We're back with the March outturn review. The preview tasting this month featured 14 new bottles. On paper it's definitely more of an interesting looking outturn, and we're hopeful that it will result in a few gems.
As usual check out our social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to get an updates on any missing bottles and heads up 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...
4.363 - Highland Park Distillery
Name: Hobbister heather
Flavour Profile: Peated
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 62.7%
Age: 13
Price: £77.00
The nose is fairly farmyard-forward, earthy, haybales, along with honey butter, shortbread cookies, caster sugar and light wisps of vegetal smoke. There’s also some basic vanilla custard too. The palate has nice bourbon cask sweetness up front, and a real nice viscous mouthfeel. Very buttery, with the typical Highland Park honey and heather notes, along with vanilla and light peat smoke. It’s really quite pleasant, we could sit and sip this in front of a log fire all evening. We’ll stretch to an 8/10 for this one.
Score: 8/10
Value: A few quid cheaper than the last comparable release and a move in the right direction for the price.
10.260 - Bunnahabhain Distillery
Name: Chalice of intensity
Flavour Profile: Heavily Peated
Region: Islay
Cask Type: 2nd fill PX hogshead
ABV: 58.0%
Age: 9
Price: £82.50
The nose begins with treacle toffee and rich maple syrup, backed up with heavy peat smoke and a dash of malt vinegar. There’s also plasticine, asphalt, and a touch of red wine tannin. The palate has cherry cola, burnt toffee, smoked salmon, tarry ropes, aniseed and a little sweet vermouth too. The mouthfeel is lacking unfortunately, but the finish lingers on for a decent length. It’s nice, but there’s been better sherried Bunnah’s in recent history.
Score: 7/10
Value: Other Bottlers have released comparable Bunnah bottles recently that have been significantly better value.
11.47 - Tomatin Distillery
Name: Espresso martini
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 2nd fill Oloroso hogshead
ABV: 57.9%
Age: 8
Price: £50.00
The nose gives us toffee, caramel and freshly squeezed orange juice. It’s a little musty, with some grated ginger coming through too. The alcohol is present, and even though we can get deep into the glass, we feel it’s masking some of the aromas. We’re also getting some clove and light coffee aromas. The palate has more of that coffee upfront, sweetened with some condensed milk, with a wafer biscuit on the side. There’s some fudge fingers, toffee and cinnamon spice. Overall the alcohol is very well balanced, it’s super quaffable. The mouthfeel is a letdown however. It’s a decent sherried dram, simple but satisfying.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: There's a few releases this month including this one that seem to be much better value than usual. Hopefully the society is listening to the same feedback we are and adjusting prices accordingly.
30.123 - Glenrothes Distillery
Name: Liquid riches
Flavour Profile: Old & Dignified
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Refill sherry hogshead
ABV: 53.7%
Age: 28
Price: £350.00
The nose has a lot of toffee and fudge up front, alongside marzipan and sugar coated almonds. We’re definitely getting the sherry cask influence, brown sugar, vanilla and caramel sauce. There’s still a bit of spice coming from the alcohol, but it’s in reasonable balance. The palate follows the nose's lead, abundant in caramel and chocolate, reminiscent of a caramel slice. There’s a touch more spice coming through, cinnamon and clove predominantly. The mouthfeel is lacking, we wanted a bit more texture here, and the finish is ok, mostly warm toffee, some popcorn and maple syrup. Not over complex, enjoyable but overall a touch disappointing
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Not a bad price given the age. It's just a shame the whisky is lacking.
35.383 - Glen Moray Distillery
Name: Ay, candela
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill Spanish oak ex-Oloroso hogshead
ABV: 54.7%
Age: 17
Price: £106.00
The nose brings out cherries in syrup, gingerbread, irn-bru, red kola and big red cinnamon chewing gum. It’s a very particular type of sherry, synthetic-like. A reasonable alcohol integration, it’s a bit spicy but the aromas balance this reasonably well. There’s also some toffee and chocolate, reminiscent of a toffee crisp. The palate brings out some acidity, not quite sherry vinegar, more like red wine vinegar. There’s the synthetic sugar notes we got before, red kola, irn-bru and a bit of leather appearing towards the latter part of the palate. There’s moderate spice here, nutmeg and a little chilli perhaps? Decent mouthfeel, decent length finish. This is a good sherried dram, and there’s things to like here, but for us we can’t help feeling it’s a bit manufactured. Some will enjoy this more than us
Score: 7/10
Value: We appreciate it's got a bit of age on it, but this still feels like it should be under £100.
