Typical Aberlour, punchy fresh apples and pears, soft cereals and some woody oak, what more could you want? 83/100
Aberlour 9 Years Old Batch 7
SMWS 65.5 Old School Speyside
A fantastic old Imperial with lots of dusty and woody sugars and oodles of fruit sweetness in this one. Befitting its age this becomes drying and leathery with some great tannins too. I suspect the rechar HH was a finish here as it would have been unusual to have been the initial cask but it has worked wonders on rejuvenating this spirit. 91/100
Crabbie 22 Years Old Orkney
Lovely oily, fruity, gently smoky and coastal with plenty of sweetness from the bourbon and sherry cask influences that work well with this distillery’s characteristic heathery smoke. 86/100
Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2013
Smoky and coastal exactly as I expected, quite mealy and herbal in places and some sweetness and nutty nature, perhaps from the finishing? 86/100
Highland Park 12 Years Old Viking Honour
Rich, malty and complex, there is a lovely sprinkle of sea salt which accentuates the flavours here, spiced heather honey adds to the thick malty backbone, the result is well-structured. 84/100
Tamdhu 12 Years Old
Light and silky Tamdhu spirit reveals it’s fruitiness whilst being well balanced with sherry cask maturation. Really quite moreish. 84/100
Casks of Lindores STR Wine Barrique
Careful STR treatment hasn’t stripped away all the good wine influence back to cardboard. Plenty of Lindores spirit notes present also with more than a little tannic and chewy wood. Definitely improving. 83/100
Balvenie 12 Years Old Doublewood
Smooth and honeyed, a very well put together expression from The Balvenie. I feel I picked out more of the sherry component more clearly possibly due to age or experience or perhaps this batch the sherry influence is more defined. A real pleasure to revisit and simply enjoy. 84/100
Nc’nean Quiet Rebels Annabel
Fairly well structured, displays some youthful spirit as you would expect for 3-4 year old whisky. There was more than a hint of cardboard I associate with STR casks added to the woody element here. This has clearly been well put together from the cask selection to final product. I’d be interested to see how Nc’nean improves with age. 83/100
Lindores MCDXCIV
Pleasant with some presence of distillery character and plenty of oak wood influence. The cask variety adds to a multitude of flavours and aromas also. 82/100
The Whiskyphiles 