Master of Malt Single Cask: Whiskies dram-arathon!

As I was writing you yesterday, whisky fairy knocked my door with a box ( well, two in fact ) full of whisky samples of Master of Malt’s Single Cask Whiskies.

Apart of three very interesting That Boutique-y whiskies, the box had eleven samples of the new bottling, that if you know them are stunning most of times… just thinking of this Bowmore, this Glenturret or … ejem… well… to the point, about these eleven single cask whiskies.

Kids! Don’t do this at home! Eleven drams, one evening. Let’s find the best one.

Hehe! Don’t panic! I did it in two rows, first I tasted the five youngest one and then I tasted the four older. About the two Springbanks I tasted them two months ago when Master of Malt asked which one seems to be better for a single Cask bottling. It is nice to see they couldn’t decide neither :)

The first four drams

Clynelish 15 years old Single Cask

“Top class Clynelish with a strong spicy character that are best matched with a delicious honey aroma. Thumbs up!”

90

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (89): more than average. honey, vanilla, floral, pears, spices, citrus. Very clean. Nice.

Palate (90): powerful. honey, spices, citrus, fruits, wood, cinnamon, dates.

Finish (90): longer than average. spices, honey.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Clynelish 15 Year Old - Single Cask (Master of Malt) with 90 points over 100.

Arran 16 years old Single Cask

“Superb Arran malt with a sweet character that will melt your heart with just the right bit of dryness on the finish. Love this malt! Thumb up!”

91

This dram has a fino-like color.

Nose (91): more than average. honey, malt, citrus, vanilla, peaches. Lovely, really.

Palate (91): powerful, oily. honey, citrus, spices, vanilla, pepper, floral, wood, peaches, cherries. A slighty dry towards the end of the palate experience.

Finish (90): longer than average. spices, honey, citrus.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Arran 16 Year Old - Single Cask (Master of Malt) with 91 points over 100.

Tobermory 17 years old Single Cask

“Like clean, sweet drams? You will love this Tobermory. Delicious taste with so much honey aromas”

90

This dram has a fino-like color.

Nose (89): more than average. honey, toffee, citrus, vanilla. Light, clean, sweet nose.

Palate (91): powerful, oily. sweet, honey, floral, vanilla, citrus, pepper. Lovely! Really powerful taste

Finish (90): longer than average. spices, citrus, wood.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Tobermory 17 Year Old - Single Cask (Master of Malt) with 90 points over 100.

Deanston 19 years old Single Cask

“This Deanston has something of woody fruits that I can't identify but that it turns an good dram into something very interesting. One of the drams that have raised most my eyebrow in this tasting”

89

This dram has a fino-like color.

Nose (87): average. honey, citrus, spices, apples, varnish.

Palate (91): powerful, oily. honey, wood, varnish, apples, pepper, floral, spices.

Finish (90): longer than average. spices, tropical fruits, wood.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Deanston 19 Year Old - Single Cask (Master of Malt) with 89 points over 100.

Two fantastic Springbank

These are the Springbanks that I tasted a few months ago and so hard was to decide for one of them.

Springbank 19 years old Cask #129 Single Cask

“Top class Springbank too. More wood and mature fruits than the other cask, #482”

89

This dram has a amber-like color.

Nose (89): average. honey, varnish, citrus, spices, a little figs.

Palate (90): powerful, oily. honey, wood, spices, figs, nuts, fruits, vanilla. Mature fruits, spices, plums

Finish (89): longer than average. honey, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Springbank 1993 c129 with 89 points over 100.

Springbank 19 years old Cask #482 Single Cask

“This Springbank is a real vanilla rollercoaster”

90

This dram has a fino-like color.

Nose (90): more than average. honey, vanilla, malt, spices, tropical fruits. Very nice, overall fruity

Palate (91): . honey, vanilla, spices, peat, cinnamon, fruits.

Finish (90): longer than average. peat, honey, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Springbank 1993 c482 with 90 points over 100.

The other five drams

And here are the second flight of samples

Braes of Glenlivet 21 years old Single Cask

Bally Delicious 23 years old Single Cask

“Fans of Irish whiskey, you have a treasure here! For my own, it is just too herbal”

88

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (88): more than average. honey, floral, citrus, vanilla, pine, herbs. Quite herbal, almost Irish in style!

Palate (89): powerful, oily. citrus, floral, pine, carrots, honey, vanilla, cabbage .

Finish (88): longer than average. floral, wood.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Bally Delicious 23 Year Old - Single Cask (Master of Malt) with 88 points over 100.

Bunnahabhain 23 years old Single Cask

“Quite good old Bunnahabhain whisky but I really think something is missing for this dram to shine. I prefer the distillery bottling at 25 years old ( although it is twice the price too ). Good quality-value relation on this dram”

90

This dram has a fino-like color.

Nose (90): more than average. honey, vanilla, citrus, toffee, spices. This is exactly what you can expect from an old Bunnahabhain whisky. No surprises.

Palate (90): powerful, oily. honey, citrus, spices, vanilla, peat.

Finish (89): longer than average. honey, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Bunnahabhain 23 Year Old - Single Cask (Master of Malt) with 90 points over 100.

Auchentoshan 27 years old Single Cask

“Top class whisky! This Auchentoshan shows the kind of flowers and candies aromas that I love on old whisky. Buy one or you will regret it”

92

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (91): more than average. honey, floral, spices, citrus, wood. Very good nose!

Palate (93): powerful, oily. honey, floral, flowers, violets, citrus, spices. Lovely! An awesome taste. This is the kind of taste that I love to find in old whiskies.

Finish (92): longer than average. Flowers, candies.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Auchentoshan 27 Year Old - Single Cask (Master Of Malt) with 92 points over 100.

Tormore 28 years old Single Cask

“Something is distracting me on the nose but the palate of this Tormore made it a sensible dram bottled at a stunning 60.4% after almost three decades on a cask”

88

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (86): more than average. honey, wood, fruits, seaweed, spices. It has a strange maritime note.

Palate (91): . honey, floral, spices, wood, vanilla, chocolate, malt.

Finish (88): longer than average. wood, honey, citrus.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Tormore 28 Year Old - Single Cask (Master of Malt) with 88 points over 100.

Miguel says…

Who? Me?! What?! Oops! The whisky right! Aye, aye, boy… errmm…

Oh, yes, my opinion… yes… I think it will be shorter if I say what I didn’t like. All of them pretty incredible but the one I enjoyed less were the Deanston, Bally Delicious and Tormore. Are they bad? Not at all.

In fact Deanston 19yo has been one of the whiskies that have surprised me most, it has such a curious aromas… I definitively want to taste this whisky on its own to know what that woody fruity character can be.

Bally Delicious would make the delight of Irish whiskey lovers ( I am not one of them )

So well, my favorites? Auchentoshan 27yo is something mindblowing transcendental. I really love this whisky and the price is a real bargain ( nowadays… ).

Also the Arran 16yo and the Braes of Glenlivet are really delicious. I still remember that one of the very first real whiskies I tasted was a young 12yo Arran bottled by Master of Malt. A whisky that turned my definitively into Single Malts after lots of disappointment with whiskies.

This Braes of Glenlivet ( also known as Braeval these days ) is really sensational. My first from this distillery and really delicious ( are them always so good? ).

The rest of them are between good and great. Just a bit short of greatness. My suggestion for new Single Cask bottlings would be to find sherry casks or more exotic casks.

So much to bottle and taste!

Thanks chaps for this awesome chance! Keep the good work Master of Malt!

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