Our First Society Tasting Whisky #1!

 

Whisky: Glenmorangie SMWS 125.66 Fruity Sweetness and Floral Perfume

 

Distillery/Brand:

Glenmorangie

 

Bottling:

Glenmorangie SMWS 125.66 Fruity Sweetness and floral perfumes

 

Region:

Highlands

 

ABV:

59.7%

 

Colour:

Sunlight

Review:

A while back I joined the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of Australia in the goal of experiencing new and weird whiskies. Their sample pack that they send to all new members definitely let me know that I'd found the right place.

Several months went by and a tasting in Perth got closer and closer. But I wasn't sure if my wife and I would be able to make it so I held off on purchasing tickets.

I actually held off until the last minute.

Then a minute past that.

Then I received an email that said there was just a couple slots left if anyone was interested,
and that they needed to act quickly.

So I did.

I acted quickly.

But not quickly enough.

There was only one slot left which left me devastated.

I never do whisky tasting without my wife.

Never!

But my wife informs me that I should go anyway.

Enjoy myself and have fun.

So I contacted the Society for the last spot and asked if my wife could be put onto the wait list.

If at all possible I want her to be able to join me.

I immediately received an email back saying that they don't believe in splitting couples up, so my wife can come.

WEWT!!

Excited!

The week drags as we wait for the tasting to occur, but then finally the day arrives.

We caught a taxi to the hotel where the tasting was being held and were immediately greeted by a group of whisky geeks.

And an opening taster of Glenmorangie 10 yr old.

My wife and I sip from our glasses and it's not bad, but there's nothing really interesting about it.

Glenmorangie 10 yr old is Glenmorangie 10 yr old.

We're met by WhiskyBaz, a fellow Perth whisky geek and we chat for a bit.

We sip at the Glenmorangie while we wait for the doors to open, but finally they do.

It's a beautiful ballroom with lovely tables, all covered in whisky samples.

My wife and I sit down next to WhiskyBaz and a friend of his.

No idea what we're going to be tasting.

The Cellarmaster comes in and starts chatting.

Very engaging and fun and informative.

He talks about whisky and finally we get to nosing the first sample.

Very floral, very very much a Lowland nose.

Eucalyptus, sweet fruits, bubblegum, honey, citrus.

Quite lovely.

Then the Cellarmaster gives us permission to taste.

It follows the nose closely.

Oak, grass, honey, apricots, coffee, chocolate, some fruit.

Very interesting and the chocolate and coffee makes it unlike any Lowland whisky I've ever tried before.

The finish is both sweet with mineral elements and short.

The Cellarmaster asks the crowd where they think the whisky came from, distillery or region, your choice.

The crowd is very quiet so I finally I speak up.

"I think it's a Lowland whisky personally"

"This man knows his whiskies! Grassy, floral, very typical Lowland style whisky!" the cellarmaster calls out.

I'm feeling pretty proud at this point and then he continues on.

"But he's completely wrong!"

Epic fail.

"This is a Glenmorangie whisky! And as you can tell radically different from the Glenmorangie 10 yr old that you tried in the lobby. This is what the Society is about. Whiskies that do not fit the distilleries definition of their style, but are great whiskies!"

The whisky we just had was a 6 yr old whisky and it just kicked the snot out of the 10 yr old, further proving that age isn't everything. And at cask strength for $153 a bloody good deal.

The Cellarmaster then informs us that he has a very special treat for us. That'll be the next review though!!


Nose:         22/25
Taste:        22/25
Finish:        19/25
Balance:     22/25

Overall:      85/100

Fruit Wrapped in Smoke That Lingers

 

Whisky: Ardbeg 1999 Galileo 12 Yr Old 

 

Distillery/Brand:

Ardbeg

 

Bottling:

Ardbeg 1999 Galileo 12 Year Old

 

Region:

Islay

 

ABV:

49%

 

Colour:

Pale Straw

Review:
A while back Ardbeg released a new limited edition bottling called Ardbeg Galileo. It was a 12 yr old whisky aged in first filled ex bourbon casks and ex Marsala casks from Sicily. It was bottled at 49% ABV.

