Talisker 57 Degrees North Review

Talisker 57 Degrees North - 57% abv.

Talisker makes classic and richly flavoured whisky and that's why I love them very much. This time, I'm discussing the 57 Degrees North release - it has no age statement but is bottled at a big 57% alcohol (not cask strength).

click photo to enlarge - Thanks to Olivia Girard for the lovely painting!

Colour: 18 karat gold with copper highlights

Nose: White and milk chocolate with white pepper and peat.

Palate: This is great stuff. Comes on sweet and powerful with coffee and chocolate leading into a bit of salt and then a big hit of smokey white pepper. Lovely texture and layered development.  I get black pepper at the back of the palate along with some warmth working its way along the roof of my mouth back to the back of my neck and shoulders.  Some hints of honey sweetness and vanilla or maybe creme anglaise in there. Really, really good.

Adding some water to this (just 4 drops or so) brings out a richer, creamier desert-like quality... think along the lines of a custard or something.  I suggest the water.

Finish: Pretty well to the adam's apple and of long persistence.

This is classic Talisker and will satisfy that Talisker craving if you ever have it just like the Talisker 10 Year Old. This is no-age-statement but when the flavour comes out like this, who cares about age? Its big, its Talisker thru and thru but with the volume knob turned up to 10. When would I drink this? Best time is probably that chilly, rainy night. Would do good for you on that chilly gloomy afternoon too! Sometimes only Talisker will do, and this will do it.

Rich and delicious. Blinder! 

Bowmore Laimrig 15 year Old Review

Bowmore 15 Year Old - Laimrig Third Edition - 53.7% abv.

I haven't reviewed a Bowmore yet and it is an omission I've been meaning to solve for a while. Its a popular Islay distillery that makes whisky I enjoy for sure. Try Bowmore 12 year old paired with Oysters - wow!  Its all I can tell you.

Here we are trying a special edition Bowmore - The Laimrig.  Its 15 years old and bottled at higher strength (I assume cask strength) and I have to guess if its un-chillfiltered or not and whether it has colouring added or not because it doesn't say on the label. Its aged in sherry casks so its brown colour makes sense but I wonder a bit about the red-ish tinge to it. Visual evidence suggests its not chill filtered - the legs move slowly hanging onto the glass and adding water allows one to see all of the oils swirl around.

Bowmore seems to have distillery characteristics that come through almost every time - saltiness and a sort of black liquorice and medicine or what I've decided is Fisherman's Friend lozenges. Not sure where the second quality comes from but the saltiness apparently comes from the warehouse walls that face sea-spray constantly on Islay.  

click photo to enlarge

Colour: Brown with almost a red tinge.

Nose: molasses and smoke, brine, black liquorice, and medicine of some sort.  Adding water makes it smell more of a dark caramel with coarse salt.

Taste:    Sweet and peaty and smokey. This has some serious power to it.  It goes over a dark honey and raisins thread swirling with smoke and then moves onto salt and that Fisherman's Friend flavour that is distinctive. On a cold day, this will feel good for sure. Water softens this and spreads the flavours a bit.

Finish: good persistence and makes it into the chest with some warmth.

When would I drink this? Keep this for colder or wetter day (both cold and wet would be ideal). Its rich and smokey and would go well with winter, mountain air, or on a dreary day. Good effort from the guys at Bowmore. I'll have to review some more later!

Bruichladdich Port Charlotte Scottish Barley Review

Bruichladdich Port Charlotte Scottish Barley - 50% abv.

I've been dying to keep making my way through the new line up of Bruichladdich which only made it to Canada at the end of June this year after having been released in many other parts of the world in September 2013.  This time, I'm covering a more widely available member of the core Bruichladdich line up: The Port Charlotte Scottish Barley.

I have to say that this Port Charlotte has a lot to live up to as the special cask strength PC releases have probably been the top choices for me as far as heavily peated whiskies go. Something that is promising is that this one is bottled at 50% alcohol which bodes well for having more of the huge flavour that the special PC releases are known for.  As a note, I drank a bottle of the Port Charlotte 10 Year Old Heavily Peated (46% abv.) but didn't get to write a review here... very quickly, it was a delicious sherried and smokey malt that reminded me very much of the PC7 in terms of flavour but I always thought it could have benefitted from slightly higher alcohol to go from great to stellar.

