Poit Dhubh 21 Year Old Gaelic Malt Scotch Whisky

The 8 year old of Poit Dhubh (see the review on this blog) impressed us so much that we needed to get a hold of some more, and since the only one available to us in Nova Scotia was the 21 year old, the 21 year old was what we got a hold of. It's a lot more expensive, coming in at $139.81 as opposed to $50 for the 8 year old. The 8 year old impressed us and the 21 year old impressed us too. However, did it impress us 2.8 times? The truth is, although the 21 year old is really good, we think we actually prefer the 8 year old. We do recommend trying the 21 year old. It's a damn fine scotch. Perhaps it's more of a special occasion scotch.

There's a lot of complexity with the 21 year old, which presents itself at 43% and comes in a more Scottish (European?) 700ml bottle rather than the Canadian (North American) 750ml. It also prides itself on being unchilfiltered, which is something to look for.

The nose begins with dark fruits, apples and cherry and a charry smoke scent that's much stronger than the 8 year old. There's also spice and a hint of ginger. After drinking it, we let it sit for a while, and let the liquid settle at the bottom of the glass (as we are now in the habit of doing). This final few drops brought out something unique, a sudden intense caramel and burnt sugar smell and stronger elements of cherry, while the smokiness faded away. A definitely interesting effect.

The palate is sort of amazing. There's a whole range of flavours that swirl and mix. It's hard to even focus on one as another comes rushing in. There's chocolate and leather and more ginger, this time definitely hot fresh ginger that burns the mouth in a pleasant sort of way, while an underlying candy sweetness adds its flavour and evens it all out.

We came across something new in this drink as there is a kind of hotness to this scotch that we've never quite experienced before. Not quite hot and not quite spicy, but something that gives the feeling of both. We noticed it more in the 21 year old, but it's there in the background of the 8 as well.

The finish has a very satisfying touch of smoke. It's really the perfect amount of smoke, enough to establish itself, but not enough to become overbearing. It's subtle and gentle. And to compliment it perfectly, there's more fruit, specifically apple that gives it a contrasting sweetness.

This Scotch is good and as it ends up, it is better than the 8 year old, but sometimes people are weird, and even though we know its better, the 8 year old is the preferable dram. Having this, and saving it for sporadic sampling will be a welcome occasion however.

Poit Dhubh 8 Year Old Gaelic Malt Scotch Whisky

Poit Dhubh 8 year old gaelic malt scotch whisky is a blended scotch that is everything that Johnnie Walker Black Label should have been. Poit Dhubh comes across as a well blended scotch with character and a nice variety of scents and tastes. What first drew us to it was that it stated it was unchilfiltered. We figure that the only reason a scotch would hide something from its label is because they are ashamed of it. Let's have more honesty in labeling. Let all scotch makers say if they chilfilter or not, let them all say if they add colour or not. If you add colour or chilfilter something but are ashamed of it... then maybe just don't do it in the first place.

The first smell that comes across with this scotch is malt. We're now thinking we can sort of understand the smell of younger scotches. And younger isn't always bad, young can have a fresh youthfulness to it, more fuller malty smell and taste. This particular smell and taste disappears a little with age.

There's a slight smoky texture in the nose (one of us thought this was sort of a peaty smokiness, but the other disagreed. You can't always have full agreement in scotch tasting, but that's ok.) The smokiness blends with earthy notes and toasted nuts, and some gentle sweetness. We're thinking that there's some scents in there from some sherry casks. There's a little subtle fruitiness as well and a bit of iodine if you really search for it.

The delicious taste of malt comes out in the palate too, with subtle smoke and burnt oak lingering in the background. Hot ginger, mixed with sweet caramel gives this scotch added complexity. A tiny hint of dark chocolate adds to the overall flavours

This we found particularity interesting: The smell of the malt and then the taste of the malt gives a strange sort of effervescent feel. Now let's get this straight, there is absolutely no effervescent, but there's this weird sense of it. It defies logic and reason; the taste of the malt gave the brain this sort of sense of effervescence.

The finish carries on the slight smokiness of the palate, but in a non-intrusive way. Pleasant in all regards, with gentle apple sweetness.

We're sold on this as a really good blended scotch. If you need proof that blends can hold their own against single malts than give this a try. Would we purchase this again? We already have. Of course, it's a little more expensive than your run of the mill blended scotch ($50 Canadian in Nova Scotia) but it's well worth it.

Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Years Old Scotch Whisky

So there's the idea that single malts are so much better than blended scotches. The snobs and the established single malt producers want you to believe this because it drives their sales and it drives the higher prices for single malts over blended scotches, but we've heard some convincing arguments against it. Unfortunately these convincing arguments may be with more of a UK scotch market in mind. The blended scotches that we get here in Canada are generally the more bargain brands, the blends that lack the complexity that a really good blend could have, so this reinforces the idea that blends are bad.

We've tried to open up our minds and accept the idea that blends could be good. We really have. Although, from experience there is some lingering doubt.

