We’re starting the week with a few more Scotch Malt Whisky Society reviews. These are all bottles that, as of now, have only been released in markets outside the UK. However, we’re hopeful they’ll become available more widely in the future.
As usual, you can check our social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to get an updates on our other reviews.
The scores below are based on our initial impressions. For full disclosure, we won't spend as much time with a dram as we usually do for a full review, but we hope you'll find the scores useful.
- 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.
Onto the bottles...
1.302 - Glenfarclas Distillery
Name: Ignites the imagination
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: Ex-Bourbon / 1st Fill Oloroso Hogshead
ABV: 58.8%
Age: 12
Price: £104.00
The nose opens with sour plums, dark chocolate, cherry jam, wholewheat biscuits and some raw ginger juice. A lot more sour than expected, but with a good alcohol balance. The palate has a syrupy like texture with lots of caramel, chocolate digestive biscuits, toffee, cinnamon stick and some blackcurrant in the background. It’s sweet but in more of a rich, dark, molasses like sweetness, not sickly sweet. There’s also a warmth but it’s in quite good balance. Tasty Glenfarclas, good balance, one for the sherry lovers.
Score: 7/10
3.358 - Bowmore Distillery
Name: Ethereal Drift
Flavour Profile: Smoky & Fruity
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Ex-Bourbon / 1st Fill Ex-bodega PX Barrique
ABV: 56.7%
Age: 21
Price: £230.00
Quite sherry forward on the nose but not quite falling into sherry bomb territory. There’s also a Light note of sulphur, minimal smoke here, think: light sea spray along with seaweed. Palate is a nice mix of stands sweet sherry notes, but not much smoke or peat. It has a little pepper spice on the finish with the sweetness. We wouldn’t have guessed it’s Bowmore. It’s not offensive but not memorable either.
Score: 6.5/10
3.361 - Bowmore Distillery
Name: It’s fruit Jim, but not as we know it
Flavour Profile: Lightly Peated
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Ex-Bourbon / 1st Fill Oloroso Hogshead
ABV: 52.5%
Age: 13
Price: £122.00
The nose is quite medicinal, antiseptic and bandages, alongside almonds, bung cloth, and a light peat smoke. Not the typical bowmore nose at all. Saying that, there’s a gentle background sweetness, sugar syrup and overcooked sponge cake. The palate has a bit of an acidic front palate, moving into sweet peat, vanilla, fudge, a little engine oil, and almond paste. The medicinal backbone is still there, with some of that antiseptic coming through on the finish. It’s a good younger Bowmore, we’re quite enjoying it, but it’s not the stereotypical Bowmore that we were expecting - a different type of peat. We’re between a 7/10 and 7.5/10.
Score: 7/10
26.228 - Clynelish Distillery
Name: Harmoniously balanced
Flavour Profile: Juicy, Oak & Vanilla
Region: Highland
Cask Type: Refill Hogshead
ABV: 54.7%
Age: 14
Price: £93.00
The nose has some topicality to it, pineapples, mangoes, papaya, more subtle than those older clynelish’s, but definitely there. There’s also some weight to this - we’re not going to say waxiness as it’s thinner than this, just something a bit thicker and weightier. There’s also a good amount of generic vanilla and sugary sweetness here too, but it’s quite a pleasant, intriguing nose. The palate has much more of the tropical fruits, those mangoes are out in full force drizzled with vanilla syrup, a little chili heat, and some pineapple upside down cake. The texture is good, it’s quite thick and viscous, and does have that clynelish character, although perhaps a little more basic and a bit spicier than we’d like. Still pretty solid whisky.
Score: 7.5/10
29.294 - Laphroaig Distillery
Name: A bed of moss and smoke
Flavour Profile: Bold & Peaty
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Ex-Bourbon / 1st Fill STR Barrique
ABV: 48.6%
Age: 26
Price: £395.00
On the nose there’s a lot of sea spray with a touch of fudge hidden in the background, almost salted caramel. Dry earth and a hint of smoke sit behind that. A floral note of lavender and a touch of squeezed lemon appears with patience. There’s more smoke on the palate than nose, a touch of bitterness from dark chocolate. It’s a little mouth drying, has an aniseed quality to it too which sits on the tongue. Citrus spice carries through from nose to palate. Medium finish although the peat turns to ash and the finish also has ginger nut biscuits, and aniseed. Our mouths are left feeling a little dry.
Score: 7/10
35.406 - Glen Moray Distillery
Name: A wee surprise
Flavour Profile: Ripe Fruits & Honey
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st Fill Barrel
ABV: 55.4%
Age: 12
Price: £80.00
The nose is very floral and fruity up front, rose water, Turkish delight, lots of ripe peach and some fabric softener throw in too. There’s also some mango pulp, almond paste and toffee crisp bars. It’s a little spiritous but the alcohol feels in good balance. The palate has a decent texture, and presents a lot of orchard fruits, melon balls, fresh flowers, black pepper spice and some barley sugars. Going back, there’s a bit of citrus, lemon zest, caster sugar and quite a lot of spice. The dram noses well but the palate shows its youth… a bit too spicy for us.
Score: 6/10
39.300 - Linkwood Distillery
Name: Sing thy name!
