Whisky Reviews: Lots o' Stuff

I've been to quite a few tastings over the past month or so and would like to make note of my samplings. The good news is that I'm getting more and more encouraged that there are still good values in the world of whisk(e)y. The bad news is that I enjoyed them so much that my notes were often indiscernible by the end of the night...

So here are some short notes about whiskies I've tried, keeping in mind that these were not especially controlled samplings and may be subject to change in future reviews!

All ratings are out of 100 and are the first number after the name of the whisky.

Maltman Mortlach 15 Year: 88. Bourbon cask maturation. Nice wood spice and vanilla.

Maltman Glentauchers 17 Year: 89. This is a distillery owned by Pernod Ricard and this malt goes into Chivas Regal. Bourbon cask maturation. Very clean, reminds me of the G&M Dallas Dhu 1984 from the 2010 time frame.

Maltman Ben Nevis 17 Year: 92. 16 years in bourbon then in fino sherry for the remaining year. Whoa. Syrup, leather, tobacco. Nose is a plum/sherry syrup.

Maltman Linkwood 18 Year: 91 at first tasting, 89 at second tasting (2 weeks later). Diageo distillery, most goes into blends. 17 years in bourbon oak and 1 year in port. Nose is candied. Palate is oily and full: leather, good deep dark fruit, hint of peatiness. Little too aggressive on the port.

Maltman Highland Park 11 Year: 87. Nice, clean, sweet peat.

Big Peat Blended Malt Whiskey: 90. Blend of Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Bowmore, and Port Ellen. Iodine and peat.

Big Peat Christmas: 89. Peat plus some earthiness.

Edradour Barolo Cask Finish: 87. Baking spices.

Oban Distiller's Edition (Montillo Fino Cask Finish): 86. Peat and dark fruit.

Arran Sauternes Finish: 89. Bright fruit.

Benriach Dark Rum Finish: 85. Tastes like fino sherry.

Gordon & MacPhail Caol Ila Vintage 2001 13 Year: 84. Peat and a hint of sweetness on finish.

Bruichladdich Scottish Barley: 85. American, European, and wine casks, 6-8 years old. Young, fresh wood. Honey and young fruits.

Bruichladdich Islay Barley: 81. Barley from Islay (Rockside Farm) - grew in peaty soil, ~6 years old. Peaty but not smoky. Not a lot else.

Bruichladdich Black Art: 76. American oak and wine oak, 23 years old. Very winey, kind of tart. Doesn't mesh well - tastes like alcoholic grape juice. Disappointing.

Port Charlotte Scottish Barley: 86. 40 ppm phenols, American oalk maturation, peated version of the Bruichladdich Scottish Barley, 6-8 years old. Smoke but relatively light. Like a Laphroaig but not as tarry.

Port Charlotte Islay Barley: 87. Barley from six farms, 6-8 years old, 40 ppm phenols. Really clear/clean whisky, feels peatier than Scottish barley.

Octomore Scottish Barley: 86. 167 ppm phenols, 5 years old, edition 6.1. Band-Aid nose, pickling palate. Tight. Water brings out honey.

Octomore Islay Barley: 90. 258 ppm phenols, 5 years old, edition 6.3, Octomore Farm barley and Octomore Spring water (quarter mile from distillery), casked at 67% ABV. Band-Aid nose again, but palate is fuller and more mature than the Scottish Barley. Chocolate and smoke. Not as good with water.

The Botanist Gin (not whisky!): Meh. It's gin.

Glenlivet Nadurra First Fill Selection: 90. Needs water, and with water it shows velvety leather, tobacco, and ripe fruit.

Jameson Cask Mates: 84.

Jameson Black Barrel: 88.

Old Malt Cask Cragganmore 21 Year (Loch & K(e)y bottling): 84.

Glendronach Tawny Port Cask 15 Year: 86. Weird integration.

Glendalough Irish Single Malt 13 Year: 88. Cinnamon!

Benromach 15 Year: 91 at first tasting, then 87 at second tasting. 80/20 bourbon/sherry maturation for 12 years, then 100% sherry for 3 years.

