The other bottling is a 14 years old Bowmore 1997. I’ll review that one later.

Aberlour 16 yo 1994 (46%, Whisky Import Belux & The Bonding Dram 2011, bourbon hogshead #8825, 279 btl.)

Nose: fresh and aromatic with a pleasant rounded fruitiness. Big notes of apples and juicy pears. Hints of peach and vanilla. Frosties. Also soft spicy notes and gentle oak. Typical bourbon matured whisky, maybe a little younger than its actual age suggests. Mouth: creamy vanilla with a little caramel sweetness and honey. Again quite juicy with peach jam, apple compote and fresh mint. A sweet malty core again, punched up by some pepper and liquorice. Rather simple but very enjoyable. Finish: medium long on clean oak and vanilla.

This is a straightforward but well-made Aberlour, excellent as a daily dram. Sold for € 60 of which € 5 is donated to the anti-cancer campaign “Kom op tegen Kanker”.

Score: 84/100

Sister casks #564, 565, 567, 568, 569, 571, 572, 573 (filled on the same day as this #570) have all been bottled in the Signatory Un-Chillfiltered Collection in 2010 and 2011, in twin cask releases. The cask for Belgium has been selected in 2 masterclasses hosted by Signatory’s Des McCagherty while he was in Belgium at the end of April 2011.

Bowmore 17 yo 1994 (48,8%, Signatory Vintage for The Nectar Belgium 2011, hogshead #570, 227 btl.)

Nose: clean and fresh but not very mature. There are coastal notes to be found (kippers, seashells), faint medicinal notes and pleasant  fruits (lemon, apple, some green banana). Hints of eucalyptus and very nice tobacco. Medium peat and a little wet wool. Quite gentle and not extremely expressive, but I like it a lot. Mouth: again not extremely powerful. Starts sweet, slightly rooty and herbal with pepper and peat. Lots of coastal notes. Smoked tea. Lemon candy. Also flowery hints and some carbolic soap (bummer). Finish: long, salty (liquorice) and peaty with the bitterness of lemon zest.

Around € 70 while several UCF releases are still available for around € 40.

Score: 82/100

Caperdonich 17 yo 1994 (53,3%,
Malts of Scotland 2011, bourbon hogshead #625, 232 btl.)

Nose: fresh and youthful with clean barley, hay and pleasant estery notes (fruity but hard to pin down, pineapple or pear candy maybe). Yoghurt cake. Crisp floral notes as well. A few lightly roasted grains. Mouth: peppery at first, then growing creamier with some vanilla and apple. Again a sweet and fruity core. Lemon peel. Oak. Aniseed and liquorice. Hints of violets. Surprisingly spicy I would say. Finish: fairly long, spicy with hints of apple cores and ginger tonic.

It may not have the luscious fruitiness or honeyed thickness of older Caperdonich, and it’s difficult to say whether it has the same potential. Anyway it’s still a solid and punchy dram albeit with a naked maltiness and some strange twists. Around € 80.

Score: 83/100

GlenDronach 17 yo 1994 (60,1%, OB 2011, oloroso butt #97, 617 btl.)

Nose: similar. Very mushroomy start, with lots of caramel. Some vegetal and meaty notes (oxo). Lots of roasted hazelnuts. Caramel again. Adding water doesn’t help this slightly sulphury profile, on the contrary. Not my type of whisky, although I want to repeat that these notes can be temporary and letting the bottle breathe for a couple of months can make them disappear. Some pear syrup in the background as well. Mouth: sweet at first, but quickly overtaken by spices and herbs (cloves, pepper, liquorice). Then a wave of wood and dark chocolate. Dry and nutty aftertaste. Water does help on the palate, making it rounder and slightly more fruity. Finish: quite dry and quite long with spices and wood.

I can’t really recommend this one, unless you’re familiar with this style and like your sherry a little dirty. Around € 100.

Score: 77/100

I’m wondering whether Lagavulin used a Pedro Ximénez or another type of sherry cask for the maturation. They only mention ‘European oak ex-sherry cask’ so I think it’s not a seasoned cask, but no information about the actual type of sherry.

Lagavulin 1994 (52,7%, OB for Feis Ile 2010, sherry cask #3210, 528 btl.)

Nose: almost the same as the ‘Distillery only’ bottling. Sweet and peaty. Maybe a few more coastal notes (boat rope, seaweed). The fruit is present, but it’s more complex and more on dried fruits and less focused on apple juice, I would say. A bit more toffee as well. White chocolate. At first I wasn’t too sure, but after a while I preferred this one. Differences are small though, and I think the NAS could be a bit younger as well. Mouth: very creamy again. Dark chocolate. More espresso notes than in the NAS. Roasted nuts. Slightly bitter / zesty as well. A very broad spectrum of flavours. Finish: long, with chocolate and toasted bread.

