Tobermory 12 Years Old whisky review: Full of dark sugars, ripe fruits and a hint of spiced pepper, much sharper than the stalwart 10 year old expression but with those flashes of unmistakabley Tobermory qualities. 84/100
Jura Seven Wood whisky review: A little disappointing, the nose seemed OK but hardly worth it after that. It was hard to place any defined flavours and the whole thing seemed quite watery/watered-down in flavour. I think my expectations were met here and this seems to be the bin-end or infinity bottle for Jura’s leftover, random and mostly worn-out casks. 77/100
Black Friday 2018: Orkney 18 Years Old whisky review: A rather spicy, sweet, spicy, gently smoky, spicy, and spiced woody dram, did I mention a liberal sprinkling of spices here? I want to say fairly pleasant – but for me it’s that horrid example of Highland Park in refill casks that is the Palate-prickling equivalent of chewing on a wasp stuck on a thistle, bbq’d and covered in heather honey then washed down with Lemsip-soaked nettles. If you love that kind of thing then good for you – its a perfect example!
Highland Park 16 Years Old Wings Of The Eagle whisky review: Much more established fruit flavour here, a lovely touch of cocoa, buttery smoke and almonds. I’m not sure why but to me Highland Park always seems to taste best when matured in European Sherry oak wood. 85/100
Highland Park 14 Years Old Loyalty Of The Wolf whisky review: Definitely sweeter than the Spirit Of The Bear expression this is sweet & buttery on the nose but becomes increasingly sour and bitter by the finish. 83/100
Highland Park Spirit Of The Bear whisky review: Smoky but gentle & easy going (not bold), lots of sweet fruits, vanilla and slightly drying and oaky. 77/100
Ledaig 19 Years Old 1998 PX Cask Finish whisky review: Wow, completely different from the Ledaig 1998 Oloroso finish, this is a super expression with much more intense dried fruit, nut and chocolate influence balanced better againats the smoky Ledaig spirit. A touch mentholic but a great example of where this works in conjunction with rich dark chocolate. 90/100
Ledaig 19 Years Old 1998 Oloroso Sherry Cask Finish whisky review: Fruity and smoky but for me a little too light in places, hardly any barley malt and much too fine/light a spirit for these flavours, needs more oils, also some funk on the nose which may not be to everyone’s liking. 83/100
Highland Park 2003 Post-Octave whisky review: Having taken an already superb whisky and finished it for presumably only a short period (of all the samples this appeared to have the least difference/increase in colour), sadly there is too much spice on the initial palate for me and I struggled to decide whether I liked this one more or less than the Pre-Octave sample. I guess I was hoping for more here which didn’t come but this is still undeniably a good whisky. 87/100
Highland Park 2003 Pre-Octave whisky review: A simply beautiful Highland Park expression, the bourbon cask has imparted a delicious sweet creamy vanilla to counter the herbal smoke, surprisingly I didn’t pick out much malt but it is there all along adding a lovely weight to this dram. A purists dream this one. 87/100