Back to the Port Charlotte Scottish Barley...

click photo to enlarge

Colour: 14 karat gold which indicates that this one was aged largely in american oak.  You have to view it in the bottle with lots of liquid to get the hint that there are some sherry casks used in this one (Jim McEwan confirms that there are a little bit of sherry aged casks in this one).

Nose: sweet smoke, brine, and mint come to me right away. This is promising. It smells like it has the power I feel is characteristic of PCs. A little vanilla on the nose maybe or creme brûlée or something like that.  Notes of lemon and honey join in there too.  As it opens, you get more pastry type notes on the nose.

Palate: wow that is good, honest whisky.  Comes across the tongue sweet and salty to start and then goes smokey with a long, slightly smokey-ashy finish.  There is a layer of baking type flavours like vanilla, aniseed, smoked honey, and maybe cream that then moves into smoke and black pepper that then leaves a bit of lemon peel too.  I don't know if I've ever listed this one before, but I think there is even a sharp cheddar cheese note in there that comes from combining some of the flavours together.  This is really, really good. 

Finish: long persistence that makes its way, oddly enough, about down to the heart with some warmth in the chest and throat.

When would I drink this? Honestly every day. This does make a great every day drink. I find the best times are during the day on a crisper/cooler day (outside is great with this one) and it makes a great night cap or late night dram. Ideally, I picture myself standing seaside on a cool day in the breeze with a dram of this and there is no where else I need to be. This isn't quite the level of the special PC releases but it belongs with those in my opinion and is truly worth it. If whisky like this is the direction of Bruichladdich after the big Remy buy-out, we are in great shape.

Bruichladdich The Organic Scottish Barley Review

Bruichladdich - The Organic Scottish Barley - 50% abv.

Its been a while since I've written a review but I've had a heck of a lot going and just got side tracked.  Sorry whisky buddies!  I will try to be more regular in the future!

One thing I was doing during my hiatus was travelling which means that I got to visit duty free. Yea!  I picked up this new, Travel Retail Exclusive, Bruichladdich from the new range - The Organic Scottish Barley.  In my review of the previous edition of The Organic, I think I said something to the effect that I wished it was bottled at 50% to see how it compared to Islay Barley releases. Well, here it is.

click on photo to enlarge - like my table?

Colour: very simply, pale straw.

Nose: My first thought runs to lemon sherbet.  Very fresh. But there is some creme anglaise in there or something like that. Mint. Honey. A little herbacious almost like cut grass but different.  Cool!

Palate: Neat it is very clean and fresh. Some nice sweetness along with notes of lemon. The texture is quite nice and this feels like summer.  Right away, I'm thinking this dram feels like a great starter on that patio while deciding what to order for starters. Summer images.

Adding some water is good idea with this one with it being a younger whisky and being bottled for us at a lovely 50% alcohol.  Oh that is nice.  Still clean and fresh but the water brings out a pastry cream/creme anglaise thread that is really pleasant. The water doesn't seem to hurt the texture either.  That creaminess rings of the previous version of The Organic.

Finish: good persistence and makes it to the back of the throat. 

This is summer whisky.  No question there. If I dare say, this would work very well as a breakfast whisky too! Makes you wonder what it would be like aged for a longer time and what different casks would do to this (this is done in 100% american oak).

Glenmorangie Nectar D'Or Review

Glenmorangie Nectar D'Or 12 Years Old - 46% abv.

My second Glen-mo review is another whisky in the same series as the previous Quinta Ruban. This one is a Glenmorangie that was started in american oak and then moved into Sauternes casks for finishing. Sauternes is a sweet French wine that is made from the juice of grapes that were allowed to stay on the vine until the shrivel in the sun. This juice is more concentrated and higher in sugar and makes a delicious, thick, sweet white wine.  Sounds like a great way to additionally evolve some scotch whisky!

click photo to enlarge

Colour: Deep golden mellow yellow colour.

