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A few months ago I saw a release of four new American whiskeys from Balcones Distillery and although interesting they were a bit expensive, over £60, so I decide to skip and buy samples instead ( first mistake! ).
Balcones is the first legally ( hello moonshiners! ) established Texas distillery with just barely five years old. The whole distillery and the distiller’s equipment was built by them, nail by nail as they say, and has that lovely amateur-ish look of things done with great care and passion.
Three new very welcome additions to Master of Malt That Boutique-y whiskies. After reviewing these and these, I review today these new whiskies; Tormore, Tobermory and Arran.
Dunno if it is me or what but this three new whiskies are excellent I didn’t have such a great feeling after tasting the previous bottles of That Boutique-y Whisky Company. Well, the whiskies…
What an incredible way of starting my holidays. I was at home sorting and cleaning stuff when the DHL guy appeared with a box bigger than usual for a sample. My Wife looked me suspiciously and I had to swear that this time it was true; I haven’t ordered anything.
[Note to self: it worked! Next time try with full size bottles]
I checked the parcel and it has a reference; BMALTS. Ummm…
I was getting excited because I had read a week before a nice press release about the six new whiskies bottled by The Whisky Barrel for their Burns Malt range and I was really wondering how good they were.
I tasted before a previous release of Littlemill and Bunnahabhain and I really enjoyed them.
So I usually place samples I get on a box and taste them as I please but this time I just did a from parcel to table session.
The six new whiskies belong to a range of single malts bottled by The Whisky Barrel to commemorate Robert Burns, Scotland’s favorite son and poet.
Lots of Bruichladdich on my sample box so I have decided to start tasting from the most interesting ones: Two of the new Cuvee whiskies and the new Bruichladdich 22 years old.
These three whiskies keeps loyal to the style of whisky that Jim McEwan set on the whole range of Bruichladdich malts: citrusy, sweet, unpeated. I love his work on Bruichladdich 10 years old Laddie whisky and I was really looking forward to tasting these malts.
After a first fantastic release of their Rare Casks series, Abbey Whiskies asked on their blog about which one should be their next whisky on the range. There were two options: Bruichladdich or a peated Bunnahabhain. Apart of a few laddie fans the consensus was clear for a peated Bunna.
And so they bottled it. A 23 years old cask strength Bunnahabhain at a whopping 44% ABV. Just a few years shorts of not being legally whisky anymore :)
Bunnahabhain whiskies are somewhat of a hidden jewel to discover between the peat giants of Islay, but once you get a dram of their delicious 25 years old, you fall in true love for ever.
What? Not today? Damn! Hell, anyway… like if we need an excuse to have a good whiskey!.
You know St. Patrick, the holy patron of Ireland, the one that drove the snakes out of the island, the one that brought Christianity on Ireland and …
Enough writing. Let’s drink. As an old Irish saying says, “God invented whiskey so the Irish wouldn’t rule the world!”
As my contribution to the Irish whiskey let’s do a whiskey walk around Ireland. And as Sjoerd has told me several times I better state it right here and now: I love Single Pot Still Irish whiskey ( I just can’t stand their cheap blends ).
Drinkfinder.co.uk sent me two samples of Bruichladdich whiskies. Both of them are independent bottles for a private customer and both of them are bottled from a single cask ( each ) and bottled at a very high strength.
Specially promising is the Port Charlotte, so clear… that can only means a huge peated punch… but let’s taste… I need more peat after my fabulous octo-tasting
At last, Winter is coming to an end. And what better way of saying goodbye to this strange winter that with a few glasses of peat medicines?
In the quest to taste all the stuff that I have ordered, I have decided for five magnifique drams: Arran, Ardmore and three Bruichladdiches.
Didn’t you said peat? Yeah, and I am going to taste peated whiskies from those distilleries. A quite lovely bottled of Arran Machrie Moor, Ardmore Traditional, Port Charlotte 10 years old and two Octomore: 04.2 Comus and 03.1
You know that a have a little sweet heart that loves peat. I adore peated whiskies but on this tasting I have found a whisky that it is just too peated for me. Much like sucking mud!
Just a few weeks after I started blogging I wrote a short article about how scores worked in A Wardrobe of Whisky. I feel it is now my duty to update it after more than 800 whiskies tasted.
I do rate whiskies, and you should too, because I am desperately in need of sorting them. I hate bad whiskies, I hate even more when I buy a expensive whisky and isn’t a good one and definitively I hate overall Johnnie Walker ( all but Green and Blue label :P ).
In these three years I have got emails and messages usually pointing that such or such score for such whisky was a too high score. I have nothing to do with the whisky industry or any retailer, but being a worker myself I understand the degree of care and effort place on each bottle of whisky ( all but Johnnie Walker :P ). So let’s make clear, any decent drinkable whisky is scored between 80 and 84 points.
I have roughtly three different classes of whisky scores:
This last Christmas I got a bottle of DYC 8 años as a present and it haven’t been till now that I have found a chance of opening it.
Although DYC is the best selling ( even over Scotch whiskies ) whisky on Spain I haven’t had many chances of tasting it ( shame on me! ). It is really hard to find samples of it and as most of you know I have kinda of a logistic problem at home… so no more open full bottles… well, nevermind, I got this one as a present and I thougth it really deserves to be opened.
“Interesting. More woody character than the standard DYC with more spice aromas. Just a bit light for my taste but quite interesting”
83
This dram has a gold-like color.
Nose (82): average.
honey, vanilla, spices, citrus.
Quite light but with a clean delicious honey aroma.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this DYC 8 years old with 83 points over 100.
Miguel says…
Quite a surprise. More complex than the standard DYC whisky with more defined notes of vanilla and wood. Not bad at all for a whisky that cost around £7.
On the other hand, it is a bit light and simple. If you have the chance taste the DYC Single Malt as it really shows the lovely distillery character of this southern Balvenie!
Share your thoughts! 