Gordon & MacPhail Glen Grant 1989 25 Year: 89. First fill bourbon cask.

anCnoc Cutter: 90. 20.5 ppm phenols.

anCnoc 24 Year: 92.

anCnoc 1975: 92.

Bird Dog Bourbon: 89.

Bird Dog Chocolate Flavored Whiskey: 88. Dessert!

Tamdhu 10 Year: 91. Great sherry maturation for this new release of what used to be a great value bottle...

Cutty Sark Prohibition: 88.

Dewars 18 Year: 90. Super smooth.

Forty Creek Copper Pot: 90. Bright, spice.

Forty Creek Double Barrel Reserve: 90.

Forty Creek Confederation Oak: 89.

Alberta Rye Dark Batch: 90.

Kavalan Single Malt: 88. Balanced.

WhistlePig Old World 12 Year: 94. Wow.

Balvenie Doublewood 17 Year: 89.

Glenfiddich 14 Year: 86.

Glen Garioch 1998 15 Year (Loch and K(e)y bottling): 90.

Glen Garioch Virgin Oak: 89.

Westland Single Malt: 86. 2.5-3 years old. Clean but not anything outstanding.

Westland Cask #266: 84. 2.5-3 years old. New American oak maturation. Has a bit of a bourbon profile.

Westland Sherry Wood: 88. 2.5-3 years old, 80% oloroso cask maturation, 20% Pedro Ximenez maturation. 80% pale malt, 20% of four other types of malt. Nose is definitely sugary: syrup and molasses. Palate is sherry but not as deep as I'd like...probably because the whisky is so young.

Westland Peated: 85. 2.5-3 years old, 55 ppm phenols before distillation, just uses pale malt bleneded with peated malt, ends around 20 ppm, peat from Higlands of Scotland. Tastes like an Ardmore with some hints of sweetness...but Ardmore is less than half the price.

Gordon & MacPhail Balblair 10 Year: 89. 2nd fill bourbon maturation.

Gordon & MacPhail Clynelish 11 Year: 89. Refill oloroso sherry maturation.

Benromach 10 Year: 88. 80/20 bourbon/sherry maturation for 9 years, then 100% sherry for 1 year.

Gordon & MacPhail Caol Ila 10 Year: 87.

Gordon & MacPhail Highland Park 15 Year: 90. 100% bourbon maturation. Unctuous.

Dad's Hat Rye (Gordon's Private Label): 86. Great nose, palate is nothing extraordinary.

WhistlePig Straight Rye (Gordon's Private Barrel): 88. Rye nose, flowery palate.

Knob Creek Bourbon (Gordon's Private Barrel): 90. Lots of spice and vanilla. Sweet but not cloying.

GlenDronach 2003 Pedro Ximenez Cask Strength, Single Cask (Gordon's Private Barrel): 93. Wow, sherry and deep darkness.

Hardy Cognac (not whisky!) Noces d'Or 50 Year: 91. Super smooth, deep fruit. Not too much life, though.

Plantation Rum (not whisky!) Stiggins' Fancy Pineapple: 87. Nice pineapple, not cloying.

Whisky Review: Wasmund's Rye Spirit

For an overview of Wasmund's, see this previous post.


This spirit is essentially new-make, being less than 30 days old when put into the bottle. It's made from two-thirds rye (malted? unmalted? a mix? we're not sure) and one-third hand-malted barley, where the malting was done with light smoke from 60% apple wood and 40% cherry wood.

Wasmund's Rye Spirit, 62% ABV

Essentially new-make spirit

Price range, 750 mL: $27-32

Nose: A bit of rye spice, plus young fruit and a whiff of malted barley.

Palate: Red apple with a toasty rye backbone.

Finish: Clean, bright fruit.

Rating (of 100): 83. Pretty straightforward (whaddya expect?) but nice overall. I think it's a bit of an improvement over the 100% malted barley spirit, though I won't be chasing either one down as long as I can get my hands on some really nice aged whisky for the same price.

