Category: Scotch

Rating 7/ 10
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Octomore 12 Year 2010/2022 Journey’s End 3 First Fill Cask #4525 Bourbon 96.9PPM 58.6%

Nose: I’ve been somewhat obsessed with sweet spicy salsas. My neighborhood burrito shop chef has been trying all kinds of things. A tamarindo habanero (win). A smokey tropical guava with earthy notes, perhaps guajillo? I’ve been wondering if there is some way to bring in a leather / tobacco / cedar vibe into his next experiment. This almost tiptoes into rancio, with a dollop of blue cheese.

Palate: Dirty peat alert. Cast iron pan burnt bits. Charred green bell pepper Crispy baked broccoli. Over steeped green tea, nearly metallic. And yet among all these astringent flavors is a sweet hug.

Rating: 7 / 10 you know this is good when I spilled my glass, and decided to lick it off the table. =)

Rating 4/ 10
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Littlemill 25 Year 1989/2015 First Fill Sherry Cask #1253 52.1% for Hart Brothers

Nose: Capri-sun orange juice. Guava and unripe banana. Marsh grass. Clove butter, almost flambee.

Palate: Tony Chocolonely salted caramel milk chocolate. Dark chocolate orange. Bitter almonds. A dark heavy german bread loaf. The kind which are actually edible bricks slicked as cracker alternatives.

Rating: 4 / 10 – okay, better than the 1988 but still no bueno. Maybe I’m missing something.

Rating 5/ 10
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Littlemill 24 Year 1990/2014 50.6% for Maltbarn

Nose: Tangerine, subtle fleeting note of violet, meyer lemons, guava, essence of grapefruit, rose hip tea

Palate: Milk chocolate, grapefruit and lemon peel, perfume and cheap hair spray, that note of old wood again. Slightly bitter and herbal on the finish.

Rating: 5 / 10 – coming off the Hart Brother’s sherry cask samples, the core dna that is Littlemill is present here. Hats off to them for capturing that with the addition of the sherry cask at play. We are just finding that maybe we don’t love Littlemill, but we have more samples to try and will report back.

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Oct 2023

Springbank Eat, Sleep, Dram, Repeat

Springbank eat, sleep, dram, repeat tour was absolutely worth the journey and the price. For those of you considering the adventure, here are some tips.

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Rating 5/ 10
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Port Charlotte 20 Year 2002/2022 Fèis Ìle 16 years in Bourbon + 4 years in Oloroso Cask #91 58.4% for Dramfool

Nose: During my full day bike ride in Belgium last weekend we ended up talking about making a craft cola. I’m thinking of starting with rose hips, orange peel, the tiniest brush of cloves. And something to bring a sense of aged wood but not sure how to approach it. We didn’t discussed a smoky cola, but I kinda want to give it a shot. Layer in a solid peat smoke and a maritime vibe. It is a solid nose but every time I’ve stepped away from the glass and come back, the first sniff isn’t filling me with joy. Maybe it is the wool socks vibe.

Palate: Salty first then sweet. Blackberries and cassis. Licorice root. A faded meaty note, sweet glazed beef jerky. Oh and it is not wool socks, although that does fit. It is the fine edge of the sulfur spectrum. Not terribly dominant, nor particularly unpleasant, but enough that it won’t outshine the bourbon for me. Even then, this is still a pretty interesting whisky.

Rating: 5 / 10 – When I tried the straight bourbon, I loved it and also wished it had some kind of funky note. Mission accomplished, it’s funky. But I don’t think it actually elevated the pour. Went back to the straight bourbon cask and it’s still awesome.

Rating 8/ 10
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Longrow Online Tasting Week 2021 17 Year 50.5%

Nose: Fresh pineapple and a bright honeycrisp apple. Honeybaked ham, asparagus, fennel, calvastrano olives, and lemon pine sol. Pineapple upside down cake on revisit.

Palate: Julie’s aunt Claire’s lemon bars if she added a single drop of liquid smoke into the curd. Grilled pineapple. Fennel powers the finish, paired with an animal cracker.

Rating: 8 / 10 – This is just down right yum. It is super well integrated and I love pineapple vibe on peated whisky. It doesn’t have the complexity of most of my 8s, but it’s just so fun to drink.

