Tasting Notes: Clynelish 1990 (Dun Bheagan, 22 Years Old, Port Hogshead Finished, 46% ABV)

    Well dram-mates, It would seem it's time for an update on tasting notes.  I recently hit up a local LCBO to my neighbourhood and found a tasty treat that I've been hunting for a while.  A few weeks back the LCBO released a varied group of products, including a few new bottles of Scotch, one of which is a 22 year old Clynelish.  Hailing form the Highlands region, this distillery is a favourite of many whisky buffs, and its sister distillery, Brora, is one of the most highly collected, and overpriced, whiskies on the market at this time.  The distillery features a somewhat fruitier malt, with subtle (sometimes), hints of coastal  or waxy notes to it.  As such, it's usually on my list of distilleries for hunting out reasonably-priced bottles.

  This bottling is brought to us by Dun Bheagan (pronounced done vey-gan; like the name Megan).  It was distilled December 1990 and bottled in mid 2013.  It's comprised of 2 casks (#93781 & 93783), which are cobbled together to form Port hogsheads.  Served without the 'aid' of chill-filtration or the addition of artificial colour, this is right up a whisky buff's alley.  However intriguing, at $220.95 [SKU #371013], my whisky-spider sense was tingling and warning me Caveat Emptor.  I typically shy away from expensive bottles at the LCBO  for two reasons: one - they are are not worthy of the high price tag, and two - they typically have little to no information provided about them to make a good judgment call.  So instead of buying an expensive, but intriguing bottle, I waited until one came up for tasting.  Sure enough I found one; and below are my notes.

Dun Bheagan Clynelish 22 Years (Port Hogshead, NCA, NCF, 46% ABV):

Colour: Bright rose gold; no colour added.

Body: Medium but oily, no chill-filtration. Upon first roll of the glass, the drops almost don't seem to want to form.  They do eventually and the legs slowly run (looks like a whack of flavour).


Nose: First crack at the bat, heavy fruits!  Rich red fruits, like overripe strawberry and hints of overripe cherry, with a dash of plums thrown in for good measure.  This sort of dwindles out into some more stone fruits (apricot, peach and the like). That was a little weird; Clynelish isn't usually this type of fruity.  Rotten peaches and old oak, like sun baked picnic tables.  Hints of moss and black pepper wash into some farm-y notes (that's manure, straw and livestock... things that smell bad in your home actually taste quite good in whisky). As it settles out, the farminess becomes stronger, but not to the level of a typical Clynelish; it's still overshadowed by the macerated red fruits.

Palate: Wow! A wallop in the tongue of sharp oak!  Black pepper follows up with its crew of wood spices (cardamon, and cassia).  After the invasion of wood power, the malt slowly comes out from under the shadow.  Malty notes mingled with nectarines (not sweet, just the smell), and far off in the background is a hint of brine.  There is surprisingly little sweetness in this dram - given time it does come forth.  The complaint is that the tannin/wine in the finish wood are far overpowering the soft and delicate malt notes that you should expect in a 22 year old whisky.

Finish: The wood spice continues to stomp all over the finish.  Harsh oak tannin and sharp cassia (Cinnamon's hotter/rougher cousin - think Cinnabon cinnamon), some twinged notes of vanilla extract (the good 35% ABV stuff; which isn't that pleasant to drink but wonderful to nose), and some strawberry cream.  As it dissolves, the malty notes and more red fruit comes through but never enough to save the dram.

Empty Glass:  Lots of wood here (this is where you can usually get a sense of the casks used in the whisky).  There is a huge offering of wood spice (again), both old wood and new, much younger wood.  There is also a dry wine note; not even the red fruity note from before.  Once again, the tannins come through quite strongly.


   Adding water brings more stewed fruits to the nose, and nectarines (still not sweet nectarines though).  It takes even more settling out to get to the malt behind the finish.  When the coastal nature starts to come forth, it does so in spades.  More hints of brine and sweet malt appear, and the farmy notes seems to become more readily available.  The palate, however, suffers with the addition of water; becoming somewhat sweeter with the fruity malt playing lead.  That tannic note showed up again and lead to a bitter finish.
  
    All in all, it's not a bad dram, but there are a few caveats to this.  My suspicion is that it was over-wooded in the original casks, and this has been subdued with the Port finish.  Although this Port finish may have helped the original over-wooding, it overwhelms the old malt, taking over the soft and subtle notes with a brash red fruit wash.  It's sort of a shame; but not completely undrinkable.  Overall, I would have guessed this was a 12-15 year old port finish Clynelish, not a 22.  Seeing as it is overpriced to begin with as a 22 year old, it is even more-so when you're not experiencing the full age benefit. There is a wonderful Clynelish under there, its just buried.

     In conclusion, this bottle doesn't make the grade and will not join my collection, but it was worth the taste.  Remember that whisky tasting is a subjective thing, and you may enjoy this heavily wooded dram more than I did.  Try it if you can, but skip the purchase until you have; there are many more worthy bottles out there to spend your hard earned money on.  Keep you stick on the ice, and the ice out of your glass.

                                                          Roscoe (ScotchGuyTO)

April/May LCBO Vintages Releases

    First off let me make the excuse of being very busy (even thought I can also say that's a lie), I've been fairly lazy.  I can't lie about that as this post has been in the barrel for about 2 months.  So it's not that I forgot to post something, although that has happened before... but rather I haven't gotten around to sitting down at my computer to write something.  I'll lay claim that I've been drinking too much wonderful whisky with friends instead of writing.

  Let's start with May.  The LCBO saw fit to not release anything interesting in April 2013, so we're skipping that month.  That being said, the LCBO in it's KGB like control of all the on-goings of the alcohol industry in Ontario seems to have forgotten about May too for the most part.  There is only a single bottle released this month (remember we're in May here), but the glimmer of hope dawns on the horizon, golden delicious hope no less.  Late in the month, a very special blend was released. A blend that has won some well garnered acclaim over the last couple of years, and an almost cult like following.

May 25/2013 Release:

    So what may you ask that has me all atwitter (HA, twitter pun... yeah that's kinda sad now that I look at it).  The blend in question is The Tweedale.  I've been hearing about this for a couple of years now and am really excited to get my hands on a glass of this.  It really is quite a special blend and I think the notes speak for themselves.

• The Colour:  I'm going to call this early fall gold.  Like a golden delicious apple, bright and shiny with hints of amber running through.  There isn't a lick of spirit caramel here; the bottle even tells me so.
• The Body:  A quick roll of the glass shows me a medium body.  The drops form slowly but run at a medium pace back to the glass.  Things are looking very up for this blend.
• The Nose:  Well now this is where we separate the men from the blended boys (ones by the names of Johnny and Jamie's Son).  The nose shows both youth and age quite well (subtle hint that there is some older whisky in here).  Lots of fresh notes, like fresh cut sweet grass (think fresh cut hay but a wetter sweeter note to it).  There is a barley sweetness here, sort of like breakfast cereal sweetness, and a slight hint of sulphur-y sherry.  This isn't bad sulphur, this is more along the lines of gentle distracting sulphur, that tends to turn up the sweet notes in the nose.  In the background I get hints of wood smoke (very subtle), and a dry rubber note.  There are also notes of camphor or minty/menthol drifting in and out of the far reaches.  I even get a note of sweet wine (like Madeira), on the nose after it oxidizes a bit.  This is a wonderful nose.
• The Palate: There is a sharp start to the palate, lots of pepper warmth with sweetness bubbling through.  There is a butter warmth and oat-y sweetness with a hint of mouldy barley (it's a sort of sourish sweet note that's not out of line, but in fact reflects nicely on the sweetness of the dram).  There is a slight peat smoke in the distance, but this is muddled by vanilla cream.  Towards the finish I'm getting a tartness like a fermented starch.
• The Finish:  The finish is a chameleon!  It starts short and sweet, but soon reemerges with Szechuan pepper and vanilla cream (if you don't know what Szechuan pepper is; it has a very distinct flavour and slight numbing sensation to the tongue.  This is a core spice of Szechaun cooking and goes famously with grilled meats and pork in any form).  There is a slight numbing sensation and more of the fresh cut sweet grass in the finish.  This time it seems like week old lawn clippings where they have started to ferment with a sweet and slightly sourish note.  Quite nicely summed up with hints of vanilla nd gentle wisps of smoke.
• The Empty Glass:  The empty glass reveals a whack of vanilla sweetness, custard-y and rich.  There is also a whack of sawdust, but it seems like soft woods, like basswood; reinforcing the sourish almost slightly bitter note that I found ran through the dram.

