Category: Single Malt whisky Page 35 of 43

Single Malt whisky

Whisky of the Week review and tasting notes for Single Malt Whisky. A collection of all the interesting releases I have tried. Not only Scotch but from around the world.

Mackmyra Svensk Rök Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 01/26/2015

In Single Malt whisky

Since they launched their first limited edition around 2002, Mackmyra has consistently been producing fantastic whisky. I have tried the Mackmyra First Edition and loved it. So imagine my excitement when I got my hands on a Mackmyra Svensk Rök single malt whisky at Wild About Whisky.

Introduced in 2013, Mackmyra whisky Svensk Rök (Swedish Smoke) is a single malt and the first commercially available peated expression in the standard Mackmyra range.

Mackmyra ages their whisky mainly in new Swedish oak. The Swedish oak grows slowly in the harsh climate and gives the whisky a harsher flavour than American oak.

Related Article: Teerenpeli Whisky

In Sweden, juniper has been used for generations to season and flavour food. The smoky notes from the Svensk Rök are from using moss and juniper wood in the process.

Together, these flavours unite in a uniquely Swedish flavour. Swedish Smoke is the only smoky single malt whisky made with Swedish ingredients only.

Mackmyra Svensk Rök Whisky Review

COUNTRY: Sweden

ABV: 46.1%

COLOUR: A golden wheat colour. It is lighter than most of the whiskies that I have. It is not a very oily whisky.

NOSE: When first opening the bottle, it is lovely. Smoke, oak, cereals, florals and hints of sweetness. There are bits of citrus and juniper drifting round. The nose is delicate and complex. After adding some water, peat appears on the nose, and the more earthy notes come to the fore.

PALATE: Without water, the palate has mild spice notes with vanilla and butterscotch. The Mackmyra Svensk Rök whisky has a light mouthfeel and is a medium-bodied whisky. Adding water smooths out the whisky and releases notes of smoke, fruit and florals. The water enhances the oak and the peat in the Mackmyra Svensk Rök.

FINISH: It has quite a short finish leaving me wishing for more. It ends in notes of oak and citrus.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The Mackmyra Svensk Rök single malt whisky is refreshingly different and something that Mackmyra should be proud of. An enjoyable, drinkable dram. It is well constructed and very Swedish. It made me think of pine forests, snow and Scandinavian structure when I drink this.

I bought this bottle from Wild About Whisky in Dullstroom. Hopefully, there are still a few in stock, as these are a must in any whisky collection.

Related Article: Tullibardine 1993 Vintage Whisky

Glenlivet 15 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 01/08/2015

In Single Malt whisky

At the beginning of this year, I got the chance to taste something extraordinary. WhiskyBrother, the iconic speciality whisky store in Hyde Park, sent me a sample of their new, personally selected WhiskyBrother Glenlivet 15 year old single malt Scotch whisky.

I could not wait to try this little gem. I decided to have a special early tasting just for this. Marc Pendlebury, the founder of the WhiskyBrother store, chose this Glenlivet 15 yo whisky on behalf of the store. It is a Glenlivet 1998 single malt whisky release, and it was bottled exclusively for WhiskyBrother.

Earlier in 2014, Marc travelled to Scotland. He spent some time with the independent bottler, Signatory. The benefit of an independent bottler is the huge selection and variety of whisky that they can offer.

It is often a misconception that independent bottlers produce whisky. Independent bottlers buy casks from distilleries and bottle it under their own label. They are also not restricted to a core range, style or age.

Out of the several whiskies that Marc tasted at Signatory, he brought three samples back to South Africa for final selection. The winning cask was chosen solely on the whisky Marc thought was best. He didn’t concern himself with which distillery it came from or how old it was

Related Article: Whisky Ratings

Glenlivet 15 year old Whisky Review

The selected 15 yo Glenlivet cask was distilled on the 28^th of August 1998 and bottled on the 24^th of March 2014. The Whiskybrother Signatory Glenlivet 15 year old whisky is individually numbered and presented in a beautiful bottle. It was matured in a 500-litre butt, which previously contained Oloroso sherry. The Glenlivet is not chill-filtered and naturally coloured.

REGION: Speyside

ABV: 54.8%

COLOUR: What an amazingly dark whisky. It has a dark copper, nearly amber colour. It is a very oily whisky making long slow fingers on the side of the glass.

NOSE: You can not miss the sherry notes on the nose. There are notes of raisins and sherry soaked plums and cherries. Closing your eyes, you get Christmas pudding sweetness and hints of vanilla mixed with the oak. When you add a few drops of water, you get more hints of toffee and caramel.