Rating 7/ 10
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Hazelburn 21 2021 46%

Nose: A glorious Cadbury egg. Nothing more needs saying as this is in my opinion he penultimate expression of a chocolate treat. Sea salt dark chocolate and honeycomb / bit-o-honey. The zing of sweet tarts… or more elegantly orange blossom water. Fleeting hints of anise. Brown sugar and butter oatmeal, lemon poppyseed. A tomato plant in bloom.

Palate: Milk chocolate, hazelnut, dried cranberry, sea salt, touch of caramel. Old leather my dad kept is tools in. I’d often be assigned the task of sandblasting old metal to remove any corrosion before we worked on new projects. It was hands down the most fun with tools I ever had as a kid. The grit and metal never quite escaped the saftey box my dad built until you opened the door, at which point you could taste it on the air.

Rating: 6 (Shane) 7 (Ryan) / 10 – Ryan and I have been trying to nail down the Hazelburn DNA for a while. There is a unique smell that ties all their spirits that we have been unable to name. But its a pseudo-industrial vibe. Need more hazelburn.

Rating 7/ 10
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Hazelburn Online Tasting Week 2021 Fresh Oloroso 15 Year 54.9%

Nose: Tart cherries, Meyers lemon, those tiny cornichon, edamame, street dust, car wax, old wood cabinet.

Palate: Lemon grass and ginger chews which bring that lovely szechuan pepper heat. A potent green garden patch; zucchini, pine needles and green tomato.

Rating: 4 (Ryan) 7 (Shane) / 10 – I like the garden patch vibe paired with the earth sherry notes. Ryan not so much.

Rating 7/ 10
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Port Charlotte 20 Year 2002/2022 Fèis Ìle Bourbon Cask #86 57.9% for Dramfool

Nose: Camping should smell this good. A gentle haze of smoke from a sage brush and old oak fire from a few miles upwind. My parents used to drive us from Los Angeles, through Death Valley and up into the mountains where we would camp by a river. This was back in the days before you had to stay in an assigned spot. It was usually searing hot and we’d spend days building dams, fishing and drifting in the water. I can still smell the hot stones on sandy soil. Roasted trout with sea salt. Wild flower honey.

Palate: Holy shitballs, that is delicious. We had dinner with business partners last night and my favorite dish, which everyone else hated, was a grilled and smoked head of lettuce with candied strawberries, tiny crisped anchovies and a drizzle of sweet cream. The sweet, the salt and the creaminess pair sublimely. Salted toffee. While the peat is the star, and the under study, I like the granny smith apple peel vibe.

Rating: 7 / 10 – As Port Charlotte gets older, I keep expecting the peat to mellow, but it just seems to integrate better over time. I love the way it dances with the bourbon sweetness. I do wish it had an extra note or character to bring deeper complexity, as in some ways for my palate, it is almost too pretty. I know, it’s weird complaining because the pour has nailed a perfect note. I can’t wait to try its sister cask.

Rating 4/ 10
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Longmorn 17 Year 1996/2014 1st Fill Sherry Butt Cask #105089 43% for Signatory Vintage

Nose: Initial impression, a wisp of sulfur laden miracle whip…mmm…caramelized figs, sultanas, spiced boiled apples. In the canary islands, they make great wine. But when you go through a long aging process, often over 25 years, sometimes a barrel turns to vinegar. Why let top shelf vinegar go to waste? They drizzle Vinaigre Macho on fish or meats or use it in cocktails to add that sweet cloying funk. A fun potato salad.

Palate: Gentle and subtle. Tobacco leaf and cardboard. Finish is dark roasted coffee. I even went back for a second dip and didn’t find much more.

Rating: 4 / 10 – the nose and palate weave a very different narrative and while the palate is gentle, it lacks complexity and depth. I had high expectations after the first 1996 Longmorn was such a heavy hitter, and we find myself a wee bit disappointed here.

Rating 7/ 10
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Longmorn 17 Year 1996/2014 Sherry Butt #105092 60.1% for The Ultimate

Nose: Classic sherry nose with layers of sweetness. Maple syrup and fancy christmas panettone with dark cherries and dried prunes. Sherry poached pears. Prune vibe is potent when I return to the glass. 

