Bruichladdich: Octomore 7.3

Bruichladdich Octomore 7.3

Continue reading “Bruichladdich: Octomore 7.3”

Nose:  Creamy caramel fudge, vanilla sponge cake with a dusting of icing sugar, uncooked cookie dough, fresh malt, and lemon lollies.  Also a slight note of what you get at the back of your nose when you get dumped by the surf.  Quite the summer holiday at the beach on the nose of this one.  Barely any peat coming though, despite knowing full well what is in the glass. Palate:  Both peat and caramel hit first - quite a soft and sweet peat; trundling alongside a rich dark caramel toffee.  There's also some buttercake drizzled with honey, a bit of…
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Christmas 2016 – A Ninja’s Very Peaty Countdown

12 Weeks To Christmas - A Very Peaty Countdown

It might only be October, but as the song goes – “it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, with toys in every store“.

There’s also Christmas cake and pudding in the supermarkets, which over the last couple of years seeing those at this time of the year would annoy the crap out of me – it’s not even my birthday yet, let alone Melbourne Cup, or halloween.

This year I decided to do things differently – I’ve decided to countdown the twelve weeks to Christmas with whisky.  Either that or it sounded like a good excuse to try every Octomore that I could get my hands on – the jury is still out on the real reason.  😀

A Christmas whisky countdown is one thing – but don’t expect me to string up the tinsle, wear a Santa hat, or stock up on prawns just yet!

 

Introducing 12 Weeks To Christmas – a Ninja’s Very Peaty Countdown

Every week for the next twelve weeks I will be reviewing a different Bruichladdich Octomore whisky starting with Octomore 7.4 and working backwards.  I’ll update the list below as I publish more reviews.

  1. Octomore 7.4 – Virgin Oak | 61.2% | 167ppm
  2. Octomore 7.3 – Islay Barley | 63% | 169ppm
  3. Octomore 7.2 – Cask Evolution | 58.5% | 208ppm
  4. Octomore 7.1 – Scottish Barley | 59.5% | 208ppm
  5. Octomore 6.3 – Islay Barley | 64% | 258ppm
  6. Octomore 6.2 – Cask Evolution | 58.2% | 167ppm
  7. Octomore 6.1 – Scottish Barley | 57% | 167ppm
  8. Octomore 5.1 – 59.5% | 169ppm
  9. Octomore 4.2 – “Comus” | 61% | 167ppm
  10. Octomore 4.1 – 62.5% | 167ppm
  11. Octomore 3.1 – 59% | 152ppm
  12. Octomore 2.2 – “Orpheus” | 61% | 140ppm
  13. Octomore 2.1 – 62.5% | 140ppm
  14. Octomore 1.1 – 63.5% | 131ppm

Bruichladdich: Octomore 7.4

Bruichladdich Octomore 7.4

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Nose:  The nose on this is unmistakeably Octomore - the malty, sweet, cured meats, and damp vegetation notes that are prominent on the nose of just about every x.1 Octomore release.  This one also brings in some lighter fruity notes, as well as an undercurrent of sweet white wine.  There's also just a slight touch of the dying gasps of a wood-fired barbeque. Palate:  Up front this whisky is a battle between the raw oak flavours and the peat - both the smoky burnt peat as well as a dark vegetation note.  It's quite a sweet peat - nothing like…

The Ninja's numbers - A completely subjective score.

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Glen Grant 1960 Gordon & MacPhail

Glen Grant 1960 Gordon MacPhail

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Nose:  Charred oak, old grapes, celery, and sweet spices.  Quite an unusually sweet nose considering the notes. Palate:  White wine, stewed berries, oak spices, and burnt hot mocha.  Slight traces of fruit lollies and aniseed as it heads to the back of the tongue. Mouthfeel:  Thick and chewy.  Very smooth, and also quite dry.  No burn. Finish:  Dry, very dry.  Grape, and a touch of soot are present; also a slight trace of ethanol - which is a bit odd considering the age. [divider] An earlier release of this bottling got 96 points in Jim Murray's 2014 Bible.  This one…

The Ninja's numbers - A completely subjective score.

I wrote tasting notes for this one a while ago, and never wrote down any marks for it - and at the cost of a bottle of this whisky, I doubt I'll ever drink it again to do so.

Glenfiddich: Rich Oak 14

Glenfiddich Rich Oak 14

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Nose:  Vanilla, canned fruit salad, sweet spices - cloves and a bit of cinnamon, sultanas,  and fresh wood.  Quite spicy and vapoury on the nose. Palate:  Dried fruits, oak spices, fresh vanilla pods, malt, and notes of old wood.  Quite mellow - too mellow really.  Tiny traces of something really sweet and dark such as golden syrup. Mouthfeel:  Really light, almost watery thin.  Extremely smooth, and absolutely no burn. Finish:  Not a particularly long finish.  Lots of wood notes, with traces of vanilla.  A little bit spicy, but just a little bit. [divider] I can't say I'm a big fan…

The Ninja's numbers - A completely subjective score.

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Glenmorangie: Signet

Glenmorangie Signet

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Nose:  Fruit cake, rum & raisin chocolates, almonds, and mixed peel. A little bit of new make coming and going. Palate:  Sweet spices, mixed fruit peel, dark chocolate, and something sweet at the back such as golden syrup. Mouthfeel:  Thick and creamy.  A little bit of that new make from the nose is still hanging around. A little bit rougher than I was expecting. Finish:  Coffee, mixed nuts, sweet and treacly.  Long and warm on the tongue. [divider] For me, Glenmorangie's Signet is a bit all over the place - the nose is great at first, but gets a little…

The Ninja's numbers - A completely subjective score.

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The Glenrothes: 1992 Second Edition

The Glenrothes 1992 Second Edition

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Nose:  Fruit lolllies, packham pears, desert spices, vanilla bean, slight hints of fresh coconut. A little bit all over the place, and a small amount of fresh spirit at the back of the nose - surprising given the age of the whisky. Palate:  Candied lemon, poached pears, coconut cream with vanilla essence, traces of milk arrowroot biscuits and mandarin peel, and hints of cinnamon and cloves.  Quite solid, and well balanced - much more so than the nose. Mouthfeel:  A little warm, but no burn.  Reasonably thick, and quite dry - heading towards creamy. Finish:  A long finish on this…

The Ninja's numbers - A completely subjective score.

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Bruichladdich: Laddie Classic Edition_01

Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie Edition_01

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Nose: Lots of fresh malt on the nose of this one, along with apples - both red and green, some pears, a light touch of both vanilla and honey, and the faintest waft of some floral notes. Palate:  The palate pretty much continues on from the nose - everything that is present is in the nose makes an appearance in the palate, with perhaps a bit more fresh malt, a light touch of sea-breeze saltiness (very light), a touch of nutmeg, and the slightest sense of something nutty such as slivered almonds.  There's also a bit of oak spice right…

The Ninja's numbers - A completely subjective score.

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The Glenrothes: 1998

The Glenrothes 1998

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Nose:  To start with this whisky practically has no nose at all - almost like leaving some lemon peel and a tiny drop of vanilla essence in a glass of hot water.  Give it a bit of time to breathe though, and it really gets going: finger buns with lemon icing, candied lemon peel, some icing sugar, and hints of honey and vanilla - also the faintest trace of pineapple chunks. Palate:  Honey, malt, light cereal notes - almost like a crumble topping, vanilla custard, notes of coconut cream, and small amounts of pepper and sweet spices.  None of the…

The Ninja's numbers - A completely subjective score.

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