Whisky of the Week

Teeling Single Malt Irish Whiskey

On 08/09/2021

I am exploring the last of my Teeling samples, a single malt whiskey from Ireland, and it is time for the Teeling single malt Irish whiskey. I wrote about Teeling whiskey for the first time in 2015 when I captured my tasting notes for the Teeling Small Batch whiskey.

In 2020 I got the opportunity to taste a few more releases from this inventive Irish whiskey brand. The Teeling Distillery of today was officially opened in 2015. However, the family’s distilling history in Ireland stretches back to 1782; Walter Teeling set up a craft distillery on Marrowbone Lane in the Liberties area of Dublin.

But unfortunately, as the economy turned, Irish whiskey fell on hard times, and the last still ran dry in 1976. Today the new Teeling distillery is only a stone throw from where Walter set up his distillery in the heart of Dublin.

To generate a profit while their own whiskey mature, they have been buying casks from other Irish distillers and selling it under their own brand.

The Teeling single malt whiskey has spirits matured in five different wine casks; sherry, port, Madeira, white burgundy and cabernet sauvignon. It is made from 100% malted barley with a range of different ages, including malt whiskey distilled in 1991.

In SA, this release retails for around R 790, and last time I checked, WhiskyBrother Shop had some stock.

Other releases in the range include the Teeling Single Grain and the Teeling Small Batch Irish whiskey. Teeling whiskey has no added colour, and it is not chill-filtered.

Teeling Single Malt Irish Whiskey Review

COUNTRY: Ireland

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: Gold

NOSE: Wood and fruity sweetness. Filled with sweet, ripe melon and lemon. Bits of dark chocolate and warming spices. A lovely inviting nose.

PALATE: A balanced mix of milk chocolate, toasty oak, white pepper and malt. Hints of warming cloves, cinnamon, ginger and malt. Hints of cherry lozenge and butterscotch. Medium body and very smooth. Some peppermint crisp chocolate in the background. Elegant and delicious! Add water carefully. Water dulls the flavours a bit.

FINISH: Long and lingering with dry oak and sweetness.

RATING: EXCELLENT

A well-balanced dram. The combination of wood, chocolate and spices are wonderfully warming. Just perfect for winter. It was my favourite of the three Teeling releases that I tried. The single malt is light but not delicate.

There is a chewy, oily quality to the mouth. Although Teeling used five different casks, none of the casks overwhelms the others. Each brings something unique, and they all fit together well. However, it was better to drink without water.

I have done a side by side comparison between this release and the Teeling Single Grain Irish whiskey to see which one I prefer.

Also Read: Redbreast 12 yo Whiskey

Maker’s Mark vs Maker’s 46 Bourbon

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 08/02/2021

In Whisky Comparison

Maker's Mark vs Maker's 46 bourbon whiskey comparison
One of the more recognizable bottles of bourbon on my shelf is the Maker’s Mark bourbon. With the bright red wax closure, you can spot this bottle at a distance. Today, I want to compare the Maker’s Mark vs Maker’s 46 bourbon whiskey to see how they differ.

Sadly, the variety of Maker’s Mark bourbon available in South Africa is (currently) limited to these two releases only. So what is the difference between these two bottles?

The mash bill for these two releases is similar. They are aged in the same barrels in the same warehouse. However, the Maker’s 46 is aged longer when compared to the standard Maker’s Mark bourbon. The Maker’s 46 also have seared French oak staves added to the barrels.

There is a slight difference as well in the ABV and the price. Let’s see if the extra wood and time changes the liquid enough to pick it up on my blind tasting.

Beam Suntory distils Maker’s Mark bourbon in Loretto, Kentucky. Production of Maker’s Mark started in 1954 after T. William “Bill” Samuels Sr. purchased the distillery known as Burks’ Distillery.

His wife, Marjorie “Margie” Samuels, gave the whisky its name. She designed the now-classic label and came up with the red wax-dipping top that provides the bottle with its distinctive look. 1968 saw the first bottle of Maker’s Mark whiskey.

