Scotland | Page 7 | NYC Whiskey Review

Tomintoul 16-Year-Old

December 22, 2022 Scotland

Name: Tomintoul 16-Year-Old

Color: Light copper

Nose: Malt, wood, vanilla cream, citrus, hazelnut

Taste: Malt, nuts, spices, root beer/peat

3 Days until Christmas! Do you have your bottles ready for the Holiday Season?!

Tomintoul 16-Year-Old is a single malt from Speyside region in Scotland. It is pronounced “Tom-in-t’owl” and means “Hillock of the Barn” and is named after a village of the same name in Moray. The distillery was founded in 1964 and is now partnered with Glenlivet and operates under the name the Tomintoul-Glenlivet Distillery.

The nose is a bit strange and took a few tries to figure out get a read on it. I mainly detected hazelnut and Christmas spices and the baseline of Glenlivet 12. It has a very good balance, medium body, and is very smooth. Bottled at 40% abv and aged 16 years, there is no statement of what barrels are used so I will assume ex-bourbon barrels.

Other expressions produced: 10, 12, 14, 16, 21, and 33-year-old.

This whiskey is very nice and would work well as a Fall or Winter dram. It tastes different than the Glenlivet 12, Glenlivet 14, and Glenlivet 15 but made a nice addition to my bar.

Priced around $60-70 and is worth a try.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

Buchanan’s Deluxe 12 Year Blended Scotch

November 24, 2022 Scotland

Name: Buchanan’s Deluxe 12 Year Blended Scotch

Color: Light Brown

Nose: Malt, lemons, seaside, flowers, honey

Taste: Malt blend, citrus, iodine notes, honey notes

James Buchanan created his whisky in 1884 as a blended business to supply the England market for blended scotch whisky, the distillery has changed ownership and partnerships over the years. I have seen this bottle on the bottle shelves over the years and the shape an color has caught my eye, but never the price. Nor have I seen it served in bar, a tasting, or offered to me.

Aged 12 years, blended, and bottled at 40% its nose is nice and surprising clean. The body is medium and decent tasting. Overall, I was very surprised at the taste profile. It is decent and a slugging whisky but good for “mad night” or a “mental rager” as they say in Scotland. I find this one similar to Famous Grouse or Dewar’s White Label for nose, taste, profile and cost.

Priced around $35 and nothing to complex, but nothing really bad about it.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

Ballantine’s 17

November 10, 2022 Scotland

Name: Ballantine’s 17

Color: Light Yellow

Nose: Malt, vanilla, heather, citrus

Taste: Malt, flowers, oak, lemon, cream sweetness

Ballantine’s Scotch Whisky dates to back the 1827 when a farmer’s son just trying to earn a living selling whisky in a small store in Edinburgh, Scotland. The family sold out in 1919 and the new owners continued to use the family name to market the whisky as it was known for quality. Ballantine’s is a blended malt whisky using various amounts of whisky and is stated to be the 2^nd highest selling scotch whiskey in the world. I can believe that as the Spanish drink this stuff like the world is going to end at parties. The first time I had Ballantine’s was in Spain, but it was mixed with coke, as they do it.

The Ballantine 17 is a blend, bottled at 40% and is a medium bodied summer drinking scotch. It is overall very nice, smooth, and very drinkable. This is a scotch you open with a friend, and you end up finishing the bottle.

Other expressions are: Finest, Limited,12-Year-Old Pure Malt, 12, 17, 21, 30, and 40.

Priced around $80 and worth the price if you like the flavor profile.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

The BenRiach 10-Year-Old

November 3, 2022 Scotland

Name: The BenRiach 10-Year-Old

Color: Light Yellow

Nose: Malt, lemon, white fruit, light oak

Taste: Malt, apple/pear, lemon

The BenRiach 10-Year-old is a Speyside single malt whisky from Morayshire, Scotland. The distiller was established in 1898 and has changed ownership a few times over the years. The whisky is bottled at 43% abv, aged 10 years, and finished in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. It is a nice medium bodied fresh tasting whisky and has a good balance of flavors. It is a good whisky for a non-scotch drinker and would work well as a summer or a winter dram.

Having no knowledge or experience with this whisky I bought this bottle on a gamble for the price. I was pleasantly surprise at the taste and quality. I look forward to trying more expressions, but I have not seen much of BenRiach on the shelf around the NYC area. I will have to sample some on my next trip to Scotland.

Other expressions: Smoky 10 & 12,16, 20,21, 25, 30, 1996 Vestige, Casks, Peated Quarter Cask, and Triple Distilled. There are also numerous “Archive” expressions with various finishes.

