Mortlach 1990 Review

Country: Scotland 

Region: Highland (Speyside)

Brand: Mortlach 1990 (Scott's Selection) 

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age: 22 Years

ABV: 52.2 %

Date: 04/12/2013

Colour: Straw

Nose: Quite a Strong, Spicy and a tad Aggressive Nose. The Alcohol is still not fully integrated. Be sure to give it sufficient time in the glass. It reminds me a bit of an older Rye Whiskey. I get Dried Fruits, Nuts, Malt, Rye, Cinnamon, Citrus Peel, Syrup, Vanilla, Honey, Oak, Apricot, Peach, Orange and hints of Sherry, BBQ - and Soy Sauce. 

Palate: Sweet, Warming and Spicy at the same time with Dried Fruits, Nuts (Almonds and Walnuts), Pine Needles, Peach, Citrus, Malt, Oak, Syrup, Floral Tones, Pepper, Cinnamon and Cloves.

Finish: Middle-Long, Hot and Spicy with (Chili) Pepper, Cloves, Syrup, Honey, Citrus, Espresso, Cocoa Powder, Buttered Toast and a hint of Strawberries. 

I added a bit of Water and the Nose becomes Milder. Orange, Apricot, Heather, Floral Tones, Honey and Malt reveal the true Speyside character of this Mortlach. The Palate gains Fruity and Flowery tones but loses the Spicy bite. This is certainly a Single Malt you should try both neat and with some Water.  

Rating: 87.5 

Nose: 21.5 - Taste: 22 - Finish: 22 - Overall: 22

General Remarks: The Mortlach Distillery was founded around 1824 by James Findlater and is located in Dufftown, Banffshire. Mortlach distills mainly for Blends. The current owners (Diageo) are in the process of increasing capacity and re-launching the Mortlach as a Single Malt.

The Scott's Selection is a collection of Single Malts handpicked by Robert Scott, the former Master Blender at Speyside Distillers in Glasgow. All Single Malts in this collection are bottled at Cask Strength, are naturally coloured and not Chill-Filtered. The Mortlach we are tasting today was distilled in 1990 and bottled in 2012. It matured in a Refill Hogshead and costs around 175 US Dollars.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: With added Water, this Mortlach is a true Speysider with Malt, Fruit and Floral Tones. But neat this is a Strong, Hot and Spicy Single Malt that reminded me a lot of older Bourbons and Rye Whiskeys of superior quality. Personally I prefer it neat but I can see why people would add some Water to this Mortlach. Either way, there is enough to discover and there is no way of denying the quality of this Single Malt. If anything, the Nose is a bit agressive. It can't be cheap of course but it is reasonably priced for what it offers. Try it out if you can find it!

Jan van den Ende                                                     December 2013

Tullamore Dew Review

Country: Ireland

Brand: Tullamore Dew

Type: Blended Whiskey

Age: NAS

ABV: 40%

Date: 02/12/2013

Colour: Light Gold

Nose: Grains, Hardtack Biscuits, Nuts, Pine Needles, Citrus-Peel, Straw, Sharp Alcohol, light Rubber, Wood/Pencil Shavings, Malt and a hint of Banana.

Taste: Sweet and Watery Delivery. Some Grains, Nut Shells, Charred Wood, Sugar, Alcohol, Pepper, Salt and Cardamom.

Finish: Short with Alcohol, Caramel, Margarine, Grains, Salt and Pepper.

I added a few drops of Water but that completely kills this spirit.  

Rating: 70.5     

Nose: 18 - Taste: 17.5 - Finish: 17.5 - Overall: 17.5

General Remarks: Tullamore Dew is produced by William Grant & Sons. The most important spirits that form the Tullamore Dew Blend are produced by the 

New Middleton Distillery, owned by Pernod-Ricard. The Tullamore Dew contains mainly Grain Whiskeys as well as some malted and unmalted Triple-Distilled Barley Whiskeys. It sells at between 25 and 30 US Dollars.

Drinking Experience Neat: Below Average.

Conclusion: This is easily the weakest Irish Whiskey I have tasted so far. It smells and tastes like industrial Alcohol. It's probably okay for mixing if you are looking for an alternative for cheap Vodka. But there is no pleasure in sipping this Tullamore either neat or over a little Ice. And it's not extremely cheap mind you! Jameson and Bushmills are a tad better and deliver more Value for Money. 

Jan van den Ende                                                           December 2013

2 Years!

Hello Everybody and Welcome to Best Shot Whisky Reviews!

How time flies when you're having fun! Today, Best Shot Whisky Reviews is on the Internet for exactly 2 years.  It started on November 30, 2011 as Jan's Whisky Paradise with a very simple review of Johnnie Walker Black if I remember correctly. Many things have changed since then. I have tasted around 275 different Whiskies, Whiskeys and Bourbons and it's much easier now to write down what I smell and taste. Or at least what I think I smell and taste. I try to be as objective as possible when tasting the Whisky although I fully realise that taste is something completely personal in the end. I do think however I'm now reasonably able to separate the Good, the Bad and the Ugly even without considering my personal preferences. And apparently that's appreciated. I was really very honoured to see Best Shot Whisky Reviews recommended in the Malt Whisky Yearbook 2014 edited by Ingvar Ronde:

I was particularly happy to read why the editor included Best Shot Whisky Reviews. Because I write on a regular basis, review anything from cheap Super Market Blends to some of the finest Single Malts and last, but certainly not least, because I'm "refreshingly honest".  It's great to read that because that was exactly one of the main reasons I started writing about whisky. There are lots of Whisky Reviews out there on the Internet but many of them seem to praise all whiskies! I fully respect their opinion of course but I just don't agree with that. There's a lot of indifferent stuff around in my opinion and some products are just not good enough. So I was very glad indeed to see that my efforts are appreciated. And it's my firm intention to continue in the same way in 2014.

Although I truly enjoy writing about whisky, it would make little sense if nobody would read it. But fortunately that's not the case at all. Since November 2011,  I received more than 718.000 Page Views from literally all over the world. More than a third of the visitors are from the United States, followed by Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Poland, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Singapore, India, Australia, Sweden and Taiwan. Thanks a lot for your kind interest and always feel free to leave requests, comments and critics in the Comments Section. It was because of those comments that the site got a complete face-lift in the beginning of this year to make it more user-friendly, including for cell phones. I also changed the font to Verdana. In 2014 two readers wrote Guest Reviews. Thanks Joerg and Terry! If you would like to write a Guest Review, you are more than welcome to do so. Please leave it in the Comments section or write me an e-mail: janende@uol.com.br. 

Mainly during 2013 I started to receive Whisky Samples from all over the world. With one exception all these samples were send by private persons that have have become friends via Reddit or Facebook. 

Especially I would like to thank Detlef, Marcus, Marlie, Derek, Robert, Toby, Craig, Jan and Tom for their kind efforts. I can assure you it's really appreciated as it is impossible to buy samples in Brazil.

So here's my toast to all of you:

Thanks to everybody for visiting the site, reading the reviews, leaving the highly appreciated comments and showing interest in any other kind of way. Let's continue together and make 2014 a great Whisky Year. I'm already sure that one of the main highlights will be my trip to Speyside and Islay coming May. I'm really looking forward to that as you can imagine. 

Have a nice Sunday and we'll see each other tomorrow when I post the Review of the Tullamore Dew!

Cheers!

Jan