Santis Malt Edition Germany Review

Country: Switzerland

Brand: Santis (Appenzeller Single Malt)

Type: Edition “Germany”

Age: NAS (Around 5 Year)

Alcohol: 48%

Date: 06/09/2012

Colour: Golden/Red Glow

Nose: Pleasant with Malt, Apple, Red Fruit, Red Grape Juice, Wood, Honey, Vanilla and Buttered Toast.

Taste: Herbal and Dry, Wood, Spice, Sweet Red Fruit and hints of Licorice and Honey.

Finish: Middle-Long, quite dry and bitter-sweet with Caramel and Berries.

I added a bit of water and that removed the last bit of Alcohol on the Nose. Apple Pie with Honey and Red Fruit Topping. Delicious! Taste and Finish don’t change that much in my opinion although the Licorice note gets stronger and extends to the Finish. You can experiment with a few drops here.

Rating:  81.5  

Nose: 22 – Taste: 20 – Finish: 19 – Overall: 20.5

General Remarks: The Brewery in Appenzell (Switzerland) produces beer since around 1830 but was purchased by the Locher Family in 1886. Today they produce a wide range of beers, with or without Alcohol. In 1999 the Brewery started distilling whisky that was presented to the market for the first time in 2002. It uses water from the Alpstein Mountains and the whisky is matured in old used Oak Beer Casks. There are 5 expressions, 4 of them named after Alpstein Mtn. formations. They are Santis, Sigel, Drei-Faeltigkeit and Marwees. The fifth - and most recent addition, that is being reviewed today, is called the Edition “ Germany”,  a Single Cask expression, bottled at 48%. This whisky matured for 4,5 years in Old Beer Casks before being finished for 6 months in a Fresh Merlot Cask.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: This is the most “ Scottish” of the Swiss Malts I have tasted so far and I enjoyed it. I found the nose very pleasant with delicious Apple Pie, Honey and Red Fruits. I expected the Palate to be much sweeter but in fact it’s quite dry and herbal with some licorice notes. The Red Fruits go all the way from Nose to Finish. That Finish was a bit on the dry side in my opinion. This is the best Santis Malt so far and the extra years and bottling at 48% certainly added to the quality. This is the way to go certainly!

Jan van den Ende                                                                September 2012

Chieftain's Rosebank 14 Years Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Chieftain’s Rosebank

Bottled by: Ian Macleod & Comp. Ltd., Edinburgh

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Region: Lowland

Age: 14 Years

Alcohol: 46%

Date: 02/09/2012

Colour: Pale Straw/White Wine

Nose: Not bad but slightly disappointing for a 14 Years Single Malt. Alcohol and Oak are very dominant at first. This dram really requires patience. After 15 minutes or so I find Apple (Vinegar), Malt, Lemon and Honey. Floral tones and Sweet Peach at the back of the glass. Once the dram opens up, the Nose is not unpleasant but rather plain and without significant depth. When you nose the empty glass you get a pleasant combination of Apple (Pie) and Malt.

Taste: Sugary Sweet White Grapes with some Spices. It’s not unlike a Grappa.

Finish: A bit hot with Apple, Spices and a touch of Honey.

With a few drops of water, Alcohol and Oak are toned down on the Nose. You get more Malt, Toast and a bit of Blossom and Fruit. The Palate is a little less sweet and more balanced. The Finish gets a bit extra Pepper. You can certainly experiment with a few drops in this case. But as always, don’t overdo it because with one drop too much it gets watered down.

Rating: 79.5 

Nose: 21 - Taste: 20 – Finish: 19– Overall: 19.5

General Remarks: Ian MacLeod is a so-called Independent Bottler. These companies play an important part in today’ s whisky industry. They buy casks of (young) spirit from Distilleries, mature them, finish them and bottle them, all at their own discretion and then sell the final product under their own label. This is all very attractive for whisky drinkers who look beyond the standard Distillery offerings. They are often bottled at cask strength and non-chill-filtered. Many times, but not always, Independent Bottlers offer products that are greatly appreciated.

The Rosebank Distillery was built on the banks of the Forth-Clyde Canal near Falkirk. Most of its production was used for Blends because of the light and floral character of the spirit. It is out of production since 1993 and practically dismantled. There are projects of a new Distillery at the same location but the Diageo Group, the owners of the Trademark Name Rosebank, deny that any whisky that might be produced there in the future will carry the name Rosebank.

Conclusion: Unfortunately I have no idea when this Single Malt was distilled and when it was bottled. I can only tell you that it aged for 14 years. The hot Spices indicate a high number of European Oak Casks but I can’t detect any Sherry influence so most likely Refill Casks were used. Honestly speaking I had expected more from a 14 Year Single Malt. It is a Lowland of course and we should consider the light character of those whiskies. But I feel this expression suffers from a lack of complexity and depth. It’s mainly Malt and Oak with a touch of Apple and Grappa. I bought a miniature of this whisky and that’s a great- and not very expensive way to sort out a dram. It will be hard to find a full bottle of this. I wouldn’t give it a lot of effort though if I were you!

