Tasting Notes: Macallan: Gold

Macallan: Gold (Scottish Speyside Single Malt Whisky: 40% ABV)

Visual: Deep burnished gold (Well that is good, otherwise it would be false advertising in the name)

Viscosity: Quite fast, thick streaks.

Nose: Honey. Stewed apricot. Vanilla. Thick. Custard. Slight alcohol tingle, but generally smooth. Pencil shavings. Light menthol. Fudge. Water makes lighter – slightly more alcohol and minty.

Body: Smooth. Some alcohol. Slightly light. Custard. Golden syrup. Oak. Water makes dried and stewed apricot mix. Vanilla toffee. Enough water removes alcohol edges. White grapes.

Finish: Oak. Wet wood. Alcohol air. Slight malt drinks. Water adds slight apricot. Slight golden syrup. Chocolate toffee and or those chocolate eclair sweets. Slight spicy raisins and rim. Slight grapes.

Conclusion: Why do so few whiskies live up to their aromas? Yep, that’s always a good start for a set of notes, isn’t it? Anyway, I’ve had this in the bars a few times, but always at or neat the end of a session – so never a good time to really analyse it. So, coming at it now, as I approached its aroma I was filled with hope.

The aroma is thick and filled with promise – stewed fruits, lots of smooth, sweet flavours. Not unusual but with a very appealing weight to it.

The main body? Well it has more alcohol roughness to it – not badly, just a kind of generic blended whisky kind of rough edge which needs a fair chunk of water to get rid of. Water is also needed to bring back the stewed fruits that the aroma promised. Now, water generally does help whisky, so this is not a huge deal, but you never get the thickness and weight the aroma promised.

Time helps as well. Bringing out spicier, sherry cask influenced notes in the finish. In fact the finish (with water) is probably the best part of the whisky. Here you get a robustness and range which the main body distinctly lacks.

Not to say that this is bad, just very average – you get expected sweetness, expected oak, some of the expected sherry influenced, but with a tad rougher edged than ideal. Ok, but considering the usual huge rep of Macallan, a bit of a mediocre delivery.

So, ok, but no great shakes.

Background: Its been bugging me for a while that I have not done notes for this before. As a replacement for the Macallan 10 year this seemed to me to be the whisky that really was at the heart of the no age statement whisky debate. It was the most well known whisky to run that path and, despite having tried a few times, I had never really examined it. So, I grabbed from mini from Independent Spirit to give it a proper going over. I had just seen Mike Bird vs Matt Riddle at Chaos wrestling – an utterly amazing match so I was in good spirits.

Tasting Notes: Càrn Mòr: Celebration Of The Cask: Speyside 1991

Càrn Mòr: Celebration Of The Cask: Speyside 1991 (Scottish Speyside Single Malt Whisky: 25 Years: 62.5% ABV)

Visual: Banana gold.

Viscosity: Thin slow puckering.

Nose: Thick. Stewed apricot. Caramel. Floral. Hard sweets. Light menthol and peppermint. Water makes more apples, grapes and light oak. More water and time adds golden syrup and white chocolate.

Body: Strong alcohol. Charring. Apples. Oily. Peppery. Vanilla. Waxy. Water makes butterscotch, oak and oddly stronger alcohol. More water brings more butterscotch – time makes even more so and slight tart grapes. Tinned tropical fruit.

Finish: Malt chocolate. Dry oak. Tongue numbing, Peppery. Water gives more alcohol and butterscotch. More water brings apples, pears and vanilla. White chocolate and tart grapes.

Conclusion: This is heavy duty, high alcohol and high burn whisky. In fact, it gets even higher alcohol character with a drop of water. Which is not what I expected. It takes a serious battering of water to get this thing to calm down.

This is an oily and waxy beast – it brings a huge wodge of sweet stewed fruit and caramel. Initially it is a deeply unsubtle beast – peppery, yes, but really concentrating on the heavy apricot. However as I paid attention I did realise it was a bit odd around the edges, with a menthol and peppermint character.

Water is definitely needed to bring everything in line so you can properly enjoy it. Neat it is fun, but harsh, mostly one track and what else it has doesn’t quite mesh. Time, and all that water makes it a very different experience. It becomes so much smoother, with lots of butterscotch coming out to create a coherent centre for everything else to hang off.

