Age – Page 4 – DramWorlds

January 10, 2020April 2, 2021

Lagavulin GoT Collection House Lannister – Hear Me Roar!, 9yo, 2018

Lagavulin Game of Thrones House Lannister, 9yo., close-up

*Rating*	32.5/40
*Origin*	Scotland, Islay, South Shore
*Distillery*	Lagavulin
*Owner*	Diageo
*Series*	Game of Thrones Collection
*Edition*	House Lannister – Hear Me Roar!
*Style*	Single Malt
*Peated*	Yes.
*Bottled*	2018
*Strength*	46% (92 Proof)
Whiskybase	Whiskybase
*Wine Searcher*	Winesearcher

Nose: Grape skin bubbles sparkle as they float up into my nostrils and release flowery peat puffs as they pop . Sweet and sour. Quite nice. (7.5/10)

Palate: Not a lot of complexity really. Rather a homogeneous wide and opaque wave on an otherwise dark and quiet pond. Could be more vertically expansive. It barely reaches the roof of my mouth even on its tippy-toes. But, again, quite nice. (8/10)

Finish: Warm. The theme of simplicity and homogeneity continues. The whisky plumbs the depths of my chest about half way before reeling it back in. But right in the back of the throat there are long lasting embers that alight pleasantly on every breath. (8.5/10)

Balance: The nose promises a complexity that the palate and finish just can’t deliver. However, they make up for that inability with comforting hugs and cozy warmth. So who am I to complain. One of the best of the GoT series in my opinion. (8.5/10)

December 4, 2019September 3, 2021

Bunnahabhain K&L Excl. SVUC “Staoisha” Heavily Peated, 4yo, 2014/2019

*Rating*	31/40
*Origin*	Scotland, Islay, North Shore
*Distillery*	Bunnahabhain
*Owner*	Distell Group
*Distilled*	October 23rd, 2014
*Bottler*	Signatory Vintage
*Series*	Un-Chillfiltered Collection
*Style*	Single Barrel Single Malt Whisky
*Peated*	yes
*Cask*	Dechar/rechar Hogshead #10723
*Bottled*	Jun 10th, 2019
*Bottles*	284
*Strength*	60.6% (121.2 proof)
*Retailer*	K&L Wine Merchants
Price	$70

Nose: The peat appears in the form of compressed chocolate harvested from ancient bogs. The best such chocolate is often apparently somewhat fuzzy. (8/10)

Palate: The fuzzy chocolate from the nose melts into some mild Oolong tea served alongside it. Also, the table legs appear to be on fire. (7/10)

Finish: Heat stings the flanks of my tongue. These peripheral sensations meet up like the arms of a rather strangely shaped tuning fork back down in my esophagus. A hamster appears to have stored chocolate pudding in my cheeks. For the winter one assumes. (8/10)

Balance: A bit bumpy as a ride perhaps, which is not at all surprising for a 4 year old. Nevertheless absolutely enjoyable and well in line with Bunna’s recent push into bolder and peatier territory. (8/10)

November 11, 2019January 23, 2020

Nikka Yoichi, 15yo

*Rating*	32/40
*Origin*	Japan
*Distillery*	Nikka Yoichi
*Owner*	Asahi Breweries
*Style*	Single Malt Whisky
*Strength*	45% (90 proof)
*Retailer*	No longer available.

Nose: Someone left a leather jacket draped over a crate of old oranges and went to polish their shoes at the other end of the room. (8/10)

Palate: Sucking on a dried up orange peel that had been previously used to garnish a well balanced Negroni. (8/10)

Finish: After considering things for a while I have come to believe that shoe polish does have a place in caring for antique furniture. A few blocks down the road someone is burning oak chairs. (8/10)

Balance: Lovely. Delicate for sure, but lovely. (8/10)

August 23, 2019September 22, 2021

Old Pulteney K&L Exclusive Cask #231, 13yo, 2004/2018

*Rating*	33.6/40
*Origin*	Scotland, Northern Highlands
*Distillery*	Old Pulteney
*Owner*	ThaiBev via Inver House Distillers
*Distilled*	2004
*Style*	Single Barrel Single Malt Whisky
*Bottled*	2018
*Bottles*	242
*Strength*	55.2% (110.4 proof)
*Retailer*	K&L Wine Merchants

Nose: Effervescent earthy orange candy. Rises from the glass like a dew sprinkled mushroom cap, gently glittering in the soft forest light. Don’t get me wrong… there is nothing woodlandish about this. It’s just an image that arose when I was thinking about the movement and character of the nose. Everything is rich and deep, yet gentle like the colors of moss and fern in the soft light under quiet trees. Quite beautiful. Later it drifts towards something resembling a faint BBQ savoriness. (8.8/10)

Palate: Crawling fire spreads here and there. Spots of burning shoe polish emit puffs of smoke wafting about. And yet, as a whole, this palate is bright with almost metallic notes shimmering on top of the subtly smouldering depths. (9.4/10)

Finish: Life is too short. So is this whisky. It never reaches the throat or chest. The finish floats near the roof of the mouth with some lovely orange-flavored smokiness and some decent initial heat that disintegrates into hollow echoes of itself. Sigh. I can’t emphasize enough how enamoured I am by this whisky and how much it hurts to be let down by its finish in this way. (7.5/10)

Balance: If it wasn’t for the short reach and, compared to nose and palate, lacking heft of the finish this whisky would be quite amazing. But that finish fails to live up to everything else and because the finish is, well, the finish it colors the whole experience. Such a bummer. But the rest is still absolutely worth it for early experience. (7.9/10)

