Rating 3/ 10
Glenallachie 9 Year Malt Lover #1 50.7%
Nose: Baking soda, mild pickling juice, old lady perfume.
Palate: Light oats, sour milk.
Rating: 3 / 10
Category: Whisky
Rating 3/ 10
Michel Couvreur 2015 Fino Cask #323 56% cask sample
Nose: Kumquat marmalade, unfiltered sake in a cedar box.
Palate: In french sulfur is “soufre“ which if you ask me is probably an early conjugation / bastardization of “souffrir”, or to suffer. If you can ride out the front of the palate, the finish is quite lovely, turns fruity and jammy.
Rating: 2 (Shane) 3 (Ryan) / 10 – Ryan doesn’t even mind toejam, and yet look at this score. Unfortunately, it is what it is.
Rating 3/ 10
Feis Ile 2023 Elements of Islay “Beach Bonfire” Blend 57.2%
Nose: Black currant, acetone, machine vibe, old books / cardboard
Palate: Camphor, neoprene, ash, cloves, hazelnut
Rating: 3 / 10
Rating 2/ 10
Glenallachie 2014 7 Year #54-57 First Fill Madeira 46% for Wilson & Morgan
Nose: Golden raisins, dandelions, bee pollen, peach gummies.
Palate: Lead pencil, dirty wood, peach gummies, slight taste of mushrooms
Rating: 2 / 10 – such discordance.
Rating 4/ 10
Springbank 2012 12 year Cask Strength Batch 5 54.6%
Nose: Golden raisins, grape must, quite sweet, large wet hay bundles after sitting under a tarp all winter, hazelnut, bark mulch.
Palate: Sulfur… and whatever ryan writes. I’m out. Dry on the finish, just not as much as in batch 2. Marsala, endive, oak.
Rating: Shane (2) Ryan (4) / 10 – well that was a disappointment. I’m sure it’s lovely for those of your who are immune to the devils taint, but mercy me. No thanks.
Rating 3/ 10
Springbank 2013 12 year Cask Strength Batch 6 53.1%
Nose: Raisins, dates, apricots and peaches, potting soil, champagne vinegar, hot tarmac, starting to resemble the classic profile.
Palate: Sulfur again, shane taps out. scotch tape, bit more of that classic Springbank profile here unlike in previous batches. Menthol, white pepper.
Rating: Shane (3) Ryan (5) / 10 – The first batch of 12 year cask strength that seemingly starts to embody that core Springbank DNA.
Rating 3/ 10
Ardbeg Fon Fhoid NFT 45.1%
Nose: Gummy bears, cherry cake topper, beeswax, artichoke hearts, touch of vanilla
Palate: Damp cigarette stubbed out in beer leftovers. a big dry white wine: astringent and yet sweet. Grape skins and seeds. Young vinaigrette with a highly acidic content. hint of floral soap
Rating: 3 / 10 – ouch this is not my favorite. Harsh, the peat deep into the cigarette spectrum. Tried it a second night just in case, and it was even worse. For such a price it’s almost as if they didn’t expect anyone to open it. Shame on them
Rating 1/ 10
Glenallachie 10 Year 1991 Sherry Cask Cask #01/108 46% For Usquebaugh Society Netherlands
Nose: Nutmeg, touch of the wet ski boot, sulfur, bottom shelf milk chocolate – more yoo-hoo chocolate drink than Tony’s Chocolonely, and a weird smokeyness that is probably peat but isn’t wonderful?!? Something pretty herbal.
Palate: Ash tray, glazed burnt ham on the verge of going bad, menthol vapor rubs.
Rating: 1 / 10 – I could rub this shit on my chest if I runs out of vicks. But then I would smell like a crotchety old lady. Sadly the Usquebach society was not having a good day when they picked this. Maybe they this harkens to Genever and made them feel at home?
Rating 3/ 10
Macduff 12 Year Sherry Cask 46% for The Private Cask
Nose: Hazelnut, musk, dijon cracked black pepper steak leftovers in a pan, dark fruit of the fig persuasion?