It is a thick, sweet one – some notes of white chocolate come out, matched by some tart grapes which seems to be the remnants of the odd elements in the neat whisky. It is strange that this was aged in a single sherry butt as it brings a lot of tropical fruit that I would usually associate with bourbon ageing. For a 25 year old whisky it is not exceptional in complexity, but gives a waxy texture that really sells what it does have. The texture takes a sweet whisky that would be good, but very simple for a 25 year one, and gives it a lot of grip and some unusual stylings. Very full, very thick – definitely not a bad one – but not great for the age. Solid.

Background: Wow, bottled in 2017, this still holds a massive abv for 25 years of ageing – and was the first of five whiskies tried at Independent Spirit for their second Uber Whisky tasting of the year. I loved the last tasting, so was very excited for this. Also, my first ever set of notes from The Speyside – the distillery, rather than the region Speyside (also called just “Spey” for a bunch of its bottling, probably to stop confusion with other whiskies from the region). This is one of 533 bottles. Anyway, as always for these events – I was doing my notes in a social environment, with five strong whiskies back to back – my notes may be affected by other peoples thoughts, the drunkenness, and the other whisky I had. However, as before, for trying five expensive and rare whiskies like this I could hardly miss the chance to do some notes. Hope they are ok by you.

Tasting Notes: Carn Mor: Caperdonich 1992

Carn Mor: Caperdonich 1992 (Speyside Single Malt Whisky: 24 Year: 58.9% ABV)

Visual: Light gold.

Viscosity: Very slow thick streaks.

Nose: Clean and light. Citrus lemon and lime. Pencil shavings. Vanilla. Light toffee. Light floral. Water gives more floral. More water brings out peach notes and slight sulphur.

Body: Sweet. Honey and golden syrup mix. Very noticeable alcohol. Water makes much smoother. Butterscotch. Peppery. Lime. More water brings light apricot and dried pineapple and gives a slight waxy texture.

Finish: Alcohol strength. Oily sheen. Sulphur. Floral. Butterscotch. Water makes slightly soapy. White chocolate and tinned tropical fruits. Peppery and slightly waxy. More water adds dried apricot and pineapple.

Conclusion: This is far better than my first experience with Caperdonich. With the high abv this has, cask strength from a single cask, it gives a thicker, waxy texture that gives much more grip for the flavour.

It is a honey sweet whisky, using that and the waxy character as a base for some dried fruit, bourbon ageing tropical fruit and some floral notes floating over that. None of that is a too unusual style but the age of this means that it is delivered in a very clean style and, with water, pretty smoothly.

It carries what feels like a light smoke backing it up – giving it slightly more weight that a fruity floral whisky normally would have. Slight waxy and thick feel, slight sulphur and smoke at the back. In It makes if feel slightly old fashioned – like walking around in old stores and breathing in the air. In fact, while this is not stand out or special in the flavour it is very nice in the mouthfeel. It has a very special mouthfeel – kind of like what you got with direct heated whisky distilling in the old days. Don’t know if that is what is used here but it has that slightly burnt, gassy feel.

Anyway, not a world shaker, but interesting to examine, much better than my last experience, and solid in flavour.

Background: This is the second ever Caperdonich I have encountered – it is a dead distillery- closed in 2002 and demolished 2010, so we will see no more once it is gone. My first encounter was ok but nothing special – so when this was the second whisky in the Independent Spirit Uber whisky tasting I was intrigued to give it a go. As before, due to doing more notes that usual in a social environ this may be less detailed than usual, but I do my best.

Tasting Notes: Glenrothes: 2001

Glenrothes: 2001 (Scottish Speyside Single Malt Whisky: 12 Year: 43% ABV)

Visual: Slightly bronzed gold.

Viscosity: Very slow but comes down as a sheet.

Nose: Black cherry. Black forest gateaux. Forest fruits. Honey. Brambles. Caramel shortbread. Creamy chocolate. Thick and slightly musky. Water adds custards slices and slight pepper.

Body: Thick and syrupy. Golden syrup. Strong alcohol. Blueberry pie. Woody oak influence. Slight tannins. Water makes smoother – vanilla custard on blueberry. Red cherries and slight apples. Toffee. Malt drinks and whipped cream.

Finish: Wood. Toffee and honey. Slight gooseberry. Slight tannins. Water makes for forest fruit, light musty smoke. Slight musty air and charring. Malt drinks and slight bitter chocolate.

