Chieftain's Caol Ila 10 Years Medoc Finish Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Chieftain’s Caol Ila Medoc Finish

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

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Region: Islay

Age: 10 Years

Alcohol: 43%

Date: 02/07/2012

Colour: Pale Gold

Nose: A mixture of Peat, Smoke, Rubber, Medicinal Alcohol and Sea Water. A bit of Malt, Biscuit and Vanilla in the background. No fruity tones that I’m aware of. It’s not bad but it’s quite uneventful and one-sided.

Taste: Peat, Sugar, Light Spices and unexpected hints of Milk Chocolate.

Finish: Quite long, perhaps even too long with Peat, Rubber, Sugared Herbal Tea and Licorice

With the addition of a few drops of water, the Nose becomes a brick of Peat sprayed with Salty Water. Bit of Malt, Oak and Vanilla and a hint of Red or Rose Wine. On the Palate the dram becomes a bit milder but the Chocolate is gone. The Finish is much shorter and uneventful really. You can certainly experiment with a bit of water. I usually prefer to drink Single Malts neat but in this case a couple of drops are beneficial.

Rating:  76 

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

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.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: This is my first dram of Caol Ila and I’m sure there are a lot of better expressions around. 

This 10 Y Medoc Finish suffers from a lack of fruit. I would love to try a Distillery expression that was(partially) matured in fine Sherry casks. I’m sure that would provide a better balance for the Peat, Smoke and Medicinal Tones. As it is, I find this whisky too monotonous. It also possesses a rubbery off-note that I find unpleasant, particularly in the (overly) long Finish.   

Jan van den Ende                                                                 July 2012

Black & White Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Black & White

Bottled by James Buchanan & Co., Glasgow

Type: Blended Whisky

Age: NAS

Alcohol: 40%

Colour: Pale Gold

Nose: Medium Sweet, Oak, Biscuits, Rather Sharp Grain Alcohol, Vinegar, Touch of Peat.

Taste: Rough and Tough. Grain Alcohol and some Sugared Dried Fruits. Bit of Oak and Pepper.

Finish: Short. Sharp Grain Alcohol and a little Oak and Vanilla. Hint of Honey.

When adding a couple of drops of water you get rid of most of the Alcohol on the Nose and get more Grain, Straw and a little Malt. It completely waters down the Palate however and the Finish becomes even shorter with a Licorice note right at the end. So while water certainly benefits the Nose, it does not have a positive effect on Palate and Finish.

Rating: 73 

Nose: 18 – Taste: 19.5 – Finish: 17 – Overall: 18.5

General Remarks: James Buchanan created this Blend in 1884 and gave it its current name in 1904. It was originally sold in a Black Bottle with a White Label, hence the name. It contains 35 Grain – and Malt Whiskies with a 60-65% Grain Whisky content, a/o from Port Dundas and Cameronbridge. The main Malt component is produced by the Dalwhinnie Distillery(Highland). Above you see a picture of this Distillery.

The Blend is now owned by the Diageo Group. Main markets for this Blend are South Africa, Canada and Italy.

Drinking Experience Neat: Regular

Drinking Experience On The Rocks: Regular

Conclusion: The rather young tasting Grain Whiskies dominate this Blend. There’s not much room for anything else. Some sweetness, Oak and hints of Peat and Honey. It’s certainly not expensive but it offers too little to consider buying it again.

Jan van den Ende                                                                   June 30, 2012

Who Am I and How Did I Get Interested In Writing About Whisky

Hello Everybody,

My name is Jan van den Ende and I was born in Rotterdam in The Netherlands in 1952. Since 1994 I live and worked in Sao Paulo in Brazil. In the meantime I'm retired.

My hobbies include Rock Music from the 60's and 70's, Wine, Beer and Fine Spirits. I suppose that I, probably like most of you, started drinking beer when I was a teenager. After that there was the inevitable Cuba Libre during the holidays in Spain. But as life goes on you become interested in other alcoholic beverages and normally wine is the first step in becoming more aware of actual flavors rather than just drinking for the drinking if you know what I mean. Usually the white wines and the rose wines come first and after that you start exploring the red wines.

