Single Malt Archives - Page 12 of 16

Category: Single Malt

Hazelburn Distillery Handfill Nov 3 2022 54.9%

Nose: Salted fruit bomb. Ripe yellow nectarines. Coriander and toasted cumin. Honeycomb and pollen. I love the springbank DNA with the waxy fruit influence. Like Clynelish and springbank had a love child. Boston fruit slices. Raspberries and Blackberries gummy candied. Scotch tape. A pair of wool socks. Grilled cheese animal style from in-n-out.

Palate: Toasted peach with a hint of sea salt and basil, corrugated cardboard, endive with grapefruit supremes.

Rating: 4 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – I love the contrasts of the nose. Springbank is rarely quite so fruity. And while Ryan is rarely enamored by the tart side of life (sounds like a personal problem to me), I greatly enjoy it. Who doesn’t like a bit of zest?!?

Tasting Note

Kilkerran Distillery Handfill 59.2%

Nose: Buttery, honey and salinity, smoked salmon, cinnamon. cedar filled with a sharp filtered sake. Cutting open a passion fruit. Lemon. Freshly washed sheet .. or maybe just downy sheets. Makes me want to cuddle a teddy bear.

Palate: Grilled watermelon rinds. (lightly) smoked pork belly. Agave syrup. Honeysuckle. Pool water / chlorine from when I swim laps. Packing tape.

Rating: 4 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – Another lovely salty and tart fruity pour. Hits all parts of my tongue. Still wishing for a bit more of the Springbank dirtiness but enjoyable. Ryan says tart is an annoying way to romanticize bitterness. And I should own that I like pucker face. Two wins, or two fails depending on the audience.

Tasting Note

Shane

Springbank 10 Year Core Line 46%

Nose: Vero mango lollipops. Pineapple juice and coconut water. Sugar cookies, fresh whipped cream, with bits of mint or maybe oregano and orange zest. Bar of soap. Grapefruit rind.

Palate: Tangerine spritzer. Bandaids. Heather grass and light smoke.

Rating: 6 / 10 one of my first loves in Scotch. I tried it in a restaurant and immediately went out and bought a bottle. But somehow, given all of my journey, today it’s both good, and yet somehow could be more.

Tasting Note

Springbank Distillery Handfill 52.6%

Nose: Creme de violette, flan w/ orange cream, catnip, smoked ham, touch of glue

Palate: Nice hit of smoke on the front that then evolves into palm sugar and fermented fruit kombucha with a touch of beef carpaccio. Finish is licking an envelope seal with that slight chemical sweetness. A dirty challenging moment akin to cough drops.

Rating: 5 (Shane) 6 (Ryan) / 10 – I go back and forth with really enjoying the challenge, and not having the energy to be challenged. I wonder if at the end of a large glass I’d still enjoy it.

Tasting Note

Springbank Fresh Sherry 6yo Cage 59.7%

Nose: Sherry or esters?!? What the what? Falling asleep in the sun on the back of a party boat. Asshole dude with a giant ceramic fish keeps trying to pour more rum punch down my throat but I have to avoid getting seasick. Strong oak paintbrush. So well balanced.

Palate: Hickory summer sausage, cacao nibs, leather. Caramelized figs. Fresh medjool dates. Muscovado sugar. Full frontal christmas class. Rum soaked dried fruit. A touch of sea salt. Asphalt and bandaids. It’s not glendronach or dunville’s christmas, it’s dirty harry christmas.

Rating: 8 / 10 – Awesomeness. Big bold flavors. Huge thick syrupy rummy. Deviously and broodingly delicious. And let’s be honest, a lot of people will complain that the Springbank or even Kilkerran character is lost. Fuckem. It’s delicious. Good hooch is good hooch.

Tasting Note

Longrow Distillery Handfill 53.9%

Nose: Grilled leeks. Big smoke. As a child I somehow conned my parents into believing that “fruit by the foot” was fruit leather and not just candy. Very American reference but live with it. Reminds me of the grape flavor and makes me think of a port cask. Red plums, more on the prune spectrum. Sweet spiciness. For years I would walk into Planet Fresh, brazenly stroll to the salsa bar (brilliant idea) where I would blend the pico de gallo with thai sweet chili hot sauce. I’d fill up a soda cup worth and walk out. A touch of sweet umami, peking duck sauce and szechuan. That smoke smells like when you overheat your immersion blender.

Palate: Smoke first, sweet second. Ginger snaps. yum?

Rating: 5 (Ryan) 7 (shane) / 10 – too deep in to rate this truly carefully, but it’s pretty damn solid. It’s a yum yummy yum yum.

Tasting Note

Shane

Bruichladdich 2011 Bere Barley 10 Year 50%

Nose: Herbal, lemon verbena tea with honey

Palate: Pot de creme, yerba mate.

Rating: 5 / 10 – My father, who isn’t a spirit drinker declared it quite approachable. Zero complaints, and zero shits. Another whiskey for me to forget.

Tasting Note