Tag: Rating: Excellent Page 24 of 41

Whisky of the Week review and tasting notes for whiskies that I rated as Excellent. Excellent means that after tasting the whisky, I want to pour a second and third glass. It is whisky that I want to keep on drinking and when the bottle is finished, I will buy another one. Rating: Excellent

In my collection, there are a few open bottles that I have not written about yet. One of them is nearly empty – the Johnnie Walker Gold Label 18 year old blended Scotch whisky. This release has been discontinued and replaced with something else, so I better capture the tasting notes quickly, while I still have something left to drink.

The Johnnie Walker Gold Label 18 year old whisky was created in 1920 by Sir Alexander Walker to commemorate the Johnnie Walker Company’s 100 years in business dating back to 1820. Although it was discontinued during the war due to a shortage of blending stocks, the label was reintroduced in 1992.

They based the blend on the original blending notes left by Sir Alexander seventy-five years earlier. It’s a blend of 15 different whiskies including some Talisker (the general character); Clynish (for the brine and seaside ambience); Royal Lochnagar (for the luxurious palate) and Cardhu (for the finish).

All the whiskies are a minimum of 18 years old. Looking at my bottle and the packaging, it is probably the second generation release that was available from 2009 until 2013.

Also Read: Benriach The Smoky Twelve Whisky

This Gold Label Centenary Blend then was replaced by two releases: The Johnnie Walker Platinum 18 year old whisky and the Gold Label Reserve Scotch (NAS). The only place where I still see the Centenary Blend is on the big whisky auctions. At a somewhat crazy price.

Jim Murray awarded this Gold Label blend 96 points in his Whisky Bible, which is not too bad.

Johnnie Walker Gold Label 18 year old Whisky Review

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Bright gold

NOSE: Malt and barley with hints of smoke, oaky spices and sun-dried grass, rich and complex with a fruity sweetness. Every time you smell it, it brings different notes. Apples and cinnamon hints balanced with fresh flowers. Inviting and delicious.

PALATE: Honey and apricot jam, hints of malt and cream, cream, toasted oak spices with smoky hints. Rich and complex but very drinkable. Elegant with bits of cinnamon and dried fruit, with a splendid balance between sweet and spice. Adding water makes this even more drinkable. The Johnnie Walker Gold Label is one of my favourites from the brand.

FINISH: Long and lingering with notes of honey and green grass

RATING: EXCELLENT

What a delicious dram. I just love the rich, fruity notes balanced with the smoky hints. I will be rather sad when this bottle finishes. From what I have read, the Gold Label NAS release is not close to as delicious as this.

The Johnnie Walker Gold Label 18 year old blended Scotch whisky is a dram that is worth saving for a special occasion and then celebrating in golden style.

I have done a side by side comparison between this Gold Label and the Johnnie Walker Platinum Label, and following the link will allow you to see the results.

Also Read: Glenmorangie 18 yo whisky

Glen Scotia 15 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 10/29/2018

In Single Malt whisky

My second blog post on the Glen Scotia miniatures. I found this at the back of my cupboard while cleaning my whisky room. Last time I looked at the Victoriana whisky and today I look at the Glen Scotia 15 year old single malt Scotch whisky.

The golden days of Campbeltown were before Prohibition. Today there are only 3 distilleries left from the original more than 20. Glen Scotia along with Springbank and Glengyle still keep this unique Scottish region tastes alive. The characteristics of Campbeltown whiskies are a complex mix of flavours.

The characteristics of Campbeltown include a dryness with spicy fruit sweetness, smoke and a hint of saltiness. Imagine a cross between the Lowlands and the Western Highlands with a pinch of Island salt thrown in.

Stewart, Galbraith and Co. founded Glen Scotia in 1832 and it was family-owned until 1919. A turbulent period followed and much-needed stability arrived when the Loch Lomond Group bought the distillery.

The Glen Scotia range includes some core Single Malt expressions:

Double Cask
Victoriana
18 Year Old
25 Year Old

The Glen Scotia 15 year old whisky was released in 2015 and has been aged in specially selected American oak casks. It retails for around R800. Not a bad price for a 15 year old whisky. But the question is always; what does it taste like?

Also Read: The Singleton 15 yo whisky

Glen Scotia 15 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Campbelltown

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: Golden Honey

NOSE: Barley, toasted oak, apricot sweetness with a lemony zest. Hints of spices and freshly baked goods.

PALATE: Small jam tarts, candied ginger and vanilla with fresh apricots. The Glen Scotia has a fruity sweetness that is balanced by a spicy bite with little bits of orange peel.

