Scotland | Page 7 | NYC Whiskey Review

The Botanist Islay Dry Gin

September 15, 2022 Scotland

Name: The Botanist Islay Dry Gin

Color: Clear

Nose: Juniper and fresh green earth notes

Taste: Similar to nose, no burn on the finish

The Botanist Islay Dry Gin 22 is produced by the Bruichladdich Distillery in Islay, Scotland. Since it is the clear liquid cousin of a very good scotch producer it was worth a try and review. Before I was into whisky I was Gin & Tonic drinker but one trip to Kentucky changed all that in 2008. I do not know why Bruichladdich decided to make this gin, but I am glad they did.

The Botanist Gin is a London dry styled gin that is bottled at 46% abv, made from 22 hand-forged botanicals on Islay, and contains 9 core aromatics. You can look them up as there is a lot

Upon first nosing the gin I found aromas all over the place. I could not really determine any specific notes. The taste is sweet with earthy greens and it was very easy to drink neat which was a surprise. A martini straight up with a twist of lemon was then created for assurance of quality. It was excellent.

Priced around $45 and worth the money if you enjoy gin or want to add a bottle to your bar.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

The Glenlivet 15 – French Oak Reserve

September 1, 2022 Scotland

Name: The Glenlivet 15 – French Oak Reserve

Color: Light Brown

Nose: Malt, citrus, green grass, light spice, light wood

Taste: Malt, soft oak, spices, almonds

The Glenlivet 15-Year-Old French Oak Reserve is a Speyside whisky from Moray, Scotland and is one of the big “Glen’s” in the whiskey world. Found in 1824, it is the oldest and continuously operated distillery and is currently owned by Pernod Ricard. The distillery produces approximately 19 different expressions with prices ranging from affordable to “Holy Shit, how much?”. See last month’s review for the Glenlivet 14 or the Glenlivet 12.

Glenlivet 15 uses French oak barrels to finish the whisky. Oak barrels from France are different than American not only in geographic location, but also in species. French oak is either “Quercus robur” or “Quercus sesiliflora”. American oak is “Quercus alba”. The char level, age, and area grown can also affect the barrels, but there is a distinct flavor difference with oak barrels.

In terms of flavor:

French Oak has subtle notes of spices and is smoother.
American Oak has notes of vanilla and coconut and is creamier.

This expression is very light and smooth, and I can see a portion of that coming from the barrels, but it is 15 years old and bottled at 40% abv so it should be smooth tasting.

It is easy to drink, but not my style. I like a little bite on my scotch. Not the super heavy wood or peat flavor profile, but a scotch tasting scotch if you get my meaning.

Priced around $100 and is very good, but a wee bit too expensive and too light for the price and age.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

The Glenlivet 14 Cognac Cask Selection

August 4, 2022 Scotland

Name: The Glenlivet 14 Cognac Cask Selection

Color: Brown

Nose: Malt, flowers, citrus, earth/cognac notes, spice

Taste: Light malt, oranges, cognac, earth, light wood, light spice

The Glenlivet 14-Year-Old Cognac Cask Selection is a Speyside whisky from Moray, Scotland and is one of the big “Glen’s” in the whiskey world. Found in 1824, it is the oldest and continuously most operated distillery and is currently owned by Pernod Ricard. The distillery produces approximately 19 different expressions with prices ranging from affordable to “Holy Shit, how much?”. See last month’s review for the Glenlivet 12 for the baseline of the expressions.

The Cognac Cask expression is bottled at 40% abv, aged 14 years, and is finished in first fill ex-bourbon and ex-sherry cask and then finally finished in “select cognac barrels”. No shit, you “selected” them? Gotta love the marketing…..Who did you partner with? Nah…nevermind, that could not be important.

This expression from Glenlivet is a nice and smooth whisky, but for me it has too much cognac favor when drank neat. I would rather have a Cognac, Armagnac, or a Brandy. When I added a very small ice cube to the scotch the flavors open up nicely and the overall taste softens up. I enjoyed the more subtle flavors as it opened up with the cool water.

Priced around $75 and is good but a bit on the expensive side for 14 year old that has a cognac finish. I’d rather have a cognac.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

The Glenlivet 12

July 7, 2022 Scotland

Name: The Glenlivet 12

Color: Copper

Nose: Malt, light oak, honey, caramel

Taste: Malt, lemon honey, flowers, light wood

Review:

The Glenlivet 12-Year-Old is a Speyside Scotch from Moray, Scotland and is one of the big “Glen’s” in the whiskey world. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and continuously most operated distillery in Scotland and is currently owned by Pernod Ricard. The distillery produces approximately 19 different expressions with prices ranging from affordable to “Holy Shit, how much!?”.

