MrWizard's Ramblings

Aaaaaaaaiiii Corona! Whelp, we’re all stuck at home so what a time to be alive… And stress-shop for booze… aaaaand drink it? But this isn’t about new stuff its about catching up on what is open on my shelf that I’ve not yet written about… I’ll be arranging it in a semi-random order of me drinking it.

2003 Glen Scotia “Malts Festival 2019 Limited Edition
Wife notes: Get that away from me! Ewwww. (She does not enjoy peat)

Full name: 2003 Glen Scotia “Malts Festival 2019 Limited Edition” Rum Cask Finish Peated Campbeltown Single Malt Scotch Whisky… What a mouthful… And speaking of mouthfuls… Let’s talk nose on this one. To be clear it’s not overpowering… but its sooo punchy and clear and all I can think of is “smoked sugar”. The peat actually fades into background after few minutes and leaves mostly stewed fruits and something tropical, toasted banana on a hibachi grill (why hello there rum). The palate is all about smoke and sugar in almost perfect harmony as it rolls through my tongue alternatively sweet and smoky. Not overly long yet very pleasant smoked stewed red fruits this time with the last whiffs of smokiness fading into little campfire sweetness. Utterly delicious and I am not huge peat fan to enjoy peated whiskeys, but enjoy this one I did. If i could reliably keep it on my shelf instead of Lagavulin 16, I would. To me its that versatile.
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1434695
https://scotchnoob.c … malts-festival-2019/
Score: N/A

Balmenach 11 Single Cask Old Particular
Wife Note: Medical Alcohol. Do not want.

One of less than 300 bottles out of refill hogshead. As usual with the refills this one leans heavily into cereal excellence territory… Or basically showcases malt rather than cask. 59% its heck of a proof and it definitely shows in the nose, combined with 11 years of age there’s still a good chunk of that mash funk going on in there while it gets some air, it mostly goes away after 10 mins or so. None of those are negatives :). Its funky interesting toasty cereal on the nose. With time the palate opens up into something utterly delicious and unbecoming of a 11 year old. Once past the alcohol bite, its all about spices and cereal notes. Almost sweet but balanced, it goes down into drying spices and a long lingering roasted barley finish, not quite bitter enough to be unpleasant. So Definitely my seal of approval for this one. Sweet peppery cereal, basically. Yum. As a side note this is more interesting or on par with most old malt casks I’ve opened so far. Lets see how it goes down the line.
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1387596
Score: N/A

Strathclyde 30 Single Grain Cask Strength
Wife Note: Burnt Sugar and vanilla. Its butter cookies.

Let me summarize this in few words… Butter Cookies! I’ve talked about single grain scotch before, and how much I love old single grain and here we are again… This time with an amazing 30 year old bottle. I’m, if ever, utterly blown away by the variety and difference that age and barrel can do to cask’s contents and somehow there are still these mind-blowing flavors can can be coaxed out of a glass. Beyond a tiny whiff of alcohol its basically toasted coconut butter cookies. Very perfume-y and delicate yet still evoking those images of (Mel Gibson’s Braveheart) Scottish highlanders when nosed. This one does need to sit for about 10 minutes to open up into it but the longer it sits in the glass the sweeter and deeper that sugar-vanilla cookie combination is. Straight up amazing and unlikely to be repeated. (Oh, wait I have another bottle of this squirreled away so yay me!).
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1387614
Score: N/A

Longmorn 14 Single Cask (Old malt Cask)
Wife’s note: Honey Nut Cheerios

On the nose, sweet malt, mellow, sorta apple-banana but not quite, definitely light tropical notes. For me the entire start to finish screams regular cheerios. The spirit itself is very gentle for a 54.9% and its age, considering there’s nothing to hide behind in the refill barrel. Palate is more of the same from the nose, now some malt sweetness, and bit of spice in the back. The finish is initially full of white pepper but then fades into more of that cheerios sweet grain aftertaste. Think Mini Wheats and you’ll get the idea. Deceptively subtle… But add some water… It turns on its head opening up a lot more spice and wood to the palate and becomes almost overwhelmingly complex in its flavors without changing the nose. All that white pepper back unfolds and sprays licorice and bitter citrus peel back into the palate, adding a bunch of wood out of nowhere and it’s as if I’m drinking something entirely different. I’m starting to look at un-watered dram like a tightly-wound spring that just explodes given a chance. One of the few dual-faced whiskeys I’ve had and it’s a pleasure.

