Head to Head: Glenlivet Nadurras (16 Years Bourbon VS. NAS Oloroso, Cask Strength Distillery Bottlings)

    This article has been a little harder to write, typically I don't get a chance to taste compare one dram to another directly, but I've recently come across a pair of bottles allowing me to do just that.  What does Bruce Buffer always say before a fight?  "Ladies and Gentlemen, It's TIME!"  Fighting out of the amber corner, weighing in at 55.1% ABV, 16 years of age and haling from Ballindalloch, Scotland is Glenlivet Nadurra!  And to my right in the red corner, weighing in at a frightening 60.7% ABV with no age statement, also hailing from Ballindalloch, Scotland: Glenlivet Nadurra Oloroso.  This will be a fair fight, I expect no gouging, spitting or kicks below the belt.  Fighters toast glasses and return to your corners.

The stare down

    Okay. I'll admit that was just a little bit too much fun, but what we have here is a face to face (rather a bottle to bottle), challenge of the old long standing champion with his brave new young upstart looking to fill his shoes.  Those of you who know me well, will know that I'm a fairly hard critic on the industry giants, and that Glenlivet isn't one of my favourite distilleries either.  The Nadurra Original (herein referred to as Nadurra Bourbon, is actually from a circa 2011 bottling), turned out to be my favourite Glenlivet that I've had from the distillery lineup.  Nadurra is Gaelic for natural, a fitting description for this expression.  It took a lot of guts to put non-chillfiltered and no colour added right on their label and I admire that.  The new Nadurra (herein referred to as Nadurra Oloroso), has some very big shoes to fill.

     I will start with the chalk (the better's favourite to win), as there are a few major notations to be made on this bottling.  First up, there is no age statement made anywhere on the packaging.  Secondly, there is no mention of coloration made anywhere on the packaging (leading me to believe that it is actually assisted, albeit only slightly).  The only carry over from the initial product is that it does state 'no chill-filtration' was used in the final product; and then this is only listed on the box.  For reference, my bottle came from batch number OL0614.  Let's see what's in store for the challenger!

Colour: Rosy Gold (As there is no indication of colour added, it will be noted as likely coloured).

Body:  Medium to Thin body.  Tiny drops appear quickly and run quickly to the pool below.  This is a 60.7% NCF bottling, and the high proof is showing in the glass!

Nose:  Tomato puree (cooked), and harsh grape distillate.  Sharp notes of alcohol sting the nose, and are redeemed with sweet malt notes.  Very rich and creamy, like malt porridge with dried apricots cut into it.  Dates and deep licorice notes towards the bottom with hints of fresh oak sawdust as it settles.  It seems very young on the nose (maybe 6-8 years-ish).  With the addition of water, the nose swims into cream of tomato soup and some hints of something sour I can't put my finger on.  The wood notes go crazy, everything from fresh cut lumber to astringent wood spices (mace and cassia).

Palate:  The first note you'll notices is all 60.7 percentiles of alcohol.  White hot alcohol bite and sharp young malt.  By the third sip, your mouth has been anaesthetized, and you begin to taste the intense creaminess of the malt.  There is still an acrid grape distillate note lurking ion the mid-palate, but it's being covered by cinnamon, cloves, mace and some very sherry wine-y notes.  Dense cocoa powder, and intensely sharp wood notes with a smattering of butyric acid (See: buytric acid: "the main distinctive smell of, human vomit").  The tomato note returns, but this time it's followed with harsh aluminum notes (like tomato sauce cooked in an aluminum pot).  With water, it becomes far more palatable.  Creamy malt and wood spice swim into Christmas cake, but there is still a heavy licorice and sawdust note in the background (neither being sweet, but rather drying and sharp).  More water dulls the creaminess and brings the wood spice forefront, like it had been over wooded.

Finish:  This is where the heat came full force!  Blinding white pepper heat and hard oak spices abound.  Slight notes of herbal vanilla and a pinch of tar,  The licorice finally settles down into the really good quality soft Australian black licorice (it's an acquired taste no less), and a dollop of quality marmalade.  With water, though the finish was super spicy.  Astringent oak and road tar with hints of dried/burnt orange peel.

