Tag: Rating: Good Page 7 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

Tomintoul 10 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 04/27/2015

In Single Malt whisky

I am trying a Tomintoul 10 year old single malt Scotch whisky today. Tomintoul, meaning “Hillock of the Barn” is a village in the Speyside area of Scotland. At the height of 350m (1165 feet), it is one of Scotland’s highest villages. The village was laid out on a grid pattern by the 4th Duke of Gordon in 1775.

Whisky has always been a part of village life and culture. The hills that surround Tomintoul are so secluded; they were the perfect place for illicit distilling.

In 1797 already, the local minister wrote.

“Tomintoul is inhabited by 37 families, without any industry. All of them sell whisky, and all of them drink it. When disengaged from this business, the women spin yarn, kiss their inamoratos or dance to the discordant sounds of an old fiddle”.

The area surrounding Tomintoul is of astounding natural beauty. There is an array of flora and fauna specific to the region. Many of Scotland’s most endangered species are protected in the wilderness there.

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The distillery itself is a relatively recent addition to the region. Hay & Macleod and W & S Strong built Tomintoul in 1964. Currently, under Angus Dundee ownership, Tomintoul whisky distillery was acquired from Whyte and Mackay in 2000. It draws is water from the Ballantruan Spring.

The purity of the spring, and the clean air at such an altitude contribute to the smooth, easy-drinking single malt of Tomintoul; indeed, they market their Scotch as ‘the gentle dram’. The Distillery Manager, Robert Fleming, is a fourth-generation distiller, born and bred on the Glenlivet Estate.

The Tomintoul 10 year old whisky is aged in ex-bourbon casks.

Tomintoul 10 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Speyside

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: A reddish copper colour in the bottle. In the glass, it is a deep gold with slowly forming tears.

NOSE: Sweet with condensed milk and oranges. There are hints of Christmas pudding and oak. After adding some water, the oak is enhanced, and some barley notes appear. The nose hints at a gentle dram.

PALATE: Without water, the palate is spicy with notes of pepper, nutmeg and oak. A few sweet notes are floating in the background. After adding water to the Tomintoul, the orange, ‘citrusy’ notes overwhelm everything. It drowns out all the gentle oak, condensed milk and spice notes.

FINISH: Not as long as I had hoped for. It ends in, not surprisingly, notes of marmalade and a bit of spice.

RATING: GOOD

It has a medium body and has no alcohol bite. I loved the Tomintoul 16 year old whisky that I tasted during October 2014. Sadly this Tomintoul 10 year old did not deliver taste and flavour as I have hoped. After tasting the 16 year old, I was expecting a bit more from this Speyside dram.

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Longmorn 15 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 03/09/2015

In Single Malt whisky

One of the great joys of collecting whisky is obtaining a limited release bottle that is no longer in production. That is the case with today’s whisky, The Longmorn 15 year old single malt Scotch whisky. John Duff, Charles Shirres and George Thomson founded the Longmorn Distillery Company in 1893.

He also founded the Glenlossie distillery two decades earlier. After some time at Glenlossie, Duff moved to South Africa to start a distillery in Transvaal. Duff invested large sums of money there, but the South African president Paul Kruger wasn’t supportive of his plans.

At some point, he decided the circumstances in South Africa were not suitable. He left for the USA to open a distillery there. Soon Duff found that he was not entirely welcome either, and he failed again. He returned to Scotland, and the Longmorn distillery started production in December 1894.

A short while later, Duff built the Benriach Distillery next to Longmorn, but the Pattison Crisis affected both. Longmorn changed hands various times, and it is currently part of the Chivas Brothers empire now owned by Pernod Ricard.

Following the acquisition, Longmorn got a facelift. In 2007 Longmorn revamped the range, and the 15 year old release was replaced by a 16 year old whisky. Today Longmorn distillery no longer offer the 15 year old whisky.

The Longmorn 15 year old single malt whisky had been very highly rated, with the Whisky Bible awarding it a 93. It was thus with great anticipation that I opened the bottle.

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Longmorn 15 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Highland

ABV: 45%

COLOUR: A polished copper colour with hints of orange.

NOSE: Brings malty sherry sweetness, but there is a surprising amount of alcohol bite to the nose. The alcohol vapour is overwhelming some of the Longmorn nosing notes.

After standing for a while, some of the vanilla and florals come through, but the nose is very subtle and individual notes are hard to pick up. There are some hints of apricot in the background.

