Sherry hogshead 9457 – 53.4%

My Tasting Notes:

Colour: Copper
Nose: Red currant jam, cherries, marzipan, treacle, leather, cinnamon and hints of cloves.
Palate: Cassis, cherries, tea, caramel, slight hints of mature cheese, cinnamon and pepper.
Finish: Long, fruity and spicy.
Overall: A wonderful dram with the wood kept in balance by the lovely fruit and spice aromas. The nose is to die for.

Rating: 91/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$

Scored blind for the Malt Maniacs Awards 2012 where it won a silver, medal, re-tasted for notes

Cask 202 – 43%

My Tasting Notes:

Colour: Dark amber
Nose: Cassis, cherries, orange zest, fudge, hints of sage and pepper.
Palate: Dried apricots, sweet cherries, orange zest, butterscotch, hints of mixed savoury herbs.
Finish: Long, fruity, dry and slightly spicy.
Overall: This is not immediately recognizable as a port cask, and the light savoury element gives it a special touch. Very nice indeed.

Rating: 86/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$

Scored blind for the Malt Maniacs Awards 2012 where it won a silver, medal, re-tasted for notes

Some sensational whisky news is coming out of the Arizona desert. Arizona Distilling Co. which is based in Tempe right next to Phoenix treats their Copper City Bourbon with a revolutionary process called Cold Filtration. A local news report quotes co-owner Jon Eagan:

“Because we’re micro Jason [the distiller] has the ability to do certain things that a giant producer can’t do efficiently like we can do with the smaller batches to make it a little bit smoother.”

“That smoothness is specifically attributed to the cold filtering which distillers Grossmiller and his partner Matt Cummins use to process the bourbon. It also helps the aesthetic of the bourbon by retaining its translucence even when iced”, the news report carries on.

You never stop learning in the whisky world. Cold aka chill filtration supposedly is too unefficient for big whsky companies. It can only ever truly shine in lovingly hand-crafted booze with carefully locally sourced ingredients. Someone better go and tell that to Diageo and Brown-Forman.

But the first Arizonian whisky distillery in eons has yet another ace up its sleeve: a rye whisky that goes to the extreme limits of the US whisky regulations by including wheat in the mashbill. This truly is the New Frontier of whisky.

Sherry hogshead 12041 – 56.1%

My Tasting Notes:

Colour: Very dark amber
Nose: Light wood smoke, hints of smoked bacon, orange zest, tobacco, leather, nutmeg and cumin.
Palate: Stronger peat than the nose suggests, bacon-wrapped orange wedges, figs, toffee, tea, nutmrg and cumin agin.
Finish: Very long, fruity, dry and smoky.
Overall: It needs some time to build up and benefits from a good splash of water, this fantastic whisky has the perfect balance of sherry and peat, maturity and freshness.

Rating: 94/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$

Scored blind for the Malt Maniacs Awards 2012 where it won a silver, medal, re-tasted for notes

Hogshead 8510 – 51.2%

My Tasting Notes:

Colour: Pale straw
Nose: Ashy smoke, banana, lemon zest, vanilla, liquorice, faint hints of petrol.
Palate: Medium peat, banana, hints of pineapple, vanilla, liquorice, hints of green tea and pepper.
Finish: Long, dry and smoky.
Overall: Not the phenolic bomb you might expect from Laphroaig, this dram is quite crisp and clean with a nice light fruitiness.

Rating: 88/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$

Scored blind for the Malt Maniacs Awards 2012 where it won a bronze, medal, re-tasted for notes

Bordeaux Cask Matured 46%

My Tasting Notes:

Colour: Dark reddish amber
Nose: Smoked ham, red wine, cherries, cassis, liquorice, slightly leafy farmyard whiffs.
Palate: Peated cherries, blackberries, caramel, hints of Lapsang Souchong tea, cloves and hints of pepper.
Finish: Long, fruity and smoky.
Overall: Edradour is infamous for wine cask experiments with very mixed outcome, but this peated expression hits the spot.

Rating: 83/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$

Buy Ballechin 7th Release at The Whisky Exchange

Scored blind for the Malt Maniacs Awards 2012, where it won a silver medal, re-tasted for notes

My Tasting Notes:

Colour: Reddish amber
Nose: Sour cherry juice, baby vomit, raspberry sherbet powder.
Palate: That sour cherry juice again, slighty bitter tea, caramel, hints of cinnamon and pepper.
Finish: Rather short, fruity and slighlty bitter.
Overall: The tasting notes may read worse than the whisky actually is, but this is just too immature and drowned by the wine.

Rating: 77/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$

Buy Edradour 2003 Ruby Port at The Whisky Exchange

Scored blind for the Malt Maniacs Awards 2012, medal, re-tasted for notes

Sherry butt 12043 – 55.4%

My Tasting Notes:

Colour: Bright copper
Nose: Orange zest, dried apricots, marzipan, toffee, waxed leather, hints of tobacco, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Palate: Chocolate cake with candied orange zest, coffee, dark chocolate, cinnamon and allspice.
Finish: Medium long, fruity and slightly spicy.
Overall: While the nose is sublime, palate and finish feel a bit weaker, but all on a fairly high level to be fair.

Rating: 86/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$

Scored blind for the Malt Maniacs Awards 2012 where it won a silver, medal, re-tasted for notes

Hogshead 3021 – 53.1%

My Tasting Notes:

Colour: Dark gold
Nose: Honey, apples, banana, polished wood, candied ginger, hints of nutmeg.
Palate: Lightly floral honey, stewed apples, vanilla, hints of walnut, ginger, nutmeg and a little pepper.
Finish: Long, fruity and spicy.
Overall: The slightly waxy mouthfeel works very well together with a classic and well-balanced flavour profile.

Rating: 87/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$

Scored blind for the Malt Maniacs Awards 2012 where it won a bronze, medal, re-tasted for notes

58%

My Tasting Notes:

Colour: Dark amber
Nose: Caramel, vanilla, hints of dried apricots, rather shy even with water.
Palate: Caramelized aprictos, orange zest, vanilla, ginger, eucalyptus, hints of freshly ground pepper.
Finish: Long, fruity and spicy.
Overall: This single malt almost feels like a grain whisky. While the nose is not very exciting, the palate is full flavoured and delicious.

Rating: 85/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$

Buy Larks Cask Strength at Master of Malt

Scored blind for the Malt Maniacs Awards 2012 where it won a bronze medal, re-tasted for notes

46%

My Tasting Notes:

Colour: Reddish amber
Nose: Sour cherry juice, baby vomit, raspberry sherbet powder.
Palate: That sour cherry juice again, slighty bitter tea, caramel, hints of cinnamon and pepper.
Finish: Rather short, fruity and slighlty bitter.
Overall: The tasting notes may read worse than the whisky actually is, but this is just too immature and drowned by the wine.

Rating: 77/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$

Buy Edradour 2003 Ruby Port at The Whisky Exchange

Scored blind for the Malt Maniacs Awards 2012, re-tasted for notes