Tag: Rating: Excellent Page 40 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

Mackmyra First Edition Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 02/17/2014

In Single Malt whisky

A whisky all the way from Sweden, the Mackmyra First Edition. It all started on a skiing trip. Eight friends met up, and a conversation started about the opportunity to manufacture a Swedish whisky.

The group of friends founded Mackmyra distillery after only one year’s preparation. All ingredients used in the production of this whisky are sourced within a 120 km radius from Mackmyra.

The distillery uses barley from Dalarna and Strömsta Manor in Enköping. The yeast is sourced from Rotebro, and the peat is obtained from a local bog near Österfärnebo. Mackmyra is aged in handmade, first-fill American bourbon and Swedish oak casks. They age the casks for about 5 years.

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The Swedish oak is reportedly tougher to work than American or European oak. The reward is a wood with a unique spiciness which is imparted into the spirit. Almost every aspect of Mackmyra has a wonderful story. Mackmyra matures their casks in an abandoned mine fifty meters below ground in Bodås.

The first limited edition whisky from Mackmyra was launched in 2006 and sold out within hours. The bottle itself is minimalist with clean lines and elegant labelling. It reminds me of that other Swedish icon, Ikea, and somehow just looks Swedish!

The distillery launched the Mackmyra First Edition single malt whisky in 2008. I got my bottle of Mackmyra First Edition on one of my trips through London.

Mackmyra First Edition Whisky Review

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Sadly this whisky is not readily available in South Africa. My bottle is from the 2008-03 batch. This bottling of Mackymra is dedicated to Pioneers. It is not chill-filtered.

COUNTRY: Sweden

ABV: 46.1%

COLOUR: Light golden. Compared to some of the other whiskey in my collection, it is quite a light colour. The whisky is not very oily.

NOSE: The first thought on nosing the Mackmyra is sweetness. Honey and oak come through right away. After the first aroma, fresh fruit and floral notes come through.

PALATE: On the palate, the whisky comes across as medium-bodied. It is not a very complex whisky but is wonderfully easy drinking. The palate continues with the honey theme, adding butterscotch and apples to the notes.

FINISH: Medium with notes of spice, vanilla and oak ending in some dried fruit. It does not have the longest of finishes, but one must remember that this is only a 5 yo!

RATING: EXCELLENT

Whilst not as complex as other whiskies, and has a medium finish, it is nevertheless an exceptional dram to have on a special day. I was thrilled to learn that a shipment, which might include some Mackmyra, is on the way to South Africa. One of our friends, Whisky Brother Marc, may be responsible!

This is exciting news, and I look forward to this shipment of Swedish whisky, landing safely here in Johannesburg. Have you tried the Mackmyra First Edition yet? What did you think of it? I also got to taste the Mackmyra Svensk Rok which you can read about here.

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Johnnie Walker Explorers Club The Gold Route Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 01/26/2014

In Blended whisky

In August 2013, a fire broke out inside the main terminal building of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya. The fire destroyed most of the international terminal. John had to fly to Kenya for business, and it was with trepidation that he set off. He was unsure what the state of the airport would be and if they will be able to land.

With typical African ingenuity, however, the airport was up and running within two days. When John departed Nairobi, the Duty-Free shop was set up in a tent. In this tent, next to the burnt down terminal building, he found a bottle of Johnnie Walker Explorers Club The Gold Route whisky.

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According to the company, the Johnnie Walker Explorers Club The Gold Route was inspired by journeys around South America. They claim inspiration from the lush Amazon forests of Central America through the snow-capped Andean mountains, passing the mystical Inca pyramids and along the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

The blend comprises a variety of ages of whisky, including some very old cask. As it was purchased in duty-free, the bottle was a 1 litre, not the standard 75cl or 70cl. The Gold Route is the second expression in the Explorers’ Club collection. The Spice Route and The Royal Route complete the collection.

Johnnie Walker Explorers Club The Gold Route Whisky Review

ABV: 40%

COLOUR: Light amber. It looks lovely in the light. The whisky is nice and oily.

NOSE: Initially offers spice, butterscotch and dried fruits. In the background are hints of honey. The addition of a few drops of water opens this whisky up. Fresh fruits, greengage and oak now come to the fore. The nose is lovely.

PALATE: On the palate, one is struck by the smoothness. The greengage and fresh fruit also carry on to the palette. The fruit slowly turns to butterscotch and spice. Some aniseed and dried apricots also come through. It’s a medium-bodied whisky that feels great in the mouth.

