Amrut 5, 2015-2021, Ex-Bourbon Cask 3734, 60% – OB for the Members of Whiskybase

Posted on 18 July 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

And yes, I got a bottle of this before it sold out, and then never gave it enough priority for a timely review.

India is not the first country that comes to mind when thinking about single malt whisky, but there are a couple of distilleries out there producing quality spirits. Normally when you think of Indian ‘whisky’ it is some approximation of the spirit in at least color and ABV, but that’s generally where the overlap ends. Luckily, with Amrut leading the way, there are now a couple more distilleries in the country producing to high standards. Think of Paul John and Rampur (I have not tasted any whisky from the latter, though).

Amrut is one of the brands that opened up the category of world whiskies for me. Back at De Whiskykoning, when one of the first batches of cask strength single malt made it from India to Europa, Rob (the owner of the shop) gave me a small sip to try without telling me what it was. I ended up buying a bottle and still think of that dram with a lot of fondness.

Image from Whiskybase

Of course, I don’t know how it would hold up now, about 15 years later, but I do remember really liking it back then. Then there’s this one. Checking on Whiskybase gives us 570 known releases of Amrut, of which 519 are done by the distillery. Apparently they aren’t selling a lot of casks to independent bottlers.

Apparently they are doing private cask bottlings, like this one. An official bottling, but done for someone else, with (I assume) a bit of preselection by the owner of the cask, or the ones who ordered the bottling of the cask.

I’m glad this is from a bourbon cask, since I am convinced that that gives us the chance to really find out what the distillery is about, with not too many other flavors muddling our palates.

Sniff:
Lots of overripe mangos, papaya. Rich tropical fruit, with lots of wood and roasted spices. Some barley but mostly cask and distillery style.

Sip:
A fierce arrival, strong and powerful. Lots of peppery heat added to by the bone dry oakiness.

Swallow:
The finish mellows quickly, and veers back to the fruit. Not as fruity as the nose, but more than the palate.

87/100

Of course it’s long gone, but since the average rating isn’t too high this is still available in the secondary market starting at € 105.

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Bunnahabhain Mòine 15, 2005-2021, PX Finish, 55.3% – The Duchess

Posted on 17 July 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

This time it’s not Archives’ tropical fish, generally from around Samoa, but a more ‘local’ series of animals. Animals found in the United Kingdom, if I’m not mistaken, from Dutch independent bottler The Duchess. The label is, not entirely surprising, by Hans Dillesse.

The Duchess have been bottling high quality whisky for a couple of years, as well as really solid rums. Generally, I do a bottle-share whenever a new whisky is being released (if within my means), but this one I missed somehow. With it scoring well over 89 points on average, I decided it was rather high time to correct that omission, and bottle-shared it quite recently.

Bunnahabhain is an Islay distillery originally known for their unpeated whiskies, but with the smoky stuff being in high demand, they made a switch to a more ‘Bruichladdich style’ quite a while ago. So, under their ‘Mòine’ range they release a peated spirit, and under the Staoisha range there’s a heavily peated whisky available.

Image from Best of Wines

So, a gently peated Bunnahabhain, finished in a sherry cask. Older Bunnahabhains tend to score well, really well. This one being a bit younger and from a sherry cask instead of the far more regular bourbon casks is a different approach, but the already high rating made me very curious!

Sniff:
The nose starts with a gorgeous combination of sherry, peat and quite a lot of oak. There is a bunch of dried fruits and almonds. Apricots and plums, with quite a lot of bitter notes.

Sip:
The palate continues with the bitterness. Lots of nuts and dried fruit. Almonds, apricots, plums (with stones). There’s a lot of oak and a bit of a coarse texture. It is a cask strength whisky but apart from the alcohol heat there’s also some chili peppers, and a very gentle smokiness.

Swallow:
The finish starts with a bit of an afterburner in regards to peppery bite, but also shows the sweeter side of sherry. Lots of oak, lots of dried fruits, a bit of smoke.

There is so much happening here! Great stuff. The smoke is quite restrained, but noticeable. It gives the whisky an extra dimension and therefore more complexity. Thoroughly enjoyable, and highly recommended!

90/100

Available at Best of Wines/Best of Whiskies for € 168

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Lagg 3, Kilmory Edition, 2019-2023, ex-Bourbon Barrel, 46%

Posted on 14 July 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

When Tom’s review of this new Arran based distillery got published, I figured it was his enthusiasm for new distilleries that warranted the high rating of Lagg’s Kilmory Edition. Generally I tend to be a bit less thrilled with these young spirits, although I always get a bit giddy when a new one becomes available.

Anyway, Tom had a bottle and was willing to share some samples from it. I decided to get 10cl, since it still got a solid rating from him. And I published the post, which meant I had to try it for myself as well.