Empty Glass:  Dried out Oloroso wood. Earl Grey tea dregs (rich black tea with a speckling of Bergamot), and more dried orange peel.  Fennel seed and rough oak sawdust (like the stuff that comes from the bark, not the wood itself).



    Next up, the current reigning champ of the Glenlvet stables - Nadurra Bourbon.  This bottle has quite a lot more going for it.  It specifies and age (16 years), and that there is no colour added and no chill filtration has been used to bottle the product.  The selection I'm using is from a 2011 bottling, just before the label change to the green/white bottles that you see now (Batch No. 0309H for those that need the specifics).

Colour:  Bright Gold.  No colour has been added to the bottling.

Body:  Medium.  Drops, small, form slowly and run at an average rate to the pool below.  This has some serious body in comparison!  No chill filtration was used to remove the natural oils, and it shows!

Nose:  Sweet vanilla cream, almost to the point of vanilla pudding.  Rich malt, and some hints of Orange Julius (See: Orange Julius, it's a very sweet and creamy orange drink).  Subtle almond syrup, and earwax notes appear (that's a good bourbon cask note; think walnut skins).  There's actually a sweet tequila note, if there was no sour body in Tequila.  Baked apple and rich floral notes abound!  Little white flowers and an almost buttery pastry note.  There is still a light butyric acid note, but it is very muted in this dram and actually seems constructive to the malt.  With water, the floral notes die down and the vanilla pudding rushes forward.  Oiled wood and rich toasted pecans seem to dominate the nose now.


Palate:  Sweet heat and cream come rushing in, hints of walnut skin and malt syrup.  The same sort of creamy malt porridge with a tiny bit of apricot, and some straw notes also appear.  The heat almost dries out your math, causing to to water.  It's both strong and gentle at the same time.  Ginger snaps and a subtle coal tar note in the back ground.  With water the palate becomes rich oily vanilla and dried figs.  The walnut skins dull a bit into that familiar earwax note and the dried apricot comes forward again.  Still very creamy, the bite is reduced a bit and some background floral notes begin to appear.

Finish:  Drying and spicy!  Spice oak wood and cinnamon.  Hints of cocoa and rich vanilla swirl, with faint hints of almond and mint.  With water the almond comes forward and turns a bit bitter, but it doesn't detract from the finish.  The oily vanilla is cut back a bit and the mint note starts to come forward.

Empty Glass:  There's a tarry note still and some very malty oak notes.  Herbal notes with a hint of butyric acid (albeit slight), begin to appear.  Super lush and soft sawdust notes with a twinge of rubber erasers.


      If it's not immediately apparent, there is a clear winner.  I haven't had much luck with NAS whisky (No Age Statement), and this is no exception!  The youthful spirit shines through in the Nadurra Oloroso, and there are some things I'm not too crazy over that really stick out (IE: butyric acid, tar, and poor acrid grape distillate).  On the flip side, the 16 year old Nadurra Bourbon is a richly complex and fantastic dram, one of the better Glenlivet whiskies that have been bottled by the distillery.  Some may say I started this tasting with a bias, but I think the Nadurra Bourbon is absolutely fantastic.  The Nadurra Oloroso is a finicky monster; it was okay at full strength but needed taming, on the other hand adding water didn't help the situation.  The youthful age really signed the writ, it seems they might not have aged it long enough and/or opted for poorer quality Oloroso wood for the cask.

     I'd urge you to taste either before you buy anything, as Glenlivet has a very characteristic taste that I've never grown fond of, Butaryic acid.  It's a rather unpleasant note that doesn't disappear in the distillery bottling range until you get into the 18-21 year olds, and the younger the spirit, the more prevalent it is.  My choice was fairly clear, but I'm always open to having my mind changed and my palate tested.  Until next time dram mates, keep your stick on the ice and the puck out of the net... no wait, the ice out of your glass!

Tasting Notes: Macallan 1997 (Duncan Taylor, Octave Cask #721315, 13 Years Old, 53.4% ABV)

    I've made it back to the interweb again with another interesting bottle!  This post's dram review comes from a trip to Las Vegas with some good friends of mine; hopefully you'll find it as interesting as I did! We had a great time in Sin City and I had plenty of chances to peruse bars on the strip, finding a few bottles that really peaked my interest; some of which I actually got to sit and write about.

