Single Malt Archives - The Distillates

Category: Single Malt

Ryan

Springbank 2011 10 Year Fresh Sherry Cage 57.1%

Nose: Nothing like the whiff of that core springbank dna…stewed plums, figs, dates, that springbank salinity and smell of the sea, bandaids and iodine. Smoked salt butter. Bees wax.

Palate: Tastes like a drier sherry, maybe oloroso, slightly more savory, nose carries over nicely to the palate with that core springbank dna holding constant.

Rating: 6 / 10 – This is an interesting dance between springbank core dna and the fresh sherry cask and it works. Fun.

Tasting Note

Single Malt

Shane

Lagavulin 2010 Distillery Limited Edition Bottling Cask Strength 52.5%

Nose: arana gulch on a summer day. Tall golden heather grass, swaying on warm winds. Smoke from a campfire down on the beach trickles inland on coastal air, but subtle. Desert time: candied orange peels, gingersnaps and clove candies. Crisp pears. Honeydew melon. Dark chocolate coated graham crackers.

Palate: salted licorice and latex bandaids. Not exactly the summer BBQ and fruit from the nose. Closer to barbecued leeks and portobello mushrooms with grilled meyers lemon. Ok now I get fruit, dried figs and tangerine slices. The peat smelled bbq on the nose, but on the palate it is medicinal and industrial. The finish gives me old sherry vibes, black tea, espresso, leather and dark chocolate.

Rating: 8 / 10 – nose is divine, and the palate is no slouch either. What a great bottle. No idea how old this vatting is, maybe 16y?

Tasting Note

Single Malt

Glendronach 1993 19 Year Oloroso Sherry Butt #539 60.3% for Japan Exclusive

Nose: fresh grated nutmeg, chocolate covered cranberries, fresh waffles with melted dark chocolate. Loquat / stone fruit moment, that fades and then comes back after setting it down for a while. Ohhhh … Can you imagine a Glendronach reduction on your Belgian waffles? I didn’t tell you to stop pouring sir! Or drizzled on a chocolate pot de creme – to which ryan counters with dipping oreo cookies. This is plain decadence.

Palate: It’s ridiculous how good this is at this exact moment. Like a secret makeout session with my childhood pudding cup. Holy shitballs. From nose to palate it’s so decadent. Chocolate, dates, nutmeg, graham crackers, cloves, black tea, dried cherries, cacao nibs. A big gulp adds a hint of acidity to balance the sweetness, which just levels it up further for me.

Rating: 9 (Shane) 8 (Ryan) / 10 – I want more. I want it so bad.

Tasting Note

Shane

Ardnahoe Bholsa Oloroso 50%

Nose: Smoked oysters with blackberry vinegar, burnt ends, dark cherry

Palate: Smokey salted pecans, dried raspberries, tobacco leaf, dates

Rating: 7 / 10 – for a core line bottle this is really excellent

Tasting Note

Shane

Bruichladdich X4-18 Year 63.5%

Nose: Terry’s chocolate orange, grass, sulfur.

Palate: Milk chocolate, szechuan pepper, medjool dates, chow mein, milk candy.

Rating: 6 / 10 – rivesalt cask is very present

Tasting Note

Shane

Bunnahabain Coastal Edition Old School Single Malt 50 Year 43.1% by Signatory Vintage

Nose: Hawaiian tropic tanning oil, curacao, pink peppercorn, banana gummies.

Palate: Lemon verbena, white tea, yuzu, prunes. Touch of salt

Rating: 6 / 10 – What a strange whisky. Fun to try but not something I would reach for often.

Tasting Note

Shane

Daftmill 2010/2023 Winter Edition Year 46%

Nose: Vanilla custard, lemon, clove, grape skins

Palate: Vanilla wafers, oatmeal cookie, daisies. mild bourbon notes

Rating: 5 / 10 – a completely pleasant note. No objections, but nothing particularly special.

Tasting Note

Glendronach 1993 20 Year Sherry Butt #3 52.9%

Nose: Gooey dried prunes, bazooka joe’s grape bubblegum, black tea, apricot jam, black licorice.

Palate: Cranberry-raspberry fruit leather, takes an herbal / ricola bent, and then nice finish of leather, chocolate covered espresso beans, prunes. I used to make an orange juice, worcestershire, red wine, garlic and ginger reduction, which I would then baste and BBQ my salmon with. Mic drop.

Rating: 6 (Ryan) 7 (Shane) / 10 – this is damn delicious although the herbal note on a big sip is a doozie. Might be a love hate thing.

Tasting Note

Glendronach 1993 20 Year Oloroso Sherry Butt #491 54.2%

Nose: Milk chocolate fudge, dark dates, carmelized figs, subtle nods to Dr. Pepper, slightly nutty almonds/walnuts, balsamic vinegar.

