Tag: Rating: Very Good Page 18 of 21

Whisky of the Week review and tasting notes for whisky I rated Very Good. When the dram is enjoyable and memorable, and we don’t mind having another glass later in the week. This is bottles I might use for cocktails and the occasional afternoon sipper. Rating: Very Good

This week’s whisky is a blend again, and this week I chose the Johnnie Walker Platinum Label 18 year old blended Scotch whisky. I have rated various Johnnie Walker releases, and you can read my thoughts on the Johnnie Walker King George V, Johnnie Walker Blue Label whisky and the Johnnie Walker Explorers Club Gold here.

The Johnnie Walker Platinum Label whisky was the first new ‘colour’ to be released in many years, and it was initially introduced only into the travel retail. This release was brought out to replace the iconic Johnnie Walker Gold Label whisky and fits in next to the Johnnie Walker Blue Label.

With a mix of malts around 18 years old, it is Diageo’s competing product in the 18 year old single malt market.

John “Johnnie” began by selling whisky from a grocery shop in Ayrshire, Scotland. John Walker’s grandsons, Alexander Walker II and George Walker, established the colour-based naming system. Johnnie Walker Red Label launched in 1909. The colour based system extended from there.

The Johnnie Walker Platinum Label combines a limited number of single malt and grain whiskies, each matured for a minimum of 18 years. According to Diageo, this release is blended in the elegant sweet Speyside style.

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Johnnie Walker Platinum Label 18 year old Whisky Review

ABV: 40%

COLOUR: A bright golden colour It forms medium length tears on the glass.

NOSE: Toffee sweetness, brandy-soaked fruits with hints of orange and smoke. There are notes of fresh-cut flowers and butterscotch. Traces of vanilla and caramel intermingle in the background. Adding water brings out more oiliness in the Platinum.

PALATE: Medium-body whisky. There are mild spice and hints of oak on the palate. Little peaty hints in the background. It is a sweet and easy-drinking whisky. The Platinum Label has bits of florals, malt, cinnamon and oranges intermingling with smoke. It is not the most complex whisky.

FINISH: Medium length and ends in notes of orange and spice.

RATING: VERY GOOD

Platinum Label is an easy-drinking whisky with notes of spice, wood and sweetness. This release does not quite have the bold character it would need to compete against some well known 18 year old single malts. But it is readily available and offers consistent quality. What did you think of the Johnnie Walker Platinum Label 18 year old whisky?

I have done a side by side comparison between the Platinum Label and the Johnnie Walker Gold Label blended. Both 18 year old releases, but how do they compare?

Also Read: Tomatin 12 yo Whisky

Jim Beam Devil’s Cut Bourbon

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 02/16/2015

In Bourbon whiskey

Time for a bourbon again; well, some kind of bourbon anyway. This week I try the Devil’s Cut Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey from Jim Beam. Jim Beam is a brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Clermont, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory.

The name “Jim Beam” is in honour of James B. Beam, who rebuilt the business after Prohibition ended. Launched in 2011, Devil’s Cut bourbon comes with a long story. According to the Jim Beam website: “As bourbon ages, a portion of the liquid is lost from the barrel due to evaporation—that’s the “Angel’s Share.”

After ageing, when the bourbon is poured out of the barrel, a certain amount of whiskey is left trapped within the wood of every barrel.” Jim Beam calls that the “Devil’s Cut.” According to Jim Beam, to create Devil’s Cut bourbon, they developed a proprietary process that extracts the whiskey trapped inside the wood after emptying.

Jim Beam claims they can extract some of this “lost” liquid by filling the emptied casks with water and spinning them at high-speed. The water containing a large amount of this ‘devil’s cut’ is then used to cut down the traditional 6 yo Jim Beam bourbon.

I am not so sure if the theory behind it all adds up, but it is certainly a clever way of selling more of their 6 yo whiskey. For me, however, the only important thing that matters is how does it taste.

Related Article: WL Weller Wheated bourbon

Jim Beam Devil’s Cut Bourbon Whiskey Review

COUNTRY: USA

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: Dark copper in colour. It is quite an oily whiskey.

NOSE: It has a typical bourbon sweet nose. The sweetness intermingles with hints of oak, warm spice, caramel and condensed milk. There are notes of toffee and fresh doughnuts hiding in the background.

