GlenDronach 12 Years Review

Country: Scotland 

Region: Highland - Speyside

Brand: GlenDronach

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age:  12 Years

ABV:  43 %

Date: 22/04/2013

Colour: Dark Amber

Nose: Very Nice and Well-Balanced in a Comfortable Way. Lovely Sherry but not too dominating. Fruitcake soaked in Orange Liqueur with lots of Raisins, Nuts, Grapes and Plums. Malt, Brown Sugar, Floral Tones and Vanilla/Oak. Warm Wine with Spices. A hint of Peat in the background. 

Palate: Warming with Malt, Sherry, Red Fruit (Berries, Grape) Cinnamon, Pepper, Dried Fruits and Nuts, Coconut, Orange Peel and Buttered Toast. This GlenDronach deserves to be bottled at 46%.

Finish: Middle-Long with Malt, Toffee, Charred Oak, Licorice, Orange Marmalade, Aniseed, Vanilla and a touch of Dark Chocolate.

I added a bit of Water and the Malt, Fruit and Vanilla flourish. Palate and Finish do not improve in my opinion. This GlenDronach is better sipped neat.

Rating: 86

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

General Remarks: This distillery was founded around 1826  by James Allardice. It is located in South-East Speyside, close to the town of Huntly. It belonged to Allied Distillers for a long time and was closed between 1997 and 2003. Since 2008 it’s in the hands of BenRiach, which promises great expressions for the near future. The 12 years matured in a combination of Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso Sherry Casks. It's not artificially coloured and not-chill filtered. Great value for money at around 45 US Dollars!

Drinking Experience Neat:  Good

Conclusion: A great desert whisky to end a fine December dinner. But also great to enjoy while reading a good book. A well-crafted Speysider at a very reasonable price. Excellent interplay between Malt and Sherry. One of those standard bottles you should consider adding to your cabinet. Good, solid stuff!

Queen of Scotland Red Label Blended Scotch Whisky Review

Country: Scotland 

Brand: Queen of Scotland Red Label

Type: Blended Scotch Whisky

Age: NAS (At Least 3 Years)

ABV: Unknown (My guess: 43%)

Date: 19/04/2013

Colour: Light Golden

Nose: Light but Sharp Nose with some initial Fruit. Think of Lemon and Melon. But this fades away really quickly and usual suspects such as  Slightly Harsh Grain Alcohol and Green Oak appear on stage accompanied by some Buttered Toast and Margarine, Nuts, Malt and Minerals. Nothing of interest going on here. Being slightly bored with this Blend I farted just once for scientific reasons and indeed the Nose improved. Will add a point for that.

Palate: Yummy! Varnish with Wood-Spice flavour! Well, maybe a bit of Oak, Menthol, Sugar, Shoe-Polish and Licorice as well. If all whisky was named after Kings and Queens I would seriously consider finding some other hobby! 

Finish: Short and Bitter-Sweet with Licorice, Sugar, Pepper and Grain. Alcohol Bite right at the end.

I successfully resisted the urge to throw in a full glass of Water to end my misery but dutifully I added a couple of drops only. It actually softens up the Nose a bit but Green Wood and Grain take over completely. Palate and Finish however become a polluted sea, full of Squids stuffed with Licorice. 

Rating: 66

Nose: 17 - Taste: 16 - Finish: 16.5  - Overall: 16.5

General Remarks: The whisky I'm tasting today is part of a box containing six Blended Scotch Whisky samples produced somewhere between 1955 and 1980. They are all named after English and Scottish royalties. This box-set is sold by the Dutch based Rare Whisky Site (www.rarewhiskysite.com.) The Queen of Scotland is still for sale at around 80 US Dollars. 

Drinking Experience Neat: Unpleasant

Conclusion: I'm thoroughly disappointed by the Queen of Scotland! Lots of people say that Blends were much better in the old days. That may be the case but I didn't find them in this Royal Box (so far at least). Long Live The Republic!

Jan van den Ende                                                                           April 2013

Me During Tasting!

Caol Ila 1990 Archives Review

Country: Scotland 

Region: Islay

Brand: Caol Ila 1990 (Archives)

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age:  22 Years

ABV:  56.3 %

Date: 17/04/2013

Colour: Pale Straw/Chardonnay

Nose: Powerful with Nice Juicy Peat, a Wood Fire along the Sea Shore, Oak and Vanilla, Leather, Malt, Shellfish seasoned with Black Pepper and Lemon, Honey, Grass or Seaweed, light Iodine, Fruit (Apple) and Mineral tones. The Alcohol is there so you have to carefully move your Nose around it.  A bit of Sherry would have enhanced the sweetness of the Barley. Still, this is very good stuff!

Palate: Peat, (Cigarette/Light Cigar) Smoke, Smoked Salmon, Berries, Malt, Oak/Caramel, Wax, Honey, Aniseed, Lemon, Tobacco and light Metallic and Salty notes. 

Finish: Long and Tasty with Peat, light Cigar Smoke, Orange Liqueur, Oak/Vanilla, Black Pepper, Ashes, Caramel, Iodine and Mineral tones.

I added a bit of Water and the Alcohol influence on the Nose decreases of course. The Peat retreats somewhat and the Coastal - and Mineral  Aromas get stronger. More Malt as well. On the Palate and in the Finish, Wood and Spices come to the foreground and I get some Aniseed as well. You should certainly experiment with a bit of Water. Personally however, I prefer to sip this Caol Ila neat.

Rating: 89  

Nose: 22.5- Taste: 22  - Finish: 22 - Overall: 22.5

General Remarks: This Caol Ila 1990 is a special Anniversary Release by Archives. Archives is the relatively young own label of Independent Whisky Bottler Whiskybase.com. This whisky was distilled in November 1990 and bottled at Cask Strength in November 2012. It matured in an Ex-Bourbon Hogshead with the Cask Number 13121 out of which 130 bottles were obtained. This whisky was not coloured artificially and is un-chillfiltered. It is priced at around 125 US Dollars. 

Caol Ila is Gaelic for Sound of Islay (Islay Strait). From the Still House of the distillery you have a wonderful view on this Strait and the Isle of Jura. Caol Ila was founded in 1846, was rebuilt in 1974 and nowadays forms part of the Diageo Group. 

Drinking Experience Neat: Very Good

Conclusion: An excellent Islay Single Malt. Very Juicy Peat on the Powerful Nose accompanied by an array of Coastal aromas. The Palate and Finish follow the Nose while adding extra flavours. The Oak influence is very subdued and in balance with the other flavours despite the 22 years of Wood contact. I do believe this Caol Ila would have become even better with a Sherry Cask finishing. If you like peated Islays however, I can safely recommend this Caol Ila. What a pity I only had a small 25 ml. sample!

During the Tasting Session of the Caol Ila 1990 I decided to do a direct comparison with the Ardbeg 10, my favourite Single Malt so far. And I must admit that I liked the Caol Ila slightly better even though I'd scored it a bit lower. I therefore concluded that I scored the Ardbeg 10 too high. I've adjusted the score in the meantime and you can find the result here: Ardbeg 10. The main difference is in the Peat. In the Ardbeg, it smells young and rough. After the 12 extra years in the cask, the Caol Ila presents us with something I call Juicy Peat. It's the best way I can describe it. Lovely stuff. As a result of all this, the Ardbeg 10 lost its #1 position in my Complete Rankings of Reviewed Whiskies. It's still in the Top 6 though. Check out the complete list here:  Complete Rankings of Reviewed Whiskies. 

Jan van den Ende                                                                       April 2013