39.289 - Linkwood Distillery
Name: Maple-mustard pulled pork
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill Spanish oak ex-Oloroso hogshead
ABV: 58.2%
Age: 17
Price: £115.00
The nose opens with .. mustard. Yep, they nailed the name, some Dijon mustard. Alongside this there’s some charred pork, blackcurrants, raisins and some cinnamon too. We’re also getting some toffee popcorn and leather bound books. The palate is quite zingy, a lot of acid up front, a mixture of fresh lemon juice with lots of sugar mixed in. There’s also cherries, cinnamon and a little bit of allspice too. The mouthfeel is a bit lacklustre, too watery, but the finish does stick around with a bit of fiery chili, date purée and cough syrup. It’s an interesting dram, we’re not minding the spice as much as we thought we might, but there’s still a few flaws that stop us from going above a 7/10.
Score: 7/10
Value: Seems a little pricey to us given the age, cask type and distillery.
44.179 - Craigellachie Distillery
Name: Christmas on the beach
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill American oak ex-Oloroso hogshead
ABV: 58.3%
Age: 18
Price: £126.50
The nose has something slightly smoky, not in a peated way, more in a charred/bbq pork style. There’s also red grapes, raisins, chocolate and dry earth. The palate continues with the meatiness, with brown sugar rubbed gammon, blackberries and burnt coffee grounds. The mouthfeel is a bit thinner than we’d like, and there’s a real acidity appearing as we go back for subsequent sips, similar to lime cordial. There’s also ginger spice and some chilli heat as the palate develops. The finish lingers on for a while, but it’s predominantly burnt oak and bitter chocolate. we don’t particularly love the distillery, but this isn’t the worst Craigellachie so we’ll be fair and give it a 6.5/10.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Should be nearer £100 to us.
46.67 - Glenlossie Distillery
Name: Freshness and light
Flavour Profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 59.7%
Age: 9
Price: £50.00
The nose reminds us of stepping into a confectioners shop, heaps of icing sugar sweetness, boiled sweeties, strawberry laces, red berry preserves and something slightly floral too. The alcohol is a touch punchy on the nose, but there’s a lot of soft fruit aromas to counterbalance it. The palate begins with a similar profile to the nose, fruit pastels, jelly babies, crisp green apple and lime zest. The palate develops into a bit of melon, orange pith and juice, as well as drier oak. The finish is a bit short, mostly alcohol burn and nail varnish. The mouthfeel has a watery sugar syrup-like texture. Too hot for us, although there’s definitely things we enjoyed in the dram.
Score: 6/10
Value: Another release this month we can happily say is good value.
48.164 - Balmenach Distillery
Name: Dark fruit feedback loop
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill Spanish oak ex-Oloroso butt
ABV: 54.2%
Age: 17
Price: £97.00
The nose brings forward red currants, strawberry jelly, hazelnuts and 70% dark chocolate. There’s also some grape must and leather coming through. Going back and we’re getting blackberries and a fair amount of spiritous character. The palate begins with a lot of creamy milk chocolate, then moves into cherry chocolate bars and a little toffee. There’s a lot of Black Forest flavours here, maybe a bit disjointed but they’re all there. The mouthfeel is thinner than we’d like, just a bit insipid, but there’s a sweet/sour balance on the palate that we’re enjoying. It’s fine, not anything to write home about.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Best value of the "older" sherry finished releases this month.