PALATE: Not as sweet as we expected it to be. Notes of wood and spice are enhanced when you add a dash of water. The Jim Beam Devil’s Cut has a medium body and is very smooth. There are hints of vanilla sweetness in the background. Not a very complex bourbon.

FINISH: Builds slowly. There are notes of spice and wood, and it ends in caramel and burnt nuts.

RATING: VERY GOOD

It should make a good addition to bourbon-based cocktails. Not sure if I will rebuy this Jim Beam release though, I find it a bit gimmicky.

I have also tried the Jim Beam Double Oak Bourbon, and you can see what I thought about it if you follow the link.

Also Read: Top 5 Single Malt under R750

WL Weller 12 year old Bourbon Whiskey

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 01/12/2015

In Bourbon whiskey

In honour of good friends from America visiting, I start 2015 by opening a new bottle of bourbon. WL Weller 12 year old is a brand of wheated bourbon whiskey produced in Frankfort, Kentucky.

The Stitzel-Weller Distilling Company originally owned the brand. Currently, it is owned by the Sazerac Company and made at the Buffalo Trace distillery.

Distilled from a mash composed of at least 51% corn, WL Weller is similar to most bourbons. Wheated means the mash recipe uses wheat and not rye as the secondary grain. The majority is still corn and a little malted barley to convert the mash.

The first person credited to use wheat as the flavouring grain for Kentucky straight bourbon was WL Weller. He also managed to build a successful business on the idea. The resulting recipe makes for generally a sweeter and milder whiskey.

The character isn’t directly related to the use of wheat as much as the lack of rye. Also, a wheated bourbon ages better. His wheated bourbon was first produced in 1849.

Both the WL Weller 12 year old bourbon and the famous Pappy Van Winkle bourbon whiskey is made at Buffalo Trace’s distillery since Stitzel-Weller closed down in 1992. The WL Weller whiskey has won numerous awards. Most recently, a 2014 Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Jim Murray has given this wheated bourbon a 93.5 in his Whisky Bible. Understandable, I am excited to try this exciting bourbon. In South Africa, this is probably the closest I will come to anything remotely resembling a Pappy van Winkle.

Related Article: McCarthy’s Whisky

WL Weller 12 year old Bourbon Whiskey Review

COUNTRY: USA

ABV: 45%.

COLOUR: Dark copper colour with hints of red. It is a thick and oily spirit and points to great dram.

NOSE: The WL Weller 12 year old bourbon has a pleasant, sweet bourbon aroma on the nose. In the background, there are notes of butterscotch, rich vanilla and cereals. There are faint hints of wheat and creamed corn on the nose.

PALATE: Without water, the palate is rich and creamy with hints of spice. After adding some water, it is still very smooth, with cinnamon and ginger spices coming through. Some of the bourbon sweetness disappears, and the wheat and oak take over. The vanilla and honey sweetness lingers in the background.

FINISH: Medium length finish that ends in notes of oak and hints of spicy citrus marmalade.

RATING: VERY GOOD

This bourbon whiskey from the Buffalo Trace distillery is a good start to a busy year. With all these spicy notes, I wonder if this bourbon will pair well with an apple pie? I might bake one for dessert and try it with the WL Weller 12 year old bourbon again.

The WL Weller works well with a creamy French Camembert cheese. The spices does not overwhelm the delicate cheese and the creamy cheese smoothes out the whiskey.

Also Read:Heavenhill Old Style Bourbon

Compass Box The Peat Monster Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 12/08/2014

In Blended Malt Whisky

The Peat Monster whisky is part of the Signature Range from the Compass Box Whisky Co. Compass Box is a specialist, small batch Scotch whisky maker. American ex-pat John Glaser started Compass Box Whisky Company in 2000.

His vision has been to create one of Scotland’s finest and most exciting whisky companies, re-establishing the industry’s standards for quality and style.Compass Box does not distil any of the whiskies used in its blends.

The company’s whisky makers select distillates from several existing Scotch whisky distilleries, including malts from Ardmore, Caol Ila, Clynelish, Dailuaine, Glen Elgin, Laphroaig and Teaninich.

They also make use of grain whiskies from Cameronbridge and Cambus. The selected whiskies are then blended, and the resulting blend is matured further. According to Compass Box, blending these various whiskies and then ageing them in selected woods allows for a more complex, multi-layered whisky.

