Auchroisk Old Malt Cask K&L Excl., 24yo (1994/2019)

Rating28.3/40
OriginScotland, Central Speyside
DistilleryAuchroisk
OwnerDiageo
DistilledFebruary 1994
BottlerDouglas Laing
SeriesOld Malt Cask
StyleSingle Barrel Single Malt
CaskRefill Hogshead HL15186
BottledJune 2019
Bottles239
Strength54.5% (106.8 Proof)
RetailerK&L Wine Merchants

Auchroisk is not exactly a well known distillery with a significant presence on store shelves. And so it’s always a pleasure and interesting to find some expression, especially an older one like this. Let’s see how it stacks up!

Nose: Purple flowers. Why purple? I don’t know. But it does smell like purple flowers. Not lavender though. Some other purple flower. It’s not easy getting past that floweriness and diving deeper into the nose because it’s quite snappy like a tense cat. Approach at an angle it doesn’t like and you get bit. Quite pretty but flowery noses aren’t generally my thing. (6.7/10)

Palate: The flowery notes don’t go away but they cease to be flowery. Probably because someone has set the bouquet on fire and then tried (and failed) to put it out with honey water. (7.3/10)

Finish: A quite wonderful heat spreads down the back of the throat toeing but not crossing the line to discomfort. The flavors however do not keep up with the heat leaving little but prickly sparkles of mild bitterness along the roof of the mouth. (7.1/10)

Balance:  I think some folks would like this a lot more than I do but it’s just not well aligned with my preferences. For me it’s a decent dram that doesn’t quite manage to deliver on its innate potential. (7.2/10)

Auchroisk Hepburn’s Choice K&L Excl., 21yo (1996/2018)

Rating32.8/40
OriginScotland, Central Speyside
DistilleryAuchroisk
OwnerDiageo
Distilled1996
BottlerHunter Laing & Co.
SeriesHepburn’s Choice
StyleSingle Barrel Single Malt
CaskRefill Hogshead
Bottled2018
Bottles283
Strength52.6% (105.2 Proof)
RetailerK&L Wine Merchant

This cask strength Speysider came out of a refill hogshead hotheaded and with a temper even after 21 years of ageing. Auchroisk doesn’t do a lot of official releases and most of it seems to go straight into J&B so it’s usually only available in this form of an independent bottling. I find them to generally be on the brighter and sharper side but, of course, it’s hard to tell if that’s the real distiller profile with such limited exposure.

Nose: Hothothot! Ok, phew, that was just the first hit fresh out of the glass. Now I can actually smell something… lemon batter mixed with straw? Hard to get much out of this… after that initial violent burst of alcohol it settles into a somewhat restrained state. (7.8/10)

Palate: A small, fiery, angry black hole centered on the middle of my tongue seems to draw everything around it inwards while refusing to give anything up. There’s a compact, spatially contained fierceness to it. Then some bright flavors. But everything seems to want to stay low following a flat profile across my tongue. I would have expected this one to expand upwards but it’s simply not wanting to do anything like that until much later. Some chewing and swishing finally unleashes this beasty and releases it to freedom. It still doesn’t want to expand upwards but rather drives a heated cloud of flavor straight into the back of my throat.  I can’t pinpoint the notes but it’s good and still vaguely related to the batter from the nose. Perhaps we’re baking the lemon-straw tart now? (8.6/10)

Finish: A few sips in I become aware of a burgeoning heat in the back of my throat that later fills up with flavor as well. The heat manages to push and plow its way down behind my sternum until it reaches almost all the way to my solar plexus. (8.2/10)

Balance: There’s a bit of a struggle involved in coaxing this one out of its fiery, angry shell. But it’s worth it. If only the nose gave up a little more of the treasures and secrets hidden deep inside its tense and fiery little heart. (8.2/10)

