Good day to you. Simon Savard here checking in. My neighbor and I have split on this advent calendar. We are not doing back to back, but rather getting together every 1-2 weeks to try one. We've been reviewing each blind and seeing how our guesses land. I'll be bundling 5 scotches at a time for these reviews, and on the last post, I'll review the calendar as a whole.
So let's get started!
#01: A.D. Rattray 1999 Tomintoul 15yo. 61% ABV. Aged in sherry butt. 91£ on Master of Malt
Nose: Smells like a sherry or a port cask. Nothing too complex.
Palate: Stewed fruits, complex sweetness. Sweet & spicy. The spice is kind of herbal on the finish.
Guess: This is the kind of sweet and spicy I get from bottles like Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban, so I'm going Port here. 55% 15yo Port cask. - Reveal: Pretty close on this one. This is a sherry bomb but that herbal spice gives it a little twist which made me think port.
Rating: 85. This is tasty stuff. For the price I would look for the more classic sherry bombs, A'bunadh, 105, etc. Not that I expect to ever encounter this bottle in the wild.
#02: The Malt Whisky Co. Craigmills Sauterne. Glenglassaugh. NAS. Sauterne Casks. 59.3% ABV.
Nose: Fruity. Array of berries, green grapes. Not so rich, like not Oloroso or PX, but some other kind of sherry.
Palate: Same but with some butterscotch and caramel in there. Very deserty kind of scotch. Light bright sweetness. This is almost fruit juice.
Guess: a weird sherry cask Highland, 50%, 18/19 yo. - Reveal: Never had Sauternes before. I might be able to pick it out in the future, there was a distinctive fruity sweetness there. I've got some Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or coming my way soon, I'm interested to see how it compares.
Rating: This is also tasty. 79. Nice desert Scotch. Will be interested in seeing more from Glenglassaugh.
#03: 1996 Samaroli Spey 19yo. Glentauchers and Benriach blend. American Oak. 43% ABV.
Nose: Great nose. honey, lemon, sweet, pinch of salt, light and complex.
Palate: Kind of falls appart on the complexity side. Vaguely sweet and salty. Reminds me of Kilkerran 12 in many ways but I like the Kilkerran a little more.
Guess: Oak/refill, 50%, Campbelltown, 12 yo. Reveal: Had the barrel right but yea, that low proof is probably the culprit of the vague palate. Not exactly impressed with this being a 19 year.
Rating: 71. This is a good Scotch, but I would expect more given the age.
#04: Wemyss Malts Velvet Fig. 46%. Sherry cask blends.
Nose: Mmmm stewed fruits, raisins, figs, dates. The full Oloroso experience.
Palate: Copy paste. Rich, deep. Thick. Reminds of the Dalmore 18 we reviewed recently but better at every level. Deep rich Oloroso.
Guess: Oloroso for sure. 25 yo. 48%. Highland. - Reveal: hm an NAS blend. I see Velvet Fig 25 online at resonable prices but the proof on is 42.3%, so it might not be quite the same.
Rating: 92. This is the epitome of an old, thick, rich Oloroso Scotch. It's one-dimensional, but it's spot on. I'm ready to gamble on Velvet Fig 25 hoping it's the same thing. That 4% abv difference might make a big difference though, that's got me a little worried.
#05: A.D. Rattray 2006 Caol Ila 9yo. 56.7%. Bourbon Hogshead.
Nose: There's peat finally! Everything's been mostly sweet so far so it's nice to see that earthy Islay peat come through. Definitely earthy. Lagavulin/Caol Ila esque.
Palate: spicy, salty, earthy peat, delicious. It's got a little sweet to it too. Youthful and distillate forward. Getting close to a Lagavulin 8/12 but it's not that distinctive Lagavulin peat. More earthy.
Guess: I'm going Caol Ila here. 8 yo. 60%. Bourbon re-fill. - Reveal: pretty sharp on this one. This is a Coal Ila twist on Lagavulin 12. Very tasty. At any kind of reasonable price I would be buying this. I haven't seen this one specifically but I've seen a lot of cask strength IBs of young Caol Ilas go for around $90-$140. Count me in.
Rating: 87.
I hope the next 5 bring more peat!
Cheers!
Simon from the S&P Crew

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