Ballantine's 12 Years Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Ballantine’s

Type: Blended Whisky

Age: 12 Years

ABV: 40%
Chill-Filtration: Yes
Price Range: US$ 30-40 ( August 2018)
Buying Advice: 😐 Reasonable Blend with an okay P/Q ratio. Best over Ice!

Colour:

Golden Honey (Artificially Coloured)

Nose: 

Grain Alcohol, Toasted Grain, Butter Kekse (German Butter Biscuits), Caramel, Toffee, Vanilla, Dried Fruit, Honey, Nuts, Refill Wood, light Sherry, Marzipan and Lemon-Pepper. Sweet. A very faint hint of Smoke.    

Taste: 

Bitter-Sweet and Thin. I find Toasted Cereals, Grain Alcohol, Caramel, Toffee, Vanilla, Honey, Nuts, Dried Fruit, Herbs, Caffe Latte, Pepper, Nutmeg, Ginger, Refill Wood and a faint hint of Smoke. 

Finish:

On the Short side, Bitter-Sweet and a little Thin. I find Caramel, Toffee, Grain Alcohol, Vanilla, Honey, Dried Fruit, Nuts, Orange Peel, Refill Wood, Milk Chocolate, Pepper, Nutmeg, Ginger, Menthol and a very faint hint of Smoke. 

Rating: 79.5

Nose: 21 – Taste: 20.5 – Finish: 19 – Overall: 20

General Remarks:

The key Malt components of this Blend are Miltonduff and Glenburgie. 

Drinking Advice: 

I added a few drops of water and that takes away a good deal of the heat. But it also becomes really Thin. The best way to enjoy this Ballantine's is over Ice.

Drinking Experience On the Rocks: Good

Drinking Experience Neat: Just Okay.

Conclusion:

It's not bad and it's got a reasonable P/Q ratio. But it's not interesting enough to  sip neat. Better enjoy it over ice.

Jan van den Ende                                     August 5, 2011 and August 10, 2018

Glenburgie

Wild Turkey 101 Review

Country: USA

Brand: Wild Turkey

Type: Bourbon (Kentucky)

Age: 8 Years

Alcohol: 50,5%

Colour: Gold

Nose:  Very Nice. Sweet (Dried Fruits), Vanilla, Malt. There’s something else there but I can’t define it. Could be Leather.

Taste: This is not for beginners!! A full body overwhelms you with Malt, Caramel, Vanilla (Crème Brulee) Oak and Spices (Cinnamon). Great stuff!

Finish: The finish is spicy (Pepper) and quite dry. Slightly bitter at the end and then suddenly some Vanilla returns.

Rating:  86 

Nose: 22 – Taste: 21 – Finish: 22 – Overall: 21

General Remarks:  Nice generous Sweet and Innocent Nose followed by lots of heat and Pepper. I miss a bit of balance here. Still a great Bourbon. I added a few drops of water to the Bourbon that brought some dried fruit (Plums) to the nose and some sweetness to the finish. However, the finish also seemed to burn a bit more and the alcohol became clearer. Interesting to try it out both neat and with some water.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion:  This should not be your first glass of Kentucky Straight Bourbon. It could easily scare you off. Some ice cubes might help out!

Jan van den Ende                                                          September 2, 2011

White Horse Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: White Horse

Type: Blended Whisky

Age: Unspecified

Alcohol: 40%

Colour: Deep Gold

Nose: Thin Nose. As Lagavulin is at the heart of this blend I expected a reasonable amount of Smoke on the nose but this is not the case. Mostly Sweet Grain with a bit of Malt. Hints of Light Oak, Blossom and Green Apples. Brown Sugar after some 10 minutes.

Taste: A bit watery. Sugared Grain with a bit of Malt and Spice. Tastes like young grain whisky.

Finish: Short with some Spice and faint Floral notes. Slightly bitter. Green Apples seem to be back right at the end. 

Rating: 75 

Nose: 19 - Taste: 19 - Finish: 18 - Overall: 19

General Remarks: At the heart of this blend lies the Islay Single malt Lagavulin but it also contains Caol Ila, Craigellachie, Glen Elgin, Linkwood and Talisker In all it contains 40% Malt – and 60% Grain Whiskies.  I added a few drops of water but I won’t do that again. It completely drowns the whisky.

Drinking Experience Neat: Average

Conclusion: Reasonable blend. Comparable to the Famous Grouse. Frankly speaking, I had expected more given the intrinsic quality of its Malt content. However Grain dominates and there is little else to this blend. It’s inoffensive but I certainly won’t ask for it again.

Jan van den Ende                                                            October 16, 2011

Famous Grouse Review

Country : Scotland

Brand: The Famous Grouse

Type: Blended Whisky

Age: Unspecified

Alcohol: 40%

Tasting Date: 28/08/2011 + 06/09/2012

Colour: Golden

Nose: Full and (Bitter) Sweet. Malt, Grain, Floral Tones (Lavender), Young Oak, Honey and hints of Sherry and Smoke. Quite some things going on here which is a pleasant surprise. You will need to get around some Alcohol.

Taste: The delivery is light with Malt and Grains, Citrus, Wood,Vanilla Spice, a bit of Honey and a whiff of smoke.

Finish: A bit on the short side with some Toffee and Spices and somewhat disappointing after the promising nose. I detected a touch of bitterness (Sulphur and/or Refill Casks) that I could easily live without. 

I added a few drops of water that revealed more Grain, Caramel and Sherry on the nose. It also brought some more Toffee to the finish and therefore I conclude that this blend accepts a few drops of water.

Rating: 76

Nose: 20 - Taste: 19 - Finish: 18  - Overall: 19

General Remarks: This blend contains Macallan and Highland Park single Malt  along with other Grain- and Malt whiskies. It’s the best selling blend in Scotland. Because of all this I was really curious to taste the spirit. It's nothing special but quite drinkable.

Drinking Experience Neat : Good

Drinking Experience On The Rocks: Light but not bad.

Conclusion: A reasonably balanced blend with an attractive price tag. The nose is very interesting but taste and finish can't quite live up to that.

Jan van den Ende                                                             September 2012

Dalmore 12 Years Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: The Dalmore

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Region: Highland

Age: 12 Years

Alcohol: 40%

Colour: Gold  (Contains added Caramel for colouring)

Nose:  Complex. Sherry, Malt, Wood, Oak, Vanilla, Bitter Sweet like Orange Marmalade. A hint of Leather. Strangely enough, during the first tasting session, I thought for a moment I detected a vague smell of cardboard boxes, you know the ones they used in the past for archiving documents. Very strange indeed! Couldn’t detect it anymore during the following tasting sessions. 

Taste: Smooth, Sweet and Spicy. Creamy Malt, Orange, Sherry, Ginger and Spices. 

Finish: Middle Long and not bad at all with some Toffee, Orange, Ginger Vanilla and Pepper. Dry Nuts in the end.

Rating: 85

Nose 22 - Taste 21 – Finish 21.– Overall 21

General Remarks: I added a teaspoon of Water but I won’t do that again. The taste suddenly became unbalanced and watery. The Dalmore 12 does not take Water very well. It should be bottled at at least 43% in my opinion.

Drinking Experience Neat:  Good

Conclusion:

A very “ easy” single malt that will please beginning whisky drinkers. I recommend drinking it neat. When I first opened the bottle the Dalmore did not gave away all of its hidden secrets. This became quite clear when I tasted the spirit again about a week later.

Jan van den Ende                                                               August 14, 2011