Macallan Double Cask Lunar New Year 2020 Pack, 12yo

Rating24.7/40
OriginScotland, Central Speyside
DistilleryMacallan
OwnerWilliam Grant & Sons via Edrington Group
SeriesDouble Cask
EditionLunar New Year 2020 Pack
StyleSingle Malt
CaskOloroso seasoned American and European oak casks
Bottled2019
Strength40% (80 Proof)
WhiskybaseWhiskybase
Wine SearcherWine Searcher

One of Macallan’s slightly gimmicky Lunar New Year releases, this one for 2020, the year of the rat. To be honest the packaging is perhaps slightly more impressive than the whisky itself. It’s certainly quite nice but neither demands nor requires attention. A pleasant dram for distracted enjoyment at a reasonable price, at least compared to the usual Macallan price range.

Nose: A wooden bowl of creamy orange yogurt with some honey drizzled on top. Later it begins to dissolve and fragment and ends up shifting towards paint thinner flavored candy. Pleasant but with a slight impulse to try and turn less so. (6.2/10)

Palate: Quite nice. It puffs itself up to a decent volume filled with those orange notes from the nose minus the creamy yogurt and, luckily, the paint thinner candy. After a few sips some bitter elements begin to dominate things but, again, not to an extent that really throws a wrench in the flavor works. (6.2/10)

Finish: Decent heat, decent volume, decent flavor, decent length. Just not spectacular or particularly noteworthy. Slight to the better side of average. I do like the surprising amount of warmth it manages to develop near the solar plexus given it clocks in at basic bottle strength. (6.1/10)

Balance: This is nice? But if I’ve ever met a whisky that really doesn’t require attention it’s this one. Perfect for distracting social settings and yet that thought makes me feel like it’s a whisky wasted. (6.2/10)

Aberlour, Old Particular K&L Exclusive, 25yo 1995/2020

Rating34.7/40
OriginScotland, Central Speyside
DistilleryAberlour
OwnerPernod Ricard via Chivas Brothers
DistilledMay 1995
BottlerDouglas Laing & Co.
SeriesOld Particular
StyleSingle Barrel Single Malt
CaskRefill Hogshead DL14246
BottledAugust 2020
Bottles211
Strength58.4% (116.8 Proof)
RetailerK&L Wine Merchants

Independent bottlings of Aberlour single malts are less common than those of other distilleries. Even more atypical is the absence of any sherry aging or finishing. As such this particular release represents a wonderful opportunity to experience the true heart of Aberlour’s spirit, laid bare, undecorated and without the fanfare of, say, an explosive A’Bunadh. Not that those aren’t great. Don’t get me wrong.

Nose: A mild spring breeze, carrying the scent of high quality hard orange candy, wafts along a linen sheet, just out of the wash and still minty fresh, hung out to dry on a pale bleached wooden rack in the early sun. A light breeze is all there is though. It never grows bigger or bolder than that even if one covers the glass. The only noticeable change is that, over time, the minty notes gradually morph into citrus ones, mostly fresh cut lemons. (7.5/10)

Palate: Oh, wow… damn… what??? The nose did *not* give that away. Like at all. Kaboom! This took the mild sunlit spring breeze of the nose and turned it into a glorious spectacle of a psychedelic spring storm, as if you’re experiencing all the same things while on mushrooms. Rich, flavorful, assertive, it overwhelms your unsuspecting senses. The orange candy is still there. So is the citric acid. So is the bright light. But all of it has been dialed up to 11 without losing any of its internal balance. Amazing… (9.5/10)

Finish: After that cosmic cataclysm of a palate the finish requires conscious effort just to remember there is one and to register its presence with your senses. On any other whisky it would be a grand finish but here it can barely make itself heard over the ringing echoes of the palate in my mind. Not as much warmth spreading through the chest as one might expect from a whisky of this strength. Most of the whisky’s heat seems to want to form a glow at the  top and back of the throat. The orange candy theme steadily continues and ultimately settles into a lasting, pleasant coating. (8.5/10)