Okay, that's a lot to digest, and it might be worth reading over my notes again... but I'm going to say that The Tweedale Blend (Batch No. 3) is a cracker of a bottling.  This is definitely a bottling to look out for in your travels; I feel like this is one of the lost arts of the blend type bottles.  They just don't make them like they used to I guess is what I'm saying, but as it turns out someone is and is doing it with style and finesse.  I strongly suggest that you look out for this bottle at your local LCBO <HERE>.  Priced at $70/bottle for 46% NCF; it's a bit on the high side, but you paying for some excellent quality whisky in this dram.

Okay, what else have I missed..... well let's recount what happened.  Spirit of Toronto came and went and was a roaring success. The LCBO pretended to go on strike to sell out its shelves (or maybe that's just speculation on my part).  I finally got to meet some East Coast Whisky idols of mine.  I toured 40 Creek and Still Waters before the big Spirit of Toronot event (more on that to come shortly; with a very special set of notes).  I also sat back and learned to enjoy a dram with friends, summer arrived and blew us out with some heat.  Tamdhu reopened its doors as did Glen Keith, both of which I'm very happy to see operating again.  And then came Father's Day.... that bane of my existence with the LCBO.

  My mother told me if you don't have nothing nice to say, don't say nuthin' (That's a Forrest Gump quote for you there).  So I'm finding it really hard to do that about the LCBO's "selections" for Father's Day 2013.  Some good selections were made this year, such as the Bowmore Darkest 15, while others were questionable at best, like the typical Macallan 20-something-or-other for $1000+.  The only bottle that caught my eye was a little rye called John Jacôb from Fremont Mischief Distillery in Washington, but I still have yet to find and taste this.  Unfortunately it will go by the wayside as having 'peaked my interest' but not gotten any farther for the time being.  I'm going to still hunt it down and try it as I can't leave you wondering, so if anyone has samples that they'd like to trade out shoot me a DM on twitter @ScotchGuyTO.  For the time being I'm going to conclude this post and start the next one about Spirit of Toronto, 40 creek and finally meeting the Lassie.  Keep your stick on the ice and the ice out of your glass ladies and gents, and I'll see you shortly with a special presentation. In the mean time, enjoy  the kitty facepalm as my condolences for not blogging more often.

March LCBO Vintages Releases

 Well, another month and another list of bottles arrives on our shelves, but is anything worth your hard earned money?  Let's see what we've got this month, and should anything find its way into your basket while you're perusing the wares at your local LCBO.  This month is a bit slim on the bottles, but there is the usual St. Patrick's Day releases of some Irish gold.

March 02/2013:

So in the early month we've got a big name bottle!  Another Balvenie superstar, and another new bottle to our shelves.  This early release brings us the new model of Doublewood from Malt Master David Stewart.  The 17 year old Balvenie Doublewood is the older sibling of the standard Doublewood 12 year old bottling.  Finished primarily in Bourbon casks, this imparts the rich honey and floral notes that the Balvenie is known for.  The second finishing in "European Sherry Oak" (notice there is not specific Country or Sherry type associated to this), imparting the spice and depth to the whisky.  On the nose, there is no shortage of depth to this dram, loads of vanilla and rich red fruit honey (if you've ever had honey from a farmers field near a strawberry patch or a raspberry patch, this is what I'm thinking... there is a floral ester note of the fruit deep within the honey).  Next up to bat is the hard sherry nose (this part I'm not sold on), lots of sherry spice and oak come through with some very interesting fresh notes of tart apples and smooth cream.  The nose is quite elegant and composed, but a little overwhelmed with oak spice for my palate.  In the mouth we get a more robust burst of dry sherry influence and warm oak leading the way.  There are date squares, warm cinnamon apple cider and cardamom vanilla pudding.  A lot of spices as it seems that the oak takes the reins over the spirit, the background noise seems to settle down and come shyly forward after some time.  This isn't a shy whisky, but the finer Balvenie notes seem to take quite a while to develop and show themselves. Finally, after a long settling period, I'm seeing the more delicate floral notes and subtle honeycomb and stewed fruits, but they're really covered up by the sherry spice here.  There is still a lot of polished wood and vanilla cream, with some more wood spices (like cloves, cinnamon and mace), but there seems to be an overburden of oak here that I'm not crazy over.   The finish is all oak spice and vanilla/butterscotch cream, smooth and well composed.  Fans of the 12 year old will definitely like this; sadly though I'm not a fan of the Doublewood, and in this revision there is a bit too much oak in body and it sort of distracts from the subtle spirit. So we're looking at a pretty bottle of 17 year old whisky, served at 43% (little light in my books but I'll let it slide), and coming in at only $167.95..... wait, give me a second to check my notes... yeah, that's $170 for a bottle in the teens!  Okay, this one seems like something targeted towards their die hard Doublewood fans looking to indulge, and at these prices I don't feel it's worth it (so it doesn't get recommend).  Should you be a Doublewood fan looking for that next step up into the Balvenie range, this is your chance to check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle.

March 16/2013 Release - St. Patty's Day Pile-Up:

 Well another green day rolls around and another rush of Irish whiskies hit our shelves.  In this usual yearly review we see some Cooley bottles, a Jameson or two and the occasional oddity. This year we see a couple of Cooley bottles (one unlisted), and also the return of a grand Jameson bottling.

 First up is Inishowen peated Irish blend.  This Cooley blend is a delightfully peated blend.  Featuring a 30% peated malt, the nose comes across and sweet, fruity and smokey.  Lots of fruits show up on the nose like: peaches and apricots, also some sort of dried fruit blend (like a trail mix sort of thing).  The smoke wafts in and out of the nose, taking beautiful sweet cereals with it.  In the mouth this is a very soft and subtle dram.  Hold it in your mouth longer than you think you need to, and you'll be rewarded with a richer palate.  The fruits and grains are forefront in the blend and the soft peat smoke sort of builds the entire way through the dram, leading up to a smokey swallow. The finish is strong and short, lots of vanilla cream and peat smoke here, the fade is sadly all too quick on it.  The balance of this whiskey is excellent, and at only $35/bottle you're in for a real treat at this price.  I've reviewed this last year in the March 2012 release, and was still blown away by the quality for the price.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for you bottle.  I'd strongly suggest grabbing one before they disappear until next year.

Next up is an 8 year old pure pot still single malt, also from the Cooley distillery stables.  Locke's 8 year old is an excellent introduction to Irish single malts.  I also reviewed it last year in the same post (link <HERE>), but I feel like I failed to get across it's character.  The nose on this is malt-city if there ever was such a thing.  It's a super malt; loads of malted barley and bready notes.  There is also an oily component that is allover the front end that seems to go hand in hand with that pot sill character (something like machine oil).  Slightly subdued to the oily malt are rich fruits, golden fruits like nectarines, pears and the like dominate the nose.  In the mouth the smoothness is divine, with more malty syrup and fruits, that machine-y oil note hasn't disappeared, but is definitely subdued becoming more earthy/mineraly.  The finish still show cases that smoothness filled with vanilla and dried oaky fruits.  This is a heck of a dram to get you into the Irish mood, and should be tried if not grabbed at the first chance you see it.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your dram.  Unfortunately it's only 40% and looks to be coloured, but once you put it in your mouth I'm sure you'll forget all about that.

