Loch Katrine 12yo 40% Adelphi
I believe Adelphi is also known as Loch Katrine, so I assume its one of their blends? White wine/apple cider color, smells light and perfumy, hints of pistachio cream, eggnog and burnt almonds. The tastee is sweet, initially there's pears, marzipan and beer wort. Then it turns bitter and grainy, acidic. Floral, vegetal aftertaste, sunflower stem. At some occasions I do try a blend or two just to remind myself why I prefer single malts, but this one's got a spike of its own, not your traditional bland blend.
Interesting profile, a raw blend: 4
Poit Dhubh 21yo 43% Blend
An Islay Blend, usually those contains a lot of Bunnahabhain, and not too much of premium peated Islay malt. Perhaps this one is different, I've heard good stuff about it. It states that it is unchill-filtered which is a good thing as I guess many blends aren't. It has a deep red color so it might be colored anyway. Smells lightly peated with some hints of cream sherry, sweet without too much substance. The taste is spirity, peaty with some peppery notes, too bland to catch my interest and it tastes much younger than 21yo. Drying peaty whisky.
I'm still not convinced by these Islay-blends: 4
Dew of Ben Nevis 21yo 43% Blend
This one from Ben Nevis, so I guess it will have much of the Ben Nevis fresh highland style, or will I be surprised? Smells kind of perfumy, orange zest and burnt meat, lots of oak influence. Seems to be much more influenced by grain whisky than the Whyte and MacKay 21yo. The taste is fresh and sweet, definitely influenced by Ben Nevis, red apples and hone melon. Not that interesting initially but it is saved by the minty fresh finish, mountain air.
Fine whisky, probably a blend-lovers delight: 6
Whyte & MacKay 21yo 43% Blend
Another one hopefully nosed to perfection by Richard Patterson. I advice the ones reading this blog to check out his current 40years 40whiskies countdown at whyteandmackay.co.uk . Other than that, this is the first of three 21yo blends I'll be doing today. This one is from a flat plastic bottle, a bit darker than the NAS-version. Smells dry, phenolic, some sherry notes here as well as salty licorice and blueberries. Lovely! The taste is very phenolic and dry, with lots of chili and some extremely bitter lemon in the middle.
A fantastic blend, more punch than most single malts I've tried: 8.5
Whyte & MacKay NAS 43% Special Selected Blend
I am a fan of Richard Patterson's frantic eccentric behavior and his verbally rapid whisky presentations. knowing he's the master blender at Whyte and MacKay and also a lover of Fettercairn Single malt, it's about time to try his blend. This is a miniature purchased in Andorra at the rare volume of 5.5cl. Smells big and malty, fruity, honey, a sweet, thick and round malt. The taste is sweet, a bit spirity,sort of acidic fruitiness, the ones found in red soft candy. It is a nice malt, but just not enough, a bit too sweet and light to take serious.
A good starter whisky: 4
Isle of Skye 18yo 43% Ian Macleod Private Stock btl.#45
Perhaps, and most likely if there's some 18+ Talisker in this one, the star of todays show. I know Talisker is the only distillery on Isle of Skye, so hopefully they've put in a generous amount of it. And 18yo isn't your everyday blended age for sure. Dark golden honey color, smells instantly coastal, definately some Talisker here, along with peppery notes and some restrained cinnamon and apple. The taste is slow, in loss of a better word, beautiful honey, restrained peat and coastal notes that comes forth as the finish progresses. It's slightly dry, with the peppery notes dominating just a bit too much on the palate.
A characterful blend that can stand up to many single malts: 6
Big Peat NAS 46% Douglas Laing Blended
So far it's been a disimal tasting, perhaps this peated blend can give me a highlight. This one consists of many malts from the Islay distilleries, amongst them Lagavulin and Caol Ila if I remember correctly. I've also read that it consists of some Port Ellen, crazy innit? But with all the different Port Ellens from Douglas Laing I'm sure they have some spare. A pale blend, smells of peat and liquorice. The taste is sweeter than expected, vanilla and banana notes initially before finishing on a high note with some beautiful coastal peatiness, without any real competition the best whisky tried today.