FINISH: Not long, but smooth and mellow. It ends with cinnamon and cloves. Some pepper also appears at the end.

RATING: EXCELLENT

This bottle is an excellent addition to the Explorers’ Club collection. It is an incredibly smooth whisky. I did not, however, pick up any notes of smoke that other reviewers mentioned in their tasting notes. It is, nevertheless, a great expression from Johnnie Walker. If you like blends and happen to be in an airport, do pick up a bottle.

It will be a fabulous addition to whatever you may already have. Based on how delicious the Gold Route is, I think the Royal Route might also be worth getting. I will keep a lookout for it when I travel. What were your impressions of this Gold Route from Johnnie Walker?

Some of the other Johnnie Walker releases I have tried include the Johnnie Walker Swing as well as the Johnnie Walker Blue Label.

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Yamazaki 12 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 12/15/2013

In Single Malt whisky

This week I tasted one of the international whiskies in my collection – The Yamazaki 12 year old single malt whisky. The Yamazaki is distilled by Suntory, whose founder Shinjiro Torii built Japan’s first malt whisky distillery in the Vale of Yamazaki.

Located on the outskirts of the ancient capital of Kyoto, the pure waters and climate proved ideal for the maturation of whisky. Japanese whisky has an exciting journey dating back to the 1860s. The Japanese consumed all the whisky distilled domestically until the 2000s.

The Yamazaki 12 year old became the first Japanese whisky to be exported and to win awards. With its reputation preceding it, we were looking forward to finally tasting it. The whisky is presented in a box that evokes echoes of ancient paper with its faded yellow colour. Proudly displayed on the box is the note that the whisky won a double gold medal in 2009.

The Yamazaki 12 year old single malt whisky is matured in three kinds of wood – toasted American oak, Japanese Mizunara oak and ex-sherry casks. The Mizunara oak is native to Japan. It is both scarcer and harder to work with than American or European oak.

It reputedly imparts a seductive aroma of incense sticks, flowers and spice that is quite unmistakable.
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Yamazaki 12 year old Whisky Review

COUNTRY: Japan

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Deep golden caramel. There are clear hints of sherry coming through in the colour, but it is not as intense as some of the other ex-sherry cask whiskies that we have.

NOSE: The nose is complex with caramel, fruit and florals the first impression. The dram reminds me of subtle perfume!

PALATE: There is lots of honey, spice and oak. More subtle is the barley and malt, which floats around in the background. The spice is quite pronounced with hints of pepper.

FINISH: The finish is luxurious, velvety and smooth.

RATING: EXCELLENT

I missed a longer, more sophisticated finish, but the Yamasaki 12 year old is a superb whisky. It may be that at a future re-tasting, I upgrade it to a divine rating; it’s that interesting.

This lovely single malt reminds one of a Speyside whisky with lots of fruit and honey. Jeannette dug around to see which food would pair well with it. It should come as little surprise that it seems to pair well with sushi – also one of our favourite foods.

The Yamasaki flavour notes match ginger and soy sauce well, and thus it should work well with Makizushi or rolled sushi. Salmon rainbow rolls, vegetable maki rolls or futomaki all spring to mind. Whatever sushi you pair this with, I think it will be awesome, and we look forward to doing just that.

Other interesting whiskies from Japan that I have tasted include the Nikka from the Barrel, Nikka Coffey Grain as well as the Nikka Miyagikyo.

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Auchentoshan Heartwood Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 08/20/2013

In Single Malt whisky

On our trip to Dullstroom, we stopped off at the ‘Wild about Whisky’ bar. There we worked our way through a tiny bit of their selection. I tried to taste whiskies that I have not seen before. At one of the tastings, I tried various whiskies aged in sherry casks, and one of the nicest ones was the Auchentoshan Heartwood single malt Scotch whisky.

Lucky for me, Wild about Whisky had one in the store that I could buy. Auchentoshan (pronounced ock-en-tosh-an) is a Lowlands distillery, and the name translates as ‘corner of the field’ from the local form of Gaelic. Auchentoshan is unique among Scottish whisky distilleries in that they triple distil using three stills.

Elsewhere in Scotland, the common practice is to distil twice. Triple distillation produces a spirit that is lighter and more delicate in flavour. Auchentoshan has a core range that include the American Oak and 12 yo whisky release and have also produced a range exclusively for the retail travel market.