Whisky Review: Monkey Shoulder

Monkey Shoulder is named after the condition the distillery workers get from turning barley during the malting process. I guess the thought is that naming a whisky after a painful, chronic ailment is a good thing. This whisky is a blended malt Scotch whisky, meaning it's a mixture of various single malt whiskies. In this particular case, it's malt whiskies from the three Speyside malt distilleries owned by William Grant & Sons: Balvenie, Glenfiddich, and Kininvie.

I picked up a bottle after a bartender - sorry, mixologist - acquaintance said it is the #1 whisky he would recommend to someone new to whisky. He said it was very smooth. Let's see...

Monkey Shoulder Batch 27, 43% ABV

Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

Price range, 750 mL: $25-35

Nose: Honey, vanilla, and bright fruits.

Palate: Honey, vanilla, and bright fruits with a malty backbone.

Finish: Wood turning into some char; a bit harsh. Not really in keeping with the nose and palate, and turning into a not-so-nice experience after a while.

Rating (of 100): 80. Can't say this is a great introduction dram for the uninitiated, or even for the very-much-initiated. Probably best as a mixer, which is what I understand it's mainly used for anyway.

Whisky Review: Glenfarclas 15

This is a whisky a friend picked up for me at travel retail, the only place it's available. Glenfarclas is renowned for making great sherried whiskies at outstanding prices. They don't market heavily and their packaging is very simple; for example, their 40 Year Old is in the same style of bottle and tin as their 10 Year Old, and sells for about $600. Most companies would put a 40 Year Old in a diamond-encrusted crystal decanter hand-made by a eunuch at the top of Mt. Everest and price it so high that even the Queen of England would have to check her bank account balance before buying a bottle.

But I digress. Time to taste some whisky.

Glenfarclas 15 Year, 46% ABV

Single malt Scotch whisky (Speyside)

Price range, 750 mL: $90-100

Nose: Red Gushers fruit candy. Are those things still around? That is all I could think at first. It's just a really bright candied fruitiness - like barely-ripe raspberries, with a whiff of char or smoke.

Palate: A mix of plums and raspberries.

Finish: Wood and spice linger nicely.

Rating (of 100): 87. Not blowing my mind but also not a shabby dram. At least no diamonds were harmed in the making of this whisky.

Whisky Review: Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban

It's been almost five years since I reviewed a stablemate of this whisky, the Glenmorangie Nectar D'Or, a whisky I still hold in high regard. I'll spare you the details about Glenmorangie, since you can go read them in that post, and you probably don't really care anyway.

Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban, 46% ABV

Single malt Scotch whisky (Highlands)

Price range, 750 mL: $45-55

Nose: Blood orange, baking spices, old wood.

Palate: Plums, blood orange, more spices. Pretty much just like the nose, with a super soft mouthfeel.

Finish: Much more of the baking spices coming through here. Very nice, long finish with those spices lingering. Eventually, you can taste the flavors of the Glenmorangie 10 Original coming through - soft stone fruits and a maltiness enveloping it all.

Rating (of 100): 91. This whisky is sweet but not cloying at all; I feel like some whiskies with fortified wine influence are not ones I would care to drink all night but this is definitely an exception to that group. A sophisticated dram at a peasant's price.

Whisky review: Compass Box Great King Street

This is not my first post about Compass Box, and you can find other posts here and here. Whisky writers generally seem to have a massive crush on Compass Box founder John Glaser's creations, but I have honestly not yet fallen for his work.

I was hoping to reverse that trend with my latest purchase from Compass Box, the Great King Street blended Scotch whisky. It's supposed to be a new take on blends that will help elevate blends to the rock star status that's currently being enjoyed by single malts. While I definitely disagree with the premise that blends are inherently inferior to single malts, I was happy to hear so many good things being said about this whisky and eagerly bought it when I saw it on the shelf.

Let's see how it goes...

Compass Box Great King Street, 43% ABV

Blended Scotch whisky

Price range, 750 mL: $43-48

Nose: Floral and fruity, with wood spice.


Palate: Floral with citrus and vanilla. Kind of hangs like it's going to deliver something massive and then never does. Has a nice bit of light spice, though.

Finish: Crisp and rather light.

