Notes from the Balvenie Distillery
Double Wood 12 year: Sweet wood. Light. Available in US.
Signature 12 year: Slight licorice, sweet wood and strong tail
end flavor (hot)
Single Barrel 15 year: Tasted of Honey Stinger Waffle, trailing off
sweet with floral undertones.
Port Wood 21 year: Sweet and cold, slightly waffles with syrup taste
30 year : Smooth and sweet.
Peated Cask 17 year: This is the one he pulled from the cabinet.
Slightly sweet peat with hints of fudge.
No kidding.
Notes from the Scotch Whisky Experience (yes, the place with the barrel ride)
Royal Lochnagar 12 year: Very sweet wood, almost licorice, no aftertaste
Glenfarclas 10 year: Rubbery smell, Burned toast faintly, rubber
aftertaste (like poured through a garden hose) Disappointing
Caol Ila 12 year: One of my favorites. Smooth and peaty.
10/26/2011
It was a fine evening with Todd, club president, tasting some whisky. We opened the bottles I brought back from Scotland. Here’s what we drank:
The Tweedale Blend Old Matured Blended Scotch Whisky – Aged 12 years (46% ABV)
50% aged single grain whisky/50% malt whisky (8 whiskies)
[On the recommendation of the clerk at the Scotch Whisky Experience store, I bought this blend.]
Smelled sweet. Tasted initially of cardboard. Whatever the flavor is, it came and went quickly. I can’t place the flavor. There was a hint of wet wood as an aftertaste.
Poit Dhubh – Gaelic Whisky (Uisge Beatha Bracha Bliadhna) – 12 years (43% ABV)
Pronounced : Potch Ghoo – Part of the Eilean Iarmain Expressions on Isle of Skye
Smells of sherry right away. Tastes slightly floral in the beginning, which goes away quickly. A full, earthy taste follows with almost spinach. It trails off as a touch of sweet wood and dryness.
McNamara – Blended Whisky – No Age Statement (40%ABV)
Gaelic for “Son of the Sea” – Part of the Eilean Iarmain Expressions on Isle of Skye
Tasted slightly rubber with a cool, wet feel. Trails off slightly rubber with a hint of pepper.
Not a full flavor. Extremely light.
Glenfarclas 10 Year- (40% ABV)
Older bottle than the 10 year I tried at Scotch Whisky Experience.
Had a sweet, citrusy taste with something almost peppermint. Not much flavor when trails off.
Ardbeg Alligator – (51.2% ABV) No Age Statement
Bacon smell with smoke. Very wet. Has a slight gasoline smell after adding water. The middle of the flavor is sweet, almost butter. It trails faintly sweet.
The flavor does a loop from smoky to sweet.
Bruichladdich 10 Year – (46% ABV)
Gaelic for Raised Beach
Smells sweet like candy. Slightly grassy. The taste is not overly anything. It is a smooth drink.
10/30/2011
Cardhu Special Cask Reserve – Batch Number C s/c R.10.09 – (40% ABV) No Age Statement
Smells sweet with floral hints. Initially tastes of oak and a tinge of sour. Trails off with a slightly borbon taste, a little sour.
11/21/2011
Bruichladdich Rocks – (46% ABV) No Age Statement
Smells earthy, almost rubbery. Sweet on the tongue. Very clean, grassy taste. Trails off quickly with rubbery/medicinal taste (almost Band Aid).