DuckDrams

Irish Blend • Bourbon casks • Natural Colour & Unchillfiltered • €€70 • WB🔗

Blind tasting notes from a 5cl sample bottle

Before reveal:

Nosing

Somewhat closed. There’s some stewed fruits, pancakes, syrup, light notes of fresh grass and flowers.

Sipping

Lovely juicy notes of bourbon oak, with sweet fruit salad, pancakes. Brought down by being a bit too hot.

Comments

This has got to be some rather young New Wave stuff – in which case I would say, great, keep going! – or it could a cask of some older liquid that just turned out quite hot, in which case it is a bit disappointing. In either case, though, it is the kind of oak juice that I like overall. Would get 56%, 6yo, first or second-fill bourbon, Lowland/Highland.

After reveal:

I forgot to even reflect that it could something different than Scotch, but indeed it is Irish.

Scotch Single Malt • Finished in 1st fill Oloroso Sherry
• Natural Colour & Unchillfiltered • currently €115 • WB🔗

Blind tasting notes from a 5cl sample bottle

Nosing

A gentle, sherried nose. Milk chocolate above all, candied fruits, strawberries, cola, cardamom bun.

Sipping

Interestingly acidic, but not sharp; indeed, otherwise very rounded, and gently spicy. Flavourwise there’s orange and lime juice, like a tangy single-origin chocolate, and then a blooming tobacco-y and berry-laden finish. A slight metallic note.

Comments

This is a bit different. I don’t know if I should think of the sourness as a characteristic quality, or as a sign of poor sherry casks – that’s why blind tasting is so good, I can focus simply on the experience, and I am enjoying it a lot, though at some point it becomes a bit overwhelming. So I am a little bit ambivalent on the Deliciousness factor, but the really high Fun Factor can not be denied.

Apart from the acidity I would have guessed something like Tobermory. Age-wise I’d be somewhat surprised at sub-15yo, but it’s possible that it’s, say, a sherry octave of some lightly peated malt, that’s also been naturally or deliberately taken down in strength… Actually I don’t know how to think about this one!

After reveal:

Aha! I’m not so off. 17yo is unsurprising, and it’s a small sherry cask (quarter). I remember this release; it sold out very quickly, the price was good, on paper. In hindsight, I would’ve liked to have a bottle, but I wasn’t expecting this level of experience, on paper.

Ah, what the hell, let’s give it

Personal favourite

❤️

Scotch Single Malt • Bourbon and etc casks • €160 • WB🔗

Blind tasting notes from a 5cl sample bottle

Before reveal

Nosing

Generous orchard fruits, appletizer, sweet biscuits, vanilla. At first some solvent, booziness. With time increasingly floral.

Sipping

Fruity and malty, on the sweeter side. Ripe melon, sweet wine, juicy oak. A little bitterness in the finish adds to the balance.

Comments

It’s a straightforward whisky, but very tasty and quaffable. Who could not love it?

My guess is that this is a relatively young, possibly Irish whisky, ex-bourbon or perhaps some wine STR or smaller proportion of ex-sweet wine casks. Feels like a good drinking strength, so around 46%.

After reveal

That was pretty off as guess! Tullibardine is often described as very floral, just as I found it here. The fact that those floral notes emerged more strongly with time in the glass also speaks for the age of the liquid. But overall it lacks the complexity one would expect from that age.

Scotch Single Malt • American ex-Bourbon & Spanish Oak • €70 • WB🔗

Blind tasting notes from a 5cl sample bottle

Nosing

A balanced, well-integrated sherry nose, with fruits, toffee, wood and some leather. MiIk chocolate, cinnamon and clove, ice cream made with real vanilla, ripe orange, a very subtle smoky hint.

Sipping

Round and drinkable, but with appreciable depth. Again, chocolate, orange marmalade, and some tropical fruits, very light leather and tobacco.

Comments

I’m really impressed. Over the years I’ve been moving away from sherried drams because I find them a bit too same-y, but this one reminds me how beautifully delicious and elegant a sherry maturation can be.

Can’t help think we’ve got a 20-ish yo sherried Tullibardine, Glen Garioch or something of that caliber. Does remind me quite a bit of my beloved Signatory 31yo blended malt. ABV feels low, maybe 43%.

After reveal

Huh! That’s a pleasant surprise. One can get a bottle for under €70 which makes it an absolute no-brainer for me. Actually, there’s a 46% version as well – I’ll get that one, which should be even better!

Personal favourite

❤️

Scotch Blended Malt • Refill ex-Bourbon + Oloroso Sherry Finish • Natural Colour & Unchillfiltered • €35 • WB🔗

Blind tasting notes from a 2cl sample bottle

Before reveal:

Nosing

Light but vibrant floral and fruity profile. Apples, champagne, coconut, mint, some soft spices like cinnamon, vanilla and oak.