Conclusion: This is such a fruity whisky – with very natural feeling fruitiness. It feels like a mashed up barrel of dark fruit; There is that musty air, and a feel akin to that hairy fuzz you get on berries. Then sweetens so it is like deep amounts of forest fruit coated in golden syrup.

Not all of that is immediately evident – the aroma does give a good show, but on sipping it is a bit alcohol heavy resulting on a drier, less open whisky. Water is what brings out all the dark fruit you were promised – now smoothly delivered, with a whisky that feels dark in all things. From slight charring, malt drinks and slight bitter chocolate it all gives that coherent, complementary imagery. With the creamy notes it all comes together like a black-forest gateaux – the whisky. A very nice look, with just a few hints towards the brighter, shaper green fruit to freshen it up.

With water it is very luxurious, thick, creamy and filled with flavour. It plays in the same realm as the Dalmore whiskies for flavour. Always a good thing to be compared to in my opinion. It is very much worth trying – it doesn’t quite have the unique twist to be one of my favourites and a must try. However it is about as good as a whisky can be without reaching that level.

It is a dark alcohol dessert for delectation in decadent environs. Treat yourself with this one.

Background: Glenrothes have always been an odd one – the vast majority of their output I have seen has been vintage based names, rather than list by age. An interesting habit. In this case I am fairly sure I tried the 2001 at one of Independent Spirit’s tasting sessions. But I was quite drunk on whisky so I am not 100% sure. Any which way The Tasting Rooms had this 100ml bottling of it, so I decided to grab it and see if it was the tasty one from my memories. Drunk while listening to the Black Lagoon anime OST for a mix of light relaxing and high octane background music

Tasting Notes: Pittyvaich 1989: 25 Year

Pittyvaich 1989: 25 Year (Scottish Speyside Single Malt Whisky: 25 Year: 49.9% ABV)

Visual: Middling intensity grain colour.

Viscosity: A few middling streaks, mainly slow puckering.

Nose: Cereal grain. Alcohol. Vanilla.

Body: Cream, Pineapple chunks and tropical tinned fruit. Alcohol. Honey to dry mead. Water smooths, lightly waxy touch. Light creamy raspberry and fudge.

Finish: White chocolate chunks. Alcohol. Cheerios. Light wood shavings. Tropical tinned fruit. Water brings more tropical fruit, smoother character and a light oily sheen.

Conclusion: I find it odd, people say that first impressions are so important – yet cask strength whisky, highly prized and in demand cask strength whisky – will rarely be at its best when first encountered, before water has been added.

So, yeah, without water this is a bit closed and alcohol filled. Though, despite the alcohol being evident this still feels pretty smooth – especially for one that is nearly 50% abv. I guess I good bit of age can do that – but despite the smoothness there is an alcohol presence that makes it hard to get into. Then again, nearly 50% abv, I can’t say that was unexpected.

Even with the water, the aroma doesn’t say much – a fairly simple and predominantly grain filled kind of thing. So this is two for two on lack of good first impressions.

So, with all that in mind let’s check out the main body onwards with a bit of influence from the miracle worker that is water. Ok, here it becomes very smooth, creamy, slightly but only slightly waxy. All this with just a touch of water. So, for the mouthfeel it is a spot on mix between smoothness and yet still nicely viscous in texture. A lot of aged whisky can become too light, even before water, this still has enough weight to avoid that trap.

Flavour wise the base spirit seems quite neutral as I am getting less from that and more from a master-class on American bourbon oak ageing. Lots of tinned tropical fruit, white chocolate, dried pineapple chunks. All very smooth, fresh and easy drinking – Very enjoyable, however it does show that the base whisky seems to be giving more of a feel than a flavour here.

If I drank this blind, I think it would do well – it is a very tasty, smooth, general drinking whisky. With water it is far unlike its initial strength and almost too easy to sip large amounts of. As an example of the distillery though, especially as an expensive dead distillery, it doesn’t stand out much. The impressive characteristics seem to come from the oak for flavour, and age for smoothness. Now those are very good characteristics – smooth, fresh but grounded by a solid cereal character. Which are available in much cheaper whisky. Which is the problem. Go for those cheaper bourbon show whiskies.

Though I will say, aside from that I am very much enjoying this – the texture is where the whisky shines – smooth enough, creamy enough and just waxy enough. It may not have unusual flavour, but it has the feel.

So, not on the must try list of dead distilleries – but on its merits alone it is pretty good, just not silly money good.