On the nose, the Feis Ile bottling has a slight advance over the NAS version, but on the palate I prefer the roundness of the NAS version (which is closer to a regular DE). The Feis Ile bottling is certainly more complex though. Original price: € 90.

Score: 91/100

The 1994 vintage was composed as a lighter, stimulating and uplifting expression of The Glenrothes.

Glenrothes 1994 (43%, OB 2008)

Nose: the first few seconds are filled with buttery toffee which is typical for The Glenrothes. After that, a wave of zesty lemon shows up and make it a lot fresher. Its spring-character shows juicy pears and orange fruit gums with a touch of vanilla. Very citric. Lemon pie. Slightly flowery with hints of Cif (the cleaning cream). None of the spices that we see in older Glenrothes bottlings. Mouth: rather weak and watery. Quite malty with a fruity layer of fresh plums. Hints of hazelnuts in the aftertaste. Finish: not very long and quite soft. Pears. Light ginger and nuts.

On the nose, this is the closest to a Lowlander that The Glenrothes will probably ever get (although the trademark toffee is still there). Great to see such a variation on the distillery profile. Probably very teasing as a summer dram, although I prefer the spicier profile. A higher alcohol volume could make it more punchy as well. Around € 55.

Score: 82/100

Let’s be honest, most of the Belgian whiskies are curiosities hardly worth buying, but a couple of weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Bert Bruyneel telling me I would be surprised by this one!

Limousin is a French region around the city of Limoges. It’s not a great wine producing area but Limousin is well known for their oak barrels, used in other regions for maturing white wine.

Goldlys 1994 ‘Single cask Limousin’ 
(55%, OB 2009, 440 btl.)

Nose: starts on white wood glue but it gets better. The oak stays very present, but it is balanced by fruity notes (yellow apples, unripe banana). Burnt sugar. Vanilla. Some waxy notes. Nice but there’s something artificial that kind of spoils it for me. Mouth: certainly not as sweet as I would have expected. Very very resinous, is this liquid pine tree? Similar to some bourbons in that respect (Pappy Van Winkle 20 years old pops to mind). Herbal notes. Lots of spices (nutmeg, ginger and pepper). Some notes of burnt caramel as well. The fruit seems to be buried somewhere. Finish: rather short and dry, mostly the wood that’s talking.

My fellow reviewers really like this and there’s not a single bottle left in stores. Still I don’t really get the hype. Sure, it’s different and probably the best Belgian whisky to date, but when tasted blind I would say this is closer to a mediocre bourbon than to a quality Scotch. € 30.

Score: 77/100

Thanks for the sample, Bert!

Although it’s one of the oldest distilleries in existence, Tobermory is not very popular. Sales decreased and production capacity is limited. Apart from unpeated whisky, they also make a peated version named Ledaig.

Tobermory 1994 (46%, Carn Mor 2009, sherry butt #5125, 2744 btl.)

Nose: there’s sulphur and there’s sulphur. This is the eggy type. A few mashy and grainy notes with hints of a drain. Cereals with milk. Some pears. Hints of shoe polish. 15 years really? There’s a fruity side to it, but it doesn’t shine through. Mouth: a bit cardboardy, lots of liquorice. Some nougat and caramel. Pears again and oranges. Shampoo and cologne in the aftertaste. Finish: medium length, becoming surprisingly candied and caramelly with notes of lavender.

I’m not sure what to make of this. Weird anyway and not my idea of decent whisky, so let’s not try to examine it too far. Bad choice. I’m afraid a lot of the 2744 bottles will end up in the sink.

Score: 45/100

The village of Craigellachie is also home to the world famous Craigellachie Hotel, which has one of the largest single malt selections in the world.

This is the first Craigellachie released by The Whisky Exchange.

Craigellachie 15yo 1994
(46%, Single Malts of Scotland 2009, cask #5901, 325 btl.)

Nose: holds the middle between orangey and buttery notes. Orange cake? Slight hints of shoe polish and a bit of vanilla. Yellow apples. Very fruity in a “warm”, biscuity kind of way. Mouth: malty / fruity, quite creamy with lots of vanilla fudge. Hints of fruit liqueurs. Dried pineapple cubes, some marmelade. Not very powerful but pleasantly drinkable. Spicy oak influence after a while, but nothing huge. Finish: long enough, basically on the same flavours. A few added hints of nutmeg.

Very pleasant stuff. It seems that few Craigellachies are spectacular but most of them are very enjoyable. A late summer whisky. Around € 52.

Score: 84/100