Category: Whisky of the Week Page 46 of 77

Whisky of the Week

Whisky of the Week review and tasting notes for whisky, bourbon and whiskey from all around the world. Single malts, blends, blended malts, rye and grain whiskey tasted and reviewed.

Cardhu 12 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 05/14/2018

In Single Malt whisky

Today I am trying something from a distillery I have never tried before. I am trying the Cardhu 12 year old single malt Scotch whisky. The Cardhu distillery is a Speyside distillery located in Moray. It is part of the Diageo stable and has a long history of female whisky involvement.

The Cardhu distillery has an interesting story. Helen and her husband John Cumming had a farm at Cardow in the late 18^th century. Helen was well known for distilling whisky that she sold from her kitchen window.

She used to keep an eye out for any approaching excise officers and warn farmers in the neighbourhood by hoisting a red flag. When the Excise Act of 1823 changed, the Cummings could afford to buy a distilling license and founded the Cardow distillery.

In 1872 the family business expanded and they built a new Cardhu distillery on an adjoining piece of land. It was run by Elizabeth Cumming, Helen’s daughter-in-law. This new distillery had a more significant output and the whisky from Cardhu became an essential part of the Johnnie Walker whisky blends.

In 1893 when Elizabeth Cumming sold the distillery to Johnnie Walker, it was under the condition that the Cumming family held shares in Walker’s company. This shareholding turned into an excellent investment.

Today other single malt releases in the range include the Cardhu 15 year old, the Cardhu 18 year old, and the Cardhu Amber Rock. The word Cardhu comes from the Gaelic “Carn Dubh,” which means “black rock.”

The shape of the Cardhu bottle is unique with its rectangular shape and the oversized closure. Cardhu has a significant presence in Spain and France but is known worldwide. The Cardhu 12 year old single malt whisky is widely available in South Africa, and the retail price is around R500.

Also Read: Glenfiddich XX whisky

Cardhu 12 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Speyside

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Rich Gold

NOSE: Honey sweetness, malt, fruits with hints of vanilla. A soft, smooth nose that hints at a great experience.

PALATE: Toasted dry oak, ripe pears, honey, toffee apples and pepper with faint hints of vanilla. Medium body but nicely balanced and smooth.

FINISH: The Cardhu 12 year old has a dry oak with honey and pepper finish.

RATING: EXCELLENT

What a lovely, drinkable, affordable dram. Can’t believe I have not tried this before. This bottle will not last very long. The Cardhu 12 year old is not the most complex whisky, but it is soft and delicate without being a wallflower. It has a presence without being overbearing. The smooth and delicious notes would work wonderfully with food.

The Cardhu 12 year old whisky will compliment a piece of perfectly grilled steak nicely. According to research, it is also magic when paired with a strawberry flavoured chocolate; something I will have to try soon.

I paired this Speyside whisky with some Swiss Appenzeller cheese for World Whisky Day. Following the link to see my thoughts on this whisky and cheese pairing.

Also Read: Dalwhinnie 15 yo Whisky

Glenmorangie Spios Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 05/07/2018

In Single Malt whisky

About two weeks ago, a beautiful press drop arrived at my office. It was an embossed box with golden writing. The box contained a generous sample of the new Glenmorangie Spios Highland single malt Scotch whisky and a Glenmorangie glass. What a treat! Spios is the 9th release in the Glenmorangie’s highly rated Private Edition Series.

Other releases in this series included the Glenmorangie Sonnalta PX, Glenmorangie Milsean and the Glenmorangie Bacalta whisky. The Glenmorangie’s Private Edition range is a special once-off and limited release that comes out every year.

The goal of the Private Edition Series is to showcase a new interpretation on the Glenmorangie flavour profile. Glenmorangie, together with Ardbeg, is part of the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy group.

Spios is Glenmorangie’s first single malt whisky fully matured in American ex-rye whiskey casks. Spios is the Gaelic word for “spice”. Even though this is a NAS release, according to a few hints dropped during the release presentation, it was aged for around 10 years in casks that previously held American rye whiskey.

I have written about rye whisky before when I looked at the Rittenhouse Rye and the Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye whisky. Rye whisky had it’s (first) heyday during the early 20th century when it was served in the USA’s most prestigious salons. Rye whiskeys’ distinctive and spicy notes inspired classic cocktails such as the Old Fashioned and the Manhattan.

Over time, rye whiskey slipped into obscurity, where it would remain until about 10 years ago. A rye whisk revival is bringing more and more rye releases to market as consumers are looking for new flavour profiles.

Glenmorangie’s Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky Stocks, Dr Bill Lumsden, chose the American rye casks to complement the distinctive Highland Glenmorangie style.