This Peat Monster malt Scotch contains whisky from a few distilleries. Some were from the village of Port Askaig in Islay, with a few south coast Islay whisky too, vatted with Ardmore. It was matured in a mix of first-fill and refill American oak casks.

None of the Compass Box bottlings is chill-filtered, nor is any colouring added and are all married exclusively in American oak.

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Compass Box The Peat Monster Whisky Review

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: Compass Box The Peat Monster has a light golden colour, and it seems to be a thick oily whisky in the glass.

NOSE: The peat hits you on first nosing the whisky. It has the classic Islay notes of sea and salt. It seems softer than the other Islay whiskies such as the Ardbeg on the nose. But the notes iodine and medicinal TCP lingers in the background as expected. It has faint hints of fruit lingering in the nose that comes through.

PALATE: On the palate, without the addition of water, the peat comes through straight away. With the addition of water, there are medicinal notes intertwined with hints of sweetness and fruit. The Compass Box Peat Monster is a medium-bodied whisky.

FINISH: Medium and ends in notes of peat and bits of orange and kumquat.

RATING: VERY GOOD.

It is not a very complex whisky. Compared to some of the distilleries that go into this, the Compass Box Peat Monster is more toned down and refined. The name of the whisky creates a certain expectation and sadly this does not quite life up to it. It is drinkable peaty whisky, however, it is by no means a Monster.

This dram also made it onto my favourite peated whisky list. You can read this article all the other peated drams that also made it onto the list.

Also Read: DYC 8 yo Whisky

The Macallan 10 year old Fine Oak Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 11/24/2014

In Single Malt whisky

Today I look at something from Macallan, the Macallan 10 year old Fine Oak single malt Scotch whisky. The Macallan distillery is a single malt whisky distillery in Craigellachie, Moray.

The Macallan Distillers Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Edrington Group. Even though Macallan is located right in the middle of the Speyside region, it’s not labelled as such.

Craigellachie falls outside of the defined “Speyside ward” boundaries as defined by the Scotch Whisky Regulations. Our bottle of The Macallan 10 year old Fine Oak whisky denotes that it is a Highland single malt.

The name Macallan is most likely derived from two Gaelic words, ‘Magh’ meaning a fertile piece of ground and ‘ellan’, meaning ‘of St Fillan’. He was an Irish-born monk who travelled widely in Scotland, spreading Christianity during the eighth century.

The River Spey, one of Scotland’s most famous salmon rivers, borders the Macallan Estate to the south and south-east. The Macallan Estate lies in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Initially, The Macallan releases were matured in ex-sherry casks brought to the distillery from Jerez, Spain.

During 2004, The Macallan introduced a new product range, the Fine Oak series. These whiskies are aged in ex-bourbon oak casks as well as ex-sherry casks. This range has been around for a few years now and seems to have weathered the storm it caused when it was first released.

According to John Hansell, quoted in the Malt Advocate Magazine, “The Fine Oak range is more approachable, and has the potential to be embraced by a greater percentage of whisky drinkers cutting back on the sherry reveals more of the Macallan spirit, which is first-class.”

Related Article: Glenlivet 12 yo whisky

Macallan 10 year old Single Malt Whisky Review

REGION: Highland

ABV: 43%.

COLOUR: The Macallan 10 year old has a light golden colour and is an oily whisky. The official colour description is ‘pale straw’. The long fingers on the inside of the glass point to a lot of potential.

NOSE: The first impression upon nosing the whisky is honey sweetness, oak and spice. There are notes of florals and fruit and faint hints of cereal and barley in the background. The Macallan nose is complex and crisp.

PALATE: Quite spicy without adding water. There are hints of vanilla and caramel. Water smooths the spirit and releases soft notes of butter and florals. The 10 yo has an abundance of oak notes mixed with flowers and fruit. It is a delicate whisky, and the palate is not too complex. The nose hinted at a bit more complexity and body.

FINISH: A dry medium-length finish that ends in notes of oak and leather. There are hints of spice at the end.

RATING: VERY GOOD

The nose on the Macallan 10 year old whisky promised more than what the palate delivered. I was hoping for something bolder. Sadly, I think this Highland whisky is a bit nondescript. Still, an easy-drinking whisky and a great addition to our collection. Which Macallan is your favourite?

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