PALATE: It is surprisingly spicy on the palate. The nose suggested fruit sweetness, but the palate delivered spice and oak. There are hints of ginger, cinnamon and cloves before the sherry sweetness comes through.

FINISH: This smooth whisky has a medium length finish that ends in leather and citrus marmalade notes.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The Glenlivet 15 year old is exclusively available at WhiskyBrother, and there is a limited number. If you live in Johannesburg, make a plan to head over to WhiskyBrother. Marc, please keep us a bottle of this special WhiskyBrother Glenlivet before they all disappear.

WhiskyBrother regularly releases their own special bottlings. Lately, some of these special releases have even won prizes, so it is worth keeping an eye on the shop to see what else they have.

Also read: Glenmorangie Sonnalta PX whisky

The Balvenie Roasted Malt 14 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 12/22/2014

In Single Malt whisky

One of my favourite distilleries is Balvenie. I have quite a few of their releases and have published tasting notes on the Balvenie Doublewood 12 yo and the Balvenie Single Barrel whisky in the past. Today I look at something somewhat different, the Balvenie Roasted Malt 14 year old single malt Scotch whisky.

Balvenie lies in the Convals in Dufftown in the Speyside region of Scotland. William Grant built the distillery in 1892 just below the Glenfiddich distillery.

It shares its water source, the Robbie Dhu springs, with its well-known neighbour. Despite having the same owner, The Balvenie is hugely different in character from Glenfiddich.

Over the last few years, Balvenie has become the ninth bestselling single malt, and demand is growing. William Grant & Sons still own the distiller. In the summer of 1992, as part of an experimental process, a batch of barley was germinated over 24 hours before being kiln-dried, heated in a roasting drum at a temperature of 200C.

The normal germination period is usually around five days. This batch was then mixed with traditional malted barley before the mashing stage. The barley was roasted to between 1600 and 1800 European Brewing Colour (EBC) units.

Regular malted barley only reaches around 30 units. This dark roasted malted barley is more commonly used in the production of stout beer. Balvenie subsequently made a single batch of just 34 casks from this toasted barley.

When it was finally bottled in 2006, this became the first single malt Scotch whisky to use such a heavy roasting procedure. It was named the Balvenie Roasted Malt whisky.

Related Article: The Macallan 10 yo Whisky

The Balvenie Roasted Malt 14 year old Whisky Review

This limited edition Balvenie Roasted Malt 14 year old whisky is not chill-filtered.

REGION: Speyside

ABV: 47.1%

COLOUR: Dark amber, almost copper colour. It is a thick oily whisky in the glass.

NOSE: On opening the Balvenie Roasted Malt, sweetness and caramel come through. On the nose, there are rich notes of cocoa, honey and vanilla. After adding a few drops of water, the nose has some additional floral and fruity notes. There are little hints of toasted oak and oak spices.

PALATE: The Roasted Malt is a very gentle dram. On the palate, there are notes of caramel and roasted nuts. There are hints of oak and spices intermingling with vanilla. It is a medium-bodied whisky. It starts slowly and builds up to notes of sweet spice and oak.

FINISH: Medium length finish. It ends in notes of nuts and orange marmalade.

RATING: EXCELLENT

It is a wonderful addition to my growing Balvenie collection. The taste is unique and inviting, and I will be sorry to finish this bottle. I paired this Roasted Malt 14 year old with the Anthon Berg Chili & Honey Almond fair trade Dark Chocolate. It made for a delicious pairing.

Also Read: Glenlivet 18 yo whisky

Laphroaig An Cuan Mor Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 12/15/2014

In Single Malt whisky

Today I look at something peaty, the Laphroaig An Cuan Mor Islay single malt Scotch whisky. Laphroaig is a whisky distillery on the beautiful Islay. It is named for the piece of land at Loch Laphroaig’s head on the south coast of Islay. Islay’s history is a timeline of people who can be traced back to the earliest recorded communities.

The granite hills behind Laphroaig are scattered with the Neolithic standing stones that the ancients used to predict the seasons. Laphroaig even has its own Laphroaig menhir behind the distillery. The Laphroaig distillery was established in 1815 by Donald and Alexander Johnston.

Laphroaig’s distinctive flavour comes from its proximity to the coast and its peat’s high moss content. The Laphroaig distillery and brand is owned and operated by Beam Suntory, the American subsidiary of Japan’s Suntory Holdings.

