Tasting Notes: Bushmills: Causeway Collection: 1991: Madeira Cask

Bushmills: Causeway Collection: 1991: Madeira Cask (Irish Single Malt Whiskey: 30 years: 50.2% ABV)

Visual:Deep bronzed gold. Fast thick streaks come from the spirit.

Nose: Big. Christmas pudding. Sherry trifle to sherry cream. Lots of raisins and sultanas. Suet. Crushed almond. Orange skin. Water adds sugared almond notes.

Body: Thick and sticky. Lime zest. Sultanas. Malt loaf. Orange skin. Suet. Sugared almonds. Lemon zest. Toffee. Water makes oily and more nutty.

Finish:Raisins. Sticky. Malt loaf. Drying. Suet. Dry fudge. Water makes spicier. Turmeric and paprika. Slight liquorice.

Conclusion: Whew, this is the biggest I have ever felt a Bushmills get, and previous Causeway collection releases were pretty big!

Neat it has a booming aroma, detectable from far from the glass. It is thick and sticky, but with no real alcohol burn – lots of alcohol weight, sure, but no burn. It has lots of dark fruit notes, Christmas Pudding like – with lots of the spirity cream notes to go with it – which is not unexpected for a whiskey that has spent so darn long in odd Madeira casks like this.

What is unusual though, is that you can taste the orange, lemon and lime citrus notes that I always associate with the house character of Bushmills Distillery. Somehow they have not vanished beneath 30 years on Madeira wood. They are not heavy notes, and not always present, but they are there- fresh bright notes against this sticky dark fruit beast.

Water does not really help, but nor does it make it bad, it just feels not quite as good. It makes it a more gentle and more generic sweet and nutty whisky, a bit more spicy with that was which is generally not my favourite style in a whisky. So my advice is to keep this one neat – even at 50% abv it doesn’t need the water to be easy to drink – the Bushmills character and 30 years of ageing does that wonderfully already.

It isn’t my favourite of the three Causeway collections I have now tried – that is a toss up between the 2000 and the 1997 with the 1997 being just in the lead at the moment, but every single one I have tried has been amazing – so this is still incredibly impressive.

This is a genuinely great dram that I unfortunately can not normally afford – even the 1997 is out of my normal price range and the 2000 is a stretch to grab! Still, due to this wonderful set I got to try them all and this is still a wonder of matching high abv with smooth character, and dark fruit with citrus notes.

Silly expensive normally, but that is the whisky industry these days, still a great dram.

Background: So, same as in Bushmills 16 and 1997 notes before “Ok this is incredibly good value. I picked up a set of mini Bushmills from The Whisky shop. It had 3 cl of Bushmills 10,16,21, Causeway Collection 2000 Port cask, 1997 Rum cask and 1991 Madeira cask. For 30 quid. The 1991 Madeira cask goes for 695 quid a bottle, which works out at just short of 30 quid for 3cl of that alone! I have no freaking clue how they sell this for 30 pounds. Any which way, a must grab for me. “ So this is the 1991 Madeira cask mentioned there, so, worth the cost of the box alone. I still cannot get over how they managed to do this set for such a low price. I’ve been a Bushmills fan for ages, but these Causeway bottlings have generally been outside my price range so was very happy to give them a try here. Music wise I went with Laura Jane Grace: At War With the Silverfish for audio backing.

Tasting Notes: Ardbeg: Hypernova

Ardbeg: Hypernova (Scotland Islay Single Malt Whisky: 51% ABV)

Visual: Pale grain to gold. Fast thick streaks come from the spirit.

Nose: Soot. Dry. Medicinal. Smoke. Medical bandages to medical spirit. Oak. Water adds sulphur. Fresh sour dough. Moss.

Body: Watered down golden syrup. Oak. Very clean medicinal character. Dry. Vanilla toffee. Soft peat. Water makes sweeter. Jelly babies and golden syrup. Toffee syrup. Grapes.

Finish: Dry smoke. Clean. Harsh medicinal back. Mildly acrid after a while. Water adds toffee syrup and vanilla custard.

Conclusion: This is perfectly fine, yet by just being that is actually disappointing.

Considering that the hype is about how peaty it is, this actually comes across very clean, with a clean medicinal character as the most evident style. The smoke is there but again delivered very cleanly, with soot around it. Far less peaty that you would expect based on its reputation.

