Single Malt Archives - Page 11 of 16

Category: Single Malt

Port Charlotte 2002, first fill Bourbon Barrel – Dramfool Release 49 Feis Ile Festival release 2022 – 20 year old, 57.9% one of only 188 bottles

Nose: Smoked ham and cheese hot pockets, smoked caviar, meringue, wood smoked eggplant, fresh chopped chives.

Palate: Roasted peppers (bell & poblano), okra, browned butter, pan roasted spam, braggs amino acids. grilled and smoked head of lettuce with crisped anchovies. Freeze dried strawberries and a drizzle of sweet cream with sea salt

Rating: 6 (Ryan) 7 (Shane) / 10 – OH YUM YUM. This is great.

Tasting Note

Port Charlotte 2002, first fill Bourbon Barrel (16 years), Oloroso sherry (4 years) – Dramfool Release 50 Feis Ile Festival release 2022 – 20 year old, 58.4

Nose: Prosciutto wrapped around cantaloupe, cedar chips, cotton candy, rose hips, orange peel, the tiniest brush of cloves, almost cola vibe

Palate: Bunch of peat well integrated with the other flavors, surprising for an older cask. The combo of barrels does wonders here. Very blackberry/raspberry, licorice. Wool socks. [Ryan]: Damn, I don’t tend to love the more heavily smoked, peaty side of the spectrum these days, but this is delicious.

Rating: 6 / 10 – when compared to the pure bourbon sister cask, it comes short, but on its own, a very nice pour.

Tasting Note

Lochindaal 2010, first fill bourbon #4281 – Dramfool cask sample never released – 11 year old, 63.5%

Nose: Sugar cookies, poached pears, licorice stick, wintergreen life savers – the one they gave you in space camp to chew under the stars and so them spark, oily, packing tape, burnt brown sugar, fresh made caesar salad dressing.

Palate: Wood 2×6 to the face, smoked honey, biltong, deep brooding fresh cinnamon, yummy.

Rating: 5 (Ryan) 7 (Shane) / 10 – Rich smokey BBQ awesomeness.

Tasting Note

Shane

Lochindaal 2010, first fill bourbon (11 years) fresh Port Barrique (6 months +/-) – Dramfool Cask 61.9%

Nose: Yummm, more elegant and well rounded nose than its previous sister cask. Fruity, plums, apricots. Banana boat sunscreen, clarified butter, pretty sweet.

Palate: Big raisin love, super ripe purple plums, banana leaf wrapped pork tamales in campfire

Rating: 7 / 10 – sweet smokey fruity deliciousness

Tasting Note

Glenallachie 14 Year 1990 40% For Delhaize Belgium

Nose: Vanilla, butter, white peach tea, cucumber water.

Palate: Gentle, rhubarb, swiss chard, lime/lemon/grapefruit zest.

Rating: 4 (Ryan) 3 (Shane) / 10 – While exploring times gone by has merit, I asked Ryan how he would rate this blind. And we ultimately agreed, there is no good reason to shorten our lives for this juice. It lacks spirit.

Tasting Note

Glenallachie 12 Year 2007 Sherry Butt 61.7% For Cadenhead’s Cask Series

Nose: Freshly baked banana bread, sweet plantains, subtle hints of peaches and apricots jam. Warm butter. A tannin vibe that makes my nose wrinkle.

Palate: This was definitely a dry sherry, on the red wine spectrum. I would have guessed a rioja cask. Drying on the palate with strong tannins. A good lick of oak. Sour red plums.

Rating: 3 (Ryan) 5 (Shane) / 10 – “this is awful” come on Cadenheads, you can do better than this. Ryan didn’t want to swallow, but he is a good boy. He’s overreacting but I’ll admit, this is only alright.

Tasting Note

Glenallachie 16 Year 2004 Virgin Oak Barrel Cask #6179 55.1% For Whiskyklubben Slainte Sweden

Nose: Real ripe fruitalicious, juicy fruit gum. Angel food cake and fresh made whipped cream. Christmas pudding. Nice backbone of oak standing up to the fruit, cabinet spices, black peppercorn, fresh coriander, nutmeg, cardamom which tiptoes to chai.

Palate: Oaky bubble gum, new product coming at ya! A one two punch. Big oak, with big spices. I happen to like that so bring it. Still a touch bitter.