Around 40 you start to appreciate a good Brandy after dinner and maybe even smoke a (small) cigar with it. Or maybe even try a whisky! Blended of course and On the Rocks. Good chance your first whisky on the Rocks was Johnny Walker Red Label! Or Jack Daniels or Jim Beam if you live in the States and would probably be exposed to Bourbon or rye whiskey before exploring Scotch whiskies.

And then after years of drinking Red and Black and Ballantine's and Chivas on the Rocks you return from your holidays, enter into the Free Shop and suddenly become aware that there are a lot of different whiskies available. They are Single Malts and will include the usual suspects such as Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, Dalmore, the Balvenie and the Irish Jameson. You give one of them or a couple of them  a chance and if you like them you probably want to know more about them. And then you buy a book or two, start surfing the net and find out that there is more to whisky than you thought!

Actually, this is more or less what happened to me. But I'm sure a lot of you malt lovers will recognise at least some part of the journey. 

One of the books I bought was Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2011. This guy is highly recognised as a whisky writer and connoisseur and, after all, it's not called a Bible for nothing. However when I started tasting some whiskies for fun I found out that I almost never agreed with the opinions I found in the Bible. 

Naturally I thought that the problem was me as I just started while Jim is doing this for 35 years or so. But when I started looking around the net it became clear quite rapidly that I'm not the only one who questions the Whisky Bible.

Thinking about this there were a number of thoughts that crossed my mind. Apparently various people can taste the same whisky under similar conditions and reach a completely different opinion. That's Fun! But it could also be that there are writers out there who are too close to the industry for whatever reason to be able to reach an objective opinion. 

I remembered my youth when I had to go and buy oranges. My mother always instructed me to ask the guy in the shop if the oranges were sweet. Of course the guy always confirmed that they were lovely and sweet. 

When surfing the net i found that a lot of people felt the same about this problem and started independent blogs with whisky reviews. Some are quite excellent and have reached levels that i will never touch upon. 

Still I decided to give it a try and I learnt about the basic flavors that can be detected on the nose and on the palate when tasting whisky. So before starting to nose the whisky I started sniffing and tasting fresh and dried fruits, marmalade, honey, sherry, beer, spices like pepper, cinnamon and cloves, lemon and orange zests, coffee, tea, corn syrup, toffee, cake, fresh bread and chocolate. After that I learnt about the different regions of productions and I started to nose ashes and leather and salt. When I had to go to the port of Santos for my work I even went for a walk around the quays sniffing cables, fish,brine etc. 

Of course it was impossible to remember all these impressions during my first tasting sessions but after some 10 different whiskys including Single Malts, Blended whiskies and Bourbons I began making progress.

I've tasted over 800 whiskies now and since end November 2011 I share my thoughts through this blog. 

So welcome to Best Shot Whisky Reviews. I do hope you like the Tasting Notes and Reviews but always remember they don't represent the absolute truth. They merely express my opinion. Have Fun!

Jan

Deanston 12 Years Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Deanston

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Region: Highland

Age: 12 Years

Alcohol: 46,3%

Colour: Pale Straw 

Nose: Medium-Light and Dry. Grassy and Floral tones, Oak, Apples, Apple-Vinegar, Orange or Apricot Marmalade, Malt and Toast, Very Light Peat. Only light Alcohol despite the 46,3%.

Taste: Much sweeter than I expected after the dry nose. Very smooth with only a light Alcohol bite. Honey, Malt, Light Spices (Ginger and Cinnamon), Lemon Zest, Green Apples and a bit of Salt.

Finish: Short and dry. Grassy and Herbs. Nuts, Lemon, Oak. Touch of Honey.

With a couple of drops of water you will get more Fruit and also Honey and a bit of Toffee or Butterscotch on the Nose. The Palate does not change a whole lot but the Finish gets Sweeter and the Honey and Salty tones last a bit longer. This Single Malt accepts some water.