Sipping

Comes on sweet and a little salty, like salted caramel, and quite spicy but not hot; then drier in the finish. Cumquats and green apples, cookies. Short bourbon-oak-laced aftertaste.

Comments

Tastes like a decent but not so distinct ex-bourbon whisky. Maybe a little spicier than I ideally prefer. Could be something like a Deanston. ABV feels maybe 44ish.

After reveal:

For an entry-level whisky it is not at all bad. Beside some of the spices I can’t really detect much sherry action here.

Scotch Single Malt • Bourbon + First-Fill Sauternes Finish
• Natural Colour & Unchillfiltered • €70 • WB🔗

Blind tasting notes from a 5cl sample bottle

Nosing

It’s not overwhelming, but there is a strange mix of banana, cheese doodles, and sweaty socks and rubber on top and otherwise light and fruity whisky of more conventional Highland/Speyside style, sporting pear and lemon, cinnamon and pastry.

Sipping

Satisfying mouthfeel, balanced sweetness and ABV. Tropical fruit, like ripe papaya and mango chutney, also some of the strange and rubbery in the early finish, but then Gooseberries and custard with lingering sweetness.

Comments

There’s something fishy here. The slight sulphureous note points toward a wine casks of some sort; in addition I suspect it could be an ex-Islay cask of a non-Islay whisky, or its an exceedingly lightly peated whisky (just bringing a little phenolics). Say 48%, malt, but not necessarily single. Age max 10.

After reveal:

Funny I thought Sauternes specifically but did not write it down – garr! With the knowledge in hand it is quite clear. Can’t say Wolfburn nailed this one, unfortunately. Without that rubbery aspect it would have been quite lovely.

Scotch Single Malt • Bourbon and Oloroso sherry • Natural Colour & Unchillfiltered • €135 • WB🔗

Blind tasting notes from a 2cl sample bottle

Nosing

Pronounced but balanced sherry notes, very much towards cola, ginger ale, orange zest, coffee beans, and perhaps dates, but not so much raisins and sticky sweetness. Polished wood and a leather too.

Sipping

Sweet and salty, with some savouriness too. Punchy, with marmalades and fruit syrups, toffee and sweet liqueur, Belgian waffles with sugar crystals. Here we have more raisins as well, and generally a PX vibe. Definitely some cigar smoke.

Comments

Based on the taste I would have to say PX casks, but the nose some less brutish sherry. It’s a sherry bomb, but a tasty one. Happy to say it didn’t have a clear mini-bottle defect taste, in contrast to previous samples from whic.de. To add more to my guess: let’s say 54%, Highland, and not above 12yo. Something like a Glengoyne (though I’m pretty sure I don’t have that in the Black box stash).

After reveal:

Sure, didn’t have to be PX, Oloroso (and bourbon casks) makes sense too, especially on the nose. I’ve been critical of Glen Moray for having a very boring spirit profile, and this one is no exception, because it feels like the cask is carrying the entire experience – but the casks were great here and the end result much enjoyed.

Kentucky Straight Bourbon • Virgin American Oak • Natural Colour & Unchillfiltered • €70 • WB🔗

Blind tasting notes from a 5cl sample bottle

Before reveal:

Nosing

Quite unfamiliar to me. Rosebush and an intense and aromatic note, mostly woody but also herbaceous. Sweetcorn and vanilla.

Sipping

Sweet and dense. Vanilla spongecake , Chantilly cream, tangerines, flower bouquet, and load of fresh oak. It does turn a bit soapy as the finish rolls on.

Comments

This is definitely not Scotch. In fact, I’m pretty sure this must be a bourbon. Not ex-bourbon cask, but an American Bourbon Whiskey. And in that case I seem to remember there being a sample of Yellowstone in the stash. Was it around the 47% mark? Gets a high fun-factor because this is outside what I usually drink.

After reveal:

Well, it was pretty obvious — and fun, and good. I’m organizing a “Oak-aged spirits” tasting for my colleagues and I’ll buy a bottle of this to represent bourbon.

Danish Single Grain (malt & rye) • American oak and Port • €45 • WB🔗

Blind tasting notes from a 2cl sample bottle

Before reveal:

Nosing

Very intense nose, with concentrated fruit (with wine gums, passion fruit curd), growing more floral, even soapy with time (camomile tea, lavender). There’s also a musty, autumnal earthiness. And some cinnamon, beside loads of vanilla.