With this in mind, however, we dove right into Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Years Old Scotch Whisky.

To be honest, I had always bought into the idea that single malts are better than blends, and when I bought a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red Label recently, I was kind of embarrassed. I felt a little bit of shame that someone thought I was buying this because I thought it was good... I was just buying it because I thought I should taste it and prove to myself that it was bad. It's actually not bad, but it's not good. It brands itself as a scotch to mix with cola or something like that. If you're looking for a good scotch to drink with a bit of water, or straight... you need to look beyond red label. Even Johnnie Walker agrees with that.

But Red Label is pretty inexpensive. I decided to try Black Label with an open mind. Perhaps, I thought, it might be pretty good. It's branded well. It was in an episode of True Detective as a premium scotch....

However, it's not. It's pretty boring and although it's not as expensive as something like Glenlivet or Genfiddich it's still not worth the extra money. There are better scotches that are the same price or less. If you don't want to spent more just buy something like J&B. You're not getting that much better of scotch for your money.

There's no review here of Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Years Old Scotch Whisky. It's a little Smokey and fairly boring. Buy something else. My recommendation is to avoid this. It's not shit, but you can do better. I don't see myself ever buying this again.

So the search for a good premium blended scotch continues.

Macallan 12 year old

Macallan has decided to change up everything. Apparently, according to the information we have received, they've decided to toss off age statements, maybe due to high demand, and just offer a non-age statement blend with pre-judged dollar radios. They're just releasing everything with a made up name, without any statement of age. We're not a fan of this. However, we've had some 12 year old sitting for a couple of years... and have now drank the last shot of it. Yeah, it's been sitting for a couple of years, so it's hard to judge it, but nevertheless its a damn fine scotch.

The nose is strong with caramel and toffee. The sweetness is very strong with a burnt sugar scent, along with vanilla and a sherry note that is very light in the background.

The palate is very similar to the nose, with a delicious smooth caramelized sugar, but with malty undertones.

The finish begins with a medicinal taste that fades quickly into a oak and woody finish, a bit of vanilla and more sweetness. Very smooth and delicious.

It really is a perfect scotch as is. So delicious and smooth you can't say anything bad about it. This was the best scotch ever... unfortunately... now is unavailable and gone forever.

If you see this in a store... BUY IT! It'll probably be your last chance to get hold of it.

Glenfiddich 15 year old

Let's just begin by stating that we weren't too impressed with the Glenfiddich 12 year old. That along with Glenlivet and Glenmorangie are what we consider the best known single malts out there, you can pretty much pick them up at any liquor store and they are fairly reasonably priced. They're starter single malts for people who want to experiment with the idea. Glenfiddich 12 year old is alright, sort of boring and simple, so it's our least favourite. It's meant to appeal to a large group of people... the larger a group of people become the more collectively stupid they are. At least that's our opinion.

However, the boring and bland ends with the 15 year old. It was quite a surprise for us. We were pretty pleased and it's good to see that Glenfiddich has treated the 15 year with an extra touch to improve it in wonderful ways. Yes, start out with the 12 year old, they seem to say, but when you're ready to spend a little more for a better experience then move onto the 15 year old. The 15 year old is matured in American bourbon, Portuguese sherry and virgin oak. The whisky is then mellowed in a solera vat before being married in Portuguese oak tuns. We approve of these extra steps. It definitely adds something wonderful and gives it the complexity that the 12 year was lacking. It's only 40%, which is a little disappointing, but is something we'd expect from a big brand that wants to be available in all markets. They mention nothing about non-chill filtering or caramel colour so you should almost expect it to be chill filtered and a little colour added. It definitely looks that way, which is too bad.

It starts out, without any water, strong in a scent of sherry that dominates the other smells; oak, vanilla and toffee.

Adding water really opens up the smells, and you get a burst of apples and pears. The sherry drops from being dominate, while vanilla and chocolate mix with sweet caramel, and a little hint of oak.

The palate is smooth with a warm spicy feel, and then comes on the chocolate... so good, some orange and caramel sweetness fill your mouth with pleasure.

The finish gets all buttery and creamy, with vanilla and oak, and when everything fades you're left with a mouth that continues to taste a delicious creamy chocolate and oak.

It's quite decadent and delicious. A truly pleasurably experience.

Our hint of the day: We really think you should let you glass sit for a while once you're done whatever whiskey you're drinking and when all the liquid pools at the bottom, drink that last one drop. This would be the worst idea in the world if you were drinking beer, toss that last 1/10 of a beer, that 'vadim' is crap. But with whiskey or whisky, that last drop can be pure gold. It's often a wonderful and slightly unique experience in itself, where you can taste some of the flavour of the drink in a nice giant burst. Smelling the empty glass is often more pleasurable than the original nose. Maybe people's focus on the nose is ass backwards.

The Glen Breton Battle of the Glen

The Glen Breton Battle of the Glen is a 15 year old Canadian Single Malt Whisky and is the Glenora Distillery cheeky special edition release in response to finally winning the court case against the Scotch Whisky Association.