OK now that the technical stuff is out of the way let's get to the nitty gritty. This was a massively anticipated release from one of the most popular Islay distilleries, that set the whisky world on fire. People were panting and salivating about this whisky.

How much was it going to cost?

How many bottles were going to be produced?

Would they be able to afford and find a bottle?

Finally the big day came and Ardbeg Galileo was released in whisky stores across the UK.

And they sold out immediately. Within hours.

Prices seemed reasonable, but they were flying off the shelves.

A couple days after the Galileo's release Abbey Whisky posted in my Facebook feed that they'd received a shipment of Galileo, so I immediately sent them a message asking if I could purchase a bottle and have them hold it until I arrived in Scotland.

Not a problem he said.

Purchased!

In the intervening weeks surprisingly Galileo made it's way to Australia where in some stores it was running for almost $300 AUS.

Holy crap!

I'd managed to snag mine for a much more reasonable price, somewhere along $100 AUS I'd
say.

Then as the weeks pass I hear that Abbey Whisky is down to the last few bottles of their 40 yr old Secret Casks.

Considering that it's a sexy whisky, 40 yrs old, which runs for less then $250 AUS, I decided I needed to grab a bottle for myself.

When it shipped to Australia, my friends at Abbey Whisky threw in my bottle of Ardbeg Galileo into the package to come over, no shipping fees needed.

Sweeet!

Now I wouldn't have to wait a year to try this whisky!!

It arrived beautifully protected and when I saw that beautiful bottle I could only grin.

I couldn't wait to open this bottle!

A couple weeks go by and after a long day at work my wife and I decided to crack it open and
try a dram.

Maaaaan this is going to be soooo good!

We crack it open and pour it into a glencairn and immediately give it a nose!

Intensely smoky at first, but given a few minutes to let the air get to it and it becomes so very
lovely.

Still smokey, but not over the top with lots and lots of beautiful fruit.

Big vanilla hit, bananas, tropical fruits, sea brine, typical Ardbeg medicinal notes, toffee, peat,
all wrapped in a delicious sooty smoke.

Love it! The wine cask influence is IMMEDIATELY noticeable.

Time for a taste!

Lovely and intense flavors, sooty fudge, bananas, salt, peat, smoke, little bit of a pepper kick.
Interesting combination of sweet, salty and sooty. Loving it!

A smokey chocolate with fruit creates a long smokey finish that lingers, coating the mouth, leaving just a hint of toffee at the end of the finish.

What can I say? I love it!

Pure and simple!

It's not quite what I expect out of Ardbeg, but this is a kickass whisky, by any standard.

And easily worth the $140 or so that it's running here in Australia. I'd happily pay that for this whisky.

It's big, complex, lasting with the combination of smoke and fruit creating an oh so lovely combination rolling around your mouth.

If you like smokey whiskies, buy this bottle. Pure and simple. If you don't you're crazy!


Nose:          23/25
Taste:         23/25
Finish:         23/25
Balance:      23/25

Overall:     92/100

Boring Unbalanced Cask Strength

Whisky: Glenlivet 16 yr old Nadurra

 

Distillery/Brand:

Glenlivet

 

Bottling:

Glenlivet 16 Year old Nadurra

 

Region:

Speyside

 

ABV:

54.3%

 

Colour:

Young Sauternes

Review:
I'd been hearing about a certain cask strength Speyside bottling for months, Glenlivet 16 yr old Nadurra, for months before I finally got a chance to pick it up.

I'd been helping my wife out at the family business and as we were shopping for supplies for the store we passed one of the largest chain liquor stores in the area, Dan Murphy's, and since it had been months since I'd been into a bottleshop that wasn't mine or my sister stores, I asked her if she minded if we went looking.