One of the best modern blends in my book: 6.5
Black Bottle 10yo 40% Gordon Graham's Islay Blend
This is the, by many, good reputed 10yo Black Bottle, consisting of single malt whisky from all well established distilleries on Islay. I recently tried the newer version in a green glass bottle without age statement and was hardly impressed. Smells very coastal, lots of seaweed. I believe this is the most seaweedy malt I've ever tried as there's not as much peat interfering as in malts like Laphroaig and Lagavulin. The taste is nicely peppered along with some austere notes and seaweed, just a little salt. The aftertaste is also pretty austere, but all in all it's a good Islay whisky.
Much better than its successor: 6
Black Bottle NAS 40% Blend New Style
A blend of whiskies from most of the islay distilleries, I've been kinda looking forward to trying this. This is much paler than the Macphail's, probably natural colour. I believe Bunnahabhain is the main single malt in this mixture. Smells really good, reminds me of the unpeated version of Caol Ila. Herbal, coastal and salty. The taste is peppery and bland, not much peat or coastal notes. It's lacking typical Islay characters. It's an uneventful experience unfortunately, as the nose was very good. It'll take a while 'till I do a blend vertical again.
Boring blended whisky: 3
Macphail's 10yo 40% Pure Malt Islay
This Pure Islay Malt could be a blend as pure is not an indicator of single. Dark bronze colour on this one, probably due to big amount of E150. Smells dry, earthy and a bit soapy. The taste is peppery, a bit phenolic and very bitter. The peatiness in this one is somewhat absent, it needs a bit of water du to all the bitter notes.
All in all a tired whisky: 1.5
Chivas Regal 12yo 40% Blend
I got a miniature of this formerly glorious blend aa a birthday present, so why not try it now? Usually I don't write notes for whiskies like this, Famous Grouse, J&B, Dimple's and so on, just for the reason I never buy or receive any... Smells pretty good, woody, cedar oak, gouda cheese, nutty, custard. The taste is pretty grim, young grain, burnt wood and rubber. Now to say I expected much would be an understatement as I'm no huge fan of standard blends, but this one climbs a bit cause of the nice odors.
Starts good, then dies quickly: 3
Grant's Ale Cask Reserve Blended
Let's start off with a blended miniature that's been reciding for a while in my liquor cabinet. I've never tried whisky from an ale cask, will the usually so mild ale-flavour make any recognizeable impact on whisky? The nose is light, actually not far from the smell I find in unfiltered wheat beer. The taste is very bland, typical cheap blend. There's nothing that really assembles ale in this, more like just a young and little developed blend.
I guess the ale cask works best carrying ale: 4
Pig's nose & Sheep Dip
At an whisky event today I got to try these two blended and vatted whiskies, The Pig 5yo and the sheep a vatting of 16 different malts.
Pig: Sweet and grainy, very smooth and lighta bit floral with some cinnamon notes. No finish. A simple beginnerswhisky. I could down easily in one quaff without bragging: 5
Sheep: Very anonymous odors, malt, starch, wheat, anis, boring. Not as sophisticated as any single malt I've tried. Not as easily approachable as the Pig either: 4
Royal Club NAS 1967 43% Kingsburn Old Blend
I'm doing a new vertical of some alternative whiskies, and for me that is blends, grains, unknown distilleries, japanese and so on. This one is a very old but also perhaps very young whisky, depending whether you're a believer in the effects of bottle maturation or not. Smells very light, wheat, like a chamber of salty meat, kind of reminds me of the 21yo Chivas Regal just without the sweetness. The taste is slightly peppery, other than that pretty weak. No aftertaste other than some sweet lime stuff.
Another reminder of why I'm primarily into single malts: 3
Gaylord 3yo 40% Blended
I'm still having a slight cold, so I'll try once again to cure myself by whisky. Since it makes my nose and mouth somewhat immune, I'm gonna have a blended! With the fine name of Gaylord, this is a scotch blended. It has some cottonlike material inside the cap(?). The nose is very nice, young, fruity, green grapes and herbs. But the taste is really funky, strikes me as a mix of grain and Islay. It's very smoky, with a sweet marshmallow finish. This is a blended from the 80's or older, maybe the taste have developed in the bottle, who knows, but special it is.
One of the better blends, and a very nice surprise: 5
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