Last up in the releases book is Jameson Gold Reserve.  This is a sort of frankenwhiskey (I sort of consider all Jameson to be frankenwhiskey), as it has been blended and refined and blended again to create a smooth and luxurious mouth feel.  The Gold Reserve is a triple wood finished, with a high percentage of pot still whiskey in the mix.  So when I say mega blend let me break it down; Jameson is a mix of grains and malts, and a mix of pot distilled and column distilled, and a mixture of various cask finishes.  So this particular blend is a high percentage of pot still whiskey giving it a beautifully sweet rounded nose, it's also the only horse the Jameson stable to use virgin American oak (also Bourbon and Sherry finished casks).  This provides a unique variant in the mix of rich vanilla and honey into the final product.  On the nose there is a whack of wood notes, lots of fragrant wood with vanilla and caramel (kind of like caramel ripple ice cream good), loads sweet malt and subtle baking spices carry across the nose.  The palate is oily and rich, filled with yellow fruits, rich warm oak and sweet malty breads.  The finish on this is rich and inviting, but sadly short.  Big notes of caramel (salted), come off the palate and some pepper heat with a slight wood smoke note round out the finish.  This is a great dram, but sadly the price point is a bit exorbitant.  At only 40% ABV and $96/bottle you're looking at quite a pricey investment.  I happen to have the trio pack of the 12 Special Reserve, the Gold Reserve and the 18 Master Selection.  So I sort of lucked out at the tasting notes, and am quite excited now to delve into the 18 year old selection.  I've never been crazy of the regular Jameson blend, as it's about as interesting as the paint thinner it smells like.  So walking into this tasting expecting that, and coming away being more than pleasantly surprised, I'm more than pleased to recommend this to anyone.  The pricing is quite high for a blend, but you're going to get a great bottle out of it; I'd strongly suggest you try a dram from a friend or a quality whisky bar.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle.

The last release doesn't contain any whiskies sadly, but I've got a couple more recommendations that weren't published in the books.  These were the few bottles that were doled out to the shelves that no one noticed, expect the hardcore whiskiphiles (I think I'll coin that term).  There were a couple of Cooley bottles that caught my eye while I was wandering the shelves of my local liquor monopolies.

First up is Connemara Turf Mór, Gaelic for big peat, is the heaviest peated version of Connemara.  I wasn't sure how I felt about peating the sweet supple Irish whiskies, and my first introduction was a wallop!  Connemara cask strength set my palate in motion, with its rich sweetness and heavy peat smoke, it really caught me off guard.  I though the smooth Irish whiskies might not stand up to such a strong character but soon realized they themselves are quite a strong and robust character.  Two leading characters in the play tends to cause pandemonium or coherence, and in the case of Connemara, the coherence is sublime.  In the new addition to the small batch range; Turf Mór (big peat Irish style), is built of sweet and savoury notes and a finish that goes on and on like a rousing folk song, sung by the masses in a Dublin pub.  Served at a whopping 58.2% ABV and non chillfiltered with no colour added; well you can see where this is leading already. $86.70 will net you a ticket for this roller coaster ride of peat and I'd strongly suggest you check your local LCBO for this one <HERE>.  They also have the standard cask strength available for $96.70 <HERE> (same sort of stats: no chillfilteration, no colour, and 57.9%ABV).

Also of note from the Cooley stables is Tyrconnel Madeira finish.  Tyrconnel is a fantastically crafted single malt.  Their cask finishes have been real hits around here such as their port finish, the last one I recall a few years back, was excellent.  This one should bring more of the same; lots of rich fruits and sweet malt with a dangerously drinkable whiskey, makes for a bottle that tends to disappear all too soon from our shelves.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle, priced at $79.95 and served at 46% ABV this is on the pricey side.  If I get my hands on one, I'll be letting you known about the tasting notes.  On the other hand, the same applies as the Jameson bottle above, once you have it in your glass you'll gladly forget about the overpriced bottle.


So that's the lot for the month of March, April showers bring whisky flowers (does that really work here.... sure it does)?  Sadly though, leafing through the early April vintages catalogue doesn't inspire much hope.  Maybe the coming month will bring about a bottle review or two instead... I'll figure something out soon, but until then; keep your stick on the ice and the ice out of your glass.

February LCBO Vintages Releases

I'll apologize in advance, as this may end up being slightly shorter than expected, there were some pressing things in my life this past month.  On the other hand, there weren't many bottles put out his month and the bottles that were released aren't actually that deep sort of brooding Whisky.  In fact this month has been all American Whiskey, and all the bottles are simple everyday drams at reasonable prices.  As a matter of fact I've reviewed two of the three bottles already, so I'll use those reviews as reference.  Let's take a look into what was released to us at the start of the Month.


February 02, 2013 Vintages Release:

The first bottle up is Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey.  This is a richly flavoured Rye, lots of fruit and spice and quite sweet in the American Whiskey tradition.  This was released previously in June 2012 (Review can be found HERE).  I recall it being quite fruity and peppery hot, which I previously liked very much, but now I'm not quite sold on.  It is still a great Whiskey, but I feel it could use some further years of aging and mellowing.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for a bottle to call your own.  Priced at $46 it's not a bad deal and served at at 45% ABV it's quite the punch.

Now that I look at the LCBO site, scratch that last remark.  I don't see any bottle listed for item #205666.  Maybe I really am that far behind the 8 ball and completely missed this bottle, or maybe that speaks to the spirit within.

Okay in light of that situation, the next bottle has no fear of leaving our shelves anytime soon as it seems to show up yearly in the releases.  Eagle Rare 10 year old is a wonderful introduction to American Bourbon.  This was reviewed twice previously by myself in both October 2011 and July 2012 (Link <HERE>).  I do adore this bourbon as it exemplifies the American bourbon nose.  There is a ton of cherries and woody vanilla.  It's so incredibly smooth which may be dangerous when tasting as a bottle seems to disappear faster than you realize.  There really is quite a lot going on the bottle and I really suggest you grab one; at $48 and 45% ABV they are well worth the investment as an everyday bourbon.  Check your local LBCO <HERE> for a bottle.  Now also to note, I see the earmark for the Eagle Rare 17.  I have no idea when it will be in, but you can bet I'll be on that one as soon as they show up.

February 16, 2013 Vintages Release:
That sums up the first release, and in the second batch there is only a single bottle.  Don't fret as this bottle is a sort of overlooked and well worth it kind of bottle.  What may come as a surprise to most and a disappointment to others, we receive W.L. Weller 12 year old.  I have to admit, I saw the W.L. Weller come up in the searches and just about lost my marbles; but sadly this is only the 12 year old variant and not the Sazerac Antique version.  I have had the antique collection variant and will vouch that is is beyond amazing; but let's not loose focus here.  What we have is a 12 year old 45% ABV Kentucky Straight wheated Bourbon.  This isn't the prettiest bottle on the shelf, but what dwells within is a rich and hearty trip to the south.  Loads of fruit on the nose, cherries, apricots and melons.  There is also a ton of fruity vanilla (Mexican vanilla seems to bear this trait to my nose), with a heavy hit of burnt toffee and creamy milk chocolate.  In the palate there is even more to love, chocolate and wood spice mingle easily over the tongue with cherry cough drops and prosciutto melon hors d'oeurves hinting in the distance with a vanilla cream sauce paving the way.  There is a rich earthiness (but not a dirty note), more like mineral oiliness that makes the mouth feel seem thick and rich.  The finish shows another side though, very light, crisp and short making this a very easy to drink bourbon.  There is a the warm oak and more vanilla caramel in the finish with some hints of new leather, but nothing quite as heavy as you'd think (it is a wheated Bourbon and as such tends to be a bit lighter in the body department).  This is a star in disguise, and should be on anyone's shelf or bar.  Served at 45% ABV and priced at only $45; I'd strongly suggest you search out a bottle at your local LBCO <HERE> because once you've tasted it, you'll want more.  I had mentioned that this might disappoint some people, and by that I mean the collectors that snatched up every bottle of Van Winkle Lot 12B that appeared on our shelves within a week.  Now the secret to this is that Julian Van Winkle is their master distiller.  That name is sending up flags for collectors everywhere as they drained the LCBO of stock a while back including the standard 10 year old variant.  This is very, very, very similar to the famed Lot 12 'B' bottling and exhibits the same remarkably wonderful nose and drinkability.  So should you have a bottle of 12B sitting that you don't want to open, try this and know what you're missing... then open your Van Winkle bottle and compare.  I do have a bottle myself of both Van Winkle offerings that came in last year, and I will be doing that comparison myself at some point.