Water makes it sweeter with a range of sweeter and occasionally fruitier notes than you would normally see in an Ardbeg. Oddly it seems more open to show those notes that the less peaty Ardbeg drams that came before it. Despite that it returns to the same small range for the most part making it feel one note. Clean, medicinal, peat and smoke, just less than you would expect.

It isn’t bad, I want to make that very clear. This is a perfectly fine whisky that does what you would expect from an Islay – leaning more medicinal than most Ardbeg and, as mentioned, cleaner, but for that it is fine. It just isn’t particularly anything outside that, no huge stand out notes, not even the peat, not great complexity.

Again it is fine, those fruit notes are nice, but there are so many better peaty whiskies for a fraction of the cost and easier to get.

Fine, but a disappointment.

Background: The final of the whiskies at Independent Spirit’s Uber Whisky tasting. This is described as the “smokiest Ardbeg ever to mature into existence” on their website and “Possibly the smokiest dram in the world”. The possibly I am guessing is there due to the ever changing ppms of the Octomores that come out. Anyway Ardbeg is a pretty peat heavy whisky at the best of times so I was very excited by this. As always, by this point of the night I had already had a few drams so was not at my best, but I still did my best to turn out understandable notes.

Tasting Notes: Compass Box: This is Not a Luxury Whisky

Compass Box: This is Not a Luxury Whisky (Scottish Blended Whisky: 53.1% ABV)

Visual: Deep gold with fast, thick streaks from the spirit.

Nose: Toffee apple. Noticeable alcohol but not burning considering the abv. Light chalk. Crushed medical tablets. Light tart grapes. Water makes smoother. Apple crumble. Honey. More water adds what feels like a smoothed out tequila note.

Body: Toffee apple. Raspberries in brandy cream. Caramel. Warming alcohol presence. Plums. Crushed paracetamol. Quite thick feel but smooth. Water makes for more toffee. Fudge. Lightly chalky. Shortbread. More water makes lemon fresh.

Finish: Brandy cream. Toffee apples. Rum air. Crushed paracetamol. Tingling. Lightly waxy. Water adds raspberry liqueur. Slightly dry and slight brown bread. Rye crackers.

Conclusion: Ok this is very smooth considering the high abv, you definitely have it showing some polished whiskies in there (Note: During writing this up to put online I looked at what was in it and oh yes there is – see the background for more info)

Initially I was struck by the balance between a sweet toffee apple aroma and a contrasting chalk to crushed paracetamol kind of restraint. It may not sound nice when said like that but the balance between the two side really managed to show things off to their best, sweet, yet not overwhelming.

This follows through in the entirety of the whisky, through body and finish – showing a huge range of sweet notes. You get lots of fruit, from darker plums, through raspberry into more sweet apple, all soaked in brandy cream and rum. In a way it feels like a whisky take on the worlds oddest trifle – yet always marked against that dry, crushed medicine pills restraint.

When you reach the end in the finish it still has a huge range of flavour but also a waxiness that helps the flavours grip for a very long time. Often I find very old whisky can feel a tad light, but that slightly waxy grip means that is not a problem here (Also probably helps that its has such young whisky as **gasp** 19 years to help give it more weight).

Water helps even more, generally it just rounds everything out a little, but after a while a fresh lemon comes out which just revitalises the whole thing.

Overall this “Not a Luxury Whisky” is indeed a great whisky and very impressive.

Background: So, I spotted this at The Dark Horse a while back and kept meaning to try it and do notes on it. Finally poked my head in after seeing a play at the local theatre and got down to work. This is not a cheap dram there, but considering you can find 5cl bottles being flipped for about 100 quid online they have it very reasonably priced for what it is. Original 70cl bottles went for about 150 pounds but there were only 4,992 bottles so it was a treat to get to try it. Basically the bottle is deliberately simple, against the fancy whisky inside – by which I mean 19 Year old Glen Ord, 30 Year Old Caol Ila – then 40 Year Old Girvan and Strathclyde on the grain side. When I tried it I thought it was a vatted malt, but nope, full on blended whisky – another thing challenging expectations as some people look down on anything with grain whisky in it. Dark Horse is a place I keep meaning to hit more often , great place with really friendly staff.

Tasting Notes: Ardbeg: Bizarrebq

Ardbeg: Bizarrebq (Scottish Islay Single Malt Whisky: 50.9% ABV)

Visual: Dark bronzed gold spirit with fast thick streaks that come from it.