Rating (of 100): 83. Not a mind-blowing blend by any means. I would happily take a Glenlivet 12 over this whisky any day ("HERESY!" yell the snooty fanatics), and at Arizona prices, I would also save about $18 per bottle.

Sorry, John, you have yet to successfully woo my palate.

Whisky review: Hankey Bannister Original

Hankey Bannister is a blended Scotch whisky that prides itself on containing all five single malts from the Inver House portfolio: AnCnoc, Balblair, Balmenach, Old Pulteney, and Speyburn. The Hankey Bannister 40 has won a number of awards, and considering my affinity for the single malts in Inver House's portfolio, I was hoping to like the Hankey Bannister Original. And at only $17 a bottle, it's a relatively cheap experiment.

Let's see how it goes...

Hankey Bannister Original, 43% ABV

Blended Scotch whisky

Price range, 750 mL: $17-22

Nose: Very sweet. A bit like a sugar cookie. Earthier notes developing after a while.

Palate: Sweet but a bit rough. Just caramel through and through.

Finish: Caramel and some light wood. Leaves a woody taste after a minute or so.

Rating (of 100): 64. This is basically a bottle of alcoholic caramel flavoring. Not something I would purchase again, despite the low price tag. Kudos for bottling it at 43%, though - that's not too typical for an entry-level blend. Maybe they needed to add some alcohol to try to mask the caramel...

Whisky review: Ardbeg Supernova (2009 release)

Ardbeg was resurrected from the dead in the late 1990s and has since had a very cult-like following by some whisky enthusiasts. Ardbeg has been one of the major players in the "peatiness envy" that has gripped the industry in recent times, with their Supernova competing with the Port Charlotte releases from Bruichladdich to see who could have the biggest peat punch in a bottle.

This is the first release of the Supernova - a bottle my parents graciously picked up for me at the New Hampshire Liquor Store when I was still living in Boston.

Now that's what I call good parenting.

Ardbeg Supernova (2009 release), 58.9% ABV

 Single malt Scotch whisky (Islay)

Nose: Immediately alcoholic and phenolic. Damp grass and a dark peat richness. Some fruity sweetness develops after a while.

Palate: Gritty peat and smoke, with some claws into your tongue from the high alcohol content. After rolling it around for a while, the peat turns to a very aggressive coal flavor with a layer of red fruit behind it.

Finish: Peat, clean and clear, rolling off with some vanilla. The coal note lingers. Quite the exit.

Rating (of 100): 88. Pretty much a bottle of liquid peat. I've also tried the 2010 release, and remember preferring it a little bit to the 2009 because it had more sweetness in addition to the peat. Still, the 2009 is a great bottle for the peat lover, if you can find it.

Whisky review: Johnnie Walker Double Black

Most everyone has at least heard of the Johnnie Walker brand of blended Scotch whisky. It's the number-one selling whisky in the world, with distribution in about 200 countries and six bottles selling every second. Johnnie Walker's owner, Diageo, is the largest spirits company in the world and owns 28 malt whisky distilleries and 2 grain whisky distilleries - about one third of all the distilleries in Scotland. So this brand is a goliath.

The part most people don't know is the "order" of the regularly-available Johnnie Walker whiskies - that is, the pricing hierarchy. So here it is, with typical prices for a 750 mL bottle:

• Johnnie Walker Red Label - $17-20
• Johnnie Walker Black Label - $25-30
• Johnnie Walker Green Label - $45-55
• Johnnie Walker Swing - $50-60
• Johnnie Walker Gold Label - $70-80
• Johnnie Walker Blue Label - $160-200
• Johnnie Walker Blue Label King George V Edition - $500-550
• The John Walker - $3000 (yes, you read that right!)

The bottling being reviewed here, the Johnnie Walker Double Black, is a limited-edition bottling. It's meant to be a cousin of the Johnnie Walker Black Label but with a smokier zing, coming from a higher concentration of peated whisky in the blend as well as the use of deep-charred barrels for the maturation. Double Black was initially only available at airports' duty-free shops, but has recently been released to normal retail outlets. As I'm a fan of the Johnnie Walker line, I had to pick up a bottle of Double Black when I heard it had arrived.

