A delicious experience of dry and sweet from the combination of peated malt and sherry casks. Still quite a lot of minerality and salinity which had me viewing this as not your ‘usual’ Benromach. 85/100
Benromach Contrasts Peat Smoke
Barry Bradford
About me? I am a Whisky Educator, Travel-Tourist and Blogger. I blog tasting notes about (mostly Scotch) beer and whisky at The Whiskyphiles. I keep progress of my travels via the Alfred Barnard Society. Based in Livingston, Scotland I do most of my dramming at the University of Edinburgh Water of Life Society and Scotch Malt Whisky Society.
Johnnie Walker Red Label
Entertaining, with generous contributions from sherry, grain spirit, malt and peat. A touch metallic and solventy in places. Sherry, spice and smoke. 82/100
Aberlour 16 Years Old 2003 Distillery Reserve Collection
A little tannic and spicy at cask strength but water’s well. Throughout despite heavy sherry cask influence there was a constant note of fresh and waxed red apples, a superbly sherried Aberlour.
Glen Grant 10 Years Old
Again light, fresh and zesty with a touch of florality, this aged expression seems much more mealy with cereal and husk notes, another very well presented single malt from Glen Grant.
Glen Grant The Major’s Reserve
Light, creamy and buttery, full of fresh apples, lemon, vanilla and hazelnut – does exactly what it says on the tin. A delicious light Speyside single malt at a bargain price.
Oxford Rye Whisky Batch 3
A much sweeter expression than the previous batches, highlights the more herbal, floral and spiced nature of the Rye grains used. A touch minty in places but really the Rye spice is highlighted in the finish.
Oxford Rye Whisky Batch 2
Quite fresh and minty, there is a definite red and black fruit nature contributed by the Port casks, this diminishes slightly the cereal nature I discovered in Batch 1 but reveals much more sweet fruit and butterscotch.
Torabhaig Allt Gleann
A little sweeter with more fruit and a touch more spirity perhaps than the Legacy release, plenty of flavour here with sweet barley, smoky & peppery peat and salty coastal influences.
Ailsa Bay 1.2 Sweet Smoke
I enjoyed this one much more than the first release. Remarkable similarity in my comments – Promises Islay but doesn’t have the weight/structure or malty backbone to deliver it. This expression has lots of sweet fruitiness to balance the dry peat smoke and is very reminiscent of many Islay malts – resulting in a very enjoyable dram – I wonder if WG&S are experimenting at making their own Islay style malt here in the absence of a distillery on the island?
Tormore 23 Years Old 1990 Dimensions
Mostly spirit driven but later I though I was picking up some sherry influences like chocolate and toffee then questioned if this was just prolonged ex-Bourbon cask influence? Either way fragrant on the nose and very tasty on the palate.
