Glen Garioch Old Particular K&L Excl., 8yo (2010/2018)

Rating30.4/40
OriginScotland, Eastern Highlands
DistilleryGlen Garioch
OwnerBeam Suntory via Morrison Bowmore Distillers
DistilledJanuary 2010
BottlerDouglas Laing & Co
SeriesOld Particular
StyleSingle Barrel Single Malt
PeatedNo
CaskRefill Hogshead DL12556
BottledAugust 24th, 2018
Bottles290
Strength59.5% (119 Proof)
RetailerK&L Wine Merchants

A powerful rough little gem from the purportedly oldest legal producer of whisky in Scotland dating back to 1797. This youngster may be a bit off balance here and there but it certainly provides for a very interesting and enjoyable experience.

Nose: Bleu cheese? Just for a moment anyway. Though a certain sour note does hang around, as the nose shifts towards notes almost reminiscent of a cask aged vegetable pasta sauce that’s too light on tomato. It’s a bit… weird. But I don’t dislike it. Later on there are some hints of very dry wood and then something else that’s reminiscent of wine or at least white wine vinegar. (7.3/10)

Palate: Well, whatever happened to that pasta sauce, it did not make it through to the palate. Instead there is vinyl flooring and rubber coats, clean sheets of fresh paper and a generous sprinkling of coarsely ground pepper that’s been sitting out in the open for a couple of days. It’s geometrically quite flat and really, stubbornly clings to the tongue instead of relaxing and opening up. (7.5/10)

Finish: A bit of deliberate chewing and swishing of this stuff does finally open and spread its flavors far and wide, just as the liquid goes down. My entire mouth is radiating with those notes, including some dry apple that is so desiccated that it’s almost turned bitter and dusty. After a minute the flavors start fading only to be replaced by a lightsaber shaped column of heat down the center of my chest. (8.0/10)

Balance: A bit off center perhaps but there’s enough very interesting stuff going on to make this a very entertaining dram moving from sip to sip. (7.6/10)

Glenlivet, 12yo

Rating26.6/40
OriginScotland, Speyside, Livet
DistilleryGlenlivet
OwnerPernod Ricard via Chivas Brothers
StyleSingle Malt
CaskEuropean & American Oak
Strength40% (80 Proof)
WhiskybaseWhiskybase

The bog standardiest of bog standard single malts. But that shouldn’t stop anybody from occasionally enjoying a basic pleasant dram to ground themselves again after diving deep into high end stuff. No need to turn your nose up at this stuff. It’s cheap, it’s decent and you can find it just about anywhere.

Nose:  Apples. Apple pie, in fact, permeated by soft cinnamon and vanilla notes that, on occasion, shift gears into a more perfumy type mode. The apples are of one of the more tart varieties. Some faint acerbic notes of dry wood float about. Mild but pleasant. (6.5/10)

Palate: The autumn winds must have ripped some dry, old wooden shingles off the roof. The shingles didn’t get very far and quickly plopped into a nearby, small, inflatable pool next to a bare apple tree. Some apples had fallen into the stagnant water where they’re now listlessly bobbing up and down. (5.5/10)

Finish: The standing water has evaporated and all that’s left are memories of using those dried up, crumbly old shingles to grate a batch of sweet and wrinkly winter apples. (7.5/10)

Balance: The somewhat forgettable mid section is bookended by quite enjoyable notes on either side, which makes up for the sad dip and ultimately adds up to a pleasant experience. A perfectly fine daily drinker or a pleasant starter and warm-up dram for a serious evening of tasting whiskies. (7.1/10)

Glengyle Kilkerran Cask Strength, 8yo 2017

Rating28.3/40
OriginScotland, Campbeltown
DistilleryGlengyle
OwnerMitchell Family
SeriesKilkerran
EditionCask Strength
StyleSingle Malt
PeatedYes
CaskEx-Bourbon
Bottled2017
Bottles6,000
Strength55.7% (111.4 Proof)
WhiskybaseWhiskybase
Wine SearcherWine Searcher

This one-off small batch release of a younger and more aggressive expression adds another facet to Glengyle’s Kilkerran line of peated single malts, which already includes a number of “Work In Progress” as well as some heavily peated batch releases. Though the most commonly available bottling is probably the basic bottle strength 12 year old.