Background: Treating myself time again – This is a from a distillery closed in 1993, which considering it only opened in 1974 is one short lived distillery. Grabbed from The Whisky Exchange – this was the bottle I grabbed when I got all those miniatures I did notes on a short while back. Thought about saving for a special occasion, but I still have one special bottle saved for when I hit 300 whisky notes, so decided to treat myself now. The distillery was mainly used for blends so there were never very many single malt bottlings of it around – this one was distilled in 1989 and bottled 2014 at cask strength. It is one of 5922 bottles (number 827 to be exact).

Tasting Notes: Old Ballantruan: The Peated Malt

Old Ballantruan: The Peated Malt (Scottish Speyside Single Malt Whisky: 50% ABV)

Visual:Light yellowed gold.

Viscosity: Slow thin puckering from the spirit.

Nose: Peat smoke, steak, soft cherries. Noticeable alcohol but mostly smooth. Vanilla toffee and caramel. Apricot. Touch of charcoal. Light menthol. Water adds light pencil shavings, more soothing and floral.

Body: Smooth, quite light front that grows into peat smoke. Slight golden syrup. Oak. Alcohol grows quickly. Toffee sweetness. Lime syrup. Apricot and peach. Water soothes alcohol. Adds vanilla custard. Light charring. Big smoke and peat. Light cherry pocked biscuits.

Finish: Charring and charcoal dust. Peat smoke. Beef crisps. Sweet lime syrup. Beef broth, Peach. Water adds custard crème biscuits. Slightly dry. Peppered beef slices. Malt toffee chocolate drinks. Peppermint.

Conclusion: Huh, I shouldn’t get my conclusion all lined up in my head too early on it seems, at least for this whisky. The first couple of sips I had of this made me all ready to say that the “Gentle Dram” just couldn’t provide enough body to go the peated route. I was going to say that it came in so thin that the punch of the peat pushed all the lighter notes away leaving it empty but harsh. Yeah, that changed. Massively.

Slowly, and especially with water, the gentle notes started building up against the peat. A good sweetness, soft fruit, all behind the big beafy peat – but as the lighter notes grew, the less harsh the peat seemed. I guess I should have realised this was to come; The aroma at the front, though alcohol touched, was smooth and complex and that is often a good guideline of the whisky to come.

While time does help, I think water is the real game changer. The 50% abv gives a lot of room for water, going through sweet and fruity, to floral and slightly peppermint finished depending on the amount of water added. The more you add, the more the base Tomintoul style notes are evident as it rises to match the peat. A very nice match of peat intensity to fruity whisky without compromising either. So, yeah, first impressions can be very wrong.

Background: Never heard of an Old Ballantruan distillery? That is because this is from Tomintoul – however since they are very well known for their gentle spirit this is their name for their more peated editions. I grabbed this as part of a set of miniatures when grabbing a bottle of whisky from The Whisky Exchange. Since this is no longer “The Gentle Dram” I went to Brute Force by The Algorithm for listening music. It amused me to do so.

Tasting Notes: Strathisla: 12 Year

Strathisla: 12 Year (Scottish Speyside Single Malt Whisky: 12 Years: 40% ABV)

Visual: Apricot touched bronze.

Viscosity: A mix of fast thick streaks and a couple of slower ones.

Nose: Honey. Sugared almonds. Alcohol. Heather. Perfume. Water adds wood dust and cinder toffee.

Body: Peach syrup. Alcohol. Walnut clusters. Honey. Roasted nuts. Charred oak. Water adds apples, cinder toffee, treacle and praline.

Finish: Perfume. Nuts. Alcohol. Charred oak. Dried apricot fruit sugars. Malt chocolate. Water makes treacle, liquorice, cinder toffee and custard.

Conclusion: Well, it’s been a while since I danced with a Strathisla, let’s see how well I remember the steps.

It is sweeter than I remember, brings a real thick honey set of notes that make up the base of this dance – it is also surprisingly alcohol touched for a 40% abv whisky that has racked up 12 years in the oak.

Initially this seemed less nutty than I remember – for me that nuttiness has always been the predominant element of my Strathisla memories. However a touch of water, as well as dimming the alcohol fire, also brings out a sweet nutty and praline mix of notes that settles in as a second line of flavour attack…dance steps. I think I may have lost track of my metaphors.

Anyway, pre water there are some rough charred notes, but they are soon smoothed out and overtaken by a darker sweetness that the water comes out – more liquorice and treacle notes amongst the honey.