Doing a wee bit of whisky porn if you will, more like whisky peeping tom. What is new? Anything interesting?

Nothing too special, nothing too exciting.

Except Auchentoshan Valinch, Glenlivet Nadurra and Aberlour Abunadh.

Three cask strength whiskies.

One that I'd had multiple times in many of it's versions, Aberlour Abunadh.

Two that I'd never tried before.

The Valinch and the Nadurra.

Both highly reviewed. Both in the same price range.

However my brother in law had recently tried the Auchentoshan Valinch and had expressed some disappointment in it so when my wife suggested we pick up a bottle, it was obvious I was going to grab the Nadurra.

I'm so excited when I pick up this bottle.

A new whisky!

A new cask strength whisky!!

God I can't wait!

I immediately start reading the bottle (yes I do this :P)

54.3% ABV, Bottled on 05/12 out of batch #0512T.

Hmmmm a different abv and batch number from reviews I'd seen before.

Oh well a new whisky to play with!

Even better it's non chill filtered and has no caramel coloring added!

Although to be fair I'm so anal retentive not many of my whiskies have either of those issues.

When my wife and I both get home that night we decide to crack the bottle open and try it!

We pour a dram into a glencairn that we'll share together and then immediately start nosing the whisky.

This review is based off of three different tastings, the one on this night, one with my brother and sister in law about a week later and one done today.

Lots of honey. Lots and lots of honey.

Actually too much honey.

It's a very sweet nose with some floral notes.

Eventually some light fruit notes along with some toffee notes appear, but this takes about two weeks for these notes to develop.

None of us are really impressed. This is the whisky that's getting rave reviews?

Actually it's disappointing. Boring.

Time for a taste.

Eeee gads the honey dominates everything!

Again the floral notes appear and there is a hint of fruit, but the honey kills all the flavors.

The finish is interesting. Intense and long with the oak shouting out with hazelnuts that is actually quite enjoyable and definitely the highlight of the whisky.

All in all, the four of us, my wife, my brother and sister in law and myself all come away more then a little disappointed in this batch.

This is definitely better then the entry level Glenlivet 12 yr old, but at more then twice the price it needs to be kicking more butt.

Mind you I've noticed some changes for the better as the bottle has been sitting open and slowly being drank, but nothing to the point that would make me buy another bottle.

Which is really quite disappointing for me as I had such high hopes for this whisky. I personally think that if I ever decide to pick up another bottle of Nadurra it's going to have to be from a batch that I've tried and loved, or a batch that I've heavily researched and have some idea of what I'm walking into to make sure that I'm disappointed.

Mind you the bottle has opened up a little bit over the last few weeks, originally when I picked up this whisky and tried it we would have given it a 74 or so, but it has slowly improved.

If the bottle opens up anymore in any significant way I'll rescore the whisky and update it.S Just off my own bottle of Nadurra which I picked up for $120 AUS I honestly would have picked up a bottle of Aberlour Abunadh for $105.

Give this one a shot if you've researched the batches, but walking in blind like me. I don't recommend it.
 

Nose:         19/25
Taste:         17/25
Finish:        22/25
Balance:     18/25

Overall:       76/100

Western Australia Launches a New Whisky!  


Whisky: The Grove's American Style Spirit First Release

Distillery/Brand:

The Grove

 

Region:

Australian 

 

Bottling:

American Style Spirit

 

ABV:

40%

 

Colour:

Young Sauternes

Review:
Two months ago I received an email from one of my favorite whisky people, Liz from the Grove.  I had gone to the International Beer Shop, my sister store, to pick up some whisky for me and some special beer to send to my brother in the US.

I was just getting onto the train when the email came in on my phone.

The Grove was releasing their first bottles ever of their American Style Spirit (Bourbon for none whisky geeks) and it was going to be an extremely limited release with only two hundred bottles being available for purchase.

