Of malt whisky, cider and other drinkables. Carpe aqua vitae.
Nose: “Bourbon”, perfumed oak and vanilla, a little wood varnish and acetone, fruit, red berries and pears.
Palate: Alchohol, oak and vanilla. A little fudge.
Comments: Rough and very bourbony. Way too much of the latter for me. Not undrinkable, but not very good.
Tasted at Casc in Aberdeen.
Nose: Hunny, leather, oak, mealy apples and apricot jam.
Palate: Apricot jam with oak flavour.
Comments: Nice enough, but not very exciting.
Tasted at Casc in Aberdeen.
Nose: Oak and vanilla, liquorice.
Palate: Oak, orange marmelade and orange peel, furniture polish, hemp used to caulk the barrel.
Comments: Well. Ok, but hardly anything to shout about.
Nose: Vanilla, baked apples and light smoke. Water turns the apples tarter and adds wax, salt, slate and a little seaweed. A bonfire on the beach and malt.
Palate: Smoked meat, vanilla, unripe melon and smoke. The smoke becomes more obvious with water, which also adds waxy malt and a hint of pepper.
Comments: A Port Ellen that goes a long way towards confirming the legendary status of the distillery. There is something a little off on the taste, which keeps me from scoring it as a bullseye. But it’s not bad, and it’s complex enough to keep me searching for words to describe what I’m smelling and tasting until the dram is done and beyond. Probably one of the last Port Ellens I’ll ever had, unless I get hold of more samples. The prices for Port Ellen nowadays has entered the ridiculous sphere, and I can’t even be bothered thinking about it.
Thanks to Håvard for the sample.
Nose: It smells like Ardbeg. Well, ok, smoke, a little banana, log cabin, a little varnish and some dark chocolate. Water brings out a bit of wax and rosemary and leaves a lot of smoke.
Palate: Smoky log cabin and dark chocolate. Cold rock on the finish. With water the smoke is still dominant, but I find some tropical fruits and a hint of menthol. A little bitterness develops on the finish, and I conclude I prefered it without water.
Comments: For a peathead this is obviously not bad, but it’s not exactly worth the asking price, either. You get smoke, and plenty of it, cheaper from other sources. The nose is best with a little water, the taste without. I will probably drink the rest of my share (I split the bottle with a couple of other people) without adding water.
Nose: Lemon-scented detergent (but more lemon than detergent, thankfully) and dry sherry. Water does not really change much, though less obvious alchohol lessens the impression of detergent.
Palate: Dry wood, citrus and a somewhat sickening sweeteness. Wood varnish. With water I get bitter orange peel.
Comments: I strongly prefer the bourbon wood. This one is just a decent dram, there’s nothing special about it at all.
Nose: Young wood, lime, juniper wood and vanilla. With water I find more citrus and lemon, dry herbs (rosemary?) and malt.
Palate: Dry wood, vanilla, spruce needles and citrus. Water brings out a more bitter woody note, but also malt and dusty wooden floors.
Comments: Not exactly unpleasant. I like WIP 1 the best, and regret not buying more. However, this is quite pleasant enough to make WIP 6 tempting.
Well, I can’t say I was jumping for joy when I discovered that Bunnahabhain have discontinued Darach Ur and replaced it with another Travel Retail Exclusive. I would have liked a little forewraning, at least, so that I could stockpile some bottles of one of my favourite whisky bottlings EVER. Well. Since I have liked what Bunnahabhain have done with their NAS bottlings in general, I picked up an Eirigh Na Greine when I cam through Aberdeen Dyce on my way home from the Orkneys (more, much more, on that later).
Nose: Malt and sweet plums, dryish wood fire, milk chocolate. With water I get chutney made from tropical fruits, with more water the fruity impression becomes fresher.
Palate: Malt, spices, orange peel, tropical fruits, milk chocolate. A lightly bitter finish. Water brings out digestives with orange marmalade.
Comments: Slightly too bitter on the finish for my palate, and it does not hit the mark in teh way the Darach Ur did. Still, it’s a pretty good dram, with a lot of action both on the nose and the taste considering the price.
Distilled July 1991, bottled October 2013. Tasted at Casc in Aberdeen.
Nose: Oaky banana, oak, green banana peel, vanilla and green wood.
Palate: New American oak, vanilla, hint of liquorice.
Comments: Confirms the “old grain is kinda nice” rule. Not terribly exciting, but very nice.
From an ex-sherry butt #2800. Tasted at Casc in Aberdeen.
Nose: A lot of alchohol, chocolate covered cherries. With water it turns more towards orange marmelade.
Palate: A lot of alchohol, oak and dark chocolate. Water brings out orange marmelade spiced with ginger.
Comments: There is something vaguely smoky both on the nose and palate – dry and ashy – I’m wondering whether it comes from the oak or whether the spirit is actually smoky. A very good dram, but worth the money (GBP 13.10 for one dram)? Well, considering what Bunna is doing with NAS bottlings at the moment… probably not.