Longrow 18 years
(46%, OB 2011, 2280 btl.)

Nose: great nose with a smooth mixture of mineral notes (wet stone, sand), coastal notes (soft brine, seaweed) and rounder fruity notes (apple and pear). It shows a kind of gentle peatiness and balance that reminds me of some of the best (though much older) Port Ellens. Mouth: oily, with a slightly sharp peatiness. Some medicinal notes. A spicy kick (pepper and ginger) and a zesty bitterness (tonic). After this first wave the balance returns with sweeter notes of citrus candy and apple, although the bitterness never disappears completely. Finish: long, half peppery, half sweet, half bitter (that’s three halves…) with some earthy peat.

I really love the sophisticated nose but there’s a certain roughness in the taste which keeps me from rating it higher. Very nice whisky anyway. Originally around € 130.

Score: 90/100

A blind sample was sent to me by Marc (thanks) and my first impression wasn’t very good. I gave it a second try though.

Highland Park 18 yo ‘Earl Haakon’
(54,9%, OB 2011, 3300 btl.)

Nose: sweet with a lot of red fruit aromas: redcurrant jam, damson, pomegranate maybe. Slightly candied. So far so good. Quite some spicy notes (ginger, cinnamon). In the background: bonfire on a beach. Mouth: very peppery and gingery attack. Starts fairly dry but after a while it develops a nice sweetness (dark sugar, raisins). Unfortunately there’s also a sharpness and sourness of winey notes (plum wine). Hints of Seville oranges and chocolate, with a faint coastal hint and traces of peat towards the end. Finish: spicy, oaky, quite long and rather dry.

My notes are still the same, but my initial score (“around 80”) is now a little more on the positive side. It’s probably the best of the Magnus releases, but given the price and hype, I’m still not convinced. Around € 185.

Score: 84/100

Ardbeg 18 yo 1975 (43%, Signatory Vintage 1993, cask #2464-67)

Nose: gentle start with mellow peat and a softly honeyed sweetness. Then it takes off in two different directions. There’s a medicinal / maritime side, quite nice, with seaweed, antiseptics and menthol. The other side is lemony but also a little fragrant and flowery. Overall very good but maybe not stellar like other 1970’s Ardbeg. Mouth: a bit too soft. Lemony and oily. Smoke, some earthy peat. Picks up strength but also less impressive notes, a mix of bitter oranges and soap. Bugger. Not as bad as Bowmore 1980’s kind of soap, but not what we were expecting either. Finish: rather long and warm, but by now I can’t focus on anything else but the soapiness.

One of the least impressive Ardbegs I’ve ever had. The nose saves it from a 70’ish score.

Score: 81/100

Glen Speyside Class 18 yo
(50%, Malts of Scotland 2011, batch n°1)

Nose: fruity and honeyed. Baked apples sprinkled with cinnamon. Pear syrup. Apricot jam. Some great pastry notes. Demerara sugar. Heather and hay. Mouth: similarly sweet and fruity, very honeyed. Apple pie with raisins. Fructose. All sorts of fruit jams. Sugar coated nuts. Heather and light pepper in the end. Even a faint hint of smoke. Finish: sweet, softly spiced.

This Glen Speyside Class is much better than the Glen Grain Class in my opinion, and more typical for its type of whisky. Sweet, rounded, with decent complexity. Good to see it’s still possible to find a tasty 18yo single malt under € 50, bottled at 50%, uncoloured and un-chillfiltered. Around € 45.

Score: 84/100

Yamazaki 18 yo (43%, OB 2008, L8CP3)

Nose: very very smooth, with a great interaction of chocolate, raisins and oak polish (maybe even a little glue). Soft vanilla. Luscious fruity notes, both dried (dates) and fresh (red fruits). Rather oriental as well: hints of baklava and incense, with a wonderful dampness. Herbal tea. Leather. Hints of dark rum. Syrup. Mouth: quite oaky now (with a resulting sourness) but this adds to the oriental character. Dried fruits (dates, prunes) freshened with citrus peel. Caramel. Creamy sherry notes. Bramble and honey. Tobacco. Finish: balanced sweet / dry and medium long. Maybe a hint of smoke?

A top quality dram, full of Japanese character but very rounded as well, which is slightly less common for Nippon whisky. No surprise it wins so many awards, this is highly recommended.

Be sure to shop around, because I’ve seen prices between € 85 and € 135 from retailers that usually have a similar price setting.

Score: 90/100

Glenfarclas also had a couple of quarter cask experiments. This one mixes two casks filled on 03/07/1987 and two casks filled on 11/09/1987. Note that they’re not QC finishes (like Laphroaig) but full term maturations.

