Glenfarclas Family Cask 2002 S23
$559.99
This 2002, Summer 2023, Glenfarclas Family Cask, was matured 21 years in a 4th Fill Hogshead, before bottling at 56.6%. 91.25pts Whiskybase
Tomatin 14 Year Port Wood
$152.99
A very tasty release from the Tomatin core range, this 14 year bottled at 46% was finished for a year in Tawny Port Pipes.
Distiller's Tasting Note
Aroma: Honeydew melon, red berries, baked apples. Rich toffee, butterscotch. Sweet honey and bitter dark chocolate.
Taste: Fruit and nut. Peaches, apricots, mango and plum. Mixed walnut and pecan.
FInish: Smooth fruit salad which lingers on the palate.
Dalmore 25 Year
$2,699.99
Bottled at 42% and first released in 2013, the distillery is said to be releasing just 3,000 bottles a year around the world. The whisky has been matured in American oak before finishing in a mix of 1st-Fill Ex-American oak and Palomino Fino Sherry Butts.
Distiller's Tasting Notes
Nose: Exotic fruits, marzipan, vanilla pods, treacle toffee, fig cake and sweet balsamic.
Palate: Orange peel, chocolate truffles, liquorice, sweet damsons and sherry soaked raisins.
Finish: Demerara sugar, maple syrup, bitter chocolate and spiced gingerbread.
Royal Lochnagar 12 Year
$107.99
Royal Lochnagar is Diageo's smallest distillery, nestled into the banks of the River Dee, just upstreaming from Balmoral Castle. It is bottled at 40% after maturing 12 years.
Royal Lochnagar was said to be Queen Victoria's distillery, located but a mile from Balmoral Castle. The Queen granted the distillery a Royal Warrant and gave it the right to use the prefix: "The Royal." The Queen is said to have made the mistake of mixxing Royal Lochnagar single malt with Claret (wine from Bordeaux) and in the words of the late Whisky writer Michael Jackson, "thereby ruining two of the world’s great drinks.”
Distiller's Tasting Note
Nose: Not obvious to begin with. Planed wood, light toffee, boat varnish. Linseed oil behind, even putty, and later a lychee-like acidity. With water the acidity comes through (acid drops), and the nose sweetens. Still a pleasant fresh woodiness, followed by warm sand. After a while, coffee with brown sugar.
Body: Medium.
Palate: Pleasant; an initial sweetness is quickly overtaken by acidity.
Finish: Dry; medium-length, with an attractive lingering sandalwood aftertaste.
Glenfarclas Family Cask 2006 S23
$489.99
This 2006 Glenfarclas Family Cask was matured 16 years in a Sherry Butt, cask #2528, before bottling at 58% as part of the Summer 2023 release. 89.15pts Whiskybase
Glenfarclas Family Cask 2008 S23
$454.99
This is the first release of a 2008 vintage Family Cask, bottled at 59.1% after 15 years in a First Fill Sherry Butt, cask #262, as part of the Summer 2023 release. 88.22pts Whiskybase
Mortlach 25 Year
$999.99
The 25 year is bottled at 43.4%, which the Master Blender feels is the best bottling strength for the distillery. it has been matured exclusively in 100% Re-Fill Ex-American oak barrels. Beautifully packaged, the bottles pay tribute to the distillery's onetime owner George Cowie who was also a Victorian architect involved in the design of railway bridges and viaducts.
Diageo stirred up a lot of attention when they decided to launch a core range of Mortlach this year, mainly due to the whiskies prices, and the fact that most markets will be getting 500ml bottles. Well, rest asured Canadians, our proximity to the US has ensured we get 750ml bottles, and while the price for this 25 year old expression is high, it is better the European prices, and the quality is there. Mortlach has long been a popular whisky with single malt drinkers, and until recently was primarily only available from independent bottlers. There was an official bottling under Diageo's Flaura & Fauna series, but this has been discontinued. The distillery counters the questions around price noting the very small number of barrels selected to ensure the best level of quality. The Mortlach 25 Year is available only in very small quantities.
Andrew's Tasting Note:
Nose: classic older whisky notes, smooth leather, silky white chocolate and beeswax and subtle sweet perfumes; salted caramel vanilla icecream, mangoes and papaya, powdered spice.
Palate: beautiful, very honeyed, more beeswax and tropical fruits with an overall antique character; even more elegant than the 18 but still very vibrant and fruity; layer upon layer; more fuzzy peaches, jujubes and some of the early browning apple.
Finish: very elegant, extremely smooth and layered; the waves keep coming.
Paul John - Bold
$69.99
The Paul John line of single malt whisky hails from John Distillery in Goa, India which was established in 1992.
Paul John Bold is made up entirely of peated malt. The peat is sourced from Islay in Scotland and used in the malting of Indian six-row barley.
46% ABV
Tomatin Cask Strength
$83.99
Matured in a 50/50 mix of Ex-Bourbon barrels and Oloroso Sherry Butts, this is the first cask strength whisky to be added to the core range. Bottled without colouring or chill filtering this first edition of the cask strength has been bottled at 57.5%. Interesting little Easter Egg is that 57.1 is also the lattitude of Tomatin Distillerry!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: leather, Christmas cake, chocolate, warm ginger snaps from the oven and citrus airfreshner; nutty, molten brown sugar, candied fruits and mixed Christmas nuts.
Palate: big, rich and spicy, massively sherried; huge, brooding and drying nutty Oloroso sherry notes; firm leather, wet muddy leaf litter, more candied fruits in medium dark chocolate and tingling spices: cinnamon hearts, candied ginger and some clove just pulled out of honey baked ham.
Finish: long, leathery and very sherried; drying and nutty with fading Oloroso sherry, chocolate and spice.
Comment: bang for buck, if you want a lot of sherry and a high abv at a low price... this is your malt!
Distiller's Tasting Note:
Nose: Golden syrup. Orange and lemon. Pears. Walnuts. Ginger biscuits. Gets sweeter with time.
Palate: Marzipan, burnt sugar. Toasted malt loaf. Chestnuts. Polished leather. Vanilla flavoured tobacco.
Finish: Dry, with a developing spiciness.