So that does it for the February offerings, some good Bourbons to be had, and much more to come for March.  The usual St. Patrick's collection of Cooley bottles will be back and some new interesting bottles.  Keep your stick on the ice and the ice out of your glass and I'll be seeing you sometime soon.

January 05/2013 Vintages release

  Well here we are in a new year.  Someone once toasted 'I hope the best of 2012 is the worst of your 2013'.  The LCBO has seen fit to start the year of with only a single bottle of whisky, but boy what a dram it is!

  The first, last, and only dram this round is another bottling from isle of Arran distillers.  The Cask Strength 12 year old is a fantastic offering and a great bottle to finally hit our shelves!  I've been pretty excited to see this coming, and I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth into this one.  If your new to the blog, or haven't heard my ranting on about the big players in the whisky trade; I apologize in advance and I'll try to keep it short.  I've got nothing but praise to sing for Isle of Arran, they abide by some very simple wishes of the whisky community: No chillfilteration, no e150a colouring, and providing you (the connossieur) with higher proof than the standard 40% ABV.  These hallmarks in a bottle make the investment worth while because it shows respect for the whisky drinker (IMO).

  First up a little history lesson (everyone needs a little lesson from time to time).  Arran distillers is a relative newcomer to the whisky industry (distillation started in 1995), and is one of the few independently owned distilleries on the market.  Situated on the Isle of Arran, between Ayrshire and Kintyre, the distillery was built there for a couple of reasons.  The primary reason being that the micro-climate supplied by the Gulf Stream allows Arran malts to be matured slightly faster, providing greater reward for their work.  The purest water in Scotland was also found at Loch na Davie just north of Lochranza (where the distillery was built), supplying them with a fantastic quality source of water to begin the spirit construction from.  Their distillery manager, James MacTaggart, worked with Bowmore for 30 years. In his capacity as Arran's manager, he has been given a chance to run free with the spirit.  Their bottles proudly proclaim that within lies nothing but a pure spirit, with no chill filteration and no colour added to cloud your judgment.  Without any monkeying around; what's in your glass is a reasonable facsimile of what's in the barrel.

That aside, what we have here is a full on, high proof (54.1% ABV), limited edition bottling of their 12 year old spirit (12,000 is sort of limited).  This is a combination of first and second fill sherry hogsheads, giving a wonderful rich fruity overtone to the spicy Arran spirit.  Let's delve into the glass and see what we have.

The nose is wonderfully expressive, with huge amounts of sherry taking the forefront.  This is a great sherry nose, loads of red fruits and yellow fruits here.  As it settles, more peaches and apricots start to poke through along with macerated raisins, loads of baking spice (cloves, mace, nutmeg, and the like), sweet malt, and vanilla.  In the mouth, it's an explosion!  It's quite hot for the first sip, but settles quickly on the tongue.  It becomes very creamy and starts to stack up the spices.  There is quite a bit of peppery heat at the full 54%, but it's not unpleasant.  The baking spices seem stronger and sweeter now, with more cinnamon, mace and nutmeg driving the palate.  There is a subtle trickle of briny salinity throughout the palate and sweet barley sugar shines through underneath, bringing with it green pears and toasted oats.  The finish pushes the green fruits and spices back a bit, becoming more mulled in character.  Orange zest and worked oak provide a bitter note to counter act the sweet burnt sugar and spice cake notes.  The finish is quite long and very rewarding on this. Okay, I'll admit I'm a little taken with this one.  It's a hell of a dram but I feel it's a little overshadowed by my love of the distillery.  I thinks that's with good cause too; especially as they seem to be consistently be putting out said quality of product.

So that's all for the start of January, more to come soon.  Some interesting reviews coming up of a pair of Japanese blends. So as usual; stay tuned to this channel... err blog. Keep your stick on the ice, and the ice out of your glass.

LCBO Vintages Release for November 2012

  Ah, the winter season is upon us!  I expect to start cracking into some Islay's and big rich malts soon to keep the cold out.  The first release for November 10th doesn't have any news for us, but it does contain a great entry level Armagnac from Armagnac de Montal should you be interested in learning more about Congac's grittier brother.  That aside, the second release contains a sherry monster... an affordable big sherry that (IMO), topples, crushes and lays waste to the king of the 18 year old Sherries (Yeah, I'm referring to the stupid purple box).

  The November 27th release holds only a single bottle, but what a bottle!  I've been a round the block a few times and sherry finished whiskies are still a great love of mine, they were one of the reasons I got into drinking whisky so easily, as a big sherry whisky tends to be a super easy drinking dram.  Now that I'm a little older and a few hundred drams more knowledgeable, there is a bit more expectation out of these drams.  I realize that the base spirit needs to shine through, not play second fiddle.  All that sherry should be used to emphasize the whisky, whereas it tends to be used to hide some poor distillates sometimes.

  I can vouch though, that spirit in the bottle were about to delve into is neither a poor distillate, nor a cover up.  This is the real ting that so many big sherries attempt to live up to.  Glendronach 18 year old Allardice (named after the distillery founder James Allardice), is a fantastic example of heavy sherry done right!  Non-chillfiltered, no colour added and served at 46% (all hallmarks of this distillery and of quality Whisky), all appear on the outside of the bottle which immediately caught my eye.  Seeing as how this is the only bottle this release, we'll give it the star treatment.

• Colour:  Deep, rich and enticing mahogany.  I see hints that range from dark brown rums to highlights of tawny port. Non-chillfiltered and no colour added marked clearly.
• Body:  Thick and rich.  Oily consistency with big drops slowly forming on the side of the glass.  Equally big legs take forever to form when twisted and run incredibly slowly back into the glass.  This ladies and gents, is flavour country.
• Nose:  Incredible sherry!  Loads of deep rich sweetness with notes of raisins, almond, candied oranges and a hint of mineral smokiness on the back end.  Hints of richly macerated fruit and honey (like Christmas cake), Demerara sugar/fudge, and earwax (not unpleasant, but a common element in sherried whisky).
• Palate:  Oh boy!  Incredibly rich sweetness, this is a monster!  Macerated fresh cherry and baking spices on the forefront, with black walnuts, dark chocolate and tangerine on the back end.  More roasted nuts and mineral earthiness, with subtle hints of grassiness hidden under neath fantastic Oloroso sherry!
• Finish:  I think you can imagine this.  Long and drawn out with loads of rich toasted oak, Muscavado sugar (similar to Demerara but with a little more molasses left in for a more mineraly note),  more baking spices now with some anise.  Deeply sweet and indelibly complex.
• Empty Glass:  Rich sweetness spices and rubbed oak, with more hints of fudge sweetness and sour gummy candies (kinda like Wine-Gums).

  If you can't tell, I'm kind of over the moon with this one.  This is my new benchmark for a masterful sherry finish.  I've tried both the 12 and the 15 (and love them both equally), but this is the sherry monster that lurks in my dreams of whisky.  This is a fantastic bottle, that I strongly recommend looking for, whether it be a gift for that whisky lover in your life, or an early Christmas present to yourself.  Priced at $140 (yes, it's on the high side, but after you've tasted it...), check you local LCBO for this one <HERE>.

  So that about wraps up November, and soon we will be rolling into the Christmas season .  That means you'll start to see some more chewy rich whiskies and Islay's coming in and most importantly; my personal favourite malt Mortlach.  So in closing, keep your stick on the ice and the ice out of your glass.

LCBO Vintages Release for October 2012

Ahh, so here we are beginning anew on a new blog space.  Lots of new bottles this round, in fact the most I've seen released since Father's Day.  The October 13th release has no whiskey, lots of Grappa and some other bottles of mild interest, but noting to write home about.  On the other hand, the October 27th release is chock full of goodies.  In this big release we have a few new bottles and a returning favourite.

