Glentauchers 2008-2024, Sherry cask, 51.7% – Liquid Art (10th Anniversary)

Posted on 19 January 2025 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

It feels like a million years ago when Bert Dexters got in touch about reviewing samples (it was about eight years…) but suddenly, at the end of 2024, there he was again. Liquid Art was celebrating their 10th anniversary with some special releases.

He was kind enough to send over some samples that I tried a while ago but haven’t published yet. The run up to Christmas was mental in regards to work and private stuff, and then I broke my knee and didn’t get around to anything much for a while.

But, when trying to catch up, samples you got sent take the first spots, so here we go. This Glentauchers of about 15 years old from a sherry cask came out last year. There’s only 96 bottles of it, but that suggests a split cask. There is no cask number so finding the rest might be a tad challenging, if that becomes necessary.

Image from Whiskybase

Glentauchers from sherry casks seems to work best, with it being a rather clunky spirit that needs some oomph from the cask to balance it out. Let’s see if that worked here!

Sniff:
Huge notes of barley with quite a lot of oak too. Very classical, with apple crumble and a bit of vanilla custard. Rather crisp with some menthol cigarette smoke. Apart from apple I get a whiff of banana too.

Sip:
The palate has a warm arrival but isn’t hot at all. Very fruity with notes of baked apple and banana, some cinnamon, vanilla and sawdust. Autumn leaves, maybe even a hint of tobacco leaves. Pretty dry with barley and oak.

Swallow:
The finish holds the middle of the nose and palate, with slight more focus on the barley than the palate, and more on the fruit than the nose. Again, apple and banana. Now also pear. Dry barley, some oak and a bit of black pepper.

Apart from it being a sherry cask, I would expect this to be an American oak sherry cask. There’s not so much spiciness that comes with European oak. It does provide some nice balance in combination with the sweeter fruity notes by adding some more crisp notes of apple. All in all a rather well balanced and lovely dram that’s well worth the € 139 it’s going for.

87/100

Available at several shops in Belgium

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Linkwood 27, 1987-2014, Rum Finished Hogshead, 47.3% – The Whisky Agency / The Perfect Dram

Posted on 18 December 2024 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I met my befriended Linkwood supplier last Monday, and when things quieted down a little bit I immediately sat down to drink this sample he brought me. Normally this wouldn’t be a whisky I’d pick up since it’s a rum cask, but I’m always keen on trying things I wouldn’t normally try.

Image from Whiskybase

Linkwood is a Speyside whisky that, to me, always has a bit of a beer like quality to it. Lots of dry notes of barley, with a herbaceous edge that is not unlike the flavor hops bring to beer. With a rum cask, that might be very different of course. Let’s try!

Sniff:
This one starts with a rather heavy nose of wood and some rich sweetness. Ripe tropical fruit stew, quite sugary. An ester-y note comes through after a little while, with a more chemical approach to fruitiness. It’s slightly more funky than you’d expect from a Linkwood.

Sip:
The palate packs a much bigger punch than it’s 47.3% promises. There’s quite some sweetness behind the fierceness, tropical fruitiness. A rum funkiness with some old wood and some sugarcane like juiciness. Still quite barley driven, and a lot of oak.

Swallow:
The finish mellows immediately, the sweetness too. It leaves a slightly bitter woody note and some dry flavors of barley.

It’s a strange one, this. On one hand it’s a lovely dram that balances the rum cask rather well with a whisky spirit. On the other hand due to the added sweetness of the rum cask, it loses that typical beery note. I kind of miss it, although the notes of tropical fruits are quite lovely!

88/100

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Glen Moray 13, 2010-2024, Tokaji Wine Finish, 56% –

Posted on 11 December 2024 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer
Image from Master of Malt

I was a bit surprised by the spelling of Tokaji, but apparently you can spell it with and without an I at the end. Anyway, I don’t have much experience with this type of cask. I know the Longrow from ages ago and based on past musings on this here blog, apparently I rather disliked that one. The Benromach that was tried last year wasn’t too great either.

