Not a ton of snow so far this year in Southern Ontario. We've had a few inches a few times, but by the time I take out the shovel the next day it's 3 degrees out and most of it has melted. All I've done so far is salted the sidewalk once. Anyway, today we wrap up the McClelland's (with the exception of the Lowland but we're not sure that one actually exists). So far we think McClelland has done a good job at meeting the expections set by their marketing, which is a generic, well-priced representation of Scotland's regions.
McClelland's Islay Single Malt: 40% ABV, $45 CAD, very likely from Bowmore distillery. No age statement.
We sniff around:
Kyle starts us off with apples. Sea salty.
Scott says sour apples, stale sea water. Smells like a raunchy Speyside.
Simon goes for fermenting/decaying apples. You know when your ground beef goes from red to brown and then it has a specific smell to it. Discoloured ground beef. You could still eat it if you overcooked it.
Trevor gets a slight caramel.
Interesting nose.
We cheers.
It's got a meatiness to it Simon says. Salted steak almost, with grilled apples.
Kyle gets some spice. Some salt. Like when you add salt to already salty fries.
Remarkably smooth after sip 2 Scott says.
The smoke is very backgrounded Simon says. He says this tastes like the newborn son of the Bowmore 18. It has some of those rotten mango notes.
The crew can't really get on board with the Bowmore 18 comparisons.
Sean's getting a tire note on the nose now.
Scott points to the nose and palate being different, in a good way.
Reviews: Kyle's pick. It's a nice scotch. It's not really a classic Islay but it goes down easy. Not as salty as it started out. Pretty good value here, but not sure he'd buy it again. 75 for himÂ. Simon goes 73. All three McClelland's have impressed him relative to price point. He agrees this would not make a good Islay representation though. Trevor was thinking the same, 73. It's enjoyable, not a ton of stuff going on. 70 for Sean. It's basic and fine. Scott lands on 71. Nothing wrong with it, but goes to the bottom of the Islays. Averages out to 72.4.
Overall: Not a very controversial whisky tonight. It doesn't look like any of us will be reaching to buy this but it's good, interesting, and affordable, so by all means, give it a try if you like the tasting notes. For an Islay introduction though, there's no unanimity but we'd say start with Caol Ila 12 or Bowmore 12.
Cheers!
The S&P Crew.
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