Johnnie Walker Double Black, 40% ABV

Blended Scotch whisky

Nose: Tar with a honey- or malt-like sweetness. Even somewhat floral.

Palate: Reminds me a bit of a Bowmore or Highland Park at first - lightly peaty with a good dose of sweetness. Then the peatiness gets darker and more reminiscent of Lagavulin (a Diageo distillery), and the peat eventually envelops the taste buds.

Finish: Soft smokiness.

Rating (of 100): 89. Decent development in the mouth and I like the mixture of sweetness and peatiness. The finish is a bit weak - maybe it would improve at a higher alcohol content?

It's definitely a solid dram and a nice way to enjoy some peat without being bowled over.

Whisky review: Dewar's 18 Year

My brother gave me this whisky after I finished my PhD. While many whisky "connoisseurs" will turn up their noses at the name of Dewar's, I had specifically mentioned this whisky as one I'd like to own. Why? The base of Dewar's is Aberfeldy, a single malt made in the Highlands of Scotland. I had previously owned a few bottles of the Aberfeldy 12 Year, the standard single malt bottling from the distillery. While my first bottle was outstanding, my second was fairly dismal. I'm not sure what causes the variation (varying quality of the stocks?), but it's the third single malt in which I've noticed significant variation (the first two being the Old Pulteney 12 and the Balvenie 12 DoubleWood).

So I was hoping that the Dewar's 18, which would likely be made in larger batches than the Aberfeldy single malt, would have a more consistent flavor profile and would highlight the best of Aberfeldy.

Dewar's 18 Year, 40% ABV

Blended Scotch whisky

Nose: Honey, vanilla, and a darker fruit backbone. Some very nice casks on the nose. Well-balanced and enticing.

Palate: This does indeed taste a lot like the better Aberfeldy 12 bottlings I've had. Roasty and toasty. I think the best way to describe this whisky is that it's like licking the sweet interior of a cask that is part ex-bourbon and part ex-sherry.

Finish: More toastiness, and warming.

Rating (of 100): 92. Solid whisky from start to finish, and appropriate for most any mood or season. I'm happy to taste that Aberfeldy quality in there, and hopefully all bottlings of this blend consistently contain it.

Whisky review: Aberlour A'bunadh Batch 35

I saw this whisky, which usually retailed for about $60 in Boston, for $45 at Total Wine in the Phoenix area. Not being one to let a hopeful deal pass me by, I picked up a bottle, also thinking it would make a good introductory sherried whisky for some novice friends of mine.

This particular whisky is matured solely in casks that used to hold oloroso sherry, and it's bottled at cask strength with no chill-filtering.

Compare this review to my previous review of the A'bunadh Batch 29.

Aberlour A'bunadh Batch No. 35, 60.3% ABV

Single malt Scotch whisky (Speyside)

Nose: Wood, spices, sugary cake frosting, and citrus fruits (lemon?). Like Batch 29, it singes your nose hairs the first time you sniff it. And the second.

Palate: On the first sip, it tastes like some unaged malt spirit I have (bright fruits, but not in an especially good way). There's a bit of sherry late, but it's completely overridden by that new-make flavor up front. On the second sip, the sherry spice and fruitiness is more apparent.

Finish: Alcohol with a hint of sherry.

Rating (of 100): 74. It might be because it's such a high alcohol content, or it could be very young (or both), but this hardly struck me as a heavily-sherried whisky. I think the Batch 29 was much more sherry-rich.

Adding water definitely helps it, though. I added about 1:3 water to whisky and it brought out more mature fruits in the nose and subdued the new-make character on the palate, preserving a rich fruitiness. My rating for the whisky as-is stands, but I would probably rate it in the mid-80s with water.

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After rating this and then reading some other folks' reviews of it, most of us seem to agree that it needs water. Other people are still finding a lot more character to the whisky without water than I am, though. Eh well...I guess that's what makes tasting fun!