Slight hints of freshly baked apple pie and a salty note somewhere. Adding water makes the Glen Scotia 15 year old very drinkable without diluting the sweetness and spice balance.

FINISH: Medium length ending on fruity sweetness and orange peel with hints of pepper.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The Glen Scotia 15 year old single malt whisky is nicely balanced and makes for smooth drinking. And best of all, it is not a bad price for a 15-year-old whisky. Excellent addition to any collection and probably one of the more drinkable Campbeltown releases available in South Africa.

Have you tried this release yet?

Also Read: Longmorn 15 yo Scottish whisky

Aberlour A’bunadh Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 09/10/2018

In Single Malt whisky

Where the Lour River meets the Spey, sits a small distillery, with a big name. As the son of a local tenant farmer, James Flemming knew the Speyside region well. When he founded the Aberlour Distillery in 1879, he chose a location that provided a steady supply of pure spring water that flowed over the pink granite of Ben Rinnes.

James remained involved with the distillery until his death in 1895. He is buried opposite the distillery in the Aberlour Village Cemetery.

The Aberlour distillery changed hands a few times, and currently, Pernod Ricard owns it together with Glenlivet distillery. They also produce the Ballantine’s blended whisky and Chivas Regal brands.

The distillery is known for their sherried expressions and mainly makes use of sherry casks with a few bourbon barrels mixed in. Aberlour distillery produces a variety of ages, including a 10 year old, 12 year old, 15 year old, and an 18 year old whisky. However, today I am tasting their cask strength release, the Aberlour A’bunadh Batch #53 single malt Scotch whisky.

Also Read: The Macallan 12 yo whisky

The Aberlour A’bunadh has no age statement. Meaning ‘the original’ in Gaelic, A’bunadh is made to honour Aberlour’s founder, James Fleming. It is drawn exclusively from Spanish Oloroso Sherry butts, and the Aberlour A’bunadh is bottled without chill-filtration or additional colours.

I tasted the Aberlour A’bunadh whisky for the first time about a year ago at the Whisky Live event in Pretoria, and it blew my mind – literally. It is bottled at an impressive 59.7% ABV and packs a big punch. With the last bits of winter floating about, it is the perfect whisky to review.

Aberlour A’bunadh Batch #53 WhiskyReview

REGION: Speyside

ABV: 59.7%

COLOUR: Golden mahogany

NOSE: Let this Aberlour A’bunadh breath for a bit. There are notes of overripe cherries and red fruit, sherry, vanilla, cinnamon and oak. Sugary sweetness nicely balanced with spicy notes with hints of sweet dessert wine at the end.

PALATE: Not for the faint-hearted. The first sip brings toasted oak spices, bitter chocolate and orange peel, but slowly more sherry fruity sweetness develops. Hints of dark sugar, cherries and cinnamon. You know you are drinking a high ABV dram. The alcohol is not overwhelming but does bring quite a bit of warmth. Adding a nice splash of water brings more of the sweetness to the front.

FINISH: Long and warming with some sweetness following the spicy notes.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The perfect Scotch whisky for winter. Sitting next to a roaring fire, a delicious dram in your glass warming you up from the inside. The Aberlour A’bunadh Batch #53 single malt is big, bold, and a sherry monster with a few rough edges. I would love to taste various batches together to see the variety that can come from this distillery.

Also Read: Glenfarclas 12yo older expression whisky

The Balvenie 14 year old Golden Cask Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 08/20/2018

In Single Malt whisky

Can you believe it; I have not tried one single Balvenie whisky this whole year! What a shame and something that needs rectification immediately! And with the coolish weather we are having, I think a whisky aged in Rum casks is perfect. So I took down the Balvenie Golden Cask 14 year old single malt Scotch whisky.

The Balvenie is a distillery I love. I have tasted plenty of the Balvenie releases including the Balvenie Triple Cask 16 yo, the Balvenie Peated Cask and the Balvenie Portwood 1993 whisky release. You can read about the history of Balvenie in some of my previous posts.

Also Read: Tomintoul 16 yo Whisky

But today is all about the Golden Cask. This Balvenie Golden Cask Scotch whisky was initially bottled for the travel retail market.

The whisky was first matured in traditional oak casks and then finished in casks that formerly held golden Caribbean rum. It’s crafted by Balvenie’s David Stewart. It has been discontinued and I can’t find it available anymore.

The Balvenie Golden Cask 14 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Speyside

ABV: 47.5%

COLOUR: Light wheat gold

NOSE: Heaps of fruits, florals with butterscotch and fudge and vanilla. Fields of summer flowers with hints of cinnamon spice and hints of chocolate coated fruits and oak.