The 12-Year-Old is the baseline expression and is a light and fresh tasting scotch. It is not complex or overbearing. The whisky is matured in double oak casks and bottled at 40% abv (80 proof) so it is an easy drinker at the proof level.

Light, fresh, and easy to drink is the best way to describe this Glenlivet 12. It is great summer scotch or a light scotch for someone with a lighter taste preference. I do not recommend drinking on ice as it waters down too fast and you lose the flavors in the water. If you use this as a mixer in cocktails, we need to have a “wee” chat.

Priced around $55 and good for the baseline and for a summer scotch by the pool.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

Loch Lomond 12

June 15, 2022 Scotland

Name: Loch Lomond 12

Color: Light Brown

Nose: Malt, lemon citrus, light oak, vanilla, flowers

Taste: Malt, wood, citrus/lemon, honey finish

Loch Lomond 12-year-old is a sourced whiskey that some puts a label on to make it seem like it is a distillery. I am skipping the usual history lesson on the expression and just getting to the point.

It is a recommendation from Disco Stu for taste and price and I think he got this one right on the nose! It is a decent tasting and has a nice balance for the price. It reminds me a of a cross between Johnnie Walker and Bruichladdich. It has a medium body taste with some fruit and sweetness on it.

Aged 12 years and bottled at 46% abv and has a madeira sherry finish. Overall, a nice taste and well valued. Give it a try. Works well as a summer scotch on the rocks or a warm Fall weather drink served neat.

Priced around $40-50 and worth the money for the taste profile.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

The Balvenie Single Barrel Sherry Cask 15-Year-Old

June 9, 2022 Scotland

Name: The Balvenie Single Barrel Sherry Cask 15-Year-Old

Color: Yellow

Nose: Malt, flowers, lemon, wood

Taste: Malt, lemon, sherry sweet, almonds, oak

The Balvenie Distillery is a Speyside scotch from Dufftown, Scotland. It was founded in 1886 by William Grant & Sons and I have not had a bad experience with any Balvenie, but, you have to pay for the pleasure of Balvenie’s company in your glass. The Core Expressions are the ones you would regularly see on the shelf are DoubleWood 12, Caribbean Cask 14, DoubleWood 17, and PortWood 21. Other expressions or “ranges” are numerous and include Stories, Connoisseur, Rare & Precious, Travel Retail, Limited, and Vintage. There are too many to list in this review and prices range from $60 to $50,000.

This Balvenie Single Barrel Sherry Cask 15-Year-Old Scotch comes from Cask #15636 and is bottle #690 of 800 bottles that originate per barrel and is bottled at 47.8% abv. The bottles are hand labeled and no two casks are the same, but I bet they all taste similar at the end of the day.

This scotch is very clean tasting with good, sweeter sherry notes, but not that candy sweet taste that a lot of scotches have been releasing over the last few years. The oak taste is not to over powerful, and the overall balance is soft with nice flavor notes. The color of the scotch looks natural, but I could not confirm if it is or not. I wonder if they made this for the less experience scotch drinker who likes a sweeter dram, but, I doubt that at the cost.

Priced around $150+ and worth the money, but if you are not experience with The Balvenie start with the DoubleWood 12 to save a few dollars. A big thanks to Barry for letting me sample this one!

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

The Famous Grouse Smoky Black

April 28, 2022 Scotland

Name: The Famous Grouse Smoky Black

Color: Dark Gold

Nose: Smoke, iodine, floral, honey

Taste: Soft, light smoke, heather, honey, light wood

The Famous Grouse label is a well-known and popular Scotch Whisky that you see in all the bars in Scotland and most liquor stores in America. Founded by Matthew Gloag and his son William Gloag they created The Famous Grouse in 1896 and have become a cornerstone of the scotch whisky industry in Scotland.

The distiller produces other expressions such as; Famous Grouse, Alpha Edition, Mellow Gold, Snow, 16-Year-Old Vic Lee, and a few other expressions. The Famous Grouse was also the official whiskey of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and I will be reviewing a special edition of Grouse 1986 at the end of year.