Also Read: Maker’s Mark vs Woodford Reserve

Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whiskey

Maker's Mark bourbon Whisky with glass Maker’s Mark vs Maker’s 46
It is the bourbon that made me fall in love with bourbon; a regular whiskey in my cocktails and my glass. First released in 1958, the Maker’s Mark Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey has no age statement.

It is bottled when the tasters agree that it is ready, roughly around 6 yo. The Maker’s Mark mash bill does not include rye. Instead of rye, Maker’s Mark uses red winter wheat (16%), along with corn (70%) and malted barley (14%).

It is an excellent introduction to bourbon for someone who wants to explore it American bourbon more broadly.

Maker’s 46 Bourbon Whiskey

Maker's 46 Kentucky Bourbon with glass Maker’s Mark vs Maker’s 46
According to Maker’s Mark, Maker’s 46 Kentucky bourbon whiskey is the first new expression to the range since the 50s. It was released in 2010. The goal was to take the standard release and ad something spicier.

Maker’s 46 starts as standard Maker’s Mark bourbon. Then, heavily seared French oak staves are placed in just-emptied traditional Maker’s Mark barrels, refilled and returned to the warehouses to finish ageing. The number reflects the experiment’s number that created what the team was looking for; experiment No. 46 was just perfect.

Also Read: Maker’s Mark vs Buffalo Trace Bourbon

Maker’s Mark vs Maker’s 46 Bourbon Whiskey

Maker’s Mark vs Maker’s 46 Bourbon whiskey comparison

	Maker's Mark	Maker's 46
Type	Bourbon whiskey	Bourbon whiskey
Mashbill	Red winter wheat (16%), corn (70%), malted barley (14%)	Red winter wheat (16%), corn (70%), malted barley (14%)
ABV	45%	47%
Colour	Light golden copper	Dark polished copper
Nose	Cherries, brandied fruit, toasted wood and vanilla spice. Adding a few drops of water brings out more spice and woody notes.	Rich and sweet with heaps of plump maraschino cherries, oak, vanilla and caramel. There are hints of honey and buttery cinnamon toast.
Palate	Full of vanilla, followed by sweet cherries and fresh red fruit. Cinnamon and toasted oak. A few drops of water brings butterscotch and warming nutmeg. Delicious and very easy drinking.	Rich and creamy. There are notes of oak, vanilla cinnamon, all perfectly balanced. The Maker's 46 has a big mouthfeel. It is smooth like creamed honey. After the second sip, butter toffee, toast and hints of pepper show up. Water softens the heat a bit, but it is easy enough to drink without water.
Finish	Long with hints of sweetness, vanilla and caramel.	Long and lingering and ends in notes of caramel, pepper and vanilla.
My Rating	Excellent	Excellent
Price	$33	$43

Starting at the nose, the initial wafts coming from the two glasses are pretty similar. Both have cherries, vanilla and oak. After a while, the Maker’s 46 shows a bolder, creamy wooden note on the nose.

Looking at the Maker’s Mark, the vanilla and cherries continue on the palate. Easy drinking with cinnamon and fruity sweetness; it is lovely. However, when you put the Maker’s 46 next to it, you can immediately taste what the extra time in the wood did to the whiskey.

The Maker’s 46 is creamier and more decadent with bolder cherry and toasted oak notes, more spices with added complexity and an oilier mouthfeel. The complexity continues on the finish. A fantastic glass of bourbon.

Both of these bourbons are wonderful to have in the cupboard. However, the extra time and effort on the Maker’s 46 bourbon show its superiority: a lovely dram and worth the extra few bucks.

Which one is your favourite?

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Also Read: Johnnie Walker Red vs Black Label Whisky

J&B Rare Scotch Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 07/26/2021

In Blended whisky

Continuing my exploration of budget whisky blends and today, I look at the very popular J&B Rare Blended Scotch whisky. It is another well known and affordable release from Diageo.

In 1749, Giacomo Justerini fell in love with an opera singer, Margherita Bellini, and followed her to London. He was the son of an Italian master distiller and brought with him various recipes for liqueurs.

