Nose: Caramel, twinkies, sultanas.
Palate: Peated, maritime, dates, dark brown bread, gingerbread, ham, dried pineapple, fruit tobacco
Rating: 6 / 10 – intense. Peated. Quarter 120L PX cask.
Nose: Old shoe, tired rubber tire, sour grass
Palate: Soggy peat and tobacco, cigarette, menthol.
Rating: 3 / 10 – meh to yuck
Nose: Black currant, acetone, machine vibe, old books / cardboard
Palate: Camphor, neoprene, ash, cloves, hazelnut
Rating: 3 / 10
Nose: Gummy bears, cherry cake topper, beeswax, artichoke hearts, touch of vanilla
Palate: Damp cigarette stubbed out in beer leftovers. a big dry white wine: astringent and yet sweet. Grape skins and seeds. Young vinaigrette with a highly acidic content. hint of floral soap
Rating: 3 / 10 – ouch this is not my favorite. Harsh, the peat deep into the cigarette spectrum. Tried it a second night just in case, and it was even worse. For such a price it’s almost as if they didn’t expect anyone to open it. Shame on them
Nose: Nutmeg, touch of the wet ski boot, sulfur, bottom shelf milk chocolate – more yoo-hoo chocolate drink than Tony’s Chocolonely, and a weird smokeyness that is probably peat but isn’t wonderful?!? Something pretty herbal.
Palate: Ash tray, glazed burnt ham on the verge of going bad, menthol vapor rubs.
Rating: 1 / 10 – I could rub this shit on my chest if I runs out of vicks. But then I would smell like a crotchety old lady. Sadly the Usquebach society was not having a good day when they picked this. Maybe they this harkens to Genever and made them feel at home?
Nose: Cinnamon raisin oatmeal cookie, touch of peat, deep wood
Palate: Palate is tiptoeing on the very edge of the sulfur spectrum. or maybe Wine tannins. Something bitter that isn’t my vibe tight. Stale coffee. Touch moldy vibe. Chalky taste on the finish
Rating: 3 / 10 – smells nice but yuck
Nose: Dried bananas, gorse, bacon, camp smoke.
Palate: Peat, cigarette smoke, fresh cherries, metallic, vanilla
Rating: 7 / 10 – fun fact: speyside used peat during WW2 because they were not allowed to use wood.
Nose: This is stunning on first sniff. And second. And two days later when I poured it again. A massive spice and apple hit. Cloves and birch bark. Warm seaside tarmac towards the end of a hot day. Toasted chestnuts.
Palate: What a big big hit of apple. The concentration of flavors is impressive. The oak builds a real foundation with all kinds of spices (cloves, cinnamon, cardamom), layered by a light ashyness, sea salt, and then a full frontal fruit funk. The style takes me almost to caribbean rum. The peat is so well integrated, it’s part of the harmony rather than a soloist. This just shows how amazing calvados can be if you time everything just right.
Rating: 8 / 10 – Could I have called out springbank, nope, but having had this side by side with the 18 year @ 46%, it adds such depth of character, this will be one to hunt for once it hits the shelves in a couple months. I asked Drouin for more info and they shared that it was finished for 5 months in a Springbank bourbon cask 2014. The calvados was wild fermented for months before being double distilled in the same 2500L pot still. Aged for 19+ years in 200 (ish) L 2nd/3rd fill french oak. They don’t like to keep the casks full as they like additional oxygen interaction, so this is probably a particularly concentrated and bold set of casks to marry well. Keep an eye peeled for the release.
Nose: Smokey and peaty sweaty, honey, chocolate coco puffs, juicy fruit, coffee
Palate: Ovaltine. And done.
Rating: 7 / 10 – tasty as heck
Nose: Fishermans friend, anise, cherry lolly.
Palate: Cachou lajaunie (licorice, mint), raspberry, peat smoke.
Rating: 7 / 10 – what a pungent and rich mouthful. Weird and in a good way.
Nose: Some strange funk on the nose, along with white peaches
Palate: White wine cask notes, hints of peat
Rating: 6 / 10 – too rushed for good notes but nice pour. Keeping it anyways so I remember.
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.
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.
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
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
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