The Malt Cask

  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 finis...

  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!

Distillery:  The Glenlivet Bottler:  Gordon & MacPhail Age:  74 years old Distilled:  01/01/1949 Bottled:  06/03/2023 Cask:   Refill Sherry Butt Abv:  49.3% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  192 Extra:  Cask #1 1 (Private Collection) My tasting notes: Nose: Rich & oaky, old bookcase, candied orange, rich silky caramel, macadamia nuts, brown sugar, dark fruit, hints of candlewax, stewed caramelised apples, linseed oil, hints of smoke, slight leather. Wow… Palate: Concentrated flavours, old wood, polish, leather, treacle, oak spice, hints of ash and cedar wood, mouth coating & waxy, dark dried fruit. After a few minutes, some green mint appears, orange, slight umami. Stunning! Finish: Long lasting, fruit & nuts, oak spice, slight smoke still, prunes, dried mangoes, hints of earthiness. With water: More sweetness on the nose with more fruit/orange. The palate gets more citrus & some old b...

  Distillery:  Glen Mhor Bottler:  Gordon & MacPhail Age:  49 years old Distilled:  1973 Bottled:  2023 Cask:   Refill Sherry Hogshead Abv:  47.2% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  170 Extra:  Cask # 85026801 (Part of The Recollection Series 2) My tasting notes: Nose: Rich, sweet & spicy, raisin, old oak, wood polish, cocoa powder, dark matured sherry, some herbal notes (menthol, liquorice roots), candied orange peel, walnut, dried cigar leaves, floral hints too, orange blossom, rose and a touch of salt. A little resinous & waxy. Wow! Palate: Concentrated, rich again, mixture of old oak bookshelves, dark raisins & soy sauce. Gentle oak spice but nothing over the top, hints of black pepper and black tea leaves. Waxy wood polish, citrus (orange / grapefruit) liquorice, black cherry jam, stewed apples. Stunning! Finish: Drying, long, citrus, oak, vanilla, some hints of menthol reappears,...

  A new Vintage Bottlers release today with the 3rd instalment of their Secret Series! This is a 32 year-old single cask from an undisclosed Islay distillery (the one beginning with Laphr…) distilled in 1990 and bottled at 52.1% Despite not being an expert in old Laphroaig, I cannot wait to try this one! My tasting notes: Nose: Fruity & gently peated, tropical fruit, pineapple, dried papaya, yellow fruit, peach, apricot, spicy pear, lemon, slight bacon and iodine, quite oily (linseed oil) hints of orange & slightly mineral too. What a start!!! Palate: Sweet & tropical, mango, dried pineapple, orange, slight toffee, honey and vanilla, salty notes too, faint peat smoke and a little black tea. Well balanced and absolutely delicious! Finish: Gentle & warming, salty peat smoke with vanilla & honey sweetness, dried oak, mossy, seaweed and fudge. With water: Sweeter nose with more toffee and more yellow fruit. The palate is slightly smokier and loses some citrus no...

Something very special today with the launch of a new independent bottler: Halcyon Spirits This family-owned independent bottling brand, based in Aberdeenshire, was developed by brothers Daniel and Craig Milne, who also co-founded global auction platform Whisky Hammer and whisky e-retailer Still Spirit. Picture courtesy of  Halcyon Spirits And their first release is definitely not one to miss with a 30 year-old single cask from Macallan, distilled in 1993 and matured in a first-fill sherry cask! Halcyon Spirits were kind enough to send me a sample to review, so here goes! My tasting notes: Nose: Rich, nutty, oak, raisin, slight citrus (orange), walnut, creamy macadamia, prunes, wood polish, hints of smoke, vanilla fudge, oak spice and rum-soaked raisins, a little liquorice root too. Palate: Dark and oaky, quite powerful and concentrated for under 50% abv, spicy dried fruit, dark roast coffee and nutmeg. Quite tannic. There is also a fresher side to it with hints of orange blossom...

  Today, I’m in for a treat with a sample of Benromach Polish Oak single cask 772, bottled as usual, unchillfiltered, uncoloured and at the natural cask strength of 58.6%. As per the Benromach website, “Polish Oak has long been known for being a great oak for whisky maturation, due to the strength and thickness of the wood, and the depth and character it brings to the flavours.” So let’s see what that’s all about! My tasting notes: Nose: Benromach DNA straight away, slightly dirty, smoky sweetness, fruity, oak, spice, vanilla, mixture of black cherry and lemon, stewed fruit, peaches, dark cocoa, hints of linseed oil, nutmeg, wood polish, peanut butter, orange… Wow, wow, wow! What a start! Palate: Rich & chewy, oak , aniseed/fennel, dark fruit, toffee, bitter orange marmalade, slight nuttiness, nutmeg, caramel wafers, hints of back pepper, milk chocolate. What a dram! Finish: Smoky, liquorice, embers, some fruity notes too, strawberry jam, red fruit, vanilla pods. With water:...