No theme, no big picture, no elucidating comparison. If anything connects these drams it’s that they were ones that I was curious to try soon after I has received the sample for economic reasons. The first two are from whic.de, where one can get a discount on buying a full bottle, corresponding to the price one paid for the sample (but that bottle needs to still be in stock!). The other two are from whizita.de that are running a 12% discount on the entire store until the end of the month. The final dram will be the first rum to feature on the blog!
Craigellachie • 13yo • 46%
Scotch Single Malt • Bas-Armagnac cask finish • Natural Colour & Unchillfiltered • €50 • WB🔗
Tasting notes from a 3cl sample bottle
Nosing
Sweet on the nose. Lots of orange and lemon zest, marizpan, grape skins, some chalk, dried herbs (including oregano), green pepper.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Sipping
Heavy, robust spirit character, with lots of fruit and some dirtiness. Flavours of digestive biscuits, sultanas, nectarines, a subtle smokiness and herbals notes.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Comments
Really quaffable stuff. Only during the second half of the dram did the mini-bottle defect show itself. It’s not the first time I observe this.
How does this compare to the regular 13yo? I don’t have a side by side comparison, but judging from memory I’d probably have a slight preference for the regular.
Smögen • “100 Proof” • 6yo • 57.1%
Swedish Single Malt • Sherry quarter casks • Natural Colour & Unchillfiltered • €60 (in Sweden) / €100 (Germany) • WB🔗
Tasting notes from a 3cl sample bottle
Nosing
Lots of woody notes (wood smoke, wood oil), also leather and hemp. Fruity backdrop with baked apples, and clementine juice. Some lighter floral notes flit about, too.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Sipping
Viscous and towards the sweeter end, with a young sprightliness. Plum and strawberriesm some honey-glazed ham, a nicely integrated wood smoke and tobacco, leather.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Comments
I’m maybe being a little harsh on my rating of the nose, but it is too woody for balance. But on the palate, everything works a treat. With a bit more age perhaps it would be a real banger.
Craigellachie • 18yo • 46% • Cadenhead’s
Scotch Single Malt • Refill Oloroso sherry • Natural Colour & Unchillfiltered • €110 • WB🔗
Tasting notes from a 4cl sample bottle
Nosing
Very prominent lemon zest and other sour fruits greet the nose. There’s a little yeastiness; cinnamon bun dough. Fresh cellery and sour plums? A hint of leather gloves.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Sipping
Nice taste profile, quite briny, but with some some lemony acidity for a good liveliness against otherwise quite musky notes of sherry casks, earth and ash tray that add some bitterness in the finish (maybe a tad too much). The tropical fruits are there as a flavour base, rather than top notes.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Comments
Not far off form the official 17yo, but I still remember that as just a bit better, though a side-by-side would be needed.
Jamaican Blend • 15yo (2009) • 56.8% • Wu Dram Clan & Flickenschild
Jamaican Blended Rum • Bourbon and etc casks • €120 • Whizita🔗
Tasting notes from a 4cl sample bottle
Nosing
Intense toasted hazelnuts, overripe tropical fruits – pineapple juice, coconut milk, green apple skins, juniper berries, nail polish.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Sipping
Goes down alarmingly well neat. Not a very sweet rum, even a bit drying. Salted peanuts (that’s it!) and biscuits. Mild tropical fruits, like guava. A bit of hemp. Medium-short aftertaste.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Comments
Not quite the orgasmic experience I was hoping for, but well a rum that can entertain a whisky lover.
DuckDrams 
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