MrWizard's Ramblings

I’ve got a list of stuff ahead of me… Let’s get into it finally.

John McCrae (Spooned Balvenie) 28, Hepburn’s Choice, Single Cask, 43%
This is one of the 153 bottles, teaspooned Balvenie malt, sold as John McCrae by Hepburn’s Choice label… Exclusively at K&L wines. I’ve written about teaspooned malts before so no need to repeat myself. I’ve also had John McCrae before too, though that one was from Sovereign (in 2017) and that was fantastic! But, let us dig into this one. The nose is lemon vanilla cookies. Palate is lemon vanilla cookies. The aftertaste is lemon vanilla cookies with a solid pepper kick towards the end and lasts for quite a while but ultimately fades. There’s some thick vanilla and a touch of oaky dryness somewhere in there but it’s not of too much consequence. Overall: I’m disappointed here. I’ve expected greatness but what I got is quite citrucy, very malty, somewhat peppered, kinda generic malt. Good everyday drinking. Nothing special in my book. I really wanted it to be special in my book. Value: This was ~160 or so. On paper a 28 year old Balvenie is many times more expensive… Value per year is great. Value per experience isn’t particularly great.
Score: C+

Glen Scotia 15, 46%
This is a lightly peated bottling of Glen Scotia… Whose limited editions have been… positively been looked at in the past https://www.aerin.or … y:entry200411-073247… Anyways… The nose is lightly peated, malty and got the typical ex-bourbon spice mixture present. The palate is more of the same… and slightly nutty. The aftertaste is yet again more of the same, lightly drying. Overall: This isn’t great; this isn’t terrible. Somewhere middle of the road malt that’s lightly peated. Actually inoffensive everyday drinker. Nothing special is perhaps its weakest point. Look elsewhere if you want something special. Value: Total Wine lists this at ~$70 and I would argue is okay for a 15 year old age statement.
Score: B (Light Peat)

Blue Hanger, 7th Limited Release; Blend; 45.6%
This is a Blend by the Berry Bros and Rudd independent bottlers. I guess this is them trying for a premium blend? To compete with new wave of premium blenders? Limited to only 3,088 bottles, this this variant of Blue Hanger is comprised of the following whiskies; one hogshead of Bruichladdich 1992, one butt of Bunnahabhain 1990, four hogsheads of Miltonduff 1997, and two hogsheads of Bunnahabhain Moine (peated) 2006. Let’s dig in! The nose is unmistakably peated… and basically smells like Peated Bunna and/or Laddie. It’s got that salt and smoke and a little bit of nuttiness. Almost like an old BBQ smokehouse. Salt combines with sweetness here, malt, peat (though reasonably balanced and restrained). Shockingly flavorful for the proof, this isn’t pulling its punches on the palate. Mouth-watering aftertaste with some coffee, tobacco, salted butter that finishes up with ginger spice tingle at the tail end. Overall: Not bad! Really, not all that bad… The peat works against me… but it’s reasonably enjoyable, balanced blend. Value: K&L was selling it for $99 back in the day… and I don’t usually go into packaging here… but for $99 this better have some legit wealth of information on the label… but this doesn’t! It’s a rubbish label! So blindly, for a blend, this is a terrible value, but knowing more about components, and having tried it… this is an interesting bottle that’s worth picking up… Provided one likes peat.
Just look at it! It’s ugly: https://whisky.aucti … -7th-limited-release
Score: B+ (Peat)

Amrut Malted Rye 2016, Batch 2, 50%
How did this get lost in here? Oh wait… It’s a 100% single malt… except it’s a Rye malt…. Like Old Potrero (and few others). Did I mention I like malted rye yet? I’ve had American Malted Rye… French Malted Rye… Now for Indian Malted Rye! The nose is cedar sawdust and freshly baked rye bread crust. This is all resin, no pine. A little bit of pine comes through the palate with more of the punchy rye bread notes. The aftertaste is all malt and some solid fruitiness shows up among the spices, of those a most prominent being a solid pepper kick. Perhaps, buttered rye toast with fruit and jalapeno jam on top. Very impressive ‘legs’ on the glass too here confirming the viscosity. Overall: This is like Old Potrero single cask cut with some young cognac/brandy and some single malt. Very interesting and certainly to be polarizing as it doesn’t fit into typical niche of flavors. This has to be contemplated to really ‘get’; and it may be a little too hard to get for me other than scratching the surface. Value: SRP is around $200 which I would say is a terrible deal for a full bottle, when Old Potreros are found for ~$100… but it’s definitely worth trying for the curiosity sake.
Score: B+

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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown