Of malt whisky, cider and other drinkables. Carpe aqua vitae.
Nose: Raspberry sweets, bonfire smoke and blackcurrant bush. More spice on the nose with water, but also malt. Ginger snap bisquits.
Palate: Fruity smoke. Peat smoke, tropical fruits, raspberries. Cold rock and singed wood on the finish. With water the malt makes its appearance, and I am reminded of cherry pie.
Comments: A successful combination of fruits and smoke. I will definitely purchase one as a session whisky on a suitable occasion.
Thanks go to Geir Tore for the sample.
Cask number 3209.
Nose: The first impression is fruity and flowery. Vanilla, tinned fruit salad, cedar wood and dry oaky bitterness follows. Water brings out apple pie with cinnamon, a pie with a somewhat soggy crust.
Palate: Banana and oak, clear malty notes. Dry oakish bitterness on the palate as well. Water doesn’t make much difference, the oak turns greener. The finish has something reminicent of calvados.
Comments: Quite nice, but doesn’t quite make the grade. I can’t help think price/performance. It’s nice, yes, but not THAT nice. My main gripe is with the dry oaky bitterness permeating the whole. But would I go for a second dram if offered? You betcha.
Thanks to Geir Tore for the sample and the picture.
Cask number 1973, distilled 11.12.1996, bottled 31.03.2011.
Nose: Apple compote with cinnamon, dark chocolate, fragrant roses. A little water adds mint, orange peel, jasmine and lemon.
Palate: Oak and apple peel, honey, black pepper and dark chocolate. More chocolate with water, orange marmelade and bay leaf.
Comments: Yet another stunning sherry cask from Arran. Confirms the rule that these are a steal at almost any price (this particular cask has not been available in Norway, but those that have have been just as good).
Thanks to Bjørn for the taster.
Bottled June 2012.
Nose: Marsipan covered in a thin layer of dark chocolate. Fruit tree. More fruity with water, tinned fruit coctail with mint and chocolate chips.
Palate: Plum in Madeira, dark chocolate, a little After Eight. Maltiness shows up with water, also oak and a hint of pepper.
Kommentar: Quite simply really, really good.
Distilled 21.02.1975, bottled 05.08.2010, matured in an ex-bourbon cask with cask number 553.
It’s an open secret that Signatory’s Rare Ayrshire contains single malt from Ladyburn, but they are not allowed to state so on the label.
Nose: Shortbread, honey. With water I get tart apples and after a while vanilla and sherbet powder.
Palate: Fruity oak, maltiness. More apple pie with water.
Comments: Not bad at all, though less complex than I could wish for.
Nose: Apple pie, orange marmelade. Fresher apples with water.
Palate: Custard, white pepper.
Comments: Does not change noticeably with water. Nice, but a little bland. Probably suited to its purpose: to be used with mixers in Spain and Italy.
Distilled 13.12.1990, bottled 12.06.2007, from cask number 15688. 1st fill sherry butt.
Nose: Quite closed. A little vanilla and baked pears. Water brings out smoke, orange peel and white flowers.
Palate: The smoke may be hiding on the nose, but is obvious on the palate; cold bonfire. Also freshly baked wholemeal bread with honey. With water the smoke turns chalky, and I find flower nectar and honeydew melon.
Comments: First a note on the colour. It’s not obvious from the picture, but this is hardly darker than the average white wine. What’s up with that? 1st fill sherry should normally be much more visible. And the nose and palate have no very obvious sherry notes, either. If you buy this because you like sherry bombs you will be bitterly disappointed.
But otherwise: What’s not to like? A really, really nice Highland Park cask Signatory have got their hands on, even if it seems to be mislabeled.
Another sample I have forgotten the origin of. I really need to create a better system for samples!
Bottled January 2003, cask number 6182.
Nose: Barbequed marshmallows, oak, vanilla, plum jam. With water it develops malty notes, both shortbread and digestives, “Kornmo” with real butter and brown cheese. There are also red apples and a hint of honey.
Palate: Sweet pears, light oaky bitterness. With water it develops a cloying sweetness, possibly marshmallows again, but over the top. Not unpleasant in itself, but a feeling that it might become too much very quickly. There is also some juniper wood and sweet apples.
Comments: Obviously needs water to tame the strength. More interesting nose than palate, but despite the lack of hyperbole I am actually pretty sold on this. I’m a little sad that I only have a sample, and since I can’t remember who I got it from I don’t know whose cupboard to raid, it might have been Morten..
This is the old standard bottling of Glenmorangie, pre-LVMH.
Nose: Red currants and orange, vanilla and a light oaky perfume. No noticable evolution with water.
Palate: Sauna and fruit. A bit more spicy with water.
Comments: A perfectly decent entry level bottling. Easy to like and drink, and uncomplicated.
I had to order a bottle of Bushmills 21 years old, as there is reason to wonder if the importer has been in the sun too long or something. The price in Norway is 599,90 NOK (around 60 GBP) – which is cheap for a 21-year old in any case, but seems like the sale of the century compared to prices in the UK where the RRP is 137 GBP. But is it worth it? That, obviously, is the salient point, because if it’s undrinkable it’s money out the window whatever the price.
Nose: Clear bourbony notes, oak and vanilla. Plums in Madeira, lemon peel, toffee and spice; curry, in fact. Water brings out more fresh fruits.
Palate: Oak and vanilla. A somewhat bitter oakiness. I was hoping water would open it up and bring out more flavours, but was disappointed.
Comments: Very lovely nose, pretty bland taste. Nothing wrong with it, though, and certainly worth the 60 pounds, but not the 137, I don’t think.