A tiny bit of background: The Scotch Whisky Association tried to prevent the Glenora Distillers from releasing their whisky because they felt the word "Glen" would confuse people into thinking this Canadian Whisky was actually scotch. It took 9 years of legal battles but then finally after it escalated up to the Supreme Court of Canada, they dismissed the application of the Scotch Whisky Association for leave to appeal in its unsuccessful campaign to oppose the trade-mark registration of Glen Breton. It seems to us that the Scotch Whisky Association were just kind of being dicks about this.

But basically Glen Breton is scotch... or at least, it's scotch styled Canadian whisky. The Glenora Distillery, located in Glenville, NS and located near the Glenora falls, never even try to call themselves 'scotch style' and say Canadian Whisky on their labels next to the maple leaf, not a thistle.  However, it is made the same way scotch is made and if it was made in Scotland it would be scotch, but it's made in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, so everyone has to refer to it as Canadian single Malt Whisky. The Glenora Distillery is the first distillery in North America to distill their whisky this way. Maybe The Scotch Association was worried that it would be a slippery slope and sooner or later there would be a great number of competing single malts out there.

As a scotch and single malt drinker... how could this be a bad thing?

It comes in at 43% and it's fairly expensive: $110.00. Apparently you can only buy it from the distillery itself. We made a trip there and so that's how we have it. The trip to the distillery was great, so maybe we'll go again and get some more. It isn't chill filtered and it doesn't have anything, like colouring, added. Nice and pure.

Glen Breton whiskys all have a a very malty aspect to them. You can really smell that very same malt when you take the tour. It's everywhere. So it's not surprising that the nose of this one begins with malt and a tinge of oak or maybe just straight up woodiness. There's vanilla from the bourbon cask (During the tour they mentioned they use virgin Bourbon casks, most likely from Buffalo Trace). Apples and Pear smells are strong and delicious. The warehouses in which the casks are stored are surrounded by apple groves and as the casks breath they're sure to absorb some of these rich fruity smells. A light sweetness with aspects of caramel make their first appearance in the nose and will follow through later on. Then hiding in the background there's a hint of chocolate (there's more chocolate when you smell it straight than when you add some water, but the chocolate also comes back in the pallet, so adding some water is still a good idea).

The taste brings on very malty and fruity flavours, mixed with hazelnut. Once you have your first sip, you can smell more hazelnut in the nose as well. The chocolate comes back on the tongue.

The finish comes on quick. It's a smooth big creamy finish with more hints of vanilla and buttery toffee. The buttery feeling really takes over and almost coats your mouth in its flavours. There's a very light lingering oak that finishes it off. There was some dispute about this slight oaky finish. One of us thought it was sort of a nutty oak, while the other said that oak is wood and can't be nutty. The dispute remains.

Overall this is really nice whisky. Will we get it again? I think we started making plans to visit the Distillery again before we had even left.

Port Charlotte Scottish Barely - Heavily Peated

We were so sold on the Bruichladdich scotch we drank that we had to try out their Heavily Peated Port Charlotte. Let's just state for the record that we like everything we've heard about Bruichladdich. They don't chill filter their scotches and they don't add any colouring and both this and the Classic Laddie are 50% alcohol. Interestingly enough, they make some Gin too, and that's on our list of things to buy and check out. Anything they make and they send to Canada, we're going to purchase. Bruichladdich is great. We are totally sold!

One of us was always against heavily peated malts in the past. But through experimentation that position has weakened and now with the tasting of Port Charlotte Scottish Barely - Heavily Peated it has been destroyed. Peat and smokey scotches are something you have to get used to, but if you put in the effort you really can open yourself up to some really amazing new flavours.

The nose not surprisingly begins with peat. Big peat. I like that they put 40ppm of peat on the label. Bruichladdich is committed to excellence and  displaying their parts per million on the label  is just another example of this. Underneath the peat however is a little subtle char, some classic (if we can say that after tasting two Bruichladdich products) salty air, and then something sweet perhaps honeysuckle and a powerful burst of lemon and floral notes.

What's interesting with scotches, and we've said it before, is that often there are scents and tastes which you would think, at first would not be scents and tastes that you would want to experience in a whisky (or any beverage) but somehow work in whiskys. So we were hesitant at first to say this, but the truth is, there's a total medicinal scent and taste to this, iodine and as crazy as this may seem, the scent of band aids (maybe just medical rubber). 'Are we saying this tastes bad?' you may ask? Amazingly, we're saying 'no, this is amazing.' Lots of scotches have this weird medicinal scent and taste and it's strangely appealing. It definitely grows on you. It's crazy, we know, but it actually does.

Underneath all this there is some sweetness and the delicious taste of burnt wood (oak). The burnt flavours are just in the right amount.

The finish is fairly short but there is a lingering smokey taste that pretty much lasts until you brush your teeth or eat or drink something else.

In short. It's really good. We love Bruichladdich! Will definitely purchase again!