Nose: Smoked beef to beef brisket. Thai seven spice. Hickory smoke barbecue sauce. Peat. Salt. Moss. Oily. Charred wood. Brown sugar. Water adds more salt and makes more medicinal.

Body: Oily. Dry touch. Dry beef. Charred meat bits. Dry smoke. Chines stir fry veg. Slight black cherry. Salt. Water makes drier and more medicinal.

Finish: Smoke. Salt. Medicinal touch. Charred meat bits. Water make spicier and with dry smoke.

Conclusion: This is another one of those drams that has changed a lot since I first opened the bottle.

When I first had it, it didn’t seem that much different from a normal good quality Ardbeg – maybe a bit oilier and a bit meatier, but generally just what I would expect from a good quality Ardbeg – which is nothing to turn your nose up at; Ardbeg is amazing. Just, the odd cask ageing didn’t seem to be doing much.

Now I return to it and this is still very recognisably Ardbeg, with big peat smoke and some salt and medicinal notes, though as always not as medicinal as some other distilleries on Islay. It seems drier than when I first encountered it, despite still having those oily notes, but the main thing is it now seems a lot spicier. The barbecue influence shows in that spiciness it seems along with lots of smoke, dried meat and charred meat bits, and that oiliness gives a barbecue meat glaze style.

It is one of the rare exceptions for me where a being spicy whisky doesn’t work against it – it feels like Ardbeg is big enough to work against it, so the spice never feels like an overly dominating note.

This is the meatier, spicier Ardbeg and that really works. Just give it some time to air and open up to show it at its best.

Background: As a fan of Ardbeg and oddities this one caught my eye at independent spirit. So, this is a collaboration with Dr Bill Lumsden and DJ BBQ (aka Christian Stevenson) – I have to admit I have no idea who they are and just copied their names from the description. The oddity comes in the cask choice, double charred oak case, fair enough – toasted Pedro Ximénez sherry casks – nice, and then what they call barbecue casks, which are described as heavily charred casks, custom made using an old-fashioned brazier – I have no idea if they have ever been near a barbecue or if that is just a fancy name. Music wise I went big with this, going for Svalbards new album – The Weight Of The Mask.

Tasting Notes: Bruichladdich: Port Charlotte PMC: 01 2013

Bruichladdich: Port Charlotte PMC: 01 2013 (Scottish Single Malt Whisky: 9 Year: 54.5% ABV)

Visual: Very deep lucozade to gold colour. Slow medium thickness streaks come from the spirit.

Nose: Germolene. Stewed apricot. Light smoke touch. Water makes more sooty with a sulphur touch.

Body: Thick alcohol weight and character. Butter. Charring. Water makes more golden syrup like. Stewed apricot. Dessert wine. Greenery.

Finish: Smoked meat. Peppery. Water makes for spiced rum. Golden syrup cake. Dessert wine. Apples. Greenery.

Conclusion:This is a very sticky, heavy dram. Initially it was slightly closed. It is an oily, medicinal cream aroma dram with strong peat there, but it takes time to show itself. On my first sniff I had forgot it was a Port Charlotte as the smoke was very restrained. This did not last.

It is a comparatively simple whisky, despite is interesting dual ageing. It is heavy on the sweetness to go against the peat. Very golden syrup like in flavour, and the wine barrel ageing seems to have brought an intensity of character which, while pleasurable, seems to have locked out the possibility of a lot of the lighter flavours.

As a dram it is solid, very dessert wine like, which I think is unusual as I don’t think that is Pomerol wines character. This bit is outside my area of expertise, but I am fairly sure it is not one. Anyway there is also a spiciness that reminds me of some rum influence there and greenery for more savoury style which gives a bit of range. However compared to some of the other whiskies on the tasting it did not feel as open and easy to appreciate despite being good quality.

Solid, but not the best for the money. Possibly the best colour of the night though.

Background: Port Charlotte, the heavily peated take on the Bruichladdich spirit. This was the second of the drams on display at the recent Independent Spirit Bruichladdich Tasting. This version has spent half its time in bourbon casks, then the latter 5 years in Pomerol wine casks. I don’t know much about Pomerol, so was going in a bit blind on that. These notes were actually done in two parts as the third dram came out before I had time to finish taking notes, so came back to it later to add some more thoughts. Thanks to everyone else at the tasting whole helped me remember the word germolene which I was struggling to bring to mind for these notes. As always with tastings like this I could not take all the time I wanted, but did my best to get some good notes down.