Nose:  A soft perfume-y smoke, more bubble bath than peat really. It jumps out and up at you but then, ultimately, it doesn’t amount to much more than a thin bubble pushing some perceptible notes with not a whole lot of substance behind it. Not unpleasant, but also not really a whole lot of… anything. (6.1/10)

Palate: Aha! Stuff! Finally! Pretty aggressive and bouncy in its youthfulness. A sharp hit of smoke, a bunch of loose staves of unripe wood clatter about noisily, but all of that dies down quickly and what’s left can’t quite make itself be heard after the ruckus of the initial impact. Later sips are very candy… probably why the kids were bouncing off the walls like that. (6.5/10)

Finish: The kids have tired out and settled down. Finally it’s a quiet and peaceful around here. Mouth and throat are left feeling empty from the sudden silence. There’s a few wooden toys left scattered about the floor that need tidying up. But someone’s got the fireplace going on the other side of the living room and there’s a welcoming heat beckoning us to come on over from deep inside in the chest, just above the diaphragm. This is nice. (8.5/10)

Balance: The finish makes me want to forgive the whisky for the underdeveloped nose and the irritating palate, but this is a review and I’ve got to be honest. Still that finish is nice to settle into. Don’t bother sniffing. Just sip, swish and swallow, then sit back and let out a deep breath. (7.2/10)

Glengyle Kilkerran Heavily Peated Batch #1, 2019

Rating27.0/40
OriginScotland, Campbeltown
DistilleryGlengyle
OwnerMitchell Family
SeriesPeat In Progress
EditionHeavily Peated Batch #1
StyleSingle Malt
PeatedYes (45 ppm)
Cask55% Ex-Bourbon, 45% Ex-Sherry
BottledFebruary 20th, 2019
Strength59.3% (118.6 Proof)
WhiskybaseWhiskybase

The first batch of a heavily peated, youthful expression under the Kilkerran label of Springbank’s young sister distillery, Glengyle, both owned by the Mitchell family. The stills used at Glengyle were acquired from the old Ben Wyvis distillery, which only survived for 12 years and closed in 1977.

Nose: Well… it’s peated, yes, but I’m not sure about it being peated heavily. There is a mild savory undercurrent of medium hot curry with potatoes and lentils. Later we’re looking at it through a large frame of unaged wooden. The peat is greener and more grassy than I would prefer. (6.5/10)

Palate: Aha! Here this whisky easily appears twice as peaty as the nose, for sure. But, again, there is his unripe green and grassy note throughout. And that unaged wood also arrives just a little later. (6.5/10)

Finish: Smoke and warmth mingle pleasantly. But once again those pesky green notes stick their head out here and there. Still, at least for me, this is the most rewarding aspect of this whisky. (7.5/10)

Balance: The whole thing feels very young to me (which, normally, is not at all a bad thing when it comes to peated whiskies) and I suspect it’s almost certainly younger than the 8 year old cask strength Kilkerran I’ve reviewed elsewhere on this site. I’m just not a huge fan though it’s certainly drinkable in a pinch. As much as I’m trying, I just can’t get past those green notes. (6.5/10)

Glenfiddich Bourbon Barrel Reserve, 14yo

Glenfiddich Bourbon Barrel Reserve, 14yo
Rating27.5/40
OriginScotland, Speyside, Dufftown
DistilleryGlenfiddich
OwnerWilliam Grant & Sons
EditionBourbon Barrel Reserve
StyleSingle Malt
CaskEx-Bourbon Casks, Charred New American Oak Barrels
Strength43% (86 Proof)
WhiskybaseWhiskybase
Wine SearcherWine Searcher

Glenfiddich’s Speyside single malt is first matured in Ex-Bourbon casks for 14 years and then finished for a few months in charred new American Oak barrels sourced from the Kelvin Cooperage in Louisville, Kentucky.

