Whisky Review - Port Ellen 1983

This is a whisky review of Port Ellen 1983, 21 years 50% (Islay)

This 21 year old Port Ellen was bottled by the Independent Bottler Douglas Laing in the series “Old malt Cask)

Colour:
Amber

Nose, without water:
Warming

Nose, with water:
Sweet, tar, rubber

Body:
Full

Mouth feel:
Oily, creamy

Primary taste:
Salt

Overall flavour:
Vanilla, almonds, smoke, spicy

Finish:
Long

Conclusion:

It is a very complex whisky. Port Ellen has always been one of my favourites and this one is no exception. A very, very good dram.

Whisky Review - Tomatin 1984

This is a whisky review of Tomatin 1984, 22 years 48.1% (Speyside)

This 22 year old Tomatin was bottled by the Independent Bottler “The Whisky Fair”. It has matured in a bourbon cask for 22 years.

Colour:
Amber

Nose, without water:
Pungent

Nose, with water:
Fruity, sweet, pineapples, mint

Body:
Medium

Mouth feel:
Oily, creamy

Primary taste:
Sweet

Overall flavour:
Tutti-frutti

Finish:
Long

Conclusion:

Although the first nose was pungent the taste was sweet and fruity with medium body, creamy mouth feel and a long finish. This is a very nice whisky.

Whisky-Review - Glenfarclas

I recently attended a Glenfarclas whisky tasting in Malmö, Sweden.
It was hosted by the Swedish importer and was carried out by Robert Ransom, who is the Director of Sales & Marketing at the Glenfarclas Distillery.

We tasted 5 different whiskies:
12 years, 43%
15 years, 46%
25 years, 43%
30 years, 43%
105, 60% (no age on the label but at least 10 years old)

Glenfarclas uses 2/3 of the whisky from sherry casks and 1/3 from bourbon casks, except for the 30 year old where all of the whisky matures in sherry casks.

Here is a summary of the tasting notes:

Colour: They are all dark from gold to mahogany.

Nose, without water: They are all warming except the 105, which is fresh.

Nose, with water: Sweet, fruity

Body: They are all medium to full-bodied

Mouth feel: Mostly dry and some rough

Overall flavour: 12y, 15y, 18y - sweet, fruity, dried fruit, spicy.
30y sweet, fruity, chocolate, sherry, raisins, a little spicy.
105, spicy, chilli.

Finish: Is for all medium to long, where the 30y is longest.

Conclusion: The 12y, 15y, 25y and 30y are all similar in nose and taste, where the age and sherry cask of the 30y made it my favourite. The 15y was close. The 25y improved after a while and the 12y is a good price-worthy dram.
The 105 is a "tough" one which you should enjoy on a pick-nick on a windy autumn or winters day, or after the pick.nick.

After the tasting we could keep the very nice tasting mats.

Whisky Review - Highland Park 1979

This is a whisky review of Highland Park 1979, 27 years 46.2% (Orkney)

This 27 year old Highland Park was bottled by the Independent Bottler Murray McDavid at Bruichladdich. It has matured in a bourbon cask but ended up in a Syrah cask for a couple of months.

Colour:
Mahogany

Nose, without water:
Warming

Nose, with water:
Fruity, sweet, phenols, smoke

Body:
Medium

Mouth feel:
Rough

Primary taste:
Salt - bitter

Overall flavour:
Sour wine

Finish:
Medium long - medium

Conclusion:

I had high expectations about this one but was a bit suspicious to the Syrah cask. Unfortunately I was right. This was a total disappointment. You wonder why you put a 27 year old Highland Park in a wine cask. This is normally a very good whisky. I suspect that something has happened during the maturation with the cask and destroyed the whisky and they have tried to save it by “enhancing” it in another cask.

How to Arrange a Whisky Review or Tasting

If you are going to host a whisky review for many people, review all the samples a few days before and make notes. Then you are well prepared for the review and have decided in which order you should review the different whiskies. Those with the most flavour and / or smoke should be reviewed as the last sample.