Tasting Notes: Waterford: Peated Ballybannon 1.1

Waterford: Peated Ballybannon 1.1 (Irish Single Malt Whisky: 3 Years: 50% ABV)

Visual: Pale grain gold colour with fast, thick streaks coming from the spirit.

Nose: Barbecued pork. Menthol to mint. Crushed charcoal. Alcohol tingle. Gooseberries. Smoked dried beef. Figs. Water adds more charcoal, red grapes and cherry pocked biscuits.

Body: Smooth initially, then drying if held on the tongue. Dried beef slices. Dry peat smoke. White chocolate. Honey touch. Nutty. Red cherries. Green grapes. Water adds vanilla toffee, crusts of bread. Cherry pocked biscuits.

Finish: Charcoal dust. Dried beef. Dry smoke. Vanilla. Dry coconut. Spicy red wine. Water adds vanilla toffee. Vanilla yogurt. Green grapes. Dry charring. Cherry pocked biscuits.

Conclusion: On the surface level this is a fairly simple whisky – dry peat smoke and dry meat over a light green fruit touched base. At least that is what I got from it the first few times I poured this out just to enjoy for fun. Now I am taking my time to examine this for doing notes I am finding a lot more going on.

Neat it starts off fairly similar – a more fatty cooked meat note on the aroma compared to the drier meat smoke in the body, but still with a slight gooseberry aroma. Also a bit of the bourbon ageing showing through in white chocolate and coconut notes. The peat is an easy going style similar to the highland take on peat and the body mainly a clean bourbon influence.

Then time and some air changed it, with more red fruit and red wine subtle notes showing through for a richer experience along with more notable sweetness. Now it is subtly complex and rewarding – the dry peat still leading, but with a lot to examine behind.

Water weakens it in my opinion. More bourbon styling come out in a very vanilla toffee way, and more obvious red fruit is there, so not all bad, and it is easier to drink, but it feels less vibrant on the tongue. It is a more mellow and merged experience. Good, but without the shine it has neat.

Overall a really good balance of peat and Waterford complexity and letting the barley shine. Needs time and examination as on surface level it is only ok, but let it open up and it will reward you.

Background: If you have been following the blog for a while you know my love for Waterford whisky – they make each release from a single farm’s barley, allowing them to really show off the effect of the environment on the growing and flavour of the barley. I have found it utterly enthralling and thankfully also enjoyable despite the youth of the whisky. They do very long and slow distilling and are very careful with the cut, which seems to reduce the roughness I would normally expect with whisky this young. Anyway at a recent horizontal Waterford whisky tasting they mentioned they were doing their first peated release – something that as a peat fan I was intrigued by, especially seeing how they could showcase the peat without losing that terroir idea of their whisky. Also in comes in a cool black box, and a black logo on the blue bottle which just looks ace. I am shallow. Anyway Independent Spirit got it in for me, and now I have it and I am drinking it. A win all round. I had recently heard Arch Enemy have a new album out, so went back to Arch Enemy: Will To Power for music while drinking.

Tasting Notes: Waterford: The Cuvee

Waterford: The Cuvee (Irish Single Malt Whiskey: 4 Years: 50% ABV)

Visual: Darkened, slightly browned gold. Moderate speed, thick streaks come from the spirit.

Nose: Crushed peanuts. Subtle notes of crushed love hearts sweets. Sugared oranges. Nut oils. Light alcohol tingle. Raspberry yogurt hard chunks. Water adds wet rocks.

Body: Nut oils. Light meaty juiciness. Light strawberry. Slightest charring. Slight dry, white chocolate. Lightly astringent. Dry green grapes. Honey comes out as it warms. Custard. Water adds toffee and caramel. More water adds subtle trifle notes.

Finish: Dry beef slices. Hint of smoke. Slight tinned tropical fruit. Touch of tobacco. Green grapes. Salted caramel and toffee. Water adds wet rocks. Slight sulphur. Unleavened bread. More water. Subtle white wine. Subtle trifle cream. Tiramisu. Lemon cakes.

Conclusion: The first time I had this I was quite disappointed and was ready to say so. It tasted quite similar to the Hooks Head Waterford, with little added to it. Now Hooks Head is a good whiskey, but I would expected more from such a medley of individual distinct whiskies such as this.