Palate: Strong black pepper, worstershire, cracked pepper crusted steak, goes herbal almost veering into bitter, notes from the nose on a big sip, hint of industrial rubber

Rating: 6 (Shane) 5 (Ryan) / 10 – weird but fun.

Tasting Note

Shane

Tamdhu 12 Year Coreline

Nose: Carraway, grapefruit peel, white peach, white tea, hint of limestone

Palate: Tiny hint of caramel, peaches, pink peppercorn

Rating: 5 / 10 – simple and lovely but nothing extraordinary

Tasting Note

Shane

Tamdhu 2013 10 Year cask 354 @ 65% – by A.D. Rattray

Nose: Smells like newmake, pear skin, anise seed, sourdough

Palate: Playdough, salty, toasted caraway, sourdough or rye, mango, holy shit it’s fiery

Rating: 4 / 10 – there are a ton of fascinating flavors, but damn this burns.. The light it burns.

Tasting Note

Shane

Raasay Peated 5 Year Chinquapin Single cask 18/26 61.8%

Nose: Sweet peat, cinnamon, dates, dr pepper bbq sauce, espresso.

Palate: Burnt ends, smokey bbq, cold smoked cold drip coffee, coffee caramels, mole

Rating: 7 / 10 – too late into the tasting to nail the score but hot damn this is tasty, makes me wish I picked the peated rather than unpeated when buying my own Raasay chinquapin cask.

Tasting Note

Single Malt

Glendronach 19 Year 1993 Oloroso Sherry Butt #467 58.1% for Taiwan Exclusive

Nose: cantaloupe, fig newton, ginger miso fried noodles, pickled hearing or anchovies, pencil shavings, sidenote, its harsh on the nose on the initial pour but after 5 minutes calms down and becomes jammy

Palate: We’ve been cooking for each other in my spanish class. Dishes from home. Julie made chocolate cake. Lisa who sits next to her made a russian salad with mashed potatoes, sweet beets, stewed onions and pickled herring. It was gloriously weird and I couldn’t decide if I loved it or hated it, but it 100% was not boring. Like this pour. The lead vibe. The braggs’ amino acids and black tea kombucha concentrate. Chewing on violets. Chicory – not quite coffee, not quite chocolate, just wishes it were both. It both bitter and it offers a sweet, woody, and intense flavor profile reminiscent of nutty, fire-toasted marshmallows with a strong,, dark, and molasses-like finish.

Rating: 5 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – Ryan would only accept a pour from me, but not from you or anyone else. And only from me through peer pressure. I on the other hand wish ryan would gift me his bottle, because I wouldn’t pay for one, but I’d gladly drink it.

Tasting Note

Shane

Springbank 10 Year 2023 release Palo Cortado 55%

Nose: cherry cola bbq sauce, which if you haven’t made it, now belongs at the top of your bucket list. It a tough debate which is better Vs Dr Pepper sauce. But with ribs, the real secret is the balance between your rub and the sauce. The best rubs are brown sugar, celery salt, powdered mustard, paprika and used coffee grounds. And this pour somehow pulls in elements which bring me back. Hands down the best rib combo you’ll ever brew. Deep earth sweetness, talking RJs raspberry licorice. Which has nothing to do with any anise derivatives, just a good old earthy fruit chew.

Palate: This is much better than I was expecting. But as buddhist scripture says expectation is the root of all suffering. And I am not suffering in the slightest, take that optimists. Dang, wish I had a bigger sample. Rasberry was truly on point. Espresso gin and tonic. Little takes me back to grandpas pipe tobacco and scratchy wool sweaters. Gamey biltong with a touch of smoke. Dark chocolate with seasalt. Sojourn continues his deep obsession with Acai. An obsession I dont mind in abstract, but in practice its a pricey addiction.

Rating: 7 / 10 – This is actually quite lovely. I was expecting a mass blended and bitter brew after my disappointment with the 2022 PX release. Instead I found a nice classic springbank dna with great fruitiness and earthiness that palo cortado brings to the table. I do wish I could try it at 16 years, to see how it continues to evolve. At market price this is an easy call. Secondary pricey are silly thought and for what I see people asking (beacause I checked) I’ll take a 1993 glendronach any day.

Tasting Note

Glendronach 1993 19 Year Oloroso Sherry Butt #542 60.3%

Nose: grape tootsie pop right after crunching into the middle, stone fruits, vanilla, raisin nut bran, over ripe fig, oatmeal raisin cookies, pfeffernusse

Palate: apricot black tea with an intense tannin bite, raisins, black peppercorn, bergamot, tobacco leaf, intensity 11 heavy roast espresso, black forest cherry, quite syrupy on the mouthfeel

Rating: 6 (Ryan) / 8 (Shane) 10 – the first sip is potent and dark bitterness, but then the rich syrupy fruit explodes and the pairing is pretty glorious for me. Ryan says its too bitter.