Whisky review: Battlehill Bowmore 8 Year

I picked this bottle up at the local Total Wine and More after hearing phenomenal things about it through the grapevine. It's an independent bottling done for Total Wine by a company under the name of "Battlehill," which appears to actually be Duncan Taylor. I'm normally not a big fan of Bowmore's whiskies, but at $38 a bottle, the recommendations for this one were too strong to let it pass me by.

Bowmore is a distillery on Islay, the Scottish island known for producing smoky, peaty whiskies. Bowmore is also one of the most heavily-collected brands of whisky in the world, as they have produced some very exclusive bottlings and have a strong following. Like I said, though, their product has never really hit me as being exceptional.

Battlehill Bowmore 8 Year, 43% ABV

Single malt Scotch whisky (Islay)

Nose: Grassy, medicinal, and a little sweet. Reminds me of the Laphroaig 15 Year.

Palate: Follows the nose with grass, then turns to heavier coal and peat. A hint of that Bowmore "Fisherman's Friend" character that Jim Murray often mentions, but not nearly as much as in some of the distillery bottlings I've had.

Finish: Full-bodied peat and smoke with some lingering sweetness. A good warming effect.

Rating (of 100): 90. This comes through with a nice amount of peat and doesn't overdo it on the sweetness - it's like a mix between the Laphroaig 15 nose and the Laphroaig 10 palate. (Sorry, I'm a Laphroaig fan...) For the price, it's an outstanding bottling, and a damn good one regardless of price. Maybe I need to pay more attention to this distillery, or at least to this bottler.

Whisky review: Shieldaig Speyside 18 Year

It's probably been looking like this blog has been neglected for the past few months...because it has. Eileen and I recently moved to the Phoenix, Arizona area and have been working on getting settled into our new life. I've still been sipping some drams, but just haven't managed to get them on here yet.

So now I'm back with some free time and some new bottles. One bottle I picked up recently is sold exclusively by Total Wine and More, a large chain that wasn't in Boston. This particular whisky is an independent bottling done just for Total by "Shieldaig." It's a no-name single malt, just given the title "Speyside," and we're told it's an 18-year-old. Price? $40. And due to an error by the check-out clerk (which I only realized when I looked at the receipt some time later), the bottle was charged to me as a 12-pack of beer, so it cost about $13.

I tried to pin the salespeople at Total down regarding the distillery the whisky comes from, but they apparently couldn't remember or find it; I don't think they were trying to hide it from me, because one woman I asked spent some time trying to figure it out. So it's quite the mystery, and I was excited to try the whisky, though I didn't have huge expectations.

$13 for an 18-year-old single malt scotch. A good deal? We'll see...

Shieldaig Speyside 18 Year, 40% ABV

Single malt scotch whisky (Speyside)

Nose: A butterscotch sweetness and some sherry.

Palate: Light sherry, ripe fruit (red apples, plums) and some less-than-optimal wood.

Finish: Sort of ok (fruit again) at first and then...ghastly. *gag* The aftertaste of this whisky haunted me the first few times I tried it. It tastes like bubble gum that you've been chewing for two hours and only has a kind of nasty, rubbery taste left to it. Plus a little wood.

Rating (of 100): 31. The nose is really the only appealing part of this whisky. The lingering finish makes me want to dump this bottle, but I think I'll keep it around for any uninvited and exceptionally annoying guests.

This bottle actually decreased my interest in whisky the first few times I drank it, to the point where I got to wondering whether I really was still very interested in whisky. Some Old Pulteney brought me back to my senses.

If you buy this whisky, be prepared to have wasted between $13 and $40. I wouldn't even give this away to someone because I fear what it could do in the wrong hands.

Whisky review: Clan MacGregor

This is a blended Scotch whisky and, according to a number of online sources, is made primarily of malt whisky from the Kininvie distillery, blended with a high percentage of grain whisky. Kininvie is owned by William Grant & Sons, the company that also owns Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, Ailsa Bay (a new distillery), and Tuthilltown Spirits (a U.S. whiskey distillery).

Kininvie malt is not bottled by the distillery as a single malt. When we were in Scotland in 2010 and took the Balvenie tour, I asked the tour guide why Kininvie's malt is not sold on its own. He said something to the effect of, "It's not really appropriate for being bottled as a single malt." This means it tastes like crap.