Also Read: The Balvenie Single Barrel whisky

Glenmorangie Spios Whisky

American rye whiskey is distilled from grain which must be at least 51 per cent rye and is matured in new, charred oak barrels only. The Glenmorangie Spios single malt is not chill-filtered.

REGION: Highlands

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: Golden Wheat

NOSE: Freshly baked hot cross buns with honey, fresh fruit salad, meadow flowers and herbs with only the faintest hints of spices.

PALATE: The first sip brings the rye spices. Cinnamon, cloves, black pepper comes through, and then comes toffee sweetness and fresh fruit. There is a hint of toasted marshmallows. The spices are bold, but not overwhelming. It is wonderfully balanced with sweetness and complements the Glenmorangie fruitiness perfectly. The Spios has a medium body and is quite oily in the glass.

FINISH: Long and lingering with hints of spice, sweetness and liquorice.

RATING: EXCELLENT

I think that this was a very successful experiment. The Glenmorangie Spios Scotch whisky is delicious and inviting. Not too sweet and not too spicy. It will be a fantastic warming dram in winter. It is easy-drinking, and it is suggested that you try this Glenmorangie Spios with a bar of chilli-infused dark chocolate. The Glenmorangie Spios is now available in SA and cost around R1 225.

I have tasted and captured my tasting notes for the Glenmorangie 18 yo and the Glenmorangie Lasanta over here.

Sample disclosure: I received this sample from Glenmorangie. Though received as part of a promotional event, the review and tasting notes are my honest, fair and independent thoughts of the whisky.

Also Read: Dalmore Cigar Malt whisky

Wemyss Malts The Hive Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 04/23/2018

In Blended Malt Whisky

I have had a long love affair with Wemyss Malt releases. Since the first time I tasted Wemyss Malts in Dullstroom, I have been in love. The collection of Wemyss whisky in Wild About Whisky is extensive. They have an incredible range of Wemyss single cask releases available, and when we visited, I tasted my way through quite a few of them.

Unfortunately, up to about a year ago, there were no Wemyss Malts releases available in South Africa. The few limited releases I managed to get, we brought back from our travels to the UK. This changed with Wemyss bringing a few of their standard releases into SA. I got my hands on the Wemyss Malts The Hive blended malt whisky release and could not wait to write about it.

Wemyss is known for their Single Cask releases that are named for their taste notes. I have a bottle of Wemyss Brandy Casket, Wemyss Gooseberry Marmalade and Wemyss Sweet Mint Infusion whisky and as you nose and taste them, you can immediately pick up the notes.

However, the core of the Wemyss Malts blended malts is the three releases aptly named The Hive, The Spice King and Peat Chimney. All bottled at 46% ABV.

Launched in 2011, Wemyss Malts The Hive has no-age-statement (NAS). In 2016 Wemyss released a Batch Strength limited editions, of which 6,000 bottles were produced at 54.5% ABV. Sadly this is not (yet) available in South Africa.

Wemyss Malt The Hive focuses on sweet honey qualities with a few Speysider style notes at the core of this blend. It is a blend of at least ten single malts. The Wemyss blended malts are non-chill filtered.

Also Read: Muirhead Silver Seal Maturity whisky

Wemyss Malts The Hive Whisky Review

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: Rich gold

NOSE: Honey sweetness, malt and oak with bits of vanilla, ginger and faint hints of citrus.

PALATE: Wemyss Malts The Hive has heaps of honey, freshly baked apple pie, vanilla sugar, oak with hints of pepper and ginger. A bit of an alcohol burn and adding water makes it easier to drink and releases more of the honeycomb sweetness. Rich and delicious.

FINISH: Medium length that ends in honey notes.

RATING: EXCELLENT

It is a great blended malt, not the most complex, but easy drinking and fun. Perfect for summer! It just needs to breathe a bit. Let it stand for a few minutes and add enough water. Other Wemyss releases that I have tasted and written about include the Wemyss Malts Dark Chocolate Orange as well as the Wemyss Velvet Fig blended Whisky.

Also Read: Tomatin 12 yo Whisky

Armorik Single Malt Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 04/09/2018

In Single Malt whisky

It is the 3rd time this year that I try a world whisky, and this week it is from France. It is the Armorik Millesime 2002 single malt whisky. The Warenghem distillery is located in Lannion, in Brittany. They have been distilling quality liqueurs and spirits since 1900 when Leon Warenghem founded the distillery and created the Elixir d’Armorique.

Since then, the distillery has created a small range of unusual fruit and plant-based liqueurs, honey liqueurs, apple brandy, beers and whiskies. I looked on the map and noticed that it was about an hours drive away from another French whisky distillery Glann Ar Mor.

Glen Ar Mor distillery produces Kornog. But where Glann Ar Mor is situated on the peninsula facing the rough sea, Warenghem is more inland. The sea is about 9 km away.

