Tag: scotch

Review

Review: Scotch Malt Whisky Society 121.77

SMWS Code: 121.77 Code Name: “Dunnage warehouse orange boxes” Distillery: Arran Age: 19 years Cask: Refill Hogshead Appearance: 0.8, Deep Gold Nose: Combination bourbon cask influence and brine; I get salty peanut brittle, vanilla and caramel, hints of some citrus (orange, tinged with lemon). Quite grainy and malty. Taste: Thick mouthfeel, vanilla, salted caramel, oak and white pepper, mandarin orange, clove and anise, slightly astringent. Finish: More … Continue reading Review: Scotch Malt Whisky Society 121.77

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Review

Review: Scotch Malt Whisky Society 71.41

SMWS Code: 71.41 Code Name: “Curious and intriguing” Distillery: Glenburgie Age: 17 years Cask: Refill Ex-Sherry Gorda Appearance: 1.3, Russet Nose: Dominated by sulphur on the nose; gunpowder and spent matches. Fairly difficult to pick out much beyond that; a hint of some cola cubes, almost cherry coke. Taste: Arrives with a crescendo of dry fruit, almost a biting dryness initially, gunpowder note is present but … Continue reading Review: Scotch Malt Whisky Society 71.41

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Review

Review: Aberlour 12 Double Cask

bought this one in 2013 after reading glowing reviews of the 12yr NCF edition, seeing the LCBO price and thinking whoa! what a deal! turns out this is the double cask matured, which is slightly different. Aberlour 12 Double Cask matured: 43% ABV Appearance: reddish gold colour. probably darkest of the bottles in my collection. Nose: sweet sherry, some fruit… can’t pick it out. not … Continue reading Review: Aberlour 12 Double Cask

Unknown's avatarBryan Vanderkruk1 Comment
Review

Review: Smokehead single malt

saw this at the LCBO on sale back in 2013 after only having bought blends. This was early in my scotch journey and only my second review. Smokehead Islay Single Malt: 43% ABV Colour: quite light, doesn’t seem to be much color added to it, yellow straw Nose: smoke and alcohol are predominant, peaty, some vanilla Taste: smoke, brine, peat are up front. wet, freshly cut … Continue reading Review: Smokehead single malt

Unknown's avatarBryan Vanderkruk1 Comment
Review

Review: Amrut Intermediate Sherry & Amrut Spectrum

Amrut Intermediate Sherry Appearance: 1.5, Auburn Nose: Typical Amrut grainy creaminess up front, lemon custard with a touch of zest, some red stone fruits. The sherry is certainly present, but is not dominating the nose. Taste: Great mouth feel, creamy and thick, the Amrut distillery character is at the forefront, lovely grainy creaminess, some tart red fruit, cranberries, some raspberry, touch of lime, some white pepper … Continue reading Review: Amrut Intermediate Sherry & Amrut Spectrum

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Event Recap, Review

Toronto Whisky Society November 2016 tasting meet-up

The Toronto Whisky Society had another meetup this weekend, and had a number of fantastic bottles to sample from. We had 9 people out, including many of our contributors from here: Devoz, TOModera, Boyd86, Throzen, Xile_, DistillAsian, Kyle Butler, and Bryan Vanderkruk with special guest CharlesDobson from Alberta. We had a line-up of 9 bottles and sampled, dissected and discussed each one. The reviews will be … Continue reading Toronto Whisky Society November 2016 tasting meet-up

Unknown's avatarBryan Vanderkruk1 Comment
Review

Bryan’s Scotland Trip Part 5 – Duty Free

At the Edinburgh duty free for an evening flight. The whisky reps are out in full force pouring samples. took some very sparse, quick notes, didn’t comment on appearance for most because they all look like e150. I’d seen the Talisker Skye in bottle shops and was curious so I started with it, expecting a standard Talisker dram Talisker Skye – 45.8% ABV Nose: Salty. … Continue reading Bryan’s Scotland Trip Part 5 – Duty Free

Unknown's avatarBryan Vanderkruk2 Comments
Distillery Spotlight, Review

Bryan’s Scotland Trip Part 4 – Bruichladdich

The next day after a trip to Finlaggan, the ancient seat of the Lord of the Isles (which I highly recommend to anyone visiting Islay, it’s amazingly cool), we checked out Bruichladdich. After the experiences at the other 3, we expected to get 1-2 drams, explore the distillery a bit, and then head to Kilchoman. instead, after talking to the bartenders for a while, they decided … Continue reading Bryan’s Scotland Trip Part 4 – Bruichladdich

Unknown's avatarBryan Vanderkruk2 Comments
Distillery Spotlight, Review

Bryan’s Trip to Scotland Part 3 – Laphroaig, Ardbeg, Lagavulin

The trip to Islay was probably the highlight of my 2+ weeks in Europe. Being able to see the distilleries I’ve been reading about and tasting drams from for years was amazing. This post covers our first day of distillery visits, and a bunch of pictures from our walk down the road from Port Ellen to Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg. At Laphroaig, we did a … Continue reading Bryan’s Trip to Scotland Part 3 – Laphroaig, Ardbeg, Lagavulin

Unknown's avatarBryan Vanderkruk3 Comments
Distillery Spotlight, Review

Bryan’s Scotland Trip Part 2 – Arran

I recently got back from a few weeks in Europe including a week in Scotland, and managed to visit Edinburgh, Glasgow, Arran and Islay. This post covers some drams consumed at the Arran Distillery, as well as some pictures from the island (the castle picture is the view from our B&B window!) Full disclosure, i came down with a bad cold the day we visited … Continue reading Bryan’s Scotland Trip Part 2 – Arran

Unknown's avatarBryan Vanderkruk3 Comments