First up let's start with the new stuff, Masterson's 10 year old Straight Rye. Hailing from the USA by way of Alberta, and featuring a 100% Rye Mashbill,  this is a deep and fulfilling rye.  Named after a Canadian lawman who became a legend in the American Wild West (William Barclay Masterson, Bat to most), he lead the life that became iconic to the Wild West ideal.  The rye produced in his name, follows the same sort of story line... y'all sit a spell while I spin this tale.  The opening nose is punchy rye grains and floral rye fruits.  There is a subtle pickle note, dry straw and grains and mineral-y soil note in the bottom.  Very much what I think of when I think of the West (deep rolling plains of wild grasses and flowers).  The palate brings floral notes forward and backs it with tobacco leaves, vanilla, and dry oak.  Interestingly, the mineral-y clay notes like fresh turned clay soil are still hanging about here, but buried under the oak and vanilla.  The palate here I feel is an era akin to Bat's middle life as he settled down in the west, and eventually left to become a newspaper man in New York (I do even get a bit of newsprint/paper in the end of the palate).  As we round out the finish, it's a medium-long finish with oak-y vanilla ever present and some subtle hints of prairie wildflowers, but an underpinning of citrus and earthiness (oily too).  Bat Masterson died at his typewriter in New York in October of 1921.  His final words were a poignant sentence on our modern society and how he viewed the world.  Interesting man, very interesting whiskey.  The main problem that I have though, is as usual, the LCBO markup on the bottle.  $110/bottle even at 45%ABV is just not enough for me to buy the bottle.  So check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle if you're so inclined, but more oft, check your local bars for a sample and at least try a shot of the old West.

Next up is a Kiwi!  Hailing from New Zealand, Dunedin Doublewood 10 year old is a great blend from Willowbank Distillery..  Aged 6 years in American Oak and finished for 4 more years in French Oak red wine barrels, the burgundy colour says it all.  Blended at a 70/30 mix of single malt to grain spirit and bottled at 40% ABV, this is an excellent bottle to get your nose into something  different.  Now before we delve deep into the spirit, those who know me know I like weird finishes and wild whiskies (so be sure to take this with a grain of salt as it might not be to all of our palates).  The nose opens with beautiful rich floral notes with deep red fruits and hints of toffee and sweet candies.  Hidden in the background are notes of quality chocolate and creamy notes [like quality dark hot chocolate (if someone says Starbucks... I'm gonna find you)].  In the mouth, this is a rocket!  Warm cocoas, barley cream cereal (think cream of wheat made with malted barley), roasted hazelnuts, dried peaches, red fruits and subtle vanilla shine through.  The mouth feel is great, beautiful whisky, and the finish is medium and warming.  Lots of vanilla oak and fruits on the finish.  Dried cocoa and apricot jam in the end.  This is a real cracker of a bottle, and an excellent introduction to the far reaches of the whisky world.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle.  Even at $90 and only 40% ABV, this is interesting enough to peak my radar but may be more than most are willing to spend.  I strongly suggest you try this one out and make your own opinion. I'll guaranty though, it will be worth the search.
It has also been brought to my attention that the LCBO has yet to release this to their shelves.  So keep a close eye out on this one, my notes are from Spirit of Toronto in 2011, when I tasted the entire available Dunedin range.  There are some amazing bottles there, but my batch my have variations.  Just an FYI.

Next up is another sweetie of a wine finish, The Arran Sauternes Cask finish.  This comes from a favourite distillery of mine, and is presented without any screwing around.  No chill-filtration, no colouring, no monkey business and 50% ABV.  That's a positive 4 mark advantage (y'know... if I gave out marks), but let's see what the bottle holds for our enjoyment.  The colour is a rich golden straw, and the nose immediately carries you away.  Lots of grassy rich notes, ripe melons and pears intermixed with flowers and warm marzipan cookies.  This finish works very well with the light and grassy Arran spirit; the Sauternes notes simply lift the base spirit to a new level (IMO).  The palate is sweet, almost a little too sweet, but is immediately cut with warm spices and citrus notes.  There is a warm apple pie and hint of brine in the palate that shows itself with some water.  There is also a hint of violets which is a bit concerning (I find these in whiskies that I don't really like), but it seems to turn into an iodine note that balances the sweetness.  The finish is medium-short and beautifully floral/honey.  I'm of the opinion that this is another cask finish hit for me, although some of our group are not convinced.  This is a try before you buy bottle (aren't they all?), but I've got my eyes set on this one for sure.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle.

And the last of the new releases, but by no means the least, is Tomintoul 21. We don't often see Tomintoul at the LCBO, but when we do it's not usually even a big release.  We did have the peaty tang, and still have 10 year old hanging about the shelves, both good releases, but nothing stellar.  This release gives us something new though, a 21 year old for a fairly reasonable $127.  Now before you go and blow a gasket, I'll justify that last response by saying, I bought my bottle of Glenfiddich 21 for $145, within 18 months the price has skyrocketed to $230+, there has been a packaging change, but before that, the base purple bottle went up to $175 for no reason in 8 months.  It's not often that you see things in this age bracket for a reasonable price; so getting an indie owned 21 year old bottle for $127 is a pretty good compromise.  Menial squabbles aside, the spirit itself is of no compromise.  The nose is rich with toffee sweetness, vanilla, butterscotch and baked apples.  In the mouth the palate is very subtle and gentle, waves of vanilla chews, ripe melon, sweet malty bread and butterscotch come across in an incredibly smooth mouth feel supported by hints of oak and spiced nuts.  The finish is creamy, soft, and long with the same butterscotch notes and gentle oak backing it up.  This is an absolutely more-ish whisky, so soft and creamy that is begs for another glass.  I'd suggest checking your local LCBO <HERE> if you're looking for that special bottle for the holidays.

Lastly the Ardmore Traditional cask is making another return, check out the earlier review on the blog <HERE>.  This is great buy into peaty whisky for only $45.  LCBO item <HERE>.


Holy cow!  I've finally finished the October releases.  There isn't a whole lot for November, so that should roll out a little easier.  That being said, there are many interesting things coming to the blog soon, and quite a few bottles arriving from the LCBO. Keep an eye on the blog and my twitter feed (@ScotchGuyTO), and I'll see what news I can drum up.  Don't forget...  keep your stick on the ice and the ice out of your glass!

LCBO Vintages Release for Sept 29/2012

    So the final posting of September… in October (yeah I procrastinated a bit…or a lot; so shoot me!).  It’s been a hell of a month, and I’ve been kept busy with work (ugh!), and some other whisky related things like WhiskyLive.  As a side note I promise I will work extra hard to finish out October shortly after as there are quite  a few interesting bottles coming.  This update has been a hard one as there are three bottles, one of which is a complete mystery to me… and the internet as it would seem.  Without further heel-dragging, lets take a look at the offerings.  So this round not a pair; but a trio of bottles arrives for our savouring pleasure.  What did the LCBO provide us with round?  Big heavy malts this time around, and a newcomer to the shelves.

First up, Isle of Arran Sleeping Warrior.  This 11 year old single malt comes at us full strength (54.9% ABV).  As part of a limited production (6000 bottles worldwide), a portion of the sales went to support the National Trust for Scotland to assist withe the preservation of foot paths on Goatfell (the largest mountain on Arran).  This is a big bottle from Arran, with big notes to follow.  Rich marmalade and milk chocolate on the nose, lots of fruit preserves, very sweet like a fruit salad sort of thing happening here (oh yeah, imagine that image of melted milk chocolate over fruit salad…. splash a little cream liqueur in there… I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was hungry).  Hints of oak and spices in the background round out a real whopper of a nose.  In the mouth there are more dried/macerated fruits, but now the malty sweetness comes out.  Lots of things happening here including cherries (overripe), leather, sweet grains and subtle oaky spices.  There is a subtle waft of wood smoke and caramel in background along with hints of candied ginger and vanilla cremes.  The finish is quite long and spicy.  Lots of malty notes with dried fruits and spiced caramel interspersed.  Water helps smooth things out, but drops the nose’s intensity a bit from the raging torrent that I like.  This is one heck of a dram at a reasonable price.  I strongly suggest trying this out as it gives an idea of why I’m so crazy for the Arran whiskies.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle.  Priced at only $99.95 for a bottle of this calibre at this strength, is a darn good deal that just won’t last.