Dalmore 18 year old

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We've seen Dalmore at the liquor store for a while now and more importantly Dalmore has seen us. Every time we're there it whispers at us and tries to lure us in. Originally the Cigar Malt was the one that caught our attention. While it comes in a fairly fancy box, its not overly fancy, just fancy enough to say 'hey, I'm a $149.99 scotch'. But then out pops the 18 year old and it's only $25 more. We could only resist for so long.

The Dalmore 18 year old is aged in american oak ex-bourbon casts for 14 years and  then switched to 30 year old Matusalem sherry butts for another 4 years. It's bottled at 43% alcohol by volume, probably not unchilled filtered and who knows if it has had any colour added. It's a very dark rich amber colour, but some of that probably comes from those sherry butts.

The nose begins with fruits, with apple specifically popping out. You can smell the sherry, nice and sweet, along with a very nice rich chocolate aroma. Underneath it all are subtle scents: lemon and orange, sweet pipe tobacco. And finally a little leather and oak.

The palate is spicy with the taste of ginger. But then there's a contrast with a candied sweetness that we can't quite place but is very pleasant. Maybe this candied sweetness comes from the sherry. It's quite tasty.

The finish is very long and building. It continues to build and adjust in a way that allows you  focus on different aspects over multiple drinks. Chocolate really comes out in the finish and mixes beautifully with caramel and buttery toffee, and a little almond comes through.

A really good scotch for sure, but a little pricey. Wouldn't buy it again, solely based on that price. But don't take us wrong, it's very good and we don't regret getting it to try it out, but its definitely a 'treat yourself once to' sort of experience.

Bruichladdich Scottish Barley - The Classic Laddie

Bruichladdich Scottish Barley - The Classic Laddie sets itself apart from other scotches with its unique package colouring. Aquamarine blue is not your normal bottle colour. But one shouldn't let packaging influence your decision. The blue draws you in, but you should investigate it before biting.

However, Bruichladdich Scottish Barley has a lot going for it. It's un-chill filtered (A definite bonus) and it doesn't have any colour added (maybe less of a taste bonus, but then again, it shows that they don't need to fuck around with the stupid shit to get the job done). Do we need caramel colour in scotch? No. On a negative side, it doesn't provide an age statement, but as it ends up, its a damn fine scotch as is, so that's not too much of a drawback.

It's fairly expensive ($71.99 in Nova Scotia) but it has 50% alcohol so at least it's scotch at a good strength for your money.

You can tell Bruichladdich Scottish Barley is well crafted. Despite its high alcohol content it doesn't have much of an alcohol burn smell, but some water does bring out a lot more scents and flavours. There's a good amount of Scottish mist that appears too (this is a good thing. Look it up). The first impression of the nose is of oak and salty air with a little bit of seaweed lingering in the background. Then there's a little bit of toffee and deep rich fruit smell like jam and finally the nice pleasant aroma of vanilla.

The palate brings out more oak and a tiny bit of of warm spice (this could very well be due to the alcohol), but it's smooth. Really nice and smooth.

Just as your enjoying how smooth it is, flavours of chocolate ice-cream and caramel roll in and build during the finish. This follows with warm gingery tones, more caramel and a lovely general sweetness with that lingering spiciness. Sweet and spice perfectly blended! Beautiful. Another impressive part of this scotch is that the oak seems to layer itself, so on the second sip there's more of it and all the flavours change with each taste. The complexity continues and is wonderful to explore.

Overall a truly admirable scotch, but if we had to complain about something it would be that although we really like the bottle and its unconventional look it really should have a clear strip or something down the side because you can't be sure how much is left. Actually how much of it IS left? We're not sure and this is bound to be a very disappointing moment when we get to the end of the bottle. Sooner or later we're in for this unpleasant surprise.

Highly recommended and we'll not only be buying more of this scotch but exploring other Bruichladdich scotches as well. We're sold!

Bowmore 12 Year old

Bowmore 12 Year old is interesting in how uninteresting it is. 12 year old and single malt are the only specifics it mentions... standard 40% alcohol but I guess it only cost $52.99, which is kind of the standard in Nova Scotia for a single malt. I bought it because I was picking up something new for the night and had to shop at a really crappy liquor store (Scotia Square in downtown Halifax) and didn't have much choice. I had never tasted Bowmore before so I thought I'd give it a go.

You like to try out some smoke in your scotch? Maybe you might like this. But probably not. I'm not a huge fan of the smokey scotches and haven't actively sought out the best ones, but even though this one has got lots of the smoke it doesn't have much else. If you only like smoke then maybe this is your brand.

The nose comes in full with smoke and char and a little oak that's hidden beneath the smoke. Charred oak? Yeah, I guess, but more smoke than anything else. A touch of salt and a basic undefinable sweet that's a barely discernible finish of the nose.

Unsurprisingly there's more smoke on the palate.

A quick finish with even more smoke and the taste of burnt wood at the end. It seems simple and quite honestly boring.

Not going to be getting any more of this. A disappointment for sure.