78.79 - Ben Nevis Distillery
Name: Buttered peanut shells
Flavour Profile: Lightly Peated
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 2nd fill Oloroso hogshead
ABV: 59.1%
Age: 9
Price: £72.00
The nose has an initial punch of earthy peat, cider vinegar, saltwater and engine oil. There also some caramel (that’s been taken a bit too far), sponge fingers doused in espresso and a little tar too. The palate opens with more sherry forward flavours of gingerbread, cranberries and currants, but moves quickly into dark chocolate and dry leaves. There’s also apple cider, toffee and farmyard funkiness appearing too. It’s hot, we’d have guessed higher than the 59% it is, with dirty smoke and dry earth lingering on the reasonable length finish. Not our favourite dram, and we’re finding our mouths are still on fire..
Score: 5.5/10
Value: The price is in line with the last 9yo Ben Nevis and we think both are too expensive.
105.44 - Tormore Distillery
Name: Honey Jam
Flavour Profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: Refill bourbon hogshead
ABV: 48.1%
Age: 35
Price: £725.00
The nose opens with lots of freshly chopped strawberries, a dusting of icing sugar, vanilla essence, candy corn, moving into lemon, more like lemonade with a light spritz. There’s also some stone fruit coming through, peach mostly. A very light dram. The palate is.. thin.. very thin. Absolutely no mouthfeel whatsoever. There’s some simple sugar syrup, orangade, vanilla bon bons, but then the palate just drops off a cliff.. no finish in sight. The alcohol is balanced, yes, but we’re just really disappointed at the thinness of the palate and length of the finish. This reminds us of a generic 10yo bourbon cask whisky if it’s been watered down to mid 40s ABV. Inoffensive, but is that really what you want from your 35 year old whiskies?
Score: 6/10
Value: Website currently lists this cheaper, but really that's irrelevant as either price is too much.
122.63 - Croftengea (Loch Lomond Distillery)
Name: Brilliant bouillon
Flavour Profile: Peated
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 60.3%
Age: 8
Price: £50.00
The nose instantly reminds us of pickling liquid, a few peppercorns, bay leaves and coriander seeds sprinkled in. There’s also dirty bonfire smoke, wet pebbles, engine oil and tar coming through. A little funky, some expired trout, but we come to expect that from Loch Lomond. The palate has more of that maritime quality, smoked kippers, tarry rope, along with buttery shortbread and a whack of chilli heat. There also some vanilla sugar here too. It’s stereotypical Loch Lomond, with all the idiosyncrasies you come to expect from the distillery. For us, we don’t love it but can appreciate that some will.
Score: 6/10
Value: Good price for a peated release. More bottles at this price point please.
157.2 - Armorik Distillery
Name: Cinnamon chilli chocolate cupcal
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: France
Cask Type: 1st fill Spanish oak ex-Oloroso butt
ABV: 61.5%
Age: 7
Price: £85.00
We’re finding roasted coconut, a little cured meat, dark brown sugar, caramel sauce, aniseed and ginger snaps. It’s a deep, rich nose, reasonably spicy but still in balance given the whopping 61.5% ABV. The palate has lots of chocolate ganache, cinnamon sugar coated churros, Cadbury’s milk buttons and slightly stale chocolate sponge cake. To be honest it’s a bit of a chocolate overload, maybe a touch of orange essence in the background too. It’s not as good as the 157.1, but it’s still pretty good. It takes water well, creamier and milkier.. a few drops go a long way. Too spicy overall, but we quite enjoyed this. 7/10
Score: 7/10
Value: Nice to see this is a few pounds cheaper than the .1.
BAT.56 - Shimmering Silk
Name: Shimmering silk
Flavour Profile: Small Batch Single
Region: Northern Ireland
Cask Type: 1st fill bourbon & PX barrels & hogsheads
ABV: 50.0%
Age: 11
Price: £80.00
The nose is... interesting. We can't quite put our fingers on what it is... but we're not enamoured by it. It's like something a bi mouldy, not super pleasant. There's also varnish and tea leaves, along with wood chips and some fig too. Very weid. The palate has a spirit forward character, moving into orange slices, vanilla wafers and desiccated coconut shavings. The palate is definitely better than the nose, a lot more fruit forward, but the spirit is just too overpowering for us. There's also a fair whack of spice for 50% ABV.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: Seems pricey for a young small batch.
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