Category Archives: Whiskey

Tomintoul 10 Year Old

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Speyside Single Malt, 10 Years, 40% ABV, $40

Really nice aroma of orange, grass, burnt sugar and honey. The light peat is set against a backdrop of oak, honey, orange and vanilla. The taste is light, but the aftertaste is bitter, then peppery. The peaty bitterness returns after the burn subsides. This is not a complex whisky, but its got a nice, light, sweet taste; however, the bitterness is a bit much to be perceived as a complement to the quickly diminished flavors. It does have a long finish, but its not as good as the nose or the initial light flavor.

I am becoming accustomed to the Speyside style and I like it. The gentle introduction to peaty smoke has been enjoyable. I just hope I can handle any Islay that may show up along the journey.

The distiller’s notes suggest:

A gentle 10 year old from the Speyside distillery, Tomintoul.

Black Bull Special Reserve Number 1

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Blended, No Age Statement, 46.6% ABV, $153

Graham cracker, toffee and maple syrup aroma with a gentle charred wood in the background… very noticeable at first, but mostly distant after collecting some air. The taste is a metallic citrus with plenty of burn. The citrus is joined by ginger, maple and caramel as the metal fades, but the burn lingers as the aftertaste turns to leathery vanilla. A bit of water tames this dram to a leathery maple and vanilla as the citrus becomes more in balance. The aftertaste becomes more sulfurous behind a lingering chewy burnt caramel. By the time I’m finishing this one off, I’m tasting more florals and lemon along with a spicy gingerbread.

Master of Malt says:

The most recent addition to the Black Bull stable, this Special Reserve Number one is based on the same ratio of 50% malt to grain that is used in both the 12 and 40 year old Black Bull whiskies. This is a limited release of just 978 bottles.

Blair Athol 22 Year Old 1989 Cask 2928 – Dimensions (Duncan Taylor)

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Speyside Single Malt, 22 Years,
49.9% ABV, $137

A lot of alcohol in the nose, but there’s also a salty vanilla and orange with just a hint of flint. The vanilla becomes more prominent after a few breaths and a bit of caramel begins to show itself. On the palate, a sweet, salty vanilla that transitions to a citrus taste accompanied by a long bold burn. As the burning fades (and it takes a while), a bitterness of oak remains with just a hint of char. This one definitely needs some water!

With the addition of water, the flavor becomes more of spices… ginger, nutmeg and pepper. The nose starts showing some charred oak with an ever evident burn of the alcohol… that aspect doesn’t seem to let up. With more water, a distinct corn aroma appears… a sweet, syrupy kind… corn syrup, I guess. The flavor becomes more salty and sweet with an intense caramel note. The alcohol finally fades a bit quicker, but there’s a distinct bright peppery finish that displaces the bitterness that was there before. It’s still noticeable, but the balance is much better.

Here’s the description from Master of Malt:

A spicy Speyside malt distilled at Blair Athol in May 1989. It was aged for 22 years in cask 2928 before bottling at natural cask strength in March 2012.

Glenfarclas 1981 Family Cask Release V

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Speyside Single Malt, 29 Years, 50.9% ABV, $564

On the nose, lightly peaty with orange, vanilla, butterscotch and honey. I taste the butterscotch and honey along with a bit of smoke. The peaty smoke is more noticeable as I continue to sip, then gives way to a lingering light smoke with a sweet alcohol burn that lasts for a good minute or so. It’s got a light oily feel to it and needs a bit of water. Adding very little water releases a smoky aroma and reduces the burn considerably. The sweetness remains and is joined by bitter orange and white pepper, while the oiliness is greatly reduced. Still, the smoky aftertaste lingers even longer and coats my mouth.

This is my first real experience with a peated Scotch and I have to admit that I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve had very few Scotch whiskies, but this has got to be the best one by a significant margin. I’m looking forward to the next 23 days.

Here is what Master of Malt had to say about this one:

The fifth release of Glenfarclas 1981, this whisky was aged in a single plain hogshead (cask 58), and it was bottled at natural cask strength in 2010. It marks a change from many of the family casks as it’s bottled from a plain cask, and not a sherry cask.

Whisky Advent Calendar

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The Whisky Advent Calendar from Master of Malt

The occasion prompting the creation of this blog is the arrival of The Whisky Advent Calendar from Master of Malt, courtesy of a very generous friend. Since this is the 1st of December, it’s time to get started with the necessary sampling of the drams contained therein (somebody has to do it! ;-)). I’ll be posting my tasting experiences daily replete with images, if all goes well.