MrWizard's Ramblings

It is(was) middle of roughly middle of the April when i started writing this. The allergies are killing me and it’s time to catch up on some of the samples. Then I was on-and-off sick with a nasty cold for a month. Everything in excess, right?

I’ve recently had a lovely tasting of things from Single Cask Nation which bottles lovely things… If you willing to afford paying their prices.
Cameronbridge 26, Refill Sherry — Dark, sherried and quite delicious. Coffee, chocolate, wood. — Score: Yay
Benrinnes 10, refill bourbon — Lovely and fruity nose, peppery palate. — Score: Meh+
Linkwood 13, American (Wine) Cask — Fantastic, lovely red fruits galore! $150 is kinda obscene cost though — Score: Yay
Inchgower 10, ‘Double Cask’, Ex-bourbon & Sherry — Really lovely sherried malt of unidentifiable origin — Score: Yay-
Caol Ila 8, ex-bourbon — Sweet, fruity and smoky in the best Caol Ila fashion — Score: Yay

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Hubert Calvados 30, Pays d’Auge, K&L SP, 49%
Honestly no idea what I’m getting into here. This is a calvados from 1993, selected by K&L. Obviously I’m looking at it from whiskey-drinker’s perspective. Thanks David K for the sample. The nose is very armagnac-style and oozes of woodiness. There’s a note of old apple skins that plays well with the vanilla there. More and more wood on the palate, there’s also an odd soap-like note that I detect that probably something that’s inherent to calvados, that’s akin to a wax or paraffin flavor. The strange note is present through the entire experience, but not unwelcome. Medium length vanilla, spice and sweetness in the aftertaste follows. Overall: My sample was enjoyable though I cannot see reaching for this with regularity. Much much better than any other apple brandy I’ve tried… but that’s a very short list that I’ve sampled of that particular spirit. Value: At $99 this is basically a steal for the quality and age.
Read more here: https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1709342
Score: B-

Gregarious Grump 30 Year Old Fine Bois Cognac, 1991, 52.9%
Another sample courtesy friend DavidK… Another sample from Chris Hart’s bottling company. This time a 30 year old cognac from 1991. Probably from Comandon domaine though that’s not a guarantee. As usual the disclaimer about whiskey-drinkers perspective, don’t take me too seriously, blah blah. The nose is dried fruits, vanilla extract, *strong* wood varnish. Strong wood notes continues into the palate, then thankfully opens up into tropical fruits and exotic spices… Followed by ‘dusty’ (tannic) finish that thankfully doesn’t quite overwhelm. Overall: This is a treat to those that like cognacs. Yet, it’s unlike typical light cognac style. Blind, I’d say it was armagnac. Either way, great drinker; it’s very enjoyable for those that like the woody brandies. Value: K&L cleared them out at $97 which is a fantastic value. The original MSRP is arguably still good in retrospect of tasting it.
https://www.klwines. … cognac-750ml/1667424
Score: B+

Old Forester (10) 1924, 50%
It’s a small sample, so I’ll be brief on this one. Also, thank you friend Michael! Nose is woody vanilla, with a touch of varnish in a good way. Palate is excellent bourbon, wood, spices, vanilla. Nothing too strong, nothing too weak. Overall: Excellent bourbon. Value: At MSRP of $115 it’s a touch steep… But this is competing with highly desired and allocated bottles here.
Score: A-

Pursuit United Bourbon, Small Batch, 54%
Continuing the theme of bourbon reviews. A blend of straight bourbon whiskeys here. Corn-forward nose with caramel and toasted wood notes. Enjoyable palate that delivers more or less all the typical bourbon notes, baking spices, cinnamon, vanilla and toasted corn. Lots of wood and complexity with plethora of primary notes, yet some of the funky grain eithers still remain. Peppery, spicy, slightly woody finish. Few drops of water helps with the palate. Overall: Enjoyable but too young blend. It really can use some more time to mellow out and let more of the funk disappear. Enjoyable and but not outstanding at the same time Value: About $70 is about average for high proof bourbon blend.
Score: B-

Ironroot Harbinger, 57.5%
A straight bourbon whiskey from Texas distillery? Does it go? It goes! Toasted vanilla and wood caramel nose. This smells somewhat… festive with mulled spice notes, without the wine. Enjoyable typical-bourbon palate with good balance of spice, wood and no offputting flavors. More of that toasted vanilla wood. An interesting eucalyptus and mint note shows up that I would associate with malted rye too. Interestingly, more of the malted rye notes in the aftertaste together with typical bourbon flavors. Water makes it sweeter, I wouldn’t bother as it drinks below its proof anyways. Overall: Surprisingly enjoyable. Nothing mind-bending, but a well-executed high proofer that’s got enough of the age and flavors to not lose in its category. There’s no way to compete with ECBP but this is sort of a similar thing in spirit. Value: ~$65, a reasonable price for this.
Score: B

Woodford Reserve Batch Proof 118.4, 59.2%
A woodford reserve? High proof? Perhaps a decent one? Nose is deeply toasted wood and nutty caramel, very cologne-like. Sweet, nutty, woody, vanilla-forward palate. Slightly bitter baking spices around off the aftertaste. With water, some of the bitterness recedes, leaving few sweeter notes in the aftertaste. Overall: A very enjoyable Woodford Reserve pour. I’m reasonably pleased with this batch and it’s well worth trying. Obviously, the profile varies somewhat with each iteration. Value: At $109-119 it’s not particularly good deal. If it was at $99, it’d be passable value. I would certainly not pay sticker price for it but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.
Score: A-

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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

I’m sneaking in these reviews in, while I continue my break from reviewing guilt-free and to catch up on currently pending open bottle notes.

