Tag Archives: Single Malt

Master of Malt Island Single Malt

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Islands Single Malt, No Age Statement,
40%ABV, $50

This is yesterday’s dram… one more and I’m caught up!  This is also my first Island malt… here I go!

Wow! Lots of smoke rising from this baby. I also smell seawater soaked peat with vanilla and caramel trying to break through. After letting it breath a bit, lemon drops appear as the smoke dissipates lightly. There’s still a bold peaty fragrance. The taste is notably salty, peppery and sweet with the peppery finish lasting 40-40 seconds leaving behind smoke, peat and oak. The last thing to go is the smoky peat, but its not overpowering anywhere along the way. Back to the initial taste… there’s plum, ginger, tart apple and, of course, the salty, peaty smoke and pepper. The body of this whisky is full and flavorful… nothing seems particularly out of balance, but there’s a bit of something missing that I can’t quite put my finger on. Still, my first Island experience is a good one.

Master of Malt can’t identify the source of this whisky, saying:

Rather smoky with a classic Island flavour – think coastal notes and thick malt. Our Island single malt is from an unnamed distillery, and we can’t specify the age. The result of this is we can buy and sell these bottles at ridiculously low prices considering how good the whisky is. Try it, try and guess where it’s from and post your comment below if you think you know! (We can’t tell you though, it’s a secret!)

Glenkinchie 20 Year Old (2010 Release)

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Lowland Single Malt, 20 Years,
55.1% ABV, $185

Wonderful honey, apricot and creamy vanilla aroma… perhaps sweet flowers as well, like Azalea… the most pleasant so far. The taste is powerful and lingers for a good minute plus. Lots of citrus – orange and lemon – along with a salty sweet vanilla that turns into a salty leathery honey. The peppery burn arrives after the citrus and remains as it fades along with the leathery honey. They call this a lady’s whisky, but I can only imagine her with a name like Bertha because this one is pretty tough. I mean that it’s definitely not feminine. A bit of water starts to release spices – ginger, pepper and a feint sage – and the citrus is toned down significantly. It becomes a lightly salted blend of citrus, banana, peach and finishes with leathery banana and vanilla. This is definitely an enjoyable drink and my first Lowland Scotch Whisky.

Glenkinchie 20 2010 Bottling Note:

The 2010 special release from Lowland distillery Glenkinchie. Fruity, smooth and luxurious. A lady-whisky if ever we saw one.

Finally, here is the link to this offering at Master of Malt.

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.

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.