Craft Works: Grumpy Old Man On A Hill

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Craft Works - Grumpy Old Man On A Hill

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Nose: Fresh malted barley, fresh cut grass, Milk Arrowroot biscuits, cornflakes (the breakfast cereal), and creamed honey, and just a hint of lemon icing. Palate: Malted barley, biscuits with lemon icing, vanilla slice, and cornflakes. Mouthfeel: Quite thin, but it doesn't feel delicate at all. The slightest tingle, but no burn. Finish: Biscuits for days. The lemon icing turning more into lemon boiled lollies; faint traces of vanilla, and some bushfire smoke hanging around. Despite the lack of weight in the mouth, the finish is reasonably long. In the spirit of complete transparency - although I have bought, and loved,…

Would I Drink It Again?

Total Score

Absolutely - this is such a delicious, and easy drinking whisky.

Craft Works: The Capertee Cellar Door Release #2

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Craft Works The Capertee 2

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Nose: Quite green. Lots of fresh malt and barley. Milk Arrowroot biscuits, a touch of honeydew melon, and just a hint of lemon icing. Palate: To be honest, I'm having a little trouble nailing down the palate on this one. There's no doubt this is still a very young whisky, but once you get past the green notes of malted barley; there's quite a lot going on here. The melon from the nose is still here. Along with the lemon icing, grapes, and a touch of mandarin. It is also a little bit herbal - and with a bit of…

Would I Drink It Again?

Total Score

Absolutely. Although not a whisky you're likely to reach for every night, this is hopefully an example of some amazing things to come from a young distillery.

Craft Works: Tokay Okay

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Craft Works Tokay Okay

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Nose: Christmas Cake. In. A. Bottle. Fortified wine. Sultanas. Glazed oranges. Caramelised sugar. Rich moist cake. Palate: Still a touch green - with notes of white wine up front. After that though, there's sultanas, icing sugar, and glazed oranges. Hints of chocolate oranges as well. Almost a slight rum profile as it heads to the back of the tongue. A little bit pepper - but just a touch. Mouthfeel: Thick and oily. With just the slightest tingle. Finish: Warming. Raisins, marmalade, and burnt sugar. A little bit of oak spice, but still quite sweet. Really long. The raisins and marmalade…

Would I Drink It Again?

Total Score

Without a doubt. Whilst still young, this whisky is just plain delicious - and the finish; oh my!

Bruichladdich: Octomore 8.4

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Bruichladdich Octomore 8.4

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Nose: Like a banana sponge cake with lemon & coconut cream icing. A touch of cinnamon, and some earthy notes - with slightly medicinal salty peat overtones. Palate: Coconut, toffee, cloves, and oak spices, battle with old leather, barbequed meats, and iodine. Touches of vanilla and cinnamon throughout. A little bit salty, yet still sweet. Mouthfeel: Mid-weight, oily, almost effervescent on the tongue at first - not any real burn though. Finish: Medium length (which is short for Octomore), salty, spicy - more an impression of the palate slowly dying than any particular flavours of its own. The fourth, and…

Would I Drink It Again?

Total Score

Maybe - although a decent whisky, this really isn't my style. You can make one hell of a good BBQ marinade with it though!

Bruichladdich: Octomore 8.3

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Bruichladdich Octomore 8.3

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Nose: Malty, with oodles of honey and vanilla. Smoked meats and canned pears round out the nose for me - apart from the volcanic blast of smoke that is released when you first pop the cork. Palate: If you like smoke, you'll love this whisky - I'm not just getting your usual campfire smoke or peat-bog embers or your charred soot/tar smoke - but all three as separate and distinct flavours in your mouth at once. A little bit spicy and bitter at the front of the mouth - like a mixture of over-roasted coffee and seaweed; it settles down…

Would I Drink It Again?

Total Score

For sure - this is a pretty good whisky.

Bruichladdich: Octomore 8.2

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Bruichladdich Octomore 8.2

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Nose: Red berries, mixed berry jam, plums; sweet, but not sugary - more of the fruit smoothie sweetness than the dried fruits often talked about with sweeter fruity whiskies. Also notes of honey-laden fruit salad with melons, grapes, and apples. Plenty of fresh clean campfire smoke intertwined with all the fruit. Palate: All that sweet fruitiness from the nose has marched right along to the palate. The smoke is now even more present, and has brought with it some BBQ jerky. A little ashy, with just a hint of dark chocolate. Mouthfeel: Thick. Oily. Creamy. Everything you dream a whisky…

Would I Drink It Again?

Total Score

Absolutely. This is a stunning whisky!

Bruichladdich: Octomore 8.1

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Bruichladdich Octomore 8.1

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Nose: Fresh citrus, vanilla, quite herbacious. Plenty of smoke as you'd expect from an Octomore, although there's also notes of iodine - which depsite being common with Islay malts, is not a common note for me with Octomore. Palate: Citrus an melons are present, although almost drowned out by big notes of vanilla, and big punching earthy and grassy notes. Plenty of smoke encapsulating the whole thing. Mouthfeel: Mid-weight - which is honestly a bit light for an Octomore. Not a lot of burn despite the alcohol percentage. Finish: Long, earthy, with a perppery spiciness to it. There's also this…

Would I Drink It Again?

Total Score

Yes. Probably wouldn't buy a bottle though - there are a lot of other Octomore releases that I like a fair bit more.

The Irishman: Founder’s Reserve

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The Irishman Founder's Reserve

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Nose: Fresh mown lawn, green apples, fresh grapes, star-fruit, and just a hint of cloves and uncut Kiwi-fruit. Mouthfeel: Mid-weight, with a touch of zing. A little oily, with no creaminess. Perhaps just a touch too sharp. Palate: The palate pretty much is exactly what you'd expect from the nose - taking the fruits and spices, and replacing the grass with some pot still spice, and raw cocoa. Hints of toffee and vanilla as it heads to the back of the tongue. Finish: The finish on this is huge. It lasts for an eternity. Cycling between pot still spice, oak…

Would I Drink It Again?

Total Score

Probably. Although I'm not sure it is worth buying over some of the other Irishman and Writer's Tears releases - which are just amazing.

Riverbourne Supremacy (Batch 4)

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Riverbourne Supremacy Batch 4

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Nose: It's quite sweet on the nose - almost jelly lolly sweet. Quite a decent dose of moss and eucalyptus notes as well. The nose reminds me of opening a bag of fruit gummy bears down by the lake after a BBQ as a kid. Mouthfeel: It's a bit of an interesting mouthfeel on this - its a medium-weight whisky, nowhere near as thick and meaty as say a Bruichladdich, but it feels like it's got a solid strength behind it. It may only be a mid-weight, but it is viscerally there, and doesn't dissipate no matter how long you…

Would I Drink It Again?

Total Score

Most definitely - this is a fantastic whisky.

Yellow Spot

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Yellow Spot 12 Year Old

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Nose: Lots of pineapple lumps and banana lollies, along with a deliciously pervasive sense of golden syrup on buttered and toasted crumpets.  Canned stone fruits such as peaches and apricots also feature heavily.  Also some notes of both custard and pecan pies showing up after the whiskey is left to breathe for a moment.  Definitely sweet on the nose, but not sickeningly so. Palate: Sponge cake is the first thing that comes to mind, with those crumpets dripping with golden syrup from the nose coming through as well.  Also some fruit jellies, and a late burst of oak spices coming…

Would I Drink It Again?

Total Score

More than likely. It's not brilliant, but very good - and intriguingly different enough to warrant further examination.