So Lagg Distillery, a new distillery on the Isle of Arran, on the opposite end of the island from where Arran / Lochranza Distillery is. The distillery is owned by the same company, and as said during the tour I enjoyed at Arran Distillery in March 2022, they’re making peated spirit.

Also, Arran used to make some peated spirit in their Machrie Moor range, but they are going to cease that since they also have Lagg to fill that gap in their offerings.

Unfortunately, Lagg was closed when we got to the place and we were not able to see the inside of the distillery. The outside is pretty, though!

Image from Lagg Distillery’s website
Image from Whiskybase

But, enough babbling. Let’s find out whether I agree with Tom or not!

Sniff:
Young and fierce and definitely peaty. Not even that much smoke, but an awesome amount of earthy peat. Bonfires and charcoal, ashes. The works. There’s a lighter style of barley and straw, almost to a floral level with poppies and other wildflowers. Quite some dry oak as well.

Sip:
The palate is pretty fierce too, but continues down a really consistent track. Lots of barley, oak and floral notes. But also quite some charry peat and ash. It’s like a very, VERY peated Lowlands whisky. Wildflowers, hay, roses.

Swallow:
The finish shows a bit more youth with more straight forward alcohol and green malt. A rather long finish, with straw, barley, oak and soil.

This is indeed quite gorgeous and VERY promising. It runs the risk of having nowhere to go after a decade or so. But, of the new distilleries I’ve tried over the last few years, this one is among the most impressive…

Interestingly, I picked up quite some different flavors than Tom did, but I guess palates tend to do that.

88/100

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Bushmills 10, 40% – Imported by F.lli Ramazzotti

Posted on 13 July 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

A curveball. This bottling of Bushmills 10 is one from the 1990s, if my information is correct. That also means that the distillate is from the 1980s at the latest. Therefore it should be quite a ways different than current bottlings, although it’s been ages since I tried one.

I got this in a blind sample pack from MvZ, as did everyone else who tried it according to Whiskybase’s stats, since I know four of the five people who left a rating.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Cigar tobacco leaves, leather, old grains and oak. A bit of sweetness, but also hints of cracked wallpaper and dusty attics.

Sip:
The palate is slightly dry and dusty, and has a little of pepper on it. There’s barley and sawdust, a hint of banana and apple, and that slightly papery thing persist on the palate too.

Swallow:
The finish is very old fashioned and has a hint of cask aged white wine as well. Lots of barley and a hint of old leather. Dusty and dry, like old attics with wood worm dust everywhere. Autumn leaves.

To me, when trying it blind, it tasted like way older Speyside whisky instead of a rather young Irish one. I guessed this to be some kind of standard bottling from the 1970s, and mentioned that I wouldn’t be overly surprised if this would turn out to be a Fino cask of some sorts.

Of course, I was about as far off as one can be, but it does say something about the quality. Especially on the finish. The palate and nose were a bit dusty and didn’t score very high for me. But, all in all, a very decent dram that I wouldn’t mind trying again (as in, if I had a bottle, I’d gladly drink it over some time).

86/100

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Westward American Single Malt, Virgin Oak, 45%

Posted on 12 July 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer
Image from Whiskybase

A whisky I tried a little while ago, when sitting outside in the shade on a warm day. Sounds like the perfect setting for American whisky to me!

This one was part of a tasting I tried participating in a long time ago, of which the samples had been forgotten. History became legend. Legend became myth. But let’s not let our expectations get the better of us.

Westward distillery is based in Portland (Oregon, not Maine, that would have been Eastward). They’ve been making whisky since 2004, and are quite high on Norbert Tebarts’ radar for American whisky. So much so that he bottled two casks for the Whisky Tasting Festival (WTF) last year. This one is not from that batch, although this reminds me I should post the tasting notes to those as well.

Sniff:
Slightly musty with pulpy oak, a wet barley. Hay, weed, and copper polish. Dried apples, vanilla.

Sip:
A bit of a thin palate, with not a lot of impact. It’s more fresh than the nose, with more grainy notes and some oak. A hint of white pepper after a while.

Swallow:
The finish goes back to the nose but adds marachino cherries. A bit funky too.

Quite inconsistent, like the palate belongs to a different whisky than the nose and finish. I like a bit of a surprise when trying a whisky, but it shouldn’t be as inconsistent as I find this one.

82/100

Available at Cane & Grain for € 60

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Ben Nevis 1995-2023, Moscatel Finish, 52.6% – Berry Bros. & Rudd for Kirsch Import

Posted on 11 July 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Goodie goodie goodie! Ben Nevis from the mid nineties! That promises a massive fruit bomb over a nice but gentle Highland character. Ever so slightly funky because, after all, it still is Ben Nevis!

This specific cask was bottled for Kirsch Import in Germany, and through a sample network I managed to buy a sample. It’s interesting that they only state that it’s a Moscatel finish, which could mean the sherry or the dessert wine, although I think it’s safe to assume it’s the sherry. It also might be that the wine is Muscatel. Anyway, vague.