Priced around $50 and worth money for the price and the baseline expression.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

Ardbeg An Oa

October 19, 2022 Scotland

Name: Ardbeg An Oa

Color: Brown gold

Nose: Malt, peat, wood, earthy, medium iodine

Taste: Malt, smokey peat, light oak, seagrass

Ardbeg is a Highland scotch from the Islay region in Scotland that I like to put into a category I call “Big Boy Scotch”. Ardbeg is considered by some people in the whisky world to be the peatiest of all the scotches. I can think of a few other scotches out there that can compete for that title but with heavily peated scotch is truly a matter of individual taste. The name “Ardbeg” is Scottish Gaelic for a “small promontory”. A promontory is defined as “a point of high land that juts out into a large body of water”.

Ardbeg “An Oa” is named after the cliffs (The Oa) that protect the southwest portion of Islay. The whisky is aged in sherry casks and virgin oak, is non-chilled filtered, and bottled at 46.6% abv.

An Oa is smoother and better tasting than the 10-Year-Old and has a richer flavor profile than of the Wee Beastie expression. The taste is heavier and more complex but well balanced. is a little warm on finish with a spicy finish. The richer taste seems to come from the choices to age the whisky.

Ardbeg whisky is a solid performer but be aware their expressions really vary in taste and price so I recommend getting sampler packs or trying in bars before you commit to a full bottle.

Priced around $65 and worth the money if you like the flavor profile.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

Glenmorangie 12 – Lasanta

October 13, 2022 Scotland

Name: Glenmorangie 12 – Lasanta

Color: Copper

Nose: Sherry, malt, orange, light cedar wood

Taste: Malt, sweet caramel, sherry, citrus/orange

Glenmorangie is a Highland Whisky from Tain, Scotland. The distillery was founded around 1703 and has had various owners over the centuries. The name is Scottish Gaelic and is believed to translate to “vale of tranquility” or “vale of big meadows”.

The Lasanta is bottled at 43% abv and aged for 12 years. It is first matured in bourbon casks and the is finished in Oloroso & Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. This expression would make a nice summer scotch or after dinner drink, but I could not see having more than one dram. It is nice whisky, but a little on the dry side and I do not think it would go well with ice or in a cocktail. It has a strong sherry nose and along with being dry it is also a wee bit too sweet for my taste. The more I sample sherry finished whisky’s the more I feel the distilleries walk a fine line of creating a gimmick of sweetness to get people to buy bottles as opposed to a interesting finish on a quality product.

Other expressions are: Original, Quinta Ruban, Nectar D’Or, 18, 19, 25, Signet, Pride 1981, Pride 1978, Pride 1974, and Grand Vintage Malt 1990, Sonnalta PX, Finealta, Artein, Ealanta, Companta, Tùsail, Milsean, Bacalta, Spios, Allta, Tarlogan, Tayne, Duthac, Dornoc, Cadboll, Astar, A Midwinter Night’s Dram, Cadboll Estate, and Taghta.

Priced around $70 and worth the money if you like this style of whisky, but a little overpriced for me.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

Glenmorangie 12 – Quinta Ruban

September 29, 2022 Scotland

Name: Glenmorangie 12 – Quinta Ruban

Color: Light Brown

Nose: Malt, sweet rum notes, green grass

Taste: Malt, sugar cane, flowers, berries

Glenmorangie is a Highland whisky from Tain, Scotland and was founded around 1703 with various ownerships over the year. The name is Scottish Gaelic and is believed to translate to “vale of tranquility” or “vale of big meadows”.

Glenmorangie 12 Quinta Ruban expression is bottled at 46% abv and is age for 10 years in American white oak cask and then finished in Quintas port pipes to age further for flavor. Port pipes are the largest casks available.

Nice balance with the port finish but the sweetness tasted more like rum and sugar cane to me. A better tasting whisky for the overall flavor profile than the sister expression Lasanta, plus it has a higher proof, so more bang for the buck. However, it is just a little too sugary tasting for my preference when it comes to a scotch.

Other expressions are: Original, Lasanta, Nectar D’Or, 18, 19, 25, Signet, Pride 1981, Pride 1978, Pride 1974, and Grand Vintage Malt 1990, Sonnalta PX, Finealta, Artein, Ealanta, Companta, Tùsail, Milsean, Bacalta, Spios, Allta, Tarlogan, Tayne, Duthac, Dornoc, Cadboll, Astar, A Midwinter Night’s Dram, Cadboll Estate, and Taghta.

Priced around $60-70 and worth money if you like the taste profile and feel a 12 year is worth the price of a 14- to 16-year-old scotch

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

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!

Tomintoul 16-Year-Old

Buchanan’s Deluxe 12 Year Blended Scotch

Ballantine’s 17

The BenRiach 10-Year-Old

Ardbeg An Oa

Glenmorangie 12 – Lasanta

Glenmorangie 12 – Quinta Ruban

The Botanist Islay Dry Gin

The Glenlivet 15 – French Oak Reserve

The Glenlivet 14 Cognac Cask Selection

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