Sweeeeeeeeeet!

I so wanted a bottle of this!

$50 to reserve a bottle, final purchase price was going to be $110 for a 500ml bottle so a wee bit pricey, but I totally didn't care!

So I sent my wife an SMS asking permission to put down a deposit and purchase the bottle.  You do not want to piss your wife off with an unlicensed whisky purchase!

A couple weeks ago my friend Liz contacted me, since I was already purchasing a bottle how would I like to get a wee sample of it before it was released?

Would I ever?!

A few days later I received a package in the mail from the Grove with a letter and a small sample bottle. 

Awww man I can't wait to taste this!

I wait until my wife gets home, my brother in law shows up and we crack open the sample!

The nose is a wee bit young, but it's only aged for roughly six months so it's too be expected, but it's not at all bad or unpleasant. 

Especially considering that lately I've been receiving samples of whiskies aged from three months to three years that were MUCH less developed.

We're sitting around and nosing our glencairns, young, bourbon style nose, but enjoyable and a wee bit mysterious.

Burnt caramel and vanilla are the strongest aromas, but as I nose the glencairn every so often a hint of maple sugar/syrup appears and then disappears, mysteriously.

I like!

Time for a drink though, this is where the really fun part starts!

Oak comes through, with coconut and spices, hints of cinnamon and just the slightest wisp of cherries.  Again it tastes just a wee bit young, but is very enjoyable. 

Especially considering that I've had twelve year and sixteen year old whiskies that were boring, bland or just plain disgusting.

A mild finish full of coconut, vanilla and spices finishes off this little guy.

I've got to be honest I was really surprised with how good this whisky "spirit" was and that sample really made me eager to get my hands on my bottle. 

Is it the best whisky in the world?

Nop.

Is it a damn good whisky?

Sure is!

My biggest issues with it are that it's just a wee bit young and as always I'd love to see it at a higher strength.  But after just spending $120 on a bottle of Glenlivet 16 yr old Nadurra cask strength and being horribly disappointed, to walk into a six month old whisky, being distilled for the first time, that was kicking it's butt was nothing short of entertaining!

Soon though I'll have my hands on my full bottle of American Spirit and I've informed the Grove that I want to pick up future releases, especially if they're being produced at older ages with higher strengths. 

If you get a chance to put your hands on a bottle I'd go for it.  Like I said it's not a cheap bottle for being a six month old whisky, but considering that it's a small batch and I'd rather support a distillery that supports me, a distillery that is local and will eventually make waves in the Australian whisky industry if they keep on the way they've been going.

Nose:        20/25
Taste:        20/25
Finish:       20/25
Balance:    20/25

Overall:     80/100

I'm Sorry!

 

I'm sorry my friends that I haven't been posting much of anything this month!  Hopefully the preceding reviews will help make up for it.  We've been extremely, even stupidly busy over here in Australia, so even though whisky tasting is still occurring, whisky writing as fallen off.  I'll try and make November a better month with posts and reviews.  For all of my readers on the East Coast of the USA:  Enjoy some whisky and BE SAFE until the storm passes!.

Slainte Mhath!

SquidgyAsh

A Dignified and Unusual Speyside

 

Whisky: Mannochmore SMWS 64.34 Lively fruits and old leather Jackets

 

Distiller:

Mannochmore

 

Bottle:

Mannochmore SMWS 64.34 Lively fruits and old leather Jackets

 

ABV:

56%

 

Colour:

Sunlight

 

Review:

A while back I'd become a member of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Australia. I'd heard many good things about the Society for a long time and their unusual bottlings and I had finally felt that I couldn't keep passing up the chance to try their bottlings.

God I was thrilled with all of the samples I'd tried!

An Islay whisky with ice cream cones.

A Speyside whisky that smelled of chicken with onions.

Cool!!

I'd finally got around to trying the last sample bottle in the collection.

This was a Mannochmore, a Speyside distillery that I'd never tried before.