In England, Bellini introduced him to George Johnson and together, they established the wine merchants Johnson & Justerini. In 1760, Justerini sold his part of the business to Johnson and went back home to Italy.

Johnson and subsequently his family continued to grow the business. In 1831, Johnson’s family sold the company to Alfred Brooks. The firm was renamed Justerini & Brooks.

Seeing the potential of blended whisky, J&B was one of the first London spirits merchants to buy up malt whisky stocks and create its own “house” blend.

In the early 1930s, J&B Rare Scotch whisky was developed to appeal to the American palate and as a chief rival to another new-style blended Scotch; Cutty Sark. The American market loved the blend, and over time it became one of the best-known budget blends in the world.

J&B whisky is a blend of 42 malt and grain whiskies. It includes single malts from Knockando, Auchroisk and Glen Spey. It is a NAS release, and in South Africa, it retails for around R 190.

Other releases in the J&B whisky portfolio include the J&B Jet, J&B Reserve and the J&B Urban Honey liqueur.

Also Read: Black & White Whisky

J&B Rare Scotch Whisky Review

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Light gold

NOSE: Grain sweetness, alcohol notes with malt and wood. Delicate hints of fruit salad sweetness. Not very complex.

PALATE: Drying oak and malt with caramel sweetness and hints of vanilla. Raws alcohol notes on the palate, which makes the dram rather rough. Water softens the alcohol notes but brings forward pepper and bitter lemon.

FINISH: Medium length with oak and bitter lemon.

RATING: GOOD

The nose has a very distinctive grain sweetness that reminds me of my university days. We could not afford anything more expensive, and we mixed the J&B whisky with some Appletiser. John used to drink this with lemonade at university. A reasonable whisky to use in cocktails.

I find that it has a cloying sweetness and too many rough alcohol notes. The bitter lemon finish is also a bit off-putting. I need to do a budget whisky side by side review to see where this fits in with the other affordable drams I have tried this year. It is not my favourite.

Also Read: Vat 69 Scotch Whisky

Laphroaig Quarter Cask Islay Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 07/19/2021

In Single Malt whisky

It is one of the bottles that have been in my collection for ages. I keep on drinking it but never writing about it. So, with the Laphroaig Distillery 200th anniversary during 2015 and before I finish this bottle, I decided that it is time to write down my tasting notes for the Laphroaig Quarter Cask Islay single malt Scotch whisky.

Laphroaig is named after Loch Laphroaig on the south coast of Islay. Donald and Alexander Johnston established the distillery in 1815. Members of the Johnston family mainly ran the distillery.

There was a short spell where Donald Johnston died after falling into a scalding kettle and for a period the manager of Lagavulin, Walter Graham, ran Laphroaig. Lagavulin is only a short distance from Laphroaig.

Laphroaig returned to Johnston’s hands again in 1857. In 1954, Ian Hunter, a nephew of Sandy Johnston died and left the distillery to one of his managers. After this, the distillery changed hands a few times and ended up as part of the Beam Suntory brands in 2014.

The Laphroaig flavour is recognised worldwide and comes in part from its vicinity to the coast and the high moss content of its peat, which is processed on the distillery’s maltings floor.

Laphroaig is celebrating 200 years of making whisky on Islay in 2015. They released the very entertaining #OpinionsWelcome campaign. You can also go to their website and add your Laphroaig opinion.

The Laphroaig Quarter Cask was released in 2004. This expression is first aged in the standard oak casks and then transferred to smaller quarter casks for a further period. Due to the smaller barrels used, the oak surface whisky contact is more significant than with standard barrels.

Also Read: My Top 5 Whisky Food Pairings

Laphroaig Quarter Cask Islay Single Malt Whisky Review

REGION: Islay

ABV: 48%

COLOUR: A beautiful gold

NOSE: This is a classic Islay malt and epitomizes the Laphroaig style. Burnt peat, seaweed and iodine come to the front. Mild smoke and a surprising hint of spicy sweetness. The typical medicinal notes are floating in the background. A bold, rich, and complex aroma.

