I have just posted a video on youtube with my updated whisky collection. It only covers the bottles which I have opened so I might have to release another one soon to update the 'to-be-opened' bottles!
Back to Islay today with a recent release from Morrison Distillers, the Mac-Talla Mara. After a bit of a revamp in their range, Morrison distillers portfolio grew with the introduction of the Mac-Talla brand with three releases so far in the range, the Terra (‘earth’) bottled at 46%, the Mara (‘sea’) bottled at the cask strength of 58.2%, and the brand new Strata (15 years old, 46% with a mix of bourbon and sherry casks) Mac-Talla means ‘echo’ in Scottish Gaelic and it focuses on Islay single malts, renewing the link the Morrison family have had with the island for generations. The shape of the label used on both the Terra and the Mara also echo the old ferry tickets on the way to Islay. But for now, let’s focus on the bottle of Mara. From what I know about the whisky, it is between 4 and 15 years old with mainly 6/7/8 years old at its core. It is peated to 23/25 ppm and was aged exclusively in ex-bourbon cask. Like with the rest of the range, it is uncoloured and unchillfiltered. M
Probably one of my favourite collaboration today, linking Islay whisky with Aston Martin. And this is courtesy of the Bowmore team, who sent me the bottle for free! I have had a mixed experience with Bowmore and I put this down to one main key factor, the presentation of the whisky. Not the box and label, but the abv and filtration. The standard bottles released at low abv (40%) have not really been that great, butI have really loved the 48%+ releases. Now this 10 year-old is part of a new Travel Retail range that Bowmore have released in conjunction with Aston Martin. You’ll find a 10, 15 and 18 year-old, The 10 years old is aged in a mix of sherry cask and bourbon casks (40%), the 15 in first-fill bourbon casks (43%) and the 18 in a mix of Oloroso and PX casks (43%). The whisky has also probably been coloured and chill-filtered. So let's get stuck in and see what this one is like... My tasting notes Nose: Sweet and smoky, dried fruit, ash, smoke, tropical notes, mango, caramel,
You might have realised that Caol Ila is probably my favourite Scottish distillery and as over 6.5 million liters of spirit are produced there every year, there is no shortage of casks for independent bottlers either and so plenty of indie bottles of Caol Ila for us to choose from. This one is from one of the most reputable bottlers: Gordon and Macphail. It is part of their Connoisseurs Choice range (which had a bit of a revamp since i purchased this bottle). This is not a single cask release but a vatting of whisky distilled in 2004, aged in 1st-fill ex-Bourbon barrels and bottled in 2018 by G&M. So a 14 year-old Caol Ila with no extra finish on it. Sounds like a very good start... As mentioned above, the whisky was distilled in 2004 and bottled in 2018 at 46%, without chill filtration or colouring. The whisky is a nice straw colour! Nose: Herby and smoky with some sweetness. Thyme, bay leaves, some eucalyptus, honey, vanilla, smoked meat, salt and dried apricots. What a start! P
Comments
Post a Comment