Tag: Rating: Good Page 5 of 8

Whisky of the Week review and tasting notes for whisky I rated Good. When the whisky is drinkable but forgettable. One of us sometimes doesn’t finish the glass. The bottle might be in my collection for a long long time. Rating: Good

William Lawson’s Blended Scotch Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 06/29/2019

In Blended whisky

At the end of last year, a few articles on the top-selling whisky brands caught my eye. The one that I was most intrigued with was theTop 10 Blended Whisky’ brands. I mainly collect single malts but have diversified my collection to include quite a few interesting blends and blended malts.

On the -Top 10′ list were a few names that I have noticed in our local bottle store, but never gave a thought. One of these was William Lawson’s blended Scotch whisky.

The bottle is not very premium looking, the branding is stark black and white, and it is in the VERY affordable class.

But it is one of the biggest selling blends in Russia and with over 3,1 million cases sold across the world, I was wondering: am I missing something? William Lawson’s is a blended Scotch whisky owned by the Bicardi Group. I love the Dewar’s whisky, so how bad can this be?

Detail about this whisky is a bit sketchy. William Lawson was born in 1853 or thereabouts. He was an Exports Manager at a spirits company in Dublin. While there, he convinced his employers to name their blended Scotch whisky after him.

He moved between Ireland, Scotland and England. William Lawson’s blended Scotch whisky is produced with a high malt content, similar to the blend was first produced by William Lawson in 1849.

The blend named after him. The bottle mentions that the blend’s heart is the Macduff and Glen Deveron single malt blended with some Highland malts and grains.

Related Article: Black Bottle Old Release Whisky

William Lawson’s Blended Scotch Whisky Review

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Very light golden wheat

NOSE: Initial sweetness of grape jelly and preserved grapes. It is followed by toffee and burnt caramel. There is almost a slight cognac note in the background. It’s a not very complex nose. The addition of water seems to bring out some floral notes.

PALATE: After the sweet nose, the spiciness of the palate comes as a surprise. The initial spice is followed up with layers of wood and oak before drifting away into pectin and dried citrus peel. William Lawson’s whisky is a bit rough and unfinished. It is as if the flavour notes haven’t come together properly.

The addition of water transforms the whisky, making it smoother and a bit easier drinking. Gone are most of the spice, but it does bring forward some of the oak and a little bit of a leather flavour.

FINISH: Long and lingering, but not in a good way. It retains an element of raw almost turpentine floating about.

RATING: GOOD

In South Africa, the retail price for the William Lawson blended Scotch is around R180. For R30 more, you can get better drams. If you are looking for a decent whisky – this is a bargain bin drop out.

Instead try something else. However, if you are looking for a bang for your buck, that will not interfere with your mixer’s taste, this will be your whisky.

Also Read: Bell’s Special Reserve whisky

Glenbrynth Bourbon Cask Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 08/13/2018

In Single Malt whisky

Today I try the Glenbrynth Bourbon Cask single malt Scotch whisky, a whisky discovery with a bit of a story. A year or three ago, while visiting a whisky show, there was a man in a kilt. Not strange at a whisky show, there are usually quite a few men in kilts.

My favourite Mr Whisky – Pierre Meintjies always wears his kilt to whisky shows. However, this was an African man in a kilt. Not a sight you see very often.

Especially not in Pretoria, where this particular whisky show was being held. I just had to meet this gentleman and wandered over. His name is Mickey Baloyi. As I was to find out, Mickey is affectionately known in the liquor industry as ‘the African Scot’.

He worked extensively for whisky brands in South Africa and learnt his craft from master blenders in Scotland. Mickey is also a Keeper of the Quaich.

Also Read: Sullivans Cove Bourbon Cask Whisky

Mickey was standing with a bottle of whisky that I, at that stage, have not seen before – A Glenbrynth. I had to taste it and got the opportunity to taste a few releases from this company. Not much information is available on Glenbrynth, but other releases include:

Blended malt
12 year old blended malt
18 year old single malt
21 year old single malt
28 year old single malt
30 year old blended Scotch
40 year old blended malt.

The 21 year old single malt and the 30 year old blended whisky impressed me. The Glenbrynth whisky is distilled and matured in Speyside and the Highlands regions from unnamed distilleries. The final product is blended and bottled in Bellshill, Glasgow, Scotland.

The Glenbrynth Bourbon Cask is a limited edition single malt Scotch whisky that was double cask matured – first in traditional American ex-bourbon oak casks and then in first-fill American ex-bourbon oak casks.

Glenbrynth Bourbon Cask Whisky Review

REGION: Scotland

ABV: 43%

COLOUR:Gold with hints of sunset orange

NOSE: The nose on the Bourbon Cask finish is delicate and light with hints of malt, stewed fruit sweetness, caramel and something that reminds me of sherry sweetness, rather than a bourbon sweetness. I was hoping for a bit of the traditional bourbon spices of vanilla and toasted oak, but it was not there.