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Jan van den Ende                                                               September 2012

Goodbye Lucida!

Hello everybody and welcome to the Whisky Paradise,

Today I will say goodbye to my beloved font Lucida Handwriting. I used this font right from the start of this blog on November 30, last year. I chose that font because I thought it to be more personal and well, I think it looks pretty nice. But many of you have informed me that, while nice, it's hard to read sometimes, especially when you use mobile phones or other smaller equipment. Since there is no reason for me to write when my readers can't read it I have decided to follow the suggestions and have changed the font to Verdana. She's nice too though not as beautiful as Lucida! So as of now all posts will be in Verdana Bold. 

If I have a lot of extra time I will one day adjust all older posts to the Verdana Font as well. 

Anyway, I hope you will appreciate the change. Just let me know what you think in the Comments Section.

Other than that I can tell you that I've been able to secure many miniature bottles of Scotch, both Single Malts & Blends and including spirit from Scotland, Ireland, Canada, the USA and Switzerland. So enough to go on at least for the coming year. 

  

I'm also very happy with your interest for the blog. There is a growing number of readers from Asia, more specifically from India, Indonesia, Malaysia & Singapore. But also from all other parts of the world. In the last 18 hours for instance we had visitors from France, the USA, Poland, Argentina, Denmark, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, the Netherlands & Italy. Welcome to all of you. Hope you like reading the Tasting Notes and Reviews! Just let me know if you have any questions, suggestions or whiskies you would like me to review. 

That's it for now. I wish you all a very nice weekend. Enjoy tonight with a nice dram! Cheers and see you all back tomorrow for more whisky news!

Jan

Clontarf Single Malt Review

Country: Ireland

Brand: Clontarf Single Malt

Type: Triple Distilled Irish Whiskey

Age: NAS

Alcohol: 40%

Colour: Pale Straw

Nose: Crisp and Fruity (Hints of Pear, Peach and Maraschino Cherries) with Malt, Oak, Vanilla, Citrus and Honey. Bit of sharp Alcohol. It takes a while to open up.

Taste: Malt, Oak, Vanilla, Honey, Spices and Citrus.

Finish: Clean with Malt, Oak and a bit of Honey. The Malt lingers on for a while.

I added a bit of water and the Malt gets even stronger on the Nose. The Taste and Finish get a bit watered down though. Better drink this neat or with a little Ice.

Rating: 79 

Nose: 20.5 – Taste: 19.5 – Finish: 19.5 - Overall 19.5

General Remarks: This Single Malt is produced by the Clontarf Whiskey Company, part of Castle Brands Inc. Its name refers to the Battle of Clontarf, fought in 1014 and resulting roughly in an Irish victory over Viking invaders. Today, Clontarf is a suburb of Dublin. The Single Malt is charcoal-mellowed before it ages in Charred Bourbon Barrels. It’s  distilled at the old Bushmills complex at Country Antrim. The Clontarf Whiskey Company also sells a Blended Irish Whiskey and a Reserve. The latter one is a blend of Malt – and Grain Whiskeys.

Drinking Experience Straight: Good

Conclusion: This is not a very complicated Whiskey but well-made. It’s crisp and light. The basic flavors are Malt and Oak with some Fruity tones. With a little Ice this could be quite charming on a fine Summer Day.

Jan van den Ende                                                                      August 31, 2012

Inver House Green Plaid Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Inver House Green Plaid

Type: Blended Whisky

Age: NAS (Probably 3 years)

Alcohol: 40%

Colour: Very Pale Gold

Nose: Bitter Oak, Sharp Grain Alcohol and Apple. It’s not easy to identify this as a Scottish Blend. It almost smells like a very cheap type of Calvados, the French Apple Brandy from Normandy. With patience you can find the slightest hints of Malt, Toast and Nuts.

Taste: Watery delivery. Bitter-Sweet with an immediate Alcohol Burn. Some Grain and Toffee.

Finish: Short, Sugary and Edgy with Pepper and Toffee. Not a very pleasant aftertaste.

I added a couple of drops of water and the Nose gets a bit milder. But you completely drown Taste and Finish. If you must, drink it without water, but better still, leave it alone.

Rating:  64.5  

Nose 17 – Taste 16.5 – Finish 15 – Overall 16

General Remarks: Inver House Distillers was founded in Scotland in 1964 as a subsidiary of Publicker Industries USA. After closing down in 1985 and 1986 and after a management buy out it was finally purchased in 2001 by Pacific Spirit UK, a global beverage company. In the USA the Blend is imported by Barton of Chicago. It’s very cheap at around US$ 10.

Drinking Experience Neat: Not Satisfactory

Conclusion: This is the cheapest Scottish Blend I know. And therefore you can’t expect a great dram. It doesn’t taste like lamp oil like some of the stuff that is sold in Brazil. But I can’t recommend this, not even for mixes. Dewar’s White Label comes to my mind taste wise. And that was the lowest scoring Scottish Blend in my rankings so far. Before I tasted Inver House Green Plaid that is!

Jan van den Ende                                                               August 30, 2012