Glenfarclas 18 yo 1987 (46%, OB 2006, Quarter cask #3704 + 3707 + 3859 + 3860, 1299 btl.)

Nose: a dry nose, with hints of breadcrust standing out. Slightly more sour and oaky than your regular Glenfarclas. Tobacco and leather chairs. A bit of library dust. Mouth: quite dry, with some oaky hints and a distinct smokiness. Then some prunes, oranges and cocoa. Roasted coffee beans and toffee. Finish: long, drying and toasted.

Interesting smoky / roasted notes in this Glenfarclas Quarter Cask. Not the classic sherry style but a nicely different variation with more oak. Still available in Germany. Around € 70.

Score: 84/100

Allt-A-Bhaine 18 yo 1992
(56,1%, Malts of Scotland 2011, bourbon hogshead #6, 273 btl.)

Nose: natural nose on barley and sweet grains. Hay. Some nice stone fruits in the background. Light oak influence with a little mint and juniper. Also a hint of chalk or dust. Mouth: oily and sweet. Quite spicy (pepper) and a little hot. Something of a fruit liqueur although I wouldn’t call it fruity. Slightly raw and spirity, even with water. Finish: rather long and neutral, with hints of liquorice and pepper.

A simple malt that’s very punchy and without obvious flaws. Typical blenders whisky I would say. We should applaud bottlers who try to find something different, even when they’re not always highflyers. Around € 80.

Score: 79/100

Auchentoshan 18 yo 1978
(58,8%, OB 1997, 13 casks
#295x + #436x + #437x)

Nose: fresh malt and sweet gooseberries. Buttercups and dandelions. Marzipan. Quite intense, with a spicy prickle and fresh oak. A little caramel. There’s a lovely dusty / leathery element as well. Mouth: punchy with a rather oily mouthfeel. Great mixture of toffee, dark honey and traces of smoke. Fruit tea. Roasted nuts. Orange peel, spices, oak, vanilla… quite complex. Finish: malty and spicy, with leather and hints of lemon.

Not the usual Lowlands whisky, with a bold profile and uncommon (oily, smoky, leathery) elements.
A bit too strong when neat, but really nice with a drop of water.

Score: 87/100

Ardmore 18 yo 1992 (49,4%, Malts of Scotland 2010, bourbon barrel 5014, 185 btl.)

Nose: coal smoke again, a bit more sooty than the Daily Dram version. This time there’s slightly less vanilla, less fruits and more (burnt) grassy notes. Mineral peat. Green apples. This one seems sharper and more peaty, which is probably highlighted because the waxy notes are muted (differences are small though). Hints of iodine and heather. Mouth: really sweet again, with sugared cereals, almonds and nice lemon / lime flavours. Again more smoke, or so it seems. Liquorice. Round peat. Apples. Finish: long, very smoky with a faint herbal edge.

Subtle differences again, both sooty (rather than peaty) with sweet almond flavours to compensate. Around € 90 which is quite a bit more than what other bottlers are asking. The quality is certainly good, but I’ve made the same remark about a high price when comparing two Miltonduff 1980 a couple of days ago. Let’s hope it’s not a permanent evolution.

Score: 85/100

This 18 years old Ardmore 1992 was a joint bottling of The Nectar of the Daily Drams and La Maison du Whisky.

Ardmore 18 yo 1992
(47%, The Nectar of the Daily Drams 2010)

Nose: a smoky nose with charcoal. Some apple / pear notes and ripe banana (maybe papaya even) but what sets it apart are the waxy / oily overtones (candle wax). Nicely integrated whiffs of oak and vanilla. Some heathery notes. A bit austere maybe, but I love the wax. Mouth: sweet and remarkably soft, with honeyed lemon juice, green apples, peach and sugared almonds. Some cereal notes. Earthy peat, still some waxy notes and a faint salty note. Finish: clean and long but not very intense, with a nice almond / banana combination, soft brine and lingering smoke.

This Ardmore shows a nice interplay of dry soot and sweeter fruity notes. The nose is the best part for me, as it looses some subtlety on the palate. Around € 70 (which means good value for money). Still available from LMdW – hard to find in other shops.

Score: 87/100

Greenore 18yo is bottled at 46% and the current batch is limited to 4000 bottles. In the UK it will be available soon, the rest of Europe will have to wait until mid February.

Greenore 18 yo (46%, OB 2011, 4000 btl.)