Image from Whiskybase

Let’s dive in!

Sniff:
Lots of oak and metal. Iron or copper, lots of slate and other mineral rich things. Reine Claude plums, slightly dried. Some raisins too.

Sip:
The palate is also quite oak forward, fresh oak mostly. Some raisin twigs, and some plums too. After that the bitter touch increases a bit, with nutty notes. Brazil nuts, walnuts.

Swallow:
The finish has an unexpected warmth that I can’t really pin down. It’s a bit like smoldering embers and a hint of barbecue notes. Sweet marinade on top of some grilled fruit.

Surprisingly un-fruity for a Moscatel cask finished Ben Nevis from this vintage. Also, the finish doesn’t really fit the palate and nose. There are some nice things happening, but I’m not really sure what to make of it.

In short, while interesting, it is not in the same league as what I’ve come to expect from longer aged Ben Nevis from 1995 and/or 1996. Strange…

85/100

Available in Germany starting at € 330

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Sutherland 5, Highland Blended Malt, 48.5% – Thompson Brothers for the 20th Anniversary of Whiskyfun.com

Posted on 10 July 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

A five year old whisky that’s being released at about € 110 must be something special, right? It does remind me a little bit of Compass Box’s 3 year old from a couple of years ago.

This bottling was done for the celebration of Whiskyfun‘s 20th anniversary. According to sources on the internet is consists of only single malts from the Sutherland region of Scotland. The split is roughly 1/3 of one distillery, 2/3 of another and about 1% of a third.

Now, interestingly, there are only three distilleries in Sutherland that are operational. Thompson Brothers’ own Dornoch Distillery, Clynelish and Brora. That settles the debate about the 1% immediately, but the other split is not overly clear from any documentation I’ve been able to find (although, I spent about 30 seconds looking…)

Initially I didn’t realize this was a celebration bottling and considered it to be ‘just a gimmicky thing’. But when it sold out almost instantly at Whiskybase, I decided to get my hands on one through another retailer and bottle-shared it.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
This is very different to what I’m used to from young single malts. Especially considering there’s a significant amount of 5 year old whisky in this mix, there’s quite a layer of aromas.

Generally, with contemporary young whisky, there’s generally a lot of cask activity noticeable, but there’s not so much here. The flipside of that would be a very spirity whisky, but that’s also not the case. It’s quite a layered, surprisingly mature and old fashioned dram, this.

There are some wood spices, quite a lot of dry barley. Some cracked leather in the background. A hint of toasted black pepper. Even though it’s not a sherry cask, there are some autumnal scents. Barley fields ready for harvest and an apple orchard. Some oak, of course, but as said not overpowering.

Sip:
The palate brings quite a bit of a peppery bite for a whisky at 48.5% ABV. Black pepper, white pepper. Nothing too exotic. Barley, a bit of an oaky sweetness, apple sauce, some woody spices.

Swallow:
The finish veers back to the spices with much more focus on that than the palate had. And then I don’t mean the peppery heat, but the flavors of wood spices and sawdust.

I am very positively surprised by this. It’s technically five years old but it tastes much older and mature than that. Also, it doesn’t taste like an ‘engineered’ whisky, like they actually gave the spirit room to develop instead of tinkering with it to some imagined result.

Of course, there has to be something to complain about and that, in this case is a double edged sword. This is a ridiculously drinkable whisky and my sample of 25cl almost evaporated. I really went through this quickly. That’s not a problem per se, but at € 110 it is a quite expensive hobby if this is the caliber of the daily dram… Having said that, I’m seriously considering getting a second bottle…

88/100

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Haran 10, 2012-2023, Iberian Hogshead 143, 52.5% – Beek Spirits

Posted on 7 July 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Even though it’s a Dutch independent bottler, it’s the first review of any Beek Spirit on the blog. So far, the products have either not been whisky or not something that peaked my interest.

Then, this came out. A Spanish single malt of a distillery I had not heard about, and my buddy RvB shared samples of this in our share-group. It sounded interesting and it was something rather new, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Honestly, I went in without any expectation. Well, maybe I expected it to be a so-so whisky, but I was ready to be surprised.

Interestingly, this is made by Acha Distillery, but all their whiskies come out under the Haran brand name. The distillery has been around since 1831, and they also produce gin, rum and liqueurs. I’m not sure what their market for the whiskies is, since it says on the website they’ve been producing it for over a hundred years, and there are only a handful of bottlings on Whiskybase. Well, they say they have a recipe from 1909, but not necessarily that they’ve been producing single malt under their own brand name since.

Image from Whisky Site

Anyway, let’s dive in!

