubt, Highland Park has made it hard to look towards other brands for a solid all-round whisky. That being said, this whisky does not compete with the likes of Glengoyne, Glen Grant, Old Pulteney, and other malt-forward bourbon casked whiskies. This is a highly recommended whisky for the casual whisky enthusiast, although it might be a little too much for the whisky novice.

 

Why you’d buy it: You know what good tastes like, and the complexity of this whisky is too alluring to miss.

Why you wouldn’t: You are intimidated by bold flavors.

Score: 9.5/10

Review 158: J.W. Lee's Harvest Ale Matured in Sherry Casks

Review 158

5/3/13

J.W. Lee’s Harvest Ale Matured in Sherry Casks: 11.5% abv

Background: J.W. Lee’s is an independent brewery owned by a family in Manchester. That is a pretty interesting point, because we haven’t reviewed a lot of authentic U.K. beers. They were founded in 1828, and now are on their sixth generation of family ownership. They also own a number of hotels as well.  This brewery tends to show off cask-aged ales, so that seems to be the focus. These guys produce quite a few beers, but as it tends to be in the European brewers, their beers tend to be very low percentage. This one, on the other hand, is not low at all, being at 11.5%. This is a Harvest Ale. This is actually considered a barleywine, which will explain why some of the flavors of malt come out more. This particular special release is aged in sherry barrels, which by itself is not very well seen in brewing today. We were very excited to see what this did to a beer.

Nose: Starting off as a fairly neat nose, one can relate the slight fruitiness of this beer to a Belgian style, but the uniqueness takes over from here. There are some notes of subtle raison, nuttiness, and slight malt. There are sweet notes of caramel and honey which front the nose, charging forward with ornaments of molasses following behind. If I had to guess, I would say this was aged in an Oloroso sherry barrel, although the size is hard to approximate. It adds a sort of obscure wine-like character to the beer. Not only does this beer look like apple cider, but you do get some notes of apple cider as well. The nuttiness, as the beer starts to open up, resembles toasted nuts; maybe not almonds per say, but none the less a toasted smell. We even started to sense some notes of dried oak, albeit not an aggressive smell, and a unique bit of plum as well, with even a hint of dark cherry.  

Arrival: The arrival, after smelling this beer for a few minutes, will knock you down. It has a sweet sherry and nuttiness at the beginning. There is some honey and maltiness in the arrival, but it is a pretty tightly packed, solid flavor. The arrival will start sweet at a slightly chilled temperature, and the sherry sweetness spills over into the body quite well. You will catch those apple cider notes in the arrival here as well. There is definitely some raison quality to this arrival. This might appear to be overly sweet when the beer reaches room temperature.

Body: To completely contradict the arrival, you will find interesting notes of peat and tobacco dominate the palate. It is not at all like the arrival, and leaves you a little astonished at what you just tasted. There are some burnt paper qualities to it. There is still some sweet raison to it, rich flavors of honey and the smoke becomes pretty powerful. This will calm down after the beer warms up though. The smoke flavors get pushed back to the finish as the beer transitions in temperature.

Finish: There is a little more peat in the finish than in the body, but you still get some prominent malt notes, along with the strong flavor of burnt tobacco. There is a strong amount of nuttiness to the beer, with the residual feelings of Oloroso and raisons. After the beer warms up to room temperature, the tobacco is right in the finish and kills the complexity.

Final Comments: This is probably one of the most complex beers we’ve ever had, with a dynamic influence from the temperature change. This has a great diversity, and the nose will tease you into thinking this would be simple and sweet, but it isn’t. This beer does model the sweetness of sherry, but takes on some prominent notes of other flavors as well, making this one of the most education beers we’ve ever had to drink.

Why you’d buy it: You don’t mind spending money, and want to try something completely different.

Why you wouldn’t: You are bitter and hateful and frown upon everything happy and good.

Score: 9.75/10

Review 154: Ardbeg Uigeadail

  

Review 154

4/5/13

Ardbeg Uigeadail: 54.2% abv

Background: Ardbeg is another Islay Scotch distillery. They are on the southern coast of Islay, and claim to produce the peatiest whisky on Islay, which is a pretty bold claim with all of the heavy hitters out there. The distillery is currently owned by Hennessy, and is one of the fastest growing Islay distilleries at this time. Ardbeg whiskies can be considered extremely fashionable, albeit this is for a good reason. Ardbeg has distilled whisky since 1798, but didn’t start producing commercially until 1815. Ardbeg’s flagship product is the 10 year, but they don’t bottle this like Glenfiddich would. Ardbeg 10 Yr is bottled at 46% abv and is non-chill filtered, so you can tell this stuff is good. Uigeadail, on a different note, is a unique bottling of Ardbeg, aged in sherry casks. In 2009, Jim Murray made Uigeadail the World Whisky of the Year. So this stuff is pretty good. But we don’t trust it from others. Let’s find out for ourselves.

