Whisky Review: Caol Ila 12

Single Malt

Style/Region: Islay
Age: 12
Cask Type: not specified
Alcohol: 43%

Water added: Yes

Nose: Smoke and peat with brine and oak and hints of vanilla and apricot.
Mouth Feel: Light, smooth velvet with a nice finishing edge.
Flavor: The nose hits this one perfectly – smoke and peat, with brine and oak and hints of vanilla and apricot.
Finish: Long, lingering peat and oaky brine. It has a bit of a harsh edge about it – in a good way.

Overall Impressions: A very nice example of the Islay style, if not a particularly complex example. The peat flavors dominate, but they are rounded off with a nice sweetness, that starts smooth and finishes a bit harsh. A great drink for a cool, rainy evening – especially with the sound of crashing waves in the background.

Whisky Review: BruichLaddich 18

Single Malt

Style/Region: Islay

Age: 18

Cask Type: French Oak

Alcohol: 46%

Water added: Yes

Nose: Sweet, wonderfully sweet that caries across the room, overtones of honey and brandy. After water was added a distinct raisin nose combined with the slight honey sweetness.

Mouth Feel: Delightfully thick and oily.

Flavor: Complex, smooth and sweet. A raisin-oak flavor takes over., and hint of sweetness that is slowly overtaken by a light smooth peat smoke.

Finish: The smooth sweetness lingers a bit before slowly fading away. Very nice.

Overall Impressions: This is a very nice, sweet scotch that should be friendly to beginners, yet wonderfully complex for the snob. It was Mark C. Newton who got me to expand my blog into whisky and he blogs often of the wonderful scotch being put out by BruichLaddich. I now know why. While it is technically an Islay Scotch, this 18-year has more in common with the best of Highland. There is no peat to speak of. And that’s not a bad thing, not at all. The obvious influence of the French Oak cask and the sweet wine it aged makes this somewhat experimental (or progressive if you like), and a trip to the website shows that BruichLaddich has a lot of variety to offer. This is a bit pricey and many of the most interesting offers are tough to come by here in the States, but I’ll certainly be looking. It’s nice to have smooth, yet complex dram that is just as appropriate for the warm, sunny summer day as it is for the dreary, wet cold of winter.

Whisky Review: The Peat Monster by Compass Box Whisky Company

Blend

Non-chill Filtered

Style/Region: Blend of Islay and Speyside

Age: Unspecified

Cask Type: American Oak

Alcohol: 46%

Water added: Yes

Nose: Heavy peat smoke with hints of brine. After water was added a briney oak with a hint of sweetness overtakes the peat smoke.

Mouth Feel: Delightfully thick and oily.

Flavor: Complex with a peppery oak, and hint of sweetness that is slowly overtaken by a light smooth peat smoke.

Finish: Smooth smoke and peat that lingers.

Overall Impressions: I don’t normally drink blends – I prefer the variety of a good single-malt. However, I have learned over the years that being snobby about blends is a huge mistake – If I were to attempt to make a list of the best Scotch Whisky I’ve ever had, a blend would either be at the top or near it. The Peat Monster is a product of the Compass Box Whisky Company and is part of their Signature Range series of whiskies that highlight the character of Scotch Whisky. The title says it all – this one is about peat. And it’s a good one. In fact, read my impressions of this and then read my impressions of Ardbeg Uigeadail. They are nearly identical. Now, I’m not saying that this is as good as Ardbeg, but it’s close – way closer than I would have imagined. It’s complex – the smoky peat flavor is the star, but subtle sweetness rounds this out. The blend features Islay single malts from the village of Port Askaig, an Islay south shore malt, a smoky malt from the Isle of Mull and a medium-peated Speyside malt.

So, learn the lesson – single malts are great, but don’t disdain the blends. I will happily be sampling the other Signature Ranges offered by Compass Box.

Whisky Review: Ardbeg Uigeadail

Single Malt

Non-chill Filtered

Style/Region: Islay

Age: Unspecified

Cask Type: Sherry

Alcohol: 54.2%

Water added: Yes

Nose: Heavy peat smoke. After water was added a briney oak with a hint of sweetness overtakes the peat smoke.

Mouth Feel: Delightfully thick and oily.

Flavor: Complex with a peppery oak and hint of sweetness that is slowly overtaken by a light smooth peat smoke.

Finish: Smooth smoke and peat that lingers and lingers and lingers...

Overall Impressions: This is the real deal – Ardbeg has a reputation of being among the best of the best and it is deserved. This is an Islay whisky unlike most – it’s complex and subtle, more than just peat and smoke. Much more. When you drink Uigeadail you can understand why the old Gaelic translation of whisky (uisge beatha) is ‘water of life’ (yes, folks on the SFF blog, the ‘water of life’ is whisky, not worm juice). Though as I enjoy a glass on a warmish July evening I think that perhaps this is more of a cold weather drink. Of course is there a time that you shouldn’t drink the ‘water of life’?

Whisky Review: A.D. Rattray Cask Collection: Bowmore Distillery

Single Malt

Individual Cask Bottling

Non-chill Filtered

Style/Region: Islay

Age: 14 Year

Barrel: Bourbon Oak

Distilled Date: March 27, 1996

Bottle Date: August, 4 2010

Alcohol: 59.1%

Water added: yes

Nose: smoke and peat. After water was added a sweet, briny nose comes through and the smoke and peat diminish somewhat.

Mouth Feel: thick and oily

Flavor: sweet smoke and pepper. Less smoke and peat then expected

Finish: strong and complex, peppery, brine, long lingering peat smoke

Overall Impressions: This is a very nice scotch and an excellent example of the Islay style. The smoke and peat flavors are very present, but don’t overwhelm, though they certainly linger long afterward. As with most Islay scotch, this isn’t a subtle drink, or overly complex – but I’ve come to love the strong smoke and peat flavor, possibly above all else in scotch. One of the best aspects of this drink is that it comes in full cask strength and allows me to water it down to the level I prefer. This whisky invokes a cold, damp and drizzly day with a mist hiding the surroundings – in a good way. This drink is reminiscent of my visit to Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh – that is the moment I transformed from a novice whisky drinker into a blissful addict as I chatted and sampled for over an hour (free of charge) before making a modest purchase (and it was a cold, damp and drizzly day).

A.D. Rattray is a distributer and independent bottler that takes whisky from around Scotland and bottles it directly, without watering down, dying, or chill filtration. The principle purpose of this old merchant company in modern times is to bottle unusual and exclusive casks of scotch whisky chosen to reflect the six individual whisky regions of Scotland. This is my first bottle of A.D. Rattray, and I’m very impressed. It won’t be my last. I got a couple of bottles at BevMo, and for the price, it can’t be beat.