    Next up is another brilliant bottling from the indie company Weymss.  Not only a bottling from an excellent indie, but of my favourite distillery; Mortlach.  This is a Diageo owned distillery (and you know how I feel about Diageo), that produces nothing for public offering, but instead goes to make up the backbone of the Johnnie Walker blends.  It does from time to time, however, show up in the hands of indie bottlers.  This gives you the chance to delve into a little known distillery outside of the blends it is used within.  This bottle is a 21 year old, nicknamed Sugar & Spice, which lives up to all the reasons I rave about Mortlach.  Served at 46% ABV and presented without chill filtration or colouring, this is one of the best Mortlach’s to come through the LCBO in years (IMO).  The nose is heady with exactly what the name says; sugar (like brown sugar or Demerara), and spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, grains of paradise and the like), permeate the nose.  But buried deep behind this lovely warm and spicy nose is a brooding beast.  Rich, chewy and meaty/malty notes that are the cornerstones of Mortlach’s spirit lurk in the shadows.  In the mouth a full on Christmas cake assault!  Beautiful spice blends with subtle molasses and brown cane sugar sweetness bloom, followed with baked almonds and subtle sherry-ish fruit notes (kind of red-y purple sherry soaked fruits), and hints of malted barley hang about.  Then underneath it all; driving the palate is the chewy fresh and sweet malt of Mortlach.  There is a cooked tomato puree note mingling about, and also a bit of a wine-y note that becomes almost meaty like bison or venison (but not gamy venison).  Oh god, this is good.  The finish is long and drawn out, carried by the meaty malt, the spices and oak interplay here with caramel, vanilla and Demerara notes.  The empty glass still shows that big sweet malt now subdued with oak and vanilla cake.  I am head over heels for this bottle, the only unfortunate part is the LCBO price, at $155/bottle I would have liked to see a bit more ABV scale.  Considering this is one of the best bottles in recent my recent memory from the LCBO, I’ll let it slide and I might even come away with a bottle.  I don’t think its a purchase for everyone at that price, but trust me if you do indulge…. well you’ll know why I’m so crazy (over the whisky, not losing my marbles crazy… although).  Check your local LCBO <HERE>, or have them order you a bottle in as there aren’t many in the province.

Last but not least is the one I’ve had so much trouble with.  This bottle has been the hold out for this article.  The last bottle is from Leinburn (also referred to as Glen Leinburn), 12 year old.  The reason I’ve had so much trouble with this is the lack of information available on it.  Quite a few months back I noted a Glen Leinburn 18 year old bottle on the shelf for $85 (Item <HERE>), served at only 40% ABV.  Hey at $85 for an 18 year old (stop snickering while reading that), ‘how bad can it be?’ was my general sentiment.  Looking at the bottle there is no information on it and no real annotations; other than a pretty plain navy blue label with some awful brownish-gold writing.  It peaked my interest as I’ve never seen it before, so when the chance to try it came up, I leaped and immediately went looking for more information.  This is where the trail goes cold, even in the vast sea of electronic information the only thing I find is a repeated phase from the website.  A paltry website featuring a single page; notes that this is a Speyside distillery that was started by Whiskynet in 1998.  It has evolved into a supplier of whisky to a number of customers worldwide for use under their labels as well as their own.  That’s it, that’s all.  I’ve called about and scoured the interweb for more information, but I see nothing and have gotten nothing back from my sources other than more questions.  So I’ll let you in on what I did try; a rich and manly Speyside with a real sharp fruit character.  The nose shows caramel, rhubarb compote and some sharp pear candy notes.  I also get some wood spice, rough leather and very distant peat.  In the mouth, there is some heft with a blast of heat in the palate, but I’m not getting what the nose showed me here.  It seems much fruitier than before, and the heft seems to have dissipated into heat.  Lots of notes of cream liqueur and some floral fruity notes, but nothing that is easy to distinguish.  This seems like a young whisky to me, the notes are unrefined and hard to pinpoint in the glass.  The finish shows it the most tough.  I found it medium to short, lots of hot oak, dry vanilla and spice in the finish.  With water, the fruits balance the heat out and it becomes far more palatable.  I’m not too sure what to make of this bottle, and it doesn’t seem to fit with what’s on the shelves.  I have tried the 18 too, and am almost in the same quandary over that.  I have some notes on the 18 that I’ll dig up and post.. but the 12 year old has me confounded.  There just isn’t enough for me to suggest anything other than to try it if you get the chance.  Served at 43% ABV, and to my eye there is caramel and chill filtration happening (you’ll have to be the judge as most of my insiders haven’t even heard of this company, let alone bottling information).  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle, but be forewarned.  The 18 year old is still widely available and is $5 cheaper, but 3% lighter.  I recall it being rather floral on the nose, but like I said earlier I’ll have to dig up my notes and be sure before I recommend that instead.

Okay, well that finally concludes this, or rather last, month’s reviews.  Now on to October and so much more.  I’ll try and dig around on that Leinburn as it now is really eating away at me to get to the bottom of it.  So as always I conclude; keep your stick on the ice and the ice out of your glass.

LCBO Vintages Release for Sept 14/2012

A second post this month!  Well I've left it a bit late, but I am compiling the rest of the tasting notes for September as I write this.  Currently my desk is covered in scribbled papers and there are a couple of empty Glencarins (you know they seem sad to be empty...), so a blogging I will go.

This second release brings us another pair of bottles; both of which are great offerings.  First up will be the first distillery bottling of Glen Grant that I've seen at the LCBO.  Owned by the Italian drinks giant Campari, this light and floral Speysider is typically sherried - sometimes to the point of breaking.  Some expressions are so sublime, they're to die for while others are so sherried they seem to deter from the original spirit (like drinking 40% ABV  Sherry).  This is a bourbon cask distillery bottling aged 16 years, not something that we see often enough at the LCBO (they seem to favour the heavy sherries, some indies and a bunch of Islays).  With this bottle, we get a real sense of the whisky behind the numbers; a real taste of Glen Grant as it were.  Bourbon casks (especially second fill), tend to really bring out the strong and weak points in your base spirit; all the cards get laid out on the table.  Musings aside, this is a gorgeous bottling.  At 16 years of age, this Grant gives us a really rich and floral nose with loads of peaches and apricots (stone fruits), roasted grains, dried hay and hints of coconut, all bundled with an incredible creamy smoothness like marshmallow creme.  Silky creme brulée and more stone fruits dominate the palate (this is very smooth whisky; very more-ish), with more notes of roasted nuts, barley sweetness and some dry notes of oak and hay again in the background.  The finish is medium-long and very dry, with more caramel creaminess and oak presenting itself here.  Baking spices and worked wood intersperse with a subtle mineral-y mossy note on the finish.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for for your bottle, I have a feeling that these will disappear quick even priced at $85/bottle.

Second up is an offering from the independently owned Glencadam distillery (Congrats on fighting the good fight against the big box distillers!).  Owned by Angus Dundee plc since 2003; the only public offering  was the 15 year old.  In late 2008, this all changed and the entire lineup of bottlings were reinvented by adding a 10 year old little brother.  By 2010 3 more bottles were added to fill out the line including the 12 year old Portwood finish and the 14 Oloroso Sherrywood finish.  The portwood has made the long journey overseas to our doorstep and beckons to be tasted with all its subtle ruby/amber goodness.  I'm not going to mince words or apologize, but those who know me know that I love good port and good wine finishes.  The following review might be biased... slightly.... but then again I might be biased... slightly (or warped depending on how much you know me).  I have yet to get my nose into the standard Glencadam bottlings, but if this is any indication, I can't wait.  Right away, there is a winey port waft, but hidden underneath and in between there are all sorts of good things like sweet roasted grains, dates, soft macerated red fruits (obviously), baking spices like nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon, and caramel.  There is a great balance on the nose, the port notes play hand in hand with what seems to be a sweet bodied whisky.  In the mouth I'm hit with ginger spiciness, followed with more dark fruits (red and purples like plums and dark berries).  There are chili and chocolate notes and caramel sweetness ever-present.  The finish is excellent, with warm notes of candied ginger, cocoa powder bitterness, more baking spices, more caramel sweetness and subtle notes of oak and chili powder (the good kind you find in a Mexican grocery store, the one they make on site that they don't tell gringos about).  This is a heck of a dram, but the LCBO has seen fit to command a heck of a price for it.  $94 for a 46% un-chillfiltered and colour-free bottle is a bit much, but coming from an indie bottler/distiller I think once you try it you'll be sold on it.  It will make a hell of a dessert dram.  Check you local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle.