PALATE: The sweetness from the nose does not translate to the palate. On the palate, it is spicy with cinnamon and pepper and some alcohol heat. There are notes of wet wood and old flowers.

Not the most complex dram. After adding water, the heat and spices are softened a bit, but the Glenbrynth Bourbon Cask tastes watered down. There seems to be a hint of milk chocolate that brightens things up a bit.

FINISH: Pepper and caramel sweetness.

RATING: GOOD

After tasting the older releases from this brand, I was expecting something a ~~bit~~ LOT more complex and rewarding. The Glenbrynth Bourbon Cask is a bit one-sided and lacks depth and complexity. The older releases, however, are excellent.

For some reason, this Bourbon Cask falls short of my expectation, and it might be part of my collection for a rather long time.

This release is available for around R45o in South Africa so definitely in the affordable range. Based on some research Glenbrynth is available in quite a few Southern African countries as well.

The prices are quite reasonable. The Glenbrynth 21 year old whisky retails for around R2 900, the 30 year old for around R 4 000 and the Glenbrynth 40 year old whisky for about R7 000.

Have you tried this release? Or any other in the Glenbrynth series?

Also Read: Glenfiddich Fire and Cane Whisky

Glenfiddich Project XX Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 06/11/2018

In Single Malt whisky

During the beginning of 2018, I tasted the Glenfiddich IPA Cask whisky and wrote my own tasting notes about it. This release was the first in Glenfiddich’s Experimental Series and I loved it. The second release in this series is the Glenfiddich Project XX single malt Scotch whisky and many people had opinions about this release.

Glenfiddich XX started as a project shrouded in secrecy. Malt Master Brian Kinsman invited 20 Glenfiddich brand ambassadors from 16 countries around the world to the Glenfiddich distillery in Scotland. No one knew what they were about to do. Each person was given free rein to explore the warehouse and select any cask that intrigued them.

The 20 chosen casks were then married together by Brian Kinsman, the Glenfiddich Malt Master. The final 20 selected malts, matured in everything from aged malts matured in port pipes to old sherry butts and virgin oak bourbon casks.

I got a lot of feedback on the blog post and the tweets, so I ran a poll in Instagram asking people which of these two releases are their favourite.

It was clear that the Glenfiddich Experimental Series Project XX whisky was considerably more popular, so I had to add this to my tasting list and capture the tasting notes.

Also Read: The Balvenie Single Barrel whisky

The XX stands for 20, representing the 20 ambassadors that took part and the thumbprint on the bottle is an amalgamation of the twenty ambassadors’ thumbprints.

Interestingly, both Glenfiddich Experimental series IPA and Glenfiddich Project XX single malt will be permanent additions to the Glenfiddich range; they are not limited editions. Both the IPA and XX is non-chill-filtered and bottled at an unusual 47% ABV.

Glenfiddich Experimental Series Project XX Whisky Review

ABV: 47%

COLOUR: Amber

NOSE: Ripe Golden Delicious apples, dark stone fruits and spice with hints of fresh flowers. Some vanilla and oak are floating about. Not the most complex nose.

PALATE: Fruity sweetness and spice. Hints of dried citrus, dry grass and wood dust. Bits of cinnamon and vanilla. Adding water softens the citrus and the spice somewhat.

FINISH: Oak and dry lemon peel.

RATING: GOOD

I find this a confusion dram. It is as if it is trying to be too many things. It is an unusual concept and makes for great publicity and an interesting story. The bottle is beautiful and classic. However, the spirit in the bottle is trying to be too many things all at once.

For me, it is a riot of unbalanced flavours. I found it stuffy and dusty with very few of the beautiful sweet fruit notes that Glenfiddich is known for.

Probably not the most popular opinion, but I prefer the Glenfiddich IPA cask miles above this Glenfiddich Project XX release. I bought the two bottles at the same time, and my IPA bottle is nearly empty. This one might take a few years.

Also Read: Glenfiddich 18 yo whisky

Slaughter House Whiskey

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 06/04/2018

In Bourbon whiskey

I love to explore the artwork on bottles. Many of the wine producers have re-invented their old fashioned, standard labels into works of art to stand out in a crowded market place. Especially in the last couple of years, there has been an explosion of striking and fun labels.

Whiskey is slowly changing too, from the more traditional labels to fun and colourful labelling. Leading this change is the beautiful labels on the Douglas Laing Remarkable Malt releases including Timorous Beastie and Scallywag whisky and the beautiful labels coming out of Japan. Filled with flowers and soft colours, they stand out in between the dark traditional whisky labelling.

A few weeks ago, I found a bottle of whiskey from the USA with a colourful and striking label (and name). The Slaughter House American whiskey is a newish entrant to the SA whisky market, and I added a bottle to my collection. After reading a bit more about the Splinter Group (owner of Slaughter House), I noticed a wine connection.

