Author: The Muskox

Review

[Review] Clynelish 12 Gordon & MacPhail “Ainslie & Heilbron” (bottled ~1984)

This whisky has been staring me in the face behind the bar at my pub for ages, and I’ve finally gone and tried it. There’s more to this that meets the eye. The distillery that’s known today as Clynelish was built in 1967, right next door to the original Clynelish distillery which was renamed “Brora”. Bizarrely, up until the mid-70s, it was common practice for … Continue reading [Review] Clynelish 12 Gordon & MacPhail “Ainslie & Heilbron” (bottled ~1984)

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Review

[Review] Glenburgie 21 Gordon & MacPhail Distillery Label

Glenburgie is rapidly becoming one of my very favourite Speyside distilleries. It seems to produce those tropical fruit notes that I go crazy for with consistency, provided it’s had enough time in the cask. The 21 years of age on this distillery-label bottling from Gordon & MacPhail should be enough to get those flavours going. Nose: Ehhhh, there’s some stale sulfur here, and mustiness like … Continue reading [Review] Glenburgie 21 Gordon & MacPhail Distillery Label

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Review

[Review] The Half Century Blend 50-year-old Blended Scotch Whisky

This is my first 50-year-old whisky, breaking my previous oldest-whisky record by a solid decade. It’s a blended scotch, bottled by the appropriately-named Blended Whisky Company in 2017. I couldn’t find any info on the composition of this blend, but no matter. Let’s give it a try! Nose: Very mellow. Musty notes of old leather and old furniture. Some vanilla buttercream and that particular old-grain … Continue reading [Review] The Half Century Blend 50-year-old Blended Scotch Whisky

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Review

[Review] Imperial 19 1976 Signatory Vintage

Despite a relatively small sample size, Imperial has become one of my very favourite Speyside distilleries. It delivers the tropical and waxy goods regularly, and despite closing in 1998 it doesn’t (yet) have the same dead-distillery premium on it as many of the bigger names. This Signatory bottling from 1976 will be the oldest vintage Imperial I’ve ever tried. Colour: Straw. Nose: Sweet and fatty. … Continue reading [Review] Imperial 19 1976 Signatory Vintage

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Review

[Review] Talisker Surge

This is Talisker’s latest duty-free exclusive bottlings. It has a snazzy purple label, but it surpass the high bar set by Talisker 10? Nose: Strong, with some volatile character. Peppery peat – applewood-smoked BBQ, with that vinegary Carolina-style hot sauce. Green apples, lemon, and interestingly some strawberry. Slightly greenish-grassy. Palate: Light texture. Arrives with green apple, gooseberry, strawberry, and torched grass. Peppery and slightly acrid peat smoke … Continue reading [Review] Talisker Surge

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Review

[Review] Amrut Spectrum 004 (2021 Release)

This is the most recent batch of Amrut Spectrum, bottled in 2021. I’m extremely excited to try this whisky – Amrut is one of my favourite distilleries (without any “not located in Scotland” qualifier!), and the original Spectrum from 2015 remains one of my top whiskies of all time. Confusingly, both that release and this new one are numbered “004”, as are a number of … Continue reading [Review] Amrut Spectrum 004 (2021 Release)

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Review

[Review] Fettercairn 12, Fettercairn 16 2022, Fettercairn 18

The other night I finally got to try the line of official bottlings from the Fettercairn distillery. Up to now I had only tried independent bottlings, which are generally good and aren’t too hard to find. An East Highland distillery, Fettercairn has a particular tropical character that comes from cooling rings on top of the stills, as well as a characteristic earthy funk. I can’t … Continue reading [Review] Fettercairn 12, Fettercairn 16 2022, Fettercairn 18

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