Arran Sherry Cask (2021), 55.8%
This is new packaging from Arran, a NAS bottling at cask strength. Historically, I do like what Arran distillery does so let’s see if this keeps up. “Aged in sherry hogshead” line on the label suggests that it was aged in ex-bourbon cask that was sherry-seasoned. There’s nothing particularly wrong with that and it’s good note to have for enthusiasts. Notably, it’s quite lightly colored when compared to similar sherry-aged bottlings. The nose. oddly enough, evokes speyside notes, with orchard fruits and some sweet sherry notes, toasted sugar, and vanilla. The palate evokes more Speyside notes, with more of the same as the nose. We’ve got same orchard fruits and sherry sweetness, but it’s backed up by flavorful and nutty core, while the nose evokes red apples, the palate surprises with green apples and salted dark caramel. The aftertaste is long, meandering yet consistent, and gently spiced with a touch of chili heat. Overall: “I enjoy” is about the right summary here. It’s right up my alley, it’s flavorful but not overwhelming, it drinks slightly under its proof and it’s reasonably available. Yet, it’s a generic, sweet, NAS, sherried malt that’s bottled at cask proof and could be just about anything Speyside. Value: At about $75 this is at a price point comparable to its counterparts… I’ll note the value here as ‘reasonable’.
Score: B+

Kilkerran 16 (2021), 46%
A Campbeltown Kilkerran (Glengyle) bottling from 2021. They should get a marketing person, as putting “Matured in Oak” on label doesn’t seem like good use of real estate. Anyways… Light ash on top of malty and slightly salty nose, like an old beach campfire ashes that been sitting around for while. Balanced and mild palate with sweet malt and oak finely balanced out by some salinity and a bare touch of smoke. Long and gently fading aftertaste that gets sweeter and spicier as it lingers yet again with an absolute whisper of wood ash and smoke. Overall: This is a really good bottle. I don’t particularly love every Campbeltown product, yet this one is a solid offering and a solid drinker. Yes the light ashy smoke is there but it’s incredibly well integrated and doesn’t overwhelm. There’s nothing to really fault here, but I’m not going to buy another one of these due to personal preferences. Price: Findable at ~$150 this isn’t a particularly good value for a great drinker. Unfortunately, its price bracket contains a large number of excellent drinkers. Fans of distillery are welcome to apply and are unlikely to be disappointed. Others should know that are plenty of excellent independent bottlings in that price point and may consider something that is more interesting to them.
Score: A-

Ledaig 10, 46.3%
A core range Tobermory (unpeated)/Ledaig (peated) distillery offering. I frequently chime up about my preference for unpeated bottles, but let’s see how this compares. This is quite pungent on the nose, campfire smoke and some brine, not unpleasant by any means. With time roasted nut notes start appearing in addition to the already mentioned smoke and brine. Sweet and smoky palate, tropical fruits that’s been charred, fire-toasted bread. Medium length, lightly spiced and lightly smoked aftertaste that drops off somewhat abruptly towards the end. Overall: I’m enjoying this way more than I initially thought I would. It’s peated, but not overwhelmingly so and despite somewhat briny nose, the actual palate is quite sweet making whole experience reminiscent of smoked candies. Not overly complex but it doesn’t need to be. Value: Total wine has it listed at $70… which is somewhat reasonable for what we get here.
Score: B+

Balvenie 17, Doublewood, 43%
Sadly discontinued in 2021, The Balvenie 17 doublewood, whiskey (ex-bourbon) and sherry. Thanks Uncle Vadim! Malty, peppery, nutty, balanced. Bourbon sherry split somewhere around 80/20, bourbon is all primary notes with sherry mostly secondaries. Not going to bother writing more. It’s really good, though it needs like 3% more abv to be great. Price: Used to be $150. Discontinued.
Score: A-

Benromach 12, Total Wine SP, 58.2%
Benromach 12 Single cask selected by Total Wine. This is a sherry cask #849. As a side note, Benromach is a peated Speysider. The nose is fish bbq shack. That’s basically what it smells like. Salty and sweet, filled with old nutty smoke. Palate is nutty, and salty-sweet, erring on the sweet side, without being overwhelming. Aftertaste got a gentle touch of spice and a lingering sweet smoke note that lasts for a long time. Overall: This is my kind of peated pour. I very much like this! Whenever I say that I’m into sweet smoke… this is IT. Is it complex? No. Is it tasty? Absolutely! Value: At $68 it’s a steal in 2024 values!
Score: A-

Benromach 11, Total Wine SP, 57.5%
A bourbon cask counterpart to the Sherry Cask above with cask #967. The nose is peat, salt and vanilla. It’s punchy, it’s smoky, it’s slightly salty and it’s slightly sweet. It’s exactly what you’d expect a good peated bourbon cask to smell like. Salted, smoked vanilla palate reminds of hard dry-cured salted fish. The smoke doesn’t stick around for the aftertaste and it finishes as a salty, slightly spicy, vanilla number. Overall: Perfectly serviceable but it lacks something for me. Peated ex-bourbon fans of coastal and Islay distilleries that aren’t iodine-forward should apply. Value: Value: At $68 it’s a steal in 2024 values!
Score: B

As a side note… Mixing the two casks above together in a 1:1 combination essentially creates Benromach Batch Strength 1.
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

Happy Holidays. Happy New Year.

I cannot believe it’s 2024 already with ‘23 really flying by super quick. Quick announcement:

I’m taking a short break from writing up new entries to gather up new samples, finish open bottles and generally not stress about reviewing. Same as in 2023 I’ll be back by April or so.