We're interested in hearing your opinion. It would be great to hear that you've checked out something we've recommended and have enjoyed it. However if you disagree with something we've said, we'd love to hear that too.

Hey, let's say you've been thinking about getting something and want to know our opinion of it first. Well, why don't you leave a comment and if we can get hold of it then maybe we'll check it out. Of course, there's a lot of things to consider there, such as if it falls within our budget and if we think it's worth experimenting with. But it can't hurt to try.

Let's say you've had an experience with one of the whiskeys or whisky we've reviewed. Why don't you share that with us? The comment section is open.

Anyway, read and comment. That's all we're asking.

Glenmorangie The Original

There are three good starter Single Malts that are available to everyone and available almost in any liquor store at a fairly reasonable price, Glenlivet, Glenfidich and Glenmorangie. If you've ever had a single malt then you've probably had one of these. I've always leaned towards Glenmorangie being the top of these three top brands. It's interesting that the other two come out as 12 year old but the Glenmorangie is 10, which many would consider a younger malt. Not only does it hold its own, it dominates the other two in my opinion by being more delicious and more complex.

There are lots of flavours here for sure. The nose comes in with some malty floral scents and lemony traces. The sweet deliciousness asserts itself with vanilla, caramel, hints of butterscotch and the tiniest tinge of fudge. There's of course some oak in there too, with a backdrop of almond.

The palate is big on creamy, with smooth toffee, orange and citrus zet.

The finish brings up the oak. A amazing combination of sweet and spicy linger on the tongue. More Vanilla and more almond assert themselves. Glenmorangie is definitely complex and it's hard to place some of the flavours. Perhaps it would be good to go back to it some other time and try.

Glenmorangie is a really awesome scotch and is something that we're going to buy again and again.

Mellow Corn Kentucky Straight Corn Whiskey

Mellow Corn Kentucky straight corn whiskey was a surprise purchase for me. With it's bright yellow label and somewhat unusual name, it definitely stands out.

At first it seems strong with sour fruit and vanilla and not unsurprising, a powerful alcohol feel. This needs some water added. The water makes the tastes more subtle and knocks down the alcohol to a more acceptable level. With water added the noise is lightly sweet and brings out a pleasant burboun like scent. Vanilla and just the hint of oak intertwine. The sweetness is hard to pin down, maybe some fruitiness or candied treats (caramel or toffee) that I can't quite pick out definitively. This has been made with 81% corn and so is different from what I'm used to. Definitely intriguing.

Remarkably smooth for something that is not only 100 proof, but also that cost so little. I was quite surprised and apparently called this the best whiskey ever made when I first encountered it. I think a lot of that was the 100 proof talking. It's definitely not that, but to some degree I don't entirely regret making that statement: I regret having had the 2nd shot of it after having spent the afternoon drinking pints, however.

One should treat this whiskey with respect. Yes, it's inexpensive ($29.99 in Nova Scotia for a 750ml bottle), but it shouldn't be guzzled or free poured. It's delicious and should be savoured with a bit of water and sipped and enjoyed.

A nice tight sweet finish with a lingering gentle toffee taste finishes it off.

Definitely delicious and so smooth and mellow. I'll definitely be picking this up again. It's only real drawback is in its inexpensive nature and high alcohol content, which to some may not seem like a drawback at all. But it's a tempting siren. Fall under her spell and you'll realize why I list these two features as drawbacks as you nurse your hangover.

Deanston Virgin Oak

This was our first experience with Deanston. There was a moment of panic when I realized there are 2 versions of this, a 700ml and a 750ml, which are otherwise the same, including price. The 750ml had been purchased and the panic eased. At $49.99 this is pretty reasonably priced, but still, I'd prefer to have the extra 50ml.

This Deanston scotch is un-chilled filtered and has nothing added (such as caramel colour). It comes in at 46.3%. Without an age statement, this scotch accepts its youth, but has balanced it out by finishing in some freshly charred virgin oak casks.

The nose begins with charred oak (maybe a little hint of some toasted barely) blending together with some rich fruit, possibly some overripe plums, hints of cherry and just the overall general sweetness of fruit. While underneath with some investigation lies chocolate, vanilla, orange zest, and honey. A subtle feeling of seaside air brushes in.

The oak burst on the palate and then instantly turns into candied textures, fudge and a smooth creaminess.

There's some oak on the finish as well that again draws away and then fades entirely. A hot spiciness flares up, that itself is replaced with a sugary barely and general sweet feel, possibly toffee.

A really interesting youthful single malt that's deliciously sweet. The ebb and flow of the flavours is also quite enjoyable and demands attention. Definitely going to purchase this again.

The Macallan Sienna - 1824 Series

We were fans of the Macallan brand of scotch. It was awesome. However, they've now opted to re-brand their whole line; gone are the age designations. Maybe you can get the other Macallans in other parts of the world, but here in Nova Scotia, we can only get this new line: the "1824 Series" of scotch. This new line, which mentions no years and are separated only by some made up names: Gold, Amber, Sienna, Ruby and Rare Cask.