Palate: You ever stare at your own notes and think, that isn’t a description, its just a rehash of every decent wood forward sherry bomb out there? Yeah yeah, dark chocolate, leather, coffee, and oak. Plump raisins and dates. =)

Rating: 6 (Ryan) 7 (Shane) / 10 – This is everything you want in a classic sherry bomb. A bit too woody for Ryan, but right up Shane’s oaky alley.

Rating 7/ 10
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Imperial 1995 19 Years Old ​​Hogshead Cask #50179 46% for The Ultimate

Nose: Apricot yogurt, peach turnover, baked apple with lime zest, vanilla, waxy, Catholic saint candles that were stacked next to the mexican food isle in safeway when I was a kid. I always wondered why they did that but not a fat smiling buddha or the maneki-neko cat statue in the asian food isle. Would you like a side of catholicism with that horchata? And we are talking barrel age horchata here. Wish you could brew that without it going rancid.

Palate: My poor daughter is really struggling with braces. I’m a bit scared from that myself and still remember the taste of the wax I used to try to protect my poor gums from the sharp edges. Sweet and lightly vegetal: spaghetti squash and zucchini blossom. A mild green bell pepper. Herbaceous paired with lime. With slices of crisp pear.

Rating: 5 (Shane) 7 (Ryan) / 10 – A bright and potent nose, paired with a subtle and grassy palate.

Rating 6/ 10
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Imperial 1995 22 Year Bourbon Cask #50253 53.1% for Signatory Vintage

Nose: Pool water. Which as a competitive swimmer, isn’t a complaint. Beeswax. Sweet yeast and flour. I’ve never managed to bake those big loaves of fluffy white bread. Mine always has too much heft. Spread a super thin layer of kumquat marmalade and a small pat of butter. The longer it sits, tropical fruits float to the surface, dried mango, yellow peach slices, lychee.

Palate: A dusting of baking spices on a morning pastry. Cinnamon pears. Ridden by cinnamon bears. Waxiness. Kinda makes me want one of those bunuelos from up the mountain. I love the anise ones but julie always goes for the orange. Then the fruit really picks it up a notch. Loquat and kumquat, which are pretty much unrelated despite the linguistic overlap. The palate is sweet yet citric, a somewhat bitter expression of the oak. Keeps it from being too boring.

Rating: 5 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – waxy and tropical. Yes please. Ryan actually finds the fruit distracting from the core waxiness.

Rating 3/ 10
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Tamdhu – Glenlivet 8 Year 1990s 40% for Gordon & MacPhail

Nose: My bestie Peter went on a long journey to craft the ultimate coffee. I remember him trying to learn how to steam milk just right. And that slightly warm dairy smell when you nail it. As someone who never loved coffee, I strongly preferred what our favorite shop called, a bowl of soul. Milk and honey steamed, with a twist of cinnamon and a shaving of citrus zest, with a bag of loose leaf camomile. Underneath the warmth, a crinkle of my nose. Artichoke leaves dipped in a mild vinaigrette.

Palate: Gentle. Shhh, something is happening here… ahh nope. That was just me wishing. A very quiet and blah palate. My tongue stays warm for a while, a cedar hug. Graham cracker sweetness. Caramel and wheat.

Rating: 3 / 10 – yawn. While its not actually bad, it’s boring and barely worth pouring. I’ve had so much bad luck with these 90s Gordon & MacPhail.

Rating 4/ 10
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Campbeltown Loch 21 Year Bottled 2013 46%

Nose: Peaches and nectarines. Mango. Garden roses. We had a nest of swallows right above the rosebush in front of the house Serenity was born in. I loved sitting with my book in the huge picture window watching the babies swoop, and poop, in the fading light. They made for the most robust roses, and brought a slightly grassy mineral smell to accompany the bright fragrance of the flower. Very mild white cheese with a touch of salt.

Palate: Stone fruit and cherries. I’m definitely not a fan of west coast IPAs. The bitterness and hops is enticing for a second but I rarely enjoy a second sip. For all the fruit on this palate, it’s got a dry edge paired with an odd artificial sweetness. Big league chew might have the most fucked up candy every as an adult looking back, but it was so much fun as a kid to pack that shit into your lip, chew and then shit it out without looking. Until you hit your mom’s good heels and she grounded me for a good part of the summer.

Rating: 4 / 10 – Nose is nice, and there are plenty of fun moments, but the palate just doesn’t do much for me. I was hoping the extra 6% would give it a nice kickstart, but not much of a difference.