Okay so that's the middle of the month pairing, next up is the last 2 bottles to finish out September.  There's a few more interesting things coming down the pipe and also some changes coming to the blog in the future.  I'm at the debate point of changing the blog over to another site, and also adding some founding members of our whisky club as writers.  Feel free to inspect the preliminary work at http://cataclysmofscotch.blogspot.ca/  So until the next update: Keep your stick on the ice, and the ice out of your glass.

LCBO Vintages Release for September 01 2012

Well another month has passed and I'll break this review into the individual releases as it looks like there will be a few bottles released this month.  What we have this round are pair of fantastic Highland single malts.  A younger and an older bottle, both rich and fruity drams to get you through those cooler evenings that seem to be coming along.


First up is the Glenfarclas 12 year old.  One of the last few family owned distilleries, they stand on principal and quality above all else.  The 12 year old is no slouch either, fantastic light nose and rich body give preview of the older spirits.  The 21 being a personal favourite and the 40 being a dram worthy of seeking out at any price.  The 12 is a beautiful light dram that highlights all the right aspects of the Glenfarclas spirit.   Very fresh on the nose, with hints of sherry and dried fruits.  Slight roasted nuts/toasted barley with subtle notes of toasted oak and honey to round it out.  The palate is fantastic with more of the dried fruits and sherried grains coming out.  Notes of oak and subtle hints of wildflower honey, vanilla, and peat in the mouth.  The finish is medium and soft, lots of lingering spices and oak.  This is a great bottle for the novice drinker to come into the rich world of single malts (IMO), without being overwhelmed or let down by factory made mega-malts.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle, priced at $70 is a bit on the high side but that's just how the LCBO rolls.  Sorry, I just re-checked my facts and realized this is a 1L (1000Ml) bottle, and considering it's only $6 more than the 700, I recant my last statement.... for now.

Second up is the Glengoyne 17.  I will admit that I'm also a huge fan of the 21 year old Glengoyne, rich and fruity without overwhelming the nose/palate.  At 17 years, the spirit poses a great balance between fruits, and spice with the oak, nuts, and malty undertones.  The nose shows off citrus notes (like candied orange peel), spice cake (lots of baking spices here like cloves, cinnamon, and the like), and fruit galore.  Dried fruits like raisins, fresh red apple notes, and subtle hints of vanilla, coca powder and wheat grass juice (yeah that's a weird sour-y grassy sort of note, very herbal/vegetal).  In the mouth, it's very rich and slightly oily.  Big malty grainy notes, toffee and oak dominate the palate with hints of baked apples, bitter almond, coffee and vanilla.  The finish is long and drawn out, with note of wood smoke, vanilla/butterscotch, oak and hints of wildflowers.  This is a big tasty dram and well worth a look, especially with a somewhat pocket unfriendly price tag of $100.  It's a bit steep for the standard consumer, but it's a rewarding and worth dram to seek out and try.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle.  The 17 is just like it's older brother the 21, rich and rewarding which is also worth seeking out and trying.

Okay folks, there we have it!  The first two bottles posted this month ready for your enjoyment.  Check them out, and taste them if you can.  I'm also checking into some more price fixing by the LCBO, as a few more bottles have gone up for no reason other than to protect ourselves from deliciousness? (See Highland Park 18 for reference [Was $139, now $149]). But as always happy dramming and keep your stick on the ice, and the ice out of your glass.

LCBO Vintages Release for August 2012

Back once again, with more whisky in tow.  This month has a rather short list of bottles coming in to the LCBO, but there are a few interesting items (some good, some not so good) that are on the shelves that will get posted in a separate review.  So without further adieu, let's get down to brass tacks.

August 04/2012 Release:

Well this is more of a 'we had nothing new to get out yet, so here is something we found on ours shelves' release.  The LCBO proudly re-releases Longrow CV.  This is a heavily peated version of Springbank's distillate (we're not talking Islay smokey heavy here folks, more like manageable amounts of peat).  Springbank Distillery has a very fond place in my heart as they are one of the few distilleries that still do it all by hand.  I mean all of it: there are no computers, no complex machinery in the production line, and nothing to get between you and the final spirit.  Longrow came about as an experiment in making an Islay style whisky on the mainland.  It was so successful that by 1992 the distillation became a regular part of the Springbank family, and adopted the now silent distillery name of Longrow (c. 1824).  The double distillation process used is true to it's name and the distillery itself is a true relic, resurrected from the ashes of many years of neglect.  Now, it might seem a little worrisome in regards to quality control issues to not have any machinery or intense scrutiny of the distillate, however there is actually very intense scrutiny, from the senior production staff.  They are quite frequently nosing and tasting the distillate to monitor the quality and changes.  Think of it this way: this is based on an agricultural product which will change with the seasons, ambient conditions and even the soil quality it's grown in.  This makes it a challenge to continually make the same flavour profile, which requires blending single malts into a 'super-malt'... I'm looking in your direction Macallan & Glenfiddich.  It's not the the quality that changes (in fact Springbank is one of the best quality whiskies on the market IMO), in fact the spirit itself changes ever so slightly.  Batch variations are the subtle differences that make it so good.  It shows that if Joe on the production line cuts the tails coming into the spirit safe a little early on one day to catch a football match, and later then next day to avoid cutting early 2 days in a row, the changes in the final product produce subtle variances.  That aside, this is a great whisky and an excellent intro to Campbeltown region whiskies  (there's only about 4 of them... Hazelburn, Springbank & Longrow in one distillery and Glen Scotia being the other).  The CV variation (curriculum vitae), is exactly that:  a resumé of sorts showcasing what Longrow is all about in a single bottle.  It's a blend of Longrow finished in a variation of casks (including Port, Sherry, Bourbon and Rum), giving this malt a fantastic creamy nose and slow developing peat.  On the nose you'll find things like vanilla marshmallows, subtle wood fires, heather, sweet spice cake, minerals chalk or ground limestone, subtle brine and hints of medicinal iodine, with peat being ever present throughout.  In the mouth, spice and peat right upfront.  Notes of dried tobacco, candied lemon peel, smoked fish, sweet grains and vanilla (like oatmeal and vanilla pudding together), dried cocoa powder (the regular, not dutch process... which is less acidic) and sweet oak.  The finish is long and slow, bringing waves of peat, limestone, brine, oak and caramel all over the place.  It seems sort of unorganized but also incredibly complex akin to a brilliant scientist's notebook.  There are notes in the margins, notes written in other languages, newspaper articles glued in, pictures stapled onto pages and such.  In the whole sense of things it seems like a notebook of random jottings, but really it's a window into the scientist's head and their inner workings.  This is a great starter to get into the peats, and also into Springbank's large collection of malts.  This comes highly recommended, and at only $82.95/bottle for a unchillfiltered, no colour added premium mega-blend.... this is a great deal.  Check your local LBCO <HERE> for your bottle today.