It's always nice to get some information about each distillery and present it to the participants. There is a lot of information available on the Internet, just search for the name of the distillery in e.g. Google. If you use PowerPoint for your presentation, use only one page per distillery. It is after all the reviews that are most important.

If you have an open review then present the information about the distilleries before the review, but if it is a hidden review then present it after the review. A hidden review is arranged so that the participants should not have a preconceived opinion about the different samples when they see the bottles. Always let the participants give their opinion before you do it, otherwise they will be affected by your comments.

If the test is open, then start by pouring 2 to 2.5 cl whisky in each glass. If the test is hidden then ask the participants to leave the room after the presentation, and then pour the whisky.

First, we are going to use our eyes. The colour of whisky can often give us a clue as to what kind of cask has been used, unless caramel colouring is used. If you turn your glass I bit and swirl it, small drops are formed, so-called "tears” and the they can give us some clues as to what is in the glass. Very small drops tell us that the whisky is strong, above 50% alcohol strength. If the tears flow slowly, it could mean that it is an older whisky, because it becomes smoother by age.

1. Color
(There are many nuances, but these are sufficient to cover most of the variants)

Pale yellow
Pale straw
Yellow
Gold
Amber
Deep gold
Bronze
Mahogany
Dark brown


Now we are going to use our nose. It is time to smell (nose) the whisky. Let's remember that there is at least 40% alcohol in the glass, so don’t stick your nose too deep into the glass. Take a slight sniff a few inches above the opening of the glass to find the volatile aromas. Then you can slowly move closer to the glass edge to find the heavier aromas. It can be difficult to put names on scents but after a series of reviews, it will be easier. Remember, we are all different and don’t be disappointed if you don’t find the same scents as the other participants do.

2. Nose, first impression, without water

Light
Fresh
Pungent
Sharp (spirit)
Warming

3. Nose, second impression, with water
(There are many more scents, but these suggestions cover a big range)

Phenols - Medicinal, peat, smoke
Feint - leather, tobacco, sweat
Cereal - vegetables, malt, yeast, porridge
Floral - flowers, grass, leaves, hey
Esters - fruit, solvents, citric
Sweets - sherry, nuts, honey, chocolate
Wood - vanilla, resin, fat. pepper
Rancid - butter, fatty, rancid
Acid - acid, cheese, vinegar
Sulphur - rubber, gas, stagnant water
Musty - earth, mould

Now we are going use both the mouth and nose. It's time to taste the whisky. Take a zip of whisky in your mouth and swirl around the whisky to make contact with the whole mouth. Do not drink all of the whisky, leave some to compare after you have tasted the last sample. Then you can go back and compare again. You will notice that the smell has has changed quite a lot as your nose now had several different fragrance impressions of the other samples. The Whisky also changes the longer it is “open” to the air.

Drink water between the samples to neutralise your scences.

4. Body

Light
Medium
Full


5. Mouth feel

Smooth
Oily
Rough
Dry

6. Primary taste

Sweet (front of the tongue)
Salty (front side)
Sour (sides of the tongue and the upper lip)
Bitter (tongue root)

7. Overall flavour
(There are many more flavours, but these suggestions cover a big range)

Phenols - Medicinal, peat, smoke
Feint - leather, tobacco, sweat
Cereal - vegetables, malt, yeast, porridge
Floral - flowers, grass, leaves, hey
Esters - fruit, solvents, citric
Sweets - sherry, nuts, honey, chocolate
Wood - vanilla, resin, fat. pepper
Rancid - butter, fatty, rancid
Acid - acid, cheese, vinegar
Sulphur - rubber, gas, stagnant water
Musty - earth, mould

8. Finish
(This tells how long and how big the finish is)

Short - medium - long
Small - medium – large


9. Grading

First, ranks the samples. Give the best a 1, the second best a 2, etc. Then you give your marks. Normally a scale of 1 to 10 is sufficient, but if you want to be more specific you can use a scale of 1 - 100.

A scale from 1 to 10 can look like this:

1. Defective
2. Undrinkable
3. Very bad
4. Bad
5. Approved
6. Good
7. Very good
8. Delicious
9. Exceptional
10. World-class

The grade 6 corresponds to an average whisky and this represents about 40% of all whiskies.