Then I started adding water and things changed quickly, not better per se, but each time added water a new layer was exposed different to the one before, like a traffic light layered whiskey of each component within.

Now I do this, my actual tasting notes, about a month later and it seems time in an opened bottle has really allowed this to similarly open up. Then during the time I had this dram in the glass it has also changed again, and on top of that I , of course, added water again for even more change.

Turns out this really needed that bit of time to really show itself, so with that done – let’s go!

Neat it against starts off tasting a lot like the Hook Head expression – nutty and oily, but now more open. Still pretty similar but with white chocolate and tinned tropical fruit notes that show more of the bourbon ageing than that one did, and hints of sweeter and fruitier flavours under that. Not spectacularly different at this point, but Hooks Head already was a good dram, and this shows many signs of promise.

Time though, time brings out sweeter highland like notes, with honey, salted caramel and such, thicker and sweeter notes that I would not have expected from a whisky this young, even taking into account the amount of farms they have access to. It is a big surprise and really adds weight and character to the drink.

So, with a new eye on the base whiskey, I go back to adding water. The water doesn’t seem to cause as big change as it did before, maybe because all the notes already felt better integrated and on show than before. When I had just opened the bottle, adding water made it feel like it was shifting between distinct different levels of the whiskey. Now it just mellows the alcohol and thus makes it easier to enjoy. Oddly this means this is an expression that I initially enjoyed more with water but now I enjoy more neat.

What an odd whiskey.

Water still does change it somewhat, especially with larger amounts where sherry trifle, tiramisu and similar dessert notes coming out in the now lighter body. I’m guessing this is showing some time in sherry casks, but even wih that I prefer the extra weight you get in this neat, or with just a few drops of water to help it.

Overall, give it time and it is an interesting wee one, not quite the master-stroke I had hope for given the quality and range of farm’s whiskey they had available to work from, but a welcome whisky to try.

Just give it time, ok?

Background: I’ve been raving about Waterford for a while now, their whiskey fascinates me. Normally each whiskey is made with barley from but a single farm, showing off the effects of the terroir as they call it with wine. From the ones I have had they are genuinely different and genuinely exciting, even though the whisky tends to be around 3 to 4 years old. This then, goes against that idea, but heads to a new one. Taking each of those expressions of the farm and blending them to create a blend based not on different distilleries but different farms. It was interesting enough that when I saw a bottle in The Whisky Shop, I put one aside and grabbed it when I could. This is that bottle. Music wise I went back to Tom Morello and The Bloody Beetroot’s “The Catastrophists EP”, for something with a bit of energy to back this up. Looking up the code for this whiskey on their website to get more information I saw, despite its seeming similarity to that dram, exactly zero of the whiskies used to make this were from Hooks Head farm. Huh. 73 casks and not one from what I thought it tasted most like.

Tasting Notes: Bushmills: 2000 The Causeway Collection – Port Cask

Bushmills: 2000 The Causeway Collection – Port Cask (Irish Single Malt Whiskey: 20 Years: 54.1% ABV)

Visual: A deep heavy gold with fast, thick streaks that come from the spirit.

Nose: Summer fruit gateaux. Raspberry and strawberry. Smooth but recognisable alcohol. Plums. Pencil shavings. Lightly citrus fresh behind that – jiff lemon. Honey cakes. Crunchy nut cornflakes. Water makes very smooth. Clearer honey. More wood notes.

Body: Slightly drying alcohol. Sticky, yet smooth in how it delivers the alcohol character. Plums. Honey. Treacle. Fig rolls. Strawberry. Clean feeling sheen. Red cherry and black cherry. Water makes super smooth. Toffee. Spotted dick. More strawberry. Light greenery.

Finish: Fig rolls. Sherry. Golden syrup sponge cake. Lightly peppery. Soft citrus sheen. Water adds much more red fruit, especially strawberry. Light butter note. Thin sulphur candles air. Light charring.

Conclusion: Ok this is so port dominated – shocking I know for something that has spent 20 years in port wood – but what is actually surprising is somehow that base Bushmills character is still just about there underneath it all. This is so very unusual for a Bushmills but you can still recognise it as one.

