Johnnie Walker Platinum Review

“No Heavy Metal”

Country: Scotland

Brand: Johnnie Walker Platinum

Type: Blended Scotch Whisky

Age: 18 Years

ABV: 40%

Date: 03/04/2014

Colour: Amber

Nose: Light, almost transparent. It's not bad but not very exciting either. I find Toasted Cereals, Malt, Nuts, Oak, Dried Apricot, Lemon Peel, Banana, Orange Marmalade, Toffee, Caramel, Butterscotch, very light Spices, Dried Herbs, light  Smoke and hints of Espresso, Candied Cherries, Peaches and Salt. The Alcohol is not fully integrated. It reminds me a little bit of the old JW Gold but somehow it seems more fragile, less confident.

Taste: Thin and slightly Watery Delivery with Grain Alcohol, Caramel, Toffee, Wax, slightly Bitter Oak, Resin, Orange, Dried Herbs, light Honey, light Smoke and a pinch of Salt.

Finish: Short, Clean, Sugary Sweet at first but quickly Drying. Doesn't show a lot of character here. I find Nuts, Caramel, Toffee, Orange, slightly Bitter Oak, light Smoke, light Spices and hints of Menthol and Cinnamon. 

The Johnnie Walker Platinum does not improve with added Water. It's best enjoyed over a little Ice.

Rating: 83

Nose: 21.5 – Taste: 20 – Finish: 20.5 – Overall: 21

General Remarks: The Johnnie Walker Brand is owned since 1997 by the Diageo Group. As you will probably know the Green and Gold were recently discontinued while the Gold Reserve and the Platinum were added to the range. 
The Platinum costs around a 100 US Dollars and sits price wise between Black and Blue. Platinum contains 20-25 Single Malts, mainly from Speyside, as well as some selected Grain Whiskies. All of them matured for at least 18 years.

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay/Good

Drinking Experience on the Rocks: Good 

Conclusion: Slightly better than JW Double Black but no match for the old Gold and Green. The standard Black has a much better price/quality ratio and the Blue, while better, is too expensive for what it offers. The packaging of the Platinum is very sophisticated but the Blend misses Power and Character. The low ABV only reinforces these shortcomings. It's not interesting enough as a sipping Whisky and simply too expensive to drink over Ice. Back to Black for me!

Jan van den Ende                                                                 April 2014

BenRiach Solstice Review

“Peat Bomb”

Country: Scotland 

Region: Highland - Speyside

Brand: BenRiach Solstice (Heavily Peated - Port Finish - 2nd Edition)

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age:  17 Years

ABV:  50 % 

Colour: Reddish Copper/Mahogany

Nose: A combination of Peat, Smoke and Red Fruit. I find Earthy Peat, Wet Clay, Stale Cigar Smoke, Dirty Ashes, Cheap Leather, Salt Water, Cured Meat,  Rubber, BBQ Sauce, Oak, Pine Needles, Burned Toast, Treacle, Caramel, Red Apple, Black Currants, Cranberries and traces of fortified Red Wine and Orange Flavoured Chocolate. It reminds me a bit of the Longrow Peated Red Cabernet Sauvignon Cask but this BenRiach is less elegant and not quite as balanced. The Alcohol is not fully integrated.

Palate: Quite Dry. It follows the Nose with Peat, Smoke, Ashes, Burned Toast, Dried Fruits, Peanuts, Caramel/Toffee, Brown Sugar, Oak, Salted Butter, Red Apple, Water Melon, Spiced Red Wine, Pepper and Licorice.

Finish: Quite Long, mostly Dry, Warming and a bit Meaty towards the end with Toasted Cereals, Earth, Peat, Smoke, Cigar Ashes, Salt, Licorice, Pepper, Oak, Dried Herbs, Cough Syrup, Cured Meat, Lemon an a trace of Plastic.

I added a bit of Water. This enhances the Red Fruit on the Nose but does not do the Peat any justice. On the Palate you gain some Spice but the Finish becomes way too short. You can carefully try out a few drops but I prefer to sip it neat.