Sienna is the 3rd most expensive, coming in at $199.99 for a 750ml bottle and 43% alcohol.

This scotch is pretty fine, but we're disappointed that it's not the old Macallan. So our opinion is sort of tainted by this disappointment. We want to say it's good, but its a step down from what it was.

The sienna is definitely rich and even with the first smell the flavours are strong and full. There's a beautiful smell of chocolate and strangely the leather scent does not disturb. Why would someone want to drink something that smells like leather? That's a good question, but sometimes there's that in scotch... Pine needles and overripe fruit are some other examples that aren't in this one, but would seem like a weird scent to mention in a good way. But with scotch it seems fine. Yeah, it's a liquid that has a bit of a leathery smell but that's just ok. These smells mix with the sweetness of plum and vanilla.

The palate bring out the oak and a nice creaminess. Vanilla again appears with orange and nice warm feel, sort of like the hotness of ginger, without being really ginger in taste.

The finish is sweet and smooth with a little fudge. The oak flavour continues well past any other.

Pretty expensive and doesn't hold up to what Macallan used to be. So even though its good, its not what it could be and could be so much better.

Strathisla 12 Year Old

Strathisla 12 Year Old was suggested to us by one of the liquor store employees. She seemed like she knew what she was talking about and was telling us about a bar in New Brunswick that was maybe the best scotch bar in Canada and said that the people there really "knew their shit." I like it when people in stores use profanity so I decided to trust her.

The key selling points on this scotch are that its a 12 year old and reasonably priced at $51.99. It's a standard 40% alcohol bottling. Strangely, however, this is a 700ml bottle, as opposed to your usual 750ml.

The nose is full of fruit flavours, including orange zest, cherry, and dried fruits. There a tiny hint of bananas and an apple boarding on pear (Asian pear) scent mixed with a prevalent sultana aroma. The sweetness continues with caramel or sweet candy background. The sweetness of the nose has quite a range. Maybe there's even some sugary barley in this. Topped off with a salty air feel that seems to be common among Speyside scotches.

The Palate is nice and spicy but creamy as well. Cinnamon mixed with oak and a sweet creamy maltiness (does that even make sense?). Some nougat and underlying pear and apple (more pear than apple) in the background.

The finish starts hot and spicy (more cinnamon) with more sultana and sherry notes. Then there is a slow rise of almond that comes out bold and strong and then blends with a delicious flowing creamy flavour.

Overall a good purchase.

Mortlach Rare Old

Mortlach Rare Old is a fancy looking scotch that comes in a very nice display box. It's listed at 43.4%. Mortlach Rare Old looks really good, and we've heard that's part of it's problem. Its interesting too that this doesn't have any list of year and "Rare Old" is actually the lower tiered one of their branding. It might be rare and old but everything else is maybe older and rarer... or at least more expensive. We've seen other comments about it only being 500ml rather than your standard 750ml, but the one we got in Canada, in its fancy box is 750ml. At $99.99 it sits as being expensive, but there are plenty of others that are more expensive.

The nose starts off with overripe apples mixed with sultana. But further in there's orange zest, ginger, and a little chocolate feel. Hints of sweetness and caramel.

The fruitiness continues on the palette, but combining into a dried fruit taste which intermixes with the sweetness of chocolate. We thought there might even be a very subtle taste of pineapple, but if there is, its sitting back there hidden behind everything else, with a bit of oak and orange zest blending it all out.

The finish bursts with  sweet cinnamon that intermixes with ginger notes. There's almonds and dried fruit with the sweetness coming through to make it almost candied fruit. Definitely very sweet and if you search further there may be some middle eastern spices and a heavy sweetness reminiscent slightly of baklava. In the end, the oak again makes an appearance, and begins to dominate the more you drink it.

Overall a very interesting scotch with lots of layers, but perhaps not worth the price, in that there are other less expensive ones that offer everything this one has and more. Maybe if you want to impress someone with this as a gift, you'll look extravagant and the taste won't disappoint.

Although enjoyable, we don't think this will be one we'll be buying again.

The Arran Malt 14 Year Old

The Arran 14 year old separates itself from other scotches with its slightly unusual ageing. Most scotches are 10 or 12 and then skip up to 18. This one sits at a 14 and so perhaps blends the younger scotches with the more expensive older scotches, without adding too much to the price.

This scotch comes at 46%. A definite plus.

The nose is quite complex. Fermented over ripe fruit mixed with musky grape, the fruitiness continues with a definite feel of sweet apples, pear and orange zest. There was a blend of flavours that we noticed at first to be chocolate, and then maybe chocolate ice cream and then maybe even Neapolitan ice cream. Definitely very interesting. You can linger over the nose for quite a long time. You can come back to the nose too, maybe there are some delicate hints of coffee, dates, caramelized toffee.