I decided to crack open this bottle after cleaning the house all day, just as I was sitting down to watch some Sopranos.

A perfect ending to the day!

The nose is unusual in my experience of the Speyside region with an initial hit of salty fudge, then leather jackets wrapped in seaweed and as the glencairn sits there the aromas become liquorice, fruits and then spicy caramel.

Wow!

But that's not all!

Spicy grapefruit then shifts into slightly burnt coffee.

How cool is this nose!

God I love cask strength whiskies!!

Time to taste, although I almost don't want to, the nose is so cool.

Yee haaa!

Awesome weird flavors!

Chocolate mouuse covering pineapples ending with roasty pine nuts.

Long intense chocolatey finish with hints of fruit.

This is awesome!

Weird and awesome!

I'm loving the Society's bottles.

You normally think of Speyside as pear, honey, vanilla, apples, etc etc etc. Easy going, rarely intense.

But then you try their bottles and you sit there and go WHOA!

Mind you I'd guess that the price on a 21 yr old Speyside would probably go for about $200 AUS, but for something that will make you sit there and think, you'll enjoy a bottle like this!


Nose:        23/25
Taste:      22/25
Finish:      20/25
Balance:    20/25

Overall:     85/100

Thank You WhiskyBaz

 

Whisky: Limeburners Cask M5

 

Distiller:

Great Southern Distillery

 

Bottle:

Limeburners Cask M5

 

ABV:

43%

 

Colour:

Pale Straw

Review:
I'd recently attended a free whisky tasting featuring my favorite Australian whisky, Limeburners, thanks to the information of a Connosr member, Whiskybaz.

I'd recently finished the last of my two bottles of Limeburners and was looking to find a new Australian love. Plus the chance to meet up with a Connosr member in real life was too good to pass up.

Sadly many of the whiskies we tasted were just a wee bit above average with one whisky that was at best....ok.

As the tasting goes on Whiskybaz brings out a bottle of his own. A early bottle of Limeburners.

Limeburners M5.

He pours me a dram and asks what I think.

Young, very young.

Strong strong aromas of orange peel. In fact almost nothing else.

And then a quick taste.

Oranges again.

Not much else.

Not bad, but boring.

As I sit with Whiskybaz we talk with the lovely lady who's running the tasting, who seems to remember me from somewhere.

She can't place her finger on it, then I tell her I interviewed her boss and she goes "That's right you! I LOVE that you brought glencairns!

At this point Whiskybaz and all of us are talking about the use of brandy barrels in finishing whisky, and comments that he hopes Limeburners never does it again as the M5 is aged in American bourbon barrels and then finished in brandy barrels.

I however, LOVED the M31, which was aged in the exact same way and hope that they will do that experiment again.

As the conversation goes on at one point Whiskybaz says that he can't wait for his M5 to be gone. He REALLY doesn't like it.

I didn't mind it.

Wasn't the best, but I've certainly had worse.

"How much to buy that bottle?"

"This? You can have it for free!"

SCORE!

Time to head home to meet my wife with my new booty!

I pour a wee dram into a clean glencairn when I get home and start to seriously nose the whisky.

Whoa!

Some changes.

The orange is still very very strong. But honey and vanilla are now present on the nose.

Still an extremely young nose, but a wee bit more complex then when I was nosing it at the tasting.

I let my wife nose the whisky and she says that it reminds her of Grand Marnier more then anything else.

Time to drink!

Chocolate appears right after a hint of honey and cinnamon, but the chocolate completely dominates the flavor profile.

The finish is short and full of the chocolate with just a hint of honey and the orange appearing about 30 seconds after the chocolate and honey finish.

Not bad, but certainly not worth the $130 that it probably sold for.

However to replace my missing Limeburners, more then good enough!

Thanks Whiskybaz!


Nose:      19/25
Taste:     19/25
Finish:      19/25
Balance:    19/25

Overall:     76/100