The bottle also says it's aged for "thirty-six months" (also known as three years, the minimum to be legally called Scotch whisky), though this should not necessarily mean it is of poor quality. Other whiskies, such as the Port Charlottes and especially the Kilchomans, are bottled very young and have gotten great reviews. Though those are single malts, I see no inherent reason why a three-year-old blended whisky should necessarily be "bad" if it's only aged three years. The fact that the bottle label put the whisky's age in terms of months, though, makes me wonder if the marketing folks wanted to make sure a bigger number was on the label in order to hide the fact that it's barely legal whisky. Actually, I'm sure they did...and really, I'm not sure why they wanted to mention the age at all.

So here we go, with the hopes that our tour guide's carefully-put statement and the apparent marketing ploy on the label will not cloud my judgment...

Clan MacGregor, 40% ABV
Blended Scotch whisky

Nose: Light and fruity, kind of like the standard Jameson. We're off to a decent start. Oh wait. After a bit more nosing, I really start to smell just ethanol and not much else.

Palate: The crap is beginning to really shine through here. Fruity crap, a bit of woody crap, and something in the back of my throat like charred crap.

Finish: Light fruits turning into crap.

Rating (of 100): 53. It would do in a pinch, like if the only other potential drinks you had were Drano and a full spittoon. I might still go for the spittoon, though, hoping one of its contributors had consumed a different whisky prior to use.

In the end, the remainder of my dram met the same fate a bottle of Drano would expect to meet.

Whisky review: The Dalmore 1263 King Alexander III

This whisky has been finished in casks that previously held oloroso sherry, madeira, port, marsala, bourbon, and cabernet sauvignon. I first tried it at a tasting led by Whyte and Mackay Master Blender Richard Paterson (check out his blog here) and was pretty astounded by what I tasted. It's an amazing effort in maturation and blending, and Richard's trademark presentation flare made it really come alive.

The whisky's name derives from the story that, in the year 1263, a member of the Clan Mackenzie (long the owners of the Dalmore distillery) saved King Alexander III from being gored by a wild stag with a single arrow. The king granted the clan the right to bear a stag's head on its coat of arms, which is now on every bottle. Bet he didn't see THAT coming.

The Dalmore 1263 King Alexander III, 40% ABV

Single malt Scotch whisky (Highlands)

Nose: Sweet orange, grapefruit, plums, strawberries, nuts.

Palate: Toffee, chocolate, strawberries, cherries, wood, very ripe peaches.

Finish: Rich fruit.

Rating (of 100): 92. What an ensemble...the fruits just go on and on. I honestly need a lot more time with this whisky to really comprehend it all.

Whisky review: Laphroaig 15

This bottling of Laphroaig has been discontinued and replaced with the Laphroaig 18. The 15 generally didn't get very good critical reviews, and I'm sure the word made it back to the folks at the distillery after a while. Though I do like the 18 very much, you'll see below that the 15 is welcome on my shelf as well...

Laphroaig 15, 43% ABV

Single malt Scotch whisky (Islay)

Nose: Smoldering charred wood from a camp fire, grass/hay, and a medicinal note.

Palate: Gentle smoke up front with a honeyed background. Overall, a fairly tame palate for Laphroaig.

Finish: Smoke and a vegetal note fade into the distance...

Rating (of 100): 87. The first time I tried this whisky, I was hoping for it to be a smoke explosion (or "smoke-splosion") like the Laphroaig 10 Year. It's not, but I feel like it's subtle in its allure. True, it's not especially complex, but there's something very nice about just having mild peat and some grassy notes and being able to enjoy only those flavors.

This is a peated whisky I could drink for the whole evening without regretting it; the Laphroaig 10 is probably not.

Whisky review: Johnnie Walker Gold Label

Johnnie Walker Gold Label is a blended whisky, where all the whisky in the blend is at least 18 years old. Gold falls above Green and below Blue in price (at around $70-$80/bottle), so it represents the premium but not quite luxury end of the Walker family.

Johnnie Walker Gold Label, 40% ABV

Blended Scotch whisky

Nose: Peach skins, pears. Peat drifts in after the fruit.