As it seems, it’s a bit of a difficult cask type to use. And then we have a Glen Moray finished in such a cask. Glen Moray is, to me at least, well known for quickly taking on flavors from previous cask types, so it’s a bit of a pubescent whisky, highly influenceable.

Let’s see what Kenny and his crew did with this one!

Sniff:
Grapeskin and leather, with barley and vanilla right behind it. Quite some oak and a bit of hessian. A thick, jammy fruitiness with grapes and a bit of orange.

Sip:
The palate is intense, dry and jammy sweet at the same time. Syrupy in texture with vanilla and oak. Not so much barley anymore. The dryness of grapeskins, with some black pepper for heat.

Swallow:
The finish stays with the intensity and peppery heat. The fruitiness from before is toned back. Quite oaky and long.

This is quite an okay whisky! It’s not epic or world changing by any means, but it’s also a rather good example of how Tokaji casks can be used. The cask does really take over the whisky, but not in such an oppressive way that it tastes mostly like amped up wine. Good stuff!

86/100

Available in a few places for about € 120

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Heaven Hill 11, 2009-2020, 50.4% – The Daily Dram for Bresser & Timmer

Posted on 9 December 2024 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer
Image from Whiskybase

A Dutch market exclusive of Heaven Hill. That’s not something that happens all too often. This one was bottled for Bresser & Timmer, the Dutch importer for The Daily Dram. And, especially for bourbon, a respectable age of 11 years is something that made me at least slightly interested.

I bought this bottle from a friend, if memory serves. It’d been around for a while, past tense indeed, since this is yet another review from a now empty bottle. I guess the statue of Christ the Redeemer from Rio de Janeiro is on here because of Jesus resembling heaven, and the statue is on a hill?

Sniff:
A gentle note of typical bourbon stuff. Some caramel, some oak, mulch, dry corn. Also some vanilla and toffee. A note of glue pops up if you stick your nose in it.

Sip:
The palate brings a bit of a sawdust like texture with flavors of oak, mulch, corn flour. Some caramel and almonds. Vanilla, a bit of a peppery bite later on.

Swallow:
The finish continues down the same line but moves the pepper forward a lot. There’s quite some bite, even though this is the second dram of the evening.

Pretty generic and more of a daily drinker than anything else. However, with the current standard we’re at that means it’s pretty solid whisky!

84/100

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Lowrie’s Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky, 45.7% – Thompson Brothers

Posted on 4 December 2024 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The thing that made this blended whisky stand out, apart from the fun label (a bit reminiscent of That Boutique-y Whisky Company) was that they partially matured the whisky on Campervan beer casks. I don’t have much experience with that brewery, but the couple of beers I had were rather amazing.

Also, you don’t often see beer casks used in whisky. There are some, and most are pretty mediocre at best, but some stand out. The Chichibu IPA Cask comes to mind.

Image from Whiskybase

Anyway, over the weekend I finished my bottle and was almost tempted to get myself another one in Whiskybase’s Cyber Monday sale. I had a couple of open tabs which I completely forgot about until Tuesday when the sale had ended. I guess I don’t really need more booze because either it’s not top of mind because I have more than enough, or my memory is shit enough as is.

Sniff:
It is a bit of a weird one. There’s a hint of beer, with quite a lot of oak and barley. Some dried fruits, peaches and apricots, and a slight minty note.

Sip:
The palate packs a lot of flavor. It’s dry with barley, some oak what I think is European. Dried apricots, some almonds. Also notes of oak aged beer, a whiff of an almond and a hops like bitterness.

Swallow:
More oomph, lots of flavor with a continuing dryness, lasting very long.

It’s surprisingly impactful for a whisky of this lower ABV. There’s a lot happening, and even though the beer cask was a minor part of the maturation process, it made an impact. This one benefitted a lot from being open for a while, because I remember being rather underwhelmed at first, when I opened it.

86/100

Available at Whiskybase for € 57.50

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Stellum Bourbon, Equinox Blend #1, 58.63%

Posted on 19 November 2024 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Stuff that is not available in Europe, part whatever. I picked this one up in Chicago two years ago, and decided it was high time to empty my bottle and write a review. This seems to be a thing with whiskies in my own collection. I write the reviews only right before having the last (often sizeable) dram of the bottle.