What it means is that if you are not travelling through Heathrow airport – or get lucky – this bottle may elude you in the usual places. That would be a tragedy, for this is a fine whisky indeed. The Auchentoshan range consists of four core expressions, with two limited-edition releases coming out each year.

The whole range pays tribute to the wood, and each whisky in the range is inspired by the phase of a tree’s life cycle and named to reflect the whisky’s flavour as if it were part of the tree’s life. The Auchentoshan Heartwood single malt whisky is aged in Oloroso sherry casks, as well as charred American oak bourbon casks.
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Auchentoshan Heartwood Whisky Review

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REGION: Lowlands

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Some commentators have described the colour as a dark honeycomb. To me, it looked far more copper in colour. It reminded me of beautiful copper pots that had been polished and caught the light just the right way in sunlight. It is indeed a warm, inviting colour.

NOSE: From a nose perspective, the Auchentoshan Heartwood is quite complex. I picked up some sherry and notes of orange. Other commentators have picked up honeycomb – proof if any was needed that it’s a complex nose because I did not pick that up.

PALATE: Whilst you may not remember the Auchentoshan Heartwood for its nose, you won’t easily forget it on the palate. On the palate, the Auchentoshan Heartwood feels lighter than other Scottish whiskies. It may be a testament to the triple distillation rather than the standard double distillation.

The Heartwood flavours that came through were sherry, vanilla and honeycomb. I thought of ice cream at first! While it is light, there is a richness to it, with oak coming through as well as some hints of citrus.

FINISH: The finish is not long, with quite a short tail to it. It does not distract in any way, and it finishes in a nice, mouth-filling, fresh way.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The Auchentoshan is a wonderful whisky, and we both instantly reached the same verdict. Not only is it delicious, but it’s also probably one of the most “moreish” whiskies I have tasted, and you quickly find yourself pouring another glass before you realise it.

I’m glad it’s a 1L bottle because it’s not going to last for very long! I have also tried the Auchentoshan American Oak whisky and captured my tasting notes.

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Lagavulin Distillers Edition 1994 Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 08/04/2013

In Single Malt whisky

It’s been a while since I last posted. Sometimes life gets in the way of good whisky! Much like the Lagavulin Distillers Edition 1994 Islay single malt Scotch whisky, the time has passed so quickly that I cannot recall where we acquired the bottle or where the original packaging is!

Lagavulin single malts are generally seen as among the smokiest whiskies to be found. A Scottish Islay whisky, the distillery is one of the three Kildalton distilleries in the south of Islay.

Situated at the picturesque Lagavulin Bay, the distillery officially dates from 1816 when John Jonston and Archibald Campbell constructed two distilleries on site. They merged into one and was called Lagavulin.

Lagavulin claims the slowest distillation with 5 hours for the first distillation and 9 for the second. Lagavulin is produced by United Distillers & Vintners, which in turn is part of the Diageo stable.

The standard Lagavulin single malt Scotch whisky is a 16 year old whisky. A cult item among peated whisky fans. This Lagavulin Distillers Edition is a limited release. They finished it in a Pedro Ximinez cask. Being an Islay whisky, it was always going to be bold and peaty.

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Lagavulin Distillers Edition 1994 Whisky Review

REGION: Islay

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Quite dark when compared to other Islay whiskies.

NOSE: The first thing that hits you when you nose the whisky is the characteristic peat and iodine. t’s a big whisky, and the Lagavulin distillery’s characteristic smokiness follows the peat and iodine. Altogether it is just an impressive nose. Altogether it is just an impressive nose.

PALATE: When tasting the whisky, one is struck at once by burnt oak and smoke. But also the surprising fruitiness, which was a bit unexpected. I picked up flavours of raisin, sherry and even vanilla.

The flavours come together beautifully. It is a dram which John’s friend Justin, who dislikes Islay and claims he can smell the sardines in them, might well enjoy.

FINISH: The finish… well, it’s wow! It builds slowly to a long tail, absolutely brilliant. It is an excellent whisky with a beautiful nose, a wonderful full-mouthed fruity palette and a brilliant finish.

RATING: EXCELLENT

I paired some Maltesers with a Lagavulin during December. It made for an AMAZING pairing. But the Lagavulin pairs beautifully with Gorgonzola, Roquefort or Stilton cheese as well. It is a must-try combination for anyone who likes to pair food and spirits.

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