The Laphroaig An Cuan Mor whisky is the final release in a series of three travel retail exclusives. It follows on from the Laphroaig QA Cask and Laphroaig PX Cask. An Cuan Mor means ‘The Big Ocean’ in Gaelic. This Laphroaig An Cuan Mor single malt is double matured, first in first-fill-only ex-American white oak bourbon barrels, then in European oak casks.

Related Article: Dalwhinnie Distillers Edition Whisky

Laphroaig An Cuan Mor Whisky Review

REGION: Islay

ABV: 48%

COLOUR: A dark, almost smoked, amber colour. It is a thick oily whisky with long fingers in the glass.

NOSE: Brilliantly Islay. The salt, the sea, the iodine, and peat smells pour from the glass. Classic Laphroaig on the nose. There are notes of leather that also comes through. Hints of honey sweetness with bits of spice and rich fruits make this Laphroaig An Cuan Mor whisky special.

PALATE: Without water, the palate has notes of spice on the tongue, but the peat is mild with sweet hints. Some medicinal tones in the background. Adding water makes it surprisingly sweet in addition to the classic peat. The Laphroaig An Cuan Mor Scotch has faint orange notes with iodine and fruit. A rich, smooth whisky.

FINISH: Bold and quite lingering. It warms the soul as few whiskies do. The An Cuan Mor ends with notes of oak, spice and honey.

RATING: EXCELLENT

It is a wonderfully complex whisky that even non-peat heads can appreciate. The peaty Islay style is front and centre in this Laphroaig An Cuan Mor, but it is not overwhelming. It allows the other aromas and notes to come out gently.

I have also tried someLaphroaig and Stilton Cheese before, and it is a fantastic combination.

Update: These Laphroaig releases are not limited to travel retail any more and are now widely available in trade. You can even get it here in SA.

Also Read: Penderyn Whisky

Amrut Kadhambam Single Malt Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 12/01/2014

In Single Malt whisky

Today I try a whisky from India, the Amrut Kadhambam single malt whisky. We love travelling and have been fortunate to visit many countries around the world. Few countries can compete with the intense colour, spice and the hustle and bustle that is India.

It is one of my favourite countries to visit and I have spent some wonderful times in Mumbai, Bangalore and the beautiful region of Kerala. On one of our trips, we were fortunate enough to get hold of some Amrut. We bought all our Amrut whisky releases outside of India. Amrut whisky is still fairly unknown locally.

This is however, slowly starting to change. Hopefully, on our next visit, we will be able to buy some Amrut in Bangalore. Amrut is a brand of Indian single malt whisky, manufactured by the Amrut Distilleries in Bangalore.

It was the first single malt whisky made in India. Amrut, according to the company, translates as “Elixir of Life”. We have tried both the Amrut Fusion and the Amrut Two Continents wrote extensively about the Amrut background. We rated both these Indian whiskies as DIVINE.

Kadhambam means ‘mixture’ or ‘combination’ in the Tamil language. Amrut Kadhambam is created from Amrut single malt whisky and a small amount of Amrut Peated single malt whisky matured in 3 different cask-types.

The Amrut Kadhambam was first matured in ex-Oloroso Sherry butts, then filled into ex-Brandy casks and matured for a further period.

It is then emptied into ex-rum casks, where maturation continues. Both the rum and brandy was produced at Amrut. The three different casks each offer different tasting profiles, which make for an interesting combination.

Also Read: Tomatin 12 yo Whisky

Amrut Kadhambam Single Malt Whisky Review

REGION: India

ABV: 50%

COLOUR: Dark golden colour. It is an oily whisky with long slow fingers in the glass.

NOSE: brings sherry and dark Christmas pudding combined with spices and fresh fruit. There are hints of oak in the background. After the addition of water, the oak comes through more strongly, together with barley and cereals. There are faint hints of honey sweetness mixed with faint chocolate and vanilla notes.

PALATE: Oak and spices with hints of dried fruits and plums. The Kadhambam has an oily mouthfeel and is smooth and rich. There are bits of spice, fruits and more dark chocolate in the background. The Amrut Kadhambam has a complex nose and palate.

FINISH: The best part of this great Indian whisky. It goes on and on and ends in notes of oak and spice. There are little hints of leather and tobacco.

RATING: EXCELLENT

An incredible combination of 3 different casks. Hopefully, we will visit this distillery on our next visit to India and learn more about how they make whisky in India. What is your favourite Amrut release?

Also Read: Teacher’s Whisky