Image from Whiskybase, but by me.

While this was on Whiskybase at the time, the one review that was there was good enough to consider buying it. I thought I had heard about the brand on social media and other bottlings by the brand were getting decent scores too. It sat with other brands on the top shelves at Binny’s, without going into the booze humidor / cage thingy that was also in the shop.

Setting me back some $ 140-ish (if memory serves), it wasn’t exactly cheap but my experience in getting upper echelon bourbon in Europe is that it starts way higher, and that’s before people know it’s good stuff.

Sniff:
Immensely rich with lots of oak, vanilla, pastry cream and a hint of mint in the background. Spices, toasted oak, quite rye heavy, I’d say.

Sip:
For a whisky at almost 60% it’s surprisingly gentle. A tad dry, with a lot of oak and warming vanilla. A kind of an apple pie thing too, with cinnamon and baked apple. Later on it veers towards dried tobacco leaves, very autumnal.

Swallow:
The finish is big and dry, not as sweet and syrupy. Quite long with the autumnal notes lasting longest. Baked and dried apple, cinnamon and dried leaves.

This is immensely soothing. Even though the ABV is up there, it didn’t feel hot and was dangerously drinkable. It’s very warming and autumnal, and wouldn’t be misplaced if I was sitting in a rocking chair on a porch somewhere. If I had a rocking chair or a porch, that is. A bummer it’s gone.

91/100

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Dalmunach 7, 2016, First Fill Buffalo Trace Barrel, 58.4% – Dràm Mòr

Posted on 13 November 2024 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Imperial Distillery closed in 1998 after 101 years of service. Several years later, in 2013, the distillery got demolished and in 2015 a new distillery has risen in its place and starts distilling. Not entirely surprising, this distillery is Dalmunach.

With it being operational for almost a decade, whiskies are starting to come out more frequently. Luckily, with a couple more years of maturation there are also bourbon cask releases instead of what came before in the ‘weird’ wine casks that seemed to be the mode of operation.

Dràm Mòr managed to get their hands on a few casks (this is their third and oldest release so far) and they were kind enough to ship over a sample for me to try.

Image from Dràm Mòr

Sniff:
A timid nose with hints of parma violets, some chalk and a hint of aniseed too. Slightly milky with the tiniest note of all purpose cleaner (lime and alcohol…)

Sip:
The palate is very consistent with the nose, although some notes are added. Sawdust, straw, and white pepper.

Swallow:
The finish puts on the afterburner initially, and adds a note of vanilla to the mix. Less focused on the dusty and floral notes, more on the straw and a note of oak.

The floral notes seem to pay homage to the forever-gone Imperial distillery, which is nice. It’s not something that happens all too often. Luckily it’s not perfumy like 1980s Bowmore is, because that’s just way too much laundry detergent for anything drinkable.

It’s not an overly complex whisky, but it’s nicely balanced with not too much cask (as with the wine cask releases that I’ve tried) or too little which would make it too spirity. All in all, good stuff at a decent price for such a new distillery!

Available for € 80 in Belgium (and circling that price in Austria and Germany)

86/100

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Auchroisk 15, 2008-2024, First Fill Bourbon Barrel 816738, 54.1% – Dràm Mòr

Posted on 8 November 2024 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Secretly, or maybe not so secretly, there are some true gems among the whiskies that normally end up in blends. Teaninich, Dailuaine, Benrinnes and Auchroisk are some that come to mind instantly, and I’ve had some real belters from those distilleries.

Image from Dràm Mòr

Unfortunately, when an official release comes out they tend to be part of Diageo’s Special Releases with the expected price tag to go with it. Luckily, there are independent bottlers like Dràm Mòr and many others that also release casks from those distilleries. And since they mostly release single casks, the quality tends to be up there.

This one matured in a bourbon cask, which I hope results in some nice and fruity notes without getting too heavy and ‘Christmassy’. Let’s find out!