It definitely pushes heavy the stereotypical but hard to define “whisky” character, albeit with more emphasis on the aforementioned notes. The speyside fruitiness is less noticeable, but shows as a light apple and apricot notes if you add just the exact right amount of water.

I’m still a fan, and Strathisla definitely holds a warm place in my heart due to my history with the whisky, though on a more objective level it is not as complex or subtle as many a Speyside whisky. Instead it is a solid, robust whisky that pushes a very familiar base whisky with its set of a few extra notes added as a twist to that. Still good, but not so showy.

Background: Again, many thanks to Independent Spirit for providing this bottle with a couple of doubles left in it for tasting notes purposes. They are pretty much single handedly handling my whisky reviews at this point! I grabbed a cask strength Strathisla back in my early days of doing notes, but, while I have tried the standard 12 year, I had never got around to doing notes on it. Good time to rectify that oversight then. Drunk while listening to the many Architects tracks on the youtube channel – may have to grab some of their CDs.

Tasting Notes: Provenance: Craigellachie Single Cask: 10 Year

Provenance: Craigellachie Single Cask: 10 Year (Scotland Speyside Single Malt Whisky: 10 Year: 46% ABV)

Visual: Very pale, almost make spirit colour.

Viscosity: Many very thin, slow streaks.

Nose: Crushed peppermints. Vanilla. Make spirit. Gritty. Water makes more floral.

Body: Chocolate limes. Warming to burning. Vanilla toffee. Broth. Water adds some peat and beef slices along with honey and lime. More water brings out big toffee, honey. Smoother, with vanilla custard and apples.

Finish: Alcohol air. Chocolate limes. Wood. Dusty. Water brings out beef broth and dumplings. Lime and chocolate separate now. Sweeter with more water, light milky coffee.

Conclusion: Craigellachie can be an awesome wee dram – a fact I was reminded of by the recent Wemyss Barrista’s Dram which I tried at a recent whisky tasting. I was having a chilled night so didn’t do notes of that one – instead I later grabbed this hip flask sized bottle to try a different and younger expression.

Well, this is very definitely younger -almost make spirit in colour. Neat it has more of a feel than a taste for the most part; In fact it us a quite simple dram, though thankfully without that vodka jelly feel that some strong, young, spirits have. Anyway, not much to write home about. However at 46% abv there is plenty of room for water, so let’s see how that goes.

It helps. Brings out a light peat and the associated broth kind of notes, but the main help is that it really smooths out the sweetness that is the mainstay of the whisky. Vanilla custard sweetness and honey being the most noticeable it brings to the fore.

It is far smoother and more enjoyable here. Oddly at ten years it still plays with the fresh apple notes that I would associate with a far younger spirit. It, however, gains a more noticeable, kind of malt chocolate, traditional whisky character. Albeit less noticeable than in most whisky.

So, in the end we have a very fresh and vibrant whisky, with hints at rather than shows the full range of Craigellachie’s depths. It is nice enough with water, however it feels younger than it is and I know Craigellachie can do more.

So, ok, but not the best show of what the distillery can do.

Background: Think this is the first time I’ve done notes for a Craigellachie – it is a fine whisky, so I decided to grab this independent bottling from Independent Spirit. Nice hip flask size, always a favourite for sampling new whisky. On eye it looks a heck of a lot lighter than most Craigellachie whisky I have seen. Should be an interesting dram. Dunk while listening to the Paranoia Agent OST – that anime is mind blowing.

Tasting Notes: Glendronach: 12 Year

Glendronach: 12 Year (Scottish Speyside Single Malt Whisky:12 year: 43% ABV)

Visual: Reddened bronze.

Viscosity: Fast thick streaks.

Nose: Cherries on chocolate cake. Brandy cream. Sultanas. Vanilla fudge. Smooth. Water adds spiced orange notes.

Body: Very smooth, with a warming character. Raisins and sultanas. Plums. Lots of dark fruit. Glacier cherries and some sour cherry notes. Slight charred oak. Melted chocolate to chocolate liqueur. Water makes creamier and brings out spiced grapes.

Finish: Light oak. Raisins. Baileys. Chocolate liqueur. Slight alcohol air in a liqueur style. Water makes more baileys like but with a traditional whisky air.

Conclusion: I’m not 100% sure this whisky knows it is, in fact, a whisky. It seems to think it is a liqueur – possibly a whisky liqueur, but still a liqueur.