Sipping

Good mouthfeel, but feels like a bit higher ABV would have given it the proper oumph. Sweet and somewhat salty-savoury. Flavours are very much in line with the nose, with mangoes, syrupy sponge cake, and camomile, and perhaps oatmeal; it lands just a little flat (almost like an old-bottle effect, not to be confused with mini-bottle defect). Long, curdy aftertaste, like a very active bourbon casks.

Comments

My first thought were Irish, with that intense fruitiness. Then I started thinking it could be something non-Irish, bottled a long time ago (low abv, a little old-bottle effect, and old-school floral notes). In the end I’ll stick with Irish, and guess NAS, pot still, and 43-46%, definitely with bourbon barrels… Or perhaps it could be Sauternes or the like? Very curious to learn what this is.

After reveal

Cool, I never would have guessed. It’s curious how I mention autumnal notes, and the name for the whisky, “Høst”, is cognate with my native Swedish “höst”=”autumn”, but apparently means harvest in Danish. Surprisingly flavourful for the ABV, but indeed it still shows on the palate that it’s lower than ideal. Cask-wise I feel I was close enough, with clear bourbon notes, but something sweet-winey. That wine cask also makes more sense of the fruity and floral notes for such a young spirit.

Scotch Single Malt • Bourbon / Virgin Oak • €75 • WB🔗

Blind tasting notes from a 3cl sample bottle

Before reveal:

Nosing

Depending on how respectful one wants to be, one could call the nose “gentle” or “flat”. Buttercup, straw, citrus, underripe pear. Rather tired cask notes of vanilla and oak.

Sipping

More action than the nose would suggest: it’s quite spicy, medium sweet, and one senses a rather muscular spirit. Some candylike fruit aromas; wine gums, pears drops. Alas, the staleness of the mini-bottle defect is very apparent.

Comments

Whatever whisky this is, this sample is no fair representation due to the strong mini-bottle off note that there on the palate, which may also explain the rather flat nose. Therefore I didn’t put any scores, though nothing suggests more than a low average.

Still, let me guess at a Highland single malt at 43-46% in the NAS-12yo range, refill casks.

After reveal

This should be a quality dram, so I assume the disappointment is largely from the defect sample.

Scotch Single Malt • €130 at auction • WB🔗

Blind tasting notes from a 5cl sample bottle

Before reveal:

Nosing

Lively, fruit-pungent nose with streaks of herbal and woody notes running through. Pineapple, soda water, a little hemp. Rose?

Sipping

Fruity and cereally but not at all sweet; really quite dry. There is a malty, biscuity, and robustly spirit driven base. Young but not hot, indeed quite rounded and creamy, and nothing is remotely off or unbalanced; but rather little of interest on top of this solid base, except a vaguely tropical sensation, perhaps pomelo or grapefruit. Short to medium finish.

Comments

The exotic elements on the nose made me think we might be in a different category than Scotch malt. But I think we still are. Something young, in bourbon barrels, seems a given; ABV short of 50%. Could either be a small independent distillery, or maybe a Diageo workhorse, blend-filler one; I can see this as providing an amazing base for a blend.

After reveal:

Ow, wow. Had completely forgot about this one, that there could even be a closed distillery (let alone a favourite on) in the black box. I have to say, I can not fault it for the low ABV one bit, it still delivers. And I’m pleased with my blind judgment that the spirit is of a really great quality which confirms my general . At cask strength and higher age, Littlemill is close to peak whisky for me.

Finish off the sample, reading some other peoeples tasting notes, I can agree with lychee, and greasy metal workshop, grass… I would add cucumber. It’s really quite interesting. It’s crazy how review scores span 68 to 90 here, with an undeservedly low 79 average (which generally should mean barely drinkable by a serious whisky drinker). A WB score of at least 85 would be fair.

Scotch Single Malt • Refill hogshead • Natural Colour & Unchillfiltered • only available in Australia • WB🔗

Blind tasting notes from a 2cl sample bottle

Before reveal

Nosing

Very rich and aromatic. Grapefruit rind, custard, sawdust, metal shavings, light iodine and smoke, burned rice, mushrooms in soy sauce.

Sipping

Salty, savoury; very maritime. Muscular spirit. Honey, hobnob, smoked meats … or seafood?. Toasted nuts, vanilla ice cream.

Comments

Tastes like it could be a single-cask Ledaig (ex-bourbon). But I wouldn’t be too surprised if turned out to be a peated Highland or Speyside, maybe Benromach. Really great and moreish. I’d be quite happy to have bottle!

After reveal

Peated Highland indeed – and a Ben Nevis at that! No wonder it fell to my taste. That seafood and grapefruit did indeed occur in my review #2, a signatory Ben Nevis.