Jim McEwan Signature Collection 9.1, 9.2 & 9.3

Jim McEwan Signature Collection 9.1 Bruichladdich Cask #2329

Region: Islay

ABV: 63.0%

Price: £325.00

Distilled on 16th September 2010, this whisky spent its life maturing in a 1st fill Premier Cru Supérieur Sauternes barrique and was bottled at 13 years old. 236 bottles were released.

Nose

The nose opens with heaps of whipped vanilla cream, salty sea spray, fondant icing, a little warehouse must and dirt, lemon zest, and dried apricots. It's a classic Bruichladdich nose for us, very recognisable. The alcohol is present, but we expected more of a bite for 63% ABV. Time and air brings out honey, a little golden syrup, pear flesh and mushy red apple. We're not getting as much of the Sauternes influence as we were expecting, however there's a bit of sweeter yellow fruits in the background. There's an earthiness/dirtiness that underpins the dram, we'd have almost guessed this had a touch of peat in the whisky making process.

Palate

The palate is thick and oily, very mouth coating, and again nowhere near as hot as we were expecting... although it does pack some heat. We're getting apricot preserve, honeycomb, butter, more vanilla in the form of vanilla slice pastries, freshly zested lemon and a little tangerine. The finish does go on for a fair while, it's a tad hotter now but more like a zingy spice than a chili heat. We're also finding an earthiness that comes through on the latter palate, alongside burnt caramel. That tinge of smoke we noticed on the nose is also present on the palate. We're getting that salinity riding through the palate too as well.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose brings forward more of a warm orange aroma, scented candles, soft apricots, honeydew melon, more lemon - this time sweetened like lemonade, but all of those salty, Islay aromas are still to be found. The earthiness has receded and it's now a fair bit sweeter and fruiter on the nose.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate maintains its oily texture, and continues to coat our palates. The punch of alcohol has definitely mellowed and the sweeter fruits from the Sauternes maturation are starting to come through much more for us. Eminently more drinkable with a dash of water. It's now more of a salty fruit salad, which is no bad thing at all.

Conclusion

Great quality Laddie, we expected a bit more Sauternes character but the wine has instead offered more of a soft, sweet, rounded influence to the dram. Perhaps a little less alcohol would help it open up more, but you can always add a few drops to your liking. Either way, it's pretty darn tasty.

Score: 8/10

Value

None of these Jim McEwan releases are value for money, but you don’t need us to tell you that.

Jim McEwan Signature Collection 9.2 Port Charlotte Cask #5

Region: Islay

ABV: 62.4%

Price: £360.00

Distilled on 26th October 2007, this whisky spent its life maturing in a 1st fill Vosne-Romanée Barrique and was bottled at 16 years old. 258 bottles were released.

Nose

As soon as we opened the bottle, we got a waft of red fruits jumping out at us. After pouring into a glass, we're finding grape must, synthetic strawberry aromas, boiled sweeties, cranberry juice, and some tannin too. Behind these sweeter fruits sits a coastal, ashy, bonfire smoke. It's really quite wine-forward, we're getting berries upon berries on the nose. The alcohol is present but takes a back seat to those cask driven aromas. There's a touch more acidity that appears as it sits in the glass, as well as a touch of earth too.

Palate

The palate bursts open with chocolate for us, moving quickly into a whack of ashy peat smoke, warm alcohol, then finishes on the red berries from the wine cask maturation. We're finding Scottish tablet, muscovado sugar, lemon juice, and grenadine, before a wave of smoke overtakes the palate, lingering on the long finish, and we're left with cranberry juice, red currants and a bit of grape Schloer as parting flavours. The alcohol is in good balance, a tad warm in places but there's so much going on that you can forget you're drinking 62% whisky.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose is slightly more acidic, sour, some balsamic vinegar, sour cherry, processed grape jam, as well as a sweet and meaty barbecue sauce aroma. It feels a bit.. lesser with the water, slightly simpler, like it's lost some character and complexity. We'd suggest caution when adding water.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate hasn't changed too much for us, however like the reduced nose, it feels like it's lost something. There's still the same flavours as before, berries, brown sugar, ashy smoke, but they're all a bit more muted than before. Even though it's a punchy dram without water, we prefer it that way.

Conclusion

This is one of those drams that takes you on a journey after a single sip - we're going through sweet, salty, smoky, sour and bitter flavours one by one. It's very wine forward, not in an astringent way, the cask seems to have melded well with the spirit. Even after 16 years, the peat is still firmly intact, which we're not complaining about .

Score: 8.5/10

Value

Definitely not value for money, but the liquid is tasty

Jim McEwan Signature Collection 9.3 Octomore Cask #4355

Region: Islay

ABV: 63.3%

Price: £325.00

Distilled on 15th November 2012 to 156ppm, this whisky spent its entire maturation in a first-fill Bourbon barrel and was bottled at 11 years old. A total of 226 bottles were released.

Nose

The nose opens with a real antiseptic quality, dusty wardrobes, as well as a chlorine-like aroma. Behind this sits crushed peanut shells, old leather bound books, salty taffy, and there's a citric acid quality to it too. The smoke here envelops the nose as soon as you take the first sniff, but it acts more in a supporting role, allowing those other aromas to shine through. The alcohol feels in great balance, we're having no issue getting deep into the glass. As it sits in the glass, sweeter aromas of vanilla essence and barley sugars start to appear.

Palate

The palate opens with vanilla bon bons, charred staves, brown sugar, overcooked waffles, freshly turned dirt, lemon pepper seasoning, and heavy kiln smoke that sticks around in your mouth forever. There's a lingering sweetness too on the finish that complements the powerful peatsmoke. The mouthfeel is nice and oily, and coats the mouth for most of the palate, but for us the texture just falls off right at the end of the palate. We're also getting some caramel and dark chocolate. The alcohol manages to stay in balance, more because the other flavours are so powerful - it's a punchy, flavour-forward dram.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose brings more of a classic Octomore nose, salty, briney, sweet bourbon aromas, very coastal for us. The water has brought much more softness and roundness to the dram, along with a bit of citric acidity too. There's still a tinge of antiseptic here, but it's mostly those sweet and salty Octomore aromas coming through for us now.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has more upfront sweetness, lots of vanilla and fudge, salted caramel and a bit of toasted marshmallow too. The peat is still big, bold and we're left breathing that smoke for a long time after we've taken a sip. The alcohol maintains its balance, and we're getting a little cracked black pepper spice now too.

Conclusion

How this noses and drinks like it does at 63.3% is perplexing, there's so much aroma and flavour going on that masks the alcohol, it's quite an experience. The peat manages to stay in the background rather than overtake the whisky, creating a lovely harmony of sweetness and smoke. It's really good, we're up between 8 and 8.5/10.

Score: 8.5/10

Value

We wish it was good value as we do enjoy an occasional dram of Octomore... but alas..

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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