Neat it is especially unusual, the 20 years age and triple distillation keeps the alcohol smooth despite an over 50% abv, but it is drying and sticky in a way that I have never encountered in Bushmills or even Irish whiskey before. It is pleasant, somehow managing to not be harsh even it indulges in this very unusual mouthfeel.

Here it leans towards darker fruit, with figs and plums and such like, with some lighter red fruit notes darting around that. It is quite heavy flavour, yet there is still a clean, lightly citrus note that is a recognisably Bushmills feel and flavour. It isn’t super obvious, just a light sheen under the far heavier notes. There is honey sweetness to treacle under everything, holding it all together which makes for a very different and sticky dram.

Water adds a much more recognisable smooth Bushmills character and really helps the red fruit notes shine out. Even more water, as this can take a lot, brings out a light sulphur note in the finish. There is so much room to play with the water here, you can keep neat or just with a few drops and keep the dry stickiness, or go deep with water and get super smooth and still rewarding.

Genuinely a great example of a whiskey, great use of the cask strength for mouthfeel and range of flavour, great use of the unusual barrel ageing to unlock huge flavours and somehow still got notes that marks it as a Bushmills even if that part is not the most obvious, it is still impressive it has not been utterly overwhelmed by the port ageing.

I am so very impressed indeed.

Background: Ok, I have been a Bushmills fan for a long while, but the odder releases tend to be very hard to get. Then I saw this in the Whisky Shop in Bath – 20 years old (Well possibly 21, it says bottled 2021 so hypothetically it could have an extra year but as it is distilled right at the end of 2000 it seems unlikely), aged solely in Port wood – first fill at that – and at cask strength – all very unusual elements for a Bushmills. I was a tad nervous at first fill unusual casks for such a long time in case it utterly dominated the character, but after much thinking – as this was a pricey one – I succumbed and bought it and hoped. Like many Irish whiskeys this is triple distilled which tends to lean towards a lighter smoother character, again something that should be interesting to see how it interacts with the high abv and unusual wood. Music wise I went with Pure Hell: Noise Addiction – I had just been watching Wendell and Wild and noticed a Pure Hell sticker on a cassette player in it, so had the urge to listen to them again. Also that is a great movie with a great soundtrack.

Tasting Notes: Cooper’s Choice: Inchdairnie Distillery – Finglassie Lowland Smoke Madeira Finish

Cooper’s Choice: Inchdairnie Distillery – Finglassie Lowland Smoke Madeira Finish (Scottish Single Cask Lowland Whisky: 53% abv)

Visual: Pale, slightly greened grain colour. Very slow puckering comes from the spirit.

Nose: Tarry. Oily. Peat smoke. Cinder toffee. Salty. Fudge. Water adds moss. More salt. Slight crushed rocks.

Body: Thick and oily. Slightly tarry. Sweet red dessert wine. Sweet raspberry yogurt. Slightly drying. Vanilla toffee. Strawberry jelly. Water makes smooth. Sherry trifle touched. Chocolate toffee and chocolate liqueur.

Finish: Tannins. Shortbread. Cake sponge. Peat smoke. Dried beef slices. Madeira soaked raisins to fruitcake. Strawberry jam. Water adds melted toffee to chocolate and vanilla toffee. Oily peat. Tarry.

Conclusion: Ok, after encountering some dead distilleries’ take on a peated lowland and absolutely loving it, I’ve been searching for a modern day, more easily available, peated lowland.

This may not be super easy to get, being from a new distillery with, so far, very few releases, but it is both from the lowland area and fairly heavily peated. So, does it fit the bill?

Well it isn’t a traditional lowland. Instead of that smooth triple distilled light style it is slightly salty and with a thickness that calls more towards Island or Highland than to Lowland, so it didn’t fit that niche I was hunting out. However …

This is still great.

It’s oily, almost tarry in a way that reminds me of some of the heavier Mortlach expressions I have encountered, mixed with those slightly salty, rocky Islay like notes. It is still smooth though, which calls to the lowland origins – and is impressive considering the over 50% abv.

So, I’m guessing even without the unusual cask finishing this would still be a solid whisky, but boy does that Madeira finish make it stand out. There is a vanilla sweetness at the start, but as you get deeper into the whisky it mutates into a sweet raspberry, almost jelly or jam like notes which somehow work so well with that oily peat. The sweetness is understated and yet so rounded and well developed in the character it delivers. It makes for an odd, peaty, oily, trifle like feel – which works better than that sounds.

