Cadenhead Small Batch Deanston 2008
$117.99
With the fortunes of Bunnahabhain and Tobermory (or at least their peated variant, Ledaig) on the rise, Deanston often seems to be the black sheep of the family. Lately, however, we're seeing a growing number of customers asking for this distillery by name. Deanston tends to be both a little...uh...dumpy (in a good way, trust me!) and kinda nutty. It looks like this may be changing though. Watch this space for future releases to confirm! But this dumpier style can be a little challenging for a generation of whisky drinkers used to getting smacked upside the head with gargantuan peat or drizzled in syrupy sherry. If you want to expand your horizons...this bottle is a 'must'. Ex-Bourbon Hogshead.
56.2% abv
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: Cocoa leaves, wood spice, roasted pine nuts.
Palate: Almonds, dry roasted nuts, kiwi fruit.
Finish: Hints of ginger. Quite herbal with thyme coming through.
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 35.208
$175.99
THICK AND JUICY
This 15 year old Speysider was matured in a 1st fill hogshead and comes in at 58.1%.
Flavour profile: Juicy, oak & vanilla.
Outturn: 261 bottles.
Panel's tasting note: "A well matured dram that started with an array of aromas of vanilla fudge, glazed ham, burnt wood, coconut, fruit salad, ash, pepper and malt. A sip at full strength showed it to be thick and juicy. Honey, oak, chocolate, spiced vanilla, tropical fruits, tobacco and a winey taste all packing a punch.
Adding water took us to summer days in a conservatory, all heady floral and spicy. But it was also creamy with vanilla custard and porridge then becoming nutty. The taste was creamy too with gentle tannins and tobacco, rich honey, light spices, chocolate, cherries and coconut. A satisfying finish."
Duncan Taylor Rare Auld Cambus 25 Year
$259.99
Bottled under Duncan Taylor's Rare Auld label, this single cask of 1991 distilled Cambus was bottled after 25 years at 55.1%. Scored a silver medal from Whisky Magazine. The cask type is not declared, but it looks and tastes sherried.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: butterscotch pudding and butter tarts; banana bread with walnuts and a side of treacle and silky molasses; a touch earthy and musty with Glosset Raisins; marmalade and mixed berry jams.
Palate: silky and nutty; firm but smooth leather and loads of exotic fruits; still jammy: mixed red berries, blueberry and blackcurrant; chocolate covered espresso beans and Glosset Raisins; Dominican cigars and grilled blue cheese stuffed figs wrapped in prosciutto; Demerara sugars and a touch of salty Dutch licorice; late spices.
Finish: long, drying and leathery, loads of sugar, fruit, chocolate and gentle spice.
Comment: no ifs, ands or buts, this is a beautiful, elegant and tasty single grain.
Duncan Taylor Octave Craigellachie 2008
$114.99
A 9 year old Craigellachie finished for 3 months in a bespoke sherry Octave cask before bottling at 52.1%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: earthy, meaty and leathery with wet leaf litter; nutty with peppery spices, burnt orange peel and black licorice Jujubes; a touch of latex.
Palate: sweet, meaty and fruity with some earthy-leathery tones; a base of sweet vanilla, salty Dutch licorice, peppery spices, latex tubing and musty oak.
Finish: fruity, meaty and leathery with licorice and spices.
Comment: firm tannins on this one; Craigellachie often has a meaty-slightly sulphury spirit due to the way it is made; this cask is even meatier than most!
Duncan Taylor Octave Glentauchers 2008
$114.99
A 9 year old Glentauchers distilled in 2008 finished for 5 months in a bespoke Duncan Taylor Octave cask. 55.0%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: bright, honeyed and fruity; melons and assorted Starburst fruit candies; juicy orange, dried cranberries and brandy soaked cherries; and Strawberry Twizzlers.
Palate: waxy and leathery with more Strawberry Twizzlers; more Starburst fruit candies too and brandy soaked cherries; candied nuts and earthy sherry tones; Eatmore candy bars and a touch of dark bakers chocolate; sweet tobacco, wet leaves and musty oak.