Following on my previous sampling of the regular Famous Grouse I opted to buy the Smoky Black. I was pleasantly surprised it is very nice stuff for the price. It is smoky (hence the name) and a bit heavier than the Famous Grouse but easy to drink. This one will be my go-to gift instead of Johnnie Walker Black if it is available in the store.

Price around $35 and very affordably Scottish. It is fine for a slugging whisky and I find it easier to drink then Johnnie Walker Black for the price.

If you like it, drink it!

anCnoc 12-Year-Old

April 14, 2022 Scotland

Name: anCnoc 12-Year-Old

Color: Light Brown

Nose: Malt, flowers, light smoke, honey

Taste: Malt, lemon, almonds, wood

anCnoc (“a-nock”) 12-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch comes from the Knockdhu Distillery in AberdeenShire, Scotland. The distillery dates back to 1893 when the Scotch production was for Haig’s Whiskey. The distillery was near the Knock Rail Road Station, so distribution was an advantage to getting the product to market. Knockdhu was closed in 1983, sold in 1988, resume production in 1989, and re-named in 1994. The re-naming was done to avoid confusion with Knockando and the name is Scottish Gaelic and translate to “the hill”.

Other expressions: 18, 24, 2002, Peatheart, Rudhan (travel), Cutter, Rascan, Barrow, and Black Hill Reserve.

anCnoc 12 is Speyside styled scotch bottled at 43% abv, medium malt body, semi-fresh tasting scotch, and has a nice balance. Overall, it is good tasting and there is a little more malt on the taste profile than anything else. The other flavors are subtle on the back end.

Priced around $50 and worth a try of you like the flavor profile. I look to other to trying other expressions.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

Caol Ila 12

February 24, 2022 Scotland

Name: Caol Ila 12

Color: Light yellow

Nose: Peat, smoke, iodine, sea salt, lemon

Taste: Oak, peat/smoke, citrus, flowers, pepper

Caol Ila 12 is produced by the Caol Ila Distillery in Port Askaig on the Isle of Islay. The distillery was founded in 1846 and has changed ownership over the years and is now owned by Diageo (this will be important in a minute). Pronounced “Cull Eela” which means “Sound of Islay” this single malt is bottled at 43% abv and is lighter than Laphroaig 10 and less complex than Lagavulin 16.

The peat and wood taste are a bit different than other Islay scotches, but it is in the same ballpark and there was something familiar about this scotch. Every once and while when I am sampling a whisky and it seems familiar, but I cannot put my finger on it. After some research on this scotch I discovered that what Caol Ila scotch that is not used for their bottles ends up being put into Johnnie Walker….surprise! And no surprise, it is owned by Diageo. I sampled JW Black and Caol Ila 12 side by side. There is a very strong similarity on the nose and taste, but the peat overpowers so you have to search for it.

Caol Ila is what it “is” and that is overpriced Johnnie Walker Black plus 35 ppm peat. I found it to be ok. I assume it was produced to grab some of the Islay market. For the money I spend on this bottle and a few dollars more I could have gotten Lagavulin.

Priced around $70 it is overpriced for what you get in the bottle.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

Port Askaig 8-Year-Old

February 23, 2022 Scotland

Name: Port Askaig 8-Year-Old

Color: Light Yellow

Nose: Malt, peat, citrus, light wood

Taste: Malt, wood, peat, lemon

Port Askaig is whisky is produced by Elixir Distillers. They own Specialty Drinks, which in turn owns The Whiskey Exchange which is… ah fuck it. You get the point.

The whisky is aged for 8 years in ex-bourbon barrels, non-chilled filtered, has no color added, and is bottled at 45.8% abv. The whisky is sourced from Caol Ila and some comes from Laphroaig. Anyone see where this is going?

Islay whisky’s have a very specific flavor profile (peat/smoke) and have a limited market as most people do not prefer the Islay flavor. Port Askaig appears to be created to grab a bit of the market away from the other distilleries by selling something of similar taste but less quality. Like Caol Ila, it is creation to make money, not to produce something of value.

Priced around $60 and overpriced and tastes like shit.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

The Botanist Islay Dry Gin

The Glenlivet 15 – French Oak Reserve

The Glenlivet 14 Cognac Cask Selection

The Glenlivet 12

Loch Lomond 12

The Balvenie Single Barrel Sherry Cask 15-Year-Old

The Famous Grouse Smoky Black

anCnoc 12-Year-Old

Caol Ila 12

Port Askaig 8-Year-Old

Search:

Newsletter Subscription

Recent Posts

Categories