Write down the review results in notes and save as a reference for later reviews.

NOTE! Don’t be to scientific in the reviews, the experience of a whisky is very individual and can vary a lot between different people. Do not take too much impression of what others say before the review, it is your own opinion that matters.

A whisky tasting should be instructive, funny and a pleasure.

Slàinte

Whisky Review - Laphroaig Quarter Cask

This is a whisky review of Laphroaig Quarter Cask 48% (Islay)

The “Quarter Casks” were originally used in the beginning of the 19th century when whisky often was transported with mule or packhorse. The whisky also matures much faster in these smaller casks, 25-30% faster. The age is not stated but is about 7-8 years.

Colour:
Gold

Nose, without water:
Warming

Nose, with water:
Tar, peat, citrus

Body:
Medium - full

Mouth feel:
Smooth

Primary taste:
Salt - sweet

Overall flavour:
Vanilla, malt, leather, dry smoke

Finish:
Long - big

Conclusion:

This is a typical Islay whisky with smooth, sweet, peaty flavour with a long finish.
It surprised me how mature this whisky is regarding its age. It is a very enjoyable dram.

To get one just click below

Whisky Review - Glendronach Allardice 18 Years

This is a whisky review of Glendronach Allardice 18 years 46% (Speyside)

This whisky has matured in a Spanish Oloroso Sherry cask


Colour:
Mahogany

Nose, without water:
Warming

Nose, with water:
Sherry, malt, raisins

Body:
Medium

Mouth feel:
Smooth

Primary taste:
Sweet, a bit salty

Overall flavour:
Dry sherry, spicy

Finish:
Small - Medium

Conclusion:
Where the first nosing was very promising, the taste was a bit of a disappointment.
The finish wasn’t very long and the sweetness from the nosing did not appear in the taste although it has matured for 18 years in an Oloroso cask.

Whisky Review - Mackmyra Special:03

This is a whisky review of Mackmyra Special:03 Single Malt 48.2% (Sweden)

Mackmyra has taken the best thirty-litre casks of our two recipes and three different kinds of cask from all four of their warehouses. Casks of ex-bourbon, ex-sherry and new Swedish oak have come together in this tribute to the small cask with the big flavour.


Colour:
Straw

Nose, without water:
Warming

Nose, with water:
Vanilla, malt, fudge

Body:
Medium to full-bodied

Mouth feel:
Rough

Primary taste:
Bitter

Overall flavour:
Woody, spicy, dried fruit

Finish:
Medium - long

Conclusion:
You have here a fully matured whisky with vanilla from the bourbon cask, some sweetness from the sherry cask and wood and spices from the Swedish oak.
A pleasant single malt.

Mackmyra mingle

Yesterday I visited a Mackmyra mingle in Malmö, Sweden. The Mackmyra Special:03, which was released on the 2nd of November, was presented by 3 persons from Mackmyra management.



They also presented their plans for the future of Mackmyra. They have started a project where the are going to build a complete “whisky village” not far from the present distillery.
It will contain a new designed distillery as well as underground warehouses. This village will be surrounded by a forest. There will be lodges for visitors and guests.
The surroundings are peaceful and quiet and are perfect for anyone looking for a good whisky and tranquillity.



Of course we tasted the Mackmyra Special:03 as well as Mackmyra Privus:01 and Privus:03. The Privus were only available in Mackmyra’s “Whisky library”, which were sold in a limited edition of 1000pcs and are sold out.




A whisky review of the Mackmyra Special:03 will be posted soon.

Dalwhinnie 15 years - Review

This is a whisky review of Dalwhinnie 15 year Single Malt 43% (Highland)

Colour:
Gold

Nose, without water:
Fresh

Nose, with water:
Fruity, oranges, vanilla

Body:
Full-bodied

Mouth feel:
Dry

Primary taste:
Salty

Overall flavour:
Fruity, malt, some bitterness, almond

Finish:
Medium - long

Conclusion:
This is a very pleasant whisky