31-35 Rating – Page 3

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 15, 2019February 23, 2021

KaVaLan Solist Port Cask Duty Free 2018

*Rating*	35/40
*Origin*	Taiwan
*Distillery*	Kavalan
*Style*	Single Barrel Single Malt Whisky
*Cask*	Port Cask 0110112016A
*Bottled*	September 20th, 2018
*Bottles*	149
*Strength*	57.8% (115.6 proof)
*Retailer*	Travel Retail Exclusive
*Price*	$160

Nose: Rusty cherries and baker’s plums. Smells like a bright red plate that had fresh squeezed lemon squirted on it. Later strawberries rise from wine-soaked brown paper bags. Someone is taking off leather gloves a few houses down the block using them to stack a bunch of iron ingots. (8/10)

Palate: Sizzling strawberries and peaches stitched together with Meyer lemon threads. Later vaguely berry flavored dry book pages made from leather. (9/10)

Finish: Moist, rich, warm strawberry pie lubricated by browned butter slips easily and somewhat lasciviously over the back of the tongue and down into the throat all the while releasing tiny little puffs of cinnamon. (9/10)

Balance: Very berry butter puree. (9/10)

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

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)

May 31, 2019January 22, 2020

Ardbeg Drum Ardbeg Day 2019 Committee Release

*Rating*	31/40
*Origin*	Scotland, Islay, South Shore
*Distillery*	Ardbeg
*Owner*	LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE via Glenmorangie
*Series*	Ardbeg Day Committee Release
*Style*	Single Malt Whisky
*Peated*	Yes
*Cask*	Bourbon Cask Maturation, Rum Cask Finish
*Bottled*	November 2018
*Strength*	52% (104 proof)
Price	$145-250

Nose: Smoke drifts past freshly ground metal shavings used to season a barrel of mackerels. Right after the bottle was cracked open there was some mild sour fruit rising out of and above the smoke but that element was quickly aired out. (9/10)

Palate: A slightly bitter and tangy kernel hides out in a fluffy cloud of smoke. (7/10)

Finish: Smoke tentatively probes the back of my mouth but is too scared to jump off the ledge down into my throat even though there is a cushy pile of embers to land on at the bottom. (8/10)

Balance: Just a bit off in the middle but otherwise very nice. We have not yet returned to the level of the grand old Ardbeg Day releases such as the original Supernova or the stupendous Rollercoaster. (8/10)

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)

June 1, 2018February 23, 2021

KaVaLan Solist K&L Excl. Sherry Cask, 2017

Kavalan Solist K&L Excl., 2017, close-up

*Rating*	35/40
*Origin*	Taiwan
*Distillery*	KaVaLan
*Series*	Solist
*Style*	Single Barrel Single Malt Whisky
*Cask*	Sherry Cask 3100125005A
*Bottled*	2017
*Bottles*	470
*Strength*	57.1% (114.2 proof)
*Retailer*	K&L Wine Merchants
Price	$210

Nose: (8/10)

Palate: (9/10)

Finish: (9/10)

Balance: (9/10)

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)

March 9, 2018May 28, 2021

Bowmore Old Particular K&L Excl., 20yo, 1997/2017

Bowmore Old Particular K&L Excl., 1997/2017, 20yo., close-up

*Rating*	31/40
*Origin*	Scotland, Islay, Loch Indaal
*Distillery*	Bowmore
*Owner*	Suntory Holdings via Beam Suntory via Morrison Bowmore Distillers
*Distilled*	March 1997
*Bottler*	Douglas Laing & Co.
*Series*	Old Particular
*Style*	Single Barrel Single Malt
*Peated*	Yes
*Cask*	Refill Hogshead #DL11677
*Bottled*	April 2017
*Bottles*	281
*Strength*	55.7% (111.4 proof)
*Retailer*	K&L Wine Merchants

Nose: When first opening the bottle there is peat smoked paprika rubbed on grilled sardines that had been washed with lavender soap. Once aired out the very Bowmore lavender component disappears. Very nice! (9/10)

Palate: Damn. The Bowmore floweriness comes through on the first hit with hot lavender flavored muratic acid. Really brightens the old grout between your teeth. A field of lavender. On fire. (7/10)

Finish: The initial wave of fire breaks in the back and floods the throat with wood and heat. This one gets rougher and dirtier with water. Some dry dark chocolate emerges. (7/10)

Balance: Not my favorite perhaps but nice and interesting enough. (8/10)