Of malt whisky, cider and other drinkables. Carpe aqua vitae.
Nose: Light smoke, newly baked buns with egg cream filling. Sweet orange. Water adds bite and bitterness and some green wood.
Palate: Cold smoke and ashes, coal. Water brings out vanilla and malt and (honeydew?) melon.
Comments: It’s Laphroaig and it’s nice, but I am somewhat underwhelmed.
This is a special bottling Laphroaig did last year exclusively for the Scandinavian market.
Nose: Smoked and barbequed meat, bonfires and cheese. I get Applewood vibes and that is never a bad thing. With water there is less meat and more ashes, but also red berries and smoked seaweed.
Palate: Less interesting than the nose, but very nice. Fridge ice and ashes. Water sharpens the taste and brings out a slight bitterness and orange peel.
Comments: Perfectly drinkable at full strength, but water gives it another dimension. A great dram. The only negative thing I can think of is a somewhat short finish, the smoke lingers but nothing else.
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.
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.
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.
Nose: Newly struck matches, dried red berries. Water adds tartness to the nose, I get lemon but also a little sulfur and a hint of liquorice.
Palate: The malt is obvious, even through the fairly heavy cask influence. Newly struck matches, oak and dry sherry. Water opens for bitter chocolate and dry forest. Dry cocoa and barley dust on the finish.
Comments: I’m rather more impressed this evening than when I had it as part of a tasting the other day, I found it a bit too bitter then. I still miss a compensating sweet note, or at least I think I do. There is something not entirely “complete” about the sherry character. Still, a nice dram, I’ll have another if you’re offering.
This is a rather unusual vatted malt, as it’s a vatting of Japanese malt whisky from Yoichi and Scottish malt whisky from an unnamed Islay distillery. The latter is probably Caol Ila, from the simple fact that that is the Islay malt most readily available, but it may be one of the others even so.
Blind tasting.
Nose: Newly lit barbeque (charcoal lighter fluid and fire). Lightly smoky and quite a bit of vanilla. With water I get red Hubba Bubba (chewing gum from the 80ies), and some barbequed meat.
Palate: Clearer smoke, but some charcoal lighter fluid here too. Baked apples. Water emphasises fire and ashes, but with an underlying sweetness.
Comments: You’d think that charcoal lighter fluid would be negative as a tasting note, but as it provides images of summer and barbequeing it’s not unattractive. Otherwise the whisky is not quite interesting enough and at the same time not quite peatmonstery enough to become a new favourite, but it’s quite drinkable.
The Elements of Islay series is bottled by Speciality Drinks.
Nose: Light smokyness, green wood burning, with rather a lot of leaves still on the branches. Banana and honey. More fruitiness and sweetness with water, barbequed peaches and rosemary.
Palate: Cold fireplace, ashes and coal. Maltiness and sweetness. Water lights the fire (strangely enough), the smoke becomes warmer. Underneath there is banana toffee and yellow apples.
Comments: I can only state (categorically) that peated Bunnahabhains are nice. Very nice.
Thanks to Daniel for the sample.
Nose: Plum in madeira, green herbs, burnt wood and a hint of burnt rubber, orange marmelade. With water I get mint and aniseed, but still a lot of marmelade and burnt wood.
Palate: Warm wood, hints of burnt rubber, candied orange peel. A little more bitterness with water, otherwise much the same.
Comments: The nose is nice, the palate a little boring, but it’s a nice enough dram overall.