August 18/2012 Release:

Up next is... wait, what?  You thought there was more?  No, sadly that's all they gave us that round, and only another single bottle for  this round too.  Isle of Arran Amarone Cask Finish makes a glorious re-appearance at the LCBO for this release.  This beautiful pink whisky (like seriously Rosé pink), is a fragrant and richly finished Arran whisky.  Jim Murray called it 'pehaps the best Arran nose of all time' (which is the Madeira finished CS IMO), and awarded it a 96.  Jim Murray is an over-reference whisky writer in my opinion.  He has both a great nose and palate, but just because he's toted as the next Michael Jackson doesn't make his word law (Editor's note:  expressions are my personal opinion so feel free to take this with a grain or three of salt; especially should you actually be Jim Murray).  That being said, I do love the Arran malts and I really love this finish!  This one is a trifecta of excellence: Served at 50% ABV (this is an old school drinkers preference referred to as The Golden Strength by die hard Scotch fanatics), 100% natural colour, and no chill filtration takes place on any Arran malts (See ref: HERE).  These are the things that get me excited (yeah, as I write that I realize my life may need more excitement), and get my mouth watering.  In the glass, it's a gorgeous pink colour.  On the nose the whisky is quite subtle to start.  Notes of rose petals, toasted almond cakes, sweet chewy candies, chocolate covered orange peel, hints of subtle floral notes, cranberry, dark cocoa and dried cherries all intermix creating a fantastic breath.  Then you put it in your mouth.  Holy!  This goes from soft an subtle to incredibly complex and deep.  This list here is long: Turkish delight candy, dark chocolate covered cherries, toasted almonds, cooked fruits, honeydew melon, brine, butterscotch like a salted caramel, dark plums (very ripe and fruity), a dash of cinnamon and a twist of nutmeg make for something other-worldly in the mouth.  The finish is medium in length, but rich and rewarding.  The cooked fruit, almond and cherry, and brine go on and mix with worked oak, subtle wood smoke and more dark fruits but also don't detract from the whisky at the same time.  Great balance, great body and flavour and a great bottle.  Check you local LCBO <HERE> soon as these don't last long once someone has tried it.  Even at $77/bottle this is a great buy.

So there we go, 2 bottles re-released, and what great bottles at that!  I strongly suggest that you look into one or both of them should you be interested in trying real artisan made whisky.  The 2 distilleries mentioned above are 2 of just a handful that make astonishingly good spirits among the many that are controlled by the beverage giants.  So as usual I wish you happy dramming, and as always: Keep your stick on the ice, and the ice out of our glass.

LCBO Vintages Release for July 2012

Well this month, there isn't a whole heck of a lot to report on in the magazines and public releases.  There are however many more items in the LCBO that deserve your attention and hard earned money.  So let's start into this with the public Vintages releases.

July 07/2012 Release:

Only a single bottle in this round.  Wemyss Malts brings the LCBO a 15 year old Caol Ila from their private collections.  Wemyss (said like 'Weems'), is a long standing family with a heavy passion for good Whisky.  Barley from the Wemyss estate is still prized today by many of the big distillers for both its quality and flavour.  They offer both independent single-cask  bottlings of major distilleries and a range of hand-crafted blends.  Currently the LCBO has one of each of their midst, the 8 year old blend known as 'Spice King' and the new arrival of the single cask Caol Ila 1996.  They specify right on their website: "All of our single cask offerings are non chill-filtered and free of artificial colouring, such as caramel." 

Delving into the Caol Ila we find a rich and creamy nose.  Filled with notes of big peat and smoke (both peat and wood smoke), hints of caramel and undertones of brine and minerals wash back and forth. Subtle notes of cinnamon and cloves peek through in the background.  Mouth-feel on this is fantastic,  deep and rich with similar notes from the nose carried on a gentle baking spices (cardamom, cloves and cinnamon) palate with hints of barley sugar.  Finish is medium-long and drying.  The peat in the finish carries you to rubbed oak nose with gentle notes of detritus vegetation and roasted nuts (seriously good stuff in this bottle).  So things are looking really up, 46% ABV, no colour, no chill filtration, and one hell of a Islay dram.  In fact possibly one of the best modern Caol Ila's I've had to date.  The quality and time taken in this dram shows itself over and over again, and the whisky becomes more-ish very quickly.  Not a bad deal for $150 for an indie bottling of an Islay king.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle, and you may also want to search out the Spice King <HERE> as it's an excellent example of a well-crafted blend.

July 27/2012 Release:

Making it's return this month is a fantastic Kentucky Bourbon.  Eagle Rare 10 (not really so rare if it's been released for the last three years consecutively...), is a big meaty 10 year old Bourbon.  Wonderfully rich dark, and complex; yet still wonderfully affordable.  The nose is heavy, laden with Cherries (all types [dried, macerated, overripe, fresh etc...]), vanilla is present, but muted whereas the oak and southern style sweet tea (look that up and make that for yourself one day; trust me on that) permeate.  Buried underneath there are hints of medicated rub (bay leaf , eucalyptus, and hints of camphor), also I found molasses and sweet corn.  The palette is just as good, featuring many of the same notes from the nose but with a little more vanilla and oak in the package.  Honey, herbs and worked leather make an appearance in the mouth too, making the palate on this pretty intense.  The finish is slow and drying, starting with a baking spice hint and turning up to 11 with a full on trip into a oak sawmill!  That's a hard one to explain, but think of worked leather (like horse bridals), old sawdust, linseed oil, the actual smell of the horses (animal but not bad animals), fresh cut lumber and old lumber drying in the sun, and so much more.  This is a great buy to get into American Bourbon, I know I've turned a few colleagues on with this particular dram.  Served at 45% ABV and  of course no colour added by law, check your local LCBO <HERE> as these bottles don't seem to last long at $48.

Last up is another Speyside single malt.  This time it comes from an independent group by the name of Lombards.  Pebble Beach is one of the most iconic golf courses in the world (or so I'm told as I have a hard enough time completing a 9 hole mini golf course).  As such, it commands one of the other great Scottish innovations be presented in its name.  Pebble Beach 12 is a beautiful dram that emphasizes all things Speyside whisky; rich fruitiness, malty sweetness, and excellent finishes with drying notes making your mouth yearn for more.  The nose on this is fantastic, rich pralines and caramels dominate with notes of  coconut and hints of tropical fruits interspersed.  From a second fill Bourbon cask, this presents more of that rich toffee and floral palate and subdues the oak to the finish.  The palate is quite dry, contrary to the nose, and has the same caramel and red fruit flavours but with a hint of tobacco leaves and sweet candied orange peels.  Dutch cocoa powder and candied ginger come across in the finish with the oak playing second fiddle and some wood smoke buried in the distance.  This is a great dram for a great price from an exciting newcomer to the LCBO shelves.  I strongly suggest you check your local LCBO for anything Lombards as they certainly seem to take care in their bottling; and at $67 and 43% ABV (NCF NCA), this is a very good bottle to delve into the Speyside mystique.  Check you local LCBO <HERE> for your very own bottle.

In the non-publicized Vintages release there is so, so much more to be found.  I have noted bottles from Lombard's, MacArthur's, Dun Bheagan, and Berry Brothers to name a few.  Let's list a few that have come in and I'll get to posting some more notes here shortly of the few that I've tried.

Lombard's:

• Teaninich 12 Year Old ($67) <-- Not my favourite, but an excellent expression of Teanninch.


• Pebble Beach 12 ($67)


• 1989 Macallan 14 CS ($135) <-- Incredible deal on a CS Macallan.


• 1979 Balmenach 21 CS ($255)


• 1979 Edradour 21 ($590) <-- I've lost my marbles over this one, hardly see Edradour this old.

MacArthur's:

• 1998 Glen Ord 12 ($95) <-- You'll never see another one like this, Glen Ord is a secretive distillery.


• 1996 Miltonduff 13 ($96)


• 1992 Glen Grant 19 CS ($125) <-- Light in colour; a non-sherried Grant?


• 1997 Glendullan 12 CS ($128) <-- Excellent representation of the distillery.


• 1998 Linkwood 12 CS ($137)

Dun Bheagan:

• 1998 Mortlach 13 ($90)


• Bunnahabhain 24 ($179) <-- Excellent deal on an old Islay, can't go wrong at this price.


• 1987 Miltonduff 24 CS ($195)


• 1990 Rosebank 20 ($230) <-- Skip this bad Rosie and put you money down on either one of the other 24 year olds

Berry's Selection:

• 1998 Blair Athol 13 ($100)


• 1997 Clynelish 14 ($105) <-- Iconic Clynelish notes, rich, waxy and very fruity. Excellent!


• 1974 Glen Grant 37 ($357) <-- Incredible stuff always, colour of pipe tobacco.  Will be trying!

Okay, so that about wraps up most of this round.  I'll be posting some notes for some selected drams above soon and as always: Keep your stick on the ice, and the ice out of our glass.