Nose: I get a peachy/apricot type thing going on along with some overripe pear. Very sweet smelling. Smells like a dash of lemon juice is in amongst the other things as well. Nice!

Palate: Sweet on entry and pretty soft. The white wine character is there along with some of the salt typical of Glenmorangie. Honey and lemon with apricot and some under-ripened peach. A little salt in there too.

A few drops of water seems to this one some good.  It softens and spreads the fruits a bit and brings out a nice vanilla note. With the Quinta Ruban, I generally found I didn't want to touch it but this Nectar D'Or seems to become just right with 2 - 4 drops of water.  Really good just like that. A great thing is that this is non chill-filtered so the water actually doesn't really affect the texture much and, in this case, seems to make even a little bit more velvety.

Finish: The persistence is medium in length and it makes it down to about the Adam's apple.

When would I drink this? Probably more of a summer whisky for times where some added richness over a simple american-oak aged profile is desired. Evening drink on a nice day, maybe?  Whatever it is, I suggest trying a couple drops of water in this one to reveal its true goodness. I think the Quinta Ruban makes for a great value as a night cap. This one would fit the bill of digestif, I think. The folks at Glenmorangie struck a good balance with this one.

Glenmorangie The Quinta Ruban Review

Glenmorangie - The Quinta Ruban - 12 Years Old - Extra Matured in Port Casks - 46% abv.

As discussed previously, you come across gems in tastings from time to time - in fact, probably most tastings yield something new and exciting. This Glenmorangie was revealed to me in a tasting focussed on different cask maturations.

This particular Glenmorangie was matured in american oak and then evolved further, or "finished," in Port casks.  Thankfully, it is non-chill filtered and served up at 46% alcohol.  

Colour: dark amber with a pinkish hue.

Nose:  soft with grape juice and maybe even overripe strawberry. A hint of chocolate and salt.

Palate: definitely has flavours of the darker purple ports rather than a tawny port. Sweet with hints of fruit and a little chocolate. Some salty tang there too. Quite nice balance of soft and tart and sweet. Simple and good. Upon further reflection, I get what I believe is a nice note of the lighter maple syrups - the nice natural stuff. Sugary and viscous.  Not necessarily something I would expect from a port cask but I'm guessing this is coming from the bourbon barrels this would have started out in.

Finish: some spices without substantial heat - just a little warmth - and stays richer rather than drying much.

When would I drink this? For sure this is a night cap. Easy to drink, should please anyone, and is honestly good whisky. Glenmorangie should present a greater percentage of their whisky this way. I'll be moving on to the Nectar D'Or next as the weather appears to be moving into Spring conditions.

Springbank 12 Year Old Single Cask - Gold Metal Marketing Cask Review

Springbank 12 Year Old Single Cask - Gold Metal Marketing Selection - Refill Sherry Cask - 58.1% abv.

Springbank produces produces very flavourful products. From time to time you come across cask strength versions, single casks, or special editions.  This one is one of 522 bottles from  a refill sherry butt (a refill barrel is one that has previously held at least one different run of scotch whisky).

click photo to enlarge

Colour: Gold with copper highlights (not the darker brown typical of first fill casks)

Nose: Light smoke with butterscotch and raisins. Orange marmalade. Honey. Water brings out more fruit like raisins and dates. Orange zest with even more water.

Palate: This is punching its weight. A little hot but sweet with butterscotch flavours. Medium to light smoke and slightly minty peat.  

Water brings out more butterscotch and makes the heat become more spicy than hot with some back palate warmth. This can take quite a bit of water and become what you want that day.  Add some more and move from butterscotch flavours to more orange marmalade type flavours and orange zest.  Some mint in there too.  Time in the glass seems to develop the spiciness into more a white pepper.

Finish: Warm down the throat and past the Adam's apple. Pretty long persistence.

When would I drink this? Its gotta be a colder day.  Perfect time is doing a project in the garage with a buddy and you need something to keep warm but want good flavours and quality.

My opinion is that this benefits from adding water to reduce heat and show the typical Springbank flavours.