PALATE: It’s a perfect dram at the end of a long and hard week. There are notes of peat, smoke and some seaweed floating about. Hints of iodine, citrus and honey. In the background lurks some oak, liquorice and fruity notes. The palate feels rich and thick, befitting a proper Islay whisky.

The addition of water makes the Quarter Cask smoother and softens the medicinal notes. Water brings out more of the ashy notes; however, the dram remains big and bold.

FINISH: It’s long, and it’s lingering, and it’s complex. It changes from peat to sweet to spicy. Nevertheless, it leaves you with a warm feeling in your stomach. Long after you’ve swallowed, the Laphroaig Quarter Cask is still serenading you with its brilliance.

RATING: EXCELLENT

When you had a long hard week, and you want to sit back and relax with a complex dram that will take your mind off the drama, this Laphroaig Quarter Cask Islay whisky is the perfect dram. It is the embodiment of the Islay style. Rich, big, bold, peaty in your face wonderful.

I have tried various Laphroaig’s and captured tasting notes as follows:

I have done a side by side comparison between the Laphroaig 10 year old and the Quarter cask whisky to see how they differ.

Here is my Laphroaig Quarter Cask #OpinionsWelcome version; What is yours?

Aerstone Land Cask Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 07/12/2021

In Single Malt whisky

Last week I looked at the Aerstone Sea Cask 10 year old single malt whisky, and this week I explore more of the Aerstone Land Cask single malt Scotch whisky and look at the Ailsa Bay Distillery. A new distillery to my blog

The Aerstone range has two distinct styles of whisky. The Sea Cask is a Speyside style single malt matured near the Ayrshire coast. The counterpart is the Aerstone Land Cask. These expressions from William Grant & Sons aim to capture two different flavour profiles from Scotland in an approachable aged whisky.

Ailsa Bay is in the Scottish Lowlands, on the Clyde coast, looking out towards Arran. It was built in 2007 within the Girvan grain complex where the dismantled Ladyburn distillery once stood. It has eight stills to create a wide variety of styles.

Also Read: Littlemill 25 yo whisky

This allows the distillery to produce a broad range of styles. This flexibility gives master blender Brian Kinsman the scope to test innovative ideas by isolating and controlling some aspects throughout the production process.

Much of the unseated malted from Ailsa Bay is used in Grant’s and Clan MacGregor blended whisky. Ailsa Bay also produce peated whisky; its first official bottling as a single malt was a NAS heavily peated whisky released in 2016.

The Aerstone Land Cask single malt Scotch whisky was peat dried malt using Highland peat and matured for 10 years at warehouses situated slightly inland. In South Africa, it retails for R360 and is widely available.

Aerstone Land Cask 10 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Lowlands

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Dark gold

NOSE: Earthy mossy notes with peat, smoke and vanilla. There is a marmalade sweetness in the background mixed with crème brulee. Richer and bolder than the Sea Cask.

PALATE: Nicely balanced between sweet and smoky notes, with peat and smoke mixed with burnt sugar and dark orange chocolate. Heathery kind of peat with drying oak and warming pepper. Medium body. Not quite as sweet as the nose suggested. Bits of vanilla and cinnamon. Add water carefully; too much water drowns out the peaty goodness quite quickly.

FINISH: Bold and rich with notes of pepper, peat and brown sugar.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The Land Cask whisky is delicious, unpretentious and accessible. The peat is rich and nicely balanced, but water can easily overwhelm the flavour. It is a beautiful introduction to peat for a newbie. Both are excellent, but I enjoyed the Land Cask more.

The Aerstone Sea Cask is a summer dram. The Land Cask is perfect for a winter afternoon. It is an affordable everyday single malt whisky that hits all the right peaty notes. However, it is not a dram I would use in cocktails.

Sample disclosure: I received this whisky from William Grant. The review and tasting notes are my own honest, fair and independent thoughts about the whisky.

Also Read: Glenfiddich 12 vs Glenlivet 12 yo Whisky