PALATE: Without any water, the palate has loads of malt, spice and wood. There is a bit of Demerara sugar in the background, but it is not as sweet as we expected. After adding some water to the Longmorn, the spice is still overwhelming.

here are notes of black pepper and ginger mixed with a citrus bitterness. It is quite an oily whisky with a medium mouthfeel. Unfortunately, the whole mouth experience is very spicy.

FINISH: Surprisingly short and end in notes of spice and bitter orange peel.

RATING: GOOD

After reading all the reviews, I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting a bold, flavourful dram. Based on some internet feedback, this 15 year old Longmorn whisky is better than the new 16 yo release.

It is safe to say that I would not be rushing out to add the Longmorn 16 year old to my collection in a hurry. With all the spiciness, it might be a good whisky to pair with cheese. Any thoughts on this older Longmorn release?

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Drayman’s Solera Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 11/03/2014

In Blended whisky

Not too far from the Cradle of Mankind is the administrative capital of South Africa. Here the majestic Union Buildings towers over Pretoria. This Highveld region was known for its pot still products like “witblits” and “mampoer” in earlier times.

In the shade of the Union Buildings, a small microbrewery has been making quality, German-style beers since 1997. It is not too far away from where Capital gin distillery is situated. During 2006 the master brewer, owner and manager of Drayman’s, Moritz Kallmeyer, expanded his vision. Drayman’s, based in Silverton, now also distils, blends, and matures Scottish style malt whisky.

After ten years of brewing pure malt beer, making pure malt, pot still whisky seemed to be a natural progression. Drayman’s Brewery uses the solera process on a small scale for their Drayman’s Solera whisky.

The Solera Process

In the solera process, a succession of containers is filled with whisky over time. At the end of the interval, after the last container is filled, the oldest container in the solera is tapped for part of its content. This is then bottled.

Then that container is refilled from the next oldest container and that one in succession from the second-oldest, down to the youngest container, which is refilled with new spirit. This procedure is repeated at the end of each ageing interval. The transferred spirit mixes with the older liquid in the next barrel.

No container is ever drained, so some of the earlier spirit always remains in each container. This remnant diminishes to a tiny level, but significant traces of liquid are much older than the average, depending on the transfer fraction.

In theory, traces of the very first product placed in the solera may be present even after 50 or 100 cycles. The oldest part in the Drayman’s Solera blend is 18 years, and the youngest 3 years.

The solera process at Drayman’s has a set of 8 French Oak Casks, each holding 225 litres. The first Drayman’s Solera whisky was bottled in 2009 when part of the mother cask contents was tapped.

The mother cask was then filled with the next oldest cask and that one from the second-oldest cask, down to the youngest cask, which was then refilled with new whisky. This process is repeated at the end of each six-monthly interval.

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Drayman’s Solera Whisky Review

The Drayman’s Solera is a mix of South African and Scottish whiskies.

COUNTRY: South Africa

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: This is a relatively dark whisky. It has a burnt copper colour. It is an oily whisky making long, slow fingers in the glass.

NOSE: On opening the bottle, we got hints of sherry and marshmallow. There is a bit of alcohol bite in the nose after pouring, but it quickly evaporates. The nose has hints of Christmas pudding, oak and orange.

PALATE: Without adding water, there are plenty of spicy notes when tasting the Drayman’s Solera. Water smooths out the spices and brings the fresh fruit and oranges to the fore. It is a mild whisky with hints of oak and bits of bitter chocolate.

FINISH: Shortish and ends in spice notes.

RATING: GOOD

It is a whisky with potential. Not my favourite South African whisky, but unique nevertheless. We will certainly try to get our hands on the Drayman’s single malt to compare it with this Solera whisky. Drayman’s Solera whisky is available from the Whisky Brother shop in Hydepark.

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Aberfeldy 12 year old Single Malt Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 10/27/2014

In Single Malt whisky

Today I chat about the Aberfeldy 12 year old single malt Scotch whisky. Aberfeldy is a distillery dating back to 1898. This Highland distillery was founded by John Dewar & Sons, nearby the town of the same name.

It was established to ensure a steady supply of quality single malt for the Dewar’s White Label blend. The distillery sits on the River Tay’s south bank and takes its water from the Pitilie Burn.

Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, mentioned the town of Aberfeldy in one of his poems. He wrote the Birks of Aberfeldy in 1787. Burns was inspired to write it by the Falls of Moness and the birch trees of Aberfeldy during a tour of the Scottish Highlands.