Old malt casks I’ve tried so far are all about the celebration of the spirit itself with refill of a refill of a refill wood so its less about the cask and more about the spirit itself and that’s not a bad thing, there will be more but I think this one happens first one that I write about :)
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1422034
Score: N/A

Woodinville Bourbon ~$40
Wife comment: Men’s cologne. Tasty.

A silly square bottle but a darn tasty offering. Not too subtle, not too funky. Right in the middle of that mellow bourbon territory. Great to have; not too complicated nor too mellow to miss out on what’s going in the glass or around you while not concentrating on the glass itself. Arguably one of the best thing for @work drinking we had for price/performance ratio.
Score: N/A

Wright & Brown Rye ~$80 (Batch 3. Bottle 1540)
Wife Comment: I like!

Let’s be clear. This is expensive rye, comparably. But it is so very very very good. (Personally, I liked their bourbon even more, but @work needed a rye). One of the mellower sweeter takes on a rye spirit. Yet somehow still deep and interesting without being overwhelmed by that rye-ish bite. Definite thumbs up, if you can find AND willing to deal with the price tag. Admittedly price is a bit high. But it is certainly deserving that ‘artisinal’ text on the label.
Score: N/A

Sonoma Distilling Bourbon ~$40
Another example of excellent California bourbon. I may be based in California so my store supplier is a little heavy on local representation… Hmmm… I think I like it. Nose is sour cherries mostly. Palate, continues that same sour cherry theme. A little bit of a bitter after taste, not unpleasant, maybe like walnut bitterness that lingers around, while long-lasting its also somehow a bit drying too. Middle is sweeter and spicy as bourbon should but spices dominate the sweetness without being unbalanced too much. Decently rounded if a little punch-y loud flavor profile. Not an everyday drinker (Woodinville seems to fit that better). But does REALLY well with fancy cherry or two to buff up the sweet, skip the vermouth for an improvised Manhattan.
Score: N/A

Redwood Empire Rye ~$40
Wife note: Bready

And yet Another California product… See the pattern here? (I’ll admit there few things I didn’t like but since I didn’t buy them I’m not planning to write about it). On the nose citrus and… acetone maybe (in a pleasant way, maybe nail polish a tad) a bit of rye loaf sourness and toasted crust. On the palate, sweet and restrained front but holy-moly does the back come in like a big wave. All those baking spices and still more bread-yness. Very long spicy finish that lingers for a while. Very good in a manhattan, quite enjoyable on its own though I’d consider it a bit ‘unbalanced’ if drinking straight as the profile heavily leans towards the back. Excellent mixer for @work or whenever. Plus supports local growers/producers/distillers which is always a plus. (Side note from memory: I’ve enjoyed most everything they had to taste, their bourbon was also excellent, yet again we had a mighty need of Rye @work)
Score: N/A

Deanston Virgin Oak ~$40
Lets kick this off with a Scotch review, because why not?
Deanston Virgin Oak. Lets see, light, not terribly complex, malt, vanilla and wood on the palate. Reasonably pleasant nose of the same. Short pleasant aftertaste… of the same. This one doesn’t really try to be something its not. Lets also be honest, it’s the only $40 Single Malt bottle at the before-mentioned liquor store next to the office. Good, cheap, single malt, easy drinker. Sold!
Bonus Wife Comment: Sweet, vanilla/oak, wood. Exactly as described.
Score: N/A

Glenfarclas 12 ~$50 (Thanks Allan!)
Going off of memory here. More interesting budget scotch with somewhat similar flavor profile to Deanston above, plus a bit of nuttiness and light sherry influence on the palate (or more of a ex-bourbon thing). Very good, plenty of folks preferred this first, again likely due to slightly punchier/nuttier flavor profile, a tiny whiff of smokiness. General crowd-pleaser overall.
Score: N/A

Dickel Bottled-in-Bond ~$35
Wife note: Fancy men’s perfume. American version.

Exceptionally good american fare. Nose is some sorts of dark roasted nuts. Tiny bit of cherry sourness coming in through. Bottled in Bond works its own thing here, on the palate it packs quite a punch though balanced and quite drinkable. Exceptional in a mixed drink, especially if its a Manhattan. New whiskey of the year by Spirits Advocate for 2019. For the price, yeah I agree.
Personal note: Don’t try to taste things at the tail end of sinuses. This currently tastes like soap to me. I’ve opened it up a bit ago and other than being really punchy in your face kinda situation its really nice. Dickel makes some solid american whiskeys.
Score: N/A

Corsair Triple Smoke ~$40
So… I’m a little split on this one. We’ve bought and consumed at least 6 bottles (okay yeah we’re kinda insane I guess) of Cask-exclusive full strength (65%?) version of this general release… and well you can tell from number of repeats that its really really good. One of my favorite American bottles at the time.
The general version, coming in at exact 40 abv… comparably is… weak and simply doesn’t have the same punch as the cask strength version does… that is if you’re expecting cask strength flavors out of it… But it happens to be general production model release, not a supercharged drag racing version of that civic, but civic in itself is still good if compared to other cars in its class. So certainly expect that american malt caramel flavors, and 3 types of smoke certainly are to the front vs taking a backseat in the memory of the other bottles. Is it good by itself? Not at 40 abv. I wouldn’t chase it to the end of the earth to buy another bottle. Cask strength is a very different, smoked caramel experience that could be an interesting exploration in smoked bourbons.
Update: The newly rebranded and bottled at 50% abv single casks are… somewhere in-between the two opinions above. Not quite 40% flavored water, not quite concentrated experience of a 60+ percent abv. Makes for a fantastic manhattan just by adding couple of cherries to it. Multilayered smoke (think BBQ smokehouse) and reasonably okay amount of sweet american malt makes for a passable experience for such young malt.
Score: N/A

Intro

Lets start with the basics.. Don’t drink and root, or do. Whatever is safe. But generally behave in a SAFE FOR WORK MANNER!!! To be clear: I strongly discourage drinking at the office during work hours, as that’s very unprofessional. What happens after work is done… well that’s entirely different question and splitting a bottle among friends/coworkers is a hell of a lot cheaper option to going out to a bar where no decent drink will cost you less than $10 each.

I happen to have the luxury working next to a fairly decent liquor store that also happens to do free tastings regularly. Lucky me! https://caskstore.co … /in-store-tastings/

Plenty of decent bottles are to be had at a reasonable price point for work consumption, where opportunity to contemplate or proper glassware may not be easily available. So a bigger focus is made towards tasty, easy drinking, uncomplicated, and budget-friendly bottles.

In the @work series I’ll try to focus at the bottles I’ve had in a work environment, either through tasting or sometimes from memory. Expect reviews to be shorter but not less interesting.

You may also find items mentioned are a lot more accessible and/or much easier to find as we tend to acquire bottles based on tastings and those tend to be more widely available brands or varieties.

Craigellachie 12 Sovereign Single Cask
Wife’s Note: “Smells like inside of a brand new Buick”

This one is a mixed bag for me. It certainly smells and tastes like a distilled old leather couch from a basement of a life-long cigar smoker. Its almost unbelievable how much of a concentrated flavor there is in this relatively young scotch bottle. This is certainly a beast of a flavor bomb, without being overwhelming or cloyingly sweet. What do I think about it? I started loving it in casual touch but later revisiting don’t seem to do it for me on this one. Too astringent and to my tastes unbalanced. I really want to like it but my taste buds rebel when drinking it. Note and an exception to personal rule: One of the VERY few scotches I’ve put a tiny bit of water in, this one responds well and seems to balance out the flavors into somewhat enjoyable, walnut skins and old leather sorts of balance. So, yes, add a bit of water in!

Addendum on the water thing: I’m shocked how much more approachable it is with water. Solid stuff when just slightly diluted, borderline undrinkable (IMHO) otherwise.
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1380528
Score: N/A

Auchroisk 21 Single Cask Hepburn’s Choice
Wife’s Notes: White pepper, pear and plums on the nose. Terrible in the mouth.

Another mixed bag for me in this bottle. An amazing nose. I’m mostly agreeing with wife’s smell on this, though I was thinking green bananas and pepper initially. Either way, no hints of smoke and no sherry. Looks like refill (refill-refill), bourbon casks with that sort of pale straw color. Certainly clean, peppery, yet surprisingly complex on the back that lingers and lingers… Lots of different spice going on there. Overall pleasant but not super exciting.
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1380538
Score: N/A

Cambus 29 Sovereign Single Cask
I’m going to wax poetic about this one, so buckle up. Single GRAIN scotch… Its an interesting category, while still certainly a Scotch Whiskey, compared to single malt its more of a lawless land of opportunity, but what opportunities are there to be had. To be clear there are plenty of duds but the price point for 20+ y/o single grain is so low there’s no reason not to dip in. I mentioned 20 years old as for me its the lower cut off range as something ‘magical’ happens with single grains past low-20s in barrels and they suddenly become tropical. We’re talking coconut, vanilla, all sorts of tropical fruits and all in all ethereal and amazing. Whiiiiich brings up back to this one. YES. AMAZING! Love it! Still a single grain that’s not sherried or peated or anything special but age and cask is a match made in heaven. Simple indulgence.
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1380523
Score: N/A