Palate: Sweet peat balanced with juicy fruit. The peat seems more apparent on the palate than on the nose. Superb use of peat to complement the fruit of this dram, coupled with a silky mouthfeel.

Finish: Soft peat lingers with warmth. I kind of want to just die right now.

Rating (0f 100): 93. This is one of those blends that I use to counter the "blends aren't as good as single malts" argument that a lot of whisky simpletons try to make. While Johnnie Walker Blue Label can also be a great blend (though I've had mixed experiences), at less than half the price of Blue, I think Johnnie Gold is the best value of the whole Walker lineup.

Whisky review: Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist 1990 Limited Release

Ardbeg is one of the Islay distilleries doing heavily-peated whiskies, falling prey to the "peatiness envy" that has also engulfed Bruichladdich with their Port Charlotte and Octomore offerings.

The Airigh Nam Beist (pronounced "arry nam baysht") is named after the small hill lake between Loch Uigeadail (from which Ardbeg draws its water) and the Ardbeg distillery, and translates from the Gaelic to mean "shelter or pasture of the animals." It is a vintage bottling, put into casks in 1990 and bottled in 2007, and has since been discontinued because the stock has run out.

Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist, 46% ABV

Single malt Scotch whisky (Islay)

Nose: A sweet smokiness that includes some medicinal notes and aromas of fresh, green twigs.

Palate: Smoke, peat and honey entwined to give a well-rounded dram. Velvety mouthfeel.

Finish: Peat at first, fading to honey and caramel with a background of smoke. Honey and smoke seem to linger forever.

Rating (of 100): 91. A very nice all-around peated whisky, though I think the complexity of this whisky is still far less than what was achieved in the primo batches of the Ardbeg Uigeadail.

Whisky review: Speyburn 10

Speyburn is a Speyside distillery, built on the site of an old gallows in the town of Rothes along with Glen Grant, Glenrothes, and Glen Spey. It was the first distillery to use drum maltings, in which the malt is dried in a rotating metal drum instead of on a perforated floor (the floor maltings are the traditional way of doing it, but require a lot of labor).

Speyburn is owned by the same company that owns the Pulteney, Balblair and Knockdhu distilleries, Inver House. However, they do not normally market Speyburn nearly as heavily as they do the other three. I'm not sure why, but I have a feeling they have Speyburn for blending.

Speyburn 10, 43% ABV

Single malt Scotch whisky (Speyside)

Nose: Very floral and sweet with a bit of a toasty characteristic.

Palate: Citrus (green apple, orange, lemon) followed by a bit of earthiness.

Finish: Citrus and some malt.

Rating (of 100): 86. This is not a very complex whisky but it is extremely drinkable and, at about $20/bottle, it's a great deal.

Dewar's is a prominent blended Scotch whisky, most known for its White Label variety, which is the top-selling blended scotch in the United States. Its principal constituent single malt is Aberfeldy, a malt with which I personally have a rollercoaster history.

I tried Aberfeldy at a liquor store in Rhode Island a few years ago and thought it was great...and at $35/bottle, it was the right price. I bought a bottle and went through it quickly. I got another bottle at a store in Massachusetts and was supremely disappointed - it tastes rough and is very one-dimensional. Must have been a bad batch; it's still in my cabinet. Then I tried a bottle at a relative's place in Arizona and it was the same great character that initially attracted me to the brand.

My brother recently purchased a bottle of Dewar's 18 for me, so I was hoping it would remain true to the flavor of Aberfeldy that I liked. Here goes...

Dewar's 18, 40% ABV
Blended Scotch whisky

Nose: Caramel, toffee, toasted nuts and wood. Hint of dark fruits.

Palate: Salt, more nuts and dark or dried fruit. Wood here too, but to a good degree. The grain whisky's smoothness is evident, but the malt keeps the potency high.

Finish: Very well done. Lingers with a soothing warmth and a mouth-filling effect.

Rating (of 100): 91. This is indeed the way Aberfeldy should taste, but with even more stuff thrown in. An excellent dram that would fare well on any occasion and in any season.