July 17, 2019January 23, 2020

Tomatin, 12yo, 2018

*Rating*	26/40
*Origin*	Scotland, Northern Highlands
*Distillery*	Tomatin
*Owner*	TaKaRa Holdings via Takara Shuzo
*Style*	Single Malt Whisky
*Casks*	Bourbon, Sherry
*Bottled*	2018
*Strength*	43% (86 proof)
Price	$25-80

Nose: Slightly sour and otherwise there is simply not much there. (5/10)

Palate: Nice! After the largely absent nose the rich and butter flavors comes as a pleasant surprise. (8/10)

Finish: This one lingers pleasantly but ultimately fades out into astringent wood notes. (7/10)

Balance: Overall not shabby but I really wish the nose was living up to the rest of the whisky. (6/10)

July 17, 2019January 23, 2020

Aultmore Foggie Moss, 12yo

*Rating*	27/40
*Origin*	Scotland, Central Speyside
*Distillery*	Aultmore
*Owner*	Bacardi via John Dewar & Sons
*Style*	Single Malt Whisky
*Strength*	46% (92 proof)
Price	$39-125

Nose: Clean wood, some hints of licorice. Water flattens it. (6/10)

Palate: Citrussy, leans toward grapefruit. Water opens things up wide. (7/10)

Finish: Burnt sugar, nice warmth, hints of lemon around the edges. Water teases out some darker notes. (7/10)

Balance: Decent dram but what is gained from water on the back end comes with a hefty price at the front. (7/10)

July 17, 2019January 23, 2020

Starward Nova, 2yo

*Rating*	32/40
*Origin*	Australia
*Distillery*	Starward
*Style*	Single Malt Whisky
*Cask*	Australian Red Wine Casks
*Strength*	41% (82 proof)
Price	$45-90

Nose: Dark fruit, cherries and strawberries leading earthier wine notes. (8/10)

Palate: The wine influence comes to the fore and mixes into a batch of cookie dough. (8/10)

Finish: A mixture of wine and orange with hints of baking spices. It leaves a kind of gummy bear coating. (8/10)

Balance: This is surprisingly good for such a youngster but it needs a lot of time in the glass to get a hold of all its parts and assemble them into something presentable. Water makes a shambles of it all. (8/10)

July 17, 2019May 28, 2021

Mortlach Faultline K&L Exclusive, 22yo, 1995/2017

Mortlach Faultline 1995/2017, 22yo, close-up

*Rating*	30/40
*Origin*	Scotland, Speyside, Dufftown
*Distillery*	Mortlach
*Owner*	Diageo
*Distilled*	1995
*Bottler*	Alexander Murray & Co
*Series*	Faultline
*Style*	Single Barrel Single Malt Whisky
*Cask*	First Fill Sherry Butt #7301
*Bottled*	December 4th, 2017
*Strength*	53.3% (106.6 proof)
*Retailer*	K&L Wine Merchants
Price	$120 (Sold Out)

Nose: Oranges, flowers mingle in minty heat. Water drops it to faint notes of a wet leaf-covered ground. (8/10)

Palate: Hot orange-flavored hard candy. Water dials fruitiness up to 11 and spreads everything out wide. (7/10)

Finish: Astringent wood and unripe, acidic oranges. (8/10)

Balance: Somewhat unbalanced. Adding water, while nicely boosting the palate, messes with the bookends in rather disappointing ways. The heat on this one definitely requires warming up ones palate with something else first. (7/10)

June 1, 2018January 23, 2020

Bunnahbhain Pedro Ximénez Finish Ltd. Release, 14yo, 2003/2017

Bunnahabhain PX Finish Ltd. Release, 2003/2017, 14yo., close-up

*Rating*	32/40
*Origin*	Scotland, Islay, North Shore
*Distillery*	Bunnahabhain
*Owner*	Distell Group
*Distilled*	March 24th, 2003
*Style*	Small Batch Single Malt Whisky
*Cask*	2nd fill Sherry casks followed by 3 years in Pedro Ximénez casks
*Bottled*	June 21st, 2017
*Bottles*	6768
*Strength*	54.3% (108.6 proof)
Price	$100-200

Nose: A little funky. Some unripe fruit and perhaps blue cheese? (7/10)

Palate: More fruit. (8/10)

Finish: The fruit them continues but with fruit gums. (9/10)

Balance: Odd stuff, this one, but nice. (8/10)

March 14, 2018September 3, 2021

Aultmore Sovereign K&L Excl., 9yo, 2008/2017

Aultmore Sovereign K&L Excl., 2008/2017, 9yo., close-up

*Rating*	31/40
*Origin*	Scotland, Central Speyside
*Distillery*	Aultmore
*Owner*	Bacardi via John Dewar & Sons
*Distilled*	June 2008
*Bottler*	Hunter Laing & Co.
*Series*	Sovereign
*Style*	Single Barrel Single Malt Whisky
*Cask*	Sherry Butt #HL13138
*Bottled*	August 2017
*Bottles*	631
*Strength*	59,8% (119.6 proof)
*Retailer*	K&L Wine Merchants

Nose: The mummified corpses of licorice candies melted under the Saharan sun and shriveled up to a state of utterly desiccated, dark tightness. (8/10)

Palate: Beastly and rough but full of beauty and power in its hot, raging magnificence. (9/10)

Finish: Bitter, medicinal flavors slowly build and layer in the back. (9/10)

Balance: And what rough ~~beast~~ dram, its hour come round at last, slouches towards ~~Bethlehem~~ my mouth to be ~~born~~ drunk. (9/10)