     In one such bar, my friend and I stumbled upon an intriguing bottle of Macallan (not literally!). I'm a sucker for a Macallan (thanks impart to my dad), but I've been burned in the last couple of years with the introduction of the new Macallan NAS lineup (that's a different post).  I thought it was worth the gamble as it was an independent bottling by Duncan Taylor.

     Duncan Taylor bottles a range of single malts under a varied group of labels in addition to The Octave, and one of the more prominent is the Dimensions line (especially for Ontarians, as we don't see many other Duncan Taylor's in our stores).  One of the best Dimensions bottles we've had in the LCBO was the cask strength Balblair that came in a few years ago (and boy, was it a good one!).  We also saw a line up of 46% ABV Dimensions bottles featuring Glen Moray, Glen Elgin, Glenlossie, Macduff and Royal Brackla; I might still have my notes somewhere about some of these so watch out for further reflective posts.

     Distractions aside, The Octave selections are matured in the typical hogshead/butt oak barrels for the majority of their life, then selected and finished by placing them into the much smaller octave barrels (so small that they typically yield only 60-90 bottles per octave).  This imparts a more wood onto less whisky; in a sense, sort of speeding the aging process up.  Of course, as a Duncan Taylor bottling, there is no additional colour or chill-filtration.  This allows us whisky nerds to lift the skirts of said distillery and really see what's behind their product line.

  The Macallan Octave bottle I tried derives from Cask #721315 and hails in at a whacking 53.4% ABV.  Finished in a sherry octave, the dram almost called to me from the other side of the bar (with such a striking label, who wouldn't be interested!?).  This particular bottling yielded only 71 bottles and was destined for the USA.  At only 13 years old, and ever leery, I took my chances and rolled the dice.

Colour: Light gold with a subtle reddy-brown hint to the spirit.

Body: Rich and oily, surprisingly thick.  The roll shows a thick cling, and tiny drops  The legs, though, take forever to get back to the glass.  This is really looking up!

Nose:  Wow!  First thing you'll note are nuts!  Tonnes of roasted nuts backed up by wonderfully sweet vanilla notes.  This is a very Macallan dram!  The wonderfully light floral notes from the bourbon cask poke through and cut the sweet nutty goodness.  As it settles in, more hints of wood appear, adding another layer of depth to the already swimming nose.  Cinnamon and cloves intersperse with white wildflowers and drops of vanilla cream.  In the far background white pepper sharpness and a starchy note that piques my interest.

Palate:  We're in for a ride: the bar is down, there are no stops, the train is leaving the station (at only 13 years I'm expecting this could be a bumpy ride, especially with my recent luck with Macallan).  There is a galloping chariot of heat at the front, searing white pepper and sun burnt oak spices.  It's a little brash, but instantly it relaxes with more roasted almond and sweet pecans coming through the dram.  As it rolls about in the mouth, I'm getting more sweet roasted corn (even corn nuts), and hints of dried cherry.  The oily palate really suits the dram well, coating the mouth like syrup.  Interspersed in the background are slight notes of acidic char and rich soft wood spice (cardamom and mace, like a spice cake).

Finish:  In the finish, the heat has subsided and reveals a thick layer of butter cream and pound cake.  Loads of vanilla pods rolled in pepper with hints of dry oak spices.  It's surprisingly long, and draws out so nicely with vanilla creme supporting the whole cast.

Empty Glass:  Wood abounds, but is broken up by spiced pecans (a warm memory of sothern tradition).  There is a definite oak spice harshness but the sweet nuttiness of the dram counters it nicely.

     I bet large and Vegas paid out with a wonderful Macallan that I've been longing for!  The NAS line did very little to bolster the Macallan name, and running out of well aged stock has pushed their limits of both production and quality.  The quality is still there in the base spirit, but they will need to do as Duncan Taylor did: relax and hold onto some of these casks until they are actually ready to be bottled.  This dram is proof that quality whisky is out there still, but finding them is now even more of a challenge with so many 'investors' snapping up anything with a recognizable name on it.  Keep your stick on the ice and the ice out of your glass and next time I'll see what else I can drum up.