Flavour Profile: Sweet & Zesty
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st Fill Barrel
ABV: 61.2%
Age: 13
Price: £93.00
The nose opens with a little vanilla bean, light nail varnish notes, lemon water, coconut shavings and peach ring sweeties. There’s a little warmth from the alcohol but it also brings a gingery heat that works well with the sweeter notes. The palate has lots more vanilla, white chocolate, desiccated coconut and whipped cream. Lots of the cask showing through with a slightly grassy undertone. There’s a bit of heat here, chili spice throwing the dram off a bit but it’s still pretty tasty.
Score: 6.5/10
42.89 - Tobermory (Ledaig) Distillery
Name: Engulfed by smoke
Flavour Profile: Bold & Peaty
Region: Highland
Cask Type: Refill Hogshead
ABV: 56.0%
Age: 19
Price: £168.00
The nose is quite dirty, yet soft. Wet soil, bonfire smoke, toasted almonds, wood spice, dried mango, vanilla bean, sawn planks and sandpaper. The peat sits more towards the background, but is still very much present. There’s some burnt sugar and treacle peeking through as we spend more time with it. The palate has a bit of peppery spice upfront, moving into marzipan, amaretto, crushed black peppercorns, smoked paprika and cassia bark. It’s quite one dimensional for us - it’s a tasty dimension, but for an 19yo Ledaig we had higher expectations.
Score: 6.5/10
53.515 - Caol Ila Distillery
Name: Ointment on roasted nuts
Flavour Profile: Bold & Peaty
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Ex-Bourbon / 1st Fill Oloroso Butt
ABV: 56.5%
Age: 14
Price: £104.00
The nose is quite meaty, smoked ham, honey, Arbroath smokies, wet pebbles, salt crystals and even a little rose harissa in the background. Very savoury, the sherry has imparted quite a lot of those meatier aromas to an already saline dram. The palate has a good texture, sponge cake with jam, well cooked streaky bacon, chili jam, crushed black pepper and salted caramel. There’s also a bit of smoked tuna too. It’s actually quite good - it’s fiery, punchy, but brings enough flavour and aroma to balance that.
Score: 7.5/10
53.516 - Caol Ila Distillery
Name: Smouldering Delights
Flavour Profile: Bold & Peaty
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Refill Sherry Hogshead
ABV: 51.4%
Age: 35
Price: £418.00
The nose is quite fruity; notes of orange peel, nectarine, satsumas, caramel sauce sweetness: like an actual chocolate orange. Some sugar sweetness and a warehouse funk. There’s also slight pepper spice, and a savoury note of peanut butter. Not a huge amount of smoke peat on the nose, and we wouldn’t guess it’s Caol Ila. Palate is slightly meaty. Not really getting any peat or smoke, it’s really quite tame. A slight pepper spice on the finish. It does taste with a little more like a speyside. Some citrus notes and a little sugar syrup which lingers on the medium finish. Good mouth feel.
Score: 6/10
64.166 - Mannochmore Distillery
Name: Motoring down memory lane
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: Ex-Bourbon / 1st Fill PX Hogshead (Spanish Oak)
ABV: 46.7%
Age: 28
Price: £185.00
28 year old Mannochmore, not seen too often. The nose has ginger cake, red kola, dark chocolate coins, and caramel that’s been taken almost too far. There’s a lot of sherry layered on top here, but actually the underlying spirit has married relatively well. The alcohol is also very soft and gentle, expectedly so given the age and natural reduction. The palate has lots of upfront sweetness, caramels, toffees, gentle cinnamon and clove spice, a little coffee in the background. The texture is a tad thin, but there’s a lot of flavour here. The finish does fall off quite quickly and has a bit more of a bitterness, slight bit of astringency. It’s a very drinkable dram, almost too drinkable for a dram of this age.
Score: 7/10
72.122 - Miltonduff Distillery
Name: Cocktails nearby
Flavour Profile: Juicy, Oak & Vanilla
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st Fill Hogshead
ABV: 54.2%
Age: 22
Price: £161.00
The nose opens with simple vanillas, buttercream, sponge cake, frozen grapes, barley sugars, crushed white pepper and one or two cloves in the background. There’s also some o we cooked French and Danish pastries. The palate has a good texture, and lots of upfront sweetness. Chantilly cream, fudge, soft whipped ice cream and some of that white pepper spice lingering on the finish. It’s fairly warm, but has some sweetness to combat it. It’s simple, bourbon led and relatively tasty, just a bit too warm on the palate.
Score: 6.5/10
G17.2 - Starlaw Distillery
Name: Nutty, zesty, gooey
Flavour Profile: Sweet & Zesty
Region: Lowland
Cask Type: 1st Fill Hogshead
ABV: 62.2%
Age: 10
Price: £70.00
The nose opens with butterscotch, ginger snap biscuits, light caramels and a slightly varnish-like grain spirit note. It’s quite warm on the nose, punchy ABV, but there’s a fair amount of bourbon cask sweetness appearing to taper this off. Going back we’re getting some buttercream, rice paper and a tiny touch of aniseed too. The palate opens with lots of thick caramel and vanilla sweetness, and a massive hit of chili heat. The ABV really kicks in and the finish is predominantly spice. There’s some coffee and chocolate that appears too, but it’s mostly a mix of sweet and spicy. Youthful, but flavourful grain. Really needs some water to tame the spice but not too bad. 6.5/10 without water, 7/10 with.
Score: 6.5/10
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