Palate: Young and hot and rough sherry.
Rating: 3 / 10 – bugh…
Rating 3/ 10
Bruichladdich Laddie Origins Feis Ile 2021 7 Year 56.3%
Nose: Cinnamon raisin oatmeal cookie, touch of peat, deep wood
Palate: Palate is tiptoeing on the very edge of the sulfur spectrum. or maybe Wine tannins. Something bitter that isn’t my vibe tight. Stale coffee. Touch moldy vibe. Chalky taste on the finish
Rating: 3 / 10 – smells nice but yuck
Rating 3/ 10
Glenallachie 1985 40%
Nose: Holy bananas, banana bread, freeze dried bananas. Walnuts, baking powder, honeysuckle. Okay you may all hate me, but I can’t unsmell it even after setting it down. Wet pampers.
Palate: Boring. This water has some nice mineral elements, kinda tastes like water used to clean the still. And tastes a touch like cardboard. Shane “wonders” if it tastes like wet pampers, but can neither confirm nor deny that. Subtle coffee and fruits on the finish.
Rating: 2 (Shane) 3 (Ryan) / 10 – meh is being generous. I think time has done it in.
Rating 2/ 10
Belgrove Distillery Young brandy made from salvaged smoke tainted grapes, Red Wine Cask 60.5%
Nose: The strangest desert of my life was at La Leche, a cotton candy “taco” filled with sugar fried corn and foie gras. Although ryan says more chicken liver mousse. Which could have been good but simply was not. A confection in a glass. Honeycomb. Limestone chalkiness.
Palate: Yipes. I don’t actually like it but I can’t look away. 7 flavors in seconds. Intense smoke and salinity. Hard core grape pommace. White vinegar. Lemon grass. White pepper on the finish. Chewing on a popsicle stick, trying to get the final fruit essence out but it’s all wood. A mouth coating that I need to find a word for it, but I guess oily. I highly advise you not to take a big sip. Industrial tractor cleaner. Vulcanized rubber. The legs on the glass are absurd.
Rating: 2 / 10 – Pure fucking chaos. It’s like the Joker (from batman) was given access to the still for a day. I refuse to rate this (but Ryan was perfectly happy to). It’s an experiment and a fascinating one. Would I want a bottle? fuck no. Would I give this to a friend? not a real one. Am I glad I tried it?!? damn skippy. And with one of my besties! Yup, never ever drink this alone friends. That would be a cry for help.
Rating 3/ 10
Littlemill 26 Year 1988/2015 Sherry Butt 52.2% for Hart Brothers
Nose: Smells like an old person’s home. boiled down apple sauce, old 70s carpeting (still in use 50 years later), mothballs, graham crackers, old wood. Maduro cigar wrapper and leather.
Palate: Sour underripe berries. Mom rarely adds much sugar when making sorbet. Awesome when you nail the timing on the fruit, but a tough mouthful if you jump the gun. The taste and mouthfeel of spinach. Watered down peach black tea. The bitterness of grapefruit peel.
Rating: 3 / 10 – I’m starting to wonder if my palate and the hart brothers just don’t match. This is so well rated by so many people. I don’t get it. This is kind of yuck.
Rating 5/ 10
Glenfarclas 25 year 1951/1977 Queen’s Jubilee 70 Proof (40%)
Nose: Pilsner fizzle, capers, cedar, pickle brine, tomato leaves
Palate: Hint of wine/sulfur, pickle. bergamot, lightly bitter
Rating: 5 / 10 – surprised by the depth of character
Rating 6/ 10
The Singleton of Auchroisk 1981/1992 43%
Nose: Fresh coconut, pears, lemon pith, ginger
Palate: Boiled sweets, orange marmalade, hints of milk chocolate and leather, very rounded and soft on the palate
Rating: 6 / 10 – clearly a well blended older sherry style. Mature and mellow. 8 years in bourbon / 2 in sherry?