Sniff:
The first sniff makes me seriously doubt the age of this. The aroma is more like a pre-3-year old spirit. There’s lots of immature alcohol and aggressive oak. It reminds me of under age American spirits of some new-ish distilleries.

Sip:
The palate continues down the rather aggressive path. It sure tastes like whisky, but not whisky that’s ready yet. Fierce oak influence, probably new oak, and again an American whisky like spirity thing. Bone dry, quite hot, very young. But not young like Scotch where there’s green notes of fresh barley.

Swallow:
Yeah, the finish is largely the same. Slightly warmer, slightly less aggressive. Quite long and there are some flavors of dried plums and raisins. A bitter note too.

In short, I’m not a fan. The finish does a bit of search and resque for the palate and nose of this dram, but I’m still glad I had only a sample and not an entire bottle.

The thing is, I don’t mind young whiskies, and I don’t mind strong wood influences per se. I also like American whiskies, but this one combines a lot of the less desirable flavors into a concoction that just doesn’t work for me. At all.

77/100

Still available for just under € 50

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Kornog 2006-2022, Barrel 12107, 50.9% – Berry Bros. & Rudd

Posted on 6 July 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Ever since going on holiday to Brittany a couple of times I kind of have a weak spot for the area. Unfortunately, I was there with little kids and the distilleries of Brittany were hours away from where I was camping. I didn’t visit them, obviously. But I did kind of counter that by buying several bottles of Breton whisky, which I then proceeded to not drink or get around to.

This one, though, was from a sample. I wanted to get a bottle but couldn’t find one before it sold out. Luckily I was able to get myself a sample through SJ.

Contrary to what happens a lot with samples that aren’t sent from a more commercial point of view, I managed to try it almost immediately when it came in. You know, to not have it clog up space on my shelf for the next couple of years…

Most Breton whisky, and Kornog from Glann ar Mor distillery is not exception, follows the Scottish style of distilling to a T. It’s done in exactly the same way and even matures in a very comparable climate. There are exceptions where distilleries go back to more local things like using buckwheat instead of barley, and there are rye whiskies there too, but most of them are straight forward single malts. Like this one.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Heaps of barley and a minor hint of wood smoke. Slightly funky with hessian and cracked leather. Corky apple and quite some oak.

Sip:
The arrival is syrupy in texture and brings lot of barley notes, with some black pepper. Dry oak, wood spices, old apples. After a minute of ‘swimming’, there are notes of raisins and dark chocolate.

Swallow:
The finish is more barley focused. A bit of pepper and some old orchard fruits. Some wood spices, soot and wood smoke. Some dark chocolate too.

Well, this one is indeed a good one. I don’t remember the price when it came out but currently it goes for some € 350, which is ridiculous. It’s very good, but as said, fairly straight forward single malt whisky and at 15 years old, that should not cost that much money.

The ‘old style’ with slightly funky notes and a huge focus on the barley (and therefore the spirit) is what I really enjoy. The cask is used to mature the whisky instead of the spirit being used to only push cask flavors.

I wish I had bought a bottle back when it came out!

88/100

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Kilkerran 17, Triple Distilled, 57.5% – Open Day 2023

Posted on 5 July 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

It’s always a good thing when friends to go to special occasions and bring back special occasion booze! In this case it was ‘Erik Elixir’ that went to Campbeltown and decided the 17 year old Kilkerran bottled for the Campbeltown Malts Festival was of a high enough standard to be brought back to The Netherlands.

Kilkerran, made at Glengyle distillery, normally follows Springbank’s 2.5 times distilled regime, but in this case it’s a triple distilled version. Also, at 17 years old it’s pretty old for a Kilkerran. As in, it’s the oldest stated vintage so far. The distillery only restarted in 2004, so there aren’t too many options for much older stuff, but technically 18 or 19 should not have been impossible. 19 years old would have been pushing it, since the distillery opened in March and the festival was in May.

Image from Whiskybase

Let’s find out what this one is about. Generally I really enjoy Kilkerran, also because it is so similar to Springbank, and I really love Springbank. So, I guess we’re all good here!

Sniff:
A rather timid, but mature nose. Pithy lemon, green malt, oak, and a note of brine. There’s a whiff of soot, some banana and chalk.

Sip:
The palate is a ‘real’ Springbank. Slightly funky with hessian. A bit more sharp than expected. Oak, old barley, slightly coastal, a touch of salinity and a very oily mouthfeel.

Swallow:
A long finish and a big one. The same flavors as before, but the bite is gone. Therefore it’s giving more space to the rest. The banana is back, as is engine oil and soot. Not smoky, though.

I guess this one does exactly what you hope it would do. I didn’t really get a huge difference on the triple distillation. The note of soot I got on the nose was a really nice addition and even though it’s a fairly new distillery, it makes for a really old style of whisky. Very, very good indeed!

89/100

At the time of writing the bottle goes for £ 150 in the secondary market.

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