Nose: Pleasant but… small? This one just refuses to expand beyond a small bubble that terminates about one half inch from the top of the glass. But if you stick your nose into that little pocket then what you find in there is actually quite pretty. (7/10)

Palate: Smooth with watery fringes. And by smooth I mean vague. It doesn’t seem to have any memorable characteristics. Sort of what one might consider the average flavor of a non-peaty single malt with no special maturation or finish to be. Boring but not exactly bad as such. (5/10)

Finish: This is where this thing finally comes to life. Dark but sparkly notes rise from the very back of the palate. It’s almost like drinking a really nice, freshly carbonated single malt flavored craft cola. But in the end it just doesn’t have the power to really light up the old fireplace in my chest. There’s a nice bit of warmth developing eventually but it never reaches beyond the throat. Still, this part of the whisky is quite enjoyable. (8/10)

Balance: Perfectly suited to start off an evening of tasting whisky. The palate is a rather nondescript and uninteresting but it’s short-lived anyway and serves as a quick transition from a pretty nose to a solid finish. (7.5/10)

Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength

Rating32.5/40
OriginScotland, Central Speyside
DistilleryGlenfarclas
OwnerJ & G Grant
StyleSingle Malt
CaskSherry Casks
Strength60% (120 Proof)
WhiskybaseWhiskybase
Wine SearcherWine Searcher

Glenfarclas’ NAS cask strength bottling clocks in at a sturdy 60% ABV and deliveres a decent amount of that typical Glenfarclas sherry influence though it’s more of an ABV bomb than a sherry bomb.

Nose: A soft sourness reaches out of the glass, slithers through a cardboard tube, into my nose and there turns into a irritated cat bent on piercing my nasal flesh with a single, short, but very sharp and pointy claw stab. Temporarily appeased it hops off and away vanishing in a puff of drying grape skins. Not sure what to make of this. Interesting… but do I like it? I don’t hate it but I can’t say I love it. (6.5/10)

Palate: Ah! Much better! Piles of burning wooden logs crash down on the palate and push what must be sherry notes into the background. Except those notes remind me of baker’s plums. When things calm down during subsequent returns to the glass deep, rich smoke emerges that combines smoothly with the fruitier elements. Oddly the usual Glenfarclas sherry notes are rather absent. Perhaps subsumed by the smoke. But who cares. This is great. (8.5/10)

Finish: I sit in a cloud of plum flavored smoke. I feel great. But I’ll probably need to air out my clothes overnight. (9/10)

Balance: I’m confused because this seems to be much more about smokey plums than sherry. But I’m also content because I like smokey plums. Bummer about the strange nose though. Seriously… this one could’ve been a contender. Still, I’ll always be happy to return to it. (8.5/10)

Glenrothes Soleo Collection Whisky Maker’s Cut, 2018

Rating31.5/40
OriginSpeyside, Rothes
DistilleryGlenrothes
OwnerEdrington Group
SeriesSoleo Collection
EditionWhisky Maker’s Cut
StyleSingle Malt
Cask1st Fill Sherry
Bottled2018
Strength48.8% (97.6 Proof)
WhiskybaseWhiskybase
Wine SearcherWine-Searcher

Glenrothes’ “Whisky Maker’s Cut” is the only NAS release in the Speyside distillery’s 2018 Soleo Collection series. The whisky was matured entirely in 1st fill sherry casks.

Nose: Sticky sweet sherry syrup oozes through my nose leaving behind a thin crust of brown sugar. Not too complex but nice enough. (7/10)

Palate: This is where the money is. Quite rich, not as sticky sweet as the nose, satisfyingly expansive. Some interesting bright sparkles flicker about the back of the roof of my mouth. Once again simple but good. (8/10)

Finish:  Immediately coats the back of the upper throat with lots of gooey sherry flavors only to vanish on its way down leaving nothing much but a faint hot spot in the lower regions of the chest. Quite nice, actually, but I wish it was reaching deeper. At long last some bitter residue layers up between tongue and roof of mouth. That bit is… interesting but not exactly pleasant. 8/10

