Glenmorangie 10 Year
Nose: Perhaps the most enigmatic aroma of them all: delicate yet assertive,
sweet yet dry, young yet oaky. A malty tone poem.
Palate: Flaky oakiness with a complex toastiness to the barley suggesting
the lightest hint of smoke.
Finish: Amazingly long, drying from the initial sweetness but with
flaked almonds amid the oakier notes.
Comment:A great single malt: beautifully uncompromising from the first
sniff to the last gulp. Dougs Favourite
Glenkinchie 10 Year
Nose: Thin and spirity. Exceptionally malty and reminiscent of
boiled barley-sugar candy.
Palate:
Sweet, grassy-sharp and mouthwatering. Dominant malt, a
hint of banana and custard.
Finish:
Intense vanilla and caramel with rich oaky tones and a delicate
hint of smoke. Slightly bitter at finish.
Comment: Delightfully intense.
Talisker 10 Year
Nose: A razor-sharp spiciness lances through Demerara sweetness and
rich peat. Absolutely magnificent.
Palate:
The enormous build up of spice adds to the multi-layered peat. The sweetness is almost like freshly crushed grist. Wave upon wave, layer upon layer of complexity.
Finish:
Massively warming and still spicy. The peat lingers while the spice bristles.
Comment: A dram to be savoured and celebrated.
Macallen 12 Year
Nose: Big, with well-balanced sherried notes. Juicy malt, dried fruit (date/fig) Madeira cake. Water brings the sherry notes forward: tea, rubber, oak, but it hasn't taken over.
Palate: Rich, weighty. Elegant. Orange and light wood.
Finish: Long, oaky and winey.
Comment:
Great balance between whisky and wood.
Glenlivet 12 Year
Nose: Lifted. Apple wood, heather, baked soft fruits mixed with cereal, citrus and pear. In time there are notes of freshly-sawn wood, freesia and dried orange peel.
Complex but light as well.
Palate:
Light and fragrant. All the notes on the nose come through.
Medium-bodied and gentle.
Finish:Dry and clean.
Comment: Right back on form. Is some more mature stock being blended in?
Dalmore 12 Year
Nose:
Beautiful balance of tempting aromas. Gently fragrant peat-smoke.
Orange marmalade, malt and sherry.
Palate:
Orange. Cream. Distinct aniseed. Honey. A very complex malt, with
wonderfully combined flavours.
Finish:
Almost chewy. Faint citrus zest. Smoky dryness. The faintest hint of the sea.
Comment: Said to be married in sherry butts. In this instance,
marriage certainly works.
Cragganmore 12 Year
Nose:Silky, elegant and rich: currant bushes, sweet fruits, honey, cream, leather, rich malt, chestnut. Water makes it smokier. Fruity with a savoury edge.
Palate:
Lovely weight: honey, blackberry, cooked fruits, walnut, dried apricot. A mid-to back-palate whisky which is robust, yet silky; meaty but elegant. The word is complex.
Finish: Tingle of heathery smoke binding it together.
Comment: The most complex of the flight by some margin
Oban 14 Year
Nose: Refreshing and gentle. Summer fruit. Melon. Vanilla pod. Touch of new leather. Developing on cooked fruit notes.
Pear pie. Stewed peaches. Yeasty.
Palate: Delivers nose promises. Smooth and silky.
Finish:
Fruity, gentle and slightly nutty.
Comment: Classic, gentle and pleasing. A consensual malt. Good match with
salmon and light seafood dishes.
Dalwhinnie 15 Year
Nose: Soft and honeyed with gentle traces of liquorice and stronger
peat emerging through sherry notes.
Palate:
Light, honeyed and playfully viscous; leading eventually to more
liquorice and peat.
Finish: Beautiful interplay and balance.
Lagavulin 16 Year
Nose: Massive peat. Ultra-intense iodine carries a shade more spice than of old. The fruity-sherry notes are clean, vanilla is much deeper. Beautifully layered.
Palate:
Peat so thick you could stand a spoon in it. Chewy iodine bolstered
by sherry and big oak.
Finish: A little spice lightens the grip of the peat and vanilla. Dries off with malt, dried dates...and iodine.
Comment: A true classic in every sense that offers breathtaking depth.