In 1987 the Warenghem distillery started creating blended whisky, and in 1998 their first single malt was released – Armorik. It was the first single malt in France. Armorik uses 100 % French malted barley.

The weather in the region is similar to the Scottish Highlands but slightly warmer. The angel’s share is around 3.5%. The water is from Rest Avel which translates to ‘the wind’s dwelling”.

Armorik uses a majority of refill bourbon casks made of American white oak and some refill sherry butts made of Spanish oak. They also make use of Brittany oak casks made from trees of the Cranou and Brocéliande forests. These casks bring their natural sweetness and delicate woody notes.

The core range includes Armorik Classic, Armorik double maturation and Armorik Sherry finish, all of which are available in South Africa.

Also Read: Compass Box Peat Monster whisky

Armorik Single Malt Whisky Review

John picked this bottle of Armorik Millesime 2002 up on one of his travels. It was distilled in March 2002 and bottled in May 2013. It was matured in cask No. 3300, with an outturn of 728 bottles. The Armorik Millesime 2002 is bottled at cask strength and was matured in Bourbon and Oloroso Sherry casks. I have bottle 90 /728

COUNTRY: France

ABV: 56.3%

COLOUR: Copper

NOSE: Fruity sweetness, toasted malt, hints of vanilla, sherry, toffee, honey. Even at the high ABV, there is no alcohol burn on the nose.

PALATE: Without water, there is heat, burnt toast, ash, fruity notes and malt. Adding water softens the heat and a cascade of flavours come through. The burnt toast and ash changes to darkly toasted bread with heaps of fresh butter, the fruit become sweeter and hints of honey and sherry come through. Vanilla sweetness and smoky, nutty hints.

FINISH: After adding water, malty goodness and honey.

RATING: EXCELLENT

When I had a first sip of the Armorik Millesime 2002 without water, I thought, ” oh hell no”. Then I added a (fair) bit of water and all the discordant notes softened into a beautifully balanced, coherent unit.

A great balance between the sherry notes and the bourbon vanilla with lashings of malty goodness. I certainly need to try more from this unique French distillery.

Also Read: Hammerhead 1989 Vintage whisky

The Singleton 15 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 03/26/2018

In Single Malt whisky

On February the 8^th, the world celebrated International Scotch Day. Initiated by Diageo, International Scotch Day was started to celebrate everything that gives the world’s favourite dram its unique character, flavour and personality. Over 70 countries worldwide had celebrations with large-scale events held in India, Mexico and South Africa.

I was privileged to share this day with model Shanina Shaik, one the Global Ambassadors for International Scotch Day. Diageo celebrated the day in style.

Held in the very hip Bolton Road Collection bar, Diageo treated guests to a variety of whisky-based cocktails and several glasses of Scotch. One of the releases I was fortunate to taste was the Singleton 15 year old single malt Scotch whisky.

I have tasted the Singleton 12 year old whisky and the Singleton Tailfire before. The Singleton 12 year old was my first introduction to this whisky from this Dufftown distillery in Banffshire in Speyside, so it was exciting to taste a bit more from this distillery.

According to some research, the Dufftown is one of the larger producers in Diageo’s whisky portfolio. However, Diageo markets only 3-4% of the malt as single malt. The majority of the alcohol produced is used in blends such as Bells Blended whisky and Johnnie Walker.

The Singleton 15 yo whisky was initially released for the travel retail market but is now available in general retail. It is aged in a mix of European and American oak casks.

Also Read: Dewar’s 15 yo whisky

The Singleton 15 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Speyside

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Rich Gold

NOSE: Sweet fruitiness, oak, hints of honey, sweet anise seed spices mixed with ripe fruit, cereals and sugar cookies. Not the most complex nose, but bold and delicious.

PALATE: Sweet honey, pears, lightly toasted oak, white pepper, malt, vanilla and fresh plums. Nicely balanced between the sweetness and the spices. Needs a bit of water to release more complexity. Easy drinking.

FINISH: Sweet with hints of malt and pepper.

RATING: EXCELLENT

It is an easy-drinking 15 year old whisky. Indeed not the most complex whisky I have tasted this year, but it is fun, creamy and delicious with a great balance between sweet and peppery spices. According to the Malt.com, this Singleton 15 year old Scotch is perfect when paired with milk chocolate. Now that is a pairing I can get behind.

The Singleton of Dufftown range includes the Singleton Sunray’s as well as a Singleton 18 year old whisky. A traditional hip flask inspired the unique Singleton bottle shape. It retails for around R900 which is comparable to the Glenfiddich 15 year old.

Have you tried this Dufftown release yet?

Also Read: Balblair 15 yo whisky