The main output of the distillery is used in the Dewar’s blended whiskies. The company only launched the Aberfeldy 12 year old single malt whisky during 1999.

Today, the distillery produces two official single malt bottlings – a 12 year old and an Aberfeldy 21 year old whisky. The label features a squirrel in the background, a reference to a nearby woodland that plays host to a colony of rare red squirrels.

It seems that John Dewar & Sons, a company that has always focused heavily on blended Scotch, is starting to focus more on the single malt market through their “Last Great Malts” Collection releases.

It will allow them to showcase all the interesting malt distilleries that sit behind the famous Dewar blend. These distilleries include Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie and Royal Brackla. The company plans to launch a 16 year old sherry finish and a 30 year old in 2015.

The Aberfeldy 12 year old single malt is matured in a combination of sherry and bourbon.

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Aberfeldy 12 year old Single Malt Whisky Review

REGION: Highland

ABV: 40%

COLOUR: Warm gold, and it is a beautiful shade in the glass. It is a thick oily whisky with slowly forming fingers on the sides of the glass.

NOSE: Sherry and oak abundantly when opening the bottle. The nose brings spiciness and vanilla sweetness. The nose is very subtle with fresh-cut florals. There are notes of oak and barley in the background with hints of toffee.

PALATE: You can feel the oiliness of the whisky coat your mouth. The palate is peppery, with wood and cereal coming through immediately. There are notes of honeyed sweetness and malt with hints of sherried fruit. It is a reasonably smooth whisky. A medium-bodied whisky.

FINISH: The finish is medium length and ends in notes of leather and spice. There are remnants of oak and cereals in the finish.

RATING: GOOD

I found the Aberfeldy 12 year old whisky rather bland. There is nothing that stands out for me to remember it by. Looking at the releases coming out of the Dewar’s “Last Great Malts” collection, perhaps I should put the 30 year old on my wish list for 2015.

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Wild Reeds Whiskey

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 06/15/2014

In Blended whisky

My most read blog post of this past year was the arrival of the Wild Reeds Bourbon Cask whiskey. I found this interesting looking bottle at my local Pick n Pay liquor store. It’s produced by Schoonspruit Distillers in the North-West Province of South Africa. I have never heard of this distiller or whiskey, so I immediately purchased a bottle.

Schoonspruit Distillery is an independent business owned by the Henning family. Ernst Henning established the Schoonspruit whiskey distillery in South Africa in 1992. They are better known for the Totpak concept. The Henning family founded Totpak more than 20 years ago. Totpak popularised the then unfamiliar concept of a liquor sachet in South Africa.

The whiskey is distilled with water from the Schoonspruit river (meaning clean river). The origin of the Schoonspruit river is about 6km from Ventersdorp on the Koster road.

The bottle is interesting in that it is the shape of the African continent. Bottled at 43% ABV, it is pot stilled, charcoal filtered and aged in ex-bourbon casks.

This Schoonspruit Distillery Wild Reeds whiskey was aged for between three and five years. The label says it was pot stilled from South African grain and charcoal filtered to a bourbon taste. With no history of whisky making from this region in South Africa, this is a journey into the unknown!

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Wild Reeds Blue Bourbon Cask Whiskey Review

COUNTRY: South Africa

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: It is a fairly dark whiskey. It is a deep red copper. It is not an oily whiskey at all and comes across as somewhat thin in the glass.

NOSE: There is a sweet sherry nose that hits you at once. The sherry notes dominates the nose with some oak and methylated spirits. This Wild Reeds bourbon cask whiskey needs to breathe for quite a while for the smell of methylated spirits to evaporate. After the addition of some water, the whiskey changes significantly.

PALATE: The first thought on tasting the Wild Reeds whiskey is that this is a bourbon. There are notes of marshmallow, dried sultanas and the familiar bourbon sweetness. It is not a very complex whiskey.

FINISH: Lingers around for a bit and then ends quite sharply with some sweet notes at the end. We had to put aside our prejudice on this bourbon cask.

RATING: GOOD

I was not expecting too much from this bottle. But it was not as bad as I had feared. It is not by any means a great whiskey, but it is sort of drinkable. Just let it stand for a good 10 minutes to breathe and for most of the raw spirit alcohol to evaporate.

It might show a bit of potential if it was aged a couple of years longer. Have you tried it yet? What did you think? They also released a Schoonspruit 2010 whisky which I also tasted. This is a slightly better tasting release than the Schoonspruit release that received an ordinary rating on my rating scale. But it still does not get close to a Bains or a Three Ships whisky.

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