Nose: a mild nose (for a grain whiskey at least), with banana peel, apricot and sweet corn. Vanilla with a curious milky element, like a crème anglaise (custard sauce). A hint of cinnamon. Some honey and faint grassy / herbal notes. Overall quite smooth, oily but a little soft maybe. Hardly any synthetic notes that are common in other grain whiskies. Mouth: balanced between very sugary grains (think frosted cereals) and plenty of spices from the oak (nutmeg, pepper). Pineapple syrup, banana, some coconut cream. Quite some vanilla again. Finish: medium length, sweet but slightly harsh with spicy notes and oak.

Smoothness should be the keyword for this Greenore 18 Years. While it shows nice elements, it’s not perfectly smooth. Compared to Irish malt whisky, it’s also a little simple. Around € 80.

Score: 81/100

Isle of Jura 18 yo 1990 (52,4%, Duncan Taylor 2009, cask #6401, 312 btl.)

Nose: a flintly / mineral profile, but much sweeter than the sharper flintiness as found in some Highlands whisky. Despite the sweetness it’s not really fruity (hints of citrus and apple candy maybe). Also a dusty maltiness with some soaked cereals and soft smoke. A little pepper. Not very sexy but interesting nonetheless. Mouth: develops on the same notes: first sweet notes (pear drops, ), then spicy malt and grains and finally a big wave of grassy and earthy notes. The grassy notes are rather sharp, rather bitter. Water highlights the sugary components. Finish: medium length, with a distinct leafy bitterness.

While the nose was quite positive, it took a nosedive in the palate and finish. Still available in some places. Around € 70.

Score: 78/100

I’ve tasted both head to head. Here are my impressions for the youngest cask, an 18 year old distilled in 1991.

GlenDronach 18 yo 1991 (51,7%,
OB 2010, Pedro Ximenez sherry puncheon #3182, 633 btl.)

Nose: gentle, clean sherry with juicy cooked fruits rather than the usual dried fruits. Pears and plums. Lots of orange peel. Barley sugars and cinnamon. Hints of dusty oak as well, rather unexpected considering its age. When compared to the 1989 PX cask, this one is nice and fruity but relatively shy. Mouth: goes on with stewed fruits but more classic sherry is taking over soon. Milk chocolate, dates and figs. Balanced oak influence. A nice wave of spices and nuts in the end (almonds, hazelnuts). Finish: medium length, slightly drier. Big hints of chocolate with a minty edge.

A clean sherried GlenDronach with nice fruity notes and chocolate. Balanced and quite flawless but not the most intense cask of the series. Around € 95.

Score: 86/100

St Magdalene has brought us some marvellous whisky. The Lowlands distillery was closed in 1983 and is now highly sought after. Among the best releases are the 1964/65/66 releases by Cadenhead (dumpy bottle) and Gordon & MacPhail (brown label or old map label).

St Magdalene 18 yo 1964 
(40%, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice  
brown label 1983, 75 cl.)

Nose: unique. A wonderful combination of cherries, blueberries and raisins with milk chocolate and coffee. Quite some butter. A little metal. Dried flowers. Dusty wardrobes and old leather bound books. Ashes. Herbs. A distinct aroma of juicy apricots. Not the typical Lowlands shyness, I would say. This is intense and extremely interwoven. Mouth: not too powerful but full of flavour: velvety fruits – soft cherry and apricot again, but less noticeable than on the nose. Some vanilla and oak. Tobacco. Tea with lemon. Then growing drier, a little resinous and softly herbal (laurel and cloves). More earthy as well, with hay and liquorice root. Finish: not too long, on dry ashes with a salty edge and pine resin.

This St Magdalene 1964 is nothing like a modern Lowlands malt. In fact it’s unlike any modern malt.
The slight dryness of the finish prevents a higher score, but this is still a legendary dram.

Score: 93/100

This 1990 vintage was matured in German Oak (not sure what to expect).

Glenturret 18 yo 1990
(46%, Chieftain’s 2009, 
cask #91781, 312 btl.)

Nose: notes of lemon and cake. Tinned fruits on syrup. Ginger lemonade. So far so good, but then there’s wet newspaper and disturbing notes of brown liquid soap. Once you’re focused, it’s hard to get over them. Mouth: lemon candy, with some sour orange moving in. A slightly bitter note of gin tonic with the same soapy bias again. A bit weird and not totally enjoyable. Finish: sharp and very short.

I try to avoid this type of whisky.
Around € 90.

Score: 69/100

Bunnahabhain 18 yo (51,4%, OB for
Feis Ile 2010, PX cask, 384 btl.)