Sniff:
Chalky with sawdust and straw. Green apple, coconut, star fruit and hessian. Quite crisp, all in all.

Sip:
The palate has quite a syrupy sweetness, with more ripe and more tropical fruit. Some heat from the abv, with oak and a lot of barley. Later on coconut mats, hessian.

Swallow:
The finish is surprisingly dry with a bigger focus on oak and pepper.

Not overly fruity but a true bourbon cask nonetheless. Slightly more dry and ‘ingredient focused’ than I expected from a whisky that has been in first fill bourbon wood for a decade and a half, but a lovely dram nonetheless. I wouldn’t mine sipping my way through more of it!

87/100

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Springbank 12, Cask Strength Batch 25, 57.2%

Posted on 22 October 2024 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Every time the Springbank 12 Cask Strength comes out I forget to get myself a bottle. Luckily with this newest release, Koen K. from of RareVintageWhisky.nl sent me a sample for reviewing.

Pro: I get to try it after all

Con: I regret buying a bottle even more

And yes, that is a massive spoiler to where the rating is going to end up, but I don’t think anyone will be surprised by where this is going anyway. These bottlings are hugely popular and have never scored below expectations as far as I know.

Image from Whiskybase

This time, the whisky is a mix of bourbon and sherry casks, with the bourbon casks making up 70% of the mix. The bottling was released a few months ago but has sold out almost everywhere, except locations that deal in older bottlings. This also means prices vary wildly, but expect to pay a little north of € 150/160 for this now.

Sniff:
Quite crisp with some dried peaches and black pepper. Some clove too, with a hint of vanilla. Slightly funky with a note of hessian. Rather clean for a Springbank. With some time and air it gets more dirty and oily.

Sip:
The palate arrives rather gently and does build up a bit but not as much as I expected. Massively funky with hints of hessian and moldy basements. Old bread, grains and dried fruits like peaches and some raisins.

Swallow:
The finish is a bit more clean. Some blackberries and peaches. Hessian, old wood and some dirt. A rather big finish.

It’s a very typical Springbank bottling with lots of funky notes combined with a maritime edge and a whiff of smoke. This being a very typical Springbank also means it’s very typically awesome. Highly recommended stuff that punches well above it’s original price point. It’s not going to be easy to find something that’s significantly better than this at the € 165 it’s going for at RareVintageWhisky.nl.

89/100

They also have a lot of other batches available!

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GlenDronach Parliament “21 years old”, 48%

Posted on 14 October 2024 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The quotation marks are because the age of this whisky is not what is says. This one was bottled in 2022, which means distillation would have happened around 2020/2021. However, at that time the distillery was closed and not producing anything. It shut down in 1996, which makes this whisky some 25 or 26 years old, at least. Thijs did a proper write-up of this, a while ago.

Older is not always better, but for GlenDronach is often is. So, it’s not entirely surprising that this dram scores a whopping 90+ on Whiskybase.

A sample of this glorious stuff was provided by Koen, from RareVintageWhisky.nl, so a ‘thank you’ is in order: Thank you, Koen!

Image from RareVintageWhisky

Sniff:
There’s a significant note of oak, but it’s kept in check by an unexpected amount of barley for a 20-something year old whisky. There’s quite some sherry but it’s not overly sweet or overly ‘Christmas-y’. Slightly yeasty, with a tiny bitter note of almonds. Some apricots too.

Sip:
The palate brings quite a punch for a 48% whisky. Almonds and apricots for bitterness. More of an oaky sweetness, with a little bit of vanilla and other baking spices. It mellows out quickly leaving old barley and wood.

Swallow:
The finish is more woody and less fierce than the palate. Barley and almonds, some dried fruits. Not overly long.

A beautiful palate and nose, with incredible balance. The finish is more gentle and would preferably have lasted a tad longer. A really solid dram with some very old fashioned qualities to it. Very much unlike a lot of modern sherry cask matured whiskies.

With this costing around € 250 now, I’m seriously considering getting a bottle.

89/100

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