Rating: 81.5  

Nose 21– Taste 21 – Finish 19 – Overall 20.5

General Remarks: The Deanston Distillery looks more like a school building or army barracks but in fact it’s an old Cotton Mill. It’s located close to the city of Doune and started operations in the 1960’s. It is owned by Burn Stewart Distillers Ltd that also owns Bunnahabhain and Tobermory. Its main market is the USA. A lot of the Deanston production is destined for the blend Scottish Leader. Before bottling the casks that carry the Deanston 12 are married together for a couple of weeks extra in fresh Oak to increase sweetness. The Deanston 12 I’m reviewing here is Un-Chill filtered and bottled at 46,3%. This is the policy of the Distillery since 2009. Before that this Single Malt was chill filtered and bottled at 40%.

Drinking Experience Straight: Good

Conclusion: The Deanston 12 is a relatively light dram despite its 46,3%. Almost a Lowland whisky. I can see this as a very nice aperitif on a beautiful day in spring. Maybe even with a little ice. It’s too light perhaps for considering it as one of my day-to-day sipping whiskies. I do believe however that Deanston is going in the right direction and hope they will maintain or even improve their Un-Chill filtered high proof expressions. 

Jan van den Ende                                                             June 25, 2012

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy - Review

Songs: The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, Over the Hills and Far Away, The Crunge, Dancing Days, D'yer Maker, No Quarter, The Ocean.

Review:

End 1972/Begin 1973 the band discussed the plans for their new (fifth) Album. I feel they might have entertained a.o. the following thoughts: First of all, their Album IV had been a huge success so it would be wise to maintain a similar structure. On the other hand the band had grown as song writers, musicians and producers and was eager to try new roads. And thirdly, I think they just wanted to make a fun album. As a result, Houses of the Holy was launched on March 28, 1973. It is the first album of the band with only original material. It features lots of layered guitar riffs but is mostly driven by the rhythm section of the band. The lyrics are more mature and the album is extremely diverse with Rock, Prog-Rock, Folk, Reggae, Funk, Blues and Doo-Wop. And above all, it's got a Feel Good atmosphere. If I would have a point of criticism, it would be the way Robert Plant's voice is produced. Because in all honesty he sounds like a nervous chipmunk from time to time. I don't know why this was done as Live Albums show that Robert could master the songs in a normal matter. But then again, nothing is perfect isn't it!

The Album starts off with the fast, furious, thundering The Song Remains the Same, followed without pause by the beautiful, moody and almost acoustic The Rain Song. Robert sounds great here for most of the time. It's one of my favorite Led songs. It is followed by the driving rocker Over the Hills and Far Away that is another good example of the bands trade mark songs that combine acoustic beauty with Power Rock. The Crunge is a highly funky and funny James Brown pastiche and it shows the band from their most easy going and fun side. Dancing Days is one of their Classic Hard Rockers with a nice slide guitar and synthesizers. It's almost impossible to sit still while listening to this song. A lot of people have issues with D'yer Maker (Jamaica) but to me it's just a happy reggae ditty. Quite inoffensive really. Great drums by the way. It is followed by my personal all time favorite Led song, the jazzy, bluesy No Quarters. It's a so called Nordic epic about Viking warriors and the death and fear they brought wherever they roamed. It sounds very realistic and the combination of Jimmy's spooky riff, John Paul's icy keyboards and Robert's depressive vocals literally make me shiver every time I hear the song. This is pure Rock Heaven for me! I would have wished the album to stop after No Quarter but we still get The Ocean that seems a bit out of place. It's not bad as such and it swings in a sufficient way, but I don't know. Maybe it should have been programmed between Over the Hills and Far Away and The Crunge. 

So, while Houses of the Holy is not the band's best album in my opinion, it has a very high entertainment value and it gets lots of spins on my CD player, if only for No Quarter!

Rating: ********* (9 out of 10)

Black = Good Songs

Green = Great Songs

Red = Could Be Better

Who should buy this Record:  Everybody!!  Led Zeppelin’s Most Fun Album and one of the Classic Rock Albums of All Time.