Now, I am not saying that as a bad thing, just as a way to try and communicate the very creamy and smooth character this thing brings to the table. Within that creamy body the emphasis is very much on the wide range of dark fruit – backed by a thematically appropriate dark chocolate and a smidgen hint of dark charred barrel. In the dark.

Despite the darkness of the flavours, the actual feel is just a tad light, but it has a lovely velvet texture and a mix of gateaux style cake experiences that are very pleasant. I actually prefer this to the 18 year old, despite the slight lightness of mouthfeel – it is less oaken and more balanced, even without water.

Speaking of water, this gains more of a traditional whisky air with water – especially floating around in the finish. Frankly it doesn’t need water, but if you miss the whisky styling then that will bring it back.

Overall, very smooth, tad light in the mouth feel but lovely dark dessert flavours helps push through that and makes it well worth while.

Background: *ahem again* “Ok, bias warning first: This is a part of the Masters Of Malt Whisky Calendar given to The Bath Whisky and Rum Club, part of Independent Spirit, who invited me to assist with the notes in return for uploading them to alcohol and aphorisms. Sounded a very fair deal to me. Also, due to this we each only had half of the 3cl bottle so thoughts are based on a smaller exploration than usual. On the other hand I could not say no to the chance to try so many new whiskies. Many thanks!”. I’ve tried some of the older expressions of Glendronach, including one that was given free to me at a whisky show for doing notes on, but never this one. Drunk while listing to the Guilty Gear soundtrack.

EDIT: Odd – Most of the books I have list this as Speyside, yet most shops online, the label and wikipedia call it highland whisky. I’ll go with the Michael Jackson book for now and leave it as Speyside but shall investigate.

Tasting Notes: Balvenie: Single Barrel Sherry Cask: 15 Year

Balvenie: Single Barrel Sherry Cask: 15 Year (Scottish Speyside Single Malt Whisky: 15 Year : 47.8% ABV)

Visual: Reddened bronze.

Viscosity: Very slow, very thin streaks, and many of them.

Nose: Sherry trifle and brandy cream. Alcohol warmth. Creme brulee. Sultanas. Full and rich. Water makes pencil shavings come out.

Body: Creme brulee. Malt chocolate. Strawberry jelly. Thick feel to the middle. Water makes thick sweet strawberry, though still with a touch of alcohol at the back. Orange creme and plums.

Finish: Spiced red grapes. Dry. Light oak. Dust balls. Malt chocolate. Bailies. Water brings out strawberry and brandy cream.

Conclusion: Odd timing drinking this so shortly after my discuss of the use of strawberries in beers recently. Odd as with water this really tastes like a strawberry whisky, not because strawberries were used in it. I presume anyway. Anyway a strawberry whisky, in a good way.

It is a sweet whisky, but far more robust than many sweet whiskeys, giving a whole range of spirit touched, creamy notes – resulting in trifle and bailies imagery coming out very easily. That creaminess is up front, but much more fruit is waiting to be brought out with water. The robustness is kept by backing the sweetness with spicy grapes that adds heft to the sweet trend without disrupting it.

There is a lot to bring out with water – the amount of water I was able to add while still being able to enjoy it meant that this seemed a lot larger than the actual pour I shared. It is also interesting in that I have seen sweet fruit notes like this before, but usually attached as contrast to a bigger, peatier, whisky. It is fun to encounter them in isolation here where they are the main show, not the contrast.

So, it seems a perfect match of barrel ageing to the Balvenie spirit for me – far more so than the bourbon cask. The feel of the spirit is just right for delivering the big sweetness and range while still preserving that distinct whisky character.

Of course, this is a single barrel range, so your experience may differ. My experience rocked though.

Background: Ok, you all know the score by now – ” Ok, bias warning first: This is a part of the Masters Of Malt Whisky Calendar given to The Bath Whisky and Rum Club, part of Independent Spirit, who invited me to assist with the notes in return for uploading them to alcohol and aphorisms. Sounded a very fair deal to me. Also, due to this we each only had half of the 3cl bottle so thoughts are based on a smaller exploration than usual. On the other hand I could not say no to the chance to try so many new whiskies. Many thanks!”. Originally I thought this was standard Single Barrel, but quickly realised this was the Sherry version, which sounded an interesting variant. Drunk while listening to New Model Army – Ghost Of Cain. Yes I am listening to them a lot, I got five albums in one pack, plenty of punk goodness there.