The Malt Cask

This is great to finally be able to pick up a first release from a new distillery, even more so when the said distillery is located on Islay, the release is aged for 5 years, unchillfiltered, natural colour, bottled at 50% and costs £70! That’s what Hunter Laing have managed to achieve with this first Ardnahoe bottle. Let’s just hope it taste good… Distillery:  Ardnahoe Bottler:  Distillery Age:  5 years old Distilled:  2019 Bottled: 24/04/24 Cask:  ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry, mostly first-fill Abv:  50% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  n/a Price: £70 Extra:  Inaugural release My tasting notes: Nose:   Sweet & smoky, vanilla, gentle oak spice, orange blossom, fruity side (slight peach and pears) phenolic peat, lemon curd, ginger, earthy notes, chared oak, iodine, cherry notes too after awhile, hints of jasmine What a start…! Palate:  Sweet & smoky again but the sweetness is more honey, vanilla, caramel, and less fruity. It’s rather oily and chewy, oak sp

  This is a bottle I should have reviewed a while back now but better late than never! Distillery:  Deanston Bottler:  Distillery Age:  12 years old Distilled:  n/a Bottled: n/a Cask:  ex-Bourbon Abv:  46.3% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  n/a Price:  Around £45 Extra:  Bottle has been opened for a couple of years My tasting notes: Nose:  Creamy malted barley, linseed oil, toffee, orange, nutty shortbread, lemon, freshly cut straw and slight honey. I remember being taken aback by the first pour and some turnip notes. Thankfully these have gone now! Palate:  Creamy, nutty and malty again. Vanilla, toffeed apples, creme caramel, red apples, hints of ginger, oak spice, black pepper, almond and some bitterness kicking around. Finish:  Nutty, woody, almonds and vanilla, warming oak spice, quite drying, hints of bitter orange. The finish is not incredibly long though...  With water:  Fresher nose with more citrus and fewer nutty/earthy notes. The palate also drops

  Picture courtesy of  www.scotchwhiskyauctions.com Distillery:  Benrinnes Bottler:  Cadenhead's Age:  16 years old Distilled:  2007 Bottled: 2023 Cask:  ex-Bourbon and Fino since September 2020 Abv:  55.4% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  n/a Price: Around £70 Extra:  Bottled for Cadenhead's in the courtyard 2023 My tasting notes: Nose:  Sweet, fruity and gently oaky, yellow fruit, peach and apricots, mirabelle plumb jam, nutmeg, candied ginger in dark chocolate, gentle oak spice and hints of citrus, lemon shortbread, toffee, a little char, some sea salt and waxiness too. Very inviting! Palate:  Drying bitterness, slightly briny, underripe olives, 100% dark chocolate, quite astringent and the 55.4% abv is definitely here. There are some sweeter notes in the background but they struggle to get through the 'bitter briny barrier' which makes your eyes squint whilst drawing all the moisture from your mouth and tongue. Looks like this one might ben

Distillery:  Clynelish Bottler:  Halcyon Spirits Age:  30 years old Distilled:  20/10/1993 Bottled:  24/10/2023 Cask:  ex-Bourbon ? Abv:  42.1% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  154 Price: £795 Extra:  Vatting of cask 11082 and 11104 My tasting notes: Nose: Fresh & fruity, apples, pears, peaches, quince paste, slight nuttiness, almond, lemon, dried apricots, toffee & vanilla, quite waxy (wood polish/ beeswax), desiccated coconut and some cinnamon. What a start! Palate: Rich, sweet, fruity, oak spice, waxy, more peach, apricot, apples & pears, honey & hints of aniseed, pepper, definitely some Clyrelish DNA here and it’s delicious! Finish: Warming with spicy notes from the palate to the finish, more nuttiness (macadamia?) & sweetness. Still some fruit but less present on the finish. Oak. With water: From yellow fruit, the nose becomes greener & fresher (fresh linen). The palate becomes juicier & even more mouth watering with a mix o

  Distillery:  Loch Lomond Bottler:  Dà Mhìle Age:  20 years old Distilled:  2000 Bottled:  n/a Cask:  ex-Bourbon ? Abv:  57% Unchillfiltered:  Yes? Natural Colour:  Yes? Nb of bottles:  1200 Extra:  Released to celebrate the new Millenium / Organic whisky My tasting notes: Nose:  Sweet, creamy, brioche, apricot Danish pastry, vanilla pods, custard, butterscotch, digestive biscuits, pine kernels. Smells divine! Palate:  Creamy again, caramel, vanilla cream, buttery, fresh vanilla pods, rum flambéed bananas, muscovado sugar, oak spice and slight bitterness. Fruity notes too with coconut, peaches and hints of mango. This is delicious grain… Finish:  Buttery and some nuttiness too. Almond milk, more custard, sweet, slight rum and raisin ice cream, bitter orange. With water:  More resin and varnish, spiced honey on the nose. More mouth-watering fresh yellow fruit on the palate, and more orange notes on the finish. I don’t tend to drink a lot of grain as they’re normally quite boring and sa

  Distillery:  Cotswolds Bottler:  Distillery Age:  NAS Distilled:  N/A Bottled:  2023 Cask:   Oloroso with first fill ex-red wine and bourbon barrels Abv:  50% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  3500 Extra:  Distillery Club Exclusive My tasting notes: Nose: Sweet, rich and fruity, with oak spice, caramel, red and yellow fruit, brown sugar, some raisin and slight molasse notes. Palate: Sweet and spicy, with sugar-coated almonds, toffee, raspberries, hints of lemon rinds, some orange bitterness, dried fruits and some spirity notes. Finish: Quite nutty and spicy, warming Oloroso, dried figs, prunes and slight aniseed. This is very good! With water: The spicer, hotter notes are dialled down, there’s more caramel, treacle and some fennel seeds. This is a very enjoyable single malt from a distillery I have always enjoyed exploring! Worth a punt in my opinion! Slàinte all!