Nose: a relatively light nose. Obvious PX influence, but less fresh and fruity than some previous experiments from other distilleries (this or this). Caramelized banana and a bit of cinnamon. Sweet nuts. Sourish berries. A little mint and ginger. Mildly maritime. Mouth: sweet, with dry fruits. Sweet but not too sugary. Hints of chocolate and kirsch. Balanced spices (pepper, clove) and dried herbs. Finish: medium length, drying, with the same flavours.

Recipe: 70% Bunnahabhain 18yo and 30% fortified wine. Although the wine is not subtle, the end result is quite good (but not exceptional). Sold for € 100 at the distillery.

Score: 81/100

It’s part of a batch of three sister casks that were distilled on the same day and bottled by Gordon & MacPhail in their CASK series in 1996.

Cragganmore 18 yo 1978
(60,1%, G&M CASK 1996, cask #4959)

Nose: starts on flowery notes and subtle fruit (apples, soft peach, grapes). Hints of white wine. Whiffs of wax and what we call “hotel cake” around here. After a while, there’s interesting coal smoke and gas coming through, which is rather typical for really old whisky (let’s say 1940’s-1960’s) but less common in the late 1970’s. Some hints of latte. Very nice combination overall, even more so with a few drops of water. Mouth: powerful. Starts flowery again and slightly herbal. Too much lavender now, which brings out a soapy element that quite frankly I’ve noticed with Cragganmore a bit too often. Other than that: almonds and spices. Water highlights fruity notes (pears and apples mostly) but it’s never really convincing. Finish: slightly smoky, definitely spicy, and quite long.

Again a Cragganmore with a soapy edge. The old-style coal smoke and fruity/spicy body makes up for part of it though. A bottle was sold for € 107 at WhiskyAuction recently.

Score: 83/100

This famous Highland Clan owned The Dalmore for almost 100 years, and they are still connected through the family icon, the stag head, which The Dalmore uses to adorn their bottles. The partnership (which will not end after this special release) aims to raise funds to refurbish the Clan’s Castle Leod.

Dalmore Mackenzie 1992 (46%, OB 2010, port finish, 3000 btl.)

Nose: fragrant and fruity with redcurrant, cherry and fresh citrus (oranges, grapefruit). A hint of ginger. Underneath is a subtle aroma of mocha glaze and roasted nuts. Nice. Mouth: on the palate it has more body than on the nose, with lots of spices. It’s nuttier (almonds, hazelnut) and even slightly smoky. Nutmeg and ginger again. Still some fruity notes, but dried fruits this time (prunes). A tad winey. Hints of vanilla. Fades on liquorice. Finish: spicy with a return to candied oranges.

Dalmore Mackenzie is a good example of the Dalmore house style, while at the same time being lifted by the Port influence. Smooth and balanced, but a little expensive. Around € 140.

Score: 85/100

This 18 years old Glen Scotia was matured in a sherry butt and bottled by Malts of Scotland.

Glen Scotia 18 yo 1992 (53,3%, Malts of Scotland 2010, cask #429, 199 btl.)

Nose: a bit weird. Rubbery sherry, with a bunch of roasted / burnt notes (burnt pastry, hints of sulphur, burnt grass). Some mint. Red fruit as well, evolving to raspberry vinegar. Wet newspaper and dusty old fabric. I kept changing my mind about this one, it seems to change constantly. In a way it’s really ferocious, but on the other hand that makes it interesting. Mouth: punchy and rather herbal (cloves). Caramel. Quite woody. Salty liquorice. Aftertaste on roasted coffee beans and cocoa. Water doesn’t change the profile. Finish: dying quite soon, but with a nice chocolate ending.

Quite extreme… Interesting but not really a drinker’s whisky. Around € 80.

Score: 78/100
(debatable score… make that 63 or 85 depending on your mood)

It’s interesting that SMoS chooses Glenrothes casks with a very light sherry influence since nowadays most of the independent bottlings seem to be heavily sherried.

Glenrothes 18 yo 1990 
(46%, SMoS 2009, cask #3331, 785 btl.)

Nose: a characteristic Glenrothes nose with butter toffee and some dry flowers but punchier than most official releases. Freshened by big hints of orange juice. Nectar. Something that reminds me of Swedish mustard. Hints of roasted nuts. Cake. The sherry influence is certainly there, but it’s very subtle. Mouth: not too bold. Quite malty and sweet. Spicy (nutmeg, herbal sweets) with hints of liquorice. Interesting roasted / bread crust notes in the aftertaste. Finish: rather long and spicy, with beautiful candied notes, even hints of violets.

This bottling shows a slightly different side of The Glenrothes. An all-round charmer. Around € 50.

Score: 82/100