Straight

Nose: The nose here is a complex and dry, and there is some really interesting things happening here. You get the peat and sherry notes pretty instantly, with a very oily, slightly waxy aroma to it. There is a classic briny character to the nose, and even has some gasoline-type smell to it. Keep digging, and you’ll find cashews, rose, cranberry, wood polish, and slight oak. The contrast of these notes is pretty extreme, and this wouldn’t be a beginner’s nose, but it certainly is a revolutionary nose.   

Arrival: This is a brutal start. Not in a bad way, but it is intense. The taste starts hot and spicy, with big cinnamon tastes. The oak tastes come through quickly, with some vanilla and thick oak notes, also cranberry and subtle apple sweetness.

Body: The body comes in with big peat, with the spice notes holding through. There is minor citrus notes, but is overtaken by ginger and dry spice. There is even some apple and molasses sweetness coming through in the body. Finally, you can find some smoked wood notes lingering in the body as well.

           

Finish: The finish is dynamic and smokey, with a big oily mouthfeel. There are still cinnamon and sherry notes from the body. The initial cranberry presence is back from the arrival, and the briny presence is prevalent as well. There is even some minty and gingerbread notes, with the molasses sticking around and black pepper as a residual flavor.

With Water

Nose: After water, the nose is much more balanced. This is an incredible balance, with some honey notes breaking through, the peat starts to blend in, and there is olive oil notes coming through as well. The nose is very pleasant now, and there is not as much burn.

Arrival: The arrival becomes nuttier after water, less spicy, and slightly peaty. The vanilla notes are big. Even after a substantial amount of water, there is no loss of flavor.

Body: After water, the body remains pretty well the same, but there are some berry-like bitterness to it, and also angostura bitters.

           

Finish: The finish, like the body, remains fairly consistent, with a little less spiciness. The finish is still very woody, and adds brininess to it.

Final Comments: Uigeadail is a statement to the maturation of peated whisky in sherry casks, and how good it really can be. It seems like sherry and peated Scotch doesn’t mix, and they absolutely can. This Ardbeg is powerful and complex, and it shows of a different side to a peated Scotch, where the main focus isn’t necessarily how peaty it can be, not to mention the craft presentation Ardbeg puts on all of their whiskies. There is no reason not to try this one, because in effect, you will learn something about Scotch from trying this whisky. At the price, we think this is absolutely a worthy buy, being one of the better Islay’s we’ve had to date. 

Why you’d buy it: It is extremely well crafted and complex, and from a great distillery

Why you wouldn’t: You’re passionate about not buying good whisky

Score: 9.5/10

Review 115: Macallan 10 Yr

Review 115

12/10/12

Macallan 10 Yr Fine Oak: 40% abv

Macallan. Macallan is among the more well-known Scotches in the world. Generally speaking, if you compare Macallan to Glenfiddich or Glenlivet, you’ll generally pay more per year with a Macallan. Does this mean much of anything? No. Macallan has several lines of whisky. Two kinds of Macallan 10 Yr exist. This one is labeled as the “Fine Oak” variant. So let’s talk briefly about what kinds of oak are used in this Malt. 

This whisky actually blends three kinds of oak influences: European oak “seasoned” w/ sherry, American oak “seasoned” w/ sherry, and American oak “seasoned” w/ bourbon. I put quotations around the seasoned because I’ve never heard anybody use this before, but I’m fairly sure that’s the same as aging something. After all, they probably aren’t sprinkling on some dried bourbon flakes, I imagine. So what do you get from this? 

The nose provides a good grain note, malt, sherry, raisons, vanilla, slight lemon citrus, nutmeg, wheat, and light fruits. The nose doesn’t appear to be overly complex, but it contains some enjoyable aromas. The arrival on this whisky, once tasted, provides a a few tasting notes. Among these flavors, you get sweet fruit, light citrus, vanilla, a mild tartness, grain, and even some buttery character. The taste adds with smooth vanilla, grain, malt, wheat, barley, orange, and mild pepper. The body hits with a hugely grainy palate, but dissipates quickly. The finish comes in and introduces the sherry to the palate, with big raison and soft cocoa notes, sherry, malt, vanilla, toffee, butterscotch, wheat and caramel. The finish is medium in length, and misses on great complexity. 

This whisky isn’t horribly complex, as you might be able to tell, but it does do a number of things better than Glenfiddich or Glenlivet would with their youngest statement, including perfect blended balance, defined flavors, and smooth quality. This truly is a great beginners Scotch, but lacks in complexity.

Score: 8.25/10