Balance: What a palate! But make sure to sit and focus on the finish as well. It takes time to assert itself but inevitably it will. And it’s worth the wait. This is good. Very good. Which is a good thing because this bottle ain’t exactly cheap. (9.2/10)

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)

Dailuaine, Old Particular K&L Exclusive, 12yo, 2007/2019

Rating33.5/40
OriginScotland, Central Speyside
DistilleryDailuaine
OwnerDiageo
DistilledMarch 2007
BottlerDouglas Laing & Co.
SeriesOld Particular
StyleSingle Barrel Single Malt
CaskSherry Butt DL13293
BottledAugust 19th, 2019
Bottles573
Strength57.6% (115.2 Proof)
RetailerK&L Wine Merchants

A delicious single sherry butt cask strength bottling of a single malt from one of Speyside less known distilleries, Dailuaine, which mostly produces component whiskies for Diageo’s portfolio of blends and rarely gets bottled as single malt, comes to us courtesy of Douglas Laing.

Nose: A friendly neighborhood flower shop that stocks nothing but pretty meadow flowers on the main floor. Though I get a sense that they’re keeping a few buckets of roses stashed away in a backroom somewhere. And I’m fairly certain the owner had grilled Branzino for lunch. Much later there are passing whiffs of freshly watered grass in the sun. (8.5/10)

Palate: A hot wave spills through my mouth and finally breaks, foaming with bright and tangy notes more reminiscent of top shelf oranges than flowers. Quite lovely. (8.5/10)

Finish: Echoes of orange juice and bitter herbs are hovering high above a growing and comforting heat right behind my sternum. Ultimtely the warmth doesn’t last all that long but it’s wonderful while it lasts. (8/10)

Balance: Very pretty but not as timid as one would expect. A mellow, pleasant late spring and early summer filled with plenty of joyful times. Very nice. (8.5/10)

Aberlour A’Bunadh Batch #64, 2019

Rating31/40
OriginScotland, Central Speyside
DistilleryAberlour
OwnerPernod Ricard via Chivas Brothers
StyleSingle Malt Whisky
CaskSpanish Oloroso Sherry Butts
BottledJanuary 30th, 2019
Strength59.9% (119.8 proof)
Price$56-179

Nose: A bottomless, silent, dark pool of brooding sherry. (9/10)

Palate: Astringent planar blast from a globe of that quiet, dark brooding sherry leads to fireworks sparkling around the edges. (9/10)

Finish: Warmth and comfort after the sparkles around the edges fade away. (9/10)

Balance: Just wonderful. One of the best batches since the recovery from the dreaded 30s. (9/10)

Aultmore Foggie Moss, 12yo

Rating27/40
OriginScotland, Central Speyside
DistilleryAultmore
OwnerBacardi via John Dewar & Sons
StyleSingle Malt Whisky
Strength46% (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)

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

Aultmore Sovereign K&L Excl., 2008/2017, 9yo., close-up
Rating31/40
OriginScotland, Central Speyside
DistilleryAultmore
OwnerBacardi via John Dewar & Sons
DistilledJune 2008
BottlerHunter Laing & Co.
SeriesSovereign
StyleSingle Barrel Single Malt Whisky
CaskSherry Butt #HL13138
BottledAugust 2017
Bottles631
Strength59,8% (119.6 proof)
RetailerK&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)

Macallan Classic Cut 2017 Ltd. Ed.

Rating35/40
OriginScotland, Central Speyside
DistilleryMacallan
OwnerWilliam Grant & Sons via Edrington Group
SeriesClassic Cut
StyleSingle Malt Whisky
CaskSherry Seasoned Oak Casks from Jerez
BottledApril 2017
Bottles90,000
Strength58.4% (116.8 proof)
Price$75-140

Nose: Deliciously deep! (9/10)

Palate: (8/10)

Finish: Leaves a lovely warm glow with some residual smokiness. (9/10)

Balance: Oddly thin in the very middle. (9/10)