Macallan 12 year comparison and reviews (Sherry Cask, Fine Oak, & Double Cask)

________________________________________________________________________________ Macallan 12 (Sherry Cask), 43% ABV, $55 USD Nose: Very bold sherry, raisins, cranberries, subtle vanilla, and that unmistakable Macallan oakiness. Taste: Heavy sherry, dates, raisins, chocolate fudge, very nice underlying spiciness, and a slight bitter ginger. Finish: Medium-Long, well balanced, with those awesome Macallan oak tannins. Good mouth-feel and viscosity. Thoughts: I absolutely love this expression! In my opinion it’s the benchmark for … Continue reading Macallan 12 year comparison and reviews (Sherry Cask, Fine Oak, & Double Cask)

3 new-to-me distilleries! Glenburgie 10, Balblair 10 and Glen Grant 1996, all bottled by Gordon & MacPhail

I haven’t had any of the 3 distilleries below before, despite having minis/samples from them for a while now. decided to review them all together. Glenburgie 10 Gordon & Macphail – 40% This is a mini I bought in Scotland at a bottle shop in edinburgh. Since we were limited in our weight flying from scotland back to mainland europe, we went the route of … Continue reading 3 new-to-me distilleries! Glenburgie 10, Balblair 10 and Glen Grant 1996, all bottled by Gordon & MacPhail

Aberlour A’bunadh Three-Way Review: Batches 6, 46 & 53

As many of you know, I live in the Great White Land-of-Provincial-Liquor-Regulation, and our prices for whisky suck. See, the government had this whole prohibition idea, and then when it ended, they decided they still needed to babysit us and ensure we didn’t drink too much. Thus was born the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, which today has morphed into a retailing giant that spends … Continue reading Aberlour A’bunadh Three-Way Review: Batches 6, 46 & 53

Review: Battle of the Benriach 22 Single Casks! (Rum and Port)

Benriach 22 Cadenhead’s Rum Cask 1992 Appearance: 0.2, Pale Straw Nose: Rich barley sugar and cereal notes, some licorice, menthol, under-ripe pears. A bit flat in terms of depth and body. Taste: Quite malty and grainy, there is definitely a note of bitter molasses, hint of ash, orange blossom honey, vanilla and icing sugar, very faint spearmint note. Finish: Somewhat thin, the ash comes out … Continue reading Review: Battle of the Benriach 22 Single Casks! (Rum and Port)

Review: Macallan Cask Strength Sherry

This is an old review from a few years ago… before I cared about photo quality apparently! I was at the Manx Pub in Ottawa which has a wide selection but mostly entry level scotches. Busy place, lots of hipsters. Was one pint deep when I got the scotch list and saw this for a reasonablly priced pour. Macallan Sherry Cask Strength 60.1% ABV Appearance: Served in … Continue reading Review: Macallan Cask Strength Sherry

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