Archive for the ‘ Mystery Malt ’ Category

06/01/12 Glen Bridge 40yo

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The dram everyone was talking about last month!

This was released with much publicity by Aldi, a chain of supermarkets in the UK.

It’s well sherries with the usual array of dark fruits, Christmassy spices, Demerara, dates, walnuts.

The finish lets it down slightly I think compared to the nose and first few seconds of the palate.

3.5/5

For £100 whisky I’d be quite impressed, at £50 it’s remarkable vfm and surely being sold at a loss. As you can see, even the box and bottle are towards the upper end of the market and that costs money…

Many thanks to Stu for the sample!

2012
01/06
CATEGORY
Mystery Malt
Other
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14/11/11 Ben Bracken 12yo

A bit of a mystery this one. A mate of mine sent me a sample.

No idea where it’s from, there’s no distillery that I know of called Ben Bracken! An indy bottler mucking about with names, something that the SWA are getting a bit arsey about these days.

2 minutes (our broadband is, ahem, rural at best) with google suggests that it is likely a Tamnavulin, sold by Lidl.

Pleasant malt, a little honey, a little vanilla, some lemon zest.

Very inoffensive. Light in character, uncomplicated. It’s all about the barley really, there’s obviously oak influence but I’m surprised it’s even 12yo.

2/5. Not a bad dram by any means but not a great one either.

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2011
11/14
CATEGORY
Mystery Malt
Other
5 comments

09/11/11 Wemyss Honey Pot

A 15yo un-named single-cask from Wemyss, diluted to 46% ABV for bottling.

Honey (duh), lots of vanilla, ginger, allspice. Creamy mouthfeel, quite luxurious.

An enjoyable enough dram. Nicely balanced. Nice finish.

Just nice really but that’s all. I’m not really feeling 100% tonight so I’ll taste it again in a few days and see what I think!

2.5 / 5 for now

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2011
11/09
CATEGORY
Mystery Malt
Other
Speyside
2 comments

21/10/11 Compass Box Oak Cross

An interesting marriage here of 3x single malts, vatted first in a bourbon cask then a French wine cask. From that oak we get the usual heady notes of vanilla and honey.

The malt is sweet and slightly floury. Wow, even at only 43% it really needs water.

I’m now drinking it at around 2:1 whisky:water and it’s revealed some tropical fruits (pineapple, mango?), sweet clementines or satsumas, cinnamon, coconut, some citrus fruit, shortcrust pastry, freshly cut hay.

Lovely stuff, so enjoyable, seriously good. It’s a very educating whisky if you understand me – it’s really interesting to see the composition notes to see how it was created – it’s a bit of an intellectual dram. Multi-layered oak, really fascinating.

4/5, completely ignoring the frankly ridiculously low price. One of the finest drams in this price bracket.

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2011
10/21
CATEGORY
Blended Malt
Highland
Mystery Malt
Other
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20/10/11 Wemyss “Vanilla Oak”

(Yet) another Wemyss dram today.

Vanilla Oak tonight, an apt description. Pure vanilla extract, sugary sweet, white pepper, dry oak, sweet malt. And more vanilla. Beautifully smooth, velvety texture.

A lovely dram but lacking complexity. I feel a bit mean moaning about that because it tastes so damn good!

3/5

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2011
10/20
CATEGORY
Mystery Malt
Other
Speyside
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