MrWizard's Ramblings

A super fun, informative and enjoyable tasting with Raising Glasses, an independent importer of single casks.

— Raising Glasses Whisky —
Opulence 21 yr Port Dundas Single Grain, 9m Oloroso Cask, 55.7% — Punchy nose, corny. Very sweet palate, though falls a touch flat as is expected with single grain. Oloroso sweet rich and slightly nutty, sherry-dominant syrup, honey. Baking spices in the aftertaste — Score: Yay-
Stories Westland 8 yr Five Malt American Malt, Mt Gay Rum Cask, 55% — Complex and floral nose with rich malt notes. Very chocolate palate with frosted cereal notes. Malty aftertaste with sugars sticking around — Score: Yay
Voodoo Westland 9 yr Peated Malt, Banyuls Cask, 57% — Peated malt, very islay scotch like. Banyuls is a sweet french dessert wine somewhere between sherry and port. Long sticky salty-sweet smoke aftertaste, medium to low peat. — Score: Yay
Bloom Westland 9 yr Pale Malt, PX Cask, #2478 cask!!! 59% — Sister cask to 2479, slightly funkier. Fantastic! — Score: Yay!
Emergence 9 yr Linkwood Scotch, Oloroso Cask, 60.6% — Light honey nose, young malt. Lots of fresh spices. A little young. Honeycomb. Sp — Score: Yay

— Raising Glasses Rum —
Purple Cane Rum - 9 yr Foursquare Barbados finished in Pineau des Charentes, 57% — Good Foursquare with many layers. 1 year in a rye cask and 5 months in Cognac cask — Score: Meh+
Manora - 9 yr Thailand Rum, 55% — Very upfront sweet, slightly funky, reminds me of simple sugar syrup. Enjoyable but not special. — Score: Meh
Whistler - 14 yr Venezuela Rum, 62.1% — Secret Info: It’s diplomatico single cask. Lots and lots of flavors all together. Very tasty — Score: Yay
Yowie - 16 yr Australia Rum, 68.3% — Eucalyptus, mint, tangerine, light funk — Score: Yay

— Brandy/Armagnacs: —
Cadinat 1988, 33 year old, 48% — Fruity, strongly oaked, pleasant overall. Leans towards some wood bitterness from the age. Somewhat similar note to woody sherry casks but leans towards wood instead of funky spice. Hard yet rewarding to comprehend the layers of flavor — Score: Yay-
Cardinat 2005, 16 years old, 51% — Fruity, slightly drying wood, lots of sweet vanilla, less layered and slightly sweeter when compared to above counterpart. Excellent casual sipper — Score: Yay
Pierre Ferrand, Cigare Cognac, 40% — Classic cognac fresh apples & fruit compote. Very fragrant nose. Light body with dried fruit notes instead. Classic sweet vanilla and a touch of heat in the back of the aftertaste. Excellent all around. Slightly too thin to be truly great — Score: Yay-
Hotaling Apple Brandy, 21 years old, 44% — Dry green apples through and through. Some spice and a touch of yeast. Drinks like a highly alcoholic, very dry, apple cider. Use this for spike your apple cider or something — Score: Meh-
1982 L’Encantada Domaine del Cassou, 35 years old, Cask #187, 46.6% — Woody, very fruity, somewhat tannic and lightly drying, vanilla caramel. It’s lighter but not drastically different from Cardinat ‘88 above. Enjoyable, but I’m selling a kidney for it — Score: Yay-
1975 Domaine Seailles, 45 years old, K&L, 46% — Fruity, woody, funky, umami and not nearly as drying as Cardinat 88. Perhaps slightly one-note, or highly compressed flavor profile, but nothing is bad here. Excellently crushable — Score: Yay