MrWizard's Ramblings

A new day is upon us and that means more new bottles to try and blurb about.

Maker’s Mark Cask Strength - Batch 2018-01
I’ll start this on a short and sweet note here… Considering this is wheated bourbon so it’s less spicy than most due to less rye in the mash. This is very ‘meh’. Maybe in a mixer or part of a sauce it’s worth it. I’ve marinated some flank steak in it with tasty results. Sweet corn syrup nose, overly corn-sweet and thin body, more of that sweet corn aftertaste. After few weeks of the opening date, sugar mellowed out somewhat, and aftertaste changed to wood notes with a bit of menthol, so it became slightly better? Maybe. But it’s still not interesting to drink for me. Boring! Pass! (Note: picked it up for $30 at K&L to cover distillery bases)… Bit of an update about a year later… It’s pretty solid stuff when sick and not expecting nuance due to sinces killing ya. Still, will not buy again. Maker’s general releases get a solid ‘meh’ mark from me with some of the stave selection recipes and special editions bringing a breath of fresh air to otherwise un-inspiring lineup.
Score: N/A

Glenlivet Nadurra Batch OL0614
Wife Notes: Nose is a little sharp with elements of classic french perfumes. Palate is ‘woooOOohoOOo (spicy), then there’s caramel and more perfume’

This one is a lively and fun one. I make it no secret that a good special edition of Glenlivet easily makes its way to top 10 for me… Looking right at you Signatory bottlings.
This particular bottling of Nadurra is from 2014 after they dropped the 16 year old statement from the line, unfortunately. It happens to be unpeated first fill oloroso sherry casks at full strength. Color is deep amber. Nose is somewhat sharp, with notes of sourness and high alcohol bite, lots of sherry sweetness and caramel comes out. With time, nose settles into spicy plums with varnish notes. This one needs time to breathe. To the palate, savory, malty, caramely, super concentrated almost to the point of bitterness. Is that anise I’m tasting in the back? Slightly young or has young barrels mixed with the old as more likely explanation. Few drops of water help bringing down the bitterness and releases malt sweetness to the fore. The finish is long, spicy, and very sherry that lasts forever and ever. Fantastic finisher.
Worth seeking out if you’re a fan of sherry bombs? Absolutely! More than 1 bottle? YMMV.
Score: N/A

Arran Malt — Amarone Finish
Nose: Red stewed fruits and red cherries, toasted wood and slight nuttiness. Very pleasant and balanced. I can spend a long time sniffing this one. Does not become boring over time.
Palate: The nose continues into palate. More sweet and sour cherries and wood. Sweet malt and bit of nutty wood that are in decent balance with each other. A bit of savory, coupled with fruits keeps it interesting and makes me want to go for more.
Finish: More of same, savoury sweetness with red fruits and wood. Lasts for a long time and is quite peppery but balanced well with the other things in the bottle.
Water: Doesn’t do much. Skip!
Overall: I like this expression! Reminds me somewhat of Nikka From the Barrel in terms of balance of wood nuttiness and sweetness. Red fruits and cherries galore and that does not hurt the malt in the slightest. My only real complaint is that this is a NAS which suggests some young casks in there. It could certainly benefit from being older but I don’t know if age would clash with red wine finish. Of the two red wine barrel-finished scotches I’ve tried, both were exceptionally tasty. I wish I could get my hands on more samples of this sort of finish. If you’re a fan of nutty-sweet fruits in your drink, do yourself a service and try this one. There are no glaring flaws and it’s quite a tasty one.
Side Note: Arran distillery is highly underrated and should be kept an eye on for interesting bottles and single cask releases.
Score: N/A

Arran Malt — Sauternes Finish — Circa or before 2017.
Nose: White and green ripe grapes on an oaky background. Reminds me a bit of sitting outside eating grapes on the poarch of a wooden cabin, in the early fall while the weather is still warm. Doesn’t overwhelm, but slightly raw on the alcohol.
Palate: Sweet and punchy while masquerading as somewhat subtle. Obvious malt and vanilla. More of the white/green grapes on the mouth. Much sweeter than the nose, white raisins (sauternes) finally come out to the fore. Somewhat of a thin body. Light wood influence that does let itself be known.
Finish: Peppered white raisins that last a very long time. The sweetness slowly fades away leaving residual malt and pepper interplay.
Water: Water shows just how young this NAS is as grass notes come out which is a telltale sign of young malt. Buuuuuuuuuttt…. it brings raisins to the front as malt sugar interplays with sauternes sugar more, sort of sugar cane-like. The nose is ruined though, and the palate loses a bit of oomph for me.
Overall: I really want to like this one, but failing to do so… settling for ‘Its okay’. Its reaching for all the marks of greatness and yet it misses all of them by just a bit. It’s not quite peppery, not quite sweet, not quite woody enough. If you like sauternes finish on malts, this certainly offers a decent bargain vs a lot of others at much higher price. Eradur 10 Sauternes is $150 or so, Arran is about half that. I’ll certainly finish the bottle but I won’t be looking out to replace it next time.
Revisiting this few weeks later update: This became sweeter and woodier. Overall this is a “yes” for me. Its still somewhat tannic, peppery, woody, and sweet. Definitely a dessert scotch that at 50% doesn’t pull any punches.
Side Note: Arran distillery is highly underrated and should be kept an eye on for interesting bottles and single cask releases.
Score: N/A