Rating: 5 / 10 – I like oak. But no depth and no complexity. I genuinely want to like this more, but the finish has a sour note that is hard to chill with.

Tasting Note

Glenallachie 12 Year 2008 PX Puncheon Cask #669 56.8% For Tara Spirits Germany

Nose: All the lovely classic px sherry notes

Palate: Eucalyptus with cherry simple syrup. Benefits from a large sip. The long finish on this is nice, the herbal wears off becomes a bit more nutty, coffee, and cacao nibs. Raw almonds.

Rating: 5 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – I personally struggle with eucalyptus, and it’s extra odd mixed with px syrupyness. But if you stick with the ride, this is a solid pour.

Tasting Note

Glenallachie 12 Year 2008 Sherry Butt 57.8% For First Cask Whisky Import Netherlands

Nose: Burnt coffee ice cream, prune juice, dates, raisins. Shaved my body today and smelled my armpits at the end. Under all that sweetness are some rough notes… like my armpit and julie’s fingernail polish. I can’t tell if the palate will be amazing or awful. Kinda scared. Going in.

Palate: I am in a complicated relationship with this palate. I love sour. It reminds me of the funky fermented side of belgians sours. And the industrial side of jamaican rum. All spice, steel cut oats,, horse milk. We all have a little bit of genghis khan in us. We’re talking Injera, sour fermented funky ass … ethiopian pancakes.

Rating: 5 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – it is weird and neurotic and I like it. But I can’t imagine anyone else vibing it. So this rating should not carry any weight.

Tasting Note

Glenallachie 11 Year 2009 Oloroso Hogshead Cask #7700 55.0% For France

Nose: Dr pepper, black peppercorn, Kookaburra black licorice, almond extract and Disaronno liquor, alfalfa and fresh straw

Palate: Blackberry and plum crumble. Dark chocolate. Organic rooibos. A strong lick of wood that layers in well with the syrupy sweetness. Layered in with an herbal kick. Like getting a digestif here in the canaries, where they put herbs into spirits and roll their own.

Rating: 6 / 10 – a completely lovely oloroso expression

Tasting Note

Glenallachie PX puncheon 14YR 60.1% Cask #6624

Nose: Tobacco, cinnamon sticks, wood putty, nutmeg & ginger, mint chocolates.

Palate: Chocolate covered cherries, cinnamon hot cocoa, chewing tobacco, cola.

Rating: 7 / 10 – that is a proper sherry bomb

Tasting Note

Shane

Ardnamurchan 5 Yr Oloroso Sherry Cask for Adelphi 59.3% Casks # 332 / 333

Nose: Passion fruit flower, orange peel, nutmeg, bbq smoke, wool socks.

Palate: Smoked wildflower honey, sweet bright peat, cassis syrup.

Rating: 7 / 10 – a beautifully peated sherry

Tasting Note

Shane

Glenglassaugh 2012 Peat first fill oloroso “Sherry Bomb” 5 year 59.3%

Nose: Graham crackers, chocolate cherry fudge, a very sweet jamaica (cinnamon, hibiscus, star of anise)

Palate: Hazelnut, plum leather, actual leather, bright peat

Rating: 7 / 10 – tiny private cask from a few friends (bruce, hughes…). Freaking delicious

Tasting Note

Bruichladdich 10 year 2002 Madeira 46% For Dramfool’s

Nose: Barnyard funk, touch of sulfur, hints of prime rib, sweet treats, lot of delightful things here dancing around on the nose. Maple candies. Frosting.

Palate: Chocolate, leather, heather, smoke, vanilla salt water taffy, salted cod.

Rating: 5 (Shane) 6 (Ryan) / 10

Tasting Note

Bruichladdich 2002 20 year First Fill Bourbon 59% For Dramfool’s

Nose: Plain milk chocolate m&m’s, snack pack chocolate pudding cups, stale vanilla wafers you pick up at the costa rican gas station on the way to a company meeting… nearly a tradition. Graham crackers / circus animals, werther’s originals, tangerine flan with a well balanced layer of smoke.

Palate: Tangerine cut in half and plopped on the grill with a sprig of rosemary. Grapefruit peel. Wildflower honey. Sour grass.

Rating: 5 (Ryan) 7 (Shane) / 10 – a fun mix but surprised too