Neat it is still slightly alcohol touched, which again, this is 50% abv and up that is not a surprise, but water turns that into a very slick drink. It is still peaty and oily, don’t worry on that note, but now the red fruit notes are clearer and the base becomes sweeter and smoother, with choc toffee notes that make it more peaty dessert feel, a heavier sweet note that again works brilliantly with the peat.

It’s genuinely good, the base oily peat spirit is very well expressed and matches well with the almost dessert wine feeling Madeira influence to make an enthralling experience. Not the peated lowland I was looking for, but one I’m glad I encountered instead.

Background: As referenced in the notes, I deeply enjoyed some peated lowland whisky I had tried, that are not defunct, so when I saw this – a new distillery, doing a peated lowland it caught my eye. Looking on their website they seem to be doing a wide range of experimental whisky so it may be one to watch in the future. Doesn’t seem to be many official bottlings yet so was happy to get my hands on this Cooper’s Choice independent bottling. Finglassie or also KinGlassie seems to be the distilleries name for their heavily peated expressions. They also seem to have a rye release which is very unusual for a Scottish distillery. This is cask 409, one of 270 bottles, and was finished in a Madeira cask. Bought from the always great Independent Spirit, this was drunk while listening to Cancer Bats: Psychotic Jailbreak – I’d seen them live a few times and really enjoyed the energy of their live performances but had not bought an actual album of their until now.

Tasting Notes: Buffalo Trace: Blanton’s: Single Barrel Gold Edition

Buffalo Trace: Blanton’s: Single Barrel Gold Edition (USA: Bourbon Single Cask: 51.5% ABV)

Visual: Visual: Deep, slightly bronzed, gold. Slow, thin streaks come from the spirit.

Nose: Rye crackers. Peppery. Alcohol tingle evident. Warm orange creme. Subtle menthol. Warm custard. Red grapes. Water makes smoother and brings out more rye crackers.

Body: Warming. Honey. Peppery. Very mild aniseed. Peach syrup. Slightly astringent. Water adds apricot. Red grapes. Fatty butter.

Finish: Dry oak. Juicy grapes. Custard. Wholemeal crackers. Drying. Peppery. Water adds menthol. Vanilla. Slight savoury cream touch.

Conclusion: This is so rewarding, so recognisably bourbon but with tons of elements I would not normally associate with the style and the mix makes it stand out as something special.

At its base it is a slightly rye crackers tasted peppery thing. So I am guessing that there is a moderate amount of rye in the mash bill – but I could be wrong. Along with that there is some of the traditional bourbon style vanilla backing it but less so than you would imagine. It is slightly drying and astringent from the alcohol weight when taken neat, but not especially so, especially considering the over 50% abv.

Above that is a honey sweetness, along with a slight strange more custard like sweetness that seems to be there in place of the more traditional vanilla in most areas. This is still in the ballpark of bourbon expectations, it just feels like higher abv and care taken in its selection has given it a weightier, bigger expression of which the custard replacing the vanilla is the most obvious element.

What makes it really stand out is a slight sweet peach syrup note, and a sweet grapes touch – in a red grapes style that I really would not have expected considering that, with this being bourbon, it will have been aged in virgin oak, and so I cannot attribute to subtle use of sherry oak ageing like I normally would. Even more there is subtle green grapes and menthol touches that are wonderful and unexpected extra flourishes over the bourbon base. These elements are noticeable neat, but become super evident with a touch of water smoothing out the more astringent alcohol notes.

These all combine to give it a subtle, but impressive variety of flavour, while still delivering the expected bourbon notes very well as a base that everything else works from. It is covering a complex range, but without sacrificing what bourbon is known for best and that combination makes it probably the best bourbon I have tried. Very impressive.

Background: I’ve missed a chance to pick up some Blantons a few times before, it has a great reputation as a single cask bourbon and always vanished while I was umming and ahhing in on if I should grab a bottle. So this time when some came into Independent Spirit I grabbed a bottle right away, the Gold Edition in fact. There is a lot of information on the, very pretty indeed, bottle – everything from barrel number, rack number, warehouse and date dumped. Most of it doesn’t tell me anything as I don’t know where those places are, but it is a nice touch. Really brings out the individuality of this single barrel expression. There wasn’t a new Miracle Sound release for 2021, so for music I picked up his earlier album – Level 6 – and went with that as backing music.