Finish: smooth, leathery and fruity; still waxy with lots of fruit, chocolate and dry nutty tones.
Comment: this is a lovely young Glentauchers; sherried but not over the top; nutty and chocolatey with loads of fruit and a touch of tobacco.
Duncan Taylor Octave Highland Park 2008
$139.99
This 10 year old Highland Park has been finished for 4 months in a bespoke Sherry Octave cask. Bottled at 53.2%, a total of 98 bottles were produced with less than that coming to Canada!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: honeyed, oily and floral; tallow wax candles, bacon fat on parchment paper and briny coastal sea notes with clean smoke.
Palate: still honeyed and oily with a big backbone of vanilla-cream; bacon fat and maple syrup; malty with building clean smoke and smoked kippers; bright juicy fruits develop especially on the citrus and melon ends of the spectrum; crisp but elegant smoke.
Finish: lovely peat oils mingle with vanilla cream, silky honey and more tallow candle wax; in the back of my mind I can't let go of dipping fatting bacon in maple syrup.
Comment: this is a lovely whisky, Octave or not; classic Highland park honey with crisp clean smoke and gentle peat; this is a sweet one!
Duncan Taylor Rare Auld PC 14 Year
$374.99
The bottler can't call this Port Charlotte, they have simply abbreviated it as PC, but we are under no such restriction. Only 8 bottles of this sherry matured Laddie are coming to KWM, 4 of them have sold at the time of writing. 52.8%. Distilled 2003.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: everything you want from a dram that is both heavily sherried and heavily peated; its starts off full of the aromas you'd find in a Spanish cooperage: fresh oak, sawdust and charred wood; firm new leather, salty Dutch licorice and pipe tobacco; a doughy underlayer full of fruit (fruit flan); a touch of gunsmoke.
Palate: the gunsmoke hits first followed by a surge of dry earthy peat; the oak is layered underneath; tarry with dried and burnt dark fruits; maple butter on burnt toast and orange peels from an Old Fashioned; intense building spices, moving toward clove, fennel and anise.
Finish: drying, leathery and tarry with earthy peat and firm spices; there are fruits underneath, but they are struggling under the weight of sherry and peat.
Comment: if you like big sherry and big peat this is the dram for you; there is a touch of gunsmoke here, so never-sulphur folks best beware; all the better for the rest of us!
Duncan Taylor Octave Auchindoun 2008
$89.99
Supposedly Kininvie, the little know 3rd Dufftown distillery owned by William Grants (Glenfiddich & Balvenie). Matured 10 years and bottled at 53.1% after finishing 4 months in a bespoke sherry seasoned Octave.
Andrew’s Tasting Note
Nose: floral, creamed heather honey and melons; vanilla icing sugar and whipped cream on Belgian waffles; candied lemon and lime.
Palate: malty, soft, creamy and coating; very floral and waxy with loads of vanilla; whipped cream on Belgian waffles with lemon and lime; drying with leather and oak shavings; peppery with some clove and black licorice jujubes.
Finish: long, coating and spicy; more clove and late Dutch licorice.
Comment: a malty and juicy malt with lots of black licorice.
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 4.242
$161.49
COASTAL LANDSCAPE WITH SMOKE
This 13 year old from the Highland Islands was matured in a refill hogshead and comes in at 58%.
Flavour profile: Lightly peated.
Outturn: 262 bottles.
Panel's tasting note: "The nose declares itself with shed-loads of vanilla, panettone, dried pineapple and coconut – then slowly another tale unfolds – sheep’s wool, light smoke, ash, distant heather moor-burn and coastal elements. On the neat palate, unmistakable peat smoke and wood ash combine tastily with brown sugar and toasted marshmallows – the finish has curious anise and nutmeg spice with almost medicinal and resinous echoes.
The reduced nose has toasted cumin seeds and dried herbs, incense smoke and yellow Chartreuse. The palate now has serenely restrained smoke, nougat, sugared buns, heather and the herbal and wild flower scents of the summer machair."