                                                                                 Roscoe (ScotchGuyTO)

December 8th/2012 Vintages Releases

So I missed my December deadline (Yeah, yeah so shoot me... I'm a busy guy sometimes), but then again there wasn't a whole lot that you would have missed with it.  This was the last release before the new year arrives for the LCBO, and in it is only a single new bottle.  Let's check into what was released and what's returning to the shelves.

First up is the re-stocking of 1792 Ridgemont Reserve Kentucky Bourbon.  This was reviewed in February of last year (Link Here).  It's an 8 year old beauty, with an equally great mouth filling rye rush of fruits, pepper and punch.  I still think it's a great deal even at the $50 asking price.  Lots of flavour to be found in this bottle and the nose alone is almost worth the price of admission.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for a location near you.

Next up is a new pricing on The Balvenie 21 Portwood (Reviewed March 2012).  Somehow, even without ordering more stock, the LCBO has found it in the infinite wisdom to increase the price to $244.95 on this bottle.  That's clearly out of the range of most buyers, and should be off your radar to buy... trust me that's too much for too little whisky.  In stead I strongly suggest that you check around for a dram at your local bar or mooch one form a friend.  It's a worth dram, just not worth what they are asking IMO.  Now if it were non-chillfiltered and cask strength.... that's a different story.  Sigh, the wishes of a small time blogger against a global drinks giant.  A man can dream.

Last up is the only new bottle for this release.  The Benriach 12 Sherry Wood finish.  This is from an artisan run distillery, which means that there is no chillfiltration and a slightly higher ABV (46%).  This means that for you, the connoisseur, you'll get slightly more from your bottle.  More flavour and more value are two things close to my heart being an Ontarian; I need to get the most for the least from our liquor stores.

The colour is deep and rich amber with mahogany highlights.  The nose is thick with rich sherry red fruits, caramel and baking spices, rum soaked raisins and hints of dutch cocoa powder.  The mouth feel is good, a little overly sweet for my tastes lately, but still very good.  Loads of sherry sweetness comes across right away, followed by more sweet malt and then countered with nutmeg, roasted figs and more cocoa powder (not dutch this time, meaning no acidity).  The finish is medium and still adeptly sweet, but much better balanced with the spicy oak notes and vanilla residue.  This is a great introductory dram to how good a whisky can but it's going to lack challenge for experienced drinkers.  This to me sits perfectly as an after dinner dram, something about the sweetness is a little over powering for my regular drinking palate.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle, priced a little on the high side at $67/bottle.

So that sums up 2012; lots of good news for everyone including a new blog spot, new Whisky group, and tonnes of new friends of twitter.  It's a great feeling to look back at what I started off hand and realize that what was a single point of interest has become so much more with so much to offer our Whisky community.  I feel privileged to be included in (to quote a fellow blogger @WhiskyLassie), the #Whiskyfabric.  Keep your eyes peeled to our blog as there is so much more coming down the pipe including destinations, bar reviews, bottle reviews, rare whisky and so much more.  So in conclusion (and you should know this by know); keep your stick on the ice and the ice out of your glass.

A Tale of Two Macallans - Part II (A tale of more Macallans)

  Another bottle to add to the Macallan debate reviewed by our very own Tom Alexander.  This time another travel retail bottle, but is it a good one?

The Macallan 1824 Collection - Whisky Maker’s Edition - 42.8% ABV   

About a month ago I did a comparison between Lombard’s 14 year old Macallan, and the distillery’s own bottling, “Select Oak”, from their 1824 collection. Well, this morning it is Christmas Eve and have a few minutes to do yet another Macallan, also from the 1824 Collection, called “Whisky Maker’s Edition” (thanks to Ross Allen for providing this!)

This particular expression, according to the distillery, has been individually crafted by Whisky Maker Bob Dalgarno, using a mix of sherry and bourbon casks, and bottled at the higher 42.8% ABV (which is “how Bob likes to savour his Macallan”).