PALATE: The fruity sweetness promised on the nose is not so pronounced, and there are more spicy notes on the palate. The Golden Cask is refined and luxurious. It is fresh and light with pineapple, tropical fruit. Complex and delicious, water brings sweetness to the front and makes the whisky delicious and drinkable.

FINISH: Long and lingering with some sweetness and cinnamon coming through at the end.

RATING: EXCELLENT

A lovely release. I will be sad when we finish this bottle of Balvenie whisky; especially as it can’t be replaced. The balance between the fruity notes, the spices and the tropical hints is delicious and luxurious.

I have paired this Golden Cask single malt release with some Lindt Papaya chocolate for New Year. The fruity chocolate enhanced the tropical fruit notes of the Golden Cask whisky and the whisky smoothed out the creamy sweet notes of the chocolate. It made for a wonderfully rich and decadent fruit combination.

I am glad that I at least have the Caribbean Cask to make me dream of tropical islands. A side by side comparison between the Golden Cask and the Caribbean Cask deserved its own blog post.

Also Read: New Zealand Whisky Company whisky

Glen Scotia Victoriana Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 07/30/2018

In Single Malt whisky

A long story to get to my whisky this week; the Glen Scotia Victoriana single malt Scotch whisky. Winter is not my favourite time of the year. I love the summer. When it is warm, I can move, plan, function and do things.

During winter, all I want to do is hibernate until the temperature rises again. But being in hibernation does not lead to getting things done, so winter I try to use as a time to restructure, refocus and clean.

Preparing and cleaning, so that when Spring comes, I can shrug off the old and start something fresh and new. As part of the process, I started sorting and cleaning my ‘whisky room’; the room where I store my liquor bottles. Whisky, wine, gin, brandy and all the assorted liqueurs that we gathered over the years.

I updated my database with what I have and cleaned out old boxes and paperwork that seems to gather there. And lo and behold, I found a small box with some samples in that I have not officially tasted yet. The box was from a Loch Lomond function I attended a couple of years ago.

Also Read: Inchmurrin 11 yo Whisky

Two of the drams I have tasted and written about. But there was a few more that I have not covered yet. So, over the next couple of months, expect to see a few Glen Scotia releases popping up for tasting.

The first one I want to try is the Glen Scotia Victoriana whisky. I just love the name and the label. The label reminds me of that dying hobby of stamp collection. So it is making the first appearance.

The name and the label is a reminder of the Victorian era when Campbeltown was a booming whisky hub. The small Kintyre Peninsula boasted over 20 distilleries. Campbeltown was known as “The Whisky Capital of the World.” Then Prohibition hit and Speyside and the Highlands became more dominant and this caused the end of the of Campbeltown golden era.

I had written about the history of Campbeltown and Glen Scotia when I captured my tasting notes for the Glen Scotia Double Cask, the Loch Lomond Original release as well as the Loch Lomond Single Grain whisky.

The Glen Scotia Victoriana single malt aims to re-create a modern interpretation of classic Victorian Campbeltown malt. The Victoriana is a NAS release and has been finished in deeply charred oak casks and bottled at cask strength without filtration.

Glen Scotia Victoriana Whisky Review

REGION: Campbeltown

ABV: 51.5%

COLOUR: Golden wheat with hints of green

NOSE: A very delicate nose. It’s got light cereals with hints of floral character in it. Toasted oak and smoke, bits of overripe summer berries, vanilla, toffee apple sweetness mixed with winter spices.

PALATE: On the palate, it’s different from other expressions. It starts quite spicy then quickly settled down. The first sip has lots of oak dryness, dried citrus peel, cinnamon, pepper and vanilla.

The second sip brings fruit jam with malted biscuits and salted toffee with faint hints of smoke. The Victoriana has a medium body, and a bit of an alcohol bite and water brings down the heat. Water also releases more fruit and vanilla spiciness but tempers the salt and smokiness.

FINISH: The finish is remarkable and the highlight of the Victoriana. It builds quickly and warms your insides before slowly retreating to leave you satisfied long after you have swallowed. The addition of water tames the finish a bit. It ends in hints of chocolate and smoke with lemon peel and oak.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The oaky spiciness of the Victoriana whisky can be a bit overwhelming. But you just need to take a second sip for the ripe summer berries, vanilla and smoky notes to come through. It is an exciting release that is certainly worth trying. From all the Campbeltown releases I have tried, this is my favourite.

In a few weeks, I will feature the Glen Scotia 15 yo, and perhaps that will also impress. We will have to wait and see. For now, I need to get my hands on a full-size Victoriana as this little sample was not enough.

Also Read: The Arran Malt Sherry Cask Whisky