Rating: 84.5

Nose: 21.5 - Taste: 21 - Finish: 21 - Overall: 21

General Remarks: The BenRiach distillery is located in the heart of the Speyside between Elgin and Rothes. It was founded around 1898 by John Duff, the owner of the nearby Longmorn distillery. Today it's one of the few distilleries with its own Malting Floors. Since 2004, it is independently owned by BenRiach Distillery Company. Most of their production goes into the Chivas Regal Blends. Just like the original Solstice 15 Release, this 2nd Edition was distilled with Heavily Peated Barley. The Spirit matured in Ex-Bourbon Casks before being finished in Tawny Port Casks. It sells at an average 85 US Dollars, is Uncoloured and not Chill-Filtered.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: I like it when young, juicy Peat and Sherry and/or Fruit meet in a good Single Malt. That's not the case here. In this 17 Year old BenRiach you will find a more mature, slightly tired and Earthy Peat in combination with a quite strong Oak influence and some assorted Spices and Herbs. Especially on the Palate and in the Finish I would have liked to find some more (Fresh) Fruit. Maybe younger Single Malts would benefit from a finish in fortified Wine Casks while more mature Single Malts might enjoy a Finish with Cabernet Sauvignon or perhaps a Gamay from the Beaujolais Region. This way you would combine old and young/fresh and could end up with a nicely balanced Malt. But only in case you would like to give your Single Malt a Red Wine finish of course. I'm not an expert in this field and I might be completely wrong. I'm just writing down my thoughts as they appear while sipping this BenRiach. To sum things up, I find that the Solstice Port Finish is indeed heavily peated. I don't have any problems with that if there are enough Sweet Flavours around to create a balance. As it is, Peat, Ashes, Wood and Spices are just a tad too dominant for my taste. 

Jan van den Ende                                                                        April 1, 2014

Great King St. Artist's Blend Review

“She Blended Me With Science” 

Country: Scotland

Brand: Great King St. Artist's Blend

Type: Blended Scotch Whisky

Age: NAS

ABV: 43 %

Date: 25/03/2014

Colour: Hay/Pale Gold

Nose: Quite Subdued but Clean. Not bad but not extremely interesting as well. I find Grain, Oak, Straw, Alcohol, Vanilla, Nuts and Nut Shells, Dried Apricot, Toast with a Mixture of Butter and Margarine, Bread Dough, light Citrus and hints of Banana, Apple, Coconut, Sweet Marzipan and Spices.

Taste: Slightly Thin and Bitter-Sweet with Grain, Alcohol, Dried Fruits, Nuts, Coconut, Lemon, light Orange, light Vanilla, Marzipan, Bitter Oak, Pepper, Nutmeg and Cinnamon.

Finish: Middle-Long and Bitter-Sweet with Sugared Almonds, Bitter Oak, Lemon, Pepper, Nutmeg, light Vanilla and a hint of Green Apples.

No need to add Water to this Blend. You will basically enhance the Grains that way.

Rating: 76.5 

Nose: 19.5 - Taste: 19 - Finish: 19 - Overall: 19

General Remarks: The Great King St. Blended Whisky line is named after the street in Edinburgh where the office of The Compass Box Whisky Company is located since John Glaser founded the company in 2000. The idea behind Compass Box is to make quality Scotch relevant to as many people as possible and to revive Blended Scotch Whisky. The Artist's Blend is a combination of 46% of Lowland Single Grain Whisky that matured in First Fill American Oak Barrels and 54% Single Malt Whiskies (2 Northern Highland - and 1 Speyside Distillery), matured in a mix of First Fill American Oak (66%), First Fill European Oak Ex-Sherry Casks (8%) and Heavily Toasted New French Oak Heads (26%). The Artist's Blend is naturally coloured and Chill-Filtration was not applied. The Blend is priced at 40/45 US Dollars. The Presentation of this Blend is quite nice.

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay/Good

Conclusion: Good but there's room for improvement. This Blend is getting some positive Vibes so I was really curious. Let's start with the good news. The Artist's Blend is naturally coloured, is bottled without Chill-Filtration and at an adequate ABV of 43%. The presentation is quite nice and John Glaser tells you exactly what's in the blend and what Wood was used. Few bottlers and distillers have the courage to do that. It's also reasonably priced given the higher than average Malt content. But on the other hand the Great King Street, while certainly not bad, is still not quite interesting enough to really revive my interest in Blended Scotch, although it is better than most of the well-known affordable Blends. I do believe that Jim is on the right track but I feel that stronger Single Malts are necessary to elevate the Artist's Blend to a higher level. Still too much of a Grain Alcohol feel. There are people who like that but I'm not one of them. I am curious though to try out the two new Experimental Expressions TR6 (Peat) and TR4 (Sherry). Will try to get samples!

Footnote: "She Blinded Me With Science" was a Hit Record for British Singer Thomas Dolby in 1982.

Jan van den Ende                                                              March 2014