The palette brings out the toffee taste and adds a salty tang. To be honest, we weren't sure what that taste was, until we checked some other reviews about it. You know, during your day to day life you don't encounter a 'salty tang' often, even when you live by the ocean, but when you read 'salty tang' in a description of this and then actually taste it, yeah that's right, you can definitely taste the salty tang. Who would have known?

There's a chocolate taste that turns into an orange taste and then back to chocolate again. It's quite remarkable and delicious. The flow of great tastes continue with nuts and chocolate swirling about on your tongue.

The finish starts off with oak and then develops into chocolate, with some orange zest and a slight sweetness of raisins or dates. There's a slight hotness, with maybe a candied ginger feel.

I had this scotch a few days ago and found that the lingering taste of chocolate lasted hour and hours later. I could taste this scotch well into the night and it was so scrumptious. It got Arran on my mind, it made me think it of and how much I enjoyed it. This is probably my current favourite scotch. Highly recommended!

Would we purchase this again? Most definitely! In fact, I already plan to.

Bulleit Rye

Bulleit makes a Bourbon which we tasted recently and were quite impressed with. I've picked it up a few times and at one point said it was the best Bourbon I've ever had (I'm not a huge Bourbon drinker, so I haven't had too many).

But seeing a Rye by the same company did perk the interest.

This Rye is strong at 45% alcohol: a good sign.

The nose starts off with a floral vanilla scent, but underneath there are are lots of flavours mixing. A very suable hint of lavender and some caramelized brown sugar, maybe some fruits like cherry, possibly pineapple and peach. There's also just a touch of pine.

The palette mixes oak with dried fruits (raspberry or mixed berry, orange zest). It's creamy and pretty smooth with a development of cinnamon and dark chocolately oak (there's chocolate and there is oak and they seem to combine and intertwine). The orange zest comes out more as you drink more, but so does the chocolate.

Bulleit, you definitely didn't let us down.

Canadian Club Small Batch Classic 12

Let's review something shit.

Of course, there were no expectations of this. Even though it's labelled as something sort of special, apart from your normal Canadian club. This so called Small Batch Classic 12 is pretty damn boring. Smelled the cork and couldn't smell anything. There's maybe something in the nose, maybe watered down brown sugar, but it is not very exciting. Again, a bit of watered down sugary palette but little else. Nothing as far as finish.

If you don't like whisky, have no interest in whisky and all its beauty, but need to drink whisky for some reason, then this should be your go to pick.

It's bland and boring. But...hey... it's inexpensive! Drink enough of it and it'll fuck you up. That should be the only reason for drinking this.

Woodford Reserve

Time to digress from scotches and check out some American Bourbon. Woodford Reserve seems to be much beloved by people on the net and also by a mysterious unnamed manager at the local liquor store. Picked this one up today on just a whim from the 'manager selection.' I like that they never try to explain why the manager would or could or should recommend different picks. But to be honest, the manager has never let us down.

Woodford Reserve kicks in at 45.2%. There's a bit of a disagreement on how much water to add. Start with a little and if you like it, stick with it. Find it too strong... put some more in.

The first thing we noticed with the nose is the brown sugar; very strong and sweet, with a nice blend of vanilla and warm butterscotch. With further investigation there are hints of orange zest, clove, and maybe a possible sultana scent, but maybe that's just the alcohol speaking.

The palate has a dry oak taste with chocolate and amaretto blending into a nice coffee taste.

The finish continues the oak theme, with a strong almond feel. A very delicious bourbon indeed. Nice and sweet with chocolate, almonds and a plethora of other tastes to discover? Who wouldn't like it?

Old Pulteney 12 Year Old

So this is a new scotch for us. We've been coming across it in checking out other sites and other reviewers. It's mentioned as a damn fine scotch and good starter scotch for people. We've never heard of it, and it's only just recently been added to the liquor store here in Nova Scotia.

We're used to adding quite a lot of water to scotch lately to bring out the nose and flavours, but upon checking out another review of this, we did a second shot with less water. The second one was better, with only around a teaspoon of water. There was more bite from the alcohol, but the flavours were stronger and the experience was more enjoyable.

The nose was a little subtle maltiness with hints of almond, vanilla, toffee, and a sweet fruity something. With less water, there were more floral notes that seem to dominate the others. I hate to say sultana because I don't use the word and have only come across it from other scotch reviews. But I've tasted other scotches that had that sultana taste and there's that in the nose of this one too.

The big thing about the palate for us was the buttery toffee feel, like Werther's Originals. There was a touch of oak and general fruitiness. We've read and watched people list off a whole bunch of different specific fruits, but we didn't taste that. We experienced more of a general fruity flavour.

The finish continues with the sweet buttery toffee, the winter spice flavours added by the higher than normal alcohol (it's only 40% but we haven't watered it down much). And a crisp oaky feel that ends fairly quickly.

Penderyn Madeira Finish

This light coloured Welch whiskey comes in a cool box. But a box isn't going to be enough if the whiskey is crap. However, the Penderyn Madeira Finish is excellent so the box just adds to its cool. Clocking in at 46% it's nice and strong, but may require a little more water to get to the more delicious flavours.