Balance: Quite nice and surprisingly bold for a mid-range Glenrothes, many of which have turned out to be… uninteresting… at times. This is a very respectable offering albeit slightly simplistic except for the finish. (8/10)

Glenlivet Nàdurra Batch OL0516, 2016

Rating32/40
OriginSpeyside, Livet
DistilleryGlenlivet
OwnerPernod Ricard via Shivas Brothers
SeriesNàdurra
EditionBatch OL516
StyleSingle Malt
Cask1st Fill Oloroso Sherry Casks
BottledMay 2016
Strength60.4% (120.8 Proof)
WhiskybaseWhiskybase
Wine SearcherWine Searcher

One of the at least 3 batches of Glenlivet’s Oloroso matured version of their Nàdurra series bottled in 2016. The Nàdurra series of cask strength single malt bottlings from the famous Speyside distillery was introduced in 2005. In 2014 they started to release Oloroso matured batches as part of the series and, finally, in 2015 they added peated batches as well.

Nose: A large, rough and sharp wooden splinter is used to harshly cut through coarse baker’s chocolate. There are hints of dried mushrooms about. This one is a prickly guest that, when agitated, emanates small puffs of sweet peat from their pores. (7/10)

Palate: Licking a very dry wooden plank that was somehow infused with milk chocolate. The experience of the dram is geometrically flat. It clings to the tongue and absolutely refuses to lift up or expand in any direction but sideways until it finally slides in thin sheets over the back edge of the tongue and into the throat where it suddenly explodes into a dense and well defined ball of chocolate infused smoke. (8,5/10)

Finish: The ball of chocolate infused smoke wafts and wobbles about in the back and only descends very slowly from there. Oddly there’s not a lot of warmth generated which is surprising for a whisky this strong. (8.5/10)

Balance: Rather harsh up front but quite nice once you get past that. Ver-ey peat-ey chocolat-ey. (8/10)

Glengyle Kilkerran, 12yo.

Glengyle Kilkerran 12yo., close-up
Rating28/40
OriginScotland, Campbeltown
DistilleryGlengyle
OwnerMitchell Family
StyleSingle Malt
PeatedYes
Strength46% (92 Proof)
WhiskybaseWhiskybase
Wine SearcherWine-Searcher

The 12 year old Kilkerran is the baseline single male release of the youngest Campbeltown distillery, Glengyle. The name Kilkerran was chosen to avoid confusion with an existing Highland blend bottled under the same name of Glengyle.

Nose: Wood sticking out of a roll of wet felt that’s been drying since someone spilled some lightly peated whisky on it a little while ago. Later some wine notes making a non-committal showing in the background. (6.5/10)

Palate: A bright flash of an initial hit infused with mildly sour plums spreading out from a high center splashing outwards towards the edges of my mouth. Almost seems to float a millimeter or two above the tongue refusing to make contact. Geometrically interesting but not a ton of flavor. (7.5/10)

Finish: The splash from the palate leaves a ring of residual flavor around the fringes of the mouth that is quite pleasant. But there’s not a lot happening in the back. There’s bits alive in slow waves on my breath but overall it sort of just peters out. (7/10)

Balance: The dynamics of the palate is the most interesting part but I wish there was just a little more of a constant deep finish to enjoy afterwards. The nose is… a bit meh. (7/10)

GlenDronach Revival, 15yo, 2019

Glendronach Revival 15yo
Rating29/40
OriginScotland, Speyside, Deveron
DistilleryGlenDronach
OwnerBrown Forman via BenRiach Distillery Co. Ltd.
StyleSingle Malt Whisky
CasksPedro Ximénez, Oloroso Sherry
BottledAugust 1st, 2019
Strength46% (92 Proof)
WhiskybaseWhiskybase
Wine SearcherWine Searcher

Nose: Grapes and blood oranges. Grassy notes hit fresh out of the bottle and then fade away to make room for the Sherry to stick its head out. (7/10)

Palate: Rich but, oddly, also slightly thin and somewhat dry. (7/10)

Finish: Truly the best part! (8/10)

Balance: (7/10)