The colour is dark gold with amber highlights. On the nose, you get an immediate hit of barley sugar, caramel and vanilla, ginger and cinnamon. It’s very fruity. A lovely nose, not as sherried as you might expect. A drop of water opens it up nicely.

The palate, however, disappoints. There is more sherry here but it is sulphurous. Darker dried fruits, cinnamon and cloves. Water tames the sulphurous elements but unfortunately not enough.
Finish: a bit chalky, and much more spice on the finish than on the nose or palate. But on the death, there is a lot of astringency due to those sulphurs.

There is not as much to this as I had been hoping, and I think this is a flawed Macallan; somehow they got stuck with poor casks. Which is surprising: to take this and call it the “Whisky Maker’s Edition”, immediately calls into question Mr. Dalgarno’s skills (which we know are considerable given the exacting standards of Macallan). If they felt the need to do something with this, why market it as being indicative of “how Bob likes to savour his Macallan”?

If I compare this to the Select Oak (of which I have a final dram left in the bottle!), it pales in comparison (and would certainly pale next to the Lombard’s mentioned above - that was outstanding). The Select Oak has richer dried fruits, and a deeply beautiful sherry element (though still very slightly sulphurous). If this were a family Christmas dinner, the WME would be the drunk eccentric uncle with a lampshade on his head and a whiff of BO, next to the SO’s down-to-earth, hearty and gracious second-cousin.

Regardless, a great start to Christmas Eve - sampling two single malts that are as indicative of Christmas as you can get (minus the screaming kids, family dysfunction and mouth-drying turkey). Happy Holidays!

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 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 December 2011

Well 'tis that time of year, and the Vintages releases are short (just like the days).  The last release for this year was done on December 10th, and the rest of this year is dedicated to their Christmas cheer book and sparkling wines for New Years.  What came out during this release?

Blanton's Single Barrel Special Reserve Bourbon:   This is a fantastic single barrel bourbon from the deep south!  Blanton's specializes in single barrel bourbon production.  This is a premium bourbon that comes from only a single warehouse in the Buffalo Trace distillery.  In fact they only come from the 'centre cut' of Warehouse H (very centre), when the aging seems to take place perfectly for the spirit.  Since 1984 Blanton's has been producing single barrel bourbon and was one of the first to offer such a product.  Their website has some of the best laid out information I've ever seen and can be found by clicking the distillery name at the start of the article of HERE for the Special Reserve.  I'm not crazy over the chill filtration in Scotch (but I've never seen a non-chillfiltered bourbon), but I really appreciate the forward information.  If I get my hands on any samples I'll be more than happy to provide the review.  Check your local LCBO for Sku #558320, bottles are $76 each.  There is also a Blanton's single barrel standard available for $65 under LCBO Sku #255349 (it's also 45% ABV).

Second in this short release is Glenfarclas 12.  Glenfarclas is one of my absolute favorite distilleries as they provide an appealing spirit geared towards Whisky lovers.  All malts are presented without colour added and served at 43%! Though special bottlings like the 15 & 40 are 46%, and the 105 is a whopping 60%.  Sadly though they still chill filter the whisky (confirmed via Ralfy), but that can easily be changed to create a full craft presentation.  Run by an independent distiller (J & G Grant), they produce some of the best sherry casked Scotches available in my personal opinion.  The 12 year old is no exception to this rule! Fresh and light, the sherry influence is still young but I found lots of oak notes (worked, toasted, and some fresh or green wood), cereals, a twist of a sour note, an interesting brine/salty note, heather and almond.  A little hot on the palette, this will benefit from an addition touch of water to open the nose.  I'd call this a good deal at $64, so check out your local LCBO for Sku #142182.

Sadly, this is actually the last post of the year, and I will resume sometime after the Holidays.  I'm off to the Dominican for a much needed vacation, but I promise to come back and work up some more spirits for review.  Most importantly, I do want to thank you (on the other side of the screen), for reading my blog as this actually means quite a lot to me!  Enjoy your holidays, and your whisky responsibly.

Keep your stick on the ice, and the ice out of your glass!

Presented without comment......

Tasting notes to follow; in the future.... once the drooling stops.  I recently hit my overtime bonus, and decided to indulge myself.