The dominant scent in the nose is vanilla, with an underlying sweetness and fruitiness, more leaning towards slightly fermenting grapes, probably from the Madeira (fortified Portuguese wine) casks they were finished in. Lots of blending smells so it's interesting to linger on. Perhaps there's even a very subtle hint of coffee in there.

The palate brings out more sweet with maybe caramel or vanilla fudge. There's a dispute about there maybe being some oak or malt, maybe a cereal wheaty taste. It's very slight, whatever it is.

The finish is nice and medium. Slight malty and tingles of spiciness that may be due to the higher alcohol content. Kind of the nice slight burn of ginger with a little more vanilla fudge.

Te Bheag Nan Eiliean Bottling

Maybe I'm immature... no correction. I am immature. So I originally bought this because when you look at it quickly it looks like Tea Bag, and as an immature person this makes me think of the sexual activity of placing one's balls into someone else's mouth. But I digress a bit and this scotch is nothing like having someone's balls put into your mouth.

Anyway, apparently the proper pronunciation of this is "chey vek", which is fine to say but not as fun as saying, "Would you like me to Tea-Bag you?"

This Gaelic Whisky is advertised as a connoisseur scotch. What I think this means is that even though it's budget priced it contains some of the flavours and tastes you can only find in higher priced drams. The biggest thing about the nose is the predominance of peat. We're read about a scent of salty sea side air and maybe that's what that is, might not have picked that out without help, but now that it's been said, we can agree. There is also a hint of maple sweetness.

The palate has hints of coffee bean, with more more peat mixing with a subtle sweetness.

The finish is hot and the peat gives way to a taste of oak.

Overall a good way to mix up your scotch experience without spending too much money.

Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old

A darker more golden coloured 12 year old singe malt.  Not too strong with a 40% alcohol. The first impression of the nose was of apples, with a mixture of fruits and possibly pear. There was something else there, we were thinking vanilla, but it was pretty subtle and we couldn't pin it down. Carmel, toffee or brown sugar? A little sweetness anyway. Then there's a touch of oak that then comes alive in the palate, as a dry oak taste. Touches of general warm scotch spices. We don't like using terms so vague as spice, but maybe warm winter spices might be as close as we'll willing to go (like things you'll put in mulled wine, a subtle in-the-background ginger, cinnamon, allspice, anise, etc.).
The finish is nice and long, with the previous flavours of the palate and a tiny tinge of orange zest and pear.

Tomatin's Stillmen's Choice gift pack

This is a nice little teaser. Three Tomatin single malt's, a 12, 15 and 18 year old that come as three 50 ml airplane bottles.

First comes the Tomatin 12 year old. This one is a nice sweet scotch, with a nose of fruits. Not getting the fruit smell? Then add some more water and it really brings it out. They say there's a malty smell and maybe it is, maybe it's more like oak. I kind of feel Malt is a stronger Oak smell. The palette continues with the fruity tastes and perhaps some caramel. The package speaks of stewed apples and nuttiness. We found it more sweet fruits and caramel. Impressive and delicious. Hadn't tasted Tomatin before but I think the future will see more than just a sample in the mix. I'll need to directly compare this to Glenlivet. They are similar and I think Tomatin may win out as a superior scotch. But we'll have to wait and see.

The 15 year old is similar in taste, but with a few key differences. Gone is the malt/oak of the nose. I find the fruitiness stronger with a hint of the Vanilla they speak of.  The package speaks of fruit cake, which I guess I just view as more fruit, rather than any cakeness. The malty oak taste comes in on the palate with a gentle sweetness. The finish is nice and long. A very smooth experience. Probably better than the 12 year old, and since the two only differ in price (for a full bottle) about $20, maybe quite worth it, when you want to spend an extra $20 to get a better scotch.

The 18 year old is good. The fruit is stronger in the nose and more delicious, a slight hint of vanilla and the taste of a maple syrup in smell (which is weird because it smells like maple syrup would taste, not how maple syrup smells). Dry oak and a bit of sweet in the palette, but a nice building wave in the finish with the first gulp, the dry oak intensifies as the gentle hint of sweet settles in. Delicious for sure,

Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength 60% Vol.

So I'm going to start off this blog with an unusual scotch: The Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength. This was my first experience with Glenfarclas and I had high hopes. I had read a few reviews of other Glenfarclas scotches and I think I had a misconception of this one. At 60% alcohol this is very strong drink. It's overpowering, to be honest, and reviews I've read that have said it has a alcohol  nose, pallet and finish are true, if you don't mix enough water into it. I found with 1 shot to 1.5 shots of water allows all the flavour to come out. At this level you can really taste and smell the subtleties; the pear and apple nose, with a toffee undertone. Some oak and sweetness. The palate has a building smokiness. It's actually pretty impressive in its smoothness for such a high alcohol content.

At first I tried this scotch with not enough water and found it too intense. Once you mix it down, then you can experience all the underlying flavours while at the same time feeling the gradual overwhelming experience of the alcohol content.