Rating 6/ 10
Aberlour 17 Year “Ne Me Quitte Pas” 1990/2008 Cask CO-65 LMDW 52.7%
Nose: Spearmint, lime, redvines
Palate: Lime zest frosting, copper penny, cinnamon, guarapo
Rating: 6 / 10 – a fine vibrant bottle
Tasting Notes From: Shane
Rating 6/ 10
Aberlour 12 Dumpy “Pure Malt” (late 60s – early 80s) 40%
Nose: Strawberry stems, wax paper, machine shop
Palate: Cream toffee, honey nut crunch type cornflakes, waxy
Rating: 6 / 10 – gentle, old school
Rating 6/ 10
Aberlour 2011/2021 10 Year Ruby Port for Cadenheads 55.7%
Nose: Blackberry, cedar, flat coke
Palate: Blackberry cobbler, pink peppercorn, plums, cranberry jam, sour cola bottles
Rating: 6 / 10 – this is totally my jam at first, but then it dropped a tiny touch. But what a fun mix.
Rating 6/ 10
Aberlour 1988/2013 25 Years 50.9% for Douglass Laing
Nose: Fresh cut grass, fresh spruce forest, chamomile and honey.
Palate: Catnip, lavender cookies, fresh cracked pepper, honey simple syrup, orange pith
Rating: 6 / 10 – fun and different
Rating 8/ 10
Aberlour 100 Proof 1L 57.1 (blends from 1994-1997)
Nose: Dried dates, coffee beans, plums maraschino cherries.
Palate: Leather and oak hit, espresso coffee bean, luxardo cherries.
Rating: 8 / 10 – this is just exactly what I love from whisky.
Rating 6/ 10
Domaine Séailles 1999 52%
Nose: Molasses, fig vinegar, something you should drizzle as a glaze on meat.
Palate: Fennel, cedar, quite methylated / herbal.
Rating: 4 (Shane) 6 (Ryan) / 10 – I see why Ryan likes this. It’s elegant, nuanced. It was just a bit too ricola for me.
Rating 7/ 10
Domaine Séailles Blanche 2021
Nose: Juniper, elderflower soda, slightly floral with rose hips, sugar cookies.
Palate: Basil and tomato, reminds me of a quince eau de vie.
Rating: 7 / 10 – One of the most elegant blanche I’ve ever had.
Rating 6/ 10
Springbank 18 Year 1996 56.3% for Whiskybroker
Nose: Vietnamese cinnamon, rose hips, fresh whipped cream, lovely sherried notes of dark fruits, violet, packing tape, pencil lead
Palate: Those sherried dark fruits poached, cedar, lightly bitter/herbal on the finish
Rating: 6 / 10
Rating 6/ 10
Springbank 19 Year 1996 56.4% for Archives
Nose: Peanut m&m chocolate coating, honey, wax, light citrus, musky, paint, plantains, vanilla pods, model glue, dried pineapple.
Palate: Subtle pineapple, wax, honey, packing tape, sea salt, mineral water, as it breathes the pete smoke starts to really surface
Rating: 6 / 10
Rating 8/ 10
Unnamed Islay Malt 1992 SV Cask #6768 53.2%
Nose: Lemon pledge dusting spray. Homemade charcoal before lighting the grill. Baking clay. Limestone. Took the kids to a goat farm last week to lean about making cheese and ended up petting an albino donkey for almost an hour. Such a friendly beast. Really lowers the heart rate. He had a warm hay smell.
Palate: So well aligned with the nose. Deep lemoney mineral profile. The fabric bandaids which actually stayed on when surfing. The salty aftertaste of a good session., Sweetness, hints of vanilla and barley candy. Fennel bulb. The smoke is surprisingly gentle.
Rating: 8 / 10 – Incredibly well rounded palate. Elegant, interesting. yummy.
Rating 6/ 10
Longrow 18 Year Bottled 2014 46%
Nose: Lychee, tangerine, sumo oranges up front. Dried turkish apricots. Dried figs and dates. So bright, then an earthen layer. Potting soil and warm bricks. Tobacco leaf. A fussiness that is hinting towards sulfur but tips back from the dark side.
Palate: Big wholoping sherry layer. Prune juice. Leather and tobacco. Carob. Blackberries. Pink peppercorn. Not sulfury like I was afraid of but the sherry has taken over.
Rating: 6 / 10 – I quite enjoy a sherry bomb but feel like we may have lost of some the character I like from the previous 18yo bottlings.
Rating 6/ 10
Longrow 18 Year Bottled 2011 46%
Nose: Buttercream frosting, clementines, lemon, minerality, orange blossom water, packing tape, wax
Palate: Honey, green peppercorns, cornflakes, oily with subtle peat which nicely balances with the fruitiness and sweetness. Slightly astringent towards the end with grassy, barnyard notes.
Rating: 6 / 10 – a simpler Longrow 18 from the initial we tried, but still has a nice balance between fruit, sweet, and peat.
Rating 7/ 10
Longrow 18 Year Bottled 2008 46%
Nose: Anise, barnyard, hay, tangerine, iodine, cedar, incense.
Palate: Buttery, sweet, touch of peat and smoke, lychee, caviar and creme fraiche on a potato chip, muscles with a honey dijon cream, Totino’s pizza rolls, honey on beer bread.
Rating: 7 / 10 – a very well blended and lovely seaside smoke bit
Rating 5/ 10
Campbeltown Loch 30 Year 40%
Nose: White peach tea, salty and floral, marsh grass in a warm wind, sourdough starter, warm suede or my leather wallet after sitting on it all day, hay bales, pencil shavings
Palate: Simple, gentle notes of vanilla with kisses of citrus, smoked salt, slightly medicinal or aspirin astringency, peppery, surprisingly peated, envelope, the finish blossoms with honey and white fruit.
Rating: 5 / 10 – a lovely light summer dram
Rating 7/ 10
Dornoch 2018 Cask 124 57.4%
Nose: Grapefruit, papaya seeds, ceylon cinnamon sticks, allspice, banana peel, julie’s orange rolls – with those sweet citrus vibe mixed with a bright yeasty odor. reminds me a ton of paul john on the nose.
Palate: Bright cabinet spices, rooibos tea, guajillo chillies, grapefruit peel, rye crackers, estery glue notes.
Rating: 7 / 10 – lovely young entrant. My first Dornoch and this shows so much promise. At retail, I’d gladly buy one.