Drinks & Gifts, a liquor shop in Krommenie organized a tasting yesterday with seven independent bottlings imported by Whisky Import Nederland (WIN). WIN imports a lot of bottlers and the official releases of Kilchoman and Glenglassaugh and some other spirits like Cognac.

They wanted to give an impression of the whiskies available in their portfolio and Jolanda of Drinks & Gifts wanted to show what she can provide as a liquor shop (with an increasing focus on whisky).

Royal Lochnagar, Exclusive Range, 9yo, 2000, 45%
This dram was an easy starter, but not a bland one. Lots of fruit and a little malty. The alcohol starts our rather prominent but decreases quickly. A little vanilla as well. The finish is a little dusty and some malt again.

Craighellachie, Old Malt Cask, 14yo, 1996, 50%, Red Wine Cask
Quite dry with lots of tannines on the nose. Some tropical fruit and oak, but quite some spices. Gets even more spicy towards the end. The taste is very dry and quite some alcohol. The finish is quite long and spicy, but its rather dull, especially taste.

Tamnavulin, Blackadder Raw Cask, 16yo, 1993, 57.6%
Spicy with orange zest and a lot of mint on the nose. Quite spicy with a lot of tropical fruit, sherry influences and wood. There is a very good balance and a nice sweetness to it all and everything comes together nicely.

Clynelish, Berry Bros & Rudd, 13yo, 1997, 56.8%
Honey, Bees wax, a lot of vanilla, caramel, sticky toffee pudding and that’s just the nose. A bit dry on the palate with some wood, vanilla, creme brulee and cinnamon. The finish is unexpectedly peppery, loooooooong and a lot of honey again. A typical Clynelish with a slight note of smoke and saltiness, but there’s just a lot going on!

Tobermory, AlcHemIst, 16yo, 1994, 46%
Malty but a quite flat and bland. Some wood and vinegar. The taste is thin with the same notes as on the nose. The finish lives up a little bit with some fruit and a bit of vanilla.

Ledaig, Berry Bros & Rudd, 5yo, 2005, 61.1%
See this review of it. No changes to the rating but some addition to the flavours: Leather, smoke and a smell of rotten meat. Like a dead cow that’s been out in the sun for too long. Nasty.

Bowmore, First Cask, 11yo, 1999, 60.9%
This Bowmore is a bottling by WIN themselves, with their own label. Vanilla, coconut, apricot, some sweet smoke, heather and some honey. The palate offers is very nice with sweet flowers. Quite dry and a little FWP, but not too much and just very deliciously sweet. The finish is quite perfumed with again some sweet peat smoke.

And as a little extra, Jolanda of Drinks & Gifts gave us a sample for broadcasting her tasting (on Twitter by Tom, pictures by Robert and this blogpost):

Laphroaig, Exclusive Cask, 12yo, 50.1%
Sea weed and ropes as well as some light fruitiness on the nose. The taste is more salty and quite dry on the palate and the finish is rather short with some freshness added to it. The fruit lingers longer than the smokiness which is a nice surprise.

A great tasting with some nice speeches by Marcel Bol, by WIN and nice conversation with Tom, Ronald and Robert, as well as with Jolanda, of course! Unfortunately I can’t participate in the tasting on the 4th of April with Jan Beek of Van Wees, which is hosted by Jolanda as well.