DuckDrams

from a 2cl sample bottle tasted blindly

🗒️ Tasting notes

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Nosing

Sweet and buttery, with savoury, meaty and resinous facets. Golden fruits, smoked meat, bacon, woody, wooly, botanical, heathery. With time and water there’s a clear blue cheese note.

Sipping

A satisfying mix of sweet, salty, savoury. Medium-heavy peat, more earthy than coastal. Malty, biscuity, and nutty.

💭 Comments

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Before reveal

I think it’s a non-Islay peat. Could be a peated Loch Lomond (Croftengea), but then again the savoury notes point me also towards Ballechin. Mix of bourbon and wine or sherry casks.

After reveal

While the distillery was off, it was indeed non-Islay peated and initial bourbon maturation followed by wine finish. Now towards the end, I’m more reminded of the famry sides of peated Ben Nevis and Laphroaig. The 2cl were not nearly enough to explore the variety of flavours in here, and how they develop. I’m quite inclined to get one of the 3 bottles that are still available for purchase.

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from a 5cl sample bottle tasted blindly

🗒️ Tasting notes

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Nosing

Crisp and sweetly cereal. Apples and pears, champagne, cotton candy, vanilla custard, bit of oak, malted barley.

Sipping

Sweet, and biscuity/cereal, mouth-filling; very spirit-driven. Water drew out some bitterness.

💭 Comments

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Before reveal

Reminds me of Deanston, but I don’t think that’s in the stash. Then maybe Fettercairn? But could definitely be something young and new. Bourbon cask for sure. Ambivalent on strength, but in the end it leaves quite a burn, without being boozy per se, so 58%.

After reveal

I didn’t write it out, so no credit, but I did think about this being Kingsbarns! Smelling the empty glass there’s an oily, toasted, and floral character that’s hard to pinpoint.

I think this clean and spirit-driven expression showcases that Kingsbarns is headed in a great direction.

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from a 5cl sample bottle tasted blindly

🗒️ Tasting notes

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Nosing

Toasted spices, cake in the oven, Jaffa cake, vanilla, slightly sour/fermented notes as well

Sipping

Very drinkable. Silky texture, controlled alcohol, with toasty flavours of coffee, cookies, fruit cake, leather, indicative of sherry maturation, yet a clean and malty spirit also shines through.

💭 Comments

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Before reveal

Glenfarclas I don’t think I have in the stash, so there goes my best distillery guess. I would think this is 43%, or otherwise 46%. An official bottling of some sort, with a sherry maturation. Decent age, 10-15yo, and quite possible a long-ago bottling.

After reveal

I have no memory of when and why I bought this, as part of a set or on its own. Mellow ‘old school’ sherry is definitely applicable here. Better than how I imagine a 40% sherries standard 15yo to taste today (admittedly I don’t try many of those), but not exceptional. However, the current bottles coming out of Glen Grant are notoriously bland, so in that comparison this old version would surely be standout.

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from a 2cl sample bottle tasted blindly

🗒️ Tasting notes

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Nosing

Concentrated, tropical, bourbon-y (coconut, vanilla), yet quite austere

Sipping

Medium dry, viscous, some heather, tobacco and leather; old bourbon cask.

💭 Comments

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Before reveal

My tasting notes did not turn out very informative, and I find this hard to place, except its definitely bourbon cask, and feels not-young in some way, either old bottling or age.

After reveal

Hmm, well the old age was definitely verified, and the refill casks explains perhaps why there’s not clear sherry giveaway. It’s really good, I contemplated a ❤️, but no. Again, can’t remember when and why I bought this sample, but probably it was cheap [well, €9/2cl], and I though why not? It’s still around for less than €300, which is not that bad given the current market and the specs, though I certainly wouldn’t pay it based on the experience on offer.

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from a 5cl sample bottle tasted blindly

🗒️ Tasting notes

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Nosing

Light “yellow” aromas: Crème brûlée, vanilla, passion fruit curd, slightly sour grapes, dried apricot, something buttery/greasy.

Sipping

Strong, in alcohol and flavour, with very juicy and spicy oak, apricots, some bitterness. Remains spicy, even with plenty of water added, which also makes it drier and more astringent, while revealing some wood char and spirit notes. The finish might be the best, with lingering gooseberries.

💭 Comments

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It’s not sherry heavy, but I detect a clear buttery yet sour note, that to me said oloroso, but perhaps only a refill. Otherwise the juicy oak flavours and vanilla would draw me towards bourbon cask, or maybe its a marriage of casks. Felt very strong at first, so I was quick to add water. We’re around 60%. Has to be something fairly young, and probably new.

After reveal

Well that rum barrel caught me off guard, not a type of finish I’m prone to buying (and yet I did). t’s not untasty, but taming the strength while contending with the spiciness and bitterness was a lot of work for too little enjoyment in the end.

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from a 5cl sample bottle tasted blindly

🗒️ Tasting notes

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Nosing

Really fresh and citrussy but with a warming and sherry influence. Spices (cardamom, cinnamon), cookie dough, ripe tropical fruit, orange, a little lactic, oak, vanilla.

Sipping

Strong, but takes water well. Very juicy, baked apples, lots of fresh citrus, dried apricot, tropical fruits. The malty spirit is shining through.

💭 Comments

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Before reveal

Really nicely balanced. Not complex, but very yummy. What could it be? Many a Speyside or Highlander could fit.

After reveal

Right, I bought a bunch of core range samples from various distilleries I don’t usually try. A sherry finish. One could interpret the sour note on the nose as not the best quality casks, but I admit I enjoyed it anyhow. Interesting I should think it strong at only 46%. Overall, not as convincing as, say, Deanston 12, Bunna 12, or Tobermory 12, but still a serious contender in the integrity 12yo league, and something I would consider buying when putting together a whisky tasting for friends.

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