A casual conversation between the Wilkinson family and renowned winemaker, Dave Phinney sparked an idea to mellow whiskey in seasoned wine barrels. Dave Phinney, the founder of Orin Swift Cellars in Napa Valley, California, is a very well known name in the USA’s wine and spirit industry. And so The Splinter Group started.

The Slaughter House label shows a butchers meat cleaver with a white backdrop. This image invokes a murderous intention similar to an old school slasher movie. Slaughter House American whiskey was released in 2015 and followed its first product, Straight Edge bourbon.

Also Read: Koval Bourbon

Slaughter House American Whiskey Review

The Slaughter House mash bill comprises 85% corn, 8% wheat, 6% rye and 1% malted barley. The whiskey spends 9 years in American oak before being finished in Orin Swift Cellars’ Papillon barrels (French oak barrels). It gives it a distinct Bordeaux barrel finish.

COUNTRY: USA

ABV: 44%

COLOUR: Dark copper

NOSE: Vanilla, cinnamon and honey with hints of oak. The nose is rich and sweet and inviting and promises a sweet experience.

PALATE: The intense sweetness and vanilla do not translate into the palate. There are notes of hot pepper spices, stone fruit and oak with hints of honey. In the background, crumbs of buttered toast with marmalade. Medium body with lots of lemon pepper.

FINISH: Black lemon pepper with hints of sweetness.

RATING: GOOD

The nose was lovely and promised vanilla and sweetness, but left me with lemon black pepper overwhelming everything else in the end. It was so spicy that I did not finish my glass. I read quite a few reviews on this and was expecting a lot more. I don’t know if I have a defective bottle, but this bottle might be in my collection for quite a while.

Looking at my previous notes, I found another American whiskey that I have tried, the McCarthy’s single malt whiskey from Oregon. See my thoughts on this young release.

The range also includes Whip Saw rye whiskey and Partner Sweet Vermouth. Slaughter House American whiskey was awarded a Gold Medal and Best in Class at the 2015 Whiskies of the World competition.

Also Read: Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon

Floki Icelandic Young Malt

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 10/16/2017

In Single Malt whisky

John went climbing in Iceland two years ago. Not a country that was on my bucket list, until we started researching it for his climb. He came back with unforgettable memories and made us all jealous with photos of the fantastic scenery and stories about trolls and sheep. It was also a country that allowed us to add to our world whisky collection.

John had great stories about the exciting food such as -Hákarl (putrescent shark meat, which has been preserved) and hot spring rye bread (dark bread that is baked in special wooden casks that are placed close to hot springs and then left for more than 24 hours).

In Reykjavik, he tried rye bread ice cream from Cafe Loki. I managed to find the Icelandic rye bread recipe online and have baked it a few times, and it is delicious.

Also Read: Mackmyra First Edition whisky

On the way back, in Duty-Free, he picked up a bottle of Floki Icelandic Young Malt “whisky”. Made by Eimvert, a family-run distillery founded in 2009. They make gin, Icelandic Brevvivin and Floki Icelandic Young Malt.

Production on the Floki whisky started 2013, and the first single malt whisky will only be available in limited bottling from November 2017. Floki is named after one of Iceland’s first explorers, Hrafna-Flóki (Flóki of the ravens). The barley produces on Iceland is slow-growing and has a low sugar content.

Eimverk distillery uses up to 50% more barley per batch to compensate for this. At Eimvert, they use only native Icelandic ingredients.

This Young Malt is about a year old, and there is even Sheep Dung Smoked Reserve Young Malt. The bottle is 50cl, and the label is a beautiful Norse inspired design in black and white.

Floki Icelandic Young Malt Review

COUNTRY: Iceland

ABV: 47%

COLOUR: Warm Gold

NOSE: Raw alcohol, but as this is only 1 year old, this is to be expected. When the alcohol has evaporated a bit, hints of warm oak spices, overripe fruit sweetness and bits of vanilla come through on this Floki Icelandic Young Malt.

PALATE: Alcohol! The first sip is quite harsh until it has stood for a whole, but after the alcohol burn, you can taste the beginnings of something delicious. There are hints of oak, malt, vanilla, cinnamon and white pepper.

A honey and fruity sweetness balance it out. Water softens out the harsh alcohol burn and brings more of the sweetness to the forefront.

FINISH: Rather short and spicy.

RATING: GOOD

I don’t think this is a bad start for a spirit that is only a year old. The Floki Young Malt has the right elements to turn into a rather drinkable dram given some time. There is a yummy richness in the background that probably need some more time.

I would love to taste what comes out of the distillery this November when the spirit is a bit older. It will never be the most complex whisky, but I suspect it might turn out rather exciting and drinkable.

Another young malt that I have tasted and written about is the Helden Hickory wood whisky from South Africa